Should I Change My Religion?

THE pilot had just taken off from Okinawa’s Naha Airport with 101 passengers on board. Suddenly he noticed three weather reconnaissance planes headed toward him on a collision course. Acting quickly, the pilot veered sharply to the left, thereby avoiding a midair collision, saving his own life and the lives of his passengers. That account of a near-miss, as reported in a northern Japan newspaper, well illustrates that to save lives a drastic change in course is sometimes necessary.

However, many people feel that changing one’s religion is a different matter. Strong fears come into play. There is the fear of starting down an unfamiliar path. Mrs. Tachi, who studied the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses, expressed herself this way: “A lot of the people I know have doubts about religion and its emphasis on money. But all we have known and seen from youth on are the religious festivals and customs. We don’t think much about the spiritual meaning of the hoji [the periodical Buddhist memorial service on behalf of a deceased person]. We think more of the hoji as a happy time to be with relatives and neighbors. The thought of giving all of that up, or worse yet, being ousted by the family frightened me.” This feeling about religion is probably shared by people in your locality.

There are other fears too. In many places, people fear some form of divine reprisal if they change their religion. One woman who began to study the Bible in Japan was told by her relatives that she was experiencing health and family problems because she had “neglected her ancestors” and incurred their wrath by studying a “foreign religion.”

Another fear that holds people back from changing their religion is the fear of displeasing a mate or parents. In many Eastern countries, where loyalty to parents and family is viewed as especially important, a new wife is commonly expected to support the religious view of the family into which she is marrying. Even if the couple are not particularly religious, maintaining a good relationship with the family and keeping the religious status quo are considered extremely important. One young couple discontinued their Bible study after being put under intense pressure at a “family conference.” “Basically, we had a fear of man,” explains the husband, who later resumed the study. “We felt that we should obey our parents’ wishes, and we did not want to hurt them by changing our religion.”

This brings to mind another reason why many are afraid to change their religion: the universal dislike of being viewed as different. In the family mentioned above, one of the reasons given by the parents for the young couple to stop their Bible study was that they did not want their children to be viewed as peculiar or to be ostracized from community activities.

Strong fears, therefore, are involved in the question, Should I change my religion? As a result, many take a philosophical view: It does not really matter what religion one has, does it? Are not all religions simply different paths leading to the top of the same mountain? When it comes to religion, they, like the three proverbial monkeys, see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

But some have changed their religion. Why? For a number of these, it was merely a matter of joining another religion that promised immediate health or financial benefits, while at the same time maintaining their traditional religious ideas and practices. But for others, there has been a real and complete change. You may be wondering, though, ‘Are there really sufficient reasons for me to change my religion? Why have some been willing to change? Could a change have a real effect on my life?’ We invite you to examine the following article for the answers.

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What motivates people to cling to their traditional religious customs?