Has anyone ever switched religions? Why?

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   tiffany deliteposted 11 years ago

   Has anyone ever switched religions? Why?
   
   There are so many different religions in the world, it quite be quite frustrating to choose a church home and be sure that you are making the right choice for your soul. I wonder how many fellow hubbers have ever changed religions? How has that affected your spiritual life and/or your relationship with God?

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   Daniella Lopezposted 11 years ago

   I was raised a Christian. But as a teenager, I left that faith and was sort of doing my own thing for several years. I am now a Pagan who practices Gaia/Green Witchcraft. So kind of total opposite ends of the spectrum.

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   1. 74

      tiffany deliteposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      thanks for your answer...a lot of people are totally turned off when they hear anyone speak of witchcraft, but i have read up on it a tad and from what i can tell it is like in other religions in that it's main focus/source of power flows from "good"

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   Radical Rogposted 11 years ago

   Perhaps you should ask why there are so many different religions. For example, all so called Christianity can be traced back to a religion following the God of Moses and Abraham. All of the Islamic religions also trace back to this same single religion following the God of Abraham and Moses, but while all these disparate groups proclaim love and mercy and forgiveness, they've spent every moment of those years killing and slaughtering each other in the name of a God who is, when you delve into it, the same God, the God of Moses and Abraham.
   If you are concerned about your soul, the last thing you need is to follow any religion, follow your spirit instead. It's quite capable of leading you if only you let it and stop following, as Jesus said, the blind leading the blind.

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   1. 74

      tiffany deliteposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      i have explored this question before to some extent. what i now believe is that no single religion has an "exclusive pathway to God" so to speak. i also believe we are responsible for our own relationship with God.

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   2. 0

      Deborah Sextonposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      War becomes necessary sometimes
      Ecclesiastes 3:3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
      You are judging and think it’s better than war and that you know more than God

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   lburmasterposted 11 years ago

   Yes. I morphed from Christian Baptist to Christian-Muslim. After growing up in Christian Baptist churches, my family moved to Texas where I realized anyone can be a preacher in Texas. Upset with the church, I discovered the Muslim religion and studied on their history a bit. Realizing they were more peaceful of a religion, I read the Koran and analyzed the passages with the Bible in mind. They were so close, I decided to be Muslim rather than Baptist. For the few years while being upset with the churches and church goers around me, I stayed away from the church and disliked anyone who attempted to talk to me about the faith. Once I found the Koran, a lot of pieces fell into place and though I do not attend church, I am much more religious at home. My faith has definately improved and I am just as religious as I was at age 12. The thrilling astonishment a child finds in church is alive in me at this point and I'm proud to be back to that moment in my life.
   Most Baptist churches I've been in don't consider the person, only the problem. For example, if you tell them you have a disorder, they will instantly ask "how do you get rid of it". ....What if I don't want the disorder gone? Then they take it upon themselves, not to gather others to help get you to go to their side, but to "transform you" on their own. They figure personal goals should only be focused on the message of the church and that any goals beyond that are worthless and should be ignored and left behind.
   I don't agree with this. Personally, I'm too focused on personal achievement in all areas of an individuals life, not just spiritually.

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      tiffany deliteposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      i agree. one's emotional, physical, and social aspects are just as much part of them as the spiritual and therefore must not be neglected but often are. i found this to be true in the church i was raised in as well.

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   Larry Wallposted 11 years ago

   I was raised in the Southern Baptist Church. My wife is Catholic. I converted, so people will say I did it to please her. We were married about eight years before I made the decision to convert. For the first couple years of our marriage, we attended both Catholic and Baptist services. I had a hell, fire and brimstone preacher, who was a little too intense for my wife.
   
   As I began to understand Catholicism better, and realized that by converting, I did not have to give up any core beliefs, but only add to those beliefs, the decision was easy. I made that decision 24 years ago and have never regretted it. I was in one Hub discussion where a person said I have doomed myself to eternal damnation for leaving the Baptist church and to follow the idolatry teachings of the Catholic church. The Catholic church does not practice idolatry. It practices intercessory prayer, just like Baptists and other religion. Catholics believe that all prayers are answered by God. However, as the Catholic mass states,
   "I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
   all the Angels and Saints,
   and you, my brothers and sisters,
   to pray for me to the Lord our God."
   As a Baptist I was taught that all people become saints when they die. The Catholic Church canonizes some saints, who have been associated with miracles as a result of people asking for that Saint's intercession. There are more similarities between some Protestant religions and Catholicism than people realize or are willing to admit. I did a Hub on understanding the Catholic Church. I urge you to read that and the comments.

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      tiffany deliteposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      being raised in the united pentecostal church, i came to believe there were no such thing as "hell, fire, and brimstone" baptist preachers! lol. in attending a southern baptist as an adult, i realized there are actually many similarities with the two

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   Deborah Sextonposted 10 years ago

   Absolutely. I converted to Judaism when I was 18. Then I met my Jewish husband and married him when I was 21.
   
   I converted after learning Hebrew and was able to interpret the Bible the way the Jews do. I saw it was very different from the English Bible and couldn't continue on what I felt and still feel, was the wrong path. After my conversion I have been happy in all areas of my life. My family has been a source of a lot of joy. I believe my converting has a lot to do with it.
   
   I believe in more tht is written and I am very eclectic

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