RedditorSuspiciousStranger10wanted to hear about some people ended up losing faith, they asked:
"Atheists from religious families, what made you a non-believer?"
I'm still on the fence.
I believe in miracles.
I also have a strong Catholic background.
But I have questions.
Within the Pages
"Read the Bible. Realized 99% of the Christians around me had never read it. Then realized that the vast majority of people have no idea of what’s in its pages. American Christianity is a joke." ~ stayathomepop7
Damnation...
"It just didn't make any sense to me, and I was tired of being told that I'm going to hell." ~ DeltaSolana
"Constantly being told that I was going to hell just for missing church once in a while was the start of it for me. But if they actually believed that then they are in hell too for judging me." ~ Affectionate_Pea_811
Simple Things
"Imagine telling a kid that they'll be forsaken and tortured for eternity if they masturbate or eat shrimp." ~ DeltaSolana
"That was another one. I was 12 or 13 and accidentally left the bottle of baby oil in in the living room after a late night of watching Cinemax. My grandma said something about 'spilling semen' and going to hell. I think my fate was sealed at that point because I had already decided that I was going to be watching Cinemax as often as I could." ~ Affectionate_Pea_811
Nut Speak
"Second grade teacher told us we'll go to hell for swearing. Once. Imagine the kind of person telling second graders they are all going to hell. (And we didn't have religion taught in school. That teacher was a nut that probably hated children)." ~ Hedgehog_Owl
"Kid: 'Well s**t, if I'm damned to hell for just cursing one freaking time, then I guess the butt is out of the stable, isn't it? No freaking reason to hold shit back now!'" ~ BronzeAgeTea
No Q & A...
"Grew up and started asking questions. They didn’t like that." ~ goatsandwich43
That Bible.
So many authors.
So much soap opera and drama.
It feels less like proof and more Soap Opera Digest.
I Learned
"I started reading the Bible." ~ DeXyDeXy
"Read it once around age 14 to prove to myself God existed. That backfired. Read it again in my 20s but skipped the 'begats' that pretty much sealed in my atheism." ~ Annual_Rooster5678
Abraham you Crazy!
"When I had to put on my private school Bible final that the earth was 6000 years old I really started to dig in what the hell I believed. The whole Abraham sacrificing his son on a mountain is just so f**ked up too."
"It started with 'Even if he was real I wouldn’t want to worship him.' It snowballed from there. Great moral teaching book though for the most part." ~ Princess_leia1993
'youth pastor'
"I just gradually... stopped. I kinda always knew it was BS, but imprinting is a thing and it stuck with me for years. All those endless years of church and bible camps, the rantings about hell and the devil, it stays with you."
"Social control... But now, nothing. I want proof, not the bullcrap from some 'youth pastor' that just says believe. Until I see actual proof, I'm an atheist." ~ TheGoodJudgeHolden
'speaking in tongues'
"I was raised Southern Pentecostal. My grandmother was insanely religious, so I was always at church."
"The church I went to believed in 'speaking in tongues' laying of hands, miracle healing, taking up serpents (handling snakes) and all other kinds of nonsense. I went with it for a long time. About 13 I went to a revival summer camp."
"There was a whole ceremony about pledging yourself to Jesus and not having sex. That spun into kids my age going to a microphone and confessing they had sexual thoughts or what they had done with other people. Then the pastor would pray for the kid and they'd 'pass out' on the floor."
"Pastor comes to me and prays and like pushes me off balance so I play the game and lay on the floor. I'm laying there and just kinda took stock of the actual insanity of this service. I think I lost faith then. After going home I paid more attention to the actions of the people in the church during the services, and realized how utterly insane it was."
"It wasn't long and people actually started acting differently to me because I wasn't doing what they where and I was asked to not return." ~ paythefullprice
I Like a Hero
"When I was 10, the swami (Hindu priest) at my local temple asked me who my favorite God is and I replied 'Thor'. He laughed and my family laughed and everyone around laughed and told me that these are imaginary characters made to fool kids and make money." ~ Typical-Type-408
These Low Effort Jobs Have Surprisingly High Salaries | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Have you ever worked one of those jobs that paid you to kinda sit there? If you have, you know the joy that comes with watching the entirety of Breaking Bad ...School Days
"Catholic school." ~ arianleellewellyn
"This. I knew by 8th grade that religion was not my thing. I do think that Catholic school was partially responsible for my femdom thing though. So not a total loss." ~ vidfail
Never Stuck
"I was raised in church and catholic school. But it never really seemed to be part of the culture, just my surroundings, if that makes sense. Some students, teachers, families were religious, some weren't. I didn't really absorb the religious teachings, but tried to take it seriously at some point in high school just to think for myself... And it never really stuck. It was just private school, but also church." ~ Specific-Cook1725
The Cure
excited star wars GIF by Hyper RPGGiphy"Studied 'history of the Enlightenment' at university for a year. Was cured within two weeks or so." ~ Dork_from_New_York
Life on Fire
"I had a lot of bad things happen in my life and if there is a God why would he let this all happen." ~ Chris0nF1re
"Same. After a lot of things I started to think why it is happening, why god isn't doing anything about it. In this process I also read a lot of books on philosophy, self-help, psychology etc. So I slowly moved from religious to agonistic and then atheist." ~ lawlietxx
The rampant hypocrisy...
Big Boi Smh GIF by OutkastGiphy"I read the Bible in depth. I asked questions in bible study and was punished for not blindly accepting. The final nail in the coffin was the minister who performed my wedding had been moved from a previous parish for having affairs with the women parishioners."
"He was having affairs here and was moved again to a new parish where he did the same. He droned on and on about fidelity and truth in marriage while unapologetically having affairs and the church just moved him knowing what he did. The rampant hypocrisy sickened me." ~ Magnus_40
So called Christians...
"It just all seemed like bull to me. I noticed from a young age that most so called Christians around me were the most judgemental and unloving people. They weren't kind to people truly in need. They were kind only to people like them. I was really turned off by the hypocrisy. While I have met a few Christians who seemed genuine, they are few and far between." ~ aydeeachdee
'damn, where's the love'
"I am tired of hearing things like god is absolute good and all powerful, everything god does is for good, god loves all. But when I read history, religious war, tortures, brutality and stuffs, my brain asks 'damn, where's the love'. Get to watch news and read stories of murderers, pedophiles and so on. Also religion doesn't make any sense."
"All the religious people are quite scary, when some of them fails to turn me into religious, I see the irritation and anger there (even my mom). Plus all the religious conflicts still going on, it feels bad for the powerless innocent people who suffers because of it. To get into an imaginary heaven, people are destroying themselves and others even though we call ourselves intellectual beings." ~ Weary-Ad-6162
Evil
"The problem of evil. If God refuses to stop evil and suffering, they're not benevolent. If they're incapable of stopping evil and suffering, they're not really God. The universe simply makes more sense when you view morality as a human construct. A bunch of dumb animals were trying to survive and find purpose in their existence, and inevitably they created the concept of a higher power." ~ Anubis343
Done by 13...
"Being forced to go to church as a kid and be part of all the holiday plays. All the while getting physically and emotionally beat at home by my step dad and praying every second of the day for change only to be let down time and time again. I moved out when I was 13 and never looked back." ~ Sour_Sunrise
Research
Think About It Reaction GIF by IdentityGiphy"Went to college, started thinking for myself opposed to blindly trusting who I was told to trust. I used to think that religious folks had good intentions, at least, just misinformed. Now I know that to be wrong. Religion is a plague among the dull minded." ~ senor-churro
I have no answer.
Just faith that there is something better.
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LoneShark81 wanted to delve deeper, so they asked:
“What do people pretend is in the Bible but is absolutely not in the Bible?”
I think we all heard that one growing up…
“My brother has a friend that will argue with you that Jesus said in the Bible ‘Do as I say, not as I do’.” heyitsmeur_username
“'God Helps Those Who Help Themselves', it’s not in the Bible.” GraceGreenveiw
“God helps those who help themselves, that actually comes from the Greek myths, Aesop’s fable ‘Hercules and the Waggoner.’ where a guy was having trouble with a muddy road and was praying Hercules for help, Hercules appeared and told him how to help himself, the moral being thee gods help those who help themselves.” aume3
Now that’s one hell of a way to put it…
“That Satan is in any way in charge of torture in hell.” derizen
“My understanding is that hell is basically the furthest place from god you can be, and that in and of itself is the most pain an angel can experience.All the fire and brimstone shit is just stuff churches made up later.”
“So far the replies to this have compared this interpretation of hell to Texas, Ohio, and New Jersey. You all OK over there, America?”
“OK at this point you’ve named about half the continental United States, please stop telling me America is not OK, I get it.” kermi42
GiphyWho Mary Magdalene was…
“That Mary Magdalene was a prostitue. A pope conflated her with Mary of Bethany and an unnamed "sinful woman," because he didn't like the fact that a woman was important to Jesus and wanted to discredit her.” israfilled
“It’s understandable that it could be mixed up if one is not careful. In Matthew, Mark and John, it’s Mary doing it just before Jesus dies."
"But in Luke it’s a woman who is a 'known sinner'. Both events are very similar."
"A woman opens an alabaster case of perfumed oil, anoints Jesus, people grumble, and it’s both in the house of someone named Simon.”
“But the Luke event is probably much earlier. Simon was a very common name though."
"And in the next chapter Mary Magdalene is with Jesus' posse. But there’s nowhere she is described as a prostitute. She was cured from demons though.” VadeRetroLupa
Shakespeare at it again…
“‘Neither a borrower nor a lender be.’ I have had a minister 'quote' that to me as a Bible quote…It's from Hamlet.”
“Lots of comments about the bible having stuff like this. Yes I know but a quote is a quote and from a christian professional you would at least expect an accurate quote from the bible but this is as wrong as quoting Hamlet and saying ‘Alas Poor Yorik, I knew him well.’” Magnus_40
Ah Tolkien 29:17 you say?
“‘Not all who wander are lost.’-Tolkien 29:17” Kill3rT0fu
We’re looking at you Olsteen…
“That money is the root of all evil. The correct quote is actually the *love* of money.” Pixxal_Wizzard
Pretty sure God doesn’t care about your private jet…
“That GOD wants you to buy that second commercial airliner.” Killawife
“The whole "Prosperity Theology" thing where wealth is encouraged, especially at the expense of tithing congregants. There's very little in the way of biblical support for this idea, and in fact several places in the bible say quite the opposite.”
“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
“That quote is repeated a few times in the gospels, more or less, and similar sentiments are made elsewhere also.” wknight8111
Biblical angels were NOT all cute cherubs…
“That people become Angels when they die. Nope.” COAZRanger
“Darn, I was hoping to become a being of unimaginable horror with thousands of eyes and wreathed in wheels within wheels of eternal flame.” _____FRANCIS_____
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A Little Chat First.
"I asked a psychologist (and very religious) friend something similar to this once. Her response?"
"A general rule of psychology with few exceptions is to not diagnose a patient you've never even had a conversation with. It doesn't matter what actions you can see. Or what accounts you're given. Or even the writings left behind. Trying to diagnose someone sight unseen is sloppy."
"She ranked it on par with those posts you see all over reddit or Facebook or Tumblr where people will diagnose fictional characters with tons of mental disorders. It's a fun thought exercise, but that's the best it could be."
"Usually it's just obnoxious to see someone claim that every personality quirk a hero displays is actually a symptom of their autism/ADHD/ PTSD/ manic- depressive disorder."
"The anthropologist in me also would like to add that many disorders are culturally defined and that we cannot assume a non-human entity would have the same psychology as a human. It's too anthropomorphic. Maybe everything God does is actually completely normal for a God, and a God that acts more rational by human standards would be the one with the mental disorder."
"Now is this all a long winded way to avoid answering the question? Yes it is. But I still found it worth a thought."
The Cosmics....
"Cosmic vanity."
"He created an entire planet of life for the sole purpose of worshiping him and living by his doctrine."
"Also psychopath."
Where to Begin.
"Floods? Plagues? Telling his followers to murder their sons? Sending his own son to Earth so he can be crucified? Sending people that don't follow his random rules to hell to be tortured for eternity? Psychopath anyone?"
The "Experiment"
Giphy"I'm not a psychologist but I've read the entire bible. Dude sounds like a massive narcissist with a superiority complex. He literally created humans just to praise and worship him. And whenever they slip up, eternal torture. Just for the lolz I guess."
"Another theory is that the God of the bible is like a kid stomping on ants for fun, and essentially the whole world is his fun "experiment." This one makes a bit more sense, imo. XD"
Severe Behavior.
"Homicidal maniac."
"Crap man, I respect your decisions, but she ate an APPLE my guy."
Forget Diagnosis...
Screw diagnosis, dude would be getting some serious meds right away. (Not a psychologist, but you make a bear kill 42 kids for teasing a bald guy, there's issues)."
No Need to Punish.
"A narcissist with an emphasis on abuse. The relationship between follower and God mimics spousal abuse to a T. No matter how horrible God treats his followers, they all claim they deserve the punishment he gives as it is their fault and God does it because he loves them. If only they were better then he wouldn't need to punish them."
Toxic.
Giphy"Reprehensible bully with seriously toxic jealousy."
"I'm an actual psychologist. God would have the first legit case of Dissociative Identity Disorder (aka "Multiple Personalities") given how many authors have written as "Him" over the last 6,000 years."
He's batty and insane.
"Antisocial personality disorder. He's batty and insane."
"Been there. I've had so many clients tell me that they're God."
"So probably schizophrenia."
How Meta.
Giphy"God complex."
mkkart
"Meta question, if you are able to diagnose God, could you even diagnose him with his an illness named after him."
"Like, could you diagnose Narcissus with narcissistic personality disorder?"
Mavikiu
Wink. Wink.
"I see what you did there God I am not falling for that I want to go to heaven."
Ikon701
"1000 IQ God trying to catch people slipping."
ogprichard
"Yeah good thing I would only diagnose God with being good wink wink."
quavo-fan
"Abraham put that knife down right now."
"The old testament makes God look like a psycho, but I sometimes wonder if it might not have gone down something like this:"
"Abraham put that knife down right now."
"But Lord, you commanded me to sacrifice my son --"
"I keep telling you, the voices you hear after eating those mushrooms that grow on the riverbank aren't me."
I_throw_socks_at_cat
So erratic.
"Bipolar, just any time I read the damn thing and god is involved I just think "he has bipolar." Jesus is pretty chill though except when he cursed the fig tree for all eternity for not having any figs. God on the other hand is just unpredictably erratic."
ElephantsOnTurtle
Darn Kids.
"Disappointed in his kids."
fermat1432
"Haha. So disappointed that he allows them to die in completely avoidable situations and condemns them to hell."
LATER4LUS
"delusions of grandeur"
"Probably an unpopular post, but: nothing."
"A key criteria for diagnosing someone for most things is that the problem needs to cause "clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning."
"It's an important step for dismissing false positives--that's why someone who spends their weekends dressing up like a dog is one thing, but a person who shows up at work to pee on everything and howl at the moon has issues."
"Considering that, at least insofar as the Bible is concerned, God has absolutely no distress or impairment, it would be pretty hard to justify diagnosing him with something."
"I mean, would you diagnose the Queen of England with "delusions of grandeur" because she insists that she's the Queen of England? Probably not. Same thing here, just on a bigger scale."
PM_NUDES_4_DEGRADING
The Bottom of the barrel...
""Psychotic depression from his profound loneliness, and we are his resultant psychosis.
crossedword
"Like, for real. You're an all powerful, all knowing entity born out of nothing, and all that surrounds you is dark vast nothingness. Of course you'd go insane, you want to see anything, have a purpose. So you make humans. Modeled after the only thing you've ever known, yourself. If God is real, maybe we are just his own delirium."
ague_doctor
Which Book?
"It really depends on which book of the Bible you're reading. I feel God in the New Testament was probably when the drugs started kicking in and he wasn't so angry anymore. Either that or he had a well-hidden Alcohol Use Disorder early on (drunk on power?) but he straightened up once he had a kid."
vampedvixen
The Litany.
"If you look at it like a relationship, he's an abuser. Look at the signs.
• "always "testing" you""
• "doesn't want you to associate with people He doesn't accept and will shut you from His kingdom if you do so"
• wants your complete dedication at any cost to you""
• ""demands you do things because "He loves you"
• ""has a plan for you that you have no say in
• you are not allowed to do a great number of things or He'll smite you; however unless you literally beg for forgiveness, to hell with you"
• "creates a perfect being (Satan) and then says if you do anything like that guy, you are bad."
"The guy is a disaster. So many people are in an abusive relationship with someone that doesn't even exist."
my_hat_is_fat
You're Crazy. That's All.
Giphy"ITT: the general consensus seems to be sociopathic malignant narcissist with extreme anger issues and major bipolar disorder with a history of close relations abuse, with a possibility of borderline personality disorder."
weretomato
These are some interesting theories. Do you have something to share? Let us know in the comments below.
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