What sort of family did you grow up in as far as ethics or religion go?

[Amandistan]

I don't mean now. I mean what religion were you raised as? What sort of morals did they have?  What did you family believe as far as religion?
Are you still of that faith or did you leave? What made you leave or stay?
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Me, i come from a very strict catholic and conservative  background.
My family believes that all non-Catholics will go to hell, You will go to hell if you have sex before marriage and you are meant to have a lot of kids to raise as new Catholics. They believe the bible word from word and I had to read the whole miserable thing in a catholic clergy run hell school.  yet they (family)  have never actually  read it.  I would often question the book and would be punished daily at school and home. Plus be mistreated by my peers.

At 14 I could not bring myself to believe that crap. Especially after reading the book. What was the final straw for me was the way i was treated at school and church. I was naturally very hyperactive and had ADHD as a kid and was labeled a "Bad kid" for that at the age of 5. You really should not do that to a kid for things they can not control  as it kills self-confidence. Plus it was okay for them to paddle kids who allegedly misbehaved. i would be bruised often and i was locked up in a room once for being too disruptive at 6 or 7. Then told that i have upset Jesus.  I would get evil and very hateful looks at mass about my cloths, constant fidgeting and anxiety. I still have horrible flash-backs of that.
 
God was supposedly loving but hated women, homosexuals and anyone with different beliefs. He committed genocide, made a bet with the devil at the expense of a loyal follower,destroyed the earth, made people speak different languages and killed his own son. He was worst than Hitler and would be considered a sociopath if he were human. Plus we were made in his image and people have done some very cruel things. 

I eventually said enough and refused to step foot in a church ever again.

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I am actually very interested to here from ex-religious people and why the left. Your stories will be very welcomed.

[rick a.]

I was raised as a methodist, or the "bean pot supper" religion as I called it. certainly not as strict as being a catholic it seemed more of a social thing. I stopped going when my parents stopped going. It just didn't appeal to me. at that age I wasn't interested, and I'm still not 50 years later.

[Pol]

My parents were married in the Catholic church though my mum was from protestant background, my gran was even in the eastern star ( basically the orange lodge for women.
Religion was something that was never really mentioned at home, myself and my brothers and sister all went to the protestant school. I think my parents were trying to protect us from bigotry which was still a big problem at that time in Scotland.
 Just now i don't have any faith but think that there is a lot of good things in Wiccan especially the karma principle and the environmentally friendly aspects

[Rusco]

My parents are from different backgrounds. Father's a kinda conservative and he was a jail leader. Studied a lot about criminology and graduated about political science, and he did a 40 years career. My mum is more like an "60´s" cultural humanist person who's interested in literature and she actually explored the lit' and folkloristical research quite a lot. Both are retired now but they were part of a generation that moved to cities from farmer backgrounds, leaving their bros and sisters behind. It was a huge change in generations then. They obviously felt at a time they found new grades in life that matter; believing in democracy, freedom, study and work.

Things like religion were part of tradition that was quite important especially to my father. But I and my sister are glad such things weren't pushed on us. We could choose ourselves. They didn't talk about such things. I remember there was once some certain religious tradition about going to church at Christmas once in a year - that my father asked me if I'd like to go there too. I felt it as some kind of oh-do-I-really-have-to. So I did few times but admit being fair I didn't enjoy that at all.

At some degree they teach religion as a history at the schools too. But nowadays there's a will to take a closer look at how much it's allowed to. Like some songs that have a Christian tradition they'll perhaps prohibit the teaching of singing them at schools because there are other cultural backgrounds and religions than christian too... I'm glad if they'll do it, as Christian religion isn't even our roots or tradition. It was brought here only until 200-400 years ago. To some quarters even only as short time ago as 150 years ago.

[Master Ray]

My family were a beige / C of E kind of thing, my grandmother sent me to an inoffensive Sunday School, all very calm and nice...

But when I was in the third year of senior school, I wasn't doing all that well, and so my folks sent me to a Catholic school for my fourth year.. good decision, it was a good school and I did much better... except... 

It gave me a lifelong hatred of the Catholic faith.  Bear in mind that the kids I was studying with had been brought up with that shit.  They were used to it.  Yet I was genuinely shocked by being shown graphic abortion videos at 14 years old because it was 'a sin against God'.  Likewise, being put in detention because I said something, in some class or other, about sex before marriage being not a bad thing...

I just ******* hate religion because of those two years.  I don't hate people who have faith, in fact I envy them somewhat, but it's not something that tickles my brain in a meaningful fashion.

And don't ask me about the thing with my Grandmother... now THATS a can of ******* worms...