religious obsessions causing conversion to other religions

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Has anyone else here had religious obsessions that caused them to convert to that religion (or those religions)? Did you feel that the conversion was for the best or was it just because you were obsessed with the religion? Is there a difference between religious belief and being obsessed with a particular religion?

I was obsessed with the religion of my adopted family from 6 to 16...Christian Science.It is a more "intellectual" based religion then most forms of Christianity.I still find a lot of the concepts interesting but became "disillussioned" with religion around 16.The more I learned about the history of religion,the more turned off I became with all the hypocrisy and cruely done in the name of "religion">I still think Jesus was a pretty advanced soul.I later became interested in Buddhism,but no longer felt the need to "join" anything...very leery of the whole concept of "group mindset".I try and live my life with a mix of concepts of Christ,Buddha,and "kung Fu" with some AA principles thrown in.

I agree, that's pretty much what I do, I cherrypick the parts of different religions that I think make since.... As far as the material things go I'm atheist, but as far as morality and such stuff I do borrow stuff from various different religions. And some of those morals are just my own that I thought up.

Does the Church of Garlic count?

No she means fake religion not Garlic.

That's what I thought.

Yes, I have. It's been well over thirty years and I'm still ashamed of it, but I have.

For as long as I can remember, back into childhood, I've had the sense that there was a higher order of reality around us that was far more real than the physical reality we perceive with our senses, what Hamlet expressed when he said, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies."

I was never much impressed with the generic suburban protestantism my parents halfheartedly raised me in because everybody said that church was good for kids. It was obvious they didn't care about it themselves, and equally obvious that there was nothing there, a kind of spiritual MacDonalds.

I was never much impressed with western philosphers, who were seeking truth in word games and linear logic, like hunting elephants with dime store rubber tipped arrows. It might have been Kant who talked about "Defining your way to victory,' as though seeking perception of truth and the nature of reality had anything to do with winning arguments. The existentialists made sense, but I never understood how they could write phone book sized volumes based on such a simple idea.

So the stage was set, bring out the human sacrifice. I joined the mormon church in middle teens and built my life around it for the next seven years. I still wonder how it was possible for me to have been so stupid, although it don't matter no more. It was obvious from the beginning that their moral teachings ran counter to morality and their belief system was just plain dumb, but it took me that long to face up to that fact and separate myself from them. I suppose that since then, I have never been able to deny my own capacity for stupidity.

They're required to accept anybody, so they provided a community for a kid who was always alone, although they didn't like me for the same reason nobody else ever has, plus it was always evident that I did not believe Jesus followed whatever was fashionable in the republican mainstream.

There is an epilogue I wish I hadn't written, but I cannot change the past. I ended up technically married to a groupie whore who worships the mormon cult leaders, and now I pass my final days watching my kids brainwashed to build their life guiding beliefs around the idea that truth and morality means mindlessly following republican millionaires. This mormon feminist allience is the strangest thing since Israel and South Africa worked together to build nuclear weapons, but it happened.

The sun comes up and passes through the sky and goes down in the west. My days go by until the last one comes.

I have explored other paths since then, taoism, buddhism, quantum mechanics, indian sweat lodges, and hasidic judaism. I never wanted to join another orgainzation.

It's hard for me to describe, but ever since I was a child, I would see a house of worship and fixate on it, and "have to get inside." Once inside the building for a service I would be fascinated by the architecture and what the people did and how the service proceeded. If I weren't so shy IRL I would probably have a lot more experiences.

As a teenager I was an atheist, in my early 20s I became something close to a religious fanatic, and then after a prolonged illness that I recovered from, I am something of a believing agnostic.

But during the religious fanatic period I converted to 2 different religions.

In retrospect now I realize that I was obsessed with the religions and religion in general, including early church history and its relationship to Judaism, and that their was no real reason for the conversions.

Right now I am starting to fixate on evangelical christianity, which I view as a mind control cult.

Oh, and re: the Church of Garlic, so far I have no interest in internet religions or parody religions.

I had a brush with scientology. Like CanyonWind, I liked the feeling of acceptance into a friendly group. But I didn't stay long.

I like old churches and cathedrals (buildings) but don't like the church organisation.

wow it's sad to hear all this pursuit of religion. from the "Christian" perspective for lack of a better term, it should be about becoming more like the one you profess to serve. Religions are made by man, relationships are made by God. It should be about your relationship with your Father (heavenly). I despise religion, when people ask me what religion I am I always ask them what religion was Jesus, whatever that was I am. They will either shake their heads and walk away or ask to know more. It's all about the relationship, is he your friend, your God, your confidant or just some plausible theory.

I can appreciate that.

But on the topic of obsessions, I went thru a phase of great interest in norse & celtic mythology and looked for similarities b/w that and Christianity (Ragnarok = Revelation, Holy Trinity - 3's in myths, midguard serpent=satan, etc). Past it now.

Garlic is about relationship not religion.

Seems like there's two distinct forms of obsession about religion, religion as a personal belief system and religion as a cultural phenomenon.

I've had obsesions with Hare Krishnas, Judaism, and Islam. Never really felt compelled to become any of tehm, however, if I had no option but to choose one of them, I would become a Jew.

Religious obsession was the very thing that made my psychiatrist 100% sure I had AS.

That is a story for another time, though. When I'm not so tired.