I wonder if any of you can help.  My parents have a religion that I don't believe in or want to be part of.  My mum keeps telling me that because I was born into it then I am it whether I like it or not.  (I'm 34 btw!)  Is it possible to change your religion officially so that you aren't anything?  If so, how do you go about it?  I don't want my daughter to have a religion either.  We put none on her birth certificate.  My mother keeps telling me that you can't just decide you don't want to be a religion, it's something you're born into, but I think this is just her trying to make me something I don't want to be.

Can anyone help please?

It's perfectly possible to just drop any form of religion, or to change to another - 'converts' were always popular! So yes, if you know you don't believe in any form of religion, you're not a member of that faith. You don't have to do anything to drop your childhood religion officially.

I dont have a religion and never have.  My mum is Church of Scotland and would have liked me to be however my dad is totally against it so my brother and myself were never baptised/christened.  We were not brought up to follow any religion.  I went to church as part of the brownie/guide pack and weddings/funerals/christenings but that was all.

On all forms, I have always put CofE but that is only because there was never a box for a "non" religion.  When I went into the armed forces I had to attend church on a regular basis and church lessons etc and I remember being forced to go to the altar with everyone else to be blessed.  Didn't have a say in it.

My husband is CofE.  However, when our children were born, we talked about what we would do and have decided that it is their decision as to what faith they would like to follow.  Before we moved in October, they attended a Catholic school as part of that learning process.  The school were happy to take them for that reason.  Since then, they attend a regular school and although they learnt a lot at the RC school, I dont think they enjoyed the lessons so much as obviously there was more RE allocated than normal.

I will support them in whatever faith they decide to follow (if any) but I would never push them into one nor would I discourage them.  As long as their decision is an informed one and not a fad or stage they are going through then I would be happy.  It is THEIR decision.

Any documents that you sign and if you have any hospital paperwork etc. you can put that you are of no religion.  Years ago I put CofE as that's the only thing that there was at that time and my parents signed as CofE, I have to admit I'm an atheist really.  My dad worries that it's due to his lack of belief after my brother died but this has never been the reason why, I'm just not into any kind of religion.

  Is it possible to change your religion officially so that you aren't anything?    You just forget it that is it :-)
I don't think there is any document involved.

What is it with some people that think they should insist others do as they do. ;-)  

I have a step daughter that can't bare to be in a church due to her upbringing.

Isn't Religion a belief? (or non-belief)  No-one can make you think in a certain way can they?  You believe what you believe! :)

Totally true oldilocks!

You can choose whether or not to 'practise' your religion.
You can follow or not, it is your choice entirely, if you are a non believer then nobody can make you believe.
I have seen people write in 'official' boxes various things atheist and Humanist among them and I dont think they are recognised Religions.
Are you able to tell your family that you no longer want to involve yourself?
It is a real worry for you and it shouldn't be. :rolleyes:

Good luck
Karen ;-)

You can be born INTO a religious family TO religious parents but you can't be born knowing exactly what that religion entails and whether or not you believe in it ;)

To practice a religion and have a belief system takes knowledge.  One has to know what that religion entails before you can describe yourself as Christian/Pagan/etc.  

I wonder what your mother would make of me then?!  What on earth was I 'born' as?  My mother is a practicing witch and my father is Jehovahs Witness! :d

Debs

I agree with everything everyone has said, that religion is something to be believed in and that if you don't believe then you surely are not in the religion, at least that is how it should be. ;-)

Alas, with strong religions that you are born into this is not the case and the religion is inherited and even without baptisms etc, is passed on to the children and they are also always part of that religion even if never practised. It may seem strange especially to the more Christian religions as we don't tend to do that. The Jewish religion, Muslem, just as examples.

You can't just opt out and no longer be, many in these religions always are the religion, before the country, the lifestyle, the differing religious husband/wife, they are a part of. And if the female in particular is from a strong religious background her chidren are also that religion too by birth.

The only way to rid themselves of a very strong religious background/family is to convert.  Simply opting out/lapsing is not always the answer.

If this is the case with you earl, the only thing you can do is convert to another religion, releasing yourself and your children from the hold of that religion.  Then you can do what you like after that once the initial split is made. :-)

I was Baptised Church of England, (dad C of E Mum RC) we were never taken to church but mum always believed in baptism, I am now 39 and this year I became a Roman Catholic (my Choice), My children who are (14, 12 and 9) have also converted again their choice but my husband is a non believer, his choice.

Thanks everyone for your help.  Carrington, you've hit the nail on the head.  I appear to be one of these religions that is inherited.  I don't want to convert to another religion because I just don't believe in anything.  Do you think then that I can't do anything? :(

I only know one Religion that is also a Race and that is Judaism.  Everything else is pretty much a take it or leave it, but of course if the country where the faith is practised is almost entirely of that faith opting out may be impractical or ignored.

I was born into the Catholic faith, but have rather lapsed of late not having been to Mass for a year or more, as I don't at present feel the need to express my faith in that way.

I probably have more protestant beliefs, but see no point in changing my official faith as I tend to beleive that faith is entirely personal.

If your close to your family, (which I hope you are) then it is doubtful, they will always associate you with the religion and your children also.

We outsiders do the same too.

I'm going to use the Jewish religion again as an example, (as one of my sister-in-laws is a none practising Jewish girl) but take her children to my brother, the Jewish in-laws automatically say the children are Jewish as born from a Jewish girl, or at the very least call the children half Jewish, yet where does religion come into it, it is not supposed to be in the blood, but to them it is? As with you, my brother who is C of E has not christened, baptised or whatever their children but left them open........... but even to the outside world they will be classed as half Jewish. ;-) Won't they?

Strong religions do this, yet I am C of E, hubby is Italian Catholic, yet our children were not automatically called either religion until we decided what they would be.

I'm not going to ask which religion you are, but if a strong one, I don't believe even if you don't practise that you can escape it.

The only way to disinherit is to convert to possibly something with less of a hold, it would really upset your family though, it depends how much of a problem it is. :-)

I appear to be one of these religions that is inherited.  I don't want to convert to another religion because I just don't believe in anything.  Do you think then that I can't do anything?

What do you want to do?  As you live in the UK you can choose to be whatever you like and you can choose how your children are bought up.  You don't have to be anything and the majority of people and the state don't care what religion you are (or are not).  There will always be some people who will potentially see you as being of a certain religion but that is their own perception of you it is not in anyway binding on you unless you let it become so.

A religion is a belief and is not a contract. Even if a child is baptised into a religion, they are under no obligation to continue on that path if they choose not to. You can certainly formally convert to another religion, but you cannot formally convert to atheism....
Religion is not like race....its something that you as an individual have total choice in.
It is clear from your post that you are already an atheist, and when you are asked to provide that information officially you can put down anything you want.( or nothing at all if you so desire) 

There is nothing legally binding that says you have to be a certain religion just because you are born into it.  You can be anything you want.  Most Christians would actually say you are not a Christian until you make the decision to become one it's a personal faith you can't inherit it.

You can just decide you don't want to be a particular religion, the state doesn't care.  People and some religions on the other hand may well care which is probably where your mother is coming from.  These people or religions however cannot force you to be part of their religion.

Hospitals only collect data about religious preferences in case something happens to you (they won't send a priest to visit if you are Muslim)and for dietary reasons (although I suspect this is now dealt with elsewhere).  The Govt only asks for stats.

total madness, of course you can cease to belong to a certain religion- if martin luther had not we wouldn't have protestants around, look at henry the 8th etc. religion is not set in stone it is a personal thing to change. i was raised catholic but always in a very open minded way. when i was about 9 i realised that it was totally ridiculous (no offence ment to any catholics on the forum, its just is ridiculous to me and it certainly has its good points). anyway, i felt very lost for a few years as i liked belonging to a religion and i still believed in the existance of higher powers etc. when i was 15 something very weird happend and i started looking into Wicca. anyway, totally fitted everything i believe in, asks no more of me than i wish to give and suits me perfectly so 7 years later i'm still a practising pagan. even my very open minded, not devout at all family took a bit of getting used to the change but you can't live for other people. actually, does anyone know how i can get excommunicated? don't like still being thought of by the church as catholic...

I know the whole of Scotland managed to get excommunicated with Robert the Bruce until the Declaration of Arbroath. but i think the Pope did that a lot then!! Fear of eternal damnation was obviously a lot stronger in the 14th Century :) . Joe DiMaggio was apparently excommunicated for bigamy - there is a whole list on wikipedia of people who have been excommunicated including the population of Venice at one point.

I must admit, i thought that Judaism was the only religion you couldn't opt out of or into, because it is a race as well as a religious belief, but apparently they will accept converts so I suppose that's not true either.

lol yep, whole story line in Sex and the City about it :D

Very interesting thread!

I agree, you can just stop practising that religion... end of... no one can make you do something you dont want to.

Just for the record... i was christened in a Cof E church.. (my moms idea.. long story)
Now im a spiritulist but got married in a methodist church....
All sounds a bit mad dont it?

Donna x
(and my boysx)