0-15 = baptist
16-34 = non-denominational christian
34-41 = agnostic
41-45 = atheist
45 - present = secular Buddhist
Always agnostic. I can usually see both sides of issues anyway and have been accused of being indecisive, but I don't see that as a fault. People take comfort in belonging to something or calling themselves some -ism or other.
My background is non-practising Jewish - I was always told we were Jewish but wasn't brought up in a Jewish community. I feel an identity with Jewishness though - it seems more than just a religion, but I don't follow it, my son wasn't circumcised and my kids don't identify with it - their father wasn't Jewish, he was lapsed Catholic-turned-Atheist.
I've recently been involved in researching my genealogical line on my Sephardic father's side which, if the records are accurate, stretches back through to Biblical names, which I find quite awesome. It doesn't make me believe in a deity or a God though.
However I do recall being quite shocked that my son got married in a church - his wife wanted to...so some of the ingrained identity rubbed off...
My parents are buried at a Christian church - the little local church because we didn't want them dragged off to some grim Jewish cemetery miles away, and the minister did a non-New Testament service for us, though he said the law insisted he mentioned it once or twice. I found it refreshing that the boundaries could be crossed, and was amused to see a small Star of David on one of the stained glass windows...
So I'm - probably:
Jewish 20%
Agnostic 80%
I find vehement Atheism as annoying as devout belief. Nobody can prove anything one way or the other, so to state categorically that there is nothing beyond our existence is just as dogmatic as stating there is a God or that Jesus was the Saviour, or Allah, or Buddha or earth spirits et al.
I also question evolution. There are some things it can't explain. But that doesn't mean I believe in a Creator either...I don't think any of us can know, we can only believe - different thing altogether.
The only concept I can have respect for, that I think our brains can't comprehend, is that of infinity. Humans seem only to be able to process finite concepts - a beginning and an end. That's why I have some respect also for the Chinese principle of the Tao - as far as I'm aware, it's deliberately undefined because to name it would impose limits on it. That makes a lot of sense to me.
I agree completely on the vehement atheist comment. It's a kind of close mindedness that's as annoying as evangelism.
0-7 = Christian
8-18 = 0_o Not so sure about God, but Christian just in case.
19-31 = Drunk/stoned.
32-41 = Spiritual
42-44 = Drunk again.
45-present = It's not my responsibility to know whether God exists or not.
I was raised in a Lutheran church and started getting curious about other beliefs when I was in my teens. I pretty much ignored all of it during college. In my early twenties I decided that I should start taking it all seriously and started reading the Bible. I quickly realized it was morally bankrupt and I couldn't honestly worship the sort of god presented in the book. After that, I was a religious anti-theist posting angry blogs on MySpace for few months until I started absorbing more agnostic/atheist literature.
Became an atheist sometime around age 25 (14 or so years ago).
That is pretty much my story too but I gave in to my Lutheran parents after my kids were born. They convinced me I needed to bring them up in the church so I did and also worked in the church for eight years. I don't regret it but I found out how churches work and will never participate again. I always felt like hypocrite because I didn't want to believe it either. Since I left the church I have been a very strong atheist.
@confidentrealm I don't have kids so my family couldn't use that to guilt me back in.
Honestly, my family attended regularly but was never particularly devout until a few years after my sister was born (she's 15 years younger than I am) and I was already off to college. When I started deconverting, my mom and I had some arguments but we were more interested in maintaining a healthy-ish relationship than proving ourselves "right."
I hardly ever talk to my mom or siblings about religion these days - we mostly just avoid the topic. I think my brothers are agnostic/atheist, but they're also incredibly wishy-washy and prone to believing in nutty conspiracy theories, so it wouldn't surprise me if they believe in some "half-baked" notion of a greater power. My mom's faith seems to have waned a bit since dad passed away (December, 2012) and she doesn't attend services anywhere near as often as she used to. I think my sister is still fairly religious, but I don't think she attends services regularly, either, since she & her husband live almost two hours away from the church we grew up in and I don't think she's found a new church to settle into
@ghost_warlock My mom still wants to go to church but doesn't drive anymore. The pastor comes to visit her. My kids have never been involved in the church since they were little. I
0-5 Happy Child
6-9 Skeptical Catholic Girl
10-25 Happy Agnostic
26-present Happy Humanist, Atheist, Freethinker, with an interest in Secular Buddhism, and ideas toward creating harmony and a positive direction from balancing opposites, understanding natural consequences and developing my own personal spirituality to help me make sense of the world.
My grandmother helped ruin my perception of religion at a young age. I would say I was 9 or 10 when I became apathetic to her style of christianity. Though I didnt find a Word for it until around 14, and I've swayed between agnosticism and eastern philosophies ever since. So I guess roughly 14-19 years.
0-12 skeptic
12-19 hopeful junkie (possibly theist)
19-22 hopeful recovering junkie still maybe theist.
22-present athiest...
Never was a believer.
Virulent Anti-theist since late teens.
0-15.. baptized Catholic, went to both Christian and Catholic schools...first communion Catholic..
16-35 . Christian.. I really believed that I had a personal relationship with God/Jesus..
Then my kiddos came into this world, and I really struggled with this absurd notion of "original sin".. but even before the decision to have kiddos, I struggled with the problem of evil..
I decided to get information and really search, look deep.. after all I am responsible for my kiddos.. I found out that the more I honestly looked into my beliefs / religion / the supernatural.. I could no longer justify believing in beliefs that do not comport with our known reality..
I am always learning (whether I like it or not) and I am open to discussion.. but most of all.. I just want to be a fairly good Homosapien that cares for this planet we live on.
35-44.. Agnostic Christian.. researched a whole bunch more.. Atheist.. and Anti-theist in regards to the Abrahamic doctrines
Since I graduated from a Catholic grade school. I knew that most of the nuns who lived in the convent were matched up with their fellow lesbian lovers. plus the virgin birth story. thought it all so hypocritical
All my life, Why ???
curiosity or maybe I'm doing a study.
@kauva
Good ! Hope it is both ?
All my life since I’m a 2nd generation Atheist. My parents raised me as a Unitarian Universalist. I was taught about all religions but as history/myth.
Now I did do the born again thing but I was 13 and just liked the music. So when Christians say I have to accept Jesus into my heart to be saved, I say did that so I’m covered. Oh, you mean he has to stay? You didn’t say anything about that.