RE: whats the biggest reason you left christianity?
July 28, 2016 at 4:54 pm
(This post was last modified: July 28, 2016 at 5:42 pm by Alex K.)
If I had to choose one, I'd say that most of what i learned about Christianity just didn't make sense to me.
But if I listed all the things that caused me to think that, it would be a very long list. The list would include the following:
Reading the Bible (cover to cover several times) and finding contradictions, absurdities or things that seemed senseless or incredible.
Hypocrisy: people claiming to be "good Chirstians", then acting in cruel, racist, intolerant ways about various groups of people including, LGBT and those who practiced other religions. My father told us to claim we were 11 because the price was higher for for 12-year-olds, apparently forgetting that was a form os stealing. My parents church chose to "adopt" a Cuban family after Castro took over. Yet several dozen people got up and left the church when the family visited and they discovered the family was black.
As to intolerance of other religions. My father became a church organist. His first job was in a Lutheran church. My parents invited their parents to attend his first service even though they belonged to a different Protestant denomination. My mother's parents attended, but my father's parents wouldn't because "Lutherans are really Catholics in disguise."
Being judgmental: My parents were especially good at this. One neighbor was no good because she was divorced. Another was immoral because she drank beer. Any woman who bleached her hair was a hussy. Anyone who smoked was a terrible person. Most of these labels were directed against women.
The more I learned about history, the more I realized how much cruelty, death and destruction was committed in the name of one god or another.
_______
I wrote an article a while ago, summarizing a 2006 book trying to answer the question of why people turn to atheism. The book is worth reading, but you can read my summary here:
In addition, I wrote a 3-part article about why I am an atheist. This is Part I:
But if I listed all the things that caused me to think that, it would be a very long list. The list would include the following:
Reading the Bible (cover to cover several times) and finding contradictions, absurdities or things that seemed senseless or incredible.
Hypocrisy: people claiming to be "good Chirstians", then acting in cruel, racist, intolerant ways about various groups of people including, LGBT and those who practiced other religions. My father told us to claim we were 11 because the price was higher for for 12-year-olds, apparently forgetting that was a form os stealing. My parents church chose to "adopt" a Cuban family after Castro took over. Yet several dozen people got up and left the church when the family visited and they discovered the family was black.
As to intolerance of other religions. My father became a church organist. His first job was in a Lutheran church. My parents invited their parents to attend his first service even though they belonged to a different Protestant denomination. My mother's parents attended, but my father's parents wouldn't because "Lutherans are really Catholics in disguise."
Being judgmental: My parents were especially good at this. One neighbor was no good because she was divorced. Another was immoral because she drank beer. Any woman who bleached her hair was a hussy. Anyone who smoked was a terrible person. Most of these labels were directed against women.
The more I learned about history, the more I realized how much cruelty, death and destruction was committed in the name of one god or another.
_______
I wrote an article a while ago, summarizing a 2006 book trying to answer the question of why people turn to atheism. The book is worth reading, but you can read my summary here:
Moderator Notice
Link removed due to 30/30 rule -Alex
Link removed due to 30/30 rule -Alex
In addition, I wrote a 3-part article about why I am an atheist. This is Part I:
Moderator Notice
snip
At the bottom, there is a link to Part II and from there, to Part III
snip
“The problem with those who choose received Authority over fact and logic is how they choose which part of Authority to obey. The Bible famously contradicts itself at many points (I have never understood why any Christian would choose the Old Testament over the New), and the Koran can be read as a wonderfully compassionate and humanistic document. Which suggests that the problem of fundamentalism lies not with authority, but with ourselves.” ~Molly Ivins
