What Religion Have You Been Before?

[Harel13]

If you've had the same faith all your life, have you ever thought about changing or has it never crossed your mind?

I've never thought of changing my religion, but sometimes I wonder what my life would've been like had I'd been born into a different one.

 

[Sundance]

If you had another faith before your current faith, what was it, what if anything is it that you still like about it? If you've had the same faith all your life, have you ever thought about changing or has it never crossed your mind?

Hmmmmmm...let me seeeee. I was brought up a nondenominational Christian, but I was open-minded, so I explored all different kinds of religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism. Wicca, I was into the whole New Age trip during my high school freshman year, I identified as a Unitarian for a few years after that. When I graduated, I became a Bahá’í. Feeling torn between this religion and my budding polytheistic beliefs, I left the faith. One thing I very much still admire about my time as a Bahá’í is its sense of cosmopolitanism.

Now, I’ve been dedicating my life as a now-solidified polytheist to the philosophical path of the Stoic prokopton (that is, the Traditional path, not the Modern path). In conjunction with my Stoic commitment, I’m exploring Roman Polytheistic Reconstructionism. In this, I feel finally complete!

 

[Straw Dog]

If you had another faith before your current faith, what was it, what if anything is it that you still like about it? If you've had the same faith all your life, have you ever thought about changing or has it never crossed your mind?

Good introspective question. How can we know where we’re going if we don’t know where we’ve been?

I was raised Protestant Christian, but stopped believing around the age of 12. I dabbled in most major religions and philosophies over the years. I had to test drive them each, so to speak. I realize that sounds terribly shallow in a consumerist kind of mindset now.

I did learn things though, namely the multifaceted nature in which reality can be meaningfully conceived and conditioned. I learned about the limitations of human perception and knowledge. I learned some practical methods for testing and self-correcting them.

I don’t have a dogmatic faith now, such that I can be easily identified in one way or another by a ‘go-to’ label, but I do have faith in humanity and that our actions have practical consequences which may be beneficial or harmful.

 

[Jesuslightoftheworld]

If you had another faith before your current faith, what was it, what if anything is it that you still like about it? If you've had the same faith all your life, have you ever thought about changing or has it never crossed your mind?

I have always been a Christian, but around 14 yrs old some really bad things were happening in my life and i was so angry at God, so I dabbled in new age stuff and even read the satanic bible by Anton Levey and really tried to be that. But it didn’t last long. I knew where I belonged. I’ve never wanted to try anything else because I know where my heart is.

 

[Laika]

If you had another faith before your current faith, what was it, what if anything is it that you still like about it? If you've had the same faith all your life, have you ever thought about changing or has it never crossed your mind?

I was vaguely Christian (or theist) at primary school as that was what the school taught. (I don't know if it was any particular denomination honestly). So we had to sign hymns in the school assembly. We had the Harvest festival in the local church (just across the road, under some oak trees where we'd collect the concurs in autumn). The Christmas nativity was part of it as well. My parents has always stopped at local churches to take in the architecture, stained glass and the art side of it as well. I have looked in to Islam, Buddhism, Deism and Atheistic Satanism, but none of them have actually stuck for the most part.

There is a certain part of it I do miss, namely the believe that there is a higher power in the world that will protect us and ensure "good things happen to good people". The promise of unconditional love and an expectation that Christians are happier, more loving, caring people still has an attraction. The "darkness" of rejecting the Christian god and religions has it's perks because there is no-one to tell you "lust", "greed", "envy" etc are all "wrong", but you do miss the warm side of it occasionally. It's unsettling just how much of human behaviour is based on self-interest and narcissism and you sometimes just wish people would be "nice" to each other without having to gain anything from it.

I miss not having a community I could join or place of worship I could go to as you or people who shared enough of your moral compass that you could go to for moral guidance. The isolation of relying on very unusual sources for moral guidance does set you apart from other people and make it harder for them to understand where you are coming from.