What do you think when you come across someone whose religious and political beliefs are the same as those of their parents?

A child, no matter who raises him (or her), will always see and process what their guardian believes (Islam, Atheism etc). Some call it “indoctrination.” I call it natural and “un-helpable.” It is impossible for any human to be neutral, which means it is impossible for parents to be neutral. Just as a child learns how to speak and act mainly from the parents in the early stages, so will they learn what to believe. It’s a matter of those children taking the incentive to examine why they believe what they believe later on in life.

Most children will absorb their parents’ beliefs. However, some children as they approach adulthood will examine those ideas critically. Some of those will conclude that their parents were right. Others will choose a different path. The majority, however, will not question their parents’ beliefs but will take the easy road and accept them themselves.

A few children will be at odds with their parents from their earliest days.

i think its quite normal to do what your parents do because they are from the beginning of your life the ‘hand that feeds’.

they are trusted as a secure source for information, and a good model to try and improve on. so i think its very natural to take your parents beliefs and adapt them. as you say this happens not only with religion but practically everything, you will notice tribal children don’t think eating grubs and maggots is disgusting and we do, so thats obviously one of these learned behaviors. it probably applies to all kinds of things, including how often you brush your teeth, how you deal with money and all kinds of factors.

i would expect most people though to begin to diversify and add its own opinions heavily and making changes to their beliefs in almost all subjects around their early teens until about their late twenties (as far as i personally could know being my self in my late 20’s)

however, as an atheist. when i used to see this it used to reassure me that i was right in thinking its all learned and man made and not true, but now days, after so much time holding this position it really goes unnoticed, its really something i have come to expect.

EDIT: as for upset me or make me angry, only when it gets to jesus camp levels.

I think you pretty much accept without question that what your parents have raised you to believe is correct, until it is called into question by a conflict in your own life. As long as you are surrounded by a homogeneous group, you can pretty much maintain the status quo. It’s when you venture out and are exposed to different points of view, beliefs, etc. Education can be life-altering and cause you to question. So can finding yourself not fitting into your parent’s belief system, as in the case of sexual orientation, or not being able to pay your student loans and afford health insurance.

Once you start questioning one thing in your upbringing, you generally look at the whole package.

I think that it’s normal for a young child to unquestioningly accept parents beliefs. Many of them rebel in their mid to late teens.

Generally people grow up and become a version of their parents. Some of it also probably has to do with who and what else you are exposed to. If you live in a community where everyone is like minded, there seems little reason to question ones beliefs I would think.

I agree with @PandoraBoxx once you start questioning one thing in your upbringing, you generally look at the whole package.

When you’re brand new, you really don’t know about the world yet. The customs, ideas, and coping strategies that you lean when you’re a kid pretty much are the way the world is, because it’s your first experience. Only later do you learn that there are other ways to be.

No doubt, kids learn how the world is from their parents. It’s the parents’ job to do that – to share whatever knowledge they have that enabled them to get by. And parents, for their part, see kids as little pieces of themselves – and want them to be the best versions of themselves that they can be. No doubt this means teaching them their fiscal policies, religion, etc., hoping they’ll follow in their footsteps.

When I look at people with the same belief as their parents, though, I think of two things. (1) That they absorbed the teaching so thoroughly that they never thought to question it, as many people naturally do in their teens and young adult years, (2) that they questioned it and decided that it was the right answer for them, either because it makes sense in ways that other ideologies do not (learning it young helps), or because their lifestyle is so similar to their parents that the ideologies support them in the same way as their parents were supported.

In no way to I think it has a genetic aspect.

I think its just that everything about the parent…including their beliefs, gets imprinted on the child somehow. Few children decide to believe in something else early on in their lives…but some manage to do it in their early teens. However, I guess it would be nice if everyone had a choice in what they want to believe in and not following what their parents believed.

I think that for the most part a child will adapt to the beliefs of the parent and/or guardian because by nature we “imprint on the caregiver” much like any mammal. For the reason that our very life depends upon it up to a certain point. As a child gets older, there is more of an opportunity to see this parent/guardian as someone who has a view that may or may not jibe with their own. I think it has much to do with the perceived rewards of this relationship as well. If there is an inequity or favoritism for one child over another this can affect the adherence to or rejection of the belief system as well. But even in abusive situations a child will cling to certain ideas if it keeps constant this relationship because the alternative isolation is even more fearful.

In my own case I have increasingly found that there are certain family beliefs which not only don’t benefit me, but they actually hurt me. I think it takes a fair amount of self esteem to establish oneself if it may cause one to be at odds with ones family so primal is this attachment.

I have to say here that I am an atheist, raised by parents I thought were strongly christian but who I have come to find out joined churches more for social reasons than for reasons of belief. especially since my mother was raised as a Unitarian but my father was C of E. However, I was raised to believe that I should reach out to folks who need it and help them in ways they accept, not because an invisible being in the sky says to, but because it is the right thing to do.

My husband is an agnostic, raised by parents who belonged to both a Buddhist temple and a Christian church. His sister is an evangelistic Christian who has spent much time and money being a missionary, and who sometimes is difficult to live with for that reason.

OTOH, our daughter is very Christian and believes the whole thing (and has gone to Jesus camp). However, she doesn’t force her views on others but expresses her beliefs through doing good things for other people. Our son believes it is all a load of hooey and figures it’s everyone for themselves.

Thus, it isn’t universal that the children take on the precise beliefs of their parents. However, our families and I hope I do, too foster a sense of acceptance for their children’s beliefs as long as they do no harm to others or themselves.

Nothing special. That is not enough information to surmise anything.

My mum is religious and my dad isn’t. Neither talked about religion or forced their differing views on me either. I was able to see both sides of the story. So I think I was left to decide for myself and my verdict was, religion is a load of shit. There was no genetics or automatic acceptance of either view that lead me to my final verdict.

But I do think for most children they do undoubtedly believe what their parents teach them. It’s whether or not they have the ability to really question themselves and their parents that determines what their individual beliefs (or lack thereof) will be.

Their mind is not their own, but a mere reflection of their parents.
Life for me is about personal choice, any imposed belief is a curruption of my free will.

But then again, these parents were only progamming their children with the beliefs that they thought were right, and so the cycle continues. Without imposing/programming certain views or beliefs we wouldn’t learn empathy or compassion.

At some point the blame of the parents has to be put asside, we can’t blame our own ignorance on our parents indefinately.

The sameness doesn’t really bother me.

My parents were both local preachers and I was a ‘born again’ Christian as a teenager, as mum and dad taught us that it was real and true. Once I left home and went to university I became aware that there are many ways of interpreting the world, and therefore am no longer able to accept their beliefs as truth, only as a possibility. It is totally natural for kids to absorb their parents beliefs, but it is a parent’s responsibility to teach children to think critically and to give them the confidence and ability to make up their own minds. We are vegetarian and so far our kids have chosen to be so too (though we do actively encourage them not to eat meat whilst they are little), but I am quite prepared to accept that they may wish to start eating meat as they get older (they can cook it themselves though, and clean the fatty pans!!!!!)

It actually seems kinda natural. After all, our parents are our first teachers.

My parents are both atheists. So am I. I went through a brief phase between the age of 15–17 when I tried to be a Christian but I couldn’t bring myself to believe the things that were required. None of it made sense. For a few years after that I was a pagan, and eventually that stopped making sense too. I don’t think my parents had anything to do with my own beliefs. They never taught me anything about religion or lack of it.

In fact come to think of it I don’t think my parents ever really talked to me about anything important.

Interestingly, while I share my parent’s (lack of) religious beliefs, I am politically opposite- they’re right wing and conservative, I’m left wing and liberal.