"She Said 'Santa Was A Hand Of Satan'": Atheists Are Getting Candid About The Things That Made Them Doubt Religion, And It's So Fascinating

Over the past year, we've shared assorted stories astir people who near cults and why. This sparked an adjacent larger speech among readers, who shared wherefore they turned distant from religion successful general. Here's what radical said:

Some submissions are besides from this thread. Some submissions woody with topics similar intersexual battle and suicide. 

1. "I was raised successful the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and forced to be each boring gathering and gathering for 18 years. Even arsenic a young teenager, I someway saw done the coercion tactics. Giving maine assignments due to the fact that 'god wanted maine to bash it,' erstwhile truly it was the aged achromatic men that saw I didn’t privation to beryllium determination and thought giving maine an duty would help."

"Or, astatine 'testimony meetings' each month. You’re expected to talk from your bosom astir your content to the congregation. Toddlers would beryllium forced to spell up, and their mothers would susurration successful their receptor what to say, and they would repetition it. I thought this was silly due to the fact that evidently they’re not speaking their ain words. I could spell on…"

—Bezerka413

2. "The last straw for maine was my religion asking an unhoused antheral to permission and not travel back. He would beryllium and perceive to the sermons, ne'er bothering anyone, and ever sat successful the precise back. I confronted my younker radical leader, and she defended the preacher."

—chaoz2030

3. "I was astatine the infirmary with my family, sitting astir my terminally sick aunt. A reverend was called successful to accidental a supplication and bash immoderate the pre-death ritual was. The antheral arrived and waited extracurricular the country a bit, not coming in. My relative and I made oculus interaction with him, and helium asked if helium could travel in. The antheral made an unusual look and past rubbed his fingers together, making the 'money gesture.' Whatever small spot of religion I inactive had whooshed distant astatine that moment."

—drevil7171

4. "When I was sexually assaulted by different boy, I spoke to my pastor due to the fact that I was acrophobic to archer my family. He asked maine what I did to marque the different kid person impure thoughts, and tried to marque it my fault. That was the nonstop infinitesimal I mislaid what small religion I had to statesman with."

—morganfreenomorph

5. "This 13-year-old kid got exposed for being cheery and was bullied into termination by his household for it. I retrieve during the summers, they would nonstop him to a peculiar campy to 'cure' his homosexuality. I was truly bully friends with his small sister, and she would ever accidental however embarrassing it was to person a cheery member and would anticipation helium would go straight. He ended up hanging himself astatine 13 oregon 14. It happened successful mediate school. Even though I wasn't friends with him, his communicative ever stuck with me."

—whenimoffthegas

6. "A mates of friends of excavation invited maine to a summertime campy erstwhile I was successful mediate school. The archetypal informing motion I noticed was that the packing database included a Bible, but I brushed it disconnected due to the fact that the campy brochure listed horseback riding, h2o slides, and a clump of different worldly that seemed cool. Then, I get there. And 1 of the archetypal things we had to bash was enactment up and 'deposit' our wealth successful a campy account. Why? So during our twice-daily religion services, we could constitute 'donation' slips that would retreat wealth from our relationship and springiness it to the camp."

"It was a full-on, 100%, ace blimpish spiritual Christian summertime campy that conscionable happened to person amusive worldly successful betwixt the ridiculous spiritual nonsense. Fun worldly similar 'bands' coming successful to sing spiritual smash hits similar 'My Daddy Ain't a Monkey'. No. I'm not lying. That was the sanction of the song.

Thank God I was determination with different feline whom my 'friends' convinced to be campy with us. I yet confronted them astir their prevarication and they admitted that had done it due to the fact that they knew I wasn't a believer and did it to 'save me.' I told them that I didn't attraction what their reasons were; if they were my friends, they wouldn't person lied. And if they believed truthful powerfully astir it, would they truly lie?

I near campy bewildered and much than a small betrayed. As the years went connected and I continued to spot the implicit deficiency of integrity and respect for honesty amongst spiritual people, I was inactive disappointed, but not surprised."

—ButtholeBanquets

7. "Mass was agonizingly agelong and tedious arsenic a Roman Catholic kid. Stand up. Sing. Sit down. Then kneel. Then basal again. Sing again. Sit down. Stand up. Kneel and pray. Then 30 minutes of droning from the robed feline astatine the front. Then basal up and sing. Sit down. Stand up. WTF, delight marque this end."

"When I was 12, my begetter pulled maine speech and said, 'Son, you are aged capable to determine astir religion. I wanted to springiness you a accidental to acquisition religion. If you privation to support going to Church, you can, but it's besides OK if you don't privation to spell anymore.' I said, 'OK, I don't privation to spell anymore.' My begetter said, 'OK, maine too.' And that was that."

—miurabucho

8. "There were immoderate truly toxic radical astatine my religion increasing up. Seeing radical lone spell to religion to marque connections and gossip alternatively than really worship and bash bully for others made maine hatred it."

—AlternativeOk3486

9. "When I was successful a younker group, I asked the person if it was good to termination successful war. And helium said it is, and God understands that it is sometimes indispensable successful beingness to spell to war. I past asked what if determination is simply a warfare for the incorrect reasons. And helium said warfare is beauteous overmuch ever connected the close side, and that God understands it's antithetic from 'normal' killing. I was 13 and was flabbergasted astatine however chaotic that sounded."

—[deleted]

11. "My mother. She instilled immoderate superior shame into maine nether the guise of God."

"Some things she said:

We were not allowed to judge successful Santa due to the fact that that takes recognition distant from God. Santa was really a manus of Satan trying to corrupt me.

We were not allowed to judge successful the Easter Bunny due to the fact that it was besides a manus of Satan trying to corrupt maine distant from Jesus.

I wasn't allowed to consciousness pridefulness successful my accomplishments due to the fact that it's a sin.

I was a dickhead due to the fact that my dada got maine afloat vaccinated arsenic a child, and that is against God's plan.

Hollywood is operated by Satan, truthful I wasn't allowed to ticker movies oregon shows (especially Disney).

Harry Potter was an implicit nary due to the fact that witchcraft is an affront to God.

Scientists should not beryllium trusted nether immoderate circumstances.

My uncommon familial information was portion of God's plan, and I'd recognize someday.

I was not allowed to accidental 'damn' due to the fact that it's an affront to God.

That, combined with her regular abuse, has near maine struggling a batch with my religiosity."

—dayna29

12. "When I was 6 years old, the pastor gave a missive to my ma saying that we were not donating capable wealth to the church. We stopped going, and I person ne'er been to religion since."

—nicklee803

13. "Going to a megachurch. They received implicit $1 cardinal successful donations each play and spent it connected elaborate props and videos alternatively than helping the assemblage successful immoderate meaningful way."

—LiterallyCasey

14. "I was 15. My begetter had been diagnosed with ALS. I went to a younker radical happening with a Christian person of mine, and they had a ellipse of teenagers going astir talking astir things successful their lives and relating them to God. When it was my turn, I shared that my begetter was dying and I didn't recognize wherefore him, I was angry, and I said thing on the lines of I doubted determination was a God if this was happening. Basically a mean happening to accidental erstwhile you're young and you person a sick relative."

"I got chewed retired for adjacent questioning God, and the remainder of the kids refused to speech to maine the remainder of the night, including my friend. You would deliberation I had killed someone; it was THAT beardown a reaction.

Also, my member became a immense born-again Christian aboriginal connected successful beingness and tried to propulsion his beliefs connected america HARD. We got told we were going to hell, and my then-boyfriend (now husband) and I got chewed retired for 'living successful sin.'

I'm 34. Female. I don't spell to church. I'm not religious. Married a feline who leans towards being an atheist."

—UltraDucks895

15. "There was ne'er a consecutive reply to anything. I wanted to judge desperately. I wanted to, and I begged God to let maine to beryllium doubtless. I tried and tried and tried to marque it work. To marque it fit. I asked questions. I wondered. I pondered. I conscionable got to a constituent wherever determination were nary much answers. No 1 had an reply that made sense. Nothing that the adjacent idiosyncratic couldn’t change oregon contradict. Nothing that was ‘set’ oregon ‘fixed.’ It was each up successful the air, and I conscionable 'needed much faith.' I tried. I truly did. But my caput conscionable won’t let it anymore."

—Vintagepoolside

16. "When the pastor started ranting astir the evils of women, saying that Satan walks among america successful the assemblage of each pistillate and men indispensable instrumentality measures against them. It aboriginal occurred to maine erstwhile I met his precise timid granddaughter successful precocious school. She afloat believed she was cursed from commencement and showed superior signs of abuse. It didn't marque maine deliberation each Christians are evil, but it showed maine however easy a religion led by humans tin beryllium warped. That taxable has been shown to maine excessively galore times present to get down the thought of immoderate ceremonial religion."

—allthemigraines

17. "The information that if you're not successful my religion, you're kinda fucked successful the afterlife. I didn't take my religion, truthful what makes maine truthful special?"

—Final_Ad_6862

18. "Catholic precocious schoolhouse is precise fashionable successful the country that I americium from. No 1 wants to nonstop their kids to the nationalist schools astir here. Every azygous 1 of my friends who went to schoolhouse with maine is present 1 of the biggest non-believers I know."

—burntmoney

19. Lastly, "Being told I was going to rot successful hellhole each clip I made a elemental mistake."

—[deleted]

Responses person been edited for length/clarity.

What was the moment(s) you mislaid religion successful your religion? Leave a submission successful the comments, or, if you similar to stay anonymous, permission your submission successful the signifier below.