What are your earliest memories of Religion?

[libre]

I remember being around 3 or 4 years old and attending church with my parents, and hearing the pastor saying that people who believe in Jesus go to Heaven and those who don't believe in Jesus go to Hell. I remember this caused me some distress even as a toddler, and I remember asking myself if I believed in Jesus or not. I wasn't sure but I tried to convince myself that I did. Throughout the rest of my childhood I took religion very seriously and suffered from an intense fear of Hell. I was never convinced that God existed, but I would pray to him more than 10 times a day, either confessing my "sins" or thanking him for the "blessings" that he supposedly gave me. I remember my grandpa and my parents acted concerned about me when I was around 10 or 11 years old because they noticed that I would literally jump out of my chair and start whispering words at the ceiling. Apparently they didn't realize that I was just being a good Christian and taking their religion seriously and praying to the god that they taught me to believe in and fear. I now realize that this behavior was irrational, destructive to my quality of life, and arguably mentally ill, as is all religious behavior in my opinion. I am open minded and agnostic (I don't claim to know anything with absolute certainty), but I currently believe that all religions and gods are manmade constructs.

Thanks for sharing.

Your post did make me think of my OCD. While not Religious for me, for many it is: What is OCD & Scrupulosity | International OCD Foundation.

 

[☆Dreamwind☆]

The vast majority of my family is some kind of christian, with roughly half being catholic. So being made to get up early, put on a dress and pinchy little shoes with pantyhose to go to mass, when I was spending a night or two with my maternal side. Mostly i just felt cold, bored, and tired

 

[endlessvoid2018]

I remember going to catholic church with my mom, and being in a separate area for young kids.
It was behind like glass or something. I was probably 3 or 4, as my parents were still married at the time.
My parents sadly divorced when I was 6 years old. After that, my Dad sometimes talked about god,
but we never really attended church or anything like that. I somehow got the Christian notion into my mind,
though, so I grew up believing it. I want to say my Dad used to talk to me about Jesus and God and all that,
but I don't really remember it much as it was 30+ years ago.

 

[Psalm23]

Title.

What is the earliest memory you have relating to Religion? Was it yours or others?

I remember praying a prayer of salvation as a young child but don't remember the words. I remember being in the back seat of the car and asking the question if I was saved now.

Another early memory is in being in church and I said to another kid that I can make him say ouch. Then I started kicking him. He didn't say ow and I got caught.

 

[libre]

Another early memory is in being in church and I said to another kid that I can make him say ouch. Then I started kicking him. He didn't say ow and I got caught.

Haha, this triggered a memory of some of my classmates who would take these little red copies of the new testament from under the pew and hit each-other with them.

I don't envy our teacher.