Conversion(for lack of a better term) stories have always kind of fascinated me. In my library going years(seems so long ago), I was often drawn to books that told the story of a person adopting a religion(and sometimes a culture) that they weren't raised with. It was interesting to hear of the unique experiences, and sometimes challenges, each person faced.
So, how'd you get here? For those of you that chose a belief you weren't raised with, what was it that made you believe the way you do, or choose the religious path you've chosen? Was it a scripture, an experience, exposure to another person, or something else?
(Please note: I'm asking why you believe your path, not disbelieve another.)
Great question....sorry if this breaks your conditions but the reasons for my current path have a lot to do with why I abandoned my former one.
I was raised as a "Christian"...or so I thought. But as I got older some glaring anomalies began to come to my attention. The church I was raised in was very hypocritical....they would spout off things that Jesus said, but in real life they did the opposite.
An an example....Jesus said that we had to "love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us" (Matthew 5:43-44)....what did my church do? They supported the military in their bloodshed and even prayed for victory over their enemies. That meant killing their enemies and approving of the methods. They salved the consciences of those who participated in that bloodshed and basically told them that Jesus approved because it was a "just war" situation. I have yet to see any "just war" approved of by Jesus.
Another thing I had difficulty with was infant baptism and how people would go through the motions of the whole ceremony and they knew that it was just for show. And besides which fact that there are no infant baptisms in the Bible. One had to be able to learn about Jesus Christ and choose of their own free will to become a disciple....no infant can do that....and no one can become a "Christian" by sprinkling water on a baby.
Another thing that bothered me was the stories in the Bible of Jesus sending his disciples out to preach about God's Kingdom....and when I thought about the Lord's Prayer, ("thy kingdom come") which I prayed in church every week, I realized that it was just words repeated parrot fashion, and that no one had ever explained to me what I was praying for. When I asked what God's Kingdom was, I got a variety of opinions but nothing from the Bible.
I saw no one preaching unless it was to the converted....and in their own building.....and clearly Jesus did not intend his disciples to preach to one another. When was that command of Jesus ever obeyed in my church I wondered? (Matthew 28:19-20; Matthew 24:14)
So in my late teens, early twenties, my disgust with the church was more than I could stomach, so I left. I toyed with other denominations but found them all pretty much the same, just under different banners. I tried the Mormons, Eastern religions (Hinduism, Buddhism) but still felt out of place. It was very frustrating so I then sought the truth in science....hoping that evolution might give me a different slant on things......but it simply proved to me how amazingly everything was designed.....so I knew that the Designer was out there somewhere, but I didn't know where else to look.
Then there was a knock at my door.....more "church" people I thought....but I was wrong. They were nothing to do with the "church people" and they had all the answers I was looking for straight from the Bible. They had no involvement in politics or bloodshed......they did not baptize infants, and they did what Jesus commanded them to do.....they were taking the "good news of God's Kingdom" out to the world. I finally found out what I had been praying for all my life. I now know what God's Kingdom is...how it "comes" and why its "good news"!
That is my conversion journey....