Why do you believe what you believe? (politics-wise)

My family was very much involved in politics, I was taken at eighteen to register Democrat. I waited a little while, went back and registered Republican. Waited about six more months, went back and changed to independent, of course I never told my mom and dad

My parents were hard core Republicans. My mother was Catholic so I attended Mass every sunday until I was 12. At 14 I started going to Baptist church with friends on my own. My father was not religious...unless you consider the alter of the NFL a religion.

After I left the Navy I became a huge Rush Limbaugh fan and identified closely with his politics (this was back when he was just an entertainer with a decent enough message).

I saw a lot of things in the Navy that turned me away from religion which was fine...I think sooner or later people grow up and don't need those type of crutches.

After we invaded Iraq and it was discovered that W hoodwinking us about WMDs I voted for a democrat for president for the first time. I started looking around and listening to what the candidates were talking about (as far as their beliefs) actually educating myself about politics. I will never vote party again...I will always vote person.

Reading. It started in elementary school. I loved reading biographies of leaders. The founders, Napoleon, Churchill, etc.
When I got to Jr. High I started watching Wm. F. Buckley's Firing Line and reading news mags like Newsweek, US News, National Review, etc.
In H.S. I got heavily into policy debates. Read a lot of stuff on justifications for military intervention, environmental programs, social programs, and economic policy.
In college I was introduced to libertarianism and started reading on it. Of course, this was all long before the Internet so I spent a lot of time in the library.
I still read a huge amount on a daily basis. IRL my friends know this and they use me as a reference source when something pops up that they are not familiar with.
IE, I'll get a phone call or email "Hey Zach, explain the fight over the Keystone Pipeline."

My family was very much involved in politics, I was taken at eighteen to register Democrat. I waited a little while, went back and registered Republican. Waited about six more months, went back and changed to independent, of course I never told my mom and dad

My views on many things have changed dramatically since I was 18. Most based on experience. Went from moderate/liberal to conservative and now kind of conservative/libertarian hybrid. My views align more with libertarian philosophy, but not on every subject. Like every other person here, it's all based on personal experience which includes the people who come into your life, or the materials you choose to read or watch

"Well, I believe in the soul, the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days."

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I will never vote party again...I will always vote person.

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The above almost always translates in practice to, "I vote Democrat every day and twice on Saturdays".

Observation, knowledge of history, trial and error, religion, and a healthy dose of enlightenment and early revolutionary literature.

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Is it because it's what your family believes?

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This is almost always the case

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What your religion believes?

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Or this

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Or did you come up with your own ideas as you got old enough to understand?

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Rarely this. People like to believe they think for themselves. Mostly they go with the flow of whatever they were indoctrinated with.