NationStates Jolt Archive

Were you brought up in a religious home? If you were do still have that faith or did you lose or change it? If you weren't do you still have your lack of faith or have "found" faith?

I was raised in a religious home, and I still have that faith.

My parents were both raised as devout Catholics and my mother went to a Catholic school. They stopped attending church when I was about four years old and I was never baptized because they wanted me to be old enough to make that choice for myself. My father became very distrusting of organized religion, but he is still very spiritual (reading the Bible and praying). Don't know what my mom does. =P

Me, I grew up largely without God and after while whenever people asked me what my religion was, I really had no answer. For now, I describe myself happily as Agnostic. Religion scares me and I don't think I will be "finding" faith anytime soon.

If I recall correctly, I was raised by a pack of wolves. Wolves that like the nipply weather.

i was dragged to church until I was ten, when I was enrolled in an episcipal school. Church no onger being neccessary I immediately quit belieiveing that religion was anything but a way to make me feel bad. I still don't believe in it but have dug deeper and realize that I was correct as a child in one way, but also that many people find tremendous solace in their church. More power to them, as long as when they all go crazy and start WWIII they don't shoot at me.

I wasn't raised in religious home, althought in my primary school there were religious theachers (I have been atheist ever since my 4th grade in primary school). Thus, being thaught two years by religious person almost every subject wasn't so much fun (the school was a small one).

My mother says she's Catholic, but she only goes to church once a year. I used to be the same, not anymore. Apart from my grandfather pretty much the whole side of the family is the same.

My parents are both confucianists and they raised me like any asian parent confucianists did, taught me about my role in the family and what my life's objectives were as the oldest son in the family.

I'm not sure if confucianism is thought as a religion or just a philosophy...

I was raised in a traditionally reactionary christian family, yet one day in college I read a book and accompanying literature for Capital by Karl Marx, and my life changed that day.

I was raised by not-very-devout christians, but I'm a buddhist.

I was raised in a very religous home. I'm not going to say I've lost my faith, but I question it at times. I guess we'll see what happens as I continue to mature.

I was raised in a non religious home, but frequently attended church with my Grandmother. I then converted to a different branch of Christianity at around 10 years old. At 13, I questioned religion altogether, and found myself an atheist.

raised agnostic became pagan, though I may change, at 15 I have plenty of time to explore my faith.

I went to church, but then someone didn't take me so i didn't/couldn't go, except on Christmas, now i just talk to the big guy each night.:)

I went to church, but then someone didn't take me so i didn't/couldn't go, except on Christmas, now i just talk to the big guy each night.:)

Or according to this guy, various parts of my body adhere to different religions.

Or according to this guy, various parts of my body adhere to different religions.
I annexed your elbow, it is now Catholic.
Maybe your forehead too, non?

I have aquired more body parts since then, not yours though.

Pastafarian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastafarian).:cool:

My dad was rasied an Anglican, and my mum a Catholic (one in the same nearly) but now neither go to Church or really believe I think, but my mum stills has a thing about Christianity and Churches, she wants me to know about things from the Bible I suppose.

And, I really don't know why I went to a Baptist Sunday School 'till I was 10:confused:

EDIT: Oh yeah, I'm agnostic.
EDIT AGAIN: I mean Pastafarian, lest the government see this and realise I lie-gave incorrect information on my National Census.

I was raised in a secular jewish house, meaning that I was circumcised and had a bar mitzva, but other than that, got no affiliation to the jewish religion.
Since I was raised to learn, to question and to see other perspectives in life, I've came to be agnostic.
But as for faith, I neither lack faith, nor what many consider faith.

My parents aren't really religious, but for some reason (possibly my grandmother) my sister and I went to church and Sunday school for a while. We also went to a CofE primary school, but there was little choice in the matter there.

I never really believed, though. I thought it was something like believing in Santa - you're supposed to, you go through the motions, but you know it's not true really. I was confused when I discovered some people really do believe it, and still am to be honest...

My dad was rasied an Anglican, and my mum a Catholic (one in the same nearly)
Ooh, don't let either a Catholic or an Anglican hear you say that! They get jolly worked up, it's bad for them. Reminds me of a joke, though:

A nun's teaching her class in a Catholic school.
NUN (in thick Irish accent): And what do ye all want to be doin' when you leave school, children?
Amy: I want to be a prostitute!
NUN: YOU WHAT?!
Amy: Erm... I said I want to be a prostitute...
NUN: Oh, tank heavens for that. I thought you said you wanted to be a protestant.

Ooh, don't let either a Catholic or an Anglican hear you say that! They get jolly worked up, it's bad for them. Reminds me of a joke, though:


Thats actually what my dad told me, liked the joke BTW:D

EDIT AGAIN: I mean Pastafarian, lest the government see this and realise I lie-gave incorrect information on my National Census.

Says it all really.

My parents sent me to church since it was pretty much a free daycare, but they were apathetic to religion, and me being the smartass I was back then found the Christians stories a wee bit absurd to swallow.

born eastern orthodox (been baptised and everything) but my parents were the kind of christians that went to church twice to five times a year and i have been raised more like a naturalist.
at about 11 the whole family converted to greek catholicism.
at about 14 i lost my faith gradually and since then i've have been random combinations of laveyan, discordian but underlyingly nihilist (depending on my mood).

<i take it on faith that there is no such thing as truth:p >

Hmm, this poll makes it sound like you're a deviant for <i>not</i> 'having faith' :-\

My maternal grandmother is agnostic, though she sent my mom to a Christian school because my mom was getting into a lot of trouble. This school was pretty extreme but fortunately my mother realized this but still has faith in Christianity.
My dad went to all sorts of churches as a kid- Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, etc. He sort of aligns himself with Christianity but I believe is mostly agnostic.

The result? My sister and I went to chruch starting at 5 (when I was 5) when we were still in the UK. When we came back we went to some baptist church in Virginia (ages 6-7) and got baptized. At 7 we moved to NC but went to the same church for a while, then when I was 8 I went to a much smaller church in my town but hard to get to, and then some other baptist church (my town has 3 Baptist churches and 2 Methodist churches). By 10 we'd stopped going to church, but at 11 we started going to a community church in Virginia (right across the border) and went regularly until I was 13, when my parents got pissed off at everybody and quit taking us. I, being a preteen semi-fundie at the time, got kind of mad, but after a while I became more liberal and stopped caring. The last time we visited that church was Christmas Eve, and after not going to church, I started being more of a liberal Christian.

One year later, I am an atheist. My sister is a Christian though.

My parents sometimes refer to God, but not very often. They don't go to church or pray, etc etc. They sound like they believe in a God, but I reckon they're agnostic. Raised a heathen, will probably die a heathen. Hurrah.

I think my parents are christians. My mum believes in god but doesn't put much thought into it... or anything really..

I went to two Church of England schools but apart for saying the lords pray during assemblies, singing hymms and praying before dinner at primary it didn't get more religious than that..

I had faith once but now I'm agnostic and occasional legionaire disciple and discordian =POPE=..

Hail Eris! Hail Discordia! Hail yes!

My parents sometimes refer to God, but not very often. They don't go to church or pray, etc etc. They sound like they believe in a God, but I reckon they're agnostic. Raised a heathen, will probably die a heathen. Hurrah.

Huzzah! Huzzah for atheism!

Raised in a fairly religious home, my mother got somewhat fundamentalist after I went off to college. Most of my youth I attended a Methodist church, most mild mannered bunch of folks in the world (white, suburban Methodists, that is). You can barely get an emotional response out of them if you tried, but they were patient and accepting, so I liked that. Since then, that same mild mannered approach to the matter of religion has followed me, I find extremism irritating, whether it be Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Buddhist or Jew. If anything, I'm wishy-washy on religion, call me a waffler, flip-flopper, John Kerry or whatever, that's what you'll find a lot with me.

Huzzah! Huzzah for atheism!
http://www.ebonmusings.org/atheism/eaclogo.gif

I was raised Catholic, but we were never devout (although, as you may have noticed, the Catholic-bashing that sometimes goes on here bothers me), even though I did go to a Catholic school from grades 3-7 (a fairly progressive school; no nuns hitting students with rulers there). I'm not sure what my family is now, as I don't have contact with them. I do know that my mother was into a lot of new-age stuff, and my father probably doesn't give a damn about religion. My brother married a Southern Baptist (I think that's what my sister-in-law is); since he was already a neocon, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find he was now a social-conservative fundie. I, however, am in the process of converting to Taoism. I find it a very gentle, calming religion.

Oh, and as long as we're passing around religious jokes, here's one:

A Jewish couple was sending their son to a private Jewish school. He was failing every course, getting into fights, and disrupting classes on a regular basis; eventually he was asked to leave. His parents then enrolled him in public school, with the same result, and he soon had to leave there as well. In sheer deperation, the enrolled him in Catholic school. On his first report card: straight As, and glowing comments from all the nuns about what a polite, good-natured boy he was. So his parents asked him "Why couldn't you have done this at your other schools? What is so special about this place?". He replied "When I got there that first day and saw that guy hanging on a cross, I knew they meant business."

wasn't raised in a religious home, made up my own faith

Catholic mother, apathetic father. I ended up hating Catholicism and Christianity in general becoming an atheist for a several years before my attitude mellowed somewhat and I began to explore alternative religions. I still am.

Catholic mother, apathetic father. I ended up hating Catholicism and Christianity in general becoming an atheist for a several years before my attitude mellowed somewhat and I began to explore alternative religions. I still am.

http://www.principiadiscordia.com/book/5.php

Christian (non non-denominational) father, agnostic mother.
I'm the same as my dad, although i go to a methodist church.

Both my parents are atheist, although I've only just found this out within the last year. They didn't mention religion at all when I was a kid, although my dads girlfriend of five years was a strong christian and I sometimes went to the same sunday school as her son.

EDIT: I'm atheist too.

Were you brought up in a religious home? If you were do still have that faith or did you lose or change it? If you weren't do you still have your lack of faith or have "found" faith?

My mother raised me to be Catholic -- I went to a Catholic elementary school, went to church every Sunday, and was taught to believe that God existed and was Good.

My father was uninterested in religion, but he never did anything to discourage me from being a Catholic.

I developed into a happy atheist.

Edited to add: I do not "hate" religion. I'm simply not persuaded it is correct.

Both parents Christian, mother specifically Protestant. My father used to be rather big on the whole religion thing, but now isn't too much. My mother is open-minded and does not take the Bible literally as some imbecile fundamentalists do, but is rather devout.

Et moi? Deist, but I have Satanist leanings. And as any good Satanist should do, I get to say I am Protestant to fool the sheep. :) To say the least, I find Christianity's altruist principles sickening, yet likewise I find reckless egoism as interpreted by Nietzsche's disciples moronic too.

Let's just say Hoppe and Rand will be my religion for the time being.

Raised by nominal Catholics, though I attended Catholic schools 'till I was 10. I am still a nominal Catholic (though I attend Church *every* Sunday, except when I'm lazy or something :headbang: )

I have friends who are atheist, Muslim, or from other Christian denominations. We talk about our beliefs sometimes. I used to call myself agnostic when I was about 11 or 12; but now I'm happy with my faith. The bottom line for me is, I believe in God.

I respect those who hold a different view, as long as they do not attack the person whose faith they don't believe in or disagree with.

i was brought up as an anglican christian, my mum is pretty devout and becoming more so, my dad really takes religion with a pinch of salt, not sure if he's quite agnostic though. and i went to two C of E schools, the first being pretty fundamentalist, or at least as fundamentalist as it really gets in jersey. now i'm an atheist although i tend towards agnosticism on spritual matters that don't directly involve skyfairies.

Brought up by Catholics, went to Catholic school, but I came to my senses soon enough.
I'm agnostic now, leaning towards atheism, though.

Trilby63;12097750']http://www.principiadiscordia.com/book/5.php

Seen it. Been exploring since I was 14. :p

what would happen if a Nation turns like the US in the movie escape from L.A
they kick out all the Atheist

I was brought up as a Baptist and attended service regularly. I was baptized in the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania.

I still strongly believe in God. However, I have lost a certain amount of faith in actual churches and have yet to find one of my choosing. So, unfortunately I am not currently going to service. My belief in God is still holding strong. :)

My mom is Catholic and my dad is a non-denominational Christian. My brothers and I were brought up as Catholics, and we still are Catholic.

The assumption being of course that ones' spiritual views are somehow tied to a concept of "faith" that is not in fact universal.

Born into Protestant family, but I'm Agnostic.

I was religious until I moved to Bergenfield. Switched from Catholic school to public school and began roaming on NSG.

Oh, and a culture of religious stupidity also helps in raising an atheist child. My mother would sacrifice me to God if it were still allowed.

Parents are both christians in the C of E. My dad's a vicar.

Used to be a christian. Not anymore.

Raised by apathetic agnostics. Tried on theism for a while. It's fun, but ultimately just make-believe. Now atheist.

My dad's religious, my mom likes to sleep in.

We went to church a lot with my dad growing up. I stopped going when I was 16 and started to think that christianity wasn't for me. I'm agnostic now.

Raised as a Christian (Evangelical Protestant: Missionary Alliance).
But stopped believing in that stuff in grade 9.
Now I consider myself Agnostic / Unitarian Universalist / borderline Buddhist.

Still pondering the big questions in life...

I was raised in a religiously-neutral household, having been initially baptised Catholic to appease my older relatives. My parents placed no emphasis on religion. I'm happily a secularist/atheist.

Taken to a catholic church as a child, started seriously questioning my beliefs at around 15-6, stopped going at 17, pretty much as a new years resolution. I have not returned to it nor any other religion since, I am happily agnostic, leaning towards atheism.

I wasn't raised in a religious home. I wasn't baptised (or circumcised!), nor have I ever been to church. I've also not read one single word of the Bible.

And I don't plan on doing so in this lifetime.

Raised Hard Core Catholic

Never believed in god, just went through the motions and gave the required answers to questions I was asked. Did my "Bit" as an altar boy from about the age of 8 through 15

14 was confirmed Catholic
15 gave up going to church as I found christianity to be hyppocritical and more about displaying piety while covering your miss-deeds.

Reflected on experience and decided there was truth in what they were saying despite actions. Continued to discuss the merits of religion with various people.

18 - Brother became Fundamental Evangelist Christian of a pentecostal sect.
Learned that Fundamentalist groups delight in splitting up families from a self built moral/spiritual highground. They bully you into joining the "fold" and if you don't then they instruct family members to keep up the pressure as much as they can or ostricise the one's that simply don't agree and never will.

19 - Explored Wicca, became a 2nd Degree Priest.

22 - Abandoned Wicca as the elders were just glitterwitch bandwagon and merely after the power it gave them over other people while displaying piety and covering their miss-deeds. (One of the elders breached the position of trust they had preached about and divorced the high priest to run off with one of the younger priestesses).

Continued to reflect on experiences and decided that despite their actions there was truth in what they were saying.

22+ Decided that ritual, whether wicca or christian or otherwise were completely unnecessary and merely focuses for the mind. Prayer is a crude form of meditation as are circle rituals. Formed my own personal view of the nature of "god" (not the right word but its the closest that I'll get most people to understand). Realised that the most important thing is just to try and be nice to people, be tolerant and be patient.

My own personal views strongly reflect those of Buddhism. Though I would not really describe myself as such others have told me I am. That's fine by me. I constantly question and revise my beliefs and value every "spiritual" experience I have had (good and bad).

Catholic, now agnostic/agnostic theist. I might end up coming back to Catholicism or another religion but I'm still waiting for the right time to make that kind of decision. If God is calling me to a particular faith, I haven't heard anything yet...of course, that doesn't me he won't or that I'm not listening.

How "religious" do you mean?

I was raised in a non-religious home. I became Christian in recent years, entirely of my own accord.

Raised in an agnostic home, still an agnostic today.

Brought up by Catholics, went to Catholic school, but I came to my senses soon enough.
Intolerant. ;)

I was raised Catholic-ish, which is to say that I was baptized and sent to Catholic school (much less because my parents wanted me sent to Catholic school, and much more because the public school I would otherwise have attended was awful). My father grew up in a devoutly Catholic family, and still holds Catholic beliefs up to a point, though he no longer attends masses. My mother grew up in a not-particularly-devout Episcopalian family, and considers herself an agnostic.

My Catholic school did an excellent, if unwitting, job of teaching me that piety was not necessarily connected with either virtue or basic common sense, so by the time I left that school after six years, though I still considered myself a Catholic, I was pretty disillusioned with the Church. In college, after a fair amount of soul-searching, I acknowledged that my beliefs were far too different from those espoused by Catholicism for me to continue claiming that name. Nowadays I consider myself a theist, which is essentially to say that I believe in a God of sorts but not in any organized religion. I have also sometimes described myself as "philosophically Christian" - i.e. I think Jesus Christ, if he existed, was quite a nice guy and a worthy role model, just not a deity.

Intolerant. ;)?? He didn't say Protestant.

And overall, where is Edwardis?

Although Both my parents are devout Buddhists, they are quite liberal and didn't brainwash me much with the religious stuffs. They believed that every religion is good (because they don't know that 'wicked' religions exist, as most of the Thais). But I began questioning religions after I 'had been exposed to the outside world' (Thailand is quite closed). And eventually I became an athiest. My parents, sticking with their old believes, still won't accept that I've lost faith in Bhuddism.

To say the least, I find Christianity's altruist principles sickening, yet likewise I find reckless egoism as interpreted by Nietzsche's disciples moronic too.

Let's just say Hoppe and Rand will be my religion for the time being.
We've lost another one. Come on, stop worshipping false idols, and do the right thing.

We've lost another one. Come on, stop worshipping false idols, and do the right thing.
No thanks. I won't be so arrogant as to say the same to you though.

We've lost another one. Come on, stop worshipping false idols, and do the right thing. ;) A cross or a human nailed to a cross is an idol. :eek:

We've lost another one. Come on, stop worshipping false idols, and do the right thing.

i'am not giving up mr potato head

I am not giving up my plate of spaghetti.

Raised in a Catholics home but no longer hold any religious views.

I was raised by not-very-devout christians, but I'm a buddhist.

Awesome! More power to you! But, I was raised Unitarian (I know, I know) But I describe myself as an atheist/teetering on agnostic now.

No thanks. I won't be so arrogant as to say the same to you though.
What is sickening about altruism?

A cross or a human nailed to a cross is an idol. :eek:
No, a cross is symbolic, and Jesus was not just a human.

What is sickening about altruism?
I cannot come to accept an ideology which demands of me to rank my survival as of lesser significance to that of some random stranger. I come first, like it or not. The only people I am willing to put above myself are those without which life would be unbearable, but again this is not altruism - rather, it is a recognition of the value I place on said individuals. I am even less inclined to follow the dictates of a religion which centres itself around this concept. Feel free to do so if you please, but I am not interested in sermons from would-be missionaries.