why does geography have more to do with your(most of your) choice of religon than the actual teachings??? i will debate this after i get some thoughts from you all
Because religion is tribalistic, arising from the time (duh) when humans were grouped in tribes and other small communities, etc., and attempted philosophy through superstition, but in different parts of the world. I mean does anyone ever choose their religion, through a process of elimination? No, you are often born into one, no reasons, no explanations, just do it. And this is child abuse, because children are too ignorant to know the difference.
and children, when tought from a young age, often have difficulty breaking away from these teachings being that they have been surrounded by and told to believe there entire life.. even those who didnt have it forced down there throat(me) still seem to blindly follow. this is an edit... when i use myself as a refrence above, i was refering to having religon not being forced down my throat, i wasnt talking about blind faith.. its something im very greatful that i do not have.. now back to what i had been talking about...end of edit as an example, my family is lds (mormon). my family is awsome, there incredibly loving, accepting, and forgiving.. they help whom ever in any way possible. i did not have religon shoved down my throat, however from an early age( im strangly naturally rebelious, ever since i was young) i had many questions that could not be answered. this did not go over well in church, i was told that i needed to work on just having faith(blind faith, a HUGE PART of religon today).. i wasnt ok with that answer and continued questioning. i was looked down upon for this. now that im older, i have studied religon and philosophy for the last few years of my life and even though i can say that 99.999% of me believes very strongly against christianity as a whole, i still have that "fear of god" that i dont think will ever go away..
+rep to the riz, said everything I was thinking. And why fear God? Man is responsible for the problems of man, not God. To be afraid of something that has no direct affect on your life is foolish.
TheRiz hit everything I would have said... I couldn't agree more that choosing your child's religion for them is child abuse...I also think it hinders the growth process, because the way religion is taught to our children(at least in the catholic school system) is really ignorant, and has the child believing their religion is the right religion(an assertion, in and of it self, that is pure ignorance...) When I have children...they will be brought up without any religious knowledge until THEY come to me with some type of question...it is only then, that I will teach my child that my religion is the best... Just joking, I'll obviously open the door to all religions for my children to choose from, or ignore<-(The latter, to just ignore religion, would be my hope for them...but I won't push that, as I would be no better than those pushing their religions.) Wow, didn't mean to type so much...but this is an issue that hits home, having gone to catholic school every year except junior/senior year of high school and being force fed Catholocism from every type of clergy man, nun, brother, etc...
... obviously not by choice.. and in most christian teachings god does have direct affect on your life.. although i believe this isnt true, growing up surrounded by this stuff has a really strong affect on many peoples lives. the example i used(myself) just shows what im talking about, althought i have tought myself rather than allowing blind faith, in the back of my mind i will still have a slight "what if" fear.. also the reasom why i bring up how faith is a direct reflection on geography.. if i had grown up in sweedin there is an 80% chance that i wouldnt even have ever believed in god, thus killing any fear of god i might have ever felt
my exact plans also, religion is a personal choice, not something that should ever be forced on a child
why not? i think its very relevant even in our society today, geography has a huge part in why people believe what they do not to mention the relevance of anything is based purely on prespective as is any other thought/idea.. in our daily life, most are not effected by these things.. however some are
Yeah, my friend and I, despite our staunch atheism, still to this day have that irking feeling in the back of our minds when I outright deny God, or praise Satan (lol) simply because my mind was molded for so long, from Catholic upbringings, into thinking I would be punished for it....so sad.
I'm glad I had to opportunity to choose my religion. I've been to christian and catholic churchs a few times throughout my life. I've even attended plenty of young life groups and camps. But I've never really had a full belief in god. My parents aren't religous in the least and never gave me anything to work with. That was the best thing that could have happened. Now, 20 years old and having a good understanding of what religion is, I've chosen to follow the path of the Buddha.
thats awsome you didnt have anything pushed on you, you got the chance to choose for yourself without other unnecessary worries