Religion
In reply to the discussion: Faith is the excuse we give ourselves to believe things without good reason [View all]Starboard Tack
(11,181 posts)My mother taught me to say a couple of prayers at bedtime, which I was OK with up to the age of seven. It had been told that Jesus was the son of God and that God saw and heard everything and had created everything, including me. Sounded OK until I started going to Sunday school at age six. Didn't last long. I asked too many questions and was basically expelled. It was a normal C of E Sunday school, nothing extreme, but I couldn't get my head around the miracle stuff. Couldn't figure out why the Son of God needed to prove himself and why weren't we all the children of God. That kind of stuff. So, my parents, who were not religious but thought some kind of religious grounding was OK, sent my brother and me to a Congregationalist Sunday school, which was a little better, but I still had the same questions and stopped going after a few months. No further interest until I was about thirteen and wanted a social life. So, I started attending church to find friends. Dull vicar (C of E), so I switched churches and started attending another in the next village (also C of E). Loved the vicar (and his 2 daughters), very liberal, cool guy. I liked him so much, I made a conscious choice to believe, got confirmed, became a server at communion 3 times every Sunday. I believed, but wasn't totally convinced. Then, one Sunday, the vicar delivered the most scathing sermon I've ever heard, criticizing his own congregation for their hypocrisy and he was right. I remained friends with him, but stopped attending.
My "belief" in God was never more than a metaphor. I always perceived God as a concept like infinity. Pointless trying to prove or disprove either. Spirituality is a whole other thing.
Point is, choices don't have to made in moments of revelation. They can be the result of endless years of doubt and indecision, but they are still choices.
If I tell you I've seen a UFO, it is your choice to believe it or not. If you see a UFO, it is also your choice to believe it and/or interpret it.