Happy Atheist Forum

Religion => Religion => Topic started by: CHI83 on July 13, 2011, 06:34:09 PM

Title: What was your former religion?
Post by: CHI83 on July 13, 2011, 06:34:09 PM
Yea this is pretty self explanatory.
Title: Re: What was your former religion?
Post by: Davin on July 13, 2011, 06:52:47 PM
Can't select more than one? I started as a Christian then I was Wiccan for a few years and then I stopped believing altogether because I found no useful purpose for belief and several ways belief hinders a person.
Title: Re: What was your former religion?
Post by: Tank on July 13, 2011, 07:15:21 PM
Was brought up in a mild form of Christianity by my mum but my dad was an atheist (although I never recall him saying as much). None of the superstitious stuff stuck, although I played along to go to the youth club, as there were girls there, a few of whom I managed to corrupt :)

EDIT

While at Richard Dawkins Forum there was a similar poll and the atheist population on that forum was split 50/50 ex-theists / never-theists. Of the ex-theists 60% had been Catholic. I think that the most likely group to produce atheists relative to the total population was Jehovah Witnesses and loads of JW's were atheists but would not say because of the shunning that would happen.
Title: Re: What was your former religion?
Post by: xSilverPhinx on July 13, 2011, 07:21:17 PM
Never had any religion, though as a child I accepted that there was a creator for a creation. Pure god of the gaps, though.

I wouldn't say that I had a deist phase, though.

Title: Re: What was your former religion?
Post by: Crow on July 13, 2011, 08:03:09 PM
Was told I was a christian by certain family members and family friends as a child but I thought it was a crock of shit. So never really had a religion even though others tried to impose it.
Title: Re: What was your former religion?
Post by: Gawen on July 14, 2011, 12:00:54 AM
Protestant - Presbyterian.
Title: Re: What was your former religion?
Post by: MariaEvri on July 14, 2011, 07:07:26 PM
i grew up in an orthodox country
Title: Re: What was your former religion?
Post by: fester30 on July 14, 2011, 07:23:13 PM
Quote from: Tank on July 13, 2011, 07:15:21 PM
Was brought up in a mild form of Christianity by my mum but my dad was an atheist (although I never recall him saying as much). None of the superstitious stuff stuck, although I played along to go to the youth club, as there were girls there, a few of whom I managed to corrupt :)

EDIT

While at Richard Dawkins Forum there was a similar poll and the atheist population on that forum was split 50/50 ex-theists / never-theists. Of the ex-theists 60% had been Catholic. I think that the most likely group to produce atheists relative to the total population was Jehovah Witnesses and loads of JW's were atheists but would not say because of the shunning that would happen.

Well since there have already been 144,000 Jehovah's Witnesses there isn't much incentive to sticking around, I guess.
Title: Re: What was your former religion?
Post by: Tank on July 14, 2011, 08:29:36 PM
Quote from: fester30 on July 14, 2011, 07:23:13 PM
Quote from: Tank on July 13, 2011, 07:15:21 PM
Was brought up in a mild form of Christianity by my mum but my dad was an atheist (although I never recall him saying as much). None of the superstitious stuff stuck, although I played along to go to the youth club, as there were girls there, a few of whom I managed to corrupt :)

EDIT

While at Richard Dawkins Forum there was a similar poll and the atheist population on that forum was split 50/50 ex-theists / never-theists. Of the ex-theists 60% had been Catholic. I think that the most likely group to produce atheists relative to the total population was Jehovah Witnesses and loads of JW's were atheists but would not say because of the shunning that would happen.

Well since there have already been 144,000 Jehovah's Witnesses there isn't much incentive to sticking around, I guess.
And it wasn't just lay members, I recall at least 4 elders 'fessing up that they were 'in the closet atheists'.
Title: Re: What was your former religion?
Post by: ThinkAnarchy on July 15, 2011, 02:48:46 AM
Roman Catholic is the church I grew up in.
Title: Re: What was your former religion?
Post by: Medusa on July 15, 2011, 09:47:29 PM
I was raised in a very Hispanic Catholic family. My mother specifically and her family and my father's family (minus my father) While she had me attending Catechism he was a bit different. I was sent to a Jehovah Witness church for bible study. My neighbors were Pagan and the other ones were Indian. My best friend was Lutheran. After my father died (I was 11) I stopped going to church. My brother tried to convert me (he's a Baptist minister) I dabbled a few teenaged years in Wicca and Pagan. Finally found my Grandmother's cleaning lady was a Santerian. She taught me about the darker arts. And I eventually found a Satanic grotto to join at the age of 15. In all those incantations I was always a non believer of any deity. I've been a Satanist from the age of 15 to now going on 40.
Title: Re: What was your former religion?
Post by: Asmodean on July 18, 2011, 04:32:18 PM
Hmm... Let's see... There were those pastafarian years and then I used to worship meself for a while and... Oh wait! I still kinda' do...  ::)

To be a bit serious though, born atheist. Never changed.
Title: Re: What was your former religion?
Post by: Hidelight on July 18, 2011, 07:16:22 PM
born agnostic became an athiest when I was old enough to realize that being agnostic was kind of not making sense to me
Title: Re: What was your former religion?
Post by: Sweetdeath on July 19, 2011, 07:34:53 AM
I never really considered myself religious, but I suppose I became pretty obsessed with buddhism for half a decade.

I just got sick of so many cult like, close minded thinking, especially with catholics. A lot-- like 90%-- of people in my area are catholic, and judge so harshly, it makes me sick.
Title: Re: What was your former religion?
Post by: roy1967 on July 21, 2011, 06:23:38 PM
Methodist.

Looking back I now think I liked it because it was the most laid back, non judgmental denomination. Liberal, if you will.  Yet, a load of crap all the same.
Title: Re: What was your former religion?
Post by: Too Few Lions on July 22, 2011, 12:25:12 PM
never had one thankfully, though I've always had a soft spot for Mithras. Think the closest I've ever come to religion is being a bit of a  Sun worshipper!