The Truth Is…
Everyone is born a non-believer, born without the belief of a god. Belief of a creator comes later after your family and community has had a chance to indoctrinate you into whatever religious tradition they ascribe to. The Christian God, like all the gods before it is a product of people’s imagination which is a function of era, place and parents.
Since the beginning of history, there have been over 2000 Gods. Which god you “believe in” is determined by:
- when you were born (i.e. 1500 BCE, 0 BCE, 1500 CE, 2011 CE, etc)
- where you were born (i.e. middle east, Africa, China, Japan, Mississippi, etc)
- the religion of your parents
These three variables can correctly predict ones religion 95% of the time.
Example…
If Jerry Fallwell had been born in Saudi Arabia of Muslim parents, and obtained his religious indoctrination in that country, there is a near certainty that he would been a Muslim.
If the late Sheikh Mohamed Mutwali al-Sharawilittle of Egypt, who was called “The Arab world’s best known television preacher of the Holy Qur’an,” had been born and raised by Southern Baptists in Jackson, Mississippi, he would almost certainly have promoted Christianity.
Everyone believes that the religion in which they place their faith, is the true religion. They can’t all be right. One would expect that if there is one God of all the people of the world, s/he would be seen the same by all the people of the world. Even if there is a God, the probability that the Christian/Muslim/Jewish god is the one and only true god is infinitesimally small. If there really were a single true God, it would be obvious.
The Church Of Truth™ 
I think Ricky Gervais said it perfectly. Haven’t come across a god-botherer yet who doesn’t turn red-faced and feel stupid after reading his simple statement of fact:
“If you’re born in India, you’re probably a Hindu.
If you’re born in America, you’re probably a Christian.
If you’re born in Pakistan, you’re probably a Muslim.
That’s a coincidence, isn’t it – that you’re always born into the right God?
Always. Isn’t that lucky?
I was born into the right God.
All those others are going to hell,
but I was born into the right religion.”
I appreciate your thoughts. Although these will probably not change your opinion, here are a couple of things to consider:
Can science prove George Washington existed?
Why would we assume, if God we’re real, that He would force everyone to believe in Him like making a doll that can only say I love you?
What if man’s predisposition toward religion, or rather toward searching for God, is not there by accident?
What if you are wrong? If you are right, then no big deal, but if you are wrong then what would that mean?
If I wanted to hide one particular playing card, I would hide it among thousands of other playing cards. No, that would not be God, but IF God is real, then so is Satan.
All religions hold to different beliefs so all can be false but not all can be true. All religions are man’s attempts to reach god, Christianity is different in that it is God reaching out to man.
Thank you for reading this far, I don’t know you but thank you for your comments.
I’m sure you won’t change your opinion about things, but here are some things for you to think about. Your logic is poor at best.
Can science prove George Washington existed? Yes, Absolutely.
Why would we assume, if God we’re real, that He would force everyone to believe in Him like making a doll that can only say I love you? If God is real and has blessed you with free will, Why are you damned if you use your free will to not believe?
What if man’s predisposition toward religion, or rather toward searching for God, is not there by accident? It isn’t an accident in a manner of speaking, religion is a fabrication of the human instinct to keep their tribes together.
What if you are wrong? If you are right, then no big deal, but if you are wrong then what would that mean? If this is why you believe, then it’s not faith you have, but fear.
If I wanted to hide one particular playing card, I would hide it among thousands of other playing cards. No, that would not be God, but IF God is real, then so is Satan. Why would God hide? Why are you trying to hide God?
Aren’t all major religions so close and interconnected that it’s not really that one is right over another? It seems more likely that the stories just evolved differently as it spread geographically and across generations.
“Everyone is born a non-believer, born without the belief of a god.”
Illogical. A bare statement is not evidence of true fact.
I venture that you don’t remember anything about anything from your conception to about 2-4 years old. I don’t. I have never been told by anyone of memories before 2-2 1/2-3.
Where did societies, cultures, communities, nations, tribes get their foundational beliefs in some sort of super-natural creative being or entity?
Built in to our DNA? Evolved there? From a rock? Cosmic dust? The primordial speck?
I like the idea of religious affiliation by area of birth and early childhood. However, I only wish you would have given more time and expounded on your ideas. This article seems like a rant without any real labor to put actual ‘truth’ behind your thoughts. I am interested in the idea that our ‘Circumstance of Birth Determine One’s Religion.’ However, it doesn’t seem like that is the article you wanted to pen. Rather, you choose to use this as a grounds to further your idea that ‘science explains everything.’ I am not an apologetic and do not wish to chase you down that rabbit trail. I only wish you would have used this space to actually expound on the title of the article: ‘Circumstances of Birth Determine One’s Religion.’
Grace and Peace —
AW
Bang on!! Very few “believers” have done any serious exploration of the various belief systems, but rather adopted and accepted those of their family and community. What many of them have chosen to believe is an affront to human intellect.
My father was an atheist who attended a Presbyterian church for social and business purposes. He was the son of a scoffing unbeliever father and a nonfunctioning “jack-Methodist” mother.
My mother was the daughter of a man whose religion consisted of sitting and reading Bible passages he liked. Her mother was a believer in “han’ts” (haunts, or ghosts). They were nominal “Cumberlands” (Cumberland Presbyterians) but indifferent.
So where did I get my beliefs? My faith? I grew up in the middle of a Roman Catholic neighborhood. No one but JWs ever spoke to me about religion, faith, anything of the sort.
The JWs were not very evangelistic. One told me that they had to go door-to-door to meet their quota so as not to be “shunned” (excommunicated). Once in the house (we would invite them in if we were not busy) they would spend a few minutes rattling off their “bible study,” really just a q & a series from their guide book. Then they were happy to chat about anything else to fill out a half hour, then leave. I guess they got some kind of credit for appearing to spend time “witnessing” (evangelizing).