Has your religious or cultural upbringing affect the rest of your life ?

Roman Catholic upbringing, rejected when I realised how much war, death and destruction is ‘justified’ by religion. No religion at all now for me, though I still feel guilty for the disappointment that caused my parents.

Our children have found their own paths, one an agnostic, the other a Mormon, and are happy with their choices.

I was brought up in the Catholic faith. Although I am now an Anglican my upbringing affected my life in a good way in that being a faith household was a preparation and set me on a journey of discovery. Having looked at and rejected other religions I found being a Christian was right for me. I find the Anglican church more relaxed but probably my memory is clouded by how strict the Catholic church seemed when I was a Child.

The answer is yes. Born a Catholic, raised as a Catholic and did my best with my children and my life as a Catholic I became so disillusioned with all the vile goings on with supposedly revered Catholics I gave up, all of it, and everything that went with it, church was only a place for funerals and then I got outside as soon as possible. Now Catholic guilt has kicked in, I’m old and have to think about my funeral, and what do I insist on, a full Catholic service, incense the lot. I just hope my mother isn’t too cross with me 😥

No religious links and it hasn’t affected my life . My mother was c of E and my dad a lapsed catholic. They struggled to find a church to marry them in the 50s.
They didn’t get myself and my siblings christened and I only went to church with the brownies and guides , or weddings and funerals.
The only religion I’ve expressed an interest in is Judism . I was in a serious relationship with a Jewish guy and I worked with a number of Jewish people .
My dh is a lapsed Christian and our DC haven’t been christened, which hasn’t affected their lives either .
We had a humanist service for my dad and my mum wants the same as it was a lovely celebration of his life .

It is interesting how many posters were brought up Catholic. It seems that a Catholic upbringing stays "in your bones" even if you reject it later.
My parents weren't religious, but did send me to a CofE boarding school. I did learn the beautiful words of the Book of Common Prayer, many hymns and much music, which I love still although I have no religious belief.

I was brought up as a Christian, but not a Catholic. My Dad was Baptist and my Mum had been Salvation Army before marriage. They were rather strict in their interpretation. I became an Anglican when I was 18. My Christian faith is very important to me, but my interpretation is rather different from my parents’.

A few examples of what bigotry can do .
We lived in the highlands of Scotland ( wee free churches there ) and a retired minister stopped speaking to my neighbour because she hung out nappies on a Sunday . The poor soul had tiny twins to cope with. Friends had to hide all newspapers when the grandparents visited on a Sunday and no games or playing out for the children .
I had a friend whose family were Plymouth Brethern and they cast her out of the family when she married outwith the religion . Her husband was a well loved doctor as was her father but that made no difference.
I was not baptised as a baby but to join the Church of Scotland it was a requirement so when I was 17 I had it done . I asked the minister if he wanted to make a note on by birth certificate and he replied " The only time you would need that would be if you married a catholic and God forbid you ever do " Words failed me .

My 70 year old DH suffers from terrible Catholic guilt due to his upbringing. He was taught by nuns and Christian brothers caned roughly once a week. He is an atheist now .

Generation of my family were Methodists and I grew up with Sunday School and Youth Club. I don’t attend now but I am aware that it has affected how I treat others and my point of view on life

Yes of course my faith has impacted on my life.
Raised a Roman Catholic fortunately and most certainly followed the teachings.
It’s a way of life not a fashion accessory.
It’s not a menu to choose what to believe.

Well said Lovely Lady!

Me too. Absolutely

I grew up with the Church of Scotland, but dismissed that church, not because I lost my faith, but because of the hypocrisy I came across. My beloved Gran was housebound, and not once did the the local minister visit her, even though she sent in her contribution every week. My Darling mum, was being treated for cancer and shared a room with a lovely nun, Sister Mary Francis and the ward sister was always threatening to split them up, due the volume of laughter that came from their room. The mother superior invited us to attend the funeral when Mary Francis died, as she knew how fond we were of the sister. The kindness shown to us by the nuns when my mum died stayed with and at the age 28 I converted to Catholicism, a decision I have never regretted, I found people who supported me when I felt low. I know it’s not for everyone, but it’s right for me

My father's side of the family were staunchly Church of Scotland, (my uncle became a minister and my cousin married one) - but my father caused a bit of a 'stooshie' when he point blank refused to allow me to be christened. His reasoning was that, once I was old enough to understand religion, I could choose for myself. His one concession was to allow my granny to take me to Sunday School every week. I was a very questioning child, so that only lasted until, aged around 7 or 8, I realised that you weren't supposed to question anything to do with the church, simply believe. My logical brain couldn't accept that and that was the end of that. I've been resolutely atheist ever since.

Welsh chapel dominated my childhood as, living in rural N Wales, there was very little to do unless it was connected to the chapel. I started to have doubts in my teens, was told that I would grow out of it, so didn't finally walk away until my mid 20s. I am sadly rather anti religion now - so many wars, conflict and hatred from people who are supposedly peace loving. OK, I know not everyone.

I was brought up as a Catholic: Mass every Sunday and Holy Day, and Confession once a fortnight. I got married in a C of E church because my DH was indoctrinated against Catholics. I have felt guilty ever since. I was sent to a convent scool where some of the nuns were very nasty, and my brother went to a Catholic monastery where the boys were whacked with cricket bats. I think religion of any kind can be very destructive but I feel guilty for thinking that.

It was a foregone conclusion in my childhood home that we believed in God. As children we were taught simple evening prayers and my mother said them with us ever evening, until we were about six and she said we were old enough to say our prayers alone.

My parents, strangely enough did not go regularly to church, but we celeberated Christmas, Easter and Whitsun as religious holidays.

I have always been very thankful for this teaching and the sound moral background we were given too. I do not think I would have got through some of the problems life has flung at me so well, if I had not been taught to pray.

As far as politics went, my parents more-or-less took it for granted that all right-minded people voted Conservative, but they had friends of other political opinions, and as you have to be adult to vote, they never asked us how we voted.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

I think we've all (including me...) taken the first part of the question (ie religion) and I know I certainly hadn't clicked to the "cultural" aspect. So - yep....the cultural aspect has affected me I do know. My father was the one - he was a pretty open and intelligent sort of person and pretty highly principled.

I remember my mother making comments pretty often to the effect of wishing he wasn't so principled. Yep......if I've thought my way into what I think of some major issue and I can see what the moral option is = that's the one I'll probably agree with and not be very happy about any other option.

I don't do "fitting in" for the sake of it - though it's certainly welcome any time my opinion and current majority opinion on something are the same. But I do form my opinions myself - hence I never did Lockdown - and the first thing that made me think was They promised it was "for a matter of weeks" and they told us how many weeks it would be for and I believed them (oh boy....) and literally counted the days. We got to the end of the period they had promised and I waited for their announcement of it being over now and it didn't happen. So I waited a few days more, thinking "Maybe they'll say it's over tomorrow then....they're just being a bit inefficient about being prompt with the announcement". When it didn't happen and clearly wasn't going to happen - cue for "But they said........!!!!!!!" and I promptly stopped following Lockdown myself.

I blame my father LOL. As I recall he had finally managed to get a "new car" that was brand new (he'd only been able to afford secondhand ones previously). So of course he was proud of having achieved that at last. Cue the paperboy came down the drive with his bike carelessly and scratched my fathers precious new possession. A lot of people would have shrugged their shoulders and let him get away with being careless, a lot would have accepted the newsagents offer to put it right, a lot would have accepted the offer made by the paperboys mother to put it right. But my father insisted it had to be the paperboy himself that paid to put it right - ie so as to teach him to be more careful with other peoples possessions.

In adulthood - a teacher training student that was a lodger of mine let me down badly (ie broke their contract, etc). Cue for my father and I in the small claims court about the money he owed me - and my father said "Did you hear how he failed his teacher training course? Well, of course, teachers have to teach morals too. I expect he didn't realise that they need a good personal reference from the principal too in order to pass the course". At that point I remembered the lodger had gone to the same teacher-training college as my father and it still had the same principal my father had had when he retrained there - and I knew exactly what phonecall my father had obviously recently made......and neither of us said a word.

So - yep....."cultural upbringing" has definitely influenced me - as I will do what I believe to be right....even if it's not popular.

I went COScotland , Sunday school, bible class etc etc, just what you did. My mum went to church and had faith, my dad never. Now I have my own way, try and be good and kind to folk and think there is something up there , but not necessarily God and we will all end up in a big party in the sky. My problem is only have D/D and family and D/S and family , only relatives and both for various reasons are religious. One family Born Again Christians and the other NI Presbyterian and all worry that I will go to hell and some that they will have to forget me at that stage in case I drag them down. Don’t get me wrong we have decent relationships as we don’t talk about religion very much , only since grandkids have grown has talk come about. It just worries me about the fervency and harsh thoughts re LGBT etc etc

Humanist is new to me sounds a good way of thinking. All these different religions and wars👎

My parents were not churchgoers and actually my father was an atheist but I always liked what I heard about Jesus at school and in books. When I was a young teenager I started researching religion and Christianity in particular. I had a remarkable conversion experience and have followed Jesus Christ for the last 51 years. He is the centre of my life and he has had a huge impact on everything I have done. Many of my family including my parents, cousins etc have also believed and followed in the path of Jesus.

Interesting thread. Church of Scotland Sunday school which was joyless, my Father had no time for organised religion, and although my Mother had attended in her youth, was a Sunday school teacher, she walked away after a cruel and selfish action of the Minister when her brother died. My children went to the village primary which was CofE, so had a 'mild' religious education, but we didn't have either of them christened as we feel it should be their decision, and frankly, would have been rather hypocritical of us as neither of us are believers.

I understand that many people get comfort from religion, and sometimes envy them their faith, but it is not for me. I am capable of following a moral code, being kind to people etc., without going to a place if worship, and I have a serious issue with male dominated behaviour in some areas of the major religions. Evangelical Christians repel and frighten me.

I was born and brought up a catholic. By the time I was 5 I knew and full understood that we were all equal in the sight of God and that we were all sinners. I understood that to mean that no one was perfect.

Those two basic concepts of the equality of all humanity and an understanding that we all, at times, get it wrong has formed the underpinning of my whole attitude to life.

It means, as a child, I could experience and be forgiving of adults who made life difficult for me, whether ordinary teachers, doctors and nurses, or nuns and I have carried that through to adult life. It underpins my sense of fairness and justice and means I have been willing to stand up for other people.

The frills and furbelows of religion that seem to bother other people never bothered me. They were all irrelevant because they all boiled down to other people behaving badly and I understood that this is because they were fallible - and so was I.

I was raised Catholic and attended Catholic schools. I loved being part of the church with the passing seasons and rituals.
However, I married a non Catholic divorcee (registry office) am unable to take communion and no longer feel part of the church. The church do not recognise my marriage and consider me to be living with a married man.
Despite this, I miss it terribly.