My first memory of thinking about God is from when I was in first grade. Even back then, I was highly skeptical.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Unfortunately. But hey, I used to believe in Santa Claus, too.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I know this may seem like a stupid question to some, but i'm just wondering, why (if you have) did you fall out of belief.. or however else you would word it. Was it an event or were you just like this is stupid? Anyone care to share? I'm really just curious..

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Well, I figured out Santa Claus wasn't real, and I started to think, "Why should I believe in God?" From there on I was really skeptical, and then as I looked at it from an atheist perspective it just all made sense. Since then I've read a lot of articles and researched religion and I'm pretty confident that I believe the right thing.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

But both take faith.. interesting. Thanks for answering!

by Anonymous 12 years ago

He is supposed to love me and make miracles happen. Where's my miracle? What about friends and family? What about their miracles

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Living everyday is a miracle. whenever i self pity myself, i look and see really how much i am blessed. i don't know your situation but breathing is a miracle.. or we should at least treat it as one. my dad died to cancer 6 years ago, i don't know why he never got a miracle. i don't know why a lot of things happen. but i don't curse God, i praise Him and thank him for giving me 11 years with my wonderful dad.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Im not christian but my parents have taught me to be brought up that way. Maybe this is just me being a bitter teenager but I find myself constantly questioning God's way. I can't satisfy the questions by just blindly believing. Ill tell you a story that still remains a mystery to this day. When my mom was expecting me, doctors told her that I would have mental problems, kidney atones, heart problems and all sorts of misfortunes. My mom didn't want me to live a life of suffering so she wanted to get an abortion. I don't remember what exactly stopped her from doing so, but she didn't go through with it. Throughout my moms pregnancy, my grandmother prayed. She continued to pray everyday. Wen I was born, I had to problems. The delivery itself went smoothly. My brother, who is an athiest, says I was fine all along and it was a misdiagnosis. My mom, who is a devout Hindu, says that I survived through a miracle. I don't really know what went down, but that's the one miracle I don't question. I'm sorry for your loss, but I'm sure your father would have been proud of you today. I want to believe, but both sides sound perfectly plausible, and I don't know what side to pick, so I'll

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Put it off for now.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

thats an amazing testimony. we all have questions, ones that may never be answered.. but blindly believing is not what i support.. your testimony alone is enough to encourage someone to have faith.. including you. He has something amazing planned for you, you should not put it off. he gave you an amazing opportunity and you should ask him how you should use it. good luck! God bless you.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Thanks :D For the record, whether I believed or not, I have always respected people who believe like you. I don't quite understand the debate over religion either. Why do people feel the need to put others down based on their beliefs?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Thank you :) i'm not sure! Religious people can get pretty mean too, when what we are supposed to spread is love.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

This is a pretty crumby excuse. There are a lot of things that are just about as believable as Santa clause that are real and is taught everyday. I'm not saying you should be a Christian, I'm just saying that's a pretty cocky view towards people's belief in god.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Sorry you feel that way. I don't think I said anything rude towards Christians at all, I just said what I believe and why. It's sad when you call me cocky basically for not believing what you want me to.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

You did- by comparing an entire religion to that of the beliefs of a child. It's not sad that I called you cocky, I was just pointing out that's how it sounded. As if just because there isn't whole proof doesn't mean it doesn't exist. You can't see gravity either, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I'm truly sorry if you are offended but it is kind of a childish thing to believe. And proof isn't always visual, we can observe and measure gravity.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Youre trying not to offend anyone, and then you call Christianity childish?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Yes. I'm sorry it's just how I feel. I'm gonna go back to my old example here, if you say believing in Santa Claus is childish, you aren't necessarily trying to insult every child who believes in him, you just know that they are misinformed. I believe Christians are misinformed.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I'm fine with what you believe dude. It was just offensive to call it childish.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I didn't intend it to be. I'm not trying to insult people, I just wish they would think it through again.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

There you go again- saying a whole religion is childish. When you really think about the universe, and the way it works, believing in god is just as reasonable as some of the other theory's. What's really close minded is to shut the whole possibility of god out. I'm not saying everyone should be a Christian, it doesn't work for everyone. But saying a religion as popular as Christianity is childish is just flat out close minded.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I never said I completely shut out the possibility of a god, I'm just saying I don't believe there is one. Being amazed at how well the universe works is like a puddle being amazed at how well it fits into a whole in the road. And one more thing, what does popularity have to do with it? Just because a lot of people believe it doesn't mean it's true. A lot of people used to think that the earth is flat and that the sun revolves around it.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Honestly, I'm finding you being somewhat close-minded yourself by saying that people who shut out the possibility of God are close-minded.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Hate to cut in, but it's not reasonable to believe in a (religious) God. The problem with religion is that it's man-made and man-written. If you believe in one religion, you have to ask yourself, why don't I believe in any of the other 2000 religions that exist on this planet? Compare that to scientific models of the universe, where there are only a handful of leading theories, and they're all pretty compelling. Religious people need to accept religion for what it is. It's faith-based, and I think most religious people understand that and are okay with that. But it is not *reasonable*. If it was reasonable, there would be no need for faith in the first place.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Is it reasonable to believe in a non-religious God? Just wondering, bevause I don't believe in any paticular God or religion, but I do believe in a God. Not some kind of omnipotent, physical entity, but something.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Have you ever read "A Fault in Our Stars?"

by Anonymous 12 years ago

No, what's that?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Its a book where those same ideas ate expressed.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I think you could reason that there may be a creator of our universe. It stops being reasonable when you pretend to know anything about this creator. That's where religion comes in, telling you everything about God and how he wants us to worship him. For that, you need faith, which is pretty much the opposite of reason.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Well I believed in God up until like third grade, just because I went to Sunday School and it was what the teachers told us and what they expected us to believe. But then I actually thought about it, and was skeptical that there really was an invisible being that judged us and was everywhere, and stuff like that. (I'm an atheist now.) I kinda disagree with people who raise their kids to believe in a religion just because the kids parents believe in it. I think they should wait until their kids are old enough to make their own decisions.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

well its just teaching your kids what you personally think is best. teaching them manners etc is no different. when they get older they can choose what they want. i am very thankful for my parents raising me in a christian environment. they were very conservative. their faith does not save me, i developed my own faith and certainly have different views then them on some things but i could not be more thankful for the way i was raised. i will defiantly put my kids in sunday school etc and teach them my beliefs.. but i understand when they grow older the choice is theirs.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Eh I disagree. I was raised Christian but now I'm an atheist and I feel like I wasted part of my childhood going to Bible study and church and whatnot. I would have rather discovered for myself what my beliefs were rather than be forced to attend sermons that ultimately did nothing for me. My kids will not be raised under any religion so that they can have an unbiased view of the various belief systems, then they can choose for themselves if they want to follow those or not.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Personally, I was raised in a very loosely Christian household, so while the idea of God was brought up on occasion, I was never forced to think about it in any particular way. As I entered middle school, I became really interested in anthropology, in which I was introduced to the idea of enculturation. This meant that plenty different cultures existed, and none in particular was right, so, along these lines, no culture's religion was right, either. And then as I entered high school, I got really into philosophy, in which the idea of moral nihilism came up. This idea immediately made sense in my mind because of how cultures differ. So then I got to wondering why God was enforcing these morals if they really meant nothing. Basically, the idea that nothing is inherently good or bad or right or wrong pretty much voided all religious concepts for me, which then made me doubt that any all-knowing being would enforce something that is meaningless. This is all contingent on my belief in moral nihilism, of course. Also, I never believed in a superhuman designer because then who designed that being, and who designed that being, and so on.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

yeah i struggled with the last part you said as well. God never really enforces morals.. its human that do. i know God has a law, but Jesus despised the Pharisees because all they focused on was the law and how they followed it and put down anyone that messed up. thats not what jesus and God are about. Morals simply come in when you love God and you gain his wisdom and realize how he views things.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I learned more and more about science and the bible just started to seem more and more outdated and fallacious (how could I possibly believe in things like Adam&Eve and Noah's Ark when they defy so much logic). Not wanting to believe in something just because other people told me to, I started reading books about religion and atheism and decided that atheism was the much more reasonable belief system.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

but have you ever tried to connect with God.. when you do honestly all logic goes out the window. It makes no sense to us, yet the spiritual world is everywhere. his wisdom is so much greater than ours.. human logic is no comparison.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Actually, yes. Last summer I made an impromptu prayer. I didn't know what God I was talking to, or even if there was a God listening, but I prayed. I said that I don't think I have any reason to be religious, because there are so many people in this world who suffer on a daily basis and will die without ever experiencing freedom, comfort, warmth happiness. I said that any God has the power to give people a fair chance on Earth, an equal opportunity to find religion, and yet that isn't the case. I said that I will be more than willing to listen to God and respect his wishes for the human race, IF he can give me any kind of signal that he's here and watching over me. I set forth my conditions, explained my logic, and so far, I haven't received a signal. Until I do, I will continue to be an atheist.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

thats the thing.. faith is unexplainable, yet you know when you have it. in order to pray you need to have faith that God is listening. He is listening even if you don't have faith but his spirit responds to those who believe. lol God is not going to come down to your conditions.. he has his own; faith.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

That's a very convenient explanation. Religious people seem to be full of them.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

sorry, but thats what i've discovered.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Lol. With all due respect, you need to get over yourself if you think you've discovered anything concrete about God. That kind of arrogance in religious people all over the world is one of the reasons I even became an atheist.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Beacuse I found something concrete that makes you angry..? Lol okay. I'm sorry if I'm sounding boastful or something, I'm not trying to.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

My family is Christian and we used to go to church every Sunday, but the first time I started to question it was when I was a freshman in high school. My best friend and I were talking about it. She asked me if I believed in God, and I said I didn't know. She said she had to believe because she was too afraid of what would happen after death if there was no God. That's when I realized that I had been holding on to my parents' beliefs for the same reason, being afraid, when I didn't really believe. So yeah, now I'm an atheist.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

i see. yeah i feel like a lot of people simply have faith because their parents do.. and it sadly does nothing to save them. everyone must experience their own personal relationship with God in over to be saved.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

It was at age 13 when I first went through a disorder called epilepsy. After that, things really went downhill and it still is. I want to take medication but my parents believe that god should be the one to heal me and won't take me. One of my family members commited suicide and I had to deal with other family members suffering. I started thinking of it when these problems occurred. I actually had a decent life before all of this happened. Don't ask me why I said all of this out in public. I don't even know the answer.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

i'm sorry to hear that, and thanks for sharing. i know it takes courage.. as i've commented above my dad died of cancer 6 years ago, there are things in life when i can't explain why it happened. it may have took many years, but the whole situation gave me an amazing testimony where i can truly say i experienced God as to just going to church every sunday. God also healed me last year when i broke my back (L1 lumbar). i could not walk, but i knew God would make everything okay.. i just had this extreme faith and no one could tell me otherwise. the next day not only was i walking but the nurses had me going up and down the stairs. the bible says faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains.. i think if you have faith you can be healed as well :) God bless you!

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I think finding out that things like Santa aren't real is a gateway to deciding that God isn't real. There's a skepticism that comes with growing up.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

My father is a Baptist minister, so I was raised in the church. Many times I was the one who helped restore my family's faith when they started doubting. I'm not sure how it happened, but eventually I found that while I believed in some kind of god, I didn't believe in Jesus, didn't believe in the bible. I used to think about it all for hours, trying to figure out what I DID believe. I found that I don't really have a name for it. I believe in the natural order of things. I believe that what is meant to happen will happen, and it will all balance itself out in the end. There is a reason for everything. I believe in positive thinking, and that if you want positive things and can envision them, and work toward them, you'll get them. If you don't, something better will come along. I know that you can't destroy energy, and I think that when you die, your energy kind of goes out into the world and becomes something else, helps something else. I don't know if you stay with that energy, if you remain conscious or whatever, but I think that it is a better place, without pain. It sounds weird, hippy-ish, crazy, but that's kind of just the conclusion I've come to for now.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I respect that. how come you did not believe in Jesus? You should (re)read the new testament.. the story of paul is extraordinary on how he was the one killing believers in Christ, yet ended up writing most of the new testament.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I think I probably stopped believing in the bible first. To me there were so many contradictions, so many things that you had to stop doing and apologize to god for in order to get into heaven. I also started looking into other religions. I talked to my dad a lot about a lot of things, and because he wanted me to think for myself he helped me. I found that when it comes down to the absolute basics, every religion is pretty much the same. They all have some sort of higher being, all have things you aren't supposed to do, and nearly all believe that their way is the only way. They all have their own kind of bible. I know that people can feed me the "facts" of why the bible is real and true, but I'm not buying it. Our bible is not different from any other bible. And without believing in the bible, why would I believe in Jesus? The only "proof" we have of Jesus is the bible.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

That's the thing, humans created religion. God never did, he wants a relationship with us. None of us are perfect and that's why he sent Jesus. But when you love God you strive to please him therefore obeying his law, but there is no fear of hell. Even when we mess up, God is not mad. He loves and forgives. Humans were the ones that decided the law was the thing making you go to heaven... Its not. A relationship with God is

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Okay, but I think humans created the concept of god. There is no god the way that Christians view him. There is no loving entity out there watching over us. Only nature. The natural way of things. Things went naturally long before we got here, they're going the way they're supposed to go now, they'll continue to do that after our species is extinct.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

'naturally'.. then everything was somehow PERFECTLY put into place. if one little thing was off we would be dead.. thats reason enough for me to know there is a God out there somewhere that is so wise to create everything perfectly. its not a coincidence.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Nothing makes me think that someone or something had to MAKE it perfect. It just is. If it weren't, how would we even know? All we know is what we see and experience.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I was brought up Protestant, no strictly so, but enough for me to gain a good awareness of Christianity. Until about a year ago, I considered myself to be someone who believed in God, but I lost faith in Christianity long before that. In fact, I remember being really little, when I first learned about Jesus, and thinking that it all seemed a bit too fanciful, too fairytale-like. I guess as I got older, I learned other fanciful things weren't real (the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus), and I started to learn that everything can be explained. The "impossible" isn't real. I always accepted the theory of evolution, and in my AP Bio class, I learned the evidence behind everything.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I guess by a certain point, I didn't believe God had a hand in creating anything, I didn't really believe He could interfere in our lives, I didn't believe in fate or destiny or "everything happens for a reason", and as much as I didn't want to admit it to myself, I didn't believe in heaven. There seemed to me no basis other than wishful thinking. Another big part of it was that I was thinking how arbitrary religion was. Our faith is almost entirely dependent on circumstance, rather than truth. If I had been born in Ancient Greece, I would have believed in the Gods of Mt. Olympus. If I had been born in India, I might be Hindu. Despite all of this, however, I guess I still clung to belief in God, still liked to define myself as believer because I wasn't ready to declare myself a downright atheist. Now that I am officially atheist, however, I can probably say that I haven't believed in God for a while. Anyway, sorry for the long response. I appreciate your curiosity.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I was calling him close minded for believing that all Christians religious beliefs are that of a child's.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I would feel bad for saying I don't believe. But then again I don't feel right for saying I do because I don't always follow the word of God that the Bible dictates. I have become extremely skeptical in the past few years but I've been afraid to say anything about it to my mom or anyone in church. I know they're just going to be like "I will pray for you" and tell me to read my bible. But then again I have my days where I do feel a higher presence so my thoughts are jumbled.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

No one can follow the bible perfectly, only Jesus was perfect.. Gods not mad that you can't follow it, all he asks for is your faith and for you to love Him. God bless you :)

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Right now, I'm unsure what I believe. I've been thinking about it lately. On one hand, it's hard to believe that there is an all mighty being watching over us, and on the other hand how is our world perfect for us to live? It can't just be coincidence, can it? But my grandparents are super conservative and shit, and they made me go to church and Sunday School every week, so of course I believed in God. Then I started doubting it, and one day my mom asked me if I believe in God and I said "I don't know." She said I was an athiest and said I was going to hell. She didn't mean to say it in a way that hurt me, but it did knowing I couldn't have my own views on things without being judged by my own family.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

it sounds like you're in a really tough situation.. you should be able to have your own views. their faith can not save you, only your own faith can. i'm sure you already know that. but good luck, and God bless you.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Yes, but the "gods" I was taught to believe in were impersonal and indifferent, which encouraged me to not give a fuck, speculate about their existence, and reject them.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I still would believe in God if I didn't do this stupid thing called THINKING. Logic doesn't allow religion :)

by Anonymous 12 years ago