Believers of religion: how did you decide what religion to follow?

Question

And what about the fact that there are so many different religions? Does it unnerve you? I mean, you all can't be right. Just curious...

Answer 1

Why can they not all be right? They are correct for the individual, including the belief in nothing for Atheists. I believe that all paths are valid so long as they harm none. I decided on my path that I follow solely on the fact that it called to me and when I question my faith (as I feel everyone should at some point) I always answer that, yes this is the right path for me.

Bright Blessings )O(

Answer 2

Going on the assumption that God is fair, I assumed that the religion he brought me up in was probably the religion he intended me to have. I haven't found another that was superior to mine.

As for the idea of being unnerved by other religions, I think that the Southpark guys said it correctly in one of their episodes:

The correct answer was Mormon.

Basically, the jibe was at the notion that there is only one correct religion. If it is the Mormons, then heaven will be populated with a very small number of people, and that is just completely counterintuitive to the idea that God is omnipotent, since he didn't do a very good job of spreading His word.

Even the Catholic church has acknowledged that God may have set up more than one route to salvation for those who have not been exposed to Catholicism.

Don't infer from what I'm saying that I think all religions are correct, or that it depends on the person. I really don't know, and nobody else does either. A person's salvation is between him and God.

Answer 3

I grew up in mine, but at a point, particularly as an adult, I had to decide to keep following it.
It doesn't unnerve me that there are many religions. I suppose it would if there were strong evidence for other religions, stronger than there is for mine. There isn't. And that's one of the reasons I continue to believe.
By the way, I'm not a "believer in religion," I'm a believer in Christ.

Answer 4

Well, I was raised Christian, but I eventually got to a point where it just didn't make sense to me. I thought about many things on my own, and based on my own observations of the world and "the way things worked", I thought (independently of ANY religion), you know, X, Y and Z would actually make much more sense. It just turns out that X, Y and Z happened to be Wicca. Imagine my shock to discover what I'd come to believe on my own was actually a system of thought! And no, it doesn't unnerve me that there are so many different religions. Wicca acknowledges that we each have our own individual path, so why would it unnerve me?

Blessed Yule!
)O(

Answer 5

Religion is a personal choice and should be contemplated carefully and what is truth to you is the one you should pick. As for the second question no it does not unnerve me it strengthens my belief because if you carefully examine the core of almost all living faiths you will discover the same thing.

Answer 6

If everyone's parents "decided for them" since the first human couple gave birth to the first child, wouldn't we have all ended up practicing the same religion?

You should really give people more credit than that.

I made my decision after exploring many other religions, from one end of the spectrum to the other. Trust me, it was a LONG journey. The path I chose, although difficult and wrought with perilous pitfalls, was obvious to me because I saw clear evidence in my everyday life and the world around me.

The "parents decided for you" assumption sounds like an easy way to discredit the very real heartfelt choice that each person makes for themselves. Eternity is a very real thing to each of us, and the afterlife can only be known by faith.

I think most people take it seriously, it's not like choosing your favorite football team.

Answer 7

I like these two quotes from Kahlil Gibran. They say alot in this matter.

"God made Truth with many doors to welcome every believer who knocks on them."

and

"Say not, 'I have found the truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.' "

I decided based on what my heart felt to be right. I am a Christian with supporting beliefs from my Cherokee heritage, which is not without harmony to those beliefs. As to there being different points of view? God! I hope there are! With the diversity of human thought being as it is, it would be rather disheartening if there weren't so many! I take great comfort in knowing that people the world over have pondered and considered why we are here, and how here came to be.

Answer 8

I know that I was blessed to be raised by parents that introduced me to the Lord. But I was not brain washed as some non believers may think. I have seen God and the awesome things He does. Yes the religion I grew up in is what my parents and their parents followed but as I have grown in Christ I realize that it is not about religion, it is about realationship. I have a true realtionship with the Lord. We need to read His word and strive to be more like Him.
As for us all being right... it should not be something that WE all think WE are right and the other Christians are wrong it is God being right. God is the judge, not us. As long as we try to do what He wants, He knows us and loves and wants us to be with Him in heaven. God Bless You!

Answer 9

You follow what your parents teach you. Yes it is unnerving because not all religions can be right, but everyone has this problem right?

Answer 10

I was born to it, I fell away when I went to university, where I discovered I knew everything just like all college kids and became an atheist. As an adult I discovered this secular stuff doesn't make sense, and came back to the faith of my family.
Don't worry, many of you H.S. and college punks who are reading this will do the same thing. You know I'm wrong as you know everything. I know I'm right from experience. Never confuse education with experience kiddies. Here endeth the lesson.