To preface what I say I have to give some background of myself. When I was 27, I decided to commit myself to the pursuance of ministry. I went to school eventually in my early 30’s and concluded with a thirty year active period of music ministry and preaching as well as pastoring internal groups of a larger church as others like myself did to promote Christian growth in a smaller discussion group and prayer. I also taught Sunday School to teenagers and adults alike.
What I found during those years is that traditional Christianity does in fact kill the average Christian in the end. The local church building becomes the gathering place of a local group of people who likely originally came under the pretext of the tenants of Christian faith, but it became a club of sorts for dinners, special musical gathering, yard sales, car washes, and the proverbial bingo games. Sure, they will still profess their belief, but it isn’t the foremost reason they go after a period of time. There are no times of concerted prayer to find God’s will to change the direction of men who seek to do evil. There is no time set aside to touch the spirit realm causing change in our own lives.
Tradition is the biggest killer in the Church. Presumed beliefs take hold as a congregation listens to what the preacher says and does not ferret it out of the Bible for themselves. Charles, you’re right. People don’t study. Once they study they will find a lot of their beliefs will become the lies they are.
I’m not religious. I’m a Christian. As I previously stated, Christianity is a lifestyle, not a religion. Religion comes when a group takes a belief and puts it in a box and calls it a church. Then they add their icons layered in gold in some instances and call it a holy place. That pulpit is no more sacred than an old pair of worn athletic shoes. What’s sacred is the heart of man. His spirit is the one and only true temple in their body as they walk this earth.
What makes some preachers such as they are is beyond me. I found that my former pastor was a man who provoked me to study, because his teachings were so different than I’d ever learned. He made me very upset that he tipped over the money changer’s tables in my heart. I dug and dug on my own trying to disprove his teachings and in time found I could not from my own summations. Right now I could walk into any typical church and speak straight from the Word and be thrown out in short notice. People don’t like change. I can attest to that myself.
One thing that sets me off is that the more one studies their belief is that there is so much overlap into other beliefs. There’s a string of fact that runs through them all that ties them together. People say we all came from Adam and Eve. I doubt that. (Here we go). Genesis says God created man after his likeness. My question is how many men were there that weren’t created in His image. There were other men already present on earth at the time. The Bible proves that point. Some were giants even.
The appearance of contradictions in the Bible I surmise is because men of the past have put together what they believe is Holy Scripture and left out what is likely thousands of other Christian writings.
It’s enough to say we cannot exhaust this discussion you invoked. People will use and abuse any faith, because there are enough weak minds out there. Atheist isn’t a name I’d put on people. We all believe in something. Even if you believe in nothing more than fate, it becomes your faith. Agnostic is more appropriate for most so-called non-believers.
Livin' Small 
I love to read perspectives such as this one. It makes me feel less bad about the course my life has taken. I jokingly call myself a “bad” Catholic or a “fallen” Catholic. My dad wouldn’t find that funny, as he is a “strict” Catholic (and a permanent deacon) and I’m sure he is beyond disappointed that I’m no longer a practicing Catholic. We don’t talk about it, for some reason. (Our family is not good at talking things out.) But sadly, I do know, from a heated argument Dad had with my sister, who left the Catholic church for a non-denominational one, that he believes it’s better to be a non-practicing Catholic, than to be a Catholic who has chosen to leave the Catholic church for a non-Catholic one.
I fell away, and I can’t bring myself to go back and pretend like it’s all okay again. I grew up with very specific beliefs. And truthfully, my beliefs remained very childlike until I was into my twenties. I can’t even encapsulate what exactly led me to this point in my life. But I know it was a combination of things, like listening to teachings in church and then witnessing all of us regularly living against those teachings. My kids attended a Catholic grade school and the atmosphere within the community was so judgemental, so gossipy… so unhappy. I immersed myself in volunteerism within the church and school, seeking to find enlightenment and fulfillment. I can remember the distinct moment when I realized that for me, it would not be found there. I had only ever been going through the motions.
I still don’t know that I did the right thing. But I do know that the longer I’m away, the more I see God and spirituality at work in the world outside the walls of the church. And I don’t think Church is bad. It may be the very anchor many people need in their own lives. For me, it was a barrier.
I had just become an active Christian back in the late 70’s when I found out the supervisor in the lab where I worked had once been active in his faith, but had become cynical and left the church. I couldn’t, for the life of me, understand why at the time. Now being older and wiser has given me a much broader perspective. I’m not inactive in church, but I’m no where near a active. I play drums for the early morning music service, but outside of that I stand away from any more involvement. I was raised as a Free Will Baptist with a little of the Christian, Disciples of Christ, denominations, but I don’t adhere to any faith in particular. I’m not carrying any first hand knowledge of Catholicism. In school I was taught Catholicism uses a lot of guilt to keep the people in line. You go to confessional and tell the priest and then he has this knowledge to manipulate you if circumstances arose. I don’t know. I do know from study if you confess to God your sin, it’s just between you and Him. There is no go-between. I understand you dad and I won’t get into it, except to say he won’t change his mind unless God intervened in his heart. The walk before God is a personal one and there is too many voices outside. I insist on listening to the one inside me. Just the one I can trust and have proven over the years above any other. Trust the inner voice that gives you peace. Listening to that voice will give you a tried and true answer. I don’t know if I made sense here, but all that’s out there to read and study find too, in that, what brings alignment in your heart.