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Someone Asks Atheists From Religious Families What Made Them Non-Believers, 30 Give Honest Answers
Hope for a brighter and better future helps us get through these tough and trying times. However, some would argue, hope isn’t tied to spirituality or religion, and is an innately human experience. Atheist or not, hope is pretty much all we’ve got.
A whole bunch of internet users who grew up in religious families opened up about what made them lose their faith and turn into non-believers. Scroll down to have a read about these honest stories from real-life atheists. And if you’re feeling up to sharing a bit about yourselves, dear Pandas, you can drop by the comment section to share your own relationship with faith, whether you’re religious, atheist, or spiritual in the broadest possible sense.
Bored Panda reached out to Reverend Adam Ericksen from the Clackamas United Church of Christ in Milwaukie, Oregon, and to Reverend Patrick Gahagen from the Journey of Faith Church in Baltimore, Maryland, to talk about religion, atheism, doubts, and how it is normal to struggle with faith. "Interestingly, my sister is an atheist/agnostic even though she was raised in the church. She is an atheist AND a wonderful mother and great teacher," Rev. Patrick shared with us.
"Religion is not necessary for being a moral person. In fact, religion can make someone immoral when we use religion to divide the world into good guys and bad guys, sinners, and saints. Jesus didn't use religion that way. For Jesus, religion should motivate us to love others more boldly, not to accuse others of being sinful. When Christianity leads us to divide the world into good guys and bad guys, the most faithful response is to leave Christianity," Rev. Adam said. Read on for their other insights.
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#1
I was raised/indoctrinated into Protestant Christianity. But once I learned about other religions, I realized the chances were small that I had happened to be born into the correct religion. Then I learned about mythologies, that they were religions that people stopped believing in. It seemed obvious that all religions were simply myths people still believed in.
This was about 40 years ago, and nothing I've seen or heard or read since has changed my mind or even made me doubt that all religions are just man-made myths.
Rev. Patrick from the Journey of Faith Church stressed to Bored Panda as well that faith is not necessary neither for morality nor hope. "If you consider for just a moment the immoral and inhumane acts perpetrated by so-called 'people of faith' throughout history. It is unfortunate but there are strains of all religion which promote violence, prejudice, injustices in the name of 'God,'" he pointed out.
According to the Reverend, doubt is an integral part of faith. "I have always believed you cannot have faith without doubt. Faith, without doubt, is no faith at all. Faith stretches us beyond the known, the comfortable, the seen to trust there is more than I know or can possibly conceive. The opposite of faith is fear not doubt," he explained to Bored Panda.
"Faith is in and of itself a struggle. Constant. The whole meaning of the name given to Jacob in the bible 'Israel' means one who wrestles with God. Faith is a constant wrestle/struggle which is both internal and external. When we stop struggling we stop having faith."
#2
Read the Bible. Realized 99% of the Christians around me had never read it. Then realized that the vast majority of people have no idea of what’s in its pages. American Christianity is a joke.
Caro Caro 2 years ago (edited)
See, this is important. I understand that reading the whole bible is boring. But at least read the important books (Matthew for instance) and study the bible. The bible is full of hyperlinks and if you don't read and study then you have no idea what you're talking about. Just waffling off a few comments and verses to serve your purpose is dangerous and NOT a Christian thing to do. End of rant, need coffee. Bless you Pandas.
#3
The problem of evil. If God refuses to stop evil and suffering, they're not benevolent. If they're incapable of stopping evil and suffering, they're not really God.
The universe simply makes more sense when you view morality as a human construct. A bunch of dumb animals were trying to survive and find purpose in their existence, and inevitably they created the concept of a higher power.
Rev. Adam from the Clackamas United Church of Christ agrees that it is "normal" to have doubts and they're something that everyone has. "People who claim to have the strongest faith are almost always suppressing their doubts. I've noticed these people tend to be spiritually toxic to themselves and others because in suppressing their doubts they lash out against others," he told Bored Panda.
"Please know that it is normal to struggle with faith. The priests, prophets, disciples, and even Jesus all had their struggles with faith. Jesus wasn't sure what he should do in the Garden of Gethsemane. He even showed his doubts when he prayed on the cross, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' Have you ever felt forsaken by God and so you struggle with faith? That's okay. You are not alone. Even Jesus had to struggle with faith," Rev. Adam said.
#4
A priest shaming a 7-year-old me for my parent's divorce. That was a good start into rethinking all the religion.
#5
When I was 10, the swami (Hindu priest) at my local temple asked me who my favorite God is and I replied 'Thor'.
He laughed and my family laughed and everyone around laughed and told me that these are imaginary characters made to fool kids and make money.
#6
Working with "Christians" and watching them adore a man like Trump. You know it is a shame and about maintaining white male power.
Caro Caro 2 years ago
It's a shame and a sham. So called Christians voting for a man who is not a Christian, doesn't go to church (never), has no clue about the bible and it's contents and does not live with the Christian values. (Jeremiah 23:16 - This is what the LORD of Hosts says: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are filling you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.).
Previously, Bored Panda spoke to Rev. Patrick about hope. His church is widely known for putting up witty and spot-on signs about the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the Reverend, they were overwhelmed with responses about the sign. While some people were “affirming and appreciative” of them, others were not as friendly.
Rev. Patrick gave some advice for anyone who is losing hope in these dark and trying times. “Honor your feelings of hopelessness. They're legit. But know we don't stay there,” he told Bored Panda.
#7
ex Muslim here. lots of misogynistic things in both the Quran and habits that never sat right w me
#8
Grew up and started asking questions. They didn’t like that.
smugdruggler 2 years ago
They never do. Until you start asking, they can pretend that they have the answers.
#9
Being forced to go to church as a kid and be part of all the holiday plays. All the while getting physically and emotionally beat at home by my stepdad and praying every second of the day for change only to be let down time and time again.
I moved out when I was 13 and never looked back.
“In the same space where despair sits in the soul, so does hope. I have found my faith has become healthier when I have accepted the wholeness of the human and divine experience. It's not joy or sorrow but joy and sorrow. It's not love or fear, it's love and fear. But because of the Easter moment and message of Jesus' resurrection—love wins!" Rev. Patrick, from Maryland, shared.
"I believe as followers of Jesus, we need to cling more to our faith which is built around the questions of God and life and not our religion which is too defensive of our answers,” he added.
#10
Nothing makes people anti theist faster than theists.
#11
Imagine telling a kid that they'll be forsaken and tortured for an eternity if they jack off or eat shrimp.
#12
I was raised Southern Pentecostal. My grandmother was insanely religious, so I was always at church. The church I went to believed in "speaking in tongues", laying of hands, miracle healing, taking up serpents (handling snakes), and all other kinds of dumba**ery. I went with it for a long time. About 13 I went to a revival summer camp. There was a whole ceremony about pledging yourself to Jesus and not having sex. That spun into kids my age going to a microphone and confessing they had sexual thoughts or what they had done with other people. Then the pastor would pray for the kid and they'd "pass out" on the floor. Pastor comes to me and prays and like pushes me off balance so I play the game and lay on the floor. I'm laying there and just kinda took stock of the actual insanity of this service. I think I lost faith then. After going home I paid more attention to the actions of the people in the church during the services and realized how utterly insane it was. It wasn't long and people actually started acting differently to me because I wasn't doing what they were and I was asked to not return.
Meanwhile, Rev. Adam from the Clackamas United Church of Christ, told Bored Panda that “God loves all people and invites us to work for a more just world as we share that love with others.”
For Reverend Adam, inclusivity, acceptance, and tolerance are very important, as is social justice, and “quoting the Bible in a life-affirming way toward immigrants, along with our LGBTQIA and BIPOC siblings.”
Adam told Bored Panda that the last few years “have increased faith for many.” However, he believes that this definition of ‘faith’ isn’t one that his church has been used to. This interpretation of faith is more akin to the need to belong to a community.
#13
Listening to Southern Baptists and their lame arguments about why women should submit to their husbands and defend slavery and watch them acting and speaking the opposite of what Jesus actually preached.
Ian Goldby 2 years ago
A Christian is known by their fruit. Bad fruit = bad Christian. Try listening to the good Christians instead.
#14
I was 11 or 12 and knew a toddler that had contracted HIV from a surgical procedure in the 1980s when AIDS hysteria was at fever pitch. Soon afterward, I heard a pastor say that AIDS was God's way of inflicting punishment upon sinners, and those who contracted it deserved it.
I knew the preacher was an idiot, but that didn't do it for me on its own. It was after the sermon when everyone was getting their coffee and donuts when I heard all the parishioners were saying how refreshing it was to have a preacher who was not afraid to speak the truth and tell things the way they really are (it was language eerily similar to that used by people to describe why they liked Trump more than three decades later).
I figured that if there was a God, he'd figure out a way to set things like that straight. I suspected that religion was less about salvation than it was about control.
Samantha Lomb 2 years ago
Yeah that was just homophobes being assholes. But yes there is no god.
#15
If you should "come as you are", why are we getting all dressed up to the nines? If it isn't for God, it's definitely for fellow churchgoers. Every time I went to church people would have this fake smile plastered upon their faces. Shake each other's hands and sing grace. They'd turn around and get drunk at the bar and run cars into buildings and people. One of the Sunday school teachers molested one of the kids. Besides, religious people use God as a reason for everything, including a scapegoat when things go wrong. "God, if you do this for me I'll never do wrong again".
If I were God, no child would have cancer. God does not work in mysterious ways. No lesson can be learned from giving a kid cancer and letting them suffer until they die.
God's forgiveness: "accept me into your heart so I can save you from what I will do to you if you don't"
"For example, I find that people of different faiths and even people of no faith are looking for a sense of community. Faith is moving much more towards what I think Jesus had in mind—a trust in something bigger than yourself,” he said.
“Sometimes, we find that trust in community, realizing that all communities are flawed and make mistakes, but that participating in something bigger than ourselves makes life worth living. I think people are finding that especially in these most difficult times, faith within a community is something we need more than ever,” Adam said.
The Reverend's congregation believes in defending equality, dignity, and the rights of all people under God. “We are open and affirming of our LGBTQ siblings and believe God calls us to love all of our neighbors, including those who are black, brown, white, rich, poor, religious, atheist, documented, and undocumented,” the Clackamas United Church of Christ proclaims.
#16
I read one of Steven Hawking's books and became terrified I was going to hell for opening it. I was 12. Some years later I realized that it was all bs, went back and finished the book and that was that.
#17
I read the Bible & also because they couldn't answer any of my questions. Do animals have souls? If yes, isn't that murder when we eat them? If not, then what keeps them alive? The bible says slavery is okay??? But it is NOT? The bible says women should remain silent & never be teachers but my pastor is literally a woman? And don't mothers TEACH their children? If all the old testament is wrong or the old rules or whatever then why did God include it in the first place? Why was God so cruel to Lucifer when all he asked for was understanding - God admits humans are flawed, Lucifer says why love such a flawed thing, & then yeets him down to damnation?? Did hell already exist without Lucifer? And if Satan wants us to commit sins then why would he punish us for doing what he wanted??
And then there's the whole "end times" battle where Satan is a guy covered in light & God has gouged out eyes & is wearing blood-drenched clothes - like??? Surely he understands human FEAR?? We SUCK at judgment calls! And if God can turn water into wine so easily he can't grow fruit trees for the starving people all around the world??
Evolution just makes way more sense.
#18
Second grade teacher told us we'll go to hell for swearing. Once. Imagine the kind of person telling second graders they are all going to hell. (And we didn't have religion taught in school. That teacher was a nut that probably hated children)
[Kid: "Well s**t, if I'm damned to hell for just cursing one f**king time, then I guess the a** is out of the stable, isn't it? No f**king reason to hold s**t back now!"]
XSpooky_Mint 2 years ago
F**k, s**t, piss, c**t, d**k, ass, damn, minge, Hell, f****r, m**********r, hoe, dammit, quim, tit, tits, f*****g, God dammit, bullshit, prick, bitch, crap, s**t, twat, c**k, jackass, fuckwad, asshole, dipshit, horseshit, bollocks, zatch, sod, douche, bastard, douchebag, balls, ballsack, whore, did I miss anything?
Me Oh My 2 years ago
My little brother's second grade teacher told his class that Harry Potter was satanic.
M O'Connell 2 years ago
Well of course it is! Any literature that doesn't further the religious ideology of blind compliance is automatically satanic.
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Firkin Dirkin 2 years ago
Jesus would have cussed as well. He was created a human with human failings. That's the whole point of his life, to demonstrate that you should follow your concience and also accept your weaknesses in order to grow to be a better person. F**k anyone wno claims otherwise, they insult his sacrifice.
Dillon Hughes 2 years ago
Yepp that idiot is doing noting but spreading false everything. That is not any region that I know of.
#19
I read the Bible in-depth. I asked questions in bible study and was punished for not blindly accepting. The final nail in the coffin was the minister who performed my wedding had been moved from a previous parish for having affairs with the women parishioners. He was having affairs here and was moved again to a new parish where he did the same.
He droned on and on about fidelity and trust in marriage while unapologetically having affairs and the church just moved him knowing what he did.
The rampant hypocrisy sickened me.
#20
Well, spending my earliest childhood years in a literal cult in the 70's, then being gay in a family of right-wing Evangelicals was kind of a perfect storm to turn me off of religion for life. My parents are gone now and my oldest sister has gone full QAnon, further validating my own position that it's all a steaming pile of crazy.
#21
It just didn't make any sense to me, and I was tired of being told that I'm going to hell.
#22
Ex muslim.
I struggled understanding how I will inevitably go to hell (even if just for a little bit) because I am unable to perform prayer on time, especially the sunrise {fajr} prayer on time.
I have ADHD, and was unmedicated till my late 20s. Doing anything in time was an absolute uphill battle compared to other people. Ireally struggled to wake up in the morning all my childhood, my teen and my adult life. Looking at 23andMe, It’s almost like my genetic formation is destined to go to hell.
Also, I felt like being native in Arabic gave me an insanely unfair advantage over any non-arabic speakers. Even the most religious muslims from countries like Pakistan were inferior in understanding a lot of what came insanely easy to me.
So it didn’t really feel so fair of an ask.
Finally, some rules in the religion didn’t sit right at all and were basically the last nail in the coffin.
That being said, I still viciously protect the right of religious people to practice their religions without being looked down upon or discriminated against.
#23
When I asked a religious education teacher what Noah and his family fed the carnivores on the ark and the 'teacher' stared at me like I was a cockroach. She then came and stood over me and said "Little girls should be seen and not heard." Until then I had always been encouraged to ask questions by the adults in my life. Decided that God wanted me to ask if I had the question and told her as much.
Yeah..... She asked me not to come back.
#24
Went to college, started thinking for myself as opposed to blindly trusting who I was told to trust.
I used to think that religious folks had good intentions, at least, just misinformed. Now I know that to be wrong. Religion is a plague among the dull-minded.
#25
I was never big on it though I was raised Catholic. One day I remember thinking "Why does an omnipotent, omnipresent entity need me to go to a church and listen to a priest? Why tell him (the priest) my sins? Surely God would know what I did and if I'm truly sorry... Then I started realizing what hypocrites the supposedly "pious" were in day-to-day life. Then our Bishop came up as a kiddy diddler...
#26
Family are Jehovah’s Witnesses. They had me at “144,000 people will live forever in a land of all good, just like the garden of eden was, but everyone else is sol and will simply not exist” what makes them better than me? Why does this god creature only love 144,000 out of billions?
I always asked questions that were answered with bible scriptures irrelevant to what I asked.
My grandma, my mom, and aunts and uncles were shunned from the Kingdom Hall after my grandma had an affair. He was straight up considered dead and my grandma and had children still went to the Kingdom Hall but no one was allowed to talk to them. They had to sit at the back of the hall. They had to come late and leave early so there was no contact with other members of the cult, I mean congregation. My mom and her sisters lost their friends.
#27
Constantly being told that I was going to hell just for missing church once in a while was the start of it for me.
But if they actually believed that then they are in hell too for judging me.
#28
When I had to put on my private school bible final that the earth was 6000 years old I really started to dig in what the hell I believed. The whole Abraham sacrificing his son on a mountain is just so f**ked up too. It started with “Even if he was real I wouldn’t want to worship him.” It snowballed from there. Great moral teaching book though for the most part.
#29
I was always told that If I prayed, god would answer me. My parents fought a lot, so I prayed every night that god would make it stop. He never answered.
#30
I hated the judgment. I can think of one example that turned me off religion: I remember there was a sermon made by a pastor around Christmas time. I don't remember what it was about, only the guilt I felt afterward.
What do you think ?
cybermerlin2000 2 years ago
Religion is going to fade away as it refuses to do the one thing science readily does. Adapt and evolve. The closest thing that religion does is either destroy another religion by propaganda or plain genocide, steal another religion such as Christianity which used to be Mithaism which was once Horus worshipping. Religions are stubborn and resistant to changing and because of this their ideas are old-fashioned and make no sense in the real world. Catholicism is responsible for the highest number of deaths in the world and even killed more people than the Black Death. So no, religion will not make it. It is doomed to fade away as more and more people realize how hypocritical the religions are
James016 2 years ago
My wife is Muslim and not particularly religious (she married a Jew after all). However she did tell me of one incident that happened to her. This was just after her mum passed away and her dad passed away the year before. She went to her local mosque to say a prayer for them but she forgot her headscarf. Instead of providing one or letting it go, the Iman went into a tirade at her for not wearing one and how she will go to hell because of it. As far as I know she has not been in a mosque since. She still has her faith but that was a real kick in the teeth for her.
Lilith the Demon Panda 2 years ago
my bf is a muslim, I am an atheist... in his country few times I entered a mosque without a scarf and... nothing happened... (I must admit I'm a natural rebel, I like to provoke and test the boundaries :-))
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Kyndal T 2 years ago
Baptist/Pentecostal nut job family. They offered me an exorcism or a week at bible camp. Took the camp. Made a point to be overtly sexual and inappropriate at every given opportunity. It was the most fun I've had with churchers. All this because I cut my hair. At 15. It was down to the floor. Now, my hair is purple, I've slept with more women than men, have several tattoos and piercings, and I was less welcome at my mother's funeral than the family pedophile. I wasn't even invited or informed of the wake prior to the funeral. On the day, my grandmother "accidentally" told me the wrong cafe for the family lunch after burial. I'd always had a great relationship with her and believed she wasn't like them. She isn't until they're around. My mom was nothing like them and the service was appalling. There's more but not enough therapy to cover it all.
JessRS 2 years ago
Cut ties, honey, you don't need that crap in your life.
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Lovin' Life 2 years ago
I am a Christian. But I would never force my beliefs on to another person. We should all be able to worship , pray and believe what we think is right and wrong. I was church damaged for many years, being forced to attend a southern Baptist church that condemned me to Hell many times. It took me years to get over that. I am truly sorry to all how have been church damaged. That is not how any religious organization/ institution should be ran. Hugs and love to all.
Mark Fuller 2 years ago
Spent my teens in a catholic school. Every week we were all told how the, "devil rubs his hands together when he sees such rich pickings...!" And then at various points during Mass we had to call out like zombies: Thanks be to God! Lord have Mercy Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ We are not worthy Lord, hear our prayer! Bluntly. F**k. Right. Off. Like being a teenager isn't difficult enough, I didn't need this crap. I was... and remain worthy. I respected my parents, worked hard at school, abided by the law, treated others as I would wish to be treated. I am a good person - don't indoctrinate me with the unfounded belief that I am anything else.
Caro Caro 2 years ago
My so went to a catholic school. He hated it and the priests hitting him (and that priest getting a hard on) and nobody did a friggin thing about it.
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ADHORTATOR 2 years ago (edited)
My favorite class in school was Religion (in Germany, it is mandatory) I argued all the time with the teachers and they loved me - finally a student who is participating in class :-)
Philler Space 2 years ago
Years after sort of coming to this conclusion on my own, I learned the term "maltheism," which supposed that if there is a higher power, all evidence suggests it is not necessarily benevolent and may in fact be downright hostile. This is the only religious position that makes any sense to me; was so pleased to find out it has a name.
Ozacoter 2 years ago
All perfectly logical and valid reasons. Personally I grew up in a very catholic family and school but I never believed idk why. For years I was embarassed to be so weird until I met another girl that was an atheist and I discovered that it was not me "malfunctioning " but a common thing. In any case as a Spanish woman I just cant be religious. Our church supported a genocidal regime that killed, tortured and raped thousands (and supported Hitler). Even nowadays their bishops still openly defend rape, pedophilia, domestic violence and other horrible crimes. I cannot understand how anybody can hear them and still be part of their cult.
alloutbikes@yahoo.com 1 year ago
That is the organized religion. You can have your faith without any of that. The crazy is people defining what they believe, not what you have to believe.
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Nikki Sevven 2 years ago
Reading the Bible did it for me, and the giveaway was in the very first book. God forbids Adam and Eve from eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eve eats the fruit. Humanity is forever barred from Eden and otherwise cursed. But Eve could not possibly have known that eating the fruit was wrong...until AFTER she ate it. God set up Adam and Eve to fail, then held the entire human race accountable for it. That's an asshole move, not the actions of someone entitled to my reverence.
Elaine Elder 2 years ago
Southern Baptists don't actually read the Bible. So a preacher reads one line "chapter: verse" then does a sermon taking that sentence out of context and a whole church full of people "amen" in his pauses. All those people think that's what the Bible "says" Then it becomes a game of telephone, getting so distorted it just becomes stupid. Wanna shut a Primitive Baptist Preacher up? Ask him WHERE it says what he just told you the Bible says something. When they ask if you are saved? Ask if they are going to this HEAVEN. Explain if they will be there for eternity, you would prefer to be somewhere else, because spending eternity with his bunch of hypocrites sounds like Hell.
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Random Anon 2 years ago
I bounced around the Abrahamic and Buddhism related ones. The teachings have merit in some cases. Some needs to be refreshed to reflect the current society. Some are outright bullcrap. Maybe it's the way language is in the old days, but a lot of these texts cannot but should not be taken literally.
Elaine Elder 2 years ago
Christians have become adept at the art of Pick N Choose, out of context, WORDS of God.
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Walking On Sunshine 2 years ago
I was raised in a Southern Baptist church, we were there every time the door opened. But I never bought into it. Even as a small child, the stories were so fantastical I knew they weren't true. When everybody ran up to be baptized, I never did because it just didn't feel right.....I call it a gift.
Bernd Herbert 2 years ago
I started reading about Christianity when I was about 15 years old, the real history, how it was made. That was it for me…never really believed in the magic bits anyway
Glirpy 2 years ago
Imagine for a moment that you are God. You have unlimited power and knowledge and can do anything at any time. Then you send your "only Son" to Earth to be cruelly tortured and murdered and you do nothing to prevent that. In fact, it was all "part of Your plan! Your Grand Design!" And Christians say that God did that to open the gates of Heaven for all of us? If He is God, He didn't need to have someone die to open the gates of Heaven. He can just say, "Come on in" to everyone. Such a weird, weird thing to believe.
Israel Martinez 2 years ago
Never mind that god is supposed to be all-powerful (omnipotent), all-knowing (omniscient) and all-present (omnipresent) ... omnipotence would eliminate rampant evil ... omniscience would eliminate the need for prayer and omnipresence would eliminate the need for church ... very contradicting ideas ...
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Katinka Min 2 years ago
I liked the old stories in the Bible, Moses, David etc. Then, when I was ten, my older sister (17) told me all those stories are just fairy tales. Also, myy Dad was a pastor so church was ncoht this magical place but basically just admin adn janitorial troubles. Funily enough, my sister refound her faith. Over time I changed from atheist to agnostic. I can't know that there is NO diety either. So I just live with a large question mark, follow humanism as a moral guide line and sincerely hope that there really is no afterlife.
Israel Martinez 2 years ago
I don't dismiss the bible ... I just treat it no differently than a Steven King collection of novellas ... dark fiction with a message depending on how you interpret it ...
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Grace Reid 2 years ago
I am definitely a total atheist I was made to go to church every Sunday fro the age o 5-14 when I had the courage to say I should have the right to choose. I was even made to get confirmed having absolutely no idea or understanding of what it was all about. It is abusive in my opponents in my opinion to force a religion onto a child. My mother who made me go with my grandmother thought she did enough religious duty by watching songs of praise on tv on Sunday nights and attending Christmas Eve midnight mass. What a load of bs. The only thing it taught me was to be made us in his image. Is he lying in a twisted, painful body
Lila Wells 2 years ago
I was raised as a Protestant Christian, but as soon as I moved out, I never went to church again. The reason why I dont believe in it is this: If there is a God that really loves us, why does he allow people in the world to suffer? Why does he allow wars and death to exist? Why does he allow sin? I don't understand why he wouldn't be able to stop all these issues, since he IS God. Another reason are the inaccuracies in the Bible. Many things are fully outdated, and there are several instances in the bible where it tells women to serve under men. I don't want to believe in something "holy" that tells me I'm worth less than others.
Glirpy 2 years ago
The Greeks and Norse really had better ideas with their pantheistic theology. It is much easier to believe that there is war because there is a God of War that is swaying the hearts of men. But nowadays, it's way easier to believe that there is war because men want power over others, as well as money.
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Mary Stewart 2 years ago
Raised as a Southern Baptist missionary kid. In Togo West Africa. It was getting out into the world and seeing that all of these religions are the same recycled story and why were WE the people who got it right and needed to "save" everyone else. I faked it for years, fought to find that "thing" that everyone else was feeling, inwardly cringed through every fervent prayer. Then I graduated, moved back to the states, realized tons of people didn't go to church and hadn't been struck with horrible punishments from God and never looked back. Ironically my parents have also started their own slow journey away from religion and haven't been to a church service in well over a year.
Valisbourne Spiritforge 2 years ago
Pretty much stopped believing in the Abrahamic religions the moment I realized that it didn't make sense for a god to create an entire universe just so the people he also created would tell him how great he was. If a being actually did that and condemned people to eternal torment because they wouldn't be part of his fan club, that really didn't sound like a being worthy of worship to me. Awe? Sure. Fear? Absolutely. Worship? No.
UpQuarkDownQuark 2 years ago
I didn’t grow up with any formal religion, just a mosh-mash buffet of New Age, Buddhism and Christianity. When I was in my late 20s and thinking over a debate that turned into an argument with a born again fundamentalist Christian coworker from earlier in the day, I just had this epiphany. While I thought my beliefs were less capricious and self-contradictory than Christianity, they were still based on what? How I imagined the world should work? I was an atheist by the end of the week, and my love for science was reignited.
Pa4040 2 years ago
Religion was simply a useful guideline to keep tribes and small societies into check in the absence of exact laws and/or absence of an enforcement authority. It has been researched that the Bible has origins in many older religions and often its ideas and teachings have been re-told orally for generations, randomly leaving or adding parts to it to fir rhe current audience. Then the romans slashed through it before they made Christianity the primary religion in the empire. The very fact that people swear on it and live by it is absolutely astounding to me. If there was some semblance of a being that created the universe, it wouldn't care for us more than you care about microbes 2km deep in the earth's crust.
LavenderAxolotl 2 years ago (edited)
I grew up in the Baptist church, and never really believed in anything that was said, but I went along with it because it was really the only time my family went out and I was happy to have friends. Then, when middle school started, everyone in the church shunned me, especially in the weekly youth groups I went to. The last straw for me was when I was abused by some of the boys in the group and then told that I was going to to hell 1. because I wasn't a virgin (not my fault) and 2. because I was depressed and started acting out. Instead of getting help and support in the church, I was met with ridicule and disbelief in anything I said. I'm so glad I got out and I'm now living a healthy, well-balanced life without the church, even though my family cut me off because of my decision. However, I know religion is a rock in many people's lives and everyone deserves happiness. So if you are religious, good for you. Just wasn't right for me, and that's ok :)
Elaine Elder 2 years ago
At eleven a Baptist preacher molested me at Uncle's Sunday dinner. At 13, different Baptist preacher tried to molest me at same Uncle's house. He got a rock up side his head. Tried to GUILT ME into keeping quiet because I TEMPTED HIM. I was sitting on back porch steps drawing pictures in the sand. How does this logic work? Life lesson: don't go to Uncle's house on Sundays. That's where the damn devil is pretending to be a man if god.
Load More Replies... Mimi M 2 years ago (edited)
There is a difference between 'atheist' and 'non-religious'. While there is overlap (certainly, most atheists are non-religious - though not all of them), they should not be conflated. One can be non-religious and spiritual, agnostic, indifferent - and all shades in between. Better title would have been 'What turned you off from religion?'
Sleepy Panda 2 years ago
A podcast host once said; The difference between me and your god is that if a saw a child being molested I would try my best to stop it and spare the child some trauma, your god would wait until they die to punish them, unless of course they ask for forgiveness right before. That definitely got me thinking.
Elaine Elder 2 years ago
Catholic: man goes out and gets drunk. Comes home, beats his wife and kids. Goes to church on Sunday. Asks God to forgive him his sins. All is forgiven. Goes home. Beats wife for not putting on enough make-up to cover the beating he gave her, because she made him look bad. Primitive Southern Baptist: man beats wife once a week and twice on Sunday. It's all fine. He was baptized and let Jesus Christ into his heart, he's saved, going to heaven. Don't even have to bother with church anymore. Just rinse and repeat.
Load More Replies... Israel Martinez 2 years ago (edited)
For me, it was having to listen to the 'devout' speak of how blessed they were when there were just as many devout followers that were suffering ... if you're blessed for having benefits that you attribute to your faith, the logic seems to be that the same ones that follow your faith are damned since they don't have the benefits you have ... never mind that the bible itself preaches against hoarding riches, but the biggest purveyors of religion happen to be ultra-rich ... there are so many reasons I became an atheist, but I can promise you, it wasn't out of ignorance ... a true atheist has done their homework ... we don't denounce religion because we encourage anything that makes you a better person towards yourself and others ... it's the exploitation through organized religion that we are against ...
Elaine Elder 2 years ago
It's in God's hands. God has a plan. God works in mysterious ways. We are a science fair project. There was a creator, now God is smoking, out behind the gym.
Load More Replies... Adrian 2 years ago
To relieve the boredom while in hospital I read the Bible (King James) cover to cover. Didn't seem to make much sense. I then read a history of how the New Testament was created - i.e. 900+ gospels (many of which were contemporary accounts) whittled down to 4 all of which were written way after the actual events. Was this the first example of censorship? There are so many holes in both the old and new testaments how could this be used to support anything - as a legal brief it would be chucked out of court. There is a joke "You spend the first 3 years of a kid's life getting him to walk and talk, then the rest of the time getting them to shut up and sit down". It dawned on me that Dr Spock had the first part covered and the Bible handled the rest. I came to the conclusion the Bible was intended as a means of control:- "shut up and don't ask questions, do as you're told and don't argue, don't rock the boat, work hard and give us your money".
Tami 2 years ago
Since the Bible was written, translated, and edited by humans over time, it's bound to reflect human motivations—greed, anger, desire, jealousy, cultural trends, and such. But there are common themes that show up in all religions, and those may be worth looking into.
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Izzi 2 years ago
Raised Catholic. Started questioning when I was really young, like five or six. I didn't understand why we'd praise a god who allowed evil and then blamed it on us even though he was almighty. Also, making someone kill his son and then, right before he does it, saying "lol it was just a prank bro"??!!
Terd Fergison 2 years ago
My grandparents were catholic and they tried to force it on me a little bit, but luckily my mother protected me. My mother would answer my questions honestly. Did a man really survive 3 days inside a whale or fish? No, I don't think so, she would say. I watched a ton of cartoons as a kid and my mom always helped me to establish what is fiction and what is nonfiction. The stories in the Bible always seemed like fiction to me, just like every other fiction book or show. I also had some great teachers in college show me where the Bible appropriated some of their stories from. Morality existed long before the Bible or jesus. Even codified morality existed long before the Bible in the Steele of Hammurabi.
buttonpusher 2 years ago
Raised Catholic and it never made any sense to me from an early age. I was also shot down when I tried to question anything. They really hate the "Where's the actual proof?" question. I also hated how church on Sunday took priority over everything else. If I was invited somewhere with friends on a Sunday I wasn't allowed to go. And going every time there was a f****n "holy day". I just believe there's more out there that we don't know and may never know. So religion isn't something I'm going to waste my time with.
Shelley McKinney 2 years ago
As a kid, I believed in God because people told me he was real. I believed in Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny for the same reason. As an adult, I started questioning things. The more questions I had, the more I didn't believe. There are way to many flaws and inconsistencies and interpretations for much of it to be true. If others want to believe simply because others have told them that its true than that is up to them. I'll need A LOT more corroborating evidence myself.
Elaine Elder 2 years ago
Only allowed to believe in the one true God. But also the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. So God has Multiple Personality Disorder. That explains everything and nothing.
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WilvanderHeijden 2 years ago
52 People Open Up About How They Became Atheists BECAUSE They Grew Up In Religious Families.
Elaine Elder 2 years ago
We are just a forgotten science experiment. Our end will ultimately be a mom cleaning out a bedroom to make a guest room, after God goes off to God college.
Awsomemom52 2 years ago
Just to be clear...I have no problem with "believers"...whatever religion they belong to (whatever makes you happy). Just don't don't try to "convert" me. For me, it was all the lies, the hypocrites, the unanswered questions... and the atrocities and crimes, that were and are still being committed "in the name of God". All this and the fact that there is obviously not only "the one true God", but a multiplicity of "gods" and religions. But the craziest thing is that every religion claims to be the "only one right"! Most religions are also not really based on love, but on fear...if you don't do what the religion dictates, you are "damned". If you need a religion to be a "good person", you are not actually a good person.
Ilia Bauer 2 years ago
My great-great aunt was in Catholic school. A nun was teaching the class. Nun: The Bible says "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them." My Aunt, a genuinely curious child, asked: "But sister, what about your rosary?" The nun immediately dragged her to the office and got her expelled. Not even an attempt to b******t handwave/excuse it. Just immediate expulsion. My family have been atheists ever since, and VERY vocal about how much trash religion really is.
Catherine Spencer-Mills 2 years ago
I went to church, stopped going but still sort of believed for years. I finally left when my youngest son had come home directly from school, started on his homework, and it was 9 pm and he still hadn't finished, hadn't had dinner and was crying. He has a learning disability. I asked myself, if god never gives you more than you can handle, why did he inflict my son? I can handle it, if with sorrow, but my son obviously can't. Why punish my son? Left religion and if I ever do "meet my maker" I'll do my best to kick him where it hurts - for my son.
alloutbikes@yahoo.com 1 year ago
That wasn't God, that was a poor school system. Hope your boy is well and happy.
Load More Replies... Elaine Elder 2 years ago
My mother's parents didn't go to church. Grandpa was invited to church and he packed the younger 5 or 6 kids with my Granny into car and went.. the preacher invited them back to his house for Sunday dinner. Preacher sat down at big table in a fancy room. The wife brought in 2 plates and put them on either end of long table. Brought in food and left room. Preacher said "sit, Sit!" Grandpa asked where his wife and kids were. "Oh they eat in kitchen" Grandpa picked up his plate and went to kitchen, where kids and wives were eating soup. He sat his plate down and said "Let's go" after that, he decided no church. My father decided he wanted to raise me in a church environment for the belonging to a community part, not the religious part. He went to a different church every Sunday for several months. Found a preacher he could talk to and respect. He took us the next Sunday. That preacher was sick and the substitute was all fire and brimstone. "You're going to Hell!" He was screaming and not saying words and screaming some more. He pointed at 4 year old me and screamed I was going to hell. I was bawling. My dad decided it was a sign from God not to raise me in a church community. So I was raised closer to Buddhism than Christianity in Georgia in the 70s and 80s. My husband was dragged to church every time the doors were open until he was 15, got a job and has only been back for funerals. I go to graveside funerals only. We want to be cremated. With an AC/DC cover band at the wake and a Viking burial with fireworks above our private lake. Celebrate the Life. Celebrate the Love. "... And Nothing Else Matters ..."
Mary Bricklin 2 years ago
Raised in a religious/atheist family (meaning my mom is Lutheran but my dad is atheist). I'll admit that I believed for a little while but after a few years of church and being told I should pray to God and believe in him and Jesus, I started questioning it. I don't remember anything specific but stuff bothered me, like the fact that I was going to church at the age of 4. Yeah, let's take young children to a place where grown ups tell us to believe in a magical overlord or we'll go to hell. It may not be brainwashing but it certainly seems close to it. What really ended things for me was going to church for my niece's baptism. The priest stood there droning on about holy water washing away the sins of her parents. My sister wasn't married to my niece's father so she was born out of wedlock. Then a few years later, here comes my nephew. He gets baptised and here's the priest talking about holy water washing away the sins of his parents. I remember being taught that children are innocent
Mary Bricklin 2 years ago
, that they bear no sins. Hearing the priest talking about the sins of the parents affecting their child really sealed it for me. Up until then, I considered myself agnostic but after that I'm definitely an atheist.
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Nikole 2 years ago (edited)
Thank you for this article! I stopped believing about 25 years ago because I finally realized it didn't make any logical sense. My dad is also a huge history/archaeology buff, so I was well-versed in the traditions and myths of older civilizations (as someone in the article mentioned about themselves as well). Oh, I was raised "Catholic" but neither of my parents were or are particularly religious.
Person #1,051 2 years ago
I asked my dad if he believed in god when i was 12. he said that even if god does not control what we do now, something- some one- must have started the big bang, and that was god. i think that is a good balance because you can still believe in evolution.
alloutbikes@yahoo.com 1 year ago
Adam and eve were the first homus erectus, the first to stand up. That's where all the other people came from. I always wondered who Cain and Able married.
Load More Replies... David Leick 2 years ago
I have perhaps the least dramatic epiphany of atheism. I was bussing tables when I asked myself if I ever believed in God. My answer to myself was no. Maybe it was picking up other people's dishes that affected my answer, but I never looked back.
Helen Haley 2 years ago
I was raised among some very, very catholic people. I tried really hard to believe, it did not work. Late teens/early 20's read up on a boatload of different religions, read several versions of the bible cover to cover, came out the other side atheist.
Sky Render 2 years ago
My father in particular was quite religious and forced the whole family to attend Christian church services throughout my childhood and even into my early teen years. I... never understood any of it when I was young. My Aspie mind couldn't fathom what any of it was supposed to mean, because none of it seemed relevant or to have any sort of logical connection to the world I knew. I came to think of it as a sort of deep fantasy that the adults were all really into for some reason. I briefly tried to get into it when I was about 10 or so, only to realize as I read the text that it was even less like what was said in church and even less relevant to the world around me. Around that time I stopped even caring, and at age 16 I formally declared myself an atheist. Strictly speaking, I always had been, but that was the point that I dropped all pretext and just admitted that religion was not for me.
cybermerlin2000 2 years ago
Religion is going to fade away as it refuses to do the one thing science readily does. Adapt and evolve. The closest thing that religion does is either destroy another religion by propaganda or plain genocide, steal another religion such as Christianity which used to be Mithaism which was once Horus worshipping. Religions are stubborn and resistant to changing and because of this their ideas are old-fashioned and make no sense in the real world. Catholicism is responsible for the highest number of deaths in the world and even killed more people than the Black Death. So no, religion will not make it. It is doomed to fade away as more and more people realize how hypocritical the religions are
James016 2 years ago
My wife is Muslim and not particularly religious (she married a Jew after all). However she did tell me of one incident that happened to her. This was just after her mum passed away and her dad passed away the year before. She went to her local mosque to say a prayer for them but she forgot her headscarf. Instead of providing one or letting it go, the Iman went into a tirade at her for not wearing one and how she will go to hell because of it. As far as I know she has not been in a mosque since. She still has her faith but that was a real kick in the teeth for her.
Lilith the Demon Panda 2 years ago
my bf is a muslim, I am an atheist... in his country few times I entered a mosque without a scarf and... nothing happened... (I must admit I'm a natural rebel, I like to provoke and test the boundaries :-))
Load More Replies... Kyndal T 2 years ago
Baptist/Pentecostal nut job family. They offered me an exorcism or a week at bible camp. Took the camp. Made a point to be overtly sexual and inappropriate at every given opportunity. It was the most fun I've had with churchers. All this because I cut my hair. At 15. It was down to the floor. Now, my hair is purple, I've slept with more women than men, have several tattoos and piercings, and I was less welcome at my mother's funeral than the family pedophile. I wasn't even invited or informed of the wake prior to the funeral. On the day, my grandmother "accidentally" told me the wrong cafe for the family lunch after burial. I'd always had a great relationship with her and believed she wasn't like them. She isn't until they're around. My mom was nothing like them and the service was appalling. There's more but not enough therapy to cover it all.
JessRS 2 years ago
Cut ties, honey, you don't need that crap in your life.
Load More Replies... Lovin' Life 2 years ago
I am a Christian. But I would never force my beliefs on to another person. We should all be able to worship , pray and believe what we think is right and wrong. I was church damaged for many years, being forced to attend a southern Baptist church that condemned me to Hell many times. It took me years to get over that. I am truly sorry to all how have been church damaged. That is not how any religious organization/ institution should be ran. Hugs and love to all.
Mark Fuller 2 years ago
Spent my teens in a catholic school. Every week we were all told how the, "devil rubs his hands together when he sees such rich pickings...!" And then at various points during Mass we had to call out like zombies: Thanks be to God! Lord have Mercy Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ We are not worthy Lord, hear our prayer! Bluntly. F**k. Right. Off. Like being a teenager isn't difficult enough, I didn't need this crap. I was... and remain worthy. I respected my parents, worked hard at school, abided by the law, treated others as I would wish to be treated. I am a good person - don't indoctrinate me with the unfounded belief that I am anything else.
Caro Caro 2 years ago
My so went to a catholic school. He hated it and the priests hitting him (and that priest getting a hard on) and nobody did a friggin thing about it.
Load More Replies... ADHORTATOR 2 years ago (edited)
My favorite class in school was Religion (in Germany, it is mandatory) I argued all the time with the teachers and they loved me - finally a student who is participating in class :-)
Philler Space 2 years ago
Years after sort of coming to this conclusion on my own, I learned the term "maltheism," which supposed that if there is a higher power, all evidence suggests it is not necessarily benevolent and may in fact be downright hostile. This is the only religious position that makes any sense to me; was so pleased to find out it has a name.
Ozacoter 2 years ago
All perfectly logical and valid reasons. Personally I grew up in a very catholic family and school but I never believed idk why. For years I was embarassed to be so weird until I met another girl that was an atheist and I discovered that it was not me "malfunctioning " but a common thing. In any case as a Spanish woman I just cant be religious. Our church supported a genocidal regime that killed, tortured and raped thousands (and supported Hitler). Even nowadays their bishops still openly defend rape, pedophilia, domestic violence and other horrible crimes. I cannot understand how anybody can hear them and still be part of their cult.
alloutbikes@yahoo.com 1 year ago
That is the organized religion. You can have your faith without any of that. The crazy is people defining what they believe, not what you have to believe.
Load More Replies... Nikki Sevven 2 years ago
Reading the Bible did it for me, and the giveaway was in the very first book. God forbids Adam and Eve from eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eve eats the fruit. Humanity is forever barred from Eden and otherwise cursed. But Eve could not possibly have known that eating the fruit was wrong...until AFTER she ate it. God set up Adam and Eve to fail, then held the entire human race accountable for it. That's an asshole move, not the actions of someone entitled to my reverence.
Elaine Elder 2 years ago
Southern Baptists don't actually read the Bible. So a preacher reads one line "chapter: verse" then does a sermon taking that sentence out of context and a whole church full of people "amen" in his pauses. All those people think that's what the Bible "says" Then it becomes a game of telephone, getting so distorted it just becomes stupid. Wanna shut a Primitive Baptist Preacher up? Ask him WHERE it says what he just told you the Bible says something. When they ask if you are saved? Ask if they are going to this HEAVEN. Explain if they will be there for eternity, you would prefer to be somewhere else, because spending eternity with his bunch of hypocrites sounds like Hell.
Load More Replies... Random Anon 2 years ago
I bounced around the Abrahamic and Buddhism related ones. The teachings have merit in some cases. Some needs to be refreshed to reflect the current society. Some are outright bullcrap. Maybe it's the way language is in the old days, but a lot of these texts cannot but should not be taken literally.
Elaine Elder 2 years ago
Christians have become adept at the art of Pick N Choose, out of context, WORDS of God.
Load More Replies... Walking On Sunshine 2 years ago
I was raised in a Southern Baptist church, we were there every time the door opened. But I never bought into it. Even as a small child, the stories were so fantastical I knew they weren't true. When everybody ran up to be baptized, I never did because it just didn't feel right.....I call it a gift.
Bernd Herbert 2 years ago
I started reading about Christianity when I was about 15 years old, the real history, how it was made. That was it for me…never really believed in the magic bits anyway
Glirpy 2 years ago
Imagine for a moment that you are God. You have unlimited power and knowledge and can do anything at any time. Then you send your "only Son" to Earth to be cruelly tortured and murdered and you do nothing to prevent that. In fact, it was all "part of Your plan! Your Grand Design!" And Christians say that God did that to open the gates of Heaven for all of us? If He is God, He didn't need to have someone die to open the gates of Heaven. He can just say, "Come on in" to everyone. Such a weird, weird thing to believe.
Israel Martinez 2 years ago
Never mind that god is supposed to be all-powerful (omnipotent), all-knowing (omniscient) and all-present (omnipresent) ... omnipotence would eliminate rampant evil ... omniscience would eliminate the need for prayer and omnipresence would eliminate the need for church ... very contradicting ideas ...
Load More Replies... Katinka Min 2 years ago
I liked the old stories in the Bible, Moses, David etc. Then, when I was ten, my older sister (17) told me all those stories are just fairy tales. Also, myy Dad was a pastor so church was ncoht this magical place but basically just admin adn janitorial troubles. Funily enough, my sister refound her faith. Over time I changed from atheist to agnostic. I can't know that there is NO diety either. So I just live with a large question mark, follow humanism as a moral guide line and sincerely hope that there really is no afterlife.
Israel Martinez 2 years ago
I don't dismiss the bible ... I just treat it no differently than a Steven King collection of novellas ... dark fiction with a message depending on how you interpret it ...
Load More Replies... Grace Reid 2 years ago
I am definitely a total atheist I was made to go to church every Sunday fro the age o 5-14 when I had the courage to say I should have the right to choose. I was even made to get confirmed having absolutely no idea or understanding of what it was all about. It is abusive in my opponents in my opinion to force a religion onto a child. My mother who made me go with my grandmother thought she did enough religious duty by watching songs of praise on tv on Sunday nights and attending Christmas Eve midnight mass. What a load of bs. The only thing it taught me was to be made us in his image. Is he lying in a twisted, painful body
Lila Wells 2 years ago
I was raised as a Protestant Christian, but as soon as I moved out, I never went to church again. The reason why I dont believe in it is this: If there is a God that really loves us, why does he allow people in the world to suffer? Why does he allow wars and death to exist? Why does he allow sin? I don't understand why he wouldn't be able to stop all these issues, since he IS God. Another reason are the inaccuracies in the Bible. Many things are fully outdated, and there are several instances in the bible where it tells women to serve under men. I don't want to believe in something "holy" that tells me I'm worth less than others.
Glirpy 2 years ago
The Greeks and Norse really had better ideas with their pantheistic theology. It is much easier to believe that there is war because there is a God of War that is swaying the hearts of men. But nowadays, it's way easier to believe that there is war because men want power over others, as well as money.
Load More Replies... Mary Stewart 2 years ago
Raised as a Southern Baptist missionary kid. In Togo West Africa. It was getting out into the world and seeing that all of these religions are the same recycled story and why were WE the people who got it right and needed to "save" everyone else. I faked it for years, fought to find that "thing" that everyone else was feeling, inwardly cringed through every fervent prayer. Then I graduated, moved back to the states, realized tons of people didn't go to church and hadn't been struck with horrible punishments from God and never looked back. Ironically my parents have also started their own slow journey away from religion and haven't been to a church service in well over a year.
Valisbourne Spiritforge 2 years ago
Pretty much stopped believing in the Abrahamic religions the moment I realized that it didn't make sense for a god to create an entire universe just so the people he also created would tell him how great he was. If a being actually did that and condemned people to eternal torment because they wouldn't be part of his fan club, that really didn't sound like a being worthy of worship to me. Awe? Sure. Fear? Absolutely. Worship? No.
UpQuarkDownQuark 2 years ago
I didn’t grow up with any formal religion, just a mosh-mash buffet of New Age, Buddhism and Christianity. When I was in my late 20s and thinking over a debate that turned into an argument with a born again fundamentalist Christian coworker from earlier in the day, I just had this epiphany. While I thought my beliefs were less capricious and self-contradictory than Christianity, they were still based on what? How I imagined the world should work? I was an atheist by the end of the week, and my love for science was reignited.
Pa4040 2 years ago
Religion was simply a useful guideline to keep tribes and small societies into check in the absence of exact laws and/or absence of an enforcement authority. It has been researched that the Bible has origins in many older religions and often its ideas and teachings have been re-told orally for generations, randomly leaving or adding parts to it to fir rhe current audience. Then the romans slashed through it before they made Christianity the primary religion in the empire. The very fact that people swear on it and live by it is absolutely astounding to me. If there was some semblance of a being that created the universe, it wouldn't care for us more than you care about microbes 2km deep in the earth's crust.
LavenderAxolotl 2 years ago (edited)
I grew up in the Baptist church, and never really believed in anything that was said, but I went along with it because it was really the only time my family went out and I was happy to have friends. Then, when middle school started, everyone in the church shunned me, especially in the weekly youth groups I went to. The last straw for me was when I was abused by some of the boys in the group and then told that I was going to to hell 1. because I wasn't a virgin (not my fault) and 2. because I was depressed and started acting out. Instead of getting help and support in the church, I was met with ridicule and disbelief in anything I said. I'm so glad I got out and I'm now living a healthy, well-balanced life without the church, even though my family cut me off because of my decision. However, I know religion is a rock in many people's lives and everyone deserves happiness. So if you are religious, good for you. Just wasn't right for me, and that's ok :)
Elaine Elder 2 years ago
At eleven a Baptist preacher molested me at Uncle's Sunday dinner. At 13, different Baptist preacher tried to molest me at same Uncle's house. He got a rock up side his head. Tried to GUILT ME into keeping quiet because I TEMPTED HIM. I was sitting on back porch steps drawing pictures in the sand. How does this logic work? Life lesson: don't go to Uncle's house on Sundays. That's where the damn devil is pretending to be a man if god.
Load More Replies... Mimi M 2 years ago (edited)
There is a difference between 'atheist' and 'non-religious'. While there is overlap (certainly, most atheists are non-religious - though not all of them), they should not be conflated. One can be non-religious and spiritual, agnostic, indifferent - and all shades in between. Better title would have been 'What turned you off from religion?'
Sleepy Panda 2 years ago
A podcast host once said; The difference between me and your god is that if a saw a child being molested I would try my best to stop it and spare the child some trauma, your god would wait until they die to punish them, unless of course they ask for forgiveness right before. That definitely got me thinking.
Elaine Elder 2 years ago
Catholic: man goes out and gets drunk. Comes home, beats his wife and kids. Goes to church on Sunday. Asks God to forgive him his sins. All is forgiven. Goes home. Beats wife for not putting on enough make-up to cover the beating he gave her, because she made him look bad. Primitive Southern Baptist: man beats wife once a week and twice on Sunday. It's all fine. He was baptized and let Jesus Christ into his heart, he's saved, going to heaven. Don't even have to bother with church anymore. Just rinse and repeat.
Load More Replies... Israel Martinez 2 years ago (edited)
For me, it was having to listen to the 'devout' speak of how blessed they were when there were just as many devout followers that were suffering ... if you're blessed for having benefits that you attribute to your faith, the logic seems to be that the same ones that follow your faith are damned since they don't have the benefits you have ... never mind that the bible itself preaches against hoarding riches, but the biggest purveyors of religion happen to be ultra-rich ... there are so many reasons I became an atheist, but I can promise you, it wasn't out of ignorance ... a true atheist has done their homework ... we don't denounce religion because we encourage anything that makes you a better person towards yourself and others ... it's the exploitation through organized religion that we are against ...
Elaine Elder 2 years ago
It's in God's hands. God has a plan. God works in mysterious ways. We are a science fair project. There was a creator, now God is smoking, out behind the gym.
Load More Replies... Adrian 2 years ago
To relieve the boredom while in hospital I read the Bible (King James) cover to cover. Didn't seem to make much sense. I then read a history of how the New Testament was created - i.e. 900+ gospels (many of which were contemporary accounts) whittled down to 4 all of which were written way after the actual events. Was this the first example of censorship? There are so many holes in both the old and new testaments how could this be used to support anything - as a legal brief it would be chucked out of court. There is a joke "You spend the first 3 years of a kid's life getting him to walk and talk, then the rest of the time getting them to shut up and sit down". It dawned on me that Dr Spock had the first part covered and the Bible handled the rest. I came to the conclusion the Bible was intended as a means of control:- "shut up and don't ask questions, do as you're told and don't argue, don't rock the boat, work hard and give us your money".
Tami 2 years ago
Since the Bible was written, translated, and edited by humans over time, it's bound to reflect human motivations—greed, anger, desire, jealousy, cultural trends, and such. But there are common themes that show up in all religions, and those may be worth looking into.
Load More Replies... Izzi 2 years ago
Raised Catholic. Started questioning when I was really young, like five or six. I didn't understand why we'd praise a god who allowed evil and then blamed it on us even though he was almighty. Also, making someone kill his son and then, right before he does it, saying "lol it was just a prank bro"??!!
Terd Fergison 2 years ago
My grandparents were catholic and they tried to force it on me a little bit, but luckily my mother protected me. My mother would answer my questions honestly. Did a man really survive 3 days inside a whale or fish? No, I don't think so, she would say. I watched a ton of cartoons as a kid and my mom always helped me to establish what is fiction and what is nonfiction. The stories in the Bible always seemed like fiction to me, just like every other fiction book or show. I also had some great teachers in college show me where the Bible appropriated some of their stories from. Morality existed long before the Bible or jesus. Even codified morality existed long before the Bible in the Steele of Hammurabi.
buttonpusher 2 years ago
Raised Catholic and it never made any sense to me from an early age. I was also shot down when I tried to question anything. They really hate the "Where's the actual proof?" question. I also hated how church on Sunday took priority over everything else. If I was invited somewhere with friends on a Sunday I wasn't allowed to go. And going every time there was a f****n "holy day". I just believe there's more out there that we don't know and may never know. So religion isn't something I'm going to waste my time with.
Shelley McKinney 2 years ago
As a kid, I believed in God because people told me he was real. I believed in Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny for the same reason. As an adult, I started questioning things. The more questions I had, the more I didn't believe. There are way to many flaws and inconsistencies and interpretations for much of it to be true. If others want to believe simply because others have told them that its true than that is up to them. I'll need A LOT more corroborating evidence myself.
Elaine Elder 2 years ago
Only allowed to believe in the one true God. But also the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. So God has Multiple Personality Disorder. That explains everything and nothing.
Load More Replies... WilvanderHeijden 2 years ago
52 People Open Up About How They Became Atheists BECAUSE They Grew Up In Religious Families.
Elaine Elder 2 years ago
We are just a forgotten science experiment. Our end will ultimately be a mom cleaning out a bedroom to make a guest room, after God goes off to God college.
Awsomemom52 2 years ago
Just to be clear...I have no problem with "believers"...whatever religion they belong to (whatever makes you happy). Just don't don't try to "convert" me. For me, it was all the lies, the hypocrites, the unanswered questions... and the atrocities and crimes, that were and are still being committed "in the name of God". All this and the fact that there is obviously not only "the one true God", but a multiplicity of "gods" and religions. But the craziest thing is that every religion claims to be the "only one right"! Most religions are also not really based on love, but on fear...if you don't do what the religion dictates, you are "damned". If you need a religion to be a "good person", you are not actually a good person.
Ilia Bauer 2 years ago
My great-great aunt was in Catholic school. A nun was teaching the class. Nun: The Bible says "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them." My Aunt, a genuinely curious child, asked: "But sister, what about your rosary?" The nun immediately dragged her to the office and got her expelled. Not even an attempt to b******t handwave/excuse it. Just immediate expulsion. My family have been atheists ever since, and VERY vocal about how much trash religion really is.
Catherine Spencer-Mills 2 years ago
I went to church, stopped going but still sort of believed for years. I finally left when my youngest son had come home directly from school, started on his homework, and it was 9 pm and he still hadn't finished, hadn't had dinner and was crying. He has a learning disability. I asked myself, if god never gives you more than you can handle, why did he inflict my son? I can handle it, if with sorrow, but my son obviously can't. Why punish my son? Left religion and if I ever do "meet my maker" I'll do my best to kick him where it hurts - for my son.
alloutbikes@yahoo.com 1 year ago
That wasn't God, that was a poor school system. Hope your boy is well and happy.
Load More Replies... Elaine Elder 2 years ago
My mother's parents didn't go to church. Grandpa was invited to church and he packed the younger 5 or 6 kids with my Granny into car and went.. the preacher invited them back to his house for Sunday dinner. Preacher sat down at big table in a fancy room. The wife brought in 2 plates and put them on either end of long table. Brought in food and left room. Preacher said "sit, Sit!" Grandpa asked where his wife and kids were. "Oh they eat in kitchen" Grandpa picked up his plate and went to kitchen, where kids and wives were eating soup. He sat his plate down and said "Let's go" after that, he decided no church. My father decided he wanted to raise me in a church environment for the belonging to a community part, not the religious part. He went to a different church every Sunday for several months. Found a preacher he could talk to and respect. He took us the next Sunday. That preacher was sick and the substitute was all fire and brimstone. "You're going to Hell!" He was screaming and not saying words and screaming some more. He pointed at 4 year old me and screamed I was going to hell. I was bawling. My dad decided it was a sign from God not to raise me in a church community. So I was raised closer to Buddhism than Christianity in Georgia in the 70s and 80s. My husband was dragged to church every time the doors were open until he was 15, got a job and has only been back for funerals. I go to graveside funerals only. We want to be cremated. With an AC/DC cover band at the wake and a Viking burial with fireworks above our private lake. Celebrate the Life. Celebrate the Love. "... And Nothing Else Matters ..."
Mary Bricklin 2 years ago
Raised in a religious/atheist family (meaning my mom is Lutheran but my dad is atheist). I'll admit that I believed for a little while but after a few years of church and being told I should pray to God and believe in him and Jesus, I started questioning it. I don't remember anything specific but stuff bothered me, like the fact that I was going to church at the age of 4. Yeah, let's take young children to a place where grown ups tell us to believe in a magical overlord or we'll go to hell. It may not be brainwashing but it certainly seems close to it. What really ended things for me was going to church for my niece's baptism. The priest stood there droning on about holy water washing away the sins of her parents. My sister wasn't married to my niece's father so she was born out of wedlock. Then a few years later, here comes my nephew. He gets baptised and here's the priest talking about holy water washing away the sins of his parents. I remember being taught that children are innocent
Mary Bricklin 2 years ago
, that they bear no sins. Hearing the priest talking about the sins of the parents affecting their child really sealed it for me. Up until then, I considered myself agnostic but after that I'm definitely an atheist.
Load More Replies... Nikole 2 years ago (edited)
Thank you for this article! I stopped believing about 25 years ago because I finally realized it didn't make any logical sense. My dad is also a huge history/archaeology buff, so I was well-versed in the traditions and myths of older civilizations (as someone in the article mentioned about themselves as well). Oh, I was raised "Catholic" but neither of my parents were or are particularly religious.
Person #1,051 2 years ago
I asked my dad if he believed in god when i was 12. he said that even if god does not control what we do now, something- some one- must have started the big bang, and that was god. i think that is a good balance because you can still believe in evolution.
alloutbikes@yahoo.com 1 year ago
Adam and eve were the first homus erectus, the first to stand up. That's where all the other people came from. I always wondered who Cain and Able married.
Load More Replies... David Leick 2 years ago
I have perhaps the least dramatic epiphany of atheism. I was bussing tables when I asked myself if I ever believed in God. My answer to myself was no. Maybe it was picking up other people's dishes that affected my answer, but I never looked back.
Helen Haley 2 years ago
I was raised among some very, very catholic people. I tried really hard to believe, it did not work. Late teens/early 20's read up on a boatload of different religions, read several versions of the bible cover to cover, came out the other side atheist.
Sky Render 2 years ago
My father in particular was quite religious and forced the whole family to attend Christian church services throughout my childhood and even into my early teen years. I... never understood any of it when I was young. My Aspie mind couldn't fathom what any of it was supposed to mean, because none of it seemed relevant or to have any sort of logical connection to the world I knew. I came to think of it as a sort of deep fantasy that the adults were all really into for some reason. I briefly tried to get into it when I was about 10 or so, only to realize as I read the text that it was even less like what was said in church and even less relevant to the world around me. Around that time I stopped even caring, and at age 16 I formally declared myself an atheist. Strictly speaking, I always had been, but that was the point that I dropped all pretext and just admitted that religion was not for me.
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