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Why I left Christianity and values I've learned by it

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
I thought about writing a journal entry of why I left Christianity. The purpose is to express how I came to the values and beliefs I have today. It is also to express what I learned from Christianity and how has it helped me see spirituality in a good way even though I stopped practicing. I am wondering if you have some of the same experiences. Also, without debating what is right and what is wrong, what were your experiences and decisions based on--specifically?

I will warn you, this is long (Sub-points are in red; description are in quotes). I will try to make it easier to go through and highlight points for each section:
  • Why I left Christianity?
  • How did I came to the values and beliefs I have today
I left Christianity for a couple of reasons. They may be similar to the reasons you hear often; but, I have no qualms about "needing proof" and "conflict with science and reason." Spirituality, to me, needs no proof for it to be reality. Science and reasoning are not the end all be all in truth or reality.

Why I left Christianity?

I left Christianity because of fellowship.
When you are in any religion, there should be fellowship between each person. Although we differ in preferences and how we interpret scripture, there has to be a unison of what we believe--the core of the matter and how we approach that belief to help others. We need to be sensitive to other peoples' ways of worship to Christ. We also need to accept that these practices are different than our own; and, these practices help one's relationship with Christ not make them "not a Christian anymore."
There is no fellowship among Christians these days; and, it is harmful because Jesus promoted ministry and brotherhood. I cannot be a Christian without fellowship. Jesus never supported that; so, that would be something I wouldn't be comfortable with.

When you have a relationship with Jesus, you must have a relationship with His Body. Without His body, there is no relationship. Where there is more than one person, I am here. Matt. 18:20

The Body does not have to be in a specific denomination. Your family can mirror you and you'd be in Christ body through them. Like believers in study groups are one Body. The Church is one Body. All are In Christ.
I left Christianity because of some of the tenants of the Catholic Church.
Let me make this clear without debate. I believe that the Catholic Church has the true view of the relationship with Christ. Catholicism in general (Orthodox and Roman) participate in their relationship with Christ. It is more just faith.
For example, they believe that you are not fully Christian (do not have the full experience of relationship with Christ) because you are not part of the Church (aka taken all of the sacraments Christ commanded a Christian to take)

That is an insult to any Christian who is not Catholic because they are saying that non-Catholics are not Christians. While I do agree that one must take the sacraments of the Church (baptism, communion, repentance, confirmation), many people appreciate these sacraments in different ways: Baptism and communion of the heart, repentance to God without the aid not blessings from the priest, and individual (rather than congregational) acceptance by saying he or she wants Jesus to be his or her Lord and Savior.
I left Christianity because of it's history and Jesus' discrimination against faiths that differ than His Father's.
All faiths I know of have a violent history based on it's beliefs. However, unlike Christianity, their tenants do not punish those who differ then they are implied or not.

I also do not want to be associated with any type of murder--regardless the intent--on behalf of the very person who gives love and justice.

How did I came to the values and beliefs I have today.

My values and beliefs were actually, coincidentally, shaped by my former faith and practice of Christianity.


I learned about the importance of practice and participation with like-minded people.
When I go to Mass, and enter the sanctuary, I make the sign of the cross. To me, that action is an act of gratitude for coming to Mass, participating in His Body, and being in Union by prayer, by Word, and by meal. It is like bowing to someone you just met (depending on culture). I learned that without this inner gratitude and welcome before one comes to practice, it is rude. It is like coming to someone and not saying Hello first.

Mass, Bible study, and so forth helped a lot too.
I learned a lot by taking the sacraments Christ gave His body.
I learned in Baptism that to die to one's sins, one needs to be Baptized in the Holy Spirit. So, in a general sense for all to relate, it is like dying to your habits you find immoral to reconnect with yourself and others in a more personal way. It made me think of what this actually meant. Without Baptism, I would have never "figured it out." For some reason the act and participation of being saved was more intense than just having faith to do so.
I learned about the beauty of emptying yourself so you can be clear of mind, spirit, and body through the sacrament of confession.
I remember my first confession where the priest spent almost three hours with me helping me to see things how God would see them. Although I don't believe in God as a person, that feeling of being forgiven and being understood in itself is a wonderful feeling. Having an authority of the Church (by role) to help me through it was beautiful. I would never forget that.
All the sacraments of the Church (in Christianity) are beautiful. This is what I learned from having a relationship with Christ.
--

I left Christianity because I felt I was using Christ once I realize a year later what it really meant to be a Christian.
I was raised to where we do things for ourselves. If we help each other, there is no need for a returned favor (as in worship) just respect. You must believe Jesus died for you literally. You can't die in Him unless you believe literally He died for you.
I left Christianity because it made me feel worse than I did before I was a Christian.
It did not have to do specifically with the Catholic Church. When you think of your sins (the passion), you impersonate it. You really make yourself feel you need to be saved when a lot of sins are habits we can change (which some habits or sins I have without Christ). You start thinking, I need to ask forgiveness every time I sin. It puts a burden on your shoulder when you always feel you need to be saved. I was not raised that way. If one does not feel they need to be saved, why put time and energy into someone who says they did when for me it was not necessary; why take the offer?

It's interesting what you learn in spirituality. May the spirits be willing to teach me more about myself and my relation to others. May the spirits help me understand other beliefs without bias. May the spirits help me being me. I know I am a Buddha and have a Buddha-nature. Christianity made me feel as if I did not. I am worthy of everything that life brings to me and the spirits show in myself and in others. My ancestral spirits and recently passed relatives are part of the spirits that contribute to my well being. My practice of Zen helps me center myself without depending on labels to define who I am by what is not important to me. It helps me to not see myself (rather than charactersitics I learned) as soemone and something else. To see inside of me as a pure person of body, soul, and mind.

Nothing special; nothing supernatural, everything comes from reality and nature. I could not see this without the values many pagans mirror. There are a lot of beliefs in me.

Another reason I left Christianity is that these beliefs in me are squashed (who I am) by what I am told I should be. Our Buddha nature is not shaped by others and beings, but is shaped by who we are already. Without our being a Buddha, who are we? How do we live without knowing Who we are to ourselves and not to others?
--

I am happy and surprised if you have read all of this.

Thank you for taking the time to do so.
 

Orbit

I'm a planet
Also, without debating what is right and what is wrong, what were your experiences and decisions based on--specifically?

I gave up the mythic/literal belief system of Christianity in order to find God. Finding that the mythic Abrahamic God did not exist, I became an atheist. The final straw was re-reading the Book of Genesis, but most of my objections concerned the non-factual parts of the Bible (Creation, the Flood), the Bible's child-rape, violence towards gays, women, and witches, genocide, and glorification of slavery. I never believed that the New Testament was meant to be read literally, so I also don't believe in miracles or Revelation. I also, after researching, concluded that there were too many contradictions in the Bible for it to be divine.

As an atheist, I still had spiritual feelings that led me to see the Godhead in a non-literal way. I am not a follower of any religion now, but am very influenced by Eastern philosophy and mysticism in general.
 

Cephus

Relentlessly Rational
I gave up on Christianity because the evidence simply didn't support the claims made by the religion and I actually care if what I believe is factually true or not.
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
Thank you.

Yes, there are a lot of ugly things in the Bible. I always wondered how can it and any other Abrahamic religious text can be the end all be all of life. I don't remember the Buddha expounding on any hurt or punishment to individuals who did not believe in His teachings. Of course, he had opinions of what will happen if they did not listen to themselves for answers. However, of course there are consequences for not listening to who you are and what you believe in.

It is good that you are honest with yourself and your beliefs. Very Buddhistic of you. :)


As an atheist, I still had spiritual feelings that led me to see the Godhead in a non-literal way. I am not a follower of any religion now, but am very influenced by Eastern philosophy and mysticism in general.
 

Neo Deist

Th.D. & D.Div. h.c.
Yes, there are a lot of ugly things in the Bible.

Yes there are.

After studying the Bible in depth, I came to the conclusion that much of it is man made drivel, copied from older cultures and rebranded. If you see the parallels to older religions/cultures laid out side by side with the Bible stories, you have to take a step back and say, "wait a minute!" Whenever a religious group tries to take a Bible story and spin it to fit their idealogy, I can't help but just shake my head.
 
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