How many people out there when they were a chikd also thought nobody honestly believed that there was a god but rather that it was just a thing done out of habit?
I wish I was raised among the lukewarm religious masses where that was a possible train of thought but no dice around here. These people believe and believe HARD. And if you’re raised by someone with old time religious fire, and don’t believe that they believe, they will most likely beat you until you can at least fake some convincing fraction of their belief. Of course which religion is right to these people is habit by definition because if they hadn’t been raised in it they wouldn’t believe it so devoutly themselves but they really are fully convinced and perish the thought of any doubts mostly.
I did have my own doubts but mostly based on the logical inconsistencies of the system described in the Bible. Still have no doubt that my family and church folks I was raised around truly and absolutely believe though. I convinced myself to believe via apologism for a while, thinking Jesus had a good message and a lot of these people just read it wrong. Still think that to some degree, but I know the good parts are almost entirely stolen from other religions now.
I had it forced down my throat. I had to lie and go through the motions to avoid being punished. It was truly terrible.
I mostly just wondered why they believed and I understood that one was supposed to believe, but I don't think I ever really did.
Totally. Then felt guilty about it. Then stood up for a different belief and regreted it.
nope, it never occurred to me, because we were secular jews and didn't go to temple, or talk about religion. we talked about culture. we celebrated holidays. we talked about history. i never even knew whether my parents believed in god until, as an adult, i asked them, and neither of them was sure what s/he believed even then. so there was no habit, and no hypocrisy. we had our problems as a family but that wasn't one of them.
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