I grew up with divorced parents, one that was very religious, and one that really wasn't. Most of my childhood, the idea of god seemed like a joke or completely irrelevant to my life. I was agnostic half the time and atheist the other. But really I just didn't care. I can confidently say that you cannot be taught to believe in god or any idols in any religion. However, you can be taught how to believe in them, and how to feel like you do but it takes a lot more than church to find true (excuse my church lingo) ‘Enlightenment’. In fact, church is the thing that destroyed religion for me. My pastor once said, “Church is where you go to be judged”, and then two weeks after was transferred to another church. (He came back eventually) But I realized, or more my thoughts were confirmed, that that was true. Church can’t actually talk you into being faithful, in my opinion your greatest discoveries are within yourself. Though I will say Church can point you in the right direction.
For me, Religion is very private (heh, yeah right. THAT’S why I’m posting it on the INTERNET.), mostly because I have my own idea of it that has little to no influence from church and society and I'd like to keep it that way.
I think that religion and god are very different matters and you have to treat both in different ways. You have to remember that religion is man-made and man run. God, or the idea of god (depending on your beliefs) is untouchable by humans at this point. Sure there are a lot of people who skim the bible looking for which rules they want to follow then declare it a whole new thing, but I'd bet that all of those people agree that god is both good and terrifying and gives you a bunch of rules on how to be a good person and so on. Religion doesn’t need a real living God acting in peoples lives on a Dailey basis because all religion really is, is a moral law. (Back up, I just mean that it is full of Laws for morals instead of the max speed limit.) It’s there to keep people in order and there heads where they’re supposed to be. (Religion and Church are very messed up, I don’t believe that all that war and hate is suppose to be there, so I’m disregarding it for the purpose of explaining my own views) Things like helping the homeless, loving your enemy, and forgiving those who wronged you are all hard things to do but religion gives people a reason to do them. And I believe that's the whole point of it. Religion doesn't need a god (though it seriously needs help now-a-days) and God necessarily need doesn't need religion. (Meaning the bible was already being written before the first church, I think without all the organized praise the faith some people have in god would still survive, if not as strongly as with religion.)
For your last question, I am not scared that there isn't a God. And its not because I "know for an absolute certainty that one exists because I feel his undying love!!" and that crap, but because a God can serve its purpose without actually being around and is a good idea as long as you look at it properly. I'm NOT afraid to go to hell, nor do I claim I'm going to heaven, but in my eyes where I go when I die is completely irrelevant. What I care about is being a good person, and that humanity keeps being encouraged to be good people and that when I'm alone and sad and frustrated I don't actually have to feel all that alone.
And just to let you know, I talk about Christianity because that’s what I was introduced to first, so it’s the most familiar and has the biggest foundations in my life. I’m not singling out Christianity to be Religion, but it is MY religion.
:/ You know what. It all very complicated, I don’t make any sense, and I don’t think I’m actually doing myself any justice. IT’S COMPLICATED. Okay. In short I guess I'm trying to say:
NO, you cannot be taught to be religious. At some point everyone finds it BY THEMSELVES on some level.
Yes, I discovered it on my own.
NO, Religion does not need a real living God, and God does not really need religion. The point of religion is give people some sort of standard, but the point of God is more to give people hope and a reason to have faith.
Lastly, I think that people who are religious because they are scared of hell haven't truly found God yet. You shouldn't be scared because it really shouldn't matter.
In the end religion SHOULD be different for everyone because you can only find true faith inside yourself and everyone is different.
These are just some of my views and I don’t question or threaten anyone else’s with these, I’d appreciate it if you’d please be delicate with them.