Where did you learn about the subject of religion?

[Quintessence]

While many subjects are part of general public education, religion is often omitted from this education. From there we might ask the question - since we don't get good basic education on what religion is from our public schooling system, where does the information we have come from? Who taught us the things we believe we know about the subject of religion? Do we even know? Can we pinpoint that? Did we learn it from random talk and hearsay of others? From some friend that was particularly influential in our lives? Maybe some book from the public library? Where did we develop our understanding from?

So, denizens of the forums - where did you learn about this thing we call "religion?" Who or what taught you what you know about it?

(as a side note, this isn't intended as a thread about who has the bigger credentials than the other guy; it's more of an introspective exercise to help us understand why we understand things the way we do)

 

[Spiderman]

My parents and my foster parents at a young age

 

[lovesong]

The first memory I have of learning about different religions was when I was really little and learned that there was a thing called Jewish people and they had their own language. I went home and told my mom I wanted to be Jewish because, as far as I knew (I was less than 5 or so), Jews were the same as me but they got a language! My mom set me straight on that one, haha. My next memory of religion is when I started reading mythology, a year or so later. I got so into it that I became a little polytheist. I tried to replicate the kinds of festivals and holidays I thought they would have, I developed symbolism, and essentially worshiped the scarab as the creator and sustainer of life, along with some other gods. I distinctly remember one conversation I had with my mom, where I asked her why there couldn't be "a bug Jesus" (the only way I knew how to say "other gods"), to which she replied "if you start making up gods, God is going to be very mad at you." after a couple years of my new religion, my mom put her foot down, forbid my rituals, and sent me back to Sunday school. After that I was old enough to start doing my own research about things, and I decided I wanted to learn about all the religions, and the rest is history!

 

[Vinayaka]

As a child of 'none's, I didn't encounter it until about 16 years old. Yes I saw it here and there, like at family weddings, but it didn't really get cognised that some people were serious about this stuff until the power of observation took hold, and some kids would miss baseball games Sunday mornings.

My first genuine encounter with religion of any kind was with Saivite Hinduism.

 

[Deidre]

To the best of my knowledge, from my family mainly. I was taught ''religion'' when I was little, as I had to make the sacraments as all good little Catholic girls were expected to do. But, over time, I started researching other religions besides Christianity, on my own...and I really think that overall, there are many fascinating religions and belief systems out there. If only people didn't have to fight over them.

 

[Neo Deist]

I grew up with my parents taking me to church. In my teenage years, I became rebellious in typical fashion and lost interest in going. I had other things on my mind, like chasing girls. Around the age of 30, I took a sudden interest in learning about theology, but not limiting myself to Christianity. I have always enjoyed history and astronomy, so theology just seemed to round it all out and make it a trio.

 

[Geoff-Allen]

I had a religious upbringing - went to a Catholic boys school.

Lost faith in my teens and was an atheist 4 many years - I thought religion was absurd.

Then I had a religious experience on a psych ward - I thought I would be the VERY last person on this planet to have such an experience.

I have read many books since that experience - I like the Buddhist approach in saying that a disciplined mind leads to happiness and an undisciplined mind leads 2 suffering.

I read and meditate most of the day - a cheap lifestyle considering I have schizophrenia and a very limited income

Some of the books I have enjoyed -

"Conversations with God"

"Awakening the Buddha within"

"The Art of Happiness"

"The Lost Art of Compassion"

"The Power of Now"

"When Things Fall Apart"

"Happiness" by Matthieu Ricard"

There are others but I can't seem 2 recall them off-the-top-of-my-head ...

Namaste

 

[LuisDantas]

Up until my teens, "religion" was a vague concept to me. I only really learned about it in (Catholic) school at 13-14 or so, and even then on somewhat general terms (despite having gone through Catholic Eucharisty at the time).

I learned considerably more from an unlikely source - an Esoteric Gnosticism occultist group that my mother mistook for quasi-Kardecism. True story, I swear. Then from Buddhism, and a peppering of contacts with Hindus, Bahais and even Rajneeshians. Eventually that came to include a Mormon girlfriend as well.

 

[siti]

We were taught comparative religion at school (in the UK) - believe it or not - in the 1970s. Most of the class were either Christian or no-religion (I considered myself Christian then - and for the next couple of decades too) so most of the descriptions of other religions was met with almost universal derision - but I secretly enjoyed those lessons more than most of the others. The rest I have learned from books - including the "holy" books.

 

[Kuzcotopia]

While many subjects are part of general public education, religion is often omitted from this education. From there we might ask the question - since we don't get good basic education on what religion is from our public schooling system, where does the information we have come from? Who taught us the things we believe we know about the subject of religion? Do we even know? Can we pinpoint that? Did we learn it from random talk and hearsay of others? From some friend that was particularly influential in our lives? Maybe some book from the public library? Where did we develop our understanding from?

So, denizens of the forums - where did you learn about this thing we call "religion?" Who or what taught you what you know about it?

(as a side note, this isn't intended as a thread about who has the bigger credentials than the other guy; it's more of an introspective exercise to help us understand why we understand things the way we do)

Major world religions are part of the Social Studies curriculum in Texas high schools.

Freshman take World Geography, a course with a 4-6 week unit on religion and culture. Students learn about the 3 major abrahamic religions, as well as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. It's far too much for my taste. . . but that's why I teach Algeba and Geometry.

 

[YmirGF]

While many subjects are part of general public education, religion is often omitted from this education. From there we might ask the question - since we don't get good basic education on what religion is from our public schooling system, where does the information we have come from? Who taught us the things we believe we know about the subject of religion? Do we even know? Can we pinpoint that? Did we learn it from random talk and hearsay of others? From some friend that was particularly influential in our lives? Maybe some book from the public library? Where did we develop our understanding from?

I grew up in an atheist household, coming from a long line of atheist (on both sides) with a smattering of Anglican Protestants in for good measure. Religion simply wasn't must of a concern growing up. There were so many other far more interesting things to think about. I was your average science nerd and did well in school. How to put this, LOL....

It was in my late teens when I became fascinated with a peculiar kind of "religious experience" outlined in the Psychedelic Experience of by Drs. Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert and Ralph Metzner. To my profound surprise I seemed to make some headway and the resulting experiences led me on my quest through the various religions. I am completely self taught and rarely even mentioned my experiences (after the initial burn period, that is) or talked to others about religion. I had little interest in what they thought as they could not possibly imagine where I was coming from. It took me awhile to realize that. You have to understand I wasn't seeking information. I was seeking confirmation! I needed to know that I wasn't the only one going through this odd adventure into inner reality as failure to do so would likely have resulted in a serious messiah complex.

I quickly tossed aside theological works on Christianity and Islam. Neither offered the slightest illumination and seemed quagmired in irrelevant intellectual minutia. Then I came across the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Evans-Wentz translation) and immediately felt at home. It's weird picking up a book for the first time and being intimately aware of the topics they are covering. Another pivotol work that floated up into my awareness was the ever-remarkable Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda.

​

That puppy certainly turned my head around and led me directly to the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads and a billion other Hindu works... leading up to getting my hands on the Srimad Bhagavatam

​

and so began my 5 year fling with ISKCON and their happy strain of Vaisnava thought. Then, one blissfilled day, I went past ideas of Krsna and god... back, full circle, to where I had begun. The difference was that now I knew why I was at that standpoint. *grins wildly*

That all changed on Sept. 11, 2001 when I began my investigations into Islam. Those investigations are ongoing, 16 long years later, as it is an often mind-numbing, but fascinating topic. No, I haven't the slightest inclination to convert. Never did. It's as if each new day gives me more information and understanding why I would never want to "revert" to Islam or encourage anyone, in their right mind, to do so.

There, that should pass the mod review... *winks*

 

[Eliab ben Benjamin]

My family growing up as a small child as a Sephardi in Manchester UK, then at school
noted most of the other kids were Xians, so on occasion went to Sunday School with friends from school.. noted the differences and started to study at the library ..

 

[Native]

I learned that my childhood religion in sunday schools and in my home and it was indoctrinating and full of nonsensical dogma´s.
IMO The subjects of "Comparative Religion + Comparative Mythology" should be obligatory in all primary schools.
Personally, I take Stories of Creation as real cosmological knowledge but NOT in the creationists thinking.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

At school
Before that, going to church was something you did on a sunday.
And prayer is what you did at bed time.
But I had no idea it was religion.......

 

[DragonHawk1959]

While many subjects are part of general public education, religion is often omitted from this education. From there we might ask the question - since we don't get good basic education on what religion is from our public schooling system, where does the information we have come from? Who taught us the things we believe we know about the subject of religion? Do we even know? Can we pinpoint that? Did we learn it from random talk and hearsay of others? From some friend that was particularly influential in our lives? Maybe some book from the public library? Where did we develop our understanding from?

So, denizens of the forums - where did you learn about this thing we call "religion?" Who or what taught you what you know about it?

(as a side note, this isn't intended as a thread about who has the bigger credentials than the other guy; it's more of an introspective exercise to help us understand why we understand things the way we do)

The first I recall was when I was 5-6. A group came into my hospital room and started praying that God restore the amputated part of my right foot.
Still it is likely most have heard of religion well before the age of 5. Most would have been taken to their family's place of worship almost as soon as they were born.
I don't recall any interest until my mid teens when I started studying mythology.

 

[Sunstone]

I minored in Comparative Religious Studies at university.

 

[Willamena]

I have yet to learn about it. Perhaps never will.

 

[Laika]

Basically the place I learned the most about religion is RF or occassionally from books:

• My primary school had some Christian teachings, made us sing songs about christmas and harvest time and this was my only contact with religion until my early twenties basically.
• My religious education at secondary school wasn't very inspiring
• My parents didn't discuss religion at all and niether of them are religious. My dad is an atheist (I think) whilst my mum is more open to spiritual stuff.
• None of my freinds were religious. They were all atheist/agnostic as far as I know. (The exception is an Anglican freind I met at Uni.)
• I did an module on Islam's problems in intergrating in western society with the Open University. I did well overall but don't really feel I learned much from it.

So my knowledge of religion is extremely limited. I came to RF in the hope of filling that void. I'm better informed than I was but still feel like I will have to grab a book and do some serious study sometime.

 

[Aiviu]

While many subjects are part of general public education, religion is often omitted from this education. From there we might ask the question - since we don't get good basic education on what religion is from our public schooling system, where does the information we have come from? Who taught us the things we believe we know about the subject of religion? Do we even know? Can we pinpoint that? Did we learn it from random talk and hearsay of others? From some friend that was particularly influential in our lives? Maybe some book from the public library? Where did we develop our understanding from?

So, denizens of the forums - where did you learn about this thing we call "religion?" Who or what taught you what you know about it?

(as a side note, this isn't intended as a thread about who has the bigger credentials than the other guy; it's more of an introspective exercise to help us understand why we understand things the way we do)

At 10 i'd met and fallen in love with a girl who later revealed to me she was going to die. She mentioned a heaven where people go when they die and that she needed me to reach there. Like an evidence for standing in the book of life because she cant have children herself. Since then and for long time God was just a name for whom i seeked to find the love, what others seem to call truth. Although i thought i will meet someone unknown she was the one who i forgot.

As a child i was kept away from any type of religion. I was packed in cotton wool but also very free to decide how i want to live. Normally i am resting in me. But I have to force sadness to feel anything. Its either perfect or i just need an emotional change.

 

[Quintessence]

My parents and my foster parents at a young age

Interesting. Where do you think they learned stuff?
When we think about it, a lot of what we "know" comes from what is basically hearsay and gossip. Scary!