belief

It’s odd to think about all of the years in which we live our lives with no real consideration of why we do what we do. From such a young age we generally just follow suit with the standards of where we grow. This is understandable of course; truthfully there isn’t much else that could occur until the individual is conscious to determine if they will live their lives in a similar track in which they have for their previous years or begin to find a new path. I can’t fully say when this happened for me, but I can say it began many years ago. However, there are others who may never confront this and will continue to live how they were taught. There is nothing wrong with this, it is just a choice one makes in the belief that the world they know is the best it can be, or that there is more to be living for in some other direction.

Recently I was speaking with a friend about his children and how he has chosen to raise them. His daughter is being read the bible nightly because this is the tradition of his family; however, he personally has moved away from his beliefs in Christianity. What I found more interesting was how he mentioned that not only his parents but also his wife would consider themselves Christians. This seemed in my understanding as a possibility for struggles due to the differing view points, especially knowing of his parents and their very evangelical belief. But that is a separate discussion all together, so back to my original though… My friend mentioned that each night him or his wife read the bible to their daughter. He followed this with the explanation that they don’t read the Qur’an because that is not the culture in which we live, and thus they read what is customary, especially based upon the way they both had grown. The next point shared was that he has the discussion with his daughter about how she doesn’t have to believe these stories just because someone says so, and that she does not need to believe what mommy and daddy believe either. She is her own person and she may decide for herself what she believes. Granted she is only 4 years old. Something he did not mention is whether or not he will do the same with his son. This is a very interesting approach, especially coming from a man whose parents did not allow the same. Further, I am curious as to what his belief today might be if his parents had chosen a different method raising him, or given him the ability to choose at a young age.

It seems that everyone I’ve been in conversations with lately has some story in similar veins to this. Generally I’ve found one of three options; an individuals family was religious of some assortment and the individual believes that this is the best path and stick close to the principles from their youth; the family was religious and there is an outright rejection (generally based upon some event, which may have involved feeling shame or exclusion of some assortment and leaving due to these events; this would also include individuals who don’t straight reject their families beliefs but rather sit in question without the commitment of a “belief”); and finally those who have grown up with no real religious or moral guiding base point and have since continued to live their life in a very similar manner. Now I feel I must clarify a bit here due to the term ‘religious’ which may sound a bit odd, by religious in this case I am referring to any belief system based on the understanding that there is truth in one or many things; a structure of some sort. This includes everything from Judaism, Christianity, Atheism, Islamism, Buddhism, or any off shoot as well as smaller belief groups (this could also include such beliefs as a co-worker of mines who Sunday is a holy day if the Bronco’s are playing, it is in the same level as a common Christian’s belief of attending church).

So I suppose what really perplexes me is how and why we end up choosing what we do? Do we really believe that what we choose is more right than another? Did we come to these beliefs by the influential sway of our community, a figurehead, families, or are we really so independent that we actually choose without any outside influence (which in my opinion isn’t even possible)? We know that we are influenced by a great number of things; this is evidenced in everything from common trends to choices we make in regards to what we eat. But how does that all blend together to form a belief system, are we fully aware of all of the factors, and with that knowledge can we have any control in the end result? Or are we robotic shells, doomed to follow the path of a part in a machine in which we have no choice in how we ultimately end?

Life is a complicated thing.