This debate made us look both stupid. It’s Halloween and I get drunk with my friends and then I run into the Christian evangelist. Now for background I know these Christians. I sit with them at lunch every now and then. And then I went up to them while I was absolutely hammered drunk, and started debating them on the fucking Bible. This is both very stupid but very funny at the same time. None of us won the debate. I was asking him for sources while i was borderline blackout, he really didn’t have a lot of evidence to bring up either. It was just stupid. Anyways I just wanted to get that out there.

What led me to make this post is that I was utilising azar to have a video chat/call with random people so I have fun, however, I had my country’s flag behind me, and since I’m from an Arabic country so the flag has a text states an Arabic sentence, it is “ Allahu Akbaar ” which means in English “ Allah is greater “ , however, while using the app, a random guy showed up, and we had a nice conversation and he asked me from what country I’m from, I told him guess my country and showed him the flag, after noticing the flag he stated “ Allahu Akbaar “ I was perplexed, I elucidated him that the majority of the citizens of the country are Muslims, but notwithstanding that fact, there are Christians, atheists, etc.. he said then what are you? I told him I’m an atheist, he commenced to apprise me that I’m wrong, and atheism is stupidity, I stated to him “ I have prayed to god, talked to him” but no response from him, he told me I wasn’t talking to god, I told him then guide me, show me how, he stated that he can not, and I must look up myself to see how, what a stupidity from him.

However, the reason I do not believe in god is the suffering I have in my life, has caused me to not to believe in such entity, I have been born in an Arabic ignorance primitive country, in a society that majority of its individuals are not educated and in full of ignorance, and misfortune, in a family that is worse than my country and my society, my family was full of conflicts, disputes, and cheating, my wretched mother used to use physical abuse against me since I was 7-8 years old, she has caused me love deprivation, moreover, she used to get men to the house and sleep with them, so my childhood was completely ravaged and detrimental, she kept ruining my life, because of her I was diagnosed with ocd and ptsd, and when I started to have consciousness about my life and my personality, I started to question myself only two questions, first why I am struggling with a prostitute mom? And being tortured by her? Second, why god decided to put me in that country among these people and caused me to live that life? It is unreasonable, why god did that? I mean was he punishing me? If so, is god that insane to punish a new born baby that has committed no sin? And cause him ocd and ptsd? And why god was not responding to my prays when I was praying? Some may tell you were praying to the wrong god, hold on! Why the f I have to pray in the first place? Isn’t god’s mistake to be born in that place among these people? Shouldn’t god be sorry and save me? I mean I do not get the origin reason, the main reason of god throwing me in that country and among these people, why god decided to torture me? Why god decided to ruin my childhood? And my teen-ages years, they were supposed to be full of fun, but contrary, they were full of pain and illnesses, why the suffering in first place?

Later in life, I realized that it is only one of two, whether there’s no god, and god’s conception was a play, or there’s a god, but he is psychopath as f because he likes to torture innocent people like me,

I see I have made no sin in my whole life to be awarded by ocd and ptsd and physical abuse! However, I decided that I’m not believing in god’s existence!

I know the truth about death. There is no afterlife, no existence. I guess that's an atheist view. However, how do you allow yourself to be the judge about the truth. One might say it's logical that there is no existence after death as there never was one before we were born. Well being an educated person you also have to admit that you can't verify this information, as you probably also forgot the moment you were born. Well what is true now? I don't really know either, but it may be unfair to claim the truth being a non-existent afterlife. Religion claims to know the truth as atheist do. I switched from being a true atheist do being an agonistic person. Both contrary views of the time after death could be true. So in the meantime concentrate on enjoying life.

EDIT: First of all thank you for all the answers. I highly appreciate the effort. Regarding the answers I may have to clarify my question. Why do you claim that there is nothing? As far as I understand, and the Campridge dictionary supports me, an atheist "believes" in no existence of god. So being an atheist is indeed a believe. There's also no person to be able to verify that god doesn't exist, as nothing (keeping a hermeneutic circle in mind) should be held 100% truthful for eternity. So a person claiming there is any kind of god has as much evidence as a person claiming there is no god. I hope you know what kind of argument I'm trying to make. I don't want to offend anyone :)

because there people at the school who have religious views against homosexuality and those views need to be respected however why should people have to follow rules based on a religion they don't believe and are they gonna ban pork to respect the views of Muslims are they gonna ban meat on fridays to respect the views of Catholics why should people be forced to follow rules based on a religion they don't believe

So I went to New York recently and I visited the Natural History museum, I was showing him the parts I was most interested in being the paleontologic section and the conversation spiraled into talking about bigger philosophical concepts which I always find interesting and engaging to talk to him about.

He and I disagree from time to time and this is one of those times, he’s more open to religion than I am so it makes sense but personally I just don’t see how this view makes sense.

He states that genesis is a general esoteric description of evolution and he uses the order of the creation of animals to make his point where first it’s sea animals then it’s land mammals then it’s flying animals.

Now granted that order is technically speaking correct (tho it applies to a specific type of animal those being flyers) however the Bible doesn’t really give an indication other than the order that they changed into eachother overtime more so that they were made separately in that order, it also wouldn’t have been that hard of a mention or description maybe just mention something like “and thus they transmuted over the eons” and that would have fit well.

I come back home and I don’t know what translation of the Bible he has but some versions describe the order is actually sea animals and birds first then the land animals which isn’t what he described and isn’t what scientifically happened.

Not just this but to describe flying animals they use the Hebrew word for Bird, I’ve heard apologetics saying that it’s meant to describing flying creatures in general including something like bats but they treat it like it’s prescribed rather than described like what makes more sense that the hebrews used to term like birds because of their ignorance of the variation of flight in the animal kingdom or that’s how god literally describes them primitive views and all?

As of now I’m not convinced that genesis and evolution are actually all that compatible without picking a different translation and interpreting it loosely but I’d like to know how accurate this view actually is, thoughts?

From Arab barometer, Middle east Muslim became even more religious than last decade and are more supportive of Islamic theocracy, I remember when apostate prophet posted the decline in 2019 and I got happy, but it has made a huge come back since then.

From latest Malaysian elections: Both Malay Muslim adult and Youth are voting more for Malaysian Islamic party (PAS) that supports for full Islamic theocracy of Malaysia, PAS even gain the most seats in recent elections, highest as it ever has. Surprisingly the trend of Malay Muslim youth are becoming more regressive and religious than before. Indonesia also having the same trend

Pakistani youth getting more religious and supportive of Islamic rule more than ever (world values survey)

With other things like 3-4 generation of Western Muslim immigrants are even more religious than their parents, and the victory of Taliban over Afghanistan. It’s seem that Political Islam and Islamism are really on the rise contrast to the trend of other religions that new generations are becoming less religious and are more tolerant.

I always thought that was because there's a decline in secret, but no! Even in central Asia, which is ruled by communist dictators who ban Hijab and beards, there's a still a rise in religiosity and people go to mosque and wear Hijab more than ever, despite them going to jail for that!

The only exception is Iran and even there the decline is in Shiaism while the Sunni percentage is increasing

The future of progressive Muslim or Ex-Muslim is really grim indeed. It’s just made me depressed. For me Muslim countries will never have a boom of atheism like in the west and they won’t achieve it in many decades after this.

Sorry for a long rant. Feel free to correct me. 👍

I'm a lifelong atheist and theatre guy. I saw Book of Mormon for the first time last night. It wasn't a terrible show, very much South Park humor, but damn....I really wish we had some other prominent musicals. Life of Brian got a concert treatment a few years ago but it never gained traction.

I felt like overall it had the South Park feeling of pretty high highs and really low lows. I can definitely see why if you were African you would hate this show. It's pretty fucking offensive and not in a way I find particularly fun or interesting.

I wish we had some broadway satire that lampooned religion but didn't rely on "I have maggots in my scrotum" as one of its strongest running gags.

(Again, not saying it shouldn't exist, I think there can be a strong connection made to this show and Candide. They are incredibly similar and this kind of satire has a place. I just wish it wasn't the only big show with atheistic themes out there)

Any suggestions for other plays or movies?

So I went to perform at the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles church in Costa Rica. Now I am an agnostic atheist always have been, religion and the way it works has always fascinated me plus it is a beautiful church with perfect acoustic range, Nessun Dorma is more than fitting and appropriate in this setting given how sublime of a piece it is.

I am critical of religion but I always try my best to stay informed before coming to a conclusion and I try not to ridicule because it tends to be a sign of ignorance and repels people away from what you need to say, whenever I go to churches I like looking around and asking around without trying to seem invasive and I also really appreciate the art (Catholics are really good at making their temples look immaculate).

So I asked some church leaders about confessions, I knew how they worked essentially but I wanted to know if they would do this with secular people and they basically responded:

“It matters not whether you are an atheist, agnostic, Jewish, Buddhist or any other religion if you come here with peace, love and a genuine need for help and advice we will provide it to you with the best of our abilities.”

I think this is nice and reassuring but it also made me kinda sad, most people nowadays need a hug and are struggling mentally and it sucks that church confessions are available to the wider public for free meanwhile you need to pay for therapy which is usually expensive.

For as much peace a church confession may give you if you are religious not all people like myself are spiritual in that way and need more tangible help and extensive assistance like therapy can provide, church leaders aren’t professional psychologists after all (tho I do imagine they must have studied a bit of it since a job where you hear people talk about their problems kind of inherently needs that understanding).

I don’t know if this may be a misplaced gripe and there are countries out there where therapy is just as free as confession but I feel it’s something worth thinking about, what do you think?

Almost my entire life I thought that it was silly to be praying to a non existent person.
My parents, especially my own mother brags to me about if I'm praying or not or if I have "faith" in the angels like St. Michael.
I always try to avoid giving a straight answer and I don't think things can keep going like this.
I'm 16 and I feel like if I ever tell her I'm not religious I would be forced to be kicked out of my own room. Or she would think I don't believe in Jesus because I'm a satanist.
I'm very scared but also tired

Today my parents (46F and 48M) are going to a dhamma sermon. I (13F) have been an atheist since 7, and never really believed Buddhism but only recognized my disbelief at 7 years old. What tipped me over was realizing that in Buddhism I was taught about how when you sin you have a greater chance as being born as a non-human animal, or a disabled person. i felt it really unfair that the disabled and non-human were associated with sins. That made me angry and it tipped me over.

For further context - I have always had America in really high standards, being born in Sri Lanka (a Sinhalese, former Buddhist and having moved to NZ at 11) and believed they didn't have any religion. I thought of America ever since I was young; "Wow they are so smart with science!" that they didn't have the idiocy of religion, and only when I was 10 did I find out that America was actually Christian (at least mainly). I was like WTF! This proved, now that I look back, that I have never believed religion to be anything but cultural practice and whatnot. At that time the thought of a God was absolute ridiculousness.

I became vegetarian at 9 (I became vegan as a new year's resolution at 12 because I never wanted to take another's milk, it was gross, and i didn't want to be the reason the cow got hurt) because why eat animals when I had other options? And I was atheist at seven because in my opinion non-human animals also have the ability to make moral choices. They just do it simply. This is again trying to apply human principles onto animals. If we try to apply a lion's principle to human's that would go totally wrong. if a stepdad doesn't kill the stepkid, then he would be considered a coward by lion's perspective and unworthy, but if a stepdad does kill a stepkid in human perspective he'd be a wretch, a killer and be in life sentence to jail.

I feel it unfair that we apply human ethics to animals. Human's are very egoistic, and I believe that their (our) life is worth the same as an ant, as a dog as any other being. And thus I feel it awful to even say that a certain animal is being sinful just cuz they don't have our own principles. I feel that life is fair unlike Buddhism says and that we don't need stupid sins and nonsense to clear stuff up. Yes, the antelope gets eaten by the lion, but they have grass everywhere and don't have to fight for food, they just have to fight the lion to live. Lion has to fight for food and is also in turn fighting to survive. It's 50/50. Fair. And if a person gets an accident or what not, they say it's because they'd 'sinned' in their past life. but I say it is because they were the one's on the road when the car hit. So logical! Idk why they make up nonsense to explain it. I think I got carried away and you all were tired of me ranting.

So, back to the point. We are going to a sermon, a Buddhist sermon in NZ at my parents' Sri Lankan, Buddhist, friend's place. My parents' know I'm an atheist. But they told me; "When you go there, you have to listen and worship the monk when he leaves." I was like wtf? I'm not gonna worship a person who has that same egoistical thought that humans are better than the rest, that think that the disabled innocent ones have deserved what they got. So when I worship I am going to cross my fingers, as a silent rebellion, to state to myself I don't - and never will - mean it. What are your thoughts on this? Am I being disrespectful to the monk, because I don't think he deserves any respect for just going on sitting in a chair having done nothing heroic or to change a life for the better, let alone so much respect that one has to kneel down and worship his feet? Or am I right?

Edit: most of the comments tell me to go along with it becuz my parents are financing and all. But my parents already know my thoughts and I am very open about it and they are alright with my own beliefs. My parents are very kind and supportive parents and I've had arguments about religion and they respect my beliefs wholly. We have friendly debates once in a while. They are like the kind of parents that'd move to another country for my betterment even though one of them dislikes it or has no jobs. They are very considerate people.

It's more about rebelling because some people don't get that I don't believe religious stuff or of how I had to spend two hours at a sermon that I think they say false. Literally, the monk said that the Buddha helped realize a king of how he should find himself instead of his son. What kind of shirt parent does that? Definitely not my parents. But they nodded to the monk and that made me more mad. And they spoke of never killing, never lying, never stealing, etc. The five precepts. Then I was like everyone kills an 🐜 ant or bug! U can't say never killing. And when you do say that you are lying. And you stole 2 hours of my time. What made me the maddest is the monk saying it and me couldn't say anything back and had to listen while worshipping. So I crossed my fingers to rebel against that. Just asking if it was that disrespectful for the monk.

Hello!

So I've been in this sub for while now. Just reading, never posted. And I'm curious if your girlfriends husband, boyfriend or wives, are religious ? And if so, have they experienced a lack of belief?

To be honest I think I might get down voted for this, but here it goes: In my case, my husband is catholic. We both know each other's point of view in the subject. We debate about it as well, but we respect each other's opinion. Just to be clear, he's not the stereotypical religious fanatic. I mean he doesn't believe in Adan and Eve, or things like that or that God created the universe in 7 days. He believes in god, heaven and hell and prays. But at the same time he believes in Darwin's evolution theory, or the big bang, etc ...

However, after 11 years together, he said a couple weeks ago, that he's losing his faith. And honestly I don't even feel happy or relieve about it. I actually feel sad for him. I don't believe in this so I just can't help him to keep his faith, it's impossible for me, even if I would want to, It would sound so fake. But I want to help him go through this, I just don't know how. I don't want be insensitive, but at the same I just can't comprehend the feeling and I don't know what to stay.

We haven't talked about it since then, but I know the subject will come up again

Fyi: English is not my first language

I know technically Atheism is a lack of belief in deities but for a long time I assumed people who identify as Atheist generally don’t believe in the supernatural at all.

However the rising popularity of AI leads me to believe that might not be the case. Why? Because when I talk to people about the human brain, specifically consciousness, I’ve found people think of consciousness as some mystical thing instead of a side effect of neurons firing.

I’ve found this to be anecdotally true even amongst my friends who are vocally anti-religious. And unfortunately it feels like I’ve pulled a thread because I’ve discovered they also don’t have a problem with things like astrology, tarot cards, or other supernatural stuff outside of religion.

I’m curious if the people here can relate or maybe I was mistaken about what atheists generally believe and perhaps i need to find a better label for myself because personally I believe supernatural belief is a core problem in society, not just religion.

I previously stumbled on an article, which mainly talks about the unreasonable aspects of the global flood in the Bible, and it also list quite a number of errors or bizarre exaggerations, which are less notable than global flood, at the end and add related comments from the authors. I found it was interesting, so I post them out to share. Actually, all the articles on the blog are relatively interesting and informative.

(I also recommend this article, which carefully and thoroughly analyze all major contradictions and errors in the bible. The website that hosts it also contains a lot of useful articles, one series is to systematically criticize Evidence That Demands a Verdict, one of the most influential apologetic book. Besides, if you want to read more articles that seriously refute global flood, here are two of them: First and second and the refutation of a creationist's response to the first article)

Does The Bible Say That “Noah's Flood” Was Universal?

Or Was the Universality Of The Flood Merely A Literary Exaggeration Of Biblical Proportions?

The famine was over all the face of the earth…And all countries came unto Egypt to Joseph to buy corn, because the famine was so sore in all lands.

— Genesis 41: 56,57

Don't the words, “over all the face of the earth, all countries, all lands” mean “over all the face of the earth, all countries, all lands?” If they mean what they say, then even folks in far off China and Japan and Australia and North and South America must have been “sorely famished” and had to go to “Egypt” to buy corn! Or else, “over all the face of the earth, all countries, all lands” is an exaggerated way of speaking, closer to a boastful lie than the truth.

— E.T.B.

[The Lord said to the Israelites when they were wandering in the desert] “This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.”

— Deuteronomy 2: 25

Don't the words, “the nations that are under the whole heaven” mean “the nations that are under the whole heaven?” If they mean what they say, then even the distant nations of China and Japan and the Native American nations — to name just a few of the many “nations that are under the whole heaven” — must have been trembling in their boots, having “heard report of Israel.” Or else, “the nations that are under the whole heaven” is an exaggerated way of speaking, closer to a boastful lie than the truth.

— E.T.B.

Exaggerated Promise

I have set my king upon the holy hill of Zion. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen [as slaves] for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron.

— Psalm 2: 6,8,9,12

The above psalm is believed to have been sung at the coronations of Hebrew kings. But giving a king, “. the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession” is an exaggerated promise to say the least. Though it must be admitted that this psalm later proved popular with both Catholic and Protestant kings who used it to justify their “breaking” of the “heathen,” driving them into slavery and stealing their land in alleged fulfillment of this exaggerated Biblical promise.

— E.T.B.

[Jesus said] “The Queen of the South [the Queen of Sheba] came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon.”

— Matthew 12: 42

The Queen's residence, being probably on the Arabian Gulf, could not have been more than twelve or fourteen hundred miles from Jerusalem. If that is the “uttermost parts of the earth” then it is a small world after all.

— E.T.B.

All the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom.

— 2 Chronicles 9: 23

Don't the words “all the kings of the earth” mean “all the kings of the earth?” If they mean what they say, then even Incan and Aztec kings in South America must have begun paddling their long boats toward Israel the instant they heard how wise king Solomon was. Or else, “all the kings of the earth” is an exaggerated way of speaking, closer to a boastful lie than the truth.

— E.T.B.

The devil took him [Jesus] up into an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them.

— Matthew 4: 8

Shown “all the kingdoms of the world” from an “exceedingly high mountain?” I suppose so, if the mountain was “exceedingly high” and the earth was flat. Verses in the Bible's book of Daniel presume a flat earth the same way that verses in Matthew do:

I saw a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. The tree grew, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth.

— Daniel 4: 10-11

Instead of an “exceedingly high” mountain from which “all the kingdoms of the earth” can be seen, Daniel pictures a tree “whose height was great,” growing from the “midst” or center of the earth and “seen” to “the ends of all the earth.”

Funny how such flagrantly flat-earth verses appear in both the Old and New Testaments. “Bible believers” will of course reply that such verses are only “apparently difficult” to explain, and not the “real truth” as they see it. But it is the “apparent difficulties” that remain in the Bible, as it was written, and will always remain there, regardless of all the ingenuity employed in explaining them away.

— E.T.B.

A decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.

— Luke 2: 1

Donʼt the words, “all the inhabited earth” mean “all the inhabited earth?” If they mean what they say, then even the Chinese must have taken part in Augustus' census! Or else, “all the inhabited earth” is an exaggerated way of speaking, closer to a boastful lie than the truth.

— E.T.B.

And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

— Acts 2: 5

“Out of every nation under heaven?” A Jew from the nation of the Sioux Indians in North America was there too? Or maybe Luke was not talking about a very wide “heaven?”

— E.T.B.

A great famine all over the world took place in the reign of Claudius.

— Acts 11: 28

Don't the words, “all over the world” mean “all over the world?” If they mean what they say, then the Chinese, Japanese and Native Americans who lived in the world during the reign of Claudius must have suffered the effects of that great famine. Or else, “all over the world” is an exaggerated way of speaking, closer to a boastful lie than the truth.

— E.T.B.

Their voice (of first-century Christian preachers) has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. The mystery is now manifested and has been made known to all the nations. The gospel, which has come to you, just as in all the world. The gospel, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul was made a minister.

— Romans 10: 18; 16: 25-26; Colossians 1: 5-6, 23

Sorry Paul, but the Gospel in your day had only reached a handful of churches in the Roman Empire, not “all the earth,” not, “to the ends of the world,” not, “all nations,” and certainly not, “all creation under heaven.”

The early church father, Irenaeus, maintained Paul's charade when he wrote, “Now the Church, spread throughout all the world even to the ends of the earth,” “…even though she has been spread over the entire world,” “Anyone who wishes to see the truth can observe the apostleʼs traditions made manifest in every church throughout the whole world.” (Iraenaeus, Against Heresies, 1.10.1, 1.10.2, 3.3.1-2) Not a very big “world,” mind you, leaving out most of Asia and Africa, not to mention the continents of Australia, North America and South America.

If an all-wise God had inspired the Bible He would have been able to give its human authors a few inspired geography lessons, just to show them how big the earth really is. Instead, the Bible contains the same exaggerated speech, boastful lies and holy hyperbole common for its day and age, i.e., rather than evidence of special inspiration.

Furthermore, if the Bible is not speaking absolutely truthfully when it speaks of “all the earth,” “to the ends of the earth,” “from the uttermost parts of the earth,” “all the inhabited earth,” “in all creation under heaven,” “under all the heavens,” “every nation under heaven,” then how can anyone be expected to assume the truthfulness of the statement, “everywhere under the heavens,” when it is found in the tale of the Flood of Noah in Genesis 7:19? “The water prevailed and all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered.” Could this be another instance of an exaggerated mythical way of speaking, closer to a boastful lie than the truth? Hmmm, do ya think?

Having run across so many instances of exaggerated speech in the Bible one even wonders what is to become of the central Christian boast, the exaggeration par excellence, that Jesus died “for the sins of the world?” Believers from every sacred tradition boast that their beliefs affect the “world” and must be taken seriously by the “world.” Must they indeed? I find that I cannot take seriously many instances in which Biblical authors exaggerate (boldly lie about) the extent of a famine, a flood, a census, the distance to a queen's residence, the extent to which a message has been spread, etc. Indeed, didn't “orthodox” doctrines and theology arise via exaggerating the importance of some interpretations of the alleged sayings and doings of Jesus above others?

— E.T.B.

Hello ex-jew here. I've recently made a thread asking you guys about contradictions in the old testament or debunks of the Jewish faith since I mostly see Christianity being debunked (lyingforjesus.org) and not many debunks for Judaism. However it seems like I've missspoke. What I meant was if anyone could provide me some verses in the old testament that contradict other verses in the old testament or other forms of debunks Thank you!

Hello ex-jew here.

I'm looking for contradictions in the old testament or debunks of the Jewish faith since I mostly see Christianity being debunked (lyingforjesus.org) and not many debunks for Judaism

So like our family has a lots of issues (financial, family, health, mental etc), the financial one is because of my dad recklessly spending money on himself, his affair and for his side of family, cuz we were in military every supply was free (water, electricity, rent, and even grocery was cheap), so when dad retired, then came the financial issues cuz now he had a low salary and no savings, he became super religious, listening to verses on youtube, keeping a book with himself and being super defensive regarding anything related to christianity, all of this in the hopes of getting money....after a few years, and in a scammer call, we lost lots of money cuz of my parents stupidity and greed for money, after that our situation became even worse, they both speculated that the room we rented was a badluck cus of muslims (ofc i didn't believe that) and we changed the place again. Since we were from military background, our school fees were also really really cheap and we didn't have any problem until I entered college/uni this year, and now it's relatively expensive, My dad took loans for my sister's fees which was normal but again he strugled to pay it off, and now this year its my turn, so he said that he wasn't getting money from anywhere to pay for my fee also that he used to get money for any other uses, and he and mom told me no. of times to pray, that because im not praying im not getting money for my fees (how am I even supposed to pray falsely??)..., continuously saying that its my fault we are not getting money, that because of my lack of pious we are poor and in a terrible condition (we are living with our basic needs covered when we could've saved so much money),

Her logic was no praying = problems, i used her logic saying aunt should be in a really good condition because she is very religious, but her life is full of problems, and so does my dad he's very religious and has problems she denied it, and then i said "how am i supposed to believe it cuz of this?" And then she said to keep my useless ego aside.

He also said during Christmas when i refused to come to church at night "It doesn't fucking matter if you are a scholar or academically topper, you will always be a fucking zero if you don't believe" (we already went during the day, and in the upcoming month' 1st week i had my college entrance exams, boards, and assignments whose marks could change my life trajectory) and its funny how he becomes so happy whenever my names comes in toppers list and starts praising me.

I also have some health issues and mom said "ofc u have health issues, you don't believe in god, that's your punishment" she said this years ago and when i brought it up, she said shamelessly that she is right.

I feel so hurt, i don't know what to do guys

I am a young atheist living in a more rural area, and I don't know many atheists in real life. The way I talk about atheism is mostly through online platforms, especially on Facebook. What I struggled to find was young people on Facebook 😂!

What is a show/movie/book that meaningfully and honestly criticizes the concept of religion without ridicule or satire?

What I’m talking about is media that is critical of religion in a serious way that doesn’t dance around the issue with excuses like “the problem isn’t religion it’s people” assuming that religion is this perfect moral standard that does not have an inherent dark element to it. Perhaps a show that may actually delve into say the endorsement and regulation of slavery in the Bible apologists keep denying and why that’s indefensible or maybe one that doesn’t exaggerate historical events to make religious people look bad yet nonetheless rightfully criticizes them on important topics like their institutional monopoly on science and philosophy. Maybe call out and criticize the assumption of the logical and emotional necessity of divinity to explain the woeful state of modernity as a problem invented by religion to justify and perpetuate itself due to the historical monopoly it had on intellectual disciplines. Maybe the type of media I’m talking about doesn’t exist or is obscure because it wouldn’t be popular.

What is a show/movie/book that meaningfully and honestly criticizes the concept of religion without ridicule or satire?

What I’m talking about is media that is critical of religion in a serious way that doesn’t dance around the issue with excuses like “the problem isn’t religion it’s people” assuming that religion is this perfect moral standard that does not have an inherent dark element to it. Perhaps a show that may actually delve into say the endorsement and regulation of slavery in the Bible apologists keep denying and why that’s indefensible or maybe one that doesn’t exaggerate historical events to make religious people look bad yet nonetheless rightfully criticizes them on important topics like their institutional monopoly on science and philosophy. Maybe call out and criticize the assumption of the logical and emotional necessity of divinity to explain the woeful state of modernity as a problem invented by religion to justify and perpetuate itself due to the historical monopoly it had on intellectual disciplines. Maybe the type of media I’m talking about doesn’t exist or is obscure because it wouldn’t be popular.

I would like to propose a question:

Can Good atheists and Good theists put aside differences to work together to the common goal of Goodness?

I believe atheists can be good if despite believing in no Gods, they believe in Goodness as the highest principle.

I also believe theists can be good if despite believing in Gods, their God is Goodness.

Could we agree the difference between referring to goodness as God, or referring to goodness as the highest principle is purely a difference in language? Or are atheists and theists fated to be at odds because of this?

I am a college student and I live with my parents. I joined one of the local christian organizations at the campus to have fellowship or whatever. I mean I don't hate it, it's good networking opportunity, and I don't really talk to people outside of the church (my parents are religious and very invested in it, that's a whole other story).

I haven't really been to the weekly group meetings lately, but I did go at the beginning of the semester. I didn't think I made and impression on anybody and I only really talked to girls. There's a group chat for the organization, I joined and chatted a bit, and then this guy messages me to check up on me after some things happened. I thought it was normal and it was just someone involved in the group naturally checking up on its members to create rapport. Later he starts messaging me a few more times. And recently he told me that he was trying to get to know me. And um, this is pretty obviously romantic interest given some other things he said. Besides the fact that I have no idea what he sees in me, there's also how I should approach this.

First of all. I'm somewhat interested as I don't really receive male attention, so maybe I'm just flattered very easily. But obviously if we do date and he eventually wants to marry (this is the "date to marry" culture after all) then we'd probably have to live with each other and do all the traditional things. But that doesn't mean he has to be the closest person to me and know everything about me, right? At least, that's how I think an ideal world should be, but in this culture my boyfriend/spouse will be my most important person that I should be the closest to. And also, I'm a huge weeb and I have a lot of anime merch of handsome guys. That would also weird those types out, right? Ugh, this is making me insecure about my own hobbies.

There's also how my parents don't want me to date anyone until I graduate. Er, I know it's unlikely, but say he's willing to wait and be friends for some reason (and I think my parents said that they wouldn't mind if I found someone at the church or whatever along the way and I don't seek anyone out). These types are the sort to want children, right? I don't want children given the state of the world and the lack of village and so many other factors, so if he seriously starts talking about dating I should bring that up (the fact that I don't want children, not my doomerism). But what if he doesn't care about children?

I just don't know what to do and what's the best decision given any number of scenarios. But ugh. Maybe I really am just lonely and I want some company.

I never understood this. They're so obsessed with being right and sneaking in poorly thought out "gotcha" moments. Even though any argument religious people can come up with can easily be disproved. Especially since theism in itself is an emotional decision.

I do not need to justify my atheism to anyone. The only people who make a big deal out it are religious people themselves. I just don't understand why they dislike us so much. What did we ever do?

The common response from theists is that God can do anything without making a squared circle by saying that the definition of a thing prevents a squared circle from being possible even as a "thing". Essentially, a transcendental deity can't transcend the logic it wrote.

From there they have to admit that the deity is illogical. They'll say that since it transcends logic it doesn't need to be logical. I still don't buy this, since at best they're giving me a model of how a deity would hypothetically exist rather than actually proving it to exist. At best, the notion simply doesn't collapse into itself.

Hell is a myth invented by the catholic church in the 5th century. They added and subtracted a ton of stuff in the bible in that period, something God himself warned against. The fact is you won't find the word hell anywhere in the Bible, old or new testament. The Greek and Hebrew words Sheoul and Hades both mean Grave, but they were incorrectly translated to the word, and concept of hell in the English versions of the bible. Even the Pope stated that hell was a myth a few years ago. Sadly many people believe the hell myth and are terrified their whole lives of something that simply doesn't exist.

Just to clear any misunderstanding. By God I don't mean any particular religion, like Christianity or Islam. By God I mean in terms of how we defined that term in dictionary. If you want you can even type what particular religion you want to be true.

Thanks in advance.

Muslim here. The world is getting scarier by the day. The US is entering a new stage of christian fundamentalism akin to islamic countries, India is going through the same with Hindutva, race relations are getting worse, and all politics are becoming identity politics.

Why the fuck dont we condemn islam or American christian nationalism the same way we condemn nazi ideology. They all sound like far right beliefs.

I've been trying to start conversations and discussions with all sorts of Christians. I like having conversations with people and understanding their point of view. Sometimes it's really fruitful. Other times...

Other times it feels like the effort of taking everyone for their word, assuming good intent, and explaining things with charity and understanding are just dumped in the trash. Don't get me wrong, it's great to do these things, it just sucks when the effort ends up wasted.

I had one interaction where I was focused purely on Socratic questions, but asked him really quick for a source.
Me: "Hey do you have a source for x?"
Him: "Sure: A and B"
Me: "Hmm... there is ambiguity here. You might be right, but I guess I am not convinced."
Him: "That isn't how debate works! You are just saying you are not convinced because you hate God and are hiding the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:20). You are so against God and Christianity that you will ignore all evidence. I know you are ignoring evidence because if you accepted evidence, you would have the same beliefs as me."

Cool, I am dishonest a priori. Plus, this somehow turned into a debate when I wasn't looking. There is nothing I can do to improve, there is no way to reason, investigate, or move forward.

I find a lot of my conversations go like this. I start off asking questions and trying to understand only for it to lead to some meltdown where I am told what I think and believe rather than addressing or responding to the things that I actually say. It's like all the effort was flushed down the toilet.

I mean, maybe it's a me thing. Maybe I'm a dick and no one has told me yet or I hadn't listened.

Still, it's exhausting. If I hear another hour of apologetics or another scholarly biblical lecture just to make sure that I haven't unreasonably accepted or dismissed an argument, I’m going to watch that same video backwards and inform them if I hear an invitation to join a coven.

Like can we stop getting people into religion so it will eventually stop? Can we ban religion and all of its bad teaches? Religion has caused so much pain and suffering over the years and stuff like that, I’m surprised people still follow religion. It’s like all so insane. If any religion out of the over 10,000 religions is correct, I will be surprised. Very surprised.

I just wanna be an atheist and settle down but it's hard because it feels like Christians and even some other religions belittle us for simply expressing the belief of no gods. Not only that but I still have a fear of hell. The idea of a hell is always in the back of my head. Again I just wanna settle down and not think about it. I just wanted to rant about it I guess. Thank you in advance.

I was debating this Christian and he said "atheists reject evidence for God". First off there isn't really much "evidence for god" in the first place. Second we don't reject the evidence. We are skeptical about "evidence for god" though and we should research and come to a conclusion from our understanding of nature. I don't know I just wanted to rant about this. Thanks for hearing me out.