Former Christians: Why did you leave christianity?

Question

Do you remember the exact moment, thought, or revelation that made you change?

I'll put mine here, but don't let it bias the question please.
I was reading a book about how the military trains people to remote view(similar to psychic viewing) and wanted to learn it. The thing was is that they said in order to do it, you must clear your mind completely of thought and enter a Zen like state.

So I sat on my bad thibnking that if I wanted to learn this, I have to unlearn my previous convictions and beliefs. A big moment in my life.
Since then, I am very passionate about learning all religions, beliefs, and most importantly science, because there is so much to offer and ways to connect to all peoples of this planet.

You?

thinking ..sorry typo

Answer 1

Well, I was 18 years old, and I finally realized that Christianity just didn't make sense to me anymore. It just didn't add up. It's been kind of a gradual process over several years for me to go from a devout Christian to an atheist, but I'm very happy with my decision. It makes sense to me:)

Answer 2

I was raised a Catholic, was made to go to church, Sunday school....etc. Christianity never seemed to make sense. Heck, the bible seems to be a bunch of half truths to me. Try as I might, it all felt like a bunch of lies. I've been searching for answers over the years reading books and using the internet. From what I've observed in society and what I've read, it seems to get clearer everyday. At first I was disgusted and embarassed about ever believing everything I was taught. Then I felt relieved and like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. I have never felt more at peace with myself. I may not believe in any god or religion anymore but I will say this: I feel more spiritual than I have ever felt in my life. I don't think many people could possibly understand how I feel.

Answer 3

Ever since I was a young kid, I questioned and questioned and thought about God. I saw contradictions with the way the world was -- the predator/prey model (life feeds on life), mortality, etc. I spent YEARS searching and reading and praying and coming to the conclusion that the bible is 100% not the original message of Jesus. I became an atheist but kept an open mind which allowed me to further discover that there's much much more than what both atheism and the ego-based religions (judaism, islam, christianity, etc.) teach.

Answer 4

It was a number of things. In college I read a great number of books, two I recommend, Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan and The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins. Along with classic literature, Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, 3 Musketeers, The Inferno, Crime and Punishment, etc. Religious literature, Mahabharata, Bible, Book of Mormon, Tao Te Ching.

Along with being a science major I was a Philosophy minor. Once I was able to understand logic and evidence I realized that Christianity was logically contradictory and ethically disgusting.

Answer 5

In my soul, I was not satisfied. The Hell thing threw me off. That tilted me off the religion rocker. I mean, seriously. Think about it. Why would an omniscient, omnipotent being (God) need to punish us in an afterlife if this being already knows our destinies and what paths we have traveled before, will travel here and now, and in the next life? Silly. I dropped it like a bad habit after 2 long years of trying to be something I was not.

I still beleive in Jesus though. I beleive his message to the world was corrupted by man, and wrongly written however. Er, what "holy" text hasn't had some human help being tainted though.

Answer 6

I didn't leave it.. I reverted back to truth. Gandhi said it best.. "I would turn to Christianity if it were not for Christians... here's a line I really like from a youtube vid from Eric Schwartz..

So you’re screaming bloody murder
'Bout the Taliban regime
For subjugating women
And being too extreme
And basing legislation
On some ancient holy book
Does that sound a bit familiar?
Here's a mirror, have a look

The bible has become a platform (AGAIN) for hate, prejudice and murder.. it is sickening to watch because NO where in the bible is this kind of behaviors supported!..Christians cannot even agree amongst themselves what it right and wrong. Look at all the splinter religions based on this one book, they all fight each other and every other religion on the planet.. and do so to the death. In the bible this is CLEARLY outlined as SIN. and yet they carry out their atrocities in the name of god.. what a crock of decayed fecal matter!

Answer 7

A lot happened in my life, which I prayed would stop and it didn't. Surely an all powerful god would be able to help one little kid. Then, my perspective broadened to all the other suffering in the world that god just lets happen. It just got to a point I realized that it didn't make sense. That and at a young age, I was forced to watch a movie about the rapture, which left me traumatized for years. In the process of getting over the fear that god was going to take my family away if I wasn't a good little christian, my fear began to unravel and questioning god's existence began....

Answer 8

When I was told masturbation was a sin and I found out doctors thought it was healthy. I also decided that the whole thing was a load of bunkum not long after that, when I tried to tell a friend about my beliefs and realised I was just parroting what I'd been told to believe. I was about 17.

Answer 9

I saw that there were toehr religions that spoke to me more. I became Buddhist over studing it and understanding that it agrred with what I have always believed. Even when I was Christian, I believed in reincarnation, even though I didn't know there was a word for it. I studied both Hinduism and Buddhism studiously for awhile and decided that Buddhism best fit my needs, there were a few years though, when I became irritated with Christianity and left it on my own will without having a religion.

Answer 10

I was raised baptist.. hellfire and brimstone baptist which is rare in New England but you find a few here and there. When I was 15 the Pastor told me I had no choices in life, my pattern of sin was set and there was no redemption from it. I had no freewill. So I exercised my freewill and walked out and never went back. I've been much happier ever since.