Ex Christians Reasons For Leaving Christianity

[Mriana]

You know, I don't know if I went through an agnostic period about Christianity itself. I did go through a stage where I said to myself, "OK they say the way to disbelief is to study it. Really study it." So I did. Not just Xianity. All of it, including mythology. I got down into the nitty-gritty of it all to find out for myself what it is all about. It was my way of being sure the Xian God concept didn't exist or if it did, it probably was not as any single group thinks. What I found is that God is a human concept. In other words, humans created their gods. It was a real psychological study, that's for sure, and the statement won, BUT the disbelief was not exactly a choice after a while. There were too many similarities between religions and myths, that I realized they were all human creations to explain the unexplainable. At first it might seem I was choosing or trying not to believe, but after a while, it wasn't a choice. The evidence that any and all concepts of a god were all just human creations to explain the unexplainable was too overwhelming.

 

Don't get me wrong. I have not stopped studying the subject anymore than I have stopped studying psychology, but I have no god concept of my own and studying reinforces that Jesus never existed or if he did, he is too buried in myth to find. God does not exist or if it does it does not as humans conceive it. IF it exists, it's more like what Carl Sagan and Einstein were referring to and in reality, humans are just getting pieces of a whole and aren't seeing the whole picture (like the blind men and the elephant), but this does not mean we can't glean something from ancient texts.

 

Bottomline, the Xian god is a human creation, just as the Hindu gods or any other gods are. That is not doubt, that is know. Which makes me an atheist, but saying it might exist as Sagan stated is agnostic.

[Guest WAVESFORFUN]

Doubt unbelief.....what do they mean? Lets begin to explore together these words. We shall start are quest with Google which supplies many a dictionary source. Ready? Fasten your seat belts well we view this vast abundance of knowledge.

 

 

doubt

  /daʊt/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [dout] Show IPA

–verb (used with object)

1. to be uncertain about; consider questionable or unlikely; hesitate to believe.

2. to distrust.

3. Archaic. to fear; be apprehensive about.

–verb (used without object)

4. to be uncertain about something; be undecided in opinion or belief.

–noun

5. a feeling of uncertainty about the truth, reality, or nature of something.

6. distrust.

7. a state of affairs such as to occasion uncertainty.

8. Obsolete. fear; dread.

—Idioms

9. beyond the shadow of a doubt, with certainty; definitely. Also, beyond a doubt, beyond doubt.

10. in doubt, in a state of uncertainty or suspense: His appointment to the position is still in doubt.

11. no doubt,

a. probably.

b. certainly: There is no doubt an element of truth in what you say.

12. without doubt, unquestionably; certainly.

Origin:

1175–1225; (v.) ME douten < AF, OF douter < L dubitāre to waver, hesitate, be uncertain (freq. of OL dubāre), equiv. to dub- doubt + -it- freq. suffix + -āre inf. suffix; (n.) ME doute < AF, OF, deriv. of the v.

 

Related forms:

doubt⋅a⋅ble, adjective

doubt⋅a⋅bly, adverb

doubter, noun

doubt⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

doubt⋅ing⋅ness, noun

 

Synonyms:

1, 2. mistrust, suspect, question. 5. indecision, irresolution.

 

Usage note:

Doubt and doubtful may be followed by a subordinate clause beginning with that, whether, or if: I doubt that (or whether or if) the story is true. It is doubtful that (or whether or if) the story is true. There is some doubt that (or whether or if) the story is true. In negative or interrogative sentences, that almost always introduces the subordinate clause: I do not doubt that the story is true. Is it doubtful that the story is true? Is there any doubt that the story is true?

The expressions doubt but and doubt but that occur in all varieties of standard speech and writing: I don't doubt but she is sincere. There is no doubt but that the charges will affect his career. Doubt but what occurs mainly in informal speech and writing: There is no doubt but what the rainy weather will hurt the crops.

Dictionary.com Unabridged

Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.

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|

v. doubt·ed, doubt·ing, doubts

 

v. tr.

 

1. To be undecided or skeptical about: began to doubt some accepted doctrines.

2. To tend to disbelieve; distrust: doubts politicians when they make sweeping statements.

3. To regard as unlikely: I doubt that we'll arrive on time.

4. Archaic To suspect; fear.

 

v. intr.

To be undecided or skeptical.

n.

 

1. A lack of certainty that often leads to irresolution. See Synonyms at uncertainty.

2. A lack of trust.

3. A point about which one is uncertain or skeptical: reassured me by answering my doubts.

4. The condition of being unsettled or unresolved: an outcome still in doubt.

 

 

[Middle English douten, from Old French douter, from Latin dubitāre, to waver; see dwo- in Indo-European roots.]

doubt'er n.

 

Usage Note: Doubt and doubtful may be followed by clauses introduced by that, whether, or if. The choice among these three is partly guided by the intended meaning of the sentence but is not cast in stone. Whether normally introduces an indirect question and is therefore the traditional choice when the subject is in a state of genuine uncertainty about alternative possibilities: Sue has studied so much philosophy this year that she has begun to doubt whether she exists. Similarly, when doubtful indicates uncertainty, whether is probably the correct choice: At one time it was doubtful whether the company could recover from its financial difficulties, but the bank loan has helped. On the other hand, that is the choice when one uses doubt as an understated way of expressing disbelief: I doubt that we have seen the last of that problem, meaning "I think we haven't seen the last of that problem." That is also the usual choice when the truth of the clause following doubt is assumed, as in negative sentences and questions. Thus I never doubted for a minute that I would be rescued implies "I was certain that I would be rescued." By the same token, Do you doubt that you will be paid? seems to pose a rhetorical question ("Surely you believe that you will be paid"), whereas Do you doubt whether you will be paid? may express a genuine request for information and might be followed by because if you do, you should make the client post a bond. In other cases, however, this distinction between whether and that is not always observed. If may also be used as a substitute for whether but is more informal in tone. · In informal speech the clause following doubt is sometimes introduced with but: I don't doubt but (or but what) he will come. Although modern critics sometimes object to its use in formal writing, reputable precedent exists for this construction, as Richard Steele's remark "I do not doubt but England is at present as polite a Nation as any in the World." See Usage Notes at but, if.

 

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Cite This Source

 

doubt

c.1225, from O.Fr. douter, from L. dubitare "hesitate, waver in opinion" (related to dubius "uncertain"), originally "to have to choose between two things." The sense of "fear" developed in O.Fr. and was passed on to Eng. The -b- was restored 14c. by scribes in imitation of L. Replaced O.E. tweogan (noun twynung), from tweon "two," on notion of "of two minds" or the choice of two implied in L. dubitare (cf. Ger. Zweifel "doubt," from zwei "two").

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper

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Language Translation for : doubt

Spanish: dudar,

German: bezweifeln,

Japanese: 疑う

More Translations »

 

doubt

 

see beyond a doubt; cast doubt on; give the benefit of the doubt; no doubt; shadow of a doubt.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.

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doubt

 

in Cartesian philosophy, a way of searching for certainty by systematically though tentatively doubting everything. First, all statements are classified according to type and source of knowledge-e.g., knowledge from tradition, empirical knowledge, and mathematical knowledge. Then, examples from each class are examined. If a way can be found to doubt the truth of any statement, then all other statements of that type are also set aside as dubitable. The doubt is methodic because it assures systematic completeness, but also because no claim is made that all-or even that any-statements in a dubitable class are really false or that one must or can distrust them in an ordinary sense. The method is to set aside as conceivably false all statements and types of knowledge that are not indubitably true. The hope is that, by eliminating all statements and types of knowledge the truth of which can be doubted in any way, one will find some indubitable certainties.

 

Learn more about doubt with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

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UNBELIEF

–noun

the state or quality of not believing; incredulity or skepticism, esp. in matters of doctrine or religious faith.

Origin:

1125–75; ME unbelefe; see un- 1 , belief

Dictionary.com Unabridged

Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.

 

 

 

Unbelief

Un`be*lief"\, n. [Pref. un- not + belief: cf. AS. ungele['a]fa.]

 

1. The withholding of belief; doubt; incredulity; skepticism.

 

2. Disbelief; especially, disbelief of divine revelation, or in a divine providence or scheme of redemption.

 

Blind unbelief is sure to err, And scan his work in vain. --Cowper.

 

Syn: See Disbelief.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

Cite This Source

 

unbelief

c.1160, "absence or lack of religious belief," from un- (1) "not" + belief. Unbelievable is first attested 1548; unbeliever "infidel" is recorded from 1526.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper

[Ouroboros]

That's right Waves.

 

Wow, I'm so impressed. You spent some time and looked it up? Or did someone help you?

[Guest WAVESFORFUN]

(*snip* to save space -- Hans)

[Deva]

Since Waves said in shout that he doubts we "stuck it out and were faithful" and doubts we were ever "born again", I want his definition of all these terms, not a dictionary definition. Let's have it, if we said the sinner's prayer with sincerity, said we were born again and called ourselves Christian for 30 years, would that be "sticking it out" long enough, Waves?

[Guest WAVESFORFUN]

Since Waves said in shout that he doubts we "stuck it out and were faithful" and doubts we were ever "born again", I want his definition of all these terms, not a dictionary definition. Let's have it, if we said the sinner's prayer with sincerity, said we were born again and called ourselves Christian for 30 years, would that be "sticking it out" long enough, Waves?

Correction.....I never said you weren't born again....lol wow...you guys would miss quote a mouse if it talked to you twice. If you held on till the last min then gave up...you were a min. short.

[Guest WAVESFORFUN]

Waves,

 

DUH......we can see you know how to use the dictionary. Nobody is questioning that we doubt or doubted, but rather you never look at the reasons we doubted. Have you ever considered that we have good reason? Actually that is a stupid question....as he is too willfully blind to reason.

 

Never said you didn't have good reasons. Go back and look at what i wrote....never said you never had a reason. o my.......intell here is lacking.....boost the moral..... YOUR doing great keep it up!

[Deva]

Since Waves said in shout that he doubts we "stuck it out and were faithful" and doubts we were ever "born again", I want his definition of all these terms, not a dictionary definition. Let's have it, if we said the sinner's prayer with sincerity, said we were born again and called ourselves Christian for 30 years, would that be "sticking it out" long enough, Waves?

Correction.....I never said you weren't born again....lol wow...you guys would miss quote a mouse if it talked to you twice. If you held on till the last min then gave up...you were a min. short.

 

OK leave out born again and stick with faithful and sticking it out.

[Guest WAVESFORFUN]

Since Waves said in shout that he doubts we "stuck it out and were faithful" and doubts we were ever "born again", I want his definition of all these terms, not a dictionary definition. Let's have it, if we said the sinner's prayer with sincerity, said we were born again and called ourselves Christian for 30 years, would that be "sticking it out" long enough, Waves?

Correction.....I never said you weren't born again....lol wow...you guys would miss quote a mouse if it talked to you twice. If you held on till the last min then gave up...you were a min. short.

 

OK leave out born again and stick with faithful and sticking it out.

 

Born again-See John 3

 

Stuck it out... See Revelations

 

Faithful-See the ......uhhh....uh.....the whole Bible.....but Hebrews 11 will do.

[Guest WAVESFORFUN]

It irritates me when Christians try to speak for me as if something that might be true for them, must by default be true for everyone else. For people who are supposed to hate psychics, they sure act like they have psychic powers and can read minds and tell what other people are or have been feeling an awful lot.

Yup. The Bible says only God knows what is in a man's heart, and that a person shouldn't judge other people, but yet... Christians think they know what and how other people are, and what they think, and how and why they're that way, and they think it also gives them right to judge a million times instead. Very irritating. A true Christian is the one who shuts up and listen, and perhaps come with advice, but not the one who comes and judge other people.

 

(Agree with the rest of your post too)

 

 

You already judged yourself un-worthy of the blood of the cross....the very Bible you use to believe judges you. You already are condemned. No judgment needed. Do I judge with my own judgment? Or is it the judgment passed long ago on people just like you that spoke of the people to come who you are...and the many more that will follow? So tell me, do I judge you? Or does the very Bible you say you use to believe, judge you?

[Ouroboros]

You already judged yourself un-worthy of the blood of the cross....the very Bible you use to believe judges you. You already are condemned. No judgment needed.

That's a different kind of judgment. You mix up the words.

 

I think the use in the Bible to not judge people is more about prejudice. To assume them to be something without really knowing. To judge their character and personality without first really getting to know them. Only God knows what is in their hearts. So it's not about judgment as in a judicial case.

 

At least that's how I read that part of the Bible.

 

Do I judge with my own judgment?

And the word "judgment" is yet another word with a slightly different denotation.

 

Or is it the judgment passed long ago on people just like you that spoke of the people to come who you are...and the many more that will follow? So tell me, do I judge you? Or does the very Bible you say you use to believe, judge you?

The Bible also tells you to avoid long, boring, and useless discussions, since they are not leading to anything holy or righteous.

[Guest WAVESFORFUN]

You already judged yourself un-worthy of the blood of the cross....the very Bible you use to believe judges you. You already are condemned. No judgment needed.

That's a different kind of judgment. You mix up the words.

 

I think the use in the Bible to not judge people is more about prejudice. To assume them to be something without really knowing. To judge their character and personality without first really getting to know them. Only God knows what is in their hearts. So it's not about judgment as in a judicial case.

 

At least that's how I read that part of the Bible.

 

Do I judge with my own judgment?

And the word "judgment" is yet another word with a slightly different denotation.

 

Or is it the judgment passed long ago on people just like you that spoke of the people to come who you are...and the many more that will follow? So tell me, do I judge you? Or does the very Bible you say you use to believe, judge you?

The Bible also tells you to avoid long, boring, and useless discussions, since they are not leading to anything holy or righteous.

Tell me Han what does the Bible do? its living and sharper then any two edged sword and reveals the thoughts and intents of the...how does that go?

[Kuroikaze]

Never said you didn't have good reasons. Go back and look at what i wrote....never said you never had a reason. o my.......intell here is lacking.....boost the moral..... YOUR doing great keep it up!

 

I find it funny that you make fun of our intelligence, (try writing whole words) when you seem incapable of writing coherently.

 

It doesn't take that much work to write complete sentences. Why should we be forced to decode your posts just because you are too lazy to write properly?

[Guest WAVESFORFUN]

You already judged yourself un-worthy of the blood of the cross....the very Bible you use to believe judges you. You already are condemned. No judgment needed.

That's a different kind of judgment. You mix up the words.

 

I think the use in the Bible to not judge people is more about prejudice. To assume them to be something without really knowing. To judge their character and personality without first really getting to know them. Only God knows what is in their hearts. So it's not about judgment as in a judicial case.

 

At least that's how I read that part of the Bible.

 

Do I judge with my own judgment?

And the word "judgment" is yet another word with a slightly different denotation.

 

Or is it the judgment passed long ago on people just like you that spoke of the people to come who you are...and the many more that will follow? So tell me, do I judge you? Or does the very Bible you say you use to believe, judge you?

The Bible also tells you to avoid long, boring, and useless discussions, since they are not leading to anything holy or righteous.

 

You never answered the questions.... Good job...because if you did your argument would lose credibility...and as a good greek and roman....you need to stick to it...or you won't feel that your self elected rule of self....that is self rules....by your choice....would seem flawless if case it ever needed to run for re-election. Good job.

[Guest WAVESFORFUN]

Never said you didn't have good reasons. Go back and look at what i wrote....never said you never had a reason. o my.......intell here is lacking.....boost the moral..... YOUR doing great keep it up!

 

I find it funny that you make fun of our intelligence, (try writing whole words) when you seem incapable of writing coherently.

 

It doesn't take that much work to write complete sentences. Why should we be forced to decode your posts just because you are too lazy to write properly?

 

 

O come now...who are you kidding....

[Ouroboros]

Tell me Han what does the Bible do?

It does nothing.

 

But do you believe in the Bible, or you just another false Christian?

 

its living and sharper then any two edged sword and reveals the thoughts and intents of the...how does that go?

I don't know how that goes. Perhaps like a duck?

[Ouroboros]

You never answered the questions....

And neither did you.

 

I asked, do you believe what the Bible say, or are you just another flaky, false Christian?

 

Good job...because if you did your argument would lose credibility...and as a good greek and roman....you need to stick to it...or you won't feel that your self elected rule of self....that is self rules....by your choice....would seem flawless if case it ever needed to run for re-election. Good job.

Actually I have no problem to look like a sinful arrogant bastard in your eyes, as long as you're consistent. But you expect us to behave nice, which would invalidate your Bible, wouldn't it?

 

So lets say we treated you with silk gloves, and I pointed out that we did and the Bible claimed us to be evil, would that change your mind, or would you maintain your cognitive dissonance in favor of your delusional fairy-tale belief?

[Dagan]

Dear TROLLSFORFUN,

 

Thank you for this marvelous opportunity for me to bare my soul (which is destined for hell, of course) and give you all sorts of ammunition to mock, annoy and generally behave like an annoying anonymous fucktard.

 

Let me tell you my story. I was born in Rocken, Prussia, in 1844, in a Christian family. Eventually I realized historical evidence disproved most of the claims of Christianity and I abandoned any faith I once had. I became a professor of philology but had to go off to war in 1870, where I served as a medical orderly. During this service, I probably contracted syphilis and dysentary, not fun diseases, let me tell you! After the war, I wrote a lot of books and essays and letters about how God is dead (not dad, haha little Christianity joke there) and then went crazy and died of syphilis. You can read my full story here on my blog.

 

So thanks again, and please, I welcome your half-witted rebuttals, because being a dimwit for Jesus is better than doing no evangelism at all, right? You go, girl!

[Deva]

Born again-See John 3

 

Stuck it out... See Revelations

 

Faithful-See the ......uhhh....uh.....the whole Bible.....but Hebrews 11 will do.

 

You are a stupid troll.

[bdp]

'wavesforfun' - as in making waves for the fun of it?

[Mriana]

Doubt unbelief.....what do they mean? Lets begin to explore together these words. We shall start are quest with Google which supplies many a dictionary source. Ready? Fasten your seat belts well we view this vast abundance of knowledge.

 

My second degree, which I am almost finished with is in English, but I think anyone here could have told you what you just said. Be that as it may, I don't think all of us necessarily had doubt. As I pointed out, little to none of my reasons dealt with doubt.

[godlessgrrl]

Heh. Sounds about right, bdp...

 

I say we stop feeding this bandwidth-sucking under-bridge-dwelling douchebag and give his ass the boot.

[Mriana]

Tell me Han what does the Bible do? its living and sharper then any two edged sword and reveals the thoughts and intents of the...how does that go?

 

I'm not Han, but the Bible is NOT alive, so therefore it is not living. It is not a knife or even a saber, so it cannot be sharp. It was also written by man and is nothing but rewritten myth, set to a specific culture. Your book is not animate in anyway shape or form. It is JUST a book.

[chefranden]

Tell me Han what does the Bible do? its living and sharper then any two edged sword and reveals the thoughts and intents of the...how does that go?

 

Oh for fuck sake.

 

It is neither living nor sharp.

 

I have to say prove both conjectures. But you will say prove they are not true.

 

Go get a sword and a bible. A one edge sword will do. Hell a dull paring knife will do. Which cuts a piece of string easier? Which cuts your hand easier? I'll meet you out back of the restaurant. You with your bible and me with my 14 inch chef's knife. You may have a chance. I'm old and fat. FYI I was trained to kill in the military. The bible was not one of the weapons taught.

 

Does the bible eat? Does the bible fuck? (I know there is fucking and eating in it, but that doesn't count.) I know you will find this amazing, but the bible is printed just like any other book. It doesn't have babies.

[Ouroboros]

Does the bible eat? Does the bible fuck?

No, but it sucks! And the followers seem to swallow it all.