hi everyone! i’m in the midst of a painful process deconstructing my faith and questioning everything I previously believed about christianity. what are some of the greatest debates of all time relating to the validity of christianity, the historicity of the bible, proof for god, and atheism in general? i’m also very interested in ethics as well as rethinking my stance on demons. (im fully aware that last part sounds insane lol) anyway thanks in advance!

for reference ive been listening to alex o connor and genetically modified skeptic on youtube, as well as creationism debunking videos, but not much else.

So, on occasion I'll listen to some Focus on the Family marriage and/ or parenting advice to see how bat sh*t it is, and honestly the few videos I saw were really good advice, regardless of whether or not you believed in a god, let alone Christianity.

The marriage one I watched was on how to be a better partner. The pastor's whole premise was that spouses should treat each other like "Jesus treated the church," poor metaphor for us nonbelievers, I know. But, his whole thing was that husbands and wives should elevate and build up one another (not husband on husband or wife on wife because of course that's where the progressiveness ended; still valuable insight nonetheless). It wasn't gender segregated where wives have to do everything for their husbands (like some of the more prominent crazies currently in the lime light). He was actually arguing that spouses should kind of make it a competition on who can be better at helping and building up the other. It was very wholesome and kind of something all us monogamous relationship-havers should aspire to.

The parenting of teens one was also very healthy. The dude's whole message was about treating kids as people, promoting independence, and respecting their space (a very far cry from Bill Gothard BS). I just find it sad that these ideas are not what are showcased in the broader Christian media. I'd easily be a secular Christian if this Mr. Rogers version of their faith was what it was all about.

I mean I cannot see ever not being an atheist. Even if I met a higher power being (which I'm sure probably exists somewhere in the multiverse), I just don't think an ultimate power is actually provable. And, if the only criteria for a god is simply sufficiently higher order knowledge and/or consciousness, then I'm a god to my bacterial cultures. It's pure arrogant nonsense! We are all subject to bottom up processes. The damn bacteria control me as much or more than I control them.

However, if the definition of Christianity allowed for my skepticism and was solely about promoting these wholesome ideas (extended to everyone), I'm here for it!

I want to believe that there is a god or higher being but I really can't.

Is it wrong I feel this way?

l think it's cause Ive always been made fun of for not believing in a god but I truly can't bring myself to believe one.

"In the beginning European route E007 created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Edo-period village moved upon the face of the waters. And The Flintstones (2016 comic book) said, Let there be light: and there was light. And Nazmi Mehmeti saw the light, that it was good.

And 2013–14 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball team divided the light from the darkness. And Turkish women in public service called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And Elizabethtown, New Mexico said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And 2,2,2-Trichloroethoxycarbonyl chloride made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And Asia Film Company called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. And Portland Brewing Company said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together"

Ebook available here. Contains 36,082 Wikipedia article titles!

I don't mean like, fundamentalist religious people forcing their children to rigidly adhere to doctrine no matter what or else they get psychologically/physically abused. I mean in a more passive way. Like when children try to pray and say they don't feel anything and their parents tell them to just keep trying or even blame the kids for "doing it wrong" and basically just keep compelling them to go through the religious motions until the kid decides to pretend or even brainwashes themselves into thinking they do actually "feel God" in all the different ways. Or like if a child tries to tell their parent who otherwise is fairly open minded and all the sudden the parent becomes annoyed and is like "You think you know everything but one day you'll accept that God is real and you aren't greater than Him." Stuff like that is a form of psychological abuse to me because you're basically gaslighting your child into thinking they're a bad person for genuinely not relating to your religion at all.

I just started thinking about how our future generations will turn out. Will there be a significant drop in the number of theists by then? How many old beliefs will die off? Will we still have these religious right nuts conning millions? Is common sense more of a thing? Do we even have to drive anymore? lol.

Do you see a world that shifts to the left or right, or a world still full of differences?

I had an idea for a small comic, transporting the theme believe into the context of software updates

https://postimg.cc/PP90D8LY

I came across a post on r/vent titled "I don't want to die but I don't want to live".

A commenter posted that "he turn to god".

I replied "so which god are you referring to since there are thousands"...which garnered a reply "As an atheist I'm pro religion if it means someone doesen't end their life and finds meaning in it".

My reply was "Then your'e not an atheist, it doesn't work that way, and how arrogant of you to be the arbiter of their feelings".

Did I'm not looking for any validation from my brothers and sisters (I miss you Christopher) but rather some feedback on if and where I was off the mark, or plain out wrong.

Thank you and sending thoughts and prayers your way (because we all know they work).

(He/Him)

The main reason why I am creating this post is beacuse on the radio, a broadcaster kept making degrading comments about illegal immigrants. This was about 6 hours ago so I don't fully remmber the details. This is a rant post and I really want to get this out there. Sorry if this breaks any rules, I wasn’t sure exactly where to post this. To make it relevant to the subreddit... the double standard of helping people in need is so backwards. I know the Bible is filled with contradictions but a good majority know you're supposed to help people in need. Why do some many of them want to deport people fleeing from war... It's almost always some of the most prilvaged people saying these things.

Basically it started out about whether or not aliens were going to invade Earth. Apparently people have been saying aliens will inade Earth on Dec 3rd (surprise surprise it never happened). The hostess ( or host I don't remmber) asked if the host(ess) would rather be attacked by illegal immigrants or aliens. Beforehand the host made a "joke" on the "clarification" between "illegal aliens" and "outerspace aliens".

The host said aliens... his reasoning was along the lines of " they aren't going to steal jobs, stay free at hotels, and get free phones". Btw he was referring to tell ones "south of the border". I wonder why...

First of all wtf? How is this guy so stupid and cruel. He is a fucking radio host lol! What is he even talking about? Undocumented immigrants aren't going to "steal" his job. They do the jobs native born Americana don't want to do. I wonder if he wants to work in shitty conditions below federal minimum wage at a Tyson meatpacking plant.

Only designated hotels have undocumented migrants there for "free". Correct me if I am wrong, some cities/ states pay the hotels to use up the space. Also hotels aren't doing well so if anything they are helping them. There is also the fact that this is happening in almost all hotels/motels. Also seriously "free phones"? I've literally never heard that one before.

I'm not sure what the radio station is called, the broadcast was around 1:40pm est. I was listening in from upper NJ. I'm assuming the station is located in NY.

These deities never went through molestation as a child but I’m supposed to keep my faith and worship and trust a god who puts myself and others through it to fucking build character.?? To share experiences? Fuck that! I’ve cut off everyone that’s abused me but I’m supposed to forgive and forget in the name of god? I was fucking abused in the name of god because children are supposed to honor their parents and kept me in a state where I believed I’m supposed to go through it so I allowed so much disgusting shit. If I stood up for myself, I’m disrespecting god and my mother. I feel so sorry for myself that I didn’t do this sooner and maybe my sanity would be intact but NO! I’m constantly getting help for mental issues and have to deal with those actions in the fucking name of a person (?) who apparently thought it was in my best interest. If I’m a broken record I’m sorry I just can’t get away from people praising this religion so it makes me crazy

I am an exvangelical missionary kid. I am still on various email lists. Someone I know wrote up a prayer request email for a thing they were facing. But they forgot to send it. Then, several days later, they sent out a "Thanks for praying! Things went reasonably well!" email before they realized that they hadn't sent the original request for prayer and sent that out a few minutes later so that people weren't confused.

Isn't that an obvious sign that whatever benefit they thought they were getting from the prayers of others... wasn't real?

Honestly this sounds stupid but it just pissed me off how instead of actually trying to be comforting person to person they kept just bringing in, oh God this, god that, heaven. All I wanted was to be comforted by my friends, but the Pastors at my school kept butting in even when I was trying to tell them that I did not want them talking to me and they just kept on going and going and going on and on about Jesus Christ and God and heaven. There was NOTHING godly about the way my brother died, he was fucking murdered you asses so please fucking butt out. I didn’t want them there and they just kept on going. If pisses me off, I hated it so much. I’m a person, not some person who’s looking for some sort of higher being to worship, I’m somebody who’s grieving, who wants somebody to approach me as another empathetic person, not “an extension of God”

My dad acted so surprised to see a bible on my bookshelf. (2nd times hes visted me in sixteen years.) He just said he didnt think I knew about the truth about Christianity. I asked him what truth and he said "its the secret to happiness." I lost my shit because that religion destroyed our family. Does he think I (not mention 2 of my 3 brothers who left) simply dont remember the decades of church 3x a week, a christian elementary/middle school and a christian college. I could walk circles around him when it comes to bible knowledge (which is why I left)

John Green released this part of his Crash Course Religion series a couple of hours ago:

https://youtu.be/CZXFZAxX3UA

Overall, I'm fine with it. I do think that there is a subtle change in language that even he may not be aware of. He uses the term 'god', 'higher power', and 'creator' interchangeably.

While there clearly is no god, it is just as likely that our universe was artificially created by someone. That someone wouldn't be a god, just a being living in another universe with technology far beyond our own. It is possible we are in an ancestor simulator, which means the higher power that created our universe is just future humans. Or rather, we are versions of their past humans. In either case, there may be a creator and a "higher power", but not a god.

And if we are in an artificial universe inside another universe, the question still remains, how did that universe come to be. Its turtles all the way down, but no gods.

I guess I would technically fall into his definition of materialist, but if we were ever able to prove anything, prove that our universe is natural or artificial, we would reveal a mechanism or agent by which there was a creation, not a god. I still think atheist suits me better.

there's another Christian nationalist preacher who's said it would be kind to shoot to kill any migrants crossing the US southern border.

https://www.newsweek.com/pro-trump-pastor-calls-killing-migrants-crossing-border-1986545

I wondered if anybody on this sub has had a similar experience to me on YouTube. I have been watching videos from The Atheist Experience and related channels for some time now, several years at this point.

It has always been the case that when I do, every other ad I see is some Christian prayer application or something similar.

I wondered if anybody else that views atheist content on YouTube gets the same kind of stuff, or is there something about my location and demographical information that makes the people pushing these ads forth target me for a different reason I am unaware of.

I imagine the algorithms at YouTube don't determine the difference between atheist or anti-theist and religious content and lump it all together under a "religious" category, but what do you all think?

If you read a Bible verse, like let's say... Ezekiel 5:9-10

"Because of all your abominations I will do to you what I have never done before, the like of which I will never do again.Therefore, parents will eat their children in your midst, and children will eat their parents."

It shows that God's punishing Israel's disobedience through cannibalism and basically slaughtering them ruthlessly. Verse 9 shows that he NEVER punished them like that before, yet he DID in Leviticus 26:29 and Deut 28:53-57. Which means, GOD LIED!!!!

Yet even when you read the passage the Christians excuse passages like this with...

"Out of context! Read the chapter!"

Read the chapter, but....

"Out of context! Read the entire book!"

You read the book surrounding the verse but ...

"Out of context! Read the entire Bible cover to cover!"

And the most unsurprising one which I BET will be used...

"Out of context! Read the Bible cover to cover and believe in everything it says with all your heart and mind and soul!"

I SWEAR the only way anyone understands the Bible is if they believe in every word it says, according to Christians.... UGHHHHHHH I can't even with these people anymore..... There's just no reasoning with Christians, because they would also boil it down to "GoD wOrKs iN mYsTeRiOuS WaYs" if they don't even want to bother answering at all.

Sheesh....

I'm getting my end-of-life affairs in order (will, trust, end of life wishes) and one of the questions is what do I want to do with my "earthly remains" (ie, my dead body).

I'm surprised how much I am struggling with this question. I'm atheist (duh) and generally very anti-establishment in general. I'm pro-education but skeptical of educational institutions and where their money comes from.

My options are basically (a) burial (b) cremation or (c) donate body to science. Def not interested in burial. I have no real need to spread or share my ashes. I'm not opposed to donating my body to science, but I am skeptical of many institutions.

I welcome anyone's thoughts or persuasions as I try to work this over in my brain. I recognize this is atheism-adjacent and not a slam dunk discussion topic.

FWIW, I'm 43/F, so who knows what kind of scientific advancements will come if I die in my 80s.

I'm an atheist and my wife's a Pagan. FWIW I obviously disagree with her on that from a factual standpoint, but we still make it work because our general morals are in alignment. I never discussed religion with my FIL, but my lack of belief did get back to him anyway, probably through my somewhat-less-bigoted MIL. Religion has always been a sore point between my wife and her dad ever since she stopped being Christian. I was raised Catholic and was also briefly Protestant become becoming an atheist, and that was over 20 years ago.

What really grinds my gears is that he said my wife's recent 1-week mental health hospitalization caused by a stalking incident is punishment from God for her 'witchcraft'. That's abuse. It got into her head and she needed reassurance from me that it wasn't true. These exchanges between them have all either been online or at times when I wasn't there, but I think she just tries to change the subject or sound like she has a somewhat positive view of Christianity too. But it's not working.

Only in the past few months has he been sending me proselytizing videos as well. I haven't replied to any of them. And just last night he sent me a video that shows he knows what I am. "From Atheist to Born Again Believer". I watched the first two minutes for the lulz, but stopped after that. I'm pretty sure the guy in this video is a lifelong fundamentalist trying and miserably failing to invent a believable atheist character for his story. It's here https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBed5vjRzpL/ if you want to see how ridiculous it is.

I'm not sure if just ignoring everything he says is the right approach. I've "been there, done that" concerning pretty much everything a Christian could suggest a non-believer to do to start believing. There is a 0% chance that any video this guy sends me could get me to change my mind. But I don't see how discussing it could be productive. Cutting him off isn't really an option either as my wife sometimes needs financial help from her parents and I don't think she could cut off either of them. So what can we do? Any ideas?

ETA: One of the comments reminded me it's probably worth pointing out both of us have a history of being doormats due to suffering abuse from various people throughout our life and having diagnosed mental health issues. Gotta stand firm somehow. But it's a difficult balancing act given our financial situation.

ETA 2: Just wanted to say I watched more of the video. Ugggggh. This is an even more ridiculous caricature of an atheist than I thought. And I guess FIL is suggesting I'm Satan-influenced and violent/an addict. Wrong, wrong, wrong. STFU, FIL!

ETA 3: I brought the previous ETA up with the wife and she thinks I'm taking it too personally and should keep in mind her dad is an old conservative dude who's a product of his time. All the people saying cut him off, I'm afraid that's not in the cards.

On a couple of posts recently, I’ve seen a strange occurrence of seeing multiple accounts with strikingly similar usernames (such as always including “Sophia” or “Bella”) making comments that are basically exactly like the others with the phrasing slightly altered. Anyone else notice this?

Holy Books are a clue to the human-made nature of religions. The idea that an omnipotent God would limit itself by "writing" a book to describe its nature is illogical. Humans are bound by limitations, and as such, we create books to express and communicate. God has no such limitation. Holy Books are similar to belly buttons—every false religion needs one to perpetuate itself across generations.

A true God, however, could directly implant its specific knowledge into human minds, bypassing the need for translators, scribes, publishers, transportation, printing. This divine "word" would be accessible to all, in the native language of each individual. Chapter and verse instantly retrievable by the young, old, dumb or intelligent.

Direct implantation would also serve as authentication. All Holy Books suffer from a lack of authenticity—how do we know this is truly the word of God? When we shop online, we make sure a site is authentic before making a purchase, but when it comes to Holy Books, people typically just accept the book of their culture. It's a failure of critical thinking.

God could have also authenticated his true Holy Book in a manner similar to the miracles described in said Holy Book. For example, we are told that the Hebrews sandals were imperishable while they roamed the desert for 40 years. Where is the imperishable Holy Book? Evidently God thinks less of his Holy Book than footwear. Or we are told Jesus replicated fish/bread for hungry people, why not replicate the True Holy Book magically. Lame.

Lately i've been seeing many theistic enthusiasts debating on different places, especially livestreams, and one thing i've noticed is that some of them like to say that philosophy disproves atheism, like Aristotle or Aquinas. Can anyone help?