Theists of all kinds? (Christians, Muslims, all of you)?

Question

do you think that if you were born on the opposite side of the planet that you would have the same faith as you do now?

For instance, if you are a US christian, imagine being born in Afghanistan in a muslim family. Think you would still be a christian? If you are a Malay muslim, imagine being born in the heartland of the US in a christian family. Think you would still be a muslim? And so on, and so forth.

Serena: my point is partly that no, you wouldn't want that or all those people would be christians.

tigertrot, I am aware of CS Lewis' works. In Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist, former preacher turned atheist activist Dan Barker discusses Mere Christianity and takes issue with Lewis's belief in absolute morality, arguing "any morality which is based on an unyielding structure above and beyond humanity is dangerous to human beings. History is filled with examples of what religious "morality" has done to worsen our lot".(Barker 1992)

Have you read Barker?

Answer 1

lookn2cjc makes a fair point: I've benefited from a secular education that I wouldn't get in Afghanistan, and I'd have my doubts about the cultural pressures my education would be under in the Bible Belt as well. It would be very hard indeed for anyone, across all ranges of intelligence, to be an atheist without exposure to the range of educational stimuli that liberal westerners enjoy (and that's why Fundies are so eager to have Darwin removed from schools - they know how powerful its influence is against the "you just have to accept this story is true" that they offer).

However Acid Zebra's point is still valid. The "absolute truths" upon which faiths are grounded are demonstrably relative - to geography, culture, and even time - and that annihilates any claim they could make to being absolute truths, doesn't it? All is relative, I'm afraid.

Regarding time, could any of us have been atheists in 17C Europe? Almost no chance. That's why Newton was a Christian - Christianity offered, at that time, the best answers to the same questions we still ask today.

Answer 2

Is this a rhetorical question? Because I suspect that the answer is a loud, resounding NO!

However, being the lucky person I am, I was born into a Christian family and have been a Christian ever since.

Now, I could also have replied to your question by saying that it's impossible for me to be born on the other side of the world since God intended for me to be born on the side I was born in. No doubt, that would bring down upon my head accusations that I am a brainwashed, brain-less member of the human race who brings shame upon the free-thinking school of American philosophy by accepting what has been fed to her as the Gospel truth (sorry, couldn't resist). But, I can sincerely say that I've thought my way through Christianity and thought it very, very reasonable.

Answer 3

I have a hard time believing that this Dan Barker you mention was ever a Christian. He may have been a Thiest, even a monothiest, but to receive and accept the Gospel, accepting Jesus as his personal savior, learning the depths of the love of God and then walking away and denouncing it is really really hard to fathom. There are many who try to judge Christianity by the acts of some who call themselves Christian and lack the wisdom to look at God for who He really is.

Then there are those who want to be their own god and not have to answer to anyone...kind of like Lucifer. They have allowed themselves to be deceived and fail to see that our whole existance and realm was created by design and, like a dog that bites the hand that feeds it, the end result is only tragic when rejecting the Designer.

To answer your question though, yes. Even in areas like Europe where populations have turned their backs on God for a time, the faith in Christ is growing again. It always seems to grow the strongest in the areas of the world where they are persicuted like China and the middle east. The Gospel is being shared in every part of the world. If given the choice and the evidence presented to me, no matter where I lived, I would have made the same choice to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

Answer 4

I don't see any point in dwelling on a "what if". I am a realist and was born in Canada. I've been a born again Christian since the age of 28, 16yrs ago.

EDIT: one could ask the same of an atheist. If you feel you didn't have access to all of your "education" because you were raised in some 3rd world country, would you still believe what you do now? Pointless, isn't it?

Answer 5

Should be. I think it depends on where I was raise. Perhaps if I was a US christian instead of a malay muslim I'd question my faith for a while then turn into an agnostic *laugh*

I think it would've work that way if I was born in the US.

Answer 6

You pose a very interesting question and I have though about that more than once. I'm not sure what I would believe but I am extremely glad that I was born in the USA. I like to believe that my faith would still be in Jesus.
I Cr 13;8a

Answer 7

well the opposite (antipodes is the word you are looking for) to where I was born and raised is a catholic country. I was raised protestant - so yes, I would still have come to the same conclusions and made the same choices. I would just be speaking a different language.

Answer 8

No, my choice of religion is influenced by my heritage and culture to some extent...Anyone that would deny that is only kidding themselves.

Granted I was born in the heartland of the US and raised a Christian, but I left that religion. Still, my current faith is effected by my heritage and culture.

EDIT: To the poster above: Why doesn't Asatru count? I'm a theist...a polytheist.

Answer 9

There is no point to these type of questions.None of us know what would have happened.
Hopefully,if I was born in Afghanistan,someone would have told me about Jesus or given me a Bible.I would have wanted that very much.

Answer 10

Well i'm an american, and i have just decided to practice the japanese religion Shintoism.

So if i was born in Japan instead then i'm pretty sure that i would be :)

(I dont think i would want to live in Saudi Arabia, they still stone people that break the law.)