Anger when coming out of a revealed religion

[endlessvoid2018]

So, for anyone out there who is a non believer, or atheist and used to be a Christian or any kind of believer,
did you feel anger when you left your faith/religion/belief system? I find myself angry a lot now, mostly
due to the fact that I feel like I've been lied to my entire life and that religion and the entire concept of
a loving god existing is either false, or not entirely true. I think it adds even more to my anger the fact
that my Father passed away last month after a month long battle in the hospital, and when I think of
it, it makes me question you know, if there was a loving god, where were you when he was suffering?
I get quite angry when I think of it, and it makes me think that atheism and being non-religious is the only
rational path in reality, and no god exists.

Is it normal to feel angry like this, and did anyone else go through this? I'm not normally an angry person
like this, but a lot of the time now when Christianity or god is brought up, it makes me think "he doesn't
****ing exist and religion is nothing but a bull**** scam."

I kinda don't like feeling like this regardless of what I believe, but will this anger dissipate in time?

 

[Secret Chief]

will this anger dissipate in time?

I suggest this depends on your personality. Anger in such a circumstance is entirely understandable; no doubt you're not the first.


Atheism is not the only "option."

 

[endlessvoid2018]

I realize it's not the only option. But for someone like me, who doesn't believe in religion, there's only a few options.
For me, the most clear paths are agnosticism, atheism, and agnostic atheism. I consider myself agnostic atheist.
Ietsism, and the belief that there may be possibly things that we will never know, is the closest I would say to any
kind of belief in anything.

 

[Secret Chief]

Ietsism

Cool, you made me learn something.

I'm sorry for your loss and hope you can find a way to process your anger. It could be a bad combination to have with your grief. Take care.

 

[ChristineM]

I kinda don't like feeling like this regardless of what I believe, but will this anger dissipate in time?

I felt hurt and betrayed, those feelings dissipated over a couple of years after reading the bible and i realised they were just behaving how Christians are told to behave by the good book.

I would think your anger will fade over time.

 

[endlessvoid2018]

I haven't read the whole Bible and I don't want to. The things I've read and learned about, however,
were enough for me to say "well, that's enough of that."

That was about six months ago, and I still stand by that. Even if I was to believe in any kind of god, it certainly
would not be the god of the bible or any revealed religions. my wife and me are also
both former christians, and we won't be raising our son brought into the christian faith. Basically
leaning towards non-religious/agnostic in that regard.
However, he's more than welcome to believe anything he wants as he gets older and learns things.

I received a call today from a social worker type thing, and I think I will accept some help with how to
process everything. I think this makes it worse because I am going through both of these things all
at once.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Is it normal to feel angry like this, and did anyone else go through this? I'm not normally an angry person
like this, but a lot of the time now when Christianity or god is brought up, it makes me think "he doesn't
****ing exist and religion is nothing but a bull**** scam."

I kinda don't like feeling like this regardless of what I believe, but will this anger dissipate in time?

Sounds similar to what I went through. There's no guarantees, but you'll heal and get over the anger. It hurts and it's infuriating to realize you've been lied to your whole life, but it's better once you can leave it behind.

 

[libre]

So, for anyone out there who is a non believer, or atheist and used to be a Christian or any kind of believer,
did you feel anger when you left your faith/religion/belief system? I find myself angry a lot now, mostly
due to the fact that I feel like I've been lied to my entire life and that religion and the entire concept of
a loving god existing is either false, or not entirely true. I think it adds even more to my anger the fact
that my Father passed away last month after a month long battle in the hospital, and when I think of
it, it makes me question you know, if there was a loving god, where were you when he was suffering?
I get quite angry when I think of it, and it makes me think that atheism and being non-religious is the only
rational path in reality, and no god exists.

Is it normal to feel angry like this, and did anyone else go through this? I'm not normally an angry person
like this, but a lot of the time now when Christianity or god is brought up, it makes me think "he doesn't
****ing exist and religion is nothing but a bull**** scam."

I kinda don't like feeling like this regardless of what I believe, but will this anger dissipate in time?

I'm not sure I can answer that question.
I always felt more like a subject to Christianity than a practitioner of it, and would have a hard time separating anger at the Catholic education system and Church because of abuse from my own Religious changes.

There was once a time where I was the sort of atheist who would go out of my way to argue against theism as though it was a scourge, but I came to realize that was as much a harmful distraction from real matters as Catholicism was. It wasn't quite anger, but whatever it was faded in time.

Now I focus mostly on discussing our responsibilities as people.

 

[Kfox]

So, for anyone out there who is a non believer, or atheist and used to be a Christian or any kind of believer,
did you feel anger when you left your faith/religion/belief system? I find myself angry a lot now, mostly
due to the fact that I feel like I've been lied to my entire life and that religion and the entire concept of
a loving god existing is either false, or not entirely true. I think it adds even more to my anger the fact
that my Father passed away last month after a month long battle in the hospital, and when I think of
it, it makes me question you know, if there was a loving god, where were you when he was suffering?
I get quite angry when I think of it, and it makes me think that atheism and being non-religious is the only
rational path in reality, and no god exists.

Is it normal to feel angry like this, and did anyone else go through this? I'm not normally an angry person
like this, but a lot of the time now when Christianity or god is brought up, it makes me think "he doesn't
****ing exist and religion is nothing but a bull**** scam."

I kinda don't like feeling like this regardless of what I believe, but will this anger dissipate in time?

I think it might depend on the type of religion you got out of. I was the type of Christian that was big on fear of God, I was afraid of going to Hell, I felt guilty when I went through puberty and my body would react when I saw a pretty girl; I think it was the apostle Paul who said if your eye offends the cut it out? I took that to heart and wanted to blind myself because I thought my eyes would prevent me from going to Heaven. I remember wishing I were my dog because my dog didn’t have a soul and wouldn’t go to Hell, but I knew I was going because I knew I wasn’t perfect. When I finally figured out it was not real, it was such a relief knowing I could live my life as I wanted without the guilt and fear of the torture of hell upon death. So losing my religion was a positive experience for me.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

So, for anyone out there who is a non believer, or atheist and used to be a Christian or any kind of believer,
did you feel anger when you left your faith/religion/belief system? I find myself angry a lot now, mostly
due to the fact that I feel like I've been lied to my entire life and that religion and the entire concept of
a loving god existing is either false, or not entirely true. I think it adds even more to my anger the fact
that my Father passed away last month after a month long battle in the hospital, and when I think of
it, it makes me question you know, if there was a loving god, where were you when he was suffering?
I get quite angry when I think of it, and it makes me think that atheism and being non-religious is the only
rational path in reality, and no god exists.

Is it normal to feel angry like this, and did anyone else go through this? I'm not normally an angry person
like this, but a lot of the time now when Christianity or god is brought up, it makes me think "he doesn't
****ing exist and religion is nothing but a bull**** scam."

I kinda don't like feeling like this regardless of what I believe, but will this anger dissipate in time?

A few things that might help:

Even though you may have been given lies growing up, most of the people around you were victims, too. They weren't lying to you; even though they were duped, they were doing their best to give you what they sincerely believed to be true.

Some of the people you left behind will come to the same realization you did and leave as well, even if they don't feel that way right now. Personally, I find it hard to be that angry at people who are on the same journey as me, just a step or two behind.

 

[endlessvoid2018]

A few things that might help:

Even though you may have been given lies growing up, most of the people around you were victims, too. They weren't lying to you; even though they were duped, they were doing their best to give you what they sincerely believed to be true.

Some of the people you left behind will come to the same realization you did and leave as well, even if they don't feel that way right now. Personally, I find it hard to be that angry at people who are on the same journey as me, just a step or two behind.

Yes, yes I totally get it. However, that doesn't help my anger. And it's not necessarily directed at them.
It's just kinda... There. A lot of the people I know that are still Christians in our family will most likely
always be. My in laws are very devout non-denominational Christians, as well as elders are their
church. They spend lots of time there, being involved with the church and doing things for the church.
I don't ever see that changing. My anger has kind of subsided a little bit lately. Like I said, I kind of
connect the two, the loss of my faith and coming over to being a non-believer and the loss of my Dad.
That's probably where most of my anger comes from honestly.

 

[Squiggy]

Sorry about your father. It's always more painful than you expect it to be when you lose someone, you're never really prepared for it. The first few months are the worst. But you'll rebound and recover like he would want you to.

I felt the same way when my mother died, I lost my best friend, maybe my only true friend. You cry a lot. But then for me, there came that day when the sun started peeking above the horizon again. And now it's been 2 years and I find that I can still be happy and enjoy life. And the pain I felt at first has turned into a more quiet soulful ache, never really going away, but tempered to a more peaceful calm and tranquil acceptance. And I feel that the love we had between us somehow transcends this world we live in. I can't prove it, but I feel it. It's like I've become aware of the immensity, the power, and tremendous worth of that love. The entire universe without love, in my opinion, would be meaningless. And somewhere in that mishmash of confusing feelings I'm inspired to a very strong possibility that love, however you define it, it is the ultimate force behind the entire universe. And that force is god. Crazy idea, can't prove it. I'll change my mind 10 times this week, but that's how I feel right now.

 

[Twilight Hue]

So, for anyone out there who is a non believer, or atheist and used to be a Christian or any kind of believer,
did you feel anger when you left your faith/religion/belief system? I find myself angry a lot now, mostly
due to the fact that I feel like I've been lied to my entire life and that religion and the entire concept of
a loving god existing is either false, or not entirely true. I think it adds even more to my anger the fact
that my Father passed away last month after a month long battle in the hospital, and when I think of
it, it makes me question you know, if there was a loving god, where were you when he was suffering?
I get quite angry when I think of it, and it makes me think that atheism and being non-religious is the only
rational path in reality, and no god exists.

Is it normal to feel angry like this, and did anyone else go through this? I'm not normally an angry person
like this, but a lot of the time now when Christianity or god is brought up, it makes me think "he doesn't
****ing exist and religion is nothing but a bull**** scam."

I kinda don't like feeling like this regardless of what I believe, but will this anger dissipate in time?

My only sense of anger was because of the immense scale of ignorance including my own during my tenure as a Christian. It felt like I needed to be a drone and unquestionably accept everything Christian doctrine and beliefs have to offer respective of the denomination I was in.

No explanation as to why, how , where, and when because if it was in the Bible, it just had to be unequivocally true and everything else was a coordinated plot designed against the religion by evil forces.

Christianity hobbled my ability to critically think , analyze , formulate proper chains of evidences that would link any particular singular evidence in a rational way, and to appreciate the full value of science whenever approaching the unknown and even the unanswerable by the religion discouraging such investigation into these things in depth along with the ability to dismiss the things that don't have the proper evidence firsthand to support any and all claims and assertions.

My anger wasn't really directed at individuals but rather the collective way people are being led and discouraged through various means of indoctrination and manipulation that keeps generations of people in a perpetual state of ignorance reinforced through hierarchy and fraternal means.

 

[Soandso]

I'm sorry to hear about your father... Sounds like you're going through hard times. My heart goes out to you

Have you been seeing a counselor? It seems to me like you are trying to sort out a lot of things in regards to the world view you had under the religion you structured your life around vs. the reality you find yourself in now. I can understand what that's like...

What helped me was to take each view I had under my previous faith and to contrast it with my new way of thinking. It was a long, slow process, but I didn't rush it and I feel I am in a better place now for it. You can't change the past, but you can take the information you have now and build a better, more flexible world view going forward

Btw, counseling helps give you tools to do this more quickly and more effectively. I recommend speaking to a professional

 

[endlessvoid2018]

Thanks everyone. And no, not yet. I haven't seen anyone yet. I have found recently though that my anger is starting to dissipate.
I think it is both the combination with my Dad passing, and the transition to being atheist.

 

[Altfish]

I sort of 'drifted away' from religion. So, no anger or regrets, I was fairly young, mid teens when I realised I was an atheist.

 

[endlessvoid2018]

I definitely have left religion. Personally, I do like the idea of different religious philosophies though more
so than actual religion. However, I wouldn't necessarily I say I believe in them. Sometimes I question
whether I'm actually really an atheist or not, or what I believe in, if anything. I certainly don't believe in
the biblical or revealed accounts of any god and believe everything is made up by man. As to whether
any actual possible, undefined higher power or anything like that really exists, I would say I'm pretty
agnostic to the notion of it. I've also finally come to the understanding what it means when people say
of atheism, "atheism isn't not believing in god, it's a lack of a belief in any gods." This has stumped me
for awhile, as I couldn't make sense of it. I finally get it that not believing in god could assume that one
acknowledges a god may exist, but that they simply don't believe in them any longer, as opposed to atheism where
the individual simply doesn't believe said god or any gods actually exist.