Did you choose your religion?

HI, I am a Christian and I can tell that for me religion is a consequence of experience and knowledge. I believe in Christ as a wise guy 2000 years ago talking throw parables. his teachings are that there is something that that started life. And as a result of my experiences and knowledge, I find it to be true. Long before Christ humanity looked at the skies for answers. Top it with most of the population and civilisations believe in some kind of superior being. Call it what you want but the fact is that there was nothing and now there is life. I think what you called is a matter of coincidences, depending on where you were born and culture. Personally I believe, but it was a choice. Is true my parents told me to go to mass on sunday as a kid, but I never believed then, I believe now because of what life taught me. Please forgive me, but if you say you are atheist, make sure that you choose to be, not because they told you to. Religion is a very individual interpretation of the classic question "who am I". For me Atheism is a very simplistic way through life. I thought at one point to be one, my istincts and every bone in my body tell me that there is more. Are we all wrong in believing? I do not know, but it make sense. Alex

Religion is inspired by how a child is raised but not completely. My first experience with religion was when I was a small child. I attended Sunday school in my small town. The class was not really a set "church" it was more of a basic teaching of God. My next experience would be with the Church of Christ. I did not attend services regularly and my family did not attend at all. I made the decision on my own to go to church with my neighbor. As I aged my mother and I began to search for the "right" church for us. I have been to almost every name of Church you can think of outside of Baptist, Catholic, and snake handlers though I went to one once that I feared those would be broke out next. I am an adult now and have decided that the Church of Christ is the church where I feel the most comfortable and welcome. I attend services every Sunday and am a member of my Church. My religion was my own decision and for many years my mother did not agree with me. She was more of a non denominational choice. She is now starting to see why I feel the way I do about my religion and come back around to my way of thinking. In my case your theory is just the opposite. It is I who have influenced my mother to become a Christian not the other way around. When children are small they do go to the church of choice of their parents on most occasions but that does not mean the child will always hold to that religion though most times they do. Right or wrong once you are taught something from a babe you tend to hold to it your full life afraid to test the boundaries of other ways. Religion is taught but in the end it is your decision of how and where you practice what you believe.

well my dad is an athesist my mom catholic an I am a wiccan my parents let us chose our on way they didnt force religion on us an out of thier 5 kids they have 2 atheist 1 catholic an one not sure an then me a wiccan funny though because when I became a wiccan alot of my realitive came out of the broom closet an said they were also wiccans they just hid it for years

I'm sure that most people start out with whatever their parents want them to do. But once they have grown up, and are responsible for themselves, most will start to find themselves, and make their own identities. They will decide what they truly believe in. To do something just because your parents did it is ridiculous. Its the same thing the people who beat their spouses say. "That's how I was raised." You're probably right on the numbers though. People are easily influenced. Religious, and so called non religious. My family when I was young brought us to church, but never tried to get us "saved" or anything like that. I was even refused once when I tried, cause they said I did not really understand what was going on. I thought I did, but they said no. Later on in life I made my own decisions, from my own experiences. Today my family never goes to church. I feel that both sides are wrong, and both sides are right. Most will pick one side, and in my opinion pick the wrong side. ok I'm not sure where I'm going with this anymore....... blah blah blah.....the end.

I don't think that as a child you can be any religion... although most children have a faith of their own that is indiscribable, they don't understand the theories of evolution and big bang and theology of the Bible and their understanding of God and nature is very pure. I think that around the age of puberty, people begin truely reflecting on their religion. That was the case for me. I was raised a Christian but when I was 13 I started practicing Wicca. It was because my own experiences with Wicca that I ultimately came back to Christianity - but only after I truely understood what Christianity meant. This is the reason why I am a firm believer in beleivers baptism - not the corrupt ritual of infant baptism. You can't choose your religion because your parents chose it for you. You must chose it yourself.

Well I have been going to church since i was very young. The only reason then was of course because my parents forced me into going, but as the years went by it has changed. I now go to church on my own will, and I attend Friday bible studies moreover Sunday services. Being a christian altered my life and gave me a firm direction of my life. Therefore, I am not 100% sure if I chose my religion or if it was engraved by my parents as the years went by.

You might ask yourself did you choose your gender, country, town, age, looks, or anything else you have ? Also, elders do have the right to pass on what they know especially if they know the value of it. So how can a child or a person without knowledge choose not to be taught anything ? You could argue this when you are being taught something bad but what if its good and really important ? I guess you wouldn't argue about being taught the English language or how to add and subtract, so why exactly are you argueing over a religion ? Think about this.

Which parent in their right mind would raise their children in a religion or belief other than their own? Surely, if religion is a big part of their life, parents would instill values from their belief to the children. I wouldn't say that they're forced to follow, though there are cases of force, but it's also known that children imitate their parents. So, even though most of us are 'born' to a certain religion, the choice we make when we grow up is entirely our own. Whether you want to be really religious, or change your religion, or not wanting to believe in anything is your own free choice as an adult. Though the choice can be influenced by parents, some would object while some others would be supportive. There're even those that remains with a religion even though they don't believe in it anymore out of respect or love to their parents, but still, it is their own free choice. Unless of course if the parents or the religion tells the children that they cannot change their religion, or that they don't have free will, that would be an entirely different scenario. BTW, there're those who were born without parents / orphaned. So their choice of religion would be influenced by their environment, or their foster parents.

I chose to be a christian and chose to be religious. My mom and my father are not christian nor are they religious in any way shap or form. I chose to be a christian and to be rligious at the age of 14 years old and so did my brother at the age of 11. It was not pushed into my head like you say it was. If you ask me I think you being a atheist was pushed into your head at birth.

I was born into a family that attended the Christian church and I have remained in that denomination. However, I also attend an Episcopal church. I'm sure my parents influenced my thinking to some extent, but I've also studied on my own and have concluded that what the Bible says makes sense to me and I have accepted it by choice not through pressure by anyone.

My mom is Catholic. My dad is.. Doubtful. We went to public school, but we had a class once a week to learn about biblical things. Just memorizing prayers and many scattered and confusing explanations of bible stories and a lot of chanting. We would shout "God Is Good! All the time!" Now I'm a Satanist. I just began to question things around 13. Until it all became very obvious to me. I don't really know if my mom understands that I am not Catholic anymore. I'm sure I have told her. She pretends I still am and tells me to pray for people and stuff like that. We don't go to church anymore, more out of waking up late on Sundays and not being required to write a paper on the sermon because I don't have the religious classes anymore. So it just became something we don't do. I think everyone should at least be willing to question their religion. If the priest was reading his sermon and said something a person just doesn't believe in, and doesn't want to practice, why should he or she just sake it out of their head and pretend they didn't hear, and keep going to church?

I am a catholic. I was of course forced into it by my parents. But I later understood the teachings of the church and became a true catholic. You are right in saying that nobody can be forced into any religion by their parents unless they do it in such a way that they will understand the truth behind it. The external ceremonies and celebrations of a religion helps a person only when he understands them. The holy mass was some sort of a boring thing in my childhood. But later I understood the meaning behind it and then I started to concentrate on all the ceremonies in order to participate in them meanuingfully. My parents initiated me into the catholic church. But it was god who made me understand all its teachings. My parents never gave me any books other than the bible, some periodicals and the stories of the saints to strengthen my faith. But I read many things on myself. Today my parents are not that strict on some teachings of the church which I stand for. Here the parents gave only an initial burst. I can grow in a belief only if I try to find the truth. The parents wont allow a 12 year old to make decisions on his own because he doesn't clearly know the teachings of any of the beliefs deeply. His parents doesn't want him to be ended up in some religious extremist organizations. But I think that people who are mature are allowed to practise their own choice and it should be so.

My parents are also have religion. In my opinions, I think everyone had better have a religion, not because your parents' reason. Sometimes you can choose the one that you think the best. As to me, christanity is the best for me. God is the savior, he can save us from disasters and make us lead a quiet and happy life. If we have some problems with the life and people. Througt praying, you can get an clean mind in your heart. A right religion can also regulate your behaviors and your words. It may play a important role in you daily life, and you can regard it as a lifelong persuit.

children are raised by their parents and brought up the way the parents want them to turn out. it seems to me that a child needs to have something or someone to believe in. as they grow up they have the choice to be faithful to their religion, or they can choose to believe in something else or nothing at all, so as they grow older, it IS a thing of free will, but as a child no.

I'm a Christian. I choose the branch of Christianity I practice. I'm a United Church of Christ member because they are more open, accepting, and into justice than most churches I encountered. I'll be happily with whatever faith my child practices. I will only have I problem if they are an atheist (sorry to say; I will have trouble with that, but I realize its my problem and not theirs. I'll work on it, should the situation ever arise.

Hey, No I didn't choose my religion I merely followed my parents. But now that I know more about my religion, I can see that everything that the bible says is coming true and know that my religion is practising the truth. Happy Lotting!

I was raised a CAtholic, and have chosen to remain a Catholic. My parents introduced me to the relogion, but I am the one who has made the choice to remain keep my religious beliefs. No one can force anyone to believe what they do not want to believe. I am happy and proud of my choice.

As a child one does not have enough understanding of what religion is in the first place.If at all there is anything, the child simply copies what the parents do.Hence you have Christian parents having "Christian children" and so on. But that doesn't mean the child has really become a Christian, so the real initiation into religion is by rituals such as baptism, and so on. Though a person is following a set of rituals, and is doing certain external actions that would amount to calling that person a Christian(say), I do not think you still have made him/her as one. Don't you see many grown up people,"choosing" their religion? Well, the choice would be most probably between "No Religion"[Non-practicing whatever] to the religion the person was introduced to as a child. You are never going to have the situation that a [B]child[/B] is a Muslim while the parents are Christian. But with the passage of time when the child grows up to an adult he/she may abandon his faith of birth to choose something else and in the process may choose to be alienated, from the main family. When I am born into a family practicing a particular religion, I feel the religion has already be chosen for me - by God. Now, when once I grow up and find something is wrong with my religion, and this happens often when I fall in love with a person of some other faith and my people are opposed to it, but I do not want to give up that person, so I do away with my faith. A mature person choosing his/her faith solely after evaluating the alternatives of each and every faith [B]does not ever[/B] happen.Contrast this with a person choosing his field of study or area of specialization in education.This is because religion is a matter of spirit, containing more articles of faith than logic, and for all practical purposes [B] All religions are equal !!! [/B]

When i was a child I went to the church that my parents were going but when i grew up i started to look by myself and began to investigate the other religions in my country and visited many of them but in the end it was me who take the last decision to visit a church. Now i am an active person who works with young people in my church and I like it. Everyone have a free will to believe in anything he or she wants to believe and no one in this world can force you to be a christian like me or an atheist you have the rights to believe what you want. But when you get a curiosity to believe something different and get that feeling that that is the belief that compliment your life don't reject it because it could be significant in your life. have a nice day!

Hi,i am an atheist,too.But i a bit believe Buddhism.I believed that there is the samsara for the human.