For me, it was largely due to a Women's studies class at college.
I was partly outraged by the notion that women are "second-class citizens" in the Catholic church...somehow not holy enough to be priests?
But the main spark came from discussions of the personal bias of historians and archeologists in recording history.
Here's an example: for many years, cave dwellers were thought to be hunters, based on cave drawings of animals and weapons/spears...but closer examinations (with maybe a vegetarian-bias) show that the "weapons" depicted have hooks pointing in non-productive directions...leading some scholars to believe these are, perhaps, not weapons at all, but depictions of grain...that kind of mis-interpretation/assumption can shape your whole thinking about people.
Skip ahead now, and if all of history--and all religious writings--are the product of an individual's or group of individuals' personal bias/agenda, what can you believe?
Think about the kindergarten game of "Telephone", where you sit in a circle, and whisper a single word or phrase, on down the line. When the last person says aloud what was whispered, it comes out completely different.
Think about eyewitness accounts...five people witnessing the same event have five completely different stories.
It all added up to one underlying theme for me: The absolute truth is unknowable. In all things.
It's foolish for Man to presume to know or understand God, or for one person to believe they have a deeper understanding than others, and proceed to instruct...
It's hard for me to accept any religion, when the Truth is out of reach. I'm all for common-sense, broad concepts, like being good to one another.
My hope is that in the next life, we'll become part of something bigger, and that elusive Truth will be revealed.
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