All Religions

[shytot]

99% of people with a religion, believe in a religion that was chosen for them by someone else, and all of them can say,"I did not choose my name, my mother or father, or my religion".
Who said? "Give me a child until he is seven, and I will give you a (your religion here) for life".
If all the children in the world were not taught about religion, it would die in one generation.
All this may be true, but if you have been captured, you will not agree with one word of this.
PS. Everyone is born an Atheist.

 

[Ardhanariswar]

but you chose your identity in the end. in the end you have yourself. those factors may have helped form you.

 

[Feathers in Hair]

'Captured'... an interesting phrase. Oddly enough, I think I would have found my own spirituality more quickly if I hadn't been taught anything about religion.

 

[skills101]

Excellent topic. I have to say this is something that gets at me, and I hate it how so many people disregard it. I am completely against baptism at an early age. I think, for some people, it makes them more biased towards their religion than any others. I once knew this girl, who claims she was a hardcore Christian, but didn't even know Jews don't believe Jesus was the Son of God. Maybe it's because she's just too ignorant or stupid, but I think it's an interplay of factors during their growth.

It's just pushing religion down a person's throat. Now, if you wait until he or she is about fourteen or fifteen, and discuss which belief they choose for themselves, then they will have a broader knowledge and go with what they learned in the textbook instead of what they learned in a holy scripture.

If a KKK member taught about his or her beliefs to its child from birth, I think it's very unlikely the person will grow up becoming a civil rights activist. The same concept applies here.

 

[Sunstone]

I have to question whether a religion that is so simplistic I can understand it at 7 is really a religion that I want to have at 47.

 

[robtex]

I have to question whether a religion that is so simplistic I can understand it at 7 is really a religion that I want to have at 47.

you are so getting frubared for that...!!!


Skills101 were you pushed towards a particular religion in your youth and if so, when did you become an athiest....age wise...?

 

[skills101]

Skills101 were you pushed towards a particular religion in your youth and if so, when did you become an athiest....age wise...?

I was baptised under the Christian faith, and I became an athiest at mid-to-late 13.

 

[Watcher]

skills101, I have friends who were forced to go to "confirmation" for their Luthern Churches anywhere from 2 to 4 years. Not one of them knows a single thing about the Christian religion. I think that forcing a kid to go to church just pushes them further and further from the religion. What I did was stop going to church all togethor, and began my own personal journey of exploration of all the different religions (which led me to this forum, and it is a quest I have yet to complete).

 

[croak]

I don't believe that you should force anyone to believe in a religion. They have to choose it. I'm not going to kill one of you if you don't agree with me ( maybe I'll thinks about it ) but I try to persuade you to agree. That's what debating is actually. So, don't worry, I won't kill you.

Oh, and skills101? I started really believing in Islam about the same time as you. Before that, I could have even believed in animism. Unluckily for me, Shaitan (Satan) thought that was great, and wanted to seperate me from Islam. Luckily, someone really helped me and still is. And if he ever sees this, he'll know who I am. All he has to do is remember the song Sidi Mansour.

 

[Engyo]

Shytot -

I am an exception to the rule you cite. I was born and raised a Christian Scientist. I personally chose to become Buddhist at age 23. I have continued to practice Buddhism for over 20 years.

 

[jewscout]

Even if they weren't taught a religion they would most likely create their own.

 

[Green Gaia]

Like Enygo, I am an exception as well. I was brought up in a strict Church of Christ, but rejected that church when I was about 14. After much searching for people who thought like me, I find my home at the Unitarian Universalist church.

 

[shytot]

The first thing a religion tries to teach us is that we are NOT part of nature,
that we are somehow far above all things to do with the earth and the cosmos,
the world and everything in it was all finished by the time we arrived, and in the short time we
have been here, we have sorted out the main problem, and that is 'what happens when we die'
of course we all have different ideas of what happens, but for practical purposes the problem has been solved,
WE DONT DIE, the body dies, but not the real us, we go off to join some wonderful something
that we dont fully understand, ( because it all means something different to all of us),
some go to sit next to God, (a bit crowded, but we can all push up)
some go to an Orgy (even if your 90 when you died, you have still got to attend)
some become grasshoppers or beetles, the list of destinations is endless,
THANK GOD I AM AN ATHEIST, I'm not going anywhere.

 

[Master Vigil]

Not all religions believe that we are NOT part of nature. I would say most of the old religions in which ALL religions have root in say otherwise. The notion that we are apart from nature is actually a newer concept. Only being a few thousand years old.

 

[painted wolf]

I was born and raised a Mormon, but as I grew older I found less and less of intrest in the Christian faiths. I am now a follower of my ancestors sprituality.
As a Native American I certenly never think of myself as superior to anything elce in creation. In fact I didn't think this way eaven when I was a Christian. (probably explains my lack of enthusiam for it )

I don't worry about an afterlife, after all I'm not dead yet now am I?

hope this helps

wa:do

 

[Engyo]

Shytot -

I mean no offense by this, but it is obvious that you have not studied Buddhism in any depth. None of what you wrote above applies to Buddhism to any significant degree.

As a Buddhist, some consider me an atheist, and some don't. By a strict definition of the word, I am. By the somewhat common usage (as I believe you have) of the word as meaning something like Areligious, I am decidedly not.

 

[Green Gaia]

The first thing a religion tries to teach us is that we are NOT part of nature,
that we are somehow far above all things to do with the earth and the cosmos

Unitarian Universalist Association Principles and Purposes

We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote:

The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.


Your statement does not apply to UUs either in addition to several other religions I can think of off the top of my head, including the ones already mentioned by other members.

 

[Ernestine]

Atheist are individuals that do not believe in God. Children are individuals who do not know of God until they are taught. There is a big difference in knowing and not believing vs. just not knowing. Not being familiar with something doesn't mean I don't believe in it.

 

[huajiro]

99% of people with a religion, believe in a religion that was chosen for them by someone else, and all of them can say,"I did not choose my name, my mother or father, or my religion".
Who said? "Give me a child until he is seven, and I will give you a (your religion here) for life".
If all the children in the world were not taught about religion, it would die in one generation.
All this may be true, but if you have been captured, you will not agree with one word of this.
PS. Everyone is born an Atheist.

That is the main reason that my religion (or lack of) is more valid to me. It is based mostly on what I feel in my heart and from my conscience, what I am told is right, not by a book, not by another person, but by myself.

 

[shytot]

That is why I said 99% because there is always one.