Sheltered People Raised In Cults Explain Which Things About The Real World Shocked Them The Most
What's most unsettling about people who grow up in cults or strict and conservative religious groups is they are raised with a highly distorted view of the world.
Rather than being taught to have an open mind and heart, they are brainwashed into believing that there is a very firm right and wrong way to live.
Often including sexist, homophobic, racist and other blatantly discriminatory policies.
As a result, when people leave these societies, either being rescued or through their own bravery, they are often shocked to discover just how different the world is than they were led to believe.
"Sheltered people raised by super religions/cults: what was something about the real world that shocked you when you learned about it?"
Comfort Levels Are OK.
"That it’s actually healthy to have boundaries."- aphroditespearl
It's Ok To Be Yourself
"The greatest thing to me is what it felt like to be authentic."
'When you grow up in a fundamentalist cult, your life is not your own."
"Everything is planned out for you, every worldview is shaped by your religion."
"Leaving that all behind and being my own, genuine person was the best and least expected blessings of leaving the Mormon cult."
"Yes, sex and drugs (esp psychedelics) were amazing too, but I love being my own person so much."- Bojikthe8th
"Normal People"
"How normal people aren’t thinking about you/judging you all the time, and even if they are- you can’t do anything about it anyway, some will judge no matter what you do."
"We (women, anyway) were raised to obsess over what we are wearing, how modest it is, and will it make men stumble?"
"My breasts are too small for one man but too large for all men, despite being what God gave me."
"My body is both too thin to bear children but somehow also too fat, and proof that I am a glutton."
"We were taught how to modulate our voices into a soft pleasant pitch, how to serve God with every breath, and how we’re living literally every single moment on a precarious cliff of falling into sin."
'The moment I realized that my hair color, my clothes, my makeup was more an expression of myself than a reflection of other’s desires was the moment I finally let go."
"I don’t dress for men, I don’t dress for women- I dress for myself."- Q_Fandango
The World Is More Wholesome Than Expected
"Where is all the sex and drugs?!"
"I was promised wanton lascivious f**king in the streets."- FairUnion275
Words, Words, Words...
"Nothing as major as here but my wife’s family is extremely religious, her grandfather was even a cult leader a few books written about him."
"Can’t get into details for sake of privacy, but it stands out to me and it blows my mind how ignorant her whole family is."
"And I don’t mean to sound like a jerk, but ignorance in the way of the most basic social cues and interactions and even words in conversation."
"I’ll be talking to her aunts and uncles in their sixties and they’ll have so many things they’ve never heard of it blows my mind."
'She has two aunts who actually took classes to learn how to have normal conversations because they were so odd."
"It’s weird."
"Even my wife is still learning and growing vocabulary and she’s 39."- Dorkknight112183
People Actually Can Be Compassionate, Equitable And Kind
"Didn't realize that Christianity wasn't the 'default' for adults."
"Didn't realize it's not normal to treat your family like garbage while being a super nice charismatic human to everyone else."
"More of a narcissistic thing but since I was so sheltered and they were so strict and obsessed with being in control, I had no idea."
"Didn't know that not everyone has an ulterior motive when speaking to you."
"Was raised with the girls inside doing women chores and the boys outside helping with man chores."
"Grew up and realized some men actually cook and clean as well... what a shocker."- free-the-krug
The World Is A Safer Place Than You Think
"Not raised religious, but raised by an incredibly sheltering parent."
"Turns out I *won't* be mugged and murdered for simply existing in a city setting without a male escort."- TheRedMaiden
In All Seriousness, It Has Many Health Benefits
"That I’m not gonna go to hell for jerking it and it’s completely normal to feel the urge to self pleasure and release on your own terms."- Nuck_7
Not Always Beholden To Others
"How people can just... Make decisions."
"You don't need to jump through hoops, meditate all night, read the bible, and pray, just because you want to buy a certain dress."
"You can just.. Buy it."
"You can make that decision."
"I can make that decision."
"Freedom was extremely surreal at first."
"It still sort of is."- celaeya
Absolutely Everything
"For me, it was a complete culture shock."
"People could do anything ."
"Women could treat men as equals, not always defer to them."
'People treat other people with more respect-- adults are treated like adults."
"People could talk about sex and bodily functions like periods without being ashamed."
"People weren't afraid of living their lives in a way that made them happy."
"In the first few months of being out of my parents' home, I learned so many new words and things I didn't know existed."
"I watched a lot of movies that would have been considered wickedly sinful in my former home."
"I had to relearn how to talk and act with people."
"Outside of the church, people do everything different, and the people you can and can't trust are different."
"I felt like I had the IQ of a normal 8 year old in the real world."- Fearless-Complaint16
Life Doesn't Need To Be Lived In Fear
“'End is nigh!''."
"Oh I’m waiting!"
“'Christo Viene'.”
"'I wish he would'."
"'You’ve been left behind' … yep."
"To suffer like the rest of us."
"Grew up in a rapture-centric evangelical household."
"Parts of it were loads of fun, some just straight up trauma porn."
"Y2K was a hoot in my house, we definitely believed it could all end, given all of the televangelists hopping on the doom train."
"The part that shocked me the most, or affected me the most is that you don’t realize until you are older that you really did believe the world would end, well, soon-ish."
"The idea of getting old, worrying about retirement, whether my aspirations would materialize, most of those things seemed more far fetched than the apocalypse did."- rotissrev
Privacy Is A Right, Not A Privilege
"The complete and total lack of privacy in the church vs actually having privacy."
"Besides being roomed with all my siblings and cousin."
"Daily body inspections, spankings, potty time."
"Also being treated like a toddler pretty much 24/7.'
"God forbid we did something without permission.'
"We didn’t address adults as sir or ma’am, calling our parents Mommy and Daddy into our teenage years, having a bedtime, knowing how to do chores but not really knowing why."
"Getting to the real world."
"I knew how wash clothes."
"I didn’t know why I was washing clothes."
"I knew how to wash dishes, I didn’t know why I was."
"If I wasn’t told to do something I would just stand there hopeless."- lighthousek
No matter one's upbringing, the world can be a terrifying place.
Particularly when you set out to face it on your own for the first time.
But the only way to stop being afraid of the world is by exploring all the things it has to offer.
This includes many wonderful things, which should never be hidden by walls and boundaries from anyone.
People have long engaged in passionate debates about their firm beliefs on any particular subject, the popular ones being religion and politics.
Those arguing on both sides of religious or political debates seldom see eye-to-eye with their opponents and are unable to find common ground.
But there are other arguments that are equally as passionate which people are not willing to negotiate, or at the very least, have some wiggle room for compromise.
Curious to hear some examples, Redditor lllSnowmanlll asked:
"What's your strongest opinion that's not political religious or moral?"
We are constantly inundated with marketing ads sneaking their way into our daily interactions on social media.
Enough is enough.
Audio Assualt In Ads
"Radio ads that have honking horns or sirens should be illegal. As should billboards."
– Mojo884ever
Focus On The Product, Please
"If I buy a car, I want to own it without paying a subscription to use the radio or heated steering wheel."
– topendminer
Effective Strategy
"Ads with the skip button are more effective than ones without."
"If an ad has a skip button you can choose whenever you’re interested in said product or not. This provides more clear info to advertisers too."
"An unskippable ad makes a person associate the company with a negative experience, therefore downgrading the company."
– PyroWasUsed
When it comes to our well-being, these Redditors believe the following are of utmost importance.
Ready For The Weekend
"Weekends are sacred and you can pry my free saturday out of my cold dead hands. And even then good luck because i will have hot-glued it to my hands."
"Jokes aside, self care and de-stressing are important. Take care of yourself people!"
"Edit: for everyone saying this comment is indeed political/religious: i'm just saying that having some time off to recharge or take care of personal stuff is important. It does not matter when or how that time off is, as long as you have some. I just want people to be healthy."
– Doctor-lasanga
It's Time To Let Go
"My boss asked me to come in on Saturday next month. Every Saturday. All month."
"In response, I took off all the Fridays. Due to corporate policy, he can’t deny it. At the end of the month, I’ll be quitting. This is the fifth time in less than a year he’s tried to get me to do regular overtime, and I’ve had enough. If he wants someone working on Saturday, he can do it himself."
"EDIT: I’m getting tired of all the people saying I should have 'just said no,' so let me explain why I didn’t."
"I’ve been at this company two years, and I’ve been 'just saying no' since day one. I was literally asked to stay late on my first day. For a while I did it because COVID had just started and I didn’t want to lose my job. I was very lucky to have a job at all and I knew it."
"But the demands for more overtime, more work, more responsibilities, it all kept growing. Soon, I was working 10 or 11 hours a day Mon-Sat and another 3 or 4 hours most Sundays. I was doing the work of three people and barely making enough money to live. Keep in mind I didn’t get paid for most of this overtime, maybe half of it. No OT bonus to speak of."
"Finally, after eight months of this, I put my foot down. I went back to 40 hour weeks, no overtime unless it’s payed and I choose to do it. My superiors weren’t happy, but replacing me wasn’t easy and they knew it, so they had to deal with it."
"Lately they’ve started pushing me to do more overtime again, but they still refuse to pay me for it. So, I’m done. I’m already planning on moving, but my plans to transfer to a different location are now out the window. I’m way past my limit with this company, they’re lucky I’m still here at all. So no, I won’t 'just say no.' I’ve been saying it for months and they don’t listen.
– DJDarwin93
Staying Afloat
"Swimming should be taught to every child."
– TheFrontierzman
The following opinions are about our interactions with the public.
Courtesy Flush
"If you take a sh*t at public toilets, FLUSH!!!"
– Edmundwhk
The Stigma Of Naiveté
"People should learn that saying 'I don't know' is a perfectly acceptable thing to say, and very often the most accurate."
– realistic_bastard
Gym Etiquette
"Rerack your weights, you meaningless excuse for intelligent life!"
– EndlessExploration
Road Communication
"Drivers who don't indicate when turning are selfish scum."
– Big_Undies
When using the elevator or public transportation, please let the passengers off before batter-ramming your way in, please.
The doors will eventually shut automatically but will not crush you if are entering the departed cabin at the last minute.
There's no rush.
That's the thing with people. Everyone's in a hurry to get from point A to B but cutting people off on the freeway or jamming your way into an emptying elevator will not get you places any faster.
Not only is it annoying, it's also dangerous.
And I'm done with my PSA. Thank you, kindly.
People Describe The Silliest Thing They've Ever Seen A Religious Person Call 'Demonic'
Religion is a funny thing. I get having faith, and Lord knows I need all the help and prayer y'all want to muster for me, but some people really just go overboard with what they believe God is going to be peeved at.
There are just some things people take issue with that make them sound like they should be medicated in order to be amongst the sane people.
I promise you cartoons are not evil. Let's discuss...
Redditoru/Yaoi_MakesMewants to discuss religion and some of its guffaws, by asking:
What is the stupidest thing you've ever seen a religious person call "satanic/demonic"?
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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People Share The 'Plot Holes' In Their Religion That They Find Hardest To Reconcile
Religion can be a beautiful thing...
But even the most devoted can notice flaws. While learning the stories behind your faith, or reading religious texts, there may be some passages that make you do a double take. Maybe it's outdated or completely lacking logic, but sometimes there can be humor found in it.
Redditor u/sebastian-yrigoyen asked people to share the plot holes they've noticed while practicing their religion, and some people made very good points.
Could someone explain the rules for heaven?
Late to the party, but in Islam there's the belief that God knows everything you will do before you're even born. Meaning that we don't control our own actions. At the same time, to get into Heaven, you need to-- of your own accord-- pray 5 times daily, read the Quran, etc. So my thing is this: If God knows what everyone is gonna do beforehand, and He knows people aren't gonna do what it takes to get into Heaven (cause he is omniscient); doesn't this then mean that God has already decided who goes to Heaven and who gets Hell? Cause there's no possible way in any Abrahamic religion (cause they all operate under the "do this to get into paradise" thing and all have God knowing everything before it happens) that we'd be able to try to get into Heaven. And this is just the tip of the iceberg on questions
We are created as we should be
I would say about 3/4 of hardcore Christians think being LGBT is wrong and against their god, but then also say that "God created everyone exactly how he wants them to be" like ?????
Many people die in that book
I want to know why so many Christians say that murder is wrong but ignore all the killing that God did in the Bible. Like, how do they justify drowning everyone except Noah and his family?
When was sin created?
I am a Christian and a thing that has really puzzled me is that if Adam and Eve ever gave birth to a child wouldn't it be a sin even if marriage wasn't a thing back then? Like despite marriage not being a thing back then it would still technically be a sin in the future. Or did God make marriage a thing in the future and just brush it off since Marriage wasn't a thing back then? I am confusion.
The mysterious story of Easter
Why did they roll a big rock over the the entrance of the cave where Jesus's body was taken to after he died? It seems like something that was insanely impractical for people to do at the time. Was it common practice to throw bodies in a cave and then seal it? If so, was Jesus the last body to be put in? To a non-believer, it just seems like something the story added to make the story more convincing, but it doesn't really make sense outside of the set up for a resurrection story.
On the same subject, I've heard a preacher talk about how Jesus basically teleported out of the cave after the resurrection, but god apparently sent an angel to sit on the boulder which was moved out of the way (for no reason). That implies that not only was there a resurrection, but god thought it wasn't miraculous enough and had to add a dash of showmanship to the whole coming back from the dead thing. What's up with that?
To see is to believe
Why has there been no "holy magical" moments in our time like there's nothing to actually show gods presence. And that's why I'm secretly unreligous(my parents are religious)
The ridiculous life spans of Biblical figures
Christians claim that the people in the Bible lived to be absurdly old. For example, they say that Noah was around 650 years old when he built the ark and didn't die until he was older then 900. How could this even be remotely possible? It doesn't make sense because they would have lived much shorter lives then we do in the present. They wouldn't have had access to modern medicine or anything.
Plot points were suddenly abandoned
So we all know that Jesus is the main focus of the new testament, but my biggest question is, what happened to him between the ages of 12 and 30
In the entirety of the bible itself,a number of immaculate creatures were named (such as the Behemoth, Leviathan,etc.) but not heard of after being mentioned and no one has ever interacted with them ever since
(Although I've read other christian texts, this is going to be one for people have not) where did giants come from, and even more astonishingly, where did they go
No one ever told you about the aquarium on the ark?
What happened to all the fresh water fish in the flood
Noah had a 50 gallon aquarium on the ark
Careful who you say that to
I was raised a Scientologist. There are many plot holes.
This is the trouble when your messenger is a 2 bit sci-fi author with fraudulent tendencies.
The dating pool was pretty nonexistent
"In the beginning there was Adam and Eve" Ok, I'm following that. 2 people on the planet.
They had 2 sons named Cain and Able. Yep, still with it. 4 people on the planet.
Cain killed Able. Ok, thats down to 3 people on the planet.
Cain took a wife. Wait, wut?
Mythology is all over the place
This isn't my religion, but I always found it hypocritical that the gods punished Oedipus for sleeping with his mother without realizing it, despite the fact that Zeus married his own sister while being fully aware that they were siblings.
Loki's backstory is actually tricky
why doesn't Sleipnir have the same sentience as his half siblings when they're all children of Loki? where does all the extra mead from Heiðrún go? and that's only the beginning.
This person just admitted they're a viking and no one noticed.
I imagine they were hard to miss
theme park dinosaur GIFGiphyThe lack of dinosaurs.
Fun fact the bible has a few verses in it describing monstrosities that could be dinosaurs. Even dragons.
Why does he make us suffer the foxes?
the fox band GIFGiphyIf God is the all knowing intelligent being that created everything, what was his reasoning around making foxes mating noises, if Humans are his children and he loves us why make us suffer every night listening to screaming of little horny foxes.
Is there a grey area?
If good people go to heaven and bad people goes to hell, and also we'll see again loved one after death, what happen when a good people love a bad people? (Think a mother with a serial killer son for instance)
Is the good people condemned to spend eternity without their loved one? How is it fair?
Surprised I scrolled down this far to find this, but this was a problem that I raised a lot in my religious classes a child. Never got an answer, usually I was met with a strict scolding.
About the closest I ever got to an answer was that in heaven everyone will be so perfectly happy it will be as if our connections from earth won't matter. Obviously they didn't know and were speculating but that actually made me feel even worse.
Who does Satan think he is?
Why would satan punish humans for rebelling against god, something that he himself once did. I've always thought of it as hypocritical, and that satan would reward the human for exercising their free will and living a life free of religious constraints.
It's a special privilege
God is perfect and cannot sin. There exists "the wrath of God." Wrath is one of the seven deadly sins.
Yes but He has a special permit
JUST the 2 of "US?"
If Adam and Eve were the first two people on Earth and are responsible for the birth of all people ever, than the entire human race is the product of incest.
Although, to be fair, that does explain quite a lot.
Bingo!
GiphyMy wife and I got married in the church that her and her family went to growing up. Part of the process of being married in the church meant that we had to do pre marriage classes. During these classes we had to discuss a variety of topics including sexual relationships between husband and wife.
We were told that the catholic church does not believe in any form of birth control, a child is a gift from god. Couples looking to engage in intercourse just need to keep track of a woman's cycle and that would be fine. Kind of seemed like someone trying to rig a lottery.
The Lost Years
What happened to Jesus in his teen years though?
There's actually a really good and funny book called "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pall" that takes place during his teen years where Jesus (Joshua in the book) and Biff go out and try to figure out how he's supposed to be a prophet. And I take that book as full cannon.
because HE said so....
jesus GIFGiphyIf man is not perfect, but man wrote the Bible how am I supposed to trust what I'm reading from the Bible. How do I know they didn't mess anything up?
Because it Christian faith the Bible was written by God through people, so they only wrote down what He told them to.
Meant to be the Villain
I don't know if this is considered as a plot hole:
Judas Iscariot was essential to Jesus' plan. If he didn't sold Jesus out then the prophecy will not come true. Why then is he considered a villain? He should be at the top! He got the job done!
The belief was that although Judas couldn't disregard his role in betraying Jesus, the fact was that he chose to kill himself (hanging himself from a tree) as opposed to genuinely repent. We see that Peter also betrayed Jesus but ultimately seeks forgiveness etc.
Forgive them yourself?
If you're God and you need to split off part of you to send to earth to die for the sins of mankind, wouldn't it just be faster to like... forgive them yourself? I mean you aren't scoring points from me for this convoluted story of some Virgin getting knocked up by you to give birth to a form of you that I'm supposed to feel bad about when they die for my sins even though that was their whole purpose.
Keeping Records....
We can read Egyptian hieroglyphics. They kept extensive records. No mention of using Jewish slaves to build the pyramids, them revolting, a royal named Moses or a Red Sea parting.
Although interestingly Moses is actually a fairly common Egyptian name but the guys who wrote the Bible didn't seem to know that. They made a different story about the name's origin (She named him Moses (Moshe), saying, 'I drew him out (meshitihu) of the water'.)
It's very weak, of course, but it's a hint that there might be some truth to the Moses was in Egypt story.
Gotta start somewhere....
keanu reeves whatever GIFGiphyAn omnipotent being is used to explain the origin of everything in this universe, but there's no explanation for the origin of said omnipotent being.
Where is the lineage?
Adam and Eve had 3 sons...
The bible (and most ancient scripture) is notorious for not listing daughters of people unless they have a key role to play in the religion and/or government. Normally only list the males because of the "lineage."
Mary's Tale
Virgin Mary had a child. Glances suspiciously at churches/catholic schools stating abstinence is 100% effective in avoiding a pregnancy.
Political Optics
Not really a plot hole in the Christianity , but a plot hole in the interpretation of it.
Christianity was originally highly Jewish based and they didn't like Romans, a few centuries later it was Roman/ European based and they heavily discriminated Jewish people. What?
This one is easily explained and historically substantiated. Rome was working furiously to kill all the Christians. However, it just wasn't working. It seemed the more that they killed, the more their numbers would grow. Constantine saw a political opportunity and followed the advice of the old adage "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" and officially changed the religion of Rome to Christianity. Most consider it a politically motivated decision. The Catholics say he converted himself and the entire country and they recognize him as an important figure in the history of their religion.
Lilith?
Lilith, who was Eve before Eve. She was created first to be equal to Adam, but didn't take kindly to constantly being told what to do, so she was kicked out of paradise (or left of her own will maybe). She supposedly had sex with angels or something, creating other tribes. Then God was like, "Well, screwed that one up. Next one will be a total sub." And so he made Eve out of a piece of Adam to make sure we always remember that women are owned by men.
To the Point!
I could live my entire life, adhering completely to the Christian moral compass, save millions of lives, treat every person with the utmost respect and dignity, refuse all toxic thoughts and actions, and yet (according to most Christian dogma) I would still burn in hell for eternity if I didn't believe the Christian God exists.
That sentiment alone tells me that morality, and the course of our lives in general, is irrelevant in the end. All that matters is that the Christian God gets recognition. That God, to me, sounds more narcissistic than benevolent and loving. And therefore, is not a God I wish to worship.
There's also issues such as, if God is truly omnipotent and omniscient then he could have purged the world of all suffering and pain. But he hasn't because... he loves us? Because somehow the gift of free will, and therefore the gift of imperfection is more important than letting your children suffer and experience pain? Some children are born into poverty, beaten, starved, and killed before 10 years of age, without ever seeing kindness. What's the lesson there God? Why must you treat the creations you love with such disdain solely to "make a point."
I could go on. There's so many issues I have with that belief system and narrative.
It's about Me!
God teaches us that it is a sin to be envious, and to be prideful, and that we must have compassion and understanding for others. And yet he will literally condemn someone to an eternity in hell for not worshiping him, even if said person has literally never heard of him.
Morals be damned
No longer religious, but one of the biggest contradictions in Christianity is that human beings by nature are morally imperfect beings. Yet a necessary component for the forgiveness of sins includes having the right sort of beliefs toward Jesus. How does it make sense that a person's eternal destiny relies solely on an imperfect being having a specific belief. I think we can all agree that human beings are morally imperfect, but I'd argue that they're far more imperfect when it comes to having true beliefs (assuming Christianity was true). It seems entirely unfair that that is the thing that people are judged on. People would have to be epistemically perfect to be judged on their beliefs.
Woof
don bluth 80s GIFGiphyThe concept of eternal peace and joy in heaven sounds very psychologically degrading long term. It sounds like living like a pet dog.
Huh?
It's said that god's first plan was to just create Adam. Then Adam started complaining about him wanting to be alone and out of parts God took from Adam he made Eve.
But here's my question, how would Adam have reproduced if he wouldn't have felt the need for a female companion? Gay sex? With himself? Did he have reproductive organs that could just spit out Adam 2.0?
525,600 Minutes....
idina menzel GIF by Rent the MusicalGiphyThat the earth way created in 3 day. How tf were there days before the earth existed? Was God measuring 'days' based off another planet he created?
Well first he separates light from darkness and that's the first day, right? Assuming whoever wrote that down wasn't aware of other planets or that the earth revolved around the sun or even turned, just that light is intermittent and one cycle of light + dark is a day. Not great, but it does make sense.
Fake Prophets
I know someone who's Baha'i. They believe that every prophet talked about the same God, but according to what He wanted/thought was best at that certain time, and they believe that god is only good. No need to get deep with that second thing, and for the first one, smthg that kinda pisses me off, seeing how incoherent it is, they recognize every prophet, until Baha'u'llah (19th century).
The ones who came after, welp, don't care. But according to their faith, they should follow the most recent religion. Tho, they also say there are some fake prophets who act for their own pleasure etc etc. So here's the thing, and i guess i should ask, to see if they all believe that.
To Hell!
Not my religion, but why a Christian will condemn someone to Hell for being gay (condemning someone to Hell also being forbidden), because Leviticus, while eating shrimp and covered in tattoos, also Leviticus. Then telling the gay person it's ok for the Christian because Christ loves them, and he's cool with it. Isn't sin, sin? Is there only a 30 day sentence for eating shrimp, but death penalty for loving someone of your same sex?
So spiteful....
morgan freeman i'm god GIFGiphyThe fact that God literally killed humanity because they were all sinners, but then he says love your fellow human.
billions & billions....
I used to be Catholic; I'm now an atheist.
But, if Jesus came to save everyone from sin 2,000 years ago, what about all the other human beings who lived and died 150,000 years before he showed up? Why weren't they saved? Christians will tell you that God saved them anyway, but why do we then have to deal with the can of worms Jesus opened and we have to follow the Ten Commandments and go to Church and tithe and everything else when they didn't have to?
There are about 100 billion galaxies each with about 100 billion stars; the odds are very favorable that intelligent life exists elsewhere containing civilizations who will rise up and go extinct before we ever even get CLOSE to finding them. Are they saved? Why didn't Jesus go to them?
The Bible is an arbitrary collection. Works were edited, things were lost in translation, books of the Bible were accumulated over time and voted on by councils; some made it in, some didn't. Given that it's basically held together by centuries of drafts and edits and additions and subtractions, how can we trust it? Yet, it's supposed to be THE word of God.
...I could go on.
There's nothing like being raised Catholic to make you a nonbeliever lol.
To Valhalla!
The best warriors are chosen upon death and half of them is sent to Valhalla.
The problem is that it's the worse half of the chosen. So you have to get enough battle prowess but not too much if you want to get to Valhalla... or you can use the Persuasion skill, of course.
Outside the Lines
Not really a "plot" hole, but an ethical one. In the guideline book for my religion, it makes several references that the means is justified by the end.
"Lets flood the entire planet and kill off trillions of life forms to get rid of evil."
"Reduce a city to ash for sinning, and anybody who looks at it turns to ash too."
"Im gonna make this one guy in particular lose literally everything he has; job, family, estate, etc., to prove that he will still worship me" -God
Even outside of the book of guidelines, people say it all the time.
"God is only putting us through this hardship so that we come out better."
I heard someone say that God made Coronavirus so that we could develop faster as a planet.
Someone said that school shootings were good, so that kids could get more protection in school.
But really? You're telling me that the hundreds of thousands of lives that have been lost are all worth it? Yeah, we've come a long way. But I would rather have these kids alive, right now.
Timeline Issues
I am Jewish. I am also a massive ancient history nerd.
In one of the first parts of the Torah, Abraham "returns to the land of the Philistines."
Problem: There were no Philistines at the putative time of Abraham. Even from the perspective of Biblical narrative.
The Philistines arrive at the end of the 1200s BCE and were only barely established in the current Gaza area by the time the Israelites start establishing themselves in portions of modern0day Israel/Palestine.
The chronology is just plain wrong.
No Matter What
It's not my religion but....
"I love everyone no matter what" followed by "You better love me back or I'm gonna hate you forever and torture you for eternity" followed by "I don't love those people neither should you, what you should do is make their lives a living hell."
And on the 5th?
I don't believe in any kind of God but I've always found it funny how in the bible, God made the sun on the fourth day. How could there have been any days before that?
Yeah so I believe in the original translation it says God created the world in 4 time periods, not really days. So it could have taken thousands of years, and Moses just used "time periods" because he wasn't there and didn't know how long God spent on each creation.
Loosed Inspired By
writing GIFGiphyLiterally every biblical story. The more I read it, the less sense it makes.
Also the fact that we have to listen to some men who were "supposedly inspired by God" to write misogynistic crap and give stronger grounds to their own selfish need for power.
Bad with Names
If Jesus' mother was told by an angel that she was going to bear the messiah in the book of Luke, why did she and the rest of the family go chasing after Jesus telling everyone he was out of his head in the opening pages of Mark?
Three separate storytellers and written down 70-110 years after the death of the Messiah by others, not the actual apostles.
Lack of....
Evidence.
This is my problem with some religions: Why would you condemn us to hell if there's no/circumstantial evidence for your specific religion? If God just wanted us to have faith, why would he think we wouldn't worship other deities with the same amount of proof? Agnostic btw.
Without Logic
It's harder to believe than fiction.
But fiction (usually) tries to follow a path of logic and is at least somewhat reasonable in events and characters. Also the plotholes are usually few are defendable as "the character didn't think of that". The same cannot be said for any religion I have looked into.
Satan the Great
devil satan GIFGiphyIf Satan punishes those who sin, wouldn't he be considered a good guy?
Alternatively, if Satan is a bad guy, why would he punish other sinners?
Perfect Word of God
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all have different conflicting accounts of what happened regarding the empty tomb. Did just Mary go alone or did the other Mary go too? Was there an earthquake or did the stone instantly move away or was the stone already rolled away? Did one or two or no angels show and talk to them? Did they go and tell everyone or were they too afraid to? Did they find Jesus was gone and then called the disciples to come see or did the angels tell them to go tell all the disciples? Did Jesus appear in the tomb and talk to Mary?
This is one of the plot holes that led me from being a firm believer fundamentalist to an agnostic wishy washy whatevs guy :D
Now my Christian belief system has to come to terms with the Perfect Word of God and the imperfect accounts in the Old and New Testaments.
The Third
Idk about plot holes in my religion, but I like one thing the most in my religion, it mentions a third form of life (apart from a man and woman) and I realized ancient India was very gender fluid, in fact even today whenever a baby is about to be born or is just born, Transgender people go to the new baby's house to give the baby blessing, it is considered auspicious. But ever since Britishers left India, LGBTQ+ community has been looked down upon. I hope they get the same recognition like the ancient times.
I am not that religious, I just was more curious about hinduism in quarantine coz boredom was eating me up so I thought let's try the spiritual way what my parents do lmao.
Do you read?
Raised Catholic, now Protestant. As a Catholic, I looked at the Protestants and thought "WTF, 1500 years after Jesus and suddenly you create your own church?" Now I'm like "Have you Catholics even read the Bible?" Main conclusion I've come to is that people are limited in what they can fully understand, so we all try to hold onto that small part we can grasp. So I'm chill with anyone who affirms Matthew 22, Chapters 36-40.
Silly Humans
party dancing GIFGiphyHumans just invented religion to have a little more sense in life and how everything is the way it is. For humans everything must have a meaning, since all the things we invented make a sense and have a function, even we people ourselves need to have a function, but that's maybe not how the world is built, we are not here for any reason, it's only a happenstance that we exist, that life on our world exists. That's why I believe more in aliens than I believe in any kind of god. Sorry for the bad english by the way.
I'm right here Y'all!
That Judas betrayal of Jesus doesn't make sense.
Jesus wasn't hiding. He rode into Jerusalem in broad daylight. Everyone knew he was coming. Judas' help wasn't needed to catch him.
Blasphemy!
I'm a lapsed catholic. Idolatry is one of the biggest "plot holes." If you worship the virgin Mary or any other saint you are as a matter of fact doing blasphemy. Don't come with the argument of them being a "middle man." Speak to god directly. The worship of saints is pretty much polytheism with yahweh (christian god) being Zeus's equivalent.
So Many ???
Confused Dogs GIF by moodmanGiphyFormer catholic.. still waiting for somebody to explain Jesus's DNA situation is.. is he haploid? Where does his Y chromosome come from? So many questions.
Watch & Learn
Bring on the downvotes bc I know I'm going to get them.
No bible is the word of God written by man. They are the words of MEN written by MEN.
FFS there are over 1,000 denominations of Christianity alone, each knowing their version is the right one and all others are blasphemy.
Not to mention every bible from each religion is packed with contradictions...
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It takes a lot to turn away from religion, so it must take even more to turn back.
Atheism generally comes about from people who have completely and totally lost their faith, either via a traumatic life event or from some other disillusionment. But some people do eventually go back.
Some go for the community. Some go for the lessons. But what is it that made them turn back?
Redditor Tylenol323 asked:
"Athiests who turned religious, why?"
Here were some of those answers.
The Spark Within
"I was raised church of christ in the heart of the bible belt, and they were genuinely wonderful people, but i was an angsty goth as a teen. A lot of horrible things happened to me that drove me to rebel against everything. I was working hard to get far away from home. A few years after HS i quit my job, and moved to SLC for school, and wanted to learn as much as possible with my time abroad. One day my mormon roommate asked me to go to his sunday service, and out of curiosity i decided to go. No, i didnt convert to LDS, but it did ignite a spark in me. The next saturday, i went to my other roommates church that was seventh day adventist and it was really eye opening."
"It was like an open discussion instead of being preached to. After that, i made it a point to try a different church every week to better understand how people worship in their own ways. Ive been to an almost entirely black Baptist church, islamic temples, easter mass at a large cathedral, korean first methodist, and many more. I made lifelong friends, ate all kinds of amazing food, got help during the low times of my life, and most importantly i gained understanding."
"In the end, I found home with a small Universalist Unitarian congregation back in my hometown because everything just clicked. I wish I could share all the stories and amazing experiences i had, but it would be 100 pages long, and I honestly think that the path to finding spirituality is up to you and how much you search for your own soul in the melting pot of the cosmos."
– Fully_Active
Edgelord Begone
"It's not exciting, and kind of weird to me still, but I found comfort in prayer when I was feeling bad about stuff from my younger years, and I guess I just never stopped. I'm not about to spread the gospel or try to convert anyone, but getting back in touch with my spirituality helped me deal with life a little bit more. For the record, I was one of those edgelord atheists that would often try to argue with my religious friends, unprompted, when they just wanted to simply hang out."
– cimeryd
North South East West
"When I was at the lowest point in my life, I had nothing left to live for and needed a reason to keep going and to improve as a person. My SO, my friends, I lost them all to my increasingly disgusting behavior. The core values of religion provided a good moral compass for me and helped me be more patient and in control of my actions. I became a better person because of it, and I found a reason to live. Not to say that atheists are bad people, I just mean that it helped me personally become a better and more patient person."
– Deleted User
Community
"I was born and raised in an atheist household. Starting in high school, I was really depressed and didn't know how to seek help. I loved and continue to love my parents but they didn't allow me to seek medical help. This continued on into my freshman year at college, even though I was living on campus and away from my home. However, I was still stubborn and wasn't comfortable with seeking help. Instead, through an acquaintance I met in a class and, after briefly mentioning about some life issues I was going through, he guided me to Christianity. We would occasionally have Bible study with other students, and I felt belonged. It also warmed my heart to know that God was protecting us all, including me, from evil. In a way, this moment also helped me become a better person by learning to love and not judge people so quickly, help others, and most importantly, love and accept myself for who I am. A few months later, I finally had the courage to get medical help for my depression. I honestly would not have done so had I not become a stronger person in part due to my curiosity and time with Christianity."
– pengweather
Passionately Curious
"As an avowed teenage atheist (having grown up in a non-church-going family), I met a super smart nerdy guy and starting hanging around him. Turns out he talked about his faith in Christ... a lot."
"So one day I blurted out something -- I don't remember verbatim but along the lines of, "Gee, I thought you were smart and understood science."
"He said, "It's because I understand and love science that I believe the Scriptures. Every new archaeological or scientific discovery just keeps confirming what I know."
"He went to great lengths to show me what he meant, and 38 years of marriage later we're still sharing what we learn -- from Scripture or from the latest physics discovery."
– Aphid61
Spirituality Vs. Religion
"Not necessarily religious but spiritual. I was raised Christian, and my mom was very forceful with it. When I was 12, and starting to develop my own beliefs, she refused to accept that I might not be Christian/didn't want to attend church. That just made me rebel and I became a very edgy, angry atheist that hated anything spiritual, period."
"As I got older though I utilized a thing called DBT therapy which is based on Buddhist practices. It made me realize that spirituality could be useful and wasn't all bull. I picked up different theories and bits of religions, whatever resonates, and built my own belief of a "god." I personally call it "source" or "universe." I've been happier, since. It makes the world make a bit more sense, gives me a sense of purpose and comforts me in terms of what potentially comes after death. I'm a kinder, more tolerable person now. As an atheist I believed there was no purpose to life. Everything was random. Now I believe everything has a reason and there's no coincidences, adds a sense of wonder and mystery to even day-to-day life :)."
– Shirrapikachu
Science For Religion
"Not really religious, but eventually hard problem of consciousness convinced me that the current scientific models of reality are fundamentally incapable of explaining my consciousness."
"At that time I was kind of early 20th century science optimist so this was quite crushing realization. Around that time I also found out about Gödel's incompleteness theorems which made me think about many other things which seem obviously true but are not rigorously provable and science suddenly has not seemed as powerful as before."
– Holsten19
Lovecraftian Understanding
"I didn't turn religious in the sense that I follow a religion, but after some pretty intense experiences with acid I came to understand that there most definitely is something beyond the physical plane and that our senses aren't really equipped to understand it."
"The argument for atheism is always that the onus is on religion to prove God exists, which is fine and all but is "God created the universe" really any worse an explanation than "a big bang happened but we don't know why and an enormously complex sequence of unlikely events just happened by coincidence and here we are"?
– Deleted User
Mental Health
"I grew up in a Protestant household but around seventh grade went through some really hard times and developed depression. It became difficult to believe in a God. This year, however, I went through confirmation at my amazing church (highly recommend United Church of Christ churches -- super accepting) and really built my faith. I realized that faith is about just that -- believing that no matter what this mortal world throws at you, He has a plan, and that it's okay when I have doubts and question that there's a God who watches over all 7.5 billion people because I know in my heart that He's more amazing than my human mind can understand and that when I meet him again, I will understand the glory of His kingdom."
– Hipsterpiggy
Leap Of Faith
"Don't follow an established religion, but i now believe there is more than our life on earth. Maybe it's that our "soul" is just a higher dimension we can not tap into in our human form. Maybe there's a heaven and hell, or maybe they're just a representation of the reflection we will endure after leaving life on earth. My lack of religious beliefs changed after a very large dose of mushrooms and hearing experiences from those who have tried dmt, which i really would like to experience."
"Athiesm itself is a religion imo, because you have a belief of something you can not prove, thus requiring a leap of faith. Was atheist from around 12-16, then agnostic, now i guess I'm spiritual? The word makes me cringe but I don't know what else to call it."
– Dan5-O
Resistance
"My family is atheest. I was too. Then, I started hearing people talk about religion and how special it was to them, and I was like "Wow, that's incredible that you have something that you believe In so much." Then, I began reading the bible and thinking about it and realised, I can't believe that there isn't something bigger in our giant universe. It didn't all just poof into existence without some sort of interference, I don't think. What really cemented it, though, was hearing my dad bash it. I didn't tell them I believed in God. They always said they'd be fine no matter what I believed in, but I felt like at the age I was, I didn't know for sure. Then, my dad started bashing people of faith for being "foolish enough to believe in a man in the sky." And for some reason that just made me more convinced."
– Idontknowhonestly44
Shades Of Grey
"I've turned from Atheist to mostly agnostic. When I was 4 or so, I decided that there were some lies in the Bible so all of it must be lies. I saw only black and white, not the many different shades in between. I've let religion back into my life. I'm learning about acceptance of myself, taking time to rest and self-love. I'm learning about being a member of a community, kind of a family."
"I don't go to church every Sunday, I actually rarely do. I don't believe in God or miracles or anything like that. I believe in myself and everyone else. I believe evil people do not exist, that everyone is good, but perhaps confused. I believe in helping others, accepting help when I need it and not overworking myself anymore. I'm happier as an agnostic Catholic than I ever was as an Atheist."
– rhyanin
The Magic Of Religion
"I was raised christian but my parents weren’t very strict. We rarely went to church and i became an atheist to rebel in a way. I was also very suicidal. When i was around 14 i started to develop severe signs of paranoia and depression. I would constantly think about dying and became so terrified of the idea that there would be nothing when i died. I started doing tons of research into reincarnation and wicca / paganism. I am now celtic wiccan, 2 years clean, and proud that i found my faith."
– reddogrunning
Proof
"This is something that gets done to death in religious circles, people use these made up stories as "proof" of god. Plus a solid conversion story sells well, there are plenty of religious authors who made a nice chunk of cash recounting how they found faith."
"This thread is going to be filled with:"
- "sock puppet accounts featuring people pretending to have been atheists who found god (but were really always religious to begin with)""
- "BS strawman accounts of people saying they lost faith because they were "mad at God" or decided at a young age to be atheist just for the edgy shock value"
- "special pleading fallacies."
Acknowledgement
"I found myself surrounded by people who were openminded, kind, and understanding. They saw things others I encountered couldn't, and reassured me I wasn't crazy. They believed me when I told them of the things I'd done in secret, and they shared their stories too. Legitimately, Fae Worship (not genuine worship, but the acknowledgement of fae and acceptance,) has positively changed my life and allowed me a healthy mental, physical, and magical outlet for stuff Ive carried with me for way too long."
– Avarice_Cloak
Open Hearts
"I wasn't atheist really I was more agnostic. But everything in my life fell apart. My mom was going through it all with me. She was telling me about the sermon she heard at church that week that brought her comfort. She never tried to push me to go back to church. But she was dealing better with the tragedy our family was going through than I was."
"I decided that I would try to go to a church near me. I went and everything the pastor said felt like it was talor written for my ears. I went back weekly I said prayers some were answered. Some were not. I felt better. I felt lighter. I am glad I went."
"I wish everyone could find something that makes them feel as content, happy and at peace as religion makes me feel. I don't care if that is a religion an activity or what. As long as they are not hurting themselves or others. I also have no will to push others into my religion or hate and judge others because of religion, race, sexual orientation, or any other reason. I know some religious people do that. I don't like that so many so-called Christians do that."
– Meowow912
It's All About The Truth
"Okay here is why."
"Rather than an opinion about things far and beyond, Atheism is based upon very strong worldly perversions and Political ideologies with a base of negative thinking and extremely rigid opinions. Many like to argue the contrary but this I have deduced with repeated experience in multiple places including reddit."
"Purposely breaking religious duties and deliberately provoking religious people was something I did, too, like the New-Atheists. Its just anger and negative thinking doing the work. That's it."
"As I got out of these things, I slowly realized its true colours. It has no open mind nor any desire to seek. It just venerates what Dawkins and Hitchens say. That's just it."
"I am now a Truthist, as I would call myself. There is a great supreme Truth which is the cause of all Truths and we will one day realise that and unite with it. Thats the Truth and that will be my religion."
– AlbertTheGodEQ
Coming Back
"The last time I walked into a catholic church for service, I was 12 I think. Could not say I believed at that time but I had my communion. My sister was there and I went to get the 'body of Christ' which is basically flour and water. She asked to taste it so I did break the bread in two and shared with her... like I thought a 'good' person would do. The priest came at me, screaming, telling me that I cannot break the 'body of Christ' because it is a sin. He shamed me in front of the entire church. I sweared that day I would never become religious and be related to God in any way."
"I think I started to believe again after I went to college. Being surrounded by scientific minds (I studied a scientific field), evolution theory was highly talked out but I developed a great interest into philosophy also. I would read philosophical books and I became amazed on how the world never changed throughout the ages. Soon, I had a massive bookshelf full of philosophy and I loved it. I just LOVED it. I could spend hours reading, noting and thinking."
But soon, I came accross a philosopher would described the Bible as the greatest philosophy book of all time. So of course, I became interested. I would be reluctant at first because when you share this with left-brainers or atheists, they discredit it immediately."
"But I did anyway. I opened the book telling myself : 'I think it would be a shame to not read the 'best seller' of all time before I die!'. Yes, I had the audacity to say it was simply a best-seller."
"A believer at work would discuss God with me also twice a week. We would sit down in front of a coffee and just talk. He changed my life and he was, I believe, one of the most influencial person in my life before he died at 88 years old... 6 months after we met. I know own his Bible. His wife gave it to me. It is very precious to me."
"And one night, when I started to dig into what money was and the origins of the Federal Reserve, I just simply fell to my knees and asked for forgiveness. I did cry and asked Him to show me the way, that I wanted to give Him my life. It was an experience I will never forget because I felt He was there."
"More things happened after that to strenghten my belief but that's just how I became a Christian."
– ProcessTaz
Comfort Of Religion
"Former atheist, now pagan. It’s something I find a lot of comfort in. I’m able to see parts of myself reflected in certain deities, which makes me feel close to them. Plus it’s nice to have something to look to in times of need."
– spoopy_elliot
Second Chances
"I was raised Atheist but I come from a Latino family and I think other Latinos know what it means when it comes to superstiton and the supernatural. God might not exist but of course spirits and ghosts and other things do."
"I turned towards Buddhism mostly because of my strong belief in the supernatural and in reincarnation, especially because otherwise the world becomes completely unfair and I get angry. How can humans get only one chance? There are kids who die of cancer, or abuse or illness and that's it, that's the only chance they get? It's bullshit and senseless. The world must be better than this."
– coffeestealer
"I'm probably one of the last people you'd expect to end up Christian; I was raised by two staunchly atheist parents and grew up convinced that the God of the Bible was non-existent and/or evil. My conception of God was pretty much that he hated almost everyone and therefore wanted to send the majority of humanity to hell, except the most stringently obedient. Sadly, a lot of the Christians I was exposed to only confirmed this belief in my mind. The fact that I figured out I was lesbian as a teenager didn't help matters."
"My first experiments with religion were really unhealthy. TL;DR, PTSD made me really paranoid to the point where I had a lot of fear of death and people trying to kill me, so I pretty much went "Fuck it, might as well have a back-up plan, right?" and got into theism solely as a way to secure my chances at an afterlife if something should happen. Problem was I hadn't actually revised my view of God at all and still viewed him as very angry and hateful. I remember spending a really long time praying each night "blessing" every single person I knew because I thought that if I skipped someone, God would try to teach me a lesson by killing them."
"I went back and forth between that and atheism for a while. Then, in college, a girl invited me to go to church with her. I was in one of my atheism periods during this time, but I figured why not. She was friendly enough and I thought it might teach me about an experience different from my own."
"To be honest, her church didn't really suit me. Though everyone was friendly there, it was one of those very evangelical churches where people speak in tongues and are "overcome with the holy spirit" on a pretty regular basis. On top of that, it preached some rather conservative views regarding marriage, gender roles, and homosexuality/transexuality that I wasn't too comfortable with."
"But then something happened: the preacher misquoted something from the Bible. He was making a point against trans people and showed a Powerpoint slide that said: "Men and women are fearfully and wonderfully made," therefore it's a sin to be trans. I had read almost none of the Bible, but I had apparently heard that Psalm before because something in my brain went, "Wait, that's not right." When I got home, I looked it up online and sure enough, that wasn't the original quote (it's "I am fearfully and wonderfully made," in case you're wondering). Now, I was really curious and started reading more. I ended up reading the Gospels and was pretty shocked by just how radically compassionate the whole thing was and how much I admired Jesus. It was pretty much the exact opposite of what I'd been taught Christianity was, by atheists and Christians alike."
"I started praying again shortly thereafter, but it wasn't an immediate change. I felt nothing when I prayed and it frustrated me. I felt like if God existed, then he must want me to fail. I was also going through a pretty rough time mentally due to insomnia and stress. Then one night when I was praying, I just snapped. I figured that if God existed, then he didn't care what I had to say, so I just went all out, calling him out for being a shitty God who didn't listen and wanted me to go to Hell, etc. And then something kind of indescribable happened. I don't know, I just felt this huge, peaceful presence suddenly overwhelm me. It felt like I'd spent my whole life dialing the wrong number and then somehow, miraculously, the call finally went through."
"That was pretty much the moment that started me on the path of becoming an actual Christian, though a couple of miraculously answered prayers along the way helped too. Thing is, I still consider myself a fairly rational person. I know a lot of atheists reading this probably have understandable reservations. Like, "Well, you admitted in the beginning that you were struggling with PTSD, so maybe this can be explained as a symptom of mental illness" or "You were emotionally keyed up when you had your 'religious experience' so maybe it was just a symptom of stress." And those are fair points! I'm not trying to degrade them. But the way I see it, if God and Jesus are real, then that's great. And if they aren't and I've just tricked myself into believing in them... also great. It means I've tricked myself into being calmer, gentler, more compassionate person. Not to mention, going to church helped me meet a lot of great friends and get involved volunteering in my community. I feel blessed, no matter what way you slice it."
"TL;DR, Wanted to prove a preacher wrong and ended up becoming happy Christian. Whoops! :)"
– Anaphora121
Perspective
"Didn't turn religious, but I did change the way I look at religion."
"At some point in time, as an atheist, I decided to look into other religions besides Christianity to see if anything appealed to me. Surprisingly, many things I read changed the way I would see the world. I still think that God isn't real, but I treat religions as ways one can become better: I keep the good parts only. I would also interpret things in my own way just for the sake of simplicity, such as meditation being time spent with my eyes closed thinking."
–Euthimo2k
These are some interesting reads!
Do you have similar experiences to share? Let me know in the comments below.