If you intentionally changed religions, why?

Great Debates
41

I don’t know. I suspect I may be approaching this too analytically - which is generally not a great mesh for belief systems. :wink:

But I imagined someone - say - who was raised RC, deciding, “Well, I like the whole Jesus story, but I’d just as soon lose the mysogyny and gay bashing, and I’m not big on the kiddie twiddling either. Don’t really have a dog in the transubstantiation fight, and those Episcopaleans down the street seem to have just about as heavily invested into incense and ritual.”

Or a Missouri Synod Lutheran realizing, “Those guys are just a bit too uptight for me. Who are these other Lutherans?”

Or maybe someone thinking they don’t really care for the idea of predestination, etc. Or a somewhat casual christian who got “born-again.”

And then there is the whole group of people who grew up attending the x-brand christian church down the street, and when they move they just go to the y-brand christian church for whatever reason - convenience, childrens’ RE, hot chicks, etc.

It seems to me pretty common human nature that people are attracted to/comfortable with that which is familiar to them. But the 20 or so respondents here don’t seem to bear that out.

42

That doesn’t surprise me too much.

Some people just don’t enjoy thinking about religious or spiritual matters, for whatever reason. I think it has something to do with the fact that some people don’t like thinking about questions when they can’t come up with an answer (while, for some of us, pondering something that we know we’ll never come up with a final answer to is fun). And some people, hard as it is for me to imagine, just don’t like thinking about things that don’t affect their daily lives.

My guess is that most people don’t like to think about religious matters, and most people who don’t like to think about stuff like that end up staying in the religion they were raised in, or something closely related. But there are those few of us who do enjoy thinking about religion and spirituality, and do end up in a religion very different from what we grew up with, and we’re going to come out of the woodwork in a thread like this one.

43

Well, your question: “If you intentionally changed religions, why?” sort of implies that the people who will respond are those who have given their religious upbringings and beliefs some serious examination and thought, and made some big changes. Those who change from Missouri Synod Lutheran to Wisconsin Synod might not consider that a change of religion; ditto those who were already Christian and just became moreso by doing the born-again thing.

You might get a more broad and even-handed reponse to a different phrasing, like maybe, “how do your current religious beliefs vary from your religious upbringing?”

44

You might find Stephen Batchelor’s book Buddhism Without Beliefs to be interesting, then. It’s an analysis of Buddhism from an agnostic viewpoint, showing how it can be a good philosophy for one’s life even without any “higher power” involved.

45

Heh. I’m a pagan who definitely doesn’t consider it a religion.

That’s because it’s a category term for a whole bunch of religions.

Consider: Wicca, both traditionalist and eclectic (two extremely different things). Feri. Stregheria. Thelema. Asatru. Dodekatheism. Celtic reconstructionism. Romuva. Slavic reconstructionism. Gwyddoniad. Kemeticism. Some forms of Discordianism. Some forms of Satanism. Religio Romana. Assorted other reconstructions (I know Sumerian, Canaanite, and gods-help-us Aztec). Druidry. Some forms of the African Diaspora religions consider themselves such.

Not to mention the more eclectic stuff …

Er, off the top of my head.

46

I think you are correct. But it strikes me as tremendously odd that people will intentionally avoid “thinking about” religion, yet they will hold their beliefs incredibly strongly, and consider their beliefs better or more correct than other beliefs.

And for those who consider their belief system a tcket to an afterlife, I’d think they’d really want to be sure they felt they were praying to the correct God/god(s). (Paraphrasing Homer - what if we are going to the wrong church every week, and just making God madder and madder?)

47

It does make sense, doesn’t it? And yet, Mr. Lissar and I were both very uncomfortable for the idea of becoming Catholic, and with many of the tenets and practices. And when he switched from lukewarm Pagan to Christian, he was profoundly at a loss for some time regarding behaviour, tradition, and all the stuff like actually reading the Bible. It was completely foreign to him.

48

I’ll share my story.

I was raised LDS, but became atheist around the age of 14. Somewhat ironic - ‘converted’ to atheism by a circle of friends in junior high/high school that all switched back to Christianity. I alone remained atheist. The thought process was that I could not (still cannot) fathom the concept of divinity as being real. I had serious problems with the ‘problem of evil’, and other various aspects of theology, some particular to LDS, some related to theism in general. I also saw alot of hypocrisy and other disconnects between the preaching and the practice. I am also a strong believer in mortality. At one point in the continuum, I did not exist. At another point in the continuum I will cease to exist (on the physical level at least. More on that later.)

From atheism, I first explored the secular Western philosophies, primarily Existentialism. Read alot of Nietzsche, which struck a chord somewhere. When I read the following aphorism, a lot of things ‘clicked.’

“End and Goal - Not every end is the goal. The end of the melody is not the goal; and yet: as long as the melody has not reached its end, it also has not reached its goal. A parable.”

After I read that, I realized that this life, this reality is what matters. I know that I am here (kind of - that part coming up next), so I want to concentrate my energies on this existence. I decided, whatever happens after I die, I’ll deal with it when I get there.

Around the same time though I also started reading about the Eastern philosophies, mainly Daoism and Buddhism. Buddhism struck a deeper chord within me, and that is what I identify with most. But I am not very good at practicing Buddhism, which is what makes one Buddhist. Its not a matter of what you think, believe, feel, etc. Its a matter of what you do and how you do it. And that my actions will have ramifications even after I cease to exist, and those ramifications should not be ignored. An while I think physical immortality is not possible, a form of ‘immortality’, or at least, a very long longevity, exists in the sense that we are still influenced by those that are long dead, for better and for worse. We all leave a legacy whether we intend to or not, so we should to try to leave the best one that we can.

Buddhist metaphysics appealed to me too. They are very similiar to Daoism, which is not suprising considering that they intermingled quite a bit.

And that led me to the core of what I believe now. I believe in Dharma, and in karma. I agree with the concepts of samsara (I have my own thoughts regarding reincarnation though) I believe in Nirvana and that enlightenment is possible. I believe in ‘qi’, and I believe that the reality we perceive is only one aspect of the greater reality that cannot be grasped intellectually, but only ‘mystically’ for lack of a better term. On a day to day basis, I just go my own way and dont belong to any particular group, but I am thinking of joining a local UU congregation for the social aspects.

I also like Hinduism, but more for the cultural aspects than the religious parts, though from my understanding its a bit difficult to separate one from the other.

49

Raised: Mormon
Currently: soft atheist, semi-regular Unitarian Universalist attendee

My deconversion story can be found in greater detail here. The short version is that I always, for as long as I could remember, had intellectual objections to Mormonism and Christianity in general. I suppressed them for 25 yers. What prompted my ultimate departure from the LDS church was the realization that I didn’t need to pretend anymore that those objections didn’t exist.

50

A Christian was climbing a mountain. He fell and landed on his head. From then on, he was an atheist.

World War III will probably be about religion, and I probably just started it with the comment above. For that, I apologize. Sorry, everyone, for starting a World War.

Anyway, I grew up Catholic. Church, to my family, was a chore, so we only attended for confirmation and CCD classes. In my younger days, my brothers, cousins, and I were altar boys, until they got a new priest we didn’t like (no, nothing like that, just a hot temper). By high school, I was finished with it. I believed, but thought it was too boring to bother. Then a friend of minego me into non-denominational Christianity. We studied the Bible together, then when college started, he joined a campus organization. Eventually, I did too (a different university from my friend). At one point, my girlfriend, who was also a member of that club, falsely accused me of cheating. I was shunned by the entire group. I remember sitting on a hill overlooking the town and just thinking, which I did often. A friend of mine had recently made the radical change of leaving Christianity and practicing a combination of paganism and Wicca, he also announced that he was gay, being similarly shunned by his Christian friends. Interestingly, I was the first person he came out to, and I was one of the few Christians who remained his friend. I thought a lot a class I had taken titled “Oriental and Islamic Religious Philosophy.” I found some things appealing in them, but mostly on a philosophical level. I saw some cool parallels between Buddhism and Jesus’ teachings, paticularly the attitude towards materialism. I also searched deeper into the Bible. I went as far as breaking down the translated text back to the original Greek and Hebrew. I started finding out that things which were “standard” beliefs among Christians were in direct violation of the original scriptures. Eventually, I crafted my own brand of Christianity and that’s what I follow today. I don’t attend church, but I will read Christian books, visit Christian messageboards, and listen to some Christian music or sermons. I prefer doing so on my terms, not being coaxed into it by an “accountability partner.” I have great admiration for other religions, and I recognize that mine may not be the one and only right one, but it works for me.

51

I’ve appreciated the thread.

My Mom was Baptist and my Dad was Catholic but we never went to church or talked about it. I do realize now that the language included an acceptance of Jesus and God that did get in my head somewhere. Right out of high school I was hitchhiking in southern NY state and met a very nice man called Pastor Bob who ran a store front ministry. There in a prayer circle I prayed “God if you’re really there I want to know” over and over. I felt light headed and a little high even though I wasn’t. I wound up joining the RLDS church that my girlfriend belonged to. They were nice people and it was good to be a part of God’s family. I had a sense of purpose and direction I’d never had before. I eventually became a priest in the church. In our studies I did have some questions about the over all beliefs but the good experiences and good feelings far overshadowed that so I just continued on assuming all my questions would be answered in time.
I was young, in my early 20s, and gave in to some temptations that resulted in me leaving the church. For years I dragged around some repressed guilt. Later I met a great guy who became a close friend. He was into Eckankar and the first close friend I felt I could openly talk to about spiritual experiences and feelings. I never joined Eckankar but went to a few meetings. The concepts broadened my outlook and I realized I could still have a satisfying spiritual life outside my former church. This led to me studying other religions and asking questions about certain beliefs. Even though I have great reverence for the teachings of Jesus and an Christianity was a big part of my journey I no longer call myself a Christian.
I don’t believe the death and resurrection of Jesus was a blood sacrifice so we could be saved. I believe Jesus leads the way by example and his message and the message that you find in many religions beneath the myth and tradition is that the spiritual journey is about personal transformation from within by learning to tap into the ultimate source, whatever it is.

I tend to think the journey lasts several lifetimes and believe in reincarnation, but like** Agnostic Pagen** it really doesn’t matter. I’m here now and each moment, each experience and interaction is an opportunity.

So, I changed religions over an extended period of time because by studying, and thinking I realized I could no longer embrace the details of the beliefs I once held. The spiritual journey requires that we are true to ourselves. In doing so my beliefs have changed to much for me think of myself as a Christian.

52

Holy Smokes! I just noticed how poorly I phrased that.

Like Agnostic Pagen **said **, it really doesn’t matter. :o

53

I was raised Christian. Went to a [del]brainwashing[/del] private school for the first 6 years of my life but I was always an inquisitive SoB. I loved knowing the truth and facts about things and once I started to look into my so-called religion and religious views I decided it was pretty much bunk, since I preferred the comfort of facts and evidence instead.

I’m now a fully-fledged atheist and I plan to stay that way until something pops up to prove me otherwise (not holding my breath).

54

I was raised in a fairly secular household, but went to a Lutheran church’s Sunday school and confirmation program as a child until I was confirmed. This was interesting for me, as Christianity didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, and it conflicted with some of my home-based cultural folkloric beliefs and ideas. Hell didn’t make much sense to me, and although Jesus seemed pretty cool, I didn’t quite understand how some of these moral restrictions were formulated. They weren’t explicitly stated in the bible, which was a bit of a mish-mash to me.

As a teenager, I started looking around at different belief systems more heavily. My mom, in some ways, understood, but was initially a bit upset by this. My dad didn’t seem to care as long as my moral compass was still functional. I ended up with Asatru, which actually meshed better with the morality that I understood growing up in my family’s blended culture. Working hard, being honest, obligation to family, and living a purposeful life was more important to me than some of the values I’d found in the Christian church. It was a gradual transition for me, and I’m still learning about how the mythos of my religion apply to the values I hold, but it’s a better fit overall.

I think the change for me was that I thought deeply about what I valued in relation to what I was told to value in accordance with my religion, and it differed. If I had been satisfied with the connection between my personal values and what my religion stipulated I should value, then I probably wouldn’t have changed my religion.