Did you choose your religious belief?

[Avatar4321]

I mentioned the other day Id start a poll since there are some people who are claiming that we are all forced to believe and are brainwashed into whatever we think against our will.

So did you choose your religious belief (or non-belief)?

I think this is pretty much a yes/no type question. However, Im providing an "other" option. If you pick that just tell us why.

bTW for some reason this ended up in the wrong forum. Feel free to move it.

 

[hjmick]

Yes I did. I was raised a Catholic and chose Agnosticism. Though I do find that the basic tenets of Christianity as tought to me in my formative years by the Catholic church tend to influence the way I live my life and how I treat others. Perhaps I am hedging my bets?

 

[Old Rocks]

LOL. Born into an fundementalist evengelical family, many pastors among my uncles, I developed an early interest in Geology. Choose reality over mythology, and consider myself an agnostic.

 

[xsited1]

I was raised Pagan and chose Obamanism. Politically, I believe in:

 

[Old Rocks]

I was raised Pagan and chose Obamanism. Politically, I believe in:

Politically, you are a wingnut, X.

 

[elvis]

I was raised Pagan and chose Obamanism. Politically, I believe in:

Isn't that considered blaspheming the ossiah?

 

[xsited1]

I was raised Pagan and chose Obamanism. Politically, I believe in:

Isn't that considered blaspheming the ossiah?

LOL! I want to apologize to the OP for derailing the thread a bit.

I'm not sure if Obamanism is going to last. He's really proving to be an absolute idiot, but there are still a lot of Obamabots. We'll see. There aren't many Bushbots left. It's really sad how so many Americans can be brainwashed by these politicians.

 

[JBeukema]

No. Beliefs are not chosen, although they can be imprinted upon the young and the stupid. Only whether one examines them is really a decision. While one can consciously deduce a logical conclusion, one cannot choose to ultimately believe that conclusion in their metaphorical heart. One might decide what sounds good or what to study, but one cannot merely choose whether to truly believe something any more than one can choose one's sexual attraction or fondness for a given food.

 

[tigerbob]

Yes. I was raised a Christian (anglican), lost my faith after my father died when I was 13 and regained it in about 2001 after a specific event I already described on another thread.

So although my faith was to a degree 'inherited', I made a conscious decision about it more recently.

 

[asgardshill]

Raised as a hardshell Baptist by agnostic parents, shed the sobriquet like a snake sheds its skin in favor of the Episcopal Church the nanosecond I became religiously aware. Never looked back.

I do find that I have a troll streak in me when it comes to religion in general. I love twisting the knife in my (still) hardshell Baptist friends and acquaintances every once in a while when it comes to issues of dogma and when some particularly egregious abuse of Baptist faith by Baptist leadership is brought to light on the public airwaves. While there are lines I will not cross, I'll pretty much insult anybody's religion when the time is ripe.

 

[Barb]

I mentioned the other day Id start a poll since there are some people who are claiming that we are all forced to believe and are brainwashed into whatever we think against our will.

So did you choose your religious belief (or non-belief)?

I think this is pretty much a yes/no type question. However, Im providing an "other" option. If you pick that just tell us why.

bTW for some reason this ended up in the wrong forum. Feel free to move it.

I don't see it as a yes or no question. What child chooses their church at Sunday school (or whatver the equivalent is) age? Gee, mom, this is really nice, but I think I like the Buddha? The hat ladies are hags, and the Babtists have a better bruch? Or, "STOP THE BRIS!!" Nah. I think for many people the answer would be both, not a choice at first, maybe changed thier minds later, and that would rightly be considered a deliberate choice.

 

[Kat]

Raised as a hardshell Baptist by agnostic parents, shed the sobriquet like a snake sheds its skin in favor of the Episcopal Church the nanosecond I became religiously aware. Never looked back.

I do find that I have a troll streak in me when it comes to religion in general. I love twisting the knife in my (still) hardshell Baptist friends and acquaintances every once in a while when it comes to issues of dogma and when some particularly egregious abuse of Baptist faith by Baptist leadership is brought to light on the public airwaves. While there are lines I will not cross, I'll pretty much insult anybody's religion when the time is ripe.

Whoa, some pretty strong words there...
Not so sure any man-made denomination is without flaw.

Why would you want to twist the knife on an individual over abuses committed by any leadership?

 

[asgardshill]

Not so sure any man-made denomination is without flaw.

You are correct, even about my own demonination.

Why would you want to twist the knife on an individual over abuses committed by any leadership?

To help them re-examine their faith and their choices. A faith that careens in the wind like a chewing gum wrapper at the first zephyr is no faith at all. I don't particularly care what choice they end up making, as long as they intelligently examine the choices they have made.

 

[editec]

Did you choose your religious belief?

Not really.

Mine's been evolving over time.

 

[strollingbones]

yes, raised baptist..that still sends shivers down my spine...and the little child in me...still rants about going to hell....but i have learned the inner voices are best left right there.....pagan by choice

 

[KittenKoder]

I mentioned the other day Id start a poll since there are some people who are claiming that we are all forced to believe and are brainwashed into whatever we think against our will.

So did you choose your religious belief (or non-belief)?

I think this is pretty much a yes/no type question. However, Im providing an "other" option. If you pick that just tell us why.

bTW for some reason this ended up in the wrong forum. Feel free to move it.

The perfect forum, and I would ask that everyone avoid flaming this one as it is a great question and asked respectfully, so it deserves such in replies.

I was forced into one religion as a child, one of the christian ones, and the brainwashing did not take. I am too stubborn and free-willed to be caged into anything. For a long time after I moved from my mother's horrible influence I began exploring the country, and myself as a person. Eventually I called myself pagan for many years, knowing there was more to the universe than our five senses can tell us, but not knowing just how uninformed us mortals are about such matters. After studying almost all religions I eventually got to the ancient ones, when I learned the ancient Egyptian beliefs they just made sense to me. Since then that has been my religion, just a bit updated for the modern age.

 

[Kat]

Not so sure any man-made denomination is without flaw.

You are correct, even about my own demonination.

Why would you want to twist the knife on an individual over abuses committed by any leadership?

To help them re-examine their faith and their choices. A faith that careens in the wind like a chewing gum wrapper at the first zephyr is no faith at all. I don't particularly care what choice they end up making, as long as they intelligently examine the choices they have made.

I can't disagree with you there, but isn't it up to an individual to decide, and not you?
I am not sure twisting a knife is a way to get anyone to examine choices.

 

[asgardshill]

I can't disagree with you there, but isn't it up to an individual to decide, and not you?
I am not sure twisting a knife is a way to get anyone to examine choices.

That depends on whether the knife in question is allegorical or high-carbon stainless steel.

 

[Kat]

I can't disagree with you there, but isn't it up to an individual to decide, and not you?
I am not sure twisting a knife is a way to get anyone to examine choices.

That depends on whether the knife in question is allegorical or high-carbon stainless steel.

 

[kwc57]

I was born and raised in the Southern Baptist Church. I earned a a degree in religion from a Baptist University in 1979 and work towards a Masters in Religious Ed. I never ended up in the ministry and instead have been in the bank data processing business since 1981. Go figure. Rather than say I chose my religion, I'll say I reaffirmed it. One of my pet peeves is blind followership whether it be religion or politics. You need to know why you believe what you believe. Around the time I graduated college, I did a deep evaluation of what I thought I believed and why and explored other practices, beliefs and faiths. For myself, I worked that out. I was very active in church until about 20 years ago. I'm still a Baptist, but I consider myself a liberated Baptist doctrinally. I know what I personally believe and why I believe it and I'm not caught up in all the trappings of organized religion.