For those Atheist and Agnostic that once had religion..........?

Question

so many of you say you had a bad experience and turned away. Wasn't this due to people disappointing you and not God. if so why are you mad at GOD?

Answer 1

For me, being raised in a church, it was actually the lack of evidence supporting claims of "truth". It occurred to me that no benevolent being would stack the deck the way the church would have you believe, that would be a malicious act, and logically would negate the teachings of tolerance and love. Those as I have come to realize are just a veil to hide a vicious and malevolent nature. If there were a God, I am certain that he/she/it would be disgusted with humanity, and the vile things it does in his/her/it's name.

Answer 2

I never said I had a bad experience, and I'm not mad at God...I just don't think he exists.

I was born into the Catholic religion, then "saved" by the Christian church as a teenager. Looking back on those times I can tell you the following:

1) I never really understood religion or Christianity until I got older. When I turned about 17 or 18, I grew up, and started thinking more about Christian beliefs and realized I didn't believe any of them.

2) I don't think that there is enough proof for me to actually say, undeniably, there is a God. The Bible didn't cut it for me. It sounded more like a science fiction book.

3) The fact that Christianity is so against the thought of homosexuality (I have many friends and family and I'm a strong supporter of gay rights) and same sex marriage makes my stomach turn. I can't be apart of a religion that doesn't practice the idea of open-mindedness and acceptance.

4) I think most younger adults (teenagers and younger) follow a religion because their family and friends do it. Some stick with it because they truelly believe, while others find that they grow out of it and choose to believe or not to believe what they want to. I was one of those people.

I'm not mad at your God, because I don't believe in his existance. I never had a bad experience, I just never received answers that I longed for as a teenager to prove to me, without a doubt, that he exists.

Answer 3

Why should you assume that we are mad at God? An Atheist does not accept the concept of God. If you accept the existence of God than you must also accept the belief in a cruel, vindictive, sadistic being who randomly destroys a quarter million in a Tsunami and a few hundred with a Hurricane and several thousands with an earthquake. The events go on century after century ad infinitum. Why in the world would anyone want a belief that carries this kind of baggage? You should read my new book, "Jesus - Myth or Reality?" It is a definitive recording of the truth about religion and beliefs.

Answer 4

It didn't happen that way for me. I never really believed in all that stuff people were telling me about some God. It never made sense. However, it was a particular experience that drove home my true feelings and gave me a clean break from that God business. I can't say that I ever actually had a religion, though.

For most people who have the type of experience you describe, it all culminates in one event that makes their true beliefs very clear. It's not that some event turned them from God. It's that they already didn't believe and needed an out.

Answer 5

I'm not mad at god. I never was. I came to the conclusion that all religions are mostly based on each other. Large themes and some specific examples appear in most of the major religious texts. I decided that, to me, this implied human agency in the texts. Which left me with two conclusions: (a) a divine power exists, but isn't communicating with us, so all religions are irrelevant or (b) there is no divine power, we're making all this up.

Answer 6

Ok, I'm not sure what I beleve anymore, so don't base this upon an Atheist ground.

I grew up never believing in God. My whole family was very Baptist, as my mother stood firmly on faith, and my dad (who is a little more worldly) was a minister for 7 years. Although my dad quit after realizing he didn't want to be like all the other Christian preachers (he is a rocker at heart, and fairly rebellious), I still grew up very engulfed within Christian morals and teachings. I always tried to be a 'faithful', 'god-like' girl, wanting to take after my sister. When my sister got saved, I got saved. When my sister prayed, I prayed. My 'walk' with God was always a mimick of my sister's. After I realized that I needed something more than my sister's life, I realized that God wasn't telling me anything anyway. I tried to pray, I got baptized again, and I tried to get interested in church. God has never talked to me. A mix of this and stress from moving so much (family wasn't so wealthy) caused my faith to decrease so much, and now, it is almost non-existant.

Ok, sorry I talked so much, but you asked.

Answer 7

I can't be mad at someone/something that I'm not convinced exists. On the other hand if I knew for sure that God does in fact exist as the Bible would have you believe, then I would have a lot of things to be mad at God for.

Answer 8

I didn't have a bad experience. I had a great experience. I realized that belief is bad for your health.

I am not mad at god - there is no god - how can you be mad at something that doesn't exist. It's like saying I'm mad at unicorns.

FP

Answer 9

I dont waste my time harboring ill feeling towards mythical creatures. I am not mad at God. I cannot swallow a faith that says that a perfect omniscient God created an imperfect creature in man, then blames and punishes man for his shortcomings, then this God has to send his son to die (which, he should have, in his omniscience SEEN COMING) for mankind to save them from the wrath of God himself...and then this God demands worship OR ELSE??

I cant beleive your not mad at him to for being such an egomaniacal jerkoff.

Answer 10

I never had a "bad experience" and turned away, i just don't think there is a god/gods.