Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Former Christians Explain What Made Them Leave The Church

Former Christians Explain What Made Them Leave The Church

A very dramatic Church altar

Photo by Josh Eckstein on Unsplash

Why do people leave the Church?

So many reasons.

It's an important question the Church should look into further.

Attendance has been steadily declining for decades.

Society has evolved on so many issues and behaviors that the Church just seems to stay stagnant.

People aren't going to stay where they don't feel welcome.


Redditor UK_Jay wanted to hear from everybody who left the church in the rearview, so they asked:

"Ex-Christians, what made you leave church?"

I don't mind the Church, but once I was done with Catholic school, it was see ya. Bye.

Truth

truth preach GIFGiphy

"The fact that everyone wants to be a disciple of Jesus but don't do what Jesus told his disciple to do."

"Luke 6:46 'Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?'"

wasd876

Pivotal Moments

"My high school religion teacher encouraged us to question our own faith. He told us that it was okay if we wound up walking away from our faith. But if we continued to believe despite his class, our faith would be that much stronger."

"One of the questions was, 'Do you believe because you actually believe, or is it because you were told to by your parents?' I finally decided that I was only Christian because of what my mom told me growing up."

"I wish every single Christian could have that religion teacher for a semester. That single semester was pivotal in my spiritual development."

kana503

I Quit

"Had many friends and acquaintances that worked for the church and quit. Found out their reasons for quitting. The higher up staff did and forced my friends to do a bunch of corrupt crap. And if they didn’t, they 'Weren’t committed to the church enough, didn’t love God enough, weren’t willing to make sacrifices, will never make it in ministry.'"

"It broke my heart. I thought this was a place of love, and people who preached love. Haven’t trusted religion since. This church is a mega church in my area and keeps popping up more locations all over town. Makes me sick to my stomach every time I drive by."

aquarinmarin

Out of Focus

"The total hypocrisy of those I grew up around. Claim to be about love, spend most of their time hating people not like them. Claim to be about evangelism, literally only hang out with and talk to each other."

"Claim to be about giving, spend all of their energy focused on making more money for themselves."

"Not to mention they have conditioned themselves to avoid critical thinking at all costs. Must accept blind 'truths' at face value, OR ELSE."

devilish-nerdclap

For my sister...

Phaedra Parks Bye Felicia GIFGiphy

"When my younger sister with Down’s syndrome was told she wasn’t eligible for communion despite taking all of the classes because she 'didn’t understand.'"

TheLastSpiceGirl

Family first. Help someone understand.

Damage

heavy metal 90s GIFGiphy

"They damaged my mind. I always thought I would go to hell for things I like such as horror films, heavy metal and tabletop RPGs."

EuroCultAV

"the Lord spoke to me"

"Lack of answers, judgement, and hypocrisy mostly. I also read the Bible over and over and I just wasn't getting what other people were apparently getting out of it. Also everytime I prayed, nothing happened. Every now and then someone would be like 'the Lord spoke to me.' I always waited for something like that. It just never did."

"That lack of answers thing really bugged me the most though. I really wanted what I read in the Bible to be true but I just couldn't find anything to support most of it's claims. I was really sad for awhile. And scared that the devil tricked me. After awhile tho, I didn't believe in him either."

SpiritedDistance6242

Left Behind

"They left me. My first partner and I grew up in the church together. We were seen as the golden couple in our youth group. Good, proper Christian couple. Said our prayers, worked with the less fortunate, youth work, worship, I even led sermons. Eventually we moved away to start a new life together. We then broke up. I then find that I'm being kicked out of groups on WhatsApp and Facebook, people are unfriending me on social media, all from the church."

"I found out she'd gone home first and started talking to people. I don't know what she told them, but none of the people I saw as my second family, this fellowship I'd felt so welcome in even came to me to talk. I was left alone. I reached out to multiple people to say I needed prayer because I was struggling. I got nothing. I felt abandoned by God and abandoned by his people. So I walked away from that life."

c0_sm0

Disbelief

"I was a preteen locking myself in a dark closet because that's where I felt the closest to God - in the darkness. Like he was something that couldn't be seen - only felt. And I looked up into the nothingness of my closet ceiling after the millionth episode of physical and emotional abuse from my dad."

"I asked him to save me. God, not my dad. I was crying, screaming. Please. Please save me. I was just a kid. Surely I didn't deserve this. No one answered. And it occurred to me that anyone who could stop this and wouldn't, couldn't exist. So I stopped believing."

elaerna

Thieves

Explaining Season 3 GIF by The SimpsonsGiphy

"Preachers having massive homes while the people that go to the church struggle. It’s hypocrisy from the top down."

prussianflyingcircus

Peace Out

"I gave it up for Lent and never went back."

ScaricoOleoso

"I did the same thing with New Year's resolutions. As far as I know, I'm the only one who has ever kept a New Year's resolution."

MaxCWebster

These certainly were some interesting stories where people encountered a crisis of faith.

Do you have any similar stories? Let us know in the comments below.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Bill Murray
@anthony_anderson5/TikTok

Bill Murray Snaps At Pushy Fan For Trying To Take Unwanted Photo At Movie Theater In Viral Video

Bill Murray wasn’t in the mood for surprises at a recent movie screening—especially not from an overzealous fan who got a little too close for comfort.

The Ghostbusters star, 73, was at AMC Lincoln Square 13 in New York City for a Q&A session tied to his new film The Friend when things got tense.

Keep ReadingShow less
JK Rowling Slammed After She Adds Asexual People To Her Growing List Of LGBTQ+ Targets
Mike Marsland/WireImage

JK Rowling Slammed After She Adds Asexual People To Her Growing List Of LGBTQ+ Targets

Harry Potter author JK Rowling must be growing bored with transphobia because now she's using her worldwide platform to whine about asexuals.

Sunday, April 6 was International Asexuality Day, and of course Rowling couldn't possibly just let the day go by.

Keep ReadingShow less
Perry Greene from TikTok video; Greene apologizing
Fox 5 Atlanta

MTG's Ex-Husband Apologizes After He's Caught On Video Verbally Accosting Muslim Women

Far right Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene's ex-husband publicly apologized for an incident in which he was caught on camera harassing three Muslim women who were praying in a mall parking lot just north of Georgia.

Video filmed on March 31 showed Perry Greene leaning out of his Tesla Cybertruck and heckling the women, telling them they're "worshiping a false god because y'all are pieces of sh*t" and repeatedly telling them to "go back to your country."

Keep ReadingShow less
Ted Cruz; Kelvin Sampson
Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images; Alex Slitz/Getty Images

Houston Fans Livid After Ted Cruz 'Curse' Strikes Again At NCAA Basketball Championship

In 2013, 2016 and 2021, Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz was labeled the most hated man in Congress—by members of his own party. In 2023, Florida Republican Representative Matt Gaetz replaced him as the "most hated."

In a 2016 CNN interview, South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said:

Keep ReadingShow less
Harriet Tubman
Library of Congress/Getty Images

National Parks Website Restores Harriet Tubman Photo To 'Underground Railroad' Page After Backlash

Following significant backlash, the National Park Service restored a previously-erased photo of Harriet Tubman from a webpage dedicated to the history of the Underground Railroad, in which she led 13 missions to rescue enslaved people.

A spokesperson said the changes were not authorized by the agency's leadership.

Keep ReadingShow less