/r/AskReligion

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A subreddit for all your religion questions.

Welcome to /r/AskReligion! Get your questions answered here!

AskReligion

Post questions on any topic and hear the opinions of representatives of various religions.

Rules

  1. Do not attack religious people
  2. No loaded questions/opinionated titles.
  3. Obey all sitewide policies
  4. Your title must be a question or discussion topic.
  5. Proselytizing is forbidden.
  6. No politics
  7. Civility is demanded and necessary

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/r/AskReligion

3,120 Subscribers

2

Polytheists of Reddit: How do you handle lack of community? Do you or do you not rely on community?

2 Comments
2024/12/02
04:58 UTC

3

Is God seen as perfectly good in Judaism as he is in Christianity?

Is God seen as perfectly good in Judaism as he is in Christianity? Or is it just that for Jews, he's their God, on their side, good for them and such?

Honestly, the latter would make more sense given how much destruction he enabled his chosen people to wreck havoc on other people during certain parts of the bible. Not to mention stories like Job's, or other times God is seemingly rather unreasonable.

(BTW that's in no way a judgment of Jewish people today. I'm sure 99% of human cultures throughout history would also blow city walls up with holy sonic bombs)

3 Comments
2024/12/01
08:04 UTC

4

To Muslims: Why do you persecute people who convert from your religion?

As a Roman Catholic, I wonder why people who believe that Jesus was a prophet hate those who convert away from Islam.

3 Comments
2024/11/30
22:31 UTC

1

Can consecrated ground become unholy?

Like say someone had the goal of unholying the ground a church sits on, would that be possible? Can holy ground become unholy by any process?

5 Comments
2024/11/29
18:47 UTC

2

Does anyone know what this symbol means?

For the past few years ive been drawing this same symbol whenever i felt like i needed luck and when i concentrated and thought about it while making it after a short wait it would happen its like a clover but the lines between esch leaf extend further thsn the leaf

2 Comments
2024/11/28
07:33 UTC

2

At what line do you draw that a religious belief, not just adherents, are evil?

14 Comments
2024/11/25
01:22 UTC

1

Question about Quran

I’ll keep this brief I want different perspectives on this topic so my question is the topic of embryonic development in the Quran I’m a orthodox Christian but how could Muhammed have known that bones cover flesh when it was completely unknown I know Aristotle said something about this but he said it happens at the same time I’ve done my research even Aristotle and Galen never knew the precise order of those things can I get the thoughts of others on this is there any kind of refutation to this specific detail and what are the thoughts of you on this I would love to engage in a discourse with any Muslim Christian atheist or anyone else who has something to say on this topic

3 Comments
2024/11/24
22:10 UTC

3

Do you have to entertain religious delusions?

If an amputee claims that their god healed their amputated limb and that they are no longer an amputee but they still clearly have an amputated limb would it be a form of bigotry or religious discrimination to deny their experience and insist they are still an amputee?

3 Comments
2024/11/24
07:18 UTC

1

Why do people depict creation gods as male?

I have noticed this in a lot of religions (mostly monotheistic ones) where they depict a creation god as male. But that doesn't make any sense to me. If a god created the universe by themself wouldn't it be more understandable for them to be more femminin or intersex like? And why do we depict gods with gender and sex anyways? These are mortal concepts that shouldn't even apply to them.

23 Comments
2024/11/22
17:53 UTC

1

Can We Discern the True Faith through Prayer?

Many religions involve prayer as a central practice. Devotees often attribute answered prayers to the specific deity or saint they invoke. For example, a Christian might pray to Jesus and believe that Jesus directly intervenes. Similarly, a Muslim might pray to Allah and attribute positive outcomes to divine intervention.

Given the widespread practice of prayer across diverse religions, how can we objectively determine which faith offers the true path to divine favor? Is it possible to reconcile these different claims of divine intervention, or are we ultimately left with subjective belief and personal experience?

1 Comment
2024/11/22
10:15 UTC

3

I am a Hispanic practitioner of Chinese and Japanese polytheism have been for nearly 13 years. Ask me anything

I finally have a little bit of time to dedicate to an AMA.

So who am I? I'm 32 years old, of primarily Hispanic ancestry and I live in the US. I speak multiple languages and previously practiced several other beliefs including Mahayana Chán Buddhism.

I would say that my traditional practices are split 50/50 and I do not participate in syncretism.

I've seen a lot and have had a long time to formulate my beliefs and solidify them.

0 Comments
2024/11/21
21:22 UTC

0

Was Jesus Just a Man or Fully God in Christianity?

Which was Jesus?

The Bible is contradictory on this because when Jesus shows / says something which is the opposite of God, Christians say he said / meant that as a “Human”.

But then Christians also claim Jesus is “fully God”.

So which is it?

23 Comments
2024/11/21
19:58 UTC

1

Celtic/Boii gods

Are there any gods/deities that are specifically Boii? I'm searching the internet and everyone only mentions Gauls, Irish, Scottish celts, Teutons and never Boii. Only god I can think of is Radegast/Radhošť.

0 Comments
2024/11/21
09:04 UTC

1

Are only members of minority religions allowed to gatekeeper who is and is not a part of their religion?

I was interested by the fighting between Dan McClellan and Inspiring Philosophy over the No True Scotsman fallacy as it pertains to religion a while back before Dan McClellan unceremoniously blocked Inspiring Philosophy on all social media.

Dan McClellan seems to insist that anyone who calls themselves a “Christian” is a Christian and a Christian excluding someone from Christianity for any supposedly heretical belief is commuting a No True Scotsman fallacy while IP insists that Christians are allowed to exclude people who, for example, don’t believe in the Trinity like Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses from Christianity.

Are only Christians unable to exclude others from their religion without committing a No True Scotsman fallacy because Christianity is a majority religion? Islam is a minority religion so are Muslims able to exclude others and not be fallacious? If a Muslim argues that no true Muslim believes in multiple gods would that Muslim not be committing a No True Scotsman because Islam is a minority religion and only members of minority groups are allowed to exclude others without being fallacious?

2 Comments
2024/11/19
20:14 UTC

1

I am a devout Catholic in my 20s. Feel free to ask me anything having to do with either my religion, my journey, or any questions about converting.

36 Comments
2024/11/18
17:55 UTC

1

How to figure out if I'm religious or not?

I was brought up in an atheist household being told that if I want to be religious when I grow up then it's fine and if I don't then that's also fine, I'm now 15 (f) and questioning my religion (or lack thereof) and its been tough. I've been questioning for about a year now and I feel like I am? But at the same time I question things about being religious that just pushes me away. Tips and advice of how to figure it out?

5 Comments
2024/11/17
23:14 UTC

0

My girlfriend claimed an angel healed her. Can that happen?

Not even sure if this is the right subreddit for this but anyways, my girlfriend suffers from a type of rheumatism. A while ago, she was having some pain and she was laying in bed, while also kinda sleepy. A while later she said an angel was in her room. I was on call with her and I was making some noise, she said noise made the angel scared. Then she said it was healing her and lifting weight off her heart (she also has heart pain sometimes).

She is religious, lately she stepped back from the evangelic church because she said it looked like a scam and didn't really appeal to the views of Christ. Though, she still believes in God and in Christ (because there is scientific evidence that Jesus Christ was a real person).

Is what she felt real? Was it a product of her sleepiness? Has this ever happened before?

5 Comments
2024/11/17
15:31 UTC

2

Non-biblical prophets in the Quran

Large parts of the Quran feature prophets from the Bible - Abraham, Moses, Mary, Jesus, etc. Others are focused more on contemporary events for Mohammed and the early Muslims.

But there are some figures in the Quran who do not seem to have any clear Biblical precedent. Dhul Quarynan, Dhul Kifl, Idris, Luqman, etc.

Do these figures appear in pre-Islamic Arabian culture? Are there any writings prior to the Quran that mention them?

4 Comments
2024/11/17
10:50 UTC

3

Buddhism/Hinduism:- If desire is suffering and sufferings is motivation for Enlightenment then why not just be in more sufferings and more lust, pride, ego?

Both religions suggest desire, anger, ego is suffering but suffering is somehow good because they motivate us for Nirvana.

Then why not go for negative qualities for more motivation?

I think being a Narcissistic, person makes me numb to pain because I constantly attract insults. I want to continue it until I am numb from head to toe emotionally.

14 Comments
2024/11/17
09:27 UTC

2

Is God OMNIPOTENT, or should it be considered OMNIS?

This is my question: If everything came to be from God, if everything was created not just BY God, but FROM God, shouldn't it be more precise to call God not "almighty", but just "all"?

If everything is an extension of the entity that we consider God, then wouldn't it be more logical to say that God isn't the creator of everything, but that God IS everything?

1 Comment
2024/11/17
02:16 UTC

5

What religion am i? help!!

I believe that things are meant to happen, like if i plan on doing something but something inhibits me from it, i take that as a sign that it's not what i'm meant to be doing (in a small sense). I believe that there is an all powerful deity harmonizing the flow of time, and that the universe is somewhat in tie with that deity? i don't believe in god. I don't believe this deity is wanting people to worship it. I don't believe this deity is in tie with death and birth, i think this deity is only moving the time that we are alive, and when we die we are reincarnated. i believe that it is always with me, and that it's sentient and can always hear what i am thinking, and that it's sentient can manifest what i am thinking if it feels like it's what's best for me. I believe in wishing upon stars, and that the stars can hear my wishes and make the wishes happen if my intentions behind the wishes are innocent. I don't know what religion i would call myself?? i'm not atheist because i believe in something, and i'm not agnostic because i know what i believe in, i just dunno what it's called. help!!

3 Comments
2024/11/14
22:32 UTC

1

What does freedom of religion mean? I think I have it wrong

Little background about me: I grew up in a family where my parents and siblings were atheist and I was ‘spiritual’ later i classified it as Pagan. We sang hymns in school, read passages from the Bible, said prayers, etc, but we also had one of my favorite subjects in school Religious Education and this was one of my favorites because as well as Christianity we focused on Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, etc.

i learned from this that freedom of religion meant that a person had the right to practice their own religious beliefs. They couldn’t be harassed for practicing religion such as wearing clothing and jewelry, and believing in certain things. Unless it was at harm to another person, someone should have religious freedom

but in looking through political policies it seems that freedom of religion means that you can use Christianity to interfere in the lives of others. You can try to deny gay rights, you can attempt to stop abortions, you can force people to bake cakes for you, etc. All because you believe in God.

Jesus is great as your own personal guiding light but to me it does not mean religion is free to dictate only others shouldn’t judge you.

am I just stupid in my definition?

7 Comments
2024/11/14
21:17 UTC

3

What does it mean when we say "God will come back"

God will come back. But what does that mean? what about others who haven't had a chance to know more about him. Is there a different meaning to him coming back? God can wait for us eternally and sees who we are and who we'll be. Will God come back even if those who he know would repent but have not repented yet?

12 Comments
2024/11/14
07:40 UTC

0

Where is Muhammad foretold in the Bible?

I don't know if this has been a topic already in this community, but to my knowledge, someone of the Islamic faith has yet to answer this question. It would be of interest if anyone is able to answer this question with intellectual integrity and honesty.

In Quran 7:157, it states:

“***They are the ones who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whose description they find in their Torah and the Gospel.***^(1) He commands them to do good and forbids them from evil, permits for them what is lawful and forbids to them what is impure, and relieves them from their burdens and the shackles that bound them.

Also, in Quran 61:6, it says Jesus prophesies the coming of Muhammad. Where is this confirmed in the Torah and the Gospel?

And ˹remember˺ when Jesus, son of Mary, said, “O children of Israel! I am truly Allah’s messenger to you, confirming the Torah which came before me, and giving good news of a messenger after me whose name will be Aḥmad.”

I believe the Bible does not mention Muhammad at all because he contradicts the Scriptures, and supposedly, he's the "seal of all prophets" and he was to come to confirm what was revealed before in the Scriptures, as it states in Quran 10:94-95. However, if any Muslim can provide a verse from the Bible where they believe Muhammad was even subtly mentioned, then please share.

Thank you.

1 Comment
2024/11/13
05:40 UTC

2

Seeking Advice on Finding Spirituality Without Organized Religion

Hello,

I could use some guidance here. I've been an atheist my whole life—I've always leaned towards logic and reason, never really feeling a need for spirituality or a higher power. But after losing a few close people over the past few years, I’ve started feeling an unexpected pull towards something deeper. It’s hard to put into words, but I guess I’m beginning to feel there might be more out there.

However, I've got some reservations that keep me from diving into any specific religion. The scandals and coverups within organized religions just don't sit right with me, I mean no offense by this. Plus, I’m gay, and that’s a huge part of my identity. Many religious institutions still don’t fully embrace LGBTQ+ individuals, and I just don’t want to be part of a belief system where my sexuality might be seen as “wrong” or a reason for exclusion.

So here I am, looking for any advice from those who’ve maybe walked a similar path. Have any of you found a way to incorporate spirituality or a belief in something greater without traditional religion? Is it possible to create a connection with something “higher” while staying true to who you are? I’d appreciate any insights, resources, or personal stories that might help me figure out where to go from here. Thanks so much in advance!

2 Comments
2024/11/12
00:33 UTC

1

The OT God of Abraham's stance on war.

So I'm curious - how does one justify against an all good God the fact that the God of the OT would at times grant military victories (blessings in the form of military victory) to supplicants?

The utilitarian argument that sounds something like "well killing them all was a ñet good because they were child sacrificing demon worshippers" fails for reasons both obvious and numerous - so I won't waste anyone's time on that low effort stuff.

Im really struggling to square this circle as it were.

6 Comments
2024/11/10
16:54 UTC

5

Does anyone else get tired of people attempting to throw politics in religion?

It's like you can't even enjoy being part of a religious belief anymore and you're expected to take a stand in a multitude of issues. It's ridiculous.

7 Comments
2024/11/10
13:52 UTC

2

Prior to the rise of Zionism in the late 1800s, how did Jews regard the Al-Aqsa Mosque?

2 Comments
2024/11/05
21:56 UTC

3

Is it possible for a non-theist accept theistic moral claims?

Let's say a theist states that moral claim x is objectively true. Could a non-theist be able to perceive or know that? They are lacking any divine revelation or supernatural background. If that's not an issue shouldn't they be able to tell that the moral claim x is better?

7 Comments
2024/11/05
14:03 UTC

1

What do the Druze think of the 3 holy mosques?

The three holy mosques in Islam are Al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina, and Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

Given that the Druze faith is rooted in Islam but still distinct from Islam and has a unique set of beliefs, what is their perspective on these sites?

0 Comments
2024/11/05
08:20 UTC

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