How did you gain / switch or lose your religion

[Fun in the Sun]

I rely on my sensory experiences and the supernatural just is not on my radar

 

[Totenkindly]

Did you switch / lose / or gain religious belief? What were the involved religions (for example switching from a to b or losing a)

I was raised in the Christian church... mostly rural protestant growing up (various denominations) and being kind of a weird blend of non-denom/evangelical/pentecostal as an adult. I always questioned things in the process of trying to better understand it; however, once i got outside of the area I grew up in and had access to other viewpoints and information (especially when the Internet took off), I started really looking at other religious beliefs rather than just from an "apologetics" view -- and interacting with people from other value systems and beliefs -- and then my particular understanding of the world started to change drastically.

I remember having a number of existential collapses, cycling throughout my 20's, and then probably around age 30, I realized that there was no "proof" my old values were correct. it was simply a matter of belief, not proof. But at that point, I started to see that other views seemed more to better explain the state of the world and my life experience. I finally stopped participating in Christian church in my mid/late 30's and haven't really wanted to go back, aside from a periodic urge to cling to an old security blanket.

I'm still "christianized" in terms of language and symbolism (it's kind of like you will typically always frame things using your native tongue / race / gender / etc), but my worldview is more agnostic and humanistic, with some amount of absurdity. I just don't think we ever ultimately "know" things, there is always fudge factoring going on and with new data comes new understanding; in the end, we provide our own sense to our life experience and determine what our lives will end up meaning, to what degree we can.

In all honesty what do you think were the main factors in that process?

Exposure to new data and other worldviews; life experience; curiosity; acceptance of ambiguity in life versus trying to make it all "make sense" somehow.

If you believe what would it take for you to lose that belief?

new data that expands/changes my understanding.

 

[Olm the Water King]

Did you switch / lose / or gain religious belief?

I didn't switch, gain or lose it. My parents aren't religious and they didn't raise me as religious.

What were the involved religions (for example switching from a to b or losing a)

None.

In all honesty what do you think were the main factors in that process?

There was no process.

If you believe what would it take for you to lose that belief?

If you don't believe what would it take for you to gain belief?

Evidence.

 

[Mademoiselle]

Well, I chose to remain muslim.

Because I understand physics bery well, and I'm impressed with the holy quran. All what I find right and justice are Islam's princples, I'm even way less kind though

Maybe it sounds simple or.. But I have a strong intuit, not that I'm some genius or I have super powers, just different. I am very good at certain things like knowing what makes sense, although I have a noticeable lacking at expressing my thoughts

I'm thankful that I could understand the message my creator sent me, that explains this universe and life, that it's a test I can easily pass, who are my enemies, who are my leaders, and most importantly he had acknowledged himself.

That's the only reason I don't have a mental disorder. Because I'm freaking insane if only I hadn't known There's someone who understands me and takes care of me in this life, where no one abslutly can see all those things I can never talk about, no words fit for them, I'd had given up, because I was going to be alone then.

 

[Fun in the Sun]

I'm becoming some sort of ethical hedonist or something. I'm definitely a humanist, physicalist, empiricist. So many ists.

 

[ceecee]

Did you switch / lose / or gain religious belief? Abandoned entirely. I didn't replace it with another faith. I don't want anything to do with any faith, religion, belief or spirituality.

What were the involved religions (for example switching from a to b or losing a) Roman Catholicism

In all honesty what do you think were the main factors in that process? At first the irrational, illogical dogma, the blind faith and lack of evidence. Later on all of those plus every known atrocity committed from the 1st century to the present. The list is incredible and I have no idea how, knowing that, anyone could remain part of it.

If you believe what would it take for you to lose that belief? I don't believe so I can't lose anything.

If you don't believe what would it take for you to gain belief? I don't believe so I can't gain anything.

 

[Hawthorne]

Was never religious to begin with. I went to church from 5 to 13 but slept or played my Gameboy.

 

[meme duchess]

Did you switch / lose / or gain religious belief?
A: I lost.

What were the involved religions (for example switching from a to b or losing a)
A: I started off being a Roman Catholic and switched to Atheism to Agnosticism.

In all honesty what do you think were the main factors in that process?
A: My parents raised my sisters and I to be Roman Catholics. I stayed that way because of fear of my future. I was scared of the afterlife and it was a constant battle between right and wrong. I felt like if I did anything that went against what was wanted of me, I'd "go to Hell". I went through some shitty stuff which led me to completely stop believing in the possibility of a God and had this sort of really bad superiority complex to anyone who was religious. I thought that it was weak to put your faith into something - someone that may or may not exist - at least, more than yourself or the people around you. Obviously, that just made me an asshole but I think that once I actually got over the whole black and white mentality, I was able to use that to then fully find the idea of any deity above extremely improbable but I was also able to respect the possibility of there being a higher power as well as the people who believed in that. And still do.

If you don't believe what would it take for you to gain belief?
A: Unless there's tangible proof, I don't think I can believe.

 

[Coriolis]

I switched religion after being raised Roman Catholic. I cannot point to any discrete indentifiable factors other than my own inquisitiveness and need for the world to make sense. It was indeed a process, with each step leading to the next, like the clues in a scavenger hunt.

As a child, I disliked church but was made to attend. I questioned things from the age of six, to the point where I was allowed to receive first communion a year early. The more I was allowed to do and the more I learned, however, the less it all made sense. It was like the layers of an onion each being peeled away one after another. First the poor quality of music and liturgy in the church; then the limitations on women, and antiquated policies on gays, marriage, and reproduction. Then, having been exposed to Protestant denominations where these issues weren't present, I realized I just didn't believe in the underlying theology.

I went through a time then when I wondered if I believed in anything. It felt very barren. Everyone around me was celebrating this and that at the various holidays, and I could not in good conscience enjoy of any of it. The sole belief I did retain was in the idea of deity itself, that there is something in this universe beyond physical reality, and that we can somehow connect with it. I was inspired in this by scientists of old, people like Newton and Galileo who sprinkled references to God throughout their writings. They saw their study of the natural world as the study of creation, a view I still hold as a scientist myself.

The next step of the process was meeting some Bahai's. I attended discussion groups with them for several years, and still count some as good friends. I learned this was not the religion for me, but it was an important step in getting me to look beyond Christian denominations.

The next step was running across a series of books, each leading to the next, answering questions and posing new ones. Books like Ute Ranke-Heinemann's Putting away childish things, Riane Eisler's The chalice and the blade, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon, and finally Margot Adler's Drawing down the moon. As I read, I continued to work out my basic beliefs, until after finishing Adler's book I knew enough to think, "Good grief - I guess I'm a Pagan". I was quite surprised myself. But with the emphasis on the natural world, on the realistically multifaceted interpretation of deity, on individual responsibility for spirituality and for one's actions -- I saw it was the best embodiment of my own beliefs, and the only spiritual path I could walk without feeling like a hypocrite.

I realize that the way I see God now is simply the way I see God. Is God really that way? I don't know, but then no one else does, either. Perhaps there isn't a God, and what I sense beyond the natural world will be revealed to somehow be a part of it, or to be something entirely un-deific altogether. My spirituality is thus simply the best and most useful way I have found to relate to the possibility that there is something greater out there after all.

 

[JocktheMotie]

I developed critical faculties.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I developed critical faculties.

You weren't born with them? People with critical faculties vote Republican, by the way. Lincoln freed the slaves, after all. My only thing that really gives me pause about voting Republican is religion. Republicans need to start supporting atheist candidates.

I would date a Democrat, though.

 

[Jaguar]

Raised Catholic as a kid but I'm Agnostic, not Athiest. To be an Athiest, one is still mired in beliefs. Agnosticism is the logical choice for someone like me since it involves addressing what one knows, rather than what one believes.

 

[Virtual ghost]

I never had a religion, not even on paper. Therefore there was nothing to lose.


Actually when I was in the first grade I made most kids in the class cry by openly claiming that the whole Santa thing is just a lie.

 

[dog]

I never had a religion, not even on paper. Therefore there was nothing to lose.


Actually when I was in the first grade I made most kids in the class cry by openly claiming that the whole Santa thing is just a lie.

A SANTA BASHER?....SO non-Sish. lol

 

[Qlip]

Did you switch / lose / or gain religious belief?

Yes, when I was 15 I left my religion, a kind of cult like bible religion to become what might be best called an agnostic seeker.

In all honesty what do you think were the main factors in that process?

On an intellectual level I felt that what I was taught was not lining up at all with the world I saw. And even more importantly, it wasn't lining up with how I felt like it was right to relate to people. Looking back, though, emotionally and developmentally their rules were very imposing had cut me off from from being a whole person by design. I think if had been a more reasonable faith, I wouldn't have rejected it.

If you don't believe what would it take for you to gain belief?

Most of what I 'believe', which is an incredibly nebulous monotheism, is actually experiential knowledge, and a fundamental understanding of what has to exist in order for me be engaged and involved in life. I have never been happy involved in any endeavor unless I felt like it was meaningful at a high scale, and I understood it. Finding this in life in order to feel involved a priori may sound like a cop out to others, but I experience it as a genesis, a origin singularity, echoing that that one bootstrap life had to pull itself in the first molecular replication.

 

[Bush]

Started Christian or whatever. Went to church with a friend when I was a kid. Religion was never brought up in the household. Not that it was kept on the hush-hush; it just.. was never a topic of discussion.

So, I lost that belief pretty quickly.

Now, I'm all about pantheism. Pretty much. That is, there's something underlying the reality that we observe, but we simply can't see the whole picture because our perspective is limited. What's beyond our limits? What underlies what we see? I strongly, strongly believe that it's not some set of one or more anthropomorphic beings. Or the stars themselves. Or the sun.

Other than that, it's difficult to pin down. But it is a perspective that everything's all connected in some way (even if just very, very loosely). That perspective readily leads the way toward an ethical code, lifestyle, and personal philosophy.

 

[Hitoshi-San]

I grew up in a mixture of a Catholic & Methodist family, but currently don't follow any specific religion. I'm not really fond of most organized religions, as I think a lot of them tend to be cult-like and sort of ruin the idea of independent thought, but I don't have anything against people who are religious as long as they're not a crusty hemorrhoid about their ideas and keep an open mind and realize this isn't the 17th century and you can't hide from the rest of the world.

My dad is a Catholic, my mom is a Methodist. It never caused a lot of strain on their relationship, but they decided my brother and I would go to a Catholic school from kindergarten to 8th grade because they believed it was important that we learn about God and develop some kind of faith (among other reasons, such as getting a better education and there being less of a chance for bullying and other stuff they didn't want us seeing as wee tikes).

It had its ups and downs. This isn't the thread to share my personal schooling experience on, but mainly the religious parts are what gave it negativity.

I stopped thinking too much about religion by the time I was 10 or 11. I didn't consider once being a nun like maybe half my female classmates did (that number fell to only one by middle school, however). I didn't disagree with the teachers when they told us God exists, I just didn't think about it. All I knew is I hated the fundamentalist views on religion and I wanted more out of the world.

Now I go to a public high school where atheism is the norm. People don't talk about religion there. I'm grateful that it's not being pushed in my face all the time, but I'm also sort of wondering what it's like to be religious, because not all religious people can possibly be like the ones I was exposed to. They'd all be dead by now or living in the basement of Westboro Baptist.

My parents aren't weird to me about not following a religion, in fact, I think seeing me go through the Catholic school made them both sort of fall out of touch with their own religions.

 

[cascadeco]

I grew up elca lutheran, my parents believed it was important to go to church ever week, so I went through all of the elements of that. I resented being forced to go, and on some level questioned all of it, but I wouldn't say it was a terrible experience or I was 'turned off' from all of it. But also, it never played a significant role in my world view or beliefs.

Once in college I was quite happy not to have to go to church anymore, ha. In my final two years of college, I really took it up again, in more of a worldview belief, the reasons for which I won't go into here, and that lasted until a year or so out of college. Then I realized where I had gone, without any actual reason for believing any of it, and then spent a solid year or two THINKING about all of it, and formulating and crafting my own thoughts on all of it. After digging into all of that, I got to a point where I was /am content to pretty much not dwell on any of it. It's kind of like, been there, done that, no interest or point in digging further. I guess I'm agnostic but I don't honestly think that label means a whole lot. I think Agnostics in and of themselves cover a huge, huge spectrum. In any event I don't practice anything.

 

[miss fortune]

Did you switch / lose / or gain religious belief?

no

What were the involved religions (for example switching from a to b or losing a)

my mother is christian, which she came into on her own when she was a teenager (she wasn't raised in the church or anything)... she's the happy "jesus loves everyone" type of christian, so it's not like I was repelled from religion because the most primary example in my life was intolerant and judgy of others my dad has always been agnostic

I was dragged to church every sunday growing up, and sunday school and bible school as well (my mom was the coordinator), however, I was never baptized and my mom never pressed the issue... I was the wild child who taught other children to try and summon bloody mary in the church bathroom with the lights out and would convince everyone to play hide and seek in the graveyard surrounding the church after dark

we went to a variety of protestant churches growing up because whenever a new pastor would arrive and he was NOT into the "jesus loves everyone" brand of christianity, my mom would decide that it was time to move on

In all honesty what do you think were the main factors in that process?

I never really believed in anything... nothing has made any sense religion-wise to me even though I know that most people who have been through the same experiences that I have with the same types of resolutions tend towards religion even if they had none in the first place. I mean, it would be nice to believe in something of the sort... to believe in things like absolution and such and that there was some meaning behind everything, but it just doesn't click.

If you don't believe what would it take for you to gain belief?

a change in my basic psychological makeup... I'm not sure that as the person I am I would be inclined to worship a deity even if I met one and had a nice chat over lunch that they'd summoned from thin air.

wishing that something were possible doesn't make it so

 

[Riva]

Well, I chose to remain muslim.

Because I understand physics bery well, and I'm impressed with the holy quran. All what I find right and justice are Islam's princples, I'm even way less kind though

Maybe it sounds simple or.. But I have a strong intuit, not that I'm some genius or I have super powers, just different. I am very good at certain things like knowing what makes sense, although I have a noticeable lacking at expressing my thoughts

I'm thankful that I could understand the message my creator sent me, that explains this universe and life, that it's a test I can easily pass, who are my enemies, who are my leaders, and most importantly he had acknowledged himself.

That's the only reason I don't have a mental disorder. Because I'm freaking insane if only I hadn't known There's someone who understands me and takes care of me in this life, where no one abslutly can see all those things I can never talk about, no words fit for them, I'd had given up, because I was going to be alone then.

Who are these enemies of yours?

Also, I am glad you used the word 'sent' instead of 'sends' because -