I was a few days on how I decided to believe in something. How do you determine something is true. Only one other member had posted on the new thread. He said he goes by just a gut feeling about something. If something comes along that different. He's open. He can change.
Reading his post brought back a very important lesson as was taught way in the day.
Here's my reply to the question.
My father was a Baptist pastor and also a college professor. He taught psychology.
My mother and father were both intensive readers and loved to discuss ideas. I grew up
listening to discussions. We had a fairly large home library. Books on many topics. atheism
to Zen and a lot in between. There was a very old copy of Darwin's Origin of the Species
that had belonged to my grandmother. It might have been a first edition. I can't remember.
I grew up and encouraged to read anything I wanted. At 12 years of age I naturally grab the
three books on sex and the Kinsey Report.
The most important thing my parents taught me was no matter who said it or who wrote it QUESTION EVEERYTHING.
I remember my father telling me to never be afraid to ask your self questions on why you believe something and
read everything you can of the opposing viewpoints.
On religion: By the time I entered college I had already listened to hundreds of my father's sermons, read the Bible (most of it)
and read all the books in our home library on the world's religions. Once in college I checked out every book on various religions
I had time to read. This was a six year period where I really questioned and compared the Christian faith to other belief systems and nonbelief. I was read with an open mind and was willing to change if I had found something that made more sense. I didn't.
