i don't remember ;]

Why do you seem to assume that, if someone follows the religion of their parents, they don't do so of their own free will? I am active in the religion in which I was raised. However, I don't go because I was raised in this religion. I follow this religion because, as a result of study and spiritual experiences, I have come to believe that this religion is the right one. I have studied other religions and I kept finding myself coming back to where I started. So, here I am and here I will stay.

I began my religious associations through my parents as most people do. There comes a time when you must make your faith your own, whether it be the one you were raised in or one that you have searched for and found to be true. I have decided that my parents had it right and I have remained in the faith that I was raised in. If it didn't make sense to me, I'd be gone by now, looking for something that did make sense. Please do not take this as an opportunity to preach to me or to bash my desire to follow an organized religion and believe in God.

I became an Athiest when I was 11 years old. My parents raised me to be a Christian, and still believe that I am.

I was raised in a christian setting, attending church weekly when I was young. However, when I hit around 11 or 12yrs old, I realized that I thought religion had no purpose, no meaning. Thinking into it deeper I decided to go aethiest.

I was born to a christian family, made a commitment at 15, remained so for almost 20 years, then became an atheist in a process of much soul searching and questioning - and of my own free will! Like JAMMco - please don't take this as an excuse to begin bashing the faith I had or what I have become or start preachin'. :-)

I was lucky enough to have my parents let me choose; therefore I was not baptised or anything. Some people recoil in horror and even pity when they hear me say that. I am very thankful. My religion, or lack thereof, is not important.

My parents were nominal protestant. mum used to go out of tradition, but dad only at special times. when I was 13, I encountered evangelical christians at school, and they challenged me with their real faith. I went to a camp, and listened to the speaker tell me that I wouldn't get to heaven by just being good, because my best would never be good enough (which I knew to be true), but then, for the first time I think, I had it explained to me that Jesus came to pay the price for my shortcomings, by dying on the Cross in my place. I gave my life to Jesus that weekend. My mother opposed me in this, which I found surprising. It seemed that as long as I didn't take things seriously, it was ok, but when I did...she really went off at me and continued to do so until about a year before she died. I remember that, after she had surrendered to Jesus, she said to me "I don't know where you got your faith from. It wasn't me. But I'm so glad you held on." I have a tribute to her on our website http://www.webpastor.com/barbara.htm

i thought most people forget their first religiuous experiences and beliefs. i was a baby how could i remember? : ]

Since most of the world tend to be theistic it makes sense that most atheists come out of theistic homes to begin with.

I was born into a family who were in no way religious. I grew up and was able to form my own opinions. I believe in science and evidence. Not stories about talking snakes and ghosts.

my mum was Catholic ..my dad was church of England ...neither went to church choosing to have 'personal faith' instead of 'organised religion' and church...I'm a non believer..for as long as I have memory I have been the same and nothing in my 50+ years has changed that view

I was raised protestant but became atheist in persuit of the truth. My whole family is really nonreligious so I guess it runs in the family how religious you tend to be. I don't have any statistics on the matter.

I was raised into the Christan religion, but never really found myself getting into it.

I was raised in a catholic home, and went to a catholic school. Now, i am agnostic.

I wrote a longer answer to this question when it was asked before, so I will write a short and to the point one now: I had a non-practicing jewish mother, non-practicing catholic father, and I was raised to read about all religions and decide for myself. Thus, I'm agnostic.

My parents were both Baptists when I was a small child, and later my dad decided he was an atheist and my mom decided she wasn't a Baptist, but worshipped privately. I was always encouraged to find and follow my own path.

I went from being born Anglican to agnostic to Tao-Zen Buddhist.

I was raised Catholic and began to question it in my early to mid teens. By my early twenties, I had moved from Catholicism, through agnosticism, to atheism.

My father was a devout atheist who left the church after he felt the local minister did not practice what he preached. He brought us up to take people as we found them and not prejudge on the basis of our own beliefs, perceptions or what other people thought of them. I found it a very difficult philosophy to handle because in common with most people, I do prejudge and sometimes unfairly. My view is that I am an atheist but if religion answers your needs and strengthens your life, that is your right.

I was raised in a christian family and considered myself one for many years. Eventually became an atheist.

we are all born atheists. you nor i would ever know anything about religion unless someone taught us. and as far as becoming a religion by free will, well please explain to me how growing up and having a religion pounded into one's brain until the age of 18, then told "okay, make your own choices now" is free will?? if you don't know anything else, what do you think most people are going to believe in?...probably the religion that they were taught as a child.

I started out a catholic, we went to a few different churches growing up, presbyterian, non-denominational, baptist. I have my own beliefs after learning about each religion.

I'm the son of a preacher, and when I honestly read the bible, I found God to be petty, cold, and above all else cruel. How anyone could follow the Judeo/Christian god is beyond me.

I was born into a very strong Roman Catholic Family. Irish/Spanish.

I think we are all probably born atheist in the sense we have no concept of gods at that age. Although I can't remember that far back I know I had no concept of speech, motor function or even toilet training until much later (OK though not THAT much later). So for a newborn to have a concept of gods seems a bit far fetched. Only once introduced to the subject can we begin to pass judgment on it. I firmly agree with the ideas of Quantum Mechanics but I would say I was born agreeing with it. I hadn't heard of it until Iwas about 7. That aside... I was technically christian until Iwas 6/7 ish I forget the exact age now I think it was 7 to be fair but I am getting on now. Whether I REALLY believed is another matter, it was just the done thing. But once I started questioning it all it took very little time to become an atheist. All completely of my own free will and remains so to this day. Granted my family all became (or admitted to being) atheists around the same time but that has never influenced me. My father is a staunch conservative whilst I am pretty damned liberal so my opinions just happen to be in harmony with my family's on the religion issue. I think I am probably the most strident of the lot of us though.

Definitely not born it. Forced into it when I was younger. Searched around religions when I was a teenager and realised that I will never know but that in all honesty, I don't really care either. So I call myself an indifferent agnostic.

All of us are born agnostic. We don't know whether there is a god or not. In fact, none of us ever know if there is a god or not, until we die. A person is not born knowing there is no god so he can't be born atheist and the same goes for being a believer. That's one thing that believers never get. None of us knows anything about any god until someone else teaches us. Doesn't that say something?

I was born knowing nothing of a god. For the next sixteen years I had my parents beliefs forced on my. I believed because I didn't know anything else. Then I started to think for myself. Now I am an atheist.

I was born into a very strict Evangelical Christian home and it was very difficult for me to realize that I disagreed with my parents. I spent years denying what I believed, because I didn't want to rebel. I truly wanted to believe what my parents wanted me to believe. I finally admitted to myself that I did not agree with Christianity, even though it still feels like I am betraying my family. I am currently an agnostic, but would like to find a religion that I truly believe in.

Everyone is the god of their own world when they are born. Soon we begin to realize that there are Others who care for all of our needs. Some people are able to make the leap that this is a physical representation of a spiritual truth. Others simply remain their own gods.

Free will. I was raised Protestant Christian, and from a young age felt I didn't belong. I desperately wanted to believe the things they taught in church and that my family apparently believed, but couldn't quite fool myself into it. As a teenager, I stopped "trying" to believe what I didn't. I decided religion wasn't for me, and considered myself an atheist. Out of an accident, I discovered Buddhism. One year, I wanted to avoid Christmas because it makes me so uncomfortable to celebrate a holiday based on a religion that seems so foreign to me. I jokingly told a friend that I'd simply announce that I'd converted to Buddhism (just said a random bizarre religion) so I couldn't attend. Then, being the curious monkey I am, decided to find out what Buddhism really was. I studied it intently, becoming more and more amazed at how it so closely matched my own already-held beliefs. Years later, I met and fell in love with a man who'd been raised Catholic and had accidentally stumbled upon Buddhism like I had. We will probably display Buddhist teachings to our children, while also displaying that one's religion (or none) should be chosen out of free will and not simply assumed by others, however well-intentioned they might be.

i was raised to be religious... or yeh.. to believe in god and such.. even had a friend wioth a very religious family.. but im not that much religous today though