Leaving christianity, a bit of my story

[Lucifer]

Wow you base all that analysis of my personality and my faith because I wrote one post in the first person? I can't take you serious. This is why I don't like answering this question, you can always expect to get replies like this one.

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If this were true then why did you offer to answer any questions in the OP?

And.. it was two posts actually. Which is more than enough.

the first post described a religious experience totally devoid of God. the second described the what made you apart of the religion. Again it was totally devoid of God working with or through you. Meaning you never experienced God in a real way. (it's not something you forget to mention)

If God is not apart of your religious experience/life in a very real way then your faith will faulter and fail when tested. As it is only you and your will that keeps you apart of the religion.

However If and when God stepped up or into your life, then the tests become easier as you and what you know to be true is not being challenged alone.

...But again what do i know, Despite kinda already walked down that path, and never mind talking to people just like you for 9+ years.. Keep telling yourself you are a snow flake, (no two are a like) and an enigma all rolled up into one who @ your age has the whole world figured out, but no one or nothing in the world could possibly understand the complexities that is your specific life...

You will fit right into the snow bank you just flurried into. welcome to AF!

A lot judgement and insults. Jesus would be ashamed of you. And it's funny how you know these things... don't you realize that I can check whether everything you're saying about me is true? I can tell you that your assessment of my christian life is totally wrong, your oh so enormous life experience didn't help you there.

If I don't agree with someone, I still would like to understand their point of view. Insulting people and making quick judgements does not help. I don't like to waste my time talking with people who don't have those basic social skills.

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Thanks for taking me serious and believing me when I say I was a Christian. That is very rare, I really appreciate that.

Just to be clear (I think you did get that): I did not just believe in God and the bible, I also dedicated my life to God, repenting of my sins and everything, like I wrote. I did go to great lengths to follow Jesus. Because of having this priority, I made sacrifices in my career and personal life that I now regret making, because I feel like it was a big lie and a waste of time, and I feel betrayed because of that. This is why I become very angry when someone (especially someone who does not know me at all) dares to tell me that I was not really a christian. It is arrogant and very disrespectful. Not very loving and Jesus-like.

So thanks again for not doing that.

What part about Christianity did you find irrational (you said rationality won out in your OP)?

That is an excellent question. Let me try to answer that for you:

1. The origin story of the bible does not fit with science, and interpreting genesis 1 and 2 in a non-literal way has many problems of it's own, like the origin of sin (which is kind of a big one ).
2. Christianity makes a lot of big claims about reality, like the existence of a God, angels, demons, heaven, hell, etc. I don't accept the existence of ghosts, faeries and dragons by faith, so it is consistent not to this for christianity as well. The requirement for evidence, thus, is very obvious to me, and it is completely absent.
3. The morals taught in the bible are very mixed. Sure, there is some good stuff in it, but a lot of very dark things as well (like killing disobedient children).
4. There are a lot of contradictions in the bible, which take a lot of apologetics to (attempt to) explain away. I would imagine an all-powerful God to be able to write a better book.
5. I have seen a lot of people claiming to be christians, and a lot of them, if pressed, admitted that they doubted and did not have firm reasons to believe, even those who claimed to experience God regularly. Almost all of those people have been raised as christians, so it was logical to assume that they, like me, were just giving christianity the benefit of the doubt.

I could give more reasons if you like.

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Believers are noble people who try to sacrifice their life. Ideally they preach and work only, pleasure is a taboo(mostly).

This is a miserable life or painful instead of pleasant atheistic lifestyle and thats why its noble. I cannot argue with the value of such idealistic life. Superman and batman are both idealists(fictional). Everybody loves them. Jesus done very noble things in his life too.

But the fun ends when trough blackmail(idea of hell from believers) people are being mindraped in to faith. Thats sad. And even sad what I was told by a friend "God loves you. Thats why you will burn in hell".

If atheists before meeting religion were sad about death. After meeting religion they will be content with it. LoL.

It is sad that a friend told you that. It shows that people really don't understand justice. I mean, I would not even wish the most evil person to burn in hell for eternity. Sure, they deserve some punishment, but punishing someone for eternity is just evil. Why isn't this obvious to people?

I don't think the life for an atheist has to be a pleasant one, it can also involve some sacrifice for a higher goal. Personally, I want to do a lot of good in this world, and I am willing to accept discomfort in order to do that. For example, I am volunteering to go to disaster areas, to use my professional expertise to save lives. This means witnessing tough things and making long days.