At what age did you come to realize that God/Devil/Heaven/Hell/Angels/Demons are all man-made fairy tales?

[웃 910]

When did you really figure it out for yourself? You can be skeptic for years but then one day you become more certain than before. At what age was that?

For me, I was raised a Christian (dad was Jewish but non-religious), forced to church every Sunday. Mom always read the bible, prayed in tongues in her closet, played gospel music on Sunday's, etc. So no surprise I believed Jesus Christ "died for my sins" and that I got to go to Heaven when I died because I believed in Him and routinely asked for His forgiveness. I felt bad for people of other religions because *I knew* they were going to Hell when they died (even if they were good people). I prayed every night up until 17-19. Probably 19-22 I didn't give religion much thought but still believed something was out there. 23 probably was about the age I pondered the idea that since there is no proof of God maybe God was not real. After all, the bible is full of lunacy, fairy tales, unrealistic b.s., and mass murder. I prayed on a regular basis and not one of my wishes came true. I can't hear from God, I've asked many times for a sign (never got one). The idea of going to Heaven or Hell is about the most absurd fantasy I've ever heard in my life. The power of prayer is powerless.

The Universe is so enormous (imagine traveling into space for 3 months at the speed of light (rate of 186,000 miles every second). In earth distance you have not even walked 2 steps. You can literally travel at the speed of light for over 10,000,000,000 years and still not have covered much distance in the universe.

The earth is billions of years old and organized human civilization is barely a few thousand years old. The first man and woman was not Adam and Eve as humans have been around for millions of years.

The list goes on and on and on. Unfortunately there is a huge disincentive to come to the realization that God is man-made as there is a little place called Hell that people fear going to for questioning their faith. I know it took me years to understand that Hell is not a real place. What about you?

[Markieboy 104]

When did you really figure it out for yourself? You can be skeptic for years but then one day you become more certain than before. At what age was that?

For me, I was raised a Christian (dad was Jewish but non-religious), forced to church every Sunday. Mom always read the bible, prayed in tongues in her closet, played gospel music on Sunday's, etc. So no surprise I believed Jesus Christ "died for my sins" and that I got to go to Heaven when I died because I believed in Him and routinely asked for His forgiveness. I felt bad for people of other religions because *I knew* they were going to Hell when they died (even if they were good people). I prayed every night up until 17-19. Probably 19-22 I didn't give religion much thought but still believed something was out there. 23 probably was about the age I pondered the idea that since there is no proof of God maybe God was not real. After all, the bible is full of lunacy, fairy tales, unrealistic b.s., and mass murder. I prayed on a regular basis and not one of my wishes came true. I can't hear from God, I've asked many times for a sign (never got one). The idea of going to Heaven or Hell is about the most absurd fantasy I've ever heard in my life. The power of prayer is powerless.

The Universe is so enormous (imagine traveling into space for 3 months at the speed of light (rate of 186,000 miles every second). In earth distance you have not even walked 2 steps. You can literally travel at the speed of light for over 10,000,000,000 years and still not have covered much distance in the universe.

The earth is billions of years old and organized human civilization is barely a few thousand years old. The first man and woman was not Adam and Eve as humans have been around for millions of years.

The list goes on and on and on. Unfortunately there is a huge disincentive to come to the realization that God is man-made as there is a little place called Hell that people fear going to for questioning their faith. I know it took me years to understand that Hell is not a real place. What about you?

It is clear you lost your faith. I'm not sure what you expect from religion/God. You claim you were raised a Christian and that you read the Bible. Did you ever read that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen? And when you pray, how do you know that God didn't answer your prayer? Perhaps the answer was not what you wanted to hear? Have you considered that? Many people seem to think that God is Santa. If you're a good boy or girl, you get what you wanted on your wish list. When in reality, it is completely the opposite. Christians try to live according to God's will, not theirs.

I am, in no way, condoning one religion over another. But I do believe that everyone believes in something, whether it's Jehovah, Buddha, Mohammed, or evolution. And I don't believe that anyone can say, with certainty, whether Hell exists or not. Again, it is a matter of faith.

The Universe IS enormous. And yes, one can travel millions of lights years and still not reach its boundaries. Even the most brilliant scientists cannot say how and why the Universe is like that. Why doesn't the sun just burn out? Science calls it a mystery, while believers call it God's creation.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I went to the Salvation Army as a kid. All of us did. When our junior officer training stopped (can't remember why) I went to a fellow "officers" house and she did our teachings there. I was about, 11 I think, perhaps younger when I realised something she said flew in the face of what I'd been taught the rest of my childhood... she told me that when we died we didn't immediately go to heaven, that we would be in our bodies for many thousands of years until the Lord came down and took us up to heaven with him.. I said "wait, they say in Church that when you die you go straight to heaven". She said no and that she was right. I asked mum when I got home and she said the "straight to heaven" thing as well.. so I realised, if people from the same church can't even be on the same page, obviously bits and pieces are up for interpretation... so I stopped the officer training but still went for youth group so I could spend time with friends.

I hated church, I hated listening to long winded sermons. I was about 14 when I was at a youth camp listening to such a sermon so I was talking to friends, or writing a letter or something... I forget. Anyway I was dating the ministers son and when i looked up, he and a few other people were down on stage crying and standing in groups. I thought "#######.. I missed the end, I wonder what's wrong" and went down to him... BIIIiiiigggg mistake. Turns out that was a "are you willing to let Jesus into your hearts" thing.. I couldn't exactly say "whoops.. no.." so I just went along with it. After the camp I was pulled aside (with my bf) and we were asked to do a speech about our experiences and how we've changed since we "let Jesus into our lives". One of the ladies actually came up to me and said she'd noticed a change in me.. bullcrap. I hadn't done anything except not pay attention when I should have.. I made my speech (nerve wracking I tell you to make something up) and no-one was any the wiser. My family knew what'd happened ('cause i begged them to get me out of it) but they said that I had to otherwise it would look bad.

Anyway so there you go. At a young age I realised the hypocrisy of it all. How people see what they want to see... I don't believe in god or Jesus or any of that bulldust, BUT I do believe that positive energy brings positive energy. If you're a mean person bad things will happen because you draw that to yourself (doing bad things, saying the wrong things to the wrong people etc). Sometimes bad stuff happens and I don't think I'm being "punished", good stuff happens and I don't think i'm being rewarded. It's life.

[Aya820 33]

It is clear you lost your faith. I'm not sure what you expect from religion/God. You claim you were raised a Christian and that you read the Bible. Did you ever read that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen? And when you pray, how do you know that God didn't answer your prayer? Perhaps the answer was not what you wanted to hear? Have you considered that? Many people seem to think that God is Santa. If you're a good boy or girl, you get what you wanted on your wish list. When in reality, it is completely the opposite. Christians try to live according to God's will, not theirs.

I am, in no way, condoning one religion over another. But I do believe that everyone believes in something, whether it's Jehovah, Buddha, Mohammed, or evolution. And I don't believe that anyone can say, with certainty, whether Hell exists or not. Again, it is a matter of faith.

The Universe IS enormous. And yes, one can travel millions of lights years and still not reach its boundaries. Even the most brilliant scientists cannot say how and why the Universe is like that. Why doesn't the sun just burn out? Science calls it a mystery, while believers call it God's creation.

Nothing more to say, Markieboy I believe you summed it all up...

[Peikko 1,575]

The sun will just burn out - and we know when give or take a few million years.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

About the time I learned to read. Maybe. In fact I do not recall EVER believing it though I went to church with my mother every Sunday until about age 16.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

About the time I learned to read. Maybe. In fact I do not recall EVER believing it though I went to church with my mother every Sunday until about age 16.

True. I don't think I ever really "believed" it, but I never questioned it until I was about 11.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

The sun will just burn out - and we know when give or take a few million years.

Jesus died for your sins, so that you may live.

[Jenn! 918]

I was a skeptic by high school, but I still received my Catholic confirmation. I think the religion courses I took in high school and college really helped me to realize that I didn't believe in the main tenets of Christianity.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Jesus died for your sins, so that you may live.

As far as the story you read goes... add to that it's now been shown if Jesus did in fact exist, and at the time people claim he existed, he wouldn't have been strung on a cross as back in the time people were crucified it was to trees via ropes etc.

So.. you're relying on a book written by MAN. Translated many times over.

[DEDixon 39]

I went to a church where my uncle and others spoke in tongues crying out and yelling. My uncle isn't a fraud, hollywood was 3000 miles away, my uncle and others son't rehearshing a play or filming a movie, it was all real.

My uncle, his passionate description of all that he feels isn't fake.

Even though I saw so much, I didn't feel anything in my heart and I still don't. If God would somehow pull on my heart strings then I'd be a better follower.

Even though I don't feel anything, I'm not so arrogant to say there isn't a God. I'm not so arrogant to say what I believe is the way it is and everyone else is wrong. I don't think Earth is by accident so I believe in a God-like power. Whatever it is, it put the universe together and started life on Earth.

Given all the hardship on Earth (I think there is more hardship than the opposite), I wish God would have stopped at animals. I think creating people was completely uncalled for given that most people live hard lives, what really was the point?

Two types of people I truly despise 1) those that don't believe and blab it nonstop and 2) those that do believe and blab it nonstop. Just shut your f$cking mouth and let the rest of us alone.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

As far as the story you read goes... add to that it's now been shown if Jesus did in fact exist, and at the time people claim he existed, he wouldn't have been strung on a cross as back in the time people were crucified it was to trees via ropes etc.

So.. you're relying on a book written by MAN. Translated many times over.

Cite please. Paul's letters are contemporary, even if he was full of himself at times.

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which[a] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Galatians 6:14

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Cite please. Paul's letters are contemporary, even if he was full of himself at times.

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which[a] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Galatians 6:14

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/7849852/Jesus-did-not-die-on-cross-says-scholar.html (snippets below)

He claims the Bible has been misinterpreted as there are no explicit references the use of nails or to crucifixion - only that Jesus bore a "staurus" towards Calvary which is not necessarily a cross but can also mean a "pole".

Mr Samuelsson, who has written a 400-page thesis after studying the original texts, said: "The problem is descriptions of crucifixions are remarkably absent in the antique literature.

The ancient Greek, Latin and Hebrew literature from Homer to the first century AD describe an arsenal of suspension punishments but none mention "crosses" or "crucifixion."

Mr Samuelsson, of Gothenburg University, said: "Consequently, the contemporary understanding of crucifixion as a punishment is severely challenged.

"And what's even more challenging is the same can be concluded about the accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus. The New Testament doesn't say as much as we'd like to believe."

Any evidence that Jesus was left to die after being nailed to a cross is strikingly sparse - both in the ancient pre-Christian and extra-Biblical literature as well as The Bible.

Mr Samuelsson, a committed Christian himself, admitted his claims are so close to the heart of his faith that it is easy to react emotionally instead of logically.

Mr Samuelsson said the actual execution texts do not describe how Christ was attached to the execution device.

Mr Samuelsson said: "If you are looking for texts that depict the act of nailing persons to a cross you will not find any beside the Gospels."

Nor does the Latin word crux automatically refer to a cross while patibulum refer to the cross-beam. Both words are used in a wider sense that that.

Mr Samuelsson said: "That a man named Jesus existed in that part of the world and in that time is well-documented. He left a rather good foot-print in the literature of the time.

Edited November 22, 2010 by Vanessa&Tony

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

But an extensive study of ancient texts by a Swedish pastor and academic has revealed that Jesus may not have died on a cross, but instead been put to death on another gruesome execution device.

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/little-evidence-jesus-died-on-a-cross-says-scholar/19530666

You base this all on one bored Pastor in Sweden?

"I'm really just a boring, conservative pastor and I start every day reading the New Testament," he says. "But my suggestion is that we should read the text as it is, not as we think it is."

[Markieboy 104]

Mr Samuelsson, a committed Christian himself, admitted his claims are so close to the heart of his faith that it is easy to react emotionally instead of logically.

"Only a fool leans on his own misunderstandings."