How does one decide they believe in God one day and then decide they don't believe anymore?

Question

I have been on a forum that has many atheist I've been a Christian for 50 yrs but they know the Bible much better than I ever though about. I have had several tell me they were Christians but are not any longer and I don't understand this When the love of God dwells within you, then how can it just go away? I understand doubts sometimes especially when there's been tragedy - been there done that but God has not asked us to do anything that he himself has not done. I've lived through the death of a child, how can anyone not believe and who do they look to for strength and courage when something happeneds? I hear God's name taken in vain, I hear people who don't believe say the name of Jesus - not int the right way but still the fact that his name is repeated tells me there is some belief somewhere deep down

Answer 1

because they realize that god isnt real, it was just a man of power that people made up so that the catholic church could make lots of money from telling the same stories over and over again and by controlling the world.

Answer 2

1. It typically doesn't occur overnight. You don't wake up an atheist. Were it only that easy!

2. The reasons one becomes an atheist are as varied as the number of atheists. While some may have begun their journey as the result of "trials/hardships/trauma" it is far from being the most common reason.

3. Not everyone who has been a christian - or a theist in general - has had "the love of god dwelling within them." For some, they were ______'s because their parents were.

EDIT: Let me guess...I bet I got the down vote because I'm an atheist. Not because my answer is lacking in quality or accuracy. Hmm....lol

Answer 3

I still believe in God, but I don't believe in traditional organized religion anymore. I kinda understand where Jayelle is coming from, that people are brainwashed (as I was) into believing that the churches viewpoints mirror Gods completely
This is trash, God loves everyone equally and doesn't wish hell for ANYONE, why should we? I'm gonna be a little blunt here to you fundies, it's time to grow up!!!!!!

Answer 4

Usually, it happens when one actually examines their beliefs and realizes that god is imaginary.
It is a fantasy made up by people trying to understand things around them. Much like myths and legends, religion seeks to explain that which man could not comprehend, and control the behavior of others through fear.
Belief in religion is childish. Do you still believe in Santa Claus? The Easter Bunny? Of course not. These are ideas put in your head by you parents. Once you reach a certain age, you realize that a big, fat, jolly guy in a red suit traveling 1000's of miles in a few hours delivering presents through a chimney, is downright silly.
You start to grow intellectually, and certain aspects of
your belief in fairy tales become obsolete.
So why, knowing the many contradictions, impossibilities, paradoxes, etc. of religion, would you still believe?

Ask yourself this: "Why won't God heal amputees?"
Think about it, then visit the website;
www.whywontgodhealamputees.com

Answer 5

Me, too. Christian, student of the manuscripts for 35 years; in a three week period I lost a daughter, 4 friends in a car accident, an aunt, two uncles, three guinea pigs, one dog, my fiancee and his best friend.
If you really believe in God, and you are not just some person who likes to "play church", then I can't imagine just one day shutting down your entire belief system. That said, I hear lots of now-athiests who were Christians on this forum, too. Know what I think happened?
I think after hearing the complete garbage that is taught in the name of God, the lies, the contradictions, the hellfire and brimstone stuff, etc. - think they are sick of lies. And why in the world would someone expect a person who knows they've heard nonsense, to keep going along with it - blindly following it. Well the answer is that they shouldn't. Its unfortunate that they do not realize that the garbage they hear is not of God - its from man. And, God isn't any happier with it than they are. God states that when He returns this time, its with a rod of iron (thats for correction) - and guess who He's gonna visit first? The pulpits.
Gee, I wonder why...........
What is the real shame is that they throw out God instead of the church system who lies to them. Its like throwing out the baby with the bath water.
Of course, then there are others who come on this forum and literally go out of their way to do the work of satan. Those will get the rod of iron, too. Things will get straightened out -
God knows who's who.

Answer 6

Well sweetie, I was a die-hard believer for 20 years, and set out to investigate some things for myself, such as the historical evidence of Jesus' existence, and that there was only 1 god-man who died for our sins.. what I found was exactly the opposite.
By the end of my research, I could only conclude that Jesus did not exist as a real person, and that the god-man savior myth pre-dates "Jesus" by hundreds, if not thousands of years.

The fact that the name is repeated doesn't mean there's a belief in it.. otherwise, Santa, Zeus, Isis, Osiris, et al must be believed in as well.

Answer 7

Where do I begin?

None of my prayers were answered.

I attempted suicide twice in a matter of months due to tons of hypocricy I witnessed in my church and in the bible.

The interpretations were vast for a single scripture: You never get the same interpretation, no matter who you ask.

Bible-based churches are the worst of any church to belong. They're followers are the most hypocritical as the bible is extremely inconsistent.
*I moved away from my church and set out to invest most of my leisure reading up on the bible, and was shocked by its vast inconsistencies.

I no longer had an identity.

I was no longer allowed to associate with family and friends, according to my pastors at my church.

I was discouraged from taking up any friendships with homosexuals.

When I entered these quick and deep bouts of depression that led to my two suicide attempts, no one in the church came to visit me in the hospital. Hmmmmm....

I was placed on an ati-depressant which turned me into a complete zombie in which I felt absolutely no emotion about anything: no anger, no sadness, no happiness...absolute indifference!

After a month on the anti-depressants and when I was able to get back to a point where I could think on some level that was relatively clear, I marched right into my church with my bottle of meds in hand, and threw them at my pastor and never turned back.

This is when I decided, when my head finally cleared from these meds (Celexa), that I was going to thoroughly investigate the bible.

I cannot tell you how many inconsistencies I've read, how many hypocricies there are, how much hate-filled garbage there is in this "Good Book".

I've read the bible in its entirety when most Christians haven't, and don't think that just by following along during a sermon with a pastor is reading a bible!

Each book in the bible is full of so many hate-filled, mind-boggling information, that I am just astonished at how and why so many Christians can love their religion. It truly appauls me!

I even studied the Torah, Bible and Qu'ran, all, side-by-side, with my laptop as a back up and was so shocked by all that I'd read. I'd concluded that during the time that these books were written, and all the research that I'd done, that with all the inconsistencies, it was hard to tell if the people were coming or going. I believe that, through the years, these books have had numerous additions, deletes, and edits.

It's inconceivable to me how anyone can declare that a god exists just based on such garbage that cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

To conclude, almost immediately walking out of the church that day, and out of Christianity and religion, altogether, I had never been a happier person for making my own decisions.

Identity is a very important thing for a human to have in their lifetime. Without identity, a person is left confused and turns to all kinds of destructive actions and behaviors.

I was looking at a life of psych meds and total destruction staying with that religion. It amazes me how anyone can fall for such bull.

My best friend, my childhood friend, we've known eachother for 30 years--she's the most depressed and confused person I know. She's a bible-based Christian and started out consulting with her church peers, but now, within the recent years, has not. She's always been depressed and confused and I don't see how Christianity has helped her in her life. She lacks such confidence and determination that a person with her talents should have. It's a shame. She's been a Christian for 15 years.

I hope I have answered your question. There's so much more that I went through when I was with the church, but it's way to much to list on YA. All I know and can tell you is that my life has changed dramatically since leaving the church.

Oh, another thing I can tell you is that I went to Catholic school as a teenager and had similar results. There is a different kind of hatred in the Catholic church, among its members.

This bible-based church, yes, consisted of speaking in tongues, another reason I left.

Thanks.

Additions:

I would like to respond with regards to Jan, the know-it-all Fundie who thinks she has the answer to the reason for people leaving Christianity.

Christianity, my dear, is a man-made movement. The people make up this movement......the people! The people!!! How many times does this need to be said?

Christianity is inconsistent. The bible is inconsistent. There is NO love in the church, only judgement and rules. You have to follow so many rules and even the rules are inconsistent and the followers/believers cannot keep them straight. It's unbelievable! No wonder there are so many angry non-beliers in the world! The bible is evidence of this! The bible itself is evidence that such a belief system should not be followed.

You speak as if you knew this god personally. Have you met him? Have you eaten meals with him? Does he talk back to you? The amazing thing is that most Christians would say yes to my questions.

I would love to see a day when I don't get hounded by another Christian, but they will always come knocking on my front door.

Another reason I left the church was it was obvious they were after my money.

Answer 8

In my case, it wasn't God so much as some of his fan club. When I was 18, I was told that a woman would go to hell for loving a woman, but a man could kill many women and go to heaven if he "accepted Jesus" at the last second. Didn't seem right to me.

My story is below.

Answer 9

The love of God goes away when we turn our backs on Him. It is just like any other relationship. It requires work to keep it alive. The work a relationship with God requires is continuous prayer, reading scripture, and doing the things taught within those scriptures.

As soon as we start backing down on any of these things, we begin to lose our faith. Sometimes it is so slow, we don't notice that we are losing faith until it is already gone.

This comes from experience having been down the road to nearly losing faith. Fortunately for me I had some good strong, faith building experiences to fall back upon until I could rebuild my faith.

Answer 10

Also Satan knows the Bible very well. So when an atheist quotes the Bible it does not mean that he or she was once Christian. They may have been raised in a Christian home and strayed from the teachings of their youth. They may even have been baptized but never believed.

I really don't believe in atheist. When the times get rough, the atheist as a last resort will call on God. God says we are all without excuse to know Him. The soul declares there is a God.

Answer 11

For me it wasn't an overnight process, or a tragic event. It took a few yrs of learning and watching.
I find courage and strength in myself to overcome.