Believers would you have believed in God if you were not brainwashed in childhood?

Answer 1

All 'believers' are the by product of brain washing!

Answer 2

I am a Christian, And I was not brainwashed as a child. I was actually 36 before I found the Lord my God. I had ran the whole live for myself , do what I want to do thing and I am here to tell you when God showed up at my door there was not another living soul around. Just me and him, and all I had to offer was a whole lot of wrong decision's that I had made that took me on a head spin right to the bottom of the barrel, with no one to care for me, no home, and no hope. But My God showed up and here I am, Happily married, 5 kids, 6 grand kids, and a home that is a comfort to come to. So for you to say all Christians were brainwashed as a child is WRONG.
To be a Christian is not a brain thing, But rather a Heart thing...

Answer 3

Well, I have a friend who is now a teacher in a Catholic school, works in the music ministry of a local church, and is quite solid in her Christian faith. She grew up in a household with a father who never permitted religious material in the home, who was an atheist and an engineer. She decided on her own to investigate and found atheism wanting.

Religious natures aren't something instilled by force, and atheism isn't based on pure logic. Atheism presupposes the non-existence of a thing (God), which is a faith position in and of itself as a non-existence cannot be proved.

Brainwashing isn't necessary for either position. It is a choice.

Dear Mr. Obvious.... I think I'll let my post stand as it is. If an atheist does not presuppose the non-existence of a god, how then can they come to believe a position that cannot be proved? One must adopt the position on faith as there is no more evidence that there is not a god, than there is showing one does exist.

I would have emailed you off list, but it seems you are not open for debate as you don't post email or messenger contact info.

BTW... I'm neither a Christian nor an atheist. I was brought up Christian, and my personal anecdotal evidence shows me that rearing, while possibly *highly correlated* is not a necessary indicator to one's final religious choices. Perhaps an ability to think as an individual might as well have a strong correlation to deviate from the geographic predilections.

If you want to discuss, email me.

Answer 4

Religious belief is *highly correlated* with georgraphy and upbringing. If the parents are Christian and the kid grows up in a predominately Christian area, you almost always get a Christian. If the parents are Muslim and the kid grows up in a Muslim area, you almost always get a Muslim. So religion is not a product of some relevation, it is a product of geography and upbringing...

Even if the parents want to leave the decision to the child and don't indoctrinate the child at all, the society the child grows up in will still have an effect, so a Saudi Arabian child in that situation will still most likely grow up to be a Muslim.

So if we assume, ambivalent parents who either don't discuss religion at all, or go over the first couple dozen religions with no bias, in a society with extremely mixed religious beliefs and non-belief where most don't publically try to recruit, then it is likely such a person would not believe.


*PS* to the people giving supposed counter examples, realize I said correlation, which means it does not always happen. Your smoking uncle may live to 137, but smoking is highly correlated (as in it greatly increases your risk) of lung cancer.


*PPS* "Atheism presupposes the non-existence of a thing (God), which is a faith position in and of itself as a non-existence cannot be proved."
Deirdre H, that is a flat out falsehood, and you should edit your post to remove it. I have talked to over a thousand atheists, and NONE OF THEM presuppose the non-existence of gods.

Answer 5

yes. I was never brainwashed (try looking the word up. Raising a child in a religion is not brainwashing them). I choose to believe in God because that is what I felt was right. I was Catholic, then agnostic, then wiccan and then I went back to Catholic and I've never been happier. So yes, even without my parents, i'd believe in God.

Answer 6

Brainwashed would not be the correct word, but rather "being raised RIGHT" --and yes I would believe because God has chosen me to believe. Anyone who believes was called to believe. God is the one who does the saving- not our parents- but our parents are to raise us in a christian home and with teaching of the word. That is what God wills of those who love Him. And I would want nothing more than for my kids to follow the Lord all the days of their lives- there is nothing more important than that.

Proverbs 22:6
Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Ephesians 6:4
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Answer 7

I was raised a Christian, left the church at age 11 and spent the next 31 years as an atheist. I needed something more, I spent my life searching for proof. After all those years I received exactly the sign I had asked for. I dropped the atheism in a heartbeat. Now I would call myself a believer who follows her heart and no organized religion.

Answer 8

I think religion is in the human genes of most people and those who have it will believe in a religion come what may.

The need is so strong that no argument, or logic, or anything else, will make any difference. All the arguments in favour of religion are obviously absurd, but even some very intelligent people, scientists, mathematicians etc, fail to see it. It is part of human nature and you are banging your head against a brick wall.

Answer 9

Ignorance is showing. Many more believers grew up in non-Christian homes. It's actually easier to believe and understand the need for grace when you've been living without. Those brought up in the church are usually less likely to have been out destroying thier lives, therefore less understanding of our need for grace. When God has always been a factor, you become familiar with Him and take His grace for granted.

Answer 10

Non-believers would you have not beleived in God if you were not brainwashed in childhood?

Answer 11

If a child born of a christian couple is left to be brought up from childhood by a Hindu couple , he would become a Hindu , soalso a child born of a hindu couple if left in a christain family would become a christian . Similar would be case with any child born of any couple believing any religions .Every habit of ny man would be moulded by the enivronment in which he is born and borught up.Thoughts that ae instlled in the minds / bains of the babies while they are in the making in their mothere's womb will have a great impact on their lives ,becuse evry organ of a child is mopulded by the blood of the maother and the brain of the foetus is developed by the blood of the mother and its its basic operating system is instlled by her thought . That is why it is advised that a pregnant lady should be in good moods and should be kept happy.All cultures know it .We are lead to belivbe in god for millions of years and so the thought is in ingrained in the brain of every one . It is because of this even the highly learned scientists though they know the facts of live still stuggle hard to come out of the virus installed in their brain by their mothers who have aquired the virus ( from the ancient brains- hard discs of ancient men ignorant men) transmitted for millions of years to generations after genertions .My hard disc is also infected !