to christians and atheists?

Question

at any time in your life, did you ever convert from christianity or atheism? if so, why did you change your mind? how long since you made that change? do you feel you made the right decision? why or why not?

please keep it cordial. i don't want a war on here. we all have the right to think how we want to think. thanks!

(if you want my info, i'm atheist. i converted from catholicism, and was once part of a christian youth group. today, i pray to God sometimes and i go to church rarely. my version of God takes on the form of a spiritual force of nature instead of the humanlike entity that i was taught at church. i converted about 2 years ago, because i learned more about the philosophy of eastern and other religions. i'm happy with the change, because it enables me to better understand religions i am unfamiliar with. but i still show respect for the christian religions.)

i'm going to put this question to vote. there were many interesting responses. thanks!

Answer 1

It's hard to say when exactly I went to the atheist camp. Since college (part 1, the BS degree) I suppose. Thing is I'm very pragmatic about religion. Show me that a god does something and that it does it predictably and I'll work it. But if the only claim is "believe and you'll get these fantastic prizes AFTER you die" - sorry, that's just fantasy. Up until maybe 10 years ago I think I was near the center on the scale - a little more faith or something and I'd be a believer. Since then though the fundamentalists have just gotten so much visibility. I thought the creation myth was pretty widely accepted *as myth* until then. Little did I realize that nearly HALF of America believe that story. It's simply insane. And every time I hear somebody say "evolution is simply wrong" it pushes me one more inch over to the "I'll never believe again - I just can't shut my brain off like that" camp.

I used to fight being *called* an atheist. Now I just don't care. There really are more important issues in the world today than going on some endless search for evidence of a god's existence. If god exists and wants to play, she knows where I live.

Answer 2

I too was raised Catholic. Altar boy for 5 years. Fairly normal suburban childhood. Some college. Career oriented. Amateur astronomer and cosmologist.

I lost the religious connection after first marriage ended 25 years ago. I found it wouldn't answer the questions I was willing to ask. It wasn't that Catholicism is too closed to science. After all, the Church OK's evolution, the big bang and they even have their own observatories and research labs.

I found myself questioning the wisdom of following any religion knowing where it started (same place where even today there are atrocities committed in the name of religions) and how it's been kept through the years.

If I may offer a suggestion... If you're going to be an atheist (or agnostic), at least be a Humanist. It's like having the same principles only you don't have weekly meetings. There are many versions of Humanism (just like many religions) so choose wisely. Some of my favorite Humanists were Issac Asimov and Carl Sagan. Although Kurt Vonegut was also a Humanist, I was less drawn to the political (socialist) variety he subscribed to. After all, I am politically a libertarian-conservative.

---------------------------------------

Bobert... - DITTO on your P.S. remark! But as far as the order I most admire, it would have to be the Jesuits. They taught me to be a free thinker.

Answer 3

I am an atheist now. I was catholic many many years ago. I left catholicism when I was about 9 years old. I can recall the exact moment and situation. I was in parochial school (catholic school) and in religion class, being taught about Jesus' birth. I asked a simple enough question about how Joseph felt about having his wife bear someone else's baby.

You can imagine the uproar this caused. I was sent to the Principal's office. As part of the punishment, I was to learn more about religion. That started the ball rolling downhill. The more I learned, the more I questioned. The more I questioned, the less satisfactory were the answers.

Answer 4

I was an atheist until I was 21. In my home we never spoke of religion at all, but as a child I went to a Catholic church and cried because I was scared.
When I was 20, I met some people who were Christians and they told me about their own personal experiences. At this point I began to wonder about God and to search my heart. I had a really rough year and realised that I felt very alone and that something was missing in my life.
I searched, and my search ended with God. I gave my life to Him, and that was 10 years ago.
Over the past 10 years I have "walked away" from God, thinking I could "go it alone", but I always come back to God.
My life has been greatly enriched by my personal experiences with God.
I believe that is what it is all about, not about religion or about all the segregation.
I have made the right decision for my life.

Answer 5

No such concern. An atheist believes in NO god/desses. that would contain Allah,Ganesh, Kali, Isis, Thor, Gaia, Danu, etc...maximum English conversing customers are on right here and are raised Christian, yet i could say my morals & ideals are from a mix of empathy & society. i'm professional-decision, and so are many Xians and that i'm additionally vegetarian. The Bible is very contradictory. That entire 'no longer killing' concern? extremely some Xians do no longer seem to have a topic with production unit farms, the dying penalty or going to conflict. And in case you examine the OT, you do no longer ought to bypass far to verify some tale the place the 'chosen ones' are commanded to kill. There are over 30,000 Xian denom's accessible...there's a clarification why.

Answer 6

I accepted Christ when I was six. It was right then and has always been right. That was roughly 26 years ago. I have personally witnessed miracles. I have seen God's love and work in people's lives. Every time I doubt, I see something of God which reminds me of God's love. I struggled for a long time. I said in my heart, "Lord God, I will do anything for you but this..." That part is personal. I finally found peace when I said in my heart, "Father, I will do anything for you without exception." I am now growing and learning as never before. I am learning to love people the way God wants me to. That difference alone is enough to know it's the right decision.

Answer 7

I was a highly inquisitive, but troublesome child. Around the age of ten my parents had me tested by school psychologists. Among other things, they found I had a very high I.Q. (significantly higher than theirs) and I think this was a sign of things to come.

I kept badgering them with complex questions that they simply couldn't answer - among them were questions about god, the origins of the life, the universe, death, infinity, etc. I guess this was unusual stuff to come out of the mouth of a ten year old. My mother, being a strong Catholic Christian, was determined that I would understand that her god was responsible for all these things. She actually taught religion for the church, and I was given a thorough Catholic education, but I had already learned enough science by 11 to know that much of what I was being told was nonsense.

Out of fear, I kept my feelings to myself, but secretly I began to doubt there was a god. I was forced to attend church and catechism until I was 14, but I really didn't believe in any of it after the age of 11 or 12. Around 15 or 16, I openly voiced my doubts (which, as you can imagine didn't go over well), and by 17 I declared my atheism.

Oddly, my father never had a thing to say about any of it. I think he respected my ability to choose what I believed in, but to keep peace with my mother, he never said a thing. I recall that my father attended church up until I was about six, but after that, he rarely went - perhaps only on Christmas and Easter, and not every year. To this day I don't know what he believes.

I spent many years studying many religions, and searched within myself to examine the source of my beliefs. To this day, I keep an open mind in one regard. IF a god ever manifests and does the things that theists claim gods do, I will have no problem changing my views. Until then, I believe my decision to be an atheist was absolutely correct, for I don't think a person can prosper and be happy if they deny what they strongly believe in.

As for other religions, I think really don't care what people choose to worship or believe in, so long as their beliefs don't adversely affect me. I think all religions, even the eastern ones, fall prey to supernatural/delusional thinking. If they kept it to themselves it wouldn't be a problem, but unfortunately that isn't the case in this country, so I do what I think is necessary to at least try and keep the scales from tipping too far in favor of the theists. For example, I would strongly fight something like prayer in school. It bothers me enough that I can't buy beer until 12:00 on Sunday.

Answer 8

What made you change? As for me I am Christian and believe that Jesus rose from the dead for my sins. You do know that there is life after death right? Those who believe in Christ shall have everlasting life and those who reject or don't believe in Christ shall burn forever in hell with the devil and his angels read John 3:16. God gives us a chance to be with him forever in heaven. You don't have to go down the road of not knowing or being in the dark. Ask God to come back into your life so that you can live right against a sinful world. This world will be coming to an end very soon and God will come to get his people. The time is now to get ready and be prepared. Some make the choice to not serve God and end up in hell as an eternal punishment. Hell is real and as the bible says it is a "lake of fire", a place of torment, smells foul, and basically not a place of enjoyment.

Answer 9

I try and do the right thing, I live simply, I respect nature and life but I am not religious. I am not really an atheist, either. I don't think you can see all the wonderous patterns in nature and not feel the world is a miraculous place. It is too much of a miracle, in fact, for any one religion to take credit for it and try and stamp its seal on it.

Answer 10

There was a very dark time in my life where I was convinced taht God had turned His back on me. I knew He was there and that He exsisted, but I thought that I was a waiste of time. Even after I saw miricles first hand I still that God wanted to have nothing to do with me. I did dark things and turned to men, alcohol and drugs. My life was going downhill.

I asked God for help several times but I did not stop the behavior. My life got worse even after praying. I would not go to church, and I would not stop "living in the flesh."

It wasn't until one night when I had a dream that woke me in a cold sweat that told me that if I died, I would go to Hell that I realized I was over my head.

I asked again for help and I stopped drugs.
I went to church.
I accepted Jesus back in my heart and I studied the bible.
As I made changes in my life to please God, my life got better and better.
Now I am a strong Christian but it took alot of work and struggling to get here.
I am far from finishing my journey and I know taht any day I could make a mistke. I also know tht my God is a forgiving God and if I do mess up He will help me if I ask for it.