Losing my Religion

a reply to: misskat1

You're definitely not alone.
There are some organizations out there to help you with the journey, too:
Recovery From Religion is one:
recoveryfromreligion.org

and here is their hotline in case you hit a speed bump:
recoveringfromreligion.org...

We are thrilled to announce the official launch of the Hotline Project! After two years of work by a dedicated team of volunteers, the dream of a real-time peer support network for people dealing with issues related to their faith has become a reality.

The process of leaving religion might not be an overnight experience, as many of you know, but did you know that many of the calls for help we get are between 3:00 and 5:00 in the morning? Recovering from Religion receives countless emails and phone calls from people seeking help on their journey away from faith, at all hours of the day and night, and we want to help everyone who contacts us. Through our Hotline Project, we will offer 24/7 national, regional, and local resources – a secular support network people can utilize in their most urgent time of need.

Congratulations to you for opening your mind!

My experience started as a baby in the Episcopal faith. By the time I was about 10, I knew firmly that I didn't believe any of it. It just never stuck the landing. Since then (I'm now 56), I've studied "religion" and realized it's all a sham.
I really can't relate personally to how devastating it would be to have really, truly believed it, because I never did (but I tried, like the obedient little inquisitive girl would do); I never spoke about my doubts until I was an adult, but I just knew I wasn't "feeling it" in church, ever.

I saw an awesome bumper sticker a couple of weeks ago when my daughter and her roommate and boyfriend and I went for a four-mile hike in the woods and along the St Croix river....
it said
"Nature is my Church".

That's been my feeling all along. One of my favorite (most worn out) tee-shirts is one that says:
The Kiss of the Sun for Pardon
The Song of the Birds for Mirth
One is Nearer God's Heart in a Garden
Than Anywhere else on Earth.

I grew up singing "Jesus Love me, blah blah blah", saying prayers before meals and at bedtime, going to Sunday School and services, according to my mother's wishes, but at 16 I didn't go anymore. She wanted me to go to Sunday School anyway, but instead I ditched it and went to see my friends....

Never looked back, really.
Hang in there - there are MANY of us on here who can offer support and encouragement, and are good listeners.


You are loved. Just know that. And for the record, I'm a "hopeful agnostic". Or, if you will, an Agnostic Deist.
Also - if you click the link in my sig, there are more sources on that page.

a reply to: Annee

Yeah, i would agree there. Without the prism of faith most of it juat seemed outlandish and a bit much.

a reply to: misskat1
Well good for you. Though I do not know that losing your religion especially that is such a good thing in this environment. Lets face it crazy is the theme of things, and your likely to have more possibilities open to you by being in the "in crowd" then not.

Group dynamics is how pretty much everything runs, in any country out there, this one ie USA is no different in anything from just regular jobs, to politics, to business suits ties and everything to everything else its all just based on group hive mind and those which are like them, its what they look for and are conditioned to look for.

So you see its not so much about religion per say, you can have people believing in the bunny goats from mars and they could build monuments to it and sacrifice goats and what not and it will still work, because its more about the whole hive mind thing then the things its about, its just how society and the control mechanisms run. Religion was merely the business of the day back then, and for a long time. Its a function of society in any large group of people more then anything else.

But if your going to be losing your religion. Well, at the very least one should do so to a theme song. I am not religious but this song always seemed fitting.

Firstly I would like to say I understand the OP and realize that what much of people are taught in religion is full of falsehood. And many of them are sincere in their beliefs although they are in error.

I too have done a systematic study of scripture, have read the Bible from cover to cover over 15 times, have spent years pondering it, and investigating in historical and secular sources and have come away satisfied as to the veracity of the Bible.

Now Christendom, so-called Christian religions are filled with pagan superstitions and false teachings that stem from Babylon, including the Trinity doctrine, the belief in the Immortality of the soul, a Hellfire among many other things. None of these are taught in the Bible.

And yes all of so-called "Christian" holidays and observances stem from pagan sources, and are not found in the Bible anywhere.

The parable of the wheat and the weeds is one such prophecy, where the enemy, Satan the Devil, sows weeds in among true Christians, and they are allowed to grow together until the conclusion of the system of things where there is a harvest work to be done.

Even God foretold this:



Instead of proving the Bible false, it actually proves the prophecies in the Bible. about a falling, or apostasy from the truth.

Talking about the coming of God's righteous kingdom government in heaven, and the second coming of Christ, which obviously some Christians in the first century thought would come in their life-time Paul shook them to reason by revealing this prophecy of God:

(2 Thessalonians 2:3) 3 Let no one lead you astray in any way, because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness gets revealed, the son of destruction.

So the apostasy had to come first. And then the "man of lawlessness gets revealed." Who is that man? It is the clergy of Christendom. Jesus spoke of that man here:

(Matthew 7:22, 23) 22 Many will say to me in that day: ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them: ‘I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!’

These are people who confess Jesus outwardly, perhaps making a showy display of fake piety, expelling demons, and performing many powerful works in Jesus' name. Nevertheless Jesus will declare to that hypocritical religious group: "I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!"

They have now been exposed, and the apostasy has been well under way from many centuries now.

If you hang around people who have no faith you will lose your faith. Many here have agendas, or personal grievances, many times with good reason.

But there is solid evidence that the Bible is God's inspired word. Studying history, the archaeological record, and even prophecy that has come true can give you faith again that it really is more than man's word.

We can be sure that it has been faithfully preserved for thousands of years without error. We know this because of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Which were found in the middle half of the 20th century.

They contain portions of Scripture, including almost the entire book of Isaiah completely in-tact, dating back to the 2nd century B. C. E. (two whole centuries before Jesus was born), that is about 2,200 years ago.

Comparing manuscripts from more recent years with those preserved more than a thousand years previous, shows you that there was basically no change over that vast period of time.

So while many may even say that the Bible has been changed over and over, archaeological records prove their claims to be false.

Also consider the harmonious theme of Scripture. From the very beginning to the end, a central theme runs through the entire scriptures. How is it possible that 42 different people, varying from fishermen, shepherds, to kings and prophets, were all inspired, over a span of almost 2,000 years to all be in agreement?

People and books today that span just a few decades are not in agreement.

Just because religions that claim to follow the Christ preach and teach and use pagan teachings and symbols such as the cross (which Jesus never died on) does not mean the Bible is in error. It means those man-made doctrines and teachings of demons are in error.

(Mark 7:7, 8) . . .It is in vain that they keep worshipping me, for they teach commands of men as doctrines.’ 8 You let go of the commandment of God and cling to the tradition of men.”


(1 Timothy 4:1) However, the inspired word clearly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading inspired statements and teachings of demons.

I questioned religion from a very young age, but it has been my experiences debating creationist to really open my eyes to just how deceitful religion is and has damaged the progress of not just individuals, but whole communities. Ironically it's deception is a major driving force behind religions decline world wide.

Religion is ignorance and manipulation of masses.
And you shouldn't need things like "recoveringfromreligion" to understand the simple fact that there is no God.

a reply to: misskat1

I am so happy that you were able to escape religions grasp. Prepare for a glorious wave of new information for you to discover. The universe is far more vast and interesting when there are answers to be found, instead of falsehoods to be told.

I remember watching an interesting video about being freed from religion. There was this very courageous woman who told a story about her youth. Her family was immensely religious, and you could tell they really did a number on her. She was quite an innocent girl when she was younger, and followed whatever her parents told her. One day, the priest at her church molested her when she was about 8 or so, and she had to live with that for the rest of her life. She was about 35 when she was interviewed, and since then she has been able to cope with the assault. However, the rape had no comparison of torture as the religious mindset of walking around in every day life, "knowing" that many of her friends were going to burn in hell and be tortured for the rest of eternity because they weren't christian.

It seems as if most religious individuals I have met show very little concern for the aftermath of poor behavior, according to their religious beliefs. I don't think they really conceive just how long eternity is, and just what a demi-god of pain and suffering would really do in a form of torture. If I was as religious as I am Atheist, I would most definitely be word-by-word to the bible. Yet, these individuals sin all the time, in every manner, and they do not seem to care or know that they are doing it! It's mind boggling to see so many people, who absolutely consider themselves religious to the highest degree, yet follow almost none of their religions practices when it comes to morality.

Good on you for escaping such a torturous lifestyle

originally posted by: misskat1
a reply to: boymonkey74

Ive only lived in Cali, so I have no Idea. I hear the small towns in the bible belt are not so welcoming to the non christian. But, you can be anything in Cali, and find several people who are ready to jump on board with you.

I'm from Ohio, and we have MANY Atheists here.

But I'm like you, I believe in a higher power, but I do NOT believe in religion.

a reply to: misskat1
And that right there is how all religions took off, you know minus some things. Partake thee in communion of ATS?

Just messing. But anything can be taken way out of context and way overboard, humans are quite good at doing that. Even dawkins and his great science can be religion-ized generally it starts when its first sanctioned and enforced by the state generally by big money, it to can turn into a pseudo religion, only a more elaborately explained one, so instead of questioning the good book, one must not question the state sanctioned and big money science behind it.

Its how the big 3 religions pretty much got started, the city states of the time and state powers ie families or hierarchies there in such as the priest class in egypt and the priest class in ancient Israel, large groups of people, and people getting wealthy off it all, so therefore they have to keep them all in line, hook line and sinker. Hence the control mechanism. Its a self serving system....For some.

And then from there after a time and a few generations? Well it will go were it has always gone, people believing all kinds of silly and wacky things, simply because its just something people do. There are reasons off-course but those are to long winded to list.

a reply to: misskat1

What has helped you get through this process?

I started having certain experiences what some may label "mystical" at an early age due to PTSD. From my own reality tunnel at the time, I thought what I was experiencing was normal - flashes of light; images; a thought bundle that contained 1000 ideas when meditated upon; receiving insight during dreams that can be applied in waking reality, etc until I began speaking about it...

It was those medical professionals who thought they knew better who diagnosed it as PTSD symptoms and effects. In part, they were right -- the actions to induce deep states of trances is normal but the effects were non-temporal. The actions did indeed seem to reflect PTSD but, the experiences I was having was more aligned to mystical experiences spoken about throughout the ages. Of course, at the time, I had not encountered those teachings and had no idea it was indeed mystical or unusual until years later exploring mystical schools of thought and travelling.

What greatly helped me keep going with my practices and not become indoctrinated into the believing in the world many around have bought into was this thought: Common paths lead to common destinations.I cannot dismiss what I am doing, what I have experienced since young and the synchronicity that continually keeps arising from it all.

These days, I don't find anything wrong with the Bible, Torah, Quran, Gita, and Buddha teachings or any religious books. The scripture in all is SOUND. It is the personal translation that is distorted.

I state this, and yet I have no respect or patience for any religious institution and its blind followers. The teachings, however, remain golden for those who have the eyes to see and ears to hear. I sometimes attempt to sum up my point to those dogmatic fundamentalist who take Gospel as 'the literal word of God" by stating the following:

If you ever desired millions of dollars, or ANY THING that reflects your highest dreams and have not to date have fulfilled those desires and call yourself a Christian than you do not understand the parables of the Bible very well. It is a magical book "that spells it all out". The Bible is an alchemist wet dream. It's a shame the church has many Bible thumpers "spellbound with lies" to the point many will not even look at the Bible with new eyes like the Templar Knights of old did after discovering the church's lie.

The mystical roots all religion is where truth can be found. It where all differences become reconciled. It is there one will discover they no longer need the church, mosque, synagogue, temple, ashram, etc to find purpose to life. They will discover their OWN purpose instead. Their OPUS....

The magic in this world is very subtle, yet, undeniable. I label it synchronicity.

Using the mystical insight to produce tangible results is what kept me going. I embrace abundance in all forms.

What has helped you get through this process?

I discovered my Opus.

a reply to: ketsuko

O boy, not sure where to start.... even Annee has already summarized response...

Where did I say that comedian should teach you about religion. It is interesting thing that comedians are simply best critics and are able to point to very important facts about religion, while if you really like to learn about it, then sure, there are Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris, Tyson, Sagan, Krauss and countless other scientist and journalist who can teach and explain all wrong with supposed moral, history or predict future if we continue 'extreme religious path we found our country to be on' with denial of science and propagation of religion into institutions...

I know, you would more prefer those comedians (not sure if I should call them that or charlatans or even child abusers, as what they are doing is nothing else then child abuse)




This is why I think that people like OP are heroes... One thing is to figure it out, another to question something after years of brainwashing...

Congrats to OP and if you need more literature suggestions or videos that cover this topic, let me know.

When you feel like you've said too much, yet not enough, you know you are losing your religion.

Welcome to the jungle!!

originally posted by: Annee
I never read any material by any atheist. Actually, still haven't.

I came to the realization of "lack of belief in a god" through my own mind.

Same, here, Annee. I didn't know the names of any "famous atheists" until I joined ATS. LOL! It was my own mind that formed my beliefs of today. I have only looked at videos and speeches AFTER I realized the fantasy of the religious stories.

And Buzzy - Nature is my God! Fantastic! I agree completely!

OP - if you haven't seen it, you could watch the movie Religulous. It's pretty great.

a reply to: whooknows

I am very glad you can hang onto your faith, in the face of so many contradictions. And Im not negating the bible in anyway. I still live by the moral teachings found there. But, what I am saying, is that those 66 books are just a fraction of the testimonies of the early church. Pauls writings dominate the new testament. if you really wanted to live like Jesus lived, until he died, then you would have to become a Jew. Jesus was a practicing Jew.

Just because Paul said he had a vision which he told 3 different ways, do you really think that qualified him to decide that it was no longer necessary to keep the Holy Hebrew Days, Feasts and washing rituals? If I told you I had a vision of a different christ than you have been taught, would you just accept it as truth? Then why would you accept evil Pauls story? Remember who decided what books were to be allowed in the cannon of scripture and why. And if you dont know, you really need to find out. Because, when you take the books they left out of scripture and you exclude Pauls teachings, you will see that Paul made up a bunch of BS (belief Systems) that had nothing to do with the Hebrew/Christ message.

Its changes like this that really bother me: www.bible-researcher.com...
Mark 16:9-20

Mark 16:9-20 has been called a later addition to the Gospel of Mark by most New Testament scholars in the past century. The main reason for doubting the authenticity of the ending is that it does not appear in some of the oldest existing witnesses, and it is reported to be absent from many others in ancient times by early writers of the Church. Moreover, the ending has some stylistic features which also suggest that it came from another hand. The Gospel is obviously incomplete without these verses, and so most scholars believe that the final leaf of the original manuscript was lost, and that the ending which appears in English versions today (verses 9-20) was supplied during the second century. Below are some excerpts from various scholarly sources that conclude that the verses are a later addition.
Nevertheless, some scholars have not been impressed with the evidence against these verses, and have maintained that they are original. These scholars have pointed out that the witnesses which bring the verses into question are few, and that the verses are quoted by church Fathers very early, even in the second century.
These are really important scriptures, that were not in the earlier book of Mark.

I found this very informative too: www.youtube.com...

I tried to hang onto the story of Jesus death and resurrection, but its hard when you realize it was a common belief about a lot of different Gods. It isnt unique to Jesus. So, I had to ask myself, if I would have been born when these other Gods were popular, would I have believed that I had the right Religion?

a reply to: misskat1

if you really wanted to live like Jesus lived, until he died, then you would have to become a Jew. Jesus was a practicing Jew.

He is YOU personified as a Messiah. Jerusalem is a symbol for your mind.

The twelve disciples represent the twelve qualities of mind which can be controlled and disciplined by man. If disciplined they will at all times obey the command of the one who has disciplined them.
These twelve qualities in man are potentials of every mind. Undisciplined their actions resemble more the actions of a mob than they do of a trained and disciplined army. All the storms and confusions that engulf man can be traced directly to these twelve ill-related characteristics of the human mind in its present slumbering state. Until they are awakened and disciplined they will permit every rumor and sensuous emotion to move them.

When these twelve are disciplined and brought under control the one who accomplishes this control will say to them, "Hereafter I call you not slaves but friends." He knows that from that moment on each acquired disciplined attribute of mind will befriend and protect him

realneville.com...

The guardians of the temple could be overridden by the twelve (12) witnesses, the twelve (12) lights, the twelve (12) messengers; in Latin named the twelve (12) apostles. In medical science today, they are called the twelve (12) cranial nerves. The twelve (12) cranials work in unity to give account or witness as to the condition of each of the organs or offices of the temple to the always seeing eye.

The twelve (12) are supported by the seven (7) doors of the head of the church, ( a Greek term for Lord's house or temple). The seven (7) doors were also called presidents. Hence, the seven (7) presidents were head of the seventy (70)--the seven (7) holes, or doors, of the head. Two ears, two eyes, two nostrils, and one mouth. And who were the seventy (70)? The 70 joints of the human body.

Thirty-three of them in the spinal column. And the twenty-four (24) elders? The ribs. The ancient Egyptians had names for each and every one of these, as did the Hebrews and early Christians under Paul's direction.

Religious organizations, esoteric brotherhoods, and all rites, rituals, and ordinances in the
beginning reflected the human body: the temple of god. The trumpet of God was the voice. And what
lit the house? The light of understanding. Your memory: Light shining on pure waters brought all
things to your remembrance. Remembrance brought with it knowledge. Remembrance brought with it
knowledge. Knowledge was the key to immortality of the flesh, or temple, the church or kingdom of
God. Knowledge comes to us in the names of people and things. The names of all these work together
to bring the sight of understanding which causes sound to utter from our throats. (Magnus Opus, by Don
Tolman.)

Twelve (12) Cranial Nerves (Atlas of Human Anatomy):
1 Olfactory (smell)
2 Optic (vision)
3 Oculomotor (eye movements)
4 Trochlear (eye movements)
5 Trigeminal (mastication)
6 Abducens (eye muscle movement)
7 Facial (taste, muscle sense)
8 Acoustic (hearing, sense of balance)
9 Glossopharyngeal (swallowing, taste, cutaneous sensations of the ear)
10 Vagus (hunger, pain, respiratory reflexes, swallowing, actions of internal organs)
11 Spinal accessory (movements of the neck, shoulder, and soft palate)
12 Hypoglossal (muscular movements of the tongue)

www.lojsociety.org...

It is one thing to know what it means. It is even better to understand where it leads and what this insight may provide in tangible ways.

if you really wanted to live like Jesus lived, until he died, then you would have to become a Jew. Jesus was a practicing Jew.

If you really wanted to resurrect the Christos within, you would have to construct your own temple of light. It is the human body in all its glory.

a reply to: misskat1

What is "a higher power "?

a reply to: Involutionist

Interesting, I will read more about this.

to randyvs: Thats my label for what I have experienced outside myself, spiritually. My personal experiences wont allow me to deny that there is more than this physical reality. At this point in my spiritual evolution, its hard to believe there is a supreme ruler person in the universe, that gives a rip about how I live my life. But, I think the scriptures were inspired, by this universal power to protect us from the consequences of unwanted pregnancy, diseases, divorce, cheating on a mate, lying etc etc. When I figure it all out, I will let you know. lol

Congratulations on leaving the Watchtower cult. They have been responsible for misguiding a rather large number of truth-seekers over the years, and to see them lose one, is always heartening.

The very fact that they're commonly thought of as 'Christian' (which they certainly are not), is something that I've always found upsetting, so good luck in your seeking. I hope you find the truth.

a reply to: misskat1

When I figure it all out, I will let you know. lol

Well get on the stick will ya? I need the info by tonight.

a reply to: randyvs

My broom is out of gas.