What shook you to make a major change in your faith?

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   jdflomposted 12 years ago

   I saw a similar forum topic, but it only addressed Atheist -> Christianity. The thought intrigued me quite a bit on a larger scale.
   
   I'm curious as to what event happened in your life that gave you that epiphany to completely change faiths, whether it's Atheist -> Theist, Theist -> Atheist, Catholicism -> Judaism, Mormonism -> Scientology; Jehovah's Witness -> Agnostic; or whatever else, as long as it was a change?

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      Rad Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Good question, for me it was not an event, but a process. I can liken to the same process one has as a child when the child realizes there is no Santa. At about 12 years old I started question my Catholic upbringing. I guess I took a bite off the apple of knowledge and there was no way back. Ignorance may be bliss, but knowledge of reality is the way I want to go through life. Once on the outside of indoctrination one realizes just how silly the notion of God really is. I have to say at 12 years old it was hard to come to grips with my own immortality. Here today gone tomorrow. For some a belief in God keeps them in line, I get that but don't need it to be good. My father in law once asked, without God what would stop someone from killing? People with immature moral structure may need to feel they are being watched (like Santa), and that's Okay, but for those with a brain in there head, don't need God to be good.

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      A Thousand Wordsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      What I experienced was a lot like withdrawal from a drug, actually... That was only part of it... Will post more when I have the time.

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      mischeviousmeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I was a bible thumping christian for a bit. When I noticed that the people around only fed into the behavior of the crowd, I left. My parents, being of eastern philosophical belief, had taught me to be a little more open minded. I spent a little time going back to church, but the magic was gone.
      
      I began to take interest in other religions, studying every facet of every religion I came across. I took a particular liking to the more eastern forms of thought, for they seemed to have more room for physical, mental and spritual awareness. A far cry from what is accepted in the west, though are pockets of buddhist communities throughout the U.S..
      
      Though I'm not a buddhist either nor am I an atheist, I'd say more... a mutliple inteligence, no one idea holds any merit over another, at least not for me. To me, everything imagined, is an illusion of the brain. So no matter what choice I make (as far as belief is concerned), is of no matter.

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      Jesus was a hippyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I lost my faith when I was about 5 years old and my sister told me that Santa wasn't real.
      
      Of course I looked for confirmation and indeed I was informed that I had been lied to.

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         Rad Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Thats not at all funny. But it's true. It happened to me too.

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            Jesus was a hippyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Funny or not, I was answering the question honestly. If someone thinks that my answer makes their own belief look silly then that is only due to the way they see their own belief.

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               Rad Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Hey look, I take this very seriously. I was told Santa saw everything and was the judge of who was good and who was bad as well, and I bought it. But as an adult that would be embarrassing.

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   Emile Rposted 12 years ago

   Simply sitting down and thinking it all through. That led me to agnosticism. I have no problem with the idea of God, but I couldn't resolve the monotheistic religions to reality. They make no sense and I do believe that a religion that implies you are more righteous in the eyes of a God, than the believer of another faith, is a danger to society. Without proof, it's all ego and I don't consider ego an appropriate starting point in the search for the spiritual.

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      Rad Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I do remember calling myself agnostic for a time. My thought at the time was I can't prove no God exist and I can't prove he doesn't so I'll sit on the fence. But now the notion of a God seems ridicules. Sorry, I don't mean to offend, just stated how I feel.

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         Emile Rposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I've been called worse.
         
         No offense taken. I have a tendency to offend when I say agnosticism is the only truly honest stance. I doubt I'll ever move to the left or right again. Unless, of course, someone offers up proof.

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      rebekahELLEposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Along the same thought process as you have shared, I simply could not accept such a selfish, unloving 'God'. Some of the most judgmental, people I've ever known call themselves religious. This was after receiving an undergraduate degree in theology. The degree itself helped me understand people and how different cultures formed religious beliefs.

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