Growing Up With Religion

[User#6517]

Making this one out of curiosity..

A lot of you guys seem to have grown up in a religious/spiritual environment when you were younger. I think Chrisitianity and Islam would be the top religions in this thread, but I could be wrong

1) What religion or spirituality did you grow up with?

2) Have you kept those beliefs, even until now?

3) How do you feel about other religions/spiritualities?

 

[lonegaijin]

1. Roman Catholic
2. No
3. Don't care much

Went to catholic school K-8 and it was run down until they decided to renovate after 70 years...I left when the renovations happened.

 

[TheWhiteBear]

In Taiwanese tradition, Buddhist/Taoist ideology is combined, while we are not "religious" we still follow the traditions. For example, to pray to ancestors and clean their graves each year to show respect.
The family I lived with in America were Yiguandao(一貫道) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiguandao
Though the ideology is the same as or extremely similar to Taoism, I never did join it because I was never a spiritual person.
Ideas such as respect for the elder and to take care of them 孝順 in Chinese.
Religiously I would consider myself an Atheist but I still respect the traditions and ideology, while I don't mind religion most of the time, some of them are over the top.
I hate when religious practitioners try to force their gods and ideas down your throat, or they harm others in the name of religion. For example, the Westboro Baptist Church are full of pieces of shits with their hateful actions.
Of course some religions don't have very good reputation, but in the end I don't judge people by their race, nationality, religion. It all comes down to what kind of beings they are, and of course, all bears are good.

A bit on the off topic side but I generally find older religion to be interesting and fascinating , especially the Norse and Greek mythologies.
Pastafarianism is a satirical religion and funny, check it out!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster
Here is a teaser
Afterlife
The Pastafarian conception of Heaven includes a beer volcano and a stripper (or sometimes prostitute) factory.[38] The Pastafarian Hell is similar, except that the beer is stale and the strippers have sexually transmitted diseases.

 

[roots reggae]

In Taiwanese tradition, Buddhist/Taoist ideology is combined, while we are not "religious" we still follow the traditions. For example, to pray to ancestors and clean their graves each year to show respect.
The family I lived with in America were Yiguandao(一貫道) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiguandao
Though the ideology is the same as or extremely similar to Taoism, I never did join it because I was never a spiritual person.
Ideas such as respect for the elder and to take care of them 孝順 in Chinese.
Religiously I would consider myself an Atheist but I still respect the traditions and ideology, while I don't mind religion most of the time, some of them are over the top.
I hate when religious practitioners try to force their gods and ideas down your throat, or they harm others in the name of religion. For example, the Westboro Baptist Church are full of pieces of shits with their hateful actions.
Of course some religions don't have very good reputation, but in the end I don't judge people by their race, nationality, religion. It all comes down to what kind of beings they are, and of course, all bears are good.

A bit on the off topic side but I generally find older religion to be interesting and fascinating , especially the Norse and Greek mythologies.
Pastafarianism is a satire religion and funny, check it out!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster

Thank you for the Pastafarian link! I may convert!

Forgive me, Haile Selassie.

 

[Wwanderer]

1 - Raised in a moderately (NOT extremely) fundamentalist Christian tradition in "The South" (in the US).

2 - No. Once I reached high school age or so, I sort of shrugged it all off without much thought or feelings. Apparently I had/have immunity to that sort of religion.

3 - I pay considerable attention to some of the Eastern religious traditions, especially Taoism and Mahayana forms of Buddhism. In general I am not a big fan of religions but do admire many types of religious people in various ways. With no disrespect to anyone intended, most forms of the Levantine religions strike me as a bit "silly" or childish and as extremely implausible. Not only do I not believe them, but I also have a little trouble understanding how other people can...though I know and respect that they do.

-Ww

 

[Wwanderer]

Yet another in @MissInsomnia 's stream of excellent thread topics!

-Ww

 

[hkAlone]

1) Roman Catholic
2) see 3
3) I'm a complete atheist. I do respect other people beliefs but I'm still considering them detrimental to their own well being on top of being erroneous. I love seeing beautiful churches, synagogue, mosque and temples however I cherish the fact that we live in a time where we have access to knowledge and other cultures with very few efforts. I believe much more in the writings of recent psychologists, neurologists, physicians and astrophysicists than some odd belief from bronze age.
On another note, I don't think Buddhism is actually a religion, and studying it can give you an interesting way to improve your emotional intelligence through compassion.

 

[Wwanderer]

On another note, I don't think Buddhism is actually a religion, and studying it can give you an interesting way to improve your emotional intelligence through compassion.

Imo, some forms/schools/sects of Buddhism are very much a religion...complete with pretty nearly all of the usual trappings of religion, but other forms/schools/sects are much more akin to a philosophy of life or a moral system. Indeed, when both Islamic and Christian scholars (Jesuits in particular) first encountered Buddhism, they debated whether or not to consider Buddhism a religion or a philosophy or something altogether different. Fwiiw, the Buddhism that is important to me personally is probably best described in this latter way.

-Ww

 

[zer0ed]

1. I grew up as a very devout atheist and could not understand the use for religion in the modern world. As a small child I did go to church for a while but it never stuck.

2. No, in the last 3-4 years, I've done a full 180 my views on religion, and would consider myself a Christian. Met with many unfortunate obstacles in life and health, I couldn't reconcile with everything that was happening, and was forced to re-evaluate my core beliefs and spirituality. I still find it hard to read the bible and not question certain things, whereas I'm supposed to take every word as truth.

3. I actually had a discussion with someone from church whether or not it's okay to be Christian and also adhere to other religious principles; namely Buddhism. I feel that both are complementary and both teach similar lessons albeit with differing approaches. I think it's really important to be open-minded about other religions or spiritual principles.

 

[meiji]

1. My parents were of different faiths, so aside from weddings and funerals I've set foot inside a church/temple, etc maybe a few dozen times not counting tourism visits.
2. I've been an athiest/agnostic pretty much since I knew the words.
3. I think people need something outside themselves to believe in. Religion, particularly in the West, has been the contributing factor to a lot of death and other problems. A lot of the thought behind climate change denial comes from modern American Christian thought.

 

[Ches]

I wasn't raised religious.

I practiced vaishavism some years ago. Their vegan food are tasty and free, lol.

Those unfamiliar with vaishnavism, think Hare Krishna.

 

[Wwanderer]

-Ww

 

[TheWhiteBear]

Perfect song to describe what religion is to me.

 

[vondoom]

hail satan, or as a band ive seen in my youth put it:
10, 9, 8, 7, 666, fuck the christ, here we go!

 

[patty diaz]

1. I didn't grow up in a religious household. My mother is Buddhist but didn't force it on us or really touch in it at all. (She doesn't view it as a religion but as a philosophy)

2. Athiest from childhood.

3. I went to a public primary school that had a non-compulsary Christian class. I went for a few years then got bored as stopped going.Even as a 5-6yr old it registered to me as not true and I thought they were all just fun fairy tales.

I've always been an avid lover of science, getting a subscription to the new scientist and national geographic every year since I was 10. (Yes nerd) I have just always had the mindset that without hard physical evidence I cannot believe that something is true. I don't want to get into a lot of other points, as Im aware that a lot of my opinions on this topic are controversial.

I would like to add that while I hold these beliefs I follow a lot of Buddhist traditions and do believe to some extent in reincarnation etc.

 

[meiji]

hail satan, or as a band ive seen in my youth put it:
10, 9, 8, 7, 666, fuck the christ, here we go!

If 666 is the number of the beast, what is 667?

The neighbor of the beast!

 

[zer0ed]

1. I didn't grow up in a religious household. My mother is Buddhist but didn't force it on us or really touch in it at all. (She doesn't view it as a religion but as a philosophy)

2. Athiest from childhood.

3. I went to a public primary school that had a non-compulsary Christian class. I went for a few years then got bored as stopped going.Even as a 5-6yr old it registered to me as not true and I thought they were all just fun fairy tales.

I've always been an avid lover of science, getting a subscription to the new scientist and national geographic every year since I was 10. (Yes nerd) I have just always had the mindset that without hard physical evidence I cannot believe that something is true. I don't want to get into a lot of other points, as Im aware that a lot of my opinions on this topic are controversial.

I think it's great that people think for themselves and not always rely on the words and interpretations of others. Like yourself, I am also firm believer of science and its methodologies.

However I've come to realize that faith in science is similar to belief in a power greater than ourselves. Scientists place a certain amount of trust and faith in the institutions that maintain and publish journals. Anyone who has ever dealt with the peer review process will know that even this is not infallible. Unless we are able to verify every scientific fact ourselves and each and every subsequent finding based on it, our belief in it is similar to faith at best.

Science has definitely contributed immensely to the success of human society. However there are also many simple but important things that it has yet to adequately explain like consciousness, sleep and dreams. I'm sure that one day these answers will be found, and perhaps that's when we can reconcile science with faith.

 

[hkAlone]

I think it's great that people think for themselves and not always rely on the words and interpretations of others. Like yourself, I am also firm believer of science and its methodologies.

However I've come to realize that faith in science is similar to belief in a power greater than ourselves. Scientists place a certain amount of trust and faith in the institutions that maintain and publish journals. Anyone who has ever dealt with the peer review process will know that even this is not infallible. Unless we are able to verify every scientific fact ourselves and each and every subsequent finding based on it, our belief in it is similar to faith at best.

Science has definitely contributed immensely to the success of human society. However there are also many simple but important things that it has yet to adequately explain like consciousness, sleep and dreams. I'm sure that one day these answers will be found, and perhaps that's when we can reconcile science with faith.

Science is just a disciplined way to study our environment. A scientist has to follow a few rules in his beliefs :
1- Don't accept any statement / theory if it's not refutable.
2- Drop your theory if it has been proven to be wrong.
3- All models are wrong but some are useful
It's a way to put truth above your ego or your social group historical beliefs.
Don't honor science. It's not a god.
Following its principles should make you a better man.

 

[hkAlone]

The beauty of atheism is the realization of how powerful are men as they don't have a god to constrain them.
The drawback is the realization that nobody is protecting you. We are kids without babysitters.

 

[patty diaz]

Science is just a disciplined way to study our environment. A scientist has to follow a few rules in his beliefs :
1- Don't accept any statement / theory if it's not refutable.
2- Drop your theory if it has been proven to be wrong.
3- All models are wrong but some are useful
It's a way to put truth above your ego or your social group historical beliefs.
Don't honor science. It's not a god.
Following its principles should make you a better man.

This

 

[rick]

1. Roman Catholic
2. No
3. Don't care much

Went to catholic school K-8 and it was run down until they decided to renovate after 70 years...I left when the renovations happened.

That's scarily the same as my case. I left the church when they renovated.

Been thinking of studying Zen. Anyone have any experiences with it?

This

Your like was sufficient, patty.

 

[RandomTokyoGuy]

1) Protestant Christian. I can't say I have been raised that way. I had my baptism before I was even able to utter a word and never came in touch again with religion much.

2) I have my baptism, so if I want I can marry in church, which even without being religious has some appeal to me
I pay some contribution as I believe that both the historic churches and many of the social services are worth supporting. Other than that I'm as agnostic as it gets.

3) I have great respect for Buddhism and Shinto, but look at it more like a philosophy / tradition. Generally non monotheistic religions seem more open minded.
I'm most worried about Islam, but I think the problem is not the religion, but the structure. The lack of any sort of central authority / leaders seems to make it a perfect breeding ground for extreme views. I generally don't get along well with intolerant / conservative religious practice, whether it's Islam, Christianity or something else.

 

[e-smile]

Making this one out of curiosity..

A lot of you guys seem to have grown up in a religious/spiritual environment when you were younger. I think Chrisitianity and Islam would be the top religions in this thread, but I could be wrong

1) What religion or spirituality did you grow up with?

2) Have you kept those beliefs, even until now?

3) How do you feel about other religions/spiritualities?

1) Islam

2) I stopped believing long ago and started reading the Bible to find out that it smells like human work just like Quran

3) I respect everyone's right to believe but I think all the religions are made by human, not by god. the religion were needed long ago to create a society with rules, now we don't need it to have a social contract and I only feel like it just creates social disturbance.

 

[Anna Summer]

1. Catholic but I wasn't specifically raised that way. My father left church quite early after I was born and I wasn't much interested in religion at all. Of course I had to attend religion classes in school... Although I quit confirmation because I was sick of it...

2. I don't really believe in anything religion related and probably never will.

3. Everyone should believe in whatever they want but it makes me sick to see that a lot of war is religion related and people throw so much hate against each other because of that. At some point I think having no religion at all would be the best thing happen in this world.

 

[lonegaijin]

That's scarily the same as my case. I left the church when they renovated.

Been thinking of studying Zen. Anyone have any experiences with it?


Your like was sufficient, patty.

Well I failed to mention one part. I was an altar boy, got a couple bucks for funerals here and there. I deserted because I was sick of the environment and some other reasons.