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I grew up in a pretty strict Catholic household but when it came time to make my own decision about whether or not I’d still go to church, I just decided to walk away.
I can’t put my finger on it, but it just never clicked for me.
But everyone has their own story when it comes to their faith.
What ruined religion for you?
AskReddit users shared their thoughts.
1. Mega-millions.
“Going to a megachurch.
They got over $1 million in donations every weekend and spent it on elaborate props and videos rather than helping the community in any meaningful way.”
2. Rollin’ with it.
“A friend of mine got me to tag along to mass one day in college. I was raised with the somber d**th march that is Roman Catholicism.
My friend walked me into what looked like a reclaimed and refurbished warehouse, huge and full of people. Two bands, a stage, not an altar.
They had a commercial break for Expo erasable markers in the middle of it. I couldn’t understand how everyone just rolled with it.”
3. Show me the money.
“When I was 6 years old, the pastor gave a letter to my aunt to give to my mom saying that we were not donating enough money to the church.
So we stopped going, and I have never been to church since.”
4. Big mistake!
“Being kicked out of Christian school prior to the third grade because my mom bought the wrong edition of the Bible.”
5. Evil women.
“When the pastor started ranting about the evils of women, saying that Satan walks among us in the body of every female, and men must take measures against them. It was later enforced in my mind when I met his very timid granddaughter in high school.
She fully believed she was cursed from birth and showed serious signs of a**se. It didn’t make me think all Christians are evil, but it showed me how easily a religion led by humans can be warped. That theme has been shown to me too many times now to get behind the idea of any formal religion.”
6. Awful.
“Being told that being s**ually a**sed as a child was a good thing as God needed to teach me a lesson on hubris and ego.
I should accept it as a lesson and be better so I wouldn’t fall into the clutches of the devil. I was 7.
Apparently, I was asking for it.”
7. Icky people.
“There is this really popular Christian radio station my parents listened to when I was younger, and when the hosts were talking about some Christian gathering, they referred to non-believers as ‘icky people.’
I was so annoyed. At the time, I was still religious and kept thinking, what if someone who didn’t believe was checking this out for the first time?
I am very much not religious now, but back then, it really opened my eyes to how sh**ty people were.”
8. Dumb.
“The non-answers to all my questions as a kid.
‘You just have to have faith’ is a dumb way to respond to an inquisitive mind.”
9. Thanks, Mom.
“My mother. She instilled some serious shame into me under the guise of God. Some things she said:
—Not allowed to believe in Santa because that takes credit away from God. Santa was actually a hand of Satan trying to corrupt me.
—Not allowed to believe in the Easter Bunny because it was also a hand of Satan trying to corrupt me away from Jesus.
—I wasn’t allowed to feel pride in my accomplishments because it’s a sin.
—I was a d**khead because my dad got me fully vaccinated as a child and that is against God’s plan.
—Hollywood is operated by Satan, so I wasn’t allowed to watch movies or shows (especially Disney).
—Harry Potter was an absolute no because witchcraft is an affront to God.
—Scientists should not be trusted under any circumstances.
—My rare genetic condition was part of God’s plan and I’d understand some day.
—Not allowed to say ‘d**n’ because it’s an affront to God.
That combined with her regular, not-religious a**se has left me struggling a lot with my religiosity.”
10. Don’t question it.
“I was 15. My father had been diagnosed with ALS.
I had gone to a youth group thing with a Christian friend of mine, and they had a circle of teenagers going around talking about things going on in their lives and relating it to God. When it was my turn, I shared that my father was dying, and I didn’t understand why him.
I was angry, and I said something along the lines of I doubted there was a God if this was happening. Basically a normal thing to say when you’re young and you have a sick relative.
I got chewed out for even questioning God, and the rest of the kids refused to talk to me the rest of the night, including my friend. You would think I had killed someone; it was THAT strong of a reaction.”
11. Oops.
“The fact that if you’re not in my religion, you’re kinda f**ked in the afterlife.
I didn’t choose my religion, so what makes me so special?”
12. Heathens!
“When I was in the third grade, my best friend was Indian and Hindu.
My aunt said she would pray for him and his heathen family, and that was enough for me to turn away from religion early.
It was only reinforced with time.”
What do you think about this?
Let us know in the comments.
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