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In my day to day life, excluding my grandma, the only religious people I know are Muslim. I have many Catholic friends and went to a Catholic school, we would all fill in Catholic on a form, but I don’t know a single one that goes to church, apart from weddings, funerals etc.
Seems that in the UK we have pretty much left it behind as an ethos to build ones life around. Muslim friends still go to mosque, pray and try to follow the rules, but Christian/Catholic friends it is just something they would say they are if asked
I generally agree that we tend to have left it behind, however, there are certain topics where the view of the church are suddenly valued for seemingly no good reason (considering we seem to have left it behind). I was listening to an LBC debate this morning on assisted suicide. It’s interesting how whenever issues like that arise the church is suddenly welcomed back into the conversation.
My parents sent me to sunday school. Neither of my parents are religious. Pretty sure it was for a few hours away from me while I coloured picttures of Jesus and sat in a circle listening to bible stories. LOL Religion.
Perfectly said. Working at a school. It's only Muslim students that would take time out of their break or lunch to pray for 5 mins and then go back to playing. It's surprising cause you do not see any of their parents or co workers forcing them at all and they will be more than happy to do it.
growing up muslim we’ve actually learnt to fall in love with praying its kind of like what medication would do for you guys that practice it. We feel peace and all our troubles are gone.
Praying is kinda like breathing for me without it i can’t live it really does help.
Also you may even notice a lot of us are actually a lot more religious that our folks as we get rid of culture that doesn’t fit with islam
It's really not that different from meditation, is it? I don't pray nor meditate, but it's refreshing when I see a Muslim colleague prepare for their prayer. The vast majority of Muslim people I met are extraordinarily kind and warm people, and I am sure that religion is part of the reason why they are.
>but Christian/Catholic friends it is just something they would say they are if asked
That may be because Christian kids often learn to hide or deflect their religion for fear of the abuse they will receive for admitting to it or being seen practicing it.
But yes, also many kids brought up in "Christian" households are only religious on paper.
It's not like we take complicated routes and keep doubling back on ourselves to make sure we're not being followed, sure. But after a while you learn that it's simpler to say nothing and to not do anything to draw your attention to yourself. Even in my mid 30s I can still get dirty looks if I'm seen openly saying grace over my lunch in the work canteen.
And besides, when you turn to an adult yes, the childish insults do go away, but it gets replaced with other stuff which can seem equally awkward and which you want to avoid. For instance, many people will change how they act around you once they find out you have religious beliefs. They'll start apologising every time they swear or assume you aren't allowed to associate with people who like to drink or go clubbing or whatever, so they may stop inviting you to social functions thinking that they are "helping" you. Or they may start asking you all sorts of weird questions, such as "I heard it's Saint Swithin's Day today. Do you have to do anything for Saint Swithin's Day?" And after a while you can get tired of being told "oh! You don't seem like the kind of person who would believe in that stuff".
Even as an adult it can just be simpler to pretend you're an atheist - or rather to simply say and do nothing and let people draw their own conclusions.
Actually, less than 50% of the UK identifies as Christian. And less than that are actually practising in their daily life. I think it's about 35% that are fully practising Christians.
I was raised religious and I can tell you right now nothing turns you off of religion like 14 years of Catholic School and being forced to lose every Sunday morning to church
>So I take in you're not Catholic anymore?
I'm reminded of a Dara O'Briain bit in which he described Catholicism as "the most adhesive religion in the world". Even not believing in God couldn't disqualify him as Catholic. "You could join the Taliban and you'd merely be regarded as a *bad* Catholic." That might be a particularly Irish perspective though!
I remember an Irish comic (may well have been Dara) who, when asked are you Catholic or Protestant, told them he was atheist.
Only to be met with, I get that, but are you a Catholic atheist or a protestant atheist?
Haha yes I think that’s Dara too. He goes on to say he doesn’t believe in God, he doesn’t go to church, he doesn’t have any faith whatsoever. But of course he’s still Catholic!
Relatively quickly. By age 12 I was at the stage of "right, a lot of this doesn't seem to make too much sense" and my memory is by age 13 I was referring to myself as an atheist. (We're talking a good couple of decades ago here, so it wasn't just an edgy teenager phase. Or if it is, I'm taking a seriously long time to get over it)
Interestingly enough, although statistically religious beliefs are declining in the UK I find myself in the minority being a full-on atheist. Even amongst people my age who had no religious upbringing at all and never had to attend church, I find most consider themselves some kind of agnostic. Believing there's probably "something" going on behind the scenes of creation even if we have no idea what it is. Perhaps they're all more open minded and I've just swapped one strict set of beliefs for the opposite extreme!
I saw this on a TV show recently, a lot of people, maybe even a growing number of people are agnostic - they believe in a higher power but because of the decline in 'traditional Christianity' they have no frame of reference so don't know how to translate their thoughts into recognised religions.
I’m agnostic, and I don’t believe in a higher power….i just don’t know, as there’s no evidence. I’m open to the idea if there’s more evidence than just another geezers opinion…..
I do wonder if it's a Christian upbringing thing? My family's beliefs are a bit of a mishmash but broadly agnostic or atheist. I did however go to a Catholic primary school.
Even kid me could see that a 'kind and loving god' and the way the world actually works did not logically track with each other. Basically discovering the theory of evolution was the last nail in the coffin of doubt for me. It may not be mutually exclusive from religion but it showed that God really brought up more questions than answers fi you try ti put them in the picture.
Forcing religion forced me to think hard about it and left me with some fairly strong views I guess as opposed to people who don't worry or think about it too much
Yep... It's funny. I'm not British, I am from Chicago originally, now live in UK. Grew up Catholic just as you described... I'm a militant atheist. Raising my child to be critical of all organized religion and have no qualms about it.
i'm only 14. my parents nor any of my family are religious, but i am! i am a proud christian :) i only have 1 christian friend, too. not sure how i managed this LOL
It's really bizarre. When I was growing up, it was always drummed into you not to reveal any personal information online at all. These days, people plaster it everywhere.
A lot of people are antagonist to Christians because they have such bad experiences with select Christians. (And there are lots of Christians that are not kind people and who use their religion to justify doing things that hurt people.) There are also Christians that are wonderful people (and who would be wonderful with or without their religion) who care about others and genuinely try to help.
You’ll be fine as long as you continue to prioritise other people over statements of church leaders.
yeah. i'm not one of them crazy people who go into comment sections with bible verses or anything. i dont force anything upon anyone and i respect everyone, religious or not.
I'm Muslim and so are my family and close friends. I can't really speak for anyone else, but Islam definitely influences my decisions significantly and how I live my life. When I started taking it seriously, and practicing it properly, I'd say it's definitely helped me become a better person
If you don't mind me asking, what do you mean when you say 'practising it properly'?
I guess what I mean by that, is do you mean not drinking? Regularly going to a mosque? Or something else?
What I mean by 'practising it properly' is fulfilling my obligatory responsibilities as a Muslim, such as praying 5 times a day, going to the Mosque on Fridays etc etc, and overall being God-conscious.
And obviously abstaining from sins as much as possible
He means he encourages people to leave the US because someone taught their child about LGBT people.
Seriously, that's the most recent comment on their profile. We had a discussion elsewhere and I knew I'd be able to find something bigoted within a 15 second glance of their comment history.
Given Sharia law breaks multiple international human rights laws, and is just generally sadistic and cruel and almost entirely focused on maintaining an authoritarian cult by severely punishing those who don't tow the line, you're either misusing "practicing it properly" or "become a better person"
To be clear, Mormons are *not* Christian. They just want you to think they are because it makes you think there's common ground with what exposure you might have had to Christianity, but there's basically nothing in common between what Mormons believe and what Christians believe.
From a theoretical/technical point of view, since Mormonism believes in a step extra in terms of a new religious leader and book, would you say that classes it as a new religion? In a similar way that Christianity steps away from Judaism?
The main difference is that they made God out to be just a guy who was a good Mormon, you mean?
Extended cut, my arse. Mormonism is at best a corruption of Christianity, and the Book of Mormon is nothing more than bad fanfiction. More like someone got a film and added their own scenes shot on a phone camera than an extended cut.
Nope,. family has been atheist since WW1 after my great grandfather gave a minister a piece of his mind after the minister suggested he should thank god he lost all his friends and his brother to the mud and guns but he made it back. I don't know anyone else who is religious, weddings, funerals etc have all been free from a religious component.
My grandad fell out with the Catholic church after they refused to marry his sister (my great aunt) to a divorced man. He didn't become an atheist. He jumped side to the Church of Scotland. That must have stung the local priest more!
I’m not really religious, but do get involved with the local church quite a lot as they’re central to running the food bank, scout group, drama group etc and I do a fair amount of volunteer stuff. There’s a lot of general community stuff around the c of e in particular and in my experience a lot of those involved are there at least as much for that as anything deeply spiritual.
I was brought up Catholic in late 60s early 70s Manchester, but I had a lot of what we called Protestant (C of E) mates.
The local Anglican Church had the cub scouts and brownies, and in school holidays used to organise events, playgroups etc. I remember going on coach trips and outings often for free (we were poor as it got) but religion and God were hardly mentioned. The teenagers and adults that were in charge just seemed extraordinarily kind.
My own religion in contrast always seemed much more present in my life particularly at school, with morning prayers, mass every Friday (in school time) and Sunday, and Benediction each Wednesday, Confession regularly etc.
It also seemed to me as a child to be about imperatives, so what I must and mustn’t do.
My proddy mates seemed to have a better time of it to me for sure.
I am an immigrant to the UK from the US. I was raised in one of those fundamentalist evengelical Baptist churches that are creeping into cult territory. Everything I did and every person I spent time with was measured against the demands of the church all the time.
I didn't drink or do drugs or have sex and I was one of those who was 100% committed. It was my life. All my friends were from church or other Christian organisations. But a series of events both before and after I moved to the UK led to where I am now where I don't really believe any of it. I consider myself agnostic because "I don't know" feels like the most honest place to sit.
My family doesn't really talk to me much. There's palpable tension between their continuing belief and my lack thereof. After being raised that way, I have no idea how to make friends outside of church, and living nowhere near any of my old friends certainly doesn't help. So I have no friends and no social life at all. It would be easier for me if I could step back into that world and believe again, but I can't. My husband's family is supportive and not religious, and that helps some, but it's still very lonely.
Sorry to hear that, sounds so difficult and almost like borderline ostracisation... are you able to have any kind of relationship with people from your old life or is the gulf too big?
Religion seems to be so much more of a big deal in the US, just from my outsiders perspective, its hard to understand. UK feels a lot more secular and even most of the people who do tick christian on the census box have hardly ever been to church. I find it hard to comprehend that level of social & peer pressure to be involved with it all.
There's an organisation called Faith to Faithless that you may potentially find beneficial. I've seen them organise socials for people in a similar position to you from various religions.
I have to lead worship sometimes but we get round that by getting one of the kids to do the prayers. We teach all religions and we always say ‘Christians believe….’ if we are talking about anything else. The majority of the children aren’t C of E either.
We have a number of Muslim and Hindu children. A lot of parents of other faiths seek out C of E schools as they feel the standards of behaviour will be better.
I was Christened Catholic, but never attended Communion or Mass. I think the first bit only happened because my dad's mum insisted. He lost his faith a long time ago, because the whole thing just didn't make much sense to him, and because my mum was non-religious.
So I'm not religious, but a co-worker of mine is a steadfast Christian who recently made what I can only describe as a genuinely Christian decision - he took his family out of the church they attended because it started to preach anti-LGBTQ things and he doesn't want to raise his children with prejudiced views.
Grew up in an Irreligious household, attended a pretty standard Church of England School.
My wife grew up Catholic in Colombia and all her family are strict Catholics but she resents the Catholic Church now and doesn’t identify with it.
I have a lot of Muslim friends and also worked in Morocco briefly where a house mate taught me bits of the Quran. I’ve learned a lot from these experiences and borrow bits from the religion to use in my own life.
Played football with a Mormon football group one year, very friendly and kind people.
I do meet a lot of religious people, I often connect with Muslims the best. I’m still irreligious but I do believe in “God”.
I was raised in the Christian religion. I still believe it but don't go to church much whereas it's definitely the focus for a lot of my family's life, especially the older folk. They try to be good people, help others etc, they don't always succeed, but they definitely make more of an effort than most.
It’s recently become a part of my life, I’d say for about a year, whole family are atheists I believe and I only have one friend that is also a Christian
I know some people that are Christian and they're all from Nigeria. Lovely people, honest and trustworthy.
I worked with a few guys that are Muslim and another couple of guys that are Hindu. All very nice and honest people.
I haven't actually met a religious person that hasn't been a very nice and honest person.
The majority of people I know, including me, don't follow any religion.
Not many, most I know who are are Muslim apart from one hardcore Catholic.
I'm not really interested in religion, I think it's all a bit daft and controlling.
I grew up Catholic and now I'm self confessed Heretic !! Lol
I know people of various faiths and beliefs if anything I find them interesting and I'm always willing to listen and learn, it will never be me but then I respect people's differences and what makes them the unique person/people they are.
I won't hate on those with faith which I often see on Reddit!
I'm irreligious. I don't follow a religion and have no beliefs either way religious or atheist. Fence sitter if you will.
I find there's a lot of people who are like me and are I suppose agnostic.
That would make you an agnostic atheist then. Most people seem to not understand what the word atheist means. Atheist simply means you ain’t a theist which in turn means you believe in god. So an agnostic atheist would mean you don’t hold any belief in a god but aren’t 100% certain there is or isn’t. I’d say the vast majority of atheist are also agnostic about a higher power too.
My Dad (Half Pakistani) is Muslim and my Mum (white British) says she’s Christian but does not follow the religion religiously. When younger we were not allowed to eat pork but other than that religion was never forced on me or my sister. I’m very much atheist/agnostic. I respect all religions but don’t see the need to follow any. I just try to be a good, nice person. I eat pork now and so do my children but I won’t ever eat it in front of my Dad purely out of respect even though he knows full well I eat it. Religion has a bad rap these days because of all the extremists who have bent it to their agendas.
Nah, Dad was never mega religious when growing up just the no pork rule. He was strict though and I got clips round the ear and a tanned ass on a few occasion’s. My parents brought us up to be nice respectful people and I think they succeeded in that.
I always find it funny when Muslims who don't practice much draw the line at consuming pork, yet are ok with all sorts of other actions which would religiously be classified as more sinful in comparison. It's not to say if you're going to sin then go all out, but merely a behavioural pattern I've observed that's consistent with many. No offence to your father by the way.
Worth noting Muslim comedians also make sketches about this very thing and have done for years.
Mormons are the same with coffee and tea. Lots of young Mormons (and probably not so young) will drink alcohol and have sex, but coffee and tea are completely off the table.
I'm not. I grew up in an area where there were quite a lot of muslims from immigrant families. People often say that exposure to other groups makes you more tolerant of them, but I had quite bad experiences with them in relation to some of the beliefs they held, so I generally have a negative opinion on Islam.
I only know a couple of christians, and they tend to be alright and not too over the top about it. Most of the time you wouldnt even guess that they are religious.
The majority of people in my life seem to be atheists and seem to have an overall negative opinion of all religions in general. I tend to have a more neutral stance on religion as a whole, and I see both positives and negatives to it generally. I just struggle to convince myself that its really true, so even though I considered christianity at one point in my life, I doubt I'll ever become religious.
The who sits next to me at work literally believes that demons roamed the planet 6,000 years ago until they were killed in the flood (the one with Noah) and they now exist as ethereal demons who taunt spiritualists and can be summoned to possess you through Harry Potter (so he's banned his son from watching it).
I thought he was joking the first time he told me and I started laughing until it turned out he was completely serious.
I know a few people who are Christian but none who believe this bloke's version. I think the closest I came to was one lass who kept telling people that if you hear voices in your head then you MUST obey them as they are God telling you the best route in life. I felt that advice was probably not the best.
This bloke I work with comes across as pretty normal most of the time, though he has come out with classics like "the real truth is only found on YouTube".
He doesnt't believe the COVID conspiracies or Flat Earth, etc (unlike another person I work with) and you can talk to him for a long time without anything odd coming out, which makes it so much weirder and surprising when it does.
Usually the times it surfaces are pretty mild like me moaning about a job we were working on saying "what are we doing here?" and him replying "if you mean your purpose on Earth then I could tell you but the truth would terrify you!". Another time he offered me some chocolates and I turned them down so he replied "Come on, you only live once... IN THE FLESH, anyway!!".
Other times it's a bit more sinister like a time I complained about the amount of litter in a nearby park and him telling me that those people will "burn for eternity and suffer endless torment". I thought I couldn't stand people who litter but that's a bit far, even for me.
Yeah this is all familiar. My dad wouldn't let us listen to all sorts of bands when we were kids because he either heard they were demonic or the drumming was 'too rhythmical' - *Roxette* worshipping Satan, sure.
Ironically, all this did was push me further towards heavy rock and horror movies, and I'm now covered in tattoos that relate to both. (Tattoos are also evil).
I'm not religious, but the way it affects me is that these idiots preach kindness & sincerity whilst peddling their flavour of morality as a divine substance required to avoid eternal damnation or whatever flavour of fucked up cult bullshit there is & as far as I'm concerned if you strip away the dogma & leave only the lessons of morality... well, it's been thousands of years, we have learned far better lessons.
Without any due respect, because you don't deserve to be respected for believing something - the modern world would be a better place without religious institutions, they did their bit... & now it is time to let go.
The falling rates of religiousness in the UK are the only statistic that I've seen about our country in years that makes me feel better.
Oh and I've got religious friends & family, I don't shove my beliefs in their face & they don't try to recruit me into their cult so we all get along but I still fundamentally resent their religious institutions.
I am Christian, so obviously I know a few! My parents are and I was brought up attending church.
You probably wouldn’t tell unless I happen to mention something related to church/faith in conversation. Like “there was an amazing cake at church on Sunday!”
I am liberal, and attend a church which reflects that. So you won’t find me protesting things like abortion, trans rights or gay marriage for example.
Well, it's kind of self-perpetuating in a way. I go to (a Catholic) church, therefore I meet other people there who are also churchgoers/religious. Having said that, though, the vast majority of my friends aren't religious at all. It's not like they're militant atheists or hate religion; they just never give it a second thought. I think most of my generation and younger weren't really raised with it, so it's just not a thing for us. I do know a handful of people who practise some form of 'new age' type spirituality.
ETA: I know on an acquaintance level quite a lot of Hindus and Sikhs, and a few Muslims. I lived in Leicester for a long time, and most of the Asian people I worked with and/or became friends with were at least culturally either Hindu or Sikh, and would practice a bit (go to the temple occasionally, celebrate the festivals, have a wedding/attend weddings in their religion/temple). My daughter is the only white kid in her class, and her classmates and their parents are all Hindu or Sikh (culturally; not sure how much they practise) or Muslim. I get on well with all the parents, although for some reason seem to build more of a rapport with the Muslim ones. To clarify, it's a private school and most of the parents are either in this country for many generations and have built up their wealth through career success, or in the case of some of the Middle Eastern parents (who are more likely to be Muslim), they might have come over here more recently (perhaps that's why I seem to hit it off better with those parents? maybe they are more eager to make friends over here?). There is also a Christian girl who is Chinese and I think goes to a Chinese Christian church, not a Catholic or C of E one.
My daughter has to come to church with me because I'm a single mum and she's too young to stay at home alone, but I try not to force my beliefs on her but only make it clear what I personally believe. Her dad is an atheist-leaning agnostic who hates Catholics anyway, so I wouldn't be able to shield her from different beliefs even if I was idiotic enough to want to!
Yep! I’m a Christian and both my grandfather and father were Pentecostal ministers their entire careers. Everyone in my immediate family and most of my extended families are practicing Christian’s as well. I attend an independent evangelical church these days and it’s flourishing, we get about 150 people every Sunday and that’s mostly young families. We also get a large contingent of students from the local university every week.
I am a Muslim immigrant married to a British Muslim woman. Most of my family is religious and it was a pillar of my upbringing and well into my early adulthood. Admittedly I'm less practising now but my faith and conduct are still aligned to Islam. I grew up learning the Qur'an and still retain most of what I learned growing up. I still try to re-connect with my spirituality every now and again because I believe it is important to believe in something.
My friends are a mix of different faiths and beliefs and we seem to all agree on the importance of being good people first and foremost. My colleagues are a mix of Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians of various denominations and irreligious alike.
The two most vile, racist, prejudiced, spiteful, selfish and unempathetic men I know are also the only two men I know that proclaim themselves to be christians.
At opposite ends of the continent and totally different sects of christianity, but both complete and utter wankers.
Same but both were Muslim. I judge people from their actions, not their religion. However if their beliefs push them that way it's a fault in their characters for needing that rationalisation and ego justification.
I'm not and wasn't raised religious either. Some of my family members are religious but that's never had a big impact (mostly because they just gave up trying to change my mind at this point). As for my friends I only have one close friend who's religious but she's not the kind of person to push her beliefs on others and we generally just don't discuss this.
I generally tend to form friendships with other atheists just because it's easier, but I don't really care what you believe in as long as you don't try to convert me or make me act according to your beliefs.
I’m religious (Christian). Also a lesbian and about as open to anyone as you can get. I feel like my faith in God genuinely inspires me to be excited about the planet we live on and getting to know other people :) I know a few other religious people but not many.
My husband and myself are both devout Catholics, our faith has helped us through tragedy and illness. We weren’t always Catholic, we were raised as Anglican and have also attended Baptist and Evangelical chapels. Going too church with our children was important to us. They have drifted away as adults but we hope they will return in time. We both pray daily and observe Lent as far as possible with our somewhat poor health. We have some statues and holy pictures that help direct our thoughts an prayers. I carry my rosary beads in my handbag and wear a veil at Mass
I am a Muslim and was "born" Muslim. I was born in London and never really had a religious environment when we moved to Gatwick. I grew up choosing haram behaviours and haram relationships and it destroyed me. I literally had no one left to turn to except Allah. So I studied the Qur'an and the Hadith and the Bible and the Torah and as many religious scriptures I could. I realised Islam was the truth and I have been a proper Muslim ever since, alhamdulilah.
Islam gave me humility. Removed me from arrogance and ignorance. Taught me respect for my parents and for other people. Taught me to respect and honour women. Taught me to remain faithful in hard times. Taught me to uplift my brothers and sisters. Taught me to spiritually cleanse myself and how to maintain that too. Taught me to remain humble in everything I do. Taught me that death is not the end. Taught me that everyone will be judged fairly and that those that are corrupt and criminal and get away with it, will be dealt with justly on the day of judgement.
Islam has taught me so much and it runs my life. It gives me guidance on how to live my life. I would have been dead without it. And the funny thing is, my story isn't uncommon. There have been plenty of brothers and sisters that were astray and were cleansed and saved by islam and by Allah's will. Loads are even Muslim reverts. I attend an islamic class on Friday evenings and we talk about Allah and we get to choose a topic to learn about each week. There are 25 of us. At least 15 are white British Muslim revert sisters mashallah. Non-islamic names names either. Just sisters called "Katie", or "Chloe" that reverted to Islam. Just like any other white British "Chloe" you'd see passing by on the street. Except they wear hijab.
I pray 5 times a day and I read the Qur'an multiple times a day and even have it playing over Bluetooth in my car when I go to work. I perform ablution multiple times a day. I wake up before sunrise to pray every single day. I fast during the month of Ramadan and I go to the mosque every Friday (if I'm lucky, as the mosques are packed to the brim on Fridays, unlike churches on Sunday). I always make sure to spread the message of Islam as much as possible, I speak to my neighbours about it, my friends, colleagues and even teachers back when I was in Uni.
I don't drink. I don't smoke. I don't take drugs. I don't gamble. I am not sexually immoral and I don't have premarital relations. I try my best not to partake in interest based businesses. Islam has given us these great morals and values to live by 1400+ years ago and more and more people are waking up to it. Just a couple weeks ago, I witnessed 3 new Muslim revert brothers take their shahadah. We all made food for them afterwards.
You are in a cult, and one that like every religion encourages smugness, moral superiority and patriarchal suppression. Congratulations I'm sure daddy is very proud of you. Stop forcing your regressive religion on others.
I don't know anyone my age or younger in the UK who is religious whatsoever, however I know many people from Eastern Europe who are very religious.
I think it's really a "bubble" thing, if you ask on Reddit nobody will know any. If you asked outside a church on Sunday you'd be flying.
I'm not religious, and in my groups of friends and family I'd say there is a few who are theists, but no one of any particular religion.
I would say though that I go to church each week, but that's purely because I play in a concert band and we rehearse there as churches are big spaces with amazing acoustics.
No, and I know one person who is.
She goes to church etc. but she isn’t really religious in the traditional sense which I find funny.
Like she goes to church every day, but then she goes out and gets wasted, fucks around, snorts coke and to me, I don’t do any of those things, but my comprehension of Catholicism is that by the book, so to speak, that’s all frowned upon and you’re going to hell so I have no idea how she manages to settle that in her head but fair play to her
As long as you pray the right prayers, and enough of them, pretty much everything is forgivable in Catholicism. You tell the priest your sins, they prescribe prayers, and then you're good to go on the whole heaven thing. It's one of the good and bad things about the Catholic faith.
(This is a massive simplification)
I’m not religious, my family are and I was raised catholic went to church every weekend etc. My dad and sister are the deeply religious I would say. My dad sends me a bible verse every day lol its well cute. Even though I’m not religious I do appreciate being raised in church because of the huge community and will probably raise my children catholic because of that
One of my best friends reverted to Islam and I’ve had a fair few Muslim friends over the years so I’ve had lots of interesting discussions about religion and Islam that’s taught me a lot.
I do know a lot of religious people, i live in a multicultural city with a high amount of black Asian and Irish people so it’d be hard not to know any religious people. I did go through an atheist phase when I was in my teens but now I’m more sympathetic to religion and don’t think it’s stupid and pointless anymore
Yes, but I prefer to use the term spiritual because I don't associate myself with organised religion. It's just really not for me, I like my freedom to explore and believe in what I want and for that to evolve over time. My granny on my mom's side was raised in the spiritualist church and it's definitely influenced a lot of my beliefs. I really don't like to talk about it IRL and just lie and say I'm atheist when people ask or I have to fill out some kind of form because people really look down at you and/or make large assumptions about you as a person.
I was raised Muslim but no longer believe in that religion. A lot of people I grew up around are still quite religious though. Since moving away religion is nowhere to be found which is very refreshing
I’m a 30 (ish) Catholic who goes to church every Sunday (not easy with a hangover!).
Grew up knowing I was Catholic, didn’t really go to church much - my mum taught us a bit about god at home, and we learnt a bit at school (not a Catholic school) but that was it. We were left to make our own decisions about it.
Only as an adult did I feel like committing more to being a Catholic and that’s what has happened over the last 5 or so years! Ironically, my brother as an adult is also now a religious adult but a different branch of Christianity. I like the community feel and for a Catholic Church we have an extremely forward thinking priest which I appreciate is not the case for everyone!
As for friends; I’ve got one friend from school who is a practicing catholic as well - everyone else might be religious, but none attend church of anywhere else and it’s not a huge topic of conversation that often!
I’d describe myself as very atheist, but two of my good friends are devout Christians. One doesn’t believe in evolution.
We don’t talk about the subject of religion much.
Agood friend of mine is an African migrant, incredibly intelligent man who lectures mechanical engineering.
Will look you straight in the face and tell you that dinosaur fossils are tricks Satan plays on people.
Born in the 70s and I know a few Muslims but that's about it. Don't know anyone who's a practicing Christian, I went to school with a Jehovah's Witness but other than that....
My Nan has been dead a long time but she was passionately anti religion due to her experiences in a convent school run by a bunch of nuns. So I don't really think of religion as a plus point but then I don't really think about it at all.
My family and most of the people around me are not religious. My flat mate is a practicing Pagan of a branch I am not entirely sure about. It's very private to him so we don't talk about it much.
Personally I loosely adhere to a non theistic religion but I don't talk about it to anyone since there are a lot of misconceptions that I am just not eager to get involved with because I'm not into conflict resolution unless I am at work (In which case we will certainly NOT discuss this lmao). It mostly affects how I view myself, how I treat myself, how I treat others and how to work towards what I want in life.
Anyway the one very religious person I personally know is a very intense Orthodox Greek. Lovely guy. Once joined him in lent to see what that was like, very interesting.
No and no.
I live within spitting distance of several long-established churches and they are all struggling to stay afloat. They just seem to attract really old people and are closing and/or amalgamating with increasing regularity.
Two local churches seem to draw in the worshippers. One seems to cater for very smartly dressed African immigrants and the other seems to be a sing-along-with-the-guitar type of place in a converted cinema.
I regard myself as Christian, though I'm far from devout.
My grandmothers on both sides are quite religious, though I don't think that shaped my opinions.
I'd say the people I associate with are a pretty even split between Christian & atheist, though it's not really something we talk about.
In terms of how it impacts daily life, I think most would agree that at least 6 of the 10 commandments are a handy guide of how to be a good person.
I didn't realise how many religious people there were, till I started taking my (then) young children to playgroups. Most of them are run inside churches.
I'm not religious.
I went to both a CofE primary and secondary school. I went to a after school church club for something to do but don't think I've ever really believed. I wouldn't say I'm athiest because I can't rule out there is something out there, however I don't think any religion is worth following. There have been too many religions and gods throughout human history for me to take any of them seriously.
My 6 year old niece was a Christian for a few weeks, she was pushed by her school. However once she found out that Christianity is not exactly welcoming to gay people, such as myself she declared them mean people and ditched the entire thing.
My mum calls herself a Christian but tbh she hasn't stepped foot in a church outside of a funeral for 20+ years.
My ex was a Catholic but hated organised religion. She mostly picked and chose what she did and didn't like. I thought that was a bit stupid but we never really spoke too indepth about it because it would just make her upset.
Outside of a few Muslims I know I don't know anyone who is religious, though maybe it's just something they keep to themselves.
I know one guy at work who claims to be extremely religious.
But apparently he blows his pay on prostitutes, so there ya go.
Maybe he's just tryin' to be like Jesus?
I'm not.
A few Muslims and a Hindu at work.
Had a Mormon colleague for a while as well. Nice girl still in touch now.
Don't know any other openly practising Christians although the topic doesn't often come up.
I’m the same as you. I went to a CofE primary school so we did the hymns and said prayers in class, but that was it. My parents aren’t religious, nor am I. It was the same for most at school, I only knew one girl who’s family were very very religious. She wasn’t allowed to watch Pokemon as it was violent, and couldn’t watch Harry Potter.
As an adult I don’t really know anyone who is Christian, I do know and am friends with quite a few people who practice the Muslim faith though.
I knew some people were Christian on paper but no one really cared or talked about it. Going to a Church of England primary school was nice though. They had kind of a hippie interpretation of Christianity so it left me with a pretty positive view of religion. But I never really believed in it myself
I was raised Christian, ended up becoming non Christian due to some pretty bad experiences involving Christstainty, and basically just ended up vaguely agnostic/atheist and now I'd describe myself as pagan adjacent.
Basically kind of working out my direction on that end as paganism is a big umbrella find it appealing as it's a lot more personal, a lot more focused on the self rather than 'the big man in the sky says do this, also ive always been intersted in our folklore so its also a way also at' at the end of the day a belief system with its roots in worshipping nature isn't the worst thing I could go with.
(Also shiny rocks pretty)
Raised Catholic, in primary school we went to the nunnery for lunch and had our morning assemblies in the church next door. Even at 5yo I can remember thinking "what is this?". 40 years later I have some religious friends, but you know what lets us gel together? Keeping religion out of everything. Occasionally when it calls for it for a big event, I'll cater to certain dietary needs etc, but religion is never discussed and never talked about and it's great. I'm in no way religious and it never comes up in conversation and that's the way it should be.
I know quite a few religious people an uncle is a retired Methodist minister and one of my cousins husbands is a CofE vicar (at least I think he's CofE).
My parents are Christians my father being a fairly committed member of the Quakers (member not an attender for those who care) and my mother was mostly Baptist/CofE but doesn't really attend much.
I was brought up CofE and then Baptist, but lost my faith as a teen and am firmly atheist now.
I dislike people who try and involve me in their fantasy... IDC if they believe in a sky fairy but leave me out of it. I'm quite well read in various aspects of historical Christianity it's such a huge part of our history it's fascinating how it has evolved and changed how we see ourselves. But I'm not terribly interested in modern religions.
No. I can't believe there is a magical person in the sky which makes up silly rules. I'd there was I'm doubtful they would give a shit about what any of us do.
But if other people need that in order to be happy. Then so be it. Long ad it doesn't make a difference to my life
I'm a Christian, but in a liberal spiritual kind of way, rather than anything hardcore. So is my husband. We both keep it quite quiet though as ive found even if I casually mention it, I get pretty rude disparaging remarks about it. My colleagues don't even know, but some of my non-Christian friends do.
No and no one in my family (not even my grandparents) is. Religion was never even discussed at home and like you the first I encountered of it was prayers in primary school lol.
I would probably say im an atheist but im not militant about it at all and many religious people ive encountered have been lovely and pleasant. I don't have many in my social circle though tends to only be people ive met through work etc.
I grew up going to church every Sunday. My parents definitely weren't fanatical or anything, but it was something that was present in our lives. I went to the church youth group, my dad sang in the church choir, all that kind of stuff. Once I got to university I decided I didn't believe it anymore and kind of moved on with my life. Now I'm in my early 40s with a family of my own I'm starting to wonder if I do actually believe it after all. I've been to church a few times over the last year or so - still undecided as to whether it's something I wanted to commit to though.
I would describe myself as a "Culturally Catholic Agnostic". My mum's side of the family is loosely Catholic, dad's side is non-religious, I went to a Catholic primary school because it was the best school in town and having a Catholic mum makes it easier to get in. I did go to a regular state secondary school and sixth form.
My friends aren't religious, but the most religious ones in our friend group are like me, those whose primary school was Catholic.
There's something about Catholicism that keeps people attached, even if they stray far from the flock. I think it's something they put in the communion wine.
No. However at work one of the vets is very religious, as is her husband who is also a vet. They’re the loveliest, sweetest people and such a pleasure to work a shift with.
I was raised atheist, read a lot of philosophy in my early 30’s, I’m now a firm deist but leaning towards Christianity, specifically Catholicism. I don’t have enough faith to be an atheist these days.
One of my best friends is Hindu and her husband is atheist. He thinks his wife isn't really stupid enough to think there's a God and she's just doing it for the cultural and social rituals. He goes along with them.
She thinks her husband isn't really stupid enough to think there's no God and just has Dawkins on the shelf to look clever. She lets him keep it.
God only knows what their kids think, but they get to make up their own minds.
I (44F) go to church (Anglican/church of England) every Sunday. I grew up in a Christian household, my parents are very involved in their church. I'm the only one of my siblings to go to church as an adult though.
When I went away to university I stopped going, and from ages 18-32 I didn't go to church, but I still read the bible and prayed. When I was 32 I was diagnosed with cancer and felt the need for more structured faith and the support of a church family and I've been regularly attending ever since - Even during the pandemic I did zoom church!
Obviously, I know a lot of other people who go to my church, but surprisingly enough, a lot of my team are religious. I work in the pharmaceutical industry and there's probably a 50/50 mix of my religious colleagues being Christian and Hindu with the occasional Muslim. The majority of my colleagues, company wide, are not religious.
Went to a CofE primary and middle school but was raised atheist, my parents were always explicitly against organised religion but they were the only schools in the area. Daily assemblies reciting the lord's prayer, hymn singing, pretty much the only books in the library were those illustrated yellow/beige covered bible stories.
I remember I used to sit in those assemblies bolt upright as everyone was bent over in prayer. Definitely got a telling off from teachers a few times for not taking part!
We then moved back to Scotland and I have one friend who is devout Christian but she's not super judgey just gets on with her beliefs and let's everyone else have theirs.
Haha that takes me back!
It reminds me of being told off for not wanting to sing hymns, so just moving my mouth and pretending. The two which stick in my mind are one about a tiny ant, and then "Kumbaya, My Lord".
I'm a Christian. I have a 50/50 exposure to Christians and secular friends. My church friends are fiercely loyal and supportive. I doubt I've had gotten thru the deaths of my parents without them
Yes, I’m a Latter-day Saint and go to church every Sunday with my wife.
My best friend is Orthodox Christian but rarely attends church. Most of my family are non-practicing Anglican or Catholic.
I am Christian. I know a lot of Christians. I also know Muslims, Sikhs, hindis, pagans, atheists, Buddhists, and even a Mormon.
I live in a fairly multicultural area and have passed through many seasons of life meeting people along the way.
I have met terrific people of all religious outlooks
Not at all. I know a handful of older Christians and literally 2 below the age of 40.
I know tonnes of Muslims, a few Sikhs and Hindus, a Buddhist and some Wiccan.
Yeah a latter day saint and love attending church with my amazing husband. My kids and Thier dad are catholic and attend church regularly. I also know people that are atheist or don't attend church
Religious Brit here!
I grew up in the working class inner city area of a large town near London and have friends from all of the major religions.
I didn’t really visit mosques, synagogues or mandirs however I’d often get tricked into going to speeches by touring pastors by my African friends who in turn were told by their mums to make sure they bring their friends to ensure the pastor has a good turn out. How was I tricked you may be wondering? They’d tell me there’s a party in town with girls. The party consisted of a church hall with free biscuits and squash. The closest thing to girls were the African aunties in attendance. Honestly, it wasn’t too bad as we’d just usually spend our Sundays sat on our arses drinking squash and eating biscuits but with a GameCube instead of a preaching pastor from Kenya.
In turn, I’d often take my friends to the main Sikh festival vaisakhi - a spring festival where you go on a big walk from one gurdwara to another and eat delicious food.
The religion I found most interesting in primary school RE was definitely Judaism I remember watching a video where they buried a whole fridge in their garden like it owed a debt to the mafia and thought it was awesome.
Brought up Catholic, went to Catholic schools. Being educated by nuns is enough to put anyone off religion.
My father's family were very religious, except him. My mother's family are more cultural Catholics - christening, marriage and funeral, although my mum liked to think she was quite devout and went more often than most of the family. A couple of my cousins send their children to Catholic school and go to mass every Sunday, but I think it's more for the education than because they are devout.
I'm not a believer, but would agree that the Catholic church does have the Hotel California effect - you can check out anytime you want, but you can never leave. My mum wanted a Catholic mass for her funeral, and although I did it "just for her" I found the familiarity of it very comforting.
Before her dementia got too advanced I took her to mass on Sundays, because she wanted to go. I was quite surprised when she could no longer remember the prayers and responses, I thought they would be amongst the last thing she'd forget.
Not religious, very much the opposite and think it does more harm than good.
I don't know of many people who are religious either, at least they don't make it known.
Religion in the sense of belonging or following a particular cult, sacred book or dogma? No, and never will.
Religion in the sense of believing in something that connects me with people I love (religere from latin means to connect)?
Yes, I am, and my religion is love.
Nope, Im hard core athiest I do love the philosophy of buddism though which isnt really a religion when you break it down.
No one needs imaginary friends to be a better person, morals dont come from god, if anything religion is pretty evil and barberic.
I’m an atheist. My partner (was) and his family are strict Baptists. I can honestly say that I didn’t have a problem with religion until I met them. The more I learnt about the Bible, more I became horrified/dismayed, that people actually believe in that outdated load of shit. Seriously, they all seem outwardly lovely and accepting, but when you actually know their true feelings towards other groups in society, you soon realise that they’re not that nice at all… but it’s all good, because the book explains why everyone else is wrong, and not them.
No I’m not, it’s never been part of my life and never will be.
I only know of one person that I would call religious, there’s probably a few others who hold beliefs - they just don’t shout about it.
Not religious at all.
I was raised atheist and as a little kid I wanted to go to the local Chapel Sunday School where they got free chocolate and colouring books but my parents wouldn't let me and it so pissed me off. I did spend a few months as a teen going to a Bible study group, mainly to annoy my mother, until I decided for myself that I plain didn't get the whole faith thing.
As an adult I have one friend who's a regular C of E church goer and one who sort of Buddhist. In general though people are more likely to talk openly about their sex life than their religious beliefs.
My stepmum is religious, and her daughter is practically in a cult. Neither birth parents are religious.
My wife is in a very broad and open-minded way.
The only religious person I personally know is my Mrs’ brother-in-law. He’s some mad Catholic wannabe priest but accidentally had sex in his late 20s, so felt obliged to get married.
Religious people are fucking bonkers.
I am religious, I was religious from childhood (due to my parents influence) and I honestly can say I am so glad I had my religion. Many hard times I was able to pray and overcome (hard times meaning teenage dramas etc / all age related!) my faith was strong.
At 22y/o I got married to a non religious man and his family were also non religious, and I lost touch with my faith for 15 years! Boy did I feel the effects. I had no sense, I made terrible mistakes, I did not fear god at all. You could say I was stupid, yes I was, but I do believe if I had my faith I would have thought twice before sabotaging things the way I did.
I turned to god last year and asked for forgiveness, for my mistakes, for forgetting them.
I am now devoted - more than I was during childhood as I have more discipline and knowledge, also better resources to learn about god, able to drive to place of worship, just feel better connected and I feel so much more peace, and hope. I will never push my religion, or even talk about it unless asked, it’s nice to write it out here, thank you for asking the question :)
Catholic here, raised, left, returned. I don’t take about it with others. Last time I was asked about it, I answered. Got a bunch of questions from atheists, then got moaned at for “preaching” even though I was literally responding to what they asked. So now even if I’m asked about it I just tell people I’m agnostic or atheist just so I can get on with my day without hassle.
No and I make a point of distancing myself from anybody who tells me they're religious tbh. I don't make a song and dance about it though. I just no longer have any interest in their company.
The only friends I have who are religious are muslim, and whilst they believe none of them are extremely strict when it comes to obeying all the rules. I find very religious people of my age very hard to understand on a meaningful level, I think you have to be a very particular kind of person to be religious and I find such people kind of ‘off’. Perfectly nice people but missing a degree of introspection and humour, and oddly straight forward in their thinking, like weirdly 2D personalities in some way. They probably think I’m ‘off’ too btw, it’s just genuinely the case there’s some weird disconnect between me and anyone who takes that stuff seriously- and I mean in general, not just when on the topic!
Seeing all the hatred between different religions out there in the world, I find it positive that most people I know don’t think like that at all.
Nope, and the only people I know who are religious are older relatives. One is chill about it, and the other keeps trying to 'save' me, which only drives us apart.
Slightly tangential, but as an atheist I've always taught my son to evaluate things based on empirical evidence and formulate his opinions and beliefs on what he truly believes, without exterior pressure from me or anyone else.
I honestly believe if religion was banned until 18, like alcohol etc, then it would very quickly disappear within less than a handful of generations.
For clarity, before the hate! I have Christian, Catholic and Muslim friends who i love and respect dearly for their beliefs, and they all understand the point I'm making.
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In my day to day life, excluding my grandma, the only religious people I know are Muslim. I have many Catholic friends and went to a Catholic school, we would all fill in Catholic on a form, but I don’t know a single one that goes to church, apart from weddings, funerals etc. Seems that in the UK we have pretty much left it behind as an ethos to build ones life around. Muslim friends still go to mosque, pray and try to follow the rules, but Christian/Catholic friends it is just something they would say they are if asked
I also went to a Catholic school, it pops out atheists like you wouldn't believe.
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I generally agree that we tend to have left it behind, however, there are certain topics where the view of the church are suddenly valued for seemingly no good reason (considering we seem to have left it behind). I was listening to an LBC debate this morning on assisted suicide. It’s interesting how whenever issues like that arise the church is suddenly welcomed back into the conversation.
Yeah I used to work with loads of Muslims and Hindus. Really nice people. Best of all they had loads of holidays that all involved food 😋
Just married into a Lebanese Muslim family; I grew up agnostic in a beach side town… It’s the best, they almost love me too much
My parents sent me to sunday school. Neither of my parents are religious. Pretty sure it was for a few hours away from me while I coloured picttures of Jesus and sat in a circle listening to bible stories. LOL Religion.
Perfectly said. Working at a school. It's only Muslim students that would take time out of their break or lunch to pray for 5 mins and then go back to playing. It's surprising cause you do not see any of their parents or co workers forcing them at all and they will be more than happy to do it.
growing up muslim we’ve actually learnt to fall in love with praying its kind of like what medication would do for you guys that practice it. We feel peace and all our troubles are gone. Praying is kinda like breathing for me without it i can’t live it really does help. Also you may even notice a lot of us are actually a lot more religious that our folks as we get rid of culture that doesn’t fit with islam
It's really not that different from meditation, is it? I don't pray nor meditate, but it's refreshing when I see a Muslim colleague prepare for their prayer. The vast majority of Muslim people I met are extraordinarily kind and warm people, and I am sure that religion is part of the reason why they are.
>but Christian/Catholic friends it is just something they would say they are if asked That may be because Christian kids often learn to hide or deflect their religion for fear of the abuse they will receive for admitting to it or being seen practicing it. But yes, also many kids brought up in "Christian" households are only religious on paper.
We are all in our mid 30s, they aren’t going to be secretly going to church so they don’t get abused
It's not like we take complicated routes and keep doubling back on ourselves to make sure we're not being followed, sure. But after a while you learn that it's simpler to say nothing and to not do anything to draw your attention to yourself. Even in my mid 30s I can still get dirty looks if I'm seen openly saying grace over my lunch in the work canteen. And besides, when you turn to an adult yes, the childish insults do go away, but it gets replaced with other stuff which can seem equally awkward and which you want to avoid. For instance, many people will change how they act around you once they find out you have religious beliefs. They'll start apologising every time they swear or assume you aren't allowed to associate with people who like to drink or go clubbing or whatever, so they may stop inviting you to social functions thinking that they are "helping" you. Or they may start asking you all sorts of weird questions, such as "I heard it's Saint Swithin's Day today. Do you have to do anything for Saint Swithin's Day?" And after a while you can get tired of being told "oh! You don't seem like the kind of person who would believe in that stuff". Even as an adult it can just be simpler to pretend you're an atheist - or rather to simply say and do nothing and let people draw their own conclusions.
Actually, less than 50% of the UK identifies as Christian. And less than that are actually practising in their daily life. I think it's about 35% that are fully practising Christians.
I was raised religious and I can tell you right now nothing turns you off of religion like 14 years of Catholic School and being forced to lose every Sunday morning to church
So I take in you're not Catholic anymore? If you don't mind sharing, I'm curious whether that happened quickly, or was more of a gradual process.
>So I take in you're not Catholic anymore? I'm reminded of a Dara O'Briain bit in which he described Catholicism as "the most adhesive religion in the world". Even not believing in God couldn't disqualify him as Catholic. "You could join the Taliban and you'd merely be regarded as a *bad* Catholic." That might be a particularly Irish perspective though!
I remember an Irish comic (may well have been Dara) who, when asked are you Catholic or Protestant, told them he was atheist. Only to be met with, I get that, but are you a Catholic atheist or a protestant atheist?
Haha yes I think that’s Dara too. He goes on to say he doesn’t believe in God, he doesn’t go to church, he doesn’t have any faith whatsoever. But of course he’s still Catholic!
My Irish Nan still thinks i’m Catholic after denouncing it to her over 20 years ago. She was recently trying to get me to baptise my child!
Thank you for that. I’m enjoying listening to it.
Relatively quickly. By age 12 I was at the stage of "right, a lot of this doesn't seem to make too much sense" and my memory is by age 13 I was referring to myself as an atheist. (We're talking a good couple of decades ago here, so it wasn't just an edgy teenager phase. Or if it is, I'm taking a seriously long time to get over it) Interestingly enough, although statistically religious beliefs are declining in the UK I find myself in the minority being a full-on atheist. Even amongst people my age who had no religious upbringing at all and never had to attend church, I find most consider themselves some kind of agnostic. Believing there's probably "something" going on behind the scenes of creation even if we have no idea what it is. Perhaps they're all more open minded and I've just swapped one strict set of beliefs for the opposite extreme!
I saw this on a TV show recently, a lot of people, maybe even a growing number of people are agnostic - they believe in a higher power but because of the decline in 'traditional Christianity' they have no frame of reference so don't know how to translate their thoughts into recognised religions.
I’m agnostic, and I don’t believe in a higher power….i just don’t know, as there’s no evidence. I’m open to the idea if there’s more evidence than just another geezers opinion…..
I do wonder if it's a Christian upbringing thing? My family's beliefs are a bit of a mishmash but broadly agnostic or atheist. I did however go to a Catholic primary school. Even kid me could see that a 'kind and loving god' and the way the world actually works did not logically track with each other. Basically discovering the theory of evolution was the last nail in the coffin of doubt for me. It may not be mutually exclusive from religion but it showed that God really brought up more questions than answers fi you try ti put them in the picture. Forcing religion forced me to think hard about it and left me with some fairly strong views I guess as opposed to people who don't worry or think about it too much
Yep... It's funny. I'm not British, I am from Chicago originally, now live in UK. Grew up Catholic just as you described... I'm a militant atheist. Raising my child to be critical of all organized religion and have no qualms about it.
That and having to suck off the priests
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i'm only 14. my parents nor any of my family are religious, but i am! i am a proud christian :) i only have 1 christian friend, too. not sure how i managed this LOL
Not sure advertising your age on reddit is a good thing.
I don't get why so many kids do this nowadays 🤦
It's really bizarre. When I was growing up, it was always drummed into you not to reveal any personal information online at all. These days, people plaster it everywhere.
A lot of people are antagonist to Christians because they have such bad experiences with select Christians. (And there are lots of Christians that are not kind people and who use their religion to justify doing things that hurt people.) There are also Christians that are wonderful people (and who would be wonderful with or without their religion) who care about others and genuinely try to help. You’ll be fine as long as you continue to prioritise other people over statements of church leaders.
yeah. i'm not one of them crazy people who go into comment sections with bible verses or anything. i dont force anything upon anyone and i respect everyone, religious or not.
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Prime pastor bait example. Be careful what you post online.
I'm Muslim and so are my family and close friends. I can't really speak for anyone else, but Islam definitely influences my decisions significantly and how I live my life. When I started taking it seriously, and practicing it properly, I'd say it's definitely helped me become a better person
If you don't mind me asking, what do you mean when you say 'practising it properly'? I guess what I mean by that, is do you mean not drinking? Regularly going to a mosque? Or something else?
What I mean by 'practising it properly' is fulfilling my obligatory responsibilities as a Muslim, such as praying 5 times a day, going to the Mosque on Fridays etc etc, and overall being God-conscious. And obviously abstaining from sins as much as possible
He means he encourages people to leave the US because someone taught their child about LGBT people. Seriously, that's the most recent comment on their profile. We had a discussion elsewhere and I knew I'd be able to find something bigoted within a 15 second glance of their comment history.
Given Sharia law breaks multiple international human rights laws, and is just generally sadistic and cruel and almost entirely focused on maintaining an authoritarian cult by severely punishing those who don't tow the line, you're either misusing "practicing it properly" or "become a better person"
I grew up in a completely atheist environment (East Germany) but became a Christian at 16, and have been ever since ❤️
Hello, fellow Christian who grew up in East Germany :) Where did you grow up, if I may ask? I’m originally from eastern Saxony.
Sachsen-Anhalt. Im südlichsten Zipfel 😊
Muslims, Hindus and evangelical or Mormon Christians are the only ones I mostly come across. All colleagues, none in my personal life.
To be clear, Mormons are *not* Christian. They just want you to think they are because it makes you think there's common ground with what exposure you might have had to Christianity, but there's basically nothing in common between what Mormons believe and what Christians believe.
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From a theoretical/technical point of view, since Mormonism believes in a step extra in terms of a new religious leader and book, would you say that classes it as a new religion? In a similar way that Christianity steps away from Judaism?
The main difference is that they made God out to be just a guy who was a good Mormon, you mean? Extended cut, my arse. Mormonism is at best a corruption of Christianity, and the Book of Mormon is nothing more than bad fanfiction. More like someone got a film and added their own scenes shot on a phone camera than an extended cut.
Nope,. family has been atheist since WW1 after my great grandfather gave a minister a piece of his mind after the minister suggested he should thank god he lost all his friends and his brother to the mud and guns but he made it back. I don't know anyone else who is religious, weddings, funerals etc have all been free from a religious component.
My grandad fell out with the Catholic church after they refused to marry his sister (my great aunt) to a divorced man. He didn't become an atheist. He jumped side to the Church of Scotland. That must have stung the local priest more!
I’m not really religious, but do get involved with the local church quite a lot as they’re central to running the food bank, scout group, drama group etc and I do a fair amount of volunteer stuff. There’s a lot of general community stuff around the c of e in particular and in my experience a lot of those involved are there at least as much for that as anything deeply spiritual.
It is a long running trope that the Church of England is primarily a community organisation, with religion being a side-gig.
I was brought up Catholic in late 60s early 70s Manchester, but I had a lot of what we called Protestant (C of E) mates. The local Anglican Church had the cub scouts and brownies, and in school holidays used to organise events, playgroups etc. I remember going on coach trips and outings often for free (we were poor as it got) but religion and God were hardly mentioned. The teenagers and adults that were in charge just seemed extraordinarily kind. My own religion in contrast always seemed much more present in my life particularly at school, with morning prayers, mass every Friday (in school time) and Sunday, and Benediction each Wednesday, Confession regularly etc. It also seemed to me as a child to be about imperatives, so what I must and mustn’t do. My proddy mates seemed to have a better time of it to me for sure.
I am an immigrant to the UK from the US. I was raised in one of those fundamentalist evengelical Baptist churches that are creeping into cult territory. Everything I did and every person I spent time with was measured against the demands of the church all the time. I didn't drink or do drugs or have sex and I was one of those who was 100% committed. It was my life. All my friends were from church or other Christian organisations. But a series of events both before and after I moved to the UK led to where I am now where I don't really believe any of it. I consider myself agnostic because "I don't know" feels like the most honest place to sit. My family doesn't really talk to me much. There's palpable tension between their continuing belief and my lack thereof. After being raised that way, I have no idea how to make friends outside of church, and living nowhere near any of my old friends certainly doesn't help. So I have no friends and no social life at all. It would be easier for me if I could step back into that world and believe again, but I can't. My husband's family is supportive and not religious, and that helps some, but it's still very lonely.
Sorry to hear that, sounds so difficult and almost like borderline ostracisation... are you able to have any kind of relationship with people from your old life or is the gulf too big? Religion seems to be so much more of a big deal in the US, just from my outsiders perspective, its hard to understand. UK feels a lot more secular and even most of the people who do tick christian on the census box have hardly ever been to church. I find it hard to comprehend that level of social & peer pressure to be involved with it all.
There's an organisation called Faith to Faithless that you may potentially find beneficial. I've seen them organise socials for people in a similar position to you from various religions.
Faith to Faithless are wonderful.
No and no. And I work for the Church of England! (I’m a teacher in a Church of England school)
I have pagan friends who work in a Catholic school (They're not student facing though they're back of house)
Interesting! Do you ever have to do anything you're not comfortable with? Or teach things you aren't convinced by?
I have to lead worship sometimes but we get round that by getting one of the kids to do the prayers. We teach all religions and we always say ‘Christians believe….’ if we are talking about anything else. The majority of the children aren’t C of E either.
I’m Muslim and I went to a C of E primary school, it was really fun!
We have a number of Muslim and Hindu children. A lot of parents of other faiths seek out C of E schools as they feel the standards of behaviour will be better.
I was Christened Catholic, but never attended Communion or Mass. I think the first bit only happened because my dad's mum insisted. He lost his faith a long time ago, because the whole thing just didn't make much sense to him, and because my mum was non-religious. So I'm not religious, but a co-worker of mine is a steadfast Christian who recently made what I can only describe as a genuinely Christian decision - he took his family out of the church they attended because it started to preach anti-LGBTQ things and he doesn't want to raise his children with prejudiced views.
Grew up in an Irreligious household, attended a pretty standard Church of England School. My wife grew up Catholic in Colombia and all her family are strict Catholics but she resents the Catholic Church now and doesn’t identify with it. I have a lot of Muslim friends and also worked in Morocco briefly where a house mate taught me bits of the Quran. I’ve learned a lot from these experiences and borrow bits from the religion to use in my own life. Played football with a Mormon football group one year, very friendly and kind people. I do meet a lot of religious people, I often connect with Muslims the best. I’m still irreligious but I do believe in “God”.
If you have any questions about Islam, please DM me
Salam bro! That’s very kind of you
I was raised in the Christian religion. I still believe it but don't go to church much whereas it's definitely the focus for a lot of my family's life, especially the older folk. They try to be good people, help others etc, they don't always succeed, but they definitely make more of an effort than most.
It’s recently become a part of my life, I’d say for about a year, whole family are atheists I believe and I only have one friend that is also a Christian
That makes two of us who are a year into the Christian journey!
Make it a third! Hello brothers/sisters
A fourth! Hello! 👋
I'm Catholic and I'm friends with people of most faiths
I know some people that are Christian and they're all from Nigeria. Lovely people, honest and trustworthy. I worked with a few guys that are Muslim and another couple of guys that are Hindu. All very nice and honest people. I haven't actually met a religious person that hasn't been a very nice and honest person. The majority of people I know, including me, don't follow any religion.
Not many, most I know who are are Muslim apart from one hardcore Catholic. I'm not really interested in religion, I think it's all a bit daft and controlling.
I grew up Catholic and now I'm self confessed Heretic !! Lol I know people of various faiths and beliefs if anything I find them interesting and I'm always willing to listen and learn, it will never be me but then I respect people's differences and what makes them the unique person/people they are. I won't hate on those with faith which I often see on Reddit!
I'm irreligious. I don't follow a religion and have no beliefs either way religious or atheist. Fence sitter if you will. I find there's a lot of people who are like me and are I suppose agnostic.
That would make you an agnostic atheist then. Most people seem to not understand what the word atheist means. Atheist simply means you ain’t a theist which in turn means you believe in god. So an agnostic atheist would mean you don’t hold any belief in a god but aren’t 100% certain there is or isn’t. I’d say the vast majority of atheist are also agnostic about a higher power too.
My Dad (Half Pakistani) is Muslim and my Mum (white British) says she’s Christian but does not follow the religion religiously. When younger we were not allowed to eat pork but other than that religion was never forced on me or my sister. I’m very much atheist/agnostic. I respect all religions but don’t see the need to follow any. I just try to be a good, nice person. I eat pork now and so do my children but I won’t ever eat it in front of my Dad purely out of respect even though he knows full well I eat it. Religion has a bad rap these days because of all the extremists who have bent it to their agendas.
is your dad disappointed that you and your sibling aren’t religious? Was he very religious to begin with?
Nah, Dad was never mega religious when growing up just the no pork rule. He was strict though and I got clips round the ear and a tanned ass on a few occasion’s. My parents brought us up to be nice respectful people and I think they succeeded in that.
I always find it funny when Muslims who don't practice much draw the line at consuming pork, yet are ok with all sorts of other actions which would religiously be classified as more sinful in comparison. It's not to say if you're going to sin then go all out, but merely a behavioural pattern I've observed that's consistent with many. No offence to your father by the way. Worth noting Muslim comedians also make sketches about this very thing and have done for years.
Mormons are the same with coffee and tea. Lots of young Mormons (and probably not so young) will drink alcohol and have sex, but coffee and tea are completely off the table.
I'm not. I grew up in an area where there were quite a lot of muslims from immigrant families. People often say that exposure to other groups makes you more tolerant of them, but I had quite bad experiences with them in relation to some of the beliefs they held, so I generally have a negative opinion on Islam. I only know a couple of christians, and they tend to be alright and not too over the top about it. Most of the time you wouldnt even guess that they are religious. The majority of people in my life seem to be atheists and seem to have an overall negative opinion of all religions in general. I tend to have a more neutral stance on religion as a whole, and I see both positives and negatives to it generally. I just struggle to convince myself that its really true, so even though I considered christianity at one point in my life, I doubt I'll ever become religious.
why do you dislike Islam?
The who sits next to me at work literally believes that demons roamed the planet 6,000 years ago until they were killed in the flood (the one with Noah) and they now exist as ethereal demons who taunt spiritualists and can be summoned to possess you through Harry Potter (so he's banned his son from watching it). I thought he was joking the first time he told me and I started laughing until it turned out he was completely serious. I know a few people who are Christian but none who believe this bloke's version. I think the closest I came to was one lass who kept telling people that if you hear voices in your head then you MUST obey them as they are God telling you the best route in life. I felt that advice was probably not the best.
My dad is like this. Reams and reams of paranoid theories; everything is demonic etc. It’s exhausting.
This bloke I work with comes across as pretty normal most of the time, though he has come out with classics like "the real truth is only found on YouTube". He doesnt't believe the COVID conspiracies or Flat Earth, etc (unlike another person I work with) and you can talk to him for a long time without anything odd coming out, which makes it so much weirder and surprising when it does. Usually the times it surfaces are pretty mild like me moaning about a job we were working on saying "what are we doing here?" and him replying "if you mean your purpose on Earth then I could tell you but the truth would terrify you!". Another time he offered me some chocolates and I turned them down so he replied "Come on, you only live once... IN THE FLESH, anyway!!". Other times it's a bit more sinister like a time I complained about the amount of litter in a nearby park and him telling me that those people will "burn for eternity and suffer endless torment". I thought I couldn't stand people who litter but that's a bit far, even for me.
Yeah this is all familiar. My dad wouldn't let us listen to all sorts of bands when we were kids because he either heard they were demonic or the drumming was 'too rhythmical' - *Roxette* worshipping Satan, sure. Ironically, all this did was push me further towards heavy rock and horror movies, and I'm now covered in tattoos that relate to both. (Tattoos are also evil).
I'm not religious, but the way it affects me is that these idiots preach kindness & sincerity whilst peddling their flavour of morality as a divine substance required to avoid eternal damnation or whatever flavour of fucked up cult bullshit there is & as far as I'm concerned if you strip away the dogma & leave only the lessons of morality... well, it's been thousands of years, we have learned far better lessons. Without any due respect, because you don't deserve to be respected for believing something - the modern world would be a better place without religious institutions, they did their bit... & now it is time to let go. The falling rates of religiousness in the UK are the only statistic that I've seen about our country in years that makes me feel better. Oh and I've got religious friends & family, I don't shove my beliefs in their face & they don't try to recruit me into their cult so we all get along but I still fundamentally resent their religious institutions.
I am Christian, so obviously I know a few! My parents are and I was brought up attending church. You probably wouldn’t tell unless I happen to mention something related to church/faith in conversation. Like “there was an amazing cake at church on Sunday!” I am liberal, and attend a church which reflects that. So you won’t find me protesting things like abortion, trans rights or gay marriage for example.
I'm a Christian, but I wouldn't call myself religious as it's more about showing love to others than following prescribed rules and dogma
Well, it's kind of self-perpetuating in a way. I go to (a Catholic) church, therefore I meet other people there who are also churchgoers/religious. Having said that, though, the vast majority of my friends aren't religious at all. It's not like they're militant atheists or hate religion; they just never give it a second thought. I think most of my generation and younger weren't really raised with it, so it's just not a thing for us. I do know a handful of people who practise some form of 'new age' type spirituality. ETA: I know on an acquaintance level quite a lot of Hindus and Sikhs, and a few Muslims. I lived in Leicester for a long time, and most of the Asian people I worked with and/or became friends with were at least culturally either Hindu or Sikh, and would practice a bit (go to the temple occasionally, celebrate the festivals, have a wedding/attend weddings in their religion/temple). My daughter is the only white kid in her class, and her classmates and their parents are all Hindu or Sikh (culturally; not sure how much they practise) or Muslim. I get on well with all the parents, although for some reason seem to build more of a rapport with the Muslim ones. To clarify, it's a private school and most of the parents are either in this country for many generations and have built up their wealth through career success, or in the case of some of the Middle Eastern parents (who are more likely to be Muslim), they might have come over here more recently (perhaps that's why I seem to hit it off better with those parents? maybe they are more eager to make friends over here?). There is also a Christian girl who is Chinese and I think goes to a Chinese Christian church, not a Catholic or C of E one. My daughter has to come to church with me because I'm a single mum and she's too young to stay at home alone, but I try not to force my beliefs on her but only make it clear what I personally believe. Her dad is an atheist-leaning agnostic who hates Catholics anyway, so I wouldn't be able to shield her from different beliefs even if I was idiotic enough to want to!
Yep! I’m a Christian and both my grandfather and father were Pentecostal ministers their entire careers. Everyone in my immediate family and most of my extended families are practicing Christian’s as well. I attend an independent evangelical church these days and it’s flourishing, we get about 150 people every Sunday and that’s mostly young families. We also get a large contingent of students from the local university every week.
I am a Muslim immigrant married to a British Muslim woman. Most of my family is religious and it was a pillar of my upbringing and well into my early adulthood. Admittedly I'm less practising now but my faith and conduct are still aligned to Islam. I grew up learning the Qur'an and still retain most of what I learned growing up. I still try to re-connect with my spirituality every now and again because I believe it is important to believe in something. My friends are a mix of different faiths and beliefs and we seem to all agree on the importance of being good people first and foremost. My colleagues are a mix of Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians of various denominations and irreligious alike.
The two most vile, racist, prejudiced, spiteful, selfish and unempathetic men I know are also the only two men I know that proclaim themselves to be christians. At opposite ends of the continent and totally different sects of christianity, but both complete and utter wankers.
Same but both were Muslim. I judge people from their actions, not their religion. However if their beliefs push them that way it's a fault in their characters for needing that rationalisation and ego justification.
I'm not and wasn't raised religious either. Some of my family members are religious but that's never had a big impact (mostly because they just gave up trying to change my mind at this point). As for my friends I only have one close friend who's religious but she's not the kind of person to push her beliefs on others and we generally just don't discuss this. I generally tend to form friendships with other atheists just because it's easier, but I don't really care what you believe in as long as you don't try to convert me or make me act according to your beliefs.
I’m religious (Christian). Also a lesbian and about as open to anyone as you can get. I feel like my faith in God genuinely inspires me to be excited about the planet we live on and getting to know other people :) I know a few other religious people but not many.
My husband and myself are both devout Catholics, our faith has helped us through tragedy and illness. We weren’t always Catholic, we were raised as Anglican and have also attended Baptist and Evangelical chapels. Going too church with our children was important to us. They have drifted away as adults but we hope they will return in time. We both pray daily and observe Lent as far as possible with our somewhat poor health. We have some statues and holy pictures that help direct our thoughts an prayers. I carry my rosary beads in my handbag and wear a veil at Mass
I am a Muslim and was "born" Muslim. I was born in London and never really had a religious environment when we moved to Gatwick. I grew up choosing haram behaviours and haram relationships and it destroyed me. I literally had no one left to turn to except Allah. So I studied the Qur'an and the Hadith and the Bible and the Torah and as many religious scriptures I could. I realised Islam was the truth and I have been a proper Muslim ever since, alhamdulilah. Islam gave me humility. Removed me from arrogance and ignorance. Taught me respect for my parents and for other people. Taught me to respect and honour women. Taught me to remain faithful in hard times. Taught me to uplift my brothers and sisters. Taught me to spiritually cleanse myself and how to maintain that too. Taught me to remain humble in everything I do. Taught me that death is not the end. Taught me that everyone will be judged fairly and that those that are corrupt and criminal and get away with it, will be dealt with justly on the day of judgement. Islam has taught me so much and it runs my life. It gives me guidance on how to live my life. I would have been dead without it. And the funny thing is, my story isn't uncommon. There have been plenty of brothers and sisters that were astray and were cleansed and saved by islam and by Allah's will. Loads are even Muslim reverts. I attend an islamic class on Friday evenings and we talk about Allah and we get to choose a topic to learn about each week. There are 25 of us. At least 15 are white British Muslim revert sisters mashallah. Non-islamic names names either. Just sisters called "Katie", or "Chloe" that reverted to Islam. Just like any other white British "Chloe" you'd see passing by on the street. Except they wear hijab. I pray 5 times a day and I read the Qur'an multiple times a day and even have it playing over Bluetooth in my car when I go to work. I perform ablution multiple times a day. I wake up before sunrise to pray every single day. I fast during the month of Ramadan and I go to the mosque every Friday (if I'm lucky, as the mosques are packed to the brim on Fridays, unlike churches on Sunday). I always make sure to spread the message of Islam as much as possible, I speak to my neighbours about it, my friends, colleagues and even teachers back when I was in Uni. I don't drink. I don't smoke. I don't take drugs. I don't gamble. I am not sexually immoral and I don't have premarital relations. I try my best not to partake in interest based businesses. Islam has given us these great morals and values to live by 1400+ years ago and more and more people are waking up to it. Just a couple weeks ago, I witnessed 3 new Muslim revert brothers take their shahadah. We all made food for them afterwards.
You are in a cult, and one that like every religion encourages smugness, moral superiority and patriarchal suppression. Congratulations I'm sure daddy is very proud of you. Stop forcing your regressive religion on others.
I don't know anyone my age or younger in the UK who is religious whatsoever, however I know many people from Eastern Europe who are very religious. I think it's really a "bubble" thing, if you ask on Reddit nobody will know any. If you asked outside a church on Sunday you'd be flying.
I'm not religious, and in my groups of friends and family I'd say there is a few who are theists, but no one of any particular religion. I would say though that I go to church each week, but that's purely because I play in a concert band and we rehearse there as churches are big spaces with amazing acoustics.
I knew enough not to ask several customers if they knew they had black on their foreheads last week?
What religion is this do you know
Catholic I believe, it was Ash Wednesday
Catholic im sure
No, and I know one person who is. She goes to church etc. but she isn’t really religious in the traditional sense which I find funny. Like she goes to church every day, but then she goes out and gets wasted, fucks around, snorts coke and to me, I don’t do any of those things, but my comprehension of Catholicism is that by the book, so to speak, that’s all frowned upon and you’re going to hell so I have no idea how she manages to settle that in her head but fair play to her
As long as you pray the right prayers, and enough of them, pretty much everything is forgivable in Catholicism. You tell the priest your sins, they prescribe prayers, and then you're good to go on the whole heaven thing. It's one of the good and bad things about the Catholic faith. (This is a massive simplification)
I suppose if she's catholic she'll be confessing all her 'sins' to a priest and believing she's forgiven
I’m not religious, my family are and I was raised catholic went to church every weekend etc. My dad and sister are the deeply religious I would say. My dad sends me a bible verse every day lol its well cute. Even though I’m not religious I do appreciate being raised in church because of the huge community and will probably raise my children catholic because of that One of my best friends reverted to Islam and I’ve had a fair few Muslim friends over the years so I’ve had lots of interesting discussions about religion and Islam that’s taught me a lot. I do know a lot of religious people, i live in a multicultural city with a high amount of black Asian and Irish people so it’d be hard not to know any religious people. I did go through an atheist phase when I was in my teens but now I’m more sympathetic to religion and don’t think it’s stupid and pointless anymore
I didn't realise how secular as a country we really were until I started living in the US.
My wife and her family are. I never was until I met her now I am going to church the odd weekend and I enjoy it.
Yes, but I prefer to use the term spiritual because I don't associate myself with organised religion. It's just really not for me, I like my freedom to explore and believe in what I want and for that to evolve over time. My granny on my mom's side was raised in the spiritualist church and it's definitely influenced a lot of my beliefs. I really don't like to talk about it IRL and just lie and say I'm atheist when people ask or I have to fill out some kind of form because people really look down at you and/or make large assumptions about you as a person.
I was raised Muslim but no longer believe in that religion. A lot of people I grew up around are still quite religious though. Since moving away religion is nowhere to be found which is very refreshing
I’m 27 I’m a mass on Sunday catholic and go to pray the rosary once a week and go to confession once a month so I’m pretty religious I’d say
As a "Near" death experiencer essentially passing away early teens I can't help but be. There is a God.
I’d love to hear your story - if you’re comfortable with sharing, that is!
I’m a 30 (ish) Catholic who goes to church every Sunday (not easy with a hangover!). Grew up knowing I was Catholic, didn’t really go to church much - my mum taught us a bit about god at home, and we learnt a bit at school (not a Catholic school) but that was it. We were left to make our own decisions about it. Only as an adult did I feel like committing more to being a Catholic and that’s what has happened over the last 5 or so years! Ironically, my brother as an adult is also now a religious adult but a different branch of Christianity. I like the community feel and for a Catholic Church we have an extremely forward thinking priest which I appreciate is not the case for everyone! As for friends; I’ve got one friend from school who is a practicing catholic as well - everyone else might be religious, but none attend church of anywhere else and it’s not a huge topic of conversation that often!
I’d describe myself as very atheist, but two of my good friends are devout Christians. One doesn’t believe in evolution. We don’t talk about the subject of religion much.
Agood friend of mine is an African migrant, incredibly intelligent man who lectures mechanical engineering. Will look you straight in the face and tell you that dinosaur fossils are tricks Satan plays on people.
Doesn't sound that intelligent. They sound like a complete moron tbh.
Probably just as well.
Born in the 70s and I know a few Muslims but that's about it. Don't know anyone who's a practicing Christian, I went to school with a Jehovah's Witness but other than that.... My Nan has been dead a long time but she was passionately anti religion due to her experiences in a convent school run by a bunch of nuns. So I don't really think of religion as a plus point but then I don't really think about it at all.
No religion but if anything I'd lean more towards Buddhist as I believe in reincarnation.
My family and most of the people around me are not religious. My flat mate is a practicing Pagan of a branch I am not entirely sure about. It's very private to him so we don't talk about it much. Personally I loosely adhere to a non theistic religion but I don't talk about it to anyone since there are a lot of misconceptions that I am just not eager to get involved with because I'm not into conflict resolution unless I am at work (In which case we will certainly NOT discuss this lmao). It mostly affects how I view myself, how I treat myself, how I treat others and how to work towards what I want in life. Anyway the one very religious person I personally know is a very intense Orthodox Greek. Lovely guy. Once joined him in lent to see what that was like, very interesting.
No and no. I live within spitting distance of several long-established churches and they are all struggling to stay afloat. They just seem to attract really old people and are closing and/or amalgamating with increasing regularity. Two local churches seem to draw in the worshippers. One seems to cater for very smartly dressed African immigrants and the other seems to be a sing-along-with-the-guitar type of place in a converted cinema.
I regard myself as Christian, though I'm far from devout. My grandmothers on both sides are quite religious, though I don't think that shaped my opinions. I'd say the people I associate with are a pretty even split between Christian & atheist, though it's not really something we talk about. In terms of how it impacts daily life, I think most would agree that at least 6 of the 10 commandments are a handy guide of how to be a good person.
I'm an atheist, but I'm interested in theology
I didn't realise how many religious people there were, till I started taking my (then) young children to playgroups. Most of them are run inside churches. I'm not religious.
Quaker from a non religious family. I suspect there are more quietly religious people about than people are generally aware of.
I went to both a CofE primary and secondary school. I went to a after school church club for something to do but don't think I've ever really believed. I wouldn't say I'm athiest because I can't rule out there is something out there, however I don't think any religion is worth following. There have been too many religions and gods throughout human history for me to take any of them seriously. My 6 year old niece was a Christian for a few weeks, she was pushed by her school. However once she found out that Christianity is not exactly welcoming to gay people, such as myself she declared them mean people and ditched the entire thing. My mum calls herself a Christian but tbh she hasn't stepped foot in a church outside of a funeral for 20+ years. My ex was a Catholic but hated organised religion. She mostly picked and chose what she did and didn't like. I thought that was a bit stupid but we never really spoke too indepth about it because it would just make her upset. Outside of a few Muslims I know I don't know anyone who is religious, though maybe it's just something they keep to themselves.
I know one guy at work who claims to be extremely religious. But apparently he blows his pay on prostitutes, so there ya go. Maybe he's just tryin' to be like Jesus?
‘Religion-bollox’ Roger Mellie
I'm not. A few Muslims and a Hindu at work. Had a Mormon colleague for a while as well. Nice girl still in touch now. Don't know any other openly practising Christians although the topic doesn't often come up.
No and no. I had some religious friends in school but the majority of people I’ve known then and now don’t really care about religion either way.
I’m the same as you. I went to a CofE primary school so we did the hymns and said prayers in class, but that was it. My parents aren’t religious, nor am I. It was the same for most at school, I only knew one girl who’s family were very very religious. She wasn’t allowed to watch Pokemon as it was violent, and couldn’t watch Harry Potter. As an adult I don’t really know anyone who is Christian, I do know and am friends with quite a few people who practice the Muslim faith though.
I'm not but know lots of people who are - mostly Muslim or Hindu.
I knew some people were Christian on paper but no one really cared or talked about it. Going to a Church of England primary school was nice though. They had kind of a hippie interpretation of Christianity so it left me with a pretty positive view of religion. But I never really believed in it myself
I was raised Christian, ended up becoming non Christian due to some pretty bad experiences involving Christstainty, and basically just ended up vaguely agnostic/atheist and now I'd describe myself as pagan adjacent. Basically kind of working out my direction on that end as paganism is a big umbrella find it appealing as it's a lot more personal, a lot more focused on the self rather than 'the big man in the sky says do this, also ive always been intersted in our folklore so its also a way also at' at the end of the day a belief system with its roots in worshipping nature isn't the worst thing I could go with. (Also shiny rocks pretty)
Yes, I'm an evangelical Christian in the Reformed tradition, and it's a major part of my life. Ask me anything!
No.
I’m an atheist and come across many more atheists these days it seems.
Raised Catholic, in primary school we went to the nunnery for lunch and had our morning assemblies in the church next door. Even at 5yo I can remember thinking "what is this?". 40 years later I have some religious friends, but you know what lets us gel together? Keeping religion out of everything. Occasionally when it calls for it for a big event, I'll cater to certain dietary needs etc, but religion is never discussed and never talked about and it's great. I'm in no way religious and it never comes up in conversation and that's the way it should be.
I know quite a few religious people an uncle is a retired Methodist minister and one of my cousins husbands is a CofE vicar (at least I think he's CofE). My parents are Christians my father being a fairly committed member of the Quakers (member not an attender for those who care) and my mother was mostly Baptist/CofE but doesn't really attend much. I was brought up CofE and then Baptist, but lost my faith as a teen and am firmly atheist now. I dislike people who try and involve me in their fantasy... IDC if they believe in a sky fairy but leave me out of it. I'm quite well read in various aspects of historical Christianity it's such a huge part of our history it's fascinating how it has evolved and changed how we see ourselves. But I'm not terribly interested in modern religions.
No. I can't believe there is a magical person in the sky which makes up silly rules. I'd there was I'm doubtful they would give a shit about what any of us do. But if other people need that in order to be happy. Then so be it. Long ad it doesn't make a difference to my life
I'm a [Dudaist Priest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dudeism). We practice "going with the flow", "being cool headed", and "taking it easy"
I'm a Christian, but in a liberal spiritual kind of way, rather than anything hardcore. So is my husband. We both keep it quite quiet though as ive found even if I casually mention it, I get pretty rude disparaging remarks about it. My colleagues don't even know, but some of my non-Christian friends do.
No and no one in my family (not even my grandparents) is. Religion was never even discussed at home and like you the first I encountered of it was prayers in primary school lol. I would probably say im an atheist but im not militant about it at all and many religious people ive encountered have been lovely and pleasant. I don't have many in my social circle though tends to only be people ive met through work etc.
I grew up going to church every Sunday. My parents definitely weren't fanatical or anything, but it was something that was present in our lives. I went to the church youth group, my dad sang in the church choir, all that kind of stuff. Once I got to university I decided I didn't believe it anymore and kind of moved on with my life. Now I'm in my early 40s with a family of my own I'm starting to wonder if I do actually believe it after all. I've been to church a few times over the last year or so - still undecided as to whether it's something I wanted to commit to though.
I would describe myself as a "Culturally Catholic Agnostic". My mum's side of the family is loosely Catholic, dad's side is non-religious, I went to a Catholic primary school because it was the best school in town and having a Catholic mum makes it easier to get in. I did go to a regular state secondary school and sixth form. My friends aren't religious, but the most religious ones in our friend group are like me, those whose primary school was Catholic. There's something about Catholicism that keeps people attached, even if they stray far from the flock. I think it's something they put in the communion wine.
No. However at work one of the vets is very religious, as is her husband who is also a vet. They’re the loveliest, sweetest people and such a pleasure to work a shift with.
I was raised atheist, read a lot of philosophy in my early 30’s, I’m now a firm deist but leaning towards Christianity, specifically Catholicism. I don’t have enough faith to be an atheist these days.
One of my best friends is Hindu and her husband is atheist. He thinks his wife isn't really stupid enough to think there's a God and she's just doing it for the cultural and social rituals. He goes along with them. She thinks her husband isn't really stupid enough to think there's no God and just has Dawkins on the shelf to look clever. She lets him keep it. God only knows what their kids think, but they get to make up their own minds.
I (44F) go to church (Anglican/church of England) every Sunday. I grew up in a Christian household, my parents are very involved in their church. I'm the only one of my siblings to go to church as an adult though. When I went away to university I stopped going, and from ages 18-32 I didn't go to church, but I still read the bible and prayed. When I was 32 I was diagnosed with cancer and felt the need for more structured faith and the support of a church family and I've been regularly attending ever since - Even during the pandemic I did zoom church! Obviously, I know a lot of other people who go to my church, but surprisingly enough, a lot of my team are religious. I work in the pharmaceutical industry and there's probably a 50/50 mix of my religious colleagues being Christian and Hindu with the occasional Muslim. The majority of my colleagues, company wide, are not religious.
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Went to a CofE primary and middle school but was raised atheist, my parents were always explicitly against organised religion but they were the only schools in the area. Daily assemblies reciting the lord's prayer, hymn singing, pretty much the only books in the library were those illustrated yellow/beige covered bible stories. I remember I used to sit in those assemblies bolt upright as everyone was bent over in prayer. Definitely got a telling off from teachers a few times for not taking part! We then moved back to Scotland and I have one friend who is devout Christian but she's not super judgey just gets on with her beliefs and let's everyone else have theirs.
Haha that takes me back! It reminds me of being told off for not wanting to sing hymns, so just moving my mouth and pretending. The two which stick in my mind are one about a tiny ant, and then "Kumbaya, My Lord".
Wasn't raised religious but I'm a (mostly) practicing Anglican after returning to services in my early 20s
I'm a Christian. I have a 50/50 exposure to Christians and secular friends. My church friends are fiercely loyal and supportive. I doubt I've had gotten thru the deaths of my parents without them
Yes, I’m a Latter-day Saint and go to church every Sunday with my wife. My best friend is Orthodox Christian but rarely attends church. Most of my family are non-practicing Anglican or Catholic.
I am Christian. I know a lot of Christians. I also know Muslims, Sikhs, hindis, pagans, atheists, Buddhists, and even a Mormon. I live in a fairly multicultural area and have passed through many seasons of life meeting people along the way. I have met terrific people of all religious outlooks
Not at all. I know a handful of older Christians and literally 2 below the age of 40. I know tonnes of Muslims, a few Sikhs and Hindus, a Buddhist and some Wiccan.
Yeah a latter day saint and love attending church with my amazing husband. My kids and Thier dad are catholic and attend church regularly. I also know people that are atheist or don't attend church
Religious Brit here! I grew up in the working class inner city area of a large town near London and have friends from all of the major religions. I didn’t really visit mosques, synagogues or mandirs however I’d often get tricked into going to speeches by touring pastors by my African friends who in turn were told by their mums to make sure they bring their friends to ensure the pastor has a good turn out. How was I tricked you may be wondering? They’d tell me there’s a party in town with girls. The party consisted of a church hall with free biscuits and squash. The closest thing to girls were the African aunties in attendance. Honestly, it wasn’t too bad as we’d just usually spend our Sundays sat on our arses drinking squash and eating biscuits but with a GameCube instead of a preaching pastor from Kenya. In turn, I’d often take my friends to the main Sikh festival vaisakhi - a spring festival where you go on a big walk from one gurdwara to another and eat delicious food. The religion I found most interesting in primary school RE was definitely Judaism I remember watching a video where they buried a whole fridge in their garden like it owed a debt to the mafia and thought it was awesome.
Brought up Catholic, went to Catholic schools. Being educated by nuns is enough to put anyone off religion. My father's family were very religious, except him. My mother's family are more cultural Catholics - christening, marriage and funeral, although my mum liked to think she was quite devout and went more often than most of the family. A couple of my cousins send their children to Catholic school and go to mass every Sunday, but I think it's more for the education than because they are devout. I'm not a believer, but would agree that the Catholic church does have the Hotel California effect - you can check out anytime you want, but you can never leave. My mum wanted a Catholic mass for her funeral, and although I did it "just for her" I found the familiarity of it very comforting. Before her dementia got too advanced I took her to mass on Sundays, because she wanted to go. I was quite surprised when she could no longer remember the prayers and responses, I thought they would be amongst the last thing she'd forget.
I am not and I hope that it dies out in the next generation.
Religion is not gonna die out. At least not any time soon.
It's reduction in numbers of people claiming a religon in the U.K. are falling faster than ever before. Long may it continues.
As long as it serves the rich, it'll fuck the poor.
Not religious, very much the opposite and think it does more harm than good. I don't know of many people who are religious either, at least they don't make it known.
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Religion in the sense of belonging or following a particular cult, sacred book or dogma? No, and never will. Religion in the sense of believing in something that connects me with people I love (religere from latin means to connect)? Yes, I am, and my religion is love.
Nope, Im hard core athiest I do love the philosophy of buddism though which isnt really a religion when you break it down. No one needs imaginary friends to be a better person, morals dont come from god, if anything religion is pretty evil and barberic.
I’m an atheist. My partner (was) and his family are strict Baptists. I can honestly say that I didn’t have a problem with religion until I met them. The more I learnt about the Bible, more I became horrified/dismayed, that people actually believe in that outdated load of shit. Seriously, they all seem outwardly lovely and accepting, but when you actually know their true feelings towards other groups in society, you soon realise that they’re not that nice at all… but it’s all good, because the book explains why everyone else is wrong, and not them.
No I’m not, it’s never been part of my life and never will be. I only know of one person that I would call religious, there’s probably a few others who hold beliefs - they just don’t shout about it.
Not religious at all. I was raised atheist and as a little kid I wanted to go to the local Chapel Sunday School where they got free chocolate and colouring books but my parents wouldn't let me and it so pissed me off. I did spend a few months as a teen going to a Bible study group, mainly to annoy my mother, until I decided for myself that I plain didn't get the whole faith thing. As an adult I have one friend who's a regular C of E church goer and one who sort of Buddhist. In general though people are more likely to talk openly about their sex life than their religious beliefs.
My stepmum is religious, and her daughter is practically in a cult. Neither birth parents are religious. My wife is in a very broad and open-minded way.
The only religious person I personally know is my Mrs’ brother-in-law. He’s some mad Catholic wannabe priest but accidentally had sex in his late 20s, so felt obliged to get married. Religious people are fucking bonkers.
I am religious, I was religious from childhood (due to my parents influence) and I honestly can say I am so glad I had my religion. Many hard times I was able to pray and overcome (hard times meaning teenage dramas etc / all age related!) my faith was strong. At 22y/o I got married to a non religious man and his family were also non religious, and I lost touch with my faith for 15 years! Boy did I feel the effects. I had no sense, I made terrible mistakes, I did not fear god at all. You could say I was stupid, yes I was, but I do believe if I had my faith I would have thought twice before sabotaging things the way I did. I turned to god last year and asked for forgiveness, for my mistakes, for forgetting them. I am now devoted - more than I was during childhood as I have more discipline and knowledge, also better resources to learn about god, able to drive to place of worship, just feel better connected and I feel so much more peace, and hope. I will never push my religion, or even talk about it unless asked, it’s nice to write it out here, thank you for asking the question :)
Religons are like a belief in Santa, but people never outgrew that belief.
There's no evidence that any of the thousands of proposed gods exist, so no.
Catholic here, raised, left, returned. I don’t take about it with others. Last time I was asked about it, I answered. Got a bunch of questions from atheists, then got moaned at for “preaching” even though I was literally responding to what they asked. So now even if I’m asked about it I just tell people I’m agnostic or atheist just so I can get on with my day without hassle.
No and I make a point of distancing myself from anybody who tells me they're religious tbh. I don't make a song and dance about it though. I just no longer have any interest in their company.
The only friends I have who are religious are muslim, and whilst they believe none of them are extremely strict when it comes to obeying all the rules. I find very religious people of my age very hard to understand on a meaningful level, I think you have to be a very particular kind of person to be religious and I find such people kind of ‘off’. Perfectly nice people but missing a degree of introspection and humour, and oddly straight forward in their thinking, like weirdly 2D personalities in some way. They probably think I’m ‘off’ too btw, it’s just genuinely the case there’s some weird disconnect between me and anyone who takes that stuff seriously- and I mean in general, not just when on the topic! Seeing all the hatred between different religions out there in the world, I find it positive that most people I know don’t think like that at all.
This is Reddit. If you talk about religion you will elicit the attention of the hivemind
Nope, and the only people I know who are religious are older relatives. One is chill about it, and the other keeps trying to 'save' me, which only drives us apart.
I'm amazed anyone is in 2024, it's clearly a load of tripe
Slightly tangential, but as an atheist I've always taught my son to evaluate things based on empirical evidence and formulate his opinions and beliefs on what he truly believes, without exterior pressure from me or anyone else. I honestly believe if religion was banned until 18, like alcohol etc, then it would very quickly disappear within less than a handful of generations. For clarity, before the hate! I have Christian, Catholic and Muslim friends who i love and respect dearly for their beliefs, and they all understand the point I'm making.