Why Some People Turn to Religion (and Others Don't) 

Religions emerged when almost no one was literate, life expectancy among ordinary people rarely exceeded 50, and couples would have 5-7 children so half would survive to adulthood. Tragedy was everywhere in life, and religion was a valuable coping mechanism. Religion still thrives in places like that.

"People do not choose to be atheist, they realize they are." That's exactly how it happened to me. It was kind of weird how I went from religious to atheist as soon as I heard of the concept of atheism.

They say that religion is what gives people a moral compass which is ironic because a lot of religious people are extremely selfish and the reason why they do “good deeds” is to earn their way into heaven and feel good about themselves

Did anyone else feel the story just didn't sound right even as a young child.???

As long as people are afraid of death, religion will always be around.

I remember being 8 years old telling my uncle “what if you don’t really believe in god or anything?” Got yelled at for a while and punished by mom. Never told them how I felt about religion again. And also didn’t practice while getting really good at looking like I do practice.

I recommend this to anyone who is dealing with years of feeling shame and guilt over one’s inability to “believe”. I’m glad that the word is spreading about the fact that some of us just can’t do it, no matter how much one may want and try.

As Mark Twain observed, did god f… up in creating man, or did man f… up in creating god.

My religious upbringing resulted in being afraid of God, the devil, Gods judgements and eternal torment in hell. I’m not sure if I was born with the OCD tendencies or whether the religion caused it. My very first panic attack that I remember started after hearing a sermon about the unforgivable sin.

“Since it is obviously inconceivable that all religions can be right, the most reasonable conclusion is that they are all wrong.”- Christopher Hitchens

The sexism and emphasis on female submission was the definitive, absolute non-negotiable point for me. I just could not reconcile myself to this narrow point of view. Especially when the consequences of these beliefs in real life had such a huge impact on the emotional and physical well being of my mother, myself, and my six siblings. My deconversion produced a huge scandal in the church, my husband being a pastor! I grew up with two brothers who themselves were pastors, my mother was an accredited evangelist. My youngest brother began pastoral ministry but did not last long in it. Religion was my minor while my major was business administration. So more than most, I knew the scriptures very well. Most of us left religion. Those who went back did so because of health reasons. They needed the prop religious circles offer. So, yes. I agree with the results of this study.

I was born in a Sunni Muslim family though quite moderate one, yet I never believed it and always questioned it from as early as age 10-12

Leaving christianity. A literate 10-year old: "Why were Adam & Eve ashamed of their nakedness?" A literate teen at church communion: "This is the 'body' of Jesus? This is the 'blood' of Jesus? Well ok..." A literate adult: "You mean if someone never heard of God or Jesus & couldn't possibly know how to worship, repent, believe, or pray to that particular god, they would be doomed to hellfire?" It's all about critical thinking.

Poor people and people who are struggling are more likey to be religious than a person who is successful

I’m an ex-Jehovah’s Witness, I was born into this high control religion (cult). I believed everything I was taught. Reading the Bible woke me up and I realized, I was believing in fairy tales and fables. I also couldn’t believe in a loving, all powerful God anymore either.

When I moved to a Muslim Country I realised just how completely indoctrinated I had become!! I'm a very happy Atheist these days!

This is awesome. I grew up Catholic, and honestly have felt guilty for abandoning belief in the religion, this explains so much. Thank you.

I was so religious growing up but after I finally accepted my sexuality the belief I grew up with made less sense.

I am a retired cop and a retired attorney. Like almost all attorneys in the USA, I have an undergraduate degree and a doctorate. I am a life long learner. I have been a heavy reader since I was ten. I watch educational videos and listen to lectures on a variety of academic subjects. I spend a lot of time thinking about all of these things. I was driving to work one day when I was forty. I wasn’t really thinking about anything. I was just drifting along. While I was stopped at a red light, it suddenly occurred to me that I no longer believed in God. The only emotion I felt was relief. I’ve tried to explain why I stopped believing a number of times. I had certainly had my face rubbed in the problem of evil for a long time. I won’t go into all of the details but I have PTSD as a result. I had encountered Christian ministers who were doing some decidedly unchristian and illegal things and who used their perceived positions of authority to try to avoid legal trouble. I had encountered religious figures from other religions under similar circumstances. I had encountered plenty of religious people who were hypocrites. I had seen the conflicts between different religions and within different sects of the same religion. I had studied enough about the history of Christianity to understand the origin of the books in the Bible. I was familiar with the ways in which many of those books had changed despite the assertions by Christian’s ministers that the Bible was the literal, inerrant, and unchanging word of God. I had studied enough history and science to see where the Bible was wrong. And, there was clearly a lot of stuff in the Bible that conflicted with history and science. There were conflicts between stories about the same events. I also had never seen any real evidence of God. All that I had seen, heard, and read from religious sources were explanations and proofs that ultimately failed to convince. There were always more rational, scientific explanations that better fit the observable facts. I guess it just hit a critical mass that day while I was stopped at a red light. I have honestly never missed religion. I have much more intellectual freedom to learn and explore new things without have to compartmentalize things to avoid conflicting with my preexisting beliefs. I don’t have to worry about somehow offending God in the process.

I'm a Christian and this video was extremely interesting and informative. It's cool to know what drives people to and away from religion, thank you for posting 😁

People leave religion because they realize it’s bullshit, people join religion because they’re insecure. That’s what it really boils down to.

I was raised as an Evangelical Christian and at one time I studied (briefly to be honest) for the ministry. However, once I entered adulthood, and began looking at the world in new and different ways, I found that the faith I once held onto so deeply was no longer satisfying. Not only did it not answer my questions, but I now see that my old faith wasn't even asking the right questions I needed to solved. As a forty-year-old man, I find myself somewhere between a form of Christian humanism and Eastern/Stoic thought. I cannot be an atheist but I do not consider myself to be a devout believer.

It’s really scary how the studies highlight the “amazing believers” as those who typically gravitate to religion when dealing with trauma or grief. Christians know this and will “prey” on it. I heard from people for the first time in years when I went through a difficult time. They knew I was “vulnerable” and tried to bring Jesus back in

My conclusion after many years: I would say religion is a highly complex and deep topic! It needs many years to study - the philosophy, the history, the metaphors, the society of old times and so on. It needs time and work to understand. Most people that teach us about classical religions as children have never invested that time and don’t have the understanding themselves. They can’t give clear and logical answers to many questions. Many are f.e. Just a Christ or Muslim by birth, but never studied their book. Many have their knowledge from „someone who said…“ or tradition/culture. Many have a weird picture about what is god. It’s not a man on a cloud, and no regular human. God has no gender, it’s not even in our space and time, its above us, allknowing, above the universe….so it’s kind is unimaginable for many people because it’s too different from what we know. Some pray for god, some worship nature, some meditate, some manifest, some believe in Karma, some ask for energetic guidance. But if you look closer it’s all the same mechanisms in different forms. We are all connected as humans with the earth, with each others and as part of creation. I personally think that every person has some spirituality inside of them, maybe they just don’t understand it as religion. Religion can be totally beautiful and beneficial in many ways if practiced in a good way, like for sanity, for purpose, for health, for navigation in life, moral and self development. You can practice religion as something between yourself and your creator, with no force or harm to others. Stop think inside a small box or frame for what is religion :) Take different approaches and read many resources and ideas, try to see the arguments for and against a creator, listen to real educated religious people, their stories and always check their background. Me myself I was an atheist most of my life hating on religion, but the more I digged and learned about science, psychology, history, the world and and and the more religious and more happy I became 🫶🏼

I first started doubting the Bible when I heard the parable of Abraham. Still, I kept my belief until the age of 52. What made me leave Christianity? Reading the bible for myself and trying to become a better Christian!

I want to thank everyone involved in the making of this video. The studies you mention ring true for me because they match my experience perfectly. As you said, Deconversion is often a solitary exercise which can lead to profound loneliness. After finally admitting to myself that I no longer believed, I mourned the profound loss of everything I thought was true up to that point. The world I once fit into perfectly became a sea of strangers. But every now and then I’ll see something like this video and be reminded that I’m not alone. There are millions of people out there who silently shared my experience.

I was introduced to the Evolution Theory when I was around 12, growing up in a religious household, it was the first time I saw a different point of view other than Christianity. It took me only about 1 year or less for me to ditch religion. I was the only atheist in school, I didn't have any peers who shared the same view as me at such a young age. Growing up, when I was about 16, I had some emotional problems and it led me to become religious once again, as if I had never been an atheist. It didn't take long till I left religion, I realised I let my emotions take control of me and that was unacceptable to me. I've always valued reason above all. Since then I've been an atheist and willing to never fall for religion again. Religion is dangerous, because it traps you when you're emotionally vulnerable, when reason isn't what runs your brain anymore. I recommend every atheist to keep reading, to keep up studying, to never take a break from knowledge, because if you get away from reason, your emotions might take control of you when you least expect and bring you into the prison called religion.

Thank you. You really nailed it. This is pretty much what I went through in my own deconversion. There were a lot of things that poked my mind in the church. Things that made me double take. Things that were said that were not right or just plane crazy. Just one day it all came together for me.

I was unreligious believer most of my life. The choice of connection to Church firstly was caused by my ideology, it was gradual. When I suddenly found myself (by my will) around other religions people, most of them were in Church since childhood. And at least half, maybe more of them isn't take this all serious enough. Month or two later I began to perceive religion more serious with mind and emotions too. Now, two years later I may say, that emotions is that can make you closer to Church but can't keep you in it for long. In period when I perceived my belief through my emotions, there was a lot of moments of despair. But now I'm trying to be realistic, and it helps me to be stronger in my faith.

I like the previous comment: we are all born atheists but are forced to choose a religion we are told to follow. My mother tried to force her church on me but I never bought the nonsense they preached, even as a little kid. Took me years before I realised I was an atheist.

Ultimately, if you’re rational enough, you will see through religion right away. Otherwise, if you’re emotional, you won’t be able to.

As long as there is a desire for A heaven and a fear of A hell, there will be A religion. I have neither.

4:46 This is exactly what happened to me. I couldn't lie to myself anymore. I couldn't reason such nonsense no more.

I have a rather long religion story that idk if anyone cares or not, but if not, just don't read lol. Anyway... I had dated a guy a few years back for a few months and then things kinda fell apart. I ended up running into him again about 3 years after we had last spoken and he wasn't doing too great. I guess he had been in jail, homeless and had battled some drug problems. And as they always seem to do, he had found God in jail and was now pretty religious. I didn't realize just how religious he had become until after we hung out a few times. He was still having problems with a place to stay and was crashing at some old veteran guys place that had no running water. So I felt bad for him and invited him to come over for the weekend and bring any laundry he needed done. I also told him he was more than welcome to have a hot shower and I even fed him. Things were fine until religion came up and I told him that I completely respected his views, but I didn't share in them and I just couldn't make myself believe in any of it. He just looked at me with such a weird cold/sad look and said "Oh. You're one of those Science ones".... It was the strangest thing. This happened later in the evening and I could feel the shift in his whole attitude toward me. He just got really quiet and I told him that if it was going to be a problem to accept my feelings on it, then he was more than welcome to leave. He could just take his laundry and go and it was fine and I totally understood. It wasn't like he was obligated to stay or anything. After that he insisted it was ok, that he was just disappointed. Which I found laughable considering I was being more than generous to him and here he was looking down on me?? To put the icing on the cake, he ended up staying the night and do you know just how Christian he was? He initiated s3x and then literally could NOT leave fast enough that next morning lol! He also didn't text me again which was BEYOND fine with me 🤣🤣 Maybe this wasn't the best thing to share but I just wanted to get it off my chest. It really bothers me yet makes me feel relieved that I majorly dodged a bullet with him. I can't be with a fully grown homeless man who literally still believes in fairytales. But from my experience, Christians seem to be the most judgemental people when tbh I was being more "christian" than he was that night by trying to help him out. So yeah, apparently I'm one of those "science ones". I guess Atheist was just too dirty a word for his godly lips to say. Although he certainly wasn't too Godly in his actions the night before 😂

I gave up religion because the teachings are rooted in fear, guilt, unworthiness, delegating your personal power to some outside force which you have no control over, and constantly being told to strive to be the "perfect person" like Jesus, never being enough as you are. I got sick of it. I've never been happier since letting go of religion. I'm not an atheist, i believe there's some higher power, just not what organized religion teaches.

I sometimes ask believers specifically why I need their god. I tell them belief in their specific god isn't required to live a good life, to help others, to be charitable, to be a productive member of society, to be happy, to be kind, to be financially comfortable, to be grateful, to be physically well conditioned. I am all of these things of my own volition, I just cut out the middle man. They struggle to answer, but with enough pressing it usually just boils down to fear of hell. Or, they try the "that's meaningless without objective purpose blah blah". But usually... hell.

And then there are those of us who grew up with minimal religious exposure, became fundies as adults, and then years later, deconverted.

A person once exposed to the reality of this life can never truly believe in fantasies. It will be just pretending, because deep inside, they are aware that they are believing in nonsense. I don't think it will make them happy, because I know I will not be happy, believing in nonsense.

My family was never religious but my grandmother read the bible to me when I was in kindergarten. I thought it was something like the fairy tales written down by the Grimm brothers. Imagine my surprise when I was told otherwise. At 6, a friend from school said that after death I would be going to hell if I did not believe in God. I answered, if I am dead already then I do not care… I also observed that in conversations about religion the atheists usually do have better arguments. I feel like religion is a crutch we needed for some time during the development of our civilization. But now it does more harm than good.

Imo, It's emotions over facts, or facts over emotions.

16 years of Catholic school and I never bought it. It all just sounded so silly.

For me, the main issue was the hypocrisy of religious people around me. Thus, religion felt more like a political party than anything else.

I've noticed that a lot of Christians have a hard time seeing the world from a different perspective other than Christianity. I don't mean this in a mean way, it's just that often times when I speak to Christians their worldview is very much dictated by their religion. And so for me at a very young age, I was able to see the world from a perspective outside of Christianity whilst I was still a Christian. I was often told that people who follow other religions are lost, but I didn't see it that way. I think that my ability to see outside of the Christian perspective whilst still being a Christian is what eventually led to me becoming an atheist. The avoidance to understand a different perspective I think comes from the fear of being "led a stray".

i was raised catholic. i'd say i "became" an atheist when i realised people ACTUALLY believed in a god that could influence your life and that there was a heaven and hell. i thought it was just a moral philosophy with a bunch of fables to teach people about helping others... i can never see myself believing in god

We’re all born atheists. Then we “choose” the religion that we were told to believe in.

As a Christian, this video was thoughtful and insightful into the notices for religious faith.

I was raised in a conservative religion, but my dad was a scientist and an atheist. My mom had us raised in her church, and my dad agreed and said we could choose what we wanted to do as adults (I had lots of siblings). He was very honest with what he thought, if asked, but he also gave my mom the greatest respect. I was a Christian for over 50 years, and I derived a great deal of positive things: community, comfort. I always had doubts and questions. I lost my faith gradually, and it was a lonely, solitary, and painful process. It was always the question: what is the reality? What is the truth?

🎶It's All about psychology baby🎵

Wow. He just psychoanalyzed my entire life. Oh I hated going to church praying to some guy on a cross. Made no sense. I was in first grade Catholic school. Forced to kneel sit stand pray confess. Confess to what I still don’t know. And that rosary… ugh. Virgin birth… please.

I became an Orthodox Christian and met God in prayer and in the liturgy and I'm eternally grateful. I cannot deny God because I have experienced God's love for many years. His love is an energy which fills me with light, peace and happiness that I can not get from anything or anyone else. I wish every person on earth could experience this. His love changed my life like no human being ever could. I grew up without love, in an abusive family and had it not been for my conversion to the Orthodox Christian faith, I don't know where my life would be. I probably wouldn't be alive. I don't really care much about hell and eternal punishment and in my opinion, most people will be embraced by God's love in the end. Very few people will end up in hell, if anyone at all. God is too good.

How could an all loving, benevolent god allow the existence of Christian Nationalism?

Thanks for making this video. I found it provocative and may rewatch it to more deeply absorb your main points to help me as I reflect on my personal journey with religion to atheist.

My first memories are of my deep interest with the innumerable patterns in pebbles and rocks and I became a dedicated collector of any and all unique rocks and pebbles that were filled with intricate and colorful patterns. I began collecting books and videos about geology. I also grew up in a very devout Southern Baptist family and was only allowed to have friends who were in the youth group in our church. I was taught in Sunday School that our planet was only a few thousand years old. But I had simultaneously learned how rocks and pebbles formed and how much time it took for these rocks and pebbles to form their colorfully complex layers and the information that was being drilled into my head at Sunday School wasn’t in agreement with what we can see with our own eyes about the formation of rocks and the composition of rocks and the layers that these rocks were formed in. So it goes without saying, once I reached the age of reason, I accepted the fact that religion was a human construct, no different from ancient mythologies and was written by people who did not have the information and the technology that we now have today. So to me, the only difference between religion and mythology is that the believers of mythologies are all dead while the believers of religion are still alive.

I'm asked almost weekly, what was the reason I stopped believing in Christianity. There are so many reasons why I left Christianity that I would have to write a book, to give all the reasons why I stopped believing. If I had to sum it all up in one word, it would be 'Reality.' Christianity has no basis in reality. Allegorical, subjective stories. The reason I believed in the first place? There was nothing else... till now. NDE'S, regression therapy (Reincarnation) Paranormal. It really is a new age and not the Dark Ages any longer.

I am Muslim. I had doubts. Then i had deeper doubts about religion. After years of researching I am back to Islam. But this time got there with a totally different understanding of religion. One example: Although i am Muslim, yet i think that even christianity hinduism Judaism are sound. And believe me it is not so much superficial as it may seem to a college level student.

I'd like a deep dive into the psychology that is applied to get someone to believe religious claims. Coercion, hypnosis techniques, emotional manipulation. Things like that.

It proves that the muslims who say that ex-muslims "leave Islam for emotional reasons" are just horribly wrong

A study should also be done on how some people can leave ALCOHOL while others can't.

I was raised in a strict religion and there were always things I didn't understand. But taking phycology and critical thinking helped me see the inconsistencies in what I was taught. Taking world religions and then a class on cults sealed the deal for me. I'm too honest to pretend to believe in something that I don't think makes sense. A lot of the things I was taught contradicts studies, research and science. So yeah, logic was the basis of my deconversion.

This is exactly what I told my parents as a teen. How can you possibly believe this book and its glaring contradictions?

Some would say young people move away from religion because they want to do things their religion says are wrong, "sinful." It's probable many young adults who choose to aschew their faith on the basis that "biblical stories are illogical" actually just want to commit any number of acts they were taught were sinful. Another issue is there are few good religious teachers, too many members of the clergy are ill-equipped to teach adults, let alone children, and intersperse their own interpretations of scripture to make it fit their personal needs or use biblical "rules" as a way to control parishioners rather than inspire them. Nothing sends people away from the church faster than hypocrisy and cherry-picked Bible verses used to further a personal agenda.

Hardship and trauma turn atheists into Christians and Christians into atheists. For me, it was the latter, though many other things got me to convert.

I grew up mostly secular/non-religious but as I studied astronomy and science, I came to realize, personally, not emotionally or socially, that God is real and does exist and has visited and spoken to people throughout human history, and created all. The thought that trillions of stars and planets came into existence from absolutely nothing, was mind bending and insane, but to think most religions are true, is just as insane.

As a 15 year old teenager whose parents are Christian,buddisht,hindu,Donyi poloist I was a confused child and still now as a teenager I cannot decide which god should I lean on to but due to this omnist view by my parents I view god as an energy,a viewpoint or a deep psychology."knowing God" for me is knowing oneself. For me religion is a channel , an external way to connect with oneself and our conscience and unconsciousness .I still dont get religion but maybe in the far future when I am a grown adult I will learn or maybe not? Maybe i will turn an athiest? Am i already an atheist?

I was religious because i liked how it made me feel. The emotionality of really good religion kept me coming back. I would seek religion elsewhere or other religion when my emotionally needs weren't being met. I deconverted from religion when i realized i was willingly allowing myself to be manipulated into a world view i didn't believe, just to keep hitting that emotional high.

There have been about 3,000 religions. Which one is right?

Security, joy, purpose, self-discipline, fellowship, love: none of these require belief in superstitious nonsense.

This is such good content! Thank you for your work!

This was a great video and I agree. Most (not all) of the the religious people I know are dealing with some sort of trauma

We are in fact spiritual beings having a temporary human experience. We are born in a state of unity and Oneness with ourselves, our Mother, Nature, and G-d. Then the ego begins to develop around 2-3 years old. As we are forced into society around 5 years old when we are put in school, we quickly learn that our instincts, emotions, and feelings are not welcome in our spiritually dead society. We learn to repress our energies. In doing so, we create the unconscious mind and we simultaneously block ourselves off from the Divine spark located deep inside the heart. This is why most people don't know they are cosmic spiritual beings. The Core Self or Soul is frozen and dormant in most people. A lengthy and arduous process of Self Realization reunites the ego with its Source...with its own Soul Core. Everyone is evolving and is at a different level of consciousness. People at the lowest level of consciousness gravitate to religious myths to give them a sense of meaning. An atheist is a little bit more evolved in that they have reached the rational level of consciousness. A Self Realized person is much more highly evolved than everyone else. Yet Self Realization is not the end...but a new beginning.

I think, every dead person that you see, every funeral that you attend, you see your own future. You "live" your own dead when you see people dying. That freaks the shit out of people. Religions claim to have a solution for that. Even if you think there's a possibility that the afterlife is just bullshit you go along with it, because it gives consolation.

I've done both, so this makes sense.

Most atheists were also subjected to a lot of bullying, abuse, and trauma from religious people/ groups.

I came into being through my father and mother, I have lived and experienced many things and my life is coming to a close. I have no recollection of a life before my birth therefore I cannot conceive another life after my death.

Every one of us is born without programs. Religion is a program. Religion is one that is put in our heads as we're growing up.

I was a lonely individual that thought very logically about what I believed and what others believe. Spent nearly a decade self-studying religion, philosophy and psychology. I knew that being comfortable wasn't necessarily an indicator of being correct. I didn't want my emotions to led me to something that wasn't true. It was logic and reason that led me to become a follower of Christ.

Even as a small child it really worried me that adults seemed to really believe these biblical stories. It kind of freaked me out right from the start. The idea that a man was ready to kill his son because of a magic bush and a voice in the sky (or his head), and only stopped when the voice said it was just testing him seemed absolutely nuts. Then they let you know it was God making his first appearance in ages. I sort of worried what would happen if this God voice decided to test my dad. All of it... making everything in 6 days, making eve from a rib, evil snake story, staff turning to a snake, river parting, calling down plagues, all sorts of lights in the sky, resurrection of the dead, some friends thought God had one part but others thought 3... I was always just dumbfounded that they believed in it all.

It’s so sad to see so many of you lost , I pray that God will reveal himself to you one day, I really do

It seems they didn’t really go into much of the converted atheist. For me I’ve gone back and forth, specifically my conversion was based on what I perceived as a miracle. As well as realizing that fundamental principles of Christianity are true. It had nothing to do with joining a social group/being influenced by someone.

Our story begins: "In the beginning, a male Hebrew god named Yahweh who always existed, created the heavens and the earth out of nothing." We know this is true because it says so in the book that we are reading. If you don't believe this god exists outside the pages of this man made book then eternal damnation awaits you.

Not atheist but not religious either, spiritually enlightened

Those that apply logic and science and reason to religion, of course, will find fault in their religion. Sciences, understanding the physical world. religion is for understanding the metaphysical world.

This is a topic that is beyond our human capacity to comprehend. Fundamentally religion is a revelatory transcendent gratitude in existence and of being itself “I am that I am”. If you contemplate the countless tragedies that beset our societies you can find its root in the loss of genuine connection and reverence to the transcendent greatest good.

As you said, truth and integrity. It's that simple. Even if I wished I was a believer, I understand that it's bullshit and that can't just be stuffed away into the depths of my subconscious.

Emotions pure and simple

i was confirmed and two weeks later told my mom i didn't believe and wasn't going to church anymore. a week later she told me the same.

I’m glad my family never taught me about Christianity, she didn’t believe in it herself, instead my mom taught me about spirituality, ancient practices, the roots of where Christmas actually came from, sometimes she did reference the bible because the stories do teach lessons but she never made be believe in Jesus, I’m fully spiritual now and believe in something greater than us, an energy, maybe it’s the universe or maybe something bigger, I thank the universe instead of god and some of my friends thought I was crazy, but I found my spiritual friends now and I really learn more about spirituality every single day.

Atheist is just a meaningless name given by the religious to those that hold their faith in reality. Just because one does not subscribe to a Deity, prophets and doctrine, does not imply the person does not have a spiritual faith.

Or put more simply: Everyone is born on "The Brain Train" eager to learn about the world we live in. Some find it too hard and jump off the train in favour of believing it was all done by an omni-absent magician. That avoids all that tedious learning stuff!

Wish some studies would be specifically on other religions that christianity too

As an amazing believer, I think a false understanding of the Bible, especially a fundamentalist reading of religion, is indeed a driving cause for amazing atheists. For me, having moved from a confirmed Atheist to believer, it was studying the Bible within its ancient near East history and culture and well as learning about literary genres and features, that has helped me to understand the Bible in particular, on its own terms. In this way, the Bible becomes alive with meaning that makes sense. Ironically both atheist's and fundamentalists, in my view, make the same mistake is literalistically reading scripture. This video focused on amazing atheists, I'd love to hear more about the study on amazing believers. Certainly my spiritual awakening had nothing to do with a need for community though I do think this a good thing. I also agree that believing isn't a wholly rationalistic process but it's not irrational either.

How can a god be strong if it needs my faith for its own existence? Does that not show that gods only exist within your mind? If you are ruled by fear, is that not coercion? Is your faith not vanity? Do you ask "how can it be if not for superstition"? The mystery itself is the doorway to all understanding. When superstition closes the door, then truth and understanding can never be found. We live in a natural world. Not a supernatural one. The existence of something is not evidence of anything other than its existence. The natural world existed long before man created the superstitions. I do not follow gods as I have no need for them. I believe in those things that I am able to observe. I have knowledge of them. How can superstition be knowledge? Is it not a source of contention?

I really like the term "moment of truth". I remember when it happened to me. My de-conversion was relatively quick, lasting only about 5 or 6 months. But when the moment of truth hit, boy did I feel it 😂. It feels like getting a bucket of water splashed onto your face while you're sleeping.

I was an evangelical Christian years ago. Also gay. I left because it just didn't work for me anymore; my life miserable. I also had a couple of spiritual experiences and experiences with the Divine that were not like my religion told me. So it was both for me: emotional and the search for truth. I'm still on that journey. Wouldn't have missed it for the world. ❤

I cannot live a lie. The most massive lie is religion. It was a slow process but I realized it by age 14, Amazing aren't I? The truth set me free.

I was raised seven day Adventist and the house of cards came tumbling down the moment I dated a Muslim girl. How can I say she was wrong and I was right so I went searching for answers until I realize there was no empirical evidence for Christianity. Nine years later, I am looking forward to joining the Catholic Church in full communion. My protestant upbringing was not sufficient. I needed the whole truth of Christianity to stimulate my insight and to move my will. Christus Rex ☦️

I would fit into this "amazing apostate" category and everything here resonates with my experiences.

I was raised without religion but i always really really wanted to be a devout Christian. In started attending church and studying the Bible, but when confronted with the horrors of real life i came to the only conclusion i could. There is no god. I can't unlearn that, and i can never go back no matter how badly i may sometimes want to.

People who left religion were in it for years/decades.. So we already know what it’s all about.. People coming in are new so they have no idea on how it really is…But eventually they’ll find out in due time..

All you need to do is look at the stock market to realize people are irrational.