How old were you when you decided?

1. 59

   h.a.borcichposted 15 years ago

   Just curious...
     At what age did you become firmly grounded in your religious or nonreligious choice? If you could also share, what was your choice and the deciding factor in your decision?
     Thank you, Holly

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      DogSiDaedposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      When we were being taught religion in slightly more depth in year 4, I guess that'd make me about 9. I asked a lot of questions, and I got no answers. I thought, until I get logical and satisfactory answers to these questions then I can't believe this. And I still haven't gotten any

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         Ohmaposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         This just about says it all for me as well.

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   2. 61

      Jeramiposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         I started writing an answer and then decided that my coments were too detailed and too long. I need to write a book.  The answer to this question; as should most everyone elses be, is; that about half way through Hell, I saw a light.

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   3. 75

      Mikel G Robertsposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      hmmm.... My first experience with/exposure to the concept of a God was at age 13...
      
      I'm not one to take someone elses word for something, and so it was many many years later when I came to the logical conclusion that 'God' was possible...
      
      I now believe in God 'profoundly'. I believe that Jesus existed, but I'm not as convinced that Jesus was/is everything Christianity wants me to believe Jesus was/is. I do not believe the Christian religions have all the answers, and I believe that many of the things they preach as absolutes are incorrect (and in all fairness I find many flaws with all the other religious groups as well).
      
      ...Firmly grounded...
      
      I guess for me the possibility that 'God' existing is still logically a 50/50 proposition. The finite identity of God (the 100% absolute answer to 'What is God') is something humanity in my lifetime will not 'know', (will not be able to provide emperical proof for) of this I am 100% certain. So my 'firmly grounded' and unfounded belief in the existence of God...hmmm.... I guess the beginings of my 'grounded' belief was in 1985-6, I, like most believers have reasons that to an unbeliever will seem unfounded, (they can be termed subjective and not emperical therefore suspect) and they are based solely on 'feelings' and intuition, but for me they are proof...
      
      So I guess the short answer to your question is My firmly grounded belief occured in the 19th or 20th year of my life, roughly 23 years ago.
      
      ...The deciding factor/s... a personal interaction with God, that has been repeated many times since, in as many ways as I could understand or comprehend... all of these interactions are (as I stated earlier) outside the scope of scientificly provable phenomenon, so it won't help convince non-believers, but for me these are the proofs, my personal 'deciding factors'.

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   4. 0

      cosetteposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      it was decided for me when i was 6 when i was sent to Catholic school. we stopped attending church when i was around 13 or so because of something that happened between a priest and my older brother. my parents never told us little kids what it was and my brother never talked about it. shortly after, my father died and then we stopped going to Catholic school, but i still believed. when i was 21 and going to college i stopped believing in the Christian God and Heaven and Hell. that was when i started reading books about other religions or religious experiences (Siddhartha, etc.).
      
      but college didn't make me stop believing, it just didn't make sense to me anymore, although i still loved Jesus. (still do, actually)

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   5. 76

      IntimatEvolutionposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I was born with the choice to believe in Christ, or to believe in nothing.  I gave my son the same right of passage.  I chose the path of Christianity, and my son has chosen the path of Atheism.  He firmly believes that what I believe to be true is nonsense.  And I, vice versa...  At 40, I inclined to believe that if we are to Christ-like we should have been Ebionites, who are basically a group of people who are Jewish and believe that Christ is the son of God. 
      
      However, like I said before I was born with the Choice to believe whatever I wanted to believe.  Christianity just so happened to touch my soul.

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   6. 60

      mohitmisraposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      At the age of twenty four I gained enlightenment in the middle of the Atlantic ocean while working as a Navigating officer in the Merchant Navy, was an atheist before that.

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   7. 77

      AEvansposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I became completely grounded in my religious choice when I was 24 but have always believed since I have been a child. Our parents allowed us to make our own choices and my final decision came when my life went to $%^& and I had some very horrible experiences but once I found my faith again that was the end of what I had endured and a new beginning, my belief is what makes me who I am to this day and I have an unshakeable faith that is hard to break.

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   8. 72

      LeslieAdrienneposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I've loved God all of my life, I made an independent decision for him when I was 15....LIfe got messly and I recommitted my life to Him when I was 21...I been grounded ever since

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   9. 59

      double_frickposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      i grew up christian.
      and then i moved away from my mom at 16 with my non-church-going father. but i was even more hardcore christian than before, when i "had to go" with my mom.
      after less than a year of that though, i told my youth pastor i didn't "feel it" anymore.
      and here i am.
      i still appreciate and pull a lot of my knowledge and spirituality from my past as a fundamentalist christians but i guess my seeking just outgrew the dogmatic belief system.  i needed more, and now i have all that i 'felt' during church and so much more.

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2. 56

   (Q)posted 15 years ago

   Don't the vast majority of people simply take on their parents religion, but with their own spin to it?

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      DogSiDaedposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I didn't. My parents are Christian. Well my mum, and she took me to church and stuff. My dad went along but he never really minded too much. In recent years my mum has dropped conventional religion as well, but for spiritualism instead.

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3. 83

   donotfearposted 15 years ago

   Well now, let's see.  I came to realize & accept Christ as my Savior at age 10 or so.  But I didn't actually become grounded in my faith, or really trust Him, until age 26.  Later, after much study, I switched from the Baptist denomination to the Assembly of God. So there you have the spiritual grounding & later the denominational grounding.

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4. 68

   Mishaposted 15 years ago

   I am still on a fence - whether to believe in FSM, or to stay atheist. Granted, proof of FSM existence is abundant, yet something still holds me from becoming a full fledged pastafarian.

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      DogSiDaedposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      My FSM t-shirt fills me with pride
      I wore it in church once. No-one knew what it was

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5. 65

   SandyMcCollumposted 15 years ago

   Misha - FSM? Not familiar with that, what is it?
   
   I was saved when I was only eight, the only church-going member of a houseful of six. That was a Quaker church. Turned away in my teens to return again in my late 20's by studying with Jehovah's Witnesses for 7 years. Then I went to a Baptist church where I was baptized in 2003 and I'm still there now.
   
   I've seen miracles and that didn't strengthen my Faith, I've been near death more than once and that didn't strengthen my Faith, and even when my prayers were answered it didn't help. I thought I had Faith already, anyway. It wasn't until I was 51 that I truly began to understand what was wanted from me and I began to see the fruits of my efforts, in how Jesus has worked in my life. Now I'm a lifer. I'll never turn away again. (gets down off soapbox now)

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      DogSiDaedposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      FSM is the Flying Spaghetti Monster, the one true Lord

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      Mishaposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Church-Of-T … ti-Monster
      Enjoy

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      donotfearposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Great testimony here!

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6. 69

   Happyontheinsideposted 15 years ago

   It's definitely an ongoing process for me. Every day we see more and more things that change our perspective of the world.

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7. 0

   Brenda Durhamposted 15 years ago

   I've heard about and argued over the FSM before.
   
   He's a parody of the Lord.  The athiest equivalent of their description of how hard it is to believe in such a being as God.

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8. 0

   sneakorocksolidposted 15 years ago

   Hey Holly great thread! It was later in life for me I was lost and no hope for any sanity in the world. With the freaks, gays, thugs, working poor, leadership and government give aways I didn't see any reason to even care what happened to me or anyone else. My exposure to the negativity and coruption in our churches was a total turn-off the same as the slandering of Christians was on the opposite side.
   
   After a lot of meditation and prayer(yes I can think) I examined what I really believed and decided on the most positive church I could find. I have enjoyed the companionship of some of the most loving and compassionate people I've ever known and continue to grow and learn. I'm honored and my family is blessed to be members of the LDS church.

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9. 59

   h.a.borcichposted 15 years ago

   I am really glad to see responses. I just started wondering and thought I would ask everyone.
   
   As for me, I was raised in the Lutheran Church, but it was not much different than a class at school. My Grandma had been "saved" back in the sixties and did her best to share it with me before she died.
     I actually made my decision after hearing a radio ministry - Manna for Today back in 1983 - while I was cleaning a house
   I would say I am an open Bible believer, and have attended the same church since 1995.
   Again, I am not judging anyone's choice, just curious as to how old and why
   Thanks, Holly

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      DogSiDaedposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      You know, I really do appreciate this thread, it's one of the only ones I've seen that asks a question like this without an agenda other than curiosity. Well done!

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10. 68

    wyanjenposted 15 years ago

    
    
    2nd grade.
    
    Santa ÷ Jesus = nogod
    
    Blame my mother. She signed "from Santa" on all the presents in the same handwriting that she used on the ones that said "from Mom".

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11. 66

    marcel285posted 15 years ago

    My primary religion is zen buddism. But i'm also a conspiralist. I's not fully grounded in my religion though, as buddism forbids the consumption of toxins. But i decided and became about 2 years ago, when i was 19-20 yrs old.

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12. 77

    H.C Porterposted 15 years ago

    When I was growing up, my parents taught me and my siblings about different religions-never forcing their personal beliefs on us-just taking the stand as teachers in that area, if we had a question, they answered it. I heard stories of Gilgamesh as well as Noah’s Ark. I learned about Greek Mythology and their Gods. I was taught about Christianity, Buddhism, and Wicca. My mother gave us books and then asked questions to make sure we actually read them on Muslims and Judaism... but when all is said and done, she told us it is up to us as individuals to decide how we believe and what we believe. She stresses that God is here for us no matter which God(s) we decide to believe in. She told us that not one of the religions she told us about was wrong or right-they were just different perceptions of a greater power.
    So I suppose that is how I got my views and do not say that I am Christian or anything for that matter...
    I just say I believe in God- always have, always will.
    
    Hopefully I answered that correctly-and it makes some sense to those who decide to read it...lol

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13. 60

    Colebabieposted 15 years ago

    I just grew up with it. There wasn't a particular age when I chose my beliefs. I grew up knowing what my parents believed and then thought about it for myself. Sure my beliefs progressed, but not at a particular age were they solidified.

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    torimariposted 15 years ago

    I was raised Catholic, and in Catholic school for around 12 years.
    
    I found interest in religions in general as exciting myths rather than sources of enlightenment or empowerment. I just couldn't personally connect. In my early teens I know this but wouldn't admit it as most of my friends and family were staunch in their views.
    
    I really came to terms with it in my early 20's (well, I just turned 23 sooo...20?).
    I can't describe it but fully accepting my atheism brought happiness and relief. I came out of the Atheist closet, persay. ;D

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15. 83

    habeeposted 15 years ago

    I have never doubted the existence of God or Christ.

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16. 68

    goldenpathposted 15 years ago

    I was around twenty.  I wrote about it in my hub, "Children Who Die".  My firstborn died as an infant and we were hit with a borage of doctrine that the child will go to hell if we don't have the child baptized immediately.  This was upsetting and it was wrong.  I knew it was wrong but I needed other doctrine to support my feelings.  After a long search into various religions and schools of thought I found my answers.  The answers tasted good and the answers connected all my questions together into one eternal round.  This was the beginnings of how religion became solidified within me.

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17. 0

    SirDentposted 15 years ago

    I read each comment here and must say that it seems I am the only one who was raised to be a heathen. I was 36 years old when I heard the call of the Lord. No one else heard Him call me out at that time. I didn't hear Him call anyone else out either.

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18. 60

    Colebabieposted 15 years ago

    Did he call you Collect?

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19. 59

    h.a.borcichposted 15 years ago

    Thank you for the honest responses, and I thank all even more for letting it be what I had hoped. See you all tomarrow!

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20. 52

    Chief Apatheticposted 15 years ago

    I was around 5 or 6 when I said I was going to see Jesus.  At the age of 10 he appeared to me in the sky with a book in his hand so what I spoke was fulfilled.
    
    By the age of 8 I already loved God's creation of the earth, but I already knew human beings created little more than misery upon the earth.  And lousy Tv commercials.  That was many many years ago.  And time passed.

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