In opposition to my father who came from the poorest class, my mother came from a successful business family with an educated upbringing in manners – something I fortunately do participate from until now, whenever I meet people of higher classes or standards.
Just to show you how much did change within the last century: Even though both sides were very religious, my grandfather was originally protestant but had to convert to my grandmother’s religion, because two generations ago it was still unthinkable for protestants to marry catholics and vice versa. You probably wouldn’t believe it, but even to marry outside ones village was unorthodox for some (which was probably the cause for the incestual byproduct of a “village-idiot” to have been seen in each village).
This by the way is the reason why I do believe mixed races to be a blessing of a fresh genetic pool to monocultural races. Fortunately for me, my ancestors mixed – if not in races than at least in cultures:
My poor grandparents of my father’s side, in ignorance of the Nazi’s committed atrocities, bought into their simplistic slogans (as simple minded people do), whilst my mother’s wealthy parents hated Hitler, because he did split up the good connection they had to the french border region of Alsace, where their main office was located.
To protect themselves from Nazi-informers they had their obligatory picture of Hitler hanging on the wall, but as soon as visitors left, did turn it around to the side which did show a religious picture of Mary who is revered by Catholics.
So by having been baptised as a baby I was made a member of the Catholic church without even having chosen it myself. This was my first issue with Christianity, even though I only discovered it when I was 18 and had to pay my first taxes in Berlin.
Maybe living away from home helped, but I then decided not to pay a membership-fee for a club I never actually chose to be in. So I did leave the Church.
in order to be loved by a father-like authority-figure I first would have to believe in “him” –
a concept which to me does not seem to be unconditional love at all, but an extortion by the means of fear.
This dogma by monotheists was actually hammered so deep into my brain that up to this day this damocles-sword still lingers subconsciously over my head when dismissing any kind of superior creator god.
Much later I did discover the value of first believing in the concept of a leap of faith which can be a basis for miraculous transformations; but it took me many decades to detach it from the concept of a punishing god.
So my current position is that I am a strong believer of fearlessly following ones own deeper beliefs;
yet instead of hoping for some daddy to “come to the rescue”,
to evolve oneself to a state in which mind controls matter.
Sodarshan Chakra Kriya 