What led you to your current religion/lack thereof?

[Jainarayan]

Whether you are religious or not, what led you to your current state of (non)belief? And how long did it take you to decide you are going to stay this way?

It developed gradually. I was raised Roman Catholic but around the time of my early teens I became interested in all things Hindu and Indian. I began to believe it's what I was in some past life or lives. After I left the RCC I became Eastern Orthodox for about 10 years. Then I drifted away from that. I coasted in deism and agnosticism, though I never really abandoned the idea of the Hindu deities existing. A few years ago I became more and more drawn to Hinduism, and recently to a lesser extent Buddhism, and Taoism. I'm still seeking, so I don't know where I'll wind up. At the very least, I'll probably always remain a panentheist deist who believes in samsara, the cycle of rebirth.

 

[Revoltingest]

Born not believing in gods.
Learned about religions.
Saw no reason to change mind.
Still not believing in gods.

 

[Straw Dog]

It began around birth as I instinctively sought pleasure and to avoid pain. It wasn't until the age of reason that I began to discriminate between higher pleasures like contemplation, flow, and companionship from lower pleasures like eating and sex. Not that basic pleasures should be avoided, but that they are most wisely sought in the context of the higher ones, ergo in moderation. Excessive indulgence invariably led to more pain further down the trail. I'm still learning how to discipline my mind in this respect. The ideal state involves a positive sense of serenity and active engagement in the community.

 

[Shiranui117]

Prayer, studying the history of early Christianity, and experiencing for myself the spirituality, faith and worship offered by ancient, Apostolic Christianity as opposed to later denominations and breakaways.

Discerning whether to continue on my current path into joining the Orthodox Church, or to return to the Catholic Church after understanding it better, is the main challenge I face now. Therefore, I wouldn't say that I've made any decision to "stay" where I am, especially since I'm in a nexus between two Churches.

 

[Jainarayan]

One question which may help you decide (I can be really full of myself at times )...

Are you drawn to the legalism of the RCC or to the mysticism of the EOC? Despite the name Orthodox, it is actually much more liberal than the RCC.

 

[Infinitum]

I've had a life-long fascination of fairytales, magic, mythology and history, so I think it was pretty inevitable I'd end up where I am right now. I've always had a somewhat different view on reality, being an animist of sorts. I was brought up Christian, but the teachings just didn't stick on me and I started developing my own spirituality in my teens. I was also exposed to western esotericism and the belief in spirits and demons. I studied those beliefs, but remained Christian to the outside for years to come. I led a kind of spiritual double life until I realized I couldn't go on anymore and left Christianity to search for my own path. Not long before that I had had some very profound spiritual experiences that had sent me to a path that seemed very lonely, until I found out that there was a group of people within the Left-Hand Path that shared my views on the self and our place in the cosmos. So that's where I'm today and still walking wherever my self-examination takes me.

 

[crossfire]

I'm still wandering and wondering in amazement.

 

[Jupimartian]

Metaphysical naturalism has not filled me with a sense of freedom and purpose. I have no motivation to overcome my self-hatred and see the world with emptiness with this secular viewpoint. Thus, I am trying out another. Right now, irreligious polytheism. Some people say that I am not interpereting the spiritual stance correctly and that I'm supposed to be happier as an atheist. I will defend that atheists can be just as moral and happy as theists and religious people, but that is just not how it has worked out for me. Perhaps I am programmed to crave a higher power because of my religious upbringing, but I don't necessarily see anything wrong with that.

 

[chinu]

Whether you are religious or not, what led you to your current state of (non)belief?

God.

And how long did it take you to decide you are going to stay this way?

God knows.

 

[Plato]

Whether you are religious or not, what led you to your current state of (non)belief? And how long did it take you to decide you are going to stay this way?

By knowing God as a child, but not having religion forced on me. My parents were very devout in their own way but non denominational, not big church goers, as big sinners as any other normal person. God (the Judaic-Christianity type but others as well) was very personal and spiritual to them and 100% in existence.
I didn't choose or 'accept' a denomination and get baptized until I was the ancient Bar Mitzvah age of 13 by then God was very personal/ spirtual to me too and a source to inspire thought. By being allowed to make the choice myself....It was more 'real' to me, more 'mine', 'my' decision. I then went to a secular high school but that was owned by religious organizations with both Christian and Jewish teachers, then on to public university.
I decided at and made my commitment at 13 and although everyone has some doubt have never considered changing.

 

[MatthiasGould]

I think that possibly the single thing that triggered off my study of Islam was the day I found myself wandering through my university campus, bored, which took me through a part of the campus I'd not normally go to, and I found that my university IslamSoc was holding a dawah event to educate people about Islam. I was surprised at how much the Muslims running the event made me welcome, answered all my questions, told me a lot about Islam and also gave me a Qur'an translation, which I still have today and use a lot. This seemed to trigger and bring into the open a lot of doubts I had about my Christian faith and eventually reading the Qur'an meant me leaving my church and Christianity for good.

Skip forward over the years and I've studied, read, learnt Arabic and am now finally convinced Islam is the truth and God wants me to be Muslim. My theory is that day I was wandering about, Allah wanted me to be at that dawah event, as a sign of what He wanted me to do.

 

[Plato]

Prayer, studying the history of early Christianity, and experiencing for myself the spirituality, faith and worship offered by ancient, Apostolic Christianity as opposed to later denominations and breakaways.

Interesting you chose to study the 'history' I hardly ever see that mentioned. Is it because all these faiths/ denominations are 1000's of years and at least 100's of years old and how could you 'choose' one without knowing what's come before....because that would be like making something your favorite movie or favorite book without ever having watched it or read it?
Just curious.

 

[Breathe]

My mind, heart, and continual curiosity, questioning, evaluating, and re-evaluating.
I don't know how long I'll stay. For as long as it fits me I guess. Maybe a day, maybe for ever.

 

[Murkve]

This past Fall, I lost all of my hair. All of it. Scalp, eyebrows, eyelashes, armpit, groin, chest - every single hair is either gone or on its way out.

With such a sudden and unexpected turn of events for someone only 24 years old, I had to adapt to the situation. I began as can be expected, sorrowful for myself and my loss, and a bit perturbed that this could happen to me. I was very proud of my ability to grow a full beard. After a few weeks, I began to gain a different perspective from the impermanence of my hair. I knew there was no use in mourning over it - as it would be gone soon anyway - and began to appreciate myself as I was. I lost attachment to my hair, and realized happiness from this. This perspective shift allowed me to reevaluate the attachment I feel to other things in my life.

It took me two more months to realize the connection between this experience, and the philosophy of Buddhism.

 

[Blackdog22]

Whether you are religious or not, what led you to your current state of (non)belief? And how long did it take you to decide you are going to stay this way?

I was raised with a particular idea of God. He loved me, would always be there for me, he was my father and protector. God did no evil, murdering, rape, slavery, etc weren't of God and they weren't in his character. Those were the deeds of the wicked. Then one month I read the Bible from front to back and found out that God had the traits of the wicked. My friends and family defended them by saying it was "in the past" or that "his morality isnt ours." I decided that if Gods morality wasn't in line with the morality he supposedly wrote into us then he was a contradiction morally or he simply broke his own rules. Evil somehow wasn't evil because he was God and that was that and he was more powerful than me so I should just shutup about it.

I went on to study more and more about Christianity and the arguments atheists make and logic took over. My family of course claimed logic was of the devil and I quickly realized this was a lie, at least for me.

 

[BruceDLimber]

If you don't mind me asking, what led you to investigate the Baha'i faith in the first place? Were you raised in a different faith?

(Please excuse the long delay in replying.)

I was originally a Christian, and a very active one at that!

I remained open to various new ideas regardless.

I first heard of the Baha'i Faith in North Dakota when a Baha'i radio DJ there aired a public-service ad about the Baha'i Faith. I didn't follow up on it, but I'd heard of it.

Later on, a Baha'i acquaintance of mine invited me to a fireside (Baha'i informational meeting). I went, became interested, kept on attending while reading heavily about the Faith, and eventually joined myself.

And thanks for asking.

Peace,

Bruce

 

[Penumbra]

Whether you are religious or not, what led you to your current state of (non)belief? And how long did it take you to decide you are going to stay this way?

I switched from being a sort of liberal monotheist to a non-theist after doing more research and introspection on religion and philosophy.

Prior to the research, I believed what I did because I was raised with that belief. It just seemed natural. But when I became older, I realized that among the broad set of cultures around the world, there was never a time when I made an informed decision to be a part of my culture and religion rather than a foreign one. It was merely a causal effect from being born to the parents I was born to.

So I started reading texts like the Bible, Qur'an, Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Tao Te Ching, some Buddhist texts, some Christian Apocrypha, writings of Plato and Aristotle, writings of Stoics, writings of various European philosophers, writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, writings of New Thought and New Age people, writings of secular humanists, writings of people with mystic experiences, writings of people that experimented with substances to create mystic experiences, writings on neurological research of meditation and prayer, writings about other religions such as Sikhism, Jainism, Scientology, Baha'i Faith, paganism, indigenous religions, etc. And I combined those readings with personal experience and observation.

The outcome was that I became unaffiliated with any particular religion, and highly skeptical towards unsupported claims.

The second question doesn't seem applicable to me, because I don't make decision in the present about what my future-self will feel about things.