Ten Reasons People Leave The Faith

This video looks at ten common reasons that people choose not to be religious. The purpose of this video is not to try to change anyone's mind or offer arguments against specific religions, but rather document what might lead someone to leave their faith.

Sponsors: João Costa Neto, Dakota Jones, Thorin Isaiah Malmgren, Prince Otchere, Mike Samuel, Daniel Helland, Mohammad Azmi Banibaker, Dennis Sexton, Yu Saburi, Mauricino Andrade, Will Roberts, Greg Gauthier, Christian Bay, Joao Sa, Richard Seaton, Edward Jacobson, isenshi, and √2. Thanks for your support!

Information for this video gathered from The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy and more!

[Schmitty]

This video just made me sad at how much damage fundamentalists have done to their own causes. Other than perhaps the problem of evil, I don’t see how any of these could really pose any sort of challenge to someone with a sophisticated faith. If theists took a route similar to thinkers like Tillich, Barth, von Balthasar, and Moltmann, instead of endorsing anti intellectualism, they’d be in a much better position I believe.

[aboutreligion]

Hey Carneades! As encouraged by you - I stay skeptical ;)
You state: “10.24 While someone may follow any of these paths to leave the faith, these top four are the most common.”
Did you come to this conclusion yourself or can you cite other sources?
Thumbs up for your video, great content.

[Voidsworn]

Eh, I was baptised Catholic, confirmed Lutheran, later went to a Methodist church, part of a Presbyterian youth group, went to vacation bible school every year (different denominations), church summer camp (Camp Agape) every summer. I also remember going to one of my friend's church things every so often (it was one of those born again things but with candy...you can guess who they were targeting). All of this before the age of 20. After all that, I "chose" not to be religious because it is not a choice. Either the evidence justifies belief or it does not. It does not.

[wcotton]

I'll give everyone something to ponder about Bible-based religions. The book of Genesis says that God created man in His image and likeness. Do you believe that God creates bodies? And therefore that abortion is a sin? How can bodies be in God's image and likeness? If God is a perfect creator (as I believe He is), He would create bodies that are perfect and eternal, neither of which our bodies are. No, God created a perfect Son, a spirit (as God is), in which we all share as souls. So where do bodies come from? We created them, to pretend that we are separate from God, which in truth we can never be.

[Blitzman]

Good video, Just wanted to add that Flew wasn't a theist he was a deist and actually still didn't believe that religion was rationally justified only that the existence of god was.

[yasirazhari]

The moral arguments weren't compelling to me back when I was leaving. They can all be reduced to " This religion is incompatible with my moral intuitions"

I think in this case, truth supercedes morality. Because if it is true that the given religion provides the "correct" moral system, then it follows that you have a moral duty to act against your intuitions.

1. Presumption of atheism
2. Inconsistency
3. Interchangeability

Those were the reasons I left Islam.

[Hesiod]

They may leave when they find out what their preachers leave out of the sermons, or when they stop overlooking the unsavory parts of their scriptures when reading for morality tales. These verses can amount to large parts of scriptures. See Dan Barker's Book: God The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction.

[rainncorbin]

I researched my way out of Christianity. I have researched my way out of many paradigms.

[alsatusmdA]

I disagree with how important you seem to be saying some of these reasons are, in particular:
9. and 3. Too easy to be accused of merely "copping out" of taking a "real" path out of the faith
6. Too particular to leaving or avoiding entry into (ultra-)orthodox sects of religions
4. Science and religion do obviously contradict each other, but only in certain parts, which is itself only because religion was established before science had even properly started developing, and even in spite of the continual discoveries in science, it is doubtful that it is ever even going to be possible for humans to understand the universe entirely

[barbarabobbyscott]

The disbelief in God, especially the Christian God of the Bible, will neither put an end to ...ism or human propensity to wrong other humans, divided by clsss, race, gender, ethnicity, ideals, etc., The ...ism void will be filled as it is by groups and individuals now.

[benthephilosopher]

Reason #1: They didn't read enough Plantinga :D

[hasankeser]

In my case, it is more about feeling it silly and absurd. The idea of a god doesn't make 'sense' to me. Mine was not as a result of deliberate and rational calculations or, I guess, judgments on the moral side of particular religion. It is rather an intuitive sense. Of course, all the reasons you mention might have affected it in certain aspects but I think you miss to put another type of rejection. My knowledge of them is limited but it resembles those of existentialists. Kierkegaard in an opposite way or Sartre and Camus maybe? Just because it is simply absurd to believe? I know it sounds like Russell's assertion that you mention, but I mean in a more emotional way

[redsparks]

Excellent lecture. However I would consider that No. 4 should be a dilema, not trilema, because (a) is the conclusion drawn by some because of (b) and (c) existing together as different worldviews. Anyway good enough as brief overview of issue No. 4.

[guillatra]

I understand reasons why people deconvert as causal explanations for their deconversion. Perhaps we use to think about rational reasons or justifications for their deconversion and yes, this is a viable interpretation too. But I think the explanation-interpretation is broader and at least in cases of irrational changes of mind more interesting.

Understood as mere causes I wonder what kind of causes the reasons you presented are. I don't think they are sufficient explanations. Perhaps they are the straw, that broke the camel's back. Or they are those causes people use to identify themselves with, because they are rational resons and hence are useful to characterize a deconversion as a rational decision.

[cliffordhodge]

Leaving a particular religion presumably has mainly to do with the belief that it's tenets do not constitute a set of logically consistent well-formed formulas (or wff), a consistent set of propositions.  For instance the Bible is so full of stuff that no one ever talks about or attempts to explain, if you have read it, you must lose all confidence in the church leaders.    The biggest problem is the concept of a god or what God in the Bible is.  People seem to conceive of God as a sort of mind, similar in important respects to the human mind.  And then they try to make attributions of various special capabilities by making assertions which are not wffs and stating various rules which are not wffs.  It seems impossible to conceive of such a being.  Most importantly, the Hebrew name for God,   the tetragrammaton YHWH, is translated as a word which is more like a programming language pointer which points at nothing but itself.  "I am that is, " and variations show that the name of God asserted mere existence without suggesting any properties possessed by God.  Existence itself is not a property, so this makes it difficult to explain for any theory of reference, but also too hard to conceive as other than an impossibly abstract thing.    I see the Bible as, among other things, a text which gives a very interesting account of the gradual Platonization of the Israelites.

[bluesqure]

I think that Flew converted to deism not theism (But great vid, as always).

[Hesiod]

Number 1 reason is "Religion is wrong about morality. A great book is Dan Barker's "God The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction"

[Hesiod]

Also great for people who have never been religious, like me.