Reason To Leave Religion

People are leaving churches in droves these days for various reasons, and I’m writing a book about it. Are you one of them, and if so, would you mind simply telling me why you left? No judgement or preaching here. Thank you.

 

Raised as a Baptist. Did not like the church or the organization itself. I became Episcopalian. It was more my style and was as close to Catholic my family would allow. After many years ditched that religion and tried a host of others. My conclusion, was religion is made by man , not God. I have since called myself as a self religionist. People interpret the Bible the way they read it. So many do not agree on the teachings.

 

I have mentioned my experience elsewhere here but I came to the conclusion many decades ago that I require experimental proof of anything making a supernatural claim. Short version, raised in Mennonite environment went to private Mennonite school, Sunday school, Bible school for 1-7 grades. Then went through Catholic instruction, got babtized and it all started slowly falling apart.

If anyone is interested …http://seniorsonly.club/threads/i-came-out-of-the-closet-when-i-retired.3446/page-5#post-652309

 

As for wife and I, we don't see that "people leaving churches in groves" statement. There are still Mega Churches that really pack in a congregation! We have one just a few miles east of us. As for us, we like Cowboy Church, which has a very small congregation. Mega Churches just aren't our thing. Have attended, and possibly will again, a Baptist Church.

When the Pandemic hit, we stopped physically going to both Cowboy Church and Baptist church and started watching a church service online and on tv.

We believe in what the Bible says and not how people interrupt it for themselves.

 

I was raised in the Baptist church and attended others as I grew up to see if there might be a better fit for me. (Presbyterian, Catholic, Methodist, non-denom.) I finally came to realize that organized religion is just not for me, and ultimately concluded that I am a religious skeptic (agnostic).

I have been searching for my own answers for many years and continue to do so, but I will never attend church services again. It is not something I need though at some level I do believe in a higher power of some sort. When in personal despair, I have called out "God, help me." I only hope someone is listening.

 

Just saw a similar thread in another place. The poll questions don't apply to me so I will just say there is a difference between leaving a particular church, leaving religion and leaving God.

 

Amen and amen!

 

The moral and ethical values that are the very foundation of a civilized free society are predominately based on Judeo-Christian beliefs.

Sadly, with the advent of a new social construct that has no beliefs in a higher entity other than themselves, morals and ethics are nothing more than what an individual wants them to be at any given time.

That said, since religion is nothing more than a variety of “isms”, the change from one ism to another isn’t leaving a religion but rather, replacing it with an another one.

To me, the better question would be “Have you left God” to which my answer is this:
Everything I have done and said; Every time I ran into trouble or was injured in some way; Every time I doubted Him or even His existence;
He has never abandoned nor turned His back on me.

nuff said?

 

I was raised by a mother who was a pagan and a father who was an atheist, and as a result, I had no idea about God or even moral values. I became a follower of Christ in 2000 and was baptized in the Baptist denomination.

I began to notice that, nationwide, most denominations were caving in to the social pressures, and that didn't seem good to me.

I was involved with a jail ministry and the rules said I had to be sponsored by a church. I tried numerous denominations throughout about 2007 until 2010 looking for a church to belong to, but the differences I had with most of them were significant and foundational.

Along with another couple and a couple of single people, we started a small Christian community where we intended to live as the apostles did: in community and with Christ and His teachings as our guide. I think I was pretty idealistic. Overly idealistic, I guess. Human nature took hold, and one guy -- one with some strange but adamant ideas -- sort of became the "leader" of the community. I think the disagreement over whether or not Christ was actually sleeping in a boat was true or not, given that he was God and didn't sleep was the signal of the end of that experiment for me.

At some point, I realized that Christ was quite likely not thrilled with the idea of denominations, and I stopped going to "organized" denominational churches.

Addressing the question of whether I have "left" a church, I think I have not. I believe those who have tossed away the principle of Christian unity in furtherance of strife and hopping to other denominations have lost sight of Christ's messages.

I identify as a member in good standing in the Body of Christ. I still pray, read and study the Bible, and live by my faith in God and Christ.

 

Predictions about the decline of Christianity in America may be premature

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/08/us/c...has rebounded recently,50% for the first time.

 

I think many people get disillusioned by churches. I got disillusioned by the worship community in which I was raised. I think that is a very common thing. But all large institutions, including religious ones, are populated by the same people who populate the general society.

And that means that church populations have roughly the same amount of criminals and corrupt people as the general society.

For me, growing up, that is not something I thought about. I thought all Church going people were very nice. When I came to discover that was not always so, I got very disillusioned.

My wife works for a major Catholic university. Yes, I am fully aware of all the scandals. But, despite that being the case, that is still just the tiny percentage of horrible people, that populate any large community or organization. The priest community, the religious community are still doing enormous amounts of charity work all throughout our society and the world.

If the media covered all that the Church does, it would not be 99 nice stories for every horrible one, it would literally be something like 9999 nice stories for every horrible one.

But, the 9999 stories don't tend to sell by-lines for the media, so they don't get covered.

Churches are also populated by plenty of ordinary people, with the same foibles and personality flaws that everyone else has. So, yes, you might find a priest who is arrogant or a deacon who is miserly or whatever. That is just human nature.

That same priest who is arrogant, might be very loving and generous. And that same deacon who is miserly, might be very very polite and humble.

The idea here is simple...don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.

God exists. Jesus exists. Prayer works. The spiritual teachings of the Bible are true. Don't give that up, just because humanity is very very very imperfect and the organizations run by imperfect people, are imperfect.

If you can't find a church that is not filled with people you don't like...then just continue to pray on your own. Many, many people have made that choice.

Personally, I think it is best to share some with community, however imperfect...but I certainly sympathize with those who have encountered difficulties.

My ex got kicked out of Catholic school as a kid. Why? She literally decked a nun and knocked her out, stone cold unconscious.

I have met nuns who were so abusive, they deserved a knockout punch. And, of course, I have met the exact opposite.

 

I believe in nothing supernatural but I think the country was better off when it was more religious. Too many today have no foundation and are apparently mentally incapable of establishing one for themselves.