The OP largely describes my upbringing. I’ve attended Catholic mass a few times with my grandmother (who I think was/is secretly trying to convert me), but my parents very rarely discussed religion unless we asked. I plan to raise my children similarly.
My Dad was brought up catholic, and my mother protestant. By the time they had kids they were atheist/agnostic. So they brought me up without religion. However, they sent me to a Church of England school (as it was the best in the area), so I learned about religion there. I don’t remember ever believing in it, and am an atheist.
My mum started believing in God again when I was about 17. It was too late to have any influence on my beliefs.
While most of my Dad’s side still considers themselves catholic, it is only my Grandma who goes to church.
I don’t know one religion from another. My dad was an on again/off again church goer while I was growing up but he never made us kids (or mom) go.
My husband was raised Catholic but hasn’t practiced it since he left his parents home over 25 years ago. When we go to dinners at his parents or sibling’s homes we respectfully stand and bow our heads during grace, but I’m usually thinking about how much laundry I have to do when I get home or wondering what’s for dinner
My first memory of anyone talking religion to me was at about age 5. Myself and a friend were playing outside and two men in suits approached us. They began asking if we beleived in God, and if we knew what Hell was like. They then proceeded to tell us how in Hell you have worms crawling all over you and in and out of your ears and mouth. :eek:
I think my encounter with those two nutjobs squashed any desire I may have had to know about religion right then and there.
I asked my mother, “What religion are we.”
She shrugged her sholders and said, “Air Force.”
I was born Jewish in the Soviet Union. My family knew they were Jewish probably only because everyone discriminated against them. All that hate against the Jews was even more retarded than normal because none of the so called Jews in Russia knew anything about Judaism. We might have had a concept of a Yakima, but that was it.
So when I came to America at the age of three, I was Jewish but I wasn’t Jewish. My Grandma decided to look up what Judaism is like and is now our family’s only practicing Jew. Grandpa is very atheist and so am I. The rest of the family puts up a half hearted effort at being Jewish by celebrating most of the holidays and giving out donations.
I had a bar mitzvah, but that was more because my family was Russian than because they were Jewish (Russians like to celebrate everything).
So even though I am technically Jewish, and my family celebrates the major holidays, I can safely say I was raised with little to no religious influences. I knew more about Christianity from watching TV than I did about Judaism. That was basically the extent of my religious influences during my youth.