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Religious Histories


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Your Religious History  

  1. 1. Pick what best describes you!

    • I was raised into a religion, have since affiliated with other religion(s), and currently associate with a different religion than what I have affiliated with in my history
      0
    • I was raised into a religion, and have since then affiliated with another religion and maintained that religious belief
      10
    • I was raised into a religion, have since then affiliated with other religion(s), and currently am non-religious/atheist/agnostic
      5
    • I was raised into a religion, became non-religious/atheist/agnostic, and have since then become religious/currently associate with a religion
      9
    • I was raised into a religion, and have since then become non-religious/atheist/agnostic and still am non-religious/atheist/agnostic
      29
    • I was raised into a religion and have maintained that religious belief
      14
    • I was raised non-religious/atheist/agnostic, have since then become religious/affiliated with other religion(s), and currently associate with a different religion than what I have affiliated with in my history
      4
    • I was raised non-religious/atheist/agnostic, have since then become religious and have maintained that religious belief
      3
    • I was raised non-religious/atheist/agnostic, have since then affiliated with other religion(s), and now currently do not associate with a religion/am atheist/agnostic
      3
    • I was raised non-religious/atheist/agnostic and still am non-religious/atheist/agnostic
      23
    • I fluctuate between religions and non-religiosity so much it?s too difficult to answer/I have no clue what I believe!
      9

This poll is closed to new votes


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I suppose the best way to describe one’s life-long involvement and progression in terms of their religion/spirituality would be to call it a history. This isn’t about what religion you affiliate yourself with per se, but rather I am trying to capture whether AVEN members have been raised into a religion, have maintained a religion, have switched between various religions, have lost religion, or have gained religion.

Perhaps for clarification, by “religion” I would like to refer to the larger categories that are formally defined, not necessarily a change in denomination (for example, a switch from Baptist to Presbyterian). I’ll leave that up to everyone’s individual judgment.

Also, please note that I am trying to express in some options whether you have switched between multiple religions or have maintained just one religion since becoming religious.

I would also like suggestions if there is any way to improve, either the structure of the answers. I tried to cover every option I could think of without becoming overly complicated. I was going to structure the poll otherwise, but it became too confusing.

Apologies if this poll has been posted before!

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Well what I meant with the term non-religious was that your parent or guardian may have had their own religious beliefs but didn't expect you to agree with them or commit to that religion as well. With that I also categorized specifically raising your kid atheist and agnostic, to avoid the complication of whether or not those are considered religions.

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Uhhh, I was sort of raised C of E/Catholic/Methodist/United Reform Church, but I never took any of it seriously. Oh, I also went to Sunday School. Fun times.

Sooo, raised (dimly) religous (God only existed on Sundays and whenever someone died), but never actually religious?

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I was only Christian when my grandparents (from both sides) and aunt were around. My own parents raised me as social-Christian, where I'd celebrate Easter, Christmas and I'd get a cross on my face for Lent, but that's it. Around seven I began studying Wicca and called myself Wiccan until I was 11, where I just called myself eclectic neoPagan.

But lately I've been questioning it all, so I may just be an atheist in a few years, haha.

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Uhhh, I was sort of raised C of E/Catholic/Methodist/United Reform Church, but I never took any of it seriously. Oh, I also went to Sunday School. Fun times.

Sooo, raised (dimly) religous (God only existed on Sundays and whenever someone died), but never actually religious?

Pretty much this.

Raised nominally Catholic by a mother who really only identified as Catholic to fit in with her family (she is more pagan/pantheist in practice) and a father who didn't really give a rats one way or other, went along with whatever my mother wanted, and filled out religion as Catholic on forms because his family (who were all overseas) were loosely Catholic.

So I went to Sunday school, and was even confirmed, but never believed. When I asked my dad why I had to go to Sunday School when I didn't believe, he said that I only had to go until I'd asked that question, and that was it for religion and me.

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Aimeendfire

Raised sort of Catholic. I also went to Sunday school and I did my confirmation and everything. Now I believe in too many things to put a label on myself. And at the same time I don't really take any of it seriously. So a combination of the third and last option depending on the day and how delusional I feel like being.

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I picked the boring one. I was raised Lutheran, am still Lutheran, will die Lutheran. I seriously saw no point in changing, so I decided to make it simple. I'm one of those who probably would've stuck with anything they were born into. I know that makes no sense to most around here, just like asexuality would make no sense to the vast majority of society. Yet people tend to equate it with closed-mindedness. If I'm at peace with my decision why should it matter anyway? I believe I am capable of seeing and understanding many point of views and can use reason. I see that faith and reason go hand-in-hand, and it works for me. Contradiction is good. It balances things out. I also see the entire Universe as one big contradition and yet it works! :blink: Yeah, I'm crazy like that. So sue me.

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I was raised Catholic by parents who make it a priority to try to attend church every weekend--active Catholics. I don't recall ever buying into the religion, although I tried for a brief period of time in middle school because one of my friends at the time was strongly religious and made that work for her, and I wanted to have some of the certainty she had (and still has). Unfortunately, it just doesn't work for me. I have a number of issues with monotheism that are probably related to the fact that I was a mythology buff from an early age and likewise spent a lot of time reading the Old Testament going "my, this God guy is a monumental jerk, and so are half his chosen people." I decided when I was thirteen or fourteen that the religion thing really was not working for me, and anyway this Douglas Adams guy makes a heck of a lot more sense on the subject. Later I found a book on secular humanism in my school library, went "oh this is totally my worldview, excellent" and have identified as a secular humanist since.

As a matter of fact, "coming out" as an atheist has been much more stressful and upsetting with my family than the whole asexuality thing ever was. I still attend church when I'm at home, mostly because it's a small thing (so I stare at the wall and hang out in my head for an hour and a half, so what) and it doesn't hurt me to make them feel better. I did my Confirmation and all to prevent their knowing that I really didn't believe at all because I didn't feel it was worth the huge fuss.

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GooberPeaAndMe

I was raised turbo-Catholic. In high school I gradually went to agnostic then atheist. There's still a lot of bitterness about it, especially for my mom, so we don't talk about it. In my house we talk about everything except religion and our feelings... probably not the healthiest thing in the world but hey, I turned out alright. Right?

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I was raised non-religious, but one parent briefly started getting churchy when me and my sister were too old for it to have much effect, so I answered-

"I was raised non-religious/atheist/agnostic and still am non-religious/atheist/agnostic"

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For the most part both sides of my family have been fairly non-religious.

My mom's side (grandparents and aunt/cousins) attend Quaker services regularly. When I was 8 or younger my mom used to attend services as well and we went to Quaker Sunday school on occasion. I have been to their regular service only a few times (because we were visiting family and pretty much forced to go). Otherwise, my mom is not religious in the slightest. This is essentially my only direct experience with religious practice. I have celebrated major holidays such as christmas and easter (when I was younger) but only at face value really (make it a time to be with family and exchange gifts).

My dad's side of the family doesn't practice any religion. I've heard that my grandma may have been Jewish, but have never seen any evidence to support her practicing. My grandpa is very much anti-religion and I tend to think we have like-minds in that regard. My step-mom comes from a Jewish practicing family and tries once in awhile to stay true to that nature. Year to year we might celebrate Hanukkah, Purim, Yom Kipper, Passover, Rosh Hashana and an occasional Sabbat. These also are more traditional celebrations rather than focusing on the religious aspect. They center around gathering with friends and act as a ground to help bring the family together for occasions or something of that nature.

I have never been pressed with any ounce of religious worship from any family member. I have also never been interested in the slightest. I don't have a belief in worship or a higher power and I am perfectly happy this way. As some other AVENites have pointed out, I appreciate the idea of community that religion holds and it seems like a great tradition to come together once a week for services or special occasions. That said, I'm not about to join a church or participate in that as I have a very short attention span for things that don't interest me in the slightest.

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i was raised in a family that were roman catholic i wouldn't call it a religous upbringing

religion wasn't foisted on me.

i am an agnostic which i define as meaning "****, i have absolutely no idea what is out there. let's just get on with life as well as possible"

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My parents are Christian but when I was a kid, religion wasn't talked about much. So I don't have much of a religious history in my childhood years. When I was a kid I didn't know if Heaven or Hell existed and it used to scare me thinking that when I die nothing's gonna happen. I didn't start getting religious until I was 11. Ever since then, I've been Christian by my own choice

Well last year there was about a month or less time period when I almost became a LeVayan Satanist

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sinisterporpoise

And the grammar nazi in me spots this right away: a person is born into a religion or raised into a religion. They are not raised into a religion as that conveys the idea that their changing religions while their parents are raising them.

/me smacks himself repeatedly.

BIC Mormon here. I could have stayed such, too, if I had stayed away from the church's actual history. Now, I'm an Ex-Mormon Agnostic Deist who follows bits of Philosophical Taoism. Simply put: undecided.

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spoonsfromdenmark

Eh, should have read the explanation before voting. I think i may have voted wrong. I voted was raised in a religion and then converted as an adult to another and stayed in that one. I was raised as an Evangelical Protestant. And then I attended a United Church of Christ church in college before deciding to join the Roman Catholic church. I suppose that's more a denomination switch, but tell that to my family and friends who are still up in arms over the decision. The theological differences and liturgical differences may make it categorically a different "religion" even though it is mostly the same Bible and largely the same theology and both espouse the Apostles Creed.

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I was raised into a religion, and have since then become non-religious/atheist/agnostic and still am non-religious/atheist/agnostic.

I was raised Roman Catholic. While my parents weren't actually particularly religious, we did go to church semi-regularly and I've only ever attended Catholic schools (three of them: two primary, one secondary).

I became agnostic when I was 12. I identified as atheist when I was 18.

I changed back to agnostic some time this year (I'm 21 now), and the best description of my "beliefs" is agnostic deism. (I believe there is no way to determine whether or not a God exists, but if one does, all that said God did was set the wheels in motion to create life and did/does not interfere any further with it. I reject all "revealed religions"; the only "word of God" that exists is what appears on this earth (the creation). I use my [God-given] reasoning to determine what is right and what is wrong/I am a free thinker.) I personally don't consider deism to be a religion, so I still identify as non-religious.

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silentdreamer

I was raised Christian; Jehovah's Witness for most of my life. Around my early teens we switched denominations a few times before I got tired of the crap life kept dealing me and the crappy ways in which other Christians treated me and my family. I went through a brief period of atheism mostly out of hate for how I felt "God" abandoned me and hated me. Then later, after my anger died down, I and learned to accept other religions because I didnt want to go about the rest of my life hating or avoiding people because of their religious beliefs when they were genuinely nice people. And so I became agnostic without even knowing it. I didn't learn about the term until I was trying to classify what my beliefs were and knew atheist no longer applied to me.

p.s.

I love iff's definition of agnosticism. That's exactly how I feel.

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I am an atheist, but I used to be very religious. My parents were never very religious at all though. My religiousness was more out of fear of the devil cause by my OCD than anything. I have become a lot more comfortable and able to feel and live normally since giving up religion.

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Then later, after my anger died down, I and learned to accept other religions because I didnt want to go about the rest of my life hating or avoiding people because of their religious beliefs when they were genuinely nice people. And so I became agnostic without even knowing it.

That's a good place to be, but you can be there as an atheist. Atheism doesn't require hating or avoiding the religious, you can always just be tolerant of difference.

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silentdreamer
Then later, after my anger died down, I and learned to accept other religions because I didnt want to go about the rest of my life hating or avoiding people because of their religious beliefs when they were genuinely nice people. And so I became agnostic without even knowing it.

That's a good place to be, but you can be there as an atheist. Atheism doesn't require hating or avoiding the religious, you can always just be tolerant of difference.

Oh, I know that. But I went from "there is no god" to "every god and goddess ever worshiped in history just might exist. I just choose not to personally follow any of them" and when I was looking for a term other than atheist to define my new belief, I learned about agnosticism. I consider myself a "open-minded skeptic" where I'll believe it if I see proof and I'm open minded enough to accept that proof whenever the universe decides to present it to me. I also believe in karma.

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Sounds like Agnostic Atheism to me.

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silentdreamer
Sounds like Agnostic Atheism to me.

Hmm.. wiki calls it "weak agnosticism" as opposed to "hard agnosticism". First time I've ever heard of these terms.. I just call it "Whatever, man. I don't care. It's just a label-ism" :lol:

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I was raised Lutheran, but gradually shifted to hardcore atheist over maybe a year about 5 years ago.

I, too, was confirmed and baptized - something that vaguely bothers me now. Being an existentialist too I know it shouldn't bother me - I don't think of there being any metaphysical ties to the church due to these things, but part of me still feels that way. The small, irrational part of my brain that allowed me to stay religious for all those years. I might have to do some kind of "un-baptism" and "un-confirmation" ceremony just to shut that part of my brain up! :lol:

Anyway, I agree with CBC Radio Girl about the aesthetics of the Roman Catholic church. I tend to like it for slightly different reasons. I love the archaic feeling of it particularly. The gothic and classic churches, the ancient worn stones, the robes, the candles, the ceremonies - it just has a kind of mystic romanticism about it obscured by the depths of time.

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'I was raised non-religious/atheist/agnostic and still am non-religious/atheist/agnostic.' fits best.

Just as a side note, our government decided to take children away from too religious families.

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AFlyingPiglet

Was raised as an athiest, then changed to agnostic. I then dabbled in various things and ended up a Christian. I hate the word 'religion' - it makes me cringe :mad:

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AyatollahCarebear

My family is utterly irreligious. I became fascinated by Theravada Buddhism only this spring, but as I discovered more about it, I found it so compatible with my personality and views on the world that I know intuitively it's my path for the rest of my life.

Although, I don't think of it as a religion. I think of it as an intensive philosophy. I'm still an atheist, not so much in that I just don't believe in a Creator, but rather that the Creator, if it exists or not, is utterly irrelevant to my life.

I am actually something of a Buddhist nerd. I read obsessively about the finer points of dependent origination and the five aggregates, research its history fascinatedly, and would probably go to Mahabodhi Temple in India just to try and find Buddhistic themes in the architecture.

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