Has anyone else started at a young age doubting?

I was raised in the Roman catholic sect of Christianity..and as far back as I could remember I doubted the whole doctrinal mess. Sunday School...catechism classes....rapped on the knuckles with a ruler by the Sisters...the whole 9 years...I was asked to leave Sunday school for asking too many "hate filled atheist questions"....at 14...I began to research and study buddhism at 15.....converted formally at 17...was excommunicated by the Church at 19. Have practiced and studied buddhism for more than 35 years now..and have not regretted my choice for one second.

Actually I think every single kid goes through this doubting stage, some earlier than others. It's a part of the rite of passage from the point where kids believe uncritically everything their authority figures tell them, and the beginning of skepticism -- simply grasping the concept that everyone does not know everything, and some people make stuff up.

Most of us grow out of it, and if you're lucky, you will too. Mature thought processes do not begin until about the age of thirty.

Doubting is that adolescent stage between slavishly believing everything and learning to have a healthy but rational skepticism. In adolescence, there's a reaction to childish belief by a blanket refusal to believe anything. It appears to the individual that this is some incredible discovery that no adult is able to comprehend.

Actually, it's something to grow out of, and if we're lucky, most of us will do that.

I was born in a Protestant family and went to a catholic school.

My first step was to reject all kind of religions when I was 9.

I was humiliated by a catholic nun, and they publicly humiliated my little sister and a friend of my mom. I still went to church because my mother forced me to.

I could not embrace my family's protestantism because all the religion were fighting each other.Shouldn't they preach love and unity?

I became completely agnostic and refused to go to Church because I was not feeling it.

I became a mixture of atheist and agnosticism at 14 but I still talk about religion and stuffs. I was exploring and questioning. I was not questioning God, but I was questioning the evil that mankind has done in the name of religion and God.

I became a believer in again at 18 because I needed a scholarship to study abroad and hope that God would help me. I went to Church with my mom to pray for the scholarship but I still rejected religions. After I got my scholarship, I did not keep my promise to God and I fail into doubts again. I spent two years religionless and Godless.

Now , at 21, I am trying to find answers to some questions. Most of my doubts has not been about God but about the people who want to condemn humanity in the name of God.

I never embrace any religion and my friends call me an atheist.

I sometimes wish that God would just make me believe and give me a strong faith because I sometimes get tired of forcing myself to believe.

I fall into doubts whenever something irrational happen.

I guess that the other Christians will never accept me as among them because no matter what the bible says, I support same sex marriage, I condemn the hypocrisy of fornication among Christians. They won't accept me because to them, I have to have a religion in order to claim myself as a believer.

I recently started to doubts again because I went to Church last December, and the preacher said "let us pray so Israel can have victory over Palestine." My friend told me that it is because the Israeli are the Children of God and they are chosen by God, but I ask myself if this preacher know that the victory that he is asking for means: more Palestinian and Israeli orphans in Gaza, more hunger, more abuse and more hatred. No matter how much I want to believe in God and in the Bible, I don't think that anyone 's life should be sacrificed to please the so-called children of God and the desire of God. Even God knows that because he did not let Abraham sacrifice his little son. Fortunately, all the bad things came out of a human mouth.

But I know that the final judge is ultimately God and he has the final word.

I started doubting christianity at about the same time as I started doubting the existance of Santa Claus, when I was five. Years went on, and I didn't really believe, even now at the age of fifteen, when I know that the luck that I've had and all the amazing things that happened could not be all a coincidence, I still doubt the existance of god sometimes, and I'm ashamed of it. Unfortunately though, if I don't see something I doubt it even exists. However, I've seen proof and sometimes I know, but many times I doubt his existance.

Billions of people over the last several thousands of years have practiced religious devotion of all different types. Am I to dismiss the religious experiences of these people as a "giant con" because I am so confident of my status as a highly evolved thinking being? I don't think so. I believe we have a lot that we can learn from ancient civilizations (that's why I teach history for a living); I believe it is folly to cast aside the beliefs and practices of the ancients in the name of progress.

The great thing about questioning (yeah, I've done it, too) is that it allows you to carve out your own understanding of your relationship with the divine - to "work our your own salvation with fear and trembling," as Paul put it.

It's natural. If we don't have doubt, how can we know the truth of our life and the right path to follow. When I was young, I had a lot of doubts about life. i suffered from the unhappiness of my family, the selfishness and arguement between students, the sickness of my mom and my brother, the death of my grandpa and grandma, the pressure of studying, the vexation about love. I wonder why i should bear so much suffering. I doubt gods , but still wish someone wise to help me. Finally, I found my answer in the chan practice and buddhism.

Hope you find your answer as soon as possible.

Mind peace, life peace.

I studied for months and months and realized that religion is like aids. Now believe me though, it was horrible to realize that everything I knew as a christian was wrong but the truth is always better... Oh and I still research God and religion, we won't find every single truth all laid out online or even in books for us. There is a lot of history and lies to sort out which I don't believe we will ever know everything.

Good luck ;-)

If you read the Bible you will see that it really is a book that God had written to help guide humans. Almost all religious leaders deviate from Truth. They make up stuff that aren't even in the Bible. If you pray and continue to search and read God's Word. You will find the true religion. It's right at your door.

Do not worry yourself because of doubts. Its normal, and necessary on the road to being a True Believer. Remember Thomas? Once you doubt, its necessary for you to seek Him personally, without the Church. Just you, your life and your bible. Then He will meet you in the most unexpected way.

If you believe the Bible with all your heart and never question it, you are ignorant.

Thinking back, the only reason I ever believed in God was because I didn't want to go to hell. At this, I think it's a pretty selfish reason don't you think? I think followers of God are pretty selfish. There are those who believe in doing good yet they don't believe in God, I think those are the real "heroes".