What made you convert/deconvert?

Question

People of faith: what did you believe, what do you believe now, and what led you to your conclusion?

People who left their faith: what did you believe, what do you believe now, and what led you to your conclusion?

Answer 1

I was a Catholic. I'm an atheist now. Rationality and acceptance of reality lead me to the only logical conclusion.

Answer 2

I was christian, but I never really believed in it. I just followed it because it was the religion my parents brought me up to practice. I read the whole bible, different translations from different religions and it made no sense, I prayed for guidance and I was given dawah from Islamic Monotheism which is the belief that: No diety has the right to be worshipped except Allah. And Allah means Almighty God. I did research and I came into knowledge about the origin of the bible and christianity.
There really is no such thing as the bible.

Allah Gave Moses a message it was the Torah, He gave Jesus a message it was the Injil And He gave Mohammed a message and it was the Qu'ran. (May Allah give peace and blessings upon all the prophets.)

I just know that those people in Christianity was lying to me and that the bible has been changed. There were so many inconsistencies and people were twisting scriptures to fit there own agendas. And following their own desires instead of submitting or surrendering their will to Almighty God. In that madness I knew that Christianity wasn't for me, I went to many churches and halls. And I did not find the truth there.
So I did research. You can find out a lot of things by searching on the internet and that is what I did as well as the library and being guided to Islam was a blessing from Allah. It is the truth and I now know why it is the fastest growing religion in the world.

It is the TRUTH!!!!

Answer 3

Interesting question!

Well, as a youth my parents sent me to a Christian school, then in year 8 I went to a Marxist College, then at 16 I had a motorbike accident that left me in coma .4 (which I was told was right before death and where everyone claims to have seen a white light). I saw a white light but was later informed by the doctor that I had awoken from the coma right in the middle of a delicate brain surgery they were carrying out to remove a blood clot that would have killed me, and I was frantically struggling with the doctors and nurses (the two that didn't faint!) under the bright surgery room lights, so there's my bright light.
After the coma I was swearing at the nuns, calling God all aweful names, and being very atheist, all under the effects of aneastesia.
So, faithless, I began reading. I read a bit on Hinduism, and saw so many similarities to the christian faith that I read Muslim books, Mormon books, Jehova books, Jewish doctrine, and they all said the same thing to me: they were written by sad pathetic men trying to dominate their inferior race (whatever that may be in their time). So I let go. Why should I waste my time finding God, or the "truth" when I'd been given another chance to enjoy life (because before the accident I was an alter boy, a good boy, an innocent boy). So I lived it up!
Nearly six years ago something happened in my life- a mixture of depression, drugs, my father's diagnostic of Alzeihmer's, having a daughter and becoming a single parent- all in a 3-month period.
The events that unfolded thereafter were too ordered, righteous and amazing to be a coincidence, so I found out about Karma, and everything left fell into place.
Now I can happily say I am not religious, yet every religion bares a smidgen of truth, and the connectedness of all in our world is irrefutable in my eyes. We are all linked, and whether you believe in a God or not, being good to everyone you come in contact with will bring you the most joyful life you could never imagine.
Being angry is a human trait, even the most tantric yoga gets angry- accepting that trait and finding a harmless escape for it would solve many of our world's problems. So, if I find a religious devotee trying to convert me, I teach him/her a few philosophies I've learnt in my life and let them believe what they wish, as long as they keep their anger in check.
I'm now like a bamboo where before I felt I was an oak. Unbendable before, now I bend with whatever wind is blowing! And I find myself much more content than many of the flock!

Answer 4

funny question what do i beleive

i come from a blended family
in other words disorganzed
some of my family is catholic, mormon, budhist, baptist
non denominational, pentecostal, and then theres the self help book guru one, then theres the higher power one
we were mostly catholic or christian in other words
my mom and dad had seven kids and my step mom got three kids
so its been scattered mainly because my family has not been active in church for a long time
i beleive in god always have always will...i fell away from the church long time ago and it was hard to go back.took me years in other words.but once i was back i realized how much i missed out on. on having a non active family i realized on what i missed out on growing up having cousins that were very active in church.i realized i was cheated on the blessings i would have had being in a church gospel filled house. i know the family i choose to have one day wil have to be a gospel filled home its the only way.
my conclusion is this
im a mormon because i know it is real. their teachings is real
they r so solid in their teachings,they have a spirit that u just cant deny.when u go to a mormon church the spirit is so strong there .gods presence is so real there.
i beleive now in jesus christ the son of god, i beleive in god and the holy spirit.
i believe in the holy bible the kings james version and the book of mormon as teachings of the church
i beleive through all the trials i had growing up in a non active family has made me stronger because i got to make my own mistakes to learn from and grow in the gospel.
i beleive this is a gospel sharing church.

Answer 5

I was once christian believing that the bible was all true, then i began thinking that the bible was not to be taken literally, I began to become confused and disoriented until I was searching for dragon pictures one day and discovered draconic otherkin. I was intrigued by these beliefs and began to wonder if i was one too. I eventually decided that i wasn't necessarily a dragon but i was one of the few Christians that believed in dragons and magic even through my teenage years, so i took a chance and went to a psychic fair where i met my husband and began learning of the pagan faith, i have developed my own belief system based on what I see and feel around me, basically I believe that we, as people create everything around us through our actions and decisions. and these actions and decisions not only effect us but the people and environment around us. I also believe that anything and everything can and does exist as long as there is at least one person who believes in it. I believe there is more to see than our eyes are capable of seeing, I believe we create God and in turn he creates us and visa versa, I also believe that everything goes in a circle, that there is no beginning or end to anything the end isn't the end it is just the beginning of the next step, I'm still working on my beliefs which are actually quite complicated but as i said they are based on what I have experienced so far.

Answer 6

I was a Baptist who became a Spiritualist and what led me to that conclusion is the thought process.Once I started to think for myself I suddenly realized that having thoughts was a contradiction to having beliefs.So, I had to end one in order to keep the other.I chose to have thoughts.But I didn't;t want to end the idea that there is more to life then what we know and so I embraced a practical view- if we don't know something such as why the Earth was created or why the universe exists, it is ok to admit you don't know the answer rather then accept an easy answer from one religion or another.

Answer 7

I was raised as a Christian, I left because I found it to be innately harmful and damaging; its followers tend to be close-minded and bigoted; and its theology is flawed. I have also found Christianity to be severely lacking in its spirituality, social, and ethical teachings; and Christians to be largely arrogant and rude. I could not in good conscious continue to worship a god who would sentence people to eternal torment. I rejected Christianity on moral grounds.


Now, I am an Asatruar.

Answer 8

I was raised in Christianity, but I fell away when I was thirteen. I spent twelve years searching for answers, and researching other religions. For a time, I was atheist. After that, I was Wiccan for a few years. Then I was atheist again. Then agnostic. Finally, after researching Christianity, I found that it had the most answers, even if it doesn't have ALL of them. And I experienced the power of God.
I became a Christian about four months ago.

Answer 9

I was Christian, I'm an atheist now in that I don't believe in god (believe in an afterlife, what the hell, not hurting anybody).


What made me deconvert? Well, one was reading that if I practiced witchcraft that god would curse me and my kin for 7 generations. Another was:

"Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up."
(Hosea 13:16, KJV)


Got love?


Just because I don't believe in god doesn't mean I'm not moral either, and no I'm not talking about normal, common sense morals. I'm talking about deeper such as waiting til I'm married to have sex (don't particularly want a kid like my 4 friends have got now) and other stuff.

Answer 10

I've left more than one faith, but as an adult. I left Christianity as I studied the bible and the history of the church, and discovered that at core it is not what it claims to be.

What do I believe now? Things more tentatively, for one, but in the probability that humanity is a glorious statistical accident.

Answer 11

I had my Born-Again Christian phase, and I had my Secular Humanist phase, but I liberated my mind from the maze of phases when I read http://www.memecentral.com/
and now I am blessed to have The Faith of Faiths, that perpetual-paradigm-shifting is the way, the truth, and the life :)