I regularly discuss religion with people who both agree and, more commonly, disagree with me. I think this is an important aspect in self development and allows you to not only grow as a person but also understand both sides of an argument. In my various discussions, with people from all sorts of backgrounds and socio-economic groups, I’ve noticed a strong trend in those who are religious. It seems as though the vast majority, upwards of 95% I would estimate, find religion through one of two means. I’ve explained each of the two means below, and I’d be interested in your thoughts on each.
Rise
By far the most common way to become religious is to simply be raised religious. It happens all the time, and allows sects and fundamentalist groups to thrive within confined and controlled environments. Take the Westboro Baptist Church for example. Their beliefs are, to many, conflicting with good Christian values, yet their leader claims to be one of the best versed people on the planet when it comes to the scriptures.
Yet those within the church accept the teachings of Fred Phelps without question, so the question has to be asked, why? For many, the simple answer lies in their susceptibility to Phelps’ charisma (an interesting aside, one of the best definitions of charisma I’ve seen stated that an attribute of a charismatic person is the ability to resist other charismatic people) and authoritative way. For others, they are simply raised as part of the extended family and know no difference. I’d highly recommend this documentary by British journalist Louis Theroux. One of the most telling aspects of that documentary is the responses given the Theroux by the children he talks to. They don’t know any different, and they believe everything that protest, even though they don’t understand it.
The Westboro Baptist Church is an extreme example, but in reality, it’s no different to the situation being played out up and down the country, and all around the world. Children are being formally and informally indoctrinated into religion without really understanding it. This is something organised religion relies upon in order to perpetuate. Trying to convert developed adults, people who aren’t vulnerable, is difficult because they understand religion and can question it. They can see the obvious, gaping chasms in the logic of religion and rightly reject it. Children do not possess these skills, and in the end just become vulnerable victims of organised religion.
The baptism or christening of a child is, quite frankly, a crime against decency and should be punished as such. I always find it strange that we restrict the age at which people can drink, or get married, to protect them, to ensure they have developed mentally to the point where they can freely make informed decisions. Yet we allow children, babies even, to be indoctrinated in to a cult.
Fall
I mentioned above that it is difficult to convert adults to religion. The exception are those people who really want, or need something else to be out there. These people find themselves in difficult or traumatic circumstances and simply can’t cope. Talking to religious people, as I do, I have found that the vast majority of those who came to religion later in life did so in the midst of some form of traumatic event.
The explanation for this should be immediately apparent. People want something else, they want a way to absolve themselves of responsibility. They want something else to blame, or they want something else to do the hard work for them so they can get out of the situation they find themselves in.
One of the most common examples you’ll hear of, where people come late to religion, is a person who has lost everything, their job, their house, their money and their family. Then they “find God” and get back on their feet. What doesn’t get acknowledged is the fact that they have been helped by people working on the premise that they will receive help in exchange for joining the religious group providing the help. It’s the classic missionary scenario – “before God we had nothing, now we’ve found God we have running water and crops”.
The classic debate relating to these situations goes like so: –
- The Religious say that when people open up their hearts to God in their hour of need, God will help them.
- The Non-Religious say that vulnerable people are being exploited, they want something to blame, to take control, and that it’s easier to believe in something when you really want, or need it to be true.
You will of course know which side of the argument I stand on. In much the same way I don’t believe Children should be indoctrinated in religion, I don’t believe people in a vulnerable position should be either.
You’ll notice that both means described above rely on exploiting those who are vulnerable. Either through age or circumstance. This is a consistent thread throughout different religions and cults. It is difficult to convince people of something that isn’t true, and has no evidence to present unless they are in a compromised position, or are unable to logically assess the premise you are putting forward.
I would agree religous people are either brought up that way or else convert later. What other alternatives are there? But I think you are making some interesting assumptions:
Rise
Yes, this is the normal way to experience religion, and the religious views of the parents will inescapably effect the children. It is a tragedy when fundamentalists merely indoctrinate (as opposed to educate) their children. I hope I am not guilty of that. But this is equally true of atheists or anyone else who has an opinion on anything. Don’t think that simply waiting until your child is 18 and then suddenly being able to choose from a ‘clean slate’ is possible. By that time TV and their peers will have induced them into the semi-coma that modern adults have become accustomed to. True religiosity is a feature of almost all cultures. It is atheism that has arisen relatively recently, which is one of the reasons that culture in the full sense is declining. Baptism or its equivalent is a perfectly normal procedure. To make it a crime would be equivalent to making the religion itself a crime, for it is the natural expression within a family. Indoctrinating a child with atheism can be just as dangerous… fundamentalist atheists (like Dawkins) abound. It is really a kind of anti-religion, and has its own set of beliefs and justifications of a particularly damaging kind on society.
Fall
Yes, it is difficult to change religions (or pick or drop one) because very simply it is difficult to move between cultures. Ask anyone who has married someone of another race. Religion is not just a matter of a few beliefs so memorise and be able to spit out when required, but much deeper than this. At least true religion!
Regarding your analysis of religious motivation:
I agree that tragedy can often be the spark for religious feeling. The adage that there are no atheists in foxholes is probably reasonably true. But that should not cast aspersion on the person who is seeking existential answers and finds that religion provides them. The motives vary enormously in my own experience. It is far too simplistic to assert that it is “a way to absolve themselves of responsibility.” Even in the case that the disaster is their own fault, often it is a way to take full responsibility in a way that could otherwise be impossible.
People in difficult circumstances often turn to religious because it is frequently amongst these people and only here that true charity can be found. While governmental social services can be a help they are normally completely functionary – a totally non-human way of relating to another human being. But if you think that Mother Teresa, say, was simply out to convert poor innocent Hindus by saving them from starvation, you clearly don’t know much about her.
Finally I would like to add that of course people in a difficult situation will be curious about the motives driving someone willing to go out of their way to help. Would you simply prefer Mother Teresa to have stayed indoors or pretended that actually her faith had no part of her interest in the sick and dying? People in hard circumstances need more than “logical premises”! But charity is certainly more convincing yet, because it is real and not just in the head.
Finally, I would like to add that there is another signficant (and rising) type of convert: one who is intellectually dissatisfied with the atheism, or better, agnosticism of the age. These are people who have no particular emotional or physical difficulty, but grapple with the ultimate questions of life, existence, death and eternity and are not content to accept the dogma (that is all it is) that the universe (and therefore their life) is simply a meaningless accident.
Jonathan – There is a difference between converting to religion later in life (your interpretation of my point) and converting to religion later in life because of a traumatic event (my point).
The difference between making religion illegal and making baptism illegal is that people are free to practice their own religion. Children are not free to opt out of a baptising. It is a limit of the freedoms they should have been born with.
You also seem to be suggesting that people can’t be left until a certain age without religious influence because there are other external factors that would taint their opinion anyway. Wouldn’t God have entered their lives without religion being pushed on them by their parents? Are you afraid that without the constant interjection of religion into their lives they would be free to explore the options and fairly assess them? It certainly comes across that way.
I’d also question your assertion that becoming religious after a traumatic experience is “a way to take full responsibility in a way that could otherwise be impossible”. They are joining a club that guarantees forgiveness and tells them that everything is part of their creator’s plan. If it is part of a plan, then it was always going to happen regardless of what actions they took. That doesn’t sounds like they are taking responsibility, quite the opposite in fact.
I’ve never met anyone who has been intellectually dissatisfied with atheism. The great thing about atheism is that it is constantly providing answers. Unlike a fixed text written thousands of years ago (that has already been proven inaccurate and contradictory), it is evolving as science provides us with more information, more answers, and more questions. Anyone who is intellectually dissatisfied with atheism is inherently dissatisfied with learning and curiosity. Religion will never provide more answers than it currently does because the holy books cannot be added to, they can only be interpreted differently (and we know Jesus’s view on that). On the other hand, I’ve met many agnostics who come to the inevitable opinion that at some point they have to make a decision, most become atheists. I’ve also met many many people who have left religion because they have found the answers they have been given to be inaccurate and insufficient, and the teachings to be intolerant and nonsensical.
I’ll just close by saying this. If you are not content to accept that your life is “just a meaningless accident”, maybe you should start living it to its fullest. I am content in my life, I don’t have a need to feel like I’m part of some great plan, and quite frankly I pity those that do have that inadequacy.
I was never intellectually dissatisfied with atheism. I became Catholic because the inner satisfaction was, for me, a forgone conclusion. My spirit is with Jesus and I love science and how it reveals God’s methods.
Jonathan – What do you mean, exactly, by “there are no atheists in foxholes”?
It true, the statements made to begin this conversation, I agree with. The average believer in God were taught while growing up. And there are many who believe in God thru a diffcult or traumatic experience.
So, what’s wrong with that??? Belief in God has to be taught. Otherwise, probably nobody will believe in God. And if belief in God develops thru a diffcult moment in life, I think it aids to the creditability of belief in God.
But I don’t think it matters how a person gets their religion. What matters is the value of it.
What many people don’t know is Religion is a way of life. How someone practice living everyday according to purpose, beliefs, and/or truth. For example: some people religiously are vegatarian; or some people religiously go jogging everyday. So whether your religion is well-known and practice by many or whether your religion is only known and practice by you; everybody in the world has a Religion (a way and practice of living life).
So, I believe everyone is religious and whether it was develop while growing up or found outside the home, the value is the root and heart of it.
Now pure religion is rooted in Truth and the heart is Love. Without truth and love, the way a person live is destined to end. But the infallible truth and pure love can survive no matter what. And there is only one pure religion.
As a person who was raised in an extremely religious, cult-like environment, you couldn’t be more correct in my opinion. As a child, I was surrounded by adults who “found Jesus” after a traumatic life event proved too much to cope with. I have never met an adult who became a very religious person without either experiencing a horrible life event or mental illness. It is very obvious to me that religion is a means of escaping the nature of reality.A religious person is like a child that never wants to grow up…peter pan syndrome if you will.
Can you please define the term “religious” people. Is it possible to accept the fact that all religions of the world have been distorted and that we have too few really “religios people”. Did Lord Jesus creat the religion of Christianity or is the Bible a guide towards the spiritual evolution of mankind which can be interpreted by true religious people.
Well, I became Christian because, after being atheist for my whole life, I was curious about the Church, so I went to its Mass. I became curious about the Mass, so I read about Catholicism and a book about the Mass. I was curious about the power of prayer and prayed that I could hear God and belief in Jesus. I prayed 3 times a day for months. One day, I felt it in me. Call it self hypnosis, whatever.
I went through RCIA classes, after, and decided that believing was right for me and allowing Jesus into my heart and life completely felt right.
And now I’m a complete believer, reading the Bible every day, praying more than 3 times a day, and knowing that having repented my sins daily, and believing in my heart and lips that Jesus died for all of us that God will determine my salvation upon death.
I do want everyone to see this for themselves but know that, being sinners, most won’t. So, I prayer for them too.
I never was brought up this way. I didn’t get down on my luck. I found it all on my own.