pushed into religion

[psychedelia]

as i am 17 i live with my parents mother and step father and have been all my life pushed into the church of christ(forcing me to lead singing lead prayers....basically forces me into baptism by fear)and i really feel well terrible cause interiorly i dont have the spiritual connection or faith as them or our church members and ive tried to figure out the proper faith for me but all in all there is to much dedication and iffy things behind it such as christianity having many branches. then there is the science aspect(which i always look at) that disproves religion(maybe my sceince aspected thoughts is my reason for non spirituality) thus is it safe to just accept the fact that i have no spirituality to speak of?

[CFTraveler]

Don't confuse spirituality with religion.
Do you have an inner life?  Do you ask yourself if there is a meaning to life?  Do you wonder if you're here for a reason?  Do you feel yourself sometimes moved by the beauty of nature? Do you ever look out at night into the stars and wonder what is out there, more than the eye can see? 
Do you ever feel love (or fear, or any other emotion) towards anyone that you don't know or hasn't given you anything?
Those, my friend, are symptoms of being spiritual.

[psychedelia]

Common misconception then cause I'm a nature person I've smoked cannabis and spent hours just looking at the stars wondering what is our purpose and what might be out there.    My favorite thing to do is smoke and go on a hike in a state park

[gdo]

Psychedelia,

You have plenty of spirituality.  At 17 lots of folks resent getting pushed into ANYthing by their parents.   Bide your time.  Find out what YOU think and feel about spirituality and religion.  You do not have to share what you discover. 
I notice that one response mentioned getting high.  That can be fun but it is only a shadow of what a spiritual experience can be.

Do not worry about chakras and the like for now.  A good first starting point for any endeavor is to get and stay healthy.  Develop skills to go with your increasing sense or desire to be independent.  If you are living with your parents, respect and work with them as much as you can.  Whether they know it or not, they are channels for powers much higher than that of normal human personalities.  They are probably doing the best they can at this moment in time.  They look at the world from within the filters of their past experiences and limitations.  We all do.  What is hard for lots of parents to understand is that there is a point when their childrens are ready to form their own ideas about important things in life.
Unfortunately many parents and young folks too, get their ideas and set them in concrete and are not willing to be flexible or openminded.  When you are openminded you are also vulnerable, so many folks choose to protect their sense of vulnerablity by their stuck in the concrete attitudes. 

What every persons really needs is a place or space that they can create and recreate as a fit environment to be their base of Living-operations.  Our homes are reflections of personalities and a place for us to reflect and charge our mental and emotional and intelectual batteries.  Start with your body and then work outwards as you also work inwards.

[Stookie_]

And you're only 17... things will change before long. The best changes will probably come because you're questioning all of this now.

[psychedelia]

i would hope so i tend to ask alot of questions. i crave knowledge and understanding....but only for my interests.ADHD tends to impact peoples lives at an astronomical level haha

[embrace]

Had the same thing happened to me when I was your age. It only helped me find my own way out of this through self-education. Good luck!