Yes, most people are born into their religion or lack there of and tend to see it as the truth. It is one of the things that most people don't see the need to do. These are the opportunities that some people have. Some people due to poverty or lack of education really are given no option as to the religious path they follow. It is clearly what is presented to them.
I'd, generally, agree. Parents have the right to raise their kids the best the see fit, and that can include religious instruction and values. Unless there was actual harm going on, I don't think the state has any business dictating things contrary to their beliefs. That said, it doesn't always take. For example, I was raised in a devout Catholic family, but no longer practice said religion in adulthood.
These days it's not necessarily true, I have friends form Catholic and Jewish families and the parents ma y have encouraged the same religion, bit did let me decide for themselves. As for my ancestors religion, I have my own mind and I follow what resonates with me. I find many people born in democracies have this freedom.
Yes, most people are not introspective enough to explore other religions. They are born into their religions and stay in that religion all of their lives. Now, if they marry someone of a different religion, they may convert to that person's religion. Sometimes though it is just a different branch of the same religion though, like Protestant to Catholic or Sunni to Shia or something like that...Orthodox to Reform Jew etc.
I will give you an example. In 14th century my country, Serbia, was invaded by Ottoman Empire. It was from 1371 to 1815 that we fought for freedom. So arguably 5 centuries. All that time we never accepted to be Turkish colony and hence the constant fighting. You can check out online about this. My point here is that in Bosnia, that was part of Serbia then and in all parts of Serbia actually. many people were given ultimatum. Either they will become Muslims or they would get mistreated, humiliated or even killed. Many did this and went to be Muslims and even changed their names to Muslim names. However, not all of us did this. So after a while, let's say century or two, people who changed religion and names had children and grandchildren, etc. They just went on with the same Turkish family name and Muslim religion. They even changed the surnames of those who refused to convert to Islam into some funny names like Zec (a rabbit), Konj (a horse), Guzonja ( a big ass man), etc., just to humiliate them. When we won our freedom, there were cases where people changed back into Christianity and get their old surname back but most of them simply didn't. So, for centuries they were Christians and they changed it. Now, you have people in Bosnia who are Muslims and have Muslim names. The war was fought there because of this. They refuse to admit we are the same people. They were actually forced to their religion. They became Muslims because their ancestors were weak and pathetic. So, now they think they... i do not know what they think but they are obviously wrong. Another example is Emir Kusturica. His family was turned into Islam long time ago. His name Emir is not Serbian. It is Turkish. He was born a Muslim. However in 2005 he was baptised in Orthodox Church Of Serbia and he took the name Nemanja. A classical Serbian name for kings throughout our history. He is now an Orthodox Christian. He converted because he is a smart and reasonable man.
Well, I'm not sure if this is the case everywhere else in the world, but in my country we're baptized a few months after our birth and we're called "Christians". It's not really fair... you don't even have consent, so why do you assume I believe in your fairy tales? Ridiculous.
If we are thinking of ancestors many generations back that may not be the case. For example, my dad is from the Philippines his parents were catholic and maybe a few generations before them were Catholics. Before the Spanish arrived there was no spread of Catholicism, so it very well could be that they subscribed to some other religion that would be considered pagan in the eyed of a Catholic.
Yes, I believe that most people follow the religion of the ancestors, especially in the past. In the past, and sometimes today, people only typically changed their religion due to an outside force (conqueror). However today I do know people who have switched religions, or opted to atheism, due to things that they saw and disliked in their own religion/parishes.
Judging from where I live, yes, religion is do handed down from generations. Like my family, all of us our Roman Catholics simply because our grandmother is and so is our great grandmother. But there are some instances that children or even parents do seek other religions besides their parents' religion. Like my husbands uncles and aunts, they have different religions from each other. So in a way, yes, what your parents' religion is going to be your religion but you still have that choice to choose whatever religion you want to be in or to simply not be in a religion at all.
