Religious beliefs are learned

Recently I was reminded by a friend of my daughters something very fundamental to religious beliefs. I have always said that religious beliefs are mythological in nature and then that they are later translated into tradition. Through the transference of these beliefs from generation to generation within a society it becomes the norm to believe in what everyone else in your society accepts as true. Lest you find yourself an outsider or an outcast within your own community.

My daughters friend is a thirteen year old girl as is my youngest and we were talking about some tee shirts that we were interested in buying so I mentioned two of my favorites that I was going to purchase in the near future. One of the shirts says: There is not god damn god god dammit! And the other says: God is fake. The girls reply to this was a simple nod of the head and the words “ you are crazy” lol.

Here is a thirteen year old girl whose mom never goes to church but talks about how much she believes in God though she is not a practicing christian. In fact she drinks heavily and does drugs and has several relationships with at least two men at once. Of course one man does not know about the existence of the other.

Society in general; especially our society has espoused the christian faith and has incorporated it into our government although in a very subtle manner. Our presidents talk about God he is in our court rooms, on our currency, and even in our pledge of allegiance! The church has been trying to force the teaching creationism/intelligent design alongside that of evolution in our public schools. The growth of christianity is not due to any divine guidance at all.

It is traditions that help build a society and once the society is built its traditions and beliefs grow with it. In the case of Christianity this tradition once it was established through the help of the Roman government and through bloodshed and the edge of the sword it became a tradition as well. This tradition was and continues to be passed down from generation to generation that is why you don't need evidence to prove the veracity of Christianity. It's survival relies entirely on being passed on from one age to another.

I personally know of many people who claim to be christians and who state that they have God in their hearts and love him etc. But their personal lives are very different from what the biblical God requires, in fact I dare say that they themselves don't even know what God requires and have hardly ever read a bible in their lives. They know nothing of the origins of the gospels, who wrote them, where they came from, nor what is contained between its covers.

I have asked some of them why they believe what they do and I have gotten some very strange answers. All of the answers I have encountered are based on what they have been taught at home and even their so called experiences are entirely subjective and influenced by their beliefs. Have you ever noticed how people say that they have seen Christ in a vision he usually looks just like the modern day depictions of him? The long hair, moustache, beard, and white robe? The funny thing is that no one ever knew what he looked like. During his lifetime no one thought to sketch him or make a crude painting etc. This is evident here: http://www.religionfacts.com/jesus/image_gallery.htm

This just goes to show that you believe what you are taught and the experiences that you have follow those patterns. To you Jesus may look like the traditional pictures of him depict but to someone else he may look like Ronald McDonald if that is what his culture taught him to believe.