We all like to think that we can believe whatever we want. The truth of the matter is however, that that's not always true. Sometimes we are forced to believe something even if we do not agree with it or we have been so convinced about something that we believe it without question.
Some of you are going to hate me for this but oh well...most of you have religious back rounds and therefore most of you believe in the religion that you were taught and most of you have accepted this without question. Some of you it seems, almost follow religion blindly.
In my opinion, none of you had the choice in your beliefs. At a young age you were all raised within religion and you were taught what you know now and have accepted it without having the chance to have a belief of your own. I know this sounds cynical but it's true. Ask yourself, "Were you ever given the choice in your beliefs or were you almost forced to believe something?"
Hopefully your honest with yourselves, or maybe I'm way off base here, but you were never given the choice. Your parents believed in a religion and forced you to believe in it as well but at the same time convinced you that it was your belief.
Basically I'm saying that not all of us have the freedom we thought we had in our beliefs. For those of you who are religious, it's what you believe now, believed years ago and will probably continue to believe for years to come. That's the harsh reality of it, most of you have been brainwashed into it and yet think that its of your own choice.
I'm not saying however that it doesn't work the other way. I'm, as most of you know, very atheist and I came to that belief on my own terms. I was in a Catholic school for all of my elementary school years and believed in God. When I got older though, I drastically changed my beliefs. This was in no small terms do to my family. I get all my atheists thoughts from my parents and yet they never criticized me for believing in God. They allowed me to believe what I wanted and accepted my decision.
This is why I think that most of you are lacking the freedom to believe what you want. I was entitled to my own beliefs for my whole life and have never been forced to believe anything I didn't want.
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I hope some of our religious classmates comment on this, Matt. Controversy is fun :P I also feel that religion is in a way a form of brain-washing. Some of the ideas of Christianity seem completely ridiculous to me. I am open to the possibility of a god and maybe even miracles etc., but I won't believe in things that seem illogical simply for the sake of having something to believe in. Most religions started a very long time ago to, probably to explain the mysteries of the ancient world. With science we have a much better understanding of the way things work. Scientific discoveries often oppose religious views. Since we no longer need faith to explain our world, it seems illogical not to abandon many of our religious views.
ReplyDeleteFirst, you say religious people beleive because of their parents, but if your parents are atheist isnt that the same situation? but thats not my point. I would like to say that although my parents took me to church when i was younger, they have their own doubts, and also gave me a choice at a certain age whether i wanted to continue going or not. I stopped, and I have to admit I didn't believe for a long time. But things happened, and I started going to church again. I still struggle with what I really beleive some days, but my parents never talk to me about it, I most definitely make my own choices and Im not forced into anything.(and i stopped going to church). This is a choice every person needs to make on their own, without even family help. It is completely personal, and even I havent quite figured it out yet
ReplyDeletewho's Jallan?
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't really think it's brainwashing. I have been taught at a young age that God is real, and my parents have brought me to church ever since i was little. and it may appear as though my parents have forced their beliefs onto me, but isn't that what parents do with a lot of things? also, i think that "monkey see monkey do" and so a lot of us have seen and noticed what our parents believe about some things, so i think we sometimes naturally accept these morals and beliefs as our own.
Over the years I have had doubts about my faith as a christian but i have still stuck to christianity not because i have been forced to but because it's what i think is the truth. Plus, i think i'm old enough now to decide for myself and be a critical thinker of what i'm believing.
Jallan is Joyce Allan lol...right? Haha
ReplyDeleteHmm, Jillian I guess what your saying is true how you are old enough to come up with your own beliefs and ways of viewing things and I totally agree with you. However, there are certain religions and some families who would be totally against one of their children choosing a different belief other than the one the family is choosing. Not saying that its yours haha.
I think an interesting experiment that you could try, not that you have to, but pretend that you are losing faith in Christianity and see how your family reacts. It could be interesting but who knows haha its your choice.
Joyce, you said that families with aetheists ideas were the same way. I totally agree with you. However, like I said earlier, I was once all up with religion but then chose my own beliefs. When I did believe in God my parents were totally cool with it. I was even able to force them to go to church haha. I do however think that they didn't really care what I belived so long as it wasn't anything along the lines of Nazism haha. So I personnally have always had a choice in my belief.
Shea, I totally agree haha! We have all this scientific evidence proving things that were once explained through religion, a specific example in Greek mythology being that the Minotaur buried under the Earth caused earthquakes.
But now, with all these scientific discoveries, it still is amazing how blind some people are. Like there are certain things that people can still rely on religion for, such as the creation of the universe cuz well no one really knows about that haha. I only hope that they won't let their beliefs cloud scientific proof or hey! It might even be the other way around haha who knows! Oh well its a mystery for another day...
I hate to be annoying and leave many comments but oh well, this is a blog. First of all I would just like to point out that mythology and religion are quite different. It may not seem that way to some people, especially if they don't follow a specific religion, but I think they are. Also I would like to say that I rely on science for alot... why does it have to be one or the other, science or religion? Matt, I think you have an interesting point of view because you believed then didn't, and this might be too personal but do you mind me asking why you so drastically changed your beliefs? oh one last thing, I would just like to say I think its great that so many of us have supporting families that let us make our own choices when it comes to this issue. Whether a person believes in God or not affects their life, and no one would be happy if they couldnt choose their own path.
ReplyDeleteP.S. haha that was a stupid question. I now figured out who "Jallan" is. Haha Sorry Joyce.
ReplyDeleteDearest Charles (Joyce to everyone else haha)
ReplyDeleteHow exactly are mythology and religion different? They are both beliefs in a higher being or beings used to explain the unknown. The only difference being that greek mythology is somewhat more primitive, and yes i realise that that isn't a good word choice haha.
But also, I just want to point on that I'm not trying to pick on Christianity. You guys are all saying how you have a choice in religion and maybe your right. I dont really know. In certain cultures however, they don't and this is where I'm trying to get my point across. In certain extreme Muslim cases, it is forbidden for women to show their faces in public. How do you think a girl who had chosen to abandon her religion would be accpeted by her family if she chose to show her face. She would probabaly be executed or at least disowned from her family. I know that that is an extreme case but it does however prove my point. Not everyone has a choice in their beliefs and this is mostly due to religion.
And Joyce, I don't really know why I chose to stop believing in Christianity. I just like, this sounds harsh, but grew up. I decided to start thinking for myself and I came up with aetheist thoughts.
Dearest Charles
ReplyDeleteI am disappointed you forgot my name is Da Kurrls. I should shun you. However I feel the need to comment further.
First, you werent harsh, just brutally honest, which is a quality I quite enjoy in you. I can undderstand what you mean by that, so I feel no need to adress that further. Second, I would like to point out that Christianity specifically, focuses on one God, how he created us, etc, and how the actions of the humans he created has affected what he does in return (and believed to be true writings). Classic Greek mythology is a set of legends and myths (said to be untrue) about heroes and multiple Gods, mythical creatures, and made up to explain everyday occurences such as thunder, or a spider's markings, or the 4seasons. Im not explaining this well, and although I am skeptical of some things in the bible, I believe it is more realistic than myths, simply because there is one God, and because the stories, although sometimes unbelievable are not filled with mythical creatures. Mythology to me just sounds like stories, and you notice that they teach them in public schools but not the bible? Also the gods in the Greek myths are more like immortal humans. They make mistakes, are mean, sometimes spiteful,jealous, etc(its crazy some of those old stories). Although I will admit they are higher beings explaining unknown, like you said above. I will say though that from what I gather of the bible (I havent really read it so feel free to correct me if you have) that its not so much explaining the unknown, as just telling, in the new testament, the story of the life of Jesus? Wow I wrote alot. Sorry!