(Non)Religious background

[Dusty15]

I'm glad this topic got bumped because I missed it the first time around. Very interesting!

I was raised Roman Catholic because my dad's family is pretty strictly old school Irish Catholics. My mom was raised Protestant but went to church with us for Catholic mass when we were kids. I went to church weekly up through the time I started attending university and I was pretty into it, but not because I felt like I was particularly religious but because I was a kid who obeyed rules and felt like church was something I had to do to please my parents and God.

When I got to University, it all sort of fell apart for me. I considered joining the very small Catholic group at my school but the university I attended is SUPER liberal and I was in the theatre program and I just started thinking "why am I participating in a religion that doesn't wholly value women or LGBTQ persons?" I basically stopped attending church after that and broke all ties with the Catholic church.

Now I consider myself agnostic and more specifically I say I'm a Secular Humanist.

[Geist]

I guess I don't really have a path, but I like the texts of Eastern spiritual thought more than Western ones. I was raised Christian, but the Bible didn't really make sense to me, so I stopped walking that path. I just kind of try to be nice and spread love and not hate. Eastern spiritual paths seem to embrace a lot better, imho. I hope that doesn't sound offensive. I respect everyone's right to believe whatever they want, or not believe, as the case may be.

[Guest]

My family's Christian (including me), but we're not very religious, if that makes sense. Like, we don't really go to church and we've never fully read the bible or anything. Eh, I say you can believe in whatever you want, no matter how religious or not you may be about it. So long as you're a good person, nothing else matters.

[blowlovinaspiegurl]

Christian. Mix of two churches. Mennonite and Assembly of God. That's were I've gone in my life and both have shaped my beliefs, I'd say. However, maybe due to a part of me that's outside the religious realm, I'm not particularly preachy or judgy.

[addict.bandband]

I have never been to a church in my whole life. I have never been taught anything religious. Therefore, I am an athiest as I dont believe in anything of that sort.

[Nebula]

For the first question, I ticked "Christianity". My mum and her whole side of the family are Catholic, whereas my dad and his whole side of the family are Protestant. Neither sides are strictly so, and I've never seen any of them willingly go to a regular Sunday church service for either religion.

Despite this, I'm from Northern Ireland, and so as you can imagine when I was born there was a tricky, volatile situation in regards to religion. Because of that, and the fact that I live in a very loyalist area, my parents thought I'd be safer to christen my brother and I as Protestants (plus the fact that my dad promised he'd take us to church - which he never did )

I'm from a very small, tight-knit village community, so when I was in primary school I followed my friends' lead and go to this Sunday bible school that gave out sweets when you have correct answers to quizzes. Quit going when I progressed to the older group and the bribes ceased (around 11 years old).

Haven't been to a church service since! After growing up with lack of religious influence from my parents (and the subsequent room to forge my own view), and general interactions with religion, I've found I want nothing to do with it, and have no faith. After the way I've seen it can make people behave, and make them foster so much negative energy against certain people, it's sort of left a bad taste in my mouth. Answered 'atheist' to the second question.

(Of course, if you are a person of faith and that works for you and your life, you are fully entitled to that! It's just simply not for me)

[The Dude]

I'm a J.