How many of you still adhere to the faith tradition that you were exposed to by whomever reared you?

Question

If so....why?

If not....why?

Answer 1

I was raised catholic by parents who didn't really take their faith seriously. Today I am a non-denominational Christian who loves and wants to serve Jesus Christ.

Answer 2

Yes and no.

I am still a member of the church in which I grew up, and I still occasionally attend. But I attend my wife's church (she is Catholic) more often than I attend my own, and I attend no church at all on Sundays oftener still.

There is much about my home church with which I disagree. But I have never found that to be adequate justification for making a clean break. Intellectually I cannot allow myself to simply withdraw from communion with these people whom I have known all my life, because such relationships are not built merely on doctrine but go much deeper - there's an historical continuity (2000 years!) that I hesitate to break. If I cared more (and I freely admit that I do not) I would work to change that which I believe to be wrong about my home church and make it a place that better reflects the gospel message. Instead I sleep in many Sundays - "Our Lady of the Mattress," my wife calls it.

Answer 3

I am . I still cling to the wonderful Religion of Christianity, that my Parents and Ancestors had. My Ancestors came from Norway. Christianity , came to the shores of Norway and saved many from Paganism. My way back Ancestors were Pagan's and some of the stories I have read about that in Norway was horrible. So I give humble Thanks unto the Lord, that I was saved from being a Pagan. My Ancestors chose the right path to walk on, and I continue to walk that path. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ , and thou shalt be saved.

Answer 4

i went to catholic school until 1st grade and until about 8 years of age we went to catholic church. i guess maybe my parents would have considored us catholic after that but we never practiced.

i grew up with an interest in God and doing what i could do to be good and on Gods side and also, OF COURSE avoid hell. there were even some times as a young man that i asked my dad to go to church.... but we never went more than one time in a row

as a teenager and young adult i had the normal american view of maybe there is a god and if there is he is probably some kind of good. maybe all religions touch god... etc. it was only after the girl i loved broke left me that i turned to christianity

i REALLY tried christianity... id sya i probably took a more honest and open approach to it than most christians. i tried believing and following for about 2 years but i eventually decided that it was a lie.

why?

i took a class on various world religions
i wasnt able to find god despite my DEEP soul searches, prayers, fasts, little sacrafices, etc.
i actually read the bible and found out that it was absurd. dont believe me? (www.evilbible.com)
...and there were other reasons but those were the big ones

you know, people are so ignorant its amazing. we live in america and believe in christianity. hmmm. people born in iraq believe in islam. hmmm. surprise surprise. doesnt that say anything at all? doesnt that at least hint out how stupid we are all being by claiming to know the truth about God?

let me tell you that it takes a very brave person to leave christianity. i believe that when you die thats it. its a lot harder to believe that then it is to believe that when you die you spend an eternity in unimaginable bliss with a loving protective creator.

so all in all i woudl say that i believe in now a more advanced version of what i believed in as a child. i explored the world religions and in my opnion its pretty obvious that they are all man made. you want the true religion? its called science. its the one thing that puts us in touch with existence and its the one thing that will "save us" from whatever our fate might be.

Answer 5

Not me.

I was raised in a churchgoing family but science and nature won out early on, at age four.

Nothing about religion made sense. I kept quiet, attended until age 17 but never believed a word of it.

It's great that my devout mother accepts me as I am, loves me no less and never tries to convert me. Nor do I try to dissuade her from her own faith.

Answer 6

To some degree possibly. In many ways my beliefs have varied over the years. Free will, more open-minded thinking, and maturity have changed some of my beliefs.

Answer 7

Nope. I was raised Presbyterian and am now Pagan. I rejected the idea of God when I was 9, but then went through a period of searching from about age 12 to 17 and found myself on my current path.

Answer 8

I don't.

I saw the person that reared me let our refrigerator go empty while she put $40 in the collection plate the following Sunday, and when I asked her about it, her response was "Why wouldn't I give that money to the church?"

It was then I realized how twisted her faith was, and that I never wanted to be a part of it.

Answer 9

Not me. I was raised catholic. I am gay and open-minded. I learned at a young age that most religions want to "help" you decide what is right and wrong. I prefer to make those decisions myself. It is not as easy. But, I feel better knowing that I weighed the logic and potential outcomes...

Answer 10

i'm much more radical now. I found God for myself. Those who taught me and brought me into a relationship with Jesus I found were way to passive. Why? God showed me the truth and that changed everything. The church can't handle the truth because then they would have to change.