<p>Many people experience doubt about aspects of their religious lives.  They wonder whether their religious texts are true.  They wonder if the people claiming to represent God really do.  They wonder whether God actually hears their prayers.  They struggle to accept that God cares about them given how nasty the world is.  Doubt about faith is completely normal.</p>

Many people experience doubt about aspects of their religious lives. They wonder whether their religious texts are true. They wonder if the people claiming to represent God really do. They wonder whether God actually hears their prayers. They struggle to accept that God cares about them given how nasty the world is. Doubt about faith is completely normal.

<p>Many people experience doubt about aspects of their religious lives.&nbsp; They wonder whether their religious texts are true.&nbsp; They wonder if the people claiming to represent God really do.&nbsp; They wonder whether God actually hears their prayers.&nbsp; They struggle to accept that God cares about them given how nasty the world is.&nbsp; Doubt about faith is completely normal.</p>

Is Doubt About Faith OK?

If you’ve grown up with religion like I did, you’ve probably also felt from time to time that it just doesn’t add up.  Certain questions haunt you at two o’clock in the morning, questions that whatever group you practice your faith with tends to frown upon.  You don’t find the provincially acceptable answers at all acceptable.  But however much these questions prove to be forbidden, your mind remains unsettled.  You keep coming back to them—hesitant, worried, and sometimes even angry.  I’ve spent my life tossing away the shackles of fear and facing these forbidden questions directly.  I cannot understand why religious people should fear the truth, if the truth is supposed to set us free!  So, let it out, I say.  And I offer you here the fruits of my lifetime of labors, both in the hopes that you can profit from my struggles but also in the expectation that you might add something to inspire our other travelers still facing those anxious nights.

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Religion & Spirituality

Christianity

Philosophy

If you’ve grown up with religion like I did, you’ve probably also felt from time to time that it just doesn’t add up. Certain questions haunt you at two o’clock in the morning, questions that whatever group you practice your faith with tends to frown upon. You don’t find the provincially acceptable answers at all acceptable. But however much these questions prove to be forbidden, your mind remains unsettled. You keep coming back to them—hesitant, worried, and sometimes even angry. I’ve spent my life tossing away the shackles of fear and facing these forbidden questions directly. I cannot understand why religious people should fear the truth, if the truth is supposed to set us free! So, let it out, I say. And I offer you here the fruits of my lifetime of labors, both in the hopes that you can profit from my struggles but also in the expectation that you might add something to inspire our other travelers still facing those anxious nights.

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Is Doubt About Faith OK?

Is Doubt About Faith OK?