Which Religion Were You Born Into? Have You Changed Religions?

Originally posted by LOBO
I was born into Southern Baptist Christianity; at age 10 I de-coverted to Atheism, and later to LaVeyan Satanism, to Theistic Satanism, to Buddhism and Taoism, to Wicca and neo-Paganism, back to Theistic Satanism, and now, finally, to Roman Catholicism.

Quite a journey!!! Welcome back to God, and I am not just saying that because you are a fellow Roman Catholic!!!

I dont know what you would call me.

I was born into a a family where my mom was catholic, neighborhood was catholic, grandparents catholic, town church catholic (though there is a methodist too). My father was the only one who simply kept his beliefs secret. He just never talked about it. Im pretty sure he believes in god, but Im not sure what he believes to be perfectly honest.

well anyway. lets see I dont think I ever "believed" in it, I just did it because its what I was told to do. To be honest, up until I started to mature I didnt even think about whether it was real or not. well anyway, around 14 I went athiest for a short time, maybe a year at most. Then I went agnostic for another couple years.

Up until maybe 6 months ago, I would say thats where I was at. I was unsure if god existed, but felt there must be some answers. One night I was thinking and watching phenomenom. Great movie by the way. Anyway, I finished watching it and was just sitting there thinking about everything.

I wont try to explain how I got from that night to here, but what I am is what I can only characterize as content/at peace. Maybe no longer curious would be another way to describe it. What do I believe? I believe its irrelevent as to what religion is true. The answers to the questions are irrelevent, mainly because the questions themselves have no relevence if we look at the questions. At the end of the day, your still here, with a set amount of time. If you would live your life different, because of a truth which has no direct effect on your life now, are you being yourself, or just acting to fit with the norm?

I dont know how to describe it to the exact detail here and now, but I know it fits me perfectly.

Hmm, let me try and explain this.

I was born Roman Catholic and by the time I hit 7th grade my father and mother decided it was my choice as to what I do with myself spiritually.

I opted out of getting confirmed and have been looking at religion as a curious observer. I love going to places of worship and asking questions as a thing of academic study (not as a spiritual guide).

To date I have sat in on a ceremony of worship and gotten to speak with spiritual leaders in many Catholic Churches, a few Jewish Temples, two Islamic Mosques, a Buddhist Temple, an Orthodox Catholic Church, a number of Christian Denominations places of worship including Protestant, a Southern Baptist church, Jehovah's Witness place of worship, a temple of the Hari Krishna faith and tohers I am sure I have forgotten.

The most rewarding experiences I have found are the number of Pagan celebrations (all the major holidays and a hand fasting). Something about these celebrations seems to natural and peaceful while still holding tremendous amounts of good energy and that 'gathering' feeling.

The point that I am trying to make is that I do not see religion as a way to express my spirituality. Rather, I see it as something that suits the needs of many millions of people and is an interesting topic of study for myself.

I am, however, a very spiritual person and find my own ways of expressing my spiritual beliefs.

[edit on 11/11/0606 by spines]

I was baptized Anglican and attended church while I was young.
My grandmother had a large influence on me, and when I stayed over at her house we would share our favorite parts of the bible and spend hours talking about religion.

As I grew older my father was involved in the Catholic church, so I had a few years of exposure to that religion, but soon discovered what hypocrisy means. The Catholics were a big eye opener for me and I started studying some of the other faiths, but again, I soon became disillusioned with the blind leading the blind. The answers I was looking for were never forthcoming, and most of my questions remained unanswered.

I spent five years with the Church Of Scientology and found their teachings to be of great value in my life, but as I moved closer to the inner sanctum of the organization I felt their desire for money outweighed their desire to help humanity.

I don't think I've ever believed in God, and now I think that people that do believe are suffering from a form of mental illness or delusion. Children believe in Santa Claus, but they grow out of that as they get older. It's a shame the human race hasn't grown out of this silly belief in God.........

anxietydisorder, belief in God is not silly. 11 years later with an undeniable belief in God after a 6 year period of atheism, I can still ace the SAT, GRE, and an IQ test.

We have two different minds: God enters my mind much more frequently than yours. The name God enters my mind so much it has created an incontrovertible belief in my mind.

Maybe you should think of your grandmother more and the times you had together???

God Bless!!!

a belief in god I agree isnt necessarily silly at all. Its more so mans impatience combine with his ability to fill in the blanks with this complex thing he has called an imagination. That is but one possiblity.

Its shown time and time again that if a person is given a certain amount of information, in time, either the information they never had, or information they forgot, will be filled in like blanks. Think about this phrase:

When my grandmother got old, she died and passed on her house, her shoes, her clothes and her bank account money to my aunt, my sister, and my mom evenly. I got the dog and the parrot she kept with her for the last 2 years of her life.

Now if this were a personal experience for you, over time, chance are you will forget some of this information. You will most likely fill in the blanks. You probably remember the most important parts, but the point is, that a majority of the time people fill in the blanks when confronted with partial information.

This could be true with god. We saw things happen, we knew there was a cause, but we had no answer. We didn't just go "lets make something up to explain this" we jumped to conclusions, because its in our nature to. We saw the lightning hit the tree and wondered why. We couldnt explain it and thought "well some one must have caused that" After discarding the idea they had any influence, we considered it doesnt just happen all the time, that clouds seem to come everytime, it must be associated with the clouds. But what is the clouds? Well it never touches the ground, it is high above what man can reach. So much higher that its greater then man, and whatever is up there is above all men.

rough idea of why man is created by god, the ruler of the heavens. The most destructive and powerful force known to man has always been from weather, and as they saw it, the weather came from above. The rains which flood the lands came from the clouds. Hurricanes, tornadoes, they all come from the clouds and sky. So obviously whatever is up there is superior to man. From there its pretty simple that one could jump to the conclusion that its just a superior being to them, that is above them. Random just wasnt acceptable, so something had to be deciding what would happen.

I was raised as a born again Christian. I am now Wiccan.
I have found completion in my change.

Nither of my parents are religious. My dislike of organised religion comes from the fact that a Catholic member of the family did some non Christan things and the fact that Im an Atheist.

born a roman catholic
went to a catholic high school
read the bible cover to cover while i was there
became a soft atheist
read the bible cover to cover again
became an agnostic
then i became a non-theistic buddhist
and recently i became an atheist that follows some of buddhist philosophy

Music.


Music is my religion. Born into and remaining devoted unto this very day.

It has served me (and the world) very well!

I was born and raised Methodist. I'm not baptized into or part of the Roman Catholic Church, however i plan on it soon. So I consider myself catholic.

i converted because i realised i was being lied to by the protestant faiths, so i converted. They weren't deliberately lying, they just didn't realize they weren't teaching the truth. Thats my beliefs and my opinion.

I'm Native Ameican Indian. I was origionally born and raised as a Lutheran. Around the ages of 5 to 7I had some experience with cathlic beliefes Sometime as a boy, I found my calling in natural religion (the idea of finding God through nature). Later in my late teens/ Earily 20's I studied Native American spirituallity.

Today, I fallow a mixture of Native American and natural religion (what some call the Earth Religion).

Tim

Raised Roman Catholic.

Atheist sometimes in my teens

Officially a Thelemite for the last 3 years, but I have been "practicing" Thelema for much longer. In other words I found a religion that fit my beliefs not the other way around.

So many mandalas!

Lol, Justgeneric, your Jesuit is showing. Beerguy - there's a higher power for that.

I try to believe in things but there's always something comes along and makes me grow out of my beliefs. I was raised catholic but the priest at my childhood church still won't talk to me. Ha. There's something fishy around there.

Nihilism was my unfaith of choice for rebellion (many moons ago). I always thought agnostics were reasonable and atheists just mad at God - so I went all the way. I was proved wrong to myself.

A long time ago three wise men hid the crown of life from man. One said, "Let's hide it on the highest mountain." They argued, "No - he'll search and climb until he finds it.
The second one said, "Let's hide it at the bottom of the ocean." They argured, "No, you know how he is, he'll dig and dive until he finds it."
The third one said, "Let's hide it within him." They all agreed, "He'll never think of looking for it there."

Just an afterthought, as I lay down to say my beloved and reassuring rosary. I'm quite convinced that saying "Jesus I love you & Mary I love you", obligates them to pick you up and carry you like a little child. Even if you don't believe it.

[edit on 13-11-2006 by clearwater]

Your place of birth determines your religion more than any other factor on Earth.

Born deep in the US Bible Belt?

Wow, you're a fundamentalist Christian!

Born in the "Islam Belt" of the Middle East?

Wow, you're a fundamentalist Muslim!

Born on a Hebridean Island like Raasay?

You’re a Wee Free! (Bit of parochial irony there, soz.)

What a God damn surprise! (Pun intended)


Born in Tibet..?

….You get the idea.



What is it about a child born in an area heavily saturated with a particular religion that makes the child grow up with the same religious convictions?

A very simple question with an equally simple answer.


What I really want to know is... What does it take for a child brought up in such circumstances to actually form, develop, and practice their own convictions, if those are outwith the “regulations" of their own upbringing?

Iron Guts and balls of Steel for a start I’d say.


Apart from that, a genuine, general question;

When exactly did parochialism become a virtue in the US?


*EDIT* Sorry, forgot to mention; brought up Roman Catholic, current belief too complicated for this thread. Suffice to say I'm not an Atheist, nor believer of a daddy in the clouds who's going to make it all okay before we go to bed.

[edit on 16-11-2006 by kegs]

Double post.

[edit on 16-11-2006 by kegs]

Originally posted by kegs
Your place of birth determines your religion more than any other factor on Earth.

I would have to disagree! I think your Family has more to do with your religion then your place of birth. You learn most of your basic view of the world from your parents when you are really little. How else is it that you can find people who are Muslem that live in areas that are mostly Christian?

Tim

I was always encouraged to make up my own mind about what I believe. originally I was sort of atheist, then I got to be a complete atheist until about 3 years ago, when I would count as Methodist, but now just spiritual generally, i have quite an interest in Islam, but not belief in it.

Edit to add:

basically I think most religions are ways of looking at the truth with different amounts of truth in each.
I'll omit Scientology and Radical Islam from that category though.

[edit on 19-11-2006 by apex]

My parents belive thier could be a god but never forced religon on me. My grandparents are catholic, and I'm an athiest, and so is most of my family. I've never been to church or any of that.

I think by not having religon forced on me, I'm more open minded then most religious poeple. My life isnt being dictated by a 2000 year old book.

I was raised a Catholic and I liked the rituals but it never felt right to me, so in my teens I stopped going to church.
For the next several years I worshipped at the altar of the dance floor of local nightclubs and partook of its ale :w:
I briefly delved into Satanism, but that wasn't for me..too many people on power trips!
I then got very interested in Paganism and was first an Egyptian Pagan and later a Celtic Pagan. Just as with Catholicism, I liked the rituals of Paganism but it also didn't feel right to me. I wanted to have the love in my heart for the God or Goddess or Savior or whatever....
..Finally one day, and I can't even say how and why it just "hit me" but I fell in complete love with the image of Lord Ganesh and His parents Lord Shiva and Parvati Ma.



I don't call myself a Hindu because I have not formally converted, but I most definitely consider myself a devotee of Hinduism.