My take on this question is that it is not that surprising that so many feel that the religion of their birth is the one for them. Religion is a two-way street -- each adherent is shaped by the religion and also shapes it to fit her/his character and personality.

If the religion of your birth is at all reasonable for you, you will adjust yourself and your religion to make the fit even better. If the fit is really bad, you will look elsewhere.

Terminology also plays a role. My parents were secular Jews who more or less believed in God. I'm a secular Jew who does not believe in God. Have I kept the religion of my birth because I consider myself a secular Jew, or have I abandoned it because I also consider myself an atheist?

Happily Catholic and, I see value in other faiths, but it is the belief system that makes the most sense to me.

Yes I do believe I lucked out and was born into the correct religion.

Anonymous wrote:This is a VERY good and thought-provoking question. I have wondered for a long time how something so deeply personal is widely accepted as something you are "born into." Is this not the ultimate dogma? As a 5th grader i decided to exercise my "freedom of religion" by putting up a home made Christmas tree in my room. My Jewish parents informed me that i did not have "freedom of religion" - they explained that since WE were Jewish this particular amendment did not apply to me. I was so pissed! It seemed like "being Jewish" (at least my parents' version) clashed with how i saw myself for my entire childhood and young adulthood. i am a much more content, peaceful and happy person now that i am old enough to exercise my freedom of religion.

You do understand now, I hope, that the 1st amendment is about a citizen's rights in relation to the government, and not rights between a child and his/her parents?

Anonymous wrote:This is a VERY good and thought-provoking question. I have wondered for a long time how something so deeply personal is widely accepted as something you are "born into." Is this not the ultimate dogma? As a 5th grader i decided to exercise my "freedom of religion" by putting up a home made Christmas tree in my room. My Jewish parents informed me that i did not have "freedom of religion" - they explained that since WE were Jewish this particular amendment did not apply to me. I was so pissed! It seemed like "being Jewish" (at least my parents' version) clashed with how i saw myself for my entire childhood and young adulthood. i am a much more content, peaceful and happy person now that i am old enough to exercise my freedom of religion.

the question was directed to people who kept their birth religion, not to those who changed it

This is a VERY good and thought-provoking question. I have wondered for a long time how something so deeply personal is widely accepted as something you are "born into." Is this not the ultimate dogma? As a 5th grader i decided to exercise my "freedom of religion" by putting up a home made Christmas tree in my room. My Jewish parents informed me that i did not have "freedom of religion" - they explained that since WE were Jewish this particular amendment did not apply to me. I was so pissed! It seemed like "being Jewish" (at least my parents' version) clashed with how i saw myself for my entire childhood and young adulthood. i am a much more content, peaceful and happy person now that i am old enough to exercise my freedom of religion.

I have read about other religions in depth. I've read the Old Testament and I have many Jewish friends for whom I've made kosher meals. I've read the Quran cover to cover, and I've also read a fair bit about Islamic history. I've read about Buddhism. I've even read many of the apocryphal gospels (including Thomas, subject of a recent thread here).

At the end of the day, I'm still Christian. I think the Jesus of the gospels makes the most sense to me and actually falls right in line with my 21st century values about women, LGBT, and how to treat non-believers.

I'm not dogmatic about particular articles of faith, though, especially if it relates to later theology.

I also believe that nobody of faith should accept anything without questioning it.

I don't believe that non-Christians are going to hell. I think that God talks to different people in different ways at different times.

FWIW, both of my parents are extremely religious, also Christians, and they both taught me to think in these ways about religion.

Anonymous wrote:
This will sound more mocking than I intended, but I'm sincerely curious:

Do you ever laugh to yourself and marvel at the remarkable coincidence that, of the hundreds or thousands or belief systems and non-believing philosophies in the world, you just happened to luck into the correct one?

No. I think that all religions are just man's way to try and organize and make sense of something that is incomprehensible. I told my son that the images we make in religion are like the crayon drawings a preschooler makes of his mother, they're rude approximations of the truth, with some big holes (ever notice that many preschoolers leave off the arms and torso, so they're people look like ATAT walkers from Star Wars?) and oversimplifications (mom is not made of just two colors) and bizarre interpretations (I once had a student draw a person and then next to them a blog which they told me was "her brain"), but there is also truth in the drawings, because of the emotional meaning the artists attach to them.

So, I celebrate and pray to a God that resembles the God that my parents pray to, because it's the closest to the truth I can come, and because I find comfort and meaning in what is familiar, but I also think there's just as much truth in a Hindu's understanding of deity, or a Catholic's understanding of deity, or a Muslim's understanding of deity (all religions that I don't happen to adhere to).

I don't necessarily think any particular religion is the one-and-only "correct" one -- I do believe in some kind of God/Force, and I think God has made itself known to different people in different ways in different times.

I do consider myself lucky that the particular denomination my parents raised me in is one that I feel comfortable identifying with as an adult. (Weirdly, it's a much closer fit for my values than for my parents' values.)

Anonymous wrote:OP, its a good question.

I have said in a couple of threads that I was born into a Catholic family and was raised in a devout enviornment. In college I went to mass occassionally with no pressure from my parents to do that.

After college I decided to approach the exact topic you pose. I did a lot of reading, but it was all Christian. I read a bunch of contemporary stuff and then historical stuff too (Martin Luther, Aquinas, GK Chesterton). I was trying to determine if I wanted to be a Catholic by choice or just because that is what my mom and dad taught me. My reading and self-education convinced my that Catholicism, with its many imperfections, is the most "correct" denomination.

I think the Catholic Church, with its apostolic tradition is the best representation of the Church that Jesus began. I am unlikely to get into a long thread about apologetics. I am very comfortable defending my faith, but hope this thread doesn't devolve into that.

Good thread.

correct for you or correct for everyone?

OP, its a good question.

I have said in a couple of threads that I was born into a Catholic family and was raised in a devout enviornment. In college I went to mass occassionally with no pressure from my parents to do that.

After college I decided to approach the exact topic you pose. I did a lot of reading, but it was all Christian. I read a bunch of contemporary stuff and then historical stuff too (Martin Luther, Aquinas, GK Chesterton). I was trying to determine if I wanted to be a Catholic by choice or just because that is what my mom and dad taught me. My reading and self-education convinced my that Catholicism, with its many imperfections, is the most "correct" denomination.

I think the Catholic Church, with its apostolic tradition is the best representation of the Church that Jesus began. I am unlikely to get into a long thread about apologetics. I am very comfortable defending my faith, but hope this thread doesn't devolve into that.

Good thread.

I believe they are all basically the same so what is the point in trying to find the "one" perfect religion.

Anonymous wrote:
This will sound more mocking than I intended, but I'm sincerely curious:

Do you ever laugh to yourself and marvel at the remarkable coincidence that, of the hundreds or thousands or belief systems and non-believing philosophies in the world, you just happened to luck into the correct one?

Yep, because I was born in Soviet Russia where/when atheism used to be the religion du jour

I'm Christian, and I believe that all monolithic religions are essentially the same. But, yes, I do believe that I'm Christian because of where I was born. I do not believe that mom-Christians are going to hell though.

This will sound more mocking than I intended, but I'm sincerely curious:

Do you ever laugh to yourself and marvel at the remarkable coincidence that, of the hundreds or thousands or belief systems and non-believing philosophies in the world, you just happened to luck into the correct one?