Losing your religion?

PH01

Following on from "Losing your virginity" and in the words of REM, when did you lose your religion?
I lost mine at 14

It'll be funny if the trends match up...

Blisterman

Who says everyone has lost their religion?

PH01

Blisterman wrote:

Who says everyone has lost their religion?

That's true b'man. Then the answer is never.

THEZAPPA

i lost mine when i was born!

i never believed in religion

Rb

When I was 16 with my girlfriend in her parents bed...and i don't regret a thing

Blisterman

PH01 wrote:

That's true b'man. Then the answer is never.

Sorry, posted that before the poll came up.

Le Rack

I hate religion, I'll have respect for those who believe in it but as far as I can see it's been one of the main factors in a lot of world troubles through the ages.

THEZAPPA

Le Rack wrote:

I hate religion, I'll have respect for those who believe in it but as far as I can see it's been one of the main factors in a lot of world troubles through the ages.

i agree with you there,that is how i feel about it!

Le Rack

Woot, someone who agrees with me! Usually people don't!

THEZAPPA

Le Rack wrote:

Woot, someone who agrees with me! Usually people don't!

yeh i agree with you!

and no one i know agrees with me!

i didnt do religion in school! my teacher hated me for it!

joejoem

Id say I started to loose it earlier, but christianity became a sham to me at 16

Kinetic^

Its plays no part in my life, no need for it to either. I go to mass every christmas eve with my mother and thats the only time i frequent a church unless i've a funeral or wedding to go to.

THEZAPPA

i never go to church!

the last time i was in chyrch was 7 years ago!

Le Rack

THEZAPPA wrote:

yeh i agree with you!

and no one i know agrees with me!

i didnt do religion in school! my teacher hated me for it!

ooh, I made a perfectly plausable theory that God is evil and the teachers went mad over it, we had a few subs, and now the teacher always seeks my opinion for absolutely anything in class, its so funny, I always get big heated debates going!

Naos

Le Rack wrote:

Woot, someone who agrees with me! Usually people don't!

What a complete load of nonsense. A lot of people have the exact same sentiments towards religion, so your opinion is neither unique nor original.

As for the OPs poll, I voted on "15". Although I cant remember when I lost it exactly, I figure it to be around that time, due to fact I had the 'big JC' coming up and assumed someone had to be mocking me with the coincidental title initals of this exam with that of aul JC himself and the impending doom of being a failure to life(ie hell)

Therefore, based on that outstanding evidence, I can conclude that religion was founded by a group of PE teachers who had got no respect in the teaching trade and instead insisted on creating this new subject which was 'open' to debate and so one would have to have a high intellect and profound knowledge in philosophy.

THEZAPPA

Le Rack wrote:

ooh, I made a perfectly plausable theory that God is evil and the teachers went mad over it, we had a few subs, and now the teacher always seeks my opinion for absolutely anything in class, its so funny, I always get big heated debates going!

ha,i just never did anything in class and the teacher said im better off not doing religion!
so i got to do my homework in class!
but the teacher always looked at me like i was evil and like she felt sorry for me!

R0ot

Lost my religon when i was 12, regained christianity when i was 18

Le Rack

Mear wrote:

What a complete load of nonsense. A lot of people have the exact same sentiments towards religion, so your opinion is neither unique nor original.

Oh go bollocks yourself, Anyone I ever say that to doesn't agree with me even though I know other people feel the same. I never said my opinion was unique or original just that ew to no one agrees with me when I say it.

joejoem

The last time I was in a church was for a friends fathers rememberance mass, I spent the whole time in disgust listening to what the priest was saying. He was talking about how bad the parish was, that they hadnt given enough money up in collection. There was a further section about how we have to go out and save homosexuals and people who let there marriage fall apart. I felt like giving him the finger and walking out.


In case this sounds made up, its not, my first time in a church in years, I even hate the idea of going to a wedding.

IceHawk

Soon after I started secondary school. I think it's just part of a trend in this country, though. My parents never went to mass, so neither did I. The only exposure to organised religion was at school. All my grandparents were religious, so I'd say if I spent more time with them I'd have held onto the church for longer.

Does anybody else sort of envy religious people their faith? They believe in a divine plan and honestly believe everything will work out for the best. I try to be optimistic, but can't compete with some people's blind belief.

Sleepy

I haven't even founded my religion yet so there's no way I could have lost it yet thank you very much!

If you're talking about Christianity I don't think I ever believed in it. Going to mass was just a boring thing we did on a Sunday morning that made me miss my cartoons... Thank feck my parents were cool with me not going once I explained I didn't believe in God when I was about 11/12.

Nowadays I go to midnight mass with my mother at Christmas and I'll go to a funeral or wedding in a church but I'd never receive communion as I feel it'd be very disrespectful to those around me. Can be a good place to zone out and do some thinking though...

Kazaanova

As a child I used to have a warm, kinda safe faith that there was somebody watching over all of us, guiding us and making good things happen sometime. And that when a loved one died they went somewhere, and when you die you went with them.

Then they started teaching us religion in school. I'll be an atheist untill I die. Even if I did believe in a god, I'd be an atheist just out of spite at the catholic religion. But honestly, I am an atheist, and its not out of spite.

Viscosity

I spoke to our local priest about people turning away from the church and he didn't seem to mind an awful lot. His take on it was that anyone who goes to mass nowadays actually wants to go and not just to keep up appearances.

I can see it leading to other problems with a lack of undenominational schools in most areas though.

larryone

I think I was about 17 when I stopped believing in organised religion. It just didnt seem to make any sense when I thought about it. But slowly over the past while, I've been thinking more and more about existance, and eventually got the opertunity to learn about pagan philosophies and ideas through some friends of mine. Any pagan stuff I've heard/read about just makes so much more sense to me than what the Catholic Church spout out...
I didnt lose religion - I dumped it.
I still have faith.

ando

I stopped going to church when I was about 16 or early 17, I would have stopped earlier if my parents didnt force me to go. It was the same with a few of my friends. But in all honesty, I believe when people get older they will flock back to the church and religion as their end of life is approaching. It stops a lot of older ppl going insane

frodi

Same as Larryone, I didn't lose my religion rather I dumped my mothers religion (my father didn't give a damm) when I was 14/15. Nowadays I only go to churches for other peoples funnerals or weddings. I would describe myself as a non-believer rather than aetheist.

larryone

I'll never flock back to the church. I reckon towards the end of my days, I'll be pretty much the same as I am now.

BossArky

Choose "16" but not sure exactly. I used to be an altar boy when I was in primary school, but just like Santa I found that I "grew out of it".

I would like to believe in something like a God or a Heaven but to my mind the facts on hand don't allow me to entertain the thoughts any longer.

I agree with Ando when he says that as people get older they flock back to the church. I can see the same thing happening with my parents. They aren't exactly going back to church now, but when watching "the passion of Christ" they were saying things like "oh how terrible", etc, etc... as if they believed it.

Life would be so pleasant if I could believe.

Nightwish

i lost mine at the age of 9 or 10, when my parents mixed religion marriage, was causing problems.
i was interested in paganism for about 6-7 years after that, now Im an agnostic

azezil

Gave up on religion at 17, was religious prior to that, stopped believing in a God at about 20.

the_syco

When I found out there was another religon, other than Catholics. If there was a god, he'd have killed all the other "false" gods.

I believe that there is only one god, but people believe in him in different ways. I'll go the Valhalla route, myself.

r3boot

My passion for religion started to go downhill when i found out it had alot more to do with people than it did with god. The fact that my religion is linked with terrorisim didn't really help.....

Tha Gopher

Is it just me or are people on these forums more virulently anti religion than in the real world?

Like, of all my mates, Id say only one doesnt go to mass or anything because of some deep hatred of the catholic church. The rest just cant be arsed etc. But all of us except him would still get our kids christened etc.

I wouldnt say I lost mine, more it was hardly much of a part of my life to begin with. My parents barely went to mass so it wasnt really an issue.

Never met a religious young catholic til I went to college, girl in my class who cant stop going on and on and on about how shes going on a pilgrimage to here and there and everywhere, how much charity work she does, how many of her mates are in the Maynooth seminary etc etc. She barely ever goes out or anything, seems a pretty miserable oul life to me. Alot of the young Irish ones they interviewed at the popes thing in Germany reminded me of her. Just way too clean living for my liking

rainbow kirby

Never really had faith... realised that I didn't believe in God at the age of 11 in Confirmation preparation classes in school. Haven't been to a church voluntarily in about 9-10 years.

Aisling(",)

I lost when I was around three.My parents are of the older and extremly strict variety and believe in going to mass every sunday and holy day even when you are on holidays.I used to hide every sunday because I hate it that much.Even at the age of 14 i don't have a choice of I go to mass or not and I won't untill I move out of my parents house.I've faked illness to try to avoid mass..I've physically been carried/dragged to mass many times.I Hate MASS :mad: !!!!!!!!The amount of slagging I have endured due to this fact is unreal.This also has a deep impact on my life because I'd some times not be allowed go to the pictures or whatever because i'd miss mass.I've taken to staying in a friends house on friday nights then ringing my mam and telling her I'm staying over at her house for another night which i would do anyway but the avoidence of mass is a bonus.My mam believes that if i don't go to mass I'll go to hell of something(which i will anyway).I probably wouldn't be as anti-religon if it hadn't been for my Mam an Dad so It's all their fault.

Pepe LeFrits

azezil wrote:

Gave up on religion at 17, was religious prior to that, stopped believing in a God at about 20.

Same, only replace 17 with 16 and 20 with 18.

larryone

That sucks. One of the things I hate most about religion is the way so many people try to impose and force their beliefs on others. Drives me mad sometimes.

Alvis

I've never had a religion. Since I was young I was leaning towards the more logical and scientific point of view of everything. I've never walked into a church voluntarily...

tribulus

Probably just in the last year, so 18. Other people having faith doesn't bother me at all just when they try to force it on you and don't accept that you don't share the same beliefs it gets me :mad: :mad:

Flukey

I am sure that even the under 14 people didn't lose it until after they got their Confirmation money.

arbeitsscheuer

Flukey wrote:

I am sure that even the under 14 people didn't lose it until after they got their Confirmation money.

Nope. Was never confirmed.
That's the whole f**kin point of confirmation. When you're baptised you are too young to make a choice, by the time confirmation rolls around you are considered old enough to decide whether or not you want to buy into such-and-such a religion's mentality and belief system. So I considered it, thought about it...

And said, f**k you. I don't subscribe to b*llsh*t.

the_syco

Aisling(",) wrote:

My parents are of the older and extremly strict variety and believe in going to mass every sunday and holy day even when you are on holidays.

Listen to Slayer's albums. They'll love that.:D

SebtheBum wrote:

And said, f**k you. I don't subscribe to b*llsh*t.

Did ye take the money?

Gazza22

I never really had that much of a belief in God but a few years ago i questioned it all once and for all and totally abandoned it.

Religion seriously puzzles me, the fact that anyone can believe in religion really puzzles me. I put my beliefs in science and would denounce religion under all circumstances.

I just see it as a burden in our world, though i believe when it comes to religion you should live and let live. It is a bit of security for alot of people. Religious debates just don't go anywhere i'm afraid, they are pointless.

The whole thing is very far fetched and has no place in my life until i get some proof that having a religion is not a waste of time.

Goodshape

SebtheBum wrote:

So I considered it, thought about it...

And said, f**k you. I don't subscribe to b*llsh*t.

I said the same but was told to go on ahead with it anyway.. for your granny's sake at least :rolleyes: (I conseded with dollar signs in my head... didn't get that much in the end).

Couldn't get passed the hypocracy and irrelevence of Christianity from a very young age. Bar a mild interest in what all the fuss was about, I don't think I ever 'believed' in it.

At the same time I started taking an interest in abstract spirtuality (that is, an interest speicifically not bound to any 'religion' or dogma) at about 15 / 16.

Nightwish

the_syco wrote:

Listen to Slayer's albums. They'll love that.

some anal c*nt or cannibal corpse would be more fitting!!!

Tar.Aldarion

more fitting maybe but slayer are better...we want a maximum enjoyment thing goin on!! so listen to the album 'God Hates Us All' and be sure to mention they decided to release it on 9/11

jester77

I can't believe how people are so gullible and so easily brainwashed. Just think about it for a minute... it's like Santa Claus for grown ups. How can anyone believe in it?? I think it was just created to help people to come to terms with how they existed. Back in those days science didn't exist. There's no difference between the stories in the bible or the stories about Salmon of Knowledge, Children of Lir, etc... If we had grown up in a different part of the world we would have been fed stories of some other religion. People need to be more open minded and just live their short lives and enjoy them, we don't spend long on this planet!

BossArky

Question: Of those of us how don't believe like myself, do you think you will get married in a church(if you are going to get married) or have your kids go to a catholic (or other) religious school for the sake of fitting in, then let them decide for themselves later?

I hate seeing this happen... i.e. people who are blatantly non-religious getting married in the church and going through the motions for the benefit of convention. Hypocritical.

Mr. CooL ICE

14.

I genuinely believe that the existence of god began back with the neanderthals, when they discovered fire and lightning and everything that they didnt know or couldnt explain, and believed something (a god) was responsible, and out of fear, began worshipping 'it'. But over thousands of years, as more and more scientific discoveries are made, all these religious theories are being proven wrong, the most significant being earth revolving around the sun (imo). Its like natural human evolution.

I went out with an extremely religious girl for a year (wasnt christianity, was an eastern religion) and it led to a lot of tension, because i couldnt help feeling sorry for her being, imo, an idiot. And it worked both ways too. She would ask how i couldnt see that god existed, and i asked how she could see that anything like it existed. She couldnt believe how morbid death was (imo, once you die, thats it, you rot) and made me think religion is just a cushion people use to feel secure. But i dont see how they can feel secure with something with absolutely no proof of existence.

*whew*

Goodshape

BossArky wrote:

Question: Of those of us how don't believe like myself, do you think you will get married in a church(if you are going to get married) or have your kids go to a catholic (or other) religious school for the sake of fitting in, then let them decide for themselves later?

That's more or less what my parents did with me.. all ears to listen to my questions, rebuttles and critisims of the religion and never even suggesting that I should believe blindly in anything if I don't want to.. but at the same time 'you may as well play the role'.

While I have to resentments towards them for it, I won't be doing the same if I ever have children. They can choose their religion whenever they feel they're old enough to do so, and not before.

Stephen

I stopped going to mass when I was 16. Hadn't believed in god for a few years by then. Before that I was forced to go every sunday/holy day etc. The only way I could get the parents to stop making me go was to point out, in no uncertain terms, the fact that I do not believe in the existence of any god.
The brainwashing mentality of most major religions disgusts me - baptising babies etc, confirmation at 12. Most kids at 12 are not mature enough to commit themselves to something like this.
My Ma, the staunch catholic that she is, believes this is only "a phase" and I'll return to the church eventually. Pft.
I have no problem with anyone believing in anything they like, but when they preach at me or otherwise try to push it on people, then they can go **** themselves, the cocks.