Do people who have been born into a religion have a clue?

Question

do young adults who have been born into a religion (i.e. through baptism as an infant) believe because it is inbred into their psyche through their parents or because they actually have done some soul-searching?

It makes me somewhat upset when i see humans become zombies, not even bothering to investigate other religions or mindsets. Only you can decide what you believe and I feel that this custom has driven many a confused mind to atheism

Answer 1

at the very beginning we tend to postulate everything is going the way it should be.. but as we grow up we start asking ourselves questions we don not find answers for.. or answers we get seems unconvincing .. at this point peoples attitudes differ ..
personally as a Muslim it was hard for me to declare that but that did not prevent feeling skeptic so i started reading else where.. then i started reading more about my own religion .. and I kept skipping from there to there .. at one point i knew that i will never reach a shore if i could not liberate myself of the restrain of having religion so i decided to do what ever i had to do to start from ZERO point.. it is really hard ..at many occasions it felt impossible. but gaining help from more experienced people and dwelling with people with totally different attitudes ( like atheist ) helped me figure out how do these people think about things …at the same time I could not stop thinking about things I could not understand (in Islam) ..it appeared to me later on that it’s always a matter of TIME to understand elaborated things and during the life trip we gain all knowledge we keep asking ourselves about.. in a way or a nother
Today am totally a believer still that does not mean that I do not ask myself about many things appearing hard to be understood .. because I believe that it is my duty to find answers ..

Answer 2

Having experienced this myself, I can say that it's hard to (1) realize you're being brainwashed, and (2) figure out a way to step back, look at the situation, and decide whether you are where you really want to be. I agree with you and each individual should go through their own soul-searching instead of relying on the dogma instilled to them during their upbringing.

But anyway, to answer your question - Yes and No: some people who have been born into a religion do have a clue... others don't - maybe because they choose not to look outside the box because understanding reality might be too much of an emotional/spiritual toll.

Answer 3

I think some people accept their parents religious beliefs like they accept their parents political affiliations. That's all they have known. When they start getting away from their homes they may hear and accept other points of view.
There are also those who use their parents beliefs to really buck authority. No matter how reasonable the parents seem, the kids think they are wrong. That's just as bad as blind faith (Blind doubt?)
I also thought of another group which glombs on to any religion which is different. These could be social vegans, New Agers, Buddhist lites, etc. They do religions because they are trendy or controversial, to draw attention to themselves.
Out of all this you can really get some people who discover a system of beliefs which suits them. Assuming there is a God, that probably pleases Him/er.

Answer 4

I was raised catholic until I was in 7th grade. Some people from our church heard a lot of good things about the church I currently attend so my mom decided she would try it out. She never left. We love our church. My old aunts still claim that I am not legally married because I was married in a park by a black reverend (my family is prejudiced), and also because it wasnt done in a church, ie a catholic church.

So basically what I am saying without saying too much is that if you are brought up in a certain religion, your family thinks you do not have the right to change. Well here is what I say. Everyone has a choice. I tell my children that until they are grown they have to attend church, it doesnt have to be ours, but they do have to attend. And when they grow up it will be up to them to decide if they would like to continue or not. This is what my mom said to me. Well after I graduated high school, i decided i didnt need church anymore, found a guy and ended up being an unwed mother. It took me 4 more years to finally go back to church, and i feel that i personally have made the right choice.

Answer 5

HI there... my name is Amber Blake... i was born into a Christian backround... my whole family and the family before have all loved God and believed in Christ as the Son of God, so you can see I am fortunate. But let me tell you something ok? When i was 5-6 years old there was this Evil Spirit or Demon that used to scare my sister, some kids at school and I. It haunted a house that was directly on the other side of the play ground fence. One nite it decided to come to my house hours before morning came. It walked like..... i cannot type it out it was too weird i cannot draw it on t his comp for u either an d i wudnt dare try but i will now tell you the most important thing about this story... it stood there and watched me in my bed.... ok? i was terrified...imagine that ok?!!! imagine how scared this little girl that is me was... i went under my covers and said in a whisper tone , " Go away in the name of Jesus Christ" ... i had no idea what i said or why but it worked miracles...instantly it was gone my friend instantly!!... and when it was gone, someone carried me down the stairs for i remember only touches a couple... a HUGE leap of faith for a little girl... i put my trust in God that night because it was my only unknowingly option.. now can u answer me this... HOW GREAT IS GOD???!!!!!! you cannot answer me this because u can never fully know and understand the goodness of God

Answer 6

Funny you should ask. The church I attend frequently urges all of its members to find out for themselves if its teachings are true. We are taught that every person must gain a personal witness of the truth, through study, fasting, and prayer. It is not enough to rely on the testimonies of others. I agree, that every person must at some point accept the possibility that what they believe could be wrong, and make an effort to discover the truth. After all, what would God want us to do?

As far as atheists are concerned, my feeling is that most of them have come to the conclusion that the religion they grew up with did not make sense to them, and as a result they assume all religions are man-made. They lose faith in things they cannot see, and are therefore dependent on evidence.

Answer 7

You are right - everyone should decide for themselves.

In the Baha'i Faith, the age of declaration is 15, meaning you cannot declare yourself personally before this (although you could certainly be raised as a Baha'i from birth). There is no baptism at birth or anything such as this - each individual must decide on their own what to believe. In fact, the faith encourages everyone to "seek the truth."

Please don't misunderstand, I am not trying to convert anyone, but I do like these aspects of the faith.

Best wishes.

Answer 8

Many people 'born into' a religion will leave it during the teenage years. Some return, some do not. It is heart-wrenching for parents to watch their children leave th path that they brought them up to follow. My parents were lucky, my brothers and I have all ended up christian.

Even though children may grow up in a christian home, there still must be a point at which they choose to make their faith their own, and not their parents', or choose another way.

Answer 9

I think it goes both ways, some people question it and others do it because they were raised that way. I was raised Methodist and am now an Atheist, my husband is Catholic and we are teaching our kids to explore religion and decide for themselves. The thing is though many kids will ultimately believe as their parents did. Not because they are brainwashed but because they are taught to think and taught their morals and such by their parents, so many will end up coming to the same conclusions about religion as their parents.

Answer 10

Every religion teaches that theirs is the only way to enlightenment/paradise while telling you everyone else is wrong. They somehow think that their limited outlook, knowledge, and misguided advise has allowed them and only them and a select few to make the proper choice in getting God's favor. The question most religious people need to ask is: If there is a God, and when he judges you, do you think that choosing one faith that forsakes and judges others, and puts words in God's own mouth will get you eternal life? Or do you think that living a good existence while not forsaking others and pretending you know exactly what path God wants you to take religiously will win his favor? Face it, your a bug, a peon, a simple human being, and to pretend you know God because what someone else told you or a book written by another person told you is simply ignorant.

Answer 11

I was born in a Catholic family, raised as a catholic, studied in a catholic school, but that never stopped me from questioning my religion. Even questioned the existence of God. I did some soul-searching(not the emotional way but the real, intellectual research) and I still remained catholic! The problem that I saw in some friends who did their own soul-searching was that they resorted to emotions and as Christians, they started with the Bible rather than starting to question if the Bible itself can be trusted and why.