Your Faith? - a horrific geographic accident?

Question

If as theoists claim they consciously choose their religion - why do 99% of people (who do adopt a religion) adopt the religion of their parents?

eg (apply any other religion here) Will Christians think it odd that there are few arabs/chinese/japanese etc etc in heaven? - or do they think God has chosen certain nationalities.....

Basically - I beleive religion fills a sociological need in many people to make sense of complex/not understood phenomena and religion has developed independantly of eachother. Only as people move/communicate have they realised that there are multipe religions and to resolve the who is right have entered a competitive stage. Religion was inevitable and strangely God didnt decide to give all folks the same message?

PC man - are you genuinely serious - the only religion was Judaism? If tongue in cheek - well Ok, if not please go and ask God to come down and hit you with the smart stick a few more times....

Thanks for illustrating my point by the way...

The Otter

your comment:

~
I have no doubt that you will take no notice of this, but please take into account (before you dismiss it as not fitting your world view) that I am not trying to tell you WHAT to think, but that you SHOULD think.
~

Amazing - does this make sense to you? It sounds more like:

I am not trying to tell you WHAT to think, but WHAT to think.....

Answer 1

Totally agree - your religion has nothing to do with what is right or wrong, fact or fiction. Most of the time people simply adopt the religion of their parents - so for all your Christians out there who preach your particular brand of dogma - you would be Muslim if you had been born to Muslim parents.
More important than faith though is geography and wealth or should say wellbeing. Just thank yoursleves that we were born inteh developed world where we have frsh water and food in the fridge - now thats more important thatn any religion.

Answer 2

You may be missing the point. There is only one God, but there are many paths to his door. The geographical accident covers, in most cases, the rites you choose to follow to worship him. Faith is a personal thing, a decision that you make. Everybody questions (if we had proof we wouldn't need faith) but some continue and some, sadly, don't.

You can pick holes in religion all you like, thats easy. Religion is a human invention.

If I take my own faith vs ny own rites for example, you can read the bible very carefully and you won't find a single word that Jesus said against sex within wedlock, divorce, or celebate priests ; all those are inventions of the Roman Catholic Church, that is to say, interpretations of what some people thought Jesus might have said if he had actually made a statement. Mainly Paul. Funny, becuase he drives most of the more extreme Protestant sects as well.

The point is that its selective hearing.

I have read the Koran, and I have seen nothing that would justify Jihad the word is used today is. In general it is the same as any other religion, be as nice as you can be and be sorry when you aren't.

I am not familiar with eastern faiths, but I fully expect to share eternity with souls from all faiths and ethnic background (not that that will mean much when we are no longer physical entities).

I have no doubt that you will take no notice of this, but please take into account (before you dismiss it as not fitting your world view) that I am not trying to tell you WHAT to think, but that you SHOULD think.

Answer 3

The only religion that existed during Adam and Eve's time was the Jewish religion. Later on after the fall of man, as civilizations rose, - there was this Nimrod and the infamous 'Tower of Babel' a central place where they practiced so many religions. When God confused their tongues, these people migrated all over the earth and carried with them their own 'religions' which was different from the Jewish religion.

After Christ came, he set people free from Jewish law and later on after his resurrection, Christianity was established.

Its amazing what people think of religion - ' sociological need'; 'not understood phenomena' - etc. etc. Sometimes I wonder - what is this world coming to.

Wonders never cease.!!!!!

Answer 4

Most religions have a stipulation that the faith must be passed on to any children they have. Plus if you believe something, surely it's natural that you would pass that on to your children?

Certainly, it is true that people can change their mind once they get older, and you find that many people drift from their faith. However, those who remain in the faith after that time could be said to have consciously chosen it and I believe many major religions have a point where someone must confirm their own faith. Usually, that is most likely to be that with which they were brought up.

However, if you look at the percentage of people who belong to a religious group, and examine the percentage brought up in that faith or another faith, I think you'd find most were and the vast minority chose it of their own accord having never been brought up that way.

Answer 5

Yes! This is obvious - if you are born in central India you are more than likely to be a Hindu - why? Because everyone else is (well, mainly) - you're hardly going to up and become a christian if you've never heard of it, or vice versa.

Religion is cultural, not spiritual, in my opinion.

Besides, all these Christains who say they've made a concious choice to be Christian, I don't think they have. You can't make a fully informed choice unless you have studied and experienced the alternatives (and I'm not considering bad propaganda as study and experience), most religious people have not studied or tried other religions.

Answer 6

I would say.!
This is a very wide question and all that you have said is true. But in all the major religions lies the belief that God is love. God is known by many names and many people think that they own or control God. My belief is simple: love all the Worlds people, we are all brothers and sisters. Do this and you will become close to God. Remember, man creates religions not God. So many are distorted by man's thoughts and desires. I have a web site at www.john4promotions.net/heaven.earth It has links to many of the religions own web site's. But, do no harm to anyone, love nature and your fellow brothers and sister's and you will be well on the way to understanding life.

Answer 7

I think you've got to look at the fact that 99% of people WHO ADOPT A RELIGION adopt the religion of their parents. How many that turn away from religion altogether come from religious backgrounds? A fair few, that's for damn sure.

To answer your question, no, I don't think so - my parents are Pagan and i'm a Mormon, so i'd say we're pretty different.

Answer 8

Well as far as I know, there wasn't religion during Adam and Eve's time. Jesus was born a Jew. Anyway, it is often, in my opinion, that people are brought up to believe certain things and choose that because that is what they have been told. As I like to be different, I believe something completely different from both my parents! My dad is a JW and my mum is a Heathen. I am studying Wicca. Sometimes it is just easier to follow your parents religion than to think for yourslef because they might not like you being different.

Answer 9

I did not adopt the religion of my parents. In fact, I changed my religion several times before chosing the one I'm currently in.

Answer 10

Most men and women are like sheep. They walk in herds without thinking.

Look deep, man! The message is the same all over. But even the pious have forgotten it.