I often wondered about this, but I've never asked anyone else to get an "answer".
In my lifetime, most (but not all) of the people I have met follow the religion of their parents. I'd love to know the actual correlation, but I feel safe in assuming it is extremely high world wide.
What I've always wondered is how people who have faith in their religion (as opposed to other religions for instance) reconcile the fact they were born into that religion? What if for instance a Catholic, was instead born in Iran and raised by Muslim parents. Doesn't it seem extremely likely that person would also become a Muslim and not a Catholic? Wouldn't it also stand to reason that person now in Iran would have complete faith in the "rightness" of the Islamic faith?
How do you separate faith from what you were taught to believe?
(Clearly I'm speaking of the majority, not born again Christians, or those that chose another path later in life.)
If you happen to follow a particular religion, do you have complete confidence that if you were raised in a family with very different beliefs that you would still follow the religion you currently follow?
I've also thought about this in a slightly different way...
If your religion of choice is right, then that implies something on the order of 6 billion people are wrong. (I don't think any one religion has much more than 1 billion followers). That is a lot of wrong people! But even more interesting is that the vast majority of the right people and wrong people are simply right or wrong because that is what they were born into. WHAT LUCK! (Or unluck as the case may be).
For those that fall into this category. How do you reconcile your good fortune of being born into the religion that you now place your faith in, knowing billions of other people also count their good fortune of being born into their religion to which they faith just as strongly?
Something I've often wondered, but never asked...
----------------------------------
Justin in Austin, get it? :)
Cool races:
- Redman
- Desoto American Triple T
In my lifetime, most (but not all) of the people I have met follow the religion of their parents. I'd love to know the actual correlation, but I feel safe in assuming it is extremely high world wide.
What I've always wondered is how people who have faith in their religion (as opposed to other religions for instance) reconcile the fact they were born into that religion? What if for instance a Catholic, was instead born in Iran and raised by Muslim parents. Doesn't it seem extremely likely that person would also become a Muslim and not a Catholic? Wouldn't it also stand to reason that person now in Iran would have complete faith in the "rightness" of the Islamic faith?
How do you separate faith from what you were taught to believe?
(Clearly I'm speaking of the majority, not born again Christians, or those that chose another path later in life.)
If you happen to follow a particular religion, do you have complete confidence that if you were raised in a family with very different beliefs that you would still follow the religion you currently follow?
I've also thought about this in a slightly different way...
If your religion of choice is right, then that implies something on the order of 6 billion people are wrong. (I don't think any one religion has much more than 1 billion followers). That is a lot of wrong people! But even more interesting is that the vast majority of the right people and wrong people are simply right or wrong because that is what they were born into. WHAT LUCK! (Or unluck as the case may be).
For those that fall into this category. How do you reconcile your good fortune of being born into the religion that you now place your faith in, knowing billions of other people also count their good fortune of being born into their religion to which they faith just as strongly?
Something I've often wondered, but never asked...
----------------------------------
Justin in Austin, get it? :)
Cool races:
- Redman
- Desoto American Triple T