Four Religions

I have a hypothesis that every person has four religions.  These four may be the same or they may overlap, or they may be four completely different labels.

The first is your background religion.  This is important, because it sets up a cultural foundation.  Suppose you're raised Catholic, but no longer practice.  You're going to identify more easily with other people of Catholic backgrounds.  The terminology and traditions are more than just trivia to you.  They represent a part of your childhood, the same as a house you no longer live in or a school you no longer attend.

The second is your identified religion.  This is the one you practice today, and you can connect with others in the community on that basis.  Whatever your actual beliefs or practices may be, if you call yourself Wiccan, you immediately give a shorthand identifier to others as to what you are, or at least, what it the closest possible description to what you are.

The third is your intellectual religion.  This is probably unique to you and always evolving.  It is the cosmology and moral worldview you hold at any given moment, based on reason, and it may not be limited to only religious traditions, but political or socio-economic beliefs as well.  You may believe in the supernatural and in paranormal phenomena, but not in any way that can be classified.  You may be asking complex questions, but not enough to truly call yourself agnostic.  You may be largely libertarian, but open to limited socialist ideas.  You may be constantly weighing the question of whether the ends justify the means.  You're never satisfied enough, though, to pin down a specific label.

The fourth is your subconscious religion.  This was instilled in you, maybe on purpose, maybe by accident, that makes you feel good or bad about certain behaviors or positions.  It is, in short, your superego.  It is the thing that you feel you're "supposed to" say or do, regardless of what makes sense, in order to be accepted by the tribe, even if that tribe only exists in your mind.  For example, you may logically work out how a free market system can work, but still feel obligated to support communist ideals, because of all the times that someone insinuated that not doing so would make you a bad person.

The intersection of these four religions is where your true religious identity lies.