Choice of religion

[Hiitachin Kaoru]

I'm wondering how many people actually choose their own religion or do most people just become what their parents are?
I'm roman catholic but thats mostly because i wasn't really given a choice...ever. I used to go to church every week and ccd(sunday school basically). But I think I would have liked to choose on my own. I don't really know if I beleive all the things I've been taught. I've never really felt anything special...  

[bloodlust_angelkel]

I used to believe what my parents did because they forced me for a long time. I chose to not believe in God after a while seeing as how my life was at the time and still is.  

[Cornelius loh Quatious]

Well, just because you consider yourself in a particular religion NOW doesn't mean you have to stick with it.

The best thing you can do is to do research and educate yourself. Once you formulate your own ideas and your own opinions, you can better make a decision for yourself about who you wish to align yourself with, if anyone at all.  

[torrinne]

If you aren't getting anything out of the church you're in now, you should definately find another church to attend. I think one of the problems with the world (not one of the biggest ones, but still a problem) is that so many people are alienated from all church because they didn't like the church they grew up in. I personally wouldn't want to change to another denomination, or to another religion, but that's because I'm comfortable in my church, and I feel like it meets my needs...well, that and my father would string me up by my ears if I decided to go to another church, since he's my pastor as well... rolleyes  

[Crunchy)(Princess]

It is interesting.... I was raised on the other-side of the fence, an Atheist. However, I ended up dabbling in pretty much everything, trying to find myself. I live in Utah, which is primarily Mormon/LDS, and I was spit on, beaten-up, and mocked from about 3 on because I wasn't Mormon.

So I started looking. I could never understand why followers of someone like Jesus would act like that, and so discarded the religion. Of course, there are some nice Mormons, and I have friends among them, but that took me a *long* time.

After that I played around with Wicca, which I decided was crap since all the practicioners I met didn't know jack and it was really started in the 50's with no reliable records.

I moved on to Buddhism, having known a wonderful monk since I was five, and he taught me meditation and about the Buddha. I liked it, but it wasn't for me.

I looked into branches of Christianity (went to a Catholic shcool), Hinduism, New Age stuff not related to Wicca, and I finally got sick of it.

I was pretty disheartened, I felt like I had looked at everything. Then, doing early college, I had an excellent professor who was Daoist (the oldest recorded form of religion in China that still exists today). I won't go into what it's about, as it's more a lifestyle and philosophy than a religion, but my point is this:

Your relationship with divinity should be up to YOU. It's not up to a priest, shaman, monk, etc. The people I've found that are happiest with religion search for something special and interperet it themselves.


And that, mah dears, is the soapbox.  

[imbellis]

i agree with you crunchy. im a christian but i dont just blindly follow because i think thats idiotic. the bible is left to interpretation and i hate it when so many ppl take it literally. for me its all about the state of mind i have. i dont belive in rituals as a catholic would for instance. i do what i feel is right. which is nice cos your believing in something and having it your own wy at the same time. im quite happy with it. i am quite interested in budhism though. thats seems more to do with how you think instead of a particular god. interesting.  

[shmoofshpatoo]

both of my parents are pastors, but i somehow ended up being buddhist. i guess it has all of the aspects of christianity that i agree with, and clears up some stuff that the bible leaves cloudy. it has it's downs just like any other religion, but think about it. buddhism is the only major religion that i know of that hasn't been the cause of mass death and destruction.  

[Cornelius loh Quatious]

No, buddhists have their own violent side, it's just not as reported. Look up the situation with the Tamil Tigers if you don't believe me.  

[Dustbuster2000]

When I was young, my parents allowed me to try out different religions. I am also from Utah and not a mormon, just like Crunchy)(Princess, but my experience was drastically different. I checked out books at the library and studied up on the different religions and spent time in these churches until I found one I liked. It took a while but when I found the right church I felt it the entire time I was in church service. There is no one right church for everone, there is only a right church for you.  

[Wolf Spirit62]

I have a religous friend. Big time. Christan (Well, he says more like relationship with God" But I asked him the same question...did he choose his belifs or was the way he was raised put them in him. I asked him because he's teeching me about his belifs.
I was ALMOST raised with no choice, but my dad stopped my mom from doing that. So I have my oun belifs, and no religon. But yet belif in God and all that, but still have no religon and thats my choosing...I'm one of the few people I know who are like that  

[Mikotaki Kay]

^^ I don't beleave in god. Or any higher power at all. I beleave in karma and good and evil anything besids that is nothing to me. But I don't hate peaple the have faith just don't preach to me and I'll be your friend ^^  

[[Just A Girl]]

Well,is not having a religion atheist?Then,i'm Atheist.  

[Wolf Spirit62]

Overlord Muffin

Well,is not having a religion atheist?Then,i'm Atheist.

No Atheist is not beliving in God. I'm not athiest but have no religon but belive in God and Satan.  

[Cornelius loh Quatious]

To clarify:

Atheism - believing in no gods or higher powers, literally, "without religion"

Agnosticism - debating the existence of gods or higher powers, acceptance that they may or may not exist

Ambiguous - having a vague belief in gods or higher powers, having faith that they exist, but on a personal level and not aligned with any particular sect of organized religion  

[AgentPingoX69Oo]

I've been thinking that for a long time. I was a Christian until I was about 11 or so, because Mom was and we always went to church on Sundays. Not only this but my grandfather was a pastor at many Presbyterian churches with many degrees in religion. It wasn't until my brother was talking to me about every reason that there isn't a god and since then I've been agnostic. I am a very spiritual person but I don't think I'll ever belong to a specific religion.
Sometimes I feel really guilty when my Christian friends send me chain emails with sweet prayers from God and Jesus, but then go on and say if you don't send this to your friends then God will shun you or some bs like that. It hurts me not knowing what I believe, I kind of believe in God but then I think... What if I was here on my own? What if I didn't have any influences of any religion all around me? Would I believe in a God?

Because everyone thinks their religion is the right one, it makes it that much more confusing if you aren't really sure what you believe. There's so much going on today that is affected directly from religious beliefs. They won't allow gays to marry because God says that being gay is a sin and therefore would be an evil to legalise it. You have people from all sides with different religions bickering about why that should or shouldn't count. Not just this but you have Halloween and Christmas being cut out of schools and people protesting over if we should say "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I've decided that the reason religions exist is for reassurance. A lot of people are scared or in wonder of how we came to be, what happens when we die, how this whole universe came to be. It's so much easier to find a God/Goddess/Gods/Godesses because it gives you the answers. If there isn't anyone you can turn to you can prayer to whomever it is you believe in and you feel much better knowing that someone heard you. If there's a crisis in your life it's a relief to know that what ever happens, we aren't alone. That's what I believe it all comes down to.
I don't know if one religion is the 'right' one and what [really] started this universe and none of us do. Maybe we think we do, but I believe it's mostly out of fear that they cling to a religion.

I believe in what I want to. I'm not one religion and I never plan to be. What I do believe is that there is something beyond us, that we aren't alone and there are no coincidences. I do not believe in THE GOD that most believe in, but I accept it. That's all that matters. Keep your mind open and believe what you want to.