what made you turn away from christianity/theism/religion?

I made this 2 part little series on some of the issues in theology that made me become an atheist. to my fellow ex-Christians or ex-Muslims or ex-Jews or whatever, what are the things that really made you doubt your faith and then leave religion entirely?

I never even thought about god or religion until I was about 10 and my mum made my sister and I got to a Catholic school and go to Church regularly. They were my mothers beliefs, not mine, and I never agreed with them nor took any interest in them. The idea of your (the Abrahamic) God floating up in the sky as being correct, where as all the ancient religions of the world, and even other deities that are worshipped today, being wrong was as ludicrous to me at 8 as it is to me today.

nothing, in fact my nephew being born before the war on terror renewed my faith in God and religion

I was never sold on the whole faith aspect. I had my doubts from a young age and it wasn't until college that I realized that there was no point carrying on following an ideology I didn't believe in. I also came to the realization that the presence of a God was not needed in my life for me to carry on living.

There being no evidence for a god.

I've never been to church except for funerals. And the things I've heard I don't agree with. And I refuse to be a certain religion because when my sister was dying the priest wouldn't read the last rights all because of my dad wasn't the same religion the priest was.

When I first talked to my grandpa who was super zen buddhist. He told me that violence was never "ever" the answer. And from the day on, I became passive. But now its not "Im forced to be passive because of my religion" its "Im passive because I want to"

Inconsistencies in religious text + using the text to justify social positionsDroidPhysX

Many things. My niece dying after only living for 8 days. All the evil that goes on in the world with no "unseen force" stopping it. No evidence. Fake religious people. Alot of things...

I haven't turned away totally but I've developed doubts. Partly because of how people try to get laws passed and changed so that everyone is forced to live according to their beliefs. Partly because of hypocrits. Partly because of my mother.

Sunday school when I was a wee ankle biter, hosted by some retirees who reeked of moth balls. It's my earliest memory of being incredibly bored. That and the fact that the church just seemed to be riddled with morose individuals (spinsters mainly), seemingly patiently awaiting there turn to die, shuffling up the pew as deaths within the congregation were read that week (which seemed to be a regular occurence), and thought they'd fill the void by mumbling out of tune to some archaic drone on the pipe organ whilst being peppered by bits of plaster from ceiling that was falling down.

Not really my bag.

I did go back for the first time in about 20 years to watch a nativity play, which was terrible - attrocious acting.

I was never really into it. I went to Sunday School, had First Communion, and got Confirmed at my mother's Lutheran church, but I haven't been back since the day I was Confirmed, and that was five years ago.

Even as a child, I had a lot of questions, and since no one gave me any straight answers, I felt discouraged and had a hard time believing in anything I was told.

I briefly considered a religion (Judaism, to be specific) when I was like 15-16, but then I kind of realized that I was agnostic...and now I guess I'm what you'd call an agnostic atheist.

Many members of my family are religious. My mother is kind of an atheist now, but my dad is a strong Catholic. I was raised to be religious, I guess, but I never felt it personally...so, yeah, in essence I did turn away from it, but on the other hand I was never personally into it myself.

For me it was when I was struck with a semi-bad disease in junior high school. I thought if there was a god out there why would he do this to me, etc. Obviously now I realize that's a dumb reason but I was young at the time. Since then there just hasn't been anything to bring me back to Christianity. The more I researched it the more I realized it just wasn't something I could believe in. JML897

Nice to learn something about JML outside of the sports discussion forum 8)

But I think it was just the exposition of hypocrisy within Christianity that did it for me. Not to mention, as I became more educated in history, and in all studies I began fading further and further from religion.

I discovered that throughout history all great empires had one thing in common; religion. The only way to control the masses is to take control of them spiritually, you have to make them FEEL like they're broken the law. Moreover, history also illustrated why so many hispanics are Catholic and blacks are Christian. Why should I follow a religion that was basically thrusted upon my people hundreds of years ago. And through the generations, my ancestors just blindly followed this faith because "it was the way it had always been." If the imperialists were Islamic, I'd be a Muslim. Some Christians will defend it and say, "everything happens for a reason," but that doesn't cut it with me.

I don't think I should live my life as a conformist and I especially don't think I should live my life in fear of burning in Hell.

You can all have fun in purgatory. Im sticking with religion. I turned my back on God almost my whole life, until I remembered that I met him once. No he wasen't on a bus. But there was a bus involved. What are we talking about? Oh right. I am religious.

If I remember correctly (it was a long time ago) I think my initial doubts came about simply due to the lack of evidence.

College. That's not to say that education is the bane of religion, or that religion thrives on ignorance. I had an excellent foundational education as a child, thanks to a quasi-religious curriculum. But I was never invited to critique my own beliefs and preconceptions until I reached college. That's when I realized or decided that I wasn't sure of anything anymore; god's existence became an enigma. And the tenets of my religion gradually emerged as imperfect or even offensive to my core values. It wasn't long before I left most of faith behind. I can't say I'm a better person for it. Maybe the inverse is closer to truth. I only know that I couldn't be anything else and still be honest with myself. Not anymore.Elraptor

One of my ex-girlfriends. She's a very logical and thought-driven person and preferred to infer her own truths about the universe. It's exactly why she appealed to me and it also made me re-evaluate my own values and morality. I thought about Christianity for a bit and realized that I don't really particularly follow it nor does it speak to me on a "spiritual" level, so I abandoned it. After all I was born into it rather than given the option, which I feel is the reason a lot of people stick with it.

If I remember correctly (it was a long time ago) I think my initial doubts came about simply due to the lack of evidence.

broken_bass_bin

lol because your waiting on another human to show you evidence and proof to have faith? its all love homie but thats funny. i dont understand people who trust another human before a higher powerplaymynutz

I can't say i ever really believed in a Religion, Never really came from a religious family. So just about the same time i stopped believing in Santa.

Logic

I was raised a Christian, but I developed a curiosity in my sophomore year of high school. I became more serious about it, accepting Jesus's resurrection as a historical fact, but I had some doubts, such the validity of evolution. I read Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ and I was pleased by the case he made, but he aroused more questions than answers in some areas and I could no longer accept Jesus's resurrection as a historical fact. I then read Francis S. Crick's The Language of God, a book written in favor of Christianity and evolution, and although I was sold on evolution, my faith in Christianity still wasn't based on the logical evidence I wish it was. I decided to read the entire Bible and I came up with many flaws, both logically and ethically. The God I had believed in was not the same God as portrayed in the Bible, so I gave up on Christianity and my man-made God.

One of my ex-girlfriends. She's a very logical and thought-driven person and preferred to infer her own truths about the universe. It's exactly why she appealed to me and it also made me re-evaluate my own values and morality. I thought about Christianity for a bit and realized that I don't really particularly follow it nor does it speak to me on a "spiritual" level, so I abandoned it. After all I was born into it rather than given the option, which I feel is the reason a lot of people stick with it.

Saturos3091

[QUOTE="Elraptor"]College. That's not to say that education is the bane of religion, or that religion thrives on ignorance. I had an excellent foundational education as a child, thanks to a quasi-religious curriculum. But I was never invited to critique my own beliefs and preconceptions until I reached college. That's when I realized or decided that I wasn't sure of anything anymore; god's existence became an enigma. And the tenets of my religion gradually emerged as imperfect or even offensive to my core values. It wasn't long before I left most of faith behind. I can't say I'm a better person for it. Maybe the inverse is closer to truth. I only know that I couldn't be anything else and still be honest with myself. Not anymore.Nibroc420

Well that's interesting. I don't remember my son's report card being graded on his faith at a religious school, but that was in pre-k. Now my son is going to just an elementary school (not religious).

I have not left. I used to be Agnostic, but decided to do my own searching, questioning, investigating, and thinking, which has led me to believe in God.

[QUOTE="Nibroc420"][QUOTE="Elraptor"]College. That's not to say that education is the bane of religion, or that religion thrives on ignorance. I had an excellent foundational education as a child, thanks to a quasi-religious curriculum. But I was never invited to critique my own beliefs and preconceptions until I reached college. That's when I realized or decided that I wasn't sure of anything anymore; god's existence became an enigma. And the tenets of my religion gradually emerged as imperfect or even offensive to my core values. It wasn't long before I left most of faith behind. I can't say I'm a better person for it. Maybe the inverse is closer to truth. I only know that I couldn't be anything else and still be honest with myself. Not anymore.kev_stevens67

Well that's interesting. I don't remember my son's report card being graded on his faith at a religious school, but that was in pre-k. Now my son is going to just an elementary school (not religious).

I have not left. I used to be Agnostic, but decided to do my own searching, questioning, investigating, and thinking, which has led me to believe in God.

[QUOTE="Saturos3091"]

One of my ex-girlfriends. She's a very logical and thought-driven person and preferred to infer her own truths about the universe. It's exactly why she appealed to me and it also made me re-evaluate my own values and morality. I thought about Christianity for a bit and realized that I don't really particularly follow it nor does it speak to me on a "spiritual" level, so I abandoned it. After all I was born into it rather than given the option, which I feel is the reason a lot of people stick with it.

Genetic_Code

The bigger question is

What made you believe in this religion in the first place?

Parents? Family? society?

I rarely ever hear of someone turning onto a specific religion without the intervention of someone else.

The Church alienated my family

Too analytical of a mind. I simply can not accept what cant be proven.

I rarely ever hear of someone turning onto a specific religion without the intervention of someone else.Blue-Sky

I never turned away from God...

Actually as I grew up and my knowledge in science grew, so has my faith.

I'm odd like that.

everything that they try put on people blows me away farther from it

I had and still have no reason whatsoever to believe in anything like that.

The bigger question is

What made you believe in this religion in the first place?

Parents? Family? society?

I rarely ever hear of someone turning onto a specific religion without the intervention of someone else.

Blue-Sky

I can't speak for everyone. I made the choice myself to become a Christian after doing my own thinking and investigating. I actually am the only one in my family who is religious. We never went to Church growing up so this is something I had to do on my own. My family has always respected my decision though and I am thankful I was never 'forced' into anything.

I never even thought about god or religion until I was about 10 and my mum made my sister and I got to a Catholic school and go to Church regularly. They were my mothers beliefs, not mine, and I never agreed with them nor took any interest in them. The idea of your (the Abrahamic) God floating up in the sky as being correct, where as all the ancient religions of the world, and even other deities that are worshipped today, being wrong was as ludicrous to me at 8 as it is to me today.

DigitalExile

I was raised to make my own decisions and had no belief system shoved down my throat. I was always told to form my own opinions and discover my own way through life once I grew up. I satiated my natural and intense curious streak by studying the religions that have influenced our world so much, but the opinions I formed through those studies ensured I would never be pulled into them, simply because what I found turned me off the idea of submitting to any of them.

I personally believe that in real life and in the real world, my morals and actions are a lot better than many of the self confessed theists I've came across in my time.

I'm not really Athiest, but I'm not really religious either. I guess because I stopped going to church, and then years later I questioned if God was real because I didn't see much proof.

I'm not really Athiest, but I'm not really religious either. I guess because I stopped going to church, and then years later I questioned if God was real because I didn't see much proof.

SgtSchfiftyFive