Just thought i'd give reasons why i left church even though i’m still a practicing Christian. Here’s tons of reasons why i left.
Toxic community - Most people who claim to be Christians aren’t real Christians. They sin behind closed doors committing incest, gossip, adultery, lying, stealing, and other sins. They also manipulate people and make them feel like they’re not good enough. They force people into believing their version of the Truth by threatening them with hellfire and brimstone. If anyone doesn’t agree with their lifestyle, they’ll call them heretics. They often use the Bible to brainwash people into accepting their lifestyles and beliefs. They don't care about living by what the Bible actually teaches.
Ignorance - Most Christians don’t study the Bible as i learned. They don’t even read it. They just have their Bibles put on shelves to gather dust and only take them out on Sundays for church. They’d rather have the pastor read and interpret the Bible for them. As a result, most Christian authorities take advantage of that and mislead the people. From studying the Bible, i learned most of what Christians teach isn’t true. For example, i learned masturbation and homosexuality aren’t sins. When i teach the real truth about what the Bible actually says, i mostly get hate comments from Christians. Many get angry and upset with me because i told them the truth. They come up with excuses and often deny it.
Pretentious behavior - When i was a teen, i was annoyed at how adults often generalized and pretended to know me. The church would have games, food, drinks, etc. because they assumed i was into that as a teen. I came to church because i was serious about my faith. I wasn’t into joking around and playing games like other teens were. I also couldn’t stand how Christians were pretentious. They’d always try to act as if they had a point to prove in almost everything they did. Even when they said “Amen, God is good” or “yes Lord.” If you’re not that spiritual, don’t act like you are. I had one guy who did all that and lowkey admitted he wasn’t that spiritual.
Immaturity - I dislike the immaturity going on in churches today. Rather than actually focus on spirituality, people would rather focus on creating a pop Christian culture. Christians would make slogans to try to sound hip like “souled out”, t-shirts, their own genres, etc. They’d print t-shirts of their church and wear bandannas for the youth. I have no time for such foolishness that has nothing to do with Jesus lol. It’s sad that the Christian faith is being commercialized like that.
Commercialization - I dislike how Christianity is so commercialized. It’s very corrupt. People create tons of products such as crosses, necklaces, clothing, stickers, toys, games, devotionals, etc. I have a problem with most of it because it’s false advertising. Authors write books promising you that you’ll be blessed through their teachings or testimonies. It’s just for profits. Worse, some are even caught lying about their testimonies.
Christian women - Dating in the Christian community is horrible. I never had much luck dating Christian women because they’re so suppressed and pretentious. They’re very uncomfortable around their sexuality and affection in general. I can understand and respect not wanting to have sex before marriage, but not wanting to kiss too? That’s a bit too far even for me. They’re pretentious because they overspiritualize everything, including relationships. Many say they want to a man who brings them closer to Jesus and don’t express any desire for intimacy. It’s a turn off when a Christian woman doesn’t want to kiss, hug, flirt, etc. me and all she wants is to make it about Jesus. I value Jesus too, but i also value the relationship i have with a woman.
Hypocrisy - I hated the hypocrisy in church. They claim to believe in YHWH, but don’t believe in the Devil or spirits. They try to make the Bible into a philosophy or personal form of spirituality rather than talk about the supernatural. They claim they’re about loving and caring for people, but their actions show otherwise. They’d rather practice their faith behind closed doors rather than get involved in the world’s problems. I realized why so many people are turned off from Christianity. Its because they don’t see Christians living what they preach about. Where’s the Christian community’s support for black lives matter? Holocaust survivors? People living in poverty and homelessness? It does people no good if you do these missions campaigns, but don’t provide for their physical needs too.
Legalism - Many Christians are legalistic. They live by man-made rules. They don’t listen to worldly music, smoke, drink, curse, have pre-marital sex, go to bars, clubs, etc.
Homophobia - Many churches preach so much against homosexuality more than other sins. They have no solid basis for claiming homosexuality is a sin when you study the Scriptures. It all boils down to homophobia and toxic masculinity. In fact, one pastor in my local church told the congregation to vote against same-sex marriage being legalized in my state.
Sexism - Sexism is very prevalent in churches. Women are seen as lesser than men based on flawed interpretations of the Scriptures. Many women are forbidden from teaching and preaching on the same level as the men.
Racism - Racism is also very prevalent in the church. Whenever i'd go from church to church, i'd often see majority white or black churches. There was never a church that was all mixed. Christians masked racism well by depicting people in the Scriptures like Jesus as white. For centuries, whites have removed the middle eastern roots of the Scriptures because of prejudices against people of color. They westernized it on so many levels to where people think Christianity is "a white man's religion" when it isn't.
These are some of the reasons why i left the church. I now only associate with a few Christians who practice what they preach.
