--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you are religious at all, it is…" description: "\"If you are religious at all, it is overwhelmingly probable that your religion is that of your parents. If you were born in Arkansas and you think Chris..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/710/richard-dawkins-115_afghanistan_if-you-are-religious-at-all-it-is-overwh_2997296.jpg" --- # If you are religious at all, it is overwhelmingly probable… ![“If you are religious at all, it is overwhelmingly probable that your religion is that of your parents. If you were born in Arkansas and you think Christianity is true and Islam false (knowing full well that you would think the opposite if you had been born in Afghanistan), you are the victim of…” quote by Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/710/richard-dawkins-115_afghanistan_if-you-are-religious-at-all-it-is-overwh_2997296.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/710/richard-dawkins-115_afghanistan_if-you-are-religious-at-all-it-is-overwh_2997296.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/710/richard-dawkins-115_afghanistan_if-you-are-religious-at-all-it-is-overwh_2997296.jpg) > “If you are religious at all, it is overwhelmingly probable that your religion is that of your parents. If you were born in Arkansas and you think Christianity is true and Islam false (knowing full well that you would think the opposite if you had been born in Afghanistan), you are the victim of childhood indoctrination.” [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Religious beliefs are heavily shaped by the culture and family one is born into, making them likely inherited rather than independently chosen. **In simple terms:** Beliefs often come from family and culture. Key Takeaway Question your upbringing when forming beliefs. Themes identity culture inheritance Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - parental upbringing - education - religious conversion Key Concepts socialization cognitive bias family influence Questions to Reflect On - How much of your belief is inherited? - Can you separate cultural influence from personal conviction? A Different Perspective Counterpoint: Personal reflection can lead to genuine belief changes despite early indoctrination. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Afghanistan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afghanistan/) [Arkansas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arkansas/) [Born](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/born/) [Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) [Childhood Indoctrination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood-indoctrination-3917433/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Christianity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christianity/) [Indoctrination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indoctrination/) [Islam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/islam/) [Islam False](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/islam-false-4740738/) [Knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing/) [Opposites](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opposites/) [Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parent/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religion Parents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion-parents-688373/) [Religious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Victim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victim/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > [“If you feel trapped in the religion of your upbringing, it would be worth asking yourself how this came about. The answer is usually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/if-you-feel-trapped-in-the-religion-of-your-upbringing-it-would-be/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Isn't it a remarkable coincidence almost everyone has the same religion as their parents ? And it always just happens to be the right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/isn-t-it-a-remarkable-coincidence-almost-everyone-has-the-same/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“People don't believe in God because it's true, but because they were the victims of early childhood indoctrination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-markus-malloy/people-don-t-believe-in-god-because-it-s-true-but-because-they-were/) [Oliver Markus Malloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-markus-malloy/) > [“Childhood indoctrination is the most effective way to change the society”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thabiso-monkoe/childhood-indoctrination-is-the-most-effective-way-to-change-the/) [Thabiso Monkoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thabiso-monkoe/) > [Since the attachment to the cult of Islam is psychological, the solution must also be psychological. 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But if my parents are happy with what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katy-perry/i-never-took-part-in-the-rules-and-hatred-that-sometimes-go-along/) [Katy Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katy-perry/) > [I'm not defined by where I came from. I never took part in the rules and hatred that sometimes go along with religion. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katy-perry/i-m-not-defined-by-where-i-came-from-i-never-took-part-in-the-rules/) [Katy Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katy-perry/) > [I grew up without religion, but my parents have always been somewhat mystical about nature: The mountain is looking at us, stuff like that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-elverum/i-grew-up-without-religion-but-my-parents-have-always-been-somewhat/) [Phil Elverum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-elverum/) > [The arts and a belief in the values of the civil rights movement, in the overwhelming virtue of diversity, these were our religion. My…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/the-arts-and-a-belief-in-the-values-of-the-civil-rights-movement-in/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [I had always been scrupulously careful to avoid the smallest suggestion of infant indoctrination, which I think is ultimately responsible for much of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-had-always-been-scrupulously-careful-to-avoid-the-smallest/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [We have the power to defy the selfish genes of our birth and, if necessary, the selfish memes of our indoctrination. We can even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-have-the-power-to-defy-the-selfish-genes-of-our-birth-and-if/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Do not indoctrinate your children. Teach them how to think for themselves, how to evaluate evidence, and how to disagree with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/do-not-indoctrinate-your-children-teach-them-how-to-think-for/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## More by Richard Dawkins > [At the deepest level, all living things that have ever been looked at have the same DNA code. And many of the same genes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/at-the-deepest-level-all-living-things-that-have-ever-been-looked-at/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The word 'mundane' has come to mean 'boring' and 'dull', and it really shouldn't - it should mean the opposite. Because it comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-word-mundane-has-come-to-mean-boring-and-dull-and-it-really/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“The fundamentalist Kurt Wise proclaims that all the evidence in the universe would not change his mind. The true scientist, however passionately he may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-fundamentalist-kurt-wise-proclaims-that-all-the-evidence-in-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“I have found it an amusing strategy, when asked whether I am an atheist, to point out that the questioner is also an atheist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-have-found-it-an-amusing-strategy-when-asked-whether-i-am-an/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Religions do make claims about the universe--the same kinds of claims that scientists make, except they're usually false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/religions-do-make-claims-about-the-universe-the-same-kinds-of-claims/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“much of the Bible is not systematically evil but just plain weird, as you would expect of a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/much-of-the-bible-is-not-systematically-evil-but-just-plain-weird-as/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The recurrent laryngeal nerve - which runs from the head to the voice box - goes all the way down into the chest, loops…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-recurrent-laryngeal-nerve-which-runs-from-the-head-to-the-voice/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The Roman Catholic Church is an institution for whose gains the phrase "ill-gotten" might have been specially invented. And of all its money-making rip-offs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-roman-catholic-church-is-an-institution-for-whose-gains-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/let-us-understand-what-our-own-selfish-genes-are-up-to-because-we-may/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [What's going to happen when I die? I may be buried, or I may be cremated, I may give my body to science. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/what-s-going-to-happen-when-i-die-i-may-be-buried-or-i-may-be/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Or why it is acceptable to train fast runners and high jumpers but not to breed them. I can think of some answers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/or-why-it-is-acceptable-to-train-fast-runners-and-high-jumpers-but/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [We have seen that living things are too improbable and too beautifully 'designed' to have come into existence by chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-have-seen-that-living-things-are-too-improbable-and-too/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“We will not go quietly away. If in the future that requires violence”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-will-not-go-quietly-away-if-in-the-future-that-requires-violence/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [It's a truly disgusting idea that the creator of the universe - capable of inventing the laws of physics and designing the evolutionary process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/it-s-a-truly-disgusting-idea-that-the-creator-of-the-universe-capable/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) [Explore all 1,239 Richard Dawkins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## More Afghanistan quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [From the bitter cold winter at Valley Forge, to the mountains of Afghanistan and the deserts of Iraq, our soldiers have courageously answered when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-ortiz/from-the-bitter-cold-winter-at-valley-forge-to-the-mountains-of/) [Solomon Ortiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-ortiz/) > [The rich people are apparently leaving America. They're giving up their citizenship. These great lovers of America who made their money in this country-when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/the-rich-people-are-apparently-leaving-america-they-re-giving-up/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [They're criminals, they brutalized Afghanistan, they killed our people, they destroyed our land.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamid-karzai/they-re-criminals-they-brutalized-afghanistan-they-killed-our-people/) [Hamid Karzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamid-karzai/) > [In 2001, we were told that the war in Afghanistan was a feminist mission. The marines were liberating Afghan women from the Taliban. Can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/in-2001-we-were-told-that-the-war-in-afghanistan-was-a-feminist/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [The terrorist attacks of September 11th and the courageous actions of our armed forces in Afghanistan and Iraq remind us that friends of tyranny…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-levin/the-terrorist-attacks-of-september-11th-and-the-courageous-actions-of/) [Carl Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-levin/) > [According to a recent Harvard study, $6 trillion, when you include the ongoing healthcare expenses for our wounded soldiers, which is the least they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/according-to-a-recent-harvard-study-6-trillion-when-you-include-the/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [You don't bargain with terrorists. You don't appease terrorists. And anybody who believes that this is about something we've done has to ask themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chertoff/you-don-t-bargain-with-terrorists-you-don-t-appease-terrorists-and/) [Michael Chertoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chertoff/) > [“I stood with my mom in the cemetery. She felt terrible pain. My grandmother is with God. My mom has to continue living. It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-elliot/i-stood-with-my-mom-in-the-cemetery-she-felt-terrible-pain-my/) [Tucker Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-elliot/) > [The most successful cultural diplomacy strategy integrates people-to-people or arts/culture/media-to-people interactions into the basic business of diplomacy. The programs in Afghanistan, Egypt, and Iran…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-p-schneider/the-most-successful-cultural-diplomacy-strategy-integrates-people-to/) [Cynthia P. Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-p-schneider/) > [Because Iran understands Afghanistan far better than Americans do, making Iran a partner in a long-term effort to transform Afghan agriculture makes sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-kinzer/because-iran-understands-afghanistan-far-better-than-americans-do/) [Stephen Kinzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-kinzer/) > [Thousands of Americans have given their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq upholding their oaths and defending this nation. Chelsea Manning broke her oath and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mccain/thousands-of-americans-have-given-their-lives-in-afghanistan-and-iraq/) [John McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mccain/) > [I have been to Afghanistan many times, even before the Taliban collapsed. I was fascinated by the country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kabir-khan/i-have-been-to-afghanistan-many-times-even-before-the-taliban/) [Kabir Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kabir-khan/) > [There has been sort of, if you will, a moral interventionism on the part of the United States trying to reshape countries in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/there-has-been-sort-of-if-you-will-a-moral-interventionism-on-the/) [Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/) > [The legal system in Afghanistan is very immature and porous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsey-graham/the-legal-system-in-afghanistan-is-very-immature-and-porous/) [Lindsey Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindsey-graham/) [Browse all 1,159 Afghanistan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/afghanistan/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you are religious at all, it is overwhelmingly probable that your religion is that of your parents. 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