Can humans "choose" religion?

[Hugohk]

<Messed up, undeletable post>

[The Seleucids (Ancient)]

First of all, nobody is born with a religion. A religion is something you get after you where born.

People are also raised with the opinions and views of their parents, that doesn't mean that they don't develope their own views and opinions at some point. Sure, most of us are raised with a certain religion, but over here one can change if he/she wants to. I'm raised as a Christian, though i don't believe in the Christian faith at all, i chose not to believe in it.

[Hugohk]

So converts aren't real. Those white people who grew up in first world countries and then went to the Himalayas to become Buddhist monks were conditioned to do so?

What do you mean "aren't real"? Of course they are, but something in their upbringing made them question the beliefs they were raised on. Which caused them to search for answers elsewhere.[/quote]

[The Unites State-Of-Minds]

First of all, nobody is born with a religion. A religion is something you get after you where born.

People are also raised with the opinions and views of their parents, that doesn't mean that they don't develope their own views and opinions at some point. Sure, most of us are raised with a certain religion, but over here one can change if he/she wants to. I'm raised as a Christian, though i don't believe in the Christian faith at all, i chose not to believe in it.

See? This guy gets it.

[Valkalan]

Upon achieving adulthood, an individual should have some level of awareness that whatever faith or lack thereof he or she was inculcated with through childhood is not the only possible faith. Alternatives are often controversial and individuals are incentivized to conform to whatever faith is mainstream in their environment. Nonetheless, the choice exists to adopt an alternative faith or none at all.

[Hugohk]

Was the metaphor unclear, do you think?

Actually, it was wrong. No such thing as a "Christian Hat", dis-including the Pope's Bunny hat, really exists, however a Jewish hat exists, like the Kippah/Yarmulke

I for one do not believe that a metaphor can be "wrong".

Please respond, was it unclear what he meant? Was it necessary to correct him?

[The Sotoan Union]

So converts aren't real. Those white people who grew up in first world countries and then went to the Himalayas to become Buddhist monks were conditioned to do so?

What do you mean "aren't real"? Of course they are, but something in their upbringing made them question the beliefs they were raised on. Which caused them to search for answers elsewhere.

Well we digress.

In general I feel that discussions about free will never go anywhere. Both sides can find ways to support their arguments from the exact same information and scenarios.

[Conscentia]

First of all, nobody is born with a religion. A religion is something you get after you where born.

People are also raised with the opinions and views of their parents, that doesn't mean that they don't develope their own views and opinions at some point. Sure, most of us are raised with a certain religion, but over here one can change if he/she wants to. I'm raised as a Christian, though i don't believe in the Christian faith at all, i chose not to believe in it.

I doubt it. It's impossible for one to decide what to believe.

[Faiv]

Who stops them? Unless they live in a country with one official religion.

[Marispatria]

My whole known family is irreligious, so I guess it's no surprise that I turned out the same.

As far as I'm concerned there's no necessity served by religion that cannot be adequately served by any of a myriad other things. No deity has ever (to my knowledge) came to my aid, or otherwise made their existence clear to me and given me a good reason to pay attention to them as real beings. So I would find it impossible to choose a religion because they're all equally meaningless to me.

However, in my experience true believers are typically utterly convinced that their religion is an accurate description of reality. The only people who can reliably change their minds are themselves. That's why I think religion (or irreligion) is a question of conscience. One should always be free to decide that one is a Muslim or a Hindu or non-religious or whatever. Generally speaking you shouldn't be able to force other people to do things against their conscience. Although having said that, if your religion is anti-contraception and you decide to become say, a pharmacist while refusing to dispense what pretty much every other pharmacist in the world does, then you should have thought of that before you went for the job, and should choose between sticking to your principles and keeping your job!

[Cyrisnia]

Yes.
Duh.

[Conscentia]

Yes.
Duh.

You are mistaken. Probably confusing change with choice.

No, don't be ridiculous.
One cannot choose what one believes. However, that does not mean that what one happens to believe cannot change.

[Eastern Denmark]

Of course you have a choice, if you didn't wouldn't you have to be born with it?

Mother: is it a boy or a girl?
Doctor: it's a girl?
Mother:what religion are they?
Doctor: Shinto
Mother:Ok, hey Albert! We need another kid, this one isn't Christian!

Being religious is like having a crush on a girl. You do not have a choice. Either you like the person or you do not. You can find out more about the person or you may get attracted to something else... but you can't consciously just suddenly decide to stop liking a person. It's not a conscious choice. You can have a conscious choice to find out more but you can't just flip a switch and turn it on or off at will. (By infected mushroom)

You do have a choice, if my parents let say, are Jewish, and I find Judaism confusing and stupid, but I find Taoism to be the answer to everything, I would switch to Taoism. You aren't born with a single crush, you FIND a crush. Maybe your parents like this one girl but you are annoyed by her and find her unattractive, you aren't going to have a crush on her. It's the same with religion.

[Republic of Libanon]

Religion/Faith is a choice, before I got saved I was a believer of Jehovah Witness religion a member of the JW cult, but then I accepted Jesus Christ became a Born-Again Christian.

You have a right to come to God humbly, or reject him willfully.

[Utilitarian Garibaldi]

I have to say what a silly thread, Religion is a belief. If you're christian you are not born attached to a crucifix.

[Wintanceastre]

Of course you can choose a religion. If it was not possible, I would be secular like I was raised; instead I chose to convert to Seon (Korean Zen) Buddhism when I was 16. Religion is an affinity, the way people are raised and the way they think/act affects on what religion they decide on; for example some may find Islam more appealing than Christianity, or others may find Buddhism more appealing than the Abrahamic faiths. While others may find atheism or a lack of religious belief more appealing. I don't think many people remain in the religion they are brought up in, at least in the west, as people find what finds natural and most appealing to them.

[Cyrisnia]

Yes.
Duh.

You are mistaken. Probably confusing change with choice.

No, don't be ridiculous.
One cannot choose what one believes. However, that does not mean that what one happens to believe cannot change.

How do you confuse "change" and "choice" with religion?
You can't change what religion you were born in, but your choice of religion that you follow or change to is your option/ability.

[Kratu]

I believe they can choose yes, but I feel that there is probably something deeper that leads to an affinity to a certain religion usually the religion you were raised in except for a few people who do convert without pressure from the outside world.

[Conscentia]

Of course you have a choice, if you didn't wouldn't you have to be born with it? [...]

No.

[Putin the Bear King]

I think that Christianity is the truth, but people hop from religion to religion all the time. In most cases, it's from Christianity to secular atheism. I know the Christian church will always live on, though, even with a small remnant.

Can you please learn what secularism means for fucks sake?

As for the OP, yes it's entirely possible. I myself went from being a fundamentalist Christian to a sort of Deist before I became an Atheist.

He didn't say anything that lead to being forced to learn. Secular atheism is atheism with no religious influences.

Are you daft like Taft?

[Conscentia]

How do you confuse "change" and "choice" with religion?

You've confused the fact that people change religious affiliation with choice.

You can't change what religion you were born in, but your choice of religion that you follow or change to is your option/ability.

You are mistaken.
Firstly, no one is born into a religion. They are raised into one. (That's a change from no religion to a religion.)
Secondly, one does not choose what religion to follow/change to. One is exposed to ideas, and either finds them convincing or not. One cannot choose what to find convincing - it's involuntary.

[Infected Mushroom]

Of course you have a choice, if you didn't wouldn't you have to be born with it?

Mother: is it a boy or a girl?
Doctor: it's a girl?
Mother:what religion are they?
Doctor: Shinto
Mother:Ok, hey Albert! We need another kid, this one isn't Christian!

Being religious is like having a crush on a girl. You do not have a choice. Either you like the person or you do not. You can find out more about the person or you may get attracted to something else... but you can't consciously just suddenly decide to stop liking a person. It's not a conscious choice. You can have a conscious choice to find out more but you can't just flip a switch and turn it on or off at will. (By infected mushroom)

You do have a choice, if my parents let say, are Jewish, and I find Judaism confusing and stupid, but I find Taoism to be the answer to everything, I would switch to Taoism. You aren't born with a single crush, you FIND a crush. Maybe your parents like this one girl but you are annoyed by her and find her unattractive, you aren't going to have a crush on her. It's the same with religion.

You didn't CHOOSE to find Judaism ''stupid'' and ''confusing.''

You were exposed to facts, experiences and your intuition and reason that inevitably led you to those conclusions.

ONCE you found Judaism to be ''stupid'' and ''confusing,'' there was no way you could continue to believe in it. You no longer have the choice to continue believing in it at that point.

You can continue to conform, but belief is no longer an option.

You don't choose what you find rational or irational, what you find believable or unbelievable... you can choose to expose yourself to more or less facts, to more or less experiences, and your reasoning process may change as you mature and go through different phases of life.

But your belief or non-belief in any given system is not a choice. It is the outcome of that equation.

[Parhe]

Somewhat, depends on what you mean. Because religion (not to say it is only religion because I don't know anything) is something a person believes based solely off of faith (and what might come with that like past encounters or another that they used to strengthen their faith), which means it cannot just be disproved. So, people cannot just out of no where, usually at least, just decide and choose from their mind that they no longer believe in their religion and/or believe another religion.

That aside, people can change their religion.

[Divitaen]

I think it is very difficult to choose or change religion, but in my life I encounter people coming from similar backgrounds, cultures and upbringings, and yet coming to very, very different religions, some people rejecting and others accepting and reforming the religions they were raised in, suggesting there is an element of human self-determination involved in the process. Although, just as a slight mention in response to the OP, we do allow race-change cosmetic surgery and since race is not biological or genetic, this is considered changing your race.

[Parhe]

First of all, nobody is born with a religion. A religion is something you get after you where born.

People are also raised with the opinions and views of their parents, that doesn't mean that they don't develope their own views and opinions at some point. Sure, most of us are raised with a certain religion, but over here one can change if he/she wants to. I'm raised as a Christian, though i don't believe in the Christian faith at all, i chose not to believe in it.

See? This guy gets it.

I am interested in knowing what exactly you mean by "wants to."