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What are some things

What are some things that made you question your faith (if you ever had faith) and what was the straw that broke the camel's back that made you realize religion wasn't for you?

TonyAndrews 4 Mar 10
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In essence, my faith offered explanations and predictions about how life would play out for me that were obviously not just wrong, but almost 180 degrees wrong. And I don't like surprises. So I traded that in for a working epistemology.

Thank you for sharing

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i didn't really have what a christian would call faith. i accepted that there was a personal god but didn't actually think he wanted anything from me. he was just a witness (i was an abused child). i was raised in a secular jewish family and at the age of 15 i examined everything i held to be true and some stuff withstood the test and other stuff didn't. god didn't. it was a bit sad but not traumatic. i'm still jewish, albeit totally atheistic. if i'd been christian i think the break would've been quite different.

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It's different when your race and your religion are intertwined like that, huh?

@TonyAndrews more like culture but yeah, it is different 🙂) besides, there's stuff in the religion i actually like. every passover (coming up soon) we remind ourselves that people all over the world still aren't free and that if one person isn't free, no one is. we remind ourselves on yom kippur what it feels like to be hungry. so we're reminded (not just by these holidays) to fight against slavery and hunger. i like that part. i also like that there is no fire and brimstone involved; we're not threatened into anything, or promised a nice spot in heaven, or anything like that. it's all for THIS world. the god bit... yeah, not so much lol. kashruth, observing the sabbath, all that, no thanks. but to me that's extraneous. the good stuff is trying to make the world a better place, and not by telling others what to do, either!

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@genessa isn't passover when God told certain people to put blood on the doors so he would know which first born sons to ? He would pass over the ones that had the blood on the doors and the rest?

@TonyAndrews oh yeah if you're going to celebrate the biblical story, emphasis on story, instead of what we take it to mean NOW. what it means NOW is to fight against slavery and other oppression. of course i could always convert and celebrate some poor shmuck's being forced to carry his own execution machine to where he gets nailed to it. THAT's worth celebrating, huh? because... presents? or bonnets? wait, i always mix up that story with the one about the homeless couple and all the mean innkeepers.

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@genessa OK, I gotcha. I didn't know it had two different interpretations. Thanks for the explanation.

@TonyAndrews lol no problem. i'm not trying to be nitpicky but it's not a matter of two interpretations. savior is actually a mistranslation of messiah. there is literally no such concept as a savior in judaism. messiah means "anointed one" (apparently in ancient times, hebrew kings were anointed with oil) and in judaism is to be a human (FULLY human) king who brings about peace (in this world) in his lifetime. blame paul and the greeks. also, do not blame yourself because you're not by ANY means alone in the confusion here. this is what judaism 101 says (i looked it up just now, AFTER typing the preceding, to see if i could explain it more clearly, and now i'll let that site's words take over): "The word 'mashiach' does not mean 'savior.' The notion of an innocent, divine or semi-divine being who will sacrifice himself to save us from the consequences of our own sins is a purely Christian concept that has no basis in Jewish thought. Unfortunately, this Christian concept has become so deeply ingrained in the English word 'messiah' that this English word can no longer be used to refer to the Jewish concept. The word 'mashiach' will be used throughout this page."

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@genessa thank you for going through the trouble of a more detailed answer. Christians ruin everything, I guess. Lol

@TonyAndrews lol i wish i could disagree with you! anyway no problem. i don't mind in the least. i appreciate your curiosity. there is no sin (haha strange language) in not knowing something. being willing to take in new information is a very good trait! (hmm, if everyone had that trait there would be a lot less religion altogether, wouldn't there?)

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Jeez, for me it was the whole thing, every bit of it.

I never questioned it until about 10 years ago when I watched my first Atheist/Christian debate, I was floored watching Christopher Hitchens debate Frank Turek.

@TonyAndrews I started asking questions in Sunday Schools and school Scripture Classes right from the beginning, which is exactly what got me summarily expelled from each and every one of them in turn.
Mind you, the Catholic one was the worst by far because before being expelled I was dragged out in front of the class and whipped across my backside 12 times with a length of cane.

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The confessional made me question my faith. And my daughter , coming to me at 12 years old to tell me she didn't believe in the oaths she had to take to get Confirmation and wasn't going to go to the preparation classes anymore, made me realize she was absolutely right and religion was bullshit.

What was it about the confessional that made you question your beliefs?

@TonyAndrews It made no sense to me to have to sit in a little dark booth and tell your sins to a priest. Why wouldn't you be allowed to just tell god directly while you prayed. As a young girl, that always stuck out to me as a very weird thing .

@LoneDestiny I totally agree. Especially with the recent developments in Pennsylvania. What I don't understand is why it's so important to be a celebate priest. It goes against nature for folks to not have sex. Which, in turn, is bad news for the who are taken advantage of by those priests. It is sick and disgusting.

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