How many people were born and raised Christian, but left that religion?

Question

It has to be in the hundreds of millions. When I see the ignorance, hypocrisy, gullibility, and hate of the Christians on this site now, I remember why I left.

Answer 1

I was born into a christian family, and heavily involved in the church. Youth group, choir, retreats, the whole bit.

I started asking questions when I hit around age 10 .. and noone would offer answers short of "because". It was eventually made clear to me by our parish priest that I had 2 choices. Quit asking questions or burn in hell.

As soon as I left home I started researching. I read everything about religion I could get my hands on, devoured the bible over and over again, and cringing at the misconceptions, contradictions and impossibilities this fiction book offered.

After several years of wandering and research, I'm a self proclaimed atheist, who shakes my head sadly at the amount of death and destruction done in the name of christianity.

"Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented, there is no more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifiying to man, more repugnant to reason, and more contradictory to itself than this thing called Christianity. "
- Thomas Paine

Answer 2

People with hate and ignorance (etc.) are not real Christians.

Christianity is not about putting a label on yourself, memorising a few quotes from the bible or even necessarily going to church. It is about coming to know and love the person who is God, for real, not make believe.

I have to answer both yes and no to your question. (was, but left, left and discovered what true christianity is)

I was brought up catholic and i never had any particularly bad epxerinces as such. My dad is very gentle and pious man but he doesnt know much about God, I think. I think he's quite pleasing to God in small ways so that probably makes him somewhat Christian. Mum too. I was a bit bored in church, though i liked the opportunity to sing songs and stuff. I always wondered, where is God, is he behind the pulpit, in the tabernacle, where?

When i was 17 - 21 I probably would have said i was an atheist. I lived the regular life of a uni student playing with all life's pleasures. I got bored and sick of that too and was searching for something else - I didnt know what. When i was 24 I came across a disciple of Jagad Guru who is a bona fide spiritual master in the Gaudiya Viasnava Sampradaya, that is a long line of spiritula teachers who follow in the footsteps of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Caitanya teaches love for God. Jesus taught love for God. They are very close. They appeared at different times but they are close. There is a lot of info missing form the bible about God and Who hei is and how we might come to love him. The angry so called Christians don't have this info.

Now that I have a living spiritual master who knows the absolute truth I actually understand who Jesus is. I am actually happy. I am actually, well trying to be, a true Christian.

A true Christian is rare.

Answer 3

Well, you're talking about the human race. There is so much hypocrisy, gullibility and hate...but I can't really choose not to be human anymore. I think the concept of God is good, organized religion however is slightly less ( ok make it a whole lot less). But sometimes, we need other to validate whatever we're feeling so people go to church and believe everything that comes out some other human that convinced them that they reached a higher spiritual level..
Anyway, it's all a part of life, there's the good, the bad and the ugly. Good luck.

Answer 4

Dear Larry,

Nobody, absolutely nobody is "born" a Christian.
One can be born and brought up in a Christian family, hopefully becoming a Christian.

I was brought up in a church by my dad who was not a Christian even though he did many many good things. My mom is a jw and ridiculed Christians.

I was away from church for many years because I was waiting for my husband to be ready to go with me. It wasn't until my life fell apart at the seams that I was born again.

True Christians are not perfect but are Works in Progress. We hate the ignorance, hypocrisy, gullibility and hatred that you hate, but my hunch is that you are looking at those who practice "religion" but are not in Relationship with the One who saves them.

I think it was Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest that made me realize that the church is the greatest hiding place for Satan's people.

Answer 5

I was raised Roman Catholic and fell of the wagon years ago. I get the feeling the vast majority of those who follow that religion are simply going through the motions without really feeling anything, like I was when I was a child.

The real challenge is finding another religion that you can allow yourself to open up to.

The religion I lean towards now is one that I won’t preach to anyone but focuses more on spirituality than any other I know of. It’s one of the few non-hypocritical religions in the history of the world as well. It teaches peace, open-mindedness and tolerance; everything Christianity claims to hold to but fails to deliver.
.

Answer 6

In my mind I left at the age of ten, and publicly (to my family) at the age of 15.

Now, what would cause a ten years old to rejecting Christianity? I wasn't old enough to understand the hypocrisy, the feuding between the denominations, the rampant corruption and crime in the churches, the bigotry, prejudice, discrimination and Victorian attitudes towards sex.

Nope. For me it was the sheer absurdity and silliness to think that I had to worship an invisible "something" in order to be valued in life, or that my immortal soul was forever in jeopardy if I didn't obey this "something's" rules.

The light bulb popped on 30 years ago, and hasn't gone out since.

Answer 7

I was raised a Christian, and could not accept the fact that they said Jesus was G-d. My G-d would not come to earth in human form. When I asked questions, the answers were always ''because'' or ''it's a miracle''.

It took me till I was in my late 20s before I finally said I could not take anymore of all of it. I had always studied the Mid-east history of the Jewish people, and felt a closeness with them. I studied the religion, and felt this is where I belonged. 1/2 a life time later, I couldn't be happier.

Answer 8

I used to be a Christian but soon I grew tired of all the hypocrisy surrounding religion. I also started learning how to think more rationally. Eventually I learned that talking to invisible men in the sky is useless.

Answer 9

I did after I kept getting told by the preacher and staff every time I asked a difficult question "Don't question God. Just believe. Questioning God makes you a bad christiand and we don't want to have that, now do we?". I converted to Islam, and needless to say, my mother who is totally supportive still attends that church and they HATE the fact that I didn't blindly listen to them.

I remember why I left. It was after reading "the very birth of a girl is a total loss". That a father can rape his daughter. That a father can sell his daughter into slavery. That the prophet Lot offered up his two daughters to be raped by angels, and when they refused did them himself and had children with him and nobody protested against that. I mean, HECK, if christians want to get on Muhammd (PBUH) for doing exactly what the rest of the world in that time did, why don't they look in their own bible at a father committing incest with his own children?

That's why I left. I know God isn't that hateful towards females. In Islam, women are able to do just as much as men, although the men are supposed to act like men in the first place. If they don't, there is nothing wrong with a woman living on her own and being a single mom if she so chooses.

Answer 10

I was
I've got past the hate of christianity though. Just feel sad and bewildered for them.
You should move on too.

EDIT
ES, it is always laughable to me when believers hear I used to be a christian that they just assume I "never really was a 'proper' one" by whatever misuse or misinterpretation of scripture they choose. The arrogance that because I deliberately rejected it meant I didn't REALLY understand or believe.
But I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal saviour, and knew he'd shed his blood and died for my sins and rose again and ascended unto heaven. I believed all of that.....at one time.
And yes, I have completely rejected it as lies and mythology....the same way I came to realize Santa Claus was just a made up story. Some of us grow up and move on with reality...some of us cling to pointless delusion.