Redditor UK_Jay wanted to hear from everybody who left the church in the rearview, so they asked:
"Ex-Christians, what made you leave church?"
I don't mind the Church, but once I was done with Catholic school, it was see ya. Bye.
Truth
truth preach GIFGiphy"The fact that everyone wants to be a disciple of Jesus but don't do what Jesus told his disciple to do."
"Luke 6:46 'Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?'"
wasd876
Pivotal Moments
"My high school religion teacher encouraged us to question our own faith. He told us that it was okay if we wound up walking away from our faith. But if we continued to believe despite his class, our faith would be that much stronger."
"One of the questions was, 'Do you believe because you actually believe, or is it because you were told to by your parents?' I finally decided that I was only Christian because of what my mom told me growing up."
"I wish every single Christian could have that religion teacher for a semester. That single semester was pivotal in my spiritual development."
kana503
I Quit
"Had many friends and acquaintances that worked for the church and quit. Found out their reasons for quitting. The higher up staff did and forced my friends to do a bunch of corrupt crap. And if they didn’t, they 'Weren’t committed to the church enough, didn’t love God enough, weren’t willing to make sacrifices, will never make it in ministry.'"
"It broke my heart. I thought this was a place of love, and people who preached love. Haven’t trusted religion since. This church is a mega church in my area and keeps popping up more locations all over town. Makes me sick to my stomach every time I drive by."
aquarinmarin
Out of Focus
"The total hypocrisy of those I grew up around. Claim to be about love, spend most of their time hating people not like them. Claim to be about evangelism, literally only hang out with and talk to each other."
"Claim to be about giving, spend all of their energy focused on making more money for themselves."
"Not to mention they have conditioned themselves to avoid critical thinking at all costs. Must accept blind 'truths' at face value, OR ELSE."
devilish-nerdclap
For my sister...
Phaedra Parks Bye Felicia GIFGiphy"When my younger sister with Down’s syndrome was told she wasn’t eligible for communion despite taking all of the classes because she 'didn’t understand.'"
TheLastSpiceGirl
Family first. Help someone understand.
Damage
heavy metal 90s GIFGiphy"They damaged my mind. I always thought I would go to hell for things I like such as horror films, heavy metal and tabletop RPGs."
EuroCultAV
"the Lord spoke to me"
"Lack of answers, judgement, and hypocrisy mostly. I also read the Bible over and over and I just wasn't getting what other people were apparently getting out of it. Also everytime I prayed, nothing happened. Every now and then someone would be like 'the Lord spoke to me.' I always waited for something like that. It just never did."
"That lack of answers thing really bugged me the most though. I really wanted what I read in the Bible to be true but I just couldn't find anything to support most of it's claims. I was really sad for awhile. And scared that the devil tricked me. After awhile tho, I didn't believe in him either."
SpiritedDistance6242
Left Behind
"They left me. My first partner and I grew up in the church together. We were seen as the golden couple in our youth group. Good, proper Christian couple. Said our prayers, worked with the less fortunate, youth work, worship, I even led sermons. Eventually we moved away to start a new life together. We then broke up. I then find that I'm being kicked out of groups on WhatsApp and Facebook, people are unfriending me on social media, all from the church."
"I found out she'd gone home first and started talking to people. I don't know what she told them, but none of the people I saw as my second family, this fellowship I'd felt so welcome in even came to me to talk. I was left alone. I reached out to multiple people to say I needed prayer because I was struggling. I got nothing. I felt abandoned by God and abandoned by his people. So I walked away from that life."
c0_sm0
Disbelief
"I was a preteen locking myself in a dark closet because that's where I felt the closest to God - in the darkness. Like he was something that couldn't be seen - only felt. And I looked up into the nothingness of my closet ceiling after the millionth episode of physical and emotional abuse from my dad."
"I asked him to save me. God, not my dad. I was crying, screaming. Please. Please save me. I was just a kid. Surely I didn't deserve this. No one answered. And it occurred to me that anyone who could stop this and wouldn't, couldn't exist. So I stopped believing."
elaerna
Thieves
Explaining Season 3 GIF by The SimpsonsGiphy"Preachers having massive homes while the people that go to the church struggle. It’s hypocrisy from the top down."
prussianflyingcircus
Peace Out
"I gave it up for Lent and never went back."
ScaricoOleoso
"I did the same thing with New Year's resolutions. As far as I know, I'm the only one who has ever kept a New Year's resolution."
MaxCWebster
These certainly were some interesting stories where people encountered a crisis of faith.
Do you have any similar stories? Let us know in the comments below.
I am a lifelong Madonna fan. So I have been hearing about her Godlessness for decades. I mean you roll around on one VMAS floor with a crucifix and people get all hot and bothered. Geesh.
In Lubbock
Buddy Holly Crickets GIF by The Ed Sullivan ShowGiphy"Buddy Holly was said to make "the devil's music" by his own home church in Lubbock that he regularly tithed to still, even after making it big."
Wash Away
"An elderly woman I know was doing her laundry in her apartment building's shared laundry room when two other women who also lived there called her "demonic" and said she "had to have Satan in her" because she was doing her laundry on a Sunday."
Isn't there literally a parable in the Bible where Jesus yells at ppl for taking the whole "can't do anything on Sunday because it's the sabbath!" too literally and points out how archaic, and dumb ppl are for blowing it out of proportion. It's like these ppl don't even read the Bible."
Prince of Lies...
"Well when Pokemon first came out when I was a kid they were hating on it because evolution. Then it was Harry Potter because magic. Both equally idiotic."
"The funny thing is, Christians who studied theology would agree with you. Most churches hold (and in cases such as the Roman Catholic Church, have always held) that miracles can only come from God. Satan is the Prince of Lies explicitly because he holds no power; he can promise you the world but can never deliver. So those claiming that Harry Potter features "real spells" are in fact heretics for claiming that Satan can perform miracles and that God is not all-powerful."
- zoor90
Dragons... oh my!
"Adorable dragons that my Christian brother in law painted and sold at convention, called it devil worship and were concerned for his well being. My sister just pointed them three vendors down and said "by the way, there's an actual witch you can go talk to, please leave."
"Yet some of the best dragons and gargoyles are carved on cathedrals. St. John the Devine in New York City is one of the best."
It's a Bad World
Mickey Mouse Disney GIFGiphy"I knew a family who wouldn't let their kids watch Disney movies because they had magic in them, talking animals (witchcraft), etc."
Well, Disney I can see. They have some issues we could break into and chat with our therapists about for centuries. And I'll do my laundry whenever I wish.
Bloodletting
tom cruise crying GIFGiphy"Donating plasma, use to donate plasma in college for extra money and some of my friends did it as well but then two of them stopped because their mom said it was being used for satanic rituals."
- JP1426
Damn Frodo
"Lord of the Rings."
"My mom knew someone who claimed they were a "satanism expert" who "worked with the police" who saw me writing myself messages using the elf script in the back, and insisted they were runes and it was occult. For some reason she wanted to keep my message I wrote to myself."
Glorifying Evil
"My mom insisted Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a satanic show that would let demons in the house because it "glorified them" so I wasn't allowed to watch it. This wouldn't have been run-of-the-mill religious nonsense if The Witches of Eastwick wasn't one of her favorite movies. For those of you who haven't seen it, the plot of this movie is basically Jack Nicholson as the devil seducing some witches. We owned it on VHS and she's watched it every few months."
She Bad
"Dora the explorer."
"LOL this is like the most innocent thing of all and they STILL found a way to call it "witchcraft". I watched this show all the time as a kid, I wonder how obnoxiously afraid of everything these parents are that Dora getting magical princess powers and talking to animals is offensive to them XD."
I Agree
Drag Queen Love GIF by TeletubbiesGiphy"Teletubbies. Harry Potter. Like literally any scary movie. Monster Energy drinks. Starbucks. I have heard a lot!"
You're "Right"
"Writing with your left hand. I naturally started writing with my left hand as a young child and my mom made me fix it. Whenever she saw me writing, she would put the pencil in my right hand until I could no longer use the left one. It wasn't until I was older that I realized she was doing it because she thought left-handedness was associated with the devil. Now I have sh*tty handwriting."
Teletubbies are minions of the Devil. End of story. The rest... some of you really need to get a grip. I promise you God probably enjoys a good game of D & D now and again.
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Like working in the ministry, for example. The North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church just released a video proving how wrong you'd be.
The video, which is about 7 and a half minutes long, features male Methodist pastors reading comments that female Methodist pastors have heard. The comments, submitted by the women, covered a range of topics.
Some questioned whether it was appropriate for a woman to preach, some implied (or outright stated) that women were weaker and the amount of sexual comments was just disgusting.
Folks, don't hit on your pastor. Why do we even need to type that out?
The male preachers were not prepped about the comments beforehand - and it shows in some of their facial reactions.
Behold, some of the many faces of "WTF?" Which one are you usually?
We're typically a solid #5 when someone says gross stuff.
NCCUMC
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NCCUMC
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NCCUMC
If you're sensitive to sexist and misogynistic comments, you may want to proceed with caution at this point. The comments made may be disturbing or upsetting to you.
They certainly were to the women who heard them, as well as the men who read them. Here are a few.
"I can't concentrate on your sermon because you're so pretty."
"You do a really good job, but I think scripture is more meaningful if read with a male voice."
"You are looking fat."
"Women shouldn't wear pants."
"You're going to hell, you know. God does not permit women to preach. It's in the bible."
"I keep picturing you naked under your robe."
"During holy communion it's hard for me to concentrate when you say "this is my body, given for you." I keep thinking about your body, not Jesus's body."
"If God can use a donkey, I guess he can use women in ministry. "
"Better be careful eating so much, you don't want to lose that school girl figure. "
"If I were 20 years younger, you wouldn't be able to keep me away from you."
The men in the video reacted with sadness, disgust, and disappointment. They don't really seem too shocked, though - which is pretty telling.
Watch the video for yourself.
The video started making the rounds on Twitter, where people seemed just as horrified as the male pastors.
This video is a much watch. Male United Methodist pastors read comments made to female United Methodist pastors.… https://t.co/gWgZpLUBZ7— Ryan Burge 📊 (@Ryan Burge 📊) 1560517348.0
@WilGafney This makes me so mad!!! But at the same time does not surprise me.— Tiny (@Tiny) 1560613890.0
@therevallison UGH yep.— Clarity Sabbath (@Clarity Sabbath) 1560481066.0
@SarahSpain @JulieDiCaro @JustNotSports This is spot on and "we" as a society and more specifically men have to be… https://t.co/3Epuq96jCM— Justin Garrison (@Justin Garrison) 1560964693.0
I grew up with a strong mother who would never allow a priest to tell her how to live or love. She left the Church… https://t.co/Q8ImobCJQ7— John Laub 🇺🇸 (@John Laub 🇺🇸) 1560944929.0
I wish more church leaders would champion projects like this. Serious introspection isn't a favorite exercise in ma… https://t.co/zksutcB5R3— Ron Hebshie (@Ron Hebshie) 1560952594.0
What sorts of sexist comments and attitudes have you witnessed in the workplace? Can women end such attitudes or is it up to men to police themselves and the men around them?
Jessica Bennett offered the book Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace, available here, as a primer for women.
And sometimes, it is as simple as sending a clear message. Like this coffee mug, available here.
