jaded

i have some doubts/questions/thoughts about religious beliefs. it\'s kind of hard for me to put them into words, probably because i don\'t really know what answers i am looking for, or there\'s any answer at all, so please bear with me.

one of my friends is getting baptized this weekend. she came from another country, and was totally unreligious when we were at college together. now after about a year attending church services, she became a pretty hard-core christian: service every week, 10% of her pay check goes to the church, and finally this week she is getting baptized. i was kind of surprised. it\'s understandable that if one was born and raised in a culture where one was taught from the beginning about the mighty god, one would be likely to be a believer. but for an adult non-believer to convert totally to something she didn\'t trust at all and even laughed at before, it is pretty shocking to me. no significant events happened in her life; she just got bored one sunday and was dragged to the service by one of her friends, and thus got started.

then i started thinking about religions in general. to all the believers out there, do you believe there is only one god, your god? and if your answer is yes, just assume, if you were born and raised in another part of the world, where you were taught by your parents from your childhood that no god exists or some other god instead is the almighty power, wouldn\'t you believe in that god or no god at all? then if so, why does one believe in any particular deity at all? just because one happened to be born into a certain religious culture and was made to believe certain ways?

it\'s puzzling me. no offence intended to anyone.