On a scale from 1 to 10, how important is religion for you?

At first I voted 1 because "organized" religion is not important to me. I don't think it ever has, even though as an infant I was baptized (Methodist) I think it was just the pastor rubbing the holy water on my forehead in the sign of the cross, not partial or total immersion. Typical just for show ceremony to satisfy parents beliefs for their children. Then later in my early 30s when I was on a "born again" evangelistic kick I did the total immersion version with a few friends. Besides getting totally soaked it didn't do anything for me. I wanted some awesome enlightenment or amazing life changing spark, but got nothing.

For most of my life I have always been seeking the spiritual side of things and reading about and exploring the various beliefs. In the 1980s I studied the New Age quasi-Christianity but never accepted it as any ultimate truth.

I changed my vote to 4 mostly to give that one a vote. Having the choice to either choose or refuse religion is important to me, but does not rule me. There are many days I don't think about religion at all. I often think about death, as almost every day there is some kind of exposure to it, a news report of someone being killed by someone else, an update on a previously reported death, or just remembering family members who are among the dead.