ABSTRACT
People are usually socialized into religions by their families rather than through any kind of divine or even social intervention. People tend to follow the religious teachings of parents and grandparents, especially when these relatives share one religion. Religions need families to recruit and train their new members, and many religious communities are largely composed of families. Thus families constitute a significant number of the most powerful religious influences on individuals, especially during their formative years. Families have their own subcultures of values, some of which are religious, especially where families are devout in their religious practices. When dependencies in family relationships shift, family belief systems also change. For example, after the death of a parent an adult child may look to a new religion for comfort and support. In the grand scheme of things, families and religions play essential roles in societies’ survival and their effective cultural adaptations.
