ex-religious people?

Question

when did you lose your faith?
i lost it when i was 7 to 9 years old.

Answer 1

Lost it in college. . . but have since been reunited with it. :)

Answer 2

I lost belief in religion, but I did not lose faith in God. I suppose I "officially" decided to leave my church about 10 years ago. Maybe a little less. More and more I became unable to be part of something that condemned so many. It didn't make sense to me. I decided to step back from it, and have been content with that since.

Answer 3

I grew up in a non-practicing Catholic family and I've been on and off (gaining and losing) faith all my life. None during childhood, on at eleven with first communion; off at beginning of puberty; on at end of puberty, beginning young-adulthood; off beginning higher education until 1983 when I converted to Evangelical Christianism. From there on I was a faithful, active church member; off again in 1995 to this day.
Many factors (mostly doubts and second thoughts) have contributed to this alternation in my faith. I believe in God, was a devout Bible reader but found inconsistencies in the Holy Scriptures as well as things I could not accept of a Supreme Being that is said to be LOVE. Furthermore, having to deal with hypocrisy of fellow church members and clerical sex scandals just chilled my faith to sub-zero temperatures.

Answer 4

around middle school. Was intensely anarchist until late high school. now at end of college and am lightly christian/agnostic. I suspect w/in a few more years I'll be a full blown evangelical christian again, lol.
people have predictable cycles or religious faith depending on where they are in life. when the going gets tough, the tough get religious. life is easy for you in your youth, but I think it's something of a psychological necessity to have religion as you go through the drama of failed relationships and getting older.

Answer 5

My answer to a similar question was the answer to this- at 7 when I was about to receive communion- and was told that the Holy Spirit will fill you with great joy- and I watched the children in front of me in line to receive and each one smiled after receiving-- then my turn- and guess what? I felt a dry flaky wafer in the center of my tongue and no radiance or happiness or glee--for years I allowed their deceitful brainwashing to continue to depress me since I felt nothing- I almost drowned at age 7 because the nuns taught us that it was a mortal sin to look at your body and you can be damned to hell, and don't eat meat on Fridays- definite ticket to hell, and ALways church on Sundays- or another ticket to hell and then one day, a guy comes around and calls himself the pope and decides we can eat meat on Fridays and church on Sundays? well, there's too many people and I won't get my golf game in so start coming on Saturday night---The point is, as all parents should know, YOU DON'T TELL CHILDREN NOT TO DO SOMETHING BECAUSE IF YOU DO, THIS WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCE, AND THEN GO AND CHANGE YOUR MIND TO SUIT YOUR NEEDS......mental torture, that is what it was.... I grew up hating myself and thinking I was evil or filled with the devil as the nuns would call it....and no self esteem because I was belittled into thinking I was not good enough to "feel" God...................

Answer 6

age 30

Answer 7

I finally walked away at 30. But I questioned it from age 24.

For me, leaving a particular religion is not the same as abandoning God or the bible.

Answer 8

Agnostic about 11.

Answer 9

I lost it when I woke up at the age of 23. Have never gone back since. I'm almost 40.

Answer 10

Yes?

Oh, around 16. I'd been questioning for about half a year prior, though.

Answer 11

10 i wondered how people could be so devoted to something they didnt understand and i also saw all the ways religion was being used as a propaganda tool