Religion?

[bhnick10]

Hey, my name is Nick and I am atheist. I was just thinking about religion in general and my point is... If you were raised in an atheist family would be become Catholic, Christian, Muslim etc? I know it probably happens but in our lives now but do we really choose our religion? Do we chose to believe? Or do we get told/taught to believe? In my OPINION(opinion being the key word) we get taught/told to believe. We dont all grow up atheist and choose a religion. If someone was raised in a catholic family they're hardly going to become muslim. People don't choose to believe, they are taught/told to believe. Do people really BELIEVE or do they just think they believe because they were raised/taught that way? I'm not judging or insulting anyone, anyone's beliefs or anyone's religion. It's just a curiousity of mine. If you mis-understand my point then please feel free to ask. I'm looking forward to all responses. Thanks for reading

[LiamOS]

This is clearly true in a general sense.
If religion were independent of ones' heritage, there would not be a geographical religious distribution.

However, I don't think it impacts on the validity of most theistic claims.

[otseng]

Moved to General Chat.

[cnorman18]

I think it's often true that people's religious beliefs are determined by the accident of their births, but it's certainly not a general rule. Most of the atheists here, for instance, were raised in religious homes to one degree or another, and people DO change from one religion to another as well. I offer myself as an example; I was raised a devout Methodist, and served as a minister in the United Methodist Church in my late twenties. I converted to Conservative (Masorti) Judaism at the age of 50, out of conviction and after some years of study and thought. I was "indoctrinated" by no one, and had virtually no contact with Jews until my conversion other than in books which I chose and read myself.

We Jews don't talk about it much, but conversion to Judaism is more common than many people, even many Jews, would suspect. Several of my Jewish friends are converts; one often does not know this until one has known them for some time. Most converts are not as willing to talk about it as I. I know of three other Methodist ministers here in Dallas alone who have converted to Judaism. One of them is now a rabbi.

[ChaosBorders]

I think it's often true that people's religious beliefs are determined by the accident of their births, but it's certainly not a general rule. Most of the atheists here, for instance, were raised in religious homes to one degree or another, and people DO change from one religion to another as well. I offer myself as an example; I was raised a devout Methodist, and served as a minister in the United Methodist Church in my late twenties. I converted to Conservative (Masorti) Judaism at the age of 50, out of conviction and after some years of study and thought. I was "indoctrinated" by no one, and had virtually no contact with Jews until my conversion other than in books which I chose and read myself.

I would like to point out that atheism is a lack of belief, so really only requires one to lose faith or never gain any. As such, I think it is not quite as determined by upbringing as most actual religions. But that being said, I agree with the rest of what you wrote.

[cnorman18]

I think it's often true that people's religious beliefs are determined by the accident of their births, but it's certainly not a general rule. Most of the atheists here, for instance, were raised in religious homes to one degree or another, and people DO change from one religion to another as well. I offer myself as an example; I was raised a devout Methodist, and served as a minister in the United Methodist Church in my late twenties. I converted to Conservative (Masorti) Judaism at the age of 50, out of conviction and after some years of study and thought. I was "indoctrinated" by no one, and had virtually no contact with Jews until my conversion other than in books which I chose and read myself.

I would like to point out that atheism is a lack of belief, so really only requires one to lose faith or never gain any. As such, I think it is not quite as determined by upbringing as most actual religions. But that being said, I agree with the rest of what you wrote.

Fair enough, but my point was that people don't always stick with what they were taught as children. That claim is made rather often around here, and in fact there are some who seem to think that religious belief can come from no other source.

[amanda34]

Hi

Religion is the belief in and worship of a god or gods, or a set of beliefs concerning the origin and purpose of the universe.[1] It is commonly regarded as consisting of a person’s relation to God or to gods or spirits.[2] Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories associated with their deity or deities, that are intended to give meaning to life. They tend to derive morality, ethics, religious laws or a preferred lifestyle from their ideas about the cosmos and human nature.

The word religion is sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system, but it is more than private belief and has a public aspect. Most religions have organised behaviors, congregations for prayer, priestly hierarchies, holy places and scriptures.

Thanks

[kowalskil]

Hey, my name is Nick and I am atheist. I was just thinking about religion in general and my point is... If you were raised in an atheist family would be become Catholic, Christian, Muslim etc? I know it probably happens but in our lives now but do we really choose our religion? Do we chose to believe? Or do we get told/taught to believe? In my OPINION(opinion being the key word) we get taught/told to believe. We dont all grow up atheist and choose a religion. If someone was raised in a catholic family they're hardly going to become muslim. People don't choose to believe, they are taught/told to believe. Do people really BELIEVE or do they just think they believe because they were raised/taught that way? I'm not judging or insulting anyone, anyone's beliefs or anyone's religion. It's just a curiousity of mine. If you mis-understand my point then please feel free to ask. I'm looking forward to all responses. Thanks for reading

I child raised in an atheist family might choose to believe. Why not? The most likely choice would the religion of grandparents or the religion of a spouse. These two choices might coincide.
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