What are your religious roots, and......

How/have you changed???

I see a lot of posts here on religion, and I often wonder if the posters are still of the same belief now as to what they were brought up with?
I myself was raised in the Assembly of God/Pentecostal church. Now, at 37, I question organized religion, and quite honestly am not sure what I believe??

Next?

Was born in a protastant family..... Then became christian of my own choice. Don't remember the order though, but then became mormon, muslim, and then scientologist. I now follow a distinct spiritual path that is not of organised religion.

Kind Regards
Merger

my family is catholic but it was never forced on me... i went to some sunday school for a few years when i was around 6....i went to church a couple of times but even at the age of 8 i thought it was wrong and not the right path for me......then about 14 years ago i got into the hare krsna movement and that introduced me to the vedic knowledge and i have followed it eversense......

Born and raised catholic. However, math and science have given me the ability to see. Logical abilities that we all have are used to little these days.

You know, I went to catholic grade school. I prayed every day like a good little christian... All because I never bothered to question leadership motives. It took a teacher trying to tell me that if the earth was a milimeter closer to the sun, that we would all fry, to realize what a bunch of nonsense I was dealing with.

Wow! A lot of changes so far. I guess a lot of changes in my life have led me to where I am now.....is it considered weak minded to just admit to a "higher power"? I don't like organised religion, I was raised in it and now it just seems so hypocritical. After all, it says in the bible not to change the word of God, and IMO, that is exactly why we have different denominations.
Thanks for the input so far all

Born Catholic, stayed that way for ~30 years, then crossed the aisle to Baptist for a few years, then became an atheist. One of my siblings is still an avid Catholic, one is Baptist, one is nondenominational evangelical, and one is luke warm Catholic. Parents are both devout cradle Catholics.

Born into a family that dosnt take part in any reglion. My was raised as a catholic but due personaly reasons she has stayed away from the catholic church. As for myself I have never been inclined to take part in reglion. Due to my mums experiances and the wait of logic I have choosen to take no part in any form of reglion.

[edit on 28-12-2005 by xpert11]

I was raised in a very religious environment. Religion was the center of our lives, everything revolved around it. We were protestant (Baptist, Methodist).

We attended church 3-4 times per week, prayed at every meal, studied the bible, attended church camp, bible school and revivals.

I am now agnostic. I tend to think that God, heaven and hell are all just ideas and supposition man has created over time to explain and explore the most asked questions of all time:

Why are we here?
Where did we come from?
What does the future hold?

...and to control the populace, of course.

I don't have answers for these all-consuming questions and I don't have any desire to know. Because I feel I cannot know. Why waste my time trying to figure out something that I can never be sure of?

Raised a methodist, baptised at 23 as a Presbyterian, and now just rely on a personal relationship with GOD.

Family was Methodist but Mom didn't buy it and taught me to think for myself. 5th grade Southern Baptist, holy-roller teacher used to preach a 30 minute sermon every morning in class. This was in a NC public school in the early 70s lest anyone try to say it doesn't happen. This sermon included questions to individual students about church attendance, baptism, and other religious matters that are no business whatsoever of the public school system. Mom went to the school board and got the teacher censured and me transfered to another class. Bravo Mom!

I now probably qualify as an Agnostic. I have beliefs but am very careful not to confuse them with knowledge, and have little or no respect for those who do. I'm likely a little vocal about this and some might say I am quick to attack those who I see as being blinded by dogma and determined to impose it on others, but I truely think that if you can't admit that you may be wrong about what you already believe, you can never learn anything new or grow your spirit.

Well I was christened as Christian but not into a seriously religious family. They only entered churches for marriages and deaths.

I was baptized into the mormon church at 18 but fell away within 2 years.

Im now pagan

I think there is a common thread there....sounds like you both had it forced down your throat from an early age. Do you think this was what led to your change?
Plague------can you give me some links to vedic knowledge? thanks in advance!

I was baptized and raised Catholic, and while it was never "forced" upon me as a child, it was considered proper and wasn't questioned.

As I became a teenager, at the age of 13 actually, a lot of crazy stuff happened that made me question the Church.

Now, however, I find that I've become incredibly religious, because through all of the questioning, I found that I did like the idea of the Catholic Church and God and whatnot. And after having religion insisted upon as a kid, I now find that I'm the ONLY one in my household who finds it important anymore. I tend to be the one going, "Okay guys, don't you think it's about time for ya'll to start going to Mass again???"... But alas, I go alone-- Which seems strange to some, because most are still being forced by their parents at age 17... Until you're legal, you're going to Mass, like it or not... But I tend to find that it's something I actually enjoy...

Wow... That was an incredibly long, rambling post... Short version: Baptized and raised Catholic, still Catholic.

Originally posted by irishmen3g
I think there is a common thread there....sounds like you both had it forced down your throat from an early age. Do you think this was what led to your change?

Well, I didn't like the forcing down the throat bit, but with me it was more the obvious hypocrisy and "six day sinning" of the local Baptists that got me thinking for myself.

Also, I was very into science at a fairly early age, and the fables in the Bible just didn't feel right or make much sense in light of the vastness and subtle elegance of what we see around us. To me, the God depicted in the Bible just didn't sound like the same being that designed and initiated the Universe I found myself inhabiting.

Perhaps the most telling thing for me though, was the irrational fear of death that those who claim to be the most devout seem to be the most obsessed with. There is no hope and no joy in fear. I just couldn't accept the idea that God would want us to be afraid, and still reject that idea and any religion based on it.

I hope this helps you in your seeking.

[edit on 28-12-2005 by Ambient Sound]

I'm 15, and in my short time on earth, I have studied many religions and been a few. First I was raised as a Christian, I think it was Anglican, my parents don't really care. I never went to church, and my only teachings came from my Religious Education teacher.(Which, by the way, was NOT religious education. It was Christian education, and in all fairness should have been labled such) After I left primary school, I became atheist, but this never really satisfied my spiritual side. For a while I looked at being a born again Christian, but then decided on Buddhism. That lasted until two years ago, when I found Wicca, which I havn't left since.

Sorry if I made everybody mad by saying forced down your throat, I didn't mean it that harshly!...................wish i could mantain a thread

[edit on 29-12-2005 by irishmen3g]

I was raised christian, though with Catholic and Mormon influences and just considered to be Christian myself that until I was 11, than I became pagan, believing in a mixture of the Greek, Egyptian and Norse gods.

Than when I was 13 I became an atheist, and took on some Buddhist beliefs, but it never satisfied me totally and up until 16 I was just adding things onto what I believed, but still considered myself Atheist/Buddhist, but than I realised that I could not really call myself either since what I believed was close to both of them but not close enough.


So I have my own beliefs now, which I gave a name "Theranism".

The link in my post signature go's to a thread explaining my beliefs.

[edit on 12/29/2005 by iori_komei]

Originally posted by irishmen3g
Sorry if I made everybody mad by saying forced down your throat, I didn't mean it that harshly!...................wish i could mantain a thread

Nooo. What I meant was that I didn't like having religion forced down my throat, not that I thought what you said was harsh.

Yours are valid questions. If you don't ask questions, you can never get answers.

Thanks Ambient!! I get nervous about posting, much less starting a thread....I don't want to make anyone mad........but what I am not hearing is WHY di you all change???

I changed origonally from christian to Pagan, because I liked the different deities, I changed from pagan to atheist/Buddhist, because I started learning and getting intersted in science, I became what I am now, because I felt that there was something that I knew, but did'nt know at the same time.

I hope that answers your question.