How did you *pick* your religion?

[SeekingCharlotte]

How did you come to your religious path?

1. Is your religion the same as your parents?
2. If so, were you given a choice?
3. Did you look into the roots of your religion and further, into the evolution of religion in general?
4. Is your religion the most available (popular) in your locality?

 

[Casstranquility]

How did you come to your religious path?

Through a series of steps. Reading, studying, thinking, debating.

1. Is your religion the same as your parents?

Not really.

3. Did you look into the roots of your religion and further, into the evolution of religion in general?

A little.

4. Is your religion the most available (popular) in your locality?

No.

 

[wailingandgnashing]

Hello,

1. No.
2. Yes.
3. Yes
4. Yes

Thank you
wailing

How did you come to your religious path?

1. Is your religion the same as your parents?
2. If so, were you given a choice?
3. Did you look into the roots of your religion and further, into the evolution of religion in general?
4. Is your religion the most available (popular) in your locality?

 

[elman]

How did you come to your religious path?

1. Is your religion the same as your parents?
2. If so, were you given a choice?
3. Did you look into the roots of your religion and further, into the evolution of religion in general?
4. Is your religion the most available (popular) in your locality?

We would all call ourselves Christian, but my religion is very different from the religion I was raised on. I was always given my own choice. I have looked into the roots of my religion and the evolution of religion in general. My religion is not the most avilable or popular in my locality.

 

[Soul Searcher]

How did you come to your religious path?

1. Is your religion the same as your parents?

No

2. If so, were you given a choice?

Yes

3. Did you look into the roots of your religion and further, into the evolution of religion in general?

Yes

4. Is your religion the most available (popular) in your locality?

No

 

[GrannieAnnie]

I was born into a strict religion, I was not given a choice, I knew the history of my religion in almost minute detail. As an adult I chose to leave that "religion" and follow a more "spiritual" path....which for me gives me a much closer and more personal relationship with God. I do not like "organised" religions.....so consider myself to be "a Christian in a spiritual way......but not in a religous way...I don't attend church regularly...

 

[iannassah]

How did you come to your religious path?
God saving me from my sin.

1. Is your religion the same as your parents?
Yes

2. If so, were you given a choice?
I was not given spiritual options by my parents. i just did what my parents did.

3. Did you look into the roots of your religion and further,
Yes---God is Yahsome!!!

into the evolution of religion in general?
Not really, i'm not interested in what man can do or has done, but i'm definitly interested in what God did, does and will do!!!

4. Is your religion the most available
Yes
(popular) in your locality?
No! When you truly live like a Christian is supposed to then people think that you're a part of a cult or something crummy like that.

 

[Pangaea]

How did you come to your religious path?

1. Is your religion the same as your parents?
2. If so, were you given a choice?
3. Did you look into the roots of your religion and further, into the evolution of religion in general?
4. Is your religion the most available (popular) in your locality?

You pose good questions; it will be fun to read these responses...

My parents were agnostic...and they showed no desire to understand world religions.

I was 23, when i finally learned there is actually a word that describes my interpretation of god!
I am still, and will always be trying to get to the roots of human religions.

Pantheism is not popular in my area (or in my country). Others may share pantheistic beliefs, but it is just not a commonly used term.

 

[Toboe]

How did you come to your religious path?
I truthfully don't know. Its what I've believed in since I was little. Its evolved over the years but its basic principles have remained the same.

1. Is your religion the same as your parents?
No

2. If so, were you given a choice?
No they would be pretty upset if they knew that I wasn't Christian.

3. Did you look into the roots of your religion and further, into the evolution of religion in general?
Yes

4. Is your religion the most available (popular) in your locality?
Not really. I don't even share what I believe in to my friends. Most people would just think I'm weird or following some ridiculous fad. But I'm pretty much by myself in this department.

 

[Voegelin]

Developed my current beliefs while studying for the Unitarian-Universalist ministry. It was obvious the Congregational/Unitarianism my family had subscribed to for generations had been subsumed by something else and there was no chance of going back.

 

[humblemuslim]

How did you come to your religious path?

1. Is your religion the same as your parents?
2. If so, were you given a choice?
3. Did you look into the roots of your religion and further, into the evolution of religion in general?
4. Is your religion the most available (popular) in your locality?

1. To my knowledge, yes.

2. Most definitely. There shall be no compulsion in religion according to Islam.

3. Yes. And of other religions as well, although my heaviest focus in terms of other faiths has been on Christianity and Judaism.

4. Certainly not. I live in a predominately Christian Country.

 

[Mumei]

I didn't believe, so I was an atheist.

Really quite simple.

 

[thewood68]

my religion picked me

 

[plum]

1. Is your religion the same as your parents?
sort of. I'm on the other side of our religion. I guess I consider myself Christian. I've been Messianic for 2 years now, which is a branch of it. My mother is Roman Catholic and my father was Presbyterian. They're fundamentalist, I'm not. Etc...

2. If so, were you given a choice?
I could have rebelled as a child if I had the gumption. My brother did. We were expected to participate until we were independent and able enough to choose not to (which basically meant high school). But I loved being Christian

3. Did you look into the roots of your religion and further, into the evolution of religion in general?
Absolutely--into the roots of my religion. that's how I came to love Judaism and all of that business.

4. Is your religion the most available (popular) in your locality?
Christianity is, but Messianics are very few and far between.

I became a Christian mostly from family influence and community surroundings. I chose a Hebraic expression of that faith because of the roots and origins of the religion. Now I'm just in a limbo state of "hmmm.. I don't know" that's pretty exciting and scary. I'm fine here.

 

[peter22]

1. Is your religion the same as your parents?

Not really. They're Christians at heart, I'm philosophically closer to Buddhism.

2. If so, were you given a choice?

As a kid? No. However, my dad told me at 16 I could decide for myself whether I wanted to go to church or not. I decided not to.

3. Did you look into the roots of your religion and further, into the evolution of religion in general?

Yes. I've studied religion as a hobby for about ten years now.

4. Is your religion the most available (popular) in your locality?

I guess there are a few Buddhists in Australia, but a lot of them are pretentious tossers. Not saying that I'm not, merely that if I am, that I'm a different kind of pretentious tosser.

 

[m9lc]

I don't know if you count atheism as a religion, but it's a religious path.

How did you come to your religious path?

I read the Bible. I saw discrimination against gay people, genocide, slavery, eternal Hell, etc. At first I just pushed this all to the back of my mind and prayed about it because I felt like I was turning into "one of them".

Later, I had thoughts about the fact that there was no reason that I believed in Christianity besides that I was indoctrinated, and how it makes no sense for God to punish me for disbelieving anything since I can't control what I believe, let alone something which has little to no evidence in its support, and quite a bit of evidence against it.

But still, I just thought "If I'm an atheist I'll go to Hell!". And, I dunno, several months ago, my mind just clicked and said "There is no Hell to be afraid of! Stop lying to yourself." And I went through a period of agnosticism, then I realized that I had no more reason to believe in any God than I had reason to believe in unicorns. Now I'm an atheist.

1. Is your religion the same as your parents?

No; however, I have to pretend to be Christian in real life.

2. If so, were you given a choice?

No. Most definitely not.

3. Did you look into the roots of your religion and further, into the evolution of religion in general?

Yup.

4. Is your religion the most available (popular) in your locality?

No. I only know one person who labels himself an "atheist" publicly, and everyone else I know is either Christian or apathetic. Probably Christian.

 

[Abiel]

no yes no

then point 4.

this is the puzzler for me. I was never exposed to any other faith. Town I grew up in had only churches. School back in those days was sort-of christian.

I strongly suspect that i would be a memebr of the prevailing faith of whatever country I was born in- and that poses many questions for me.

 

[Multi-Elis]

How did you come to your religious path?
I decided to accept Christ at age 6, I grew up in a charismatic/messianic environement, and then at age 19 I got fed up with everything and started to question. In 2005 I started to read near death testamonies. Their complexity pushed me even farther and I came to recognise that I'm a christian heretic, but that I don't consider the herecy part so important...

1. Is your religion the same as your parents?
Nominally, yes. But our whole family kind of went through a process of change. So while we all went a bit in the same direction, we all have our own unique oppinions and leanings. We have all become somewhat heretics, I a bit more so than others.
2. If so, were you given a choice?
I feel there is a paradoxical dualism: I was encouraged, but I chose. I could have left, (I almost did) but prefered to stay with what I chose as a child. And now, I know that I still go to church not so much because I want to as much as because I can't imagine not going.
3. Did you look into the roots of your religion and further, into the evolution of religion in general? Yes. History of the church is a must for all christians.
4. Is your religion the most available (popular) in your locality? Yes and no. Christianity is a little old fashioned hrere, but philosophical approches to anything in life are usually appreciated.

 

[rain292]

How did you come to your religious path?

Exploring my own thoughts as well as the basics of a few other religions. I came to the basic conclusions that:
a) Most religions are saying very similar things, so
b) There's probably some sort of validity to them, but
c) They're each so different that no one religion has totally nailed the absolute truth
(just my opinions)
So, now I'm an agnostic theist.

1. Is your religion the same as your parents?

Nope, they're both Episcopalian. One set of grandparents is Southern Baptist, and the other is Roman Catholic.

2. If so, were you given a choice?

Yes. My parents are happy so long as I live a good, honest, and healthy life...my grandparents might disown me when they find out though.

3. Did you look into the roots of your religion and further, into the evolution of religion in general?

Most definitely.

4. Is your religion the most available (popular) in your locality?

I think everyone questions some things about religion at some point in their life. However, I only know one or two other people that actually cosider themselves agnostics.

 

[dimwhitt]

How did you come to your religious path?

1. Is your religion the same as your parents?
NO
2. If so, were you given a choice?
NO
3. Did you look into the roots of your religion and further, into the evolution of religion in general?
YES
4. Is your religion the most available (popular) in your locality?

NO