The Circle of Belief (Part 2)

PART 2

Have your beliefs changed over time? This video presents a model for thinking and talking about change in beliefs about the god question based on my own life experience.

Despite the pain and struggles that came with my personal transitions, I feel fortunate to have experienced a wide range of different beliefs. I moved from my authoritarian religious upbringing, to a strongly questioning religious belief, to independent spiritualism, and in the end, radical doubting skepticism and denial.

I'd love to know how and why your beliefs changed over time.

Steve

Acknowledgement and compliance statement: The church music used in this video is part of the creative commons program available at http:// freesound.iua.upf.edu. (28240_HerbertBolandHymneCanterbury.wav). Photographs were taken by me personally and the visual art and graphics used were created by me.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• religious
• apathy
• faith
• beliefs
• fundamentalism
• orthodox
• spirituality
• agnosticism
• atheism
• gradient
• model
• inreasonwetrust

[samanthakayee]

With me it would go Born to 10 religious moderation. 12 to 16 religious questioning. 16 to 19 Religious orthodoxy. 20 to now 30 it has been Self thinking Indivdualism. So for now I think there is a power out there and I have no clue what it is LOL.

[InReasonWeTrust]

I've always thought there was power in having an awareness of the unknown.

[mvogt]

Exactly the same, just 4 years earlier.

[InReasonWeTrust]

I've wondered about what affects the rate of change too.

[TheTransmundane]

I was never raised with religion, so until about age 15, I was always somewhere between confident atheism and ambiguous agnosticism. Then suddenly I jumped to Religious orthodoxy and quickly shifted to Religious moderation (in an attempt to reconcile my faith with my reason). Recently, I've shifted fron religious moderation to somewhere between self-thinking individualism and ambiguous agnosticism, largely on the self-thinking side.

Please make a third part to this video with conclusions!

[InReasonWeTrust]

Interesting life passage. Different than most I think.

[wetlazer]

But here is where things get a bit fuzzy,at least for me. I do not believe in any religion and the idea of a 'Big Daddy' in the sky to whom I must aqueous is so much silliness. Yet I have had experiences which I cannot exactly categorize. Some might call them spiritual. Richard Dawkins for example would suggest I had imagined them. Well I didn't imagine them. I was not searching them out either. I never went any religious anything as a child so it's not 'returning' to indoctrination either.

[ZeroSheFlies]

Very good model for discussion. In my case, the motion has been clockwise probably from RELIGIOUS QUESTIONING (early years) to SELF-THINKING INDIVIDUALISM (teens, and early 20s) to AGNOSTICISM (after age 26 or till present)

I am now 58 and so not much change over most of adult life

[zazzaret1]

great work and circle of beliefs, I was raised a Catholic and at age 15 was on a road to the uncertainty and now I've created a video on youtube entitled, "Sharing art, music and friends part two" I'd like to know what the feel of the video and the message make you feel about a possible new category in your circle of beliefs. Please comment on my video too. Take care, Rocco

[sabertooth1980]

It was only within the past two years that I realized that I really didn't believe in a god.

And when I found this, I felt kinda relived.

After that I began to research more and talk with others more.

So I would say that I have gone full circle cause I well know what people mean when they say "Everyone is born Atheist."

[sabertooth1980]

But soon something about church just bored me to tears. I was in libraries and book stores most of the time and kept finding science and fantasy more interesting than that church mom had us go to every saturday.

Eventually when I was old enough, I just stopped going.

Habits lingered from that part of my life, but with more exposure to the real world I let go of these fetters.

I adopted the "I don't know if there is cheese at the end of the maze, I'll find out when I get there."

[sabertooth1980]

I started out with non-belief because no one around me really talked about religion, we had a forest behind our house and I fell in love with nature and science at a young age as it were, so I rarely thought about religion.

It was just never really brought up.

Then at the age of seven mum tried to raise us in the SDA church. I went along with my mother for a while, but knew something was wrong.

As I got older I tried to over rationalize the concept of God.

[cryingsoftly]

Most of the time I am religiously apathetic.

[XenMonkey13]

bravo!

very well done. :)

[sonnygll]

Yea, my experience was very similar to yours. I am pretty much at the same place you are on the wheel, although I am certain there is no god because of lack of evidence and the impossibility of negative proof as I mentioned before. The atheist label fits me. But it is silly in a way to label me based on the lack of something (belief).

[jaocheu]

Very interesting vid.

My experience growing up in the UK was I simply wasn't exposed to religion at all, no-one really mentions belief or disbelief. much here.

However since I developed thoughts of my own, 10 or 11 years old I have been what you describe as a confident Athiest and in the subsequent 30 years not moved at all.