{"id":47115,"date":"2021-08-24T17:57:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-24T21:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=47115"},"modified":"2021-08-30T12:56:05","modified_gmt":"2021-08-30T16:56:05","slug":"personal-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-religion\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Own Personal Religion: Revising Your Worldview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What&#8217;s a personal religion? Do you have one?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether you realize it or not, you have a personal religion\u2014also known as a worldview. It&#8217;s your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/perception-of-the-world\/\">perception of the world<\/a> and your relationship to it. You might be hanging on to an inherited worldview that doesn&#8217;t reflect reality, causing dissonance in your life. You could benefit from understanding how worldview works\u2014and how to revise your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read more to learn about personal religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Your Personal Religion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To grow in any area of your life, you need to understand the world and your place in it. This understanding makes up something called your <em>personal religion<\/em>. Your personal religion is most influenced by the environment of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-you-were-raised\/\">your upbringing<\/a>, including your culture and the respective personal religions of your parents.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As you age, the religion of your upbringing typically begins to clash with your developing perception of the world. As you structure this perception, you may run into three <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/core-problem\/\">core problems<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Limited Idea of Religion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>There is a widespread misunderstanding that religion is about God and requires a belief in God. In reality, religion does not require God at all and is simply made up of your own personal beliefs about the nature of reality.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Transference<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Most people don\u2019t choose their first personal religion. Instead, it\u2019s handed down to you by your caretakers. This means your perception of the world is initially a result of transference\u2014your thoughts and behavior are based on someone else\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/perceiving-reality\/\">perception of reality<\/a>. For example, if your caretakers see the world as a hostile place, so will you.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Contradictory Perspectives<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>No two people have the same perception of the world. We have a world full of contrasting perspectives, and yet we are forced to coexist. This causes conflict, usually as a result of blind spots where one person thinks their worldview is more correct than others\u2019.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Solution: Continual Revision<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s critical to develop your own perception of reality. Living by an inherited personal religion will cause you to do and say things that don\u2019t feel authentic to you, and the dissonance will eventually lead to mental illness. To avoid this, spend time observing and revising <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-worldview\/\">your worldview<\/a> to be sure it\u2019s well-aligned with you. Question everything you believe, and maintain an openness to editing your understanding of reality. If you\u2019ve never done this deliberately before, you may find that you need to first reject everything you think you believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, if you\u2019ve had premarital sex, and you\u2019re suffering because you think premarital sex is a sin that God will punish you for, you might start by asking yourself: \u201cWho taught me this? Can it be proven? What evidence do I have that I will be punished?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What&#8217;s a personal religion? Do you have one? Whether you realize it or not, you have a personal religion\u2014also known as a worldview. It&#8217;s your perception of the world and your relationship to it. You might be hanging on to an inherited worldview that doesn&#8217;t reflect reality, causing dissonance in your life. You could benefit from understanding how worldview works\u2014and how to revise your own. Read more to learn about personal religion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":47119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,9,6],"tags":[470],"class_list":["post-47115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-philosophy","category-psychology","category-spiritual","tag-the-road-less-traveled","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Your Own Personal Religion: Revising Your Worldview - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Whether you realize it or not, you have a personal religion\u2014also known as a worldview. 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