if you tried religion and decided it wasn't for you will you share your story?
2007-10-15 15:00:21 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
the word 'tried" I think implies fickleness and lack of committment don''t you?
2007-10-15 15:13:31 · answer #1 · answered by just duky 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I grew up in a religious family.... and growing up... i believed what my family believed because I didn't know any better. But i grew up. I am not exactly atheist... but I am agnostic. I believe that there may be a higher power or some sort. I believe in being a good person and doing good deeds. I don't believe in the bible hype or Jesus walking on water etc. It was such a big part of my life and I was praying and studying those things because that is what my family did... and it just didn't feel right. So... IF there is a heaven... then I believe that me being a good person and leaving the world a better place then... why wouldn't i deserve to go to heaven? I don't want to spend all my energy on whether or not I am being "Christian" or not. I am much happy just worrying about being a good person... and hey if I mess up here or there... I am human.. its allowed... I mean... how can one person say that another religion is wrong? Its so controversial... there is never going to be a true right religion... Some people believe that Jesus is the son of God... some believe there are many Gods ... some believe that Jesus was only a prophet... WHO KNOWS????????????? no one REALLLYYYY knows.... so why waste my energy trying to figure out something that never can be really solved... I am a good person and that is perfect!
2007-10-15 22:11:16 · answer #2 · answered by Anna J 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
i was raised missionary baptist till i was 13. that was back in '85. then i started thinking for myself. i searched for the truth in many different religions. i dabbled in the occult, was taught by gavin and yvonne frost in the '80s and started down my own path from there. my spirituality closely resembles that of wiccan but it has many different influences. i still practice witchcraft and still seek the answers to all things hidden in nature. nature is my "god", if you will, at the present time. i have no religion, only my spirituality. i know only that which i have personally experienced. i have blind faith in nothing! I know the power of the human mind and I use it to the best of my understanding. The mind does have power to influence things and change things in nature. I think that's where christians go wrong. they think it's god or some supernatural being that makes change in their lives when, after all, it's really them that's making the changes. Prayer is the exact same thing as spellwork. It's just looked at differently is all. It all comes from within. I fully understand why the simple-minded people of the world rely heavily upon religion to guide their lives when the intellectuals of the world rely on themselves and study science and the arts and see religion for what it really is: a means of explaining the world for someone who doesn't have the mental capacity for reason or logic. it seems the brightest kids are always the ones who have the toughest time with religion and blindly following and accepting things without questioning like a good little christian would do. funny how that works. check your history books and see what religions most of your brilliant scientists and inventors were. i think you'll be surprised. they dared...do you dare? or are you too filled with fear and ignorance? that's the question you must face in life if you ever want to get anywhere.
"Close your eyes and look at me. I can't believe what I cannot see." -Mazzy Star
2007-10-15 22:12:09 · answer #3 · answered by Felix Arcanus 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I was brainwashed... er, indoctrinated, at a very young age.. from birth, actually. And at a young age, probably around 7 or 8, I started asking questions about the things that made to sense to me.... Noah's Ark, people living hundreds of years, people turning into salt, etc. It made no sense then and it makes less sense now.
No matter who I asked, I was constantly told, "you must have FAITH... everything will become clear when you have faith." That made even less sense.
I tried to pray, I read the bible, I sang in choir, I attended confirmation classes and was confirmed. But the nagging questions remained. No matter what I did or who I talked to, it just never seemed real. I did what was expected of me.
I attended college and whatever was left of my attempts to believe crumbled in the face of science and logic.
Still, I didn't say I was an atheist... I clung to the agnostic label, still willing myself to believe there was SOMETHING out there. But I finally had to admit to myself that there is no evidence for any type of supernatural being... and I said "I'm an atheist" outloud when I was 41.
Wow... the relief I felt... like ironing a horribly crumbled shirt... no more noise in my head, no more conflict, finally a complete understanding that non-belief is the right answer.
And I've never looked back.
2007-10-15 22:10:44 · answer #4 · answered by Rogue Scrapbooker 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I was born and raised Christian. The Christians I knew always seemed intelligent, devoted, like they Really knew God and the Bible, like it really had all the answers. So I grew up with a faith, not only in God, but that my questions of spirituality would be answered once I figured out how to ask them.
Boy was I wrong.
Upon becoming old and intelligent enough to properly start seeking and understanding spiritual truth, I did just that: sought spiritual truth. I started asking questions. And lo and behold... there were no answers. Pastor, priest, random person, online, in the Bible, everywhere I looked, and everyone I asked. I kept finding nothing.
Spirituality means a great deal to me: the question of who am I? I knew that Christianity had to have the answers... but time and time again, instead of true answers, I got "because God said so," "because the Bible says so," "Because X thing is wrong," or "Maybe you can ask God when you go to heaven." At least the last one was honest.... **sighs**
During that time, I also studied the Bible and found many inconsistancies... when asked about them, the Christians I knew were evasive, or "God works in mysterious ways." Cop out.
And that is one of the main reasons I am now pagan. I refer to myself usually as a free spirit... a being on her own path, seeking truth the good, old fashioned way. One of the rare monothiestic types :P **shakes head**
I'm not exactly athiest, but I'm closer to that than any religion, since after study I now firmly believe that ALL religions have it wrong. Right in certain respects, and worth studying for their gems of knowledge... but none completely right.
2007-10-15 22:14:07 · answer #5 · answered by Ruby 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I was born into a Christian family, but once I reached the age of reason, religion faith became very problematic for me for several reasons:
God never revealed itself to me
Prayer didn't work either in affecting events or giving me hope
When I read the Bible, it just seemed confusing and archaic
I found out that every religion thinks they're 100% right and has their own book
The elders in my family couldn't give straight answers to the philosophical questions from me as a preteen
Faith, as a way of knowing something, seemed totally illogical
The problematic nature of life didn't seem to agree with the idea of a loving God
And other such contradictions and inconsistencies...
2007-10-15 22:12:26 · answer #6 · answered by Subconsciousless 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Of course, when I was a kid I believed in God. I never went to church, since my parents are agnostics, but I would pray daily. Then, when I was about twelve, I started learning more about religion, and after an argument with a devout Christian friend about evolution, I realized how ridiculous religion was. I read the Bible soon after that, and it made no sense whatsoever. So now I'm an atheist.
2007-10-15 22:05:55 · answer #7 · answered by JavaGirl ~AM~ 4 · 3⤊ 2⤋
It's not that it wasn't right for me, but rather that I didn't think it was real to begin with. I was brought up in a secular household and I've always questioned religion and God. It's not something you "try" and then decide you don't like it; it's more about whether you think it's real or not, and I didn't think it was at all.
2007-10-15 22:07:30 · answer #8 · answered by Uliju 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
My freshman year of college I was saddled with a roommate who was a Born-Again Christian. I listened to his spiel, politely went along to the winter Fellowship retreat he invited me to, and kept my mouth shut when he went on and on about how he was Saved and Forgiven and whatnot.
About a week before semester's end, I woke up at about 3 in the morning to the sound of him knocking it out in the bunk below me with some girl he had just met -- he showed me where HIS religion was really at....
2007-10-15 22:05:00 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
I was a Lutheran for 20 years. I decided it wasn't for me when I realized the real reason all of these people still believed in a God who never actually appeared or did anything: sheer deliberate ignorance. I don't mean that as an empty insult - it's the correct term for the kind of belief that I saw.
2007-10-15 22:04:30 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
Do I have to wear a wok on my head?
And I think you will find we ALL have tried some form of religion, is is called social indoctrination, by the parents, schools and media.
2007-10-15 22:06:10 · answer #11 · answered by tattie_herbert 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋