Fence-sitters: What was/is the last straw...??

I haven't joined another group yet, but I've been raised in Catholicism. I've been really indifferent about it until I started at a Catholic high school my freshman year. Over the past three years I've heard a lot of things and seen a lot of things that I don't believe in. More recently I made a list of the things I do/don't believe in, and a lot of Catholic traits are on my "don't believe" list.

One incident is the whole saint thing. Last year I was required to take a church history class, and we talked about saints a lot. To me, saints are regular people. Yes, maybe they did lead a good life, but that doesn't make them any different from you or me. Also, saints are dead. Praying to saints is like worshipping another deity in my opinion. Besides, why pray to a saint when you can pray to god?

Anyway, I hope I sort of answered your question. I never had a 'last-straw,' just a lot of annoyances that turned to dislike.

I was raised Catholic, went through the whole nine yards with it. I began having doubts went I was 13 as to the authenticity of Christianity and what it taught. But my final straw was the way the sex abuse scandals where handled and what was done about reports of abusive priests. When report after report was coming out about it and the church didn't do the right thing by the victims until its' hand was forced that was the end for me. I didn't feel I could belong to something that professed to be righteous and follow the bible yet turn around and do something so against its' own teachings. Not only that it attacked the media like they were at fault. That was my end.

I found Wicca after reading holy books and stuff about most major religions. It mirrored my own belief system about many things but the 'hook' for me was the concept of the earth being a living, breathing entity, something I had held as a belief for many years.

All my life growing up going to a Baptist Church I could not get comfortable with Christianity. I just didn't believe what was being preached at me. The last straw (I was age 15) is when I found out the Reverend who was preaching Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery from the pulpit was doing just that.. and I hate hypocrisy.

I am a Wiccan and I found that after reading various religious texts and deciding that that particular religion fit the beliefs I've always carried within myself. No one coerced me, no one recruited me.. I was and still am a solitary practitioner although I will work within a coven when I am needed.

I never have had blind faith. Then I became too educated to have it.

I don't believe that in all of the universe, all of the planets, some deity named "God" ended up here on Earth. (Please note that I answered this question based on Christianity being the dominant religion in my country.)

The group I belong to now, is not a group. I believe in one idea. That is "What goes around, comes around". Some people say that is Kharma. But it has been proven time and again so I give it merit.

I was brought up Southern Baptist. I went to church nearly every Sunday, was active in the youth group and sang in the choir. The elders of the church often spoke to us as a group about the virtues of forgiveness, acceptance and general christian living. This was until I was 15.

Five years prior, our pastor, who had been with the church for nearly 30 years, lost his wife to cancer. He began attending a cancer support group and met a wonderful lady, also a Southern Baptist, who had lost her husband as well. They developed a relationship and eventually he asked her to marry him. After he shared his happy news with the congregation the elders (mostly women) began plotting a coup. They began taking nastily behind the preachers back. Making disparaging comments about his choosing to get remarried and about the women who he was marrying. This went on for several months until he finally decided to leave the church. What these supposedly wise elders of the church did was unconscionable and completely un-christian like. This coupled with the ever growing fundamentalism and faster growing hypocrisy of the Southern Baptist Convention were the reasons that I decided at that point that it was not a group that I wanted to be affiliated with any longer.

To this point there has been no religious group that has shown themselves to be true to their tenants (ie practice what they preach) and thereby worthy of my time of efforts on their behalf.

i wasnt taught any religion as a child so never have really believed got curious for a while but looked in to it and decided it wasnt for me full stop

I have studied with so many denominations within Christianity, and some outside it, with such varying doctrines that I rely now on spirituality, morals and ethics to guide me. I have a conscience.

I went to catholic school and they taught me everything that I needed to know that they and most other religeons are a bunch of self serving hypocrites. It's all nonsense.