Following our own conviction

...but what of those outside the realm of Christianity who have heard the Gospel but not accepted (or who have rejected) Jesus as their personal saviour? Don't you think that they will be punished for rejecting the "free gift of atonement"?

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Mustafa asked this question in the Christianity thread.

I would like to open it up for a discussion which includes other faiths and religions too.
I know barney has raised a similar issue not so long ago, and I would like to get back to it and hear how other religions deal with this, or indeed what your individual views may be.

We all have out own personal beliefs (whatever our personal reasons may be).
Let us assume that we have chosen our faith based on a conscious decision (I know that's not necessarily the case for all believers per se, but many people here are converts in one way or another, so I think it is the case for most of us)

Hence we follow our religion (or not, as the case may be) based on the best of our knowledge and understanding.

I know that believers often like to say 'If only you read holy book X or open your heart to God, the truth would be revealed to you!' (I know this, because I have said it myself! )

But the truth is, that may be very simplistic!
I know people who have read the Bible or the Qu'ran without having any sense of divine revelation.
I know agnostics who I think are genuinely (even desperately) trying to find God, and yet seem unable to.

So, if people are genuinely looking for God and the truth, but somehow fail to find it, how are they judged by God?

Imagine these two different scenarios:

1. Glo stands before God on judgement day, and God says "Why didn't you follow the Holy Qu'ran?? I sent Muhammad to reveal it to mankind!!"
   What could I say, other than "Lord, I know all about the Qu'ran. I spent years with Muslims trying to convince me - but I just never could believe it to be true ..."
   
   OR
   
   
2. Mustafa (I hope you don't mind me using you as an example, brother!) stands before God on judgement day, and God says "Why did you reject my Son Jesus Christ and turn away from him??"
   All Mustafa could say is "I was raised in the Christian faith, but I became convinced that Islam was the true path"

Am I making my point clear?
By the end of the day all we can do is seek God earnestly, and be completely honest with ourselves.
Since it doesn't seem to make sense to 'follow a religion, just because we a told to', then we have to follow our own conviction.

How does God judge?
What are your thoughts?

:bump:
Thank you for approving this thread.

Glo, thank you for respecting my questions.

glo said:

Hence we follow our religion (or not, as the case may be) based on the best of our knowledge and understanding.

I know that believers often like to say 'If only you read holy book X or open your heart to God, the truth would be revealed to you!' (I know this, because I have said it myself! )

But the truth is, that may be very simplistic!
I know people who have read the Bible or the Qu'ran without having any sense of divine revelation.
I know agnostics who I think are genuinely (even desperately) trying to find God, and yet seem unable to.

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I have no answer for this as it is not as simple as reading a particular holy book or "opening one's heart to God". We believe that Allah guides those to His Light whom He wills to guide and yet leaves others to stray.

So, if people are genuinely looking for God and the truth, but somehow fail to find it, how are they judged by God?

Imagine these two different scenarios:

1. Glo stands before God on judgement day, and God says "Why didn't you follow the Holy Qu'ran?? I sent Muhammad to reveal it to mankind!!"
   What could I say, other than "Lord, I know all about the Qu'ran. I spent years with Muslims trying to convince me - but I just never could believe it to be true ..."

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or you could reply, "Lord, I believed in my innermost being that You came to earth in the form of Jesus to live a perfect human life and to die a horrible death on the cross as the only means for my personal redemption and salvation from sin. However, the Qur'an taught that Jesus was indeed born of a virgin, but also that he was only a Prophet and Messenger - not You nor Your Son. Since this was directly contrary to my own personal convictions, I chose to remain a Christian. I yet remain at Your Mercy, if You punish me, I surely am Your servant; and if You forgive me, You are Mighty, Wise." (Sister Glo, please forgive me if I misspoke - please correct me if I did)

or
2. Mustafa (I hope you don't mind me using you as an example, brother!) stands before God on judgement day, and God says "Why did you reject my Son Jesus Christ and turn away from him??" All Mustafa could say is "I was raised in the Christian faith, but I became convinced that Islam was the true path"

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or I could reply, "Lord, I indeed was raised as a Christian and as a youth, I accepted Jesus as Your Son and as being You in human flesh. I also once accepted the free gift of salvation - Jesus' blood that was shed on the cross - for the atonement of my sins. However, I once read the Qur'an that I at first disbelieved, but after more reading, I felt a change in my understanding such that I came to accept what the Qur'an said about You, Jesus and Mary as being true. I came to see Jesus as a most honored person among people - a Prophet, but I chose to believe that You are One and that You have no ancestors, decendents, or equals. I did not see that it fit Your Majesty for you to become a lowly human and to die a humiliating death on the cross. I yet remain at Your Mercy, if You punish me, I surely am Your servant; and if You forgive me, You are Mighty, Wise."

Am I making my point clear?
By the end of the day all we can do is seek God earnestly, and be completely honest with ourselves.
Since it doesn't seem to make sense to 'follow a religion, just because we a told to', then we have to follow our own conviction.

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You are exactly right that we must follow our innermost convictions of what the Truth is. Honestly, there were many years when I was not practicing Islam and I occasionally took my family to church so that they would have some appreciation for God. However, I reached a point where the hypocrisy got to me and I decided to practice my innermost faith, Islam.

How does God judge?
What are your thoughts?

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I can't answer this one.

Thank you for your reply, Mustafa

How does God judge?
What are your thoughts?

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MustafaMc said:

I can't answer this one.

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Actually, I believe you have answered it:

"I yet remain at Your Mercy, if You punish me, I surely am Your servant; and if You forgive me, You are Mighty, Wise."

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You (and I) believe and trust that God will judge us with power, wisdom and mercy.

Peace

edit

MustafaMc said:

...but do you believe that Christians will actually be judged by God with their eternal abode as of yet unknown, our will they pass by judgment and go directly to Heaven with their "Go to Heaven Free" card (USA game of Monopoly).

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Greetings, Mustafa

This question seems a little off topic in this thread - but I feel I have already answered it in a post to you in the 'Asking questions to Christians' thread. (See post 1314, also post 1318 and 1319)

So God's judgement is one thing which I will face, and I will do so trusting him fully.
However, his assurance of eternal life I believe I already have, based on Jesus' own words [...]

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Salaam

Yes, you are right on both counts. My apologies.

Hi Glo,
Interesting question. I have already responded to tornado in another topic a similar question, where tornado claimed he was an atheist because he simply is "unable" to believe whereas I responded that beliefs are by choice and not by capability, and that he is thus not unable, but rather unwilling. I would argue in a similar way for believers of different faiths.
You say:

What could I say, other than "Lord, I know all about the Qu'ran. I spent years with Muslims trying to convince me - but I just never could believe it to be true ..."

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Are you unable to believe it is true, or are you unwilling to believe? Whichever restriction you have for believing, is it an emotional one or a logical one? I believe there's a huge difference. If there is an emotional argument keeping you away from Islam, then that means you just don't want to believe, you prefer Christianity for whatever reason. As for logic, I don't believe there can exist a logical reason not to believe in Islam. So I believe that people who have logical arguments are either misinformed about the true nature of Islam, or are merely deluding themselves. The self delusion would obviously be traced back to preference again. I realize this must seem awfully arrogant and condescending, and you know I respect your viewpoints, but this is just how I see it. I challenge you to bring me a logical argument why You should belief Christianity over Islam. I think you realize such a thing is impossible, and your faith is chosen with your heart not with your brain.

Now of course I take it many people would resent that, and claim that people should follow the heart over the brain. I disagree. The heart is easily fooled, so you shouldn't trust it alone. You should trust both the heart and the logic! Only when those two align are you onto the truth. And Allah subhana wa ta'ala knows best.

Greetings, Abdul, and thank you for joining in.
You said:

Abdul Fattah said:

Are you unable to believe it is true, or are you unwilling to believe?

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For the sake of this thread I am assuming that people are sincerely and honestly seeking God:

So, if people are genuinely looking for God and the truth, but somehow fail to find it, how are they judged by God?

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I understand from your response that you believe people who do not follow Islam to fall into one of two groups:

1. they have not heard about Islam, or a wrongly informed about it, or
2. they are (actively) refusing to follow it.

Your view seems akin to the statement I made in my first post:

glo said:

I know that believers often like to say 'If only you read holy book X or open your heart to God, the truth would be revealed to you!'

But the truth is, that may be very simplistic!
I know people who have read the Bible or the Qu'ran without having any sense of divine revelation.
I know agnostics who I think are genuinely (even desperately) trying to find God, and yet seem unable to.

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Having spent a fair amount of time in LI, I have read uncounted threads and articles about Islam, and I have received more teaching and information than the average British person would.
I have searched my heart (quite honestly, as I believe) about whether Islam could be the true religion, and I have opened myself to God's guidance on this (remember that God's guidance can take an emotional or rational form or both - it is not necessarily just a matter of heart over mind!) ... and I still remain deeply convinced that Christianity is the true path ...

So, back to the context of this thread, I am following God to the very best of my knowledge and understanding, and it is not for lack of remaining open to other possibilities.
You are equally following God to the very best of your knowledge and understanding, and I know from your history that you have explored other beliefs and worldviews too.
Tornado is not following God to the best of his knowledge and understanding.

I expect that none of us has the right to question each other's sincerity and integrity.
Only God alone knows how honestly we seek him ...

So the question of this thread remains:
How does God judge those who desperately desired to find him and serve him, but yet followed the wrong path?

Salaam

Hi Glo
You were right when you said:

I understand from your response that you believe people who do not follow Islam to fall into one of two groups:

1. they have not heard about Islam, or a wrongly informed about it, or
2. they are (actively) refusing to follow it.

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Except for one thing. Refusing doesn't have to be active. It could be subconscious, It could be that a person made a decision at one point of his life (the decision needn't be do I believe in Islam or not, it could be another decision) and the person follows the aftermath of that. As an example, consider a Christian (I don't mean you, just a hypothetical) who on an Islamic Forum is confronted with logical flaws about his faith like original sin sending babies to purgatory for example. In the heat of the argument, the person who is otherwise very reasonable is hurt in his pride and then desperately seeks to talk his way out of it, without paying much attention if he really makes sense. Eventually he believes his own lies and considers Christianity an equally plausible explanation as his own religion. Two months later the same person starts considering whether or not Islam would be the true religion, but after some consideration, he reasons that Christianity is at least equally plausible and that he will stick to what has worked for him all these years, until he finds some stronger reasons to convert. Now you could say that although he was 100% honest in the second experience, he was still blinded by the first. Is it then not his own vanity that misleads him, even though he later on was genuinely considering it? So In conclusion yes, I do believe that any non-muslim is either uninformed or unwilling.

Now, you seem to disagree with me on that, which I completely understand. But this is just what I believe so we kind of hit a dead end in the discussion there, and any further arguments are useless. But it breaks down very easy. Either you have a logical argument not to believe in Islam, in which case I'd take it you'd have told us by now. Or your choice is made by emotional inclination and not by logic. Unless you defeat that, the whole thing breaks down.

As for your personal experiences and searches, I can't answer to that. Maybe the problem isn't with a bad understanding of Islam, but with a blind following of Christianity as in my hypothetic example. Or maybe it's just not your time to convert yet, and God plans to send you on the right road later on (inshaAllah). I don't know you or your life enough to answer to these things so I can't explain your or anyone else's personal searches for that matter. And yes, as I already said in the previous post, I'm not saying that we should ignore our hearts completely. But we should just be careful with it, because the heart doesn't always incline to what is right, but instead sometimes inclines to what it desires instead.

Thank you for your reply, Steve.

My purpose in starting this thread was not to enter into a my-religion-is-better-than-yours-debate, but rather to consider how God may judge us if we are following our faith with our best intentions - even if that faith may not be the true path.

Clearly we all have our own view as to which religion is the right one ... and this being an Islamic forum the view that Islam is the right path will obviously prevail here.

Would it be possible to lay aside the I-am-right-and-you-are-wrong-attitude, and ponder how God may be looking upon us mere mortals, trying to make sense out of a complex and complicated world?

So far I seem to hear that you feel God's answer in the scenarios in my OP would be "If you have chosen the wrong way of following me - be that through deliberate decision or through being blinded by upbringing/society etc - you will be condemned!"

Are there any others thoughts or views out there?

Salaam

What I am not hearing so far is the active involvement of Allah in guidance to the Truth and to the Straight Way, or to leave one astray to follow his own way or the way of his fathers. We also know of Shaytan's promise to mislead mankind and to lead them to the Hellfire. Admittedly, guidance to or away from the Truth is something that I don't fully understand, but yet I believe in.

My personal experience was that upon reading the Qur'an, I went through a "paradigm shift" where my whole belief system instantly turned upside down where I cast aside what I previously held as true and I latched on to something new that was yet not fully known. Now when I read or hear anything, I first filter it through my personal belief system to see if it is plausible. I come with the underlying assumption that my own Islamic beliefs are true and I reject as false anything that contradicts my belief system. I am certain that Christians do something along the same lines as this in reading and talking about Islam.

I personally, believe that Christians have been misled by Shaytan in their belief that Jesus (as) was the Son of God, yet fully God, which I believe is the most heinous of sins to ascribe partners to Allah (swt). Likewise, I understand that Christians believe that Muslims are misled in rejecting Jesus (as) as the Son of God and thereby rejecting the free gift of Salvation as the only means of redemption from sin. Yet, can we do differently than to follow our own convictions of what the Truth is?

So the question remains: How does God judge those who desperately desired to find him and serve him, but yet followed the wrong path?

I am not the Judge to know this, but your answer below seems to be consistent with the teachings of both Islam (3:85 If anyone is looking for a religion other than Islam, then let it be known that it will not be accepted from him; and in the Hereafter he will be among the losers.) and Christianity John 14:16 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.

"If you have chosen the wrong way of following me - be that through deliberate decision or through being blinded by upbringing/society etc - you will be condemned!"

This is not to discount the Mercy of Allah and His ability to forgive, but it is consistent with my understanding of Judgment Day. And Allah knows best.

Hi Glo

glo said:

Thank you for your reply, Steve.

My purpose in starting this thread was not to enter into a my-religion-is-better-than-yours-debate, but rather to consider how God may judge us if we are following our faith with our best intentions - even if that faith may not be the true path.

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Well With all due respect, I think that the direction I'm pointing on is intrinsic to the whole argument in the first place. You say, "if we are following our faith with our best intentions." I say that is a big if, a presumption I consider incorrect.

So far I seem to hear that you feel God's answer in the scenarios in my OP would be "If you have chosen the wrong way of following me - be that through deliberate decision or through being blinded by upbringing/society etc - you will be condemned!"

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No not at all, I never said anything remotely like that. You claim that some people are unable to believe, despite their best intentions. I claim a person is always able, but rather sometimes unwilling. I claim that if a person truly has good intentions, he'll either get there, or he will remain informed. The first he'll end up Muslim, in the second he has a loophole. I simply can't believe there exist a third option, where people who are truly genuine looking for the right faith, have access to all information, and will not eventually accept Islam. Your questions relies on the existence of such cases. Your question is what happens to those people? My answer simply is, there exist no such people. This is not me trying to tell you my-religion-is-better-then-yours. This is just me saying, your question is irrelevant in mine.

Abdul Fattah said:

I simply can't believe there exist a third option, where people who are truly genuine looking for the right faith, have access to all information, and will not eventually accept Islam. Your questions relies on the existence of such cases. Your question is what happens to those people? My answer simply is, there exist no such people.

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To be honest there are few people who are really "looking for the right faith". Most people assume that the religion that they were raised in is the Truth and they will continue to do so until something causes them to see that another way is better. My contention is that this fundamental change does not come about but from the Guidance of Allah.

From my perspective, there are people of all faiths who believe that they are on the Straight Way and that they are sincerely living their lives according to what they think is the Will of God. According to my understanding of Islam, those such people outside of Islam will be among the biggest losers on that Day.

Steve, I believe I understand your point, but feel as if I could say the very same things you have just switching the terms from Islam to Christianity. To me Christianity is logical and Islam is less so, and those who think othewise have probably convinced themselves, but are in error. Of course, such arguments just go round and round in circles. "Proving" one or the other is probably a pointless endeavor. And I suppose that is why we call religious systems "belief systems", because ultimately they are based on faith.

I was having a very pleasant convesation on another part of this board, and it turns out that both me and the Muslim individual I was in conversation with felt that we could affirm the following:
In the end, so much depends on some apriori assumptions we are likely to each make with regard to the veracity of our own scriptures vs. the other's. As long as you accept the Qur'an as God's divine revelation and the Bible as being corrupted, then of course one must ask that question as to why Allah would in his final message say the things that he did. But what if it is not your logic, but rather your initial assumption is what is in error? What if you were to believe as I do that God has sent no new message through yet another prophet? Then the whole idea of asking why Allah would say such and such becomes a moot point, for the assumption becomes that it isn't actually revelation at all, but something else with a source other than Allah. And the final message that we have from God becomes that which you had previously rejected.

You see, Steve, as much as we might each like to think that we have thoroughly thought things through in a logical manner, each of us is pre-conditioned by other things in our life to view certain ideas and concepts as more worthy of consideration than others. And these pre-conceptions become a part of us before we even begin the process of analyzing what is or isn't true. To my knowledge there is no way of eliminating this from human experience, so we muddle through the best we can. But to suggest that someone else would truly arrive at the same place I have if they only were as logical as I, is about as ego-centered as a person can get. The reality is that they would if they started in the same place as you did and then thought throught things in the same way as you did, but for all of that to work out in their life just as it did in yours, they would have to in fact be you.

It is not because I am smarter, more logical, have a better grasp on reality or for any other reason that my brother and I have arrived at very disparate views regarding one of the most important and fundamental beliefs one can have in life. In truth we are about equally intelligent, similary logical, raised by the same set of parents in the same communities, thus ensuring that we were similarly exposed to all sides. But we are not the exact same person, and because of this we have ended up with differing sets of devotion.... I have had the fortune of knowing the truth and he has been devoted to error most of his life. You see, my brother is a devoted but always disappointed Cubs fan, while I have been blessed to cheer for the 10-time World Champion St. Louis Cardinals.

right, so to begin, No such thing as logic. Now I'm not denying the existence of a system called logic, but I am denying the assumption that it always leads to truth, whatever truth is.
practically humans are very close in their genes, thus behavior to some animals, and to believe that by using logic or heart we can reach truth-which seems to be something floating around without definition- seems quite ridiculous to me, this may offend , but it's how I see it.
for glo's question: from my understanding of Islam, if someone is capable of accepting Islam and DOES that, then Allah will accept that. sins really don't matter here, either they're forgiven from the outset, or the person gets 'purified' from them then goe's to the garden or the place so called paradise.
on the other hand if someone is capable of accepting Islam and DEOS'NT, then Allah will judge him to eternal punishment to a degree that fits that persons rejection of him, although some scholars have said that the fire-hell- lasts eternally, so the punishment is eternal, others , a minority but still, say the fire isn't eternal and with its end either the people who rejected will go with it, or they will be forgiven at last.
Now for the final case, those who are NOT CAPABLE of accepting Islam, either the message didn't reach them, or it did but in a corrupted form, or it wasn’t presented to them in a way they could understand it in, and though they might have been looking for Allah, couldn't accept Islam for the reasons aforementioned, will be tested in the day of judgment in a way that would make it clear what they would’ve done had the message reached them correctly etc. On a final note , Allah doesn’t need to test, he knows already the outcome , it’s to prove to the people being tested, that their being rewarded or punished isn’t whimsically made.
I hope that helps, oh and you do seem to be sincere in your search, perhaps the issue may be with you getting exposed to an Islam that’s mixed with cultures and personal beliefs? Sadly the religion wasn’t always practiced as according to it’s teachings.

Grace Seeker said:

Steve, I believe I understand your point, but feel as if I could say the very same things you have just switching the terms from Islam to Christianity. To me Christianity is logical and Islam is less so, and those who think othewise have probably convinced themselves, but are in error. Of course, such arguments just go round and round in circles. "Proving" one or the other is probably a pointless endeavor. And I suppose that is why we call religious systems "belief systems", because ultimately they are based on faith.

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Yes absolutely, no paradigm is concrete.
Then the whole idea of asking why Allah would say such and such becomes a moot point, for the assumption becomes that it isn't actually revelation at all, but something else with a source other than Allah. And the final message that we have from God becomes that which you had previously rejected.

To my knowledge there is no way of eliminating this from human experience, so we muddle through the best we can. But to suggest that someone else would truly arrive at the same place I have if they only were as logical as I, is about as ego-centered as a person can get.

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Well, I disagree. Even though I agree that there are different paradigms, eventually only one can be closest to the truth. I think it's self evident that everyone thinks his paradigm is closest to truth, for otherwise you would not believe in it. That doesn't mean I'm self-centered, and that doesn't mean I don't recognize that other people have a different paradigm, however the mere recognition of it still doesn't defeat my line of thinking. To put it in other words, I recognize that my paradigm could be wrong. But within my paradigm, I am right and others are wrong. So within my paradigm, the question raised here is a moot issue. The question raised here, is only important if my paradigm is wrong. That means that the question cannot be used as an argument against my paradigm, since it is biased by my paradigm being wrong. However I believe my paradigm is right, so I also believe the question is irrelevant. That's not being self-centered, that's being consistent with your beliefs. However, other people might not believe the same thing, others might not believe that religion is always by choice. To those people the question itself is an important issue within their paradigm. to them, the question is not biased with the paradigm being false, but is based upon the paradigm itself. So for them the question would be much more relevant. See, one of the reason I converted to Islam from atheism, but that I never believed Christianity even though I was raised in it, is because the Islamic paradigm makes sense and is completely consistent. That means there isn't a single question that breaks the theory down. If a different paradigm has determinism by environment in it though, like you suggested, then the same cannot be said, and the paradigm has an intrinsic inconsistency.

The reality is that they would if they started in the same place as you did and then thought throught things in the same way as you did, but for all of that to work out in their life just as it did in yours, they would have to in fact be you.

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I disagree, this is complete determinism. You're saying that paradigms are decided completely environmental, trough nurture. Whereas I claim that a part of the determination is by nature, and not nurture. In other words, I believe that two different person starting form the same position would end up differently. I believe that religion is, albeit partly, always by choice.

Allah navigate the people and the chosen one (new revert) into islam,Allah understands each one of us and what we thinkin and what is in our heart,Allah guide him who seek Allah....A God never leave his creation that he created...Allah had created you,and he loves you...!The people turn away to God,how Sad Allah is,he is so patience to us,and we making Allah angry.Every books of the religion has been written,but incomplete,the most complete book was in Quran,every single words Allah Sents to the World is a commands,not against the commands.iF u work in a company,u against the bos command,will he be angry...! this is the way every single problem sent to everyone of us,is to make us to remember Allah,the Sickness we have is to remember Allah...all to Allah.:thumbs_uphew

First Suffiyan, if what you say is true, then you are arguing against what Abdul Fattah has said as much as I. For you too are just as deterministic as it has been suggested that I am. The only determining source is Allah, rather than nurture. But both cases are equally deterministic.

Abdul Fattah said:

I disagree, this is complete determinism. You're saying that paradigms are decided completely environmental, trough nurture. Whereas I claim that a part of the determination is by nature, and not nurture. In other words, I believe that two different person starting form the same position would end up differently. I believe that religion is, albeit partly, always by choice.

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However Steve, though I do think nurture plays an important role, I'm not saying that one's beliefs are completely determined by nurture. And I agree that there are those belief systems that are closer to the truth than others. The question is not only what is true, but how can we know what is true? If I begin with an assumption that what is being presented is revelation, then I am going to give it more credence than if I don't accept that. I also find that people tend to be likely to give more unmerited credence to ideas they learned when a child than those they encounter as an adult. But paradoxically, if their life experiences counterdict any of the views of their childhood, they often dump not just that one view, but all associated with it.

Whether we should be so influence I am not saying, I am just reporting what I observe to be true of people in general.

Hi grace seeker

However Steve, though I do think nurture plays an important role, I'm not saying that one's beliefs are completely determined by nurture. And I agree that there are those belief systems that are closer to the truth than others.

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Yes I agree, nothing is purely nature or nurture, it's always a mix of both.

The question is not only what is true, but how can we know what is true? If I begin with an assumption that what is being presented is revelation, then I am going to give it more credence than if I don't accept that.

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Well what you're asking for is, by what criteria do we weigh of one paradigm against another. It's a very good question, but a completely different question from Glo. I see it as two different issues. Yours is extra-paradigmatic, where you attempt to compare one paradigm to another, whereas Glo's question, seems to be more important intra-paradigmatic: "what does your religion tell you what would happen to such and such people." Glo's question only makes sense within a paradigm. So I really don't think you should mix both questions together because as I illustrated, in my paradigms the hypothetical question is a moot issue. As for your question, how you weigh of paradigms, I think one simply can't. In the end of the day, it's a matter of beliefs and preferences. All you can do is is believe. I don't think any person is capable of fully comprehending another's person paradigm in order to compare them. So Although I find it a very interesting question you ask, I at the same time consider answering it pointless.

I also find that people tend to be likely to give more unmerited credence to ideas they learned when a child than those they encounter as an adult. But paradoxically, if their life experiences counterdict any of the views of their childhood, they often dump not just that one view, but all associated with it. Whether we should be so influence I am not saying, I am just reporting what I observe to be true of people in general.

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Yes I can imagine that could be true for many. The only way to avoid this is question everything, while watching out not to end up in paranoia =)