I left TSCC in June of 2013. I've attended a non-denominational Christian church with some new friends that I've made. Part of me really wants to believe in God, but another part of me finds it hard believe in God anymore. What are your beliefs since leaving and how do you cope with changing your entire belief system?

i consider myself christian. i dont want my death to be the end.

It's interesting how you phrase this. May I ask (sincerely curious - I don't intend to be antagonistic), do you choose to believe in Christianity BECAUSE you don't want death to be the end, or is it just that Christianity's teachings about the afterlife mesh well with your personal beliefs?

Non-theist. If God exists as defined in the Bible, then he is a dick who should NOT be worshipped.

I briefly contemplated Christianity. Then I realized that whatever terrible things Mormons had done, Christians had also done; in terms of outcomes (at least ones on this earth), there was no difference. Additionally, the biggest difference between the two traditions was chronology. Just as we now laugh at golden plates, I can now laugh at Paul's vision. Finally, Christianity requires importing all the OT baggage -- which is mostly genocide and awfulness.

So... I'm now what one might consider a hopeful atheist. I don't want my end to be -the- end, but I don't consider the Christian / Abrahamic God or Jesus to be worthy of emulation. One thing the LDS church gets right, I think, is the notion that any caring God would help us sift through the madness of religion. The fact that there are tens of thousands of Christian sects tells me that Jesus and God didn't really lay down the rules particularly carefully.

A I served my mission in Hong Kong, I found a lot of interest in Taosim. I have began reading a lot of books on it lately. It is very liberal and not as fundimentalist as Buddism. I got into many discussions over there with Buddists and Toaists. I was an asshole to them people.

Since I stopped attending the Mormon church, I actually have become much more spiritual. I've had some incredible experiences that I can't explain by natural means (and no, they didn't involve illegal substances. I still pray and because of what I've experienced, time and time again, I really do believe in a higher power and in Christ, but my Jesus is a nice Jesus, not the mean, damning Jesus I feared in Mormonism.

I also respect other people's right to believe anything they want, or don't want.

I'm big on "live and let live" these days.

I looked around and all the christian churches looked the same to me like Mormon-lite--same thing without as many of the horrific side effects.

I am not going to believe in something unless there is something to believe in. Been looking around. Haven't seen anything yet.

Make believe, wishin' and hopin' just don't cut it for me. I have a life to live.

Agnostic. Don't really believe anything right now, and don't care to study it too much for now.

Since unaffiliating with tscc I've simply become me. Serving myself and seeking my own recovery and well being. Addicted to yoga, addicted to aerobics classes & gyms. Lost in an up&down whirlwind of diagnosed bipolar disorder, but tscc could never help me with that, doctors frustrate me over it, so I just drift from gym to gym, yoga studio to yoga studio. Exercise endorphins and headstands are medicine. Occasional magical sex with David and CJ, magical yoga instructors. Bipolar disorder is invisible but it makes life hell with occasional magical moments. There is no religion that can cure bipolar disorder.

Christian

I am Agnosti-Apatheist.

I don't know and I don't care.

I make my vows at a Lutheran altar on Sunday, January 19th. The members suck there, but the pastor and his sermons are great.

LDS-Agnostic/Atheist-Christian

Free, Man.

Free-thinker
Free-choicer
Free-timer
Free-bearder
Free-reader
Free-filmgoer
Free-socializer
Free-writer
Free-dresser
Free-voter
Free-eaterdrinker
Free-guiltlesser
Free-F.U.tithinger
Free-learner

I'm just Free.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2014 04:22PM by zenjamin.

post LDS I researched a lot of Catholic and Protestant sects, joined a liberal Lutheran congregation (ELCA in Seattle area) the , but in all reality I was phasing out my belief in God and the divinity of Jesus the whole while.

Now I'm agnostic, probably leaning toward Atheist. But if I were to be Christian, I really do like the ELCA Lutherans. . .

Despite of my pen name, I'm closer to Buddhism philosophically. However, "closer" doesn't mean I'd be Buddhist; pure Buddhist philosophy is too decorated for my taste. I agree with some teachers' (like Eckhart Tolle's) view of Buddhism with some exceptions. I view Jesus and Buddha as englightened souls who were born in the human form to show the way, but no more (or less) "son of god" than you or I (God being the universal sentient energy whose expression everything is).

This was my philosophy also before, and during my TSCC "tenure" which is now tapering off. Morg really never had a chance, did they.

I'm atheist.

When I figured out mormonism was false, I simultaneously gave up on the Abrahamic god. A sentient, omnipotent, omniscient being that was invested in our lives didn't make sense to me. For a few months, I held on to the idea that maybe there was some sort of higher power - karma, or "The Universe", or something - but that slowly dissolved as I didn't find any compelling reason to hold those beliefs, either.

My belief in God crumbled when I left TSCC. That was a really weird time for me, because it was exhilarating and empowering, but also absolutely terrifying for a while there. I had to really confront my own mortality in a way I never had before.

Atheist is the label I'm most comfortable with now. I have zero belief in Christianity, or in the God of Abraham, or in any kind of Supreme Being. However, I sometimes refer to myself as "an atheist with pantheistic leanings." I'm intrigued by discussions about the nature of both consciousness and reality. I love Robert Lanza and Alan Watts. I embrace the quantum weirdness of the universe. I adore movies like The Matrix and Being John Malkovich. But I don't consider that a belief system, because I don't think I could come up with even one solid statement out of all of that to say, "This is what I believe." It's easier (and probably more accurate) to define myself right now by what I don't believe. But it's nice to have the freedom to explore ideas, and to not have any pressure to make myself fit into a particular belief structure.

I do consider myself Christian, but I don't take it literally, and I feel free to interpret things for myself. On the occasions I do go to church, it's the Epsicopal church as it's relatively liberal when compared to the Catholic church. One of these days, I might get around to checking out the UU church that just happens to be down the street from the local Mormon chapel.

I'm with hapeheretic. I'm a live and let live kind of person.

I know one thing...that I have THIS life. I might go on, I might not. So I am doing what I think is right while I'm alive in this life. I am living without guilt, enjoying my family, trying not to hurt other people (or myself) in the process.

Anti-religion
Pro-science
No, they're not compatible.

This is wonderful! Such diversity! :) Think of it, all these quite diverse views were being oppressed by TSCC.

On my way out of Mormonism, I studied the stories of almost 200 members who had left the Church. Admittedly unscientific, at the time I used it mostly to categorize the issues that people were having. But I was stunned by the impact to faith of those who left the Church.

Over one third (35%) of these people now pursue what I would call a “New Age” type of belief. These people still believe in some kind of a supreme power ruling the universe, but are not associated with any kind of Christian religion. They no longer accept Christ as divine, though they do not necessarily deny his existence or nor his goodness. Another 18% are unsure about their religious beliefs considering themselves to be agnostic. 13% of the people in the study are now atheists. There are 2% who have turned to Judaism and 1% who have chosen to follow one of the eastern religions. That is a surprising total of 69% who have completely rejected Christianity after deciding to leave the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Of the approximately one-third (31%) remaining in the study who did not reject Christianity upon leaving the church, about 16% remain Christian but do not affiliate themselves with a specific denomination. There are 7% of those in the study who have chosen to remain active members of the LDS church even though they no longer believe in its doctrine or history. These people are afraid to lose friends and family and do so to maintain harmony at home preferring to lie about their beliefs than losing their loved ones here. Another 5% have become Born-again Christians. 2% have become Episcopalians and another 1% have become Baptists.

Something I noticed is that converts to the Church were more likely to hold on to a previous Christian belief, while life long members were more likely to reject Christianity. I believe it is because growing up as LDS, we are taught that all the other religions are wrong. We are it. So, when we discover that Mormonism is wrong, there is no need to even bother looking at other religions because we have already convinced ourselves they were wrong.

In addition, since we were duped about our history and our scripture, we are more likely to question the Bible in a similar fashion and question the history of Christianity. Converts are more adept at shedding just the uniquely LDS pieces and return to a traditional Christian belief without feeling the need to apply the same scrutiny there. Of course those are just generalities suggested by trends I saw in those 200 people.

Very interesting!!

It really does follow the posts on the board here.

I'm in the "16% Christian, no denomination" category, with possibly entering the "2% Episcopalian" down the road, or not. ;-D

From what I've read I would probably fall between Deism and Pantheism. Although I do like some things from Classical Humanism.

I posted a similar question a week or two ago, most of the responses said to stay away from labels. I'm fine with being label-less for now.

That's very good advice. It's sort of interesting to know who all thinks sort if in the same way in order to read on thoughts of other people on the topic (especially in the case of more esoteric philosophies). But at the same time you indeed need to be careful about labeling one's beliefs.. that way they can't be corralled by anyone or anything!

Sucks what is being done to it, especially the Pacific. :(

with a slight bent towards Gnostisism/buddhism/earth religions. Label that one!

and throw in free-thinker, skeptic with some humanism mixed in.