I have a true dilemma here and I do not know how to solve it. This dilemma severely affects my daily life, as a 35-year-old father of 3. My wife (19f) and mother of my kids is threatening to divorce me if I do not stop m*sturbating to hentai. She said she is fine with "normal" porn, even though it does not arouse me anymore. I am afraid this is because she was raised as a Mormon and is an extremist about things like these. I love her but I do not know how to tell her that her religion and arbitrary rules do not bind me.

As Nietzche once said,

"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."

I feel like my wife does not understand how sexually charged of a being I am... I just can't stay in a relationship with someone like this...

TLDR: My Wife doesn't want me to m*sturbate to hentai because she is a Mormon, I do not know how to tell her that her moral projection makes me feel uncomfortable.

This is serious. It's gotten to the point of (relatives) literally controlling my appearance and what I ultimately do. I want them to fuck right off but they continue to chase after me -- help?

Even if the shroud of turin turned out to be completely real i still would not worship god for my own reasons but i am curious about it.

Christians like to use it as proof of the resurrection because apparently it cant be recreated. I highly doubt it cant be recreated but as far as ive seen no one knows how it happened.

Ive seen carbon dating says it is from medieval times but Christians deny this and say the dating was inaccurate.

So what deal? Had it been debunked?

Edit: i should add if so , how?

Has anyone reported a church (or other tax-exempt organization) to the IRS for making political statements via signs, social media, or a in sermon? I am trying to determine the success rate of such reports and would love as much info as possible. Thanks so much!

Sorry, I have no idea how reddit works🤦‍♀️so I am making a second post for update since I'm a d!pshit.

I had previously asked for some research help about religion being harmful.

Some people asked if I was going to post my final report so....

Head's up: I had been SUPER MANIC during the last week of the process so proofreading and editor were NOT done well, at all...... So go ahead and roast me for that but I don't care to fix it anymore since it has already been turned in. It is looooooong.... again, mania. Also, just in case whoever reads this garbage is unaware, religious text does not use modern vernacular or punctuation, so bite me (in the kindest way possible).

When Faith Hurts. The Insidious Impacts of Religious Indoctrination.docx 

When it comes to religion, I always feel like abrahamic ones (or related) are the most dogmatic, hard to debate with intellectually and which people would never give up?

Or is this just me?

I hate it for many reasons, from the abuse I got as a alter boy to now the reason my old HS GF left me.

When she moved in with me 11.5 years ago, I told her my Non beliefs and if she had a problem with that to let me know. She said she did not. 9 great years. Then started changing 2 years ago. I have now verified that she and a Church member have been feeding each other BS and have talked each other into leaving their partners.

I loved that girl with all my heart She tore it up, thew it on the ground and spit on it.. she told me when I was concerned that she may have the start of dementia she said she saw the " devil" in my eyes. First of all she misread that as it was only concern and pain of future loss in my eyes. Besides just my pupils and iris's and whites She has ran up thousands in credit card debt when she didn't have to. She got about 2k a year from her ex and I only asked her to pitch in a little. There is so much I could write, I just had to post this because this one is going to hurt for a long time.

I was raised southern baptist, and they're horrible to people like me. I would compare them to a cult with a lot of money and power backing them. They basically run the government in my area. They're also known as evangelists I think? I only learned this recently.

So my sister became mormon at some point, and while I don't like mormonism, the mormons I've met have been a lot kinder than southern baptists (who'll just tell you straight up you'll go to hell and don't know how to comfort people, or outright refuse to comfort people because they think suffering is a good thing.)

I cried a little at sisters mormon baby shower because I was wearing a very casual outfit and everyone else was wearing formal attire. I wasn't made aware of what to wear, and when I asked my mom (southern baptist) she just told me to wear normal clothes. It was in the dead of summer in the south so.... i wore a tank top and some shorts .... (I'm very awkward when it comes to dressing correctly and I never seem to get dress codes right.)

My sisters mother in law was very sweet, and she's mormon so maybe it's just because they're good at love bombing or whatever, but she came into the bathroom, held me close, said I looked great, and that I'm not ruining anything for my sister.

This was way more kindness than what my mom ever gave to me, and she's only my sisters in-law! I was so taken aback that I almost cried more over that. (I didn't take any attention off my sister either btw, that was what I was most afraid of. i darted straight into the bathroom when I saw them all dressed up.)

It was me and my girlfriend who showed up. We're both very queer and trans and while they introduced us as "sisters" instead of partners, I didn't really mind all too much. It was kinda cute to be called sisters actually,,, even though it comes from a homophobic place... :/ They're at least not saying we're going to hell or anything. Hell doesn't even exist for them (from my understanding).

So personally I'd rather be approached by mormons I think. They've never really been mean to me, all they really do is preach stuff I don't believe in, and don't seem irritated when I say I'm not interested. Sure they press a lot, so maybe this is just me being a doormat or something. I am completely against pretty much all their beliefs but at least they can be decent human beings (from my own encounters with them. idk how they are in Utah or anything, they're probably horrible up there idk) At least kindness seems to be a core part of it. Loving thy neighbor was always supposed to be a big part of Christianity, but I only ever see mormons do the whole lovebombing thing. Not sure why.

This isn't meant to be a mormon praising post btw. This is just a "Who would you rather be approached by" thing.

Gun to your head. You have to choose one.

Anybody else get infuriated when you’re just at a store or getting some food and then you hear CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) being played over the speakers? At best it’s extremely inconsiderate, at worst it is the business owner effectively saying that anybody who doesn’t believe in their fairy tales really isn’t welcome. It’s a massive double standard because if a place was playing openly atheistic or satanic music, there would be a public outcry about it.

Why? Why did Jesus die for your sins? What did killing him off do that made anything any different? Why didn't he live to be an old man, and then ascend into heaven? Why not just pick a date, and ascend into hevean? What's the dying got to with it? How did my sins or anybody else's sins relate to the act of crucifying him? Why didn't he just have a good meal for our sisins, or go without breakfast for a month or something? I don't get how his murder has anything to do with my sins? Do you?

I'm a new atheist. A religious fundamentalist member of my family is giving me a lot of trouble for leaving the cult I was converted to.

I am really lost. I live in a country in the middle-east. Very few would understand my point of view, least of all my family. What can I do? Are there any online communities I could seek to help me with my situation?

Is it just me or do I feel like Christians just obsessively post about to to rub in everyone's faces that they dont celebrate Halloween? Like we get it, you celebrate that and not Halloween and think all who do are evil sinners. It annoys me.

Was watching JD Vance on Joe Rogan. He said how he grew up religious then became atheist before he was baptized etc. I found it interesting because I just assumed he was always religious. When I looked into it he wasn’t baptized until 2019 which is of course when he was considering running for Senate.

I know a lot of us think if Trump isn’t atheist he at least isn’t very religious at all. He is just saying these things to secure his voting base. Now I wonder if Vance is the same way. Don’t get me wrong I still think he is a horrible person and most of his beliefs are very wrong. If anything this claim to be religious when he might not be makes him and his beliefs that much more shady.

I mean his wikipedia glazes over the fact that he was atheist and only says “he wasn’t an active participant” in religion. Though he himself used the word atheist on Joe Rogan.

He also does a lot of comparing of the transgender/LGBTQIA+/woke movement to a cult/“religion”. Again his own words describing something he doesn’t like and something he deems as bad as a “religion”.

Just thought it was interesting and something I didn’t realize before now.

I think the whole “you have to be nice to someone because of their religion” thing is nonsense. Why do I need to be nice to someone that believes that people like me (a queer woman) will be and deserve to be in hell, and that people like me shouldn’t be allowed to marry their partners or raise children together. Why should I not criticize the church I was raised in (The Mormon church) when it is worth $265 billion dollars and yet so many of its members are struggling financially, and are still required to give 10% of their income to the church or else they lose privileges and standing in the church. Why should I not point out how ironic saying “Gods word never changes” is, because with every new prophet/bishop/priest/etc ‘gods word’ is a little different each time because it’s tainted by that persons personal beliefs and biases. I absolutely hate when religious people get into fights with non-religious people and always dig up the quote “If you cannot prove a point without tearing down others, then your point wasn’t worth proving” because they do the SAME THING, and somehow only they’re allowed to criticize others and hide behind the bible because they think that believing in god makes them superior beings. And whenever they instigate a discussion or debate they so often end it with “It feels like im talking to a brick wall” and then just leave because they can never finish things they start. If you’re going to try to convince someone they’re wrong please do it in a manner that isn’t just “I’m right you’re wrong 😊” and then leaving.

I come from the town of Red Bluff in California. I've noticed increased bizarre Christian behavior lately. Churches buying bill boards around town saying things like, "Evolution isn't real" and "This is why Christians need to be in politics". Last night though I drove past our clock tower in the center of town. In the middle of all the Halloween festivities. Adults in plain clothes waving flags saying, "Jesus is lord" and "Jesus is king". The only thing that made sense in my mind was they were protesting Halloween.... Bizarre behavior around here lately.

What do atheists say when being sworn into court or office? Do they place their hand on something other than a Bible, or nothing at all? Do they say "so help me" instead of "so help me god"? I'm genuinely curious!

I was raised eastern(romanian or serb) orthodox... went through all the motions and proper steps growing up. I have never been particularly religious. My priest always made the bir seem abstract... unlike many Christians believe in literal meaning. I've always has trouble taking the Bible on faith and have been at least agnostic since I was a teen... but I notice I still superstitiously cross myself at times, maybe even mutter a prayer... I find myself defending orthodoxy against Catholics, protestants, baptists etc. I will catch myself telling someone how orthodoxy is the best when it comes to Christianity... oldest, no pope, a bit less corrupt, priests marry so child abuse is less likely etc... I will catch myself defending orthodoxy or attacking baptists to my girlfriend, who had a strict baptist upbringing. She has become more anti religious than me since I've known her, especially after I told her Judaism was based on a pantheon and she researched on her own. I was not indoctrinated like her and many more religious people, and hearing about all that nonsense disgusts me... still, I do these ridiculous superstitions and will find myself subconsciously bragging about orthodoxy... I'm timok vlach and aromanian who lived in that part of the world until moving to the USA... I think that these stupid ridiculous religious habits are just because eastern orthodoxy is so tied to my cultural identity... the poetry cycle of Prince Lazar and the battle of Kosovo etc... Anyone else find themselves doing similar things? I am just curious, it's not that problematic for I know that the whole big picture is a sham... its just odd that I find myself talking up orthodoxy. I actually felt kind of bad that my gf has turned agnostic/athiest since being with me though I know that it's for the better and healing. It's strange...

Ever since I had what I call my “atheist epiphany” when I was still a young child, I've always said the following to myself : I don't believe in God and I think he's a purely human creation. But there's something great about this creation. Man created God, not the other way around. This strange, weak being has such a great capacity for thought that he was able to create a being that, for religious people, is beyond comprehension. Man has created a being who is omnipotent, omniscient, and radically good by the sheer force of his thought. Doesn't this reveal that in some way we are incredible, that there is nothing more “divine” than the human being, if I may say so? Our creative capacity is so great that we could invent such a being from scratch: it's beautiful and frightening at the same time. But it's also a terrible creation : I have the impression that we created it not to reassure ourselves, but to torture ourselves endlessly. We surpass any idea of God by the very creation of that idea.

- Do you know of a philosopher who has addressed this idea in a similar way in a book?

- I was also wondering if in the animal kingdom there has been any evidence of a concept of veneration in animals (perhaps the question is oddly phrased and I doubt we have any way of observing this).