Is there a connection between religious belief and familial relationships? - Or: Are you an atheist because you had a shitty upbringing?

[Basil II]

My Parents are both Fedoras (Formerly barely religious, went full Fedora in the Bush era when I was little) but they never really talked about it, my Mother dislikes organized religion as she sees it as a scam to control people, which I agree it can be, but I think there are genuine religious people.

My Paternal Grandfather is a somewhat devout Christian, but he's into weird "Non denominational" shit and goes to Free Mason meetings, he's referred to by the rest of my family as "The Wizard"
I went full Fedora when I was like 10 and started watching Atheist youtube (Yes) literally getting into retarded youtube section arguments about stuff I had no idea about.

As I grow older I feel more drawn to Eastern Orthodox Christianity, I very much like how it doesn't pretend to know everything about God and the Universe like Western Christianity, Western Christianity is also ruined by the 10 Billion batshit insane Protestant denominations and the Pedophiles in Rome.

I think part of the problem is teaching Religion to Children that don't really understand it, I never experienced this but I do notice it and even in this thread there are people mentioning it.
Get along great with both my parents.

 

[queue-anon]

Are you seriously claiming faith is opposed to logic? You must have had one rough childhood. You need to deal with that better than totally repudiating faith in humanity. Even God has faith in us.

Well, the end result of picking apart religion logically is for religious leaders to tell questioners to go on faith. So, yes, I do, because that’s what you guys do. It’s just when an atheist makes the distinction, suddenly religious people sperg out.

Religious people have made a decision to believe things that cannot be proven. I respect that that makes religious people feel right with the world and their place in it, but it’s not logical. Sorry you’re uncomfortable with that.

 

[Basil II]

Well, the end result of picking apart religion logically is for religious leaders to tell questioners to go on faith. So, yes, I do, because that’s what you guys do. It’s just when an atheist makes the distinction, suddenly religious people sperg out.

Religious people have made a decision to believe things that cannot be proven. I respect that that makes religious people feel right with the world and their place in it, but it’s not logical. Sorry you’re uncomfortable with that.

tl:dr "I'm smarter and more logical than thousands of years of philosophers"
come on man, I used to be a Fedora too.

 

[Otis Boi]

I will start off by saying that I'm in the camp that doesn't care if there is a god or not and won't change how they live their if proof either way happens to pop up. My mother grew up in a family where she was tough a person had to find religion and not have it be forced about them. They did have to attended church until they where old enough to stay home alone then it was their choice. My mother never made me go to church she did take me a few times but she was to bored to ever go again. We did have a Sunday ritual where should would make hot coco and read these sappy articles about people saving puppies from wells and shit. I think it was her was of trying to instill some sort of moral compass. One thing my mother told me when I got older was that religion is a lot like imaginary friend. It is the comfort comes from knowing that you are never alone and some people just need that.

As for my father he wasn't in my childhood much,he was in the millitary, so are relationship was a bit strained until recently. He is more of an atheist not the fedora type he just seems very disillusioned with the world. Honestly I think I would have turned out to become a Eurphoric type if I was around him when i was younger.

 

[Kari Kamiya]

Losing connection with your family over religious/non-religious beliefs is sad to me because it goes against the very foundation of what makes family family: unconditional love. Parents do want what's best for their children but forget children need to have the ability to be able to make their own choices and judgments. At the same time, children may not be aware of/understand what their parents are trying to do because some subjects are just a bit too complex to comprehend or they're not observant enough of their parents to know of their own personal struggles (though if the parent(s) isn't around much, it's much more difficult and straining). Communication is ultimately the key to coming to an understanding with one-another, but it should always be approached with love and a desire to understand each other. But we're all human, and we want to feel like we're in control or have some purpose in our life, and opinions that "go against the narrative" frighten us.

I mean, that's the question you're asking, right? Everyone's giving their life-stories, so... Well, to throw my hat into the ring, my family and I are religious so we're church-going people, and the majority of our conversations relate/make its way to religion in some form or another. I don't care about the discussions too much and most of that's because I tend to just listen and not participate, and even then I'm doing other things and am trying to focus on one or the other, but no matter the topic, at some point religious principles/doctrine makes its way in. But I think it's natural when you have questions about something going on in life and you need to draw parallels to something like a story, and being raised on Bible stories, those tend to come to mind. So yeah, we don't have a strained relationship, though I consider religion to be more like a guidebook than a super glue or a magnet or blood ties.

Though I do find it an interesting comparison between my family and my cousins who have become agnostic/atheist and have a very rocky relationship with their parents (might as well point out they're pretty much in a loveless marriage, they're too stubborn/Aunt's too deeply rooted in her Mexican ways to seek divorce), significant others, and each other, and they're just not happy people. Not that my relationship with my family is the most perfect relationship in the world, my brothers and I get irritated/snippy/peeved at each other a lot and I don't hug my parents, but at least we're talking to each other and have quality time while also staying out of trouble.

Really makes you think.

 

[RetardedCat]

Religious in a mostly non-religious family. It's never been an issue, I've always had a pretty good relationship with my parents in general. I guess my parents understand what it means to have kids and love me unconditionally as they should.

Spoiler

unless I were to marry a nigger, then I'd fully understand if they wanted to disavow my ass

To the surprise of all the atheists fedora tippers, I went towards science-oriented studies and love learning about all that stuff, yet never renounced my faith. Speaking of said fedora tippers, every single one I've met had a terrible relationship with their religious family members probably cause they just can't stop arguing about faith when they're around someone who isn't another avid sword collector.

I feel like faith/religion is kinda like politics, you can argue about it all day but for fuck's sake keep it to yourself when it comes to family. No one wants to spend a shitty holiday where everyone's yelling at each other over dumb shit that won't matter once everyone returns home.

 

[Drunk and Pour]

I went non-religious/religious/good relations. I wish relations were better, but that's on me because I'm the recluse. Other than that, we all love each other. I was raised basically culturally religious. My dad was raised Irish Catholic, my mom was Irish Protestant (American Irish, not living in Ireland). Early in my life they tried to get me and my siblings to go to church on sundays. I remember when I refused, I was told I'd go to hell, and I was like, I don't care I want to sleep. They were nice enough to respect my wishes in that regard, but I'd still have to go to church for Christmas and Easter.

Fast forward to adult life. My dad being a lapsed Catholic has gotten back into it. My mom who was barely Protestant likes to talk about God being extraterrestrial and angles being aliens. I'm agnostic that leans more towards belief in Jesus. I've always had a dislike of supposed intellectual atheists. They puff out their chests at the shear notion that there is an old man in the sky that knows everything. They are much too smart to believe that silliness. Yet how much do we now know that humans haven't known decades or centuries ago. How much are we uncapable of knowing just because of our biological limits? I guess we could just be a crazy coincidence that will last for a few hundreds of thousands of years, but maybe there is something beyond us.

 

[Clop]

I was never even baptized, born to two atheists. I don't consider it a big deal that I don't believe in any religious deity, but neither do I have a relationship with my parents because I don't think they're people worth my time. Parents are like any circle of friends, I can't take seriously any people who talk about blood being thicker than water. If someone's a shitty person or just not the kind of person you enjoy spending an afternoon with, you don't owe them your time.

Keeping in mind that I think familial relationships have more to do with the local culture. If I was Italian I'd be beaten senseless by mama for thinking such a thing. My culture simply puts independence forward as a huge milestone that everyone should aspire to as soon as possible.

 

[1864897514651]

[redacted]

Only a stupid man would have faith in something empty. We Christians know that Jesus was a real Man, and that He truly raised from the dead. Is your testimony superior to the testimony of the twelve apostles, eleven of which suffered martyrdom for Christ? Why would eleven men choose death over life if they did not see the risen Lord? And if you should deny even the very existence of Jesus, then why do you accept the existence of governor Pontius Pilate and emperor Tiberius? What about king Tutankhamun? To clarify, these comparisons are only made to jest. Of course Jesus was a real Person, and of course He rose from the dead.

Our faith is in the risen Lord because in the words of Saint Paul, "And if Christ be not risen again, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." Christians do not blindly follow an event that is not proven. If you do not comprehend how eyewitness testimony functions in the court of law, let alone in the court of Divine Law, then you are wasting my time. And the eyewitness testimonies of the apostles and disciples is unanimous and awesome. Read the Bible.

If you should be able to comprehend what I just said, then let me address the next question you might have. You might ask what our faith in the risen Lord is for, and to that, I can only say Heaven.

 

[shartshooter]

I think it would cut both ways. It's a meme to hear people complaining about their parents' religion so you know that's a thing (at least in younger years.) Later life converts are often addicts or felons or general losers who need a new start, and that type almost always had a rough relationship with their parents as part of what shaped them into who they are.

So to OP's question, I think the more stable the home the more likely the children will emulate their parents in all beliefs and practices, obligatory teenage rebellion years aside.

 

[Recoil]

My parents are non religious, never took me to church. I came to God (not religion) on my own later in life & I'm sure my folks think it's a bit silly, but they also see how much more at peace I am.
My mom once told me that this self determination was the reason they raised me non-religious - that way any faith I do have is of my own making and not something I've been pushed into.

 

[drtoboggan]

Religion is for idiots.

 

[Exigent Circumcisions]

-snip-

Okay, everybody gets one I guess, good post and all but take it to PMs, please.

 

[Lemmingwise]

Why would eleven men choose death over life if they did not see the risen Lord?

It wouldn't have been the first suicide cult. There are stronger way to argue for existance of god than depending on testimony of a gospel that we don't know the language of its first recording with certainty.

As to get back to the OP, did you start this thread because of E Michael Jones' observation that people without fathers or with poor fathers have difficulty finding/seeing a divine father?

As to your data point collection, I believed in god where my siblings and parents did not. I was told one of my grandparents was religious, but I never figured out which one with certainty, despite knowing them.

I stopped believing in god in early teens. I think as a result of Neale Donald Walsch's books. Looking back on it, I think it's impossible not to lose faith if you take those books in and have a poor understanding of christianity.

I've been wanting to refind religion for some time now, but every attempt has been thwarted because of lack of faith, or evidence, depending on your perspective.

Here's some of my unfiltered thinking on it. It is unlikely that people will have the same understanding of god. Just like many works of art are layered (think the muppets; some jokes are for adults, some for children). Understanding of a religion can be no different. Further IQ differences necessarily stratify this. I could never comprehend the way someone like Christopher Langan conceptualises god; someone of below average intelligence couldn't comprehend the way that I do. We are cognitively divided.

This is also why any attempts to build an atheistic moral system like Sam Harris tried fails, because it is only from being in an echo bubble with high IQ people that one could think it makes sense to the average man or woman. I don't think it is inherently doomed to failure, but creating a system which is multilayered so that each can understand it in their own way is no easy feat. You can look at how churches congregate to generally with their own ethnic groups to see that it isn't just cognitive, but also temperamental differences.

The reason I keep getting cajoled back is that the only thinkers that resist some of the modern madness, are thinkers that do embrace christianity. And not only that, I often depend on their research to understand the motives of the things I see as going wrong in the world, like E Michael Jones thoughts on Ramallah and sexual control.

Though with that said, it does seem like a faustian pact, to accept that knowledge and some of the pro-fertile and pro-virtue thinking, that I also have to accept some historic and supernatural facts that do not seem true to me at all and it feels like a betrayal to my self and inquisitive nature to accept or pretend to believe.

Just some of my thoughts. I wouldn't call my relationships to my parents good, but not bad either, it's somewhat lukewarm with some issues. I would call it an unstable home growing up.

 

[Sprig of Parsley]

I've honestly seen a NEGATIVE correlation between crappy upbringing/home environment and atheistic tendency. Some of the most religious people I ever encountered were from horrifically broken homes and they dove deep into religion mostly as a way to try and tell themselves that SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE would make things right eventually.

 

[PL 001]

Grew up Baptist, went through edgelord atheist phase in my teen years that was thankfully short, I consider myself agnostic now. Nobody knows for certain what happens after death. The religious can't prove an afterlife exists, and the atheists can't prove it doesn't. Like Mulder, I want to believe, but like Scully, I need some sort of proof. Kind of an autistic way of putting it, but there it is.

My dad is a pretty hardcore evangelical Baptist. Aside from a few political points and morality issues we disagree on, we get along just fine. His faith and my skepticism never clash.

 

[The best and greatest]

Difficult question to answer. I'd say the imposition of codified structure into the family home to model conduct off of probably has more to do with it, but thats just me hipfiring. Willing to bet you anything 100 years ago the fundies of the day were on average more biblically literate and not just a know-nothing-pew-sitter.

Overall there's no reason religious institutions can't be a positive force but that's really up to them and what they choose to make a priority. Choosing to uphold the appearance of moral propriety in lieu of holding fast to the true heart and spirit of those beliefs makes for a dead hollow tree which is what we see with organisations like the roman catholic church today.

 

[Exigent Circumcisions]

I've honestly seen a NEGATIVE correlation between crappy upbringing/home environment and atheistic tendency. Some of the most religious people I ever encountered were from horrifically broken homes and they dove deep into religion mostly as a way to try and tell themselves that SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE would make things right eventually.

That's part of what I'm getting at, yeah. Although I don't entirely agree with your conclusion but that's all good.
I couldn't decide whether to lay it out in the OP and start the argument or just ask my rambling, autistic question and see what happened so I went with leaving it out. So far I'm happy with the state of the discussion.

As to get back to the OP, did you start this thread because of E Michael Jones' observation that people without fathers or with poor fathers have difficulty finding/seeing a divine father?

Never heard of him that I can recall. I'm sure I've been exposed to the idea but it's hard to tell if that was before or after it had already activated my almonds. I mean, JLP talks about it quite often, and maybe listening to him helped solidify the question in my mind, but I'm pretty sure it predates listening to any of his stuff. So, dunno?

which is what we see with organisations like the roman catholic church today.

Poor, benighted Catholics. Let's all pour a bottle of red out on the curb for their church.

 

[Jan_Hus]

My parents and my grandparents were never big fans of organized religion, (on both sides funnily enough, my dad's dad had a crisis of faith in his younger years and my mom's dad saw organized faith as a way to rip off the working man) believing that personal faith was far more honest and helpful than an organized one. Now that we're all grown up, two of my brothers and my older sister go to church regularly while my younger brother and I don't really care.

 

[Junkail]

My family is a mix of religious and nonreligious people. My father and I are nonreligious, whereas mom and my siblings (by their own volition) are religious. Generally, I get along well with both of my parents, but they don't get along well with each other.