POLL: Do you feel pressure to be religious?

[Anonymous]

On a few recent threads, we’ve touched on external pressures from friends and family around religion.

Would love to hear more experiences.

At any point in your life:
1) Have you ever omitted (or even lied) about your true religious beliefs to make a social situation easier?

2) Has anyone ever insisted that you believe in a certain god or religious figure?

3) Has anyone ever made you go to a religious service?

4) Has anyone ever made you participate in a religious activity?

5) Do you ever feel like an outsider because of your religious beliefs?


If you feel comfortable, please share your general location/religious belief. Or any other related thoughts.

[Anonymous]

1) Have you ever omitted (or even lied) about your true religious beliefs to make a social situation easier? Yes. I'm Jewish. It's a safety issue sometimes.

2) Has anyone ever insisted that you believe in a certain god or religious figure? Nope.

3) Has anyone ever made you go to a religious service? Just my parents, when I was a kid.

4) Has anyone ever made you participate in a religious activity? See #3

5) Do you ever feel like an outsider because of your religious beliefs? I feel very anti-climactic about Christmas, because you feel the energy leading up to it, but then the day comes and ... nothing. But us Jews have our christmas traditions so I'm fine.

[Anonymous]

Nope! I’ve gone to lots of services for people’s events but never felt any pressure. I have never wavered in thinking religions are human institutions that only reflect God, if there is one, in so much as he/she/it is reflected in humanity in general.

[Anonymous]

I've never felt pressure. I used to go to church when I was a kid because my parents made me, but I stopped going as soon as I went to college (and they didn't make me go when I came home for breaks).

[Anonymous]

No, my mother didn’t escape the clutches of nuns to have a pious daughter!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

No, my mother didn’t escape the clutches of nuns to have a pious daughter!

Weird answer- it’s pretty common for people who are over the top pro/anti- religion to have a child who goes the opposite way

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

No, my mother didn’t escape the clutches of nuns to have a pious daughter!

Weird answer- it’s pretty common for people who are over the top pro/anti- religion to have a child who goes the opposite way

? My mother is not over the top at all, but she did have s terrible experience at a boarding school run by nuns.

It’s weird you’re calling my response weird, and misinterpret it to boot.

[Anonymous]

No. My family isn't religious and neither am I. I have lived in western MA, CA (Bay Area), NYC, and DC.

[Anonymous]

Yes to all questions. I’ve lived half my life in Northern Europe and half in DC. All the above things happened in DC.
Christians usually laugh in my face if I tell them I don’t believe in God. People assume Im Christian but I’m not. Im nothing, but it doesn’t go over well.
DC government sent me to church. Glad the place had good food and nice people.

[Anonymous]

Nope. We’re a small office of 5 people and I only know the religions (or none) of two of them. I know for sure one is Christian (ashes on forehead) and I strongly suspect another is, but it just never comes up.

I do find some Jews to be insular and exclusionary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes to all questions. I’ve lived half my life in Northern Europe and half in DC. All the above things happened in DC.
Christians usually laugh in my face if I tell them I don’t believe in God. People assume Im Christian but I’m not. Im nothing, but it doesn’t go over well.
DC government sent me to church. Glad the place had good food and nice people.

So you work on some aspect of social services with minorities who often gather in a church.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

No, my mother didn’t escape the clutches of nuns to have a pious daughter!

Weird answer- it’s pretty common for people who are over the top pro/anti- religion to have a child who goes the opposite way

? My mother is not over the top at all, but she did have s terrible experience at a boarding school run by nuns.

It’s weird you’re calling my response weird, and misinterpret it to boot

Well to be fair escape the clutches of nuns is pretty over the top dramatic

[Anonymous]

Yes, I’ve never really been a “believer” but went along with religious activities, etc with friends so I wouldn’t be excluded.

I was never forced to go to a service but I’ve had people pressure me to “accept Jesus or go to hell”. Good times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

No, my mother didn’t escape the clutches of nuns to have a pious daughter!

Weird answer- it’s pretty common for people who are over the top pro/anti- religion to have a child who goes the opposite way

? My mother is not over the top at all, but she did have s terrible experience at a boarding school run by nuns.

It’s weird you’re calling my response weird, and misinterpret it to boot

Well to be fair escape the clutches of nuns is pretty over the top dramatic

not if you had a bad experience with nuns - and there are good choices of education without nuns.

[Anonymous]

No but I also have never given a hoot what others think of me