Can anyone give a cogent explanation as to why the number one predictor of a persons religion is where they are born? It seems that if there was one true religion the god of that religion would be revealing himself to people world wide and not in "clumps"

Since the new birth is dependant upon the word of God being spoken, heard and believed, I think that would answer your question.

I also think that is why Jesus Christ told the Apostles to preach the word to ALL NATIONS.

Many, many other countries are not Christian friendly and have very, very strick laws against preaching the word of God, ect....

So, I think that if you really started to factor into your logic just a few of these things then your answer would be very obvious.

No one is born a Christian, they become one by being led and by then making a FREEWILL decision to believe. Even if they are a child they still make a freewill decision. All children have freewill. No one ever forces believing on someone else, its impossible.

Condistions can be better for one person over another, but God is much bigger than conditions.

A pygmy in the bush could become born-again if he heard the word and believed it.

And if he was going to believe the word of God and had a hunger for it, God would know about it and God would send someone to his tiny little villiage in the middle of nowhere, so he could have a chance to believe.

Pletho translation:

religion based on region is an insignificant concept when you're born into the correct region/religion, as he is

Its actually an insignificant concept because God is everywhere present and fully capable of bringing the truth to someone who wants to know it.

As a matter of fact its a promise of God in His word that those who thrist and hunger for righteousness, shall be filled.

I am living proof of that. Although I do live in the U.S. I was definately NOT looking to learn about the bible. I did however ask God for the truth and the meaning of life.

I was taught the word of God over a beer in a bar, where I happened to be a bartender at, after I got off of work one night, while I was thinking I was going to pick up on hot looking girl, she blind sided me with the bible. LOL!

Believe I was the last to think that would happen, because normally I would have said no thankyou, but she made since of it all more than anyone else I had ever spoken to. It did help that I was looking for truth and did not care where it came from, as long as it was truth and made sense.

If you lived here pre 1492 i dont think your odds would of been as good.

When it comes to God, odds do not matter.

Pletho in this picture?

this is a touchy subject for christians because of how blatantly obvious it is that if u are born in north korea, u have almost no chance of becoming a christian.

While children in religious homes are not (usually) physically forced, that is tied down and made to listen to scripture and the horror stories intended to frighten people into biblical compliance, they are rarely if ever presented with the names and an overview of the beliefs of all the worlds religions. Similarly they are not taught basically anything except that "the jesus loves little childrens just like a flock sheep" and turn the other cheek and there was some kind of adventure in the desert and the gods love animals so noah loaded up a boatful to save them from a flood and then promised not to let any more floods happen by flashing a rainbow. They should be taught that if they are unruly and disobey their parents jesus wants the parents to throw stones at them until they die. That owning and abusing other human beings is okay if follow the rules in the bible, etc.

They are not forced, they are indoctrinated. you know, there is a reason that children are not allowed to enter into legal contracts...

wouldn't it be more efficient for the gods to just tell the pygmy in the bushes himself? I mean he is already there anyway, also if gods knew ahead of time that this bushy pygmy was going to believe the words and would be hungry for them why not just let him have it from day one?

Zero Christians to bring the word to you before then would matter.

I know it's low hanging fruit but I wondered if I might get any "logical" explanations...

From the Pew Survey of over 35,000 Americans over 18.

Man my old team is losing.

Actually Joseph Smith milked that cash cow when he created Mormonism. The Garden of Eden being in Missouri has an authentic American hook you just don't see in many good religions these days.

Pletho: you seem to be ignoring all the religions that say Christianity is wrong. Secondly, God being everywhere is nice and all, but that does not negate the fact that being born in a certain place or time is directly related to religious affiliations in general. Different people believe in different Gods with different languages and different cultures. Different traditions, different colors, different values, different customs, different number of rights. Thank goodness so many people are being born in the right time/region so we can tell the other sectors of intercultural religion that we've discovered the meaning of life. It's arrogant. Plain and simple.

Related to this is the striking contrast between the geographical distribution of religious vs scientific beliefs. The latter is quite uniformly distributed; scientists from around the world, coming from completely different backgrounds, routinely collaborate because there is a scientific consensus.

The distribution of religions, on the the other hand, looks exactly as you would expect if it were a made-up product of culture. (And indeed, even believers agree that culture explains the distribution for every religion except their own.)

You would think if the creator of the universe existed and cared whether we believed, he/she/it would let everyone know in a less ambiguous and more objectively verifiable way, so that a similar consensus would emerge. Instead, it looks exactly as if such a being doesn't exist at all.

good point. hadn't thought of it like that before.

Matt Hughes actually. But he's Christian so you're half right.

He also pisses down the front of crowded bars when nobody can see him.

absolute hogwash.

children are very easy to brainwash.if youre bron into a fanatical christian/muslim/hindu family, the chances are you'll grow up to be a fanatical christian/muslim/hindu etc.

take my own country for example (ireland). do you think someome who is born to a hardline nationalist family is likely to have grown up and joined the UVF. or a child born to hardline unionist family would grow up to join the IRA? (Fortunatley those choices are now mainly irrelevant, but the point still stands.) johny adair (a leading unionist parmilatry himself admitted that if he'd been born a few sreets away to different parents he would have been an IRA man).

You and everyone else here are missing or ignoring the main point........

God knows the hearts of all men, He knows everyones inner thoughts and desires all at the same time. No one escapes His omniscience.

So, when a person truly wants to know the truth, God then works out a situation where they get to hear the word of God, so that they can become born-again.

Odds, nation of birth, color, creed, political viewpoints, ect, never, never come into play ever. God has no problem fullfiling His promise of supplying the truth to those who thirst and hunger after it, not matter who or where they live.

Thats all I have to say on the subject, because its obvious you all are ignoring what I am saying on how this works.

As someone from Norn Iron I'd like to say this is a spot on post.

Children are easy targets for anything. They're very trusting of the adults in their lives because when you're 5 years old, adults are EVERYTHING. They're like gods compared to you.

Children will rarely question something like religion when their parents tell them it's true. It has nothing to do with choice - it's simply:
My parents told me this -> They know everything -> It must be true

Pletho - we get what you're saying. It's just that it boils down to the No True Scotsman argument. The people who don't hear about Christianity simply don't really want to, or if they did hear they wouldn't accept it. In your eyes this is why God leaves them out, and it has nothing to do with him not existing or being unfair.

This I obv dont agree with as much. This presumes we should understand God's ways and reasonings completely which seems rather unlikely.

No. That's what you need for him to say so your argument has merit, not what he actually said.

Look at his post. It said the way things are is consistent with a made-up culture. If Christianity were true, we'd expect more of a consensus (NOT a complete consensus).

are you telling me that men like dawkins and hawkins don't hunger for truth? they have spent a lifetime trying to find out the truth about where we came from.

why hasn't God lead him to himself?

keanosdog - Obvious answer is obvious.

- Christianity is the true religion
- Dawkins has rejected Christianity i.e. the truth
- Hence Dawkins doesn't really want to know the truth

God cannot take away his free will and force him to accept Christianity. Poor Dawkins

The atheist Matthew Alper is one of the few people to have looked at religion and geography's correllation and wrote about it:

See #17: http://www.blacksunjournal.com/books...rain_2007.html