Ouroboros Posted May 24, 2006 Share Posted May 24, 2006 Serious doubts started in 2000. During big part of 2002 I walked in deep thoughts and confusion. End of 2002, no more faith, it was just gone. I couldn't muster myself to believe something that didn't make sense or was against what I saw in the real world. In a wink, 30 years and 6 months of religious bondage ended. And I'm happier than ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Smith Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 My journey into fundementalism began as a child and into my teen and early adult years. Ages 0 - 8 years old: Attended Church of Christ, Scientist with mother. Ages 5 - 26 years old: Attended a multitude of various Charismatic/Evangelical/Pentecostal Churches. "Saved" at age 8. "Recomitted" in my late teens. In that time attended the following denomination/non-denominations: Foursquare, Assembly of God, Messianic "Jewish synagogues" (Jews for Jesus), Word of Faith, Non-denominational with Pentecostal Holiness and other fringe pentecostal influences, and a few more moderate "evangelical" congregations. Age 15: Converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon). Age 19: Left the Mormon church. I would say my exit from Mormonism was the first extremely painful experience with spirituality. It opened my eyes to the danger of cults. I thought I was "delivered" from the bondage of cultism and "free" in my re-discovered "personal relationship with Jesus Christ." Nevertheless, it took several more years to realize that I had substituted the cult-organization clearly defined by Mormonism with the cult of Born Again Christianity, which in my opinion, is much more difficult to break away from. I posted the following in another thread, but I thought it might be appropriate here as well: "In many respects, I beliieve it may even be even harder for a "born again Christian" who has lost faith to come out of his/her own cult than it would be for a Jehovah's Witness or a Mormon. JWs and Mormons have an organization to leave. When they get out, they realize that this organization and those who ran it had an unhealthy control on very intimate aspects of their lives. Many Born Again Christians have formed such a strong fantasy in their mind of "relationship with Jesus" that breaking away from it can at times seem impossible. Indeed, I believe some never do. Some live their entire lives in dysfunction and unhappiness because in their subconscious they have bought into the lie that there really is a Jesus-God that they are "running from." How often did you hear someone say something to the effect of, "Backslidden Christians are some of the most miserable people?" So - I am still in transit from belief to non-belief. As I stated to another on these forums who mentioned substituting his BrainRAM with more important things, "I am still trying to get rid of the faulty memory in order to begin a fresh install." I appreciate forums like this along the way. Regards, "Johnny Smith" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanInPA Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 Started searching for "the Real God" in 2003. After much reading, research and rethinking my beliefs, I tossed the cross in fall 2004. Tossed the Cross- I stole that from someone here, but I forget who originally said it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reverend AtheiStar Posted May 27, 2006 Share Posted May 27, 2006 Started searching for "the Real God" in 2003. After much reading, research and rethinking my beliefs, I tossed the cross in fall 2004. Tossed the Cross- I stole that from someone here, but I forget who originally said it. Sounds like an olympic event. lol... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knightley Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Started searching for "the Real God" in 2003. After much reading, research and rethinking my beliefs, I tossed the cross in fall 2004. Tossed the Cross- I stole that from someone here, but I forget who originally said it. Sounds like an olympic event. lol... It was, it was! How'd you know rev? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reverend AtheiStar Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Started searching for "the Real God" in 2003. After much reading, research and rethinking my beliefs, I tossed the cross in fall 2004. Tossed the Cross- I stole that from someone here, but I forget who originally said it. Sounds like an olympic event. lol... It was, it was! How'd you know rev? The Rev knows many things! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Powerup Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Wow Johnny, you had experienced the whole mixture of this cult. I believe Christianity is the high call of Satanism and witchcraft and once a Satanist becomes a Christian minister, they have reached their highest point of occultic deception. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misterspock1 Posted June 18, 2006 Share Posted June 18, 2006 Right at sixteen months. By the way, I love your signature Powerup. Did you come up with that on your own, or is it a quote from someone else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Suigintou Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 It's been 20 months now. Though I was always at least somewhat skeptical, that's when I decided once and for all that there is no god, and christianity is bullshit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Demona- Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 It's been about 2 years now since I called myself a Christian, and nearly three since I went to church. It's been even longer since I attended church on a weekly basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minstrel Posted July 15, 2006 Share Posted July 15, 2006 Eight months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fallenleaf Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 I don't think I've replied to this thread before. I deconverted sometime around 1993. To be honest, I remember the exact moment... but have no idea what day, month, or even year it was. For the best I can figure it, it was 93. But it could have been as late as 95. I know it happened in English class but since I had the same teacher several times it's hard to place. I place my deconversion right about my 14th year of life. It is hard for me to put a date on it because all the markers I have are internal. I was, like many people here, in the Assemblies of God at that time and for the remainder of my teens. My mother was fanatical and I honestly feared for my physical safety if I revealed my apostacy. I "played the game" with the best of them for a decade. Whenever a preacher talked about people who just pretended, he was talking about me. I was that guy. I did not attempt to share it until 2001, and it finally came out for good in 2003 or was it 2004? Horrible times... really. God, I'm horrible at dates. So... it's funny because I've been out of the belief for longer than many people here; yet, I started dealing with much of the bullshit only recently. For example, it was only a few months ago that my aunt tried to prevent me from seeing my cousin's children because I was "not safe around children." This judgement was made 1200 miles away from me and only on the basis of my belief. My cousin, to his credit, told her to fuck off and that if she was going to hear from him again she would drop that shit asap. He's a good guy who doesn't tolerate much BS. But many people in my family do seem to believe I am a horrible person. That's fine but it's an issue that I'm dealing with now, long after my deconversion. I'm rambling... like usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reverend AtheiStar Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 I replied to this thread quite some time ago and so I suppose I should state how long it's been for me, again. It's been about 10 years! Woo hooo! And my Dad said it was just a phase! Ha! lol... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotBlinded Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Wow Johnny, you had experienced the whole mixture of this cult. I believe Christianity is the high call of Satanism and witchcraft and once a Satanist becomes a Christian minister, they have reached their highest point of occultic deception. That is odd that you say that because I am reading a book right now that sees it like that also. The author calls them Satan because anything that takes one away from God is what Satan is. Fundamentalist Christianity indeed takes one away from God. I have been out for about 11 - 12 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. S. Martin Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 I love this thread so much I don't want it to end!!! I thought there was another page or two to go and suddenly I was at the last post and could not find another post to read so I guess I'll have to write it. When did I leave Christianity? A more appropriate question might be: Was I ever a real Christian? I guess you can read this whole hoopla in my Testimonies posts. I was born into a horse and buggy Mennonite church as follows: 1956: I was born in the flesh 1974/5: I was baptized with believer's baptism; not sure of the year 1999: I left the church and had the new birth You did not misread. The new birth experience came exactly when I hung up from making official plans to go to another church the following Sunday. To really get what that meant for my situation...being born into this kind of community presupposes one will remain a faithful member for life. Officially attending another church (not just visiting) is officially leaving the church. For some people, it's just switching churches. At this point I don't know if I am a Christian or not. Don't know if I've ever been a real Christian or not. Had major question with the most basic and central tenet of the Christian faith since the first time I heard that Jesus died so we can get to heaven. How does it work? What did he do? Why did he have to die? I mean, how could anyone's death have salvific value for anyone's soul? These are various versions of the question I lived with ever since I heard my mother tell the story to my younger siblings. I was perhaps eight years old. Our people are not into child evangelization. There is more emphasis on walking the walk than talking the talk. Thus, the religious living started early but it was just the way life worked. On Sundays you went to church, had visitors over or visited at someone else's home. You always wore regular Mennonite clothes because that is just the way life works. There's our people and then there's outsiders. What outsiders do is none of our business and none of our interest so long as they let us live life the way we believe is right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthbound Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 Something tripped my trigger around January of '05 that started the ball rolling. I very quickly became an obsessive researcher, reading everything that I could get my hands on, staying up long nights; admittedly I even used much of the hours at work to do research as well. I just simply didn't care anymore, finding out the truth was all that mattered to me and the further I went the more unraveled the ball became until it finally collapsed. That whole time period consisted of a year. At the time,I was giving sermons, leading in-home bible discussion groups, taking kids out to the college campus to evangelize, was in the middle of planting a new church in town and planning to do another in the near future etc... Suddenly it became completely necessary to step down from these activities, which did not go well with anybody. I chose to admit my disbelief to the entire congregation as well as the separate groups I was involved with. I still can't go anywhere in this town without people staring at me like I'm the devil or something! I walked passed a lady and her young daughter just today and she grabbed her daughter and pulled her close to her as she went by, as if I might try to grab her and take her to hell with me (sheeeesh!). That was in Feb. this year! So I suppose that's the date I have to make the "official" date of exit, so 6 mos. And "My what a strange trip it's been" But definitely worth it to be true! By the way, you all are awesome!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaura Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 Born 1971. Began to doubt in 1991, probably could no longer call myself Catholic late 1994, really began to get more serious about spirituality 1995, became solidly Pagan by late 1997. I guess I struggled some, but as I read more and learned more, the more I realized that the religion of the Hebrew war god wasn't mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legion Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 Let's see... Born in 1972. Became a Christian at about the age of 6 or 7 (That's the age when you can really make responsible decisions about your immortal soul.) Realized I was no longer a Christian at about the age of 16 or 17. I'm 34 now. So I've been deconverted for about 17 years. Where does the time go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluewizard Posted September 1, 2006 Share Posted September 1, 2006 I've been out since early 2005, nearly 2 years. I've always been interested in converting to other religions ever since i was a child to Judaism or Islam but I still had christian belief until I just stopped caring about Christianity and religion in 2002, I quit thinking about the bs rules and lived like an atheist despite at heart believing. I never prayed in my spare time then but stil had a slight fear of hell. I remember thinking while driving in fall of 2004 I need to find some form of religion before I die. In early 2005 I went to a yahoo atheist chat rooma nd the non-belief in God made sense as well as doing research and now I'm happy to say I'm an atheist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everglaze Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 Yeah, it's all just a scare tactic. It's pretty lame. I was born and raised in a Christian family and wasn't really a Christian until 2004. Then I quit in 2006 just three months ago. I'm glad I'm free from the brainwash. Isolation from church and all of that cult fellowship really enabled me to get a grip on reality and sanity again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WakingUp Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 I guess 3 months or so. At least that's when the house of cards completely collapsed. I was "saved" in a Baptist church at 5 because I wanted people to know I believed in Jesus. However, all my life(I'm almost 50) I struggled with the concept of Hell. I just couldn't stand the idea of most of humanity being roasted forever in Hell. I loved people more than that, so surely my Heavenly Father (who was perfect) loved them more than that. This was my major struggle with Christianity all my life. I homeschool my children. Two have graduated and attend college. This past spring, one daughter(the most spiritual of the two and taking and Old Testament course at a Baptist University) told me she didn't believe in Christianity anymore. Didn't know what she believed. She had read enough online to see the contradictions and just questioned it all. Also, I bought "Misquoting Jesus" and read it over Christmas. We had some discussion and she read it too. Anywhoo, we were both questioning aspects of Christianity but when she said she had given up the whole shebang, I sort of crumpled. However, I regrouped and told her I would look at what she had been reading and she said "No, Mama...don't. You will lose your faith and it's a horrible experience." I said "If my faith won't hold up to this stuff, then maybe it's not real." I had no idea where I would end up. Here. haha WakingUp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xandermac Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 I can only say that I admitted to myself just this year that it was shit, I can go back as far as childhood and remember at times what a load of crap I thought it was. Its taken me 49 years just to say out loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted September 23, 2006 Share Posted September 23, 2006 Since I was 16. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fishead Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 I've been an atheist for close to 2 years now and I've never felt better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lamont Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 Officially, I have been out for a couple of months. It's taken years to get to that point where I finally came to terms with my unbelief. Most of my family and friends are heavily into the delusion. I have decided that it's time to slowly reveal the truth in a very tactful way. It is very nice to be free of the feeling of guilt that was always present throughout my xian life. But being in the "closet" about this makes me so uneasy, I can't take it much longer. My wife is fully aware and she is taking baby steps in the direction I took. Her issue is more the consequence of coming out about this all. Loss of famiyl and friends, etc. is holding her back from coming to terms with it completely. I wait patiently. I am thankful to the creators of this site, I don't have many other places to turn to to discuss these issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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