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Are any of you former Believers who changed your beliefs about the Bible and Christianity?
I've heard that many people have lost their faith in God or changed their minds about the whole philosophy of Christianity. It does seem to be complicated belief system to accept.
Any one care to chime in on WHY THEY left the Church of Dropped their faith ?
.
I left because
1) It was superstitious and mythological, and although I enjoy a good myth as much as anyone, I prefer to base my life on evidence and not faith
2) I noticed that many of my co-religionists were, ummmmm - sanctimonious jerks.
Are any of you former Believers who changed your beliefs about the Bible and Christianity?
I left the Church (theism altogether) in December '07. I haven't looked back.
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I've heard that many people have lost their faith in God or changed their minds about the whole philosophy of Christianity.
I didn't "lose" my faith. It wasn't misplaced and waiting to be rediscovered. I voluntarily walked away. It was a deliberate, willful choice, a process spanning roughly 18 months of studying, critical examination, research, and much soul-searching.
It went something like this:
Nondenominational "born again" Christian with moderate to slightly new age leanings --> hyper-fundamentalist --> conservative/mainstream Christian --> liberal Christian monist/mystic --> deist --> ignostic/relative atheist (pandeist or pantheist--can't make up my mind, lol) with Buddhist, Taoist, Advaita and Pagan leanings.
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It does seem to be complicated belief system to accept.
It's not complicated. It makes as much sense and is as plausible as other mythos, which is to say it isn't, nor does it make much sense when critically examining its roots.
Witnessing TOO MUCH "Hypocrisy!" prompted me to RUN from the Church!
From Little members in the flock---right through to the TOP OF OF PYRAMID. Power hungry, sanctimonious, individuals unable to live up to the standards THEY THEMSELVES draw from the BIBLE.
...i was "HOPING" ---(while sticking my head in the ground) that i could find Moral People in the Church...boy was i disappointed. What i found were "the Biggest Liars, Dirt bags, Degenerates" i have ever run into during my 40 plus years walking this planet.
And, that's not in just one church. I found the same Demographic Pool in every church I visited and joined. The church is very inviting for poor people and those in need of hope. Unfortunately, its a Social Club for those with nothing better to do. Church Members simply have nothing better to do.
At its Top Echelon, the church is a "Platform for Megalomaniacs" in there quest to Control its members and NOW for political influence. They pull out the archaic King James Bible (or whatever version suits their play-book) and instill FEAR to manipulate those who are intellectually Stunted, Lonely and Needy. They attract those from broken homes---and (unfortunately in many cases) leave them in a Social Economic condition that was worse than when they started---and rob their last bit of hope in a Higher Power.
What it really is....is a Crime !
Last i heard, the head pastor at one of the churches i use to frequent, had just divulged he was having an affair----and had been for years. This is one of the Biggest Churches in the Country. Upon more discovery, turns out the Pastor had been having flings with several women over the years. AND this guy was the LEADER of a church that took in millions of $, every month!
Witnessing TOO MUCH "Hypocrisy!" prompted me to RUN from the Church!
What a Crock...!
Don't hold back ... tell us what you REALLY think! ;-)
I don't disagree with you actually, I left the faith many years ago now and am entirely content as an atheist. However, it would be wrong to deny that some people find a warm and wonderful (to them) sense of community and miss the social support when they leave. It isn't all poor people lured in, stripped of their dignity and left bleeding in the street. Though that DOES happen. It isn't all hypocrites with entirely false pretenses (though they exist). Nor is it true that human follies and foibles you find in houses of worship don't exist elsewhere; it's more that they are amplified by the way faith is untethered from reality and appeals instead to a faux gravitas of imagined morality. As you point out, even their leaders can't live up to their dogmatic denial of the human condition and don't benefit from their faulty problem diagnoses and prescribed remedies.
Enjoy the freedom from cognitive dissonance. You clearly need a good dose of fresh air, and you'll get a lot if it in freethought.
Don't hold back ... tell us what you REALLY think! ;-)
I don't disagree with you actually, I left the faith many years ago now and am entirely content as an atheist. However, it would be wrong to deny that some people find a warm and wonderful (to them) sense of community and miss the social support when they leave. It isn't all poor people lured in, stripped of their dignity and left bleeding in the street. Though that DOES happen. It isn't all hypocrites with entirely false pretenses (though they exist). Nor is it true that human follies and foibles you find in houses of worship don't exist elsewhere; it's more that they are amplified by the way faith is untethered from reality and appeals instead to a faux gravitas of imagined morality. As you point out, even their leaders can't live up to their dogmatic denial of the human condition and don't benefit from their faulty problem diagnoses and prescribed remedies.
Enjoy the freedom from cognitive dissonance. You clearly need a good dose of fresh air, and you'll get a lot if it in freethought.
Ironically, the reason most of use left theism is written right there in the Bible.
1 Corinthians 13:11
"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me."
I never left church bc I never went
but returned to faith
when I starting reading youtube testimonies
of people who had seen hell www.sawhell.com
Most people belong to the faith they were born into, which is a bad enough reason. But to go there because of campfire stories ... curated to support the point of view of the constructor of one web site ... is arguably an even worse reason.
I don't do good in the world because I fear being tortured forever for my finite shortcomings, by a "loving" god. I do good because I choose to and want to. You decide which is the better motivation.
I left the church because after many many decades I couldn't find God there. I believe some people do find him there, that is not for me to deny as we are all unique individuals, and what works for one does not necessarily work for others.
I did find him though after I shed all the man made doctrines, rules and fear that the church used that made God seem like a human dictator.
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