Religions - Your Opinion

[Alpha]

Hey Sheena, I wasn't sure how serious you were being there (after all, I didn't realise people still practiced Norse mythology (is there a better term?) anymore), but I have a question.

How does one just 'choose' a religion? Is religion just a commodity on a supermarket shelf, where we pick the one that is the cheapest and most satisfying (least effort, greatest perceived spiritual benefits)?

I don't think we are able to rationally pick a religion. It's not a shop, it's an ultimate statement of how the universe is ordered, and can't be taken lightly (not saying you did this Sheena). Because no-one can actually prove their religion, how can we actually choose the 'best' one? Is it a case of finding the most 'believable'? The most compatible (with your other opinions), or the most humanistic? Is it just a matter of birth, and if anybody converts, it's more irrational than rational?

That last sentence is how I perceive it at least.

[Reverend Red Mage]

Hey Sheena, I wasn't sure how serious you were being there (after all, I didn't realise people still practiced Norse mythology (is there a better term?) anymore), but I have a question.

How does one just 'choose' a religion? Is religion just a commodity on a supermarket shelf, where we pick the one that is the cheapest and most satisfying (least effort, greatest perceived spiritual benefits)?

I don't think we are able to rationally pick a religion. It's not a shop, it's an ultimate statement of how the universe is ordered, and can't be taken lightly (not saying you did this Sheena). Because no-one can actually prove their religion, how can we actually choose the 'best' one? Is it a case of finding the most 'believable'? The most compatible (with your other opinions), or the most humanistic? Is it just a matter of birth, and if anybody converts, it's more irrational than rational?

That last sentence is how I perceive it at least.

This raises excellent questions that should be discussed. Does one really choose their own religion? If one is indoctrinated as a child, what causes the person to stick with it other than family tradition? Why does conversion really happen?

As an example, I was raised in a Roman Catholic household; not strict by any means, but we'd go to church every Saturday. For a while I was even an altar boy and the Chaplain Aide of my Boy Scout troop.

I'm not going to go into a deconversion story here, but I think that in most cases, 'picking' a religion doesn't happen; it's a matter of how you were raised. When people convert from one religion to another, I've found that it's usually out of confusion... these people don't really know what to believe, so they pick the religion that makes the most sense to them at the time. Whether said decision is rational or irrational? Also up for debate.

[SOLDIER #819]

This raises excellent questions that should be discussed. Does one really choose their own religion? If one is indoctrinated as a child, what causes the person to stick with it other than family tradition? Why does conversion really happen? ...

My cousin converted. His family was not very religious, and neither was he, but part of our family is Jewish. I think our grandmother was shocked when she learned he had converted... haha.

If you asked why he converted, he would probably say it was some sort of divine inspiration. But it only started when he met his girlfriend and now wife, who seems to be quite a devout Christian herself. He loves her very, very, very much. When asked what he thought of a God who would send the rest of his family to Hell, he said, "Well, I don't know, but I think I'll be so happy in Heaven that I won't have to worry about it."

It seems like a matter of priorities and the like, to me. He loves his wife a lot and has very little attachment to his current religion, so he switched. It may be if you are presented with a religion that offers you "more" and doesn't go against every moral fiber in your body, there's a good chance you'll go for it. Yet, many people who have been brought into a particular religion from birth probably find it very familiar and comforting, and are content to stick with what they have.

I personally haven't belonged to any organized religion, though, so I wouldn't "really" know.