What caused you to turn away from your faith?

Under which faith were you raised? Do you still practice it? If not then why?
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I was raised under the pentecostal faith (Assemblies of God). My family attended church three times a week and throughout my childhood I had no reason to question what I was being taught. For two weeks out of every summer I attended a Jesus camp where I eventually became a camp councilor. I taught Sunday school and went on various mission trips throughout the U.S. and Mexico. Before the age of eighteen I had led hundreds of people in prayer to accept Jesus Christ as their personal lord and savior. But all was not well in my heart. By the time puberty was in full swing I was questioning things that my church could not answer. I'm not sure why but I had it in my head that ancient people were somehow closer to God than modern people. From this misconception I began to study any religion that came before Christianity. Because of their similarities I concentrated my studies on ancient occult practices and shared my crisis of faith with fellow councilors at church camp. This simple request for council led to immediate persecution. I was accused of practicing black magic and was brought before the district superintendent to explain myself. He seemed to understand but by the middle of the week there were rumors going around that I was a warlock and had ritually sacrificed animals in the nearby woods. I was asked to leave for the sake of the children. Mind you, I was never a practicing pagan. I just wanted to understand the origin of religion. This helped me recognize that anyone who puts their religion on the same pedestal as God will fail to see the distinction between the two. The same goes for their holy books which are nothing more than the engraven words of man. I had no choice but to walk away from that which turned its back on me yet in return I found my inner peace. This would not be the last time an orthodoxy would ostracize me for my curiosity but at least now I can understand why they do it.

 

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I speak among other things Arabic and I have read many Arabic poetry from the era of Quran's revelation. I can tell you that the language of the Holy Quran is very special. It is very beautiful. It exceeds in its excellence the 16 rhythmical patterns of Arabic language. No one has ever managed to write something like the Quran and God Himself says that this should be the ultimate challenge for people: i.e. to author something like the Quran. God says further that people will never do that! Just tell me who else can dare to say something like this in His Book ?! His name is mentioned there 2699 times. No human can do such a thing in his own writing.

This is a reply to what the topic author says regarding God's revelations. Back to the main topic here, yes I think it will be interesting if some people reply and share their experiences with us. What made you turn away from your faith ?!

 

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well, i didn't turn of my faith, i love science, i'm scientific mind,as almost everyone here, just stick more with teh reality, and i still beleive in my faith, and i'm 100percent sure of it, and i find it very interresting, and realistic, also logical, i didnt see stupid things in it, but sadly, almost all people, i mean, from other faithes, and also that they are not from the same kind of contry, or living with people with that faith, just understand it all wrong, and have alot of wrong ideas about it, and judge on it without even knowing it, or searching about it, i mean, making a search before they judge, anyway, that makes me kidna sad, but, actually i don't kare what others think, since i'm just fine, happy, exelent life where i live, many friends, family, etc... so, i don't acutually kare..
i tryed once to read the bible,well, 3 pages, i was curious about what their bible says, but, naaah, no offence, but, i find it kidna stupid, , no offence, sorry

 

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I was raised in a Jewish family, but it was mostly secular. My father was into science, and we recieved Scientific American magazine. We celebrated a few Jewish holidays without enthusiasm. We never went to synogogue. We even had a Christmas tree once! When I first starting thinking about religion, I was agnostic, I didn't know if there was a God or not, it seemed possible. Then I realized some of my friends believed in the literal existence of Santa Claus, which seemed impossible. I thought that there is as much evidence of Santa as there is of God, so I became very skeptical. My mother and I would have long debates on the subject, she wanted to believe in some kind of spiritual force, but was very vague about it, and her best argument was that I couldn't show it was not true. I started to read about ESP and related phenomenon. My piano teacher for 7 years was an elderly Christian lady (born in 1917), who also practiced Trancendental Meditation, she said she would leave her body at night and fly around. I read many works of science fiction and literature. Then I got a job at the library, and read about Buddhism. There was something about Buddhism I liked, and started to meditate. I suspected God wasn't real, but didn't know any good arguments against it. Eventually I did read some very good arguments against it, and gave up the idea completely. The novels of Louis-Ferdinand Céline were a powerful influence. I realized theism was created to fufill certain human needs, and that non-theistic practices like meditation could accomplish the same thing without the supernatural baggage. My meditation finally came to fruition, and I realized the essential truth that Buddha eluded to. My interests turned to evolution, and to Dawkins, and eventually to the New Atheist literature of the present day.

 

I was raised as a Lutheran, by the book. I stayed in the church until my son was a newborn. Then a couple of things happened.

First, one Sunday, the preacher gave us, instead of a sermon, an admission that he had been porking a female member of the congregation, was leaving the ministry and the state. We got a new preach - a rank Nazi conservative from the REAL country.

He gave us this sermon talking about how we were all supposed to vote. I asked him about that "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars and render unto God the things that are God's" bit, and his response was "I shall pray for you." My response was "and I shall pray for you". He turned red as a beet.

We then received a letter from the church stating that we had not attended in so many years that we were being dropped from the membership rolls. We had been married in that church 2 years earlier and had contributed heavily.

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While searching for a new church, I read a book titled "Who wrote the New Testament?" After reading that book and digesting the information it held, we became Buddhist and have not looked back.

We are NOT religious Buddhists, we are philosophical Buddhists, using the Buddhist standard of ethics, but no gods, no masters.

 

Most converts that I know of are products of marriage. I have always wondered how one justifies turning away form their childhood faith just prior to making a vow of commitment and loyalty before God. If marriage is the reason you abandoned your faith then who got to decide which belief system you would abide by?

 

Raised Catholic. Bored into oblivion. Went to an on-fire-for-Jesus non-denom church, got saved, and never looked back. Am ridiculously happy now.

 

education

 

Seconded.

 

This can be suppressed and/or manipulated.
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The OP asks three questions. Could you please elaborate?

 

Independent Verification is pretty hard to do either with.

 

I turned away from christianality when i left high school, i turned to scientology hensh me jining this forum.

i beleive inscience not magic.

 

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M*W: Good for you!

Just curious, you said you "stayed in the church until my son was a newborn." What was your son doing before he was a newborn?

 

his son was a fetist in the womb and before the stage an egg cell and a sperm cell.

 

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M*W: I know a lot of delusional people who are "ridiculously happy." Many of them are on much needed psychiatric meds.

Are you sure your "on-fire-for-Jesus" church was non-demon?

Don't worry. Be happy. Go ahead and drink the Kool-Aid.

 

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M*W: Welcome to Sciforums! What were you doing in high school? Obviously, not English.

 

i think you are confusing high school with college. potatae tomato its and american / english thing.

like our football is your soccer.

i did all basic subjects at high school but i am taking muultimedia course schalship.

 

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M*W: Are you saying his son was into feet?

Okay, please help me here with some reproductive embryology that I must have missed in medical school. Are you saying his son had a 'foot fetish while in the womb,' or his 'feet were smelly in the room', or that he 'was a theist at the tomb?'

And are you saying that all this happened before the egg and sperm had a date and got a room?

You lost me at 'hello.'

 

no fetist is a embryo but then again i am english.

 

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M*W: I didn't know that. I thought a fetist was someone who was into 'feet.'

You're English? I'm sorry you didn't learn to speak and write English.