Have you ever been imprisoned for your religious beliefs ?
147440
Yes.  When I was drafted into the army during Viet Nam, I applied for conscientious objector status.  When it was denied, I went AWOL for a few weeks, turned myself in, and was sent to the stockade for 5 months.  I never completed training and was discharged after 15 months in the army.
127610
This has happened to me many times. I try to learn from it and then move on. I pray for an evil person and then let them go off to their own life.
768271
Non religious to Christianity: A friend took me to church with her and I liked it for a time.\n\nChristianity to Agnostic: People of the church were disappointing.  They judged a lot more than "enlightened".  I was considered a trouble maker for asking questions.  I found that any place that tries to hide answers has a reason to do so, and that's never really a good thing when they're taking your money.\n\nAgnostic to Atheism:  Over time, I just felt that the concept of God was not logical and not for me.  I prayed so hard for many weeks for him to allow me to believe in him.  I was miserable for a time after realize he didn't exist, but I began living for myself and being truthful to myself and I just became happier than I ever have been.\n\nThis entire process was over the course of ten years.
1128202
I used to be an atheist. real hadcore stuff too, denying Jesus, questioning the existance of the supernatural, baspheming the holy spirit, thinking that all religions are man-made superstitions oft used for duping the weak minded. I would trust  "facts" and listen to "Reason". \n\nAnd then one day I felt something. a feeling inside my body that filled me with a pulsing force. A rythmic pounding form inside. tha-thump tha-thump tha-thump. Almost like there was a pump inside my chest that was somehow pushing the blood to all the furthest reaches of my extremities and back again. It was then that i knew that i was right, there is no god after all :)
1062078
No, but your religion is stupider...hypothetically.  haha.
299057
I have.  It just makes things worse, in the long run.  Counceling is a far better answer to your problems, and prayer never hurts either, even if you're not a religious person.
861058
Thankfully no.\n\nI HAVE been berated by a family "friend" for being a godless heathen... but that was years ago.  He has since abandoned his vituperation for civility and I've not faced any serious problems since.\n\nI'm one of the LUCKY ones, though.
533390
That didn't happen from one day to another for me, it was actually a long process. I was taught to believe, so it was a bit hard to get confident enough to tell my parents I didn't believe at all. The day came though, and I felt comfortable, I felt I was being honest with my parents, they didn’t like the idea and still today try to convince me to change my mind, but they somehow have accepted the idea.\n\nNow in society, the first years as atheist/agnostic were hard, people would question my belief and told me I'd go to hell, it wasn't very nice, I had a feeling that those people didn't understand me and didn’t even try to understand me, I didn't want people to go mad at me but, at the same time, I didn't want to be an hypocrite. Now, several years after that, I feel comfortable admitting I am atheist/agnostic and if someone tells me that I'll go to hell, it has no effect on me anymore. I know I'm being completely honest about my thoughts and feelings and if someone doesn't want to accept that, it's up to them.\n\nAt this point in my life I could say I feel free to live my life according to my own philosophy of life and not to imposed rules and beliefs, and that’s liberating and gives me a lot of satisfaction and a sense of freedom.
92214
And they think christians were bad for pushing our beliefs on others.\n\nI just can't recall the number of people that I put behind bars or sued because they didn't accept Jesus or don't believe in God\n\nI can't recall the number of abortion clinics or gay bars that I blew up or the number of sinners that I killed in the name of Jesus.\n\nI Must of done all of this during one of my blackouts.\n\nLOL!
1148711
No, never, not even if I was awake.  \n\nI would even go so far as to consider it cruel and unusual punishment if I were in a prison or jail.
918594
I've never walked out on a service but I did "leave" the Catholic church at age 17.  I realized that gods don't exist.  I couldn't remain a Catholic when I knew it was based on delusion.
1093570
Religious freedom for some, religious persecution for others.
288008
I lived on a farm once, and the herd of cows and bulls and calves had gotten out, they were in the road, in the yard, in the pasture across the road. I was coming home from town, I couldn't get to my driveway because of them, so I rolled down my window and hollered, "I take authority over you in the Name of Jesus Christ and I command you to go back to the pasture". Nothing happened, and I said "Jesus help me." I hollered out my window again, "Go in the name of Jesus Christ" they went back the way they got every single one of them. I was so shocked, they just kind of went back in file form. My son was in the house, there was a big bull starring at him through the front doorjust before I got home.\n   You asked, and I don't tell this story often because it is really hard for others to believe, but as God is my witness, this is the truth.
875744
at age 17, in 1961, I was embarrassed by my drill sargeant for having "atheist" on my dogtag and was forced to go back and get a new one with a religion " I don't care what religion but we do not have any atheists in my troops!"\n\nI had made the mistake of answering the religion question with 'No preference" and they had no category for that except atheist. I went back to office and chose "catholic' because I could not think of anything else and my grilfriend was a catholic. This placated his wrath and I learned to keep my religious beliefs silent in USA or be punished for them. He always picked on me after that.
808966
I believed in god very much.  Bible camp counsellor.  On the bible quiz team.  Memorized books of the bible.  I went to a Baptist Bible College to study the bible in depth.  Imagine my surprise when the "small little holes" in the bible became huge GAPING holes when studied in the original languages.  It was the last thing I expected to happen at bible college.\n\nAfter a few years of trying to hold onto my faith, it vanished all together.  I tried shutting myself in a closet and praying every night.  To stop "thinking" and just will myself to believe.  Nothing worked.\n\nBasically, the first thing to go was "the bible isn't correct."  After that it was the morality of god (eternal punishment for a finite sin?  All of humanity being punished for a chick munching on fruit?)\n\nEventually, getting a degree from a "secular" university in history helped me think my way out of religion.  \n\nHope that is what you were lookin for.
744187
I left Christianity (i.e. Roman Catholicism - RC) because my RC grandparents were murdered in 2002 by their own RC sons and daughters.  Those animals were never arrested because they held influence with the RC church and the town officials where I lived in.\n\nI embraced Islam in 2004 and never regretted my decision.  I'm definitely happier now as a Muslim.\n\nPeace.
840852
have you got your own religion?\n\n sign me up!