Can Religious Beliefs be Changed?

[Eliot Wild]

when i see people change religion it isnt their core they are changing, its the practices that maintain this core they arent satisfied with.

This is an excellent point . . . and it just might save me from being completely wrong after all.

I suppose I should have taken the time to study the Pew research a bit more closely to see the reasons why about half of all Americans change their religion at some point in their lifetime.

As it's_sam indicates, perhaps their core beliefs stayed pretty much the same, they just slightly altered the way they put those beliefs into practice.

For example, a Catholic who has become frustrated with recent scandals in the Church might switch to a protestant one. That former Catholic is still a Christian, with essentially the same core beliefs, but just chooses to practice his faith in a different manner now.

 

[Levite]

Question that has always troubled me... Can religious beliefs even be changed normally? People spend so much time attempting to convert people to their beliefs, but the reason that never made since to me is that other people have been raised their whole life to accept a different belief and believe it just as firmly as the first person believes their religion... It is just like if someone attempted to convince you... You would refuse to stray off of your belief if you are truly devout... Another 2-cents...

Of course people can change their beliefs of their own inner volition. I went to college in Santa Cruz, California, and I met more people than I could shake a stick at who started off believing Christians, lapsed from their original beliefs, and ended up as Wiccans, pagans, and other practitioners of "natural spiritual" religions or faith systems.

I have also helped many people convert to Judaism: Judaism does not proselytize, so if a person is converting to Judaism, they got to that decision on their own-- nobody pressured them or argued them into it. These included people who began as believing, faithful Protestants, Catholics, Muslims, Mormons, and also people who began as fervent and adamant atheists.

Things change. What people believe, and how they understand the universe, themselves, and God can also change.

 

[it's_sam]

I know what your saying Levite, but i'm not being quite so boistrouse as it might seem. When i say the core would be the minimal amount required for you to not restart everything youve been thinking (changing). So where as these people changed religions multiple times with many different beliefs in them, they all believe that God is our heavenly father and the thoughts supporting this idea have changed around that "core belief" depending on the religion they are being influanced through.

 

[jmvizanko]

Can religious beliefs even be changed normally?

I don't believe they can. People believe whatever they think is true. Could an argument, personal experience, or change in thought happen that could make a person change their belief? Absolutely. Can they choose for any of these things to happen? In my opinion, not any more than they can choose to believe in unicorns or that 1+1=3.

I think the better question is, can people choose to change their beliefs.

 

[Levite]

I know what your saying Levite, but i'm not being quite so boistrouse as it might seem. When i say the core would be the minimal amount required for you to not restart everything youve been thinking (changing). So where as these people changed religions multiple times with many different beliefs in them, they all believe that God is our heavenly father and the thoughts supporting this idea have changed around that "core belief" depending on the religion they are being influanced through.

Well, except for the people who began as atheists. And besides, while I myself have not met people converting to Judaism from polytheistic beliefs, a number of rabbis in my acquaintance, including my dad, have helped individuals become Jewish who were born into the practice of Hinduism, or pagan/Wicca/natural spirituality, Shinto, Confucian/Taoist animist, even, in one case I know of, from a Native American tradition.

I have seen and heard of people making pretty radical changes in their beliefs.

I am pretty convinced it happens.

 

[yourhopeboundheart]

everything changes. we're shedding skin as we speak. nobody listens to the same music they did when they were 14, we dont always eat the exact same thing for every meal.

the only reason it seems odd when religious beliefs change is because of the ingrained defense mechanism that faith has - it makes it uncomfortable for us to change. it's really an unfortunate thing to have to get over, but you cant blame faith for wanting to stick around, even with it's claws in you.

 

[cottage]

Question that has always troubled me... Can religious beliefs even be changed normally? People spend so much time attempting to convert people to their beliefs, but the reason that never made since to me is that other people have been raised their whole life to accept a different belief and believe it just as firmly as the first person believes their religion... It is just like if someone attempted to convince you... You would refuse to stray off of your belief if you are truly devout... Another 2-cents...

Most certainly. People lose their faith, gain fath or even, as we've seen on this forum, change their religions. The term 'devout' appears to be an adjective with a very flexible meaning.

 

[ninerbuff]

Well, the way I see it though is that, if you are really a true and firm believer, simple words are not nearly enough to persuade you out of your religion because you will always purpose a counter to whatever could possibly prove your religion wrong...

I disagree. I was a firm believer based on what I KNEW from family and growing up in a catholic religion. Then I actually learned it's origin and much of the BS it was entailed in. Now of course I'm non religious.

 

[ellenjanuary]

In my consideration the converse is true; one has to actually work at it to maintain unchanging beliefs. What doesn't change, is faith.

Of course, there's a whole lotta not being defined with that statement...