How did your parents try to raise you?

Discussion in 'Philosophy' started by high as hell, Jul 2, 2007.

  1. Religiously, that is.

    My father, who grew up in Turkey, was raised Muslim. Now he doesn't practice any religion, and pretty much keeps his spiritual side to himself, but he grew more and more hesitant as he got older, and is now agnostic (although he doesn't give too much thought to it). My mom was raised as a Jehovah's witness. She denounced her parents religion after college and became an atheist.

    Because of this uncertainty between them, I grew up without any dogmas. My mother always taught me that I should think for myself, and if there was a religion that appeals to me they would be very accepting of me becoming a follower.

    What about you guys?
     
  2. As a child, we went to random church sporadically at best. After my mom went through her Christian "re-birth" when I was a teenager, forcing us to go to church was a punishment for misbehavior. And she wonders why I don't want my son to go? :rolleyes:

    They were not very understanding of my interest in Wicca. But I've since decided that I'm agnostic. No religion on the planet is right for me.
     
  3. No joke here, my parents both have atheist views, my dad more then my mom. Thus, I never went to church when I was a kid. My dad has tried to install his atheist views in me and now, at 22, I'm a devout Christian.

    Psychology is a bitch.
     
  4. very good question.

    This has been something I've pondered all my life.

    I was raised without a religion. My father as a member of a very religious protestant family (denomination withheld) and he while he exhibits some of the values, he keeps his religious views to himself. My grandparents on his side were openly religious, church attendees, but very accepting of other ways of life. Peaceful, god-fearing old-world proletariats, really.

    On my mother's side is a little different. She was raised a practicing catholic, by my grandmother. She attended catholic school and attended mass every week. My grandmother even baptized me. My mother stopped practicing catholicism long before I was born, and religion was rarely exhibited on that side of the family. She is a modest skeptic and agnostic, disliking organized religion but leaving room for the possibility of a God. She believed in an afterlife.

    But it gets a little more complicated. My maternal grandfather; a man who had significant impact on my life, was a profound agnostic, his entire life. He used to drive my grandmother and her children to church on Sunday morning and then return home to read. My uncle told me that he once asked my grandfather why he didn't go to church and he replied "because I'll be happier in hell." In his final days of life, he freely admitted he had no illusions of an afterlife, no belief in god and look forward to oblivious rest.

    This is something that has stuck with me and something I cautiously share with an internet community.


    But anyways, I am brought back to the concept of religious indoctrination. I think that many organized religions survive on this basis, and I've even discussed it with my uncle. I am left pondering if maybe my theological views (or lack of) are a result of moderate indoctrination.

    I spoke to my uncle about this recently and he simply looked at me flatly and said "no." It's taken some time for me to reflect on this, and I think I understand why; My grandfather and both my parents have always encouraged me to make my own decisions, to think critically and come to my own conclusions about the world around me. This is something that many people do not get the opportunity to experience.

    I realized that I did believe in a god and an afterlife until my early teenage years and they never once told me I was wrong or that I shouldn't think that. In fact, at the time, they encouraged it; they drove to to attend a church youth group and supplied me with a bible to read.

    Eventually that critical thinking and that skeptical inquiry got hold on my youthful imagination and THAT is why I am how I am.




    Sorry for the rant, but this is an important topic and I am eager to read other's contributions of their own.
     
  5. My mum and dad put me through many years of religious education so i could make my confirmation. We always went to church every sunday, but ever since they got divorced, (1999) we have not gone once. They encourage me to believe in heaven and all that, so their not at all like R_M's parents. But no worries, despite this i am able to make my own decisions, which is a very good thing. My dad does not have an opened mind what so ever, and neither does my mom. However, I am able to draw my own conclusions from things and i am happy about that.
     
  6. Good for you, then, Radar, for being able to rise above it. :)
     
  7. Spiritually, the only religion i got roped into was Unitarian Universalism, which is probably the best thing for a kid. I have always been encouraged to think for myself and expose myself to different worldviews.
     
  8. i was raised christian. always have and always will be. :)
     
  9. Raised christian...

    I consider myself a "non-practicing" christian, rofl.

    My parents resent me for it :p and I resent them for raising me that way...but hey it's one big (happy) family...
     
  10. I was raised very Christian. My parents are very devout but rather lazy when it comes to actually doing anything very Christian. As a family we went on various missions trips and my Dad's whole family is very active in the church. They are very kind and loving but judgemental to the point of blunt intolerance. They are very much against any sort of non-WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) lifestyle or ethics.

    Some of the funnier things they are against are video games, partying of any sort, weed (of course) and any sort of state charity. They are very giving but only through church which I am not sure is the best way. All in all, they are good and loving people who support me, even if it is through a very close-minded way.

    However, I took religion very seriously as a kid. I thought in black and white, was very fundamental and hated anything the stereotypical hardcore Christian hated. I lived in fear that I was going to hell and that I was doing something wrong. I ended up accepting Christ as my savior 7 or so times because a speaker would guilt me.

    Eventually, I got tired of the guilt trips and I was having contradictions between my actions and what I perceived as good and evil and what my religion was telling me was good and evil. I wanted to explore the world and through a deep depression and moral upheaval I began losing faith.

    Through conscious thought and peaceful deliberation I am now an Atheistic Agnostic or someone who doesn't believe in God but can't disprove one. Basically, I don't believe in organized religion. To me it doesn't make sense. Sadly, this brought a rift between my family, friends and I. I ended up having a huge falling out with my friends and my family doesn't know (I believe they suspect since I stopped going to church, who knows).

    Oddly enough, two of my friends who I had known through church, and later on other things also came to the same conclusions I did at around the same time. It was very nice having someone to share my ideas with especially at such a harsh time in my life. Some things workout ok, I guess.

    I don't know why I decided to write that entire story but I guess I had to get it off my chest a little bit. Not everyone follows their parents' way of life.
     
  11. Raised Catholic from the beginning. My mom dragged me through 12 years of private Catholic schools and weekly church-going for 11 of those years. The day before my Confirmation my mom asked me, "So you really wouldn't have gotten confirmed if I didn't make you?" I looked her in the eyes and said, "Haha, absolutely not!" This suprised her and made her realize that I really do hate religion.

    Anyway, my dad is an agnostic deist even though he was mildly raised as a Baptist.
     
  12. my family is largely religious (catholic) but my parents are not. My grandfather on my mom's side was 100% italian and my grandmother was half russian half irish raised a catholic. So when it came time for my birth, my Grandfather inquired to my mom what date my baptism was set for. My mom explained she wasn't getting me baptized because she didn't want me to be raised with a strict set of beliefs without being able to think for myself. This angered both my grandparents, they believed if someone is not baptized then they will be refused entrance into heaven.

    so the years go by. my neighbor (whom which was the leader of my boy scout troop) frequented the methodist church in our town. i asked him one time if i could go, i was young and was curious about religion. So I went. The years rolled by, they moved away, so I started attending by myself. I got to know the people in the church but never did any social activities outside of the church or attended any church functions.

    before I knew it I was 14. I was well versed in the Bible and all it's stories, and as a result was becoming more and more skeptical. Well apparently a woman in our church was having her child baptised and the pastor called upon anyone else who wanted to be baptised. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to be baptised, and I was attending church less and less. Then an old woman in the church asked me if I had ever been baptized. I said no, and she approached the pastor saying it would be good for me to be baptized. So they baptized me.

    Next week the pastor is trying to get a conformation in order for me, and I sat down with him simply explaining that I was becoming more skeptical as the days rolled by and I was curious about learning the beliefs of other peoples. He said it's always alright to be curious but that the only true word is that of the Lord. So then I get confirmed, and shortly after leave the church permanently.

    My parents were great though. After I got baptized they started coming with me because they thought I was truly devoted and they wanted to embrace my beliefs. But then I just told them I wasn't interested any longer in following christianity, I felt nothing spiritually with it and had more questions than solid beliefs.

    and that's that.
     
  13. Both of my parents are catholic. I had to attend "Sunday school" every Sunday and learn about the bible and god for 2 hours. The only plus was the the free donuts. I made my first communion. Then when I was about 14 I made confirmation. Haven't been to church since.
     
  14. [SIZE=+1]Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for [agnosticism] ever conceived.[/SIZE]
    [SIZE=-1]-- Isaac Asimov [/SIZE]
     
  15. I saw a cool bumper sticker the other day that read.." If you don't believe in God...you better hope to HELL you're right!!
     
  16. Christian as well, my family has a long generation of preachers that dates back to the early 1900s, I'm still Christian but they allow me to make my own decisions since I'm older.
     
  17. Just another close minded advertisement for how damning and negative christianity really is.

    Hope you meant "cool" as in "funny haha", because honestly, the world cool shouldn't even be in the same sentence as such an ignorant, hateful statement.
     
  18. I think all religions are right. Every religion can prove itself true and even athiets can prove religion is false.... Noone will ever know which is the correct one til your time comes. I think as long as you have faith in whatever you believe you are destined to end up where you belong.... Under any religion it says GOD gave us free will so use it to decide whats best for you but make sure you are 100% happy with your decision..
     
  19. Ever read anything about Buddhism? Not much divine permission in there, and yet it has more followers than the Latter Day Saints and the Catholics combined!

    To answer the original question, I was a conscripted Baptist as a youth, mommy was the fundamentalist type, very into the whole lifestyle. I was not allowed to miss Sunday Service for the first 17 years of my life, so I got to see how the masses get controlled up close! For years and years.

    However, my 18th birthday made me a free man, though highly conscious of my own spirituality. After reading some Vonnegut books that turned me on to a little organization called the Free-Thinkers, I have never looked back. They believe that it is possible to live a good solid life, not harming anyone, or working to destroy or demean anyone, but only because we have now the judgmental capacity to see what is the best course of our own actions, not because we'll be burning in hell if we don't. Sort of like a voluntary Mind-enema for me!
     
  20. it only seems negative to the non-believers. to christians, what's negative about looking forward to livng eternal life with God? beats me. :rolleyes:

    anyways, to elaborate, my family and i would attend church regularly on the weekends. we were very involved in the church (non-denomination). since we have moved, though, we have never attended a church as regularly as we have in the past. though, this has not kept us from being christians. though i currently dont attend church regularly right now, i truly believe i have been closer to God than ever before. this could be another subject in itself, but nothing can stop anyone from experiencing the greatness of God.

    Martin Luther says it best:
    <table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="700"><tbody><tr><td bgcolor="#f4f0e6" width="5">
    </td><td bgcolor="#f4f0e6" valign="top" width="665">"Faith cannot be inherited or gained by being baptized into a Church. Faith is a matter between the individual and God."
    </td></tr></tbody></table>
    like everybody, whether you are christian or not, struggles and bumpy roads will always be in your path. the difference with christians, though, is that god is in the passenger side the whole time with you. :D
     

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