Did you grow up in the religion or lack thereof that you practice now?

Question

Have you ever wanted to change your religion? Was it hard? Did you find that it was extremely difficult renounce what you grew up with because it was ingrained in you? I'm only asking because I know someone struggling with this situation, and I don't know how to advise her.

Answer 1

I was born into Catholicism, and although I am no longer Catholic - no longer a Christian - I will always love this religion.

Converting was extremely hard for me, and yet it was so natural too. The hard parts were: 1) coming to grips with the fact that the trinity is a false doctrine, and 2) facing the fact that transsubstantiation doesn't exist. These two things were SO HARD for me to believe at first, but as I read the Bible, I couldn't deny their falsehood any longer. I kept thinking, "OMG, WHAT IF I'M WRONG??? WHAT IF I'M MAKING THE BIGGEST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE???" I lost sleep, cried nights, and at the same time, found myself ABSOLUTELY FASCINATED by the Baha'i Faith!!! I couldn't stop reading, couldn't stop learning, and finally after 3 months of intense study, I converted. Becoming a Baha'i didn't mean I had to deny Christ, nooooo. It means I accepted the revelation of God as was given to us via Baha'u'llah.

Ask your friend to find scriptural proofs of her potential new beliefs. The proof is always in writing.

Answer 2

I was brought up as a Christian by people who had been raised Seventh Day Adventists. They both converted to mainstream Chrsitianity after they left home. I started doing a study of different religions a while ago, and I've decided that I'm a Christian Aliotheist. I honestly believe that one of the most important things in life is to decide what it is what you believe- whether or not is falls in with what you were taught as a kid, and regardless of what other people may think of it. In the end, it's not gonna matter who you kept happy by 'sticking' to the religion you were brought up in, because when it's only you and the God you believe in (or when you look back on your life having said you believe in God and realize that you never did, and how much energy and opportunities you've wasted trying to keep that image up) the only opinion that matters is yours. Even if it takes you your entire lifetime to figure out exactly what you believe, it's important. Almost all the decisions and relationships you get make and get involved in will be affected by your belief (or non-belief) even if you don't realize it. Now I don't know about anyone else, but I don't want anything in my life affected by a belief I don't really hold.

Answer 3

I have always been a Christian, since the moment I was baptized through present day. Growing up as a Lutheran (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), and still a practicing Lutheran, I think that religion (or lack there of) is the most important part of a persons life, it really defines you for who you are in the world. Being first a Christian and Second a Lutheran I feel that life would be completely meaning less without the Love and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and with his word I truly feel whole. I really believe that the Lutheran faith has it right, that we are saved by grace and that faith and hope bring us one step closer each and every day to the eternal kingdom of God the Father! Without these basic ideas, and the ideas presented in the book of Concord (Lutheran doctrine) I truly would be lost in the Night and would not be able to find my way home. Without believing in something (either in God or not) a person can not really go on in their life as a complete person. I hope that your friend finds comfort in believing in something, I now that I do!

Answer 4

I spent 8 years as a Baptist, then 8 years as a Congrationalist, then 7 years as a Mormon, I studied the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses for 5 years when they gave up on converting me. Lots of my friends and family were Catholics and my sister was a Pentacostal. I did not find it hard to move on. I was searching for the truth. I am now a Deist and I feel that I have found my path.

Answer 5

I grew up a Catholic. I was about 15 when everything started to just not sound or feel right to me. I started studying all sorts of religions all the time. Paganism was the only one that clicked with me and has stayed 'right' with me. I still read up on different religions and I don't think it's that hard to follow your heart. It's all about what you believe in and what feels best to you.
Just be there for whomever your talking about. Let her search it out. Make sure she stays informed and gets all sides of any certain religion.
Best of luck to you and her!

Answer 6

I never felt right with the faith I was taught as a child. I became a spiritual seeker until finally I realized I must fashion my own beliefs, not find one already made that fit me. Because none of them ever did.

Answer 7

I hate faith. not God. i admire God, only not faith. faith motives strife between human beings and finally conflict and it closes peoples minds off to different opportunities. purely element this is sturdy for. I grew up in a sturdy Christian kinfolk, having church and the bible shoved down my throat and being advised i grew to become into going to Hell if i did not adhere to all of those old biblical ideals and policies numerous circumstances a week using fact my mom grew to become right into a gullible fool and believed she'd be sinning if she did not attend church a week, numerous circumstances a week, and made donations to the church. (fortuitously she found out what a buncha bull this all grew to become into.) And to make concerns worse, maximum folk of those have been Korean church homes, the place they have been full of grasping, hypocritical, back-stabbing, self-righteous fakes. The English church homes weren't as undesirable. I met lots greater extreme high quality human beings there yet nonetheless, they weren't with out their snub-nosed believers. So... After a adolescence of being subjected to concern approaches, I have been given ill of it and desperate that I wasn't going to persist with any faith. and because then i've got been particularly satisfied. via asserting i don't belong to a faith i'm not subjecting myself to the ideals and expectancies of those religions and people who prepare them and thus have greater freedom to be myself. It feels lots greater ordinary to love God now than I ever did in the previous, the place all I did grew to become into sense contempt for Him and all of his damning tactics. And the only reason I chosen to believe there's a God is from gut feeling. So no, i don't think of there's a suited faith accessible.

Answer 8

I'm an Ex-Catholic...and yeah it was a hard thing to break from. I took the "Belief-O-Matic" test. It put me at 18% Catholic, which is good, but 100% Neo-Pagan...I had no idea what that was...
If you are interested go to a search engine and type in "Belief-O-Matic" and find out what suits you best.

Answer 9

I grew up in a non-denominationally Christian family, and lost my faith in high school. I'd advise you friend to follow her faith, and worry about the social result afterwards. At the moment, however, it's more important that she becomes at peace with herself, and settles into a faith (or lack thereof).

Answer 10

I grew up Southern Baptist and I chose Catholicism. It was difficult in some ways. My grandfather thought I was crazy and lost eternally. But for me the choice was clear.