Atheists Raised In Religious Families Break Down What Made Them Lose Their Faith

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

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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

"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...

"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

"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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