An actually decent question from an Atheist to people of all religion's..?

Question

how many of you share the same religion as your parents and grew up with religous surrounding ,and who made the choice later on in life to become religious? And for those who grew up around their religion think ,if they had a different upbringing , do you think you would still beleive in what you do today? Have you ever thought people who are Atheist's may have just had a different upbringing and choose to beleive in nothing because they grew up differently and are beyond becoming religous, the same way as you feel so strongly in you beleif's that you beyond ever becoming a non beleiver?

(I know i have terrible spelling so you dont need to tell me, sorry but that is all people tell me and im working on it)

Answer 1

my dad is buddhist/catholic, but never practiced it.
my mom was atheist.

I am a born again Christian, since 1981. Their beliefs never influenced mine.

you could say they both had a "judean-christian ethic", however.

Answer 2

I share the same religion as my family, however we are not that kind of "religious" that I think you might be referring to, we are not regular church goers. We think the belief is more important than the social church society. If I had a different upbringing I do think I would believe differently. The way you are brought up is a deciding factor in the way you worship or don't worship.

I think there are alot of reasons for people becoming an Atheist. It may be because they were not in a religious household, or their household might have been overly religious and they may be rebelling against the oppressive religious feeling at home.

The way I believe is part of me, I don't think I could be dissuaded from it. And I think non belief could be the same for someone else.

I try not to judge.

Answer 3

Well, I'm still catholic at the time, but I am serously researching Islam, and am thinking of converting. I am also consideirng Sikhism, although I am a bit on the edge about newer religions. Some of the Monotheistic denominations of Hinduism interest me as well.

I rejected catholicism because of its cold heartedness and the abundance of scandals over the years.

I think that the notion that they are Beyond religion is a strange term. I think that I never hurts to believe, but the Quran says nobody can force you to do so, so I wont. That part of Islam's appeal.

I have to agree with you on the upbrining part, but I enjoy having something to look towards in time of despair, such as the bible. but i know some people become atheists just to rebel, which i think is the wrong reason. If you are going to convert, do it for the right reaons.

Answer 4

I grew up in a home with no knowledge of God. The first time I heard of God was from a neighbor girl at age 12, and I thought it was an interesting concept. At age 14, after realizing I had grown up in an abusive home, I was an atheist, because no God would ever allow such a thing. My parents started going to church, and I went because my mom paid me to go. I learned all about Christianity, and thought it was a nice concept. Later I was after being agnostic, in to native American spiritualism and Wicca, I decided the natural ideals were most accurate, and was atheist again. However, God called me back to him, but I was still skeptical about Christianity, I studied the history and became more discouraged, So I studied, Islam Judaism, Buddhism, Hindu, and Mormonism. All seemed appealing in their own ways, but I found peace in the Bible's teachings. Does this mean that I believe in immaculate conception, etc, Not necessarily. But I don't call myself a Christian per say. I call myself a follower of Jesus.

Answer 5

I grew up in a Christian home, but wandered away for years. When I went back to examine the Christian faith, I found that it is actually very intellectually rigorous as a worldview, and really does allow us to make sense of the world. Yes, there are some apparent contradictions in the Bible, and some things that are mysterious, but only Christianity provides an intellectual basis for the logic, reason, and science that is used by atheists to question Christianity. Their own worldview does not have the preconditions for such things, so they must borrow them from Christianity in order to argue against it.

Answer 6

My father believes in God, but that's about as far as he goes. My mother was a part-time church go-er and took us when she went.

I went to church as a teenager, but as an adult now, I have found my own way. I believe in a very different way that my parents, and would definately not fit in at the church I grew up at.

I think that most definately, upbringing can have a huge effect on people's belief or non-belief.

I do think that regardless of my upbringing I would have came to the same conclusions I am at today.

Answer 7

I had a religious upbringing, but I rejected it when I got to high school. Yes, I would have believed differently in a different upbringing. Years after my rejection of religion, I came upon a personal experience of god, I am not sure if this was part of my upbringing or not, but no one in my family has ever experienced such a thing.

Answer 8

I am a Christian. I was raised in a home where there was an importance placed upon God and learning about Him. However, the choice to follow Christianity is ultimately up to me. It is my choice to follow God or not to follow God. I think that the choice to be whatever you choose is ultimately within you. I think that it cheapens someone's faith or lack of faith to say that the only reason they are that way is because of parents.

You see, the other thing about my childhood is that both of my parents are pastors. More than once people have said that my faith isn't as real as theirs because I had to be that way because they were that way. I do think that someone's upbringing no matter what it is has a vast influence on someone, but the choice is ulitmately up to them. Someone who is an agnostic or atheist can be just as strong about their beliefs as I am about mine. In fact, I hope they are that strong about it. No matter what someone's convictions are, I think someone should be able to be strong about it.

Answer 9

Great question. Yes I believe that how you are brought up greatly influences you. Now I am not saying you have no real choice but look at other areas of life.
Driving on the right side of the road is what all US citizens have been taught, go to another country and it is hard to get used to everything being "backwards".
Change is hard and sometimes scary, much easier to just go on as you have been all along.

Answer 10

What up dude? You know what, I really like this question. As a younger man, I thought about this for years. I grew up in a semi-Christian environment, it was rather strange tho: My Mom was a Roman Catholic, Pops was Apostolic...and I am neither... I was influenced so much that I decided to study up on other religions. I favored many of the Old World Euro-Religions, like Druidism, Paganism, etc. I was so engulfed that I began to practice Druidism on a day to day basis. I thought it was the most amazing thing in the world....but when your destiny is locked up in a Higher calling, you can't deny the reality of GOD. In the end, that's what happened to me... I was and still am destined for the Will of GOD, and as much as I thought that I Loved Druidism, I could not deny that Christ was my Savior and Lord and that my life and calling belonged to HIM. That's not to say that everyone will one day be a Believer for destiny's sake...the Bible makes it clear that in this time men will deny HIM and Believers will turn away. You have to look within yourself and ask: Am I fulfilled and Wherer is my destiny locked up? You'de be Surprised with what you find. Honestly. Thanx for your time...Bless yah Bruh!!!

Answer 11

Growing up I went to a Nazarene church every Sunday. Its been along long while since I attended a church service but I still belive in God. I would say if I didn't go to church as a kid that I would still belive in him. I know I aint perfect(because I do them things) but say growing up a person is around drugs and drinking more than likely that person will be the same way. (my spelling at that great either its not a big deal.)