spoiled brats not getting all their prayers answered? not enough loving as a kid?think that there is nothing greater then themselves?
2006-09-19 06:07:50 · 44 answers · asked by shamrocks_4ever 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
oh i foget to add.. do they think they are just so smart... they have life all figured out
2006-09-19 08:26:05 · update #1
oh i foget to add.. do they think they are just so smart... they have life all figured out
2006-09-19 08:26:07 · update #2
oh i foget to add.. do they think they are just so smart... they have life all figured out
2006-09-19 08:26:09 · update #3
actually i think it is the "think that there is nothing greater then themselves" option...
2006-09-19 06:08:57 · answer #1 · answered by WhiteHat 6 · 2⤊ 13⤋
Well I can only answer from personal experience as mine is from Christian to agnostic. It wasn't not getting prayers answered. I have had a very good and privileged life. I always thought it would be wrong to pray for things for myself since I knew so many who suffered from illness and want. My prayers for world peace and an end to world hunger haven't been answered but that wasn't what turned from Christianity. I had lots of love growing up and many wonderful opportunities.
What made me question was reading the Bible as a teen and finding many inconsistencies and problematic depictions of God. I had Bible study but the answers were unsatisfactory and the more I studied the more unsatisfactorily answered questions I had. Also, the supernatural elements that go against everything I have learned and observed about the way that the world works and what is possible. I have yet to see anyone raise from the dead, walk on water, get pregnant without sex, etc... I am highly skeptical these things occured. I think they were invented because such fanciful stories were prevalent in the mythologies of the day. This is only a problem though in the more conservative versions of Christianity as I know some don't require literal belief in these things.
I still believe there may be a Universal spirit or something of that sort but it is my personal beliefs that the religions of the world are invented by man trying to understand the world and lay down laws. I am fine with others believing their own way so long as they aren't bent on imposing it and I enjoy learning different aspects of different religions. I think many have something valuable to teach, especially in those areas where the message overlaps between faiths. Ex. love each other, be charitable, practice peace, etc...
Anyway, an honest and complete answer is a long one, much longer even than this.
2006-09-19 06:28:59 · answer #2 · answered by Zen Pirate 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I doubt it is that, sometimes people go through a cynical phase. They look around them, at the deaths, the murders, the rapes, the robberies, the general debauchery on this planet and they read about how their is a loving God that will provide all they need, if he lets them, they read about how this same God delivered an entire people from hardship in slavery. And then they turn on the news, mentally it doesn't coincide. They ask themselves "Would a loving, omniscient, omnipotent forgiving God allow this?" and they can't answer it themselves. They loose trust and faith that everything will turn out with faith, because it doesn't seem like it will.
Its not that their spoiled, or half-hearted, or narcissistic, its that they can't compute the difference between the bible and the world.
Also another reason I have seen that people turn away from Christianity, is that they were forced into it as a kid.
disclaimer: I am a christian, I am just looking at it from another view.
2006-09-19 06:14:41 · answer #3 · answered by sondra j 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Actually, that is what happens when someone learns to think properly. The willful ignorance and self-delusion that comprises religious 'belief' can not stand up against the glaring light of reason, logic and critical thought.
Science, logic, reason, and critical thought have long been regarded (by religious people) as the enemies of religion. Considering that those are the tools of highly intelligent people, it should not come as a huge shock to learn that intelligence (or lack of it) has some connection to religious belief. In fact, there are about 40 studies, conducted over the past 80 years or so, that reveal a statistically significant NEGATIVE CORRELATION between intelligence and religiosity. In plainer language, that means that they found that the more intelligent a person is, the LESS likely that person is to be religious... or, conversely, the LESS intelligent a person is, the MORE likely that person is to be religious.
If you think about it, those findings make a lot of sense. Intelligence tests mainly provide an indication of reasoning ability and problem solving ability... logic, reason and critical thought. These are the very qualities that see through religion, and recognize it for what it is; i.e., religion cannot survive the glaring light of reason and critical thought. This was well understood by important figures in religious history. This is why the early church destroyed all the 'tainted' (non-canonical) writings, which were in conflict with dogma... Greek philosophy, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, engineering... all the good stuff. By this means, Christianity dragged humanity directly into the Dark Ages.
Just to illustrate the point, let's see what Martin Luther, the 'father' of protestantism, had to say about 'reason' and secular knowledge:
"Reason must be deluded, blinded, and destroyed. Faith must trample underfoot all reason, sense, and understanding, and whatever it sees must be put out of sight and ... know nothing but the word of God." ~ Martin Luther
"Reason is the greatest enemy that faith has; it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but -- more frequently than not -- struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God." ~ Martin Luther
"There is on earth among all dangers no more dangerous thing than a richly endowed and adroit reason... Reason must be deluded, blinded, and destroyed." ~ Martin Luther
"Reason should be destroyed in all Christians." ~ Martin Luther
Christianity is essentially a criminal business enterprise... in fact, it is the world's longest running and most successful Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) scam. The product they are selling is the illusion of 'salvation'... and the 'pay plan' doesn't kick in until after you're dead. Meanwhile the VICTIMS (having been deceived into believing that it is their God-given duty) are out there busily recruiting MORE victims. What a racket! FORTUNATELY, it only works on those who are gullible enough, and sufficiently lacking in critical thinking skills, to fall for it, and buy in to the prepackaged delusion. UNfortunately, THAT accounts for about 75% of the population of the USA. (There are a lot more people who DON'T know how to think properly than there are people who DO know how to think properly.) That is why there are a lot more religious people in the USA than there are 'Free-thinkers'... including Atheists. Also, Christians are generally too dense to realize that proselytizing (spreading the 'good news') is a key element of the Christian MLM MARKETING PLAN, which was instituted after Christianity lost the political power that had previously allowed them to simply torture and kill anybody who did not comply. Now, they obliviously try to just pester and annoy people to death, through persistent obnoxiousness. If you stop to think about it, you will realize that Christians are very much like the Borg, on Star Trek Next Generation: "You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile." I would not be surprised to learn that thoughts of Christianity provided the 'creative spark' for the Borg concept.
2006-09-19 06:18:52 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 3⤋
I think it must be all the hypocritical religious leaders and theologians who speak lies. The soul dies when we die because we are the soul and the soul has also been referred to in the Bible as the life we have. Hell is NOT a place of eternal torment for the soul because at death the soul dies and God is a loving, merciful God and even the men who lived the longest never lived even 1,000 years. How would justice demand that a man be punished longer than he even lived??? C'mon people--don't turn away from God because of these liars!!
2006-09-19 06:27:47 · answer #5 · answered by Sparkle1 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
WOW! What bitterness! A typical "christian" trait it seems.
I'm an ex christian. The main reason I chose life instead of guilt and walking death, was due to discoveries that christianity(especially the OT) is pretty much made up from so-called "pagan" religions dating well before the third millennium BCE.
That and the observation that 90% of the "christians" I knew were nothing if not hypocrites and liars. Speaking of which...hello, you!
;)
2006-09-19 06:21:50 · answer #6 · answered by googlywotsit 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
People believe different things. Science presents us with theories in SCHOOL books that suggest there is no God, that this was all just a big boom, or we're here due to evolution. Now, if you're a teenager, and you're not too fond of your parents (as most teenagers are) and the public school system, hell, society in general, tells you there's no big man in the sky, and that there are more important things to consider...as an impressionable teenage mind, you're more likely to act on that rebellious nature and go with atheism and evolution. Some people, like myself, go from atheism to spirituality, but not back to christianity.
2006-09-19 06:19:32 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hopefully it's common sense that leads them to become an atheist. Perhaps a close study of scripture reveals inconsistencies that cannot be reconciled. For the Christian-come-atheists i know this is the case.
There are the fringe that do what you describe. They get "angry at god" for whatever reason and declare themselves atheists. Members of this group hardly ever stay an atheists for long.
2006-09-19 07:24:44 · answer #8 · answered by ChooseRealityPLEASE 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hypocrisy. Religion is based upon words written by men and translated by men. While the basic message is good, the interpretation and presentation is flawed. Too often it has been used as a means to attain power and wealth. There are too many contradictions.
2006-09-19 06:26:00 · answer #9 · answered by sloop_sailor 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
wow, judge people much? ye be walkin the plank shortly......bow to his noodly greatness!! I left christianity for many reasons....mostly because I found alot of errors in the "bible" that my pastor would only get frustrated and mad at me for bringing up....I was in search of truth....regardless of weather it cracked the foundation that had raised me...truth was more important than religion and tradition. I'm not a spoiled brat, had plenty of love as a kid and I don't think that I'm the greatest either....so much for your theory....how about trying to understand where people are really coming from before you judge them....the love your own master spoke of is clearly not found in YOU!
2006-09-19 06:32:14 · answer #10 · answered by Joeygirl 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't understand how anyone can become an atheist. I could never make that kind of a leap of faith. But I can tell you why I became an agnostic.
The first step was in realizing that a code of ethics does not flow from a belief in god -- but from a belief in man. After that, believing in god became extraneous to how I live my life.
The second step was in the realization that god, as portrayed by Christians (particularly Protestants) is evil. That god will send good men to Hell becuse they are not believers. I chose not to worship, honor or obey a god that uses the same criteria for sending men to Hell that Hiltler used for sending men to Auchwitz. From this, I realized that if there is a god -- he is not the god that is portrayed by Christians. Then I realized that if he is a worthy god, he isn't going to care if I believe in him or not.
Since there is no proof that a god who is worthy of my love exists, I couldn't make the leap of faith to believe in him. Therefore, I choose to be agnostic.
Since your question is one of the most un-Christianlike questions I've seen here, let me ask you why you turned from Christianity?
2006-09-19 06:20:17 · answer #11 · answered by Ranto 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋