Former Christians: What Made You a Skeptic?

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No it's not that again. This is for those who once believed in Christ and the resurrection, but now do not believe or are skeptical.

This past semester my faith has been tested. I'm not sure if I believe in Christ or God or Heaven. I feel like I should because it was ingrained in mefrom birth, but having an education changed my outlook. Now, I look to those who still believe like they are crazy for believing in something that can not beproven empirically. We can't observe God or Christ, we can only go on what is said in the Bible and other readings, but even that is said to be written byman, "inspired" by God. I don't know. I just don't want to go about it haphazardly any longer.

You see, I have a psychology course in behavior analysis, which attempts to use only observed behavior to control and improve behavior. It does not go insidethe body. There are no spirits or feelings or thoughts. They all are hypothetical constructs that we as a society put in there, but they aren't needed.We can talk about what is being observed and get the same results. Hence, a theory called Determinism. In Determinism given the events of the world,one's behavior can be predicted. Their learning history up until this point, will predict how they will behave next. Behavior which has been punished inthe past, will become extinguished; that behavior which has been reinforced, will continue to occur. There is no Christ in BA. There is just behavior. Andif you look at it from that standpoint, our behavior is being controlled continuously at every wakening hour. So those who were brought up that there was aman who came to the world to die for their sins, died for their sins, which would allow for them to live a life in which they are not indebted to their sins,will believe that there is such a man. It has been reinforced in their life. They will hoot and holler and praise this man because that behavior has beenmodeled to them in the past and hasn't been punished. Society and academia attempts to punish this behavior. I believe that is what I am going through.

I just feel that there is more out there. One question BA or Determinism can not answer is how we got here. Who was the first man? Who started the big bang? That uncertainty keep me agnostic, for the time being. I hope to one day become a believer again.

What made you a skeptic?
 
Originally Posted by eye see soles

What made you a skeptic?

knowing_ver3.jpg
 
i just started looking into the history of Christianity and into what actually happened.

i don't believe in having blind faith. once i did my research i realized how much $%+%%#*% it all is.

i believe we can learn from all religions, and they all basically have the same message. but ignorant Christians who feel like they can judge others and onlylook out for fellow Christians makes me sick. This is not what Jesus what've wanted.

there's a quote that Gandhi once said "I like your Christ. I don't like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ"

i believe Jesus existed and was a spiritual teacher, however, i believe he was given all of these "Godly" attributes and was used as a tool forcontrol.
 
The rejection of early christian writings.

The rejection of good people.

The false idol created to portray the Son of God.


I still have faith, just not in "Christianity".






The only thing that is ROCK SOLID that instills faith in me is what I FEEL.

Science is just as sketchy as mainstream religion, with included agenda's etc.

The only thing I can trust are my feelings inside me. They do not lie to me. They do not make up theories or hypothesis.





Science > Church

Me > Science > Church

God & Me > Me > Science > Church
 
This is going to sound contradictory but......I still believe in God.....it's the Bible I'm kinda/sort of starting to have problems with.

2 Main reasons:

1. The fact that the bible was written (and re-written) by man over and over. Kinda like if 10 people seen a fight 2 months ago, you would probably hear acouple slightly different stories of exactly what happened if you asked them what happened today. Then ask the same people in another 2 months the story wouldprobably change (slightly) again. Do this over a period of 2 thousand years and who know's what might be said.

2. The motive's of the Church back then (and now to an extent) seemed to be kinda sinister/fraudulent the more I look into it. It's like they was usingthe Bible to basically keep people in check, more than using it for religion or enlighten or help people.
 
COllege....taking courses and learning more about religion made me question and denote..... Im just spiritual now...I believe in god but not religion
 
Because of this, which I asked in another thread-


Originally Posted by kiuyt856

I'm assuming we all know a little bit about Ghandi and his philosophy. He practiced non-violence, and through that he was able to help gain Indian Independence and civil rights for his people. He was all about peace and was a genuinely good soul, right? Now do you, most specifically Christians, believe that at this very moment and for the rest of eternity, Ghandi is burning and suffering in hell, right beside people like Hitler, Stalin, and Idi Amin? Regardless of the way he lived his life, do you believe Ghandi deserves that fate because he practiced Hinduism, and never accepted Jesus Christ as his savior?



I just don't believe that a good person deserves to suffer for eternity because he didn't accept anothers religion. I also don't agree withhomosexuality being a ticket to hell for the same reasoning.Those are the main reasons I stopped practicing. And I went punctually to church for about 3 years.I finally realized that I just don't agree with it.
 
Originally Posted by kiuyt856

Because of this, which I asked in another thread-


Originally Posted by kiuyt856

I'm assuming we all know a little bit about Ghandi and his philosophy. He practiced non-violence, and through that he was able to help gain Indian Independence and civil rights for his people. He was all about peace and was a genuinely good soul, right? Now do you, most specifically Christians, believe that at this very moment and for the rest of eternity, Ghandi is burning and suffering in hell, right beside people like Hitler, Stalin, and Idi Amin? Regardless of the way he lived his life, do you believe Ghandi deserves that fate because he practiced Hinduism, and never accepted Jesus Christ as his savior?



I just don't believe that a good person deserves to suffer for eternity because he didn't accept anothers religion. I also don't agree with homosexuality being a ticket to hell for the same reasoning.Those are the main reasons I stopped practicing. And I went punctually to church for about 3 years. I finally realized that I just don't agree with it.
the ironic thing is that, Gandhi was more "Christian" than many other Christians
laugh.gif
.

his beliefs on non-violence and "turning the other cheek" are exactly what Christ taught

of course, Christians are not going to care about that. they will just say he was a heathen and will in fact burn in hell.
 
When a pastor told me 144000 people will make it into heaven when Jesus comes back.... I questioned him if I would be part of the small number and he gave methe stone face... I never looked at Serapis(jesus' lookalike) the same... After I got our of the military I did a little
Research on western religon and ancient African religion and I couldn't ignore the similarities btwn the two.... I'm looked at as an outcast to somebut I feel free to do what is right without having someone tell me some guy is watching my everymove with repocussions soon to follow....

I can't believe in something my ancestors would not have approved of....
 
- Because the most religious people I know seem to be the most evil .
- I'm smart enough to further my research past the Bible .
- Myths , majority of the things Christianity follow are myths ,
things passed down by people , & I don't trust people .
- I'm not too hot on passing things down that were written down by scammers YEARS ago.
- I was told Santa Claus was fake , I said Jesus was .
He along with Santa (I believe) were regular men that people glorified ,
except with Santa kids were the audience , and with Jesus ignorant people were .
- Common sense , there's no way I'm not going to look at these fairytales as fact
when I'm told Aesop stories are fake . They're the same thing !

Just my opinion though .
 
Originally Posted by Chi ILL

- Because the most religious people I know seem to be the most evil
I agree, evil and fake...and these are the people leading the church I was attended.
 
i think i was always a skeptic. at 7 years old when i had to make my communion i refused to do confession with a priest... i was like... if there is anomniscient God then why do i have to confess to a priest? kinda funny how it foreshadowed my future beliefs. i used to be an atheist.... but actually aftergetting a little education i found faith. i just resent religion and my views are unorthodox.
 
Long debate about the Jesus resurrection, but its interesting. Mike Licona is a good apologetic to look at. For a good atheist perspective, I recommend RichardCarrier.
 
Luong1209 wrote:
Originally Posted by Chi ILL

- Because the most religious people I know seem to be the most evil
I agree, evil and fake...and these are the people leading the church I was attended.


I think most of us here are on the same boat we went to a church and realized that its not what you expected, did some research and learned it allmade up.
 
I could go on a long convoluted rant about the hypocrisy of the various wings of Christianity, the self-serving purposes of most churches, thefear-mongering...

But honestly, without the Church changing so many peoples lives, I wonder if the world would be better or worse without it?

I stopped believing when my questions could no longer be stifled by other questions.
 
i think every religion has great pieces to live by. just the organized part is what creates problems IMO for the world.
 
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