To all Ex-Christians ... an honest question

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   LeslieAdrienneposted 14 years ago

   I theorize that most ex-Christians are that because they were disappointed either by the church establishment of by a member of the church.
   
   If you are an ex-Christian, would you please tell me what happened to make you one. I'm not looking for a fight. I am working a hub and really want to know what drives folk away from Christianity. Thanks in advance for your help....

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      lrohnerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I consider myself a Recovering Catholic, and haven't been near any formal religion in something like 20 years. My journey began with my mother. She was a member of the Franciscan Third Order. So here's my Mom wearing a nun's habit and yet calling black people niggers, etc. You get the gist. My sister and I never could understand why "love thy brother as thyself" didn't apply to everyone.
      
      I was married by a justice of the peace. My parents wouldn't recognize my marriage because it wasn't in the church. Strike 2.
      
      When it came time to baptize my first child, I (of course) called on my cousin who was a priest in Rhode Island to perform the baptism. I was put through the ringer by my church because I called in a different priest, was treated like dirt in my own parish, and had to pay a $400 fee (and that was 25 years ago) so that I could use the baptismal area for 30 minutes. Strike 3.
      
      I continued with teaching the bible and Sunday classes for my kids. Then it came time for my oldest to make her first penance. My parish actually made the whole thing public for these kids--hard to explain, but they were forced to make their first penance in front of an audience that included their family. There was no way I would do that to my daughter, and asked for her to make her first penance in private. Again, I won't go into detail, but it was a humiliating experience that made my daughter wind up in tears.
      
      I never had anything to do with organized religion after that, and as far as I am concerned, organized religion and faith is filled with power-hungry, egotistical people that can go and suck wind in my book. Full stop.

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         LeslieAdrienneposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I am sorry for the negative experiences and I sincerely thank you for sharing.

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      Randy Godwinposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I saw through the whole scam at an early age.

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         aguasilverposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         So did I, at age 8, but then I came back to review it when I was 40 and found that actually I had been young, inexperienced, unread and foolish to have abandoned Christ before I had grown up.
         
         We should never stop exploring all avenues to find the truth, once we stagnate, we start dying.

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            Randy Godwinposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            I have never stopped "exploring all avenues to find the truth" Aqua!  But those routes which are merely superstitious myths never lead anywhere.  Reality satisfies me enough to not need imaginary beings for answers to life's many enigmas.
            
            But for some, reality is not as comforting to their lives as having a fairy godmother to rely on.  To each his own!

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      paarsurreyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I have never been a Christian; but I find it very weird that the Christians belief Jesus- a human being as god and the son of god while; a human being could never give birth to a son god.

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   spookyfoxposted 14 years ago

   Have you read BaileyBear's hub about her story with christianity? It's very interesting.

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      LeslieAdrienneposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I'll check it out... thank you

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         Baileybearposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         thanks, spooky.  If there's any specific questions you'd like to ask me, Leslie, go right ahead

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         Baileybearposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         also if you check out the thread on what irritates you about evangelism, there are plenty of nuggets in there by various people about what repels them

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   Moonchild60posted 14 years ago

   Interesting question.  I was asked to stand up for a friends son at his confirmation.  I don't even remember what that is called anymore.  That was about 17 years ago.  I needed something from my church that stated I was a member.  Since I had not been there in a few years (I had moved) they had no "record" of my affiliation.  I said "What?  I made both my communion and confirmation there, I was married there, I taught religion there one year and my father and step mother were married there, both my brothers went to that school, Father Dave used to come to our house for dinner..."  Truth was they had no little envelope with my name on it in their coffers anymore.  I questioned this, I questioned their stand on homosexuality, I questioned the fact that in the early 70's a friend could not get a funeral for his miscarried baby because they said it was not yet a living thing and therefore had no soul and then changed their minds and said a fetus was a living there when forced to take a position on abortion. I questioned the Archdiocese and even the Cardinal. I got a letter back stating simply that they were sorry I had "lost my faith" and hoped I would someday find my way back.  That did it.
   I decided my son would not be conditioned with B.S. religion and walked away for good.  To top that feeling off I met someone who had studied the bible and a theologian (2 different people) who explained a lot of errors in Christianity to me and how much of it was based on the Pagen religion.  How The Jews DID NOT kill Christ as anyone who is a theologian knows that the Jews had no say and no power whatsoever at that time.  No one would have asked their opinion on a damn thing.  The Christians did this to make it LOOK that way and take the heat off of them.  But that was stupid because they weren't even Christians in the time of Christ, they were Pagans.  Christianity wasn't even "invented" yet.  I guess you could say after all this, it was like I went from being a conditioned moron to an enlightened Spiritualist.  Thats my story.  Hope it helps.

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      LeslieAdrienneposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for sharing your story.... it will help

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   aguasilverposted 14 years ago

   Judging from the replies to date, I would guess your question should have been what stopped someone being involved in Churchianity, not Christianity.
   
   It's obvious from reading to date that folk who get involved in Chrurchianity, and who have any common sense, get inoculated against Christ, which is self evident as they will have never met Him or one of His disciples, nor made that final connection with His love.
   
   Folks, please do not reject Christ because you have been ensnared and abused by the religion of man.
   
   Take the time to find out who Christ IS, not who man says He was.

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      LeslieAdrienneposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Aqua...
      
      It is unfortunate that the actions of people block others from seeing Jesus.

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         aguasilverposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         John 12:32 (King James Version)
         And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
         
         We just need to lift Him up before men.
         
         Escape from Churchianity and find Christ!

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            LeslieAdrienneposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Amen....

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            Jeramiposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            I agree totally ...
            
              It is kinda like ...  If Ya can't find a place to buy a GOOD BBQ sandwich ? 
              Doesn't mean that you can't have one!
              Cook it yourself.

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      Woman Of Courageposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I have experienced emotional pain from church members, family, and friends. This occured shorty after I accepted Jesus in my life. I could have walked away from God. I realized that God didn't hurt me, it was the people. This allowed me to draw closer to God and gain strength.

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         LeslieAdrienneposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for sharing WoC...

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   Priscilla_Beeposted 14 years ago

   I love this question!
   
   For me the answer is easy....
   
   I am no longer a Christian because
   
   1)i didnt believe what I was being taught..for instance, I did not believe my friends who were Jewish, Atheists, Catholics, Muslim etc were going to hell because they did not believe in Jesus.
   
   2)I noticed alot of people that believed in Jesus were hypocrits
   
   3)Too many things were sins that I did not believe were sins, such as being gay, have sex outside of marriage and on top of that while these things were being strongly fought against by the Christian religion, I felt there was sooooo many other things that were sins that actually were cause alot of people harm..for example...genocide
   
   Yup...thats about it..and I decided all of this by the time I was about 15

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      LeslieAdrienneposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for sharing.

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   kessposted 14 years ago

   Many in here left Christianity because they see as I did that it ts a false religion.
   
   There are others who did not leave Christianity they just left the physical church.
   
   I have forsaken both because the problem with the churches are because of the problems with the christian doctrine.

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      Jeramiposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I agree that a relationship with God does not require doctrins.  Most of them actually stand in the way.

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      LeslieAdrienneposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Kess,
      
      Thanks for sharing, but what problem did you have with the churches and what problems did you have with Christian doctrine?

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   Ohmaposted 14 years ago

   An interesting question to be sure.
   I think that the idea that people had to have had a bad experience with some church or religion in order to consider themselves an ex-Christian has some basic problems.
   Yes organized religion as a whole certainly can drive people away from Christianity but for me it is a little more basic than that.
   The bible makes no sense. The teachings of Christianity are flawed at the most basic level and in addition they are filled with hypocrisy.

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      Jeramiposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I think that the bible makes no sense because our understanding of key elements  has been buried under 1650 years of misinterpretations.
      
        Until a basic truth has been established as THE foundation
      ,,, Ya can't build a reasonable structure.

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         Ohmaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         On this point I would agree. Organized religion tends to discount the genuine concerns that the Bible being taught today is fraught with misinterpretations  and bad translations.

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            Jeramiposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            I would go as far as to point out  "THE" Major Lie concerning that which is taught.
            
               Christians  say that they believe in Jesus Christ.
            
               Yet they do not believe everything that he is said to have spoken.
               They do not like what they hear so they "Interpret" away that which they do not want to believe.
            
               I'm talking about ALL of the prophetic messages in scripture.
               
               1900 years ago the angel told John that the prophesy that he IS receiving is to SOON come to pass.
               For the time is even at the door.
            
               The church teaches that all of these prophesy (STILL) will soon to come to pass,  even at the door. 
            
                The birth of confusion!!!

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               aguasilverposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               Jerami, I have to admit you are beginning to make sense to me.... that's kinda weird according to my understanding, as I abhor hyperpreterism!
               
               Do you have any hubs or research that will allow me to settle this for myself?
               
               Edit: OK just visited your hubs, see you have some stuff there, will read and get back to you!

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                  Jeramiposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                  I am looking forward to your opinion.
                  
                     Actually as I see the definition of preterits ;..I am only partly a preterits.
                  
                      Concerning the seven seals ???  Yep.. Preterits all the way.
                  
                      However after that; I cross over on the Historicist side even though I do not agree with their interpretations. 
                      I have my own ??  Though I don't consider my understanding as an interpretation.  Rather..  a different kind of application as to how they (Trumpets and bowls) can be seen as having been fulfilled.

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   livelongerposted 14 years ago

   I was baptized as a Catholic as a child and had a very loose Catholic upbringing except for a couple of horrible years being sent to an evangelical church.
   
   The problem for me is that I'm a skeptical person at heart and can not conform to a dogmatic religion (i.e. one that requires you to believe certain things). I don't believe Jesus was the son of God (I grapple with even believing God exists, much less "his son"), I certainly don't believe we're all born with "original sin" or that someone can die for your sins. I don't believe in hell nor do I believe you must believe something (that JC is your savior) in order to avoid it.
   
   Frankly, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
   
   Then, I don't like the very common Christian practice of using that "hate the sin, love the sinner" garbage to treat some people badly (I'm gay so it's easy to get tired of this), nor do I like the fact that dogma requires that scientific revelation to be discounted and disbelieved when it conflicts with scripture. I also noticed that Christianity tends to lag, not lead, human progress.
   
   For all these reasons (and more), I abandoned Christianity when I was a teen and considered myself agnostic/atheist until very recently converting to Judaism.

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      aguasilverposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      That's odd, considering that the most serious verses against homosexuality occur in the Torah!

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         livelongerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Suffice it to say that the majority of Jews see that differently from Christians (i.e. not an encouragement to bash gay people), and that minority that do think it is a sin truly think it's no different from all of the other sins mentioned in the Torah. Most Jews accept the scientific revelation that homosexuality is a natural human variation of sexuality and don't feel the need to demonize gays or support their denial of equal rights.
         
         Christians tend to have a complex hierarchy of sins, with those they're not (capable of being) guilty of being the worst and most condemnable.

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            vox vocisposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            When the time comes, God doesn't ask you who was the one to hurt you, but did you pray for those who made you suffer?! Cause, the one who makes others suffer, especially the one who acts to alienate people from God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, needs your prayers to be saved from eternal agony and suffering in his own soul. He needs your prayers like a thirsty man needs a drop of water after days and days spent in a desert!

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               Randy Godwinposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               God doesn't know the answers already?  Oh, I get it!  He will try to trick you into giving the wrong answer!  What a trickster he is!  LOL!

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               livelongerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               I don't know what you mean by "when the time comes," but each person is responsible for their own behavior and making amends for them.
               
               Doesn't it seem like more sense to encourage people to be better people when they're alive, than pray that they're souls won't be tortured in the afterlife if we don't know anything about the afterlife conclusively? We know nothing about what happens when we die, but we are 100% sure of the impact of our actions when we're alive.

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               LeslieAdrienneposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               vox vocis,
               
               Absolutely, no one escapes being hurt or hurting others. Our responsibility as believers is to forgive and love others as we have been forgiven and loved.

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                  Randy Godwinposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                  But first you must be able to judge whether others actions are good or bad.  Depending on your idea of what is right, of course.  Or the ideas in the holy novel written by ignorant men with no ideas about science or reality.  And you use these ancient myths to decide a person's worth instead of your own experience with humans and reality.  Smart move!

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      LeslieAdrienneposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      livelonger,
      
      Thanks for sharing.

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   paarsurreyposted 14 years ago

   I have never been a Christian; but I find it very weird that the Christians believe Jesus- a human being as god and the son of god; while a human being could never give birth to a son of god.
   
   This has made a majority of the Christian convert to dis-belief in christian-god or in trinity or in jesus'-resurrection to skies; they don't express it but they have become disillusioned with cristianity and they don't go to church and rightly so as even Jesus also did not believe in such mythical creeds.

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      LeslieAdrienneposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you for your thoughts...

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    china manposted 14 years ago

    @ paarsurry
    they have become disillusioned with cristianity and they don't go to church and rightly so as even Jesus also did not believe in such mythical creeds.
    
    
    You have ar really good point here paar.  Even the political theology of Paul still included passages where the main character, jesus, castigated the Pharisees who were the church, the money in the temple thing and following mythical nonsense in general.
    
    You are also right that most people who put a cross on the poll ticket where it says 'christian' never go to any of the organised religious shops - the best that can be said is that christianity is in their history and so in their cutural makeup.
    
    The excessive noise about the myth comes from a very few very active people I think.

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