Is there any time that you have REALLY doubted your belief or lack of belief?

Question

What was the circumstance? Be honest. We all doubt what we believe now and then. Show how brave you are to answer truthfully.

Answer 1

yes. It is called the night of the soul. eventually it happens to everyone no matter what your religion is. it is something that when it happens many people are afraid or ashamed to talk about. When it occurs you need to keep praying to whatever ot to whom ever you believe is your higher power. in otherwords your god.this is a time not to try and go through it alone. talk to your miinister, your priest, your rabbi. your therapist. but never ever forget to PRAY. GOD will bring you through it. I went through it about 22 years ago. i was an alcoholic. i kept trying tp over my addiction to alcohol but wasn't having much luck. I spent alot of time at church in prayer. i felt that god had turned his back on me and wasn't listening to me anymore. i felt very much alone. one day I was reading something and i came across a line that said if you feel that god has turned his back on you it means you have turned your back on him. i did alot of thinking on that line over and over again and again. finally i figured it out. I have been clean and dry for 22 years now.

Answer 2

The truth - I doubted the baptist influences of my childhood from the start. I did not ever believe what was being told to me from the start and I walked away when I was old enough to do so without getting much backlash from my mother.

I spent many years as a pagan after that but it's not that I doubted that path, it's more like I've grown with experience and education and evolved into the agnostic I currently am.

I have never yet had an instance where I have doubted my agnosticism.

Answer 3

School was the circumstance. I didn't believe the way that they did and I wondered if there was something wrong with me because of it. I came to understand that the reason I didn't believe the same way was because I wasn't brainwashed, and was still capable of independent thought. However, because of that school I still continue to have some doubts. I have become bitter about most religious things, and quite skeptical. I just have to do my best to hold onto what little faith I have. It's not much, but I figure it's better than nothing.

Answer 4

Ok...you asked for an honest answer...here ya go. I do apologize in advance if i offend anyone, it is not intended, just my personal experience.
As a child, i had some really weird experiences...or at least different then the average kids at that time. By the time that 1970 hit, i had already lived with every relative and parents were doing the kidnapping thing with my sister and i. Crazy, huh? Anyway, my maternal Grandparents were catholic, i tried really hard but couldnt figure out when to stand, kneel, etc...then came the church of christ...being baptized....felt really good, but then i carried a bible around with me every place that i moved to and i kept hearing "Jesus Saves, Jesus Saves"....well, as a 2nd grader, i couldnt understand why Jesus wouldnt "save me" from the abusive step-parent, etc..then came the pentacostal experience, speaking in tongues...etc...scared the hell out of me literally! When the tears started coming down my face a group of do gooders decided it was the devil that had me so they made a circle around me....so much for that one...And after all of these experiences, being moved around so much, living in childrens homes, etc...etc...i felt i was broken..unloveable, and for some reason that God was pissed off at me...and that was ok! Cuz i wasnt to happy with him either! Once my grandmother passed, i spent the next 10-15 years drinking and drugging... it was not until 5 years ago that i found out that by working the 12-step program of AA, that i didnt have to drink or use anymore, and that i could have my own personal higher power. I had chosen the pagan path long before that , but it didnt make to much sense to me because of the insanity and chaos i was living in.
Today, i feel like everyday is a gift. My attitude has changed and i do pray and meditate. i honor the sabbats to the best of my ability, and i have faith in my god, that nothing happens in gods world by mistake. I pray for the knowlegde of gods will for me and the power to carry that out....in times of indecision, i take a moment and ask for an intuitive thought or feeling...then i let it go, and say thank you...knowing that it is in my Higher powers hands.
Today i get to choose to have faith....or to worry .
I choose faith. I get scared sometimes about money situations, but i quickly notice my anxiety and let it go...knowing that my needs will be met.
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift...thats why its called the present! :)

Hope thats honest enough for you and not to much information.
I hope you find what it is you are seeking.
Peace and Serenity out to you.
Blessed Be!

Answer 5

Since the time when I realized that I don't believe in a personal god (about 3-4 years ago), I haven't come close to reconsidering. I've investigated various other religions and belief systems that people have out there, but that one fact hasn't really changed.

Answer 6

Sure, at times far in the past I questioned my atheism, but for the last forty years, or more, I have felt happy that I wasn't burdened by belief in the Bronze Age god of murdering desert nomads. I remember, during my seven months in hospital, in the wake of a tumor in the environs of my brain stem and, during surgery, a stroke, how glad I was that, unlike almost everyone else around me there, I wasn't begging an invisible god in the sky for my recovery. I simply dove in and worked hard and kept to the routine. Today, though I am one of the 56 million Americans with disabilities, and 71, I am still in the warm embrace of my life's work, the professional theatre. And instead of a primitive god to thank, I have my resolve and perseverance and several surgeons and nurses and gifted specialists.

Answer 7

hey girl i doubt stuff all the time.

then i remind myself of the reasons why i believe. there are many and they are varied, including intellectual persuasion, intuitive faith, and choice of options.

i don't stop asking questions and i refuse to live a fake life (in denial of the tension between reality and my ideal).

i'm looking to the new "emergent church" to help me find some answers at this time.

however i actually find comfort in knowing that my finite fallible mind will never be truly satisfied or understand the great infinite things of God.

Answer 8

In the beginning I doubted all the time. These days my faith is continuous. It has taken over where I left off. It doesn't make life much easier but it is there.

Answer 9

No, I have no doubt that I lack belief. My puppy died, I lost my job and my health, and another of my dogs is slowly dying from kidney disease. I would sell my soul for a decent-paying job.

Answer 10

I have little question that all people gods ever invented with the aid of humankind are imaginary. i visit be steadfast in this perception till somebody comes up with verifiable and straightforward evidence of their god's life. I totally assume going to the grave with out receiving such evidence.