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30 Things That Shook People’s Faith In Religion, As Shared In This Online Group
There are certain things that, if we value peace and quiet, we don’t talk about. Namely the holy trinity of topics which are musical taste, politics, and religion. But here we are, talking about religion.
But instead of preaching, the lovely people of Reddit are sharing stories of experiences that made them drastically rethink the whole concept of faith, losing it in the process.
In particular, this thread has been going viral lately after someone asked folks to share what exactly ruined religion for people, and getting over 48,600 upvotes with nearly 39,000 comments along the way.
So, sit back, relax, and read through the frustration that is losing one’s religion in our curated list of the best answers below. And while you’re at it, poke that upvote button, comment your own opinions and stories and whatnot, and consider checking out any other question from Reddit that we’ve discussed here.
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#1
As a kid, it was boring. As a teen, it brought nothing into my life. As an adult, it's hard to ignore all the corruption, greed, sexual improprieties and contradiction.
Ultimately, if there was a god, this is the best it can do? I'm not impressed.
DennyS (denzoren) 2 years ago
I have to agree with your sentiments. I always wonder the same....especially like, why are babies born with diseases and pain? They did nothing to deserve that....why are children being killed daily? They have done nothing wrong.
RELATED:
#3
So many things but the final straw for me was my church asking a homeless man to leave and not come back. He would sit and listen to the sermons never bothered anyone and always sat in the very back. I confronted my youth group leader and she defended the preacher.
#4
When I was 6 years old, the pastor gave a letter to my aunt to give to my mom saying that we were not donating enough money to the church. So we stopped going, and I have never been to church since.
#5
The expectations for women to be subservient to men and have no further aspirations than “wife and mother”.
#6
I worked at a restaurant near a church on Sundays. Rudest bunch of people ever.
#7
It quickly became evident that many people who call themselves religious, only do so to feel morally superior to others around them, and then use that superiority to try to control everything they can.
Nikki Sevven 2 years ago
Which is morally superior, though? Subsuming morals that have been imposed on you by a church, or developing your own morals based on the idea that you should treat others the way you would like to be treated in similar circumstances? The latter actually requires self-reflection and thought, and can be modified as the times change. The former merely requires blind obedience and, apparently, judgment of others.
#8
As a kid, someone explaining to me that my dog that just passed away wouldn't be in heaven. I'd never see him again. Because dogs can't accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior. So he was going to hell.
Pretty much done with it after that.
#9
Being told it was gods plan after my mother suffered through chemotherapy, and still passed away. I have no interest in a god who’s plan includes cancer
MarmotArchivist 2 years ago
Sayings something like this to someone who lost their mother. This makes me want to punch them in the face.
#10
When I realized the Bible wasn't written by God/Jesus and it was written by man and was written like 200 years after Jesus's death. Like I can't even 100% trust the word of a good friend who heard something from someone else in 2022, let alone some game telephone from 2000 years ago.
Nikki Sevven 2 years ago
Also, rules that would have made perfect sense for the protection of a tribe in the Bronze Age (most of Leviticus) make absolutely no sense in the modern world. We can eat shellfish now, because we have freezers. We can get tattoos and piercings, because we have autoclaves. And so on.
#11
There’s a short period of time where most of the religion started. Everything prior is mythology and everything after is a cult. Hmm, how convenient.
Ozacoter 2 years ago
This is one of the biggest problem with traditional religions. They originate in ancient times, brutal, violent and sexist. How is it logical to follow rules that were developed thousands of years ago in a very different society? I dont need bronze and iron age people to tell me how to behave, how to dress, what to eat or whom to love.
#12
Going to a megachurch.
They received over 1 mil in donations every weekend and spent it on elaborate props and videos rather than helping the community in any meaningful way.
#14
I was 6 years old in a Saudi elementary school. There was this one Christian Bosnian kid whose dad was a butcher, he was incredibly kind and often gave me delicious smoked meat sandwiches.
The thought of him going to Hell as a non-Muslim was illogical, and made me question religion for the first time.
Jamie Sterling 2 years ago
When I was 12, I was told you had to believe in Jesus to go to heaven. I asked what about the other people in other countries that never even heard about Jesus. I was told they weren't going to heaven. My God wouldn't keep good people out of heaven just because they didn't know about Jesus. Goodness and kindness get you into heaven, not Jesus or religion in my belief system. I'm a nurse.
#15
The non-answers to all my questions as a kid. "You just have to have faith" is a dumb way to respond to an inquisitive mind.
#16
I started caring about what is actually true.
All the contradictions of every religion melt away when you can simply acknowledge all religions are man-made.
#17
Religious people.
Enlee Jones 2 years ago
Some of the most vile and bigoted people I have known would call themselves “good Christians” with a straight face. It seems like half the people I went to high school with wound up being ultra right-wing zealots who believe everything they read on Breibart.
#18
My dad had cancer for 10 years and then he passed away when I was 14 years old. I thought I was having a good heart to heart with my small group leader about it.
She asked if my dad was "a man of God" because she wanted to make sure he isn't "burning in Hell"
Who the f**k says that to a grieving child? So completely insensitive. It took me several months to fully realize the weight of that conversation with her before I left religion altogether.
Izzy Curer 2 years ago (edited)
Setting aside the obvious reasons for why this was terrible, what, exactly, was the mf point in asking this? Let's assume for a moment that hell exists. What could be done about anything at that point? What could the kid do? What could the group person do? Nothing.
#19
My mother. She instilled some serious shame into me under the guise of God. Some things she said:
-Not allowed to believe in Santa because that takes credit away from God. Santa was actually a hand of Satan trying to corrupt me
-Not allowed to believe in the Easter Bunny because it was also a hand of Satan trying to corrupt me away from Jesus.
-I wasn't allowed to feel pride in my accomplishments because it's a sin
-I was a d**khead because my dad got me fully vaccinated as a child and that is against God's plan
-Hollywood is operated by Satan so I wasn't allowed to watch movies or shows (especially Disney)
-Harry Potter was an absolute no because witchcraft is an affront to God
-Scientists should not be trusted under any circumstances
-My rare genetic condition was part of God's plan and I'd understand some day
-Not allowed to say "damn" because it's an affront to God
-etc
That combined with her regular, not religious abuse has left me struggling a lot with my religiosity.
#20
Sermons alternated between asking for money, telling us LGBT people were bad, or telling us we were all worthless sinners without God.
Left church every Sunday feeling like s**t. One week, I just decided I'm not going back.
I don't miss it.
#21
I was like 15 and playing an instrument in the “worship band” for the most popular “youth group” in the area (which is a verrry Christian area). At one point the pastor dude was praying and the musicians were behind him waiting to play when he was done. The whole room (200+) had their heads bowed as dude was praying. Then his prayer went into the whole “here’s what you pray if you want to become a Christian right now” yada yada yada.. then at the end he says
“Ok everyone keep your heads bowed, eyes closed. Now if you just prayed that prayer with me I want you to look up - everyone else keep your heads bowed- but if you just now gave your life to Jesus look up at me or raise your hand so I can see you”
I’m behind him, and facing the crowd who have their eyes closed so I decide it’s safe to take a peek. I discreetly look up and notice that exactly ZERO people in the crowd are looking up at him. Every single person still has their head bowed, eyes closed. (Which is fine, I mean maybe they were all already Christians?) However, as I’m looking at nobody responding, Mr Pastor starts saying “ok I see you there”, “oh I see another over there, Amen” “and you back there, praise god”. “Yes I see you over there, amen come find me afterwards”. It was perplexing to see him lie to so many people like that. And this wasn’t some nobody youth pastor, he was like quite legit having written books and being mentioned in national articles and stuff
TLDR; an acclaimed youth pastor tried to make it seem like his prayer had converted several people, when I could clearly see it had not
Nikki Sevven 2 years ago
I always get a chuckle when I see Christian tattoos, since Leviticus strictly forbids them.
#22
The fact that there are multiple but I was taught that only ONE is correct
#23
The fact that if you're not in my religion, you're kinda f**ked in the afterlife. I didn't choose my religion, so what makes me so special?
#24
My parents pulling an exorcist on me. On their own. Screaming at me that I wasn’t their son but that there was a demon inside of me...
And more but that is the main thing tbh that has made me more an ant-theist than just an atheist
#25
Honestly having to go to church as a little kid. Felt like an endurance test every Sunday to just get through it. Like, dude I’m 6 I wanna play with my action figures or be outside or game. I don’t wanna fight the fidgets in the pew listening to adults breathy sing to tired hymns while I just want it to end so I can go be a kid on the weekend. Then as I got older all the obvious reasons you see everywhere, the contradictions, violence, stupidity etc
Who Panda 420 2 years ago
They did make it really tough on children. Some Churches had fun Sunday School or catechism classes but then you had to sit through Mass afterward. It felt like the worst punishment to sit still and be quiet for so long.
#26
There was never an answer.
I wanted to believe desperately.
I wanted to and I begged God to allow me to be doubtless. I tried and tried and tried to make it work. To make it fit.
I asked questions. I wondered. I pondered. I just got to a point where there were no more answers. No one had an answer that made sense.
Nothing that the next person couldn’t alter or contradict. Nothing that was ‘set’ or ‘fixed.’ It was all up in the air and I just needed more faith.
I tried. I really did. But my mind just won’t allow it anymore.
Foxxy (The Original) 2 years ago
That's exactly how I feel. I ask a question, get answers but the answers end up giving me more questions. It just goes on and on and a lot of the time the answers don't make sense or just not logical etc.
#27
Being told I was going to rot in hell every time I made a simple mistake
#28
Having to confess my “sins” as a 10 year old.
M O'Connell 2 years ago
Didn't you just make up random s**t? That's what I did. The penance was always the same, which made it even more funny.
#30
former catholic, current atheist here. i am fortunate enough to not have had any severely traumatic experiences involving the church. but, i grew up in the church and i used to love to sing the hymns. as i got older i started to realize what the words i was singing meant. i really didn’t like how some of the hymns/songs called us as people “nothing” compared to god. i don’t really agree with devaluing and trivializing ourselves and our problems as part of worship. that is what really did it.
What do you think ?
Jose Ortiz 2 years ago
I grew up as a Jehovah Witness. When i was around 16 i had a love interest in a girl from the church that was 15. I was told she could not be my girlfriend because she was spoken for. The male was in his mid to late 20s. Also my sister got pregnant at age 17, before they shunned her, they asked in full graphic details on the details on that night that my now niece was conceived. Sick sick motherfu*kers. I'm getting angry just typing this. The "elders" in that religion are just high ranked pedophiles that do not call authorities for any reason.
Tamra Stiffler 2 years ago
Ohhh, the JW's are definitely on my s**t list. Had two knock on my door, and I wanted to be polite, so I allowed them to come in. Offered them tea. We talked about lots of things, as I'd just had my third miscarriage and was looking for answers, comfort... something. And with a smile on their faces, they told me my miscarriages were god's punishment of me for my sins.
Load More Replies...
Sky Render 2 years ago
My father ruined it for me. Bastard abused his own family in horrific ways, yet thought he was some sort of saint because he went to church. And the church's members looked up to him as some sort of pillar of community, not realizing how vile he really was. Definitely was one of those "I can do whatever I want and I'll be forgiven for it" sorts who uses religion as an excuse to be a terrible human being.
everyone's favorite person 2 years ago
I realized I was LGBTQIA+, and my parents' religion believes that you need to hide that identity and pretend to be cishet your whole life. that's not something I want, so i started actually thinking about their church and I realized there were many things I didn't agree with. Religion isn't bad necessarily, but it's not for me.
Jude Last 2 years ago
Whatever gets you through the night is how I feel, and I agree with George Carlin: "Religion is like a lift in the shoe, and I say just don't ask me to wear your shoes. And let's not go down and nail lifts onto the natives' feet."
Load More Replies...
Jose Ortiz 2 years ago
I grew up as a Jehovah Witness. When i was around 16 i had a love interest in a girl from the church that was 15. I was told she could not be my girlfriend because she was spoken for. The male was in his mid to late 20s. Also my sister got pregnant at age 17, before they shunned her, they asked in full graphic details on the details on that night that my now niece was conceived. Sick sick motherfu*kers. I'm getting angry just typing this. The "elders" in that religion are just high ranked pedophiles that do not call authorities for any reason.
Tamra Stiffler 2 years ago
Ohhh, the JW's are definitely on my s**t list. Had two knock on my door, and I wanted to be polite, so I allowed them to come in. Offered them tea. We talked about lots of things, as I'd just had my third miscarriage and was looking for answers, comfort... something. And with a smile on their faces, they told me my miscarriages were god's punishment of me for my sins.
Load More Replies... Sky Render 2 years ago
My father ruined it for me. Bastard abused his own family in horrific ways, yet thought he was some sort of saint because he went to church. And the church's members looked up to him as some sort of pillar of community, not realizing how vile he really was. Definitely was one of those "I can do whatever I want and I'll be forgiven for it" sorts who uses religion as an excuse to be a terrible human being.
everyone's favorite person 2 years ago
I realized I was LGBTQIA+, and my parents' religion believes that you need to hide that identity and pretend to be cishet your whole life. that's not something I want, so i started actually thinking about their church and I realized there were many things I didn't agree with. Religion isn't bad necessarily, but it's not for me.
Jude Last 2 years ago
Whatever gets you through the night is how I feel, and I agree with George Carlin: "Religion is like a lift in the shoe, and I say just don't ask me to wear your shoes. And let's not go down and nail lifts onto the natives' feet."
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