BELIEVERS: Why is faith so geographically based (the region of your birth almost always dictates your faith)?

Answer 1

When you ask this question, you're certain to get a flood of "that's not true, because it didn't happen to me!" objections. But in fact as a general rule, it is most definitely the case (though parents' and peers' religion is really far more predictive than geographical location).

The reason is obvious: we get our religious beliefs the same way we get our beliefs about what is and is not acceptable as food.

Answer 2

Why do moths fly into campfires to die? Is it that they wish to commit suicide? Nope. Actually, moths use the light from stars to navigate. However, when someone lights their grill, or leaves the porchlight on, some moths wind up using that light to navigate off of. A moth could fly towards a star and never reach it, but they reach the fires and lamps, and become attached to them, so to speak.

Such is the case with religion. Humans think of the beyond simply because we are the only animals that have that level of awareness, due to our higher brain function. It is human nature to want to somehow be in control of everything around us. Hence, indians do their rain dance to water their crops. The Mayans went a bit further, and sacrificed other humans on fancy alters. The rains will come or not whenever they do so, but when they do come, the reward is the rain, and the human mind tends to think it was our actions that brought it on. Gods appeal to wishful thinking. That's why all human groups have some sort of theological beliefs. However, if God does answer our pleas, he does so in an unpredictable manner and without direction, which is why all of these religions from different regions are different. God doesn't teach us to believe in him, other humans and cultures do. That also explains why different cultures that occupy neighboring territories also share some, most, or all components of the other's religion.

A while back, some scientists did an experiment where several people were asked to complete a maze on a computer and repeated the excercise a couple of times. There were two programs and each assigned points. One program gave points for doing certain things. The other program gave points in an arbirtrary, random manner. The test subjects were asked to figure out and explain how the points were given, and what the pattern of the point system was. The first group correctly identified the pattern for how points were given by the program. Those using the other program without a set method of giving points also identified certain patterns and systems of giving points. This group differed widely among individuals as to what that pattern was, but there was no pattern of any kind.

This shows that our brains are configured to look for and identify patterns. Why is that? Perhaps in the early days of our evolution, it helped us to find and catch food, avoid predators, or keep safe from the elements. It explains why we see the face of Mickey Mouse in cloud formations, why we see the Virgin Mary on a slice of bread, and why we try to conjure up Gods to help us through life and conquer our enemies. It also explains why so many different religions are so fervent that their religion is the right way to worship; Each group has a pattern that they have identified as their own "right way," proving it, although there can not clearly be such a "pointing system" by any God or Gods. Otherwise, all religions would be identical or at least much more similar that they are.

But when you grow up in a certain region, with a majority of people in your community believing in a certain God/Gods and a certain method of worship, you learn that custom, and you learn the patterns they have identified.

They can't all be right.
However, they can certainly all be wrong.

El Chistoso

Answer 3

It is not so much geographically based as it is based on what you were raised to believe by parents.

My mother and I and then my son were born and raised in a small southern U.S. rural town, as Jews. Less than .02 percent of the population here is Jewish. Geography had nothing to do with the faith of my family. I grew up surrounded by people of other beliefs and it led to an intense curiosity to learn what people of the world believed and why. I've studied comparative religions since I was a child. I've read the holy texts ( in English translation ) of all the world's major religions.

It is less geography than it is socialization that determines faith, and then personal choice and independent thinking. I grew up in a tradition that did not condemn testing and challenging one's beliefs.

What is true is that people of the same faith often gather to form communities and attract others of the same beliefs.

edit to note: AFTER my answer appeared declaring it was more cultural and familial rather than geographic influence I see three answers completely changed from their originals to more closely match mine. Hmm, I must have been onto something and after they read mine they realized it. This isn't the first time I've noticed this tactic in YA. sad.

Answer 4

You're trying to imply that religion is somehow false because people usually end up believing the one they are taught? That's an interesting line of reasoning but I'll bite. You may be, and probably are, correct in your assumption about religion and geography but it hardly matters from a Christian perspective. The reason is that God will get the gospel to, and savingly call, his elect for his reasons and in his time. I don't need to worry about why there are more Christians in Tennessee than there are in Tokyo because I realize that not all who claim Christ and live in Tennessee are really his. By the same token, I know that God has his chosen people in Japan as well. So the external appearance of religion in one place as opposed to another place is really a non-issue.

Answer 5

Almost always. When a baby is born and a child is almost always raised by his/her family and thus, follows what his/her family do including believing in which religion. As the child grows up and mix with other cultures, people, media, etc, he/she forms his/her own ideas, beliefs, interests, etc.

If Religion A is not practiced in Region 1, how would the person become a person who believes in Religion A? That's why the person's religion is usually found in that country. Unless the person travels outside and get influenced from outside media.

It has something to do with culture, who you mix with, how open are you to other religions, the law in your country regarding religion, etc besides geography.

Answer 6

Cultures and society's tend to be geographically based. If you are born in the desert of the African continent, most people born in a region stay in that region. What is there is what is offered. Most people choose from what is available in their own culture and their own society. If one is born on an island in the south pacific, one tends to stay there and to conform to the society they live in. If one is born on the Asian continent, most people tend to stay in the region they are born, again choosing from what is available, usually choosing according to familial traditions, personal preferences, etc.

Those human beings who do leave their own birth place, their birth culture, their birth society have more experiences in the larger world and have more to chose from. Not to say they would not chose the same as if they had stayed, but more choices tends to leads to a more varied amount of choices.

It's hard to "buck" the society you are living in. Conforming to your culture and societies mores causes harmony, and most people like the harmony of living within a culture and society. Going against the grain is not a life of ease. And most people are generally lazy when it comes to doing anything out of the cultural norm, or are afraid of recrimination.

So really it's a question of cultures and societies that are geographically based and the ease of conformation and life by choosing what has been chosen before.

Answer 7

Ahh come on, you won't get a straight answer from believers, but I think both you and I know the answer. Child indoctrination is highly psychological on a child and a conscious cycle. Religion is, and always has been, based little more on culture. Around 3/4 of the global society will carry on the belief of those who raised them in some format. Yes, all studies do point to this figure. Though they aren't really studies, as all you are doing is taking the religious beliefs of a country vs the percentage of followers in that country for every country around the world. Which makes many of them that belief their deity will send all who don't believe in him to eternal torment very twisted people.

Answer 8

I think you're incorrect, as my dad was an Agnostic, my mom a Roman Catholic, and I was born and raised in Canada, moving to California at the age of 16 and became a born-again Believer at the age of 23, after searching through the occult. Jesus established my faith. It has nothing to do with Genealogy, or Geography. It has to do with seeking to know God.

Answer 9

Because what "everyone knows" must be right, regardless of what it is. Why people think this question says anything about the validity of invalidity of any given faith is beyond me, however.

Answer 10

People are so broad-minded that they usually stick with the idea that what their parents thought them is true. They neither judge nor think but believe. That is because what people understand when they hear the word, faith. It is not about thinking but believing.