Politics and Faith

Two potentially controversial subjects.
I was driving home today (through the many road works that now appear) and caught the tail end of a political debate from the 3 major parties to do with trying to get the economy back to a fit state. I started to realise how my parents, family, social status, have all directed my political views. All that I was hearing was being heard through the tinted glasses (or appropriate hearing metaphor) of how my family would respond. The kind of family I grew up in and the place I am in life makes me wonder with all this conditioning, do I have a democratic vote? I am my own person, but part of me is what has made me, me and that includes the impact my family has had on me.
And so to faith, what impact do our parents, family and social status have on our faith? Are we too conditioned in this part of life. I could give you all the answers to why the baptist Church is where I find a deep connection to my spirituality, but I have to also recognise that I was brought up in a Baptist Church by the family and that all I see is through those eyes. I am not saying this is a bad thing, but I think we need to recognise it.
Similarly in faith, people who grow up in a Muslim country are way more likely to become a Muslim than any other faith (this is a sweeping statement, not a thought out essay with evidence), so what does this mean for faith?
And in what way does our social status affect the kind of church we go to, the people we speak to?
We all have free choice, but maybe sometimes it is good to look at the influences that go into making us be the free thinkers we are.