Were you brought up in your current religion?

[peachmint]

I'm feeling curious about everyone's spiritual journeys. Did you grow up with your religion or come to it later, either from a secular background or from another religion?

My family background is Catholic and I decided it wasn't for me a long time ago for various reasons. I saw myself as agnostic for a long time, but a few years ago I started to feel like something was missing, began going to my local Anglican church and loved it.

What about everyone else?

I was brought up an atheist, started going to (CofE) church in my teens, then relapsed into atheism, then went back to church again in my forties. Atheism just didn't work for me! I'm the only person in my close family ever to have been to a proper church service (ie not carol services or funerals, but a regular Sunday service).

Had a secular upbringing. My parents were disinterested in religion, neither for or opposed. I started going to Sunday school when I was 9, became a Christian at a Billy Graham mission when I was 11 and then continued church going on and off until my early 30's. Now an atheist in that, for me, I don't have enough evidence for there being a deity that is interested in humanity.

No! DM was a Unitarian, DF was Jewish but converted to Catholicism, and is probably responsible for my rejection of mainstream religion. I have been Pagan since my early teens, other than a few years when I tried to embrace the Catholic church. Nowadays I find it hard to find a label that fits - i don't believe in god or gods in the sense it is usually meant but do believe all living things are spiritual in nature, so i suppose i'm a pagan atheist!

Catholic mother, C of E Father. No real pressure to be religious. Became agnostic for many years, but felt a big gap in my life. Returned to Catholicism and gap now well and truly filled !

Yes, brought up in a Quaker family and still attend regularly.

My dad took me to Sunday school but never went to church himself. I remember being young about 7-10 maybe and thinking 'How on earth can they believe this stuff. It's all made up - why is if being presented as fact' I now consider myself an atheist

Father was Catholic, now a reborn Christian. Mother was Protestant but very involved in our Catholic education as children. She says she considers herself Catholic, but she's never converted.

I am secular, based on my background.

Brought up relaxed Catholics, religion was rarely discussed in the house but we did go to Mass.
Became an atheist at around 18, demanded proof of everything, sneered when my Dad said that he had been the same but then gradually came back to religion. No way would I do that!
Gradually realised that there is something more than this existence but figured that if I were God and wanted my "souls" to develop in an isolated environment, I would put them there and not make myself or Heaven findable.
Am now kind of a spiritualist, I suppose. My dd died which makes me very aware of all this. Don't go to any church, stopped praying when expat's Aillidh died but "know" that we live eternally.

Brought up fairly relaxed "doesn't really affect our lives" Church of Scotland.

Spent a period in my late teens/early 20s being very evangelical.

Sort of became more muted after that for several years.

Moved house and joined a local baptist church 10 years ago. Now we go to a smaller, local baptist church with a very strong social responsibility ethos - though we have only 30 adult members we run a food bank, provide furniture for families fleeing dv and who are recently housed with no resources, provide new baby packs to vulnerable mothers, run parties for deprived children (and we never mention anything except that church meets on Sunday at 11).

I can live with this faith. My dc all come along, but dd1 13 has recently decided she wants to identify as Christian "because then everyone wins".

My parents were devout Christians. My father died with his Bible at his bedside. My mother continues to attend Church on a regular basis. I became Wiccan in my early twenties. I have always been interested in Judaism. Fate sent a Jewish man into my life. I converted to Judaism shortly after we married. Our daughter is Jewish and is being raised in the faith. My older children follow the Catholic faith of their father. We are a crazy interfaith family!

I was brought up as an athiest I am now a wiccan.

Neither of my parents were religious. I took myself off to C of E Sunday School when young, later joined church choir. Left when went to university. 15 years later started looking for a church that could cope with me and my then 3 DSs, aged 3, 2 & 6months (DS2 autistic). God led me to the local evangelical Baptist church, DS4 was dedicated there. I was baptised by total immersion in 2000 and am still a Baptist.

Both my parents are jewish. I was raised in a well nonGod Jewish household (that's how my dad describes it anyway)
We use to go to Shul on the days it mattered but I think just because that is what they were use to, Did the holidays and a few mitzvahs - The stereotypical jewish stuff.
I would still class my self in the same way.

My mother wasn't a member but I went to church with my best friend (LDS) and have been since I was 6, wasn't baptised till my late teens. I do not attend church now, but I am still LDS x

I was brought up catholic in N.I but always knew it was a crock of shit.

Seeing my home town blown up and my friend killed when I was 18 kinda confirmed things for me.

I am a passionate anti-theist.

I was brought up CofE, joined a fairly rabid evangelical house church in my teens then became atheist for a good decade. During my 30's I was a pagan and now am best described as a pagan atheist - i.e. I find the myths, rituals and symbolism beautiful and enriching but don't believe in any gods, goddesses or other spiritual entities.

I would think it fairly common to be very different from your parents, it always surprises me on MN that people expect to decide for their children.

I was brought up in Kirant Mundhum by my grandparents but my mother converted to Islam when I was 5, and I moved back to her at 9, and quickly became quite religious. Am now agnostic.

I was brought up CofE but questioned things at middle school, was an agnostic for years but am not athiest.

I was brought up agnostic. Went to a pretty multicultural, multifaith school and always wondered how anyone could choose a particular faith. Became a Christian at uni following a trip to Africa with some friends and friends of friends, one of whom was a Christian. Rather a sudden lifestyle change that surprised some of my mates I think!

Baptised but parents were essentially agnostic and didn't bother going to church except for weddings etc. I became interested in paganism as a teen and have been that way for many years now, although my expression of it has changed somewhat and sometimes come full circle too. Same applies to DH save that his background was Jewish, parents were atheist and he came to a pagan path a bit later.

I was brought up methodist and attended catholic school. I'm now pagan

I was brought up C of E and was sent to Sunday School although my parents didn't go to church.

I became agnostic during my teens but much to my surprise had a experience of the Holy Spirit during my first year at university so I started going to church to try and work out what this was all about. I now work for the Church of England.