What would you do if you found out that your religion was all a big fairy tale?

Question

Lets say that you had a near death experience & in this you discover that the religion you hold near & dear to your heart turns out to be a lie. What would you do and why?
This is a serious question. I'd like to hear your deepest thought on this, not a bunch of bull, just to get 2 points.

Answer 1

Your first statement was true. No need for elucidation. They were just `fairy tales.`
I have experienced the `death experience` thing, and all I saw was near-relatives that had gone before me. They smiled and waved and urged me to go back because it wasn`t my time.
There were no gods, no sign of a Jesus, just people I had known.
You will not, of course, believe this because you don`t want to believe it, and, unfortunately, I cannot prove it, nor can you cannot prove that gods etc exist.

Answer 2

About eight years ago I did find out that my religion was all a big fairy tale. I had learned about Christianity when I was little and since there was a very old, very mysterious book that went with it (the Bible), I had always just taken what I had learned to be sacred and true.

As I got older I started to really read the Bible closely and something was just not right. Not here or there, but everywhere. I knew in my heart that I, like millions of other people the world over, had been had. I started to delve into the history of religion and realized that Christianity was certainly not the first religion, and many others before it had extremely similar concepts and stories. I learned much more about religion along the way, and losing my religion was probably one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

When I believed in God I was somewhat arrogant, and if the mood struck, sometimes preachy. I preached a religion I didn't even understand. I had almost no real knowledge of what I was talking about. I simply believed that as long as I preached God's word, I was doing good, and God would be pleased. I didn't need to worry about the "details."

Since I've become an athiest (8 years ago) I've been able to stand back and realize how dangerous the ideology of Christianity (as well as other religions) is. Though I rib a lot of Christians on yahooanswers (because let's face it, they ask for it :), I mostly feel very sorry for them. Because I've been in that boat. And it's just really difficult to live a decent life like that: with your eyes and mind closed, and absorbed by a philosophy that's so undeniably ridiculous.

Answer 3

i don't hold my religion near and dear to my heart so id laugh an look at other possibilities, its like the end of a relationship with someone you can't deny the fact its over so you have to move on. i don't think any religion has it right and most are probably full of lies but is it important that you were wrong or is it important that you were a good person during that time.

Answer 4

Greetings! It already happened once to me. For many, many reasons, I have become a former Christian and a practicing Unitarian Universalist.

I must admit I get a huge kick out of "Christians" beating their chests and saying that my life story and values are phoney, because there is no such thing as a "former Christian". That type of arrogance, bigotry and prejudice only goes to prove my point of why I left the church and institution.

I have become incredibly dismayed over the antics of the Christian church...I wouldn't want any part of it.

Being a preschool teacher, I take care of children as best as I can. I listen to them, read, help them count, scaffold their playing. I talk to parents about what we do and what we can work on together to bring harmony, educational enhancement and happiness to the child.

I care very deeply for this world. I help wherever I can. Many people, I would like to think have benefited from the work I did, but I don't look for brownie points or keys to some magic kingdom. I do it for the people I work for. If that isn't enough for God, why bother trying for him?

Take care.

Answer 5

"What would you do if you found out that your religion was all a big fairy tale?...."

turn it into a book and me as the main character. : )~

Seriously I have thought about that. What a disturbing thought. I am agnostic but I know it would cause many people to fall into deep sorrow and anxiety. People's whole view on life would be turned upside down and people would be palpably afraid of death. Society would be terrible.

Answer 6

I don't base my belief of a higher power, on the bible. The base of my belief is space/time, what was before the infinitely dense point (singularity) how did energy and matter come about? The more imagesI see from the hubble space telescope, the more I question the beginning of time. My sugesstions of a higher power are pretty much immune to scientific attack.....probably as long as there are humans, because some questions will NEVER be answered.

Answer 7

It doesn't matter, 'cos that will never happen!
I know through the faith I have God and His son that I am living in truth. This includes miracles I have experienced, whether it be personally or witnessed and the power of the Holy Spirit I have felt.
However, IF I saw a vision that my faith was not tue, I would first of all think it was the Devil trying to play his dirty tricks to lead me to believe that I am not living in the truth. If I then come to the conclusion that it is not him (as if God is not real, then neither is the devil) I would be very sad and disheartened yet happy at the life I have been living and knowing that I had done good, not necessarily for God, but then at least for the world.
But the key word in your question is IF.

Answer 8

Youve just found out? well welcome to the atheist camp lady, membership is free, there are no rules but the ones you choose to set yourself, no nasty threats - like hell, and you chose or choose not to live a moral life - because you want too, not because you are forced to do so. Its much more rewarding to do something kind because you wanted to do so, rather than because you were being bribed by a future reward.

The best bit is that you are now able to think, nobody is telling you how or what to think. check out the church of pastafarianism, its not a religion, but a parady of the hypocracy of all religions, and the 8 condiments are a good life guide. They are called the 8 'I really rather you didn't's'

Answer 9

I would continue life as I lived it pre-near death experience. If you choose to believe your religion is real, then so be it. If you choose to believe your religion is not real, then so be it.
There is no need to worry yourself over what may or may not be a lie.

Keep your wits about you, keep your family and friends close, and keep happy - those are what truly matter.

Answer 10

IF my religion were based on a cult of some kind that did not embrace Jesus Christ as the true Messiah and what the Bible ordains as the way to salvation, then if God allowed me to survive the experience, I would hope that I had sense enough to seek out the truth of Jesus and His atonement for the sins of mankind. If however you might be suggesting that the Christian faith/relationship with God is perhaps bogus, then I would have to say that that is not possible.