How did you arrive at your beliefs?

[Gomeza]

Most people born into the human race are indoctrinated from an early age into the religion of their parents. For the most part this is the case across all cultures and across all religions. A great number of people continue in the "family" religion while a growing number of people look elsewhere for answers. Remarkably however, the vast majority of people when asked will answer with a variant of having arrived at their beliefs after careful deliberation.

As a non believer, I would assume that the way I arrived at what I believe is common amongst people of like mind. At a young age I was in a school system that had the express purpose of bible lobotomizing all children within its grasp by the time they were twelve. Somewhere around that age, I began asking difficult questions, that were never adequately answered (What did the carnivores eat on the Ark?). The hypocrisies, inconsistencies and outright whoppers continually perpetrated by the religious folks around me gave me a push in the opposite direction. After years of study, deliberation and careful consideration of the facts, I've come to the conclusion that most of what comes from the mouths of our species concerning their imaginary God is nothing more than a collective form of wishful thinking.

When I am asked: How did you arrive at your beliefs? . . . I am at a point in life where I can answer honestly: through education and maturity.

How about you?

 

[Breathe]

Experience and education.

I was raised without religion.

 

[mycorrhiza]

I was raised as a liberal Christian (though, the religious beliefs in my home varied), not believing in a literal interpretation of the Bible. I guess I was a Christian until a few years after my Confirmation, when I actually started to question if a personal God was active in the world. I concluded that there wasn't since I could find no proof of such a God and I turned to deism, because I couldn't fully let go of God. Reading the Bible actually turned me away from Christianity, because the God I read about in the OT wasn't a God that I wanted to worship. I slowly let go of God and I became an atheist.

Fast forward a few years. I was spending a warm summer night with a few friends out in a park. Lying on the ground, I suddenly realized that I wasn't just an inhabitant of the Universe, I was a part of the Universe myself. The soft grass I was lying on was me, and I was it. I realized that the Universe itself was God.

A few months later, I found out that this was called Pantheism and there you have it.

 

[Tarheeler]

Experience and education.

....

Same, but I was raised with religion; I attended Southern Baptist churches until my early teens. And tried to go back to it in my twenties.

But, eventually, it was my experiences, education, and a very long search that led me to Judaism.

 

[Breathe]

But, eventually, it was my experiences, education, and a very long search that led me to Judaism.

Awesome; you could do a lot worse than Judaism. It's a path I admire a lot.

 

[Revoltingest]

I was born not knowing about gods.
I later learned of gods I didn't believe in.
Subsequent experience & education continued to provide no reason to change my position.

 

[Tarheeler]

Awesome; you could do a lot worse than Judaism. It's a path I admire a lot.

Thank you.

I'm quite happy with it.
And my conversion will end in less that week. I go Monday for my Beit Din and to the mikvah to finish the process.

 

[Breathe]

And my conversion will end in less that week. I go Monday for my Beit Din and to the mikvah to finish the process.

Awesome!

I expect a thread on it.

 

[Nakosis]

When I am asked: How did you arrive at your beliefs? . . . I am at a point in life where I can answer honestly: through education and maturity.

How about you?

I knew of Christianity but didn't have a religious up bringing.

After having a particular spiritual experience I went seeking answers. I've come across several different views and understandings about such experiences. I see such experiences as a common source for many religious beliefs and many religions claim to have the answer for them. I think most religions over step the limit of their authority on these experiences. So I'm still open to explanations.

 

[Bob Dixon]

Thank you.

I'm quite happy with it.
And my conversion will end in less that week. I go Monday for my Beit Din and to the mikvah to finish the process.

Hey, congrats, man!
I, too, am expecting a thread!

 

[Penumbra]

How about you?

I was raised in a religion when I was younger. I never really questioned it much, since it didn't play a big role in my life, nor was it exclusive towards other religions, but I believed some things.

At one point when I realized how vague my beliefs were, and how they were all just "given" or "assumed" rather than supported in any way, I set out to become closer to my deity and religion. I was a young teenager at the time. So I researched my religion, researched other religions, researched various counterarguments, talked to people, prayed to the deity, and then ironically ended up in the other direction, as I concluded that none of my beliefs were supported, justified, or likely to be true.

So, I discarded them over time and drew from what I viewed as more relevant philosophical systems instead.

 

[Vinayaka]

I believe former lifetimes had a lot to do with it.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I made a decision to return to default by remaining quiet and just listen, observe, and experience.

 

[Gomeza]

. . . So, I discarded them over time and drew from what I viewed as more relevant philosophical systems instead.

I can say the same to some extent. Leaning heavily on a handful of universally applicable values derived from a variety of sources (Confucius, Buddha, Christ, Krishna to name a few), I've had to cobble together a list of things to personify that I feel are worthy of the effort. There was also the somewhat negative force of always attempting to be nothing like the religious crazies I was surrounded by.

 

[Gomeza]

I believe former lifetimes had a lot to do with it.

You could be right.

 

[fantome profane]

I'll let you know when I get there.



um, how will I know when I get there?

 

[Jainarayan]

I was raised and indoctrinated Roman Catholic, but from the time I was a teenager I was drawn to Hinduism. Even into my 30s as a Christian, I accepted Hindu deities as manifestations of God. It just feels right.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

I guess... reasoning?


EDIT: More specifically, when I was at least 8, maybe 7 I don't remember, but I found out Santa and all them fairies were just made to make us behave, and I went to church one day, and wondered "What if God was just made up to make us behave?"

I was an atheist up until 12 and then I got spiritually messy, like I was missing something in life, soon, at about 15 I just said "I will just agree with reality."

 

[Gomeza]

. . . It just feels right.

That ultimately is the key.

 

[Vultar]

When I am asked: How did you arrive at your beliefs? . . . I am at a point in life where I can answer honestly: through education and maturity.

How about you?

I died... 4 times