Same. Catechism as a teenager was the final nail in the coffin of a fast fading belief in what I’d been indoctrinated into as a child. I had an excellent pastor who didn’t just swat my questions aside with “because God said so”, he actively encouraged question and discussed deep philosophical/theological topics, acknowledging that Christianity is an ongoing development. Instead of biblical literalism he was honest that it’s a religion that has been developed over centuries, with some tangents that died out/were suppressed while others won out, and post-Protestantism has fractured into a myriad of interpretations.
What broke my belief was that my church taught unbaptised babies who died went straight to hell. No middle ground, no “get into heaven free” card because they have no control over whether that happened or not, just “Original Sin” damns you. I told him I couldn’t in good faith be confirmed into a belief that supports such an idea, and if that really was how God treated people, I had no interest in being loyal to that God. When my pastor told me he didn’t really believe that either but still chose to be a representative of that religion I was done. Like, you don’t even believe the shit you’re endorsing but you endorse it and repeat it anyway? What else about this system do you think is bs but push anyway?
Now I’m more of an indifferent agnostic. I can’t with 100% certainty “know” there’s not some other beings out there that exist outside my understanding of existence, but I am 100% certain that if there are their existence has no bearing on my daily life, my morality, nor do they have any noticeable influence over humanity. The human made religions about these imaginary beings that may or may not exist, those have considerable influence over how humans interact, but they’re still humans even if they think imaginary until proven otherwise beings have got their back.
Same. Catechism as a teenager was the final nail in the coffin of a fast fading belief in what I’d been indoctrinated into as a child. I had an excellent pastor who didn’t just swat my questions aside with “because God said so”, he actively encouraged question and discussed deep philosophical/theological topics, acknowledging that Christianity is an ongoing development. Instead of biblical literalism he was honest that it’s a religion that has been developed over centuries, with some tangents that died out/were suppressed while others won out, and post-Protestantism has fractured into a myriad of interpretations.
What broke my belief was that my church taught unbaptised babies who died went straight to hell. No middle ground, no “get into heaven free” card because they have no control over whether that happened or not, just “Original Sin” damns you. I told him I couldn’t in good faith be confirmed into a belief that supports such an idea, and if that really was how God treated people, I had no interest in being loyal to that God. When my pastor told me he didn’t really believe that either but still chose to be a representative of that religion I was done. Like, you don’t even believe the shit you’re endorsing but you endorse it and repeat it anyway? What else about this system do you think is bs but push anyway?
Now I’m more of an indifferent agnostic. I can’t with 100% certainty “know” there’s not some other beings out there that exist outside my understanding of existence, but I am 100% certain that if there are their existence has no bearing on my daily life, my morality, nor do they have any noticeable influence over humanity. The human made religions about these imaginary beings that may or may not exist, those have considerable influence over how humans interact, but they’re still humans even if they think imaginary until proven otherwise beings have got their back.