Your Positive Religious Past

In the time I've been on RF, I have seen a lot of posts in which people air grievances against a religion they were formerly affiliated with. And it makes sense. Some people have had some really awful experiences with a specific faith or a certain group, and sometimes it just helps to put that out there.

However, sometimes a person leaves a religious path on good terms, and I don't hear as much about that. Have you had an experience like this? Or, are there any things you are grateful for that a past religion or worldview may have given you?

I took some very thought-provoking courses at uni in Comparative Religious Studies. At the time, a study by the Rockefeller Foundation had concluded that CRS was leading all comparative studies fields in terms of innovative new techniques of analysis, etc. It was the first time I heard the phrase, 'cutting edge'.

Doesn't sound like much, I know. But it was my introduction to the world beyond small town Midwestern Christianity, and it was a very positive introduction on the whole.

Sure beat my local hometown's tendency to substitute Bud Lite for wine for the communion.

Just kidding about the Bud Lite.

No one drank Lite. No one. It was Bud for the communion or no communion.

Studying Buddhism helped me to understand Christianity in a new light. Studying the Left-Hand Path has helped me to understand Buddhism better.

crossfire said:

Studying Buddhism helped me to understand Christianity in a new light. Studying the Left-Hand Path has helped me to understand Buddhism better.

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I know what you mean! I was raised Christian(but departed in my teens), but I don't think I had any real understanding of it until I started studying Hinduism many years later.

JustGeorge said:

However, sometimes a person leaves a religious path on good terms, and I don't hear as much about that. Have you had an experience like this?

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Yes, I have. My philosophy teacher used to speak of religion frequently. She is an atheist and she left Catholicism on good terms, in fact she said that she still respects Christianity as values system, but God's existence is an axiom that some men accept a priori without needing evidence.
So she will not believe an axiom.

JustGeorge said:

In the time I've been on RF, I have seen a lot of posts in which people air grievances against a religion they were formerly affiliated with. And it makes sense. Some people have had some really awful experiences with a specific faith or a certain group, and sometimes it just helps to put that out there.

However, sometimes a person leaves a religious path on good terms, and I don't hear as much about that. Have you had an experience like this? Or, are there any things you are grateful for that a past religion or worldview may have given you?

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Overall I had a pretty positive experience within my Evangelical/Baptist upbringing. One of the things I most appreciated about it was the emphasis on unconditional love and grace. Evangelicals don't always do a great job applying those principles, but interpersonally my experience in my own family was one that emphasized the idea that I never had to earn love, and that being kind and generous with one another was not about earning brownie points but just a free expression of our love for each other. It's almost hippyish on a certain level. That idea has stuck with me, and I'm grateful for it.

JustGeorge said:

In the time I've been on RF, I have seen a lot of posts in which people air grievances against a religion they were formerly affiliated with. And it makes sense. Some people have had some really awful experiences with a specific faith or a certain group, and sometimes it just helps to put that out there.

However, sometimes a person leaves a religious path on good terms, and I don't hear as much about that. Have you had an experience like this? Or, are there any things you are grateful for that a past religion or worldview may have given you?

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I grew up with Christianity and it provided me with a moral framework and worldview which assisted me to navigate the world as an adult. In time I changed how I viewed the central tenants of the Christian Faith and to explore alternative world views. That led to studying Hinduism, Buddhism, atheism as well as other forms of Christianity. Ultimately I became a Baha’i 30 years ago. Of all the faiths I’ve learnt about, the Baha’i Faith seems closest to my Christian roots. As one finds a lover as an adult to marry there is no need to reject one’s parents.

JustGeorge said:

In the time I've been on RF, I have seen a lot of posts in which people air grievances against a religion they were formerly affiliated with. And it makes sense. Some people have had some really awful experiences with a specific faith or a certain group, and sometimes it just helps to put that out there.

However, sometimes a person leaves a religious path on good terms, and I don't hear as much about that. Have you had an experience like this? Or, are there any things you are grateful for that a past religion or worldview may have given you?

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I never believed in any gods but I was a member of the Lutheran church 'till I was 19. I was baptised (couldn't do much against that) and even went to be confirmed. I did it for community, the church organized vacations, travels and camps. I was a youth worker. The pastors knew I didn't believe and it didn't matter as long as I didn't "proselytize" or undermine their work. It was a fun time.
One day the higher ups decided that the youth work had to have more religious priorities (instead of just social and philosophical). My work was no longer needed and I left.

adrian009 said:

I grew up with Christianity and it provided me with a moral framework and worldview which assisted me to navigate the world as an adult. In time I changed how I viewed the central tenants of the Christian Faith and to explore alternative world views. That led to studying Hinduism, Buddhism, atheism as well as other forms of Christianity. Ultimately I became a Baha’i 30 years ago. Of all the faiths I’ve learnt about, the Baha’i Faith seems closest to my Christian roots. As one finds a lover as an adult to marry there is no need to reject one’s parents.

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I spent about 15 years identifying as a Pagan. I love your analogy of the lover and parents... Leaving a happy home of youth is how I felt about my switch from Paganism to Hinduism. While I have nothing but love and gratitude towards my Pagan roots, it was time for me to acknowledge that my heart was elsewhere.

Still having Pagan friends, I also appreciate visiting 'home' from time to time, and celebrating holidays with them. And like a good family, they are also happy to celebrate Hindu festivals with me.

JustGeorge said:

I spent about 15 years identifying as a Pagan. I love your analogy of the lover and parents... Leaving a happy home of youth is how I felt about my switch from Paganism to Hinduism. While I have nothing but love and gratitude towards my Pagan roots, it was time for me to acknowledge that my heart was elsewhere.

Still having Pagan friends, I also appreciate visiting 'home' from time to time, and celebrating holidays with them. And like a good family, they are also happy to celebrate Hindu festivals with me.

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What a fascinating word pagan is! What does it mean and where does it come from?

I see a lot of overlap between the Dharmic Faiths and paganism. Given Hinduism’s emphasis on tolerance, diversity and non-proselytising there’s an easy association between the two faiths.

I have connections with indigenous religions of the Maori and Japanese that have polytheistic dimensions; though both with an identifiable Supreme Being. Would Shinto be pagan in your view?

The image of wandering off with a lover feels a little pagan now I think about!

JustGeorge said:

In the time I've been on RF, I have seen a lot of posts in which people air grievances against a religion they were formerly affiliated with. And it makes sense. Some people have had some really awful experiences with a specific faith or a certain group, and sometimes it just helps to put that out there.

However, sometimes a person leaves a religious path on good terms, and I don't hear as much about that. Have you had an experience like this? Or, are there any things you are grateful for that a past religion or worldview may have given you?

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I left a specific brand of Christianity on bad terms, bad that was because its beliefs conflicted with what I read in the Bible. I actually really like Christianity as a concept, like I do all old religion, because I view it as people trying to figure out the world. I also think that there are lots of perspectives that the old religions have that are very insightful which I think the modern man has lost sight of.

Christianity has shaped me as a person and in principle I still connect with Christianity in a way that I don't with other religions. I tend to dislike fundamentalist Christianity because the more I learn about Christianity and its history, the more Christianity seems intellectual and nuanced in its origins whereas fundamentalists do not retain that nuance but impose their own interpretation of what original Christianity actually was. Their understanding of Christianity tends to be based on ignorance and what they want to believe rather than an actual understanding of Christianity. That is why many of them only view the Bible as the foundation of the religion as opposed to taking the early church fathers into account.

JustGeorge said:

In the time I've been on RF, I have seen a lot of posts in which people air grievances against a religion they were formerly affiliated with. And it makes sense. Some people have had some really awful experiences with a specific faith or a certain group, and sometimes it just helps to put that out there.

However, sometimes a person leaves a religious path on good terms, and I don't hear as much about that. Have you had an experience like this? Or, are there any things you are grateful for that a past religion or worldview may have given you?

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Yes i am greatful for what my past belief taught me.

Sunstone said:

I took some very thought-provoking courses at uni in Comparative Religious Studies. At the time, a study by the Rockefeller Foundation had concluded that CRS was leading all comparative studies fields in terms of innovative new techniques of analysis, etc. It was the first time I heard the phrase, 'cutting edge'.

Doesn't sound like much, I know. But it was my introduction to the world beyond small town Midwestern Christianity, and it was a very positive introduction on the whole.

Sure beat my local hometown's tendency to substitute Bud Lite for wine for the communion.

Just kidding about the Bud Lite.

No one drank Lite. No one. It was Bud for the communion or no communion.

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What is the goal, if any, of Comparative Religious Studies? If it is merely to point out incompatible differences of religions as presently expounded and expressed I don’t see how that is useful. Even within one religion there are irreconcilable differences such as in Christianity the basic rift between Catholic and Protestant or in Islam between Sunni and Shea sects. Also, the older a religion is the more it has had time to deteriorate from its original expression when it first appeared through its Founder. On the other hand, pointing out similarities of different religions could possibly be useful in that at least that is in the direction of unity rather than disunity.

If the center of any religion is belief in the existence of God then there are three categories; believers, agnostics and atheists. I don’t think it is within the realm of science to prove or disprove God’s existence which for some explains the three categories. From a practical point of view unless we are accountable for our conduct to a real God then people can justify any selfish act such as not telling the truth, cheating, or even murder as long as we are not found out and brought before a state court. That principle was expressed by Dostoyevsky in his book “Crime and Punishment.”

I’m a keen observer in what most of the enabling congressional Republican politicians of Trump are doing despite clear evidence put forth by the impeachment managers of the House of Trump’s central role and guilt in the brutal attack by various white supremacy followers of his at the US Capital on January 6. By unjustly turning a blind eye to clear evidence of Trump’s guilt such self serving behavior by so many Republicans is ample demonstration of the foregoing principle pointed out by Dostoyevsky as noted above.

Hmmm... After leaving christianity, I explored various other religious paths before making my way to non-religious atheism... But there are things about paganism that I miss for sure. I've been revisiting certain pagan related things (especially norse paganism and druidry) that resonate with me.

Maybe I'll dip my toes in deeper into the pool later, but I'm ok with where I'm at right now.

I appreciate the focus on self worth, self reliance, and self growth. I feel like it's helped me to become a better person, and has given me a more healthy vantage point in life to truly be a better help for those around me that need it; whether at home or at work.

Unity of Mankind said:

What is the goal, if any, of Comparative Religious Studies? If it is merely to point out incompatible differences of religions as presently expounded and expressed I don’t see how that is useful. Even within one religion there are irreconcilable differences such as in Christianity the basic rift between Catholic and Protestant or in Islam between Sunni and Shea sects. Also, the older a religion is the more it has had time to deteriorate from its original expression when it first appeared through its Founder. On the other hand, pointing out similarities of different religions could possibly be useful in that at least that is in the direction of unity rather than disunity.

If the center of any religion is belief in the existence of God then there are three categories; believers, agnostics and atheists. I don’t think it is within the realm of science to prove or disprove God’s existence which for some explains the three categories. From a practical point of view unless we are accountable for our conduct to a real God then people can justify any selfish act such as not telling the truth, cheating, or even murder as long as we are not found out and brought before a state court. That principle was expressed by Dostoyevsky in his book “Crime and Punishment.”

I’m a keen observer in what most of the enabling congressional Republican politicians of Trump are doing despite clear evidence put forth by the impeachment managers of the House of Trump’s central role and guilt in the brutal attack by various white supremacy followers of his at the US Capital on January 6. By unjustly turning a blind eye to clear evidence of Trump’s guilt such self serving behavior by so many Republicans is ample demonstration of the foregoing principle pointed out by Dostoyevsky as noted above.

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One of the most striking results of Comparative Religious Studies in general is how both the similarities and the differences between religions can lead us to a more fundamental understanding of human religiosity, the major ways or divisions in which it tends to be expressed, and of course, human nature.

Don't take this as a criticism. It's not meant to be one, though I'm sure some will take it as such. But CRS is such an overall different way of looking at religiosity that you're unlikely to encounter much of it on an internet platform like RF. So far as I can see, there's little reason to think most of us humans even know religiosity can be viewed that way. In comparison, quantum mechanics, however poorly understood, is at least a household name. i.e. people know it's a 'thing'.

For the record, I can't recall starting any threads within the past few years that much more than referenced in passing anything from my comparative studies. It's just too much explanatory writing needed before you even get around to the main topic. Same as so many things. The gods be with anyone who sets themselves to summarizing American politics well enough to be more than trivially useful to anyone.

Left Coast said:

Overall I had a pretty positive experience within my Evangelical/Baptist upbringing. One of the things I most appreciated about it was the emphasis on unconditional love and grace. Evangelicals don't always do a great job applying those principles, but interpersonally my experience in my own family was one that emphasized the idea that I never had to earn love, and that being kind and generous with one another was not about earning brownie points but just a free expression of our love for each other. It's almost hippyish on a certain level. That idea has stuck with me, and I'm grateful for it.

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So, the precipitous fall you later on in life took that landed you enthralled to Stalinism began innocently enough, eh? I guess some of us lesser bulbs never do see these things coming. I refer of course, to the slippery slope created by the merest mention of the phrase, "Christ's Love". It's just a fact I myself knew better than to be suckered in by such nonsense when I was three, the year after I realized truth changes according to the individual.

JustGeorge said:

In the time I've been on RF, I have seen a lot of posts in which people air grievances against a religion they were formerly affiliated with. And it makes sense. Some people have had some really awful experiences with a specific faith or a certain group, and sometimes it just helps to put that out there.

However, sometimes a person leaves a religious path on good terms, and I don't hear as much about that. Have you had an experience like this? Or, are there any things you are grateful for that a past religion or worldview may have given you?

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I'm not sure I would count as "affiliated," but my experiences with the Quakers and UUs were both almost all positive. Lots of lovely people in both cases (though the UU regular after-service potlucks probably win over the Quakers' occasional after-meeting tea).

In both cases, I stopped going because I didn't feel a strong draw to either one, and both were a bit awkward to get to in terms of location and meeting time.

JustGeorge said:

In the time I've been on RF, I have seen a lot of posts in which people air grievances against a religion they were formerly affiliated with. And it makes sense. Some people have had some really awful experiences with a specific faith or a certain group, and sometimes it just helps to put that out there.

However, sometimes a person leaves a religious path on good terms, and I don't hear as much about that. Have you had an experience like this? Or, are there any things you are grateful for that a past religion or worldview may have given you?

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I had a very positive experience with leaving strong
atheism to become a weak atheist. I still have fond
thoughts about my former "faith".

JustGeorge said:

In the time I've been on RF, I have seen a lot of posts in which people air grievances against a religion they were formerly affiliated with. And it makes sense. Some people have had some really awful experiences with a specific faith or a certain group, and sometimes it just helps to put that out there.

However, sometimes a person leaves a religious path on good terms, and I don't hear as much about that. Have you had an experience like this? Or, are there any things you are grateful for that a past religion or worldview may have given you?

Click to expand...

Nice OP. I'll TRY to make it short.

I never was religious and never believed in god. Mother wasn't a believer and father left his belief when he was a kid. So, it never reached the household (too much bigger issues than that). So my mother took us to church (me and my two younger brothers) because she always wanted to have a single family home, two kids, a dog, in a christian household (no kidding). So, I went to church and when my mother got married again, a pastor came to me when I was looking in the classrooms and gave me a living translation of the bible. So, I read the bible, wrote my prayers, and pretty much (as my brothers said) evangelize (maybe it's a bug people have when they enter the church, I don't know).

Skip a bit when my "belief" started to wane right before brain surgery I met a cradle roman catholic friend. She brought me to her church and fell in love with it. Years later, I joined.

My positive experience really had to do with a couple of things, the sacraments (Communion and confession in particular), the devote focus on personal time in prayer (every church is open for it), the hospitality (the church paid my rent, gave me food, and furniture when I first moved), and the activities (I went to a retreat up near the mountains where we had mass daily, studied scripture, of course confession, and pretty much had time to pray and chat.)

I liked the Communion. It is different than other churches I've been to in that when they say "jesus saves you" it's not abstract in other churches but quite literal and communal. So, I like that communion home feeling. I also like how each person drinks from the same cup (during the holidays or in smaller churches) because it makes me think belief to catholics is more important than arguing over if someone spit in the wine and germs and so forth.

I liked confession as well. My first confession during RCIA, I told the priest pretty much the big stuff. He gave me a card and said let's speak in his office. We spent two ours or so with me confessing, hugged me, and even brought me home (he was a new priest so still learning the ropes of congregational/priest boundaries due to politics). I've had only two bad experiences with priest, one yelled at me and said the devil made me do it! (sin) and the other yelled at me because I asked him if he was alright when he was sleeping during my confession.

One day after a good amount of self-reflection, going to Mary (for some reason I get a better connection-maybe because I was raised from a single parent), and the statue of her holding christ in her arms, and of course the Eucharist and said that it wouldn't make sense for me to believe in god (how I interpreted it-which was burdensome in itself) if I don't believe in your son (don't believe I need to be saved).

I took communion one last time and left the church.

In protestant view, I'm no longer christian. In catholic view, I just need to reunite myself with the sacraments through confession and communion. However, the positive experience, if you really don't believe the essence of communion (christ), it really doesn't make sense to stay. I never believed in the bible so, when I talked with the priest before I joined, I should have listened when he said maybe wait before I did. (That was when I asked him if he REALLY believed the bread/wine is jesus christ. He said no before almost falling out of his chair. And explained it to me with a wash of relief running down my face)

adrian009 said:

What a fascinating word pagan is! What does it mean and where does it come from?

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You know, I wasn't sure, so this made me have to go look it up. According to Merriam-Webster: Pagan is derived from the Late Latin paganus, which was used at the end of the Roman Empire to name those who practiced a religion other than Christianity, Judaism, or Islam. Early Christians often used the term to refer to non-Christians who worshiped multiple deities.

adrian009 said:

I have connections with indigenous religions of the Maori and Japanese that have polytheistic dimensions; though both with an identifiable Supreme Being. Would Shinto be pagan in your view?

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In my mind, Pagan and indigenous are pretty much one and the same, regardless of place. However, those are my own thoughts/categories, and other people may not appreciate my label, so I don't put it out there. It does seem though, that when someone uses the term 'Pagan', one tends to associate indigenous religions of Europe. I can see now, looking up the root of the word, why this is so as well.