Have you had a drastic change in any of your views/ideologies over the last 5-10 years , whether it be in religion, politics, love and relationships or your personal identity?

I am rather suprised to discover that my religious and poliyicsl beliefs have remained more or less the same for the last 25 years But my perception of relationships and my identity has evolved ALOT!

Many, many changes. Some very drastic or broad-ranging.

Much of it is inspired by my quest to remove my delusions and look at the basic reality I failed/refused to see. Others have to do with my efforts to honestly understand myself and appreciate my uniqueness as a good thing instead of as an outcast. I love me, I am a good person and its okay.
I do know that I am not filled with as much stress and angst.
I am no longer perpetuating my own depression.
I stopped comparing myself with others and putting myself down for not meeting their expectations.

I try to see people and situations as they really are instead of trying to see them as I choose or have been told. It is enlightening but also a bit scary. You can't really re-delude yourself once the illusion is lifted.

I also understand myself better than ever before and my actions are better controlled. It has given me an emotional maturity that I was lacking internally. I'm now less inclined to act based on an emotional state. I'm more patient with others and complex situations.

I lost my adherence to religious doctrines. I remain spiritual but that spirituality is now based on my own beliefs about existence. I believe how I believe not how I am told to believe. My spirituality is science based and 'works' according to our 'known' science.
We are alive.
We are part of the Universe.
That makes the Universe alive.
We are the Universe trying to figure our self out.
We are made of matter.
The Universe is made of matter.
Matter is energy.
We are made of energy.
The Universe is made of energy.
When I die, the matter that makes up me will revert to energy and be absorbed into the Universe.
I think, feel and dream.
The Universe thinks, feels and dreams.
My spirituality fits like that.

As for politics, I have changed in my views of how they play out and the resulting turmoil.
I see, a blanketing misunderstanding of the INTENT of government.
A complacency in the citizens that compose the nation.
A loss of social unity that slowly destroys our nation from the inside.
Most people are concerned with the current heads that make up the government, never considering that we are allowing all this bad and we don't have to.

Religion should be banned, it's the cause of 90% of the world's problems.
until religion is abolished there will never be love and peace in the world!

I am unchanged in my religious views, my experiences have only reinforced them, if anything.

My political views have evolved with age, as I have read and learned more. I am not attached to any particular label politically (except being registered as democrat.

15 years ago I met a boy with CP.....it changed my life
I'm much more appreciative of what really matters.

Huge evolution there tom. Ive changed in some of those ways as well :)

Ive heard elizabeth Warren say that change happens at the grassroots level. I think you are saying something similar tom , and I agree :)

Brought up "just barely" on the "right side of the tracks" and seeing a LOT of opulence, class discernment, and entitled behavior...I have to admit to having a chip on my shoulder about the wealthy.

specifics perhaps later, but as in all things it's wrong to generalize

Hi G-owl! So lovely to see you

A guy and I had a huge debate over your comment once.

Religion to me is just one of several institutions with like education, the family, politics etc.

Have you noticed that there is no institution that has been exempted from corruption, exploitation and extremism?

The common denominator to me seems to be PEOPLE

I know this is all up for debate, but its just how I look at it

And I could see why a person's political beliefs can change drastically. m actually baffled by the fact that mine hasnt

So much of our religious belief is rooted in faith, as opposed to science or human behavior. I think thats why my beliefs remained unchanged. Was that your experience too Ms H?

I feel the same way Snoman. So many people are worse off than us. Makes me grateful everyday :)

I can understand why you feel that way Beach. Its damn hard to refrain from generalising . I struggle with it as well

Not much in the last FIVE years, but then I'm old. I went through my greatest inner-man changes when I was much younger. I think of that period more as being me becoming more thoroughly myself, rather than as me "changing," per se.

Becoming more of yourself... I like that Igor

oh lemme think about this one..
when I was a little chubby curly haired girl
with a pouty mouth and big brown eyes
I was so quiet and shy I would hid behind my mother
or my brother..had to be coaxed out and encouraged to speak
one harsh word would send me fleeing to safety of my room in tears
there I would retreat into the world of my imagination
or into the pages of a book
my mother would have to holler at me as a kid
to put the books down and go out and play
as I got older I would often times come to her
in indignation and outright anger
when people did not act or behave in the way I thought they should
when the world did not measure up once again
to this ideal vision I carried in my head
I was often times, hurt and disappointed
in my twenties I held myself up to a pretty high standard
and was fairly judgemental to any that did not measure up
I considered myself strong if I did not show emotion
and others weak that did
I had the inability to understand human fraility
I had placed the people I loved on a pedastool
with a child's vision of who it is they were supposed to be
infallible, strong, pure, steadfast
so when I observed that they were not actually any of these
but were in fact human beings
well it was a bitter pill to swallow
at that age when I thought I knew all the answers
so I thought it my duty to fix those I felt were broken
to right the wrongs of the world
to lead by example of what a good daughter, sister, aunt, wife
and mother is supposed to be
to place myself up on that pedastool
a shining example of perfection only I was not perfect
and could not figure out why I was often times unhappy
all thru my thirties I grappled with myself
trying to convince myself that my own feelings and identity were not
as important as the family unit
put my own needs on the back burner
sarcrificed for the good of the whole
convincing myself that is was the right decision to make
and every year feeling just a little more trapped and miserable in my own life.
convincing myself that if I just tried harder it would all be alright..

I think about those times sometimes
when I feel the need to trace exactly how I got from there to here
where I stand today
how I had to truly face my own feelings and make some hard decisions along the way
but that too has become a part of who I am
I am much more compassio nate now then I used to be
more understanding of loss and for what it takes to walk away
from something you know is not working no matter the amount of work
you put into it
but I understand now..that I can see human suffering and pain
and yet know it is not my job to fix this person
I cannot make the changes in this person's life
that I can easily see would make their life more positive
if asked for advice I can give it without the expectation it will be followed
but with the understanding that it is only by choice that changes will be made

Religion is where I've drastically changed over the last 15 years. Being that I was raised with a Lutheran Church up bringing. Being forced to go to Sunday school and worship services. By the time of my confirmation, I had already been reading the Satanic Bible. Learning of the different religions in the world, and therefore showing me, that "The Holy Bible", is not the learn all and know that majority of Christian Church paritioners would like you to believe.

Later after graduation from High school, going to college. I ended up going to a "supposed" non-denominational Christian College which in reality was "Baptist" denomination. I had to take courses going over "The Holy Bible", reading from both the King James version and the New International Version. With that course study, I found some of the hypocritical things that we're,(people of the faith) are supposed to believe in as "Christians". I'm not a hypocrite, so I couldn't allow myself to be considered a "Christian" anymore. Which is why I don't believe in Organized Religion anymore.

I do have a belief in a Higher Power, (such as God), just not exactly the way it's described in the "Bible", "Koran", or according to Polytheistic belief's.
This way I can be a sinner, or a saint, or just know that somehow my means are justified in how I believe.

With that said, I still have respect for others beliefs, and religion. That has not changed.

Politically, there hasn't been any changes. I'm still a Libertarian with slightly conservative views.

yes, radical change over the last decade, I had been a Muslim for almost 25 years (which included a full practice of the religion: praying, fasting, going to the mosque...etc) before I started a long process of thinking, criticising and reading that helped me to have a new, objective look at religions in general and Islam in particular, the whole process was difficult due to the conservative nature of the Middle Eastern community that prevents and criminalizes any criticising of religions (in this case Islam)... but I could at the end set my mind free and become an Atheist.
That was reflected in social changes in my life as well, many relatives and friends didn't accept my views and ceased communications with me.

I am annoyingly similar to how I have always been. Maybe a little more conservative and understanding with age, and not as judgmental on either side of any fence.

I have always had the ability to see all side of things...even with strongly held positions [political, social, etc]. I have a better understanding of that ability now and appreciate it. Whereas when I was younger I thought myself as wishy washy and did not like that aspect of me. It turns out that I am not wishy washy and I am glad of that realization.