3 ms·

> You can choose your religion I don't know... can you? It's not like picking your favourite bread in the super market, from a religious persons POV they may

> You can choose your religion I don't know... can you? It's not like picking your favourite bread in the super market, from a religious persons POV they may of: - Been brought up in the environment - External pressures from relatives/society - In some cases institutionalised to their religion - Felt some strong emotional connection to the religion - Experienced some kind of religious experience that binds them to their religion I don't believe in God, but I think saying people are just picking and choosing isn't fair or accurate and shows perhaps a lack of understanding about the subject matter

eloisant 12y ago
People living in a secular democracy can distance themselves from the religion they were raised into. A lot of them do actually, and convert from one religion to another or become atheists. People living in a totalitarian state can not always pick their religion (as in "the official religion is mandatory") but that's not a reason to restrict freedom of speech, including freedom to criticise religions, in our democracies.
chriswarbo 12y ago
> I don't know... can you? Yes. You're listing reasons why people might choose to join/stick-with a religion. The fact that there are (social/psychological) arguments for or against doesn't mean it's not a choice. The fact that it may require courage to choose the unorthodox option doesn't mean it's not a choice. There's also a distinction between what someone believes and what they appear to believe. Many people go through the motions for the social acceptance, but don't believe any of it. > saying people are just picking and choosing isn't fair or accurate and shows perhaps a lack of understanding about the subject matter I agree with this, but I don't think anyone's saying that religion is a "pick and choose" affair. Most religious people were indoctrinated into their particular religion, but as independent adults they can still choose whether to continue with their religion, abandon it or switch to another one. It would be nice if religion truly were a case of "pick and choose", eg. as a child. At least that way, children would see that there are alternatives, and that their parent's religion isn't irrefutable.
jawns 12y ago
I agree with you that your religion is not necessarily something you can choose, but because of another bullet point: - You sincerely believe it to be true. If you don't have a doubt in your mind that something is true (e.g. that torture is never morally justifiable, or that God doesn't exist because of Epicurus' trilemma, or that an unborn baby has a right to life, or that objective truths exist) then to say that you could "choose" to believe something else is not quite accurate. And since a religion is, fundamentally, a collection of truth assertions, it's not necessarily true that you can "choose" it intellectually. Whether you are free to choose it socially or legally is another story. In many places, converting to another religion can be a very dangerous thing to do.

eloisant 12y ago

People living in a secular democracy can distance themselves from the religion they were raised into. A lot of them do actually, and convert from one religion to another or become atheists. People living in a totalitarian state can not always pick their religion (as in "the official religion is mandatory") but that's not a reason to restrict freedom of speech, including freedom to criticise religions, in our democracies.

chriswarbo 12y ago

> I don't know... can you? Yes. You're listing reasons why people might choose to join/stick-with a religion. The fact that there are (social/psychological) arguments for or against doesn't mean it's not a choice. The fact that it may require courage to choose the unorthodox option doesn't mean it's not a choice. There's also a distinction between what someone believes and what they appear to believe. Many people go through the motions for the social acceptance, but don't believe any of it. > saying people are just picking and choosing isn't fair or accurate and shows perhaps a lack of understanding about the subject matter I agree with this, but I don't think anyone's saying that religion is a "pick and choose" affair. Most religious people were indoctrinated into their particular religion, but as independent adults they can still choose whether to continue with their religion, abandon it or switch to another one. It would be nice if religion truly were a case of "pick and choose", eg. as a child. At least that way, children would see that there are alternatives, and that their parent's religion isn't irrefutable.

jawns 12y ago

I agree with you that your religion is not necessarily something you can choose, but because of another bullet point: - You sincerely believe it to be true. If you don't have a doubt in your mind that something is true (e.g. that torture is never morally justifiable, or that God doesn't exist because of Epicurus' trilemma, or that an unborn baby has a right to life, or that objective truths exist) then to say that you could "choose" to believe something else is not quite accurate. And since a religion is, fundamentally, a collection of truth assertions, it's not necessarily true that you can "choose" it intellectually. Whether you are free to choose it socially or legally is another story. In many places, converting to another religion can be a very dangerous thing to do.