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lisa-needs-braces

I was raised in a very half-heartedly catholic family. To us, religion was more about tradition than belief. I went to a Catholic school for my first three years of schooling, and secular schools for the rest. Religion was barely mentioned in my household. I don't think I've ever heard either of my parents talk about God. As a child I learned about religion, understood the details of religion, but was not indoctrinated or pressured to believe any which way. I was still pretty young when I figured out that the religious view of the world is pretty far from reality. I probably stopped believing in God around the same time I stopped believing in Santa and the Tooth Fairy. To me religion just doesn't make sense. I still have a hard time comprehending that people genuinely believe in it, and that they aren't just pretending because of social/family pressures. What I can understand is how religion can be enticing and comforting. I still practice a lot of catholic tradition even though I dont believe in it. I don't eat red meat on Good Friday, I participate in communion when I go to catholic relatives' christenings or funerals. It makes me happy to do these things. I feel like it is a part of who I am, and a part of who my family is. Also it helps me feel like I still have a link to my dead grandparents. tl;dr: I understand the link between religion and a sense of culture and family, and the comfort it brings, but I can't understand how grown adults can possibly believe in God or heaven.

I was raised in a very half-heartedly catholic family. To us, religion was more about tradition than belief. I went to a Catholic school for my first three years of schooling, and secular schools for the rest. Religion was barely mentioned in my household. I don't think I've ever heard either of my parents talk about God. As a child I learned about religion, understood the details of religion, but was not indoctrinated or pressured to believe any which way. I was still pretty young when I figured out that the religious view of the world is pretty far from reality. I probably stopped believing in God around the same time I stopped believing in Santa and the Tooth Fairy. To me religion just doesn't make sense. I still have a hard time comprehending that people genuinely believe in it, and that they aren't just pretending because of social/family pressures. What I can understand is how religion can be enticing and comforting. I still practice a lot of catholic tradition even though I dont believe in it. I don't eat red meat on Good Friday, I participate in communion when I go to catholic relatives' christenings or funerals. It makes me happy to do these things. I feel like it is a part of who I am, and a part of who my family is. Also it helps me feel like I still have a link to my dead grandparents. tl;dr: I understand the link between religion and a sense of culture and family, and the comfort it brings, but I can't understand how grown adults can possibly believe in God or heaven.

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t5_2qh1i

cem9eyg

I was raised in a very half-heartedly catholic family. To us, religion was more about tradition than belief. I went to a Catholic school for my first three years of schooling, and secular schools for the rest. Religion was barely mentioned in my household. I don't think I've ever heard either of my parents talk about God. As a child I learned about religion, understood the details of religion, but was not indoctrinated or pressured to believe any which way. I was still pretty young when I figured out that the religious view of the world is pretty far from reality. I probably stopped believing in God around the same time I stopped believing in Santa and the Tooth Fairy. To me religion just doesn't make sense. I still have a hard time comprehending that people genuinely believe in it, and that they aren't just pretending because of social/family pressures. What I can understand is how religion can be enticing and comforting. I still practice a lot of catholic tradition even though I dont believe in it. I don't eat red meat on Good Friday, I participate in communion when I go to catholic relatives' christenings or funerals. It makes me happy to do these things. I feel like it is a part of who I am, and a part of who my family is. Also it helps me feel like I still have a link to my dead grandparents.

I understand the link between religion and a sense of culture and family, and the comfort it brings, but I can't understand how grown adults can possibly believe in God or heaven.

IrateGandhi

I was going through the worst time of my life. I put a gun in my mouth and wanted to end my life. No matter how hard I tried, I felt like I couldn't do it. So I threw the gun and went to my room. I screamed and cried for a very long time. Let out everything I was feeling. When I finally said all I had to say, the music in the background answered my questions with the words "we're forgetting our forgiveness." And suddenly, all the things I half listened to in school(history class about religions)/people about their faith systems/and Catholic ccd, it clicked. There was no way in my eyes that timing could be so perfect without it being something more. And I knew it had to be the Christian God. I wish I could "prove it" or reason it (because I love doing that) but I can't anymore than what I just said. I have written a few papers on it if anyone is actually interested in a more detailed explanation. tl;dr Tried to kill self. Found God.

I was going through the worst time of my life. I put a gun in my mouth and wanted to end my life. No matter how hard I tried, I felt like I couldn't do it. So I threw the gun and went to my room. I screamed and cried for a very long time. Let out everything I was feeling. When I finally said all I had to say, the music in the background answered my questions with the words "we're forgetting our forgiveness." And suddenly, all the things I half listened to in school(history class about religions)/people about their faith systems/and Catholic ccd, it clicked. There was no way in my eyes that timing could be so perfect without it being something more. And I knew it had to be the Christian God. I wish I could "prove it" or reason it (because I love doing that) but I can't anymore than what I just said. I have written a few papers on it if anyone is actually interested in a more detailed explanation. tl;dr Tried to kill self. Found God.

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t5_2qh1i

cem9fji

I was going through the worst time of my life. I put a gun in my mouth and wanted to end my life. No matter how hard I tried, I felt like I couldn't do it. So I threw the gun and went to my room. I screamed and cried for a very long time. Let out everything I was feeling. When I finally said all I had to say, the music in the background answered my questions with the words "we're forgetting our forgiveness." And suddenly, all the things I half listened to in school(history class about religions)/people about their faith systems/and Catholic ccd, it clicked. There was no way in my eyes that timing could be so perfect without it being something more. And I knew it had to be the Christian God. I wish I could "prove it" or reason it (because I love doing that) but I can't anymore than what I just said. I have written a few papers on it if anyone is actually interested in a more detailed explanation.

Tried to kill self. Found God.

tomqvaxy

When I moved to the American South from having grown up going to Catholic (Parochial) school elsewhere, I was treated like something filthy. White (Yes. This was done by 100% by the white ones. I am white as far as it matters so this was not their racism. Just my observation.) Southern Baptists treated me like a horror from beyond the grave. I was called a witch, a satan worshiper. a Mary worshiper, that Catholic girl...blah blah blah. It made me realize that most people do not actually follow their "faith". I was 8. I can't say I've thought much of organised religion since then. On the good effects side the people who did befriend me were an amazing melting pot of races and heritages...all of whom had also been shunned by the white Southern Baptist majority. Gooba gabba. Fuck-you Southern Baptist church. Forever and ever. Amen. In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Mele Kalikimaka. TL;DR - Aren't. Because jerks.

When I moved to the American South from having grown up going to Catholic (Parochial) school elsewhere, I was treated like something filthy. White (Yes. This was done by 100% by the white ones. I am white as far as it matters so this was not their racism. Just my observation.) Southern Baptists treated me like a horror from beyond the grave. I was called a witch, a satan worshiper. a Mary worshiper, that Catholic girl...blah blah blah. It made me realize that most people do not actually follow their "faith". I was 8. I can't say I've thought much of organised religion since then. On the good effects side the people who did befriend me were an amazing melting pot of races and heritages...all of whom had also been shunned by the white Southern Baptist majority. Gooba gabba. Fuck-you Southern Baptist church. Forever and ever. Amen. In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Mele Kalikimaka. TL;DR - Aren't. Because jerks.

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t5_2qh1i

cem9fkq

When I moved to the American South from having grown up going to Catholic (Parochial) school elsewhere, I was treated like something filthy. White (Yes. This was done by 100% by the white ones. I am white as far as it matters so this was not their racism. Just my observation.) Southern Baptists treated me like a horror from beyond the grave. I was called a witch, a satan worshiper. a Mary worshiper, that Catholic girl...blah blah blah. It made me realize that most people do not actually follow their "faith". I was 8. I can't say I've thought much of organised religion since then. On the good effects side the people who did befriend me were an amazing melting pot of races and heritages...all of whom had also been shunned by the white Southern Baptist majority. Gooba gabba. Fuck-you Southern Baptist church. Forever and ever. Amen. In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Mele Kalikimaka.

Aren't. Because jerks.

Chance4e

I'm very religious; I just don't believe in God. Let me explain. I'm a Jewish atheist. I believe that the Torah and the Talmud and Jewish teachings are beautiful and valuable, but I don't believe God is real. To me, the covenant with God is an elaborate metaphor about our responsibility to be good people, understanding, and compassionate, and commit mitzvot. Five thousand years ago that meant not working one day a week, staying away from bacon, and giving charity (tzedukah) and help to all who need it. Today, it means more of the latter. tl;dr Judaism for me is a lot less about faith and spirituality and a lot more about being good to other people.

I'm very religious; I just don't believe in God. Let me explain. I'm a Jewish atheist. I believe that the Torah and the Talmud and Jewish teachings are beautiful and valuable, but I don't believe God is real. To me, the covenant with God is an elaborate metaphor about our responsibility to be good people, understanding, and compassionate, and commit mitzvot. Five thousand years ago that meant not working one day a week, staying away from bacon, and giving charity (tzedukah) and help to all who need it. Today, it means more of the latter. tl;dr Judaism for me is a lot less about faith and spirituality and a lot more about being good to other people.

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t5_2qh1i

cem9g8q

I'm very religious; I just don't believe in God. Let me explain. I'm a Jewish atheist. I believe that the Torah and the Talmud and Jewish teachings are beautiful and valuable, but I don't believe God is real. To me, the covenant with God is an elaborate metaphor about our responsibility to be good people, understanding, and compassionate, and commit mitzvot. Five thousand years ago that meant not working one day a week, staying away from bacon, and giving charity (tzedukah) and help to all who need it. Today, it means more of the latter.

Judaism for me is a lot less about faith and spirituality and a lot more about being good to other people.

navycow

I was raised Hindu. I guess critical thinking in college has a tendency to mess with faith and I started learning more and more about other religions. Going to college in Utah the LDS faith was practically shoved down my throat. As I learned about other religions and started altering my own opinions I started integrating a lot of the beliefs into my own. My cousin likened my shift to a scene from The Hunt for Red October where a torpedo was going back and forth just looking for a target of any kind. The thing I didn't like about western religions was how harsh they were to other religions. How do you pick a god when they all say the others will send you to hell? For a long time I was atheist then agnostic. I am still agnostic to this day. It's hard for me to believe that there is a omnipotent being that would allow such suffering in this world. I'm agnostic because I feel that there are far too many coincidences for everything to be left to chance. I think ultimately our whole universe could just be a lab experiment and is sitting in a dish under a microscope somewhere. There is a "God" but not as we see him. My goal is to live a life that I can look back on and be proud of. I want to be free to believe what I want, and let others be free to believe what they want. As long as my beliefs don't hurt anyone else I think I'm doing ok and no "God" would judge me for being a good person. I still practice Hinduism though. I'm married with a child and I do it preserve our culture. Plus its super fun celebrating events like Diwali and Holi. TL:DR Torpedo without a target, just be kind to one another.

I was raised Hindu. I guess critical thinking in college has a tendency to mess with faith and I started learning more and more about other religions. Going to college in Utah the LDS faith was practically shoved down my throat. As I learned about other religions and started altering my own opinions I started integrating a lot of the beliefs into my own. My cousin likened my shift to a scene from The Hunt for Red October where a torpedo was going back and forth just looking for a target of any kind. The thing I didn't like about western religions was how harsh they were to other religions. How do you pick a god when they all say the others will send you to hell? For a long time I was atheist then agnostic. I am still agnostic to this day. It's hard for me to believe that there is a omnipotent being that would allow such suffering in this world. I'm agnostic because I feel that there are far too many coincidences for everything to be left to chance. I think ultimately our whole universe could just be a lab experiment and is sitting in a dish under a microscope somewhere. There is a "God" but not as we see him. My goal is to live a life that I can look back on and be proud of. I want to be free to believe what I want, and let others be free to believe what they want. As long as my beliefs don't hurt anyone else I think I'm doing ok and no "God" would judge me for being a good person. I still practice Hinduism though. I'm married with a child and I do it preserve our culture. Plus its super fun celebrating events like Diwali and Holi. TL:DR Torpedo without a target, just be kind to one another.

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t5_2qh1i

cem9hck

I was raised Hindu. I guess critical thinking in college has a tendency to mess with faith and I started learning more and more about other religions. Going to college in Utah the LDS faith was practically shoved down my throat. As I learned about other religions and started altering my own opinions I started integrating a lot of the beliefs into my own. My cousin likened my shift to a scene from The Hunt for Red October where a torpedo was going back and forth just looking for a target of any kind. The thing I didn't like about western religions was how harsh they were to other religions. How do you pick a god when they all say the others will send you to hell? For a long time I was atheist then agnostic. I am still agnostic to this day. It's hard for me to believe that there is a omnipotent being that would allow such suffering in this world. I'm agnostic because I feel that there are far too many coincidences for everything to be left to chance. I think ultimately our whole universe could just be a lab experiment and is sitting in a dish under a microscope somewhere. There is a "God" but not as we see him. My goal is to live a life that I can look back on and be proud of. I want to be free to believe what I want, and let others be free to believe what they want. As long as my beliefs don't hurt anyone else I think I'm doing ok and no "God" would judge me for being a good person. I still practice Hinduism though. I'm married with a child and I do it preserve our culture. Plus its super fun celebrating events like Diwali and Holi.

Torpedo without a target, just be kind to one another.

jigielnik

All of the most popular religions today are the result of works written thousands of years ago. The very idea of religion that is in our heads is a result of these books. There is too much evidence that supports the theory that none of these books has any manner of divine origin but were rather written by men, likely with power in mind when they did so. I prefaced this with the mention of the books being so old because there are many people who say they believe in god but in a different way than any religion tells them to. I argue that they would not even have the *idea* of a god or gods in their head if it weren't for the notion being pounded down our collective consciousness for 2000+ years. **TL;DR: I'm not religious because there is too much evidence to suggest that it does not affect one's ability to live a rich, fulfilling life.**

All of the most popular religions today are the result of works written thousands of years ago. The very idea of religion that is in our heads is a result of these books. There is too much evidence that supports the theory that none of these books has any manner of divine origin but were rather written by men, likely with power in mind when they did so. I prefaced this with the mention of the books being so old because there are many people who say they believe in god but in a different way than any religion tells them to. I argue that they would not even have the idea of a god or gods in their head if it weren't for the notion being pounded down our collective consciousness for 2000+ years. TL;DR: I'm not religious because there is too much evidence to suggest that it does not affect one's ability to live a rich, fulfilling life.

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t5_2qh1i

cem9jss

All of the most popular religions today are the result of works written thousands of years ago. The very idea of religion that is in our heads is a result of these books. There is too much evidence that supports the theory that none of these books has any manner of divine origin but were rather written by men, likely with power in mind when they did so. I prefaced this with the mention of the books being so old because there are many people who say they believe in god but in a different way than any religion tells them to. I argue that they would not even have the idea of a god or gods in their head if it weren't for the notion being pounded down our collective consciousness for 2000+ years.

I'm not religious because there is too much evidence to suggest that it does not affect one's ability to live a rich, fulfilling life.

TheMetalsmithRat

I grew up Catholic with my mom and dad. We went to church every Sunday, ate fish on Friday, but we were never "super ultra" religious. My mom enrolled me in PSR class at night to get my communion and conformation. I'd pretend to sing and recite the hymns because it was boring. Something told me that this religion wasn't for me. I remember a summer when I'd find dead birds and chipmunks in the back yard and perform a Egyptian burial like for the Pharaohs. I didn't know a thing at the time about the gods and goddesses. I just saw a documentary on History channel about the pyramids and I played the Egyptian priestess. Anyway. My dad was always an alcoholic. When he was at his A.A. meetings he'd tell me about how you give your self up to the lord and Jesus. (I was about 10-11 at the time). I remember thinking to myself "If you're trying to overcome something, why would someone tell you to give up?" My dads alcoholism got worse and worse during the next year, my family had split apart from this and we rarely saw him. So I tried praying. Every night. I'd pray that things would get better. I'd pray that my family would be whole again. The last time I saw him alive, he was throwing up in my moms backyard after I had begged him not to buy any beer at the store. After that, I really resented the church, and God. He couldn't do anything. The church looks down upon divorced families, they couldn't even offer anything to make me feel better. Fast forward to high school. I had become really interested in the gods and goddesses of the pagan religions. I found myself looking back to the Egyptian deities. I also had my "power animals". Lion was for my strength, high school was rough for me. The Deer was for grace and connection to the woodlands, I've always loved the outdoors and the woods. Finally the hawk was for my dad. I'd always see them when I was driving on the highway and walking in the parks. I knew he was there in spirit. I joined up with a coven at the time, learned Reiki, found that I'm really intuitive and could read peoples fortunes with gemstones (cards weren't my thing). I had a falling out with the high priestess and I never went back to the coven. Beginning of college, I was fascinated with Buddhism. I read a book, took up meditation, and found that I was happier being able to tolerate people than hating them. I still had my deities and my animal signs, but they were less prevalent. I still hadn't resolved my grief for my fathers death at the time, so that was really weighing me down. Today I've kind of let go of it. I've come to the conclusion that what my dad couldn't do for me in life, he'd still be there in spirit. I see hawks regularly in my area. They're either perched and looking at me, or flying up above. My altar is gathering dust, but I refuse to hide my statue of Isis, and Sekhmet because they give me personal power, not magical. I've also learned that it makes more sense to listen to logic and reason. The proof is in the pudding, or in the fossils, or the chemistry. I can;t hate people for their religion, but it's the radicals that make things worse for all of us. From my life, I've learned that religion is psychological. It's there to answer questions that we normally cannot answer with logic and reason alone. Every religion started from one, and just has been changed over time It's like a game of telephone. Read into it, and there are many similarities that link them together. Tl;dr, words

I grew up Catholic with my mom and dad. We went to church every Sunday, ate fish on Friday, but we were never "super ultra" religious. My mom enrolled me in PSR class at night to get my communion and conformation. I'd pretend to sing and recite the hymns because it was boring. Something told me that this religion wasn't for me. I remember a summer when I'd find dead birds and chipmunks in the back yard and perform a Egyptian burial like for the Pharaohs. I didn't know a thing at the time about the gods and goddesses. I just saw a documentary on History channel about the pyramids and I played the Egyptian priestess. Anyway. My dad was always an alcoholic. When he was at his A.A. meetings he'd tell me about how you give your self up to the lord and Jesus. (I was about 10-11 at the time). I remember thinking to myself "If you're trying to overcome something, why would someone tell you to give up?" My dads alcoholism got worse and worse during the next year, my family had split apart from this and we rarely saw him. So I tried praying. Every night. I'd pray that things would get better. I'd pray that my family would be whole again. The last time I saw him alive, he was throwing up in my moms backyard after I had begged him not to buy any beer at the store. After that, I really resented the church, and God. He couldn't do anything. The church looks down upon divorced families, they couldn't even offer anything to make me feel better. Fast forward to high school. I had become really interested in the gods and goddesses of the pagan religions. I found myself looking back to the Egyptian deities. I also had my "power animals". Lion was for my strength, high school was rough for me. The Deer was for grace and connection to the woodlands, I've always loved the outdoors and the woods. Finally the hawk was for my dad. I'd always see them when I was driving on the highway and walking in the parks. I knew he was there in spirit. I joined up with a coven at the time, learned Reiki, found that I'm really intuitive and could read peoples fortunes with gemstones (cards weren't my thing). I had a falling out with the high priestess and I never went back to the coven. Beginning of college, I was fascinated with Buddhism. I read a book, took up meditation, and found that I was happier being able to tolerate people than hating them. I still had my deities and my animal signs, but they were less prevalent. I still hadn't resolved my grief for my fathers death at the time, so that was really weighing me down. Today I've kind of let go of it. I've come to the conclusion that what my dad couldn't do for me in life, he'd still be there in spirit. I see hawks regularly in my area. They're either perched and looking at me, or flying up above. My altar is gathering dust, but I refuse to hide my statue of Isis, and Sekhmet because they give me personal power, not magical. I've also learned that it makes more sense to listen to logic and reason. The proof is in the pudding, or in the fossils, or the chemistry. I can;t hate people for their religion, but it's the radicals that make things worse for all of us. From my life, I've learned that religion is psychological. It's there to answer questions that we normally cannot answer with logic and reason alone. Every religion started from one, and just has been changed over time It's like a game of telephone. Read into it, and there are many similarities that link them together. Tl;dr, words

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t5_2qh1i

cem9l09

I grew up Catholic with my mom and dad. We went to church every Sunday, ate fish on Friday, but we were never "super ultra" religious. My mom enrolled me in PSR class at night to get my communion and conformation. I'd pretend to sing and recite the hymns because it was boring. Something told me that this religion wasn't for me. I remember a summer when I'd find dead birds and chipmunks in the back yard and perform a Egyptian burial like for the Pharaohs. I didn't know a thing at the time about the gods and goddesses. I just saw a documentary on History channel about the pyramids and I played the Egyptian priestess. Anyway. My dad was always an alcoholic. When he was at his A.A. meetings he'd tell me about how you give your self up to the lord and Jesus. (I was about 10-11 at the time). I remember thinking to myself "If you're trying to overcome something, why would someone tell you to give up?" My dads alcoholism got worse and worse during the next year, my family had split apart from this and we rarely saw him. So I tried praying. Every night. I'd pray that things would get better. I'd pray that my family would be whole again. The last time I saw him alive, he was throwing up in my moms backyard after I had begged him not to buy any beer at the store. After that, I really resented the church, and God. He couldn't do anything. The church looks down upon divorced families, they couldn't even offer anything to make me feel better. Fast forward to high school. I had become really interested in the gods and goddesses of the pagan religions. I found myself looking back to the Egyptian deities. I also had my "power animals". Lion was for my strength, high school was rough for me. The Deer was for grace and connection to the woodlands, I've always loved the outdoors and the woods. Finally the hawk was for my dad. I'd always see them when I was driving on the highway and walking in the parks. I knew he was there in spirit. I joined up with a coven at the time, learned Reiki, found that I'm really intuitive and could read peoples fortunes with gemstones (cards weren't my thing). I had a falling out with the high priestess and I never went back to the coven. Beginning of college, I was fascinated with Buddhism. I read a book, took up meditation, and found that I was happier being able to tolerate people than hating them. I still had my deities and my animal signs, but they were less prevalent. I still hadn't resolved my grief for my fathers death at the time, so that was really weighing me down. Today I've kind of let go of it. I've come to the conclusion that what my dad couldn't do for me in life, he'd still be there in spirit. I see hawks regularly in my area. They're either perched and looking at me, or flying up above. My altar is gathering dust, but I refuse to hide my statue of Isis, and Sekhmet because they give me personal power, not magical. I've also learned that it makes more sense to listen to logic and reason. The proof is in the pudding, or in the fossils, or the chemistry. I can;t hate people for their religion, but it's the radicals that make things worse for all of us. From my life, I've learned that religion is psychological. It's there to answer questions that we normally cannot answer with logic and reason alone. Every religion started from one, and just has been changed over time It's like a game of telephone. Read into it, and there are many similarities that link them together.

words

Brett2094

Mother was religious, baptized, Lutheran school till high school. I was very interested in other religions when we went through them in religion class. My pastor kind of put down these other religions by trying to show how crazy they were. Well my bs meter went off. I wanted to learn more. It was as if he was scared of something. I graduated and wala, the internet came into my house. I researched religions my Freshman year of HS. I came to find Buddhism for the philosophical aspect of it. I went through many hard nights of questioning god. I lost my faith a relatively short period of time after that. I studied Islam, Judaism, and called myself a believer of both at different times. Never got into eastern religions per se. I then asked myself if there are 40,000 religions in the world, how as a mere mortal could I decide which one is the right one. Now I believe that if a god exists, I think they/he/she will understand my beliefs and accept me to wherever it is. If by chance I go to hell or a place similar, I think I can escape it mentally through meditation, maybe even enlightenment. That is my taking on it all. TL;DR God isn't a dick and trying to force people to believe by ignorance doesn't work on everyone.

Mother was religious, baptized, Lutheran school till high school. I was very interested in other religions when we went through them in religion class. My pastor kind of put down these other religions by trying to show how crazy they were. Well my bs meter went off. I wanted to learn more. It was as if he was scared of something. I graduated and wala, the internet came into my house. I researched religions my Freshman year of HS. I came to find Buddhism for the philosophical aspect of it. I went through many hard nights of questioning god. I lost my faith a relatively short period of time after that. I studied Islam, Judaism, and called myself a believer of both at different times. Never got into eastern religions per se. I then asked myself if there are 40,000 religions in the world, how as a mere mortal could I decide which one is the right one. Now I believe that if a god exists, I think they/he/she will understand my beliefs and accept me to wherever it is. If by chance I go to hell or a place similar, I think I can escape it mentally through meditation, maybe even enlightenment. That is my taking on it all. TL;DR God isn't a dick and trying to force people to believe by ignorance doesn't work on everyone.

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t5_2qh1i

cem9luc

Mother was religious, baptized, Lutheran school till high school. I was very interested in other religions when we went through them in religion class. My pastor kind of put down these other religions by trying to show how crazy they were. Well my bs meter went off. I wanted to learn more. It was as if he was scared of something. I graduated and wala, the internet came into my house. I researched religions my Freshman year of HS. I came to find Buddhism for the philosophical aspect of it. I went through many hard nights of questioning god. I lost my faith a relatively short period of time after that. I studied Islam, Judaism, and called myself a believer of both at different times. Never got into eastern religions per se. I then asked myself if there are 40,000 religions in the world, how as a mere mortal could I decide which one is the right one. Now I believe that if a god exists, I think they/he/she will understand my beliefs and accept me to wherever it is. If by chance I go to hell or a place similar, I think I can escape it mentally through meditation, maybe even enlightenment. That is my taking on it all.

God isn't a dick and trying to force people to believe by ignorance doesn't work on everyone.

kielbasa330

I'm not sure why I'm not religious. I live in an urban area, and no one is really outwardly religious, so it feels normal. But I have had conversations with people where it slowly comes out that they go to church all the time or really believe that God has their back or something. I think when I was around 12 or 13 I realized that Greek, Norse, and Roman mythology were all the religions of their respective times. And that in the future, Christianity and Islam and all these other religions would be regarded much the same. (Each religion probably views the others the same today, actually.) I'm not sure why I started not being religious. Religion never really explained anything for me. And Catholicism (I was raised Protestant) skeeved me out. It might have been when I heard the sermon our pastor gave in church on the radio right before we went into church. I guess I figured they just spent all week thinking about god and writing about it instead of just cribbing an old Paul Harvey broadcast. **tl;dr** A repost made me an atheist

I'm not sure why I'm not religious. I live in an urban area, and no one is really outwardly religious, so it feels normal. But I have had conversations with people where it slowly comes out that they go to church all the time or really believe that God has their back or something. I think when I was around 12 or 13 I realized that Greek, Norse, and Roman mythology were all the religions of their respective times. And that in the future, Christianity and Islam and all these other religions would be regarded much the same. (Each religion probably views the others the same today, actually.) I'm not sure why I started not being religious. Religion never really explained anything for me. And Catholicism (I was raised Protestant) skeeved me out. It might have been when I heard the sermon our pastor gave in church on the radio right before we went into church. I guess I figured they just spent all week thinking about god and writing about it instead of just cribbing an old Paul Harvey broadcast. tl;dr A repost made me an atheist

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t5_2qh1i

cem9rse

I'm not sure why I'm not religious. I live in an urban area, and no one is really outwardly religious, so it feels normal. But I have had conversations with people where it slowly comes out that they go to church all the time or really believe that God has their back or something. I think when I was around 12 or 13 I realized that Greek, Norse, and Roman mythology were all the religions of their respective times. And that in the future, Christianity and Islam and all these other religions would be regarded much the same. (Each religion probably views the others the same today, actually.) I'm not sure why I started not being religious. Religion never really explained anything for me. And Catholicism (I was raised Protestant) skeeved me out. It might have been when I heard the sermon our pastor gave in church on the radio right before we went into church. I guess I figured they just spent all week thinking about god and writing about it instead of just cribbing an old Paul Harvey broadcast.

A repost made me an atheist

Master_Tallness

I was raised a Catholic and in my early teen years was enrolled in the CDD program in my area. Each CDD group consisted of an adult leader and roughly 8 - 10 students in the class and we would meet once a week. Normal class consisted of reading a religious passage and then having a discussion on the topic. Whenever the leader would ask us what we thought of the passage, I was always the first to answer and many times the only one to answer without much pushing from the leader. Mind you that these were questions that shouldn't be that hard for a Catholic, for example: "How do you see Jesus?". Sure, such a question would take some thought, but that's where the issue was. My peers did not think about their feelings on Religion. They were generally unopinionated when it came voicing their feelings on God or religious practices. Meanwhile, these same people were the ones going on retreats, participating in Catholic food drives and going every week to socialize with their friends at our CYO. I came to realize that they saw, whether consciously or not, their religion as something you do, a community to be involved in and they felt uncomfortable in questioning the status quo in beliefs or faith in the community. Tl:dr I wanted to discuss faith with peers and they seemed to only want to accept it, which turned me off religion entirely.

I was raised a Catholic and in my early teen years was enrolled in the CDD program in my area. Each CDD group consisted of an adult leader and roughly 8 - 10 students in the class and we would meet once a week. Normal class consisted of reading a religious passage and then having a discussion on the topic. Whenever the leader would ask us what we thought of the passage, I was always the first to answer and many times the only one to answer without much pushing from the leader. Mind you that these were questions that shouldn't be that hard for a Catholic, for example: "How do you see Jesus?". Sure, such a question would take some thought, but that's where the issue was. My peers did not think about their feelings on Religion. They were generally unopinionated when it came voicing their feelings on God or religious practices. Meanwhile, these same people were the ones going on retreats, participating in Catholic food drives and going every week to socialize with their friends at our CYO. I came to realize that they saw, whether consciously or not, their religion as something you do, a community to be involved in and they felt uncomfortable in questioning the status quo in beliefs or faith in the community. Tl:dr I wanted to discuss faith with peers and they seemed to only want to accept it, which turned me off religion entirely.

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t5_2qh1i

cem9tul

I was raised a Catholic and in my early teen years was enrolled in the CDD program in my area. Each CDD group consisted of an adult leader and roughly 8 - 10 students in the class and we would meet once a week. Normal class consisted of reading a religious passage and then having a discussion on the topic. Whenever the leader would ask us what we thought of the passage, I was always the first to answer and many times the only one to answer without much pushing from the leader. Mind you that these were questions that shouldn't be that hard for a Catholic, for example: "How do you see Jesus?". Sure, such a question would take some thought, but that's where the issue was. My peers did not think about their feelings on Religion. They were generally unopinionated when it came voicing their feelings on God or religious practices. Meanwhile, these same people were the ones going on retreats, participating in Catholic food drives and going every week to socialize with their friends at our CYO. I came to realize that they saw, whether consciously or not, their religion as something you do, a community to be involved in and they felt uncomfortable in questioning the status quo in beliefs or faith in the community.

I wanted to discuss faith with peers and they seemed to only want to accept it, which turned me off religion entirely.

Iwant2baredditwhore

Hello Reddit, I am [Baha'i]( but I do not agree with everything in its teachings! I choose to be religious because: 1) I had a very positive church experience (a Union Christian church). They encouraged us to think critically about religion, and it was a very open community 2) I recognize the existence of a God is unverifiable, but the God I choose to believe in (one who created the universe, but does not watch over us every second of the day) seems more plausible to me 3) I am naturally a contrarian, most people I knew in high school were Atheists so I chose to be religious to argue with them Also, here is a quick story for the road. On a high school debate trip, me and my teammates were waiting for a table at a Denny's in California. We began talking about religion, so I was explaining that I am Baha'i because I see most religions as essentially teaching the same moral code once you strip the stories. One of my teammates (an Atheist) replied, "Actually, in the Bagvadhgita, it basically says you should kill your neighbors and take all their stuff" Of course, there was an Indian girl right behind her who just said, "That's not what it says." My teammate proceeded to argue with this random girl, but I was so mortified, I just noped right out of there. TL;DR I am religious because of reasons

Hello Reddit, I am [Baha'i]( but I do not agree with everything in its teachings! I choose to be religious because: 1) I had a very positive church experience (a Union Christian church). They encouraged us to think critically about religion, and it was a very open community 2) I recognize the existence of a God is unverifiable, but the God I choose to believe in (one who created the universe, but does not watch over us every second of the day) seems more plausible to me 3) I am naturally a contrarian, most people I knew in high school were Atheists so I chose to be religious to argue with them Also, here is a quick story for the road. On a high school debate trip, me and my teammates were waiting for a table at a Denny's in California. We began talking about religion, so I was explaining that I am Baha'i because I see most religions as essentially teaching the same moral code once you strip the stories. One of my teammates (an Atheist) replied, "Actually, in the Bagvadhgita, it basically says you should kill your neighbors and take all their stuff" Of course, there was an Indian girl right behind her who just said, "That's not what it says." My teammate proceeded to argue with this random girl, but I was so mortified, I just noped right out of there. TL;DR I am religious because of reasons

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t5_2qh1i

cem9ua8

Hello Reddit, I am [Baha'i]( but I do not agree with everything in its teachings! I choose to be religious because: 1) I had a very positive church experience (a Union Christian church). They encouraged us to think critically about religion, and it was a very open community 2) I recognize the existence of a God is unverifiable, but the God I choose to believe in (one who created the universe, but does not watch over us every second of the day) seems more plausible to me 3) I am naturally a contrarian, most people I knew in high school were Atheists so I chose to be religious to argue with them Also, here is a quick story for the road. On a high school debate trip, me and my teammates were waiting for a table at a Denny's in California. We began talking about religion, so I was explaining that I am Baha'i because I see most religions as essentially teaching the same moral code once you strip the stories. One of my teammates (an Atheist) replied, "Actually, in the Bagvadhgita, it basically says you should kill your neighbors and take all their stuff" Of course, there was an Indian girl right behind her who just said, "That's not what it says." My teammate proceeded to argue with this random girl, but I was so mortified, I just noped right out of there.

I am religious because of reasons

wrestlingfan007

If there is a God I'd despise him/her/it/them and the bullshit roll of the dice holocaust, rainbows, cancer, aids, love, child slavery, Radiohead, etc... they apparently use to "create" everything. But there's no God. Because there isn't. Just FYI I do not subscribe to /r/atheism because I feel personal faith/beliefs are something that are your own and everyone should fuck off about their opinions on it. To me, religion is kinda like taking a shit. Everyone has to have a way of doing it and a belief system, even if it's Athesim. But I don't care about your practices or how you believe it best to wipe your ass as long as you don't walk around smelling like shit and describing your turds to me and other people. TL:DR I don't think there's a God/s, but if you do that's fine. I don't give a shit.

If there is a God I'd despise him/her/it/them and the bullshit roll of the dice holocaust, rainbows, cancer, aids, love, child slavery, Radiohead, etc... they apparently use to "create" everything. But there's no God. Because there isn't. Just FYI I do not subscribe to /r/atheism because I feel personal faith/beliefs are something that are your own and everyone should fuck off about their opinions on it. To me, religion is kinda like taking a shit. Everyone has to have a way of doing it and a belief system, even if it's Athesim. But I don't care about your practices or how you believe it best to wipe your ass as long as you don't walk around smelling like shit and describing your turds to me and other people. TL:DR I don't think there's a God/s, but if you do that's fine. I don't give a shit.

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t5_2qh1i

cem9x2n

If there is a God I'd despise him/her/it/them and the bullshit roll of the dice holocaust, rainbows, cancer, aids, love, child slavery, Radiohead, etc... they apparently use to "create" everything. But there's no God. Because there isn't. Just FYI I do not subscribe to /r/atheism because I feel personal faith/beliefs are something that are your own and everyone should fuck off about their opinions on it. To me, religion is kinda like taking a shit. Everyone has to have a way of doing it and a belief system, even if it's Athesim. But I don't care about your practices or how you believe it best to wipe your ass as long as you don't walk around smelling like shit and describing your turds to me and other people.

I don't think there's a God/s, but if you do that's fine. I don't give a shit.

Raelrapids

Simply put I see no reason to be. I have no problem with abiding by the moral code of any religion, in it of itself. Meaning that while I may take issue with what that entails ( as in certain moral/religious doctrines including things that I disagree with or find harmful), it is to me no different than having a philosophy about life. But to be religious is more than that and logically requires a belief in the actual details of your religion. Lets say you are a Christian, which is what I was brought up as, you can read the bible and find the teachings of Jesus Christ great, even if I myself do not, it is not really different than reading the Nicomacean Ethics and living your life in accordance with the substance of that work. So again while I myself do not really do that with any writer or philosopher I think we all to some extent do something similar. We base our moral compasses, usually, on some greater framework. So in my case I am a traditional liberal. The works of Enlightenment thinkers have played a huge role in my life and my beliefs about life. But if I were to do some ritual or something every Thursday to show it would be silly, right? That is how I feel about religion. It's simply silly. Why would you believe all the extra aspects that are honestly absurd (a virgin gave birth to a baby) and then show that via some sort of ritual, when all you need to say is I believe the world would run better if we followed the teachings of Jesus Christ and I would like to lead by example. Well I'll tell you why they don't, because often times the teachings in their entirety do not hold up. So people place an objectivity to their beliefs by assigning some divine relevance to them. "It doesn't need to make sense it's the word of God". That is a huge reason why I initially started to question my religion and ultimately stopped practicing. TLDR Why should I?

Simply put I see no reason to be. I have no problem with abiding by the moral code of any religion, in it of itself. Meaning that while I may take issue with what that entails ( as in certain moral/religious doctrines including things that I disagree with or find harmful), it is to me no different than having a philosophy about life. But to be religious is more than that and logically requires a belief in the actual details of your religion. Lets say you are a Christian, which is what I was brought up as, you can read the bible and find the teachings of Jesus Christ great, even if I myself do not, it is not really different than reading the Nicomacean Ethics and living your life in accordance with the substance of that work. So again while I myself do not really do that with any writer or philosopher I think we all to some extent do something similar. We base our moral compasses, usually, on some greater framework. So in my case I am a traditional liberal. The works of Enlightenment thinkers have played a huge role in my life and my beliefs about life. But if I were to do some ritual or something every Thursday to show it would be silly, right? That is how I feel about religion. It's simply silly. Why would you believe all the extra aspects that are honestly absurd (a virgin gave birth to a baby) and then show that via some sort of ritual, when all you need to say is I believe the world would run better if we followed the teachings of Jesus Christ and I would like to lead by example. Well I'll tell you why they don't, because often times the teachings in their entirety do not hold up. So people place an objectivity to their beliefs by assigning some divine relevance to them. "It doesn't need to make sense it's the word of God". That is a huge reason why I initially started to question my religion and ultimately stopped practicing. TLDR Why should I?

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t5_2qh1i

cem9yhx

Simply put I see no reason to be. I have no problem with abiding by the moral code of any religion, in it of itself. Meaning that while I may take issue with what that entails ( as in certain moral/religious doctrines including things that I disagree with or find harmful), it is to me no different than having a philosophy about life. But to be religious is more than that and logically requires a belief in the actual details of your religion. Lets say you are a Christian, which is what I was brought up as, you can read the bible and find the teachings of Jesus Christ great, even if I myself do not, it is not really different than reading the Nicomacean Ethics and living your life in accordance with the substance of that work. So again while I myself do not really do that with any writer or philosopher I think we all to some extent do something similar. We base our moral compasses, usually, on some greater framework. So in my case I am a traditional liberal. The works of Enlightenment thinkers have played a huge role in my life and my beliefs about life. But if I were to do some ritual or something every Thursday to show it would be silly, right? That is how I feel about religion. It's simply silly. Why would you believe all the extra aspects that are honestly absurd (a virgin gave birth to a baby) and then show that via some sort of ritual, when all you need to say is I believe the world would run better if we followed the teachings of Jesus Christ and I would like to lead by example. Well I'll tell you why they don't, because often times the teachings in their entirety do not hold up. So people place an objectivity to their beliefs by assigning some divine relevance to them. "It doesn't need to make sense it's the word of God". That is a huge reason why I initially started to question my religion and ultimately stopped practicing.

Why should I?

ageeksgirl08

This is a huge wall of text, but to understand why I am not religious, I have to share my history with religion. My family was generally christian, though we never went to church. I tried twice to be baptized: once to become a Lutheran and once to become a Catholic. My dad chose to use those times to have petty fights with my mother over child support and custody of my middle sister and I. I stopped going to church entirely until I met my best friend in high school. I still believed in god, though I was always terrified of him. My youngest sister was quite sick when she was little. One of her frequent hospital trips almost resulted in her death. I was always terrified that god would kill her as revenge for some slight sin I was unaware of. My friend thought that was foolish, and asked if I'd like to start attending his Foursquare Pentecostal church and youth group. At first, it was like a breath of life for my faith. At first, it was all love, sunshine, and roses. And rock music in church? Hell, yes. As time went by, best friend became boyfriend. He went off to college and I still had two and a half years of high school in front of me. I would go to church with him and his parents whenever he was home from school. During summer breaks, we would both play on the worship team band on Sunday mornings. I got really in to it. I also was dealing with a lot of mental issues. I had been diagnosed with anxiety and depression. This, coupled with the fact that every so often our pastor would decide to go off on one of his end of the world rants, caused me to become terrified of god again. I would lie awake for hours at night, in utter despair because my youngest sister would never have a chance at a full and happy life. The apocalypse was due at any time. Hell, I probably wouldn't even have a chance to marry my boyfriend! I started praying and praying that god would hold off on the apocalypse until after we were all gone. Then, I started becoming terrified that god would kill my family members and loved ones to spite me. I started praying for every family member and loved one by individual name before I fell asleep at night, no small task for someone with a huge family. It got to the point that I would be scared to get up in the mornings, fearful that some terrible disaster would have befallen my family. As I learned how to mostly manage my anxiety, I cared less and less about my religion. I became, as the saying is, "dormant in the faith." I would attend church with my boyfriend because it as a chance to spend a few hours with him, not out of any religious feeling. As for he and I, we had had our ups and downs during the time when we were long distance. He attended a church right off the campus and started hanging out with a girl that he emotionally cheated on me with. He had flirted with the idea of breaking up with me just to pursue this girl. But once I had graduated high school, I myself headed for college. And yes, I chose to attend the same college as him. Our relationship improved and I even started feeling semi-religious again. We would attend the church that he had found at college on occasion. As the semesters went on, though, we eventually stopped. We didn't have time for god with all of our courses taking up our time. We would still go to church when we went home, he because his family insisted. I, because, well, I didn't like not being with him all the time. In February of 2009, we got engaged. At the end of the fall semester after that, neither one of us could afford to stay in the dorms anymore, so we decided to move into an apartment together. His parents' reaction was terrible. They were so angry. The rest of his family wasn't happy, either. One of his aunts sent us a letter, telling us we were "working against god" with our blatant sin. I didn't see anyone offering to pay our dorm fees, so we ignored it and moved in together. We decided to tell our pastor, hoping to appease his parents. When we did, however, he literally just turned his back to us and walked away. I was done with church permanently at that point. We had talked about getting married in his parent's church, but after that fiasco, we decided against it. We were going to do this our way. During our engagement, I made the mistake of posting Cyanide and Happiness' annual Zombie Jesus Day comic on my own facebook wall. My fiance's family retaliated horribly. The vast majority of them stopped speaking to me. Something that is still occurring, nearly 3 years later. During this time, I also stopped really believing in god. I don't have a definite date that I stopped. It just sort of gradually happened. I didn't really talk about how I felt to my fiance. It didn't seem important enough. During the final bits of wedding planning, my soon-to-be husband came straight out and told me that he was now an atheist. I didn't know what that word was, so I started researching. It made me take a hard look at what religion had caused in my life: fear, anxiety, drama. I realized that I was one, too. I just didn't have the name for it. From that point on, for better or worse, we were done with god and the church. We ended up having a secular wedding ceremony, performed by a friend. Yes, his family was livid. We didn't care. We had each other and that's all that mattered. We didn't need religion interfering in our lives, making us fearful. We could be just as happy without it. And, truth be told, my anxiety became a hell of a lot more manageable without having to constantly worry about going to hell. Through all of this, my family was just marvelous. They did not care what our religious beliefs were. As long as we were happy, and did good in the world, we were in the clear. It was such a stark contrast to how my husband's family treated us. It's been almost three years now since we got married. I kind of consider that our official divorce from religion. In that time, my husband and I have become better people. We try and do as much good as we can in the world, not only because it's the right thing to do, but because I personally feel like I need to make amends for what harm I may have caused with my religion. We're also out to prove that we, as atheists, are not evil people. We're just people. There are good ones, bad ones, and everything in between. We cherish this single life we have. This brief moment on this rock, hurtling through space. I make it a point to love as many people as I can, and show them that. Yes, I have my flaws. I am not perfect. I am a human. And that is all I need to be. TL;DR: Can't really sum it up. Sorry. :(

This is a huge wall of text, but to understand why I am not religious, I have to share my history with religion. My family was generally christian, though we never went to church. I tried twice to be baptized: once to become a Lutheran and once to become a Catholic. My dad chose to use those times to have petty fights with my mother over child support and custody of my middle sister and I. I stopped going to church entirely until I met my best friend in high school. I still believed in god, though I was always terrified of him. My youngest sister was quite sick when she was little. One of her frequent hospital trips almost resulted in her death. I was always terrified that god would kill her as revenge for some slight sin I was unaware of. My friend thought that was foolish, and asked if I'd like to start attending his Foursquare Pentecostal church and youth group. At first, it was like a breath of life for my faith. At first, it was all love, sunshine, and roses. And rock music in church? Hell, yes. As time went by, best friend became boyfriend. He went off to college and I still had two and a half years of high school in front of me. I would go to church with him and his parents whenever he was home from school. During summer breaks, we would both play on the worship team band on Sunday mornings. I got really in to it. I also was dealing with a lot of mental issues. I had been diagnosed with anxiety and depression. This, coupled with the fact that every so often our pastor would decide to go off on one of his end of the world rants, caused me to become terrified of god again. I would lie awake for hours at night, in utter despair because my youngest sister would never have a chance at a full and happy life. The apocalypse was due at any time. Hell, I probably wouldn't even have a chance to marry my boyfriend! I started praying and praying that god would hold off on the apocalypse until after we were all gone. Then, I started becoming terrified that god would kill my family members and loved ones to spite me. I started praying for every family member and loved one by individual name before I fell asleep at night, no small task for someone with a huge family. It got to the point that I would be scared to get up in the mornings, fearful that some terrible disaster would have befallen my family. As I learned how to mostly manage my anxiety, I cared less and less about my religion. I became, as the saying is, "dormant in the faith." I would attend church with my boyfriend because it as a chance to spend a few hours with him, not out of any religious feeling. As for he and I, we had had our ups and downs during the time when we were long distance. He attended a church right off the campus and started hanging out with a girl that he emotionally cheated on me with. He had flirted with the idea of breaking up with me just to pursue this girl. But once I had graduated high school, I myself headed for college. And yes, I chose to attend the same college as him. Our relationship improved and I even started feeling semi-religious again. We would attend the church that he had found at college on occasion. As the semesters went on, though, we eventually stopped. We didn't have time for god with all of our courses taking up our time. We would still go to church when we went home, he because his family insisted. I, because, well, I didn't like not being with him all the time. In February of 2009, we got engaged. At the end of the fall semester after that, neither one of us could afford to stay in the dorms anymore, so we decided to move into an apartment together. His parents' reaction was terrible. They were so angry. The rest of his family wasn't happy, either. One of his aunts sent us a letter, telling us we were "working against god" with our blatant sin. I didn't see anyone offering to pay our dorm fees, so we ignored it and moved in together. We decided to tell our pastor, hoping to appease his parents. When we did, however, he literally just turned his back to us and walked away. I was done with church permanently at that point. We had talked about getting married in his parent's church, but after that fiasco, we decided against it. We were going to do this our way. During our engagement, I made the mistake of posting Cyanide and Happiness' annual Zombie Jesus Day comic on my own facebook wall. My fiance's family retaliated horribly. The vast majority of them stopped speaking to me. Something that is still occurring, nearly 3 years later. During this time, I also stopped really believing in god. I don't have a definite date that I stopped. It just sort of gradually happened. I didn't really talk about how I felt to my fiance. It didn't seem important enough. During the final bits of wedding planning, my soon-to-be husband came straight out and told me that he was now an atheist. I didn't know what that word was, so I started researching. It made me take a hard look at what religion had caused in my life: fear, anxiety, drama. I realized that I was one, too. I just didn't have the name for it. From that point on, for better or worse, we were done with god and the church. We ended up having a secular wedding ceremony, performed by a friend. Yes, his family was livid. We didn't care. We had each other and that's all that mattered. We didn't need religion interfering in our lives, making us fearful. We could be just as happy without it. And, truth be told, my anxiety became a hell of a lot more manageable without having to constantly worry about going to hell. Through all of this, my family was just marvelous. They did not care what our religious beliefs were. As long as we were happy, and did good in the world, we were in the clear. It was such a stark contrast to how my husband's family treated us. It's been almost three years now since we got married. I kind of consider that our official divorce from religion. In that time, my husband and I have become better people. We try and do as much good as we can in the world, not only because it's the right thing to do, but because I personally feel like I need to make amends for what harm I may have caused with my religion. We're also out to prove that we, as atheists, are not evil people. We're just people. There are good ones, bad ones, and everything in between. We cherish this single life we have. This brief moment on this rock, hurtling through space. I make it a point to love as many people as I can, and show them that. Yes, I have my flaws. I am not perfect. I am a human. And that is all I need to be. TL;DR: Can't really sum it up. Sorry. :(

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t5_2qh1i

cem9ylu

This is a huge wall of text, but to understand why I am not religious, I have to share my history with religion. My family was generally christian, though we never went to church. I tried twice to be baptized: once to become a Lutheran and once to become a Catholic. My dad chose to use those times to have petty fights with my mother over child support and custody of my middle sister and I. I stopped going to church entirely until I met my best friend in high school. I still believed in god, though I was always terrified of him. My youngest sister was quite sick when she was little. One of her frequent hospital trips almost resulted in her death. I was always terrified that god would kill her as revenge for some slight sin I was unaware of. My friend thought that was foolish, and asked if I'd like to start attending his Foursquare Pentecostal church and youth group. At first, it was like a breath of life for my faith. At first, it was all love, sunshine, and roses. And rock music in church? Hell, yes. As time went by, best friend became boyfriend. He went off to college and I still had two and a half years of high school in front of me. I would go to church with him and his parents whenever he was home from school. During summer breaks, we would both play on the worship team band on Sunday mornings. I got really in to it. I also was dealing with a lot of mental issues. I had been diagnosed with anxiety and depression. This, coupled with the fact that every so often our pastor would decide to go off on one of his end of the world rants, caused me to become terrified of god again. I would lie awake for hours at night, in utter despair because my youngest sister would never have a chance at a full and happy life. The apocalypse was due at any time. Hell, I probably wouldn't even have a chance to marry my boyfriend! I started praying and praying that god would hold off on the apocalypse until after we were all gone. Then, I started becoming terrified that god would kill my family members and loved ones to spite me. I started praying for every family member and loved one by individual name before I fell asleep at night, no small task for someone with a huge family. It got to the point that I would be scared to get up in the mornings, fearful that some terrible disaster would have befallen my family. As I learned how to mostly manage my anxiety, I cared less and less about my religion. I became, as the saying is, "dormant in the faith." I would attend church with my boyfriend because it as a chance to spend a few hours with him, not out of any religious feeling. As for he and I, we had had our ups and downs during the time when we were long distance. He attended a church right off the campus and started hanging out with a girl that he emotionally cheated on me with. He had flirted with the idea of breaking up with me just to pursue this girl. But once I had graduated high school, I myself headed for college. And yes, I chose to attend the same college as him. Our relationship improved and I even started feeling semi-religious again. We would attend the church that he had found at college on occasion. As the semesters went on, though, we eventually stopped. We didn't have time for god with all of our courses taking up our time. We would still go to church when we went home, he because his family insisted. I, because, well, I didn't like not being with him all the time. In February of 2009, we got engaged. At the end of the fall semester after that, neither one of us could afford to stay in the dorms anymore, so we decided to move into an apartment together. His parents' reaction was terrible. They were so angry. The rest of his family wasn't happy, either. One of his aunts sent us a letter, telling us we were "working against god" with our blatant sin. I didn't see anyone offering to pay our dorm fees, so we ignored it and moved in together. We decided to tell our pastor, hoping to appease his parents. When we did, however, he literally just turned his back to us and walked away. I was done with church permanently at that point. We had talked about getting married in his parent's church, but after that fiasco, we decided against it. We were going to do this our way. During our engagement, I made the mistake of posting Cyanide and Happiness' annual Zombie Jesus Day comic on my own facebook wall. My fiance's family retaliated horribly. The vast majority of them stopped speaking to me. Something that is still occurring, nearly 3 years later. During this time, I also stopped really believing in god. I don't have a definite date that I stopped. It just sort of gradually happened. I didn't really talk about how I felt to my fiance. It didn't seem important enough. During the final bits of wedding planning, my soon-to-be husband came straight out and told me that he was now an atheist. I didn't know what that word was, so I started researching. It made me take a hard look at what religion had caused in my life: fear, anxiety, drama. I realized that I was one, too. I just didn't have the name for it. From that point on, for better or worse, we were done with god and the church. We ended up having a secular wedding ceremony, performed by a friend. Yes, his family was livid. We didn't care. We had each other and that's all that mattered. We didn't need religion interfering in our lives, making us fearful. We could be just as happy without it. And, truth be told, my anxiety became a hell of a lot more manageable without having to constantly worry about going to hell. Through all of this, my family was just marvelous. They did not care what our religious beliefs were. As long as we were happy, and did good in the world, we were in the clear. It was such a stark contrast to how my husband's family treated us. It's been almost three years now since we got married. I kind of consider that our official divorce from religion. In that time, my husband and I have become better people. We try and do as much good as we can in the world, not only because it's the right thing to do, but because I personally feel like I need to make amends for what harm I may have caused with my religion. We're also out to prove that we, as atheists, are not evil people. We're just people. There are good ones, bad ones, and everything in between. We cherish this single life we have. This brief moment on this rock, hurtling through space. I make it a point to love as many people as I can, and show them that. Yes, I have my flaws. I am not perfect. I am a human. And that is all I need to be.

Can't really sum it up. Sorry. :(

DangerHawk

I don't think there is a word for what I consider to be my stance on organized religion. I nothing it. I don't believe in any sort of higher power, but at the same time I won't discount people who do. I refuse to call myself atheist due mostly to the pretentiousness of those who align themselves with those beliefs (or disbeliefs). To be atheist is to acknowledge the fact that there are other faith based options that exist outside of complete nothingness and then attempt to quantify and compare them. I feel like ardent atheists like Dawkins and those over in /r/atheism miss the point that by taking such a hardline stance against organised religion all they are succeeding in is calling MORE attention to the possibility that they may be wrong. It has always seemed to me that those who have to yell the loudest or feel the need to be the MOST correct are generally always the most confused and self doubting of the group. Atheists and religious zealots are the same species on different ends of the spectrum. It would be funny to see how Pat Robertson and Richard Dawkins would have turned out if they had slightly different upbringings. Long story even longer, I was raised in a less than strict Catholic household. It was never a HUGE part of my life, but I did attend Catholic school for a while. I went to CCD, was an altar boy, and was forced to go to church every Sunday. It never really made sense to me. I would have rather been watching Transformers or Thundercats, but I went because I was 8 and I didn't have a choice. It all changed after one weekend when I was about 12 where my mom told me I had to take myself to church. She told me to ride my bike to church and bring her home a bulletin. Being the dumb little shit that I was I did it because I figured she had spies all over town and she would hunt me down if I didn't go. This went on for a few weeks until she stopped asking for the bulletins. It was then that I realised I could probably go a bit late and all would be fine. I tested my theory and was correct. The next week I left the house in my Sunday best and rode my bike to the playground and after about an hour I returned home. Mom asked, "How was the service" and I replied "Nice." I had succeeded! God did not smote me. My mom did not waterboard me or have a network of spies throughout town! I was free and clear. The next week I went into my moms room at 7:30 am and told her I would not be going to church this week. When she asked why not I told her about my feelings and how I had been ditching church. Her reply was, "Thats fine honey. I was waiting for you to figure it out on your own anyway." Then she took me to Romp-Around (it was like Chuck-E-Cheese but cooler). Ever since then I just haven't really thought about it. I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a Nihlist or anything. It just doesn't register on my radar. tl;dr [When I first started to question my family's choice of religion my thoughts were similar to this.](

I don't think there is a word for what I consider to be my stance on organized religion. I nothing it. I don't believe in any sort of higher power, but at the same time I won't discount people who do. I refuse to call myself atheist due mostly to the pretentiousness of those who align themselves with those beliefs (or disbeliefs). To be atheist is to acknowledge the fact that there are other faith based options that exist outside of complete nothingness and then attempt to quantify and compare them. I feel like ardent atheists like Dawkins and those over in /r/atheism miss the point that by taking such a hardline stance against organised religion all they are succeeding in is calling MORE attention to the possibility that they may be wrong. It has always seemed to me that those who have to yell the loudest or feel the need to be the MOST correct are generally always the most confused and self doubting of the group. Atheists and religious zealots are the same species on different ends of the spectrum. It would be funny to see how Pat Robertson and Richard Dawkins would have turned out if they had slightly different upbringings. Long story even longer, I was raised in a less than strict Catholic household. It was never a HUGE part of my life, but I did attend Catholic school for a while. I went to CCD, was an altar boy, and was forced to go to church every Sunday. It never really made sense to me. I would have rather been watching Transformers or Thundercats, but I went because I was 8 and I didn't have a choice. It all changed after one weekend when I was about 12 where my mom told me I had to take myself to church. She told me to ride my bike to church and bring her home a bulletin. Being the dumb little shit that I was I did it because I figured she had spies all over town and she would hunt me down if I didn't go. This went on for a few weeks until she stopped asking for the bulletins. It was then that I realised I could probably go a bit late and all would be fine. I tested my theory and was correct. The next week I left the house in my Sunday best and rode my bike to the playground and after about an hour I returned home. Mom asked, "How was the service" and I replied "Nice." I had succeeded! God did not smote me. My mom did not waterboard me or have a network of spies throughout town! I was free and clear. The next week I went into my moms room at 7:30 am and told her I would not be going to church this week. When she asked why not I told her about my feelings and how I had been ditching church. Her reply was, "Thats fine honey. I was waiting for you to figure it out on your own anyway." Then she took me to Romp-Around (it was like Chuck-E-Cheese but cooler). Ever since then I just haven't really thought about it. I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a Nihlist or anything. It just doesn't register on my radar. tl;dr [When I first started to question my family's choice of religion my thoughts were similar to this.](

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t5_2qh1i

cema03w

I don't think there is a word for what I consider to be my stance on organized religion. I nothing it. I don't believe in any sort of higher power, but at the same time I won't discount people who do. I refuse to call myself atheist due mostly to the pretentiousness of those who align themselves with those beliefs (or disbeliefs). To be atheist is to acknowledge the fact that there are other faith based options that exist outside of complete nothingness and then attempt to quantify and compare them. I feel like ardent atheists like Dawkins and those over in /r/atheism miss the point that by taking such a hardline stance against organised religion all they are succeeding in is calling MORE attention to the possibility that they may be wrong. It has always seemed to me that those who have to yell the loudest or feel the need to be the MOST correct are generally always the most confused and self doubting of the group. Atheists and religious zealots are the same species on different ends of the spectrum. It would be funny to see how Pat Robertson and Richard Dawkins would have turned out if they had slightly different upbringings. Long story even longer, I was raised in a less than strict Catholic household. It was never a HUGE part of my life, but I did attend Catholic school for a while. I went to CCD, was an altar boy, and was forced to go to church every Sunday. It never really made sense to me. I would have rather been watching Transformers or Thundercats, but I went because I was 8 and I didn't have a choice. It all changed after one weekend when I was about 12 where my mom told me I had to take myself to church. She told me to ride my bike to church and bring her home a bulletin. Being the dumb little shit that I was I did it because I figured she had spies all over town and she would hunt me down if I didn't go. This went on for a few weeks until she stopped asking for the bulletins. It was then that I realised I could probably go a bit late and all would be fine. I tested my theory and was correct. The next week I left the house in my Sunday best and rode my bike to the playground and after about an hour I returned home. Mom asked, "How was the service" and I replied "Nice." I had succeeded! God did not smote me. My mom did not waterboard me or have a network of spies throughout town! I was free and clear. The next week I went into my moms room at 7:30 am and told her I would not be going to church this week. When she asked why not I told her about my feelings and how I had been ditching church. Her reply was, "Thats fine honey. I was waiting for you to figure it out on your own anyway." Then she took me to Romp-Around (it was like Chuck-E-Cheese but cooler). Ever since then I just haven't really thought about it. I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a Nihlist or anything. It just doesn't register on my radar.

When I first started to question my family's choice of religion my thoughts were similar to this.](

OptionalCookie

Raised semi-Christian? Parents weren't remotely religious b/c where they came from the priests pretty much were fucking everyone (the Caribbean). Only went to a church for the first time when my grandmother came to the US from Japan. I was bored, slept 90% of the time and so did my sister. As soon as my grandmother went back home, we never stepped foot in church again. Then I got older and I actually sat down and read most of the Bible. I wondered how people could honestly believe in this as the "Good Book," esp when I got to the book of Kings. When a bunch of Jews/Christians get massacred, I should be allowed to call it karma then, right? TLDR; Not really raised religious, think it is a bit crazy to believe all that slaughter, rape, and abject torture is OK and gets a free pass.

Raised semi-Christian? Parents weren't remotely religious b/c where they came from the priests pretty much were fucking everyone (the Caribbean). Only went to a church for the first time when my grandmother came to the US from Japan. I was bored, slept 90% of the time and so did my sister. As soon as my grandmother went back home, we never stepped foot in church again. Then I got older and I actually sat down and read most of the Bible. I wondered how people could honestly believe in this as the "Good Book," esp when I got to the book of Kings. When a bunch of Jews/Christians get massacred, I should be allowed to call it karma then, right? TLDR; Not really raised religious, think it is a bit crazy to believe all that slaughter, rape, and abject torture is OK and gets a free pass.

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t5_2qh1i

cema0g8

Raised semi-Christian? Parents weren't remotely religious b/c where they came from the priests pretty much were fucking everyone (the Caribbean). Only went to a church for the first time when my grandmother came to the US from Japan. I was bored, slept 90% of the time and so did my sister. As soon as my grandmother went back home, we never stepped foot in church again. Then I got older and I actually sat down and read most of the Bible. I wondered how people could honestly believe in this as the "Good Book," esp when I got to the book of Kings. When a bunch of Jews/Christians get massacred, I should be allowed to call it karma then, right?

Not really raised religious, think it is a bit crazy to believe all that slaughter, rape, and abject torture is OK and gets a free pass.

duhbell

Mom was religious, dad not so much. Wasn't baptized. Only real affiliation with any church was for pre-school which was in a church basement. Did the whole Christmas pageant thing and know the story but don't subscribe to the beliefs. The thing that sealed the deal for me though is the fact that I'm a gay man. Rather than follow the teachings of Jesus and loving their fellow man, when I came out to some Christian friends they treated me as an abomination. They picked bible verses that they liked to make me feel less than. They spouted Leviticus at me repeatedly. Now. I've read the bible and I know the parables and all of that. I figured if people were going to use a book against me I was going to know what it said. The people who spouted Leviticus 18:22 at me were breaking 11:9-12, 19:27-28,19:19... The hypocrisy was astounding. I know not all Christians are like that but I've had some shit run ins with bible thumpers using a book to say they're better than me. I'm a good person. I don't live my life according to a book but I treat people with respect. I don't see why I should go to a building once a week and have someone tell me I'm not a good person because of who I love when my actions say otherwise. Tl;dr I'm gay, never really got into Christianity and later was pissed off at the hypocrisy.

Mom was religious, dad not so much. Wasn't baptized. Only real affiliation with any church was for pre-school which was in a church basement. Did the whole Christmas pageant thing and know the story but don't subscribe to the beliefs. The thing that sealed the deal for me though is the fact that I'm a gay man. Rather than follow the teachings of Jesus and loving their fellow man, when I came out to some Christian friends they treated me as an abomination. They picked bible verses that they liked to make me feel less than. They spouted Leviticus at me repeatedly. Now. I've read the bible and I know the parables and all of that. I figured if people were going to use a book against me I was going to know what it said. The people who spouted Leviticus 18:22 at me were breaking 11:9-12, 19:27-28,19:19... The hypocrisy was astounding. I know not all Christians are like that but I've had some shit run ins with bible thumpers using a book to say they're better than me. I'm a good person. I don't live my life according to a book but I treat people with respect. I don't see why I should go to a building once a week and have someone tell me I'm not a good person because of who I love when my actions say otherwise. Tl;dr I'm gay, never really got into Christianity and later was pissed off at the hypocrisy.

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t5_2qh1i

cema30x

Mom was religious, dad not so much. Wasn't baptized. Only real affiliation with any church was for pre-school which was in a church basement. Did the whole Christmas pageant thing and know the story but don't subscribe to the beliefs. The thing that sealed the deal for me though is the fact that I'm a gay man. Rather than follow the teachings of Jesus and loving their fellow man, when I came out to some Christian friends they treated me as an abomination. They picked bible verses that they liked to make me feel less than. They spouted Leviticus at me repeatedly. Now. I've read the bible and I know the parables and all of that. I figured if people were going to use a book against me I was going to know what it said. The people who spouted Leviticus 18:22 at me were breaking 11:9-12, 19:27-28,19:19... The hypocrisy was astounding. I know not all Christians are like that but I've had some shit run ins with bible thumpers using a book to say they're better than me. I'm a good person. I don't live my life according to a book but I treat people with respect. I don't see why I should go to a building once a week and have someone tell me I'm not a good person because of who I love when my actions say otherwise.

I'm gay, never really got into Christianity and later was pissed off at the hypocrisy.

BCSWowbagger2

I was born into a Catholic family. This covered childhood. However, once I discovered that Santa Claus was a lie, I strongly suspected that the rest of the religion was also a lie -- albeit a slightly more elaborate one. I insisted on evidence for the three main claims of the Catholic Faith: (1) the existence of a omnipotent, omnibenevolent God, (2) the existence, teachings, and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazereth, and (3) the Catholic Church's magisterium as authentic interpreter of the Gospels. My parents, bless them, were not able to provide any convincing evidence for these claims. Perhaps they would have if I were older, but I was 9 when this got started. They are both philosophers by trade, so my Mom gave me Descartes's ontological argument when I was 10, with the caveat, "This argument actually doesn't work, and I'll explain why in a few years, but it's the simplest one to explain right now." What I did get from my parents was a solid grounding in philosophical principles and philosophical evidence. (If they'd been chemists, I might have demanded *empirical* evidence, and that, as Oolon Colluphid says, would have about wrapped it up for God. Not to mention the rest of history. Empiricism is myopic. But that's another post.) For a couple years, I flitted between belief and unbelief. (I remained practicing; I was 11 and not yet old enough to make up my own mind about my religion.) Sometimes I found C.S. Lewis's arguments in *Mere Christianity* (for the existence and nature of God) convincing. At other times, I thought them weak. Matters came to a head in my freshman year of high school, when I used my study hall period to sit down and read one of those gigantic textbooks full of small sections from bigger philosophical works. This book had all the majors in it: Anselm, Descartes, Aquinas... and it also had Bertrand Russell's "Why I Am Not A Theist." I read that and bam, I was done. I considered his argument against Aquinas's prime-mover argument definitive. Closed the book, lost my faith. But that was not the end of it. Anselm's ontological argument continued to pester me. Everyone ridiculed it (still do) as a ridiculous mind game, but I found it very difficult to actually refute. Just like in maths, if a philosophical proof is wrong, you must be able to identify a contradiction, a false premise, or an incorrect logical structure, and I was not able to do so. I was told Kant had presented one, but I wasn't old enough or smart enough to read Kant successfully (not that I didn't try). So I kept working at the problem. I also kept practicing the religion, for Pascal's Wager reasons. God did not seem to be provable, but Jesus, at least, appeared to have existed, and appeared to have taught more or less what he taught. In various Scripture classes, we learned about when the Bible had been written and compiled. Contrary to my childhood understanding (that the Gospels had been written centuries after the death of Christ, handed down from generation to generation by oral tradition), it turned out that the Pauline letters date to the 50s AD (with Christ dying in the early 30s AD), and the four Gospels were all published and circulated throughout the Empire during the lifetimes of the Apostles (except possibly John). So Jesus? Pretty well-attested, actually, especially compared to certain other historical figures, like, say Socrates. But because I considered God (and the rest of the supernatural along with it) iffy at best, I refused to credit the so-called Resurrection, but was not able to find many plausible explanations for the way history unfolded around that time that were merely natural. The best I had was the "crazy Apostles" theory -- that the Apostles had all gone mad with grief, invented the Resurrection, convinced each other it was real, and then been so convinced that they all lived abject lives of extreme poverty and died martyrs' deaths just so they could get other people to join in their delusion. This seemed strained, at best. Gradually -- and I blush a little bit saying this -- I became convinced by Anselm's argument. This caused me to believe in God and consequently Jesus and consequently the Catholic Church, and I went off to college a skeptical Catholic, but still basically a Catholic. Finally, in sophomore year of college, as I worked through a I read a little book about Thomas Aquinas by Ralph McInerny. Turned out I'd been reading the cosmological argument wrong -- I misunderstood both "motion" and "cause" . So had my old pal Bertrand Russell. Aquinas worked after all. God existed, and, as Aquinas went on to elaborate in various writings, God had various demonstrable attributes, among them infinite goodness and infinite power. A few years later, I finally formulated a refutation of Anselm, and I realized that it was also Aquinas's refutation, which I had also been misunderstanding for the better part of a decade. So now I'm a Thomist and a confident Catholic. I've never been able to shake my skeptical mode of approaching Scripture, and to this day I find it very difficult to move past, "How accurate is this passage?" to "What is the Holy Spirit illuminating for me in this passage?" But it's been several years since I was came across anything that would cause me to seriously doubt the Faith. Disclaimer: although I made every effort, at every step, to cleave to logic and to find the Truth of things -- no matter where it took me -- I cannot deny that I always *wanted* to be a theist, and specifically a Catholic. (I would have been reasonably happy as a Muslim -- a live possibility for a little while, because their spin on Jesus was not implausible and I wasn't sure what evidence they had for Muhammed.) Had I become an atheist, I would not have become a secular humanist -- a philosophical commitment I never considered remotely plausible -- but a nihilist and a devoted hedonist, which I never thought would be a very happy life (though certainly a pleasant one). Disclaimer 2: I talked a lot here about the existence of God and the Resurrection, but not so much about Catholicism vs. Protestantism. I felt the latter was of less interest to the thread as a whole, so I left that part of my story out. Basically, I think Protestant claims are incoherent and ahistorical. We're supposed to believe in the magisterium when it's compiling the Bible and the creeds, but it suddenly stops applying during the High Middle Ages? Protestantism was possible for Luther, because knowledge of history in the 16th century was very spotty, but today, with everything we know about the past, it strikes me as impossible. **TL;DR: I'm Catholic, because, after long consideration and doubt, I think the Catholic belief system is true, while other belief systems -- while sometimes satisfying and not necessarily damning (see the Aurelius quote in the top post on this thread) -- are not true. I try to believe true things, so I am Catholic.**

I was born into a Catholic family. This covered childhood. However, once I discovered that Santa Claus was a lie, I strongly suspected that the rest of the religion was also a lie -- albeit a slightly more elaborate one. I insisted on evidence for the three main claims of the Catholic Faith: (1) the existence of a omnipotent, omnibenevolent God, (2) the existence, teachings, and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazereth, and (3) the Catholic Church's magisterium as authentic interpreter of the Gospels. My parents, bless them, were not able to provide any convincing evidence for these claims. Perhaps they would have if I were older, but I was 9 when this got started. They are both philosophers by trade, so my Mom gave me Descartes's ontological argument when I was 10, with the caveat, "This argument actually doesn't work, and I'll explain why in a few years, but it's the simplest one to explain right now." What I did get from my parents was a solid grounding in philosophical principles and philosophical evidence. (If they'd been chemists, I might have demanded empirical evidence, and that, as Oolon Colluphid says, would have about wrapped it up for God. Not to mention the rest of history. Empiricism is myopic. But that's another post.) For a couple years, I flitted between belief and unbelief. (I remained practicing; I was 11 and not yet old enough to make up my own mind about my religion.) Sometimes I found C.S. Lewis's arguments in Mere Christianity (for the existence and nature of God) convincing. At other times, I thought them weak. Matters came to a head in my freshman year of high school, when I used my study hall period to sit down and read one of those gigantic textbooks full of small sections from bigger philosophical works. This book had all the majors in it: Anselm, Descartes, Aquinas... and it also had Bertrand Russell's "Why I Am Not A Theist." I read that and bam, I was done. I considered his argument against Aquinas's prime-mover argument definitive. Closed the book, lost my faith. But that was not the end of it. Anselm's ontological argument continued to pester me. Everyone ridiculed it (still do) as a ridiculous mind game, but I found it very difficult to actually refute. Just like in maths, if a philosophical proof is wrong, you must be able to identify a contradiction, a false premise, or an incorrect logical structure, and I was not able to do so. I was told Kant had presented one, but I wasn't old enough or smart enough to read Kant successfully (not that I didn't try). So I kept working at the problem. I also kept practicing the religion, for Pascal's Wager reasons. God did not seem to be provable, but Jesus, at least, appeared to have existed, and appeared to have taught more or less what he taught. In various Scripture classes, we learned about when the Bible had been written and compiled. Contrary to my childhood understanding (that the Gospels had been written centuries after the death of Christ, handed down from generation to generation by oral tradition), it turned out that the Pauline letters date to the 50s AD (with Christ dying in the early 30s AD), and the four Gospels were all published and circulated throughout the Empire during the lifetimes of the Apostles (except possibly John). So Jesus? Pretty well-attested, actually, especially compared to certain other historical figures, like, say Socrates. But because I considered God (and the rest of the supernatural along with it) iffy at best, I refused to credit the so-called Resurrection, but was not able to find many plausible explanations for the way history unfolded around that time that were merely natural. The best I had was the "crazy Apostles" theory -- that the Apostles had all gone mad with grief, invented the Resurrection, convinced each other it was real, and then been so convinced that they all lived abject lives of extreme poverty and died martyrs' deaths just so they could get other people to join in their delusion. This seemed strained, at best. Gradually -- and I blush a little bit saying this -- I became convinced by Anselm's argument. This caused me to believe in God and consequently Jesus and consequently the Catholic Church, and I went off to college a skeptical Catholic, but still basically a Catholic. Finally, in sophomore year of college, as I worked through a I read a little book about Thomas Aquinas by Ralph McInerny. Turned out I'd been reading the cosmological argument wrong -- I misunderstood both "motion" and "cause" . So had my old pal Bertrand Russell. Aquinas worked after all. God existed, and, as Aquinas went on to elaborate in various writings, God had various demonstrable attributes, among them infinite goodness and infinite power. A few years later, I finally formulated a refutation of Anselm, and I realized that it was also Aquinas's refutation, which I had also been misunderstanding for the better part of a decade. So now I'm a Thomist and a confident Catholic. I've never been able to shake my skeptical mode of approaching Scripture, and to this day I find it very difficult to move past, "How accurate is this passage?" to "What is the Holy Spirit illuminating for me in this passage?" But it's been several years since I was came across anything that would cause me to seriously doubt the Faith. Disclaimer: although I made every effort, at every step, to cleave to logic and to find the Truth of things -- no matter where it took me -- I cannot deny that I always wanted to be a theist, and specifically a Catholic. (I would have been reasonably happy as a Muslim -- a live possibility for a little while, because their spin on Jesus was not implausible and I wasn't sure what evidence they had for Muhammed.) Had I become an atheist, I would not have become a secular humanist -- a philosophical commitment I never considered remotely plausible -- but a nihilist and a devoted hedonist, which I never thought would be a very happy life (though certainly a pleasant one). Disclaimer 2: I talked a lot here about the existence of God and the Resurrection, but not so much about Catholicism vs. Protestantism. I felt the latter was of less interest to the thread as a whole, so I left that part of my story out. Basically, I think Protestant claims are incoherent and ahistorical. We're supposed to believe in the magisterium when it's compiling the Bible and the creeds, but it suddenly stops applying during the High Middle Ages? Protestantism was possible for Luther, because knowledge of history in the 16th century was very spotty, but today, with everything we know about the past, it strikes me as impossible. TL;DR: I'm Catholic, because, after long consideration and doubt, I think the Catholic belief system is true, while other belief systems -- while sometimes satisfying and not necessarily damning (see the Aurelius quote in the top post on this thread) -- are not true. I try to believe true things, so I am Catholic.

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t5_2qh1i

cema487

I was born into a Catholic family. This covered childhood. However, once I discovered that Santa Claus was a lie, I strongly suspected that the rest of the religion was also a lie -- albeit a slightly more elaborate one. I insisted on evidence for the three main claims of the Catholic Faith: (1) the existence of a omnipotent, omnibenevolent God, (2) the existence, teachings, and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazereth, and (3) the Catholic Church's magisterium as authentic interpreter of the Gospels. My parents, bless them, were not able to provide any convincing evidence for these claims. Perhaps they would have if I were older, but I was 9 when this got started. They are both philosophers by trade, so my Mom gave me Descartes's ontological argument when I was 10, with the caveat, "This argument actually doesn't work, and I'll explain why in a few years, but it's the simplest one to explain right now." What I did get from my parents was a solid grounding in philosophical principles and philosophical evidence. (If they'd been chemists, I might have demanded empirical evidence, and that, as Oolon Colluphid says, would have about wrapped it up for God. Not to mention the rest of history. Empiricism is myopic. But that's another post.) For a couple years, I flitted between belief and unbelief. (I remained practicing; I was 11 and not yet old enough to make up my own mind about my religion.) Sometimes I found C.S. Lewis's arguments in Mere Christianity (for the existence and nature of God) convincing. At other times, I thought them weak. Matters came to a head in my freshman year of high school, when I used my study hall period to sit down and read one of those gigantic textbooks full of small sections from bigger philosophical works. This book had all the majors in it: Anselm, Descartes, Aquinas... and it also had Bertrand Russell's "Why I Am Not A Theist." I read that and bam, I was done. I considered his argument against Aquinas's prime-mover argument definitive. Closed the book, lost my faith. But that was not the end of it. Anselm's ontological argument continued to pester me. Everyone ridiculed it (still do) as a ridiculous mind game, but I found it very difficult to actually refute. Just like in maths, if a philosophical proof is wrong, you must be able to identify a contradiction, a false premise, or an incorrect logical structure, and I was not able to do so. I was told Kant had presented one, but I wasn't old enough or smart enough to read Kant successfully (not that I didn't try). So I kept working at the problem. I also kept practicing the religion, for Pascal's Wager reasons. God did not seem to be provable, but Jesus, at least, appeared to have existed, and appeared to have taught more or less what he taught. In various Scripture classes, we learned about when the Bible had been written and compiled. Contrary to my childhood understanding (that the Gospels had been written centuries after the death of Christ, handed down from generation to generation by oral tradition), it turned out that the Pauline letters date to the 50s AD (with Christ dying in the early 30s AD), and the four Gospels were all published and circulated throughout the Empire during the lifetimes of the Apostles (except possibly John). So Jesus? Pretty well-attested, actually, especially compared to certain other historical figures, like, say Socrates. But because I considered God (and the rest of the supernatural along with it) iffy at best, I refused to credit the so-called Resurrection, but was not able to find many plausible explanations for the way history unfolded around that time that were merely natural. The best I had was the "crazy Apostles" theory -- that the Apostles had all gone mad with grief, invented the Resurrection, convinced each other it was real, and then been so convinced that they all lived abject lives of extreme poverty and died martyrs' deaths just so they could get other people to join in their delusion. This seemed strained, at best. Gradually -- and I blush a little bit saying this -- I became convinced by Anselm's argument. This caused me to believe in God and consequently Jesus and consequently the Catholic Church, and I went off to college a skeptical Catholic, but still basically a Catholic. Finally, in sophomore year of college, as I worked through a I read a little book about Thomas Aquinas by Ralph McInerny. Turned out I'd been reading the cosmological argument wrong -- I misunderstood both "motion" and "cause" . So had my old pal Bertrand Russell. Aquinas worked after all. God existed, and, as Aquinas went on to elaborate in various writings, God had various demonstrable attributes, among them infinite goodness and infinite power. A few years later, I finally formulated a refutation of Anselm, and I realized that it was also Aquinas's refutation, which I had also been misunderstanding for the better part of a decade. So now I'm a Thomist and a confident Catholic. I've never been able to shake my skeptical mode of approaching Scripture, and to this day I find it very difficult to move past, "How accurate is this passage?" to "What is the Holy Spirit illuminating for me in this passage?" But it's been several years since I was came across anything that would cause me to seriously doubt the Faith. Disclaimer: although I made every effort, at every step, to cleave to logic and to find the Truth of things -- no matter where it took me -- I cannot deny that I always wanted to be a theist, and specifically a Catholic. (I would have been reasonably happy as a Muslim -- a live possibility for a little while, because their spin on Jesus was not implausible and I wasn't sure what evidence they had for Muhammed.) Had I become an atheist, I would not have become a secular humanist -- a philosophical commitment I never considered remotely plausible -- but a nihilist and a devoted hedonist, which I never thought would be a very happy life (though certainly a pleasant one). Disclaimer 2: I talked a lot here about the existence of God and the Resurrection, but not so much about Catholicism vs. Protestantism. I felt the latter was of less interest to the thread as a whole, so I left that part of my story out. Basically, I think Protestant claims are incoherent and ahistorical. We're supposed to believe in the magisterium when it's compiling the Bible and the creeds, but it suddenly stops applying during the High Middle Ages? Protestantism was possible for Luther, because knowledge of history in the 16th century was very spotty, but today, with everything we know about the past, it strikes me as impossible.

I'm Catholic, because, after long consideration and doubt, I think the Catholic belief system is true, while other belief systems -- while sometimes satisfying and not necessarily damning (see the Aurelius quote in the top post on this thread) -- are not true. I try to believe true things, so I am Catholic.

syphax1010

I was raised in a religion free household. My parents supported some early attempts to experience organized religion (specifically Christianity), but in general I grew up hearing stories about Zeus, the Easter Bunny, and Jesus all in the same context. I was a pretty adamant atheist as a teenager and didn't expect that to change at any point in my life. In college, though, I took a class on Medieval Lit, which started with a couple works of early Christian philosophy. I feel in love with the writings of St. Boethius and St. Augustine, philosophers who examined the Bible through the lens of a late-Roman intellectual culture. The cliff-notes version: they used the philosophical styles of Plato and Aristotle to explain the major lessons of the Gospels. Boethius' *Consolation of Philosophy* uses relatively simply reasoning to argue that wealth, fame, and power should be avoided because they ultimately bring suffering, not happiness. The well adjusted mind only needs love, compassion, and self-sacrifice to be happy. In fact, it requires those things. He also tackles the classic question of how an omnipotent, benevolent God could allow things that appear, from our perspective, to be evil. I'm still pretty uncomfortable with Christian theology; I don't believe in the sanctity of the Bible, in anything recorded in Genesis, or even in Jesus' divinity. But through the lens of early Christian philosophy, the Sermon on the Mount (Mathew 5 through 7) becomes the most profound work of literature ever written. It explain not just *how* to be a good person, but *why* you should try to be a good person. I've spent the past year or so working my way through a large reading list to try to expand my understanding of this philosophy, but it has already had a massive impact on how I live my life. **TL;DR** I disagree with a lot of major points of Christian doctrine, but I think Christian philosophy can explain the meaning of life, the universe, and happiness. For a taste of said philosophy, see the second half of David Foster Wallace's *This is Water* at:

I was raised in a religion free household. My parents supported some early attempts to experience organized religion (specifically Christianity), but in general I grew up hearing stories about Zeus, the Easter Bunny, and Jesus all in the same context. I was a pretty adamant atheist as a teenager and didn't expect that to change at any point in my life. In college, though, I took a class on Medieval Lit, which started with a couple works of early Christian philosophy. I feel in love with the writings of St. Boethius and St. Augustine, philosophers who examined the Bible through the lens of a late-Roman intellectual culture. The cliff-notes version: they used the philosophical styles of Plato and Aristotle to explain the major lessons of the Gospels. Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy uses relatively simply reasoning to argue that wealth, fame, and power should be avoided because they ultimately bring suffering, not happiness. The well adjusted mind only needs love, compassion, and self-sacrifice to be happy. In fact, it requires those things. He also tackles the classic question of how an omnipotent, benevolent God could allow things that appear, from our perspective, to be evil. I'm still pretty uncomfortable with Christian theology; I don't believe in the sanctity of the Bible, in anything recorded in Genesis, or even in Jesus' divinity. But through the lens of early Christian philosophy, the Sermon on the Mount (Mathew 5 through 7) becomes the most profound work of literature ever written. It explain not just how to be a good person, but why you should try to be a good person. I've spent the past year or so working my way through a large reading list to try to expand my understanding of this philosophy, but it has already had a massive impact on how I live my life. TL;DR I disagree with a lot of major points of Christian doctrine, but I think Christian philosophy can explain the meaning of life, the universe, and happiness. For a taste of said philosophy, see the second half of David Foster Wallace's This is Water at:

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t5_2qh1i

cema48b

I was raised in a religion free household. My parents supported some early attempts to experience organized religion (specifically Christianity), but in general I grew up hearing stories about Zeus, the Easter Bunny, and Jesus all in the same context. I was a pretty adamant atheist as a teenager and didn't expect that to change at any point in my life. In college, though, I took a class on Medieval Lit, which started with a couple works of early Christian philosophy. I feel in love with the writings of St. Boethius and St. Augustine, philosophers who examined the Bible through the lens of a late-Roman intellectual culture. The cliff-notes version: they used the philosophical styles of Plato and Aristotle to explain the major lessons of the Gospels. Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy uses relatively simply reasoning to argue that wealth, fame, and power should be avoided because they ultimately bring suffering, not happiness. The well adjusted mind only needs love, compassion, and self-sacrifice to be happy. In fact, it requires those things. He also tackles the classic question of how an omnipotent, benevolent God could allow things that appear, from our perspective, to be evil. I'm still pretty uncomfortable with Christian theology; I don't believe in the sanctity of the Bible, in anything recorded in Genesis, or even in Jesus' divinity. But through the lens of early Christian philosophy, the Sermon on the Mount (Mathew 5 through 7) becomes the most profound work of literature ever written. It explain not just how to be a good person, but why you should try to be a good person. I've spent the past year or so working my way through a large reading list to try to expand my understanding of this philosophy, but it has already had a massive impact on how I live my life.

I disagree with a lot of major points of Christian doctrine, but I think Christian philosophy can explain the meaning of life, the universe, and happiness. For a taste of said philosophy, see the second half of David Foster Wallace's This is Water at:

jc_chienne

I'm not religious. My parents aren't religious, but they didn't teach me not to be religious; I had a kid's bible as well as a book full of Buddhist-themed bedtime stories. Once I was about 10-11, I started talking to my religious friends (mostly just Mormon and Christian) and the whole thing sounded a little silly to me. "So besides being a good person, there's all these other little rules I have to follow or else this God is going to punish me for all of eternity?" And on top of that all these different denominations just within Christianity have slightly different rules and everyone in every religion thinks that THEY are the right ones who adhere most to God's will. Also, I simply don't and can't force myself to believe in the Heaven/Hell/one Almighty God concept. It doesn't feel real or right to me. I have briefly studied other world religions, and while I think all of them are fascinating and have something to be learned from them, I have yet to "find my faith". Currently I am most interested in Native American spiritual traditions, and for the first time I am feeling a sort of connection. TL;DR: Grew up non-religious, religions seemed slightly non-nonsensical to me, but I am exploring spirituality.

I'm not religious. My parents aren't religious, but they didn't teach me not to be religious; I had a kid's bible as well as a book full of Buddhist-themed bedtime stories. Once I was about 10-11, I started talking to my religious friends (mostly just Mormon and Christian) and the whole thing sounded a little silly to me. "So besides being a good person, there's all these other little rules I have to follow or else this God is going to punish me for all of eternity?" And on top of that all these different denominations just within Christianity have slightly different rules and everyone in every religion thinks that THEY are the right ones who adhere most to God's will. Also, I simply don't and can't force myself to believe in the Heaven/Hell/one Almighty God concept. It doesn't feel real or right to me. I have briefly studied other world religions, and while I think all of them are fascinating and have something to be learned from them, I have yet to "find my faith". Currently I am most interested in Native American spiritual traditions, and for the first time I am feeling a sort of connection. TL;DR: Grew up non-religious, religions seemed slightly non-nonsensical to me, but I am exploring spirituality.

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t5_2qh1i

cema4qf

I'm not religious. My parents aren't religious, but they didn't teach me not to be religious; I had a kid's bible as well as a book full of Buddhist-themed bedtime stories. Once I was about 10-11, I started talking to my religious friends (mostly just Mormon and Christian) and the whole thing sounded a little silly to me. "So besides being a good person, there's all these other little rules I have to follow or else this God is going to punish me for all of eternity?" And on top of that all these different denominations just within Christianity have slightly different rules and everyone in every religion thinks that THEY are the right ones who adhere most to God's will. Also, I simply don't and can't force myself to believe in the Heaven/Hell/one Almighty God concept. It doesn't feel real or right to me. I have briefly studied other world religions, and while I think all of them are fascinating and have something to be learned from them, I have yet to "find my faith". Currently I am most interested in Native American spiritual traditions, and for the first time I am feeling a sort of connection.

Grew up non-religious, religions seemed slightly non-nonsensical to me, but I am exploring spirituality.

grameno

I have a complicated relationship with my faith, but I personally choose to believe in God.I consider myself a Christian and my main views are follows: There is no way there is one perfect faith, because all religions are reflections of how people perceive the divine. Religion is written by us, whether or not its true is beside the point, we created it to explain the universe. It is a way of coping with the existential terror of life and it helps me cope. I personally pray to Christ, but that's because that is how I was raised.I just want to try to love people as best as I can not let my own hurt or insecurities ,get in the way.I personally am a universalist and my beliefs are peppered with ideas from Unitarian Universalism, Zen, and I have immense respect for humanist discourse for non religious morality. Because people don't need religion to be good people. I accept science and realize that faith and science are two different things and there's no point in trying to prove something you believe, because it can't be proven. I just want to love others and find my own light in this world , share the love i feel in my heart with other people, because ultimately we all need to work together if we are gonna make this world better. TL:DR: I'm a Liberal Socialist non denominational Zen Christian with Unitarian Universalist and Deist tendencies

I have a complicated relationship with my faith, but I personally choose to believe in God.I consider myself a Christian and my main views are follows: There is no way there is one perfect faith, because all religions are reflections of how people perceive the divine. Religion is written by us, whether or not its true is beside the point, we created it to explain the universe. It is a way of coping with the existential terror of life and it helps me cope. I personally pray to Christ, but that's because that is how I was raised.I just want to try to love people as best as I can not let my own hurt or insecurities ,get in the way.I personally am a universalist and my beliefs are peppered with ideas from Unitarian Universalism, Zen, and I have immense respect for humanist discourse for non religious morality. Because people don't need religion to be good people. I accept science and realize that faith and science are two different things and there's no point in trying to prove something you believe, because it can't be proven. I just want to love others and find my own light in this world , share the love i feel in my heart with other people, because ultimately we all need to work together if we are gonna make this world better. TL:DR: I'm a Liberal Socialist non denominational Zen Christian with Unitarian Universalist and Deist tendencies

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t5_2qh1i

cemabbq

I have a complicated relationship with my faith, but I personally choose to believe in God.I consider myself a Christian and my main views are follows: There is no way there is one perfect faith, because all religions are reflections of how people perceive the divine. Religion is written by us, whether or not its true is beside the point, we created it to explain the universe. It is a way of coping with the existential terror of life and it helps me cope. I personally pray to Christ, but that's because that is how I was raised.I just want to try to love people as best as I can not let my own hurt or insecurities ,get in the way.I personally am a universalist and my beliefs are peppered with ideas from Unitarian Universalism, Zen, and I have immense respect for humanist discourse for non religious morality. Because people don't need religion to be good people. I accept science and realize that faith and science are two different things and there's no point in trying to prove something you believe, because it can't be proven. I just want to love others and find my own light in this world , share the love i feel in my heart with other people, because ultimately we all need to work together if we are gonna make this world better.

I'm a Liberal Socialist non denominational Zen Christian with Unitarian Universalist and Deist tendencies

pup_swe

Not religious. Grew up in a very secular white middle-class society, family supported my fascination of all things science, and church was something you went to when a) the school semester ended (and even that is becoming a rare thing these days) b) someone's getting married c) someone died d) someone had a kid and a baptism is a great excuse to show off the baby for the relatives (and coax presents them) Went through confirmation (lutheran style), figured out halfway in that I am completely faithless and wanted to drop out since it felt really dishonest to pursue it further after that. Finished it anyway after being bribed/guilt-tripped by the family (presents after confirmation is pretty much certain, I was guaranteed my first mobile phone, and they pulled the "*your grandparents would be so proud if you did this*"-card). Formally left the church as soon as I moved out on my own, no one ever criticized my decision and my dad followed my steps two years later without anyone batting an eye. tl;dr: Middle-class Swede.

Not religious. Grew up in a very secular white middle-class society, family supported my fascination of all things science, and church was something you went to when a) the school semester ended (and even that is becoming a rare thing these days) b) someone's getting married c) someone died d) someone had a kid and a baptism is a great excuse to show off the baby for the relatives (and coax presents them) Went through confirmation (lutheran style), figured out halfway in that I am completely faithless and wanted to drop out since it felt really dishonest to pursue it further after that. Finished it anyway after being bribed/guilt-tripped by the family (presents after confirmation is pretty much certain, I was guaranteed my first mobile phone, and they pulled the " your grandparents would be so proud if you did this "-card). Formally left the church as soon as I moved out on my own, no one ever criticized my decision and my dad followed my steps two years later without anyone batting an eye. tl;dr: Middle-class Swede.

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cemadyh

Not religious. Grew up in a very secular white middle-class society, family supported my fascination of all things science, and church was something you went to when a) the school semester ended (and even that is becoming a rare thing these days) b) someone's getting married c) someone died d) someone had a kid and a baptism is a great excuse to show off the baby for the relatives (and coax presents them) Went through confirmation (lutheran style), figured out halfway in that I am completely faithless and wanted to drop out since it felt really dishonest to pursue it further after that. Finished it anyway after being bribed/guilt-tripped by the family (presents after confirmation is pretty much certain, I was guaranteed my first mobile phone, and they pulled the " your grandparents would be so proud if you did this "-card). Formally left the church as soon as I moved out on my own, no one ever criticized my decision and my dad followed my steps two years later without anyone batting an eye.

Middle-class Swede.

Snuj

My mum was quite religious in her younger days, went to church now and then even when i was born, my father was just 'ye whatever' about the whole religious thing. My mum never forced it on me, however the school(s) i went too did, 1 day a week we HAD to go to church, with the school as a form of 'school trip'. Not even religious schools, standard ones. From that point on, being forced into having to go there kind of put me off religion completely, I hated every moment having to go to that church etc, wasn't a nice experience growing up but when I got to Comprehensive school (High school, as you would call it in America) they didnt force us to go there anymore, the Religious Education lessons we had were abit forced over the years, like they were trying to get you to believe everything but, nothing ever done it for me. tl;dr - Infant and Primary schools made us go to church once a week, made me not really want to be apart of religion at all.

My mum was quite religious in her younger days, went to church now and then even when i was born, my father was just 'ye whatever' about the whole religious thing. My mum never forced it on me, however the school(s) i went too did, 1 day a week we HAD to go to church, with the school as a form of 'school trip'. Not even religious schools, standard ones. From that point on, being forced into having to go there kind of put me off religion completely, I hated every moment having to go to that church etc, wasn't a nice experience growing up but when I got to Comprehensive school (High school, as you would call it in America) they didnt force us to go there anymore, the Religious Education lessons we had were abit forced over the years, like they were trying to get you to believe everything but, nothing ever done it for me. tl;dr - Infant and Primary schools made us go to church once a week, made me not really want to be apart of religion at all.

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t5_2qh1i

cemaf62

My mum was quite religious in her younger days, went to church now and then even when i was born, my father was just 'ye whatever' about the whole religious thing. My mum never forced it on me, however the school(s) i went too did, 1 day a week we HAD to go to church, with the school as a form of 'school trip'. Not even religious schools, standard ones. From that point on, being forced into having to go there kind of put me off religion completely, I hated every moment having to go to that church etc, wasn't a nice experience growing up but when I got to Comprehensive school (High school, as you would call it in America) they didnt force us to go there anymore, the Religious Education lessons we had were abit forced over the years, like they were trying to get you to believe everything but, nothing ever done it for me.

Infant and Primary schools made us go to church once a week, made me not really want to be apart of religion at all.

DaleLeatherwood

I am a Christian. But I really have spent a lot of times looking into other religions. I know it is cliche, but I seriously came to the conclusion that there is a God, and it is the God of the Christian bible. I am not trying to be arrogant and I sure it comes across that way. Why am I convinced of the Christian bible? It comes down to a couple of factors. Religion generally is about the human condition. It is not a scientific text, nor is it simply a book of morals. Most complaints against religion focus on how it fails to have a valid scientific explanation for something (i.e. creation) or how as a moral code, it is out-dated and regressive. But this is not what the Bible is attempting to reveal to us. I think the fundamental question is why am I here? What is my purpose or is there any higher purpose? This says nothing about science or morality, these questions are based on faith. The Bible is meant to reveal to us the truth about the human condition and God's plan for salvation. So does it do a good job at that? First, it has to convince me that I need salvation. This is the biggest hurdle. Most people will not want to admit that there is anything wrong with them. "Why should some old book condemn my actions. If I try to live a good life, I am sure that this is good enough." The Bible's explanation is "The Fall." All of mankind is guilty of sin through Adam's fall. Sin is essentially the reflection of the fact that people like to worship something other than God. Most people think this is ridiculous. But actually, I am quite persuaded that this explains how people act. And over my relatively short life, my love of history, I am convinced of this. It explains so much in terms of what motivates people. And it is so simple. I have always been interested in what motivates people, and this explanation is the best I have come across. It does not mean that everyone is evil all the time, but rather that humans need to worship *something* and they frequently choose to worship something other than God. Even Christians struggle with worshiping God and making God the focus of their lives because the taint of sin is so fundamental. So even if this explains the human condition, is Christ the savior? Well, based on his teaching, I say yes. (Cue the "Based on my teachings, I am the savior, so do you believe me?" bombardment) I am running out of time, and if you are interested I can go into it in more detail. But I think that what Christ teaches is really amazing and it fits very well with the Jewish Old Testament and the explanation that I agree with above. If there is a God, and we have have free will so we shy away from worshipping God, it makes sense that a just God would need to reconcile mankind to him. And again, for there to be forgiveness, there must be a cost and that price that God said was to separation of the Father from the Son, an anguish we cannot comprehend. It simply makes sense to me and I have yet to experience and argument that will convince me otherwise (though I invite them, I would love to hear some really solid arguments against what I have said; it will either help me to strengthen my faith or show me the errors of my ways; I am not so close-minded as to refuse to consider reasonable alternatives). TL;DR: I think that religion (Christianity) explains something fundamental about the human condition that has consistently been true in my life experiences. Most other religions/belief structures have no answers to these fundamental questions and I simply cannot believe in them.

I am a Christian. But I really have spent a lot of times looking into other religions. I know it is cliche, but I seriously came to the conclusion that there is a God, and it is the God of the Christian bible. I am not trying to be arrogant and I sure it comes across that way. Why am I convinced of the Christian bible? It comes down to a couple of factors. Religion generally is about the human condition. It is not a scientific text, nor is it simply a book of morals. Most complaints against religion focus on how it fails to have a valid scientific explanation for something (i.e. creation) or how as a moral code, it is out-dated and regressive. But this is not what the Bible is attempting to reveal to us. I think the fundamental question is why am I here? What is my purpose or is there any higher purpose? This says nothing about science or morality, these questions are based on faith. The Bible is meant to reveal to us the truth about the human condition and God's plan for salvation. So does it do a good job at that? First, it has to convince me that I need salvation. This is the biggest hurdle. Most people will not want to admit that there is anything wrong with them. "Why should some old book condemn my actions. If I try to live a good life, I am sure that this is good enough." The Bible's explanation is "The Fall." All of mankind is guilty of sin through Adam's fall. Sin is essentially the reflection of the fact that people like to worship something other than God. Most people think this is ridiculous. But actually, I am quite persuaded that this explains how people act. And over my relatively short life, my love of history, I am convinced of this. It explains so much in terms of what motivates people. And it is so simple. I have always been interested in what motivates people, and this explanation is the best I have come across. It does not mean that everyone is evil all the time, but rather that humans need to worship something and they frequently choose to worship something other than God. Even Christians struggle with worshiping God and making God the focus of their lives because the taint of sin is so fundamental. So even if this explains the human condition, is Christ the savior? Well, based on his teaching, I say yes. (Cue the "Based on my teachings, I am the savior, so do you believe me?" bombardment) I am running out of time, and if you are interested I can go into it in more detail. But I think that what Christ teaches is really amazing and it fits very well with the Jewish Old Testament and the explanation that I agree with above. If there is a God, and we have have free will so we shy away from worshipping God, it makes sense that a just God would need to reconcile mankind to him. And again, for there to be forgiveness, there must be a cost and that price that God said was to separation of the Father from the Son, an anguish we cannot comprehend. It simply makes sense to me and I have yet to experience and argument that will convince me otherwise (though I invite them, I would love to hear some really solid arguments against what I have said; it will either help me to strengthen my faith or show me the errors of my ways; I am not so close-minded as to refuse to consider reasonable alternatives). TL;DR: I think that religion (Christianity) explains something fundamental about the human condition that has consistently been true in my life experiences. Most other religions/belief structures have no answers to these fundamental questions and I simply cannot believe in them.

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t5_2qh1i

cemak15

I am a Christian. But I really have spent a lot of times looking into other religions. I know it is cliche, but I seriously came to the conclusion that there is a God, and it is the God of the Christian bible. I am not trying to be arrogant and I sure it comes across that way. Why am I convinced of the Christian bible? It comes down to a couple of factors. Religion generally is about the human condition. It is not a scientific text, nor is it simply a book of morals. Most complaints against religion focus on how it fails to have a valid scientific explanation for something (i.e. creation) or how as a moral code, it is out-dated and regressive. But this is not what the Bible is attempting to reveal to us. I think the fundamental question is why am I here? What is my purpose or is there any higher purpose? This says nothing about science or morality, these questions are based on faith. The Bible is meant to reveal to us the truth about the human condition and God's plan for salvation. So does it do a good job at that? First, it has to convince me that I need salvation. This is the biggest hurdle. Most people will not want to admit that there is anything wrong with them. "Why should some old book condemn my actions. If I try to live a good life, I am sure that this is good enough." The Bible's explanation is "The Fall." All of mankind is guilty of sin through Adam's fall. Sin is essentially the reflection of the fact that people like to worship something other than God. Most people think this is ridiculous. But actually, I am quite persuaded that this explains how people act. And over my relatively short life, my love of history, I am convinced of this. It explains so much in terms of what motivates people. And it is so simple. I have always been interested in what motivates people, and this explanation is the best I have come across. It does not mean that everyone is evil all the time, but rather that humans need to worship something and they frequently choose to worship something other than God. Even Christians struggle with worshiping God and making God the focus of their lives because the taint of sin is so fundamental. So even if this explains the human condition, is Christ the savior? Well, based on his teaching, I say yes. (Cue the "Based on my teachings, I am the savior, so do you believe me?" bombardment) I am running out of time, and if you are interested I can go into it in more detail. But I think that what Christ teaches is really amazing and it fits very well with the Jewish Old Testament and the explanation that I agree with above. If there is a God, and we have have free will so we shy away from worshipping God, it makes sense that a just God would need to reconcile mankind to him. And again, for there to be forgiveness, there must be a cost and that price that God said was to separation of the Father from the Son, an anguish we cannot comprehend. It simply makes sense to me and I have yet to experience and argument that will convince me otherwise (though I invite them, I would love to hear some really solid arguments against what I have said; it will either help me to strengthen my faith or show me the errors of my ways; I am not so close-minded as to refuse to consider reasonable alternatives).

I think that religion (Christianity) explains something fundamental about the human condition that has consistently been true in my life experiences. Most other religions/belief structures have no answers to these fundamental questions and I simply cannot believe in them.

SirVenIm

While I'm not practicing an official religion I do consider myself somewhat religious. My family was devout to the point of cutting off other family that didn't agree with us. I think the isolation (amongst other things) had an impact on why I shy away from formal religion. However the things I learned about the bible over the years always stuck with me because I saw in action how they are true. Every time I stick to what the bible says (not some doctrine but the actual teachings) it turns out better for me in the long run. People call it the good book for a reason and that reason is wisdom. While the bible isn't a scientific textbook, it most certainly will provide a good dose of common sense if you're paying attention. The most brilliant example in my opinion are the teachings of Christ. No matter your faith, the Golden Rule Jesus spoke of is beneficial to society. Treat others the way you want to be treated. How easy would life eventually be if everyone did this? TL;DR Knowledge/wisdom built faith in me

While I'm not practicing an official religion I do consider myself somewhat religious. My family was devout to the point of cutting off other family that didn't agree with us. I think the isolation (amongst other things) had an impact on why I shy away from formal religion. However the things I learned about the bible over the years always stuck with me because I saw in action how they are true. Every time I stick to what the bible says (not some doctrine but the actual teachings) it turns out better for me in the long run. People call it the good book for a reason and that reason is wisdom. While the bible isn't a scientific textbook, it most certainly will provide a good dose of common sense if you're paying attention. The most brilliant example in my opinion are the teachings of Christ. No matter your faith, the Golden Rule Jesus spoke of is beneficial to society. Treat others the way you want to be treated. How easy would life eventually be if everyone did this? TL;DR Knowledge/wisdom built faith in me

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cemakav

While I'm not practicing an official religion I do consider myself somewhat religious. My family was devout to the point of cutting off other family that didn't agree with us. I think the isolation (amongst other things) had an impact on why I shy away from formal religion. However the things I learned about the bible over the years always stuck with me because I saw in action how they are true. Every time I stick to what the bible says (not some doctrine but the actual teachings) it turns out better for me in the long run. People call it the good book for a reason and that reason is wisdom. While the bible isn't a scientific textbook, it most certainly will provide a good dose of common sense if you're paying attention. The most brilliant example in my opinion are the teachings of Christ. No matter your faith, the Golden Rule Jesus spoke of is beneficial to society. Treat others the way you want to be treated. How easy would life eventually be if everyone did this?

Knowledge/wisdom built faith in me

teachmelaughter

This might sound weird, but hear me out. I don't have a religion, but I don't consider myself an atheist. I just don't think about religion. My parents are Buddhist, but they don't even talk about it unless I ask about it directly. Growing up, I didn't really know what a religion was until high school. I've seen the few Buddhist things around my house, but I thought it was typical decorative stuff. So that's why I'm "not religious". It just never came up growing up, so I never thought about it. Maybe one day it'll hit me, that one religion will click, but I'm perfectly OK with not having one. I figure when I die, whatever happens, happens. If we all go somewhere else afterwards, I'll get there and I'll see it. I looked this up once, and it was called [implicit atheism]( and it pretty accurately describes what I think. It's always a weird question when someone asks me what my religion is, and when I answer them with, "I don't have one" they just assume atheist. If I say "implicit atheist" they think I'm in a cult or stop listening... TL;DR Not religious but not really atheist

This might sound weird, but hear me out. I don't have a religion, but I don't consider myself an atheist. I just don't think about religion. My parents are Buddhist, but they don't even talk about it unless I ask about it directly. Growing up, I didn't really know what a religion was until high school. I've seen the few Buddhist things around my house, but I thought it was typical decorative stuff. So that's why I'm "not religious". It just never came up growing up, so I never thought about it. Maybe one day it'll hit me, that one religion will click, but I'm perfectly OK with not having one. I figure when I die, whatever happens, happens. If we all go somewhere else afterwards, I'll get there and I'll see it. I looked this up once, and it was called [implicit atheism]( and it pretty accurately describes what I think. It's always a weird question when someone asks me what my religion is, and when I answer them with, "I don't have one" they just assume atheist. If I say "implicit atheist" they think I'm in a cult or stop listening... TL;DR Not religious but not really atheist

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cemal02

This might sound weird, but hear me out. I don't have a religion, but I don't consider myself an atheist. I just don't think about religion. My parents are Buddhist, but they don't even talk about it unless I ask about it directly. Growing up, I didn't really know what a religion was until high school. I've seen the few Buddhist things around my house, but I thought it was typical decorative stuff. So that's why I'm "not religious". It just never came up growing up, so I never thought about it. Maybe one day it'll hit me, that one religion will click, but I'm perfectly OK with not having one. I figure when I die, whatever happens, happens. If we all go somewhere else afterwards, I'll get there and I'll see it. I looked this up once, and it was called [implicit atheism]( and it pretty accurately describes what I think. It's always a weird question when someone asks me what my religion is, and when I answer them with, "I don't have one" they just assume atheist. If I say "implicit atheist" they think I'm in a cult or stop listening...

Not religious but not really atheist

jrlandshark

I was raised a Christian, at first Baptist (when I was very young) then we moved to a non-denominational church. I was relatively resolute in my faith, but occasionally ran into a question that I never quite got the "right" answers to. Little things that didn't quite make sense. As time passed, I noticed that my connection to God began to waiver, I wasn't feeling him within me. During this time I prayed, I sobbed and asked for God to give me a sign, any sign at all that he was there, that he existed. I was scared, I had believed in something so long, and so strongly, that the possibility of losing that was quite terrifying. After days, and weeks of yearning for God, I received no response of any kind. From that point, I knew I had lost my faith, and decided from there that I was no longer Christian. This was my sophomore year of high school. I know have found that I live my life primarily based on logic, with some guidance from the previous lessons I learned in church. tl;dr I once had faith, no longer do.

I was raised a Christian, at first Baptist (when I was very young) then we moved to a non-denominational church. I was relatively resolute in my faith, but occasionally ran into a question that I never quite got the "right" answers to. Little things that didn't quite make sense. As time passed, I noticed that my connection to God began to waiver, I wasn't feeling him within me. During this time I prayed, I sobbed and asked for God to give me a sign, any sign at all that he was there, that he existed. I was scared, I had believed in something so long, and so strongly, that the possibility of losing that was quite terrifying. After days, and weeks of yearning for God, I received no response of any kind. From that point, I knew I had lost my faith, and decided from there that I was no longer Christian. This was my sophomore year of high school. I know have found that I live my life primarily based on logic, with some guidance from the previous lessons I learned in church. tl;dr I once had faith, no longer do.

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cemamvz

I was raised a Christian, at first Baptist (when I was very young) then we moved to a non-denominational church. I was relatively resolute in my faith, but occasionally ran into a question that I never quite got the "right" answers to. Little things that didn't quite make sense. As time passed, I noticed that my connection to God began to waiver, I wasn't feeling him within me. During this time I prayed, I sobbed and asked for God to give me a sign, any sign at all that he was there, that he existed. I was scared, I had believed in something so long, and so strongly, that the possibility of losing that was quite terrifying. After days, and weeks of yearning for God, I received no response of any kind. From that point, I knew I had lost my faith, and decided from there that I was no longer Christian. This was my sophomore year of high school. I know have found that I live my life primarily based on logic, with some guidance from the previous lessons I learned in church.

I once had faith, no longer do.

radoskan

To be happy. All religions have the same target -- happiness. All or most describe it differently but the target is the same; what's more, I am of the opinion that everyone has to go their own way. Having said that, I think that no one fully believes in everything their religion says. There will always be that one thing you have noticed during your lifetime that is true for yourself and which you will add to your view. tl;dr: Read the first sentence.

To be happy. All religions have the same target -- happiness. All or most describe it differently but the target is the same; what's more, I am of the opinion that everyone has to go their own way. Having said that, I think that no one fully believes in everything their religion says. There will always be that one thing you have noticed during your lifetime that is true for yourself and which you will add to your view. tl;dr: Read the first sentence.

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cemao4v

To be happy. All religions have the same target -- happiness. All or most describe it differently but the target is the same; what's more, I am of the opinion that everyone has to go their own way. Having said that, I think that no one fully believes in everything their religion says. There will always be that one thing you have noticed during your lifetime that is true for yourself and which you will add to your view.

Read the first sentence.

RufusStJames

Raised Lutheran, still Lutheran (not happy about the fact that we named our particular branch of Christianity after Luther, but that wasn't my call, and it provides the necessary distinction from Catholicism). I grew up learning my Bible stories and having them treated as just as factual as math and science. I still believe that about some of them. Do I believe that everything in the Bible actually happened unless it's specifically stated that it's a story/parable? Not really. I believe that everything in the Bible comes from God. I also believe, however, that God was under no obligation to tell us whether everything in the book was literal. I believe he meant for us to determine for ourselves whether something was meant literally. A long time back, I commented on a news article with something similar to the below (the comments had turned to religion for no good reason because Internet). This isn't word for word, and it's likely a little different than it was then, but I think it gives a pretty good idea of where I stand on things. I know the universe is ~13.7 billion years old, because science tells me this. I *believe* the universe was created by God somewhere between 6000 and 8000 years ago, because that's what God says happened. I know life evolved from single-celled organisms into what we have today. I *believe* that all life was created by God starting three days after He created light, because He tells me this. I know some guy named Jesus lived about 2000 years ago and he went around being religious, because I'm pretty sure there's non-biblical records of him, or something. I *believe* that He was the Son of God, sent to redeem us of our sins so that we can be saved and live forever with Him. I know that I should be a good person because being a bad person is a dick move. I *believe* that I *can* be a good person, but not a *perfect* person, because God helps me. I'm religious for a lot of different reasons. I'm religious because it makes me happy and content. I'm religious because I was raised religious. I'm religious because it helps me be a better person. And I'm religious because I believe it - because there *isn't* proof of God. God wants us to *believe*, He doesn't want us to *know*. If He wanted us to know, He'd have given us proof. For me, what I know and what I believe don't *need* to agree. Sometimes they do anyway. A lot of times they don't. And I'm ok with that. TL;DR - IF EVOLUTION WHY THERE ARE STILL MONKEYS

Raised Lutheran, still Lutheran (not happy about the fact that we named our particular branch of Christianity after Luther, but that wasn't my call, and it provides the necessary distinction from Catholicism). I grew up learning my Bible stories and having them treated as just as factual as math and science. I still believe that about some of them. Do I believe that everything in the Bible actually happened unless it's specifically stated that it's a story/parable? Not really. I believe that everything in the Bible comes from God. I also believe, however, that God was under no obligation to tell us whether everything in the book was literal. I believe he meant for us to determine for ourselves whether something was meant literally. A long time back, I commented on a news article with something similar to the below (the comments had turned to religion for no good reason because Internet). This isn't word for word, and it's likely a little different than it was then, but I think it gives a pretty good idea of where I stand on things. I know the universe is ~13.7 billion years old, because science tells me this. I believe the universe was created by God somewhere between 6000 and 8000 years ago, because that's what God says happened. I know life evolved from single-celled organisms into what we have today. I believe that all life was created by God starting three days after He created light, because He tells me this. I know some guy named Jesus lived about 2000 years ago and he went around being religious, because I'm pretty sure there's non-biblical records of him, or something. I believe that He was the Son of God, sent to redeem us of our sins so that we can be saved and live forever with Him. I know that I should be a good person because being a bad person is a dick move. I believe that I can be a good person, but not a perfect person, because God helps me. I'm religious for a lot of different reasons. I'm religious because it makes me happy and content. I'm religious because I was raised religious. I'm religious because it helps me be a better person. And I'm religious because I believe it - because there isn't proof of God. God wants us to believe , He doesn't want us to know . If He wanted us to know, He'd have given us proof. For me, what I know and what I believe don't need to agree. Sometimes they do anyway. A lot of times they don't. And I'm ok with that. TL;DR - IF EVOLUTION WHY THERE ARE STILL MONKEYS

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cemaq38

Raised Lutheran, still Lutheran (not happy about the fact that we named our particular branch of Christianity after Luther, but that wasn't my call, and it provides the necessary distinction from Catholicism). I grew up learning my Bible stories and having them treated as just as factual as math and science. I still believe that about some of them. Do I believe that everything in the Bible actually happened unless it's specifically stated that it's a story/parable? Not really. I believe that everything in the Bible comes from God. I also believe, however, that God was under no obligation to tell us whether everything in the book was literal. I believe he meant for us to determine for ourselves whether something was meant literally. A long time back, I commented on a news article with something similar to the below (the comments had turned to religion for no good reason because Internet). This isn't word for word, and it's likely a little different than it was then, but I think it gives a pretty good idea of where I stand on things. I know the universe is ~13.7 billion years old, because science tells me this. I believe the universe was created by God somewhere between 6000 and 8000 years ago, because that's what God says happened. I know life evolved from single-celled organisms into what we have today. I believe that all life was created by God starting three days after He created light, because He tells me this. I know some guy named Jesus lived about 2000 years ago and he went around being religious, because I'm pretty sure there's non-biblical records of him, or something. I believe that He was the Son of God, sent to redeem us of our sins so that we can be saved and live forever with Him. I know that I should be a good person because being a bad person is a dick move. I believe that I can be a good person, but not a perfect person, because God helps me. I'm religious for a lot of different reasons. I'm religious because it makes me happy and content. I'm religious because I was raised religious. I'm religious because it helps me be a better person. And I'm religious because I believe it - because there isn't proof of God. God wants us to believe , He doesn't want us to know . If He wanted us to know, He'd have given us proof. For me, what I know and what I believe don't need to agree. Sometimes they do anyway. A lot of times they don't. And I'm ok with that.

IF EVOLUTION WHY THERE ARE STILL MONKEYS

NosferatuPussy

Well, I kinda have always found science really fun. I don't always understand it, and I'm not very well spoken, so bear with me. The idea of God, to me, is overly simple. To me it's just too easy of an answer. Do you remember being a child, and you might ask your parents, "why?....why?....why?" A million times until they were sick of you asking and would answer in a exasperated, frustrated tone, "BECAUSE I SAID SO! NOW BE QUIET!" That's what God is to me. God is simply that answer. I am still spiritual, if that makes any sense, and I believe an energy runs through us all. When I learned and realized that evolution was branched out like a tree, with every living thing dating back to that one organism, I found it astounding. All living things are connected and share an energy. We share those ancient ancestors and the energy is life. I have a new appreciation for life, and all living things. I feel that, you should respect other animals, the same way you might respect an elder family member. And on another plane, I do not believe in God, because of my parents. They are very preachy Jesus freaks (my mother more recently so) and it's very bothersome. Why? Because they are quite literally horrible, abusive, close-minded, stupid people. And those are the people who typically choose to follow God, and I wish to separate myself from them. TL:DR- NosferatuPussy goin' to hell, y'all.

Well, I kinda have always found science really fun. I don't always understand it, and I'm not very well spoken, so bear with me. The idea of God, to me, is overly simple. To me it's just too easy of an answer. Do you remember being a child, and you might ask your parents, "why?....why?....why?" A million times until they were sick of you asking and would answer in a exasperated, frustrated tone, "BECAUSE I SAID SO! NOW BE QUIET!" That's what God is to me. God is simply that answer. I am still spiritual, if that makes any sense, and I believe an energy runs through us all. When I learned and realized that evolution was branched out like a tree, with every living thing dating back to that one organism, I found it astounding. All living things are connected and share an energy. We share those ancient ancestors and the energy is life. I have a new appreciation for life, and all living things. I feel that, you should respect other animals, the same way you might respect an elder family member. And on another plane, I do not believe in God, because of my parents. They are very preachy Jesus freaks (my mother more recently so) and it's very bothersome. Why? Because they are quite literally horrible, abusive, close-minded, stupid people. And those are the people who typically choose to follow God, and I wish to separate myself from them. TL:DR- NosferatuPussy goin' to hell, y'all.

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cemaw39

Well, I kinda have always found science really fun. I don't always understand it, and I'm not very well spoken, so bear with me. The idea of God, to me, is overly simple. To me it's just too easy of an answer. Do you remember being a child, and you might ask your parents, "why?....why?....why?" A million times until they were sick of you asking and would answer in a exasperated, frustrated tone, "BECAUSE I SAID SO! NOW BE QUIET!" That's what God is to me. God is simply that answer. I am still spiritual, if that makes any sense, and I believe an energy runs through us all. When I learned and realized that evolution was branched out like a tree, with every living thing dating back to that one organism, I found it astounding. All living things are connected and share an energy. We share those ancient ancestors and the energy is life. I have a new appreciation for life, and all living things. I feel that, you should respect other animals, the same way you might respect an elder family member. And on another plane, I do not believe in God, because of my parents. They are very preachy Jesus freaks (my mother more recently so) and it's very bothersome. Why? Because they are quite literally horrible, abusive, close-minded, stupid people. And those are the people who typically choose to follow God, and I wish to separate myself from them.

NosferatuPussy goin' to hell, y'all.

cedarant

Well, I'm religious. I'm actually somewhat of a theology nerd. I was raised pretty conservative Christian by my mom, while whenever I was at my dads, he would just blow it all off. He was sort of a New-Atheist (where if you're at all spiritual, you're fucking stupid). I guess for me to describe WHY I'm religious, i need to say other things about my past. Being raised conservative, I eventually bolted the fuck out of that mindset (thank you Anti-Flag, Crass, and punk music), and thoroughly embraced the left-wing. First, liberalism, then marxism, then communism, and now I'm just a plain old anarchist with anti-civ leanings. My mom was catching wind of this, and she didn't really mind, but she just was hoping for me to still love G-d. So one Christmas, while i was 16/17 she got me the book "Christianity and Anarchy" by Jacques Ellul. I loved it. I read it over and over. I was agnostic for about two years, though i was too scared to admit it to myself. But that book interested me a lot. I didn't become religious then, but it was definitely a moment where i realized the two (Anarchism/Christianity) were compatible. After some time, I ended up reading 'Jesus For President', and a whole list of other works. And I eventually renewed my faith in Christianity. I was raised Protestant, but I lean towards Orthodoxy/Catholicism in different ways. I understand the need for spiritual leaders (not masters), I believe in the Saints, I agree with the idea of Monasteries, and many other things. what I do not agree with is: Rampant corruption in all churches, due to capitalist mindsets. The insane homophobia/transphobia/sexism/xenophobia/racism that occurs in many/most churches. And the almost cult-like obsession with Biblical literalists (which boggles my mind). Also I'm strongly Pro-Choice, a relative pacifist, blah blah blah. What made me, and keeps me believing in G-d/Christ, in complete honesty, is that...life isn't enough for me. I feel greedy in saying that. But I honestly feel like, this is it? If this is all some damn accident, then it's not worth it to me. The pain, the hardships, the struggles, the two siblings I've lost, the depression i've faced day-to-day since i was a kid, its not worth it if its all done by fucking chance. I sound like an ass, and I'm sorry. I'm really not trying to shove my beliefs down throats. Because in the end, I might be wrong. And if i am wrong, would i be upset? No. It's like Kierkegaard talks about...a leap of faith. If i'm wrong, then I'm wrong, and that's that, i would be okay with that. It's just that my heart leans towards this way. I am extremely grateful that I was agnostic, and i honestly believe every child born into religious upbringing should be agnostic for at least two years, where they can ask themselves, "do i seriously believe in this?", otherwise, it's just fakeness. I also believe that there is no right way to worship G-d. I feel it's just different paths to the same destination. As long as the heart is you're leader, even if you're atheist in my opinion it's the same thing as being a monk or a nun. In my opinion, G-d is wild, and doesn't give a shit about "beliefs", if you believe in being a good person for the sake of being a good person, no rewards. If you show love or devotion to humans for no rewards, and if you love your viewpoint of God/Universe/Gods/Goddess/Whatever, it's all the same to me. I don't know if i believe in heaven (i dont believe there's a hell), and i honestly don't care. I don't believe in order to "save myself", if anything heaven should be destroyed. If heaven is the reason religious folks pretend to love/care about people, then its just worst kind of self-righteous selfishness. It's a farce. It's worshipping a prize. It's bullshit. Destroy heaven. I want to love G-d/dess for Itself. I want to love people, to love them. Fuck rewards. Destroy heaven. Let's make Earth heaven-like, and then we can talk about the afterlife, otherwise, fuck off with that shit. tl;dr: lengthy stupidness. sorry.

Well, I'm religious. I'm actually somewhat of a theology nerd. I was raised pretty conservative Christian by my mom, while whenever I was at my dads, he would just blow it all off. He was sort of a New-Atheist (where if you're at all spiritual, you're fucking stupid). I guess for me to describe WHY I'm religious, i need to say other things about my past. Being raised conservative, I eventually bolted the fuck out of that mindset (thank you Anti-Flag, Crass, and punk music), and thoroughly embraced the left-wing. First, liberalism, then marxism, then communism, and now I'm just a plain old anarchist with anti-civ leanings. My mom was catching wind of this, and she didn't really mind, but she just was hoping for me to still love G-d. So one Christmas, while i was 16/17 she got me the book "Christianity and Anarchy" by Jacques Ellul. I loved it. I read it over and over. I was agnostic for about two years, though i was too scared to admit it to myself. But that book interested me a lot. I didn't become religious then, but it was definitely a moment where i realized the two (Anarchism/Christianity) were compatible. After some time, I ended up reading 'Jesus For President', and a whole list of other works. And I eventually renewed my faith in Christianity. I was raised Protestant, but I lean towards Orthodoxy/Catholicism in different ways. I understand the need for spiritual leaders (not masters), I believe in the Saints, I agree with the idea of Monasteries, and many other things. what I do not agree with is: Rampant corruption in all churches, due to capitalist mindsets. The insane homophobia/transphobia/sexism/xenophobia/racism that occurs in many/most churches. And the almost cult-like obsession with Biblical literalists (which boggles my mind). Also I'm strongly Pro-Choice, a relative pacifist, blah blah blah. What made me, and keeps me believing in G-d/Christ, in complete honesty, is that...life isn't enough for me. I feel greedy in saying that. But I honestly feel like, this is it? If this is all some damn accident, then it's not worth it to me. The pain, the hardships, the struggles, the two siblings I've lost, the depression i've faced day-to-day since i was a kid, its not worth it if its all done by fucking chance. I sound like an ass, and I'm sorry. I'm really not trying to shove my beliefs down throats. Because in the end, I might be wrong. And if i am wrong, would i be upset? No. It's like Kierkegaard talks about...a leap of faith. If i'm wrong, then I'm wrong, and that's that, i would be okay with that. It's just that my heart leans towards this way. I am extremely grateful that I was agnostic, and i honestly believe every child born into religious upbringing should be agnostic for at least two years, where they can ask themselves, "do i seriously believe in this?", otherwise, it's just fakeness. I also believe that there is no right way to worship G-d. I feel it's just different paths to the same destination. As long as the heart is you're leader, even if you're atheist in my opinion it's the same thing as being a monk or a nun. In my opinion, G-d is wild, and doesn't give a shit about "beliefs", if you believe in being a good person for the sake of being a good person, no rewards. If you show love or devotion to humans for no rewards, and if you love your viewpoint of God/Universe/Gods/Goddess/Whatever, it's all the same to me. I don't know if i believe in heaven (i dont believe there's a hell), and i honestly don't care. I don't believe in order to "save myself", if anything heaven should be destroyed. If heaven is the reason religious folks pretend to love/care about people, then its just worst kind of self-righteous selfishness. It's a farce. It's worshipping a prize. It's bullshit. Destroy heaven. I want to love G-d/dess for Itself. I want to love people, to love them. Fuck rewards. Destroy heaven. Let's make Earth heaven-like, and then we can talk about the afterlife, otherwise, fuck off with that shit. tl;dr: lengthy stupidness. sorry.

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t5_2qh1i

cemawq7

Well, I'm religious. I'm actually somewhat of a theology nerd. I was raised pretty conservative Christian by my mom, while whenever I was at my dads, he would just blow it all off. He was sort of a New-Atheist (where if you're at all spiritual, you're fucking stupid). I guess for me to describe WHY I'm religious, i need to say other things about my past. Being raised conservative, I eventually bolted the fuck out of that mindset (thank you Anti-Flag, Crass, and punk music), and thoroughly embraced the left-wing. First, liberalism, then marxism, then communism, and now I'm just a plain old anarchist with anti-civ leanings. My mom was catching wind of this, and she didn't really mind, but she just was hoping for me to still love G-d. So one Christmas, while i was 16/17 she got me the book "Christianity and Anarchy" by Jacques Ellul. I loved it. I read it over and over. I was agnostic for about two years, though i was too scared to admit it to myself. But that book interested me a lot. I didn't become religious then, but it was definitely a moment where i realized the two (Anarchism/Christianity) were compatible. After some time, I ended up reading 'Jesus For President', and a whole list of other works. And I eventually renewed my faith in Christianity. I was raised Protestant, but I lean towards Orthodoxy/Catholicism in different ways. I understand the need for spiritual leaders (not masters), I believe in the Saints, I agree with the idea of Monasteries, and many other things. what I do not agree with is: Rampant corruption in all churches, due to capitalist mindsets. The insane homophobia/transphobia/sexism/xenophobia/racism that occurs in many/most churches. And the almost cult-like obsession with Biblical literalists (which boggles my mind). Also I'm strongly Pro-Choice, a relative pacifist, blah blah blah. What made me, and keeps me believing in G-d/Christ, in complete honesty, is that...life isn't enough for me. I feel greedy in saying that. But I honestly feel like, this is it? If this is all some damn accident, then it's not worth it to me. The pain, the hardships, the struggles, the two siblings I've lost, the depression i've faced day-to-day since i was a kid, its not worth it if its all done by fucking chance. I sound like an ass, and I'm sorry. I'm really not trying to shove my beliefs down throats. Because in the end, I might be wrong. And if i am wrong, would i be upset? No. It's like Kierkegaard talks about...a leap of faith. If i'm wrong, then I'm wrong, and that's that, i would be okay with that. It's just that my heart leans towards this way. I am extremely grateful that I was agnostic, and i honestly believe every child born into religious upbringing should be agnostic for at least two years, where they can ask themselves, "do i seriously believe in this?", otherwise, it's just fakeness. I also believe that there is no right way to worship G-d. I feel it's just different paths to the same destination. As long as the heart is you're leader, even if you're atheist in my opinion it's the same thing as being a monk or a nun. In my opinion, G-d is wild, and doesn't give a shit about "beliefs", if you believe in being a good person for the sake of being a good person, no rewards. If you show love or devotion to humans for no rewards, and if you love your viewpoint of God/Universe/Gods/Goddess/Whatever, it's all the same to me. I don't know if i believe in heaven (i dont believe there's a hell), and i honestly don't care. I don't believe in order to "save myself", if anything heaven should be destroyed. If heaven is the reason religious folks pretend to love/care about people, then its just worst kind of self-righteous selfishness. It's a farce. It's worshipping a prize. It's bullshit. Destroy heaven. I want to love G-d/dess for Itself. I want to love people, to love them. Fuck rewards. Destroy heaven. Let's make Earth heaven-like, and then we can talk about the afterlife, otherwise, fuck off with that shit.

lengthy stupidness. sorry.

NateGH360

I'm agnostic/atheist (more towards Atheism) because, well no one really knows and I want to stay more neutral. The reason I say agnostic/atheist is because I feel like, yes, I really don't belive in god and kind of don't want to, but I don't rub the fact that I am anti - religious in people's faces. My parents were raised Catholic and Lutheran and didn't take me into church. They taught me to be tolerant of others and respect other's beliefs and I truly loved being raised way. TL;DR I am an atheist who respects other's beliefs.

I'm agnostic/atheist (more towards Atheism) because, well no one really knows and I want to stay more neutral. The reason I say agnostic/atheist is because I feel like, yes, I really don't belive in god and kind of don't want to, but I don't rub the fact that I am anti - religious in people's faces. My parents were raised Catholic and Lutheran and didn't take me into church. They taught me to be tolerant of others and respect other's beliefs and I truly loved being raised way. TL;DR I am an atheist who respects other's beliefs.

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t5_2qh1i

cemawv5

I'm agnostic/atheist (more towards Atheism) because, well no one really knows and I want to stay more neutral. The reason I say agnostic/atheist is because I feel like, yes, I really don't belive in god and kind of don't want to, but I don't rub the fact that I am anti - religious in people's faces. My parents were raised Catholic and Lutheran and didn't take me into church. They taught me to be tolerant of others and respect other's beliefs and I truly loved being raised way.

I am an atheist who respects other's beliefs.

oliefan37

I grew up going to a large non-southern baptis church in VA. I never felt comfortable with the culture of the church. I never was able to place what it was about it that it didn't like. My parents stopped forcing me to go, and that's when I was done with the whole idea of religion. Fast forward to about 4 years ago, my neighbor got into a motorbike accident and slipped into a coma with serious head trauma. It was the first time I prayed in years. He came out about a week later, and since recovered. I reevaluated my religious beliefs and concluded that I believe in a higher power, but not it the teachings of any church. TL;dr: Former baptist, current agnostic theist.

I grew up going to a large non-southern baptis church in VA. I never felt comfortable with the culture of the church. I never was able to place what it was about it that it didn't like. My parents stopped forcing me to go, and that's when I was done with the whole idea of religion. Fast forward to about 4 years ago, my neighbor got into a motorbike accident and slipped into a coma with serious head trauma. It was the first time I prayed in years. He came out about a week later, and since recovered. I reevaluated my religious beliefs and concluded that I believe in a higher power, but not it the teachings of any church. TL;dr: Former baptist, current agnostic theist.

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t5_2qh1i

cemb23r

I grew up going to a large non-southern baptis church in VA. I never felt comfortable with the culture of the church. I never was able to place what it was about it that it didn't like. My parents stopped forcing me to go, and that's when I was done with the whole idea of religion. Fast forward to about 4 years ago, my neighbor got into a motorbike accident and slipped into a coma with serious head trauma. It was the first time I prayed in years. He came out about a week later, and since recovered. I reevaluated my religious beliefs and concluded that I believe in a higher power, but not it the teachings of any church.

Former baptist, current agnostic theist.

kayakguy429

I was raised a catholic, and I no longer consitter myself a catholic because of some of the things my former pastor had said and done. He kicked the family of a gay son out of the congregation. He continually verbally abused the people of the church for being "cafeteria catholics" who pick and choose which portions of the catholic doctrine to believe in, and finally started reminding everyone in the church they should be wearing their sunday best and not jeans or any other lackadaisical attire. Those actions drove me away from the church, and the catholic faith, but not my own personal religion. Everyone lives by a set of morals they believe to be just in their life. To me thats what it means to be religious, to have enough faith in myself, that I can believe in the actions of myself and the others. Religion isn't about excluding people, its about building a family you can love and care for, be it a family of blood or bonds of friendship. TL;DR: Organized religion, was starting to press ideas onto me... I moved on knowing I am who i'm supposed to be... :)

I was raised a catholic, and I no longer consitter myself a catholic because of some of the things my former pastor had said and done. He kicked the family of a gay son out of the congregation. He continually verbally abused the people of the church for being "cafeteria catholics" who pick and choose which portions of the catholic doctrine to believe in, and finally started reminding everyone in the church they should be wearing their sunday best and not jeans or any other lackadaisical attire. Those actions drove me away from the church, and the catholic faith, but not my own personal religion. Everyone lives by a set of morals they believe to be just in their life. To me thats what it means to be religious, to have enough faith in myself, that I can believe in the actions of myself and the others. Religion isn't about excluding people, its about building a family you can love and care for, be it a family of blood or bonds of friendship. TL;DR: Organized religion, was starting to press ideas onto me... I moved on knowing I am who i'm supposed to be... :)

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t5_2qh1i

cemb6l9

I was raised a catholic, and I no longer consitter myself a catholic because of some of the things my former pastor had said and done. He kicked the family of a gay son out of the congregation. He continually verbally abused the people of the church for being "cafeteria catholics" who pick and choose which portions of the catholic doctrine to believe in, and finally started reminding everyone in the church they should be wearing their sunday best and not jeans or any other lackadaisical attire. Those actions drove me away from the church, and the catholic faith, but not my own personal religion. Everyone lives by a set of morals they believe to be just in their life. To me thats what it means to be religious, to have enough faith in myself, that I can believe in the actions of myself and the others. Religion isn't about excluding people, its about building a family you can love and care for, be it a family of blood or bonds of friendship.

Organized religion, was starting to press ideas onto me... I moved on knowing I am who i'm supposed to be... :)

j_sensazn

I was raised Catholic for 20 years until I started questioning why. I went to church almost 3 times a week with my parents, sang in the choir, was an usher, and a lector. My family and I were involved heavily in the church (in fact, they still are) but I felt that I was attending mass as a routine, not because I actually wanted to. It felt weird to even think of not going to church on Sundays, but I still went, realizing later in my years that I was doing it mostly for my parents. I started asking questions, trying to seek advice from my parents, priest, teachers, etc. But the answers varied. I started to doubt who to trust, because I thought, who gives someone the right to tell me what's right and what's wrong from their standpoint? My mother had told me the priest was the one with all the answers, because he had studied theology for years and was "chosen by God to lead others to follow him." After all, it was his profession. But I still didn't understand. And then I was told I wasn't asking the "right" questions. They started to label me as the "rebel" of the family, or the lost sheep. I wanted to explore other religions, just to see how it varied from Catholicism and their strict teachings. In order to do so, I would have to attend other churches not in the Catholic faith, which was a sin. I began to realize that I was raised on a belief to act in a way that pleases God, because whatever pleased God was right, despite the way I felt about it. Because God knew everything, and he had a plan for you. But then I started to question why we did the things we did FOR God and instead, not for ourselves. I started to question why the way we lived each day was for the ultimate goal to go to heaven after death, and live eternally. Why do we live and do good things according to what they call "Judgement Day" rather than from the kindness of our own hearts? Why are we judged on every sin we commit, just for our sins to be wiped away once we went to confession and a priest was given the right by God to do so? Questions like these constantly came up in my mind and I started to veer further and further away from this religion I had been raised to believe my whole life. Then a few months ago, at a family gathering, my mother had invited the priest over like she always does. He arrived early and I was still doing my laundry (the laundry room is right by the entrance of the house). I didn't want him to see my intimates, so I quietly closed the door and continued. A few minutes later the door opens and it's him. I quickly ran up to the door and said hello to him, but stood between the door and the door frame so he wouldn't see inside, raising my arms up so he couldn't see above me either. My sweater had gone up a little bit from raising my arms and exposed a bit of my stomach, which he noticed. I didn't think anything of this, and was actually slightly embarrassed. We continued our small talk, then I told him I was going to get back to my laundry and speak to him once I was done. I admitted to him I was uncomfortable with him seeing my intimates. He then said, as he started to run his fingers against my bare stomach, "What's the difference between me seeing your outside clothes, and your inside clothes?" I felt extremely uncomfortable with what had happened that I was too scared to tell anyone about it. This was the man I was told knew all the answers, someone I had spent a lot of time with to help understand my faith, and someone I was supposed to trust. I had confided in my sister later on, and she told my brother, who was very upset and helped me tell our mother once all our guests had left. This did not end well. My mother simply stated 1. It was my fault for wearing a revealing sweater (I was wearing my pyjamas for Christ's sake) 2. I shouldn't have been doing my laundry 3. Priests are human beings too and have needs and make mistakes 4. I was overreacting and what I said was just to lash out and get attention (due to my recent "rebellious" behavior of questioning my faith, my words are not valid apparently) I felt complete and utter betrayal from my own mother. This was the breaking point in my faith. How could someone be so consumed in their faith and so blinded by the church that she cannot see the wrong that had happened against her own flesh and blood? Not once did she stand up for me, and she even apologized to the priest ON MY BEHALF for MY inappropriate behaviour. And I came to the conclusion that if this is how consumed my mother was in religion, I would never want that for myself. Side note: my boyfriend who was also present at the gathering, arranged a meeting and spoke with the Catholic Diocese about what had happened. He asked them if he should involve the police in case this happened to others and they quickly shut that idea down and said they would take care of it. Nine months later and nothing has happened. I had done some research and discovered that if priests have been getting complaints of sexual assault or harassment, they are transferred to another church by the Diocese. I am glad I am able to finally stand up for myself, but my main concern is for those who cannot. Especially since this man is constantly around young children. I am on a mission to uncover what he really is. TLDR; Catholic for 20 years, began to question everything, encounter perverted priest, no longer interested in organised religion

I was raised Catholic for 20 years until I started questioning why. I went to church almost 3 times a week with my parents, sang in the choir, was an usher, and a lector. My family and I were involved heavily in the church (in fact, they still are) but I felt that I was attending mass as a routine, not because I actually wanted to. It felt weird to even think of not going to church on Sundays, but I still went, realizing later in my years that I was doing it mostly for my parents. I started asking questions, trying to seek advice from my parents, priest, teachers, etc. But the answers varied. I started to doubt who to trust, because I thought, who gives someone the right to tell me what's right and what's wrong from their standpoint? My mother had told me the priest was the one with all the answers, because he had studied theology for years and was "chosen by God to lead others to follow him." After all, it was his profession. But I still didn't understand. And then I was told I wasn't asking the "right" questions. They started to label me as the "rebel" of the family, or the lost sheep. I wanted to explore other religions, just to see how it varied from Catholicism and their strict teachings. In order to do so, I would have to attend other churches not in the Catholic faith, which was a sin. I began to realize that I was raised on a belief to act in a way that pleases God, because whatever pleased God was right, despite the way I felt about it. Because God knew everything, and he had a plan for you. But then I started to question why we did the things we did FOR God and instead, not for ourselves. I started to question why the way we lived each day was for the ultimate goal to go to heaven after death, and live eternally. Why do we live and do good things according to what they call "Judgement Day" rather than from the kindness of our own hearts? Why are we judged on every sin we commit, just for our sins to be wiped away once we went to confession and a priest was given the right by God to do so? Questions like these constantly came up in my mind and I started to veer further and further away from this religion I had been raised to believe my whole life. Then a few months ago, at a family gathering, my mother had invited the priest over like she always does. He arrived early and I was still doing my laundry (the laundry room is right by the entrance of the house). I didn't want him to see my intimates, so I quietly closed the door and continued. A few minutes later the door opens and it's him. I quickly ran up to the door and said hello to him, but stood between the door and the door frame so he wouldn't see inside, raising my arms up so he couldn't see above me either. My sweater had gone up a little bit from raising my arms and exposed a bit of my stomach, which he noticed. I didn't think anything of this, and was actually slightly embarrassed. We continued our small talk, then I told him I was going to get back to my laundry and speak to him once I was done. I admitted to him I was uncomfortable with him seeing my intimates. He then said, as he started to run his fingers against my bare stomach, "What's the difference between me seeing your outside clothes, and your inside clothes?" I felt extremely uncomfortable with what had happened that I was too scared to tell anyone about it. This was the man I was told knew all the answers, someone I had spent a lot of time with to help understand my faith, and someone I was supposed to trust. I had confided in my sister later on, and she told my brother, who was very upset and helped me tell our mother once all our guests had left. This did not end well. My mother simply stated It was my fault for wearing a revealing sweater (I was wearing my pyjamas for Christ's sake) I shouldn't have been doing my laundry Priests are human beings too and have needs and make mistakes I was overreacting and what I said was just to lash out and get attention (due to my recent "rebellious" behavior of questioning my faith, my words are not valid apparently) I felt complete and utter betrayal from my own mother. This was the breaking point in my faith. How could someone be so consumed in their faith and so blinded by the church that she cannot see the wrong that had happened against her own flesh and blood? Not once did she stand up for me, and she even apologized to the priest ON MY BEHALF for MY inappropriate behaviour. And I came to the conclusion that if this is how consumed my mother was in religion, I would never want that for myself. Side note: my boyfriend who was also present at the gathering, arranged a meeting and spoke with the Catholic Diocese about what had happened. He asked them if he should involve the police in case this happened to others and they quickly shut that idea down and said they would take care of it. Nine months later and nothing has happened. I had done some research and discovered that if priests have been getting complaints of sexual assault or harassment, they are transferred to another church by the Diocese. I am glad I am able to finally stand up for myself, but my main concern is for those who cannot. Especially since this man is constantly around young children. I am on a mission to uncover what he really is. TLDR; Catholic for 20 years, began to question everything, encounter perverted priest, no longer interested in organised religion

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cemba0o

I was raised Catholic for 20 years until I started questioning why. I went to church almost 3 times a week with my parents, sang in the choir, was an usher, and a lector. My family and I were involved heavily in the church (in fact, they still are) but I felt that I was attending mass as a routine, not because I actually wanted to. It felt weird to even think of not going to church on Sundays, but I still went, realizing later in my years that I was doing it mostly for my parents. I started asking questions, trying to seek advice from my parents, priest, teachers, etc. But the answers varied. I started to doubt who to trust, because I thought, who gives someone the right to tell me what's right and what's wrong from their standpoint? My mother had told me the priest was the one with all the answers, because he had studied theology for years and was "chosen by God to lead others to follow him." After all, it was his profession. But I still didn't understand. And then I was told I wasn't asking the "right" questions. They started to label me as the "rebel" of the family, or the lost sheep. I wanted to explore other religions, just to see how it varied from Catholicism and their strict teachings. In order to do so, I would have to attend other churches not in the Catholic faith, which was a sin. I began to realize that I was raised on a belief to act in a way that pleases God, because whatever pleased God was right, despite the way I felt about it. Because God knew everything, and he had a plan for you. But then I started to question why we did the things we did FOR God and instead, not for ourselves. I started to question why the way we lived each day was for the ultimate goal to go to heaven after death, and live eternally. Why do we live and do good things according to what they call "Judgement Day" rather than from the kindness of our own hearts? Why are we judged on every sin we commit, just for our sins to be wiped away once we went to confession and a priest was given the right by God to do so? Questions like these constantly came up in my mind and I started to veer further and further away from this religion I had been raised to believe my whole life. Then a few months ago, at a family gathering, my mother had invited the priest over like she always does. He arrived early and I was still doing my laundry (the laundry room is right by the entrance of the house). I didn't want him to see my intimates, so I quietly closed the door and continued. A few minutes later the door opens and it's him. I quickly ran up to the door and said hello to him, but stood between the door and the door frame so he wouldn't see inside, raising my arms up so he couldn't see above me either. My sweater had gone up a little bit from raising my arms and exposed a bit of my stomach, which he noticed. I didn't think anything of this, and was actually slightly embarrassed. We continued our small talk, then I told him I was going to get back to my laundry and speak to him once I was done. I admitted to him I was uncomfortable with him seeing my intimates. He then said, as he started to run his fingers against my bare stomach, "What's the difference between me seeing your outside clothes, and your inside clothes?" I felt extremely uncomfortable with what had happened that I was too scared to tell anyone about it. This was the man I was told knew all the answers, someone I had spent a lot of time with to help understand my faith, and someone I was supposed to trust. I had confided in my sister later on, and she told my brother, who was very upset and helped me tell our mother once all our guests had left. This did not end well. My mother simply stated It was my fault for wearing a revealing sweater (I was wearing my pyjamas for Christ's sake) I shouldn't have been doing my laundry Priests are human beings too and have needs and make mistakes I was overreacting and what I said was just to lash out and get attention (due to my recent "rebellious" behavior of questioning my faith, my words are not valid apparently) I felt complete and utter betrayal from my own mother. This was the breaking point in my faith. How could someone be so consumed in their faith and so blinded by the church that she cannot see the wrong that had happened against her own flesh and blood? Not once did she stand up for me, and she even apologized to the priest ON MY BEHALF for MY inappropriate behaviour. And I came to the conclusion that if this is how consumed my mother was in religion, I would never want that for myself. Side note: my boyfriend who was also present at the gathering, arranged a meeting and spoke with the Catholic Diocese about what had happened. He asked them if he should involve the police in case this happened to others and they quickly shut that idea down and said they would take care of it. Nine months later and nothing has happened. I had done some research and discovered that if priests have been getting complaints of sexual assault or harassment, they are transferred to another church by the Diocese. I am glad I am able to finally stand up for myself, but my main concern is for those who cannot. Especially since this man is constantly around young children. I am on a mission to uncover what he really is.

Catholic for 20 years, began to question everything, encounter perverted priest, no longer interested in organised religion

Lycanthrosis

I was surrounded by Catholicism at a young age. Until about 5 years old I often went to a Church, Sunday School, that stuff with my sister. My step-dad was Catholic I believe and my mom sort of just went with whatever. Professed to be Christian, but really wasn't doing anything in particular. She didn't really enforce anything either. Neither of them really pushed anything on me or my sister as I remember and I didn't profess to be a Christian myself. I sort of believed in God ( though for no logical reason. Simply praying at certain times and only having faith based off of what I'd heard - not from the Bible or actual research ) up until elementary school. Around then I started drifting into disbelief more-so, not seeing any reason to believe in God or anything. I had no concrete proof or evidence that there even was a God, so why put faith in one? In High School I was a proud Atheist. Loved arguing with all the Christians about their "silly" beliefs and basically yelling that I'm an Atheist in a society where not many were. I had a few other friends who followed suit and started doing the same. Evolution, logical reasoning, SCIENCE! Fast forward a few years and I just graduated and met a friend over Facebook who tells me that she's a Jehovah's Witness. Being who I am, I basically laugh and immediately start a debate over it. I was mainly curious though, not knowing much about them as a religious organization nor what they did differently. To my surprise, she actually makes me question my own disbelief, realizing that I myself really didn't have sound proof that there isn't a God either and that my belief in evolution to explain life wasn't as backed up as I thought it to be. I was convinced to reexamine myself, if not solely to prove her wrong, and gladly started studying the Bible with one of the people who attended her Kingdom Hall ( their "Church" ), who I was told was a great personality match for me. After a couple years of studying, I'm to be baptized in a week or two and am completely and unshakably convinced that I know the truth now, so much so that it's hard to hold back from messaging people to share it with them. TL;DR - Was an argumentative Atheist. Studied with Jehovah's Witnesses. Going to be a baptized Witness soon.

I was surrounded by Catholicism at a young age. Until about 5 years old I often went to a Church, Sunday School, that stuff with my sister. My step-dad was Catholic I believe and my mom sort of just went with whatever. Professed to be Christian, but really wasn't doing anything in particular. She didn't really enforce anything either. Neither of them really pushed anything on me or my sister as I remember and I didn't profess to be a Christian myself. I sort of believed in God ( though for no logical reason. Simply praying at certain times and only having faith based off of what I'd heard - not from the Bible or actual research ) up until elementary school. Around then I started drifting into disbelief more-so, not seeing any reason to believe in God or anything. I had no concrete proof or evidence that there even was a God, so why put faith in one? In High School I was a proud Atheist. Loved arguing with all the Christians about their "silly" beliefs and basically yelling that I'm an Atheist in a society where not many were. I had a few other friends who followed suit and started doing the same. Evolution, logical reasoning, SCIENCE! Fast forward a few years and I just graduated and met a friend over Facebook who tells me that she's a Jehovah's Witness. Being who I am, I basically laugh and immediately start a debate over it. I was mainly curious though, not knowing much about them as a religious organization nor what they did differently. To my surprise, she actually makes me question my own disbelief, realizing that I myself really didn't have sound proof that there isn't a God either and that my belief in evolution to explain life wasn't as backed up as I thought it to be. I was convinced to reexamine myself, if not solely to prove her wrong, and gladly started studying the Bible with one of the people who attended her Kingdom Hall ( their "Church" ), who I was told was a great personality match for me. After a couple years of studying, I'm to be baptized in a week or two and am completely and unshakably convinced that I know the truth now, so much so that it's hard to hold back from messaging people to share it with them. TL;DR - Was an argumentative Atheist. Studied with Jehovah's Witnesses. Going to be a baptized Witness soon.

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t5_2qh1i

cembfyz

I was surrounded by Catholicism at a young age. Until about 5 years old I often went to a Church, Sunday School, that stuff with my sister. My step-dad was Catholic I believe and my mom sort of just went with whatever. Professed to be Christian, but really wasn't doing anything in particular. She didn't really enforce anything either. Neither of them really pushed anything on me or my sister as I remember and I didn't profess to be a Christian myself. I sort of believed in God ( though for no logical reason. Simply praying at certain times and only having faith based off of what I'd heard - not from the Bible or actual research ) up until elementary school. Around then I started drifting into disbelief more-so, not seeing any reason to believe in God or anything. I had no concrete proof or evidence that there even was a God, so why put faith in one? In High School I was a proud Atheist. Loved arguing with all the Christians about their "silly" beliefs and basically yelling that I'm an Atheist in a society where not many were. I had a few other friends who followed suit and started doing the same. Evolution, logical reasoning, SCIENCE! Fast forward a few years and I just graduated and met a friend over Facebook who tells me that she's a Jehovah's Witness. Being who I am, I basically laugh and immediately start a debate over it. I was mainly curious though, not knowing much about them as a religious organization nor what they did differently. To my surprise, she actually makes me question my own disbelief, realizing that I myself really didn't have sound proof that there isn't a God either and that my belief in evolution to explain life wasn't as backed up as I thought it to be. I was convinced to reexamine myself, if not solely to prove her wrong, and gladly started studying the Bible with one of the people who attended her Kingdom Hall ( their "Church" ), who I was told was a great personality match for me. After a couple years of studying, I'm to be baptized in a week or two and am completely and unshakably convinced that I know the truth now, so much so that it's hard to hold back from messaging people to share it with them.

Was an argumentative Atheist. Studied with Jehovah's Witnesses. Going to be a baptized Witness soon.

aham_sure

Raised Catholic... by the school. My parents didn't care to raise me in any particular religion. One of the most important things my dad always wanted me to know was that I should question things, that I shouldn't simply accept them just because. So, at age 6 I began questioning the nuns, who dismissed me. At age 9, I became curious about more "open" religions, with cute crystals and shiny stuff. At 11 I grew out of the incense and the circular logic they always fed me (Catholicism included) because they dismissed my questions as serious ones. By the time I started high-school I already knew I didn't believe in the existence of a deity, heaven or hell. At 13, a friend seriously asked me whether I was fine with the thought that he, when dead, might go to heaven, while I would just feed the worms. That was when I really knew why I didn't believe in anything. I just don't care and I'm not willing to put up with any sort of torment (being "God fearing") because of something that really doesn't matter to me. Tl;dr> Was never force-fed any religion and now I don't care enough to believe in any sort of deity.

Raised Catholic... by the school. My parents didn't care to raise me in any particular religion. One of the most important things my dad always wanted me to know was that I should question things, that I shouldn't simply accept them just because. So, at age 6 I began questioning the nuns, who dismissed me. At age 9, I became curious about more "open" religions, with cute crystals and shiny stuff. At 11 I grew out of the incense and the circular logic they always fed me (Catholicism included) because they dismissed my questions as serious ones. By the time I started high-school I already knew I didn't believe in the existence of a deity, heaven or hell. At 13, a friend seriously asked me whether I was fine with the thought that he, when dead, might go to heaven, while I would just feed the worms. That was when I really knew why I didn't believe in anything. I just don't care and I'm not willing to put up with any sort of torment (being "God fearing") because of something that really doesn't matter to me. Tl;dr> Was never force-fed any religion and now I don't care enough to believe in any sort of deity.

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t5_2qh1i

cembjzs

Raised Catholic... by the school. My parents didn't care to raise me in any particular religion. One of the most important things my dad always wanted me to know was that I should question things, that I shouldn't simply accept them just because. So, at age 6 I began questioning the nuns, who dismissed me. At age 9, I became curious about more "open" religions, with cute crystals and shiny stuff. At 11 I grew out of the incense and the circular logic they always fed me (Catholicism included) because they dismissed my questions as serious ones. By the time I started high-school I already knew I didn't believe in the existence of a deity, heaven or hell. At 13, a friend seriously asked me whether I was fine with the thought that he, when dead, might go to heaven, while I would just feed the worms. That was when I really knew why I didn't believe in anything. I just don't care and I'm not willing to put up with any sort of torment (being "God fearing") because of something that really doesn't matter to me.

Was never force-fed any religion and now I don't care enough to believe in any sort of deity.

LikeBoom

I can't say that I've ever been 100 percent religious my entire life. But I can say that my religion is what makes me feel okay sometimes. I haven't always had the best circumstances, nor have I always had something to live for, but in the moments that I had no one and there was so much turmoil prayer brought a kind of peace to me. Also, in my times of doubt I lived in a home that I will swear on my life was haunted. With what? I still have no idea. But the things I experienced there, what others have experienced there, were things I couldn't understand. When things were at their worst I knew it was nothing like the calm I had experienced with my faith. Call dumb deductive reasoning but I at least figured my faith was better than whatever the fuck that shit was. One last thing is that there is a family I know. Beautiful family that has invited me into their home many times. They are Christians. Not the ones that twist what the bible says and see every non-Jesus worshipping entity as a terrorist or dildo wielding prostitute, but as the kind that follows the teachings of the bible. The teachings that say love everyone, do not be judgemental, do no harm to others, and forgive. They are what really showed me the better side of religion and how much good it can, and should, do all the time. Tl;dr: Jesus makes me feel good.

I can't say that I've ever been 100 percent religious my entire life. But I can say that my religion is what makes me feel okay sometimes. I haven't always had the best circumstances, nor have I always had something to live for, but in the moments that I had no one and there was so much turmoil prayer brought a kind of peace to me. Also, in my times of doubt I lived in a home that I will swear on my life was haunted. With what? I still have no idea. But the things I experienced there, what others have experienced there, were things I couldn't understand. When things were at their worst I knew it was nothing like the calm I had experienced with my faith. Call dumb deductive reasoning but I at least figured my faith was better than whatever the fuck that shit was. One last thing is that there is a family I know. Beautiful family that has invited me into their home many times. They are Christians. Not the ones that twist what the bible says and see every non-Jesus worshipping entity as a terrorist or dildo wielding prostitute, but as the kind that follows the teachings of the bible. The teachings that say love everyone, do not be judgemental, do no harm to others, and forgive. They are what really showed me the better side of religion and how much good it can, and should, do all the time. Tl;dr: Jesus makes me feel good.

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t5_2qh1i

cembpdx

I can't say that I've ever been 100 percent religious my entire life. But I can say that my religion is what makes me feel okay sometimes. I haven't always had the best circumstances, nor have I always had something to live for, but in the moments that I had no one and there was so much turmoil prayer brought a kind of peace to me. Also, in my times of doubt I lived in a home that I will swear on my life was haunted. With what? I still have no idea. But the things I experienced there, what others have experienced there, were things I couldn't understand. When things were at their worst I knew it was nothing like the calm I had experienced with my faith. Call dumb deductive reasoning but I at least figured my faith was better than whatever the fuck that shit was. One last thing is that there is a family I know. Beautiful family that has invited me into their home many times. They are Christians. Not the ones that twist what the bible says and see every non-Jesus worshipping entity as a terrorist or dildo wielding prostitute, but as the kind that follows the teachings of the bible. The teachings that say love everyone, do not be judgemental, do no harm to others, and forgive. They are what really showed me the better side of religion and how much good it can, and should, do all the time.

Jesus makes me feel good.

waynehead310

My mom was a christian, and I can't blame her. She went to Hawaii on a Mission with the Salvation Army at age 19. Best trip of her life. She was able to go because she was dutiful in her religion. She has been a person of faith ever since. I grew up believing as she did. But I always had questions about whether any of the supernatural things actually happened, and why they seemed to stop happening. Questions like this made me scared of blasphemy, and I joined a Bible study group in high school. I would hear the pastor of the church I attended say one thing, and have the pastor of the high school bible study contradict what my pastor said. Confused the crap out of me because both used the Bible as reference. I questioned them both to the point where they actually had a phone conversation with each other. They never told me what they actually talked about, just that they seemed nice to each other. Still confused, I decided to just take a "break" from Christianity. (Turns out the pastor from the high school bible study was a pedophile and made advances to some of the female students.) Upon moving into my dorm for college, I purposely leave my Bible in my mothers car. She notices it, and brings it back to me on her next visit. I never opened once in college. I decided to not talk about religion, but would still proclaim Christianity when it was brought up. Some other Christians called me out on it, so to appease them I just said "fine I'm an atheist". My best friend from college, told me don't fall into that trap, just believe what you want but make sure you keep your money. It hit me then. My mom was giving her pastor money, the whole congregation was, and for what? Pastor says a new church in 5 years. We were there for 6 years and he wasn't even close to his goal. But I do remember that new nice car for him and his wife. I do remember how he was too wealthy to get financial aid for his kids. I remember him living in a gated community. Meanwhile, most in the congregation were struggling financially and had hard times paying for their children to go to a university. 14 years later and it's still the same. Pastor's Daughter has a ~~brand~~ ~~new~~ ~~BMW~~ used Toyota (because she totaled the BMW). I can't even go to this church without some disdain for this guy as he's using these people to live his lavish lifestyle. Now I've never really disproved that God does exist, but not being in the Church and not continually reading the Bible has aided into me no longer believing. I know it hurts my mom that I am an atheist or whatever you call me, but I feel so much better about my life. **TL;DR** - Mom is a devout christian, I grew up in that same mold, contradictions and people getting taken advantage of confused me to the point where I just became an atheist.

My mom was a christian, and I can't blame her. She went to Hawaii on a Mission with the Salvation Army at age 19. Best trip of her life. She was able to go because she was dutiful in her religion. She has been a person of faith ever since. I grew up believing as she did. But I always had questions about whether any of the supernatural things actually happened, and why they seemed to stop happening. Questions like this made me scared of blasphemy, and I joined a Bible study group in high school. I would hear the pastor of the church I attended say one thing, and have the pastor of the high school bible study contradict what my pastor said. Confused the crap out of me because both used the Bible as reference. I questioned them both to the point where they actually had a phone conversation with each other. They never told me what they actually talked about, just that they seemed nice to each other. Still confused, I decided to just take a "break" from Christianity. (Turns out the pastor from the high school bible study was a pedophile and made advances to some of the female students.) Upon moving into my dorm for college, I purposely leave my Bible in my mothers car. She notices it, and brings it back to me on her next visit. I never opened once in college. I decided to not talk about religion, but would still proclaim Christianity when it was brought up. Some other Christians called me out on it, so to appease them I just said "fine I'm an atheist". My best friend from college, told me don't fall into that trap, just believe what you want but make sure you keep your money. It hit me then. My mom was giving her pastor money, the whole congregation was, and for what? Pastor says a new church in 5 years. We were there for 6 years and he wasn't even close to his goal. But I do remember that new nice car for him and his wife. I do remember how he was too wealthy to get financial aid for his kids. I remember him living in a gated community. Meanwhile, most in the congregation were struggling financially and had hard times paying for their children to go to a university. 14 years later and it's still the same. Pastor's Daughter has a brand new BMW used Toyota (because she totaled the BMW). I can't even go to this church without some disdain for this guy as he's using these people to live his lavish lifestyle. Now I've never really disproved that God does exist, but not being in the Church and not continually reading the Bible has aided into me no longer believing. I know it hurts my mom that I am an atheist or whatever you call me, but I feel so much better about my life. TL;DR - Mom is a devout christian, I grew up in that same mold, contradictions and people getting taken advantage of confused me to the point where I just became an atheist.

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t5_2qh1i

cembqma

My mom was a christian, and I can't blame her. She went to Hawaii on a Mission with the Salvation Army at age 19. Best trip of her life. She was able to go because she was dutiful in her religion. She has been a person of faith ever since. I grew up believing as she did. But I always had questions about whether any of the supernatural things actually happened, and why they seemed to stop happening. Questions like this made me scared of blasphemy, and I joined a Bible study group in high school. I would hear the pastor of the church I attended say one thing, and have the pastor of the high school bible study contradict what my pastor said. Confused the crap out of me because both used the Bible as reference. I questioned them both to the point where they actually had a phone conversation with each other. They never told me what they actually talked about, just that they seemed nice to each other. Still confused, I decided to just take a "break" from Christianity. (Turns out the pastor from the high school bible study was a pedophile and made advances to some of the female students.) Upon moving into my dorm for college, I purposely leave my Bible in my mothers car. She notices it, and brings it back to me on her next visit. I never opened once in college. I decided to not talk about religion, but would still proclaim Christianity when it was brought up. Some other Christians called me out on it, so to appease them I just said "fine I'm an atheist". My best friend from college, told me don't fall into that trap, just believe what you want but make sure you keep your money. It hit me then. My mom was giving her pastor money, the whole congregation was, and for what? Pastor says a new church in 5 years. We were there for 6 years and he wasn't even close to his goal. But I do remember that new nice car for him and his wife. I do remember how he was too wealthy to get financial aid for his kids. I remember him living in a gated community. Meanwhile, most in the congregation were struggling financially and had hard times paying for their children to go to a university. 14 years later and it's still the same. Pastor's Daughter has a brand new BMW used Toyota (because she totaled the BMW). I can't even go to this church without some disdain for this guy as he's using these people to live his lavish lifestyle. Now I've never really disproved that God does exist, but not being in the Church and not continually reading the Bible has aided into me no longer believing. I know it hurts my mom that I am an atheist or whatever you call me, but I feel so much better about my life.

Mom is a devout christian, I grew up in that same mold, contradictions and people getting taken advantage of confused me to the point where I just became an atheist.

Teonlight

I personally cannot make prayer and chaos theory align. Let's think about this... I pray for something... let's say I need a job. That's pretty common these days right? So I pray to God and ask for a job. One of 3 things can happen, all of which branch out, so for the sake of this let's assume there is a God. 1) God hears my prayer and determines that I am worthy of this type of assistance. a- He can help me by divinely inspiring me to write an epic resume. b- He soften the heart of the guy doing the interview, this has happened numerous times in the bible. c- He could create an opening of opportunity. Where there happens to be an opening at the right time and they need it filled. This list goes on for a while. The point here is that they all have a few things in common. They all require intervention of free will for one. No religion will argue that you and everyone around you has free will. It's part of the founding concepts between Jesus and Lucifer. So for the resume he would have to alter my free will. Now this may not be so bad since I willingly submitted to it by asking for help. But at that point what's the point? Part of this portion of finding a job is to convince my future employer that I have the skills to complete a resume. The only way this isn't an issue is if I'm permanently inspired like this. Otherwise my employer will get a false representation of what I am capable of. If I'm permanently inspired like this then I submit to being permanently inspired in every aspect of life so I can live the perfect life with no strife or challenge... sounds like fun right! Same problem with the softening of the interviewer's heart. He is divinely removing this guy/girl's free will to hate me if he so chooses. The guy could have spilled coffee and had a bad day and I'd get screwed unless his free agency is removed! And who knows maybe on a normal day, I'm not the kind of team member he wants to work with. Creating an opening for me happens one of two ways either someone gets struck down... grim... or the company grows to the point where it needs me. That happens through people breaking themselves off and working hard to grow a company. Not through divine intervention.... otherwise again he is removing the free will of a LOT of people to buy 'X' product to grow company 'X' so there is a slot for me... 2) God determines that this job search is a trial I must endure for some greater purpose. This is what a ton of people believe when times are hard. I must endure this so I can fulfill my true potential later down the road. Sure I'm all for character building. Hard times are needed to appreciate Good times. But far too often this is the excuse used when we need justification as to why something is inadequate. Me personally... Every time I've job hunted I fill out MAYBE 10 resumes and land a job. That means I'm good at it right? I understand the mechanic behind the resume and effectively utilize it to acquire employment. If I suddenly started filling out 50 resumes and still no job... I'd be sitting down trying to figure out what changed from my usual resume to the new one that isn't working out. I wouldn't be saying, "Oh clearly this new resume is superior to the old ones and this is some new trial that I must endure so that God will place me where I belong." It's hard to put food on the table with that mentality.... 3) God finds me arrogant for requesting something so trivial and sets out to punish me and show me the error of my ways. Really? So I'm going to worship you, offer money, and devote time to trying to build a relationship with you, then when I ask for help with something I really do need... You get mad and proceed to punish me over it. Again read your bible folks this has happened quite a few times. This is actually an abusive relationship and I think I might need counseling to get over the realization that my father in heaven actively sabotaged my success in life. TL;DR: God has to remove free will to grant prayer and then exist in any meaningful capacity.

I personally cannot make prayer and chaos theory align. Let's think about this... I pray for something... let's say I need a job. That's pretty common these days right? So I pray to God and ask for a job. One of 3 things can happen, all of which branch out, so for the sake of this let's assume there is a God. 1) God hears my prayer and determines that I am worthy of this type of assistance. a- He can help me by divinely inspiring me to write an epic resume. b- He soften the heart of the guy doing the interview, this has happened numerous times in the bible. c- He could create an opening of opportunity. Where there happens to be an opening at the right time and they need it filled. This list goes on for a while. The point here is that they all have a few things in common. They all require intervention of free will for one. No religion will argue that you and everyone around you has free will. It's part of the founding concepts between Jesus and Lucifer. So for the resume he would have to alter my free will. Now this may not be so bad since I willingly submitted to it by asking for help. But at that point what's the point? Part of this portion of finding a job is to convince my future employer that I have the skills to complete a resume. The only way this isn't an issue is if I'm permanently inspired like this. Otherwise my employer will get a false representation of what I am capable of. If I'm permanently inspired like this then I submit to being permanently inspired in every aspect of life so I can live the perfect life with no strife or challenge... sounds like fun right! Same problem with the softening of the interviewer's heart. He is divinely removing this guy/girl's free will to hate me if he so chooses. The guy could have spilled coffee and had a bad day and I'd get screwed unless his free agency is removed! And who knows maybe on a normal day, I'm not the kind of team member he wants to work with. Creating an opening for me happens one of two ways either someone gets struck down... grim... or the company grows to the point where it needs me. That happens through people breaking themselves off and working hard to grow a company. Not through divine intervention.... otherwise again he is removing the free will of a LOT of people to buy 'X' product to grow company 'X' so there is a slot for me... 2) God determines that this job search is a trial I must endure for some greater purpose. This is what a ton of people believe when times are hard. I must endure this so I can fulfill my true potential later down the road. Sure I'm all for character building. Hard times are needed to appreciate Good times. But far too often this is the excuse used when we need justification as to why something is inadequate. Me personally... Every time I've job hunted I fill out MAYBE 10 resumes and land a job. That means I'm good at it right? I understand the mechanic behind the resume and effectively utilize it to acquire employment. If I suddenly started filling out 50 resumes and still no job... I'd be sitting down trying to figure out what changed from my usual resume to the new one that isn't working out. I wouldn't be saying, "Oh clearly this new resume is superior to the old ones and this is some new trial that I must endure so that God will place me where I belong." It's hard to put food on the table with that mentality.... 3) God finds me arrogant for requesting something so trivial and sets out to punish me and show me the error of my ways. Really? So I'm going to worship you, offer money, and devote time to trying to build a relationship with you, then when I ask for help with something I really do need... You get mad and proceed to punish me over it. Again read your bible folks this has happened quite a few times. This is actually an abusive relationship and I think I might need counseling to get over the realization that my father in heaven actively sabotaged my success in life. TL;DR: God has to remove free will to grant prayer and then exist in any meaningful capacity.

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t5_2qh1i

cembv43

I personally cannot make prayer and chaos theory align. Let's think about this... I pray for something... let's say I need a job. That's pretty common these days right? So I pray to God and ask for a job. One of 3 things can happen, all of which branch out, so for the sake of this let's assume there is a God. 1) God hears my prayer and determines that I am worthy of this type of assistance. a- He can help me by divinely inspiring me to write an epic resume. b- He soften the heart of the guy doing the interview, this has happened numerous times in the bible. c- He could create an opening of opportunity. Where there happens to be an opening at the right time and they need it filled. This list goes on for a while. The point here is that they all have a few things in common. They all require intervention of free will for one. No religion will argue that you and everyone around you has free will. It's part of the founding concepts between Jesus and Lucifer. So for the resume he would have to alter my free will. Now this may not be so bad since I willingly submitted to it by asking for help. But at that point what's the point? Part of this portion of finding a job is to convince my future employer that I have the skills to complete a resume. The only way this isn't an issue is if I'm permanently inspired like this. Otherwise my employer will get a false representation of what I am capable of. If I'm permanently inspired like this then I submit to being permanently inspired in every aspect of life so I can live the perfect life with no strife or challenge... sounds like fun right! Same problem with the softening of the interviewer's heart. He is divinely removing this guy/girl's free will to hate me if he so chooses. The guy could have spilled coffee and had a bad day and I'd get screwed unless his free agency is removed! And who knows maybe on a normal day, I'm not the kind of team member he wants to work with. Creating an opening for me happens one of two ways either someone gets struck down... grim... or the company grows to the point where it needs me. That happens through people breaking themselves off and working hard to grow a company. Not through divine intervention.... otherwise again he is removing the free will of a LOT of people to buy 'X' product to grow company 'X' so there is a slot for me... 2) God determines that this job search is a trial I must endure for some greater purpose. This is what a ton of people believe when times are hard. I must endure this so I can fulfill my true potential later down the road. Sure I'm all for character building. Hard times are needed to appreciate Good times. But far too often this is the excuse used when we need justification as to why something is inadequate. Me personally... Every time I've job hunted I fill out MAYBE 10 resumes and land a job. That means I'm good at it right? I understand the mechanic behind the resume and effectively utilize it to acquire employment. If I suddenly started filling out 50 resumes and still no job... I'd be sitting down trying to figure out what changed from my usual resume to the new one that isn't working out. I wouldn't be saying, "Oh clearly this new resume is superior to the old ones and this is some new trial that I must endure so that God will place me where I belong." It's hard to put food on the table with that mentality.... 3) God finds me arrogant for requesting something so trivial and sets out to punish me and show me the error of my ways. Really? So I'm going to worship you, offer money, and devote time to trying to build a relationship with you, then when I ask for help with something I really do need... You get mad and proceed to punish me over it. Again read your bible folks this has happened quite a few times. This is actually an abusive relationship and I think I might need counseling to get over the realization that my father in heaven actively sabotaged my success in life.

God has to remove free will to grant prayer and then exist in any meaningful capacity.

Khaddenstein

I was raised in a religious household. My father and mother had a rough life, rife with alcoholism, constant fights and they almost had a divorce. My 2 older siblings (who are not Christians) who lived in those times told me and my younger sisters pretty rough stories, which my parents have admitted. This information will become into play later. Through my elementary school I was bullied because of my faith (I was one little crusader and brought my view of life up openly), which ended when I switched for a small christian school, where I stayed to the end of middle school (this happened in Finland, so our school system is different from States.)There, I felt I was loved and earned some friends up to this day (I'm in my 20s now) but I learned to keep my mouth shut about religion, and only for the last year I've become comfortable with my beliefs and the surrounding society. I have to point out that although it was a christian school, most of the students weren't religious and they were sent there for the safer school environment the school offered. The teachers, who were all Christians, were loving and supporting and Christianity wasn't imposed, we mostly said a prayer before the meal and learned about the bible in the last year's religion classes. There, I learned to love myself and others and I learned patience and the value of talking (I am hotheaded, big guy who always started fights over hurtful comments) and did not fight anymore. Through (senior?) high school I learned about other people, different from me. I was good friends with people who campaigned strongly for same-sex marriage, hurting people with some stupid stuff I said. And yes, I am personally against same-sex marriage, but learned to articulate what I was saying better. And one of my gay friends forgave me for the things that I said, I'll forever be thankful. But I also faced same though questions about my beliefs, which I didn't find answers for. Before heading out to do my compulsory military service midsummer I pondered my relation to Christ and the questions about faith I was confronted with. I then delved in to apologetics and found most of the answers to the questions, although I'm still on a journey through life, seeking knowledge about Christianity and Christ. I am concerned with truth, and with the knowledge I possess I have found it in Christ, these are the things that made me follow Christ: 1. The worldview Christianity presents is the same I see. A world of sin, violence, fear and repeating horrors (I study history in university at the moment). Only through absolute love unbeknownst to this world can people of this world be saved, mankind be itself cannot do that. 2. The way faith changed my parents lives. I have had a loving and ever-patient parents, who loved me despite my countless faults. They were given love in life of endless grief (my family is poor by Finnish standards) of everyday life. Such change can not be faked. 3. Apologetics of people like William Lane Craig and a Finnish professor which gave me hope in the possibility of reasonable and intellectually honest faith. I live in a very secular environment, where most of my friends and social circles in general don't share in my faith. But they accept me for who I am, although I slip from Christian values in verbal level from time to time, especially with my sense of humor, so I am by no means perfect. Only a man who sees the world in a different way. TL;DR Read the story, it took me time to write it.

I was raised in a religious household. My father and mother had a rough life, rife with alcoholism, constant fights and they almost had a divorce. My 2 older siblings (who are not Christians) who lived in those times told me and my younger sisters pretty rough stories, which my parents have admitted. This information will become into play later. Through my elementary school I was bullied because of my faith (I was one little crusader and brought my view of life up openly), which ended when I switched for a small christian school, where I stayed to the end of middle school (this happened in Finland, so our school system is different from States.)There, I felt I was loved and earned some friends up to this day (I'm in my 20s now) but I learned to keep my mouth shut about religion, and only for the last year I've become comfortable with my beliefs and the surrounding society. I have to point out that although it was a christian school, most of the students weren't religious and they were sent there for the safer school environment the school offered. The teachers, who were all Christians, were loving and supporting and Christianity wasn't imposed, we mostly said a prayer before the meal and learned about the bible in the last year's religion classes. There, I learned to love myself and others and I learned patience and the value of talking (I am hotheaded, big guy who always started fights over hurtful comments) and did not fight anymore. Through (senior?) high school I learned about other people, different from me. I was good friends with people who campaigned strongly for same-sex marriage, hurting people with some stupid stuff I said. And yes, I am personally against same-sex marriage, but learned to articulate what I was saying better. And one of my gay friends forgave me for the things that I said, I'll forever be thankful. But I also faced same though questions about my beliefs, which I didn't find answers for. Before heading out to do my compulsory military service midsummer I pondered my relation to Christ and the questions about faith I was confronted with. I then delved in to apologetics and found most of the answers to the questions, although I'm still on a journey through life, seeking knowledge about Christianity and Christ. I am concerned with truth, and with the knowledge I possess I have found it in Christ, these are the things that made me follow Christ: The worldview Christianity presents is the same I see. A world of sin, violence, fear and repeating horrors (I study history in university at the moment). Only through absolute love unbeknownst to this world can people of this world be saved, mankind be itself cannot do that. The way faith changed my parents lives. I have had a loving and ever-patient parents, who loved me despite my countless faults. They were given love in life of endless grief (my family is poor by Finnish standards) of everyday life. Such change can not be faked. Apologetics of people like William Lane Craig and a Finnish professor which gave me hope in the possibility of reasonable and intellectually honest faith. I live in a very secular environment, where most of my friends and social circles in general don't share in my faith. But they accept me for who I am, although I slip from Christian values in verbal level from time to time, especially with my sense of humor, so I am by no means perfect. Only a man who sees the world in a different way. TL;DR Read the story, it took me time to write it.

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t5_2qh1i

cemc5q4

I was raised in a religious household. My father and mother had a rough life, rife with alcoholism, constant fights and they almost had a divorce. My 2 older siblings (who are not Christians) who lived in those times told me and my younger sisters pretty rough stories, which my parents have admitted. This information will become into play later. Through my elementary school I was bullied because of my faith (I was one little crusader and brought my view of life up openly), which ended when I switched for a small christian school, where I stayed to the end of middle school (this happened in Finland, so our school system is different from States.)There, I felt I was loved and earned some friends up to this day (I'm in my 20s now) but I learned to keep my mouth shut about religion, and only for the last year I've become comfortable with my beliefs and the surrounding society. I have to point out that although it was a christian school, most of the students weren't religious and they were sent there for the safer school environment the school offered. The teachers, who were all Christians, were loving and supporting and Christianity wasn't imposed, we mostly said a prayer before the meal and learned about the bible in the last year's religion classes. There, I learned to love myself and others and I learned patience and the value of talking (I am hotheaded, big guy who always started fights over hurtful comments) and did not fight anymore. Through (senior?) high school I learned about other people, different from me. I was good friends with people who campaigned strongly for same-sex marriage, hurting people with some stupid stuff I said. And yes, I am personally against same-sex marriage, but learned to articulate what I was saying better. And one of my gay friends forgave me for the things that I said, I'll forever be thankful. But I also faced same though questions about my beliefs, which I didn't find answers for. Before heading out to do my compulsory military service midsummer I pondered my relation to Christ and the questions about faith I was confronted with. I then delved in to apologetics and found most of the answers to the questions, although I'm still on a journey through life, seeking knowledge about Christianity and Christ. I am concerned with truth, and with the knowledge I possess I have found it in Christ, these are the things that made me follow Christ: The worldview Christianity presents is the same I see. A world of sin, violence, fear and repeating horrors (I study history in university at the moment). Only through absolute love unbeknownst to this world can people of this world be saved, mankind be itself cannot do that. The way faith changed my parents lives. I have had a loving and ever-patient parents, who loved me despite my countless faults. They were given love in life of endless grief (my family is poor by Finnish standards) of everyday life. Such change can not be faked. Apologetics of people like William Lane Craig and a Finnish professor which gave me hope in the possibility of reasonable and intellectually honest faith. I live in a very secular environment, where most of my friends and social circles in general don't share in my faith. But they accept me for who I am, although I slip from Christian values in verbal level from time to time, especially with my sense of humor, so I am by no means perfect. Only a man who sees the world in a different way.

Read the story, it took me time to write it.

knapplc

Lutheran my whole life, birth to 40. Church all the time, on various Church councils and choir and led Bible studies, the whole thing. I knew the science behind the formation of the universe (such as we theorize now) and how solar systems form and the theory behind life starting up here, but I was still Christian. Just ignored the question, I guess. One day I'm standing on my deck, looking out at my shed and I'm thinking about how it needs cleaning, it's crappy and there's a bunch of mice living in it - and it struck me that I have this great nice house here, and that crummy shed over there, and that's pretty much the God story in the Bible. Heaven is the house, Earth is the shed. God creates man, man lives in contact with God until man sins, then man is cast out, basically put into the crappy shed. God tells man, here's this book with the keys to getting back to Heaven with me, and if you follow its teachings, you're good. If not... you're gonna have a bad time when you die. Looking at that shed I'm thinking to myself, God *is* love - that's what we're taught. But no father who truly loves their child would ever, ever, ever put their child in that shed, give them the key to maybe returning to the house when they die, and basically say, "Good luck!" An Omnipotent God has zero, utterly zero, reason to put his children away from him. An Omnipotent God, who allegedly loves his dear children, would just put them in Heaven with Him right away, no Earth, no "creation," just boom! Heaven. No child of a loving father would start life with a 50/50 chance of not knowing that father. It just struck me that I should not be a better father than the "God the Father" that I worship. And from that day on I stopped believing. **tl;dr - Had an epiphany staring at my dirty shed.**

Lutheran my whole life, birth to 40. Church all the time, on various Church councils and choir and led Bible studies, the whole thing. I knew the science behind the formation of the universe (such as we theorize now) and how solar systems form and the theory behind life starting up here, but I was still Christian. Just ignored the question, I guess. One day I'm standing on my deck, looking out at my shed and I'm thinking about how it needs cleaning, it's crappy and there's a bunch of mice living in it - and it struck me that I have this great nice house here, and that crummy shed over there, and that's pretty much the God story in the Bible. Heaven is the house, Earth is the shed. God creates man, man lives in contact with God until man sins, then man is cast out, basically put into the crappy shed. God tells man, here's this book with the keys to getting back to Heaven with me, and if you follow its teachings, you're good. If not... you're gonna have a bad time when you die. Looking at that shed I'm thinking to myself, God is love - that's what we're taught. But no father who truly loves their child would ever, ever, ever put their child in that shed, give them the key to maybe returning to the house when they die, and basically say, "Good luck!" An Omnipotent God has zero, utterly zero, reason to put his children away from him. An Omnipotent God, who allegedly loves his dear children, would just put them in Heaven with Him right away, no Earth, no "creation," just boom! Heaven. No child of a loving father would start life with a 50/50 chance of not knowing that father. It just struck me that I should not be a better father than the "God the Father" that I worship. And from that day on I stopped believing. tl;dr - Had an epiphany staring at my dirty shed.

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t5_2qh1i

cemc72s

Lutheran my whole life, birth to 40. Church all the time, on various Church councils and choir and led Bible studies, the whole thing. I knew the science behind the formation of the universe (such as we theorize now) and how solar systems form and the theory behind life starting up here, but I was still Christian. Just ignored the question, I guess. One day I'm standing on my deck, looking out at my shed and I'm thinking about how it needs cleaning, it's crappy and there's a bunch of mice living in it - and it struck me that I have this great nice house here, and that crummy shed over there, and that's pretty much the God story in the Bible. Heaven is the house, Earth is the shed. God creates man, man lives in contact with God until man sins, then man is cast out, basically put into the crappy shed. God tells man, here's this book with the keys to getting back to Heaven with me, and if you follow its teachings, you're good. If not... you're gonna have a bad time when you die. Looking at that shed I'm thinking to myself, God is love - that's what we're taught. But no father who truly loves their child would ever, ever, ever put their child in that shed, give them the key to maybe returning to the house when they die, and basically say, "Good luck!" An Omnipotent God has zero, utterly zero, reason to put his children away from him. An Omnipotent God, who allegedly loves his dear children, would just put them in Heaven with Him right away, no Earth, no "creation," just boom! Heaven. No child of a loving father would start life with a 50/50 chance of not knowing that father. It just struck me that I should not be a better father than the "God the Father" that I worship. And from that day on I stopped believing.

Had an epiphany staring at my dirty shed.

suitup_Sawyer

Well I'm really late but here it goes anyway. I'm a Christian and have been all my life it's probably my earliest memory. Even with my early days of Christianity embedded in my brain I still really struggle with the concept of it all, and lots of times want really badly to stray away from it all. I've learned that god is love and he did all those things for me so that I can be saved and yet somehow I don't feel entirely safe. I know some people that are adamant about needing to do this if I want to go to heaven, and if you don't do this, you will go to the worst place imaginable. I can't fathom a god who gives everything to me and then frightens me with threats of eternal damnation. I feel like I'm constantly unsure of my faith and I am starting to feel like I'll never be truly sure. All that being said, I will never give up my faith, for whatever crazy reason I have yet to discover I can't get away from it, in times of sadness I question gods reasoning, in joyous times I thank him. As much as I can't fathom a god sending me to hell for whatever reason I also can't fathom my life without him it's the greatest and arguably worse thing that's ever happened to me. TL;DR I have no idea why I am religious anymore but it will always be apart of me and I have no idea why.

Well I'm really late but here it goes anyway. I'm a Christian and have been all my life it's probably my earliest memory. Even with my early days of Christianity embedded in my brain I still really struggle with the concept of it all, and lots of times want really badly to stray away from it all. I've learned that god is love and he did all those things for me so that I can be saved and yet somehow I don't feel entirely safe. I know some people that are adamant about needing to do this if I want to go to heaven, and if you don't do this, you will go to the worst place imaginable. I can't fathom a god who gives everything to me and then frightens me with threats of eternal damnation. I feel like I'm constantly unsure of my faith and I am starting to feel like I'll never be truly sure. All that being said, I will never give up my faith, for whatever crazy reason I have yet to discover I can't get away from it, in times of sadness I question gods reasoning, in joyous times I thank him. As much as I can't fathom a god sending me to hell for whatever reason I also can't fathom my life without him it's the greatest and arguably worse thing that's ever happened to me. TL;DR I have no idea why I am religious anymore but it will always be apart of me and I have no idea why.

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t5_2qh1i

cemc7l3

Well I'm really late but here it goes anyway. I'm a Christian and have been all my life it's probably my earliest memory. Even with my early days of Christianity embedded in my brain I still really struggle with the concept of it all, and lots of times want really badly to stray away from it all. I've learned that god is love and he did all those things for me so that I can be saved and yet somehow I don't feel entirely safe. I know some people that are adamant about needing to do this if I want to go to heaven, and if you don't do this, you will go to the worst place imaginable. I can't fathom a god who gives everything to me and then frightens me with threats of eternal damnation. I feel like I'm constantly unsure of my faith and I am starting to feel like I'll never be truly sure. All that being said, I will never give up my faith, for whatever crazy reason I have yet to discover I can't get away from it, in times of sadness I question gods reasoning, in joyous times I thank him. As much as I can't fathom a god sending me to hell for whatever reason I also can't fathom my life without him it's the greatest and arguably worse thing that's ever happened to me.

I have no idea why I am religious anymore but it will always be apart of me and I have no idea why.

insomniaczombiex

I was raised Roman Catholic by a very religious mother and a theologically indifferent father. Lived in a rather conservative town where most people knew each other. Went to church every Sunday, religious holiday, etc. Sunday school right up through confirmation. I bought into it up until the point I was a teenager. My eyes were opened to life outside my weather upper-class chick full o' white people town. War, famine, death, and all the other horrors. First I thought to myself and wondered how the all loving, kind ,and gentile god that I was indoctrinated with growing up could allow this to happen. And then I started reading. First it was a lot of science, a lot of nature and then I delved into studying the religion and what the religious would do to others in the name of their deity. Crusades, Spanish inquisition, the Salem witchcraft scare, etc. It was at that point I realized I couldn't give faith to and worship a god who's followers were taught to do that. I felt like I was different from all of that, that instead of being told what to do, what to think, and how to behave like "my" god would have wanted, that I was going to figure out my path. I knew right from wrong, and my moral compass was always acting in the way I saw fit not because I was afraid of going to hell or being tormented for all eternity, but because I knew what felt right when I acted morally responsibly. Eventually, I just stopped believing in god. My world was ruled by science. The things that I came to believe in and trust were tangible. I couldn't base my believes and live my life on something I couldn't prove to myself existed. Once I can prove god exists, I'll believe in it. TL;DR - Raised religious, basically grew out of it.

I was raised Roman Catholic by a very religious mother and a theologically indifferent father. Lived in a rather conservative town where most people knew each other. Went to church every Sunday, religious holiday, etc. Sunday school right up through confirmation. I bought into it up until the point I was a teenager. My eyes were opened to life outside my weather upper-class chick full o' white people town. War, famine, death, and all the other horrors. First I thought to myself and wondered how the all loving, kind ,and gentile god that I was indoctrinated with growing up could allow this to happen. And then I started reading. First it was a lot of science, a lot of nature and then I delved into studying the religion and what the religious would do to others in the name of their deity. Crusades, Spanish inquisition, the Salem witchcraft scare, etc. It was at that point I realized I couldn't give faith to and worship a god who's followers were taught to do that. I felt like I was different from all of that, that instead of being told what to do, what to think, and how to behave like "my" god would have wanted, that I was going to figure out my path. I knew right from wrong, and my moral compass was always acting in the way I saw fit not because I was afraid of going to hell or being tormented for all eternity, but because I knew what felt right when I acted morally responsibly. Eventually, I just stopped believing in god. My world was ruled by science. The things that I came to believe in and trust were tangible. I couldn't base my believes and live my life on something I couldn't prove to myself existed. Once I can prove god exists, I'll believe in it. TL;DR - Raised religious, basically grew out of it.

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t5_2qh1i

cemc8fb

I was raised Roman Catholic by a very religious mother and a theologically indifferent father. Lived in a rather conservative town where most people knew each other. Went to church every Sunday, religious holiday, etc. Sunday school right up through confirmation. I bought into it up until the point I was a teenager. My eyes were opened to life outside my weather upper-class chick full o' white people town. War, famine, death, and all the other horrors. First I thought to myself and wondered how the all loving, kind ,and gentile god that I was indoctrinated with growing up could allow this to happen. And then I started reading. First it was a lot of science, a lot of nature and then I delved into studying the religion and what the religious would do to others in the name of their deity. Crusades, Spanish inquisition, the Salem witchcraft scare, etc. It was at that point I realized I couldn't give faith to and worship a god who's followers were taught to do that. I felt like I was different from all of that, that instead of being told what to do, what to think, and how to behave like "my" god would have wanted, that I was going to figure out my path. I knew right from wrong, and my moral compass was always acting in the way I saw fit not because I was afraid of going to hell or being tormented for all eternity, but because I knew what felt right when I acted morally responsibly. Eventually, I just stopped believing in god. My world was ruled by science. The things that I came to believe in and trust were tangible. I couldn't base my believes and live my life on something I couldn't prove to myself existed. Once I can prove god exists, I'll believe in it.

Raised religious, basically grew out of it.

qryCosmos

I was baptized Catholic (done to please my paternal grandparents), and my aunt-cum-godmother did her best to make sure that I received at least some form of instruction. However, at home religion was never considered important at all. My father's Catholicism was very lukewarm as a result of seeing too many hypocrites confess sins on Sunday and then spend the rest of the week committing the same ones. He still considers himself Christian, but believes that the Church (and Christian churches in general) is a corrupt parody of what must have been the original intention of Jesus and his Apostles. My mother was always nebulous in her Christianity. She was raised Methodist, but took issue with the concept of being "justified by faith". Her point, which proved very formative to me, was that there wasn't much point in seeking a right standing before a god that only seemed to care how much one believed how wretched one was. When I left home to study at university, I continued to explore my own feelings and inclinations on the matter. I pursued what I like to think was a well-rounded education. I graduated with a degree in economics (mainly econometrics and computational methods), but used my optional credits to take courses in philosophy, literature (Chinese and Greek & Roman), history (ancient and medieval), Chinese language, and attended survey courses in astronomy, physics, and even medieval manuscript studies. It sounds like a total hodgepodge of material, and to a certain degree it was. However, once I was done, I felt that what few kernels of "truth" I took from my family's Christianity weren't at all unique to Christians or any religion or set of beliefs for that matter. In fact, while different cultures had different values, all could agree that peoples got along best when everyone followed some iteration on the Golden Rule (Do unto others...etc). I had long given up on the whole concept of an afterlife for lack of evidence. So, in the end, I had to ask myself just one question. Supposing there is no afterlife, was religion necessary to live a good, just, and purposeful life here on Earth? If it was necessary then, given that I haven't really followed any religious tradition to date, why wasn't I an evil, unjust, and listless individual? If it wasn't necessary, why waste my time worshiping any god or following a tradition that doesn't necessarily make me a better, more just, or more purpose-driven person. Needless to say, I felt that I could answer that question in the negative. I feel that I and all people have the capacity to live a just and fulfilling life without having to resort to superstitions, rituals, or practices. It took a little while longer and some deeper reading for my agnostic leanings to evolve into a more concrete rejection of not only faith and religion but anything supernatural. Today, I seek and routinely find wonder, truth, and enlightenment in scientific and historical writings, poetry, literature, and in agreeable conversation with my brother and sister human beings (preferably with a drink, and perhaps food, close at hand). Often this brings me into contact with people of one religious persuasion or another, and I truly enjoy the lively debates and discussions we have. My wife and I have two young children who are just starting to ask the kinds of questions that we all have at some point, and sometimes I find that I have to reign in my knee-jerk reaction to simply tell them the answer and instead start a conversation. TL;DR I came from a family with a relatively formless sense of Christianity, abandoned those beliefs as a result of exposure to other religions and belief systems, embraced agnosticism, currently reject the supernatural all together.

I was baptized Catholic (done to please my paternal grandparents), and my aunt-cum-godmother did her best to make sure that I received at least some form of instruction. However, at home religion was never considered important at all. My father's Catholicism was very lukewarm as a result of seeing too many hypocrites confess sins on Sunday and then spend the rest of the week committing the same ones. He still considers himself Christian, but believes that the Church (and Christian churches in general) is a corrupt parody of what must have been the original intention of Jesus and his Apostles. My mother was always nebulous in her Christianity. She was raised Methodist, but took issue with the concept of being "justified by faith". Her point, which proved very formative to me, was that there wasn't much point in seeking a right standing before a god that only seemed to care how much one believed how wretched one was. When I left home to study at university, I continued to explore my own feelings and inclinations on the matter. I pursued what I like to think was a well-rounded education. I graduated with a degree in economics (mainly econometrics and computational methods), but used my optional credits to take courses in philosophy, literature (Chinese and Greek & Roman), history (ancient and medieval), Chinese language, and attended survey courses in astronomy, physics, and even medieval manuscript studies. It sounds like a total hodgepodge of material, and to a certain degree it was. However, once I was done, I felt that what few kernels of "truth" I took from my family's Christianity weren't at all unique to Christians or any religion or set of beliefs for that matter. In fact, while different cultures had different values, all could agree that peoples got along best when everyone followed some iteration on the Golden Rule (Do unto others...etc). I had long given up on the whole concept of an afterlife for lack of evidence. So, in the end, I had to ask myself just one question. Supposing there is no afterlife, was religion necessary to live a good, just, and purposeful life here on Earth? If it was necessary then, given that I haven't really followed any religious tradition to date, why wasn't I an evil, unjust, and listless individual? If it wasn't necessary, why waste my time worshiping any god or following a tradition that doesn't necessarily make me a better, more just, or more purpose-driven person. Needless to say, I felt that I could answer that question in the negative. I feel that I and all people have the capacity to live a just and fulfilling life without having to resort to superstitions, rituals, or practices. It took a little while longer and some deeper reading for my agnostic leanings to evolve into a more concrete rejection of not only faith and religion but anything supernatural. Today, I seek and routinely find wonder, truth, and enlightenment in scientific and historical writings, poetry, literature, and in agreeable conversation with my brother and sister human beings (preferably with a drink, and perhaps food, close at hand). Often this brings me into contact with people of one religious persuasion or another, and I truly enjoy the lively debates and discussions we have. My wife and I have two young children who are just starting to ask the kinds of questions that we all have at some point, and sometimes I find that I have to reign in my knee-jerk reaction to simply tell them the answer and instead start a conversation. TL;DR I came from a family with a relatively formless sense of Christianity, abandoned those beliefs as a result of exposure to other religions and belief systems, embraced agnosticism, currently reject the supernatural all together.

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t5_2qh1i

cemc9ry

I was baptized Catholic (done to please my paternal grandparents), and my aunt-cum-godmother did her best to make sure that I received at least some form of instruction. However, at home religion was never considered important at all. My father's Catholicism was very lukewarm as a result of seeing too many hypocrites confess sins on Sunday and then spend the rest of the week committing the same ones. He still considers himself Christian, but believes that the Church (and Christian churches in general) is a corrupt parody of what must have been the original intention of Jesus and his Apostles. My mother was always nebulous in her Christianity. She was raised Methodist, but took issue with the concept of being "justified by faith". Her point, which proved very formative to me, was that there wasn't much point in seeking a right standing before a god that only seemed to care how much one believed how wretched one was. When I left home to study at university, I continued to explore my own feelings and inclinations on the matter. I pursued what I like to think was a well-rounded education. I graduated with a degree in economics (mainly econometrics and computational methods), but used my optional credits to take courses in philosophy, literature (Chinese and Greek & Roman), history (ancient and medieval), Chinese language, and attended survey courses in astronomy, physics, and even medieval manuscript studies. It sounds like a total hodgepodge of material, and to a certain degree it was. However, once I was done, I felt that what few kernels of "truth" I took from my family's Christianity weren't at all unique to Christians or any religion or set of beliefs for that matter. In fact, while different cultures had different values, all could agree that peoples got along best when everyone followed some iteration on the Golden Rule (Do unto others...etc). I had long given up on the whole concept of an afterlife for lack of evidence. So, in the end, I had to ask myself just one question. Supposing there is no afterlife, was religion necessary to live a good, just, and purposeful life here on Earth? If it was necessary then, given that I haven't really followed any religious tradition to date, why wasn't I an evil, unjust, and listless individual? If it wasn't necessary, why waste my time worshiping any god or following a tradition that doesn't necessarily make me a better, more just, or more purpose-driven person. Needless to say, I felt that I could answer that question in the negative. I feel that I and all people have the capacity to live a just and fulfilling life without having to resort to superstitions, rituals, or practices. It took a little while longer and some deeper reading for my agnostic leanings to evolve into a more concrete rejection of not only faith and religion but anything supernatural. Today, I seek and routinely find wonder, truth, and enlightenment in scientific and historical writings, poetry, literature, and in agreeable conversation with my brother and sister human beings (preferably with a drink, and perhaps food, close at hand). Often this brings me into contact with people of one religious persuasion or another, and I truly enjoy the lively debates and discussions we have. My wife and I have two young children who are just starting to ask the kinds of questions that we all have at some point, and sometimes I find that I have to reign in my knee-jerk reaction to simply tell them the answer and instead start a conversation.

I came from a family with a relatively formless sense of Christianity, abandoned those beliefs as a result of exposure to other religions and belief systems, embraced agnosticism, currently reject the supernatural all together.

squirrel_club

I've made the personal decision to believe that a God that says they would love unconditionally would not want for clinically proven horrendously damaging suppression.For most, they don't need to scour the bible to find the line between laws of the new covenant and the old. These values are passed on by their parents, peer and culture. Many feel perfectly fine tossing out parts that don't make sense to their current culture. I know to many I'd fit into a stereotype of some hippie buffet-style follower of what I consider to be "the best" of all religions, but that's fine with me. I havn't studied as much as others, but I have put my hours in, and I've searched with body and mind. I don't get that much out of church so I don't go anymore. I would rather be able to talk and share and let myself get excited then just sit and listen. If there is a God, (I think it's Important to let yourself ask that question) I'm not going to assume my little branch of **the entire human timeline** got it right, and that I happened to be born into the perfect time. (Unlike those billions of poor damned Asians) so, I would say the entire human race gets to decide, one by one. Sorry for being so flowery, I've been playing a lot of dungeons and dragons. **tldr, with a healthy amount of evidence from millennia of philosophy, science and religion i feel the best option is to believe there's a God they're really cool, loving and understanding**.

I've made the personal decision to believe that a God that says they would love unconditionally would not want for clinically proven horrendously damaging suppression.For most, they don't need to scour the bible to find the line between laws of the new covenant and the old. These values are passed on by their parents, peer and culture. Many feel perfectly fine tossing out parts that don't make sense to their current culture. I know to many I'd fit into a stereotype of some hippie buffet-style follower of what I consider to be "the best" of all religions, but that's fine with me. I havn't studied as much as others, but I have put my hours in, and I've searched with body and mind. I don't get that much out of church so I don't go anymore. I would rather be able to talk and share and let myself get excited then just sit and listen. If there is a God, (I think it's Important to let yourself ask that question) I'm not going to assume my little branch of the entire human timeline got it right, and that I happened to be born into the perfect time. (Unlike those billions of poor damned Asians) so, I would say the entire human race gets to decide, one by one. Sorry for being so flowery, I've been playing a lot of dungeons and dragons. tldr, with a healthy amount of evidence from millennia of philosophy, science and religion i feel the best option is to believe there's a God they're really cool, loving and understanding .

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t5_2qh1i

cemcahr

I've made the personal decision to believe that a God that says they would love unconditionally would not want for clinically proven horrendously damaging suppression.For most, they don't need to scour the bible to find the line between laws of the new covenant and the old. These values are passed on by their parents, peer and culture. Many feel perfectly fine tossing out parts that don't make sense to their current culture. I know to many I'd fit into a stereotype of some hippie buffet-style follower of what I consider to be "the best" of all religions, but that's fine with me. I havn't studied as much as others, but I have put my hours in, and I've searched with body and mind. I don't get that much out of church so I don't go anymore. I would rather be able to talk and share and let myself get excited then just sit and listen. If there is a God, (I think it's Important to let yourself ask that question) I'm not going to assume my little branch of the entire human timeline got it right, and that I happened to be born into the perfect time. (Unlike those billions of poor damned Asians) so, I would say the entire human race gets to decide, one by one. Sorry for being so flowery, I've been playing a lot of dungeons and dragons.

with a healthy amount of evidence from millennia of philosophy, science and religion i feel the best option is to believe there's a God they're really cool, loving and understanding .

Musicduude

I was raised under STRICT Irish (Roman) Catholic beliefs. Like every Irish kid I used church as an excuse to fool around with my friends; however, I did strongly believe in the religion. When I was nine years old my little brother was born. He was born with several medical problems, the most serious being a heart condition. He was born with several hundred tiny (and some large) holes in his heart. His arteries were also too large, allowing far too much blood to be pumped through his body. We almost lost my brother a number of times. Being a nine year old boy losing him scared the living shit it out of me and I often wondered why a loving god would do this to a family who worshipped him. I would ask my grandmother, aunts, and uncles why this is happening and they all said the same thing, "god works in mysterious ways." It took three years, four open heart surgeries and a breakthrough procedure to reduce the size of one of his arteries to save my brother. At the end of it all my parents thanked god for putting the doctors on this planet. While I saw the true savior and that was science, not religion or god. Science assisted in the medical revolution that allowed my brother to live. Had my brother been born two years prior he wouldn't have survived. I do not consider myself an atheist, nor do I consider myself religious. I actually have a deep hatred of organized religion - though I'm extremely tolerant. My family believe what they wish to believe, and I believe what I wish to believe. I am the black sheep of the family because of my lack of faith, but I'm fine with that. Tl;dr: science saves brother, religion gets credit, I lose faith.

I was raised under STRICT Irish (Roman) Catholic beliefs. Like every Irish kid I used church as an excuse to fool around with my friends; however, I did strongly believe in the religion. When I was nine years old my little brother was born. He was born with several medical problems, the most serious being a heart condition. He was born with several hundred tiny (and some large) holes in his heart. His arteries were also too large, allowing far too much blood to be pumped through his body. We almost lost my brother a number of times. Being a nine year old boy losing him scared the living shit it out of me and I often wondered why a loving god would do this to a family who worshipped him. I would ask my grandmother, aunts, and uncles why this is happening and they all said the same thing, "god works in mysterious ways." It took three years, four open heart surgeries and a breakthrough procedure to reduce the size of one of his arteries to save my brother. At the end of it all my parents thanked god for putting the doctors on this planet. While I saw the true savior and that was science, not religion or god. Science assisted in the medical revolution that allowed my brother to live. Had my brother been born two years prior he wouldn't have survived. I do not consider myself an atheist, nor do I consider myself religious. I actually have a deep hatred of organized religion - though I'm extremely tolerant. My family believe what they wish to believe, and I believe what I wish to believe. I am the black sheep of the family because of my lack of faith, but I'm fine with that. Tl;dr: science saves brother, religion gets credit, I lose faith.

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cemcbbs

I was raised under STRICT Irish (Roman) Catholic beliefs. Like every Irish kid I used church as an excuse to fool around with my friends; however, I did strongly believe in the religion. When I was nine years old my little brother was born. He was born with several medical problems, the most serious being a heart condition. He was born with several hundred tiny (and some large) holes in his heart. His arteries were also too large, allowing far too much blood to be pumped through his body. We almost lost my brother a number of times. Being a nine year old boy losing him scared the living shit it out of me and I often wondered why a loving god would do this to a family who worshipped him. I would ask my grandmother, aunts, and uncles why this is happening and they all said the same thing, "god works in mysterious ways." It took three years, four open heart surgeries and a breakthrough procedure to reduce the size of one of his arteries to save my brother. At the end of it all my parents thanked god for putting the doctors on this planet. While I saw the true savior and that was science, not religion or god. Science assisted in the medical revolution that allowed my brother to live. Had my brother been born two years prior he wouldn't have survived. I do not consider myself an atheist, nor do I consider myself religious. I actually have a deep hatred of organized religion - though I'm extremely tolerant. My family believe what they wish to believe, and I believe what I wish to believe. I am the black sheep of the family because of my lack of faith, but I'm fine with that.

science saves brother, religion gets credit, I lose faith.

teh1knocker

Well when I was growing up we never went to church until my older brother was caught stealing from the local corner store. Suddenly it was sunday school and morning service every sunday, no exceptions. What's funny about it is my sister and I were the ones who had to do **EVERY** church activity. If I wasn't in school I was in church. From age 7 to 17 Boys usher, youth choir, step team, junior laymen the works. The only thing I can remember from my baptism was thinking about how silly my black ass must look in this white robe. I did get solice from relgious/educational activities from video games, specifically super smash bros with the homies. Stock, 99 lives. When I started being indoctrinated with religion was also when I started noticing other religions as well. Like the Hindu family across the street, or the Mormons who replaced them when they moved and the muslim girls who I thought wore scarfs as a fashion thing. I realized religion was more based on geography than anything else from those families. At the same I'm time learning about my own religion and some of the edicts. Most memorably, when the Sunday school teacher lectured us on the evils of "fapping" and I stated to a friend "If that's a sin I'm doomed," much to the chagrin of the teacher (who was also a judge in our city) when every boy starts laughing and nodding in agreement. As I started hearing and reading the more ridiculous things of the bible (ridiculous=outdated, not trying to offend), no long hair, no pork, no shellfish, no greed but were capitalists, etc. I was losing interest and credulity. I would have to say my defining moment of realizing I was just an atheist was when I met this super devout jewish girl who use to give the Saudi family in our small town crap after 9/11 and realized "she believes in her religion just as much as the Saudi girls and I do...maybe it's all bullshit?" Then I actually devoted myself to reading the bible. Couldn't even make it to Psalms in the old testament there was so much weird in it. Skipped to the new testament and couldn't help but thinking the whole time that Mary was just lying to avoid getting stoned to death. "let he who is without sin cast the first stone," yea, but Jesus hadn't been around to say that yet so...why the fuck WOULDN'T she lie about being a slut. **TL;DR** Only got religion because bro was thief and parents thought religion would fix all their problems, I had no life because of it (short of video games), met devout people from other religions, realized all were bullshit and based on geography and ethnicity.

Well when I was growing up we never went to church until my older brother was caught stealing from the local corner store. Suddenly it was sunday school and morning service every sunday, no exceptions. What's funny about it is my sister and I were the ones who had to do EVERY church activity. If I wasn't in school I was in church. From age 7 to 17 Boys usher, youth choir, step team, junior laymen the works. The only thing I can remember from my baptism was thinking about how silly my black ass must look in this white robe. I did get solice from relgious/educational activities from video games, specifically super smash bros with the homies. Stock, 99 lives. When I started being indoctrinated with religion was also when I started noticing other religions as well. Like the Hindu family across the street, or the Mormons who replaced them when they moved and the muslim girls who I thought wore scarfs as a fashion thing. I realized religion was more based on geography than anything else from those families. At the same I'm time learning about my own religion and some of the edicts. Most memorably, when the Sunday school teacher lectured us on the evils of "fapping" and I stated to a friend "If that's a sin I'm doomed," much to the chagrin of the teacher (who was also a judge in our city) when every boy starts laughing and nodding in agreement. As I started hearing and reading the more ridiculous things of the bible (ridiculous=outdated, not trying to offend), no long hair, no pork, no shellfish, no greed but were capitalists, etc. I was losing interest and credulity. I would have to say my defining moment of realizing I was just an atheist was when I met this super devout jewish girl who use to give the Saudi family in our small town crap after 9/11 and realized "she believes in her religion just as much as the Saudi girls and I do...maybe it's all bullshit?" Then I actually devoted myself to reading the bible. Couldn't even make it to Psalms in the old testament there was so much weird in it. Skipped to the new testament and couldn't help but thinking the whole time that Mary was just lying to avoid getting stoned to death. "let he who is without sin cast the first stone," yea, but Jesus hadn't been around to say that yet so...why the fuck WOULDN'T she lie about being a slut. TL;DR Only got religion because bro was thief and parents thought religion would fix all their problems, I had no life because of it (short of video games), met devout people from other religions, realized all were bullshit and based on geography and ethnicity.

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cemccq3

Well when I was growing up we never went to church until my older brother was caught stealing from the local corner store. Suddenly it was sunday school and morning service every sunday, no exceptions. What's funny about it is my sister and I were the ones who had to do EVERY church activity. If I wasn't in school I was in church. From age 7 to 17 Boys usher, youth choir, step team, junior laymen the works. The only thing I can remember from my baptism was thinking about how silly my black ass must look in this white robe. I did get solice from relgious/educational activities from video games, specifically super smash bros with the homies. Stock, 99 lives. When I started being indoctrinated with religion was also when I started noticing other religions as well. Like the Hindu family across the street, or the Mormons who replaced them when they moved and the muslim girls who I thought wore scarfs as a fashion thing. I realized religion was more based on geography than anything else from those families. At the same I'm time learning about my own religion and some of the edicts. Most memorably, when the Sunday school teacher lectured us on the evils of "fapping" and I stated to a friend "If that's a sin I'm doomed," much to the chagrin of the teacher (who was also a judge in our city) when every boy starts laughing and nodding in agreement. As I started hearing and reading the more ridiculous things of the bible (ridiculous=outdated, not trying to offend), no long hair, no pork, no shellfish, no greed but were capitalists, etc. I was losing interest and credulity. I would have to say my defining moment of realizing I was just an atheist was when I met this super devout jewish girl who use to give the Saudi family in our small town crap after 9/11 and realized "she believes in her religion just as much as the Saudi girls and I do...maybe it's all bullshit?" Then I actually devoted myself to reading the bible. Couldn't even make it to Psalms in the old testament there was so much weird in it. Skipped to the new testament and couldn't help but thinking the whole time that Mary was just lying to avoid getting stoned to death. "let he who is without sin cast the first stone," yea, but Jesus hadn't been around to say that yet so...why the fuck WOULDN'T she lie about being a slut.

Only got religion because bro was thief and parents thought religion would fix all their problems, I had no life because of it (short of video games), met devout people from other religions, realized all were bullshit and based on geography and ethnicity.

All-seeing-Brain

Growing up around religious people and being the only intelligent person did it for me. Don't get me wrong, I was sucked into it at a very young age because my entire environment consisted of religious people. I would school adults in church about their knowledge of the bible, albeit very simple parts that I had happened to read. But then I got to that magical age of 5 where your brain kicks in and you start questioning things...guy walking on water comes back from the dead... yeaaahhh. No thanks. TL;DR: I have a brain, k? Thanks.

Growing up around religious people and being the only intelligent person did it for me. Don't get me wrong, I was sucked into it at a very young age because my entire environment consisted of religious people. I would school adults in church about their knowledge of the bible, albeit very simple parts that I had happened to read. But then I got to that magical age of 5 where your brain kicks in and you start questioning things...guy walking on water comes back from the dead... yeaaahhh. No thanks. TL;DR: I have a brain, k? Thanks.

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cemce6k

Growing up around religious people and being the only intelligent person did it for me. Don't get me wrong, I was sucked into it at a very young age because my entire environment consisted of religious people. I would school adults in church about their knowledge of the bible, albeit very simple parts that I had happened to read. But then I got to that magical age of 5 where your brain kicks in and you start questioning things...guy walking on water comes back from the dead... yeaaahhh. No thanks.

I have a brain, k? Thanks.

alexandros87

Last fall I was in Israel volunteering on a kibbutz. At one point I went down to Jerusalem to see the old city: The western wall, the church of the holy sepulchre, the dome of the rock (which sadly I didn't have time to see). I'm a fairly secular person, but I realize faith traditions are powerful things, and I was actually curious to see if something there would make me change my mind about my generally agnostic attitude. Church of the holy sepulchre killed it for me almost instantly. People rolling around on the floor weeping, rubbing their bodies on and kissing every available surface, rubbing crosses on everything they could, presumably to pick up some of christ's mojo, priests hurrying everyone around, tour guides shouting for their groups through mini PA systems strapped to their backs... It felt more like an asylum for deeply troubled people, not like the place the son of the creator of the universe was buried and resurrected in. The Western Wall (aka the wailing wall) was much quieter. Fewer tour groups. No one rolling on the ground. Just people standing in front of a wall outdoors, praying quietly. It's more dignified, and I thought that since I'm of Jewish descent, I might identify with it more. But it's just a wall. An old and deeply important wall, but just a wall that people talk to and leave little paper prayers in, which immigrant workers come in and clean out and sweep up into piles and I presume throw away to make room for new ones, ad infinitum. So there I was, at the epicenter for western religion itself, watching people talk to walls. And I felt absolutely nothing. No emotions or feelings or even thoughts, I didn't even feel the urge to pray. (Oddly, I have prayed at various times in my life, though I'm not sure why or to what or who). I don't want you to think I'm a robot, I'm actually a very emotional person generally. I can recall reading books, and seeing films as an adult or hearing music that brought me literally to tears and that made me feel like I was touching something outside of myself (or rather inside of myself) in a very deep, resonant way, and which completely failed to touch those around me similarly. But I've seldom felt more certain that there is no God that cares about us and what we do, than I did standing in the old city of Jerusalem. Anyway, sorry for going on and on, I realize that my answer is kind of hopelessly self-centered and based on my own petty emotions, but you asked an intensely personal question. **tl;dr I'm not religious because I was kind of saddened by what I saw at the birthplace of several major religions.**

Last fall I was in Israel volunteering on a kibbutz. At one point I went down to Jerusalem to see the old city: The western wall, the church of the holy sepulchre, the dome of the rock (which sadly I didn't have time to see). I'm a fairly secular person, but I realize faith traditions are powerful things, and I was actually curious to see if something there would make me change my mind about my generally agnostic attitude. Church of the holy sepulchre killed it for me almost instantly. People rolling around on the floor weeping, rubbing their bodies on and kissing every available surface, rubbing crosses on everything they could, presumably to pick up some of christ's mojo, priests hurrying everyone around, tour guides shouting for their groups through mini PA systems strapped to their backs... It felt more like an asylum for deeply troubled people, not like the place the son of the creator of the universe was buried and resurrected in. The Western Wall (aka the wailing wall) was much quieter. Fewer tour groups. No one rolling on the ground. Just people standing in front of a wall outdoors, praying quietly. It's more dignified, and I thought that since I'm of Jewish descent, I might identify with it more. But it's just a wall. An old and deeply important wall, but just a wall that people talk to and leave little paper prayers in, which immigrant workers come in and clean out and sweep up into piles and I presume throw away to make room for new ones, ad infinitum. So there I was, at the epicenter for western religion itself, watching people talk to walls. And I felt absolutely nothing. No emotions or feelings or even thoughts, I didn't even feel the urge to pray. (Oddly, I have prayed at various times in my life, though I'm not sure why or to what or who). I don't want you to think I'm a robot, I'm actually a very emotional person generally. I can recall reading books, and seeing films as an adult or hearing music that brought me literally to tears and that made me feel like I was touching something outside of myself (or rather inside of myself) in a very deep, resonant way, and which completely failed to touch those around me similarly. But I've seldom felt more certain that there is no God that cares about us and what we do, than I did standing in the old city of Jerusalem. Anyway, sorry for going on and on, I realize that my answer is kind of hopelessly self-centered and based on my own petty emotions, but you asked an intensely personal question. tl;dr I'm not religious because I was kind of saddened by what I saw at the birthplace of several major religions.

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cemcegh

Last fall I was in Israel volunteering on a kibbutz. At one point I went down to Jerusalem to see the old city: The western wall, the church of the holy sepulchre, the dome of the rock (which sadly I didn't have time to see). I'm a fairly secular person, but I realize faith traditions are powerful things, and I was actually curious to see if something there would make me change my mind about my generally agnostic attitude. Church of the holy sepulchre killed it for me almost instantly. People rolling around on the floor weeping, rubbing their bodies on and kissing every available surface, rubbing crosses on everything they could, presumably to pick up some of christ's mojo, priests hurrying everyone around, tour guides shouting for their groups through mini PA systems strapped to their backs... It felt more like an asylum for deeply troubled people, not like the place the son of the creator of the universe was buried and resurrected in. The Western Wall (aka the wailing wall) was much quieter. Fewer tour groups. No one rolling on the ground. Just people standing in front of a wall outdoors, praying quietly. It's more dignified, and I thought that since I'm of Jewish descent, I might identify with it more. But it's just a wall. An old and deeply important wall, but just a wall that people talk to and leave little paper prayers in, which immigrant workers come in and clean out and sweep up into piles and I presume throw away to make room for new ones, ad infinitum. So there I was, at the epicenter for western religion itself, watching people talk to walls. And I felt absolutely nothing. No emotions or feelings or even thoughts, I didn't even feel the urge to pray. (Oddly, I have prayed at various times in my life, though I'm not sure why or to what or who). I don't want you to think I'm a robot, I'm actually a very emotional person generally. I can recall reading books, and seeing films as an adult or hearing music that brought me literally to tears and that made me feel like I was touching something outside of myself (or rather inside of myself) in a very deep, resonant way, and which completely failed to touch those around me similarly. But I've seldom felt more certain that there is no God that cares about us and what we do, than I did standing in the old city of Jerusalem. Anyway, sorry for going on and on, I realize that my answer is kind of hopelessly self-centered and based on my own petty emotions, but you asked an intensely personal question.

I'm not religious because I was kind of saddened by what I saw at the birthplace of several major religions.

Bumzo1

When I took a world history class in high school we studied the beginnings of the different major religions. As we studied each one I started to make connections between them and found that they all fundamentally served the same purpose. I then crafted this theory that religion was formed in order to create a government structure complete with a ruler at the top. This was extremely ingenuous at the time, thousands of years ago when national identities barely existed it was an effective way to control the people. If you were to walk into a village as the king yet no one had ever heard of you nor acknowledged your supremacy, you would have no power over the people. This is where religion plays an interesting role, it creates a set of laws for all to follow, it creates a bureaucracy of religious officials to rule over the people, and it creates the ultimate punishment for dissidence, eternal suffering in the afterlife. The third is the most ingenuous, it keeps people on the straight and narrow while never actually having to put forth resources to punish those who break the established laws, because the belief is that all will be decided in the afterlife. All that was necessary was to convinced the uneducated illiterate people of the time that there was an almighty being that can either reward or punish at the end of their life. For someone who walks around worrying about the sustenance of their family each day this seems like a pretty great proposition. In the early days of religion this all played an invaluable role in uniting the people of distant lands and forming the first major nation states. However as time progressed and society began to change away from the established ways, religion tried to remain in control by "pulling back" on society. Furthermore as humans tend to do in positions of power, corruption started to become more and more prominent which eventually led to schisms within the various religions. This leads me to today where in some countries religion is still a primary form of governance and for many others was a foundation for the formation of the nation states. TLDR; In conclusion it is my theory that religions were created in order to create a system of government to rule over the common people by instilling a pseudo authority in the minds of uneducated peasants. Great during the original formation of society, not so great now.

When I took a world history class in high school we studied the beginnings of the different major religions. As we studied each one I started to make connections between them and found that they all fundamentally served the same purpose. I then crafted this theory that religion was formed in order to create a government structure complete with a ruler at the top. This was extremely ingenuous at the time, thousands of years ago when national identities barely existed it was an effective way to control the people. If you were to walk into a village as the king yet no one had ever heard of you nor acknowledged your supremacy, you would have no power over the people. This is where religion plays an interesting role, it creates a set of laws for all to follow, it creates a bureaucracy of religious officials to rule over the people, and it creates the ultimate punishment for dissidence, eternal suffering in the afterlife. The third is the most ingenuous, it keeps people on the straight and narrow while never actually having to put forth resources to punish those who break the established laws, because the belief is that all will be decided in the afterlife. All that was necessary was to convinced the uneducated illiterate people of the time that there was an almighty being that can either reward or punish at the end of their life. For someone who walks around worrying about the sustenance of their family each day this seems like a pretty great proposition. In the early days of religion this all played an invaluable role in uniting the people of distant lands and forming the first major nation states. However as time progressed and society began to change away from the established ways, religion tried to remain in control by "pulling back" on society. Furthermore as humans tend to do in positions of power, corruption started to become more and more prominent which eventually led to schisms within the various religions. This leads me to today where in some countries religion is still a primary form of governance and for many others was a foundation for the formation of the nation states. TLDR; In conclusion it is my theory that religions were created in order to create a system of government to rule over the common people by instilling a pseudo authority in the minds of uneducated peasants. Great during the original formation of society, not so great now.

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cemclth

When I took a world history class in high school we studied the beginnings of the different major religions. As we studied each one I started to make connections between them and found that they all fundamentally served the same purpose. I then crafted this theory that religion was formed in order to create a government structure complete with a ruler at the top. This was extremely ingenuous at the time, thousands of years ago when national identities barely existed it was an effective way to control the people. If you were to walk into a village as the king yet no one had ever heard of you nor acknowledged your supremacy, you would have no power over the people. This is where religion plays an interesting role, it creates a set of laws for all to follow, it creates a bureaucracy of religious officials to rule over the people, and it creates the ultimate punishment for dissidence, eternal suffering in the afterlife. The third is the most ingenuous, it keeps people on the straight and narrow while never actually having to put forth resources to punish those who break the established laws, because the belief is that all will be decided in the afterlife. All that was necessary was to convinced the uneducated illiterate people of the time that there was an almighty being that can either reward or punish at the end of their life. For someone who walks around worrying about the sustenance of their family each day this seems like a pretty great proposition. In the early days of religion this all played an invaluable role in uniting the people of distant lands and forming the first major nation states. However as time progressed and society began to change away from the established ways, religion tried to remain in control by "pulling back" on society. Furthermore as humans tend to do in positions of power, corruption started to become more and more prominent which eventually led to schisms within the various religions. This leads me to today where in some countries religion is still a primary form of governance and for many others was a foundation for the formation of the nation states.

In conclusion it is my theory that religions were created in order to create a system of government to rule over the common people by instilling a pseudo authority in the minds of uneducated peasants. Great during the original formation of society, not so great now.

Scapecinema

My parents are Turkish so I grew up in a Muslim way, my father isn't as strict as my mom is, but they would definitely want me to be religious. And untill 16 I was, since I was 7 years old I've done all of the Ramadan fasts and I still do, not that I know why, it's just become a tradition. During this time I had learnt to read a bit of arabic but there was 1 thing missing in the big picture. I know what I have went through and I don't want my future kids to go through that - or my wife for that matter. That's why I've always had the idea to just change my religion to whatever my future wife will have. I couldn't have been more stupid though, is it really religious to "switch" to a different religion such as being christian? No it's not. I didn't like being limited by religion and that's one of the main reasons why I am now an atheist. I mean, I've seen a lot of muslim brethren drink alcohol and in general not follow the "rules/limitations" that was set by the Quran. Are you really religious then? I'd believe you are an atheist aswell because you don't want to be limited. Not only that but I'm also a strong follower of science and facts, and even though sometimes the unexplainable happens which blows my mind completely, I still do believe everything is simply a result of actions and reactions. But I like religion for one thing, it gives people hope in times of need. When a close family member dies, you would wish they go to heaven and not have the conscience of knowing they are nothing anymore. So yeah, religion is very subjective and everyone should have their own perspective on it because you might not know that it can destroy them. That is also a reason I never express myself with arguments on being an atheist because who am I to take away your religion with facts? Tl;dr grew up as a muslim, wanted to convert myself to a christian or whatever my future wife was, only to realize I'm an atheist because I don't want to be limited. I know religion is a beacon of hope for many, and I respect that so nobody should ever bash someone's choice. P.S: Sorry if my English is bad or weirdly articulated, grew up in The Netherlands/Belgium.

My parents are Turkish so I grew up in a Muslim way, my father isn't as strict as my mom is, but they would definitely want me to be religious. And untill 16 I was, since I was 7 years old I've done all of the Ramadan fasts and I still do, not that I know why, it's just become a tradition. During this time I had learnt to read a bit of arabic but there was 1 thing missing in the big picture. I know what I have went through and I don't want my future kids to go through that - or my wife for that matter. That's why I've always had the idea to just change my religion to whatever my future wife will have. I couldn't have been more stupid though, is it really religious to "switch" to a different religion such as being christian? No it's not. I didn't like being limited by religion and that's one of the main reasons why I am now an atheist. I mean, I've seen a lot of muslim brethren drink alcohol and in general not follow the "rules/limitations" that was set by the Quran. Are you really religious then? I'd believe you are an atheist aswell because you don't want to be limited. Not only that but I'm also a strong follower of science and facts, and even though sometimes the unexplainable happens which blows my mind completely, I still do believe everything is simply a result of actions and reactions. But I like religion for one thing, it gives people hope in times of need. When a close family member dies, you would wish they go to heaven and not have the conscience of knowing they are nothing anymore. So yeah, religion is very subjective and everyone should have their own perspective on it because you might not know that it can destroy them. That is also a reason I never express myself with arguments on being an atheist because who am I to take away your religion with facts? Tl;dr grew up as a muslim, wanted to convert myself to a christian or whatever my future wife was, only to realize I'm an atheist because I don't want to be limited. I know religion is a beacon of hope for many, and I respect that so nobody should ever bash someone's choice. P.S: Sorry if my English is bad or weirdly articulated, grew up in The Netherlands/Belgium.

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cemcomk

My parents are Turkish so I grew up in a Muslim way, my father isn't as strict as my mom is, but they would definitely want me to be religious. And untill 16 I was, since I was 7 years old I've done all of the Ramadan fasts and I still do, not that I know why, it's just become a tradition. During this time I had learnt to read a bit of arabic but there was 1 thing missing in the big picture. I know what I have went through and I don't want my future kids to go through that - or my wife for that matter. That's why I've always had the idea to just change my religion to whatever my future wife will have. I couldn't have been more stupid though, is it really religious to "switch" to a different religion such as being christian? No it's not. I didn't like being limited by religion and that's one of the main reasons why I am now an atheist. I mean, I've seen a lot of muslim brethren drink alcohol and in general not follow the "rules/limitations" that was set by the Quran. Are you really religious then? I'd believe you are an atheist aswell because you don't want to be limited. Not only that but I'm also a strong follower of science and facts, and even though sometimes the unexplainable happens which blows my mind completely, I still do believe everything is simply a result of actions and reactions. But I like religion for one thing, it gives people hope in times of need. When a close family member dies, you would wish they go to heaven and not have the conscience of knowing they are nothing anymore. So yeah, religion is very subjective and everyone should have their own perspective on it because you might not know that it can destroy them. That is also a reason I never express myself with arguments on being an atheist because who am I to take away your religion with facts?

grew up as a muslim, wanted to convert myself to a christian or whatever my future wife was, only to realize I'm an atheist because I don't want to be limited. I know religion is a beacon of hope for many, and I respect that so nobody should ever bash someone's choice. P.S: Sorry if my English is bad or weirdly articulated, grew up in The Netherlands/Belgium.

JasperPNewton

My folks never went to church, saying they didn't need someone telling them how to believe or behave. They know in their hearts what's right to do and what's wrong, and they use that as their moral guiding principle. They're not against the church, they just choose not to attend. When we moved from where I was born back to their home town, they enrolled me in Sunday School at the church my aunt went to. I was "confirmed" there, but then switched churches soon after (side story: that church would not allow my cousin to kiss at the altar for her wedding, they were going to make her walk back into the aisle and then kiss. weird thing, we left because of it). Taught sunday school at the new place, attended and volunteered at events, was part of the life in that church (still w/o my parents) until I was in HS. Became a lazy kid and stopped going. My extended family retains a relationship with the church to this day, and attends occasionally. After saying all of this, I have never "felt it," that faith in God or Jesus that brings others to church. I am comforted by the kindness of the pastor, and the parishoners. I enjoy the part of Christianity that reaches out to help others selflessly. And the social aspect was always why I went, rather than the Jesus part of it. But it was never a sense of faith that brought me there. TL:DR-"Do unto others as you would have done unto you" is my only faith

My folks never went to church, saying they didn't need someone telling them how to believe or behave. They know in their hearts what's right to do and what's wrong, and they use that as their moral guiding principle. They're not against the church, they just choose not to attend. When we moved from where I was born back to their home town, they enrolled me in Sunday School at the church my aunt went to. I was "confirmed" there, but then switched churches soon after (side story: that church would not allow my cousin to kiss at the altar for her wedding, they were going to make her walk back into the aisle and then kiss. weird thing, we left because of it). Taught sunday school at the new place, attended and volunteered at events, was part of the life in that church (still w/o my parents) until I was in HS. Became a lazy kid and stopped going. My extended family retains a relationship with the church to this day, and attends occasionally. After saying all of this, I have never "felt it," that faith in God or Jesus that brings others to church. I am comforted by the kindness of the pastor, and the parishoners. I enjoy the part of Christianity that reaches out to help others selflessly. And the social aspect was always why I went, rather than the Jesus part of it. But it was never a sense of faith that brought me there. TL:DR-"Do unto others as you would have done unto you" is my only faith

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cemcoyq

My folks never went to church, saying they didn't need someone telling them how to believe or behave. They know in their hearts what's right to do and what's wrong, and they use that as their moral guiding principle. They're not against the church, they just choose not to attend. When we moved from where I was born back to their home town, they enrolled me in Sunday School at the church my aunt went to. I was "confirmed" there, but then switched churches soon after (side story: that church would not allow my cousin to kiss at the altar for her wedding, they were going to make her walk back into the aisle and then kiss. weird thing, we left because of it). Taught sunday school at the new place, attended and volunteered at events, was part of the life in that church (still w/o my parents) until I was in HS. Became a lazy kid and stopped going. My extended family retains a relationship with the church to this day, and attends occasionally. After saying all of this, I have never "felt it," that faith in God or Jesus that brings others to church. I am comforted by the kindness of the pastor, and the parishoners. I enjoy the part of Christianity that reaches out to help others selflessly. And the social aspect was always why I went, rather than the Jesus part of it. But it was never a sense of faith that brought me there.

Do unto others as you would have done unto you" is my only faith

msftfireman

I grew up in a Presbyterian family - my mother was very involved with the church, later becoming a Deacon at our Church. My father, during his working years (the years I was at home and in College) was not so involved, but once he retired he approached religion (or his relationship with God - whatever you choose to say) with vigor. Both my parents, now in their 60's, are quite 'religious', but very down to earth people. Neither of them push anything on anyone - they are kind, loving people and I am lucky to call them Mom and Dad. I grew up going to church, was involved, but never really grasped it until I was around 13. I remember going on a Christian Camp trip with the other children in my Youth Class, being "hit" with God (or so I thought) and taking Jesus as my Lord and Savior. However, I was never one of those throw your hands up in the air type - I took after my mother who is very humble about the whole thing. In High School, my relationship with God suffered. I went to a private Christian school where everyone was *supposed* to be a Christian. This is when the proverbial shit began to hitteth the fan. I saw "Godly" children, who at Chapel would close their eyes, throw their hands up in the air and praise God, yet on the weekends would do drugs, get drunk, screw others over, etc. Eventually this was my crowd. Although I wasn't the one praising God in Chapel (I was more skeptical now) - I felt some inner conflict identifying myself as a Christian and not living it. If there's one thing I didn't want to be it was a hypocrite. Along came college - I saw the same thing, but this time it was with the Young Life crowd. I saw the leaders of YL out partying on the weekends, the girls at YL praising Jesus and later taking guys (including myself) to their room at parties. I saw the deep contrast of people's actions and words at YL versus their actions and words outside of YL and this, to put it bluntly, made me sick. I didn't want to be a hypocrite. Also, I quite enjoyed partying with friends. So I chose not to be a partying Christian hypocrite, but a person who likes to party. Now out of college and 31 years old, I don't identify myself as athiest, but I can still say I'm skeptical. I like certain things the church brings to the game of life, but absolutely abhor others. As a person with what I think is a strong mind, I now look at religion as praying on people with weak minds. That is to say, if you have a problem, God is your answer - but what if the same can be achieved by sitting down, taking some deep breaths and having some inner speak? What hole does God fill that another person or yourself cannot? I look at it like this. God may exist - but to me at this time he's a tool to give people someone to talk to in times of need. Which is very powerful. When you pray, you feel relieved - it's because you've told someone something you'd never tell someone else, or because you've been able to share your feelings or desires with someone who is bigger than yourself, someone who doesn't judge you, and someone who can give you hope. Maybe it's pride, maybe it's me rejecting what's not tangible, but I'd like to think that I can get by without speaking to someone who has never spoken back. TL;DR - Grew up in a religious family. Saw hypocrisy in the Church in High School/College. Lost faith/belief. God is a tool for weak people. EDIT: Forgot to add I studied Ancient Civilizations (History Major) in college. Seeing the Biblical stories line up with other Historical accounts opened my mind and made me further question the faith.

I grew up in a Presbyterian family - my mother was very involved with the church, later becoming a Deacon at our Church. My father, during his working years (the years I was at home and in College) was not so involved, but once he retired he approached religion (or his relationship with God - whatever you choose to say) with vigor. Both my parents, now in their 60's, are quite 'religious', but very down to earth people. Neither of them push anything on anyone - they are kind, loving people and I am lucky to call them Mom and Dad. I grew up going to church, was involved, but never really grasped it until I was around 13. I remember going on a Christian Camp trip with the other children in my Youth Class, being "hit" with God (or so I thought) and taking Jesus as my Lord and Savior. However, I was never one of those throw your hands up in the air type - I took after my mother who is very humble about the whole thing. In High School, my relationship with God suffered. I went to a private Christian school where everyone was supposed to be a Christian. This is when the proverbial shit began to hitteth the fan. I saw "Godly" children, who at Chapel would close their eyes, throw their hands up in the air and praise God, yet on the weekends would do drugs, get drunk, screw others over, etc. Eventually this was my crowd. Although I wasn't the one praising God in Chapel (I was more skeptical now) - I felt some inner conflict identifying myself as a Christian and not living it. If there's one thing I didn't want to be it was a hypocrite. Along came college - I saw the same thing, but this time it was with the Young Life crowd. I saw the leaders of YL out partying on the weekends, the girls at YL praising Jesus and later taking guys (including myself) to their room at parties. I saw the deep contrast of people's actions and words at YL versus their actions and words outside of YL and this, to put it bluntly, made me sick. I didn't want to be a hypocrite. Also, I quite enjoyed partying with friends. So I chose not to be a partying Christian hypocrite, but a person who likes to party. Now out of college and 31 years old, I don't identify myself as athiest, but I can still say I'm skeptical. I like certain things the church brings to the game of life, but absolutely abhor others. As a person with what I think is a strong mind, I now look at religion as praying on people with weak minds. That is to say, if you have a problem, God is your answer - but what if the same can be achieved by sitting down, taking some deep breaths and having some inner speak? What hole does God fill that another person or yourself cannot? I look at it like this. God may exist - but to me at this time he's a tool to give people someone to talk to in times of need. Which is very powerful. When you pray, you feel relieved - it's because you've told someone something you'd never tell someone else, or because you've been able to share your feelings or desires with someone who is bigger than yourself, someone who doesn't judge you, and someone who can give you hope. Maybe it's pride, maybe it's me rejecting what's not tangible, but I'd like to think that I can get by without speaking to someone who has never spoken back. TL;DR - Grew up in a religious family. Saw hypocrisy in the Church in High School/College. Lost faith/belief. God is a tool for weak people. EDIT: Forgot to add I studied Ancient Civilizations (History Major) in college. Seeing the Biblical stories line up with other Historical accounts opened my mind and made me further question the faith.

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cemcppq

I grew up in a Presbyterian family - my mother was very involved with the church, later becoming a Deacon at our Church. My father, during his working years (the years I was at home and in College) was not so involved, but once he retired he approached religion (or his relationship with God - whatever you choose to say) with vigor. Both my parents, now in their 60's, are quite 'religious', but very down to earth people. Neither of them push anything on anyone - they are kind, loving people and I am lucky to call them Mom and Dad. I grew up going to church, was involved, but never really grasped it until I was around 13. I remember going on a Christian Camp trip with the other children in my Youth Class, being "hit" with God (or so I thought) and taking Jesus as my Lord and Savior. However, I was never one of those throw your hands up in the air type - I took after my mother who is very humble about the whole thing. In High School, my relationship with God suffered. I went to a private Christian school where everyone was supposed to be a Christian. This is when the proverbial shit began to hitteth the fan. I saw "Godly" children, who at Chapel would close their eyes, throw their hands up in the air and praise God, yet on the weekends would do drugs, get drunk, screw others over, etc. Eventually this was my crowd. Although I wasn't the one praising God in Chapel (I was more skeptical now) - I felt some inner conflict identifying myself as a Christian and not living it. If there's one thing I didn't want to be it was a hypocrite. Along came college - I saw the same thing, but this time it was with the Young Life crowd. I saw the leaders of YL out partying on the weekends, the girls at YL praising Jesus and later taking guys (including myself) to their room at parties. I saw the deep contrast of people's actions and words at YL versus their actions and words outside of YL and this, to put it bluntly, made me sick. I didn't want to be a hypocrite. Also, I quite enjoyed partying with friends. So I chose not to be a partying Christian hypocrite, but a person who likes to party. Now out of college and 31 years old, I don't identify myself as athiest, but I can still say I'm skeptical. I like certain things the church brings to the game of life, but absolutely abhor others. As a person with what I think is a strong mind, I now look at religion as praying on people with weak minds. That is to say, if you have a problem, God is your answer - but what if the same can be achieved by sitting down, taking some deep breaths and having some inner speak? What hole does God fill that another person or yourself cannot? I look at it like this. God may exist - but to me at this time he's a tool to give people someone to talk to in times of need. Which is very powerful. When you pray, you feel relieved - it's because you've told someone something you'd never tell someone else, or because you've been able to share your feelings or desires with someone who is bigger than yourself, someone who doesn't judge you, and someone who can give you hope. Maybe it's pride, maybe it's me rejecting what's not tangible, but I'd like to think that I can get by without speaking to someone who has never spoken back.

Grew up in a religious family. Saw hypocrisy in the Church in High School/College. Lost faith/belief. God is a tool for weak people. EDIT: Forgot to add I studied Ancient Civilizations (History Major) in college. Seeing the Biblical stories line up with other Historical accounts opened my mind and made me further question the faith.

hazzaaag

Up until a few years ago, I had been brought up in a laid back, catholic household. In January of 2011, my Grandma was diagnosed with cancer. I put all my faith in the seven months she remained, praying every day for her to heal. unfortunately she passed away that September :'( after that I lost faith in god and to this day I remain an agnostic. People are always saying how God 'answers their prayers' in medical situations, however he only seems to answer certain prayers of well off westerners, and not the thousands of starving children in Africa. **TL; DR put all my faith in God and my prayers weren't answered**

Up until a few years ago, I had been brought up in a laid back, catholic household. In January of 2011, my Grandma was diagnosed with cancer. I put all my faith in the seven months she remained, praying every day for her to heal. unfortunately she passed away that September :'( after that I lost faith in god and to this day I remain an agnostic. People are always saying how God 'answers their prayers' in medical situations, however he only seems to answer certain prayers of well off westerners, and not the thousands of starving children in Africa. TL; DR put all my faith in God and my prayers weren't answered

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cemcuhw

Up until a few years ago, I had been brought up in a laid back, catholic household. In January of 2011, my Grandma was diagnosed with cancer. I put all my faith in the seven months she remained, praying every day for her to heal. unfortunately she passed away that September :'( after that I lost faith in god and to this day I remain an agnostic. People are always saying how God 'answers their prayers' in medical situations, however he only seems to answer certain prayers of well off westerners, and not the thousands of starving children in Africa.

put all my faith in God and my prayers weren't answered

Joshk80k

When I was in Elementary school, a very religious Christian girl passed away as a result of a rare heart condition. We weren't close or anything but this was the first time I had experienced a death on a personal level, so I went to her funeral. There was a church service before her funeral, and the pastor was a very fervent one - so fervent, that he felt the need to remind us every 15 minutes or so that if we don't accept Jesus into our hearts, we're "bound for eternal suffering in the lake of fire." For one, I thought it was distasteful to talk about burning in hell at a funeral, but what really made me upset was that the girl had a fair amount of Muslim friends. As I looked around the church, I could see the Muslim kids becoming visibly uncomfortable at his ranting and raving about how not following the one true God leads to eternal suffering. I came to the conclusion that even if the Christian God was the right God, these Muslim kids never knew any better, and they were here purely out of respect for their friend, and even here the religious opposition found reason to heckle them. I thought that even if this pastor was correct, these Muslim kids never had a real choice for what religion they started with, and so God (at least the way this pastor described him) must be wrong, and I vowed to distance myself from that way of thinking. TL;DR: Girl died when I was young, Pastor heckled Muslim funeral attendees for not being Christian, it revolutionized how I thought about religion.

When I was in Elementary school, a very religious Christian girl passed away as a result of a rare heart condition. We weren't close or anything but this was the first time I had experienced a death on a personal level, so I went to her funeral. There was a church service before her funeral, and the pastor was a very fervent one - so fervent, that he felt the need to remind us every 15 minutes or so that if we don't accept Jesus into our hearts, we're "bound for eternal suffering in the lake of fire." For one, I thought it was distasteful to talk about burning in hell at a funeral, but what really made me upset was that the girl had a fair amount of Muslim friends. As I looked around the church, I could see the Muslim kids becoming visibly uncomfortable at his ranting and raving about how not following the one true God leads to eternal suffering. I came to the conclusion that even if the Christian God was the right God, these Muslim kids never knew any better, and they were here purely out of respect for their friend, and even here the religious opposition found reason to heckle them. I thought that even if this pastor was correct, these Muslim kids never had a real choice for what religion they started with, and so God (at least the way this pastor described him) must be wrong, and I vowed to distance myself from that way of thinking. TL;DR: Girl died when I was young, Pastor heckled Muslim funeral attendees for not being Christian, it revolutionized how I thought about religion.

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cemcy9j

When I was in Elementary school, a very religious Christian girl passed away as a result of a rare heart condition. We weren't close or anything but this was the first time I had experienced a death on a personal level, so I went to her funeral. There was a church service before her funeral, and the pastor was a very fervent one - so fervent, that he felt the need to remind us every 15 minutes or so that if we don't accept Jesus into our hearts, we're "bound for eternal suffering in the lake of fire." For one, I thought it was distasteful to talk about burning in hell at a funeral, but what really made me upset was that the girl had a fair amount of Muslim friends. As I looked around the church, I could see the Muslim kids becoming visibly uncomfortable at his ranting and raving about how not following the one true God leads to eternal suffering. I came to the conclusion that even if the Christian God was the right God, these Muslim kids never knew any better, and they were here purely out of respect for their friend, and even here the religious opposition found reason to heckle them. I thought that even if this pastor was correct, these Muslim kids never had a real choice for what religion they started with, and so God (at least the way this pastor described him) must be wrong, and I vowed to distance myself from that way of thinking.

Girl died when I was young, Pastor heckled Muslim funeral attendees for not being Christian, it revolutionized how I thought about religion.

MTD324

Long story, raised Catholic, blah blah yadda yadda.... TL;DR Not religious because science.

Long story, raised Catholic, blah blah yadda yadda.... TL;DR Not religious because science.

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cemd1jc

Long story, raised Catholic, blah blah yadda yadda....

Not religious because science.

OoLaLana

My parents emigrated to Canada from Estonia in the early 1950s. The church where I was christened, confirmed and married in was an Estonian Lutheran one, but my comprehension of the language was at a primary grade level so I never really understood anything that was said in church. I was a clueless kid/teen/20 yr old. I had no awareness about life and did things because they were expected of me, not because I chose to. By the time I 'woke up' I was a divorced single mother whose expectations of life had veered perilously off track. Then I looked around at the world and started thinking. The silver lining is that I never became brainwashed by biblical lore since I didn't understand the language… so I was open to new ideas. When my mother died I was 31 and I remember walking up to her casket and touching her hand. It was cold. She didn't look like herself. ~~She~~ It reminded me of Madam Tussaud's wax figures. At that moment I realized her soul, the warmth of her being, had left this body, this vessel, that carried her through life. That was my first lightbulb moment of a person's "energy". I don't have any hard and fast rules about religion and I believe that in many cases people of faith are kind and good and bring about positive change. If they have that… good for them. It just doesn't work for me. Biblical stories sound like fairy tales to me. Good lessons but hard to believe. My belief, my life philosophy, is fairly simple. In fact when I opened my Twitter account, I thought long and hard how I perceived myself and want to be perceived by others, so the description I wrote pretty much says it all. "**I am a small cog in this vast universal mechanism. My responsibility is to move forward and live with awareness, acceptance, gratitude, and kindness."** I have a ridiculously wonderful life and I wake up grateful every morning… so my religion/beliefs are absolutely perfect for me. TLDR; *I didn't believe the biblical fairly tales so I sought out what made sense to me and created my own beliefs.*

My parents emigrated to Canada from Estonia in the early 1950s. The church where I was christened, confirmed and married in was an Estonian Lutheran one, but my comprehension of the language was at a primary grade level so I never really understood anything that was said in church. I was a clueless kid/teen/20 yr old. I had no awareness about life and did things because they were expected of me, not because I chose to. By the time I 'woke up' I was a divorced single mother whose expectations of life had veered perilously off track. Then I looked around at the world and started thinking. The silver lining is that I never became brainwashed by biblical lore since I didn't understand the language… so I was open to new ideas. When my mother died I was 31 and I remember walking up to her casket and touching her hand. It was cold. She didn't look like herself. She It reminded me of Madam Tussaud's wax figures. At that moment I realized her soul, the warmth of her being, had left this body, this vessel, that carried her through life. That was my first lightbulb moment of a person's "energy". I don't have any hard and fast rules about religion and I believe that in many cases people of faith are kind and good and bring about positive change. If they have that… good for them. It just doesn't work for me. Biblical stories sound like fairy tales to me. Good lessons but hard to believe. My belief, my life philosophy, is fairly simple. In fact when I opened my Twitter account, I thought long and hard how I perceived myself and want to be perceived by others, so the description I wrote pretty much says it all. " I am a small cog in this vast universal mechanism. My responsibility is to move forward and live with awareness, acceptance, gratitude, and kindness." I have a ridiculously wonderful life and I wake up grateful every morning… so my religion/beliefs are absolutely perfect for me. TLDR; I didn't believe the biblical fairly tales so I sought out what made sense to me and created my own beliefs.

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cemd1zd

My parents emigrated to Canada from Estonia in the early 1950s. The church where I was christened, confirmed and married in was an Estonian Lutheran one, but my comprehension of the language was at a primary grade level so I never really understood anything that was said in church. I was a clueless kid/teen/20 yr old. I had no awareness about life and did things because they were expected of me, not because I chose to. By the time I 'woke up' I was a divorced single mother whose expectations of life had veered perilously off track. Then I looked around at the world and started thinking. The silver lining is that I never became brainwashed by biblical lore since I didn't understand the language… so I was open to new ideas. When my mother died I was 31 and I remember walking up to her casket and touching her hand. It was cold. She didn't look like herself. She It reminded me of Madam Tussaud's wax figures. At that moment I realized her soul, the warmth of her being, had left this body, this vessel, that carried her through life. That was my first lightbulb moment of a person's "energy". I don't have any hard and fast rules about religion and I believe that in many cases people of faith are kind and good and bring about positive change. If they have that… good for them. It just doesn't work for me. Biblical stories sound like fairy tales to me. Good lessons but hard to believe. My belief, my life philosophy, is fairly simple. In fact when I opened my Twitter account, I thought long and hard how I perceived myself and want to be perceived by others, so the description I wrote pretty much says it all. " I am a small cog in this vast universal mechanism. My responsibility is to move forward and live with awareness, acceptance, gratitude, and kindness." I have a ridiculously wonderful life and I wake up grateful every morning… so my religion/beliefs are absolutely perfect for me.

I didn't believe the biblical fairly tales so I sought out what made sense to me and created my own beliefs.

liveflawedlife

I am not religious. I was raised Catholic all through my childhood up to about age 14. I was baptized, had first communion, was confirmed, and spent most of my weekends around the church. I absolutely loved it when I was little as I felt I was being the good person and bettering myself. Around age 13 I began to question whether I actualy understand the bible. I didn't. I personally see it as a man-written story, even though they are good stories, I didn't want to "follow" them. After deciding that I don't like the bible I would stop listening to the readings and focus on the sermons. The priests I listened to were extremely ignorant to me and they basically wanted me to believe that gay people and even other religions aren't so much as accepted near heaven when at the same time I was supposed to be nice to all. In reality, I get along with every type of person. I've met nice muslims, mormons, jewish, baptists, catholics, ect. Oh, and even gay people. I even went to a midnight mass on christmas one year and heard a priest say that "if we don't teach our kids faith young they'll most definitely be condemned to hell if they live on their own." That's when I just stuck with no religion. I would rather to continue doing volunteer/charity work for the rest of my life and not hear hours of shaming others. Tl;dr Was Catholic, not religious. As to god, I believe there is something. With religions, I can't respect someone who would spend all their life looking down on someone and randomly quote the bible at any chance.

I am not religious. I was raised Catholic all through my childhood up to about age 14. I was baptized, had first communion, was confirmed, and spent most of my weekends around the church. I absolutely loved it when I was little as I felt I was being the good person and bettering myself. Around age 13 I began to question whether I actualy understand the bible. I didn't. I personally see it as a man-written story, even though they are good stories, I didn't want to "follow" them. After deciding that I don't like the bible I would stop listening to the readings and focus on the sermons. The priests I listened to were extremely ignorant to me and they basically wanted me to believe that gay people and even other religions aren't so much as accepted near heaven when at the same time I was supposed to be nice to all. In reality, I get along with every type of person. I've met nice muslims, mormons, jewish, baptists, catholics, ect. Oh, and even gay people. I even went to a midnight mass on christmas one year and heard a priest say that "if we don't teach our kids faith young they'll most definitely be condemned to hell if they live on their own." That's when I just stuck with no religion. I would rather to continue doing volunteer/charity work for the rest of my life and not hear hours of shaming others. Tl;dr Was Catholic, not religious. As to god, I believe there is something. With religions, I can't respect someone who would spend all their life looking down on someone and randomly quote the bible at any chance.

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cemd210

I am not religious. I was raised Catholic all through my childhood up to about age 14. I was baptized, had first communion, was confirmed, and spent most of my weekends around the church. I absolutely loved it when I was little as I felt I was being the good person and bettering myself. Around age 13 I began to question whether I actualy understand the bible. I didn't. I personally see it as a man-written story, even though they are good stories, I didn't want to "follow" them. After deciding that I don't like the bible I would stop listening to the readings and focus on the sermons. The priests I listened to were extremely ignorant to me and they basically wanted me to believe that gay people and even other religions aren't so much as accepted near heaven when at the same time I was supposed to be nice to all. In reality, I get along with every type of person. I've met nice muslims, mormons, jewish, baptists, catholics, ect. Oh, and even gay people. I even went to a midnight mass on christmas one year and heard a priest say that "if we don't teach our kids faith young they'll most definitely be condemned to hell if they live on their own." That's when I just stuck with no religion. I would rather to continue doing volunteer/charity work for the rest of my life and not hear hours of shaming others.

Was Catholic, not religious. As to god, I believe there is something. With religions, I can't respect someone who would spend all their life looking down on someone and randomly quote the bible at any chance.

apollodynamo

I'll be honest, I read and knew all about the bible stories and stuff when i was little, but I thought of them the same way as I did nursery stories, like Mother Goose. This, despite the fact I was born in a very religious area, raised by religious people who pray in groups on every holiday. It just never...occurred to me that the accounts in the bible were real. I just thought to myself. "these stories are boring, they use weird words." and when they were explained in terms i could more easily understand (and not thees and thous), i simply thought. "oh okay. that's like Cinderella." Somehow I had the presence of mind to say "okay, yeah. these are stories. Not real." So Honestly, I never was religious. I never believed in magic, or anything like that. I was the kind of kid who would read their science textbook for fun in like 1-3rd grade. I always thought myths and stuff were cool, and I always was trying to come up with ways that things like unicorns and dragons could be real in a biology sense, but i never took it seriously. TL;DR: I always thought of the bible as a collection of fairy tales, even when i was little.

I'll be honest, I read and knew all about the bible stories and stuff when i was little, but I thought of them the same way as I did nursery stories, like Mother Goose. This, despite the fact I was born in a very religious area, raised by religious people who pray in groups on every holiday. It just never...occurred to me that the accounts in the bible were real. I just thought to myself. "these stories are boring, they use weird words." and when they were explained in terms i could more easily understand (and not thees and thous), i simply thought. "oh okay. that's like Cinderella." Somehow I had the presence of mind to say "okay, yeah. these are stories. Not real." So Honestly, I never was religious. I never believed in magic, or anything like that. I was the kind of kid who would read their science textbook for fun in like 1-3rd grade. I always thought myths and stuff were cool, and I always was trying to come up with ways that things like unicorns and dragons could be real in a biology sense, but i never took it seriously. TL;DR: I always thought of the bible as a collection of fairy tales, even when i was little.

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t5_2qh1i

cemd60p

I'll be honest, I read and knew all about the bible stories and stuff when i was little, but I thought of them the same way as I did nursery stories, like Mother Goose. This, despite the fact I was born in a very religious area, raised by religious people who pray in groups on every holiday. It just never...occurred to me that the accounts in the bible were real. I just thought to myself. "these stories are boring, they use weird words." and when they were explained in terms i could more easily understand (and not thees and thous), i simply thought. "oh okay. that's like Cinderella." Somehow I had the presence of mind to say "okay, yeah. these are stories. Not real." So Honestly, I never was religious. I never believed in magic, or anything like that. I was the kind of kid who would read their science textbook for fun in like 1-3rd grade. I always thought myths and stuff were cool, and I always was trying to come up with ways that things like unicorns and dragons could be real in a biology sense, but i never took it seriously.

I always thought of the bible as a collection of fairy tales, even when i was little.

wgking12

I am not religious. I was raised in a lightly episcopalian family,boring white people suburban church life, etc. I have *always* been a doubter, since I was in elementary school. The nail in the coffin for me was really learning about evolution, and honestly thats what I think a lot of religious people are afraid of thinking about. It's more than just a disproof of the idea that we were made from dirt and ribs and whatever in some garden, its the idea that life can and does form and evolve into creatures as beautifully complex as ourselves *completely spontaneously*. People have actually done experiments that show that the basic organic chemicals we are based from can be formed and can interact in the simulated cesspool of what it was like on earth millions of years ago. One of the most frustrating things to hear are the misconceptions about evolution. Its not even just when people say Evolution is "just a theory." Its not even a theory, its a law. (A scientific law not being some kind of super-proven idea, but an *observation* of *what* is happening around us. Gravity is a law. Shit falls into other shit. A theory explains *why* something happens, and since we don't fully know *why* shit falls into other shit (although we have some ideas), we don't even have a fully working Theory of Gravity. We do have a Theory for Evolution, which brings in the idea of Natural Selection, but the point is that Evolution is also a standalone proven observation as a Law that can't be so easily refuted. Chemically reproducing systems with mutation produce varied results over time. It happens in nature, in the lab, in computer simulations, everywhere. This made me realize not just that we likely originate from chemicals forming incredibly simple enclosed systems millions of years ago, but that in this sense, while we as a whole being are alive, the components that we are made up of are as dead as they always have been. All of these realizations really left no room for a soul in my idea of what a human was (where does the soul go in a living meat-sac made of dead stardust?). Maybe I'm wrong, but science (as a method) is definitely indicating these kinds of models over those of intelligent design. TL, DR: Evolution provides a model for how lives like ours might form spontaneously in the right chemical conditions, and this made it hard for me to believe in god when simpler and more predictive models were available

I am not religious. I was raised in a lightly episcopalian family,boring white people suburban church life, etc. I have always been a doubter, since I was in elementary school. The nail in the coffin for me was really learning about evolution, and honestly thats what I think a lot of religious people are afraid of thinking about. It's more than just a disproof of the idea that we were made from dirt and ribs and whatever in some garden, its the idea that life can and does form and evolve into creatures as beautifully complex as ourselves completely spontaneously . People have actually done experiments that show that the basic organic chemicals we are based from can be formed and can interact in the simulated cesspool of what it was like on earth millions of years ago. One of the most frustrating things to hear are the misconceptions about evolution. Its not even just when people say Evolution is "just a theory." Its not even a theory, its a law. (A scientific law not being some kind of super-proven idea, but an observation of what is happening around us. Gravity is a law. Shit falls into other shit. A theory explains why something happens, and since we don't fully know why shit falls into other shit (although we have some ideas), we don't even have a fully working Theory of Gravity. We do have a Theory for Evolution, which brings in the idea of Natural Selection, but the point is that Evolution is also a standalone proven observation as a Law that can't be so easily refuted. Chemically reproducing systems with mutation produce varied results over time. It happens in nature, in the lab, in computer simulations, everywhere. This made me realize not just that we likely originate from chemicals forming incredibly simple enclosed systems millions of years ago, but that in this sense, while we as a whole being are alive, the components that we are made up of are as dead as they always have been. All of these realizations really left no room for a soul in my idea of what a human was (where does the soul go in a living meat-sac made of dead stardust?). Maybe I'm wrong, but science (as a method) is definitely indicating these kinds of models over those of intelligent design. TL, DR: Evolution provides a model for how lives like ours might form spontaneously in the right chemical conditions, and this made it hard for me to believe in god when simpler and more predictive models were available

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t5_2qh1i

cemd6aq

I am not religious. I was raised in a lightly episcopalian family,boring white people suburban church life, etc. I have always been a doubter, since I was in elementary school. The nail in the coffin for me was really learning about evolution, and honestly thats what I think a lot of religious people are afraid of thinking about. It's more than just a disproof of the idea that we were made from dirt and ribs and whatever in some garden, its the idea that life can and does form and evolve into creatures as beautifully complex as ourselves completely spontaneously . People have actually done experiments that show that the basic organic chemicals we are based from can be formed and can interact in the simulated cesspool of what it was like on earth millions of years ago. One of the most frustrating things to hear are the misconceptions about evolution. Its not even just when people say Evolution is "just a theory." Its not even a theory, its a law. (A scientific law not being some kind of super-proven idea, but an observation of what is happening around us. Gravity is a law. Shit falls into other shit. A theory explains why something happens, and since we don't fully know why shit falls into other shit (although we have some ideas), we don't even have a fully working Theory of Gravity. We do have a Theory for Evolution, which brings in the idea of Natural Selection, but the point is that Evolution is also a standalone proven observation as a Law that can't be so easily refuted. Chemically reproducing systems with mutation produce varied results over time. It happens in nature, in the lab, in computer simulations, everywhere. This made me realize not just that we likely originate from chemicals forming incredibly simple enclosed systems millions of years ago, but that in this sense, while we as a whole being are alive, the components that we are made up of are as dead as they always have been. All of these realizations really left no room for a soul in my idea of what a human was (where does the soul go in a living meat-sac made of dead stardust?). Maybe I'm wrong, but science (as a method) is definitely indicating these kinds of models over those of intelligent design.

Evolution provides a model for how lives like ours might form spontaneously in the right chemical conditions, and this made it hard for me to believe in god when simpler and more predictive models were available

Pill-Head

Was religous through my mid to later teenage years. Grew up going to church etc. and became 'saved' into the christian faith at 14, after a pastor in church did a service which was aimed at saving people. Most people there were young teens, and I rememeber the guilt and conviction I felt after he was done talking to be pretty immense.. So I go on for a few years at this, trying to live out this faith to others. Basically, I eventually realised/admitted to myself, that deep down, I never really believed any of this stuff myself, and that the only reason I had become religous in the first place is because I was a fairly vulnerable kid who was just scared of going to hell.. Now that I have, in my opinion, come to my senses, it feels like a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I was just struggling through ny years of faith, constantly feeling a nagging guilt for the sins I would commit, since I'm human and all.. yet I would still feel the need to educate others about the christian faith, since that is a christian's duty to god, and shows love to him etc.. But now I live by the philosophy that if god demands worship and will send me to hell for not worshipping him, I cannot worship that God, because I don't agree with that philosphy, and I also cannot agree with everything that his word, the bible, says. TLDR; I would rather be true to myself than a religion

Was religous through my mid to later teenage years. Grew up going to church etc. and became 'saved' into the christian faith at 14, after a pastor in church did a service which was aimed at saving people. Most people there were young teens, and I rememeber the guilt and conviction I felt after he was done talking to be pretty immense.. So I go on for a few years at this, trying to live out this faith to others. Basically, I eventually realised/admitted to myself, that deep down, I never really believed any of this stuff myself, and that the only reason I had become religous in the first place is because I was a fairly vulnerable kid who was just scared of going to hell.. Now that I have, in my opinion, come to my senses, it feels like a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I was just struggling through ny years of faith, constantly feeling a nagging guilt for the sins I would commit, since I'm human and all.. yet I would still feel the need to educate others about the christian faith, since that is a christian's duty to god, and shows love to him etc.. But now I live by the philosophy that if god demands worship and will send me to hell for not worshipping him, I cannot worship that God, because I don't agree with that philosphy, and I also cannot agree with everything that his word, the bible, says. TLDR; I would rather be true to myself than a religion

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t5_2qh1i

cemd8qa

Was religous through my mid to later teenage years. Grew up going to church etc. and became 'saved' into the christian faith at 14, after a pastor in church did a service which was aimed at saving people. Most people there were young teens, and I rememeber the guilt and conviction I felt after he was done talking to be pretty immense.. So I go on for a few years at this, trying to live out this faith to others. Basically, I eventually realised/admitted to myself, that deep down, I never really believed any of this stuff myself, and that the only reason I had become religous in the first place is because I was a fairly vulnerable kid who was just scared of going to hell.. Now that I have, in my opinion, come to my senses, it feels like a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I was just struggling through ny years of faith, constantly feeling a nagging guilt for the sins I would commit, since I'm human and all.. yet I would still feel the need to educate others about the christian faith, since that is a christian's duty to god, and shows love to him etc.. But now I live by the philosophy that if god demands worship and will send me to hell for not worshipping him, I cannot worship that God, because I don't agree with that philosphy, and I also cannot agree with everything that his word, the bible, says.

I would rather be true to myself than a religion

Naturally_

Went to a Jesuit high school, and I'm now going to a Jesuit university. They are fucking amazing; they don't talk down to you, they don't shame you into believing something they believe in, they espouse a belief that you should believe what you think to be correct, even if it is contrary to the Church. They are also extremely smart (each in his own way), and have life experience unlike anything I've ever seen. TL;DR Jesuits are fucking bosses.

Went to a Jesuit high school, and I'm now going to a Jesuit university. They are fucking amazing; they don't talk down to you, they don't shame you into believing something they believe in, they espouse a belief that you should believe what you think to be correct, even if it is contrary to the Church. They are also extremely smart (each in his own way), and have life experience unlike anything I've ever seen. TL;DR Jesuits are fucking bosses.

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t5_2qh1i

cemda2a

Went to a Jesuit high school, and I'm now going to a Jesuit university. They are fucking amazing; they don't talk down to you, they don't shame you into believing something they believe in, they espouse a belief that you should believe what you think to be correct, even if it is contrary to the Church. They are also extremely smart (each in his own way), and have life experience unlike anything I've ever seen.

Jesuits are fucking bosses.

Krail

I guess you could call me a vaguely religious Atheist. I'm agnostic. Religion kind of makes no sense and I see no logical reason to believe it, and I'm really not religious most of the time. On the other hand, scientifically speaking, we can't really disprove all concepts of God, and I take comfort in the Christian ideas and rituals I was raised with. I still kind of identify as Christian even though I'm not technically Christian anymore. I guess I was raised sort of casually, open-minded Christian. My Dad is Catholic, but my Mom didn't want to raise me and my sister in the Catholic church. We went to a Methodist Church and occasionally attended Sunday School there. So, I heard a lot of (whitewashed for children?) Bible stories and was told all about Jesus' love and all that. I think I had a strong tendency to hear what I liked and dismiss what I didn't in these stories. To this day I honestly couldn't tell you what the defining features of Methodism are, even though we still go to the same church for Christmas Eve and such. (My church in Albuquerque was certainly more casual and less force-it-down-your-throat than Methodist churches I tried attending in Texas when I lived there for a year, that's for sure). My mom always encouraged us to think critically about things, and religion was more of a quiet background in our lives than any sort of major focus. I was always the good kid who never wanted to get into any trouble, and I guess I was religious in that sense, but I also had my own ideas about how Christianity worked that seem pretty different from the popular conception of Christianity. I reasoned that an Omniscient being would, necessarily, be the most understanding and forgiving person it was possible to be. I suppose I was just loved and respected, and taught to be open-minded and critical, so my concept of God was a being that is loving, respectful, open-minded, and encouraging of critical thinking. I also reasoned that Hell makes no sense as a punishment. I saw it more as a cross between the last refuge for those who refuse God, and a prison of the damned's own design. It's not a place you're sent if you're bad, it's the only "place" there is go if you refuse goodness. (It's also worth noting that I've always found vengefulness to be stupid and supremely selfish. Punishment only makes sense when it's a practical way to make someone stop doing something, and is not overdone). I actually ended up going to Catholic school for grades 6-12. It was an interesting experience. We were not super heavily indoctrinated, and my high school in particular was surprisingly liberal and open-minded. We studied other religions there as well (and it's worth noting that, between my Mom and watching anime, I was exposed to Eastern religions from a pretty young age as well). By the time I reached high school I was pretty much past my need to adhere to regligion simply out of a desire to be good and started asking why I believed any of it, and I asked, well, why believe any of it. I called myself Christian Agnostic (or I would have if anyone asked). Though I'm mostly atheist now, I'm always a little uncomfortable about the way more totally non-religious friends will talk about Christianity. **tl;dr I guess I've just leaned more and more atheist through the years. I never had any bad experience with religion that turned me off of it. I just saw no real reason to believe in it anymore. I guess because these things are just comfortable and familiar to me, I still pray sometimes. I still try to be as understanding and forgiving and throughtful as I believe an omniscient God has to be, and occasionally send my thoughts to this probably imaginary role model. If there is a God, then I'm praying to him, and if there isn't a God, then I'm preforming a weird meditation ritual that my brain responds well to. (and if there is a god and it's different than the one I believed in, then, well... fuck, I dunno. I tried to be what I thought was good.)** Random weird tidbit! I always pictured God as a smiling, kindly, pudgy, Buddha-looking guy in an orange business suit. I don't know why.

I guess you could call me a vaguely religious Atheist. I'm agnostic. Religion kind of makes no sense and I see no logical reason to believe it, and I'm really not religious most of the time. On the other hand, scientifically speaking, we can't really disprove all concepts of God, and I take comfort in the Christian ideas and rituals I was raised with. I still kind of identify as Christian even though I'm not technically Christian anymore. I guess I was raised sort of casually, open-minded Christian. My Dad is Catholic, but my Mom didn't want to raise me and my sister in the Catholic church. We went to a Methodist Church and occasionally attended Sunday School there. So, I heard a lot of (whitewashed for children?) Bible stories and was told all about Jesus' love and all that. I think I had a strong tendency to hear what I liked and dismiss what I didn't in these stories. To this day I honestly couldn't tell you what the defining features of Methodism are, even though we still go to the same church for Christmas Eve and such. (My church in Albuquerque was certainly more casual and less force-it-down-your-throat than Methodist churches I tried attending in Texas when I lived there for a year, that's for sure). My mom always encouraged us to think critically about things, and religion was more of a quiet background in our lives than any sort of major focus. I was always the good kid who never wanted to get into any trouble, and I guess I was religious in that sense, but I also had my own ideas about how Christianity worked that seem pretty different from the popular conception of Christianity. I reasoned that an Omniscient being would, necessarily, be the most understanding and forgiving person it was possible to be. I suppose I was just loved and respected, and taught to be open-minded and critical, so my concept of God was a being that is loving, respectful, open-minded, and encouraging of critical thinking. I also reasoned that Hell makes no sense as a punishment. I saw it more as a cross between the last refuge for those who refuse God, and a prison of the damned's own design. It's not a place you're sent if you're bad, it's the only "place" there is go if you refuse goodness. (It's also worth noting that I've always found vengefulness to be stupid and supremely selfish. Punishment only makes sense when it's a practical way to make someone stop doing something, and is not overdone). I actually ended up going to Catholic school for grades 6-12. It was an interesting experience. We were not super heavily indoctrinated, and my high school in particular was surprisingly liberal and open-minded. We studied other religions there as well (and it's worth noting that, between my Mom and watching anime, I was exposed to Eastern religions from a pretty young age as well). By the time I reached high school I was pretty much past my need to adhere to regligion simply out of a desire to be good and started asking why I believed any of it, and I asked, well, why believe any of it. I called myself Christian Agnostic (or I would have if anyone asked). Though I'm mostly atheist now, I'm always a little uncomfortable about the way more totally non-religious friends will talk about Christianity. tl;dr I guess I've just leaned more and more atheist through the years. I never had any bad experience with religion that turned me off of it. I just saw no real reason to believe in it anymore. I guess because these things are just comfortable and familiar to me, I still pray sometimes. I still try to be as understanding and forgiving and throughtful as I believe an omniscient God has to be, and occasionally send my thoughts to this probably imaginary role model. If there is a God, then I'm praying to him, and if there isn't a God, then I'm preforming a weird meditation ritual that my brain responds well to. (and if there is a god and it's different than the one I believed in, then, well... fuck, I dunno. I tried to be what I thought was good.) Random weird tidbit! I always pictured God as a smiling, kindly, pudgy, Buddha-looking guy in an orange business suit. I don't know why.

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t5_2qh1i

cemdg7q

I guess you could call me a vaguely religious Atheist. I'm agnostic. Religion kind of makes no sense and I see no logical reason to believe it, and I'm really not religious most of the time. On the other hand, scientifically speaking, we can't really disprove all concepts of God, and I take comfort in the Christian ideas and rituals I was raised with. I still kind of identify as Christian even though I'm not technically Christian anymore. I guess I was raised sort of casually, open-minded Christian. My Dad is Catholic, but my Mom didn't want to raise me and my sister in the Catholic church. We went to a Methodist Church and occasionally attended Sunday School there. So, I heard a lot of (whitewashed for children?) Bible stories and was told all about Jesus' love and all that. I think I had a strong tendency to hear what I liked and dismiss what I didn't in these stories. To this day I honestly couldn't tell you what the defining features of Methodism are, even though we still go to the same church for Christmas Eve and such. (My church in Albuquerque was certainly more casual and less force-it-down-your-throat than Methodist churches I tried attending in Texas when I lived there for a year, that's for sure). My mom always encouraged us to think critically about things, and religion was more of a quiet background in our lives than any sort of major focus. I was always the good kid who never wanted to get into any trouble, and I guess I was religious in that sense, but I also had my own ideas about how Christianity worked that seem pretty different from the popular conception of Christianity. I reasoned that an Omniscient being would, necessarily, be the most understanding and forgiving person it was possible to be. I suppose I was just loved and respected, and taught to be open-minded and critical, so my concept of God was a being that is loving, respectful, open-minded, and encouraging of critical thinking. I also reasoned that Hell makes no sense as a punishment. I saw it more as a cross between the last refuge for those who refuse God, and a prison of the damned's own design. It's not a place you're sent if you're bad, it's the only "place" there is go if you refuse goodness. (It's also worth noting that I've always found vengefulness to be stupid and supremely selfish. Punishment only makes sense when it's a practical way to make someone stop doing something, and is not overdone). I actually ended up going to Catholic school for grades 6-12. It was an interesting experience. We were not super heavily indoctrinated, and my high school in particular was surprisingly liberal and open-minded. We studied other religions there as well (and it's worth noting that, between my Mom and watching anime, I was exposed to Eastern religions from a pretty young age as well). By the time I reached high school I was pretty much past my need to adhere to regligion simply out of a desire to be good and started asking why I believed any of it, and I asked, well, why believe any of it. I called myself Christian Agnostic (or I would have if anyone asked). Though I'm mostly atheist now, I'm always a little uncomfortable about the way more totally non-religious friends will talk about Christianity.

I guess I've just leaned more and more atheist through the years. I never had any bad experience with religion that turned me off of it. I just saw no real reason to believe in it anymore. I guess because these things are just comfortable and familiar to me, I still pray sometimes. I still try to be as understanding and forgiving and throughtful as I believe an omniscient God has to be, and occasionally send my thoughts to this probably imaginary role model. If there is a God, then I'm praying to him, and if there isn't a God, then I'm preforming a weird meditation ritual that my brain responds well to. (and if there is a god and it's different than the one I believed in, then, well... fuck, I dunno. I tried to be what I thought was good.) Random weird tidbit! I always pictured God as a smiling, kindly, pudgy, Buddha-looking guy in an orange business suit. I don't know why.

Extertionist

Raised Catholic. I was incredibly naive about religion when I was a kid and it wasn't until middle school I actually started to question. At the time we already stopped going to church because the pastor tried to force his political views on everyone so I wasn't exposed for a while. Eventually I was taught about other religions and exposed to more and more of them and I eventually saw the hypocrisy in theism and the religious texts and eventually came to the conclusion that religion ultimately does more harm than good. I could rant on and on about that but I have a feeling it'd end up pissing off a few people, needless to say I'm atheist. TL:DR, Grew up Catholic, over time became an Atheist through self enlightenment.

Raised Catholic. I was incredibly naive about religion when I was a kid and it wasn't until middle school I actually started to question. At the time we already stopped going to church because the pastor tried to force his political views on everyone so I wasn't exposed for a while. Eventually I was taught about other religions and exposed to more and more of them and I eventually saw the hypocrisy in theism and the religious texts and eventually came to the conclusion that religion ultimately does more harm than good. I could rant on and on about that but I have a feeling it'd end up pissing off a few people, needless to say I'm atheist. TL:DR, Grew up Catholic, over time became an Atheist through self enlightenment.

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t5_2qh1i

cemdkbk

Raised Catholic. I was incredibly naive about religion when I was a kid and it wasn't until middle school I actually started to question. At the time we already stopped going to church because the pastor tried to force his political views on everyone so I wasn't exposed for a while. Eventually I was taught about other religions and exposed to more and more of them and I eventually saw the hypocrisy in theism and the religious texts and eventually came to the conclusion that religion ultimately does more harm than good. I could rant on and on about that but I have a feeling it'd end up pissing off a few people, needless to say I'm atheist.

Grew up Catholic, over time became an Atheist through self enlightenment.

krikrilicious

The people of the church ruined it for me. Allow me to explain…. I was very religious and active in my church when I was younger. During my early teens I started to have questions about my faith, and when I tried to talk to our pastor (I was Lutheran) her response was basically "Because the Bible says so. Don't question the Bible, and don't question me." Flash forward a couple years and I was searching for my own faith answers, since my pastor had been so unhelpful. I was dabbling in Wicca, and reading about different world religions, looking for something that made sense. My church had a new pastor at that time, and it was shortly after 9/11 happened that I went to talk to her. She told me, because I was practicing "witchcraft" that "You're going to go to Hell. The Muslim terrorists will get to Heaven before you." So! That was the end of that conversation… I was an active lay-person in my church through High School, and as such became aware and involved in the politics of the church group. I watched our church devolve from a house of worship into a business, to the point that the last sermon I ever listened to was the pastor (yet another new guy) yelling at the congregation for not giving enough money. In my eyes, as soon as our Sundays became about money, they were no longer about God. I tried different churches/faiths around town, and later when I went to college, but never again found the peace in a congregation setting that I once did. I found my inner faith and relationship with my God has become stronger as I've grown older and moved away from an organized religion. I don't feel the need to have a stranger tell me how to worship. TL;DR: I'm going to Hell, Organized Religion is a business & I talk to God every day, and I don't need a dude in a dress telling me how.

The people of the church ruined it for me. Allow me to explain…. I was very religious and active in my church when I was younger. During my early teens I started to have questions about my faith, and when I tried to talk to our pastor (I was Lutheran) her response was basically "Because the Bible says so. Don't question the Bible, and don't question me." Flash forward a couple years and I was searching for my own faith answers, since my pastor had been so unhelpful. I was dabbling in Wicca, and reading about different world religions, looking for something that made sense. My church had a new pastor at that time, and it was shortly after 9/11 happened that I went to talk to her. She told me, because I was practicing "witchcraft" that "You're going to go to Hell. The Muslim terrorists will get to Heaven before you." So! That was the end of that conversation… I was an active lay-person in my church through High School, and as such became aware and involved in the politics of the church group. I watched our church devolve from a house of worship into a business, to the point that the last sermon I ever listened to was the pastor (yet another new guy) yelling at the congregation for not giving enough money. In my eyes, as soon as our Sundays became about money, they were no longer about God. I tried different churches/faiths around town, and later when I went to college, but never again found the peace in a congregation setting that I once did. I found my inner faith and relationship with my God has become stronger as I've grown older and moved away from an organized religion. I don't feel the need to have a stranger tell me how to worship. TL;DR: I'm going to Hell, Organized Religion is a business & I talk to God every day, and I don't need a dude in a dress telling me how.

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t5_2qh1i

cemdl1p

The people of the church ruined it for me. Allow me to explain…. I was very religious and active in my church when I was younger. During my early teens I started to have questions about my faith, and when I tried to talk to our pastor (I was Lutheran) her response was basically "Because the Bible says so. Don't question the Bible, and don't question me." Flash forward a couple years and I was searching for my own faith answers, since my pastor had been so unhelpful. I was dabbling in Wicca, and reading about different world religions, looking for something that made sense. My church had a new pastor at that time, and it was shortly after 9/11 happened that I went to talk to her. She told me, because I was practicing "witchcraft" that "You're going to go to Hell. The Muslim terrorists will get to Heaven before you." So! That was the end of that conversation… I was an active lay-person in my church through High School, and as such became aware and involved in the politics of the church group. I watched our church devolve from a house of worship into a business, to the point that the last sermon I ever listened to was the pastor (yet another new guy) yelling at the congregation for not giving enough money. In my eyes, as soon as our Sundays became about money, they were no longer about God. I tried different churches/faiths around town, and later when I went to college, but never again found the peace in a congregation setting that I once did. I found my inner faith and relationship with my God has become stronger as I've grown older and moved away from an organized religion. I don't feel the need to have a stranger tell me how to worship.

I'm going to Hell, Organized Religion is a business & I talk to God every day, and I don't need a dude in a dress telling me how.

amazingbandwidth

Religion is for believers who need to believe in something that someone else has had to tell them to believe in. The laws and rules that govern society today - even though they may have been influenced to some extent by the principals of religion - make religion redundant. We know that we shalt not steal, murder, commit adultery, etc. and so we don't need to be in fear of going to hell if we remain within the boundaries of what is accepted as being civil. I have learned the lessons of the bible but don't need all the rest to live my life in a positive, good, honest and healthy way. Yes I deviate when it comes to the minor things, but what was a sin 2000 years ago, even 20 years ago, is a past-time today. TL;DR I don't need a god-fearing religion to tell me what is good or bad.

Religion is for believers who need to believe in something that someone else has had to tell them to believe in. The laws and rules that govern society today - even though they may have been influenced to some extent by the principals of religion - make religion redundant. We know that we shalt not steal, murder, commit adultery, etc. and so we don't need to be in fear of going to hell if we remain within the boundaries of what is accepted as being civil. I have learned the lessons of the bible but don't need all the rest to live my life in a positive, good, honest and healthy way. Yes I deviate when it comes to the minor things, but what was a sin 2000 years ago, even 20 years ago, is a past-time today. TL;DR I don't need a god-fearing religion to tell me what is good or bad.

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t5_2qh1i

cemdn7p

Religion is for believers who need to believe in something that someone else has had to tell them to believe in. The laws and rules that govern society today - even though they may have been influenced to some extent by the principals of religion - make religion redundant. We know that we shalt not steal, murder, commit adultery, etc. and so we don't need to be in fear of going to hell if we remain within the boundaries of what is accepted as being civil. I have learned the lessons of the bible but don't need all the rest to live my life in a positive, good, honest and healthy way. Yes I deviate when it comes to the minor things, but what was a sin 2000 years ago, even 20 years ago, is a past-time today.

I don't need a god-fearing religion to tell me what is good or bad.

cmanthony

I was raised in an agnostic home, and was an Atheist throughout high school. I thought religion (any type) was ridiculous and couldn't fathom why someone would choose to believe in anything other than fact. Back in '07 I starter working for a hvac company, and as the new person, I ended up working with this guy who was openly religious. You can imagine I was less than thrilled to work with him, especially because he was so, in my own words, preachy. We ended up woking together for a few months and I got used to his antics and even started to ask questions about the things he believed. This back and forth questioning went on for a couple months. One day, after answering some of my many questions, he told me it was fine that I asked questions, but it didn't really mean anything unless I was willing to go and find out for yourself. For some reason I took this as a challenge, and thought why the F not. Up until that point in my life I have only known a couple people who were religious, and the few that I did know I didn't hang out with because I thought they were bat-shit crazy. Anyway, by the end of that day I was trying to get ahold of one of those crazy people to find out more about their beliefs. I had one person get back to me and they invited me out to a potluck that night. By the end of the night something had flipped. None of the people I had met were trying to engage me in an apologetic battle, or make me drink some weird punch. They were some of the most genuine people I had ever met and for some reason, that night, religion just made sense. Even though it went against my pervious views. It's hard to say what really changed my mind (maybe the good food?), but that week I started practicing, and I haven't stopped since. It has changed everything about my life, and I believe it has made me a better person. TL;DR: I Became religious later in life, not from persuasion or family background, but by looking at religion for myself.

I was raised in an agnostic home, and was an Atheist throughout high school. I thought religion (any type) was ridiculous and couldn't fathom why someone would choose to believe in anything other than fact. Back in '07 I starter working for a hvac company, and as the new person, I ended up working with this guy who was openly religious. You can imagine I was less than thrilled to work with him, especially because he was so, in my own words, preachy. We ended up woking together for a few months and I got used to his antics and even started to ask questions about the things he believed. This back and forth questioning went on for a couple months. One day, after answering some of my many questions, he told me it was fine that I asked questions, but it didn't really mean anything unless I was willing to go and find out for yourself. For some reason I took this as a challenge, and thought why the F not. Up until that point in my life I have only known a couple people who were religious, and the few that I did know I didn't hang out with because I thought they were bat-shit crazy. Anyway, by the end of that day I was trying to get ahold of one of those crazy people to find out more about their beliefs. I had one person get back to me and they invited me out to a potluck that night. By the end of the night something had flipped. None of the people I had met were trying to engage me in an apologetic battle, or make me drink some weird punch. They were some of the most genuine people I had ever met and for some reason, that night, religion just made sense. Even though it went against my pervious views. It's hard to say what really changed my mind (maybe the good food?), but that week I started practicing, and I haven't stopped since. It has changed everything about my life, and I believe it has made me a better person. TL;DR: I Became religious later in life, not from persuasion or family background, but by looking at religion for myself.

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cemdwhw

I was raised in an agnostic home, and was an Atheist throughout high school. I thought religion (any type) was ridiculous and couldn't fathom why someone would choose to believe in anything other than fact. Back in '07 I starter working for a hvac company, and as the new person, I ended up working with this guy who was openly religious. You can imagine I was less than thrilled to work with him, especially because he was so, in my own words, preachy. We ended up woking together for a few months and I got used to his antics and even started to ask questions about the things he believed. This back and forth questioning went on for a couple months. One day, after answering some of my many questions, he told me it was fine that I asked questions, but it didn't really mean anything unless I was willing to go and find out for yourself. For some reason I took this as a challenge, and thought why the F not. Up until that point in my life I have only known a couple people who were religious, and the few that I did know I didn't hang out with because I thought they were bat-shit crazy. Anyway, by the end of that day I was trying to get ahold of one of those crazy people to find out more about their beliefs. I had one person get back to me and they invited me out to a potluck that night. By the end of the night something had flipped. None of the people I had met were trying to engage me in an apologetic battle, or make me drink some weird punch. They were some of the most genuine people I had ever met and for some reason, that night, religion just made sense. Even though it went against my pervious views. It's hard to say what really changed my mind (maybe the good food?), but that week I started practicing, and I haven't stopped since. It has changed everything about my life, and I believe it has made me a better person.

I Became religious later in life, not from persuasion or family background, but by looking at religion for myself.

veilofisis

I am not religious, though I was raised religious. I got to college and with the help of my boyfriend, I slowly began thinking about how it's all just kind of preposterous to believe in such a thing. The stories are rather silly, in my opinion. Noah's ark? Creation of Adam? The resurrection of Christ? They're all... Very unrealistic. People take them at face value and don't want to question them. Well, why not? Why must we take it at face value? I always liked the idea of keeping an open mind to things and closing my mind off to the idea that there is no god and that the Bible is just a story book was not something I thought I should do. After awhile of confusion led by my boyfriend's very logical explanations why god isn't real and my religious past, I sort of chose what I felt like was the more logical conclusion: that there isn't a god. That's not to say that I don't have my doubts. I'm obviously not 100% sure if there is a god or is not. It's totally possible, but it is highly unlikely. Also, religion was really holding me back from experiencing things. I wanted to be sexual with my boyfriend without feeling like some divine being was watching and judging me. I wanted to be able to indulge in the college experience, like drinking and smoking marijuana without feeling I had committed a great evil. It didn't quite line up with, either, my very liberal views on things. God hates gays, but I don't hate gays. So.... I may not have explained that very well and I apologize. But I do like the idea of religion. I think it could benefit certain people, as long as they aren't harming others because of it. TL;DR: I blame my boyfriend...

I am not religious, though I was raised religious. I got to college and with the help of my boyfriend, I slowly began thinking about how it's all just kind of preposterous to believe in such a thing. The stories are rather silly, in my opinion. Noah's ark? Creation of Adam? The resurrection of Christ? They're all... Very unrealistic. People take them at face value and don't want to question them. Well, why not? Why must we take it at face value? I always liked the idea of keeping an open mind to things and closing my mind off to the idea that there is no god and that the Bible is just a story book was not something I thought I should do. After awhile of confusion led by my boyfriend's very logical explanations why god isn't real and my religious past, I sort of chose what I felt like was the more logical conclusion: that there isn't a god. That's not to say that I don't have my doubts. I'm obviously not 100% sure if there is a god or is not. It's totally possible, but it is highly unlikely. Also, religion was really holding me back from experiencing things. I wanted to be sexual with my boyfriend without feeling like some divine being was watching and judging me. I wanted to be able to indulge in the college experience, like drinking and smoking marijuana without feeling I had committed a great evil. It didn't quite line up with, either, my very liberal views on things. God hates gays, but I don't hate gays. So.... I may not have explained that very well and I apologize. But I do like the idea of religion. I think it could benefit certain people, as long as they aren't harming others because of it. TL;DR: I blame my boyfriend...

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t5_2qh1i

cemdxnf

I am not religious, though I was raised religious. I got to college and with the help of my boyfriend, I slowly began thinking about how it's all just kind of preposterous to believe in such a thing. The stories are rather silly, in my opinion. Noah's ark? Creation of Adam? The resurrection of Christ? They're all... Very unrealistic. People take them at face value and don't want to question them. Well, why not? Why must we take it at face value? I always liked the idea of keeping an open mind to things and closing my mind off to the idea that there is no god and that the Bible is just a story book was not something I thought I should do. After awhile of confusion led by my boyfriend's very logical explanations why god isn't real and my religious past, I sort of chose what I felt like was the more logical conclusion: that there isn't a god. That's not to say that I don't have my doubts. I'm obviously not 100% sure if there is a god or is not. It's totally possible, but it is highly unlikely. Also, religion was really holding me back from experiencing things. I wanted to be sexual with my boyfriend without feeling like some divine being was watching and judging me. I wanted to be able to indulge in the college experience, like drinking and smoking marijuana without feeling I had committed a great evil. It didn't quite line up with, either, my very liberal views on things. God hates gays, but I don't hate gays. So.... I may not have explained that very well and I apologize. But I do like the idea of religion. I think it could benefit certain people, as long as they aren't harming others because of it.

I blame my boyfriend...

nuggetless

I was raised in a highly traditional Catholic family, I believed everything that was shown to me prayed in church the whole 9 up until I went to high school. I am no saint or saying that I was in any way.. There is no real traumatic reason or any life event that changed my views 100% in a day. But in middle school I participated in some youth groups and I believed that they are truly believers and will be saved. High schools comes around and I saw how these other people that prayed to the same God I did, went to the same church I did, and continued praying for the forgiveness for others and themselves for their sins. But they constantly bullied people, walked all over people, and treated other people that were less fortunate than themselves like dirt. I asked myself "How can a child of God act and behave like they do?" So I started educating myself on "good vs. evil" and what I found that is all religion has the same basis, even Satanism (11 doctrines or something I can't exactly recall what it is called but look it up). And I found myself questioning my religion and it really broke me. Fast foward almost 10 years later and I no longer believe but at the same time I will respect the people that do. TL;DR: People were D-Bags, questioned religion, respected other people on their beliefs.

I was raised in a highly traditional Catholic family, I believed everything that was shown to me prayed in church the whole 9 up until I went to high school. I am no saint or saying that I was in any way.. There is no real traumatic reason or any life event that changed my views 100% in a day. But in middle school I participated in some youth groups and I believed that they are truly believers and will be saved. High schools comes around and I saw how these other people that prayed to the same God I did, went to the same church I did, and continued praying for the forgiveness for others and themselves for their sins. But they constantly bullied people, walked all over people, and treated other people that were less fortunate than themselves like dirt. I asked myself "How can a child of God act and behave like they do?" So I started educating myself on "good vs. evil" and what I found that is all religion has the same basis, even Satanism (11 doctrines or something I can't exactly recall what it is called but look it up). And I found myself questioning my religion and it really broke me. Fast foward almost 10 years later and I no longer believe but at the same time I will respect the people that do. TL;DR: People were D-Bags, questioned religion, respected other people on their beliefs.

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ceme11x

I was raised in a highly traditional Catholic family, I believed everything that was shown to me prayed in church the whole 9 up until I went to high school. I am no saint or saying that I was in any way.. There is no real traumatic reason or any life event that changed my views 100% in a day. But in middle school I participated in some youth groups and I believed that they are truly believers and will be saved. High schools comes around and I saw how these other people that prayed to the same God I did, went to the same church I did, and continued praying for the forgiveness for others and themselves for their sins. But they constantly bullied people, walked all over people, and treated other people that were less fortunate than themselves like dirt. I asked myself "How can a child of God act and behave like they do?" So I started educating myself on "good vs. evil" and what I found that is all religion has the same basis, even Satanism (11 doctrines or something I can't exactly recall what it is called but look it up). And I found myself questioning my religion and it really broke me. Fast foward almost 10 years later and I no longer believe but at the same time I will respect the people that do.

People were D-Bags, questioned religion, respected other people on their beliefs.

Detweiler777

I was raised Catholic, and went to Catholic school from kindergarten to grade 12. However, one day in grade 6 after school there was a kid playing basketball that asked me to play. As we were playing he mentioned he was Muslim. While we were playing he kept asking me all the questions about my religion that I couldn't answer or defend. It caught me off guard that I had been learning SO MUCH about Catholicism yet couldn't answer what seemed to be simple (yet clearly aggressive) questions. Later when I finally got home I told my mom, and grandma about this. My grandma said something that I'll never forget. "This boy was raised Muslim, because his parents are Muslim. Just like how you were raised Catholic, because you have a Catholic family." After hearing that all I could think was how we should be Catholic, or ANY religion, because it's REALITY not, because of our parents. So, since then I started to question things I never had before. Noticed a lot of contradictions that year. Eventually, by the time I graduated high school I realized that I didn't believe in any of it any more. TL/DR: Muslim kid played basketball with me when I was 11. After that I learned to think critically of any idea taught to me.

I was raised Catholic, and went to Catholic school from kindergarten to grade 12. However, one day in grade 6 after school there was a kid playing basketball that asked me to play. As we were playing he mentioned he was Muslim. While we were playing he kept asking me all the questions about my religion that I couldn't answer or defend. It caught me off guard that I had been learning SO MUCH about Catholicism yet couldn't answer what seemed to be simple (yet clearly aggressive) questions. Later when I finally got home I told my mom, and grandma about this. My grandma said something that I'll never forget. "This boy was raised Muslim, because his parents are Muslim. Just like how you were raised Catholic, because you have a Catholic family." After hearing that all I could think was how we should be Catholic, or ANY religion, because it's REALITY not, because of our parents. So, since then I started to question things I never had before. Noticed a lot of contradictions that year. Eventually, by the time I graduated high school I realized that I didn't believe in any of it any more. TL/DR: Muslim kid played basketball with me when I was 11. After that I learned to think critically of any idea taught to me.

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t5_2qh1i

ceme62c

I was raised Catholic, and went to Catholic school from kindergarten to grade 12. However, one day in grade 6 after school there was a kid playing basketball that asked me to play. As we were playing he mentioned he was Muslim. While we were playing he kept asking me all the questions about my religion that I couldn't answer or defend. It caught me off guard that I had been learning SO MUCH about Catholicism yet couldn't answer what seemed to be simple (yet clearly aggressive) questions. Later when I finally got home I told my mom, and grandma about this. My grandma said something that I'll never forget. "This boy was raised Muslim, because his parents are Muslim. Just like how you were raised Catholic, because you have a Catholic family." After hearing that all I could think was how we should be Catholic, or ANY religion, because it's REALITY not, because of our parents. So, since then I started to question things I never had before. Noticed a lot of contradictions that year. Eventually, by the time I graduated high school I realized that I didn't believe in any of it any more.

Muslim kid played basketball with me when I was 11. After that I learned to think critically of any idea taught to me.

CR37

My father was raised in a devout RC household. His mother would attend church multiple times a week, and gave more money to the church than they could afford. In short, she was as the ideal parishioner. Then she got sick with cancer, and passed away when my dad was 15. The church she had attended and been so loyal to refused to give her a funeral service or bury her in their cemetery. The reason - my grandmother had given birth to a child out of wedlock. It was at that time that my father was made aware that his "uncle" who was several years older, was actually his half brother who had indeed been born out of wedlock. The secret had been kept from my father all that time, and it became abundantly clear that he and his uncle/brother were the last to know. My father was angry for many reasons, but was most angry at the church. To him, my grandmother deserved to be laid to rest on the grounds she had spent decades supporting. There was no nicer woman than my grandmother, and a true house of God would have accepted her despite her "digression." To this day, my father gets upset when discussing how easy it had been for the church to accept her (relatively) sizable donations, despite the fact that they viewed her the way they did. My mother was the granddaughter of an Episcopalian minister. Her grandfather was a kind man, but did not get along well with my grandfather, who was a mathematician who was not very religious. While my mother attended church, she was not forced to be an active participant, and did not develop a relationship with God or the church. When she met my father, she was apathetic about religion, and he was wholeheartedly against it. When I was born, my parents decided to raise me without religion. I was never baptized, and I only ever attend church for weddings and funerals. For years I learned nothing about religion, and would often answer the "What religion are you?" question with whatever I thought people wanted to hear, partially because I felt embarrassed, but mainly because I did not know how to answer. All I knew was that I had a Christmas tree at Christmas time, and got a basket of candy at Easter. I knew I was not Jewish, because my cousin was, and because my father often made offensive jokes about Jews. I asked once why we did not go to church. My parents told me that religion is often something you are born into, and that they felt it would be better if I got to choose my own brand of spirituality if/when I wanted to. My dad made sure to throw in that if I wanted to " throw money in a basket so that a man dressed more expensively than everyone else who lived in a nicer house than everyone else and who drove a nicer car than everyone else could tell me how everything I do is bad and I'll end up spending eternity in the fiery pits of Hell because I masturbate to lingerie ads in Jamesway catalogs five times a day," that was for me to decide. TL;DR - man who hates religion marries woman who doesn't care, and they have a son who doesn't know any better.

My father was raised in a devout RC household. His mother would attend church multiple times a week, and gave more money to the church than they could afford. In short, she was as the ideal parishioner. Then she got sick with cancer, and passed away when my dad was 15. The church she had attended and been so loyal to refused to give her a funeral service or bury her in their cemetery. The reason - my grandmother had given birth to a child out of wedlock. It was at that time that my father was made aware that his "uncle" who was several years older, was actually his half brother who had indeed been born out of wedlock. The secret had been kept from my father all that time, and it became abundantly clear that he and his uncle/brother were the last to know. My father was angry for many reasons, but was most angry at the church. To him, my grandmother deserved to be laid to rest on the grounds she had spent decades supporting. There was no nicer woman than my grandmother, and a true house of God would have accepted her despite her "digression." To this day, my father gets upset when discussing how easy it had been for the church to accept her (relatively) sizable donations, despite the fact that they viewed her the way they did. My mother was the granddaughter of an Episcopalian minister. Her grandfather was a kind man, but did not get along well with my grandfather, who was a mathematician who was not very religious. While my mother attended church, she was not forced to be an active participant, and did not develop a relationship with God or the church. When she met my father, she was apathetic about religion, and he was wholeheartedly against it. When I was born, my parents decided to raise me without religion. I was never baptized, and I only ever attend church for weddings and funerals. For years I learned nothing about religion, and would often answer the "What religion are you?" question with whatever I thought people wanted to hear, partially because I felt embarrassed, but mainly because I did not know how to answer. All I knew was that I had a Christmas tree at Christmas time, and got a basket of candy at Easter. I knew I was not Jewish, because my cousin was, and because my father often made offensive jokes about Jews. I asked once why we did not go to church. My parents told me that religion is often something you are born into, and that they felt it would be better if I got to choose my own brand of spirituality if/when I wanted to. My dad made sure to throw in that if I wanted to " throw money in a basket so that a man dressed more expensively than everyone else who lived in a nicer house than everyone else and who drove a nicer car than everyone else could tell me how everything I do is bad and I'll end up spending eternity in the fiery pits of Hell because I masturbate to lingerie ads in Jamesway catalogs five times a day," that was for me to decide. TL;DR - man who hates religion marries woman who doesn't care, and they have a son who doesn't know any better.

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t5_2qh1i

cemeakv

My father was raised in a devout RC household. His mother would attend church multiple times a week, and gave more money to the church than they could afford. In short, she was as the ideal parishioner. Then she got sick with cancer, and passed away when my dad was 15. The church she had attended and been so loyal to refused to give her a funeral service or bury her in their cemetery. The reason - my grandmother had given birth to a child out of wedlock. It was at that time that my father was made aware that his "uncle" who was several years older, was actually his half brother who had indeed been born out of wedlock. The secret had been kept from my father all that time, and it became abundantly clear that he and his uncle/brother were the last to know. My father was angry for many reasons, but was most angry at the church. To him, my grandmother deserved to be laid to rest on the grounds she had spent decades supporting. There was no nicer woman than my grandmother, and a true house of God would have accepted her despite her "digression." To this day, my father gets upset when discussing how easy it had been for the church to accept her (relatively) sizable donations, despite the fact that they viewed her the way they did. My mother was the granddaughter of an Episcopalian minister. Her grandfather was a kind man, but did not get along well with my grandfather, who was a mathematician who was not very religious. While my mother attended church, she was not forced to be an active participant, and did not develop a relationship with God or the church. When she met my father, she was apathetic about religion, and he was wholeheartedly against it. When I was born, my parents decided to raise me without religion. I was never baptized, and I only ever attend church for weddings and funerals. For years I learned nothing about religion, and would often answer the "What religion are you?" question with whatever I thought people wanted to hear, partially because I felt embarrassed, but mainly because I did not know how to answer. All I knew was that I had a Christmas tree at Christmas time, and got a basket of candy at Easter. I knew I was not Jewish, because my cousin was, and because my father often made offensive jokes about Jews. I asked once why we did not go to church. My parents told me that religion is often something you are born into, and that they felt it would be better if I got to choose my own brand of spirituality if/when I wanted to. My dad made sure to throw in that if I wanted to " throw money in a basket so that a man dressed more expensively than everyone else who lived in a nicer house than everyone else and who drove a nicer car than everyone else could tell me how everything I do is bad and I'll end up spending eternity in the fiery pits of Hell because I masturbate to lingerie ads in Jamesway catalogs five times a day," that was for me to decide.

man who hates religion marries woman who doesn't care, and they have a son who doesn't know any better.

not_wise_enough

My parents put me in church at a young age, and I stopped going when I got to high school. I never felt like I saw eye to eye with all these authority figures, and I came to the conclusion that I did not have to deal with them. Instead I devoted myself to my favorite hobbies: video games, basketball, and computer programming. I graduated, went to college and graduated, and got a nice job doing what I love. There are lots of things that happened in there that confirmed in me that God had a hand in my family's life and mine: - My mom had cancer, and her testimony and character landed her free treatment at a University Medical Research center. When she got back from treatments, she always expressed happiness and gratitude that she was given the opportunity to witness to everyone who was helping her. She died a semester before I graduated. I am thankful for the time she was here and everything she taught me. - My brother had a very different reaction to my mom's death. He dropped out of college, started doing drugs, contracted AIDS, and eventually crashed. He came home from a trip to a friend's wedding in tears. He thought he had run over a child on his drive home, he thought he was dead, and he thought my dad and I were not real. None of that was true. That night he called the police on himself saying he was a danger to himself and others. The police searched him, and they found sleeping pills for which they pressed possession charges. He was bailed out by friends, and he was going to go stay with them. They said they would lock him in a room if they had to until he snapped back to reality. Keep in mind that at this point, we had a lot of family and friends praying for him. When he left the prison, he called me and told me what they were planning, and I convinced him to come back to my house so we could all talk about it. His friends agreed to bring him home to discuss options, and we talked for a long time. We came to the conclusion that my brother needed something more than a locked room, and they agreed that they were not really in a position to take care of him or respond to emergencies that may crop up. Some family friends, elders in their church, offered to take him in, as they were in a position to spend alot of time with him and loved him so much that they wanted to help in any way they could. He stayed with them for a few weeks. I went to see him on the weekends. I could see him struggling with himself, but our friends were very patient, supportive, and certain when they talked to him. They took him to church and gave him context specific passages from the Bible to read aloud when he started exhibiting irrational fears and anxieties. They talked him through the times he reverted to an "Am I dead? Am I the dog?" mentality. He opened up to them and let alot of things he never told anyone off his chest. He said he blamed God for our mom's death and he just did not want to do anything for Him. He had a recurring dream of trying to escape something unknown that was chasing him and accidentally hitting a child who was walking on the side of the road holding hands with his mom. He thought the dream was real, and that he was a murderer. Our friend interpreted the dream differently. She said that the unknown was the cancer, the child and the child's mom were my brother and my mom. The driver was also my brother, and his escape cost him a part of himself. He still had struggles, but I could see him shaking off lies he had constructed for himself. When he came home, he wanted to pursue a life with God instead of against Him. My sister found a free program that would offer medical, psychological, and spiritual counsel for him. He graduated the program, went back to school, stopped drinking and doing drugs, got a nice job, and he is contagiously happy about it. TL;DR - My brother walked away from God, but God ran back to him when he turned around. His testimony makes sense to me.

My parents put me in church at a young age, and I stopped going when I got to high school. I never felt like I saw eye to eye with all these authority figures, and I came to the conclusion that I did not have to deal with them. Instead I devoted myself to my favorite hobbies: video games, basketball, and computer programming. I graduated, went to college and graduated, and got a nice job doing what I love. There are lots of things that happened in there that confirmed in me that God had a hand in my family's life and mine: My mom had cancer, and her testimony and character landed her free treatment at a University Medical Research center. When she got back from treatments, she always expressed happiness and gratitude that she was given the opportunity to witness to everyone who was helping her. She died a semester before I graduated. I am thankful for the time she was here and everything she taught me. My brother had a very different reaction to my mom's death. He dropped out of college, started doing drugs, contracted AIDS, and eventually crashed. He came home from a trip to a friend's wedding in tears. He thought he had run over a child on his drive home, he thought he was dead, and he thought my dad and I were not real. None of that was true. That night he called the police on himself saying he was a danger to himself and others. The police searched him, and they found sleeping pills for which they pressed possession charges. He was bailed out by friends, and he was going to go stay with them. They said they would lock him in a room if they had to until he snapped back to reality. Keep in mind that at this point, we had a lot of family and friends praying for him. When he left the prison, he called me and told me what they were planning, and I convinced him to come back to my house so we could all talk about it. His friends agreed to bring him home to discuss options, and we talked for a long time. We came to the conclusion that my brother needed something more than a locked room, and they agreed that they were not really in a position to take care of him or respond to emergencies that may crop up. Some family friends, elders in their church, offered to take him in, as they were in a position to spend alot of time with him and loved him so much that they wanted to help in any way they could. He stayed with them for a few weeks. I went to see him on the weekends. I could see him struggling with himself, but our friends were very patient, supportive, and certain when they talked to him. They took him to church and gave him context specific passages from the Bible to read aloud when he started exhibiting irrational fears and anxieties. They talked him through the times he reverted to an "Am I dead? Am I the dog?" mentality. He opened up to them and let alot of things he never told anyone off his chest. He said he blamed God for our mom's death and he just did not want to do anything for Him. He had a recurring dream of trying to escape something unknown that was chasing him and accidentally hitting a child who was walking on the side of the road holding hands with his mom. He thought the dream was real, and that he was a murderer. Our friend interpreted the dream differently. She said that the unknown was the cancer, the child and the child's mom were my brother and my mom. The driver was also my brother, and his escape cost him a part of himself. He still had struggles, but I could see him shaking off lies he had constructed for himself. When he came home, he wanted to pursue a life with God instead of against Him. My sister found a free program that would offer medical, psychological, and spiritual counsel for him. He graduated the program, went back to school, stopped drinking and doing drugs, got a nice job, and he is contagiously happy about it. TL;DR - My brother walked away from God, but God ran back to him when he turned around. His testimony makes sense to me.

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t5_2qh1i

cemeauw

My parents put me in church at a young age, and I stopped going when I got to high school. I never felt like I saw eye to eye with all these authority figures, and I came to the conclusion that I did not have to deal with them. Instead I devoted myself to my favorite hobbies: video games, basketball, and computer programming. I graduated, went to college and graduated, and got a nice job doing what I love. There are lots of things that happened in there that confirmed in me that God had a hand in my family's life and mine: My mom had cancer, and her testimony and character landed her free treatment at a University Medical Research center. When she got back from treatments, she always expressed happiness and gratitude that she was given the opportunity to witness to everyone who was helping her. She died a semester before I graduated. I am thankful for the time she was here and everything she taught me. My brother had a very different reaction to my mom's death. He dropped out of college, started doing drugs, contracted AIDS, and eventually crashed. He came home from a trip to a friend's wedding in tears. He thought he had run over a child on his drive home, he thought he was dead, and he thought my dad and I were not real. None of that was true. That night he called the police on himself saying he was a danger to himself and others. The police searched him, and they found sleeping pills for which they pressed possession charges. He was bailed out by friends, and he was going to go stay with them. They said they would lock him in a room if they had to until he snapped back to reality. Keep in mind that at this point, we had a lot of family and friends praying for him. When he left the prison, he called me and told me what they were planning, and I convinced him to come back to my house so we could all talk about it. His friends agreed to bring him home to discuss options, and we talked for a long time. We came to the conclusion that my brother needed something more than a locked room, and they agreed that they were not really in a position to take care of him or respond to emergencies that may crop up. Some family friends, elders in their church, offered to take him in, as they were in a position to spend alot of time with him and loved him so much that they wanted to help in any way they could. He stayed with them for a few weeks. I went to see him on the weekends. I could see him struggling with himself, but our friends were very patient, supportive, and certain when they talked to him. They took him to church and gave him context specific passages from the Bible to read aloud when he started exhibiting irrational fears and anxieties. They talked him through the times he reverted to an "Am I dead? Am I the dog?" mentality. He opened up to them and let alot of things he never told anyone off his chest. He said he blamed God for our mom's death and he just did not want to do anything for Him. He had a recurring dream of trying to escape something unknown that was chasing him and accidentally hitting a child who was walking on the side of the road holding hands with his mom. He thought the dream was real, and that he was a murderer. Our friend interpreted the dream differently. She said that the unknown was the cancer, the child and the child's mom were my brother and my mom. The driver was also my brother, and his escape cost him a part of himself. He still had struggles, but I could see him shaking off lies he had constructed for himself. When he came home, he wanted to pursue a life with God instead of against Him. My sister found a free program that would offer medical, psychological, and spiritual counsel for him. He graduated the program, went back to school, stopped drinking and doing drugs, got a nice job, and he is contagiously happy about it.

My brother walked away from God, but God ran back to him when he turned around. His testimony makes sense to me.

Xubble

Former nondenominational here. I grew up in a very Christian home and went to a small Christian private school up until high school. I went to church every week without fail, and I even went to youth group and mid-week church events. Almost every activity I participated in until I was 16 was church-related. So from my history, you would guess that I was very religious growing up. I have absolutely nothing against Christian beliefs or teaching; on the contrary, I am in debt to the teachers and elders I had while I was growing up. They gave me a very solid foundation for my morals and current beliefs that I adhere to daily. I would not be who I am today without their wisdom and guidance. That being said, I am currently not religious. High school encompassed my transition from a firm believer to a questioning blank slate. I was no longer under a 24/7 veil of Christian influence, and high school was a completely foreign environment. I had to make new friends, I was no longer stuck in a school uniform, the teaching environment was not as direct as before... It was completely new. I had to rely on my own pursuit of knowledge to get by; nobody else was pushing me to do anything (outside of my parents). A big defining moment was learning about Christopher Columbus my freshman year - before, he was a great and prominent figure in history, a paragon of discovery and Christian morality. When I learned of his true exploits, I began to question what other parts of history were glossed over in my years of learning. The key phrase that marked my shift in belief was, "It makes more sense." I studied philosophy and science through to college and made connections that I couldn't before. It culminated in my college philosophy class when I learned the concept of Occam's razor. A universe that was held together by science was much more simple than a universe that was held together by an undetectable omniscient entity that could not be explained itself. When I made that connection, I was sold. I'd like to conclude that I still hold respect for religion. It's a powerful medium for many to feel connected, stronger, and motivated in their own lives. It's the cornerstone for what I believe in now, although it's not what I completely stand on today. **TL;DR:** I grew up religious, but education and learning outside of a purely Christian environment led me to believe in things that made more sense in my own mind.

Former nondenominational here. I grew up in a very Christian home and went to a small Christian private school up until high school. I went to church every week without fail, and I even went to youth group and mid-week church events. Almost every activity I participated in until I was 16 was church-related. So from my history, you would guess that I was very religious growing up. I have absolutely nothing against Christian beliefs or teaching; on the contrary, I am in debt to the teachers and elders I had while I was growing up. They gave me a very solid foundation for my morals and current beliefs that I adhere to daily. I would not be who I am today without their wisdom and guidance. That being said, I am currently not religious. High school encompassed my transition from a firm believer to a questioning blank slate. I was no longer under a 24/7 veil of Christian influence, and high school was a completely foreign environment. I had to make new friends, I was no longer stuck in a school uniform, the teaching environment was not as direct as before... It was completely new. I had to rely on my own pursuit of knowledge to get by; nobody else was pushing me to do anything (outside of my parents). A big defining moment was learning about Christopher Columbus my freshman year - before, he was a great and prominent figure in history, a paragon of discovery and Christian morality. When I learned of his true exploits, I began to question what other parts of history were glossed over in my years of learning. The key phrase that marked my shift in belief was, "It makes more sense." I studied philosophy and science through to college and made connections that I couldn't before. It culminated in my college philosophy class when I learned the concept of Occam's razor. A universe that was held together by science was much more simple than a universe that was held together by an undetectable omniscient entity that could not be explained itself. When I made that connection, I was sold. I'd like to conclude that I still hold respect for religion. It's a powerful medium for many to feel connected, stronger, and motivated in their own lives. It's the cornerstone for what I believe in now, although it's not what I completely stand on today. TL;DR: I grew up religious, but education and learning outside of a purely Christian environment led me to believe in things that made more sense in my own mind.

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cemebum

Former nondenominational here. I grew up in a very Christian home and went to a small Christian private school up until high school. I went to church every week without fail, and I even went to youth group and mid-week church events. Almost every activity I participated in until I was 16 was church-related. So from my history, you would guess that I was very religious growing up. I have absolutely nothing against Christian beliefs or teaching; on the contrary, I am in debt to the teachers and elders I had while I was growing up. They gave me a very solid foundation for my morals and current beliefs that I adhere to daily. I would not be who I am today without their wisdom and guidance. That being said, I am currently not religious. High school encompassed my transition from a firm believer to a questioning blank slate. I was no longer under a 24/7 veil of Christian influence, and high school was a completely foreign environment. I had to make new friends, I was no longer stuck in a school uniform, the teaching environment was not as direct as before... It was completely new. I had to rely on my own pursuit of knowledge to get by; nobody else was pushing me to do anything (outside of my parents). A big defining moment was learning about Christopher Columbus my freshman year - before, he was a great and prominent figure in history, a paragon of discovery and Christian morality. When I learned of his true exploits, I began to question what other parts of history were glossed over in my years of learning. The key phrase that marked my shift in belief was, "It makes more sense." I studied philosophy and science through to college and made connections that I couldn't before. It culminated in my college philosophy class when I learned the concept of Occam's razor. A universe that was held together by science was much more simple than a universe that was held together by an undetectable omniscient entity that could not be explained itself. When I made that connection, I was sold. I'd like to conclude that I still hold respect for religion. It's a powerful medium for many to feel connected, stronger, and motivated in their own lives. It's the cornerstone for what I believe in now, although it's not what I completely stand on today.

I grew up religious, but education and learning outside of a purely Christian environment led me to believe in things that made more sense in my own mind.

dakiddo2007

I was raised Catholic, and went to Catholic school until I went to college. Catholicism seemed to focus on acts and rituals to get into Heaven, which gradually made less and less sense to me as I learned more. I went to a Christian Brothers high school in southeast Louisiana that was affiliated with the Catholic church, but their curriculum was not controlled by the archdiocese. While I had religion class every day, we also had science and biology classes teaching the secular side. My religion classes started with Catholic doctrine but became more thought provoking in the higher grades. We had world religion class, morality and, ethics. I learned and gained a better appreciation for other viewpoints. We had many debates, encouraged by the courses and teachers, to think for ourselves and not just accept the doctrine at face value. It was here that I started to find the true value in Christianity. It wasn't about checking boxes to get into Heaven, it was about being loved and therefore sharing that love with everyone else through kindness, aid, and service. There is a selfishness in most organized religion that tells us to do rituals or good things to get that final reward. That seems to get abused, and then it ruins the happiness and faith of others. The ignorance and selfishness leads to fear and hatred we see so often from misguided religious folks. Those people, in their misguided ignorance, initially pushed me away from the church, and almost pushed me away from Christianity altogether. You cannot truly belong to a religion of love while spouting hate at others. Continuing, I went to the United States Air Force Academy after high school and gained more appreciation for the different views and lifestyles of others. I had anticipated that everyone there would be like-minded and I was pleasantly proven wrong. I cultivated friendships with different Christians, Jewish people, Muslims, agnostics, and atheists. I learned so much and had so many great conversations. While I distanced myself from Catholicism, I became what I feel is a better Christian. As an engineer, I have a great appreciation for science, and of course I am challenged with doubts by my atheist friends and scientific facts that seemingly disprove religion, but I still see Christianity as the cornerstone for happiness in my own life. Frankly, I feel Christianity can jibe with scientific discoveries, and mostly those are not real issues when we discuss the core of the faith's teachings, but I digress. I've had the benefit of knowledge both from academics and experience, which helped me embody the spirit of a faith without getting blinded by the doctrine of a religion. Faith is a challenge, and I hope to keep rising to that challenge as I consume as much knowledge as I can. Faith, or religion, brings me comfort and joy, and provides a guide to being an overall good, respectful, and happy human being. At least that is how it works for me. Edit: Answering more concisely, I am religious because it makes sense to me. The teachings of my faith seem like a perfect guide, even though the source material is challenging at times to figure out. So, again, knowledge and understanding are vital to grow and to avoid tragic stagnation. TL;DR: I'm religious because I think the teachings make me better. I always seek knowledge to challenge myself, it encourages true understanding, appreciation, and respect.

I was raised Catholic, and went to Catholic school until I went to college. Catholicism seemed to focus on acts and rituals to get into Heaven, which gradually made less and less sense to me as I learned more. I went to a Christian Brothers high school in southeast Louisiana that was affiliated with the Catholic church, but their curriculum was not controlled by the archdiocese. While I had religion class every day, we also had science and biology classes teaching the secular side. My religion classes started with Catholic doctrine but became more thought provoking in the higher grades. We had world religion class, morality and, ethics. I learned and gained a better appreciation for other viewpoints. We had many debates, encouraged by the courses and teachers, to think for ourselves and not just accept the doctrine at face value. It was here that I started to find the true value in Christianity. It wasn't about checking boxes to get into Heaven, it was about being loved and therefore sharing that love with everyone else through kindness, aid, and service. There is a selfishness in most organized religion that tells us to do rituals or good things to get that final reward. That seems to get abused, and then it ruins the happiness and faith of others. The ignorance and selfishness leads to fear and hatred we see so often from misguided religious folks. Those people, in their misguided ignorance, initially pushed me away from the church, and almost pushed me away from Christianity altogether. You cannot truly belong to a religion of love while spouting hate at others. Continuing, I went to the United States Air Force Academy after high school and gained more appreciation for the different views and lifestyles of others. I had anticipated that everyone there would be like-minded and I was pleasantly proven wrong. I cultivated friendships with different Christians, Jewish people, Muslims, agnostics, and atheists. I learned so much and had so many great conversations. While I distanced myself from Catholicism, I became what I feel is a better Christian. As an engineer, I have a great appreciation for science, and of course I am challenged with doubts by my atheist friends and scientific facts that seemingly disprove religion, but I still see Christianity as the cornerstone for happiness in my own life. Frankly, I feel Christianity can jibe with scientific discoveries, and mostly those are not real issues when we discuss the core of the faith's teachings, but I digress. I've had the benefit of knowledge both from academics and experience, which helped me embody the spirit of a faith without getting blinded by the doctrine of a religion. Faith is a challenge, and I hope to keep rising to that challenge as I consume as much knowledge as I can. Faith, or religion, brings me comfort and joy, and provides a guide to being an overall good, respectful, and happy human being. At least that is how it works for me. Edit: Answering more concisely, I am religious because it makes sense to me. The teachings of my faith seem like a perfect guide, even though the source material is challenging at times to figure out. So, again, knowledge and understanding are vital to grow and to avoid tragic stagnation. TL;DR: I'm religious because I think the teachings make me better. I always seek knowledge to challenge myself, it encourages true understanding, appreciation, and respect.

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t5_2qh1i

cemects

I was raised Catholic, and went to Catholic school until I went to college. Catholicism seemed to focus on acts and rituals to get into Heaven, which gradually made less and less sense to me as I learned more. I went to a Christian Brothers high school in southeast Louisiana that was affiliated with the Catholic church, but their curriculum was not controlled by the archdiocese. While I had religion class every day, we also had science and biology classes teaching the secular side. My religion classes started with Catholic doctrine but became more thought provoking in the higher grades. We had world religion class, morality and, ethics. I learned and gained a better appreciation for other viewpoints. We had many debates, encouraged by the courses and teachers, to think for ourselves and not just accept the doctrine at face value. It was here that I started to find the true value in Christianity. It wasn't about checking boxes to get into Heaven, it was about being loved and therefore sharing that love with everyone else through kindness, aid, and service. There is a selfishness in most organized religion that tells us to do rituals or good things to get that final reward. That seems to get abused, and then it ruins the happiness and faith of others. The ignorance and selfishness leads to fear and hatred we see so often from misguided religious folks. Those people, in their misguided ignorance, initially pushed me away from the church, and almost pushed me away from Christianity altogether. You cannot truly belong to a religion of love while spouting hate at others. Continuing, I went to the United States Air Force Academy after high school and gained more appreciation for the different views and lifestyles of others. I had anticipated that everyone there would be like-minded and I was pleasantly proven wrong. I cultivated friendships with different Christians, Jewish people, Muslims, agnostics, and atheists. I learned so much and had so many great conversations. While I distanced myself from Catholicism, I became what I feel is a better Christian. As an engineer, I have a great appreciation for science, and of course I am challenged with doubts by my atheist friends and scientific facts that seemingly disprove religion, but I still see Christianity as the cornerstone for happiness in my own life. Frankly, I feel Christianity can jibe with scientific discoveries, and mostly those are not real issues when we discuss the core of the faith's teachings, but I digress. I've had the benefit of knowledge both from academics and experience, which helped me embody the spirit of a faith without getting blinded by the doctrine of a religion. Faith is a challenge, and I hope to keep rising to that challenge as I consume as much knowledge as I can. Faith, or religion, brings me comfort and joy, and provides a guide to being an overall good, respectful, and happy human being. At least that is how it works for me. Edit: Answering more concisely, I am religious because it makes sense to me. The teachings of my faith seem like a perfect guide, even though the source material is challenging at times to figure out. So, again, knowledge and understanding are vital to grow and to avoid tragic stagnation.

I'm religious because I think the teachings make me better. I always seek knowledge to challenge myself, it encourages true understanding, appreciation, and respect.

Creepypainting

My family lived on Church property for 17 years. We lived in an old house next door to the rectory. Rent was cheap, for a three bedroom house. The Church itself had an electrical fire and was burnt to a crisp. Consequently we were kicked out. We were a religious family. And it's was the manner that we were removed from the home that leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Our Priest was new, young and very business like. I always had a feeling he was in the closet, but that's just me. He gave us an eviction notice. The man knew us for 4 years. He knew that we had been there for 17 years. He knew that we would never find housing in the winter, with a family of 4 and pets. Knowing all this, he didn't even come speak to us. I was 13 at the time, and even though I know that all priests are not like this. I was hurt, and uprooted from the only home I knew as a child. I swore off religion, hated the church and didn't support it any longer. I don't necessarily accept atheism, seems a little too close minded to me. But I decided to be a good person, religious or not. TLDR: My family was out of Church home, that we occupied for 17 years in a nasty manner by our "devout" Priest.

My family lived on Church property for 17 years. We lived in an old house next door to the rectory. Rent was cheap, for a three bedroom house. The Church itself had an electrical fire and was burnt to a crisp. Consequently we were kicked out. We were a religious family. And it's was the manner that we were removed from the home that leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Our Priest was new, young and very business like. I always had a feeling he was in the closet, but that's just me. He gave us an eviction notice. The man knew us for 4 years. He knew that we had been there for 17 years. He knew that we would never find housing in the winter, with a family of 4 and pets. Knowing all this, he didn't even come speak to us. I was 13 at the time, and even though I know that all priests are not like this. I was hurt, and uprooted from the only home I knew as a child. I swore off religion, hated the church and didn't support it any longer. I don't necessarily accept atheism, seems a little too close minded to me. But I decided to be a good person, religious or not. TLDR: My family was out of Church home, that we occupied for 17 years in a nasty manner by our "devout" Priest.

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t5_2qh1i

cemecxt

My family lived on Church property for 17 years. We lived in an old house next door to the rectory. Rent was cheap, for a three bedroom house. The Church itself had an electrical fire and was burnt to a crisp. Consequently we were kicked out. We were a religious family. And it's was the manner that we were removed from the home that leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Our Priest was new, young and very business like. I always had a feeling he was in the closet, but that's just me. He gave us an eviction notice. The man knew us for 4 years. He knew that we had been there for 17 years. He knew that we would never find housing in the winter, with a family of 4 and pets. Knowing all this, he didn't even come speak to us. I was 13 at the time, and even though I know that all priests are not like this. I was hurt, and uprooted from the only home I knew as a child. I swore off religion, hated the church and didn't support it any longer. I don't necessarily accept atheism, seems a little too close minded to me. But I decided to be a good person, religious or not.

My family was out of Church home, that we occupied for 17 years in a nasty manner by our "devout" Priest.

OsmundTheOrange

Non-Denominational Christian upbringing. Around 3rd grade started going to the only decent sleep-away camps in my state, which all happened to be Christa-Camps. Around 6th grade get transfered to a Catholic Middle School and oddly enough am exposed to the ideas of other religions. Almost immediately I'm full of doubt, considering I'm told one story is the obvious right one, "but here's what some other people believe, it's probably wrong." Still can understand people who need and want religion though. Another thing that stopped me was the idea that everything I did that was good, was somehow the responsibility of God, and everything I did bad was my fault. I felt robbed of my identity, in short. TL;DR: Catholic School and God taking credit for everything I did.

Non-Denominational Christian upbringing. Around 3rd grade started going to the only decent sleep-away camps in my state, which all happened to be Christa-Camps. Around 6th grade get transfered to a Catholic Middle School and oddly enough am exposed to the ideas of other religions. Almost immediately I'm full of doubt, considering I'm told one story is the obvious right one, "but here's what some other people believe, it's probably wrong." Still can understand people who need and want religion though. Another thing that stopped me was the idea that everything I did that was good, was somehow the responsibility of God, and everything I did bad was my fault. I felt robbed of my identity, in short. TL;DR: Catholic School and God taking credit for everything I did.

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t5_2qh1i

cemee8f

Non-Denominational Christian upbringing. Around 3rd grade started going to the only decent sleep-away camps in my state, which all happened to be Christa-Camps. Around 6th grade get transfered to a Catholic Middle School and oddly enough am exposed to the ideas of other religions. Almost immediately I'm full of doubt, considering I'm told one story is the obvious right one, "but here's what some other people believe, it's probably wrong." Still can understand people who need and want religion though. Another thing that stopped me was the idea that everything I did that was good, was somehow the responsibility of God, and everything I did bad was my fault. I felt robbed of my identity, in short.

Catholic School and God taking credit for everything I did.

dedsmed

To say something flourished because someone forced it upon others is a bit of a stretch. If that were true, then it wouldn't still be around today. God being "pro slavery" isn't necessarily correct either, laws on how to treat a slave isn't the same as commanding you have slaves. Slavery definitely wasn't even remotely close to the way we picture it nowadays anyways. Most "slaves" in the old testament times were willing volunteers, more like someone who worked for your dad's farm. God "sees women as less than man" isn't correct either. God sees women as fitting a different role than a man. Similar to tools, one tool is better suited for a job than another tool. That doesn't mean it's better than the other tool. God "having a bunch of kids slaughtered by bears..." this isn't the way you think of it either. The word used as "kid" in that passage is used several other times in the bible to describe men in their 20s, "Bethel" was known as a wicked place at this time. So essentially these were a group of 20 year old gang members who "mocked him". Mocking also is now a weak word in our language, they were out to get him. They were mocking him by telling him to "Go up" as elijah did, basically making fun of the claims of the previous prophet, as well as Baldness in those times was equal to being a leper, basically the "kids" were disgracing him. TLDR: That was a bit of a rant, but my main purpose is to try to think of the cultural connotations as well as historical connotations of the passages. Many words, phrases, and terms used in the bible don't necessarily equate to our same way of using them today.

To say something flourished because someone forced it upon others is a bit of a stretch. If that were true, then it wouldn't still be around today. God being "pro slavery" isn't necessarily correct either, laws on how to treat a slave isn't the same as commanding you have slaves. Slavery definitely wasn't even remotely close to the way we picture it nowadays anyways. Most "slaves" in the old testament times were willing volunteers, more like someone who worked for your dad's farm. God "sees women as less than man" isn't correct either. God sees women as fitting a different role than a man. Similar to tools, one tool is better suited for a job than another tool. That doesn't mean it's better than the other tool. God "having a bunch of kids slaughtered by bears..." this isn't the way you think of it either. The word used as "kid" in that passage is used several other times in the bible to describe men in their 20s, "Bethel" was known as a wicked place at this time. So essentially these were a group of 20 year old gang members who "mocked him". Mocking also is now a weak word in our language, they were out to get him. They were mocking him by telling him to "Go up" as elijah did, basically making fun of the claims of the previous prophet, as well as Baldness in those times was equal to being a leper, basically the "kids" were disgracing him. TLDR: That was a bit of a rant, but my main purpose is to try to think of the cultural connotations as well as historical connotations of the passages. Many words, phrases, and terms used in the bible don't necessarily equate to our same way of using them today.

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t5_2qh1i

cemejps

To say something flourished because someone forced it upon others is a bit of a stretch. If that were true, then it wouldn't still be around today. God being "pro slavery" isn't necessarily correct either, laws on how to treat a slave isn't the same as commanding you have slaves. Slavery definitely wasn't even remotely close to the way we picture it nowadays anyways. Most "slaves" in the old testament times were willing volunteers, more like someone who worked for your dad's farm. God "sees women as less than man" isn't correct either. God sees women as fitting a different role than a man. Similar to tools, one tool is better suited for a job than another tool. That doesn't mean it's better than the other tool. God "having a bunch of kids slaughtered by bears..." this isn't the way you think of it either. The word used as "kid" in that passage is used several other times in the bible to describe men in their 20s, "Bethel" was known as a wicked place at this time. So essentially these were a group of 20 year old gang members who "mocked him". Mocking also is now a weak word in our language, they were out to get him. They were mocking him by telling him to "Go up" as elijah did, basically making fun of the claims of the previous prophet, as well as Baldness in those times was equal to being a leper, basically the "kids" were disgracing him.

That was a bit of a rant, but my main purpose is to try to think of the cultural connotations as well as historical connotations of the passages. Many words, phrases, and terms used in the bible don't necessarily equate to our same way of using them today.

fizz4m

I was a born again christian for most of my life. Stopped believing at 20 years old (24 now). Yes for most of these years I was believing in God and going to church because my family was doing the same but from 17 to 19, I was super duper christian. I stopped believing when I realized some stuff: According to christianity, God created all things. He his a loving god and he is all knowing. He also created angels. Angels were all pretty chill with God until some asshole called Lucifer (commonly known as Satan) decided he would have none of it and tried to stage an uprising but failed pretty hard. God casted away Lucifer and his bros to Hell. They (christians) praise God when good thing happens (getting a raise, getting better when previously sick, etc...) but they blame Satan when shitty stuff happen (getting super sick, starving kids in the world, some crazy sick fuck raping and killing 20 kids). The sad reality is that the God they praise also created the very evil they despise. With all that, I find it hard to be a believer. TL;DR: It's hard for me to believe in a God that allows kids (that he loves so much) to starve to death. (I'm not usually vocal about this but this thread got me pumped)

I was a born again christian for most of my life. Stopped believing at 20 years old (24 now). Yes for most of these years I was believing in God and going to church because my family was doing the same but from 17 to 19, I was super duper christian. I stopped believing when I realized some stuff: According to christianity, God created all things. He his a loving god and he is all knowing. He also created angels. Angels were all pretty chill with God until some asshole called Lucifer (commonly known as Satan) decided he would have none of it and tried to stage an uprising but failed pretty hard. God casted away Lucifer and his bros to Hell. They (christians) praise God when good thing happens (getting a raise, getting better when previously sick, etc...) but they blame Satan when shitty stuff happen (getting super sick, starving kids in the world, some crazy sick fuck raping and killing 20 kids). The sad reality is that the God they praise also created the very evil they despise. With all that, I find it hard to be a believer. TL;DR: It's hard for me to believe in a God that allows kids (that he loves so much) to starve to death. (I'm not usually vocal about this but this thread got me pumped)

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cemel2l

I was a born again christian for most of my life. Stopped believing at 20 years old (24 now). Yes for most of these years I was believing in God and going to church because my family was doing the same but from 17 to 19, I was super duper christian. I stopped believing when I realized some stuff: According to christianity, God created all things. He his a loving god and he is all knowing. He also created angels. Angels were all pretty chill with God until some asshole called Lucifer (commonly known as Satan) decided he would have none of it and tried to stage an uprising but failed pretty hard. God casted away Lucifer and his bros to Hell. They (christians) praise God when good thing happens (getting a raise, getting better when previously sick, etc...) but they blame Satan when shitty stuff happen (getting super sick, starving kids in the world, some crazy sick fuck raping and killing 20 kids). The sad reality is that the God they praise also created the very evil they despise. With all that, I find it hard to be a believer.

It's hard for me to believe in a God that allows kids (that he loves so much) to starve to death. (I'm not usually vocal about this but this thread got me pumped)

maggiefrank

I was brought up Catholic (Dad is Irish, so kinda goes hand in hand) and went to catholic schools for both primary and high school. At the time I didn't like it, church was boring and we had to learn about God and Jesus at school. When I was 15 I was invited to watch a band play at my aunty's church, (Pentecostal Christian) and it was so different. I couldn't believe that this was 'church'! My friend and I started going to the weekly youth group. At first, it wasn't about God. It was about connecting with a bunch of really awesome people. Fast forward a few years and I was a leader at the youth group, a member of the worship band, going to church twice on a Sunday, and had a personal relationship with God. Then the church started to get a bit, well for lack of a better word, weird. They were all into this ultra spiritual, experiential idea of God. And that's not the God I knew. It was around this time that I moved to Australia (I'm from NZ) and found a church that was so different from my one back home. I loved it. It was more about building relationships rather than speaking in tongues etc. After about 6 months I started to see the cracks. When you are new, people make an effort, they want you to stay and join their church. But then they stop trying. So I stopped going. I'm back in New Zealand now, and haven't been going to church in almost 2 years, but I still love God. He's still a part of my life. My best friends are ones that I met through church. I just got sick of church, and fake, judgmental Christians. TL;DR: Grew up Catholic. Went to Christian church. Loved it. It got weird. Stopped going. Still love God.

I was brought up Catholic (Dad is Irish, so kinda goes hand in hand) and went to catholic schools for both primary and high school. At the time I didn't like it, church was boring and we had to learn about God and Jesus at school. When I was 15 I was invited to watch a band play at my aunty's church, (Pentecostal Christian) and it was so different. I couldn't believe that this was 'church'! My friend and I started going to the weekly youth group. At first, it wasn't about God. It was about connecting with a bunch of really awesome people. Fast forward a few years and I was a leader at the youth group, a member of the worship band, going to church twice on a Sunday, and had a personal relationship with God. Then the church started to get a bit, well for lack of a better word, weird. They were all into this ultra spiritual, experiential idea of God. And that's not the God I knew. It was around this time that I moved to Australia (I'm from NZ) and found a church that was so different from my one back home. I loved it. It was more about building relationships rather than speaking in tongues etc. After about 6 months I started to see the cracks. When you are new, people make an effort, they want you to stay and join their church. But then they stop trying. So I stopped going. I'm back in New Zealand now, and haven't been going to church in almost 2 years, but I still love God. He's still a part of my life. My best friends are ones that I met through church. I just got sick of church, and fake, judgmental Christians. TL;DR: Grew up Catholic. Went to Christian church. Loved it. It got weird. Stopped going. Still love God.

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cemelm8

I was brought up Catholic (Dad is Irish, so kinda goes hand in hand) and went to catholic schools for both primary and high school. At the time I didn't like it, church was boring and we had to learn about God and Jesus at school. When I was 15 I was invited to watch a band play at my aunty's church, (Pentecostal Christian) and it was so different. I couldn't believe that this was 'church'! My friend and I started going to the weekly youth group. At first, it wasn't about God. It was about connecting with a bunch of really awesome people. Fast forward a few years and I was a leader at the youth group, a member of the worship band, going to church twice on a Sunday, and had a personal relationship with God. Then the church started to get a bit, well for lack of a better word, weird. They were all into this ultra spiritual, experiential idea of God. And that's not the God I knew. It was around this time that I moved to Australia (I'm from NZ) and found a church that was so different from my one back home. I loved it. It was more about building relationships rather than speaking in tongues etc. After about 6 months I started to see the cracks. When you are new, people make an effort, they want you to stay and join their church. But then they stop trying. So I stopped going. I'm back in New Zealand now, and haven't been going to church in almost 2 years, but I still love God. He's still a part of my life. My best friends are ones that I met through church. I just got sick of church, and fake, judgmental Christians.

Grew up Catholic. Went to Christian church. Loved it. It got weird. Stopped going. Still love God.

TheCasemanCometh

Theoretically, God created us to have free will, as he wished to be worshipped and acknowledged for his glory and power. Free will enters into this because forcing something to undertake a behavior (in this case worship and acknowledgement of God's sovereignty) makes that behavior meaningless. But if you create something with free-will, that can CHOOSE to worship, that makes the worship meaningful. The other side of the free will coin is that we can CHOOSE to turn away from God, to do the opposite of acknowledge him. So, the way the Bible portrays creation is that God created the Earth and everything in it, and then gave dominion of the Earth to man. Man was created with free will (i.e the ability to make mistakes in Adam's case) and sometime after creation, used that free will to directly disobey one of God's commands (do not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil). Once humans decided to disobey God, the world was introduced to Sin, which plainly put, is just doing what God tells you not to do. Once sin became something humans realized we could do, the world suddenly became sinful and imperfect. This is a big deal because God is perfect and holy, and as such does not tolerate sin/imperfection. So, now we have a God who has created beings with free will, some of whom are excercising it to tell him how much the love and worship him, and some who are doing the opposite. God loves all of us however, and it breaks his heart (metaphorically, I have no idea if God has an actual heart) that humans sin and "fall short of the glory of God" and that when we die, we are separated from him because his is perfect/holy and we are imperfect/sinful. So he (somehow, nobody's really for sure on how this next part goes down) sends his "son," Jesus Christ (you may have heard of him) down to Earth. Jesus is a carpenter, a great moral teacher, a miracle worker, but most importantly, he lives a perfect life for approximately 33 years, because he is God and can resist sin. He is unjustly executed for crimes he did not commit, and being the first human ever to die without committing a sin, and because he is God and can do this, he forms a bridge from the imperfection of humanity to the perfection of God. Then, also because he is God, and to prove that he has power over everything, he rises from the dead. Tl;DR God didnt' create an imperfect world, he created a perfect world, gave humans the ability to choose to worship or not, we didn't, and eventually we've screwed the world up ourselves. This makes God very sad, but he loves us anyway.

Theoretically, God created us to have free will, as he wished to be worshipped and acknowledged for his glory and power. Free will enters into this because forcing something to undertake a behavior (in this case worship and acknowledgement of God's sovereignty) makes that behavior meaningless. But if you create something with free-will, that can CHOOSE to worship, that makes the worship meaningful. The other side of the free will coin is that we can CHOOSE to turn away from God, to do the opposite of acknowledge him. So, the way the Bible portrays creation is that God created the Earth and everything in it, and then gave dominion of the Earth to man. Man was created with free will (i.e the ability to make mistakes in Adam's case) and sometime after creation, used that free will to directly disobey one of God's commands (do not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil). Once humans decided to disobey God, the world was introduced to Sin, which plainly put, is just doing what God tells you not to do. Once sin became something humans realized we could do, the world suddenly became sinful and imperfect. This is a big deal because God is perfect and holy, and as such does not tolerate sin/imperfection. So, now we have a God who has created beings with free will, some of whom are excercising it to tell him how much the love and worship him, and some who are doing the opposite. God loves all of us however, and it breaks his heart (metaphorically, I have no idea if God has an actual heart) that humans sin and "fall short of the glory of God" and that when we die, we are separated from him because his is perfect/holy and we are imperfect/sinful. So he (somehow, nobody's really for sure on how this next part goes down) sends his "son," Jesus Christ (you may have heard of him) down to Earth. Jesus is a carpenter, a great moral teacher, a miracle worker, but most importantly, he lives a perfect life for approximately 33 years, because he is God and can resist sin. He is unjustly executed for crimes he did not commit, and being the first human ever to die without committing a sin, and because he is God and can do this, he forms a bridge from the imperfection of humanity to the perfection of God. Then, also because he is God, and to prove that he has power over everything, he rises from the dead. Tl;DR God didnt' create an imperfect world, he created a perfect world, gave humans the ability to choose to worship or not, we didn't, and eventually we've screwed the world up ourselves. This makes God very sad, but he loves us anyway.

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cemertf

Theoretically, God created us to have free will, as he wished to be worshipped and acknowledged for his glory and power. Free will enters into this because forcing something to undertake a behavior (in this case worship and acknowledgement of God's sovereignty) makes that behavior meaningless. But if you create something with free-will, that can CHOOSE to worship, that makes the worship meaningful. The other side of the free will coin is that we can CHOOSE to turn away from God, to do the opposite of acknowledge him. So, the way the Bible portrays creation is that God created the Earth and everything in it, and then gave dominion of the Earth to man. Man was created with free will (i.e the ability to make mistakes in Adam's case) and sometime after creation, used that free will to directly disobey one of God's commands (do not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil). Once humans decided to disobey God, the world was introduced to Sin, which plainly put, is just doing what God tells you not to do. Once sin became something humans realized we could do, the world suddenly became sinful and imperfect. This is a big deal because God is perfect and holy, and as such does not tolerate sin/imperfection. So, now we have a God who has created beings with free will, some of whom are excercising it to tell him how much the love and worship him, and some who are doing the opposite. God loves all of us however, and it breaks his heart (metaphorically, I have no idea if God has an actual heart) that humans sin and "fall short of the glory of God" and that when we die, we are separated from him because his is perfect/holy and we are imperfect/sinful. So he (somehow, nobody's really for sure on how this next part goes down) sends his "son," Jesus Christ (you may have heard of him) down to Earth. Jesus is a carpenter, a great moral teacher, a miracle worker, but most importantly, he lives a perfect life for approximately 33 years, because he is God and can resist sin. He is unjustly executed for crimes he did not commit, and being the first human ever to die without committing a sin, and because he is God and can do this, he forms a bridge from the imperfection of humanity to the perfection of God. Then, also because he is God, and to prove that he has power over everything, he rises from the dead.

God didnt' create an imperfect world, he created a perfect world, gave humans the ability to choose to worship or not, we didn't, and eventually we've screwed the world up ourselves. This makes God very sad, but he loves us anyway.

pumerpride

Very religious as a child, was called a "prayer warrior". Went to a Catholic college, learned about other religions including Native Americans, thought their creation stories were wacky then had an "aha" moment when considering mine. Then class I had human evolution sealed the deal- vestigial organs are very interesting. Now I'm an atheist. TL;dr was super religious went to Carholic college became atheist.

Very religious as a child, was called a "prayer warrior". Went to a Catholic college, learned about other religions including Native Americans, thought their creation stories were wacky then had an "aha" moment when considering mine. Then class I had human evolution sealed the deal- vestigial organs are very interesting. Now I'm an atheist. TL;dr was super religious went to Carholic college became atheist.

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cemeyqw

Very religious as a child, was called a "prayer warrior". Went to a Catholic college, learned about other religions including Native Americans, thought their creation stories were wacky then had an "aha" moment when considering mine. Then class I had human evolution sealed the deal- vestigial organs are very interesting. Now I'm an atheist.

was super religious went to Carholic college became atheist.

ghuhg88

Raised Catholic as my father is fairly religious and in the country I spend 10 years in, the best/safest schools to attend were Roman Catholic. Around junior high I decided religion/god/jesus/whathaveyou did not exist and religions only arose from a fear of death/unknown. Nowadays, I choose to believe in a god and what I was taught growing up, but not in Jesus, so I suppose I lean towards Judaism because I do not believe in Jesus as the messiah or the new testament. I find that almost ironic. TL/DR: Catholic school turned me towards Judaism.

Raised Catholic as my father is fairly religious and in the country I spend 10 years in, the best/safest schools to attend were Roman Catholic. Around junior high I decided religion/god/jesus/whathaveyou did not exist and religions only arose from a fear of death/unknown. Nowadays, I choose to believe in a god and what I was taught growing up, but not in Jesus, so I suppose I lean towards Judaism because I do not believe in Jesus as the messiah or the new testament. I find that almost ironic. TL/DR: Catholic school turned me towards Judaism.

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cemeyxh

Raised Catholic as my father is fairly religious and in the country I spend 10 years in, the best/safest schools to attend were Roman Catholic. Around junior high I decided religion/god/jesus/whathaveyou did not exist and religions only arose from a fear of death/unknown. Nowadays, I choose to believe in a god and what I was taught growing up, but not in Jesus, so I suppose I lean towards Judaism because I do not believe in Jesus as the messiah or the new testament. I find that almost ironic.

Catholic school turned me towards Judaism.

rrearleii

When I look at how the practice of religions got its start, I see that they were meant to answer questions that we didn't (and sometimes still don't) have a rational way of answering. Now that we do have a robust system for answering those sorts of questions, like what causes storms, lightning, earthquakes, and why people die, I don't see a purpose for keeping religions around. I am also a very empathetic person, so my moral compass is finely tuned, in my opinion, so I have no moral need for religions. Besides, when I read most religious texts, I usually find that I have higher moral standards than those texts. I still read and listen to religious speakers (the Dalai Lama and several gurus are my favorites) to learn new philosophical positions that can help me evolve my own outlook on the world. I grew up reading Norse and Greek mythology (from age four, on), and while they were and still are very entertaining, I couldn't help comparing them to the Judeo-Christian bible that my mother's church dictated from. While it was abundantly clear that Norse and Greek myths weren't true, I saw them as the exact same thing as the stories that I was learning in Sunday school. The only difference to me was that there were a lot of adults who seemed to hang on every word that came out of our reverend (it was an Episcopal church). Every Sunday, I looked around and wondered if the adults around me realized that these were nothing more than children's stories, and that they weren't even as good as the Greek myths. I didn't even know what an atheist was until I was fourteen or so, and by then, I was already convinced that the adults around me were putting their fingers in their ears and clutching their bibles without thinking about how ridiculous what they were reading actually was. Sometime around when I turned 17, I convinced my dad to "come out" as an atheist, and gradually helped my younger brother abandon the religious dogma that he once held so tightly. He's on here, and might see this, but he now realizes how much he has changed since he was an impressionable 12-year-old. He laughs about it now. Looking forward, I have no interest in celebrating any of the Christian holidays, including Christmas. I know that most atheists celebrate Christmas as some sort of vestigial grasp on familial tradition, but this past Christmas made me realize that while I like giving people presents a lot, I have no interest in the lights, dragging a dead tree into my house and covering it with soon-to-be garbage, and the Christmas spirit is completely gone. If I ever do have kids (I'm quickly warming to the ChildFree movement), I don't plan on celebrating Christmas for their sakes, either. If anything, I'd like to make a new holiday that helps people bond with each other and learn something new. I'd call it Maker Day or something, and make a cool project every year, like a computer, something in a wood shop, learn a programming language, or some other sort of educational venture. TL;DR: Greek myths spoiled the allure of religious realism for me.

When I look at how the practice of religions got its start, I see that they were meant to answer questions that we didn't (and sometimes still don't) have a rational way of answering. Now that we do have a robust system for answering those sorts of questions, like what causes storms, lightning, earthquakes, and why people die, I don't see a purpose for keeping religions around. I am also a very empathetic person, so my moral compass is finely tuned, in my opinion, so I have no moral need for religions. Besides, when I read most religious texts, I usually find that I have higher moral standards than those texts. I still read and listen to religious speakers (the Dalai Lama and several gurus are my favorites) to learn new philosophical positions that can help me evolve my own outlook on the world. I grew up reading Norse and Greek mythology (from age four, on), and while they were and still are very entertaining, I couldn't help comparing them to the Judeo-Christian bible that my mother's church dictated from. While it was abundantly clear that Norse and Greek myths weren't true, I saw them as the exact same thing as the stories that I was learning in Sunday school. The only difference to me was that there were a lot of adults who seemed to hang on every word that came out of our reverend (it was an Episcopal church). Every Sunday, I looked around and wondered if the adults around me realized that these were nothing more than children's stories, and that they weren't even as good as the Greek myths. I didn't even know what an atheist was until I was fourteen or so, and by then, I was already convinced that the adults around me were putting their fingers in their ears and clutching their bibles without thinking about how ridiculous what they were reading actually was. Sometime around when I turned 17, I convinced my dad to "come out" as an atheist, and gradually helped my younger brother abandon the religious dogma that he once held so tightly. He's on here, and might see this, but he now realizes how much he has changed since he was an impressionable 12-year-old. He laughs about it now. Looking forward, I have no interest in celebrating any of the Christian holidays, including Christmas. I know that most atheists celebrate Christmas as some sort of vestigial grasp on familial tradition, but this past Christmas made me realize that while I like giving people presents a lot, I have no interest in the lights, dragging a dead tree into my house and covering it with soon-to-be garbage, and the Christmas spirit is completely gone. If I ever do have kids (I'm quickly warming to the ChildFree movement), I don't plan on celebrating Christmas for their sakes, either. If anything, I'd like to make a new holiday that helps people bond with each other and learn something new. I'd call it Maker Day or something, and make a cool project every year, like a computer, something in a wood shop, learn a programming language, or some other sort of educational venture. TL;DR: Greek myths spoiled the allure of religious realism for me.

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cemf05j

When I look at how the practice of religions got its start, I see that they were meant to answer questions that we didn't (and sometimes still don't) have a rational way of answering. Now that we do have a robust system for answering those sorts of questions, like what causes storms, lightning, earthquakes, and why people die, I don't see a purpose for keeping religions around. I am also a very empathetic person, so my moral compass is finely tuned, in my opinion, so I have no moral need for religions. Besides, when I read most religious texts, I usually find that I have higher moral standards than those texts. I still read and listen to religious speakers (the Dalai Lama and several gurus are my favorites) to learn new philosophical positions that can help me evolve my own outlook on the world. I grew up reading Norse and Greek mythology (from age four, on), and while they were and still are very entertaining, I couldn't help comparing them to the Judeo-Christian bible that my mother's church dictated from. While it was abundantly clear that Norse and Greek myths weren't true, I saw them as the exact same thing as the stories that I was learning in Sunday school. The only difference to me was that there were a lot of adults who seemed to hang on every word that came out of our reverend (it was an Episcopal church). Every Sunday, I looked around and wondered if the adults around me realized that these were nothing more than children's stories, and that they weren't even as good as the Greek myths. I didn't even know what an atheist was until I was fourteen or so, and by then, I was already convinced that the adults around me were putting their fingers in their ears and clutching their bibles without thinking about how ridiculous what they were reading actually was. Sometime around when I turned 17, I convinced my dad to "come out" as an atheist, and gradually helped my younger brother abandon the religious dogma that he once held so tightly. He's on here, and might see this, but he now realizes how much he has changed since he was an impressionable 12-year-old. He laughs about it now. Looking forward, I have no interest in celebrating any of the Christian holidays, including Christmas. I know that most atheists celebrate Christmas as some sort of vestigial grasp on familial tradition, but this past Christmas made me realize that while I like giving people presents a lot, I have no interest in the lights, dragging a dead tree into my house and covering it with soon-to-be garbage, and the Christmas spirit is completely gone. If I ever do have kids (I'm quickly warming to the ChildFree movement), I don't plan on celebrating Christmas for their sakes, either. If anything, I'd like to make a new holiday that helps people bond with each other and learn something new. I'd call it Maker Day or something, and make a cool project every year, like a computer, something in a wood shop, learn a programming language, or some other sort of educational venture.

Greek myths spoiled the allure of religious realism for me.

sno0py

My family is Catholic. But my parents NEVER dragged me to church and let me have my own beliefs. They have seen kids get it beat in to them. The only times I have been to church were when I would have sleepover at friends houses when I was in middle/high school. And all I got out of the multiple churches was all they are doing is asking for money and it irritated me to all end. I believe in being a good person. I'm not necessarily atheist but I also think saying your agnostic is a cop out. Here is what I think. Have you ever played the game telephone when you were younger? I might say I broke my pencil but after 10 people it will turn into "her Fucking ate his pencil!!!" I think the Bible has been translated so much and so exaggerated because of storytelling I can't believe it's real. I can believe it is a guideline to living a good life but man.. those are all stories.. you don't think anybody spiced it up a little bit? Old testament... New testament.. Jesus rose from the dead... He could just got hurt really bad and went into shock or a coma of some sort. Or just taken a Fucking breather from being the Fucking center of attention. Tl:Dr I believe in being a good person. Not stories

My family is Catholic. But my parents NEVER dragged me to church and let me have my own beliefs. They have seen kids get it beat in to them. The only times I have been to church were when I would have sleepover at friends houses when I was in middle/high school. And all I got out of the multiple churches was all they are doing is asking for money and it irritated me to all end. I believe in being a good person. I'm not necessarily atheist but I also think saying your agnostic is a cop out. Here is what I think. Have you ever played the game telephone when you were younger? I might say I broke my pencil but after 10 people it will turn into "her Fucking ate his pencil!!!" I think the Bible has been translated so much and so exaggerated because of storytelling I can't believe it's real. I can believe it is a guideline to living a good life but man.. those are all stories.. you don't think anybody spiced it up a little bit? Old testament... New testament.. Jesus rose from the dead... He could just got hurt really bad and went into shock or a coma of some sort. Or just taken a Fucking breather from being the Fucking center of attention. Tl:Dr I believe in being a good person. Not stories

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cemf51u

My family is Catholic. But my parents NEVER dragged me to church and let me have my own beliefs. They have seen kids get it beat in to them. The only times I have been to church were when I would have sleepover at friends houses when I was in middle/high school. And all I got out of the multiple churches was all they are doing is asking for money and it irritated me to all end. I believe in being a good person. I'm not necessarily atheist but I also think saying your agnostic is a cop out. Here is what I think. Have you ever played the game telephone when you were younger? I might say I broke my pencil but after 10 people it will turn into "her Fucking ate his pencil!!!" I think the Bible has been translated so much and so exaggerated because of storytelling I can't believe it's real. I can believe it is a guideline to living a good life but man.. those are all stories.. you don't think anybody spiced it up a little bit? Old testament... New testament.. Jesus rose from the dead... He could just got hurt really bad and went into shock or a coma of some sort. Or just taken a Fucking breather from being the Fucking center of attention.

I believe in being a good person. Not stories

zeeky-kins

grew up in a way similar to many of the others who have posted here. My family, for the most pare are all devout Christians. I spent my entire life in the church and even got involved in things like teaching Sunday school and running summer camps. There were several turning points in my life that that contribute to me having a love hate relationship with religion. most of them having to do with the relationship between religion and politics. I was around 17 when President Obama was up for his first term in office. It was at this point that I was beginning to take interest in politics. One Sunday as my sister and I were hanging out before church everyone was having a discussion about who they would vote for. Wanting to join in my sister and I both said that we would vote for Obama if we could. After this was said a member of the church board asked me what my reasoning was.i replied with issues with like the economy and things like that. I was then asked about gay rights that which I replied that god loves them as well and that their is a separation between church and state SO THERE SHOULD BE NO ISSUE. in response to that I was told "I hope you get right with god and make the right choice". from that point forward I looked into the ways in which the US government funcrions (e.g PACS, campaign donations, interest groups, economics especially as of late, ect) and looked in the bible and although there is not anything said explicitly, I drew many inconsistencies between the supposed god-fearing politicians we have, the things they often have to engage in politically, and what the politics that many Christians profess to be bible based yet the politicians they endorse do not not follow the same code. TL;DR: Politicians take advantage of religion for political gain. And I question the religiousness of those who use their religion as the basis of their opinion yet support politicians whose actions are clearly in contradiction of those same beliefs.

grew up in a way similar to many of the others who have posted here. My family, for the most pare are all devout Christians. I spent my entire life in the church and even got involved in things like teaching Sunday school and running summer camps. There were several turning points in my life that that contribute to me having a love hate relationship with religion. most of them having to do with the relationship between religion and politics. I was around 17 when President Obama was up for his first term in office. It was at this point that I was beginning to take interest in politics. One Sunday as my sister and I were hanging out before church everyone was having a discussion about who they would vote for. Wanting to join in my sister and I both said that we would vote for Obama if we could. After this was said a member of the church board asked me what my reasoning was.i replied with issues with like the economy and things like that. I was then asked about gay rights that which I replied that god loves them as well and that their is a separation between church and state SO THERE SHOULD BE NO ISSUE. in response to that I was told "I hope you get right with god and make the right choice". from that point forward I looked into the ways in which the US government funcrions (e.g PACS, campaign donations, interest groups, economics especially as of late, ect) and looked in the bible and although there is not anything said explicitly, I drew many inconsistencies between the supposed god-fearing politicians we have, the things they often have to engage in politically, and what the politics that many Christians profess to be bible based yet the politicians they endorse do not not follow the same code. TL;DR: Politicians take advantage of religion for political gain. And I question the religiousness of those who use their religion as the basis of their opinion yet support politicians whose actions are clearly in contradiction of those same beliefs.

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t5_2qh1i

cemf5jd

grew up in a way similar to many of the others who have posted here. My family, for the most pare are all devout Christians. I spent my entire life in the church and even got involved in things like teaching Sunday school and running summer camps. There were several turning points in my life that that contribute to me having a love hate relationship with religion. most of them having to do with the relationship between religion and politics. I was around 17 when President Obama was up for his first term in office. It was at this point that I was beginning to take interest in politics. One Sunday as my sister and I were hanging out before church everyone was having a discussion about who they would vote for. Wanting to join in my sister and I both said that we would vote for Obama if we could. After this was said a member of the church board asked me what my reasoning was.i replied with issues with like the economy and things like that. I was then asked about gay rights that which I replied that god loves them as well and that their is a separation between church and state SO THERE SHOULD BE NO ISSUE. in response to that I was told "I hope you get right with god and make the right choice". from that point forward I looked into the ways in which the US government funcrions (e.g PACS, campaign donations, interest groups, economics especially as of late, ect) and looked in the bible and although there is not anything said explicitly, I drew many inconsistencies between the supposed god-fearing politicians we have, the things they often have to engage in politically, and what the politics that many Christians profess to be bible based yet the politicians they endorse do not not follow the same code.

Politicians take advantage of religion for political gain. And I question the religiousness of those who use their religion as the basis of their opinion yet support politicians whose actions are clearly in contradiction of those same beliefs.

neuroticomet

I was raised in the Bible belt. Southern Baptist. I attended private (christian) schools for a lot of my childhood, pre-k up to 7th grade. My mom would bring me to church often, every Sunday and a youth thing every Wednesday as I got older. I used to have nightmares about heaven. Looking back I realize that I never really believed in a god or a devil, I was just afraid. Afraid I would let down my Mom, my teachers, my pastors, and most of all I was afraid of dying. What if after my whole life some deity decided I wasn't good enough and I was sent to an eternity of fire and suffering? What if after my whole life some deity decided I did well and I was accepted into an eternity of bliss and unity? As a child either possibility terrified me. My Mom could no longer afford the private school for my brother and I by the time we were getting toward highschool. I started public school, I stopped going to church, I stopped reading the bible, I lost contact with all of my religious friends. And most of all I stopped worrying so much. Worrying about right and wrong as dictated by a book or person, worrying about what comes after I die, I just started trying to find my self (as a person, not a follower) and live my life as best as I could in my own way. I have since decided that I am a (Antony Flew) negative atheist, or as OP put it, not a theist. I think that religion was developed over time as a cultural tool to make difficult societal concepts and morality easier to grasp for our monkey brains. Abstract ideas like love, temptation, fear, and the unity of subatomic matter are kind of hard to explain without characters and stories and gods. Heaven to me is a place here on earth where you treat everything with the love and respect and forgiveness you would want for yourself. A place of living a moral life for the sake of living a moral life, not to buy points. Hell is a place here on earth where you take without giving, where you go through life attacking instead of forgiving, where you hate instead of love, etc.. Its just that, over time, people have found ways to distort and abuse religions original purpose (teaching) for personal, material, etc.. gain. I never really became non-religious. I just always was, In the past I wore a mask of religion out of fear, now I've taken off the mask, got rid of the fear (everyone dies, it's what you do with life, etc.) and have a constantly refining non-theistic world view. TL;DR I never really was a religious person although I played one for a good chunk of my life.

I was raised in the Bible belt. Southern Baptist. I attended private (christian) schools for a lot of my childhood, pre-k up to 7th grade. My mom would bring me to church often, every Sunday and a youth thing every Wednesday as I got older. I used to have nightmares about heaven. Looking back I realize that I never really believed in a god or a devil, I was just afraid. Afraid I would let down my Mom, my teachers, my pastors, and most of all I was afraid of dying. What if after my whole life some deity decided I wasn't good enough and I was sent to an eternity of fire and suffering? What if after my whole life some deity decided I did well and I was accepted into an eternity of bliss and unity? As a child either possibility terrified me. My Mom could no longer afford the private school for my brother and I by the time we were getting toward highschool. I started public school, I stopped going to church, I stopped reading the bible, I lost contact with all of my religious friends. And most of all I stopped worrying so much. Worrying about right and wrong as dictated by a book or person, worrying about what comes after I die, I just started trying to find my self (as a person, not a follower) and live my life as best as I could in my own way. I have since decided that I am a (Antony Flew) negative atheist, or as OP put it, not a theist. I think that religion was developed over time as a cultural tool to make difficult societal concepts and morality easier to grasp for our monkey brains. Abstract ideas like love, temptation, fear, and the unity of subatomic matter are kind of hard to explain without characters and stories and gods. Heaven to me is a place here on earth where you treat everything with the love and respect and forgiveness you would want for yourself. A place of living a moral life for the sake of living a moral life, not to buy points. Hell is a place here on earth where you take without giving, where you go through life attacking instead of forgiving, where you hate instead of love, etc.. Its just that, over time, people have found ways to distort and abuse religions original purpose (teaching) for personal, material, etc.. gain. I never really became non-religious. I just always was, In the past I wore a mask of religion out of fear, now I've taken off the mask, got rid of the fear (everyone dies, it's what you do with life, etc.) and have a constantly refining non-theistic world view. TL;DR I never really was a religious person although I played one for a good chunk of my life.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemfamn

I was raised in the Bible belt. Southern Baptist. I attended private (christian) schools for a lot of my childhood, pre-k up to 7th grade. My mom would bring me to church often, every Sunday and a youth thing every Wednesday as I got older. I used to have nightmares about heaven. Looking back I realize that I never really believed in a god or a devil, I was just afraid. Afraid I would let down my Mom, my teachers, my pastors, and most of all I was afraid of dying. What if after my whole life some deity decided I wasn't good enough and I was sent to an eternity of fire and suffering? What if after my whole life some deity decided I did well and I was accepted into an eternity of bliss and unity? As a child either possibility terrified me. My Mom could no longer afford the private school for my brother and I by the time we were getting toward highschool. I started public school, I stopped going to church, I stopped reading the bible, I lost contact with all of my religious friends. And most of all I stopped worrying so much. Worrying about right and wrong as dictated by a book or person, worrying about what comes after I die, I just started trying to find my self (as a person, not a follower) and live my life as best as I could in my own way. I have since decided that I am a (Antony Flew) negative atheist, or as OP put it, not a theist. I think that religion was developed over time as a cultural tool to make difficult societal concepts and morality easier to grasp for our monkey brains. Abstract ideas like love, temptation, fear, and the unity of subatomic matter are kind of hard to explain without characters and stories and gods. Heaven to me is a place here on earth where you treat everything with the love and respect and forgiveness you would want for yourself. A place of living a moral life for the sake of living a moral life, not to buy points. Hell is a place here on earth where you take without giving, where you go through life attacking instead of forgiving, where you hate instead of love, etc.. Its just that, over time, people have found ways to distort and abuse religions original purpose (teaching) for personal, material, etc.. gain. I never really became non-religious. I just always was, In the past I wore a mask of religion out of fear, now I've taken off the mask, got rid of the fear (everyone dies, it's what you do with life, etc.) and have a constantly refining non-theistic world view.

I never really was a religious person although I played one for a good chunk of my life.

jelvinjs7

I don't practice religion thoroughly, but I'd call myself vaguely religious. I'm a deist, so I believe in a Creator of the universe (e.g. Abrahamic God) who made the universe, but doesn't interfere in what happens for the most part (every now and then, maybe he'll give the universe a little push). I don't believe in the literal Bible, but i think of it as a collection of (intentionally fictional) stories based on a series of true events. My religious and spiritual beliefs basically don't call for me to have to be particularly religious. In the same vein as Marcus Aurelius is supposed to have said (but didn't actually), if the God I believe in does exist (or some deity like it), then he doesn't care about faith, just that I'm a good person. If I'm wrong, and there's no god, then it doesn't matter. And if there's a god that would damn me for having the wrong faith, then I'd rather not worship Him. **tl;dr:** deism makes me lazy.

I don't practice religion thoroughly, but I'd call myself vaguely religious. I'm a deist, so I believe in a Creator of the universe (e.g. Abrahamic God) who made the universe, but doesn't interfere in what happens for the most part (every now and then, maybe he'll give the universe a little push). I don't believe in the literal Bible, but i think of it as a collection of (intentionally fictional) stories based on a series of true events. My religious and spiritual beliefs basically don't call for me to have to be particularly religious. In the same vein as Marcus Aurelius is supposed to have said (but didn't actually), if the God I believe in does exist (or some deity like it), then he doesn't care about faith, just that I'm a good person. If I'm wrong, and there's no god, then it doesn't matter. And if there's a god that would damn me for having the wrong faith, then I'd rather not worship Him. tl;dr: deism makes me lazy.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemfc97

I don't practice religion thoroughly, but I'd call myself vaguely religious. I'm a deist, so I believe in a Creator of the universe (e.g. Abrahamic God) who made the universe, but doesn't interfere in what happens for the most part (every now and then, maybe he'll give the universe a little push). I don't believe in the literal Bible, but i think of it as a collection of (intentionally fictional) stories based on a series of true events. My religious and spiritual beliefs basically don't call for me to have to be particularly religious. In the same vein as Marcus Aurelius is supposed to have said (but didn't actually), if the God I believe in does exist (or some deity like it), then he doesn't care about faith, just that I'm a good person. If I'm wrong, and there's no god, then it doesn't matter. And if there's a god that would damn me for having the wrong faith, then I'd rather not worship Him.

deism makes me lazy.

xIIPuppetIIx

I grew up in a very gung ho high strung catholic family. My parents are very traditional, dont believe in a lot of science and thinks that the concept of aliens are demonic. That nothing exists outside of this planet. They aren't the kind to force the way they think on others but they have their beliefs and they feel very strongly towards their faith. Growing up, Christianity and God was the reason everything happened. I didn't know any better so I went with it. As I grew up, I started learning more about the world we live in, the way things work, the science behind things. I didn't loose my faith because I found science explains a lot but it did plant the seed for my views. As I got older, I learned who I was and started to formulate my own opinions and views and this is where my faith started to dwindle. I didn't like the idea of God being the reason for everything. If god was this almighty being of kindness and infinite knowledge, why then, is there rampant starvation, kids with terminal diseases and illnesses. Why does he allow evil in the world when he has every bit of power to stop it. Why does he do nothing for those who suffer. A god that allows those who deserve nothing less then a chance to suffer is no god in my eyes. That said, Even that was not entirely what caused me to loose my faith. I continued to grow and became more vigilant and conscious of the world outside of the town I lived, the country I lived, the world we all live in. And as I opened my eyes to everyone else on this planet, I realized how flawed and unjust the concept of religion was. Everyone uses religion as an excuse. An excuse to act a certain way. An excuse to single out entire groups of people, entire populations of people, entire cultures and civilizations. Religion, over the course of time has changed from being a concept of peace, faith, and love between us and a creator to the reason for death, hate, and the constant turmoil between opposing factions. Its the reason that kids are dying of treatable diseases and the reason that there hasn't been peace in the middle east for thousands of years. Everything I've said thus far is by no way shape or form absolute and merely my opinions. Obviously there are tons of things to consider regarding issues in the middle east, vaccines and other things I mentioned. Religion is old. Its so god damn old. Its been translated for thousands of years. Words change and loose meaning. Imagine a game of Telephone (I think thats what we used to call the game where you whisper the phrase into someones ear and pass it on) that lasted for 3 thousand years. That said, the events depicted of ancient times were viewed by those who didn't have nearly the amount of understanding as we do today. I'm supposed to abide by a book that was written by a man, not a god, who had no concept of scientific reason or the likes thats been translated over the course of thousands of years? Had those event occurred in present day, at least we would have skeptics to ask the questions that needed to be asked. That being said, Even after all that I mentioned above, the big thing that drove me away from religion was its uncanny ability for it to stop the human race from evolving and furthering itself as a species in the grand scheme of things. There are so many scientific, medical, cultural, and amazing advancements that have been halted because the word of those who believe that god will lead us to higher enlightenment (further our advancement as a species) weigh heavily on the populous. There is so much research and experiments that we will never be able to reach for because "God will take care of it when needed, we shouldn't try to veer away from gods plan, this technology should not exists because it does what only god should do". Beliefs like this brings our species to a halting screech and if it continues, we may never see world peace, we may never venture out from the hospitality of our slowly dying planet, we may never encounter those from elsewhere around the universe, and worse of all, we will never leave a legacy worth talking about amongst other intergalactic neighbors. I, for one, don't want to be apart of the planet that slowly wiped themselves out cause they couldn't stop bickering about how things came to be. Thats my opinion on the matter. I keep it to myself unless asked. I still go to church with my parents when they ask me to. You know, To keep them happy. They dont need to know that I have ventured away to find my own path. They understand that I am not as wholehearted as they are but they respect my choices. And on a side note, I don't hate those with faith or anything along those lines. All I wish is that faith did blind people from the future. I wish that faith wasn't used as an excuse to be content. When we become content, we become stagnant, when we're stagnant, we go no where. Rejoice in your faith, Yes, But embrace that we are all human and we have a duty to reach as far as humanly possible. Once we believe in ourselves more than we believe in a creator leading the way, that's when you'll, see the human species shine. Edit: A few spells, A few additions and clarifications. TL:DR At the end of the day, If you asked me what I believe in, I would tell you that I believe in the human race.

I grew up in a very gung ho high strung catholic family. My parents are very traditional, dont believe in a lot of science and thinks that the concept of aliens are demonic. That nothing exists outside of this planet. They aren't the kind to force the way they think on others but they have their beliefs and they feel very strongly towards their faith. Growing up, Christianity and God was the reason everything happened. I didn't know any better so I went with it. As I grew up, I started learning more about the world we live in, the way things work, the science behind things. I didn't loose my faith because I found science explains a lot but it did plant the seed for my views. As I got older, I learned who I was and started to formulate my own opinions and views and this is where my faith started to dwindle. I didn't like the idea of God being the reason for everything. If god was this almighty being of kindness and infinite knowledge, why then, is there rampant starvation, kids with terminal diseases and illnesses. Why does he allow evil in the world when he has every bit of power to stop it. Why does he do nothing for those who suffer. A god that allows those who deserve nothing less then a chance to suffer is no god in my eyes. That said, Even that was not entirely what caused me to loose my faith. I continued to grow and became more vigilant and conscious of the world outside of the town I lived, the country I lived, the world we all live in. And as I opened my eyes to everyone else on this planet, I realized how flawed and unjust the concept of religion was. Everyone uses religion as an excuse. An excuse to act a certain way. An excuse to single out entire groups of people, entire populations of people, entire cultures and civilizations. Religion, over the course of time has changed from being a concept of peace, faith, and love between us and a creator to the reason for death, hate, and the constant turmoil between opposing factions. Its the reason that kids are dying of treatable diseases and the reason that there hasn't been peace in the middle east for thousands of years. Everything I've said thus far is by no way shape or form absolute and merely my opinions. Obviously there are tons of things to consider regarding issues in the middle east, vaccines and other things I mentioned. Religion is old. Its so god damn old. Its been translated for thousands of years. Words change and loose meaning. Imagine a game of Telephone (I think thats what we used to call the game where you whisper the phrase into someones ear and pass it on) that lasted for 3 thousand years. That said, the events depicted of ancient times were viewed by those who didn't have nearly the amount of understanding as we do today. I'm supposed to abide by a book that was written by a man, not a god, who had no concept of scientific reason or the likes thats been translated over the course of thousands of years? Had those event occurred in present day, at least we would have skeptics to ask the questions that needed to be asked. That being said, Even after all that I mentioned above, the big thing that drove me away from religion was its uncanny ability for it to stop the human race from evolving and furthering itself as a species in the grand scheme of things. There are so many scientific, medical, cultural, and amazing advancements that have been halted because the word of those who believe that god will lead us to higher enlightenment (further our advancement as a species) weigh heavily on the populous. There is so much research and experiments that we will never be able to reach for because "God will take care of it when needed, we shouldn't try to veer away from gods plan, this technology should not exists because it does what only god should do". Beliefs like this brings our species to a halting screech and if it continues, we may never see world peace, we may never venture out from the hospitality of our slowly dying planet, we may never encounter those from elsewhere around the universe, and worse of all, we will never leave a legacy worth talking about amongst other intergalactic neighbors. I, for one, don't want to be apart of the planet that slowly wiped themselves out cause they couldn't stop bickering about how things came to be. Thats my opinion on the matter. I keep it to myself unless asked. I still go to church with my parents when they ask me to. You know, To keep them happy. They dont need to know that I have ventured away to find my own path. They understand that I am not as wholehearted as they are but they respect my choices. And on a side note, I don't hate those with faith or anything along those lines. All I wish is that faith did blind people from the future. I wish that faith wasn't used as an excuse to be content. When we become content, we become stagnant, when we're stagnant, we go no where. Rejoice in your faith, Yes, But embrace that we are all human and we have a duty to reach as far as humanly possible. Once we believe in ourselves more than we believe in a creator leading the way, that's when you'll, see the human species shine. Edit: A few spells, A few additions and clarifications. TL:DR At the end of the day, If you asked me what I believe in, I would tell you that I believe in the human race.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemfcjf

I grew up in a very gung ho high strung catholic family. My parents are very traditional, dont believe in a lot of science and thinks that the concept of aliens are demonic. That nothing exists outside of this planet. They aren't the kind to force the way they think on others but they have their beliefs and they feel very strongly towards their faith. Growing up, Christianity and God was the reason everything happened. I didn't know any better so I went with it. As I grew up, I started learning more about the world we live in, the way things work, the science behind things. I didn't loose my faith because I found science explains a lot but it did plant the seed for my views. As I got older, I learned who I was and started to formulate my own opinions and views and this is where my faith started to dwindle. I didn't like the idea of God being the reason for everything. If god was this almighty being of kindness and infinite knowledge, why then, is there rampant starvation, kids with terminal diseases and illnesses. Why does he allow evil in the world when he has every bit of power to stop it. Why does he do nothing for those who suffer. A god that allows those who deserve nothing less then a chance to suffer is no god in my eyes. That said, Even that was not entirely what caused me to loose my faith. I continued to grow and became more vigilant and conscious of the world outside of the town I lived, the country I lived, the world we all live in. And as I opened my eyes to everyone else on this planet, I realized how flawed and unjust the concept of religion was. Everyone uses religion as an excuse. An excuse to act a certain way. An excuse to single out entire groups of people, entire populations of people, entire cultures and civilizations. Religion, over the course of time has changed from being a concept of peace, faith, and love between us and a creator to the reason for death, hate, and the constant turmoil between opposing factions. Its the reason that kids are dying of treatable diseases and the reason that there hasn't been peace in the middle east for thousands of years. Everything I've said thus far is by no way shape or form absolute and merely my opinions. Obviously there are tons of things to consider regarding issues in the middle east, vaccines and other things I mentioned. Religion is old. Its so god damn old. Its been translated for thousands of years. Words change and loose meaning. Imagine a game of Telephone (I think thats what we used to call the game where you whisper the phrase into someones ear and pass it on) that lasted for 3 thousand years. That said, the events depicted of ancient times were viewed by those who didn't have nearly the amount of understanding as we do today. I'm supposed to abide by a book that was written by a man, not a god, who had no concept of scientific reason or the likes thats been translated over the course of thousands of years? Had those event occurred in present day, at least we would have skeptics to ask the questions that needed to be asked. That being said, Even after all that I mentioned above, the big thing that drove me away from religion was its uncanny ability for it to stop the human race from evolving and furthering itself as a species in the grand scheme of things. There are so many scientific, medical, cultural, and amazing advancements that have been halted because the word of those who believe that god will lead us to higher enlightenment (further our advancement as a species) weigh heavily on the populous. There is so much research and experiments that we will never be able to reach for because "God will take care of it when needed, we shouldn't try to veer away from gods plan, this technology should not exists because it does what only god should do". Beliefs like this brings our species to a halting screech and if it continues, we may never see world peace, we may never venture out from the hospitality of our slowly dying planet, we may never encounter those from elsewhere around the universe, and worse of all, we will never leave a legacy worth talking about amongst other intergalactic neighbors. I, for one, don't want to be apart of the planet that slowly wiped themselves out cause they couldn't stop bickering about how things came to be. Thats my opinion on the matter. I keep it to myself unless asked. I still go to church with my parents when they ask me to. You know, To keep them happy. They dont need to know that I have ventured away to find my own path. They understand that I am not as wholehearted as they are but they respect my choices. And on a side note, I don't hate those with faith or anything along those lines. All I wish is that faith did blind people from the future. I wish that faith wasn't used as an excuse to be content. When we become content, we become stagnant, when we're stagnant, we go no where. Rejoice in your faith, Yes, But embrace that we are all human and we have a duty to reach as far as humanly possible. Once we believe in ourselves more than we believe in a creator leading the way, that's when you'll, see the human species shine. Edit: A few spells, A few additions and clarifications.

At the end of the day, If you asked me what I believe in, I would tell you that I believe in the human race.

JustWing

My parents purposefully raised me neutral. They wanted me to figure it out for myself. My aunt is religious and took care of me during Sunday School. I attended a private school that was catholic also. Every Monday and Friday we attended chapel at this school, and I always found it very cultish. Even at a very young age, my parents told me I would come home and state that all these things I was learning didn't make any sense. How could god be real? Who created him? There was never a strong atheist force in my life, even though my parents were both atheist. They just let me learn both sides of the coin. Tl;dr: my parents let me decide for myself. Even at a young age I found religion silly.

My parents purposefully raised me neutral. They wanted me to figure it out for myself. My aunt is religious and took care of me during Sunday School. I attended a private school that was catholic also. Every Monday and Friday we attended chapel at this school, and I always found it very cultish. Even at a very young age, my parents told me I would come home and state that all these things I was learning didn't make any sense. How could god be real? Who created him? There was never a strong atheist force in my life, even though my parents were both atheist. They just let me learn both sides of the coin. Tl;dr: my parents let me decide for myself. Even at a young age I found religion silly.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemfd8f

My parents purposefully raised me neutral. They wanted me to figure it out for myself. My aunt is religious and took care of me during Sunday School. I attended a private school that was catholic also. Every Monday and Friday we attended chapel at this school, and I always found it very cultish. Even at a very young age, my parents told me I would come home and state that all these things I was learning didn't make any sense. How could god be real? Who created him? There was never a strong atheist force in my life, even though my parents were both atheist. They just let me learn both sides of the coin.

my parents let me decide for myself. Even at a young age I found religion silly.

BurningCircus

That is interesting. The context is bizarre with this one, especially since it seems to have been a purely political move on Boniface's part as retaliation against France's King Phillip IV with little to no thought of the repercussions. I am especially curious about modern statements regarding such teachings. Also, many of the modern discussions surrounding this issue concern Protestantism, but Martin Luther was not excommunicated from the Church until 1518, over two centuries after the release of *Unam Sanctam*. To say that it complicates the issue would be putting it lightly. It might also be said that since the Church believes in the sinful nature of men that somewhere along the line this could be considered a fault of the men behind it, although the infallibility of popes certainly suggests otherwise. Nobody will tell you that the Church has a perfect track record with these things. It may also simply be contextually irrelevant or outdated because of its political intent. I don't know about any of that. **TL;DR** I am in no way qualified to say how relevant *Unam Sactam* still is. This might need to head over to /r/AskHistorians or /r/AskHistory . Also, [another relevant article](

That is interesting. The context is bizarre with this one, especially since it seems to have been a purely political move on Boniface's part as retaliation against France's King Phillip IV with little to no thought of the repercussions. I am especially curious about modern statements regarding such teachings. Also, many of the modern discussions surrounding this issue concern Protestantism, but Martin Luther was not excommunicated from the Church until 1518, over two centuries after the release of Unam Sanctam . To say that it complicates the issue would be putting it lightly. It might also be said that since the Church believes in the sinful nature of men that somewhere along the line this could be considered a fault of the men behind it, although the infallibility of popes certainly suggests otherwise. Nobody will tell you that the Church has a perfect track record with these things. It may also simply be contextually irrelevant or outdated because of its political intent. I don't know about any of that. TL;DR I am in no way qualified to say how relevant Unam Sactam still is. This might need to head over to /r/AskHistorians or /r/AskHistory . Also, [another relevant article](

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemfdiq

That is interesting. The context is bizarre with this one, especially since it seems to have been a purely political move on Boniface's part as retaliation against France's King Phillip IV with little to no thought of the repercussions. I am especially curious about modern statements regarding such teachings. Also, many of the modern discussions surrounding this issue concern Protestantism, but Martin Luther was not excommunicated from the Church until 1518, over two centuries after the release of Unam Sanctam . To say that it complicates the issue would be putting it lightly. It might also be said that since the Church believes in the sinful nature of men that somewhere along the line this could be considered a fault of the men behind it, although the infallibility of popes certainly suggests otherwise. Nobody will tell you that the Church has a perfect track record with these things. It may also simply be contextually irrelevant or outdated because of its political intent. I don't know about any of that.

I am in no way qualified to say how relevant Unam Sactam still is. This might need to head over to /r/AskHistorians or /r/AskHistory . Also, [another relevant article](

Russian_Surrender

I find your post interesting, because it pretty much explains why I **am** religious: There are things beyond our comprehension. Therefore, there is *something* out there that is "greater" than us. Something greater than what we can understand. Some people call that something "God", others call it a "higher being", others may call it "the great spaghetti monster". Doesn't matter what you call it, they're all refering to the same thing. Now perhaps I play "games" with the definition of religion. I'm not necessarily convinced that this God/Higher Being/GSM has any devine plan for us or necessarily car for us, but I "know" it exists. Does that make me religious? Does that make me a "believer". I think so, others may disagree. **TL;DR**: Matter and energy can not be created nor destroyed.... yet it exists. That's why I'm religious by my definition.

I find your post interesting, because it pretty much explains why I am religious: There are things beyond our comprehension. Therefore, there is something out there that is "greater" than us. Something greater than what we can understand. Some people call that something "God", others call it a "higher being", others may call it "the great spaghetti monster". Doesn't matter what you call it, they're all refering to the same thing. Now perhaps I play "games" with the definition of religion. I'm not necessarily convinced that this God/Higher Being/GSM has any devine plan for us or necessarily car for us, but I "know" it exists. Does that make me religious? Does that make me a "believer". I think so, others may disagree. TL;DR : Matter and energy can not be created nor destroyed.... yet it exists. That's why I'm religious by my definition.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemfgg7

I find your post interesting, because it pretty much explains why I am religious: There are things beyond our comprehension. Therefore, there is something out there that is "greater" than us. Something greater than what we can understand. Some people call that something "God", others call it a "higher being", others may call it "the great spaghetti monster". Doesn't matter what you call it, they're all refering to the same thing. Now perhaps I play "games" with the definition of religion. I'm not necessarily convinced that this God/Higher Being/GSM has any devine plan for us or necessarily car for us, but I "know" it exists. Does that make me religious? Does that make me a "believer". I think so, others may disagree.

Matter and energy can not be created nor destroyed.... yet it exists. That's why I'm religious by my definition.

kill_minus_9

I was pretty religious (Born Catholic, then became a born-again Christian) as a teen. I attended church twice a week, ran a bible study and sometimes acted as an assistant to my pastor. Things were never the same after I began studying world religions. I started seeing similarities in other religions that seemed too close to the traditions, ceremonies and ethos of Christianity to be mere coincidences. When I began to question certain things, I got many irrational responses and even cold shoulders from fellow members of my church. My constant doubt and questioning of my faith came to a head with my pastor near my 18th birthday and it ended with him physically assaulting me by pushing me up against a wall and shouting at me to repent. Long story short, it was the last day I've ever set foot in that church again. I became agnostic a few years after that. 20+ Years later, I now consider myself an atheist & remain very happy about the decision. tl;dr: An assault from my pastor led to my eventual exclusion from faith.

I was pretty religious (Born Catholic, then became a born-again Christian) as a teen. I attended church twice a week, ran a bible study and sometimes acted as an assistant to my pastor. Things were never the same after I began studying world religions. I started seeing similarities in other religions that seemed too close to the traditions, ceremonies and ethos of Christianity to be mere coincidences. When I began to question certain things, I got many irrational responses and even cold shoulders from fellow members of my church. My constant doubt and questioning of my faith came to a head with my pastor near my 18th birthday and it ended with him physically assaulting me by pushing me up against a wall and shouting at me to repent. Long story short, it was the last day I've ever set foot in that church again. I became agnostic a few years after that. 20+ Years later, I now consider myself an atheist & remain very happy about the decision. tl;dr: An assault from my pastor led to my eventual exclusion from faith.

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cemfhls

I was pretty religious (Born Catholic, then became a born-again Christian) as a teen. I attended church twice a week, ran a bible study and sometimes acted as an assistant to my pastor. Things were never the same after I began studying world religions. I started seeing similarities in other religions that seemed too close to the traditions, ceremonies and ethos of Christianity to be mere coincidences. When I began to question certain things, I got many irrational responses and even cold shoulders from fellow members of my church. My constant doubt and questioning of my faith came to a head with my pastor near my 18th birthday and it ended with him physically assaulting me by pushing me up against a wall and shouting at me to repent. Long story short, it was the last day I've ever set foot in that church again. I became agnostic a few years after that. 20+ Years later, I now consider myself an atheist & remain very happy about the decision.

An assault from my pastor led to my eventual exclusion from faith.

queenjezzy

I grew up in the South in a very Christian home. I questioned nothing until I was about 7, when my mom told me a very disturbing story. I remember it like it was yesterday. She told my younger brother (5) and I, "If a bad person ever came up to us and said, 'Say you don't believe in God or I'll shoot your children,' I would have to let him shoot you, because all kids go to heaven and denying God is the worst thing you can ever do." I can't even remember the context of her telling me this, but those words were permanently burned into my mind. From there, I decided that burning in hell for eternity was a better option than letting my family get murdered in front of me. Once I became okay with going to hell, I was able to start questioning a lot of the things my mother and other religious leaders had told me. By the time I was sixteen I had come to the realization that there was no God and I would have to be responsible for my own actions. Currently at 18, I will never tell my family this. I feel like I'm too young to have to find out my mother's love might be conditional. However, I do hope I can help my younger siblings find the path they need to be happy, whether that path is religious or not. Tl;Dr Mama scared some sense into me

I grew up in the South in a very Christian home. I questioned nothing until I was about 7, when my mom told me a very disturbing story. I remember it like it was yesterday. She told my younger brother (5) and I, "If a bad person ever came up to us and said, 'Say you don't believe in God or I'll shoot your children,' I would have to let him shoot you, because all kids go to heaven and denying God is the worst thing you can ever do." I can't even remember the context of her telling me this, but those words were permanently burned into my mind. From there, I decided that burning in hell for eternity was a better option than letting my family get murdered in front of me. Once I became okay with going to hell, I was able to start questioning a lot of the things my mother and other religious leaders had told me. By the time I was sixteen I had come to the realization that there was no God and I would have to be responsible for my own actions. Currently at 18, I will never tell my family this. I feel like I'm too young to have to find out my mother's love might be conditional. However, I do hope I can help my younger siblings find the path they need to be happy, whether that path is religious or not. Tl;Dr Mama scared some sense into me

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cemfl5s

I grew up in the South in a very Christian home. I questioned nothing until I was about 7, when my mom told me a very disturbing story. I remember it like it was yesterday. She told my younger brother (5) and I, "If a bad person ever came up to us and said, 'Say you don't believe in God or I'll shoot your children,' I would have to let him shoot you, because all kids go to heaven and denying God is the worst thing you can ever do." I can't even remember the context of her telling me this, but those words were permanently burned into my mind. From there, I decided that burning in hell for eternity was a better option than letting my family get murdered in front of me. Once I became okay with going to hell, I was able to start questioning a lot of the things my mother and other religious leaders had told me. By the time I was sixteen I had come to the realization that there was no God and I would have to be responsible for my own actions. Currently at 18, I will never tell my family this. I feel like I'm too young to have to find out my mother's love might be conditional. However, I do hope I can help my younger siblings find the path they need to be happy, whether that path is religious or not.

Mama scared some sense into me

KittyBotMew

I guess I'm late to join this party and this will likely get barried but thought I'd give my answer, too :) I was raised catholic and didn't have any issues with it really. I knew my parents had bad experiences but they never forced religion on us. I think it was mostly some stability in our very chaotic household. Anyways, as an adult, I've become "non-religious" but have a sort of spirituality that keeps me healthy.. My dad killed himself when I was really young and I've always maintained a "relationship" with him that has nothing to do with religion. I just need to "feel his presense" sometimes because I miss him and it makes me sad that he thought suicide was his only choice. That "connection" I keep with him is my own "spiritual" place. It's not religious or magical and not scientific (in the traditional sense... I know psychologists would suggest my expression is normal hahah).. But anyways, that's my thing. TLDR: I'm not religious by any means but I choose to maintain "something" with my dad who committed suicide.

I guess I'm late to join this party and this will likely get barried but thought I'd give my answer, too :) I was raised catholic and didn't have any issues with it really. I knew my parents had bad experiences but they never forced religion on us. I think it was mostly some stability in our very chaotic household. Anyways, as an adult, I've become "non-religious" but have a sort of spirituality that keeps me healthy.. My dad killed himself when I was really young and I've always maintained a "relationship" with him that has nothing to do with religion. I just need to "feel his presense" sometimes because I miss him and it makes me sad that he thought suicide was his only choice. That "connection" I keep with him is my own "spiritual" place. It's not religious or magical and not scientific (in the traditional sense... I know psychologists would suggest my expression is normal hahah).. But anyways, that's my thing. TLDR: I'm not religious by any means but I choose to maintain "something" with my dad who committed suicide.

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t5_2qh1i

cemfmkj

I guess I'm late to join this party and this will likely get barried but thought I'd give my answer, too :) I was raised catholic and didn't have any issues with it really. I knew my parents had bad experiences but they never forced religion on us. I think it was mostly some stability in our very chaotic household. Anyways, as an adult, I've become "non-religious" but have a sort of spirituality that keeps me healthy.. My dad killed himself when I was really young and I've always maintained a "relationship" with him that has nothing to do with religion. I just need to "feel his presense" sometimes because I miss him and it makes me sad that he thought suicide was his only choice. That "connection" I keep with him is my own "spiritual" place. It's not religious or magical and not scientific (in the traditional sense... I know psychologists would suggest my expression is normal hahah).. But anyways, that's my thing.

I'm not religious by any means but I choose to maintain "something" with my dad who committed suicide.

QTVenusaur91

I was really religious in middle school to my early college years. I participated in sunday church services, oversea international mission trips, college ministries and huge christian conferences in and out of the states. I was able to understand the true message of Christianity and how it really is at the root of it about love, but there was one thing that was too unbearable for me to continue on, my sexuality. As a kid I never really thought about it but as I got to college, I realized that I was gay and it just ripped me apart. I thought of how I would be treated differently since a huge majority of my friends were Christian at the time. I struggled in the closet trying to find a way for both parts of my life to live together in harmony...but then everything changed when the fire nati- sorry I just had to. Anyway I was trying to find a way to make it work but the more I tried the more internally frustrated I became at myself and eventually spiraled out of control into depression. I'll try to explain my theological thought process. I know for a fact that I was born this way and I know that at the same time Jesus forgives me of all my sins no matter what and loves me anyways. These ideas intersect perfectly but get tricky when getting into the more detailed aspects of life. If I loved God and believed in him and decided to be a devout Christian, How could I be with another man romantically without committing an active rebellion (sin) against God? It's perfectly fine to follow God and be gay but I feel like there is always a calling for celibacy amongst the gay population. The worst Christians are the ones who act all holy but are nasty and just repent since they know God will forgive them anyway. It's like a corrupt bank doing illegal transactions leading to financial collapse only to be bailed out by the government every sunday. Can I be this Christian who just does what he wants with men but just asks for forgiveness on sundays? It was a very difficult time in my life to find a converging point, but I realized I had to be honest with myself and my feelings. Many Christians believe that gay people should be celibate, but I disagree. Celibacy is a gift granted by God and people acknowledge and know for a fact when they have it. To impose onto someone that they should be celibate just because they are gay is disgusting and demoralizing. I dropped my faith with a bitter bitter heart. I came out a year and a half later and was met with some very encouraging and some very nasty comments from both sides. I've been told that I was flaunting my sin while others were telling me how proud they were of me. However, both sides were similar in that they said I should be celibate. I want to be in a romantic relationship and experience the feelings that everyone else in love feels. To me it's more worth it and if God is just, he will accept me for who I am without any logistical bullshit. I haven't looked back since then and I shame naive Christians who think they understand what being gay and persecuted feels like. TL:DR Was a Christian till I realized I was gay and ended up at a cross roads.

I was really religious in middle school to my early college years. I participated in sunday church services, oversea international mission trips, college ministries and huge christian conferences in and out of the states. I was able to understand the true message of Christianity and how it really is at the root of it about love, but there was one thing that was too unbearable for me to continue on, my sexuality. As a kid I never really thought about it but as I got to college, I realized that I was gay and it just ripped me apart. I thought of how I would be treated differently since a huge majority of my friends were Christian at the time. I struggled in the closet trying to find a way for both parts of my life to live together in harmony...but then everything changed when the fire nati- sorry I just had to. Anyway I was trying to find a way to make it work but the more I tried the more internally frustrated I became at myself and eventually spiraled out of control into depression. I'll try to explain my theological thought process. I know for a fact that I was born this way and I know that at the same time Jesus forgives me of all my sins no matter what and loves me anyways. These ideas intersect perfectly but get tricky when getting into the more detailed aspects of life. If I loved God and believed in him and decided to be a devout Christian, How could I be with another man romantically without committing an active rebellion (sin) against God? It's perfectly fine to follow God and be gay but I feel like there is always a calling for celibacy amongst the gay population. The worst Christians are the ones who act all holy but are nasty and just repent since they know God will forgive them anyway. It's like a corrupt bank doing illegal transactions leading to financial collapse only to be bailed out by the government every sunday. Can I be this Christian who just does what he wants with men but just asks for forgiveness on sundays? It was a very difficult time in my life to find a converging point, but I realized I had to be honest with myself and my feelings. Many Christians believe that gay people should be celibate, but I disagree. Celibacy is a gift granted by God and people acknowledge and know for a fact when they have it. To impose onto someone that they should be celibate just because they are gay is disgusting and demoralizing. I dropped my faith with a bitter bitter heart. I came out a year and a half later and was met with some very encouraging and some very nasty comments from both sides. I've been told that I was flaunting my sin while others were telling me how proud they were of me. However, both sides were similar in that they said I should be celibate. I want to be in a romantic relationship and experience the feelings that everyone else in love feels. To me it's more worth it and if God is just, he will accept me for who I am without any logistical bullshit. I haven't looked back since then and I shame naive Christians who think they understand what being gay and persecuted feels like. TL:DR Was a Christian till I realized I was gay and ended up at a cross roads.

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cemfr4e

I was really religious in middle school to my early college years. I participated in sunday church services, oversea international mission trips, college ministries and huge christian conferences in and out of the states. I was able to understand the true message of Christianity and how it really is at the root of it about love, but there was one thing that was too unbearable for me to continue on, my sexuality. As a kid I never really thought about it but as I got to college, I realized that I was gay and it just ripped me apart. I thought of how I would be treated differently since a huge majority of my friends were Christian at the time. I struggled in the closet trying to find a way for both parts of my life to live together in harmony...but then everything changed when the fire nati- sorry I just had to. Anyway I was trying to find a way to make it work but the more I tried the more internally frustrated I became at myself and eventually spiraled out of control into depression. I'll try to explain my theological thought process. I know for a fact that I was born this way and I know that at the same time Jesus forgives me of all my sins no matter what and loves me anyways. These ideas intersect perfectly but get tricky when getting into the more detailed aspects of life. If I loved God and believed in him and decided to be a devout Christian, How could I be with another man romantically without committing an active rebellion (sin) against God? It's perfectly fine to follow God and be gay but I feel like there is always a calling for celibacy amongst the gay population. The worst Christians are the ones who act all holy but are nasty and just repent since they know God will forgive them anyway. It's like a corrupt bank doing illegal transactions leading to financial collapse only to be bailed out by the government every sunday. Can I be this Christian who just does what he wants with men but just asks for forgiveness on sundays? It was a very difficult time in my life to find a converging point, but I realized I had to be honest with myself and my feelings. Many Christians believe that gay people should be celibate, but I disagree. Celibacy is a gift granted by God and people acknowledge and know for a fact when they have it. To impose onto someone that they should be celibate just because they are gay is disgusting and demoralizing. I dropped my faith with a bitter bitter heart. I came out a year and a half later and was met with some very encouraging and some very nasty comments from both sides. I've been told that I was flaunting my sin while others were telling me how proud they were of me. However, both sides were similar in that they said I should be celibate. I want to be in a romantic relationship and experience the feelings that everyone else in love feels. To me it's more worth it and if God is just, he will accept me for who I am without any logistical bullshit. I haven't looked back since then and I shame naive Christians who think they understand what being gay and persecuted feels like.

Was a Christian till I realized I was gay and ended up at a cross roads.

Rebmes

I was raised without agnostic as my mom (and her parents) are agnostic but my father was raised in a Catholic family (went to Catholic school, was an altar boy and everything) but turned agnostic. I myself am an atheist and feel that I always have been. I have never truly turned to religion or anything spiritual for that matter as I look at things in a very rational way. I like to think that I'm just not the type of a person that would (in my opinion) fall for religion even if I was raised in a religious family but I do think being raised as I was molded me into more of a non-believer than anything else could have; even though this is the case I still feel that religion is unnecessary to be a good person and have moral (although I am more of a moral nihilist) and it, in my opinion, causes more harm than good but that is just my opinion and religious people are certainly entitled to their own opinions as long as they do not have any effect on me. My reason for not being involved in religion is because I see the entire thing as irrational. People laugh at the idea of Santa Claus (a man with a big white beard who can travel all over the world and is able to constantly watch over people and determine if they are good people) but the idea of a God (seen by many as a man with a big white beard who can be everywhere at once and is able to judge all the people of the Earth) is completely normal, I just don't buy it. From a perspective of historical analysis religion can also easily be disproven. It started as a way for early peoples to be able to explain what was happening around them (ie seasons, sunrise and set, weather). They developed these ideas of omnipotent beings to explain that which could not be explained. Well nowadays we have science to explain all of these things and science truly is incompatible with religion on the most elementary level. I choose to look to science for answers rather than religion because science requires evidence, not just faith, to explain and prove things and science is what has brought so many incredible innovations over the centuries. The bottom line is that religion is an outdated institution that serves no real purpose in modern society other than to comfort people and cause conflicts. I hope the point I am trying to get across doesn't sound too radical or is insulting in any manner. As I said before everyone is entitled to their own opinion. TL;DR I was raised in an agnostic family, I'm an atheist

I was raised without agnostic as my mom (and her parents) are agnostic but my father was raised in a Catholic family (went to Catholic school, was an altar boy and everything) but turned agnostic. I myself am an atheist and feel that I always have been. I have never truly turned to religion or anything spiritual for that matter as I look at things in a very rational way. I like to think that I'm just not the type of a person that would (in my opinion) fall for religion even if I was raised in a religious family but I do think being raised as I was molded me into more of a non-believer than anything else could have; even though this is the case I still feel that religion is unnecessary to be a good person and have moral (although I am more of a moral nihilist) and it, in my opinion, causes more harm than good but that is just my opinion and religious people are certainly entitled to their own opinions as long as they do not have any effect on me. My reason for not being involved in religion is because I see the entire thing as irrational. People laugh at the idea of Santa Claus (a man with a big white beard who can travel all over the world and is able to constantly watch over people and determine if they are good people) but the idea of a God (seen by many as a man with a big white beard who can be everywhere at once and is able to judge all the people of the Earth) is completely normal, I just don't buy it. From a perspective of historical analysis religion can also easily be disproven. It started as a way for early peoples to be able to explain what was happening around them (ie seasons, sunrise and set, weather). They developed these ideas of omnipotent beings to explain that which could not be explained. Well nowadays we have science to explain all of these things and science truly is incompatible with religion on the most elementary level. I choose to look to science for answers rather than religion because science requires evidence, not just faith, to explain and prove things and science is what has brought so many incredible innovations over the centuries. The bottom line is that religion is an outdated institution that serves no real purpose in modern society other than to comfort people and cause conflicts. I hope the point I am trying to get across doesn't sound too radical or is insulting in any manner. As I said before everyone is entitled to their own opinion. TL;DR I was raised in an agnostic family, I'm an atheist

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cemfs43

I was raised without agnostic as my mom (and her parents) are agnostic but my father was raised in a Catholic family (went to Catholic school, was an altar boy and everything) but turned agnostic. I myself am an atheist and feel that I always have been. I have never truly turned to religion or anything spiritual for that matter as I look at things in a very rational way. I like to think that I'm just not the type of a person that would (in my opinion) fall for religion even if I was raised in a religious family but I do think being raised as I was molded me into more of a non-believer than anything else could have; even though this is the case I still feel that religion is unnecessary to be a good person and have moral (although I am more of a moral nihilist) and it, in my opinion, causes more harm than good but that is just my opinion and religious people are certainly entitled to their own opinions as long as they do not have any effect on me. My reason for not being involved in religion is because I see the entire thing as irrational. People laugh at the idea of Santa Claus (a man with a big white beard who can travel all over the world and is able to constantly watch over people and determine if they are good people) but the idea of a God (seen by many as a man with a big white beard who can be everywhere at once and is able to judge all the people of the Earth) is completely normal, I just don't buy it. From a perspective of historical analysis religion can also easily be disproven. It started as a way for early peoples to be able to explain what was happening around them (ie seasons, sunrise and set, weather). They developed these ideas of omnipotent beings to explain that which could not be explained. Well nowadays we have science to explain all of these things and science truly is incompatible with religion on the most elementary level. I choose to look to science for answers rather than religion because science requires evidence, not just faith, to explain and prove things and science is what has brought so many incredible innovations over the centuries. The bottom line is that religion is an outdated institution that serves no real purpose in modern society other than to comfort people and cause conflicts. I hope the point I am trying to get across doesn't sound too radical or is insulting in any manner. As I said before everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

I was raised in an agnostic family, I'm an atheist

PenguinBomb

I was slightly brought up Christian. I was forced to church on Sundays for only a few years, then my mom realized it was something I had to choose to do on my own. I thank her for that, for I've always had this feeling that yes, some omnipotent being exists, because I just don't believe in coincidence. I've seen far too many "coincidences" for me to believe in that. I might even believe that God himself is real, but I do not align myself with the Christian religion. And this is where its gets complicated and annoying, because there's so many different subdivisions of one religion because they can't all agree on what the Bible is trying to tell them. I mean, Catholic and Christianity believe in the same God, read the same Bible, but are two different entities of almost the same religion. Boggles my mind. Then comes down to learning of other religions. Some families are brought up completely on one religion and all other religions are wrong. Why? Why is my religion wrong and yours is not? What if all religions are wrong? I don't know, religion is annoying beast that we have to deal with in this world. Especially when you get radicals, ugh. TL;DR: I'll just say this. I believe something/someone exists. Who and what he is a mystery to me and everyone else. Just don't damn me because I don't agree with you and your omnipotent being(s).

I was slightly brought up Christian. I was forced to church on Sundays for only a few years, then my mom realized it was something I had to choose to do on my own. I thank her for that, for I've always had this feeling that yes, some omnipotent being exists, because I just don't believe in coincidence. I've seen far too many "coincidences" for me to believe in that. I might even believe that God himself is real, but I do not align myself with the Christian religion. And this is where its gets complicated and annoying, because there's so many different subdivisions of one religion because they can't all agree on what the Bible is trying to tell them. I mean, Catholic and Christianity believe in the same God, read the same Bible, but are two different entities of almost the same religion. Boggles my mind. Then comes down to learning of other religions. Some families are brought up completely on one religion and all other religions are wrong. Why? Why is my religion wrong and yours is not? What if all religions are wrong? I don't know, religion is annoying beast that we have to deal with in this world. Especially when you get radicals, ugh. TL;DR: I'll just say this. I believe something/someone exists. Who and what he is a mystery to me and everyone else. Just don't damn me because I don't agree with you and your omnipotent being(s).

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cemg25g

I was slightly brought up Christian. I was forced to church on Sundays for only a few years, then my mom realized it was something I had to choose to do on my own. I thank her for that, for I've always had this feeling that yes, some omnipotent being exists, because I just don't believe in coincidence. I've seen far too many "coincidences" for me to believe in that. I might even believe that God himself is real, but I do not align myself with the Christian religion. And this is where its gets complicated and annoying, because there's so many different subdivisions of one religion because they can't all agree on what the Bible is trying to tell them. I mean, Catholic and Christianity believe in the same God, read the same Bible, but are two different entities of almost the same religion. Boggles my mind. Then comes down to learning of other religions. Some families are brought up completely on one religion and all other religions are wrong. Why? Why is my religion wrong and yours is not? What if all religions are wrong? I don't know, religion is annoying beast that we have to deal with in this world. Especially when you get radicals, ugh.

I'll just say this. I believe something/someone exists. Who and what he is a mystery to me and everyone else. Just don't damn me because I don't agree with you and your omnipotent being(s).

made_you_look88

Agreed. I'm a very luke warm christian. The more one understands the world, the more you marvel at the simplicity. That's basically what the christian cosmologist Michio Kaku says. He reckons string theory will be so succinct and precise, that he'll only marvel at the mind that could have created such a perfect cosmological model. tl;dr The more you discover, the more you see God's creation.

Agreed. I'm a very luke warm christian. The more one understands the world, the more you marvel at the simplicity. That's basically what the christian cosmologist Michio Kaku says. He reckons string theory will be so succinct and precise, that he'll only marvel at the mind that could have created such a perfect cosmological model. tl;dr The more you discover, the more you see God's creation.

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cemg81h

Agreed. I'm a very luke warm christian. The more one understands the world, the more you marvel at the simplicity. That's basically what the christian cosmologist Michio Kaku says. He reckons string theory will be so succinct and precise, that he'll only marvel at the mind that could have created such a perfect cosmological model.

The more you discover, the more you see God's creation.

TerribleAtPuns

It's not the best reason, but it's shockingly effective. I was raised Christian and never really questioned it until college because I was terrified that even consciously considering that there might not be a god seemed like grounds to be cast into hell (this is not really my parents' faults, I have had the anxiety/depression/ADD cluster for a long time but none of us realized what it was until a few years ago, so the unrecognized anxiety took every scary religious teaching and made it THE THING THAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU RIGHT NOW OH FUCK HOW COULD I FAIL GOD SO BADLY I DESERVE HELL BUT PLEASE DON'T SEND ME THERE!). Finally, in college (small private Christian college), I let myself think about my beliefs beyond "How do I not go to Hell", I realized that deep down I had always felt god's absence. He was never more than a strict father figure who could read my mind and was disappointed but at least liked that I tried. I admitted this to my girlfriend at the time, sobbing that I realized I might be an atheist. A week later she broke up with me. I decided, separately from that (ha, yeah right), to really dig into the evidence for Christianity vs Atheism. My method of doing this was to read the first half or so of The Case For Faith and basically become overjoyed that I had enough evidence to believe in God again! And as a bonus my girlfriend got back with me! The next three months were the most religiously ecstatic of my life. I was constantly happy because now that I had evidence I didn't have to worry about my stupid brain getting me sent to Hell for not believing! I have no idea how my atheist friends put up with me, but they did. Sure enough I started going to r/atheism to bring these lost people to the light (I was genuinely heartbroken for them, but glowing because I had evidence so I could bring them into the Truth) and within a week had seen enough claims and logical discussions (amidst the shallower bullshit too of course) to reawaken my long-dormant curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Since then I've fluctuated in how strong the atheist part of my agnostic atheism is, or rather been sometimes hopeful that I'll see evidence of a god and sometimes slightly too certain no one ever will, but I've always felt honest and clean in my beliefs (no more obvious mental gymnastics to avoid forbidden thoughts, etc). I'm finally primarily concerned with my life and what I want from it instead of focusing solely on what people tell me God wants, I'm getting help with my mental health, and I'm trying to get my shit together. It's getting pretty exciting. Oh yeah, and I slept with about ~15 women in the two years after this and finally started to figure out what I like and want in a relationship instead of waiting for God to put the right girl with me. Now I'm a few months in to dating the most perfect-for-me girl I've ever met, and yet if she crossed one of my deal-breakers I would be emotionally able to handle breaking up with her. I know there is no "one" and that if the girl I'm with isn't right for me I take that knowledge and find someone better suited while still recognizing that a relationship takes effort on both sides. I'm pretty damn nervous about the future, but slightly more than that (and increasingly so) I'm excited as fuck. **TL;DR: The thoughts in my head tried to send me to Hell and also cock-blocked me until recently.**

It's not the best reason, but it's shockingly effective. I was raised Christian and never really questioned it until college because I was terrified that even consciously considering that there might not be a god seemed like grounds to be cast into hell (this is not really my parents' faults, I have had the anxiety/depression/ADD cluster for a long time but none of us realized what it was until a few years ago, so the unrecognized anxiety took every scary religious teaching and made it THE THING THAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU RIGHT NOW OH FUCK HOW COULD I FAIL GOD SO BADLY I DESERVE HELL BUT PLEASE DON'T SEND ME THERE!). Finally, in college (small private Christian college), I let myself think about my beliefs beyond "How do I not go to Hell", I realized that deep down I had always felt god's absence. He was never more than a strict father figure who could read my mind and was disappointed but at least liked that I tried. I admitted this to my girlfriend at the time, sobbing that I realized I might be an atheist. A week later she broke up with me. I decided, separately from that (ha, yeah right), to really dig into the evidence for Christianity vs Atheism. My method of doing this was to read the first half or so of The Case For Faith and basically become overjoyed that I had enough evidence to believe in God again! And as a bonus my girlfriend got back with me! The next three months were the most religiously ecstatic of my life. I was constantly happy because now that I had evidence I didn't have to worry about my stupid brain getting me sent to Hell for not believing! I have no idea how my atheist friends put up with me, but they did. Sure enough I started going to r/atheism to bring these lost people to the light (I was genuinely heartbroken for them, but glowing because I had evidence so I could bring them into the Truth) and within a week had seen enough claims and logical discussions (amidst the shallower bullshit too of course) to reawaken my long-dormant curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Since then I've fluctuated in how strong the atheist part of my agnostic atheism is, or rather been sometimes hopeful that I'll see evidence of a god and sometimes slightly too certain no one ever will, but I've always felt honest and clean in my beliefs (no more obvious mental gymnastics to avoid forbidden thoughts, etc). I'm finally primarily concerned with my life and what I want from it instead of focusing solely on what people tell me God wants, I'm getting help with my mental health, and I'm trying to get my shit together. It's getting pretty exciting. Oh yeah, and I slept with about ~15 women in the two years after this and finally started to figure out what I like and want in a relationship instead of waiting for God to put the right girl with me. Now I'm a few months in to dating the most perfect-for-me girl I've ever met, and yet if she crossed one of my deal-breakers I would be emotionally able to handle breaking up with her. I know there is no "one" and that if the girl I'm with isn't right for me I take that knowledge and find someone better suited while still recognizing that a relationship takes effort on both sides. I'm pretty damn nervous about the future, but slightly more than that (and increasingly so) I'm excited as fuck. TL;DR: The thoughts in my head tried to send me to Hell and also cock-blocked me until recently.

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It's not the best reason, but it's shockingly effective. I was raised Christian and never really questioned it until college because I was terrified that even consciously considering that there might not be a god seemed like grounds to be cast into hell (this is not really my parents' faults, I have had the anxiety/depression/ADD cluster for a long time but none of us realized what it was until a few years ago, so the unrecognized anxiety took every scary religious teaching and made it THE THING THAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU RIGHT NOW OH FUCK HOW COULD I FAIL GOD SO BADLY I DESERVE HELL BUT PLEASE DON'T SEND ME THERE!). Finally, in college (small private Christian college), I let myself think about my beliefs beyond "How do I not go to Hell", I realized that deep down I had always felt god's absence. He was never more than a strict father figure who could read my mind and was disappointed but at least liked that I tried. I admitted this to my girlfriend at the time, sobbing that I realized I might be an atheist. A week later she broke up with me. I decided, separately from that (ha, yeah right), to really dig into the evidence for Christianity vs Atheism. My method of doing this was to read the first half or so of The Case For Faith and basically become overjoyed that I had enough evidence to believe in God again! And as a bonus my girlfriend got back with me! The next three months were the most religiously ecstatic of my life. I was constantly happy because now that I had evidence I didn't have to worry about my stupid brain getting me sent to Hell for not believing! I have no idea how my atheist friends put up with me, but they did. Sure enough I started going to r/atheism to bring these lost people to the light (I was genuinely heartbroken for them, but glowing because I had evidence so I could bring them into the Truth) and within a week had seen enough claims and logical discussions (amidst the shallower bullshit too of course) to reawaken my long-dormant curiosity and thirst for knowledge. Since then I've fluctuated in how strong the atheist part of my agnostic atheism is, or rather been sometimes hopeful that I'll see evidence of a god and sometimes slightly too certain no one ever will, but I've always felt honest and clean in my beliefs (no more obvious mental gymnastics to avoid forbidden thoughts, etc). I'm finally primarily concerned with my life and what I want from it instead of focusing solely on what people tell me God wants, I'm getting help with my mental health, and I'm trying to get my shit together. It's getting pretty exciting. Oh yeah, and I slept with about ~15 women in the two years after this and finally started to figure out what I like and want in a relationship instead of waiting for God to put the right girl with me. Now I'm a few months in to dating the most perfect-for-me girl I've ever met, and yet if she crossed one of my deal-breakers I would be emotionally able to handle breaking up with her. I know there is no "one" and that if the girl I'm with isn't right for me I take that knowledge and find someone better suited while still recognizing that a relationship takes effort on both sides. I'm pretty damn nervous about the future, but slightly more than that (and increasingly so) I'm excited as fuck.

The thoughts in my head tried to send me to Hell and also cock-blocked me until recently.