What Turned You Away from God?

Discussion in 'Religion' started by Bowser, Jul 15, 2018.

  1. Bowser Namaste Valued Senior Member

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    What turned you away from God? Was it the more traditional beliefs and religious dogma that soured your mind? Perhaps in our world where imperfection (blind cruelty) persists, you can find no evidence of a loving god. I offer this thread for you to explain your thoughts on the subject of God and Religion. I'm hoping you touch on both and not just one.
     
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  3. Beer w/Straw Transcendental Ignorance! Valued Senior Member

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    I started to get a sneaking suspicion with Santa first. How does they guy leave presents for me but they were always besides others just from mom and dad

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    But my entire life wasn't totally torn upside down - there were presents compensate.
     
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  5. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    Nothing "turned" me away from God. I grew up in a small city in the South (U.S.) where religion was moderate (not the Deep South) but pervasive. My family and neighbors were religious but it wasn't a daily subject and no pressure was put on anyone (societal or otherwise) in this regard.

    I just never believed. I had to go to Sunday School though about age 15. There was no turning away. I never was religious. I never did believe in God unless you count as a very young child where I also believed in Santa, Aladdin and his flying carpet, etc.

    I think, for some reason, this surprises some who are religious and they just assume that everyone starts out religious. If you don't grew up in a religious family and in a religious area, you likely aren't religious.

    If you do grow up like that but no pressure is put on you to "believe" and if you are intelligent, educated, etc. you very likely never did believe.

    That's not to say that you can't be educated, intelligent and believe but it especially doesn't usually happen that way if you don't grow up with religious influences.

    When I was 13, there was a class for "confirmation". I said I wasn't interested. My mom said that she thought I might want to go to be with my "class". I said, OK, I'll go check it out. I went to the first session, it seemed like a cult, we had to repeat allegiance to God, praise God, etc. and that wasn't for me.

    When I got home I said that I wouldn't be going back. My mom said, this isn't the kind of thing that should be forced I suppose and I didn't go back. I still had to go to Sunday School for another couple of years.

    Sunday School was barely religious. It was just an adult talking to "young adults" about how school was going, did we treat new students from out of town well, no bullying, why that was wrong, etc. When I went to the confirmation training those same adults were involved but now instead of acting "normally" they are all stressing obeisance and praise to God. As I said, it was too cult-like for me. I think this might have been the first time that I realized that they really believe in this non-sense.

    In a small city, many adults have to at least pay lip service to religion since it is the local culture. If they sell real estate, appliances, cars, or insurance they have to be somewhat religious in name at least. Even in my case, I didn't use the word "atheist". If someone were to ask me if I was religious (and it was rare that anyone would do that) I would just say "no".
     
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2018
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  7. Gawdzilla Sama Valued Senior Member

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    WHICH God?
     
  8. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    The one you turned away from.
     
  9. Gawdzilla Sama Valued Senior Member

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    That's a generic question as I've never been religious. I do notice that the Abrahamic religions have been trying to copyright "God" for a few thousand years.
     
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  10. Xelasnave.1947 Valued Senior Member

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    Finding out he did not exist and that bible stories were made up.
    Alex
     
  11. Gawdzilla Sama Valued Senior Member

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    Christians are atheistic about one fewer god than I am.
     
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  12. cluelusshusbund + Public Dilemma + Valued Senior Member

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    Sunday school was fun an i started goin when i was 8. I started goin cause they served free cookies an cool aid. We sung songs… ther was piano playin an Bible storys read to us.!!!

    After i turned 12 i was upgraded to a class called Bible study which was for boys only. The tiny dimly-lit room wit maroon walls an curtans had chairs for about 5 kids (12 to 15 yr. old) an 2 adult teechers. Ther was no cookies an cool aid… no piano… no sangin… just readin the bible. It seemed to last forever but was finaly over… i thout… but it was just a bathroom brake an when we came back we were to discuss what we had read.!!!

    I passed up the bathroom an went strate home… an that was the end of my regular church goin. !!!

    Church stuff was Ok as long as it was fun--not taken serously.!!!
     
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  13. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    When I was old enough to understand the meaning and value of critical thinking.

    In a nutshell: as soon as I could think for myself.

    Yeah. Kinda like with Santa.
     
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  14. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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  15. cluelusshusbund + Public Dilemma + Valued Senior Member

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    Billy Graham says:::

    “the real reason most deny God’s existence can be summarized in one word: pride. They want to run their own lives, and they don’t want anyone—especially God—to interfere with the way they’re living. They want to be in control of everything they do, and they know that if they were to believe in God, they’d have to change their lifestyle. Instead of living by their own list of what’s right and wrong, they’d have to take seriously God’s moral standards.“

    https://billygraham.org/answer/why-do-some-people-refuse-to-believe-in-god-in-spite-of-the-evidence/#comments

    I didnt know it was called “pride”... an wit-out nit-pickin the quote... i perty much agree wit Billy.!!!
     
  16. Dr_Toad It's green! Valued Senior Member

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    I agree with the Catholic priests who laughed with me about their parishioners.
     
  17. Hapsburg Hellenistic polytheist Valued Senior Member

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    I wasn't raised around religion, so I never really "turned away" from some sort of monotheistic conception of god, so much as never thought of it in the first place. I was raised to value critical thinking and science, so I consequently had a naturalistic view of the world. Now, around age 11 I started to become more of a militant atheist, in reaction to the apparently increased religiosity of my peers. Really, I think it was that when I went to Middle School, there were a ton of kids from other parts of town, who were more religious (of the Evangelical variety) and intolerant.
    But I drifted away from that around 16. I mellowed out and made a conscious effort to not judge other peoples' beliefs just because mine were different. Around then I started looking into Neopaganism, having always held an interest in mythology of ancient cultures and having been an environmentalist for near as long. All that kinda dovetailed and I started formally describing myself as a Pagan around late High School. I practised the rituals, and believed in some aspects of the spirituality, but I didn't really become a polytheist until a few years later when I had some personal experiences.

    So, my experience is pretty much the opposite of what this thread assumes. I started out as an atheist, and turned towards the gods, albet on my own terms.
     
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2018
  18. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    I didn't "turn away" from God any more than I turned away from the Tooth Fairy or the Loch Ness Monster. I just came to understand that they don't exist and they have no value except as folklore.
     
  19. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Raised in a secular Jewish family. I never turned towards god since there was no good reason to believe it's true.
     
  20. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    And let's ask a similar question of you.

    What turned you towards God? Was there a lack in you, something missing, that led you to fill that hole in with God?
     
  21. Gawdzilla Sama Valued Senior Member

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    Still don't know WHICH god we're talking about. Bast? Hanuman?
     
  22. Bowser Namaste Valued Senior Member

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    I've always had a spiritual side. I don't believe it's a matter of filling a hole, but rather understanding what is there.
     
  23. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    OK. What caused you to conflate your spiritual side with God?
     

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