Have you changed from the religion you were raised?

I often wonder if religious beliefs are more taught and then kept by inertia, or if they are more acquired as one matures in either the same faith or a different one, so my question is, are you still the same religion you were raised? If so, are you currently practicing or not practicing? Have you ever thought about changing, and if so, would you? Have you ever questioned your faith, or the beliefs of your faith, and if so, why have you stuck with it? If you have changed religions, what religion were you, and what are you now? Why did you change? What advantages/disadvantages are there between the two? If you were raised without a particular religion or very weakly one, are you still not religious, or have you discovered something that suits you? If you did, why the change?

Have at it. :wink:

Esprix

Raised Methodist. Currently agnostic/deist. No single reason for the change.

Actually, I’m still exploring. Some days I’m willing to accept the existence of the divine. But most of the time, I figure if there is a god, it’s infinite, and therefore infinitely beyond our ken.

Does changing denominations count?

Raised Catholic, still Officially a Catholic, since I never converted or anything. But I have a much more vague belief-that all religions are the same, at least, just different ways of worshipping the same God. Just different paths, that’s all.

I’ve considered converting to Russian Orthodox, because I do like a lot of the beauty of it, but I don’t think I’ll do a formal conversion.

Also, if you’re still the religion you were raised, have you ever explored/studied other religions? What effect did that have on you and your beliefs?

Yes, changing denominations counts. If it’s all the same umbrella religion (i.e., Christianity), what made you move from one flavor to another - rites? Beliefs? You disagreed with something in one and found it different in another?

Esprix

Born and raised Southern Baptist. Had a conversion experience when I was thirteen in which I was converted to Atheism. This happened because I intellectually rejected the fundementalist mindset and because of an extremely unpleasant experience with Southern Baptist racism.

I became a Lutheran in my mid twenties and am presently nearly complete in the ordination process after years of theology school. Liberal Protestantism gave me much more intellectual and spiritual freedom while at the same time giving me a solid enough theology that I could make sense of things. I did have a number of conversion experiences along the way, but that is a very long story.

I actually consider myself a Jewish mystic trapped in a Protestant’s body these days.

Raised Christian, currently agnostic. I changed when I realized that Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny aren’t real. They could be real, but no evidence points supports the existence of them - agnostic now for similar reasons. I have also explored other religions (although not in depth), but haven’t really considered joining any of them.

Raised Greek Orthodox.

Converted to a local Southern Baptist church in high school.

Converted to Mormonism a couple years ago.

After heavily researching the origins and history of the Mormon church, I no longer believe in any of it but am still a member for various reasons.

Judaism seemed promising for a bit, but not anymore.

Currently I do not believe in any organized religion, but I choose to believe in “God” - whatever “God” may be.

I will probably end up agnostic.

raised orthodox, still orthodox, will always be orthodox.
i still read about other religions, i took a course in college that explored religions other than christian or jewish. i found many things that enhanced my beliefs. i usually study judaism, it helps me understand some of the rules of my church.

I wasn’t raised any one religion, I was just taught that there is a God, and the only way to get to him is through Jesus.
My great grand mother was Baptist or Pentacostal, I’m not sure because I never new her. My fathers side of the family is in Greece, and I believe they are some sort of catholic. My step-father and his family are catholic, and my brother and sister were baptised catholic. I do not believe the catholic way, so I guess in my case it has nothing to do with what my family believes.
My mom was married young and had me when she was young, so I don’t think she knew if she should baptise me or not. When I was born I was dedicated. This means a parent has dedicated her child to God, and when the child is old enough to make his/her own decision about which religion they want to follow, they should/must get baptised.
I have no denomination, but I think most people would consider is Pentacostal. The church I attend teaches the Bible ( KJV ). For as long as I can remember, I always believed in God, and I started deciding what I believed my first visit to my church when I was about 12 y/o. I went with my cousins and their grandmother.
I would never change.

I have read about many religions. I also ask lots of questions to people of that faith so I can learn more on what they believe.

I was raised mormon, but am currently agnostic, leaning toward atheism.

My ‘conversion’ came around age 13. I found myself in a situation where I was participating in discussions about the mormon religion versus some others. In the course of those, as I was attempting to tell the others in the group about my religion, I came to the realization that none of it was really supported by any facts, and I didn’t have the ‘faith’ to be a believer without any support. I haven’t been active in any religion since.

My folks remained active in the LDS church throughout their lives. A couple of my siblings have also remained LDS, one has changed to one of the flavors of Protestantism, and the rest are more or less deists.

Ugly

Methodist Minister’s son.

So raised Methodist, but exposed to lots of different flavors of religion.

Currently Agnostic, with some Pagan leanings.

Just basically came to the conclusion after studying half a dozen christian religions that no one really seemed to have the “right” answer. Started researching non-christian religions, found the same held true.

So, something’s out there… I just don’t have a name for it, nor an organized way of worshiping it.

I was raised in a family that believed in Wilhelm Reich’s orgonomy. They insisted that orgonomy was not a religion, but trust me, it’s a religion.

I have since thoroughly divested myself of the pseudoscience of Wilhelm Reich and his followers. So, I guess you could say, I’m not of the same “religion” I was raised.

I was born and raised in a conservative Lutheran church. There’s different flavors of Lutherans, just like Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, etc. When 23 I switched to a more liberal Lutheran church. They(gasp!) say women have equal rights with men. They can be ordained, hold church offices, etc. Do you know my mother, in all her 69 years, has never voted on congregational matters?

When a new pastor was called to my congregation I couldn’t get along with him(too long a story), tried the other Lutheran congregations of my stripe, and didn’t click. Went to a church social at the Episcopal cathedral, started attending there, took the classes, and last June was received into the church. I liked what the cathedral provost said during classes “Being Episcopalian doesn’t mean you have to check your brains at the door” There are really no significant doctrinal differences that matter to me. The style of worship is liturgical, fairly formal, and the Lutheran church I belonged to before and the Episcopalians are in what is called “full communion” anyway, keeping their own organizations but agreeing on most matters doctrinal. They can even call each others clergy.

I had attended an Episcopalian service while in the Army. One of the chaplains at Camp Humphries in Korea was an Episcopalian priest and conducted an Episcopalian service, in additon to his “regular Protestant worship” services. I liked it because it WAS more formal. So I had prior exposure. And I helped a local Episcopalian congregation here in Topeka(not the one I joined) to hold “witnessing” signs, as a counter to Fred Phelps. ST David’s was being persecuted by the Phelps clan for being visible at a rally
(organized by friends of mine) that was intended to be a Phelps protest. The St. David’s signs just said things like “God Loves Everyone” or “Jesus Loves You” When I attended a service there one of the priests made sure to tell me, right up front, that I was welcome to commune there, an extremely welcoming gesture. The church I was born in is so close minded that if you aren’t one of THEIR kinds of Lutherans(it’s called the Missouri Synod) you can’t take the Eucharist(communion).

Whew! I think I pushed a button somewhere.

JerseyDiamond wrote:

That sounds like a religion to me. In fact, it sounds pretty damn much like Christianity!

I was raised in the Lutheran church (Missouri synod, but in a congregation that cheerfully ignores the part about women not participating). I was highly involved in the weekly church routine because I was an organist and singer but realized, when I moved away from home that I hadn’t really believed much of it for a long time. It had been a familiar habit. For several years after that I had organist gigs in Lutheran, Episcopal and Catholic congregations but basically ignored everything but the music.

I attended Brigham Young U for my masters degree, entering as a non-member but ended up joining the LDS church in a moment of weakness. I never believed the doctrine, although I desperately wanted to believe something and needed a sense of belonging to a community. I really tried to get some kind of spiritual confirmation that the church was true (yadda, yadda). No luck. Just can’t swallow it. So as soon as I left BYU I got out of the LDS church.

Tried an Episcopal church a couple of years ago, but was more attracted by the beautiful building, wonderful organ, familiar structure of the service and the pageantry than anything spiritual. Now I sleep in on Sundays.

OK, why I questioned my faith: although I managed to completely buy into the idea that I was sinful, originally and otherwise, I never experienced a sense of being forgiven, helped or comforted by the God that I was taught to believe in. I didn’t experience the presence of God in any convincing way. Add to that the many questions about doctrine and veracity of religious writings/teachings that my brush with Mormonism brought up, I began to doubt that there was a God at all and wonder if anything I was taught in church reflected reality.

Since giving up trying to believe in received doctrine (advantage: less guilt, less tying myself in knots trying to believe what I don’t) I’ve gained a sense of a sort of immanent (as opposed to transcendant) spiritual presence. Such as an impression of the divine in music and nature. That’s about it. Some of my reading on mysticism and gnosticism is intriguing, but doesn’t amount to belief. It’s more of an intellectual exercise. But I have a deep yearning for spiritual things. I’m constantly searching. So guess you could say I’ve ditched church, but not spirituality. Hope I find something. Or something finds me.

Besides, many people seem to get such a sense of comfort and strength from religion, and I’ve read studies that suggest that religious belief is good for your health. (sorry no cites, I don’t intend to prove it). There seems to be an advantage to believing in something bigger and better than ourselves. I’d like that.

Hope that’s the sort of input you were looking for.

rivulus

There is a difference and to be quite honest, I don’t think I can explain it right now.

  1. “Are you still the same religion you were raised?” Yep… I was raised a Congregationalist (United Church of Christ) and am now a Methodist. They aren’t different enough to constitute much of a change in denomination, much less religion.

  2. “If so, are you currently practicing or not practicing?” “Practicing” always reminds me of the piano. :slight_smile: I’m a church member and regular attendee.

  3. “Have you ever thought about changing, and if so, would you?” I never had a specific desire to change, per se, as much as a period of exploration to try to find a faith I felt fit me. If that had led me to a different religion I would have changed.

  4. “Have you ever questioned your faith, or the beliefs of your faith, and if so, why have you stuck with it?” Sure. I think every person of faith questions their faith, at least those who give it much thought. I have both questioned my faith generally (is there a god?) and specifically (do I believe in the tenets of this denomination?) and there are still some of the “party line” tenets of Methodism that I reject. But my personal iteration of my faith does not require me to unequivocally embrace every single teaching of any particular religion. I’ve stuck with it because I find it very rewarding and centering.

  5. “If you were raised without a particular religion or very weakly one, are you still not religious, or have you discovered something that suits you? If you did, why the change?” I am more religious now than I was as a child because my faith and the practice of it means somthing to me, not just having to get out of bed on a Sunday to sit through some boring sermon. I am no more religious in terms of the amount of church I attend as my family has always been fairly regular attendees, though not slavishly so.

  6. “Also, if you’re still the religion you were raised, have you ever explored/studied other religions? What effect did that have on you and your beliefs?” I have explored other religions in the sense of studying them in college and through comparative religion classes and through occasional attendance of services. I would say the main effect of that study was for me to reject the fundamentalist Christian belief that one may only know God (and find salvation) through the fundamentalist-Christian iteration of Jesus Christ. A lot of wonderful people practice a wide variety of faiths, and I have never believed that God would consign them all to hell for not being Christian. So I think the most important thing I’ve learned is that “there are many paths up the mountain” – a Taoist phrase, I believe.

  7. “If it’s all the same umbrella religion (i.e., Christianity), what made you move from one flavor to another - rites? Beliefs? You disagreed with something in one and found it different in another?” Something far more prosaic – they got a new preacher at my old church and I found him singularly uninspiring as a professional and nearly insufferably boring and myopic as a person. So I shopped around for another church that I thought would probably suit my beliefs and ended up with the Methodists. I really liked the church so I later joined it.

The end. :slight_smile:

Raised: non-practicing semi-Baptist (I’ve been in a church for a non-wedding/funeral-attending purpose once in my life).

Now: Godless heathen. I have no religious beliefs whatsoever (except that organized religion is one hell of a great moneymaking scam :)) I just don’t have any use for it; IMO, it’s a waste of time.