Dropped out of Church?

Question

Hello,
I am doing some reasearch for a Seminary assignment and I am looking for honest feedback from someone who used to go to church and has decided to stop going. I hope the "dropped out" subject isn't offensive :-).

I really would like some detailed feedback and I would appreciate your honesty. Thank you.

1. Do you believe in God?
2. Do you still have a faith?
3. How would you describe your spiritual life?
4. What would you recommend to the Christian Church?
5. Was there a specific reason why you stopped going to church?
6. Are you happier now that you don’t go to church?
7. Do you read the bible and pray?
8. Does God feel closer or farther away?
9. What advice would you give to another person who is seeking a relationship with God?
10. Do you have anything else you’d like to say?

Answer 1

1. I still believe in God, I've seen too much evidence :-)
2. I have no faith.
3. My spiritual life is very dry.
4. To the Christian church I would recommend that they not be so judgemental and hypocritical.
5. No specific reason I quit going but an accumulation of many, many things.
6. Am I happier now without church ... nope, same happiness level I had with church.
7. No I don't read the bible and I rarely pray now.
8. God feels much, much farther away.
9. Advice for somebody seeking a relationship with God ... I can't give advice on something I don't have.
10. Hope you get a great mark :-)

Answer 2

1. Not any more.
2. In myself. Does that count?
3. Non-existent.
4. Disbandment.
5. Lying, Egotistical, Hypocritical, Bigotry on the part of it's leaders and members.
6. Infinitely happier.
7. Unlike many Christians I've actually read and studied the Bible that's why I am now Atheist. I use to pray but I stopped not long into my studies.
8. There is no God.
9. Read and Study the Bible with an open mind and a careful eye. You'll eventually no longer feel the need to have a relationship with God.
10. My journey to become Atheist has been long and difficult. It took many stages in the 'letting go' of the concept of God and only in the last couple of months have I really embraced Atheism. I couldn't be happier but now I look back I see just how ignorant and duped I was. That's why I feel I must speak out against religion. It's hard to watch people be taken advantage of the way religion does, with stealth and guile.

Answer 3

1 Yes
2 Yes
3 It could be better
4 Humble yourself, pray and read Revelation Chapters 2-3 The letters to the seven churches. Sounds like the churches of today.
5 Either they are too big, felt lost in it. Too small and they are so family oriented that they treated me with suspicion because I was divorced and single. I was in a wonderful church for years and it broke up, and again happened two more times. Also there is too much socializing and no-one seems to know what a House of prayer is any more these days.
6. No, I miss the worship and being in the presence of God at the church and having the pastor.
7 Yes
8 Sometimes yes and sometimes no.
9 Jesus is the Answer. He is the Son of God, died on the cross for our sins, so that we may be saved and forgiven and have eternal life with God in heaven. Find a church that will give a strong foundation in the Word of God. Start by reading the Book of John and then the book of Acts.
10 I would go to church if I found one, but I thank God for T.V. and Christian broadcasting. It helps.

Answer 4

1. I'm open to the possibility, but I don't think it's likely.

2. Not in the sense of a formal religious belief, but I do have faith in things like the value of sentient beings and the responsibility on humans for stewardship of the earth.

3. The need to search for transcendent meaning is always there in the background at least.

4. Be less rigid. You need to adapt to the modern world better. And take responsibilty when your teachings are used to justify ignorance, hatred and bigotry.

5. I was 12 at the time, but it occurred to me that church people were claiming inside knowledge about things that no one person can know any better than anyone else.

6. Bit hard to say. I'm a lot older now.

7. I don't pray, but I read the Bible and lots of other things as well. I try to be critical about everything I read.

8. I'm not sure I understand the question. The "God" I was taught as a child is much much further away, which is a good thing.

9. Be critical about what other people tell you about him/her/it.

10. Great questions for this site. Well done!

Answer 5

1. No
2. No, not in terms of religious faith in the supernatural
3. I'm pretty philosophical, but probably not spiritual at all right now.
4. I would recommend that they give people more freedom and flexibility with the beliefs -- not micromanage Christians' lives so much.
5. Yes, it was leading me to be manipulated and to make my life decisions based on others' opinions instead of mine.
6. Yes, very much so.
7. No
8. There was a point where God felt farther away, but I don't believe in God anymore so he doesn't feel any distance from me.
9. Make sure you do what you think is right -- not what other people tell you or guilt you into thinking. Do what comes from your heart -- that's what Jesus asked for as well.
10. I wish Christian churches didn't put so much emphasis on self-sacrifice, denying yourself, walking the narrow path, obeying before understanding, surrendering your life, making a leap of faith, etc. It really leads a lot of young people to be manipulated by unscrupulous church leaders, and lose their way. Christians must critically evaluate *everything* that their pastor says and not just accept it as "the gospel truth."

Answer 6

1 (fatherly Old Testament one?) No

2 not really

3 not very spiritual, mostly cynical, but
I get spiritual when I get into astronomy, star gazing and pondering the universe, I feel included in something very grand.

4 Do more charity, promote more charity.

5 Not really, always had doubts, not very "church going".. I'm not the type.

6 Happiness is relative. Actually, Yes, Yes I am, my life is so much better than it was when I went to church back in the day.

7 I read the bible for reference now and then, do I pray? Yeah sure. I pray to universal consciousness in the hopes that I can make some kind of self fulfilled prophecy.

8 It depends on how you define "god", if you mean the life energy which is in every thing which is experiencing life even on the most minute level,
Yeah, that breath of life is all around, it's the amazing wonder of the universe, the energy we all feed off of.
IF you mean the Old Testament animal and human (jesus) sacrifice God, That God is not only far away,
it's completely nonexistent and out of the realm of reality.

9 good for you, happy trails.

10 nope

Answer 7

1. Sometimes
2. No
3. I dislike all spiritual mumbo-jumbe. I don't have a spiritual life.
4. I'd wouldn't reccomend anything: that would be terribly arrogant.
5. I thought the priests were talking boring rubbish. I was also appalled by their taste in devotional objects (statues etc). The priests struck me as narrow-minded, cultish and pathetic. I found it impossible to convince myself of the truth of the Creed. Mass seemed long, dull and strangely morbid.
6. Yes. Considerably.
7. No.
8. Neither, since I do not believe.
9. I would ask they why they feel this need? And why they don't concentrate on their relations with other people instead?
10. . All religious groups, no matter how much they claim to be tolerant, invariably end up trying to boss everyone else around. This is why it is impossible for non-believers to regard them with anything other than suspicion.

Answer 8

1.) No.
2.) Only in humanity
3.) Awe of the universe
4.) To stop being hypocrites. They claim love and tollerance, but show bigotry and discrimination.
5.) I became familiar with the true origins and history of christianity, and it had NOTHING to do with what I was taught.
6.)About the same. I had always realized that praying in church was no different than praying to a wall; you get the same results.
7.) No.
8.) Nonexistent.
9.) Don't bother. Religion and god only SEPERATES you from reality, not bring you closer.
10.) Nope.

Answer 9

I have not 'dropped out' of Church. I am in search of the True meaning of it.

1. yes
2. yes
3 blessed
4 put your selfish differences aside and find the purpose God created you for.
5 The lies hurt me.
6 Yes but no. I want a church, the one perfect Church of God the way it should have been. I will settle for nothing less and I am confident in my solo journey with the Holy Spirit, I will find what I need.
7 Constantly, my life is devoted to preparation.
8 Closer than I ever dreamed possible.
9 Keep seeking, you will find it! Open your heart and mind, close your eyes to the ugly world, close your ears to the lies. God can only come in the purest most perfect way.
10 It is time for everyone to seek the Lord in the most perfect most personal way. Trust in Him only, He will show you others you can trust if there are any close to you. Be the one others can trust and count on in these times. May God's blessing be on all of us as we proceed in this time of tribulation.

Answer 10

1. No
2. No, but there are some I have a certain respect for
3. Pretty much non-existant
4. Less routine. I'm aware it's not in every church, but the one I used to go to did holy communion every week, in which case every week it was "stand up here", "say this here", "sit down here", "pray using these words here".
5. Lost faith in christianity. I'll still go once each christmas though
6. At the time I was happy to go to church. Now I'm happy not going.
7. Read the bible, yes. Pray, no.
8. N/A
9. Don't alter your beliefs to fit in with the label of a religion
10.