Losing belief
 

Has anything in your life caused you to stop believing in something? Was it tragic? Dramatic? Traumatic? Do you feel like posting the details? Or is life just vampiric all-around?

There was a time when I believed in God. I spent years praying and waking up to the same stuff everyday. It soon got to the point where I just wouldn't talk much but I kept my beliefs. As soon as I reached twenty, that all changed. I was punched in the face pretty hard and had my tooth go through my lip. I stopped believing that day, mainly due to the "Don't slap the other cheek" phrase in the New Testament. Most people say I'm wrong and that I should keep my beliefs. I don't know. I'm atheistic right now.

So what about you? Anything similar?

That's a really stupid reason to become an atheist.

I stopped thinking about "higher power" magic in my teens. Doesn't take a punch in the face to figure out it's just a mind-trap of fear and guilt. You don't need that.

"Don't slap the other cheek"? Don't you mean "turn the other cheek"? The way you worded it was so...negative. Were you Catholic? :D

I agree with Cellius; if not being comfortable with not following one small suggestion that you be pacifist is the reason you turned away with Christianity...aren't there more egregious tenets of the Bible you could've decided you couldn't abide by? Like hating gays, or not masturbating? Something typical and lame? (What I'm getting at is the Bible says a lot of things that not everyone agrees with, so I can't quite comprehend why this one was so important to you.)

That said, I never felt like I believed in God, I just decided at 16 that I didn't. There was no falling out, there was no single act that pushed me in that way, I just concluded that that's what I felt to be the truth.

Friend poopsie, no matter what belief you adhere to, you're going to get in a few lumps while going through life.

If this single violent episode was enough to shake your belief, then I daresay it never was that firm in the first place. And you may have misunderstood some of the guarantees - you were never promised a cush life, at least in this world.

I was raised Roman Catholic by my then-agnostic father. Because of all the women who had a hand in raising me, I learned pretty quick that one religion was no better than any other religion. I was sent to CCD by one woman for some odd years, did my communion, confession, all that.

After I did my first confession, my father approached me and asked if I "really believed in this Catholic stuff." I must have been about 12 at the time, but I laughed and told him no, I never believed it. I never had belief for which I could lose.

I have never had "belief" in much. The only things I know with any surefire faith is that I WILL die, and NOTHING is permanent.

I agree that Poopsie's reason for going atheist is kind of stupid. "I got hit, and I didn't do anything about it" is more YOUR fault than anyone else's Poopsie. You picked and chose what you wanted to gobble up.

I dunno. I mean, yes. I wholeheartedly agree with others in the thread in that getting punched in the face is a pretty idiotic reason to go OH KAY I DON'T THINK ANYTHING BESIDES THE PHYSICAL EXISTS NOW, cuz, you know, Christians got beat up and killed all the time for being Christian. The Bible never says anything about God being an almighty protector from all physical pain. Was this punch in RESPONSE to a profession of belief?

Also, the fact that you're using the word "belief" is interesting, what with the nuances of the English language and someone becoming an atheist usually says that they lose faith. Is there a reason for this? Just wondering, honestly.

Finally, personal thoughts: yes. I have lost faith at one point; I was dealing with a lot of shit, least of which was the reconciling of my homosexuality with something that I felt in my bones with no lick of guilt. It's just that my loss of faith was followed by an personal understanding of things that simply makes sense to me. I'm still a Christian, but my view of God and the world is simply different from most other people's.

I never was a strong God believer. I did accept that god existed, but it did not influence my life.

However, after watching Zeitgeist (the first part of the first movie), I became a strong agnostic (hey, no one can tell for sure if there IS a god). Almost everything in the ''revealed'' religions is taken from pagan religions : virgin birth, death on the cross, resurection after three days, religious symbols, death cult...

You do know that Zeitgeist is really full of shit, right?

Zeitgeist, the movie Debunked - Part One - Conspiracy Science

My parents are Anglican as far as I know, but they've never seemed all that religiously adherent. Oddly, I got landed in a Christian boarding school for ten years (I figure it gave them something to boast about at social engagements while they were still together). That significant a chunk of your life spent being belittled for faithlessness is no charitable experience. Three hours' detention spent analysing bible passages in return for skipping on a half-hour service? Oh, yeah, seems fair to me. Not really sure what I was thinking, willingly distancing myself from endless hate speech and patronisation like that.

I was never committed to anything as a kid, but being put through the christ-grinder was enough for me to drop any notions of spirituality forever.

I think catholic schools should be outlawed, personally. When you're that young it's not fair to have such a belief shoved down your throat. You're susceptible and vulnerable to believing whatever an adult tells you is truth.

I grew up going through catholic school after catholic school, accepting christianity as truth. From the ages of six until I was about fourteen I was terrified that I was going to hell. I had sinned and often times, my teachers would tell me that my disobedience in the classroom was unforgivable in the eyes of god, that I better pray extra long tonight.

Fortunately, once I reached the age of fourteen or so, I just stopped believing. It wasn't due to some traumatic event or some kind of grand finale, I just stopped. After years of debating with people and defending my beliefs, everything I read just finally made sense. I can't explain why I felt this way, maybe it's just a part of growing up.

I don't waiver anymore, despite my mother telling me that I'll change my mind once I hit adulthood.

I've gone the opposite route starting out being raised a devout atheist and transitioning away from that with time. Going from atheist to agnostic after getting over my stupid strident atheist crap when I was in my teens and then riding right on into heathen silliness do to some experiences with ghosts. It's damn hard to maintain a belief that science has all the answers when something it has no grasp on comes out and bites you on the nose figuratively speaking.

Now it's settled into a everything is true and total bullshit at the same time paradigm. Not sure how it works but it seems to be doing ok for the moment.

I'd like to hear more about this punch so mighty it knocked poopsies faith clean off. Context would just be swell plus we need whoever did it to be the next mortal combat character. A fatality that destroys your enemies very belief structure would be totally sweet.

Are we really supposed to talk religion with a guy named "Poopsie"?

But I digress: Jewish, raised through six years in a Jewish day school. That was enough to push me toward non-religiousness.

I've never been a very religious person. My parents are both Catholic but they never really tried to make sure I believed. I remember praying a few times when I was REALLY young but by the time I was in about 3rd grade just about any talk of religion trailed off.

That said it's hard to really be religious or flat out deny the existance of god for me. I'm kind of one of those gotta see it to believe it types, but at the same time there are so many things about life and the universe that science simply can not explain.

I'd like to believe there is a god and an afterlife. But there really is no way to know. And it's just creepy to think that when you die, you might just cease to exist. If there is a god though, I'd like to think he's alot less worried about certain things then alot of religious groups would want you to believe.

I was raised Mennonite, went to a Mennonite high school, and go to a Mennonite University. The two institutions i attended are surprisingly liberal minded when it comes to most things though, and i found myself quite surprised when i actually got there. I grew up very agnostic, but still called myself a christian, not only because of the people surrounding me's sake, but also because i honestly do like some of the things Christianity offers and teaches.

I never really had solid faith to "shake" per say, but i'll never forget the year i had my beliefs regarding Christianity shaken. In grade 11, as part of the required course load in my high school, i took a christian ethics class with a teacher who's basic philosophy regarding the class was that he would present the material, teach us everything he could about it, and let us form our own opinions while not giving any slant of his own. He showed us how most bible passages are misinterpreted by today's audience because of translation issues, and the change of historical context. It was here that i learned to form my own faith, and the same has been happening at my university since i got here. I arguably am less of a christian that i ever have been, but i still call myself a christian.

I used to go to Catholic school when I was a young lad. Religion is so tedius and boring, that definitely turned me off right away.

Religion never made sense to me, really. I had been to a few different types of churches for one reason or another all through high school and they where all strange and made me feel uncomfortable. Rituals, beliefs without much foundation on truth, and the whole higher-power thing is too much work.

I've never been to a "hardcore" Christian school, but at my Primary school we used to sing hymns and say the Lord's Prayer at assemblies. I'm not sure if I believed in god at that point; religion was just not important to me at that age so I didn't really think about it. It's possible that I had a half-hearted belief though, although I gradually came to the conclusion that there is no higher power.

Oddly enough, my second highschool was supposedly Christian but during assemblies there the vicar would ask us to pray but always said that if you didn't want to pray you should just keep silent for those who wanted to. I always just kept silent.

As such I've not really had belief enough to be shaken, but there are certain things that have happened not just in my life but in the world at large which more or less prove to me that there is no way god could exist. I also have a theory which someone will probably be able to dismember, but nonetheless: Sometimes when people take drugs they say they have religious and spiritual experiences, but this is merely an effect of purposeful chemical alteration in the brain. To me this clearly states that god was truly created in the heads of men.

Interesting perspective.

Do you think a person can have a "religious experience" or something like an enlightenment authentically when they trip or whatever?

Considering that there are actual religions that use (or have used) drugs in their rituals (sup Native Americans!)? Yeah. I'd say so.

Yea, I'd say so too. But I'm curious because she came to the conclusion that god is a delusion in part because people have "religious experiences" sometimes when on drugs.

(Yay peyote~)

I personally don't think people do have "authentic" religious experiences, on drugs or otherwise. I just think it's partly to do with the way the human mind works (and partly to do with background and relatives/friends influence etc). I am biased though because I'm an atheist, and I don't begrudge anyone else their opinions or faith.

What would you say to someone who claims to have had an authentic religious experience when not on drugs? I know a bunch of people who have gone from being complete atheists to practicing Christians because of such things.

I guess my next question would be how does that apply to ancient religions, such as belief in the Roman, Norse, or Greek gods.

I do agree with you to a certain extent though, if not God himself (themselves) created in the heads of men, at least his image was. I'm just interested in your opinions cause i think the same way (sort of) even though i call myself a christian.

I'm an atheist too, but I don't think every "religious experience" or anything related to the acknowledgment of a deity has to be null and void because it was induced by chemicals in the brain. Emotions are all in the brain too - does that mean they're not real, or that they're easily discounted?

Sometimes, awesome thoughts occur to a person. Sometimes, it changes them for the better. Sometimes, they regard these epiphanies as "religious," just in a sense of the word. "Religion" doesn't necessarily mean the acknowledgment of a deity - at least as far as I see it. To me, it means seeing a greater purpose and serving that purpose, in general.

I respect your opinion. I'm actually intrigued by it. Don't think I'm attacking you. =D

I'm still in a transition period deciding what I believe in. I haven't found an organized religion that I beleive in yet, and I doubt I will. I was raised lazy-Christian (did secular easter and christmas, but never went to church), so religion wasn't an important aspect of my upbringing. In high school I decided I was athiest because it was the cool hip thing to do, but I'm starting to re-think that now that I'm in college. What really turned me back to Christianity, or any sort of religion was taking an art history class. Learning about and seeing images of the cathedrals, tapestries, paintings, frescoes and stained glass windows really got me thinking about how people can be inspired to create things so spectacular and awesome because of their beliefs in a fictional character.

And I dunno, Believing that there's nothing out there and that we're alone in the world isn't very fun. I'm not hoping that there's life after death or an omnipotent deity watching over my every move, judging my actions, I'm just hoping that there's something cool an interesting that we're not seeing. So right now I tell people that I don't believe in a deity or messiah, but I believe in some kinda energy or power that balances everything out in the end. (I realized recently that that sounds a lot like the force, so I sometimes say I should just join the church of the Jedi :P)

And my beef with some atheists is that they're not realy atheists, they're just anti-christian. They go "OH YEAH, LIKE NOAH COULD BUILD AN ARK PSHHHH THAT'S NOT REAL" or "YEAH RIGHT JESUS CAME BACK HAHAHA WTF WORLD BUILT 7000 YEARS AGO??? THAT'S CRAZY. THERE IS NO GOD." I mean, come on. And I hate hate HATE HATE RAAAAGE HATE the kind of Atheist who tries to force their beliefs onto others. At the club fair last year, they had a table set up with a poster that said something like "believe in god? We'll prove you wrong!" It just disgusted me. They're just as bad as the guys who stand on boxes telling everyone homosexuality and women with short hair are going to hell and we all need to repent. (They appear often in the warmer months, it's kinda funny.)

Well, I went through a lot more before that and I just figured something would've happened if I didn't hit back. Nothing really did, so I lost belief.

It's just a name.

What did you expect to happen if you didn't hit back? God to magically come down and put a gold star on your chest for the day?

I'd had my doubts before, but one time something - on Christmas Eve, of all nights - caused me to finally lose my faith.

I went up to bed, a little kid, awaiting the next day. My bed was right next to a vent, from which I could here the living room downstairs. I heard "OK, lets do it!" from my mom, and then a ruffle of boxes and presents being moved. That was when I decided Santa was not real.


Just my personal opinion; please don't get offended. =)

So... because Santa isn't real you don't believe in god?

I'm not a man of faith, but some of these reasons people are giving just seem silly. It would be like me going "God hasn't dropped a woman in my lap so I can live happily ever after. He must be fake!"

People give pretty stupid-ass reasons for believing in God, too. Works both ways, I suppose.

It was a longer process for me but thinking back on it going to church was actually the trigger than got most of it started.

I also was raised Catholic and went to CCD like many others. I remember finding the classes pretty interesting but then we starting to learn the prayers and were to attend our first mass. I'd never been to church before as my parents were not very devoted Catholics and thus stuck me in CCD in hopes that I would be a better one.

Even though I was like 10 years old I vividly remember the experience. I remember sitting there thinking that something wasn't right as I watched the people stand up, look forward, recite a prayer, and sit down in unison. The robotic nature of Mass really stuck with me and from there I really started to question religion. As I grew older I pretty much developed the idea of religion as being nothing but a necessary farce used to justify morality and order in society. But I've seen strong religious beliefs help a person get through the worse time of their life so I can see the value in it. But for me personally, I can't help but quietly smile to myself as I watch the greatest brainwashing scheme ever conceived work its way into so many lives.

But I thought he was an ex-christian, not a jew.

No, what I'm saying is, I believed in "Don't hit the other cheek" and just gave up because I knew nothing was going to happen. Yeah, it was my fault for not hitting back, but also my fault for believing NOT TO in the first place.

I stopped going to church right as I hit high school. During that time period, I was more apathetic about religion than anything. Around senior year, I started to question about my belief in god and came to the realization that there possibly might not be a god. I became an agnostic. By the time college rolled around, I became an atheist and went into more in-depth research and these are the conclusions I came to:

• Christianity bases its belief system on preceding ones (Greek gods, Zoroaster, paganism, etc...)
  
• The Bible is an archaic, irrelevant book based on metaphors and tall tales.
  
• The concept of "god" is merely used as a crutch and as an imaginary friend to provide comfort and strength in times of need.
  
• Religion is a form of social control.
  
• Religious beliefs generally force you to deny human instinct and things that come naturally to us (i.e. sex before marriage, masturbation, foul language, critical thinking, and irony. Fundamentalism breeds no irony.)

I can think of some other things later.

That you disagree with something does nothing to discredit its relevancy.

Also: Speaking ill of all things religion helps no one and only serves to make you look like a misinformed college freshman newly enlightened by his new-found freedom and copious quantities of dank-as-fuck 'dro.

I stopped being religious around high school when we stopped going to church. After High School I just stopped believing in God as a natural result of rational thinking, no big deal really.

That's... um. Not the actual text, but alright. I suppose actually knowing what the Bible says doesn't really factor into a LOT of Christians' point of view I guess. Funny how that works.

(It's "Ye have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away." Matthew 5:38, King James Bible)

If I stated that ALL aspects of religion are irrelevant, then I apologize.

That being said, I think aspects of Christianity and Buddhism can be beneficial in ones life, however other aspects can be repulsive.

I find it interesting that I am completely a non-believer, never really believed in anything, and yet what seems unlike the rest of you, I really, really wish I could believe in God.

I was raised Jewish, but apparently not as strict as Capo. It was Reform Judaism crap, so we focused more on Hanukkah parties than keeping the Sabbath. Maybe it was because of this lukewarm approach to religion that I've always envied belief, in a sort of way. I mean, I don't exactly want to start walking around like a Hasid, but I would like the obvious amount of certainty and happiness that religion would bring. It doesn't have to be white-bread, upper-middle class Evangelical Christianity, of course.

I guess I'm being a total pragmatist, but I guess I'm saying is that even if it isn't real, isn't the end-benefit of living a life believing in God and the afterlife and whatnot kind of worth it, if only to create a certain degree of self-confidence and happiness? (I know I'm not exactly being an entirely honest individual if I'm arguing that I've wished I could maintain a benign form of Judaism or Christianity merely to make myself happy. But there is a certain draw in that.)

Oh, and I went through a temporary super-atheist movement at the end of high school. Now I'm just generically agnostic or non-religious.
Other than "religious symbols", which is vague, and possibly "death cult" (which I don't really understand), everything you have just said is Christianity, not all revealed religions.

It was largely the line, "The Bible is an archaic, irrelevant book based on metaphors and tall tales," that irked me. It seemed as if you were parroting atheistic talking points, ignorant of what it was you were saying.

The point I'm trying to make is being vehemently, outright anti-religion is just as logical as the inverse. There are positive and negative aspects to be found with both, and neither should be discounted in an educated conversation.

e: Hachifusa, I was raised reform, as well. My mother is Presbyterian and my father is Jewish. It's kind of complicated, but I was never raised too strictly religious.

I don't understand how a person could believe some of the stories in the bible verbatim. Adam and Eve, Noah's Ark, Burning Bush, etc...

I can't fathom ever believing in such stories. Perhaps metaphorically, but not literally...

I'm against a plethora of things that religion has to offer, but not everything. I also find it ironic that the very Christians who always praise Jesus completely ignore his teachings.

I don't know how someone working so very hard to come off as educated can gloss over the fact the huge majority of believers (including the pope and the catholic church) don't believe the bible verbatim.

Believe it or not, not everyone who believes in God is completely incapable of understanding history and the vague, atheistis-only, concepts of metaphor and allegory.

Puffing on your pipe while looking down your nose (presumably past your ascot) and declaring you can't possibly understand how those masses could simply be so ignorant isn't raising a valid point, it's just being a condescending lackwit. You're prescribing maybe 5% of believers ideals on the whole of them. It's asinine and utterly counter-productive. If you have half the education you're trying to convince us you do, you know exactly why religion exists, and you know there are answers science can't provide just yet, so people will continue to use religion to try and answer them.

Going alittle off topic but I always found the story of Adam and Eve amusing. Because if it were true that would mean humanity was the product of incest.

Yeah, but a bunch of the humanities professors at my college brought up the theory that humanity back when was almost wiped out so that the family tree gets awful narrow at the bottom.

So as funny as that is, and depending on where you draw the line to define incest (1st, 2nd, 3rd 4th cousins etc), you've already got it. Personally my favorite was the ark because you're given the measurements and then told that a pair of each of the world's animals fit inside.

A pair for each of the unclean animals sir. Seven pairs for the sacrificial ones :tpg:

Also, it's kinda difficult to literally justify the Adam and Eve account. Of course, I realize they omit the names of women, but it was clearly stated that Adam and Eve had Cain and Abel. After Cain killed Abel, he took off. Then, Adam and Eve got together again and begat Seth.

Cain's wife was mentioned, before the verse "Adam lay with his wife again" (Gen. 4:25), so it's a given there were people other than the two fig-eating ones.

While we're at it, let's talk about that bothersome "week" thing at the beginning of Genesis.

The earth's definitely older than the several thousand years young-earth creationists hold to, so therefore that week is a LIE and means that GOD does NOT EXIST.

You know what's great about doing what you just did? It's about as stupid as the person that will see that and immediately think "Wow, they think we just didn't FACT CHECK the book and that's just not so!"

Hey, idiot:



I WAS BEING FACETIOUS.

Yeah, just noticed you were just following in line with a bunch of other idiots.

Additional Spam:
Re-read that, and then think "What have we contributed to the conversation other than stupidity?"

Yes, I admit it. I'm a grade-A moron that obviously lacks the ability to discuss and debate religion with Denicalis. Happy? Is that what you want to hear from me? From the depths of my ignorance, I apologize and offer you a coupon of ten dollars to pay for the emotional trauma you have suffered because of my glaring idiocy.

Perhaps if I would have added "fundamentalism", this could have been prevented.

"I don't understand how a fundamentalist could believe some of the stories in the bible verbatim"

Condescending? How in any way was my comment condescending? Hell, I even said that certain concepts of religion I agree with. And if I didn't say that, I'm saying it now... :eye:

I'm sorry I don't have time to research and discuss the other 95%.

Instead of complaining about my supposed "ignorance", why don't you enlighten me or disprove what I have to say. Talking about how counter-productive my post is just as counter-productive...

I like black people; hell, some of my best friends are black people. But I'm not talking about all black people, just the bad ones. The niggers.

being condescending is probably the nicest possible thing to describe what you are doing

Can't a man NOT agree with something? I mean really...

I've never had so many people in one forum give me shit than in this one. Ridiculously oversensitive...

Yeah, that happens when you stop posting on Fark and Gaia. What do you want me to do about it, you fucking racist bastard?

Never set a foot in those forums, cupcake.

Christ, are you off your meds? When was race EVER involved in this discussion before you brought it up?

Take your hate-speak back to Stormfront. We have no place for it here.

Fair enough. I don't need the mind fuck from some weirdos who misconstrue everything I say as hate or ignorance. And if it is sarcasm, it's not the least funny.

Goodbye.

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Why did you get hit in the face so hard in the first place? Things might have gotten worse if you fought back, so the wisdom of turning the other cheek might have been better in that case.

I've been nonreligious my entire life, but I figure that sometimes religion has offered good things in the past, but also has done some bad things in the past. It's like any other tool, it just depends on how you use it.

Couldn't the animals have been... younger and smaller than what you always see in the pictures? I guess it's more popular to depict these huge elephants and rhinos entering - Oh, and also having the giraffes' necks sticking out a window.

Wow, despite a few wrong turns this thread took I've really enjoyed reading about everyone's experiences. I myself am a very conservative Christian while being moderately liberal in politics oddly enough. Go figure. Agnostic through high school, started praying in college, and now I'm heavily involved with my church.

Believing in God requires a leap of faith. And to me faith is something that you know in your heart is true regardless of the fact that you don't have hardened physical or scientific evidence to prove it. This is of course an unsatisfactory argument to nonbelievers. But without this system a lot of the major principles of Christianity wouldn't work. Jesus actually mentions this situation of nonbelievers being turned away by the exact same thing that attracts those who do believe.

Oh, and I find that MOST people who call themselves Christians do little to represent the intentions that Jesus Christ had for His followers. And the ones you see on TV and in newspapers are often the worst offenders. *sigh*

I lost my belief in God and roman Catholicism when I was 15/16. I had been feeling so down and out and prayed a lot for strength and all sorts of stuff.... but nothing was happening. Life got worse, and the harder I tried to extend my beliefs and build more faith, the harder things got. One day when walking back from Church by myself, I looked at the stars and let it all go....

Since then I have been unable to believe in anything like that. I was looking for answers for so long (Reading the bible, going to church groups, trying different churches), that it drove me crazy. Nothing was working and nothing gave me the faith I needed to go on. So, I just stopped believing. I haven't gone back since.

Instead, I just believe in helping others and being the best I can be. Yes, I have traits that may not be the best in completing that objective, but at the same time I do what I am capable of. Yes, in some ways, my soul searching with Christianity may have created a basis in which to live my life, but at the same time I have been able to live my life without the religion tying me up.

Besides, some people need it, and some people don't. And I found out at age 15 that it wasn't for me.

I'm glad this thread got back to the topic.....

I was raised Catholic, and have attended various Protestant churches since. I took a interest in science, wanting to learn more about creationism vs evolution, so I did an undergrad science degree at a Christian university. It was interesting that professors of theology and science generally tended to hold to some form of theistic evolution; philosophy profs a little less so, and the physicists and math profs more creationist.

When I started university I thought that good science would confirm creationism; what I learned was that the interpretation of the data had as much to do or more with one's philosophical starting point than with the data itself. I still think evolution has huge issues from a scientific perspective, but I don't think science can settle the issue. When I learned about science, especially things like Goedel's (sp?) theorem and quantum mechanics, I realized how limited science is at finding truth. Working over ten years in as a research tech has only reinforced this belief. So, I didn't loose my faith in God, but definitely my faith in science.

To expand on something in my journal:

Language is the archectecture that humans use to experience and explain reality, and religion is the language we use to explain the mystical parts of it.

THE OUTER CHURCH AND THE INVISIBLE COLLEGE ARE BOTH RELIGION. THEY'RE EVERYTHING AND THE SAME.






RAGGED ROBIN IS L. RON HUBBARD. DOES THAT MEAN IT WORKED FOR HIM OR IS HE JUST A CRACKPOT?

EDIT: Wow, I put that horribly. Just a year ago, too.

I just stopped caring. Apatheism FTW.

Is there a God? I don't care.

I was hardcore catholic in my youth and then my dad divorced my mom to he could marry another woman. Only problem was he wanted the wedding in a church and being divorced he couldn't do that. So he paid a priest 20,000 bucks and had the marriage annulled. Didn't necessarily stop believing in God right then and there, just in the concept of religion in general, in institution of it. Was too hypocritical to follow.

Lost faith in God after being in a catholic school for 14 years. Can only take so many religion classes before you get sick of the whole thing.

I've always believed in God, but over the past few years I've started to question why. I have no obvious proof of God's existence, but that doesn't rule God's existence out by any means either. I think that most people have to lose their faith at some point as a moving from their given faith from their parents into a faith of their own.

I went through a Catholic Preschool, a Buddhist Japanese Kindergarten (possibly overlapping the timeframe I was with the Catholic school), and a Japanese Christian School (which was in session from Mondays-Thursdays from 3-7PM). Aside from the Catholic Preschool, the other schools I went to on top of regular/secular public school. For the most part, my parents are/were agnostic during this time frame that involved my religion-based schooling. My mother went through bouts of believing in some weird religion for a few years, but my father for the most part remains agnostic. The only reason why I was shoved into these institutions is because my parents believed these schools had better educational benefits.

I think before puberty, I was very much a believer in the Christian god. Skip forward to high school, I didn't really give a damn since most of my friends didn't bring up religion into our daily, normal life conversations and I wasn't affiliated with a church. Skipping forward through college until I took a religion class this semester/quarter--I decided I had enough of arguing about the Christian God and mainly the viewpoints on their religion. The more I read the Bible, the more I am repulsed by the teachings of it or how the mainstream Evangelical Christians justify their understanding of the scripture (mainly, Leviticus to start, but there's a plethora of other things I feel that Christians "pick and choose" that aren't very consistent).

I now go to a Buddhist temple and proclaim myself a Buddhist when asked. The lovely part about this is that I don't get into arguments about God anymore. Even more so lovely is that I get the Bible-humping church recruiters to get off my back as soon as I explain to them that I am a practicing Buddhist. When I used to say that I didn't go to church or didn't really care to believe in God, they were quite adamant about convincing me about their God, which in my view, was a waste of my time. When I explain that I'm a Buddhist, they smile, thank me for my patience and time (which is the half a minute that takes me to say what religion I belong to), and walk away.

So everything is just one big coincidence? Quite an interesting one :P

Nevertheless, I am still waiting for unambiguous proofs that God exists

The thing that got me loosing my belief was loosing my parents! First it was my dad (my best friend in the whole world!) then I lost my mom 10 years after ...she was very ill. They both died at a very young age.

The thing is that I realized I'm just mad at god. (Yea it's easier for me to still believe & blame 'someone' then not believing at all!:rolleyes: )

It's something in my heart, I can not believe. I believe in a God without any kind of rules 'someone' who accepts eveyones. - I also realized that my parents were also to blame (cause they didn't take care of themselfs! Like they should have done! - & actually the way they died helped me to cop! they both died in the Hospital & not at home. "Thank God!")

Look Here: http://www.lyrics.com/index.php/arti...hemous-rumours

- I believe the same way you do! - My first belief is in Science. But very much, the same as you, I didn't loose my faith in God.

Just because stuff works as a probability wave instead of always having definite values and whatnot doesn't mean we can't find the right truth, as the probabilities we measure are their actual values. Uncertainty is just the nature of the universe; not merely a shortcoming of humanity.

I went to a Catholic kindergarten and an Anglican Primary and Secondary School (British System there) and a Christian University. I was most involved in praying / fellowship during i was 9-12 years of age, which i felt very helpless on everything. (like I prayed hoping that i won't miss bring a single item of homework......we had physical punishment back then) But anyway like the others i get out of that mode in my teens years. Peer influence or what i am not sure. The anglican schools that I went to has a rather mild view of christianity which usually compatible with rational thinking / the social value of the times. So it was not a big deal and i find the belief quite agreeble.

Recently i work with a "christian" education institution. And to my surprise, despite their verbal claims of devotion to god, they are literal bible worshipper. Quoting the good book in every way possible to serve their purpose, they would even put a verse in the WC to remind people to flush the toilet. A verse is provided for telling the kids that they should not have a crush on his/her fellow friends, not to mention the darker examples. Working in here is really an eye opening experience and now i know "christianity" can mean many things apart from the what i used to know.

I am not sure if i am a believer or not. Now I tends to focus on the earthly matters that i can have the ability to manage. Just to live to the fullest so i will die without regret in anydays.

I was raised in an Assemblies of God church, which for those of you that don't know is Pentecostal Christianity. The branch of Pentecostal that allows women to cut their hair, wear pants instead of ankle length dresses. NO, snake charming is not involved. I don't remember any particular moment that my faith was shattered. If anything did open my eyes, it was the hypocrisy I noticed once I started being more involved with the inner workings of the church. It opened my eyes to the fact that no one is perfect and we are all flawed which goes into how all religions or outlooks on the meaning of life have flaws and none are perfect and the "end all be all". I still do what I can to live as a "good person" (something that is all relative to your belief structure and your understanding of what is really "good") and I feel that if I use the guidelines set forth by that religious view point (Christianity), I have a good chance of succeeding in that task.

I'm not blind to the rest of the world and I understand that what I've been taught is ultimately someone's interpretation of the "meaning of life". I think that to assume that interpretation or any other is the "end all be all" is a very arrogant assumption. I think that regardless of what religion you choose to follow or not follow, none of us will know the true meaning of life until our lives are complete = death. To me, the question of "what is the meaning of life" is really a question of "why am I here", it's all about "me". To try to understand my existence without knowing my entire story is futile. We'll really only know the answers ( Why am I here? Is there a God? Who's idea of God was right?) once we are dead.

IMO, To argue either side (God = yes or no) requires one to be able to completely disprove one side or the other. I'm not sure if that's possible. I'd rather just recognize that I'm not sure, meditate/pray on what really is the best way to live my life and hope that in the end if there is a God/after life, I've done enough to please him/her and if there isn't a God/after life...then it doesn't really matter because I'll be gone and won't exist, giving me a chance to care.

I realize that I've probably contradicted myself in this post because most of the guidelines set forth by the church contradict the fact that I also recognize that there are other view points and that I'm a little gun shy when it comes to labeling whatever force/deity may or may not be lurking on another plane of existence. I'm not sure what classification that puts me in. I've never thought enough about it to label myself.

Being raised in the South, I was brought up as Baptist. Went to a private school that was based in very strict Baptist beliefs (no dancing, rock music, or fun). I listened to their beliefs and I'm glad I did, because it's all very interesting. At the same time, I never really adhered to any of it. And after graduation, I still went to church and all that.

Over time, I kind of started to examine the ideas and attitudes of people I was around. A lot of it was rather contrary to what was written, or interpreted really oddly. Not to mention the people, while nice, weren't always what you'd expect. Like, they weren't there for the worship and ideas--they were just there by habit.

So, I eventually quit attending church because there's really no good updates. Having spent 7 years in a Christian School, and years in church, you kind of hear it all.

"Any news on Jesus...?"
"Nope"
"Ok then. See ya next week!"

While looking things over, I'm pretty much in a "Agnostic Nondenominational Christian" category. I think the Christianity thing is pretty well ingrained in my head now, so it's hard to just completely let go. But I'm not entirely sure I believe anymore. I'm more of the opinion that there's a God out there, although maybe not the Christian God? I still pray--to who or whatever there is out there, if anything. Sometimes it's hard to break habits. But yeah, currently, I have no freakin' idea what I believe.

For a few years, I tried to follow my dad's apparent beliefs. He appeared to be anti-theist, feeling belief in anything supernatural -- gods, magic, cryptozoology, etc -- the sign of an idiot, or gullible, or both. I TRIED to adhere, but some part of me was adamant in retaining a magical view of the world, and in the end all anti-theism did for me was aggravate my chronic depression.

My mom is a lax Wiccan, but she doesn't talk about her beliefs. She did however lend me her old Wicca books and those were like a lifesaver to me. I didn't convert, but I was finally able to ditch the anti-theism. Currently I'm not part of any religion, but have a lot of interconnected spiritual beliefs.

So basically, my story is kind of like CetteHamsterLa's.
Oh hey, Vivi's post with anti-theism swapped for God and Catholicism is also pretty accurate!

(It turned out that my dad's beliefs were not as harsh as they looked, but that realization was too late to do me much good.)

I understand what happened with you. Or at least I think I do. I bounced around from Christian to Buddhist and a few others, but only because of others. Now I know the only things I really believe in are karma and that there is a creator. Though at times I think the creator is a giant ameoba.

EDIT: And it seems I have some issues to clear up with someone...

despite facing the many challenges life has thrown at me, i think my faith is too strong and unwavering for me to just drop it.

one big challenge was the irony of me becoming a pedophile in a world (or at least country) that hates pedophiles. but its just a challenge like everything else. its just another obstacle and you have to find a way to overcome it. when i say overcome it, i obviously dont mean stop being a pedophile. its impossible, god has now made that part of who i am. youll be just as successful trying to convince a straight guy to go gay as convincing me to know like underaged girls.

but as i said, you have to find ways to overcome it. in the beginning i was alone. but that was not the case. there are many people like me out there, we are just the hidden section of society. the part of society that nobody knows or if they do know, they dont want to talk about it. but it turns out i was not alone. in fact, we are actually a demographic, a market. a small one, but a growing one. im talking about lolicon hentai, which is well drawn cartoon representations of children in ####ual situations which can be used as a masturbation tool. what i am trying to say that is that god made me a pedophile but put me in a world where i cannot fulfill my desires. but i can partially fulfill that desire by using lolicon hentai.

to add to the story, i have seen then realized that many many people who like lolicon, and entire communities out there. i have also since then found out about the existence of junior idols, which is what my thread here was about:

http://www.gamingforce.org/forums/se...nce-sense.html

so again, god made me a pedophile in a world that hates pedophiles. for most people in this world, not being able to ####ually relieve yourself and not be able to fulfill your ####ual desires is a very bad thing. as a pedophile, i still cant fulfill my personal ####ual desires (#### with young girls) but i can still ####ually relieve myself by using lolicon and junior idols.

and the most important thing about all of this the knowledge that i am not alone and there is a community of us out there. to be lonely, to suffer loneliness, is probably one of the worst things that can happen to someone.

god didnt abandon me, he was with me all along. i just had to find the courage within myself to search for the answers. god gave us free will for a purpose. we just need to have faith in god and have faith in ourselves and to overcome all adversities.

anyway, the above story was my story from a long time ago. i now accept who i am, at least privately, not publically. maybe one day i can express my true self publically and not be lynched for it.

i dont think its important what god actually physically is. its the idea of god that is what matters. god put you on this earth and then he gave you questions. why are you here? what purpose do i serve? what do i want? etc most importantly, he gave you free will. your job now is to find the answers, the answers that you think will most make you happy and the people and the community around you happy.

I'm not sure God would be too happy about you using him as a scapegoat for your pedophilia.

Did God speak to you in a dream and tell you about Google?