What I mean by that is I find the topic of religion very confusing. I see the bible as very old history book, the problem being, it wasn't written until approximately 400 years after the beginning of it. Archaeology (the study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts and other physical remains) and scientists (the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment) To my point of view, the bible seems to be a history book of history and stories passed down from generation to generation until it was finally written down.
have provided information that places and some events, such as locations, did exist. I have doubts about the 'god' stuff for my own reasons. I do believe and respect those people have a right to religion of their choosing and don't see it as bad nor do I condemn or disagree with anyone over it.

I was raised catholic, my dad, who was not, took us kids to church every sunday and made regular donations to the church, I'm not sure what his religion was. My mother was catholic but didn't go with us. We were taught sunday school by nuns, which involved reading our books, while memorizing the answers to predetermined questions. One word out of order and we were in deep trouble. At home there was much abuse by my mother and at some point, maybe about 12 years old, I would walk to church every weekday during the summer and sit there praying to god to make it stop, it never did, but I continued to believe and worked very hard at being as good as possible and being helpful around the house.

Some years later I began to have doubts. I had a friend who was mormon and occasionally went with her one weekday each week to the women's society meetings. These people were all very nice, so when I later moved away I joined the local church near me. After awhile I began to feel uncomfortable with things that were said and how I felt as if I were being watched in the sense that they always found a reason to be at my house telling me go to this meeting and that event. I finally left because other household members felt pressured to go to the church and none of them were interested and getting upset over the whole thing. I found that leaving the church does not include them leaving you alone. I got frequent knocks on the door, phone calls, letters and even certified mail from them. Now it's approximately 20 years later and they still manage to find me, the door knocking restarts, the invitations arrive, letters and the occasional certified mail. I'm always polite to the 'visitors' as they have no idea what has been going on, or how many times I've said I wasn't interested. Three older men came by late one afternoon, I told them I'm not interested and stop sending people to my door. One man actually told me if I want out of the church, I had to put it in writing and send it notarized and sent by certified mail. There is more that happened recently, but I'm sure you all get how frustrating this has been.

Now, even though I'm not 100% sure what I believe, I do research information, watch documentaries and try to ask questions of another religious group that came by a few months ago. Jehovah's witnesses. Now I'm frustrated with them, because they do the same thing, which the said in the beginning they do not, and that's is answering questions. If we're discussing something, I ask a question and the generic response is, 'we'll get to that answer later'. I'm at a loss now, I don't want them to show up anymore and don't know how to politely tell them. I do find anyone who talks about religion to be friendly people, but it seems like the religions I know something about either don't believe in some things as I do, or they won't answer questions except maybe with the usual answer of 'god has his reasons', which is more like a brush off because their is no known answer.

If you happen to be catholic or mormon, I don't mean to be insulting or rude, you have the right to be what you want, I just find it all confusing and that some topics are just not spoken about. Maybe some of you can relate to my confusion or understand it a bit.

I realize this is an old thread, but the behavior you describe is, frankly, appalling. I'm Lutheran, WELS to be exact, and whenever we begin to discuss faith and our beliefs with those who are unbelievers/unchurched/went to a church of another faith but no longer go, we do share with them the Gospel message and our doctrine. Deeper questions are valued, because that is part of how we grow closer to God, by seeking Him. Some of my relatives proclaim to be Catholic, yet don't go to church or go but don't understand what's really being taught (hence why I said appalling).

While it is true that there are times were the answer "God has His reasons" is the correct answer, there usually IS an answer, it's just not always either one we want to hear, or the person doesn't want to say (sometimes what you've asked about is part of deep doctrine, which they fear might scare you away). Some folks have a hard time saying "I know God has a reason, but I don't know what it is, so why don't we ask Pastor?"

If you want to discuss faith with me, I'll do my best to answer.