What religion were you raised and what are you now?

Well I did a quick search and did not see that this has been done and thought that it should be. If this has been done before I apologize beforehand. Also, I was not sure where to put this, so if it should be placed elsewhere move it and I apologize for that mistake.
Now into the topic. What religion were you raised and what are you now? I find this an interesting topic and thought it would be cool to see what religion ATS members have been raised up believing and what they actually believe in now. Whether they grew up in one religion and then ended up either; sticking with it, changing religions/beliefs, or whatever. So if you could tell us what religion or beliefs you were grown up to be by whoever raised you and what you believe now in this thread.
For me, I was raised an Episcopalian by my parents and was taken to church fairly often, but not every week. Over time I ended up doubting numerous things and coming to my own beliefs. Now I do not place myself in any current religion, but have my own beliefs that I believe in strongly. I believe in reincarnation, the connectedness between us all, meditation, and that above all things in life love is the most important thing for us in this world; to love all.
I look forward into reading what you were brought up into and what you believe in now and hope that everybody enjoys this thread.
Thanks!

Zetetic_of_Truth

reply to post by Zetetic_of_Truth

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I was raised Catholic, and now am a Pagan after much searching. I still am gathering knowledge, and I can form my beliefs around the newer ideas I am presented with.

I wasnt raised any religion, never really cared for it. One day I decided my life wasnt worth living and I was going to shoot myself. In the drawer next to my fathers gun was the Holy Bible. Some unseen force I guess you could say prevented me from gabbing the gun and instead lead me to the Bible. I belong to no church, never have. But since that day I read the Bible daily, and study it often. I dont need any other proof about God being real or not.

Roman Catholic,

Raised and schooled mainly by Monks and Irish preists lol,

Religion now Starchild with a large portion of Buddhist!

Elf

Raised catholic. And if you check in one of my threads, I don't really put a label on it, but I suppose I'm somewhere between buddhism and spiritual atheism.

Parents were muslim and roman catholic by birth, but never really practised. I was, however, given a muslim name, and I was somewhat "muslim by name"- whenever someone asked, I'd say I was muslim.


A couple years ago, I decided to stop the hypocrisy. I thought that either if I was to be muslim, I'd be a proper muslim, and if not, I'd not be a muslim at all.
I studied it a bit, and decided to be muslim .

I was raised Catholic. Educated by nuns and priests in Catholic school. I am however turned off by the whole idea of organized religion. I have my own ideas about God, and I believe in being good to each other.

Agreed new ideas that pop up also help me create and form new beliefs. I believe that change is everywhere and that there is nothing wrong in adding or changing things to one's beliefs. Acquiring knowledge throughout our lives is a very important thing.

Zetetic_of_Truth

[edit on 1-7-2009 by Zetetic_of_Truth]

I am glad that you did not go through it. There is a purpose for everyone and some force was definitely preventing you from not grabbing the gun so you are able to fulfill that purpose in your life. I am glad you have found something in your life, because that is very important for every person, no matter what it be.

Zetetic_of_Truth

[edit on 1-7-2009 by Zetetic_of_Truth]

Raised Catholic and now Egyptian Pagan

second???

-Kyo

I wasn't raised with any sort of religious doctrine, thankfuly. Spent the majority of my life as an athiest, but then moved onto agnostisism as i felt it represented my views better. (willing to change my beliefs if I was given some sort of proof)

just over a year ago, I had a few spiritual experiences which pretty much turned me into a spiritualist over night and showed me that God is real. (even though I'm still uncomfotable with the term "God" ) So, I'm now a spiritualist. but that's a changing thing, as I open myself up to new ideas (new for me anyway) and new concepts, I guess my spiritual stance may move a little more in the future.

I was raised christian and catholic....lost my faith as a young adult....looked at others....denounced them all....came back to God and am now living in faith as a bible following Christian.

I couldn't stop believing even if I wanted to....specially after my Near Death Experience.

[edit on 7/2/2009 by kinglizard]

Raised as and went to catholic school.

I remember in second grade that I thought it was all nonsense. I still do.

Raised protestant, then i went to islam, scientology, and a myriad of other religions, I no longer follow religion, however I consider myself to be a spiritual person and I definately believe in God, just not how others do; i think.

We started out Catholics, then Christians.

Now, my understanding of the Bible is in conflict with my parents and the Christian organization.

It's something about getting rich - all faithful followers of Christ should be blessed by wealth and multiplying on the face of the Earth. I am a proponent of the opposite!

reply to post by Im a Marty

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I'd love to hear about your experience with scientology. I really don't believe in anything involved, but I am extremely interested in the religion. More of a culture-research than anything. Its a very powerful movement, and I'd love to educate myself.

When I was born, my dad was a Mormon and my mom was a Catholic, though she never went to church. When I was about age 4 or 5, my mom became a Mormon, too, and then I started going to church there with the family; before that, my dad went by himself.

Around about age 18 or 19 or so, maybe a year after I finished high school, I came across some materials on the internet that talked about some of the controversies in church history and scripture; up to that point I'd never questioned anything in my religion. The first thing I came across was criticism about the Book of Abraham. I realized right then that I had to figure out whether the criticism was justified or not, because if it was, then it would be proof that the LDS religion was false.

In the course of my research, I kept finding more and more questions after that, and no answers, at least at first. Eventually, I kept reading and searching, and was able to answer most of my questions in such a way that I was still satisfied that the Mormon religion was true, and those few questions that I could not find an answer to, I couldn't find anything that proved to me it was false, either. I suppose, when it comes down to it, my religion, like any other, requires faith in things we don't fully understand. This process took several months; it happened one particular summer when I was working night shifts and had a lot of time to myself both at work and on my days off at home when the family was asleep, where I could think in peace and quiet (and waste hours on the internet :p)

I'm still a Mormon today, and go to church every week, though I'm probably the most atypical Mormon you'll ever meet! That was true before all my research, though.

I was raised in the Methodist ........... method

As a young man, I investigated all religions/dogma I was able to become aware of.

I suppose I'd classify myself as agnostic with latent universalist tendancies.

Probably should have expanded...kind of dissapointed in my first post

bygones

I was raised as a Catholic. I went to school Catholic for a while and was brought to church every weekend. I went to Bible camp and Bible school. In the end I talked to priests, the bible itself in a few variations, and even tried God on many occasions (I mean I sincerely tried...not some cocky prayer) and in the end I received more questions then answers. The answers I did receive were typically based off of the following sentence

"Don't worry Daniel, God has a plan for you"

So I am currently 30 years old and I will say I did find my plan through another, Isis, the goddess of Magic in Egypt. I spent several years after denouncing Christianity of any kind searching the various faiths and spiritualities. I found Paganism and felt a connection. I found Isis after a few years and she spoke directly to my soul...hence she now owns it and I couldn't be more proud to let her have it

After all...

Isis own my soul
My wife owns my heart
I own my body

man did I ever get the raw ed of that deal :-p (bit of humor for ya)

Adios folks and Blessed Be

-Kyo

I was raised Christian, now I am undecided when it comes to a religious belief.

Ever since I was born, I have been told about god, and jesus etc., but as I grew older (I'm 14 now), I started to question the religion. Questions like:

Why would god make a hell, or Why is it that good people that are non-christian still go to hell, while not good, but still christian people can go into heaven? And theres other questions as well, but won't go into detail.

I stopped believing in christianity, but not going for other religions either. No it does not mean I am atheist, but it means that I follow my beliefs.

I believe in reincarnation, no hell, More than one universe, and the Idea that we were all made for a reason, not by chance.

One time I acquainted to Wicca, but I do not see anything in it like other religions.

I am myself really.