No. It was more of a relief and elimination of confusion, nonsense, and guilt. The real "good news" is that there is no god and religion is bunk; i.e. atheism. Sorry that you had to go through that.

It was a relief when I came home from Sunday school after hearing the story of Isaac. I asked my dad if he believed in god an he said no. Ever since I`ve been on highway 61

To be honest, I felt abandoned by God even before I realized there was no god. When I was ten, and my seven-year-old brother passed away... I felt abandoned. When my best friend in high school was killed, again, I felt abandoned. In my struggle to be "straight" because I thought that's what God wanted, I felt abandoned. I think it was that sense of abandonment that eventually forced me to challenge my "relationship" with God in the first place and move on.

Even so, once I did, it was still traumatic. Beliefs that live that close to the core of who we are can leave quite a deficit when they're finally set aside.

I grew up in a religion that practices shunning so the loss of family and friends was traumatic. The loss of God on the other hand was a weight off my shoulders.

Not really. My prayers were never answered anyways.

My only sense of loss was that I missed the sense of community and belonging that came with religion. I think the sense of community and belonging is the only actually positive thing religion offers.

No, it was actually exhilarating to be free of those chains, and life makes so much better sense w/o god in it. The hardest part really is the attitude of other people, and having to hide my atheism to the general public to avoid being called 'a godless heathen' and the whole 'who do you think you are' response.

I have definitely been abandoned by other Christians, but I think your question was misconstrued.
I have had times when I have been so low that I’ve questioned myself regarding, “Is this what happens when you turn your back on God and Christ?” I’ve been suicidal and wondered if dark forces are trying to influence me.
However, when I am not in that state I see science instead of God. I see love instead of what is Christian, and I see that dark forces have as much power as your conscience gives to them.
But, I’m sorry. I never really had a relationship with a conventional God to feel that abandonment.

No, not really.

I sorta figured it out for myself at an early age. My parents were Mormon, and I lived in an area of Scarborough were there was just about every ethnicity.

Any-Who... After the talk about, 'Santa isn't real, or the easter bunny... or the tooth fairy', I somewhat stated 'Oh, so Gaud isn't real ither'. Response to that of course was, 'Oh, no, Gaud is still real'. That confused me even at an early age. (about grade 3-4) No good reason as to why I needed to believe in Gaud other than 'FAITH'!?!? But I had faith that Santa was real, the easter bunny was, and the tooth fairy... even though that bitch never left me much money!!!

So I started to ask questions in SUNDAY SCHOOL!!! (f@ck'in hated sunday school) A simple Question like why is Gaud real, but not these other 'characters'. I just got the typical run around answers like, 'Well then,who created the earth', and other regurgitated responses that have been passed down from generation, through generation.

I had a strong curiosity and wanted to know, WHY?? So I'd ask, 'How do you know Gaud is real other than, FAITH'. And of course, I'm sure you have all heard it before, The BuyBull, It says so in the BuyBull. Remember I was sorta young but even I saw those words on the very front of their Hole'y testament... KING JAMES VERSION. So again I'd state, 'But isn't that the one King James wrote, what if it isn't the right one'. I became VERY unpopular amongst the SUNDAY SCHOOL teachers very quickly. They started to not even acknowledge me when I'd raise my hand to ask a question.

Now remember I mentioned in the very beginning of this that I lived in a very Ethnically diverse area of Scarborough. So I started to ask my friends questions about church and their SUNDAY SCHOOL!!! THIS, is how I found out that there were many religions, and that the church I went to wasn't just one of many buildings, but one of many different beliefs...?? This confused me even more. They started to tell me about what they got taught and some was close to what I was taught, some was completely different, but the one thing that always rang true was... 'If you don't believe what I tell you, then you will go to hell'.

Sooo, back to SUNDAY SCHOOL!!! I started asking about other religions. Do they have their own heaven?? If I go to their church do I go to that heaven?? OR... does everyone that isn't in THIS church go to hell?? It didn't seem fair to me that my friends or me would burn forever in Eternal damnation because I did what my parents MADE me do. And if there is a Gaud, why would he do that to someone who had no choice. Or to people who never came across someone that could teach them about Gaud!?!?

So again, more questions that they didn't want to hear, and they couldn't answer to a child because the answer according to their belief system is, YES, they will ALL burn in hell. Judging by the look on their faces, I believe they became horrified to that realization. The realization that a child brought about. F@ck you and your blind faith!!! .l..

This was when I stopped believing what they were teaching at church. I still had to go with my family, but, I didn't go to the SUNDAY SCHOOL!!! part for the kids anymore. I was a 'disturbance', and I had to go with my dad to his.

So to answer your question...

"Did you ever feel a sense of abandonment when you realized the God you were always taught was there for you, never really was?"

NOPE!!! I now knew that there wasn't this invisible figure always watching me at every moment of my day. And that folks, is how I became a chronic Master-Baiter!!!

Not at all. For me I never felt like he was ever there. I went to church out of obligation to parents, grandparents, or for the social aspect as I became a teenager. I never felt comfortable in any church though.

No. I don't understand how you could feel abandoned after finding out what you believed never was. Someone can't abandon you if they were never there. Perhaps, you mean betrayed?

No not even a little bit - quite the opposite because I actually tried to believe on the off chance that some god existed but eventually resigned myself to the fact that wanting to believe something won't make it true. I felt no loss because I never felt I had anything in the first place, I just hoped there might be & that was as good as it got.

I felt elation as if a great weight was removed from me. Perhaps I felt this because I was so young or maybe because others told me that my doubts to the truth of the bible stories was dooming me to an eternity of torment I felt I escaped to freedom.

Sort of. The experience of losing faith in God was scary for me very much like feeling abandoned is scary. But I didn't feel genuinely abandoned because a non-existent entity can't abandon you. My brain and heart didn't go there.

Having said that the experience was scary, I should also add that it was also oddly validating. I'm the kind of person who prefers to face my fears, like facing a cold bracing wind, rather than hide from them. So there was something refreshing about staring the absence of God in the face, once I mustered the courage to do it.

Not in my case, because I never felt a personal connection to the idea of God.

I felt more betrayal than I did abandonment. That I had dedicated so much of my life to something that turned out to be a lie. I still feel that way.

I don't think it's fair for me to feel this way. The people who told me the lie believed it to be the truth. But for some reason that doesn't change the way it feels

I've never believed in a god, so didn't have that problem. I think my ex husband might have gone through something like that at one time though.

Funny, but I always felt a sense of abandonment all the time I was a believer, God never spoke to me or did anything for me, there was no connection, no matter how much I wanted it. It felt like he did not want to know me, I was convinced that I must have done or said something in the past, so I was excommunicated.
Needless to say, I don't feel like that now.

I didn’t feel abandoned but I felt like an imposter.

I didn't feel the abandonment but I did have some problems with how I had ignored some of my learning. That darn way that the brain compartmentalizes things. Should also add that some of us have to have more time to do it.