People who have gained, lost or changed religion as adults.
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...At risk of being beaten to death for starting yet another thread with religion in the title. 
But this is something I am genuinely interested in.
I am asking about people who have changed their religious status AS ADULTS, ie not just given up a religion they grew up in.
So someone who has actually been a devout adult, but lost that religion, or a confirmed atheist, and acquired a religious belief, or has converted from one religion to another.
Inspired by the unliked post in another thread that people without a religion are more likely to be bad, I am sincerely curious as to whether people have found that gaining or losing a religion has had any impact on their moral code?
To start with my own (not very overwhelming) change: I have moved from being a don't-care-not-interested person to what you might call an active agnostic, attending an agnostic-atheist-friendly church every week. And I would say that it HAS made a change, but a subtle one; I can't sit here and say that 'until I found religion I used to drink/ ****/ steal/ carouse, but now I sit and knit mufflers for orphans', but I just feel a bit more three dimensional in the way I look at life, a bit more spiritually aware, more grateful I guess, and happier, definitely.
But this is something I am genuinely interested in.I am asking about people who have changed their religious status AS ADULTS, ie not just given up a religion they grew up in.
So someone who has actually been a devout adult, but lost that religion, or a confirmed atheist, and acquired a religious belief, or has converted from one religion to another.
Inspired by the unliked post in another thread that people without a religion are more likely to be bad, I am sincerely curious as to whether people have found that gaining or losing a religion has had any impact on their moral code?
To start with my own (not very overwhelming) change: I have moved from being a don't-care-not-interested person to what you might call an active agnostic, attending an agnostic-atheist-friendly church every week. And I would say that it HAS made a change, but a subtle one; I can't sit here and say that 'until I found religion I used to drink/ ****/ steal/ carouse, but now I sit and knit mufflers for orphans', but I just feel a bit more three dimensional in the way I look at life, a bit more spiritually aware, more grateful I guess, and happier, definitely.
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I understand faith though and appreciate it is a powerful mechanism, but going to church to worship an imaginary being counteracts that in my opinion.
I did specifically ask people not to post their accounts of being brought up in a religion but giving it up as adults. I guess it's a kind of story, but invariably negative, and generally rather shallow, as you are showing.
I was asking about people who were religious AS ADULTS then changed; or of course the other way round.
I hope you get decent responses to this, Wonkey.
I have nothing to contribute myself, growing up atheist, although I had a brief interest in religion as a teenager, but then settling as a happy humanist
But I like reading about how and why people converted to their religions.
Thanks anyway.
I also experimented a little bit with Zen Buddhism in my twenties, but have remained Christian ever since.
I think that's a bit unfair; you most likely disqualified the majority of people during your original post.
I was going to post - Christian to Agnostic to Wicca to Atheism - as I thought it might have been of interest to you. And it seemed a better paced, more gentle thread than the usual religious threads which I no longer tend to post in as it is always the same ground going over.
But this post has massively put me off.
Such a shame as it would have been a thread I'd really have been interested in myself, the psychology & reasoning behind acquiring/relinquishing faith.
Perhaps there aren't that many people who fit into the relatively narrow frame you've set for yourself.
Anyway, a friend of mine converted to Orthadox Judaism when he was in his 20's. He is autistic and prior to judaism was obsessed with Robbie Williams.
He now lived in Israel with 2 kids in an arranged marriage. i think the main attraction for the religion was that they essentially set you up with a wife and say go forth and multiply, and due to his condition that was pretty unlikely to happen the normal way. (the marriage part, not the sex part, (he had plenty of that from random internet women)).
or... you posted late at night when there are far fewer folks around and then the question slipped off the front page...?
You might find The Clergy project interesting too. They anonymously communicate with Priests who lost their faith but are essentially trapped in their job.
Hope that's some help..
On the point you mentioned about godless people being more likely to be bad, I think that's true only up to a point; many atheists are perfectly good people, and we all know about certain elements of the priesthood. But I do believe (in a very, very broad sense), that a society, as opposed to individuals, is the poorer without some sort of religion.
The trouble is, any faith is easy to ridicule, but religion has positives and negatives. It gives people happiness, a sense of purpose, and can make them better people. And yet, it causes wars.
Bottom line - I think religion is a fact of life. Let's just accept it.
Wonkey should've bumped the thread in a positive manner.
We do not agree about religion but you always speak a lot of sense.
Thanks Keyser
I normally appreciate your posts wonkey, but in this case you're being particularly arsey and arrogant. Not sure why you've resorted to this.
Yes you started another thread on religion, and yes people will reply in whatever fashion they wish. Surely you have been around long enough now to realise how GD works?
(I'd also answer your original question, but I'd only end up in the "shallow" range from the looks of it.)