Thinking about leaving

By Jeremy ~

I'm seriously considering leaving the Christian faith. I'm a young man who was raised in church, but when I look back, I'm really about ready to stop being religious. My story is really long, so I don't think you'd want to hear it. I'm just beginning to realize that religion, although it can be a beautiful thing, has taken so many lives and caused so much destruction and grief. I've been questioning the existence of God since around 9th grade, and I used to feel so bad about it. Religion is such a powerful thing, and I can't help but think that the strong mental and emotional attachments to spirituality is what has made it so successful. And, honestly, the Bible has just never really made that much sense to me. I've always had trouble trying to find loopholes in the Bible that explain science.

Image by the|G|™ via Flickr

But I'm about 85-95 percent sure that I won't be Christian anymore at some point within the next few years. I already support gay rights including marriage, although I am straight, and am very open-minded. But I think it's a deeper reason than that, and that growing up and not feeling like I'm part of the group throughout my childhood, feeling out of place at home, church, and especially school, it has transcended to feeling deeply out of place in my religion. There is deep-rooted racism and homophobia in my family (despite someone in the family who I am close to being gay, who I totally accept) , and growing up listening to the rants of adults (many of which say things that are truly horrible), I've always wondered how anyone that Christian can say such terrible things about people. You wouldn't believe the undercover racism in the churches of the American south! It's sickening.

Can you give me some reasons why I shouldn't be religious anymore? And if my family discovers I am not religious, they will disown me (well, I don't know how much I'd actually dislike that)... any ideas?