Have you ever wondered that you might follow a religion just because of subliminal messaging/mind control at a young age, and never thought about why or how you currently believe said faith?

[quote]Have you ever wondered that you might follow a religion just because of subliminal messaging/mind control at a young age, and never thought about why or how you currently believe said faith?[/quote] Yes I have, but then I realize, I have reasons upon reasons, so that kind of a thought is usually obliterated within less than a second in my own mind.

[quote]Have you ever wondered that you might follow a religion just because of subliminal messaging/mind control at a young age, and never thought about why or how you currently believe said faith?[/quote] Been there, done that. God is real and that's all I need to know. xD

[quote]Have you ever wondered that you might follow a religion just because of subliminal messaging/mind control at a young age, and never thought about why or how you currently believe said faith?[/quote] Nope, sorry. By the time we even get to that the evidences are laid out in front of me.

Well, someone's in angry afeeust mode.

Oh, and just for the sake of irritation on Jroc's part: [b]ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR ALLAHU AKBAR[/b] Why, just today, a Muslim woman in Malaysia was sentenced to be caned for drinking beer in a night club. Christianity is [i]so[/i] oppressive, isn't it?

I wasn't raised with religion :U

I think that the way you're raised has a lot to do with who you turn out to be (lolo let's not get Freudian), but it's all circumstance and the way a person thinks. Somebody would be more likely to believe what their parents believe if they trust and like their parents, I think. Some people find religion on their own though, some drift away from it, blah blah blah. Calling it subliminal messaging might be a stretch, I'd say it's more like an impression left on a kid. I wasn't raised on anything myself, and I'm very much agnostic. I do know an awful lot of atheists though. You could probably be peer-pressured into following a religion, I bet. It's definitely a possibility, the subliminal messaging and whatnot. It all depends on the situation.

If your parents are Muslim, then you'll probably be a Muslim. If your parents are Hindu, then you'll probably be a Hindu. If your parents are Jewish, then you'll probably be Jewish. If your parents are Christian, then you'll probably be Christian. Etc. Etc. If you end up as something your parents weren't, then it's probably because most of the people aren't like your parents, or you just didn't like your parents. - Hypothetically, if someone found all the Holy Books of every religion. Who has no connection to the outside world and has never met another human being somehow, and for some reason can read those books and is influenced to believe one of them to be true. Then that Holy Book will have more merit then all other Holy Books, as the person believes in a religion with no outside cultural influence.

Hah, this is amusing, since a couple of years ago I got one of those pitiful and so embarrassing that you'd like to burn them letters that you write at the end of high school. I was never very religious at all, but I got the balls to tell my parents I wasn't Christian only *after* I'd safely moved out of the house for the most part and was thoroughly in a state where anything I said had to be taken with a grain of salt. I still got the Stare from my father, though. Shedra, above me, has pretty much hit the nail on the head, except with that last paragraph because I don't understand what they're trying to say. If your parents are a certain religion then you're most likely going to be closest in base nature to that religion, because you were raised with those assumptions.

...I only WISH Shedra had hit the nail on the head.

Oh my god, you're right. My father smoked a pipe and used lots of brylcreem. THIS EXPLAINS EVERYTHING.

My folks raised me to be rational, nothing more, so that I would be well-equipped to make an informed decision by myself. Indoctrinating your kids should be a crime.

[quote]My folks raised me to be rational, nothing more, so that I would be well-equipped to make an informed decision by myself. Indoctrinating your kids should be a crime.[/quote] Are you trying to say that teaching your children your beliefs should be illegal?

[quote]Are you trying to say that teaching your children your beliefs should be illegal?[/quote] Teaching your children what your beliefs [i]are[/i] is all well and good, since it's good for children to have a diverse cultural understanding, but initiating a child into a religion before they've developed the critical thinking skills to decide whether or not that is what they want is tantamount child abuse. I never had religion pushed upon me. I was left to decide whether or not I wanted to pursue a religion entirely of my own volition.

*tantamount TO child abuse. No...edit...button. D:

[quote]Teaching your children what your beliefs [i]are[/i] is all well and good, since it's good for children to have a diverse cultural understanding, but initiating a child into a religion before they've developed the critical thinking skills to decide whether or not that is what they want is tantamount child abuse. I never had religion pushed upon me. I was left to decide whether or not I wanted to pursue a religion entirely of my own volition.[/quote] What's so wrong with teaching kids religion then. They can grow up and change their religious beliefs if they want to.

[quote]What's so wrong with teaching kids religion then. They can grow up and change their religious beliefs if they want to.[/quote] They certainly have the capacity to do so, but it is highly unlikely. If someone is indoctrinated as a child, it tends to stick. Teaching your kids [i]about[/i] religion is a great idea; once they've got a detailed understanding, they're fairly well-equipped to make that decision, and if they decide that a particular religion is for them, that's their prerogative and I can respect that (I'm unlikely to respect the beliefs themselves, but that's beside the point).

[quote]They certainly have the capacity to do so, but it is highly unlikely. If someone is indoctrinated as a child, it tends to stick. Teaching your kids [i]about[/i] religion is a great idea; once they've got a detailed understanding, they're fairly well-equipped to make that decision, and if they decide that a particular religion is for them, that's their prerogative and I can respect that (I'm unlikely to respect the beliefs themselves, but that's beside the point).[/quote] That's kind of extreme though. For kids, religion is just a way of connecting with your family. For example, I grew up with Christian parents, so I followed Christianity to connect to my parents. Then I grew up and followed a different religious belief. I fail to see how it was "child abuse" for my parents to teach me to be Christian for a few years.

[quote]That's kind of extreme though. For kids, religion is just a way of connecting with your family. For example, I grew up with Christian parents, so I followed Christianity to connect to my parents. Then I grew up and followed a different religious belief. I fail to see how it was "child abuse" for my parents to teach me to be Christian for a few years.[/quote] I'll concede that, although it wasn't forced on you, from what I gather. That's what I'm specifically getting at, hence 'indoctrination'. I remember asking my mother, when I was about ten or eleven, whether or not there was a God, and in so many words she essentially said 'It's up to you to figure that out for yourself'. I've always appreciated that immensely.