Hey, This may sound a bit daft but I wanted to ask all the religious people on EC if they felt that your belief's have molded who you are? Purely out of curiosity. I'm not religious myself, but I've always been curious.
I've grown up in a very religious environment and it has moulded who I am -- for the better, I think -- and when I was a Christian myself that I think that also affected my values and possibly personality. I no longer believe in God, but that hasn't changed my views on anything other than his existance, so one could stay I am still moulded by religion, though I may grow out of that.
I chose my religion, orthodox Judaism, in my early 20's, it has been long enough to shape not only my personality but also pretty much most of my significant relationships. What is the effect? A certain recognition of the fragility of life, its sacredness, the dignity of the human soul, and the primacy of law and "the way" in life, but I am having a hard time reconciling this with being gay and some decisions will naturally devolve from this...
It definitely shaped who I am, but in a negative way. I was raised in a Christian home so I was taught that gay people are going to hell. So while other kids my age were finding out who they are and developing a sense of personal identity, I was developing a lie that I could live so as to not give away my secret. I was burying who I truly am because I didn't want to go to hell. I've only very recently come to terms with who I really am, and only now (at age 23) can I develop and nurture my true identity.
I believe that they have. I'm speculating here as there is no way for me to know this for sure but if I were not religious I think that I'd still treat people the same way. I say this because I've always had a really strong sense of compassion. That is true even before I became religious. My religion can be summed up as treat others the way that you'd like to be treated
Yes, granted though, the radicalism did turn me away from my religion for a while, but eventually I came back to it. I think the biggest change to come at once would be me becoming a staunch pacifist, as opposed to the very..direct person I was before.
