Have you ever converted from one religion/belief to another, and if so, why?

[Green Gaia]

I grew up in a church of Christ that smothered my spirituality and made me feel worthless. Long story short: Left there when I was about 14. Didn't attend any church or religion for a while. I never really felt comfortable calling myself a Christian, because I wasn't. My son being born about 7 years ago sparked a rebirth of interest in spirituality for me. That's when I found Unitarian Universalism and have never looked back.

 

[smiling4ever]

No.....

 

[Booko]

yes I have read the bible, and I've read the quaran, I am not searching for god, because I already feel like I have a good relationship with him in my heart. What I'm searching for is a way to express that love and worship of god externaly in the form of religion with other people who share my beliefs. But so far all the religions I've looked at havn't been close enough to my beliefs for me to feel comfortable enough.

You'll really enjoy RF, then. There are really great people here and it's fun to explore the varieties of religious experience with them. You might find something you never thought of.

 

[Booko]

But it seems like this blog is ignoring the contradictions between all of our religions. If we want to get to the core of truth (which i believe there is one) we need to recognize our contradictions and different beliefs and earnestly pray and seek what the truth is.

I guess I don't get that, but hey, see what you think after you've read more of the Religious Debates section.

I'd also observe that focusing on the differences before focusing on the similarities can lead to things as severe as oppression and warfare. Neither of which are especially "religious" activities.

YMMV.

 

[BFD_Zayl]

well, i converted from lutheran christian to my current religion, why? luthernism is too restricting for me, plus it just did not feel right, i found no happiness in it at all.

 

[Zephyr]

I was raised Christian...err...kinda. My dad is a bit of a heretic really. After looking around at different faiths, I converted to Islam. After a while I realised it wasn't for me and I made my own religion. It was kind of...crap, so now I'm an Asatruar. I am however looking into Irmeninschaft seeing as my ancestry is more German than Norse.

 

[Booko]

well, i converted from lutheran christian to my current religion, why? luthernism is too restricting for me, plus it just did not feel right, i found no happiness in it at all.

What branch of Lutherans? Ms. Synod? ELCA?

The pastor's last name wouldn't happen to be Barker, would it?

 

[PetShopBoy88]

I have never "aligned" myself with one particular denomination or religion, so I can't say that I've converted in that manner. On the other hand, I am constantly "converting" from yesterday's "denomination" to today's.

 

[BFD_Zayl]

What branch of Lutherans? Ms. Synod? ELCA?

The pastor's last name wouldn't happen to be Barker, would it?

i have no clue, and no it was newman

 

[Pious_Pinapple]

I changed from Atheism to Laveyan Satanism, but it wasnt much of a change really. It just filled in what Atheism lacked.

 

[Syzygy]

I used to call myself Gnostic, but now i'm more an agnostic. The really funny thing is, everybody talks about soul searching and looking for God, and I'm not even sure if they exist! I quote Carl Sagan's novel, Contact: "There's significant evidence that God does exist ... and there's significant evidence that he doesn't." That's been my true position throughout my life so far. The rest has just been temporary explorations, even Gnosticism.

I started in Christianity, specifically the Unity Church. I was very dissapointed by it, even as a kid. I left Christianity, and I felt so bad I declared myself an athiest and just let the whole thing go. Then I started thinking about how everything began, and I think something happened to start all this up, I just don't know what. That's what makes me an agnostic.

 

[Lilith_Voodoo]

I converted from Chritianity to my own personal beliefs. I've always had problems with the christian bible since I was a little kid I think it's incredible that more people dont see the same problems with it that I do since they seem so obvious to me(no offense to anyone)

 

[Feathers in Hair]

Hello,
I just happened to think of this question, the question in the title. If you have converted more than twice, feel free to share that too.(feel free to share what you want really, lol). I'd like to know specifically why you converted, if you ever have, from what religion/belief to what. And why do you think that your present religion/belief is better than the previous one? I've noticed quite a few people on these boards converted from another religion and I find that quite interesting. Thanks

Interesting question, tlcmel!

Growing up, I was raised as a Christian, and was until I was about 16 or 18. I converted because that path had never really fully 'fit' me (at least in the fundamentalist version that I'd started out in). I found that many aspects of shamanism suited what I already believed and some of what I wanted to learn more about, so- while I've met shamans of all faiths- I converted to Paganism, which I kind of see as shamanism in action. As others have stated, I don't believe that my present religion is better thank my previous one. It just suits me better at this point in my life.

 

[GloriaPatri]

I was raised an atheist and my sould was kind of 'thirsty' for God. I just felt the touch of God inside of me and realized Christianity was the way. I then converted to Christianity and am now a part of the Roman Catholic Church.