[HollyOllyOxenfre...]

I'm an atheist, but I'm curious about the experiences of those who are religious/have faith. Is it something you grew up with and have just continued, or something you came to on your own at some point? If you follow a certain religion, do you go to church (or the equivalent) regularly? Are you and your partner on the same page, and how do you impart your religion to your children? How much of your life is influenced by your religion/faith?

[halfagonyhalfhop...]

I'm an atheist, but I'm curious about the experiences of those who are religious/have faith. Is it something you grew up with and have just continued, or something you came to on your own at some point? If you follow a certain religion, do you go to church (or the equivalent) regularly? Are you and your partner on the same page, and how do you impart your religion to your children? How much of your life is influenced by your religion/faith?

Christianity is something I grew up with (in muted form, we went to church once a month or so, but Mum and Dad never discussed their faith with us) but in my teens I decided I didn't believe anymore. This latest until my mid-20s, when I felt a powerful tug back to God to which I responded. I am now an active-churchgoer, and have a great passion and desire for God's work. DH and I are definitely NOT on the same page - he is an atheist. Not a militant one a la Richard Dawkins, he simply doesn't believe, but doesn't mind other people believing. He has lots of Christian friends. We are raising our children as church-going Christians. DH says he'd rather his kids be Christians, bless him! It does raise some issues in our relationship, and our parenting, but hasn't caused any tension. he is very easygoing, and we are both respectful of our differences.

All of my life is influenced by my faith, in fact I find it hard to separate the two.

[la di dah]

I was raised a Jew and am a Jew in my beliefs but my beliefs don't line up especially well with the denomination I was raised in or my parents' personal religious views.

There is a Chabad synagogue like an hour away. There is a Modern Orthodox synagogue a similar distance. I think they have Masorti services at the Orthodox synagogue but no Masorti congregation as such. And I am at this point not sure where I fit, denomination-wise, and am in a sort of glacial-speed personal religious crisis.

I find my spirituality leans towards Orthodox but increasing my household to Orthodox-level practice would put a huge strain on where we could live logistically and put strain on our marriage for a lot of logistical reasons.

No, we're not on the same page except re: mutual respect. My husband didn't even know any Jews in person until me. He was raised nominally Christian (loosely Catholic, went to Anglican highschool) and is now an atheist. He is still attached, however, to Christmas and Easter as secular festivals and I respect that as his culture. He has always been respectful of my religious beliefs.

We've decided we'll raise our children Jewish.

A lot of my life is influenced by my religion. It's influenced by both culture and belief, and by other peoples' reactions.

[SoxyMama]

As a child I floated in and out of churches as my family moved. Through various very personal spiritual experiences I will never doubt that there is a God. Throughout my late teens and early adulthood I attended a few penticostal and one large more mainstream baptist church.

After my husband and I married, we moved to an area too far to really attend the church we were at, and it was like the doors were closed and nobody despite my husband's 17 years of giving in time, and myself many years also - no-one bothered to contact us again. It was like we were erased.

Since then, and due to many other things I've seen the way the body called a 'church' has handled things, and since I have observed many previous friends (through Facebook etc), and since becoming an outsider and no longer brainwashed by the 'church' I have very different views and my husband and I have chosen not to send our kids to church regularly. If they choose to of course I will let them, and if the ask questions about God I tell them what I choose to believe. What they come to believe is up to them.

An old friend contacted me via Facebook this week and the conversation concluded that she'll pray for me as I must have some deep-set hurt (due to my comments that I choose not to attend church due to the treatment of certain issues) but you know I left thinking she is as naive still, as I was then. To be honest right at this point in my life, I've never been happier nor more content within myself and my life. I don't hide some deep hurt that needs healing, rather I feel I can look at issues now in a logical way opposed to just stating what the church has brainwashed me to think and feel. I look back and think of how I was so naive as well during that time and I'm embarrassed about the things I might have said in defence of the church and my beliefs.

For example I am quite ashamed of the way many churchgoers shun same sex marriages, and stomp the sexuality out of teens and young adults. I'm ashamed at how issues are dealt within the church. I am ever surprised at how people like my friend view every situation as it must be of God's destiny and God will sort it out and show direction etc. Perhaps God wants us to actually think for ourselves and use our brain to figure out our situations, and work it out for ourselves!! I have had a good friend whom we still see but I am a little closed to now, say to me outright that my illness is my fault and God's punishment for us not going to church. What a load of pogwash! These and more are reasons for me choosing not to go to church, and not to have my kids brainwashed despite me believing, and my husband 100% belief in God.

To the brainwashed members of the 'church' I'm probably just a broken person who needs healing and I'm sure they'll continue to pray for me. But actually... I'm happy to be free to be myself and to walk a path and a life that I choose to walk.

I should add not to mention the countless family members who have been mistreated by churches, and as an on-looker other things I've witnessed. Of the MANY people in my family who have been to church at one stage or other there is really only my Mum and I who believe in God, and the others any God they believed in was stomped out of them with the way the church dealt with certain issues. When they should have been caring for the broken-hearted (talking about other family members here) they rather made it sure through they way they approached given issues, that they would never ever step foot in a church again!

[ShoshieRu]

I grew up in a very devout Christian home. I rejected it at about age 16, until my early twenties when I felt a strong yearning to be back in relationship with God. I am a historian by training and at first I was really fascinated by the way that the Bible stacks up as a historical text (or ti be specific, texts). Over the past couple of years it has moved beyond that to a deeper, personal faith. I know there will always be mysteries and paradoxes that my little human brain cannot understand, and I am okay with that.

DH was raised in a nominally Christian home but he really only saw God in that grandfatherly dude in the sky kind of way until a bit after we were married. He is right into apologetics, really loves that kind of stuff.

It influences every single aspect of our lives together. Our sole purpose is to glorify God. And we fail, constantly, but we still run the race. All our decisions are shaped by our faith: how we spend our money, how we raise our kids, our long term goals.

[Saecularis Angel...]

My parents are lapsed Roman Catholics, and had lapsed before I was born. I was raised to believe, read the Bible and pray, but church was avoided as a harmful and corrupt institution. As a young adult I felt I had stopped growing, was stagnating, and asked my then boyfriend what he thought I might do to keep growing - to which he said, "Go to church." So I started to then (in the Anglican church).

DH and I are both Christians but belong to different denominations and don't completely agree on everything. But we respect and support one another, so this has never been a problem. I find that other Christians take issue with us worshipping apart, but that's their issue!

Now I'm training to be a priest, so it is kind of my life, really! But I find it's really important to have friendships which don't have their foundation in me being a minister, to have interests and involvements outside the church. It helps keep me grounded, honest, and sane!

I should add that I've seen enough people use religion or religious ideas to dominate or abuse others. I completely agree that this is a grievous wrong, and I would say sin. This is one weakness I work very hard to try to avoid in my life and work.

[aluminium]

I'm an atheist, but I'm curious about the experiences of those who are religious/have faith. Is it something you grew up with and have just continued, or something you came to on your own at some point? If you follow a certain religion, do you go to church (or the equivalent) regularly? Are you and your partner on the same page, and how do you impart your religion to your children? How much of your life is influenced by your religion/faith?

I'm a Christian (Anglican).

My parents gave us the basics but are not religious in any way. Dad read us Bible stories but we didn't go to church. I started going to church at 17, when a friend invited me.

My husband and I have agreed ideas even though our theology differs at times. We both want to raise our girls in the church.

We go to church twice per week - once for Mass/Communion/Eucharist; once for a community meal. It greatly influences our lives. I also work for a Christian organisation and attend prayers while at work. I pray with my children daily, and I also have my own prayer time (most days).

ETA denomination

This post has been edited by aluminium: 10/04/2012, 06:50 PM

[lizzzard]

My mother came from a religious family and her grandfather was a pastor. At a young age, I was raised with a lot of Christian traditions - my mother was a Sunday school teacher and we attended church weekly, I attended a youth group during the week, we prayed before meals etc. I'm not sure why, but around the age of 10 we stopped attending church, stopped praying...looking back on it, it's kind of strange and I'm not sure what happened. However, I don't think my parents had a crisis of faith necessarily....I certainly never stopped believing in God.

When I was in my mid-20's I felt a strong pull back to the Church and I started attending services again. I was lucky enough to stumble across a church where the Minister was less conservative than many in the the Sydney Anglican community, and his sermons really struck a chord with me and reignited my affinity for the Christian faith.

Since this time my faith plays an important role in my life. My husband was raised in fairly devout Catholic family but we got married in an Anglican church, Christened our children Anglican and attend Anglican services every week. The fact he shares my spiritual beliefs is a very fundamental aspect of our marriage and connection. Interestingly, I'd never dated a man who had any kind of faith before...and it wasn't until I met my husband I realised it was actually quite important to me...

As for our children, we are raising them in the Christian faith. They attend Sunday school and we discuss various religious topics at home occasionally. My personal view is that faith is so illogical that it would hard for some people to "believe" when they are an adult if they haven't been raised to believe in God from childhood (ie some people have a very black and white personality...)... So, it is still up to them if they choose not to believe when they are older, but by raising them to have faith in God, they have the opportunity to continue believing as adults as well.

Wow - that was an essay

[Kez82]

My mother used to take us kids along to church, and I was Baptised in the Anglican church. We continued going to church until about aged 12-13, and then we started to drop off.

I never 'lost faith' as such, but more I just didn't feel it belonged in my life. I've always believed in God, but not been an active Christian as such.

Fast forward to 18 months ago. My husband had died a couple of years before, my DD was in the midst of treatment for Leukaemia, and I felt really lost. I was lonely and I felt like there was this big black hole in my life. I found myself one night googling religion and occassionally chatting to people who I knew were Christians. I even posted on FB asking who were Christians and I was overwhelmed by the response! Finally, 12 months ago, I decided to just go for it and I made contact with the Anglican diocese and they put me in touch with a family friendly church. I went along one day, and after that service, I felt like I was "home". It was an unbelievable, very fulfilling feeling. It was exactly what I had been searching for. Sounds corny, but true none the less.

I've been an active member now for 12 months, attending church most Sundays. My DD comes along with me and is enjoying making new friends and learning about Christianity. DD is not Baptised, and I will be leaving it up to her to make that decision for herself when she is old enough and understands what it all means.

In the last month I've been invited along to small group sessions, also known as bible study and that too has been an awesome experience. Not only to finally understand the bible, but the friendships I am making with like minded individuals is incredibly valuable.

I no longer feel so vulnerable and lost. Between the friendships I have formed, a new support network, and my new found love for God, I'm finding life isn't so sh*tty anymore.

[Aeron2]

I grew up in a 'culturally' Jewish household, but not a religious one. I now keep the same sort of household, I don't practice/believe. (I am a humanist and my husband is agnostic. My family have always supported my ideas - we had a secular wedding. My husband's family struggles with it more - they wanted the kids to be baptised and were upset when they were not.)

I don't like pork and I would never dream of eating any prawns as my husband is anaphylactic! So our household tends to be more Jewish than those of many of my Jewish friends.

Because of where I grew up and the places we lived I know enough about Christianity and Islam to blend in. If I go to church/mosque/temple I know what I need to do to look the same as everyone else. It is something I intend to pass onto our kids though I will try to add Buddhism and Hindu to the mix.

For me religion is about belief and not just traditions. My husband's family is Christian so we do Christmas/Easter with his family and Hanukkah/Passover with mine. In our house we have both lots of traditions/decorations/cards/etc. They are not religious holidays they are just time to spend with family.

My DS asked me at 2yrs who Jesus was - we had just been to a baptism, we explained the basic premise and left it at that. He has asked similar questions about the local lady who wears a burka (She answered that one much better than I would of!) and about who Moses is.

Our kids will probably grow up thinking that religion is something 'other' people do.

Interestingly when my husband found out about Shabbat, not long after we started seeing each other, he made it a rule that I do not cook on Friday nights. We go out for dinner or get take-away every week. It is now morphing into a family or date night as well, many places we go have watched me through two pregnancies now - they are very supportive of us bringing the kids in and I have never had any issues with behaviour. (Our local Italian place recently asked if we were Jewish and my DD who is 3 answered - Only if we need to be. That took a bit of explaining.)

I hope my children learn to separate religion from morals and traditions and to accept that each person is entitled to their own thoughts.