Many people undergo changes in their faith and spiritual lives. For me, I went from vaguely theist to impatiently atheistic. My politics have changed at the same time, from vaguely Republican to a complete lack of any political affiliation at all. I can’t say there’s any causality, though I can say that the religious change came first.
How about you? Any changes in one seem to coincide with changes in the other for you?
Nope. I went from Presbyterian to atheist in one sharp readjustment, and have gone from vaguely liberal to socialist over the years.
I didn’t really have any politics when I became an atheist at 13- I knew what some issues were, but it was more like rooting for teams as opposed to taking a position.
I became an atheist at a very young age as well so it’s hard to say if that had any effect on my politics. I have become more and more liberal as I got older but that may just be from being out from under my parents influence. They are staunch conservatives and devout catholics.
Political beliefs still the same after finding religion again. I do find myself becoming more conservative but associate that with growing older and not due religion.
No way.
Since I was 10, I have been a Yippie!
When I got saved at age 20, I thought whether this would be compatible with my religion.
I found it was and still is.
Though I am the only one, all other christians I know in real life are far far right.
Put another tick in this column for me.
I’ve gone from being a screaming left-wing liberal to a more moderate liberal, but that’s more a “mellowing with age” kind of a thing.
I’ve always been a liberal Christian and a liberal politically, but recently I’ve become more active in both.
same here… I had thought through my religious beliefs much earlier than I had my political stance.
Raised a Catholic, conservative. Because that’s what we’ve been forever, by gum.
I am possibly the only Apathetic in the Something Is Up There But We Don’t Know What department and Apathetic Voter in the Something Wicked Comes This Way department.
I vote more than I go to church. I pray more when I vote than I do at church. And it all works out the same: Drop pants. Bend over. Wait for penetration.
YMMV
Well Shirley, your, uh, input, is appreciated. Maybe a little blunt for the wallflowers of the boards, but appreciated nonetheless.
Myself - Catholic, currently pissed off and rapidly distancing from the church, but growing more conservative. I am by no means republican, but I am one of those rare centrist democrats.
I was raised nominally Christian and was vaguely conservative growing up but I was already becoming more and more liberal when I finally admitted to my atheism at seventeen.
Became a Christian when I was 7. As a teen I was a RAGING conservative. Raaaaaaaaging. So raging my grandmother was telling me to lighten up.
Not so raging anymore. Registered as a Republican but that’s more about not wanting to be associated with the Dems, even though in state elections I … gulp vote for Democrats quite a bit hangs head I think the Libertarians have most of the good ideas these days but it’ll be a long time before any of them are implemented.
I think life experiences have changed my politics more than religion … but I still think 40 years from now I will not have mellowed to the point where I could be called a liberal, as I’ll never be able to reconcile my faith with some parts of liberalism.
Essentially the same for me…
I was a soft atheist for most of my teen years; my family stopped going to church around the time I was 10, maybe a little younger. Didn’t become a serious Socialist until I was 19 or 20, but I’d been flirting with it since junior year in high school (at that point mostly to piss off the kids who were giving me a hard time for teaching myself Russian). Although my politics does inform my atheism, in general the more I find we know and understand the world around us and the universe it’s in, the more proof there is for the non-existence of God.
My conversion from atheism to Christianity happened first. Later, I learned about libertarianism and realized that Jesus is the consumate libertarian. Thus, my politics shifted. In fact, my whole worldview eventually shifted from a Marxist Existentialist Atheist to a Libertarian Objectivist Christian.
As an atheist, my politics are guided by my beliefs in the sense that we have to make all the decisions ourselves–The world, good or bad, is our fault. I believe in Thomas Hobbes’ social contract, the ole “The people get the government they deserve” axiom, and that we give up personal freedom as a bargin for assurances–i.e. we give up the right to kill others in return for not being killed ourselves, we give up some of our money in return for good roads, and so on.
I frame social politics in this way, because I don’t believe a higher power is giving us any moral guidance. My economic politics are more nebulous, but I believe in free trade in the hopes that it will bring about a world government.
I was raised as a Protestant in the South, where religion was for Sunday mornings and I was supposed to vote by ignoring the party and choosing solely on a candidate’s merits.
I’m a nostalgic Clinton Democrat, and the first thing that I credit him for is reducing the deficit. The second thing I credit him with is passing COPA while knowing it was unconstitutional, thus insuring freedom of speech on the Internet without interference from the U.S. Government, at least in the near future.
I was never very religious but I had right-wing views (and at least one very right wing friend) then I gradually lost those views and developed left-wing views, Whenever my friend would rant about ‘pakis’ I would just ignore the rant and/or change the subject. Then I moved to the isle of man, my views becoming more and more left wing, and my lack of belief in religion stronger and stronger (helped by these years of awareness of religious hatred and terrorism)
Religion wise: I was raised Lutheran - and attended church until I was no longer “under my parents roof”. That doesn’t mean I believe or disbelieve in God - I don’t know WHAT I believe and at 38, that makes me pretty damn pathetic, doesn’t it? I don’t know if there is or isn’t one, and frankly, I don’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about it as real life tends to get in the way. Plus it is all kind of a scary concept to me and I prefer to put things I don’t find “comfortable” out of my mind. Just call me the Scarlett O’Hara of the SDMB - “I’ll think of it another day”.
Politics wise: I’m Republican. I have always been that way, and am becoming more conservative as I get older.
I grew up Lutheran, and for a time had a strong faith; at the same time in my life I was notably conservative, mostly due to a disgust with the idea of public health care, as much as a Midwestern desire to keep as much of what I earned as I could.
As I’ve grown older, my faith has faded, and my dislike of organized religion grown; while at the same time a larger view of the world around me has made more aware of social injustice, and the destructive policies often buried in the language of fiscal conservativism.
I know that I have not yet reached any sort of final conclusion either spiritually or politically, and I keep seeking a personal place in each.