What are your earliest memories of Religion?

[ChristineM]

About age 5, sitting in a group of other children with a grey haired old lady reading a story of some guy walking on water.

After arriving home i went to the river and tried, it didn't work.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Title.

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

We had a children's Bible stories book on the shelf as far back as I can remember.

We also had family stories about my very religious great-grandfather that have been repeated since before I was born. I don't know how far back my memory of them goes.

As me as any sort of participant/attendee: either my grandfather's funeral or visiting the Sunday school at my grandmother's church. I was 5 when my grandfather died; I don't have a clear memory of whether the Sunday school was before or after the funeral.

 

[Audie]

Title.

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

Dragons

 

[libre]

Earliest? Jeez...

Alternatively, feel free to share your latest

 

[flowerpower]

I remember going from a little Baptist (40 maybe 50) to a big Baptist church (hundreds like a stadium or circus). I remember being interested more in any little crafts at Sunday school and any singing. I just don't remember fitting in well. I thought the revivals we went to were crazy and a little scary. This was around 4-6 years old. Around 8 I went to a Catholic school, it was the only private Christian school around, and briefly being interested in Catholicism.

It's interesting to observe all the various little sects of Christianity and how many different approaches there actually are.

The sheer might of Catholicism as the big bad one is kind of impressive in its own right and they're really shameless when it comes to flashing their bling - the cathedrals, stained glass windows, gold, jeweled, treasure and everything is really crazy to me but I understand why they do it. If was kind of like a CEO of a religion, I think that's the way I'd go about marketing it - especially since kids typically get awe inspired by stuff like that. I got inundated by Catholicism for the first 18 years of my life though, leading me to really resent it as a teenager and young adult. That's probably why I contemplate returning to it in this little thirty year old crisis thing I've got going on at the moment.

I remember going to an Anglican service or two and being blown away by how ****ty and basic everything looked - like their angle was a true commitment to modesty and integrity in direct contrast to the Catholics.

Pentecostals are kind of funny to me - I've met a couple of them over the last year. I'm kind of amazed by the faith they have in what they practice (they're the speaking in tongue types). I might go to one but I have a feeling I'll get scared away from it. Too weird for me.

My brief little "phases" of being Muslim-curious are definitely being confirmed as a bad fit for me and are totally a reflection of something not healthy going on with me. I probably should just drop the idea altogether at this point.

Dragons

Omg CUTE!

Was that some imagery that you actually saw to do with some religion or something to do with your own imagination, or both?

The gruesome crucifixes hanging all around the churches probably left some lasting childhood trauma on me. Very violent image.

Jesus had a weird body to me too in most depictions.

 

[loverofhumanity]

At an early age I fell in love with Jesus and the Bible and used to go to church almost daily. It brought me so much joy just knowing the Lord.When I heard the call of Baha’u’llah I instantly recognised the Voice of my Lord I had cherished so much when I was a child and hastened to embrace His Cause.

 

[Vinayaka]

Title.

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

As a little kid, I asked my parents what those weird looking empty buildings were. We usually stayed home Sunday mornings, or did something recreational. I learned they were called churches, but didn't know what they were for. In Grade 1, first day, the teacher recited a prayer, that I never did learn in the 7 or so years I heard it.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

As a little kid, I asked my parents what those weird looking empty buildings were. We usually stayed home Sunday mornings, or did something recreational. I learned they were called churches, but didn't know what they were for. In Grade 1, first day, the teacher recited a prayer, that I never did learn in the 7 or so years I heard it.

As a kid, I think part of what formed my impression of religion as an obsolete thing was my experience in Cubs: we'd meet in a church basement every Tuesday night, but the whole rest of the building was always dark and empty.

The building was on the older side (or at least it felt that way to 8-year-old me), so it gave the impression that the congregation was basically gone, but the church kept rattling along by inertia because everything had been paid for long ago.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Church/Sunday school in in 1964 or 1965, Protestant, not sure which one

Same here. Mine was a Baptist church where I had Sunday school in the church basement with story books and flannelgraph cut outs of Jesus, Moses, and a bunch of others stuck to boards for Bible study classes.

Pretty much like this..

It was pretty bizarre , albiet kinda fun as a kid at the same time.

 

[Viker]

The sheer might of Catholicism as the big bad one is kind of impressive in its own right and they're really shameless when it comes to flashing their bling - the cathedrals, stained glass windows, gold, jeweled, treasure and everything is really crazy to me but I understand why they do it. If was kind of like a CEO of a religion, I think that's the way I'd go about marketing it - especially since kids typically get awe inspired by stuff like that. I got inundated by Catholicism for the first 18 years of my life though, leading me to really resent it as a teenager and young adult. That's probably why I contemplate returning to it in this little thirty year old crisis thing I've got going on at the moment.

I remember going to an Anglican service or two and being blown away by how ****ty and basic everything looked - like their angle was a true commitment to modesty and integrity in direct contrast to the Catholics.

Pentecostals are kind of funny to me - I've met a couple of them over the last year. I'm kind of amazed by the faith they have in what they practice (they're the speaking in tongue types). I might go to one but I have a feeling I'll get scared away from it. Too weird for me.

My brief little "phases" of being Muslim-curious are definitely being confirmed as a bad fit for me and are totally a reflection of something not healthy going on with me. I probably should just drop the idea altogether at this point

Originally I was just drawn to the ritualism and pageantry but I think the overall aesthetic was appealing as well. It would be doctrine and the such that ruined it for me, later on. I have some Pentecostal relatives. Oh boy. They're a mess.

 

[Shaul]

My grandfather suffered with both emphysema and tuberculosis, from which he passed. We children always had to behave extra well around him and not be too active, which I always did my best to do. I was a toddler when my grandfather passed away. I remember his funeral and became aware of death and that there is a hereafter.

 

[Sand Dancer]

Earliest? Jeez... I think those memories are from when I was 4-6

I remember church service in the local elementary school gymnasium. I remember being in Sparkies (think of boy scouts for Christians, only for the super young kids). I remember doing a nativity play where I was one of the wise men. I remember my mom leading worship and my dad doing the sound mixing in the back. I also vaguely remember people arguing before we switched churches

Apparently the youth group leader was having inappropriate relations with the kids and the church found out. Rather than getting the police involved, they kicked the guy out of the church. The parents were mad, though, and this caused the church to split apart and dissolve

The church I went to after that also had problems, but at least it wasn't as bad as that. The guy never did get in legal trouble for the things he did

My son was in AWANA too, and he mentioned a man running around with his pants down, coming up next to kids, and something about "yogurt." I called the church, but they never did find out who that was. Gross.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

First memories? Sunday school -- before I was 7 years old. And being taught stuff that I already considered stupid. "God sees the little sparrow fall," they told me. And I thought, "so what, if God doesn't stop the fall?" Some sort of sadistic voyeur.

 

[Soandso]

Alternatively, feel free to share your latest

Hmmm... I think the last time I went to church was when I signed up with a local Baptist Church. They were nice enough. I went to a few services. They showed up to my house randomly a few times with freshly baked apple pies. It was a little weird, but it was a sweet gesture. The pies were undercooked, though. The dough was still raw. I was getting weird vibes, though, so I didn't go back

Before that, I was going to a four square church where the pastor was a self proclaimed "completed jew." He would talk about Judaism and how it related to Christianity. He was a nice enough guy, but he struggled with self pride. In retrospect, I wonder if he struggled with narcissistic personality disorder. The whole church became about him

before that I went to a few sermons in the Hopi and Navajo nations. Really, really cool people there. The first time I went, I asked my friend if I should wear a suit and he said "nah, just wear what you have." See, where I come from people don't dress up for church, so I just came as I was. Big mistake. I was the only one there wearing casual clothes, and I was the only white guy. I had 12 people after church trying to come up and witness to me. After that I caught on and dressed up when I went, heh

 

[Wu Wei]

Same here. Mine was a Baptist church where I had Sunday school in the church basement with story books and flannelgraph cut outs of Jesus, Moses, and a bunch of others stuck to boards for Bible study classes.

Pretty much like this..

It was pretty bizarre , albiet kinda fun as a kid at the same time.

It was a small wooden church, and I remember singing and religious stickers. I enjoyed it, and that’s all I got

Sadly that little wooden church appetites be gone. I got nostalgic after my last post here and checked the satellite map, it’s not there

 

[John53]

Title.

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

My earliest memory is missing out on Disneyland, the TV show not the entertainment park. I grew up on a dairy so we hardly ever went anywhere because we had to be there to milk. My Father was a lay preacher and helped at 3 churches on Sunday, we'd have to milk early on Sunday morning so he could go do his lay preaching stuff then Sunday evening we would all go to the evening service. There were only 2 TV stations back then and one of them would show Disneyland at 6.30pm on Sunday night, they would show ads of what was going to be on and I was desperate to watch but had to go to church. At school on Monday morning all the kids would talk about what they'd seen on Disneyland and I'd feel left out and would listen for a bit then pretend I'd seen it too. I guess the 9th commandment never got through to me.

Edit: The other thing I remember is the God awful singing when they did hymns. I'd try and workout who belonged to which voice.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Given that there was no explicit religion in our home, my earliest memories are probably from school, either at infants or primary, where the default Christian Protestant faith was the order of the day - so prayers and singing in assembly and probably some teaching. I can remember my mother taking me to the local Methodist church for Sunday school (about age six - eight?) but I seemed to have only gone once or twice, given I became rather bored and simply wanted to be out playing with all the other children - when playing in the street was relatively safe then. Not sure if she knew about this but she never insisted I went. The school teaching of religion also went the same way at the end of primary school when I discovered so many other beliefs existed and hence began to question them all.

 

[wellwisher]

Title.

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

When I was young Hollywood would honor the stories of religion with iconic movies like Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments, the Greatest Story ever told, etc. It was not like today where Hollywood carries the Liberal torch of anti-religion. So I was aware of Western religion, on a positive social note, even before I went to Sunday School; pre 1st grade.

The experience that hooked me, at the young age, was an audio hallucination of Angels singing. It sounded like a choir of pleasant voices. I had been walking with my friends, whenI heard it, but nobody else could hear it. Everyone thought I was weird, so they poked fun, but we all stayed friends with no more mention of it.

 

[Quintessence]

Given how memory is inherently reconstructive and experiences of reality are interconnected, who knows if any memories are "mine" or "others" as the distinction between "self" and "other" is debatable to begin with (e.g., there is no "self" without "other"). I couldn't begin to put things on a timeline either to determine "earliest" of these inevitably reconstructed "memories" either. I have no flashbulb memories of my brief time with the wrong religion as a kid. Just vague, non-sequitur impressions of physical spaces and the inevitable "you don't forget how something made you feel" adage.

The spaces were variously stale (as expected of any modern construction - the building I vaguely recall Sunday school was housed in) and looming (as expected of any interior of a church with a high ceiling and everything feeling bigger when you're only three or four feet tall). The feelings were variously extreme boredom (as expected of forcing a kid with ADD to go to mass where they mostly just sit there and do nothing) and elated (as expected during the few moments where we got to do something interesting like sing or move around) and defiant (as expected when little of what they were attempting to teach in Sunday school made any sense to me at the time).

Overall, I wouldn't say I really have strongly negative feelings about my parents attempting to raise me in the wrong religion for a brief time - or the religion in question - but there were absolutely "tantrums" until they stopped forcing me to do it.

 

[TagliatelliMonster]

Title.

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

My grandmother's funeral when I was about 16
It was my first time I actually sat through a sermon in a catholic church.
It totally freaked me out. It was a very cult-ish experience and in a way even a bit traumatizing if I'm being honest.
I remember little of the actual funeral. I remember the stinking incense and the freaky zombified cultish atmosphere very vividly.

I visited churches previously but it was more like a cultural tourist to go and see the architecture and the paintings.