Out of curiousity, how many people here have switched beliefs?

Question

Who has gone from atheist to christian, or christian to atheist? What made you change your mind? And I don't mean because of the R&S section, I mean in life in general.

Answer 1

Christian to Atheist to Spiritualist to free thinker

born and raised Christian
many things not making sense for me

gave up on believing anything for quite some time

personal experiences with spirit brought me back to believing in a God energy

now I am open to learning from everyone and finding myself

Answer 2

I'm a non-believer. I simply can not believe a singular male deity created, for no reason, on his own. The thought is unnatural and unrealistic. However, I don't completely deny that any other worlds (spiritual) exist.
My disbelief was b/c of life in general. Some answers claim this section has made their belief stronger. Quite the opposite for me. The more I read, the more I realize how absurd the Christian religion seems.
What brought about my change was constantly meeting and caring about people who the Christian religion taught were 'going to Hell' and then I finally read and realized the Bible is both contradictory and vague at times.

Answer 3

I went to a catholic school, was a good little alter boy and was subjected to the most hate filled people I have ever encountered in my life. They were duplicitous and hypocritical as I could ever imagine. With few exceptions christians all over the world, and I have 45 countries under my belt, have lived up to those same criterias. I am a borderline atheist. I do not accept religious dogma just because some one is good at shoving it down peoples throats, but then I believe that something started the ball rolling. It is nothing like either camp is espousing, but it is a combination of the best of both worlds.

Answer 4

I went from nominal Christian (Anglican 0-10) to athiest (10-17) to Hare Krishna (18-37).

I became atheistic as a teenager because of the shallow faith i saw in my sunday school teachers, and because of a reckless spirit. When i read the Gita, all my pent up questions about God and life and love and the world were satisfied deeply. Since then my faith has grown slowly as life's experiences have borne out what i have learned. I still love Lord Jesus Christ and regret my atheistic years.

Answer 5

i am an atheist, i was brought up as a catholic. i believe that a man named jesus christ lived over 2000 years ago, i do not believe that he was the son of god.
there is no single thing/moment in my life that made me come to this conclusion but rather a collection of observations made while seeing and experiencing the world around me.

as i've grown up and formed my own opinions i've come to the belief that there is not a god. as i've grown i've come to the belief that organized religion is a scam. organized religion (any denomination) is the single largest cause of death in the history of mankind.

if priests truly believed that there is a final judgement, why would they have molested all of those boys? surely they would know the ramifications of their actions.
I believe that the concept of heaven and hell was\is a tool used to keep people in line, to herd and control the flock, so to speak.

i cannot acceptept that there is a supreme being that i cannot see, feel, hear, etc.

" i will call no one my father who is no closer than a stranger."
-Pantera

Answer 6

I just get two choices? Atheist or Christian? That's it? Gosh, I thought there were more religions in the world than just two!

To answer your question, I was raised Presbyterian. I am now Pagan, and have identified as such for about half my life. Looking back, though, I don't think my beliefs have changed that much. I just found where I fit!

Answer 7

I did from spiritualist (amongst other things) to Christian. God's Holy Spirit is far, far greater than any spirit I ever encountered. I did not come to Christ through Christian witness or by reading a bible but by what some Christians call 'a road to Damascus experience'. Now that I look back, I just think why did I believe so fervently in something that does nothing and takes you nowhere. Being a spiritualist pandered to my self and made me think I was a spiritual person but actually did nothing for me or anyone, except to allow me to congratulate myself and bathe in my sense of self wisdom. I thank God that He set me free and truly opened my eyes.

Answer 8

After growing up in a Lutheran family I went through a LONG period of agnosticism & searching for a belief system that felt right. None of them ever did feel right, except buddhism, except that I can't be bothered to follow strict & specific rules, I'll take what I think applies to my life at the time. What made me change my mind was 10+ years of exploration and contemplation.

Answer 9

I was born and raised Mormon.
When I was a kid, I just thought it was fun and games.
But, when I got to be a teenager, I was put in their "Young Women's" Program. And I started to learn what was expected from the women. Not gonna go into details, let's just say that they were training me to be barefoot, pregnant and ignorant. Oh yeah, and obedient, no matter what.
And well, that just didn't make sense to me.
So I quit going.
Then when I got married, for various reasons, we started going again.
However, the same thing remained, and there was alot of hypocracy. Do as I say, not as I do. Very male dominative. Devalueing of women, children, minorities, anyone who wasn't a white male.
So that ended. Now we see them as a cult. Period.
We do still believe in God. And we are very spiritual. Infact, now that we are non denomiational, we find that we are more spiritual, closer to God and closer as a family.
My kids are now grown and believe the same way we do.
Not because we told them to, but, because they wanted to. Because it's what they believed. In fact, alot of what my husband and I believe came originally from our kids.
We have really found a true peace now.
Unlike before, we are free to love God without human barriers. Without the fake rules that organized religion would have you believe is God's truth.
When you get past all that BS you can truely feel free within God's light.
It's great.

Answer 10

I started out with a religious upbringing, which made sense to a 10 year old mind.
Then I got educated and learned about the world around me. It became clearer and clearer to me as to why people would believe these ancient myths.

Atheism was the only logical choice for the way my brain is wired.