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nopix

I think it is more of: God created a perfect world and he created two people who he gave free will to and one rule (without any rules to live by, there really isn't any free will because there is no right/wrong) which they broke. And each and every single one of us would have broken that rule (it's a generalized statement but I believe it to be true whether or not I believe in the garden of Eden story). So by bringing the world a truly holy man who had never sinned once, and to have him die, he paid the price for all of our sins because he (and only he) is the only person who didn't deserve to be executed for their sins to ever have existed in the past, present, and future. This is the BEST way that God can see things to be done (whether you believe it or not, you're not God so thinking that any human would know a better way than God is just ignorant) with consideration that he built a perfect world and humans have messed it up. tl;dr: So specifically in that way? Yes. Why? Only God knows.

I think it is more of: God created a perfect world and he created two people who he gave free will to and one rule (without any rules to live by, there really isn't any free will because there is no right/wrong) which they broke. And each and every single one of us would have broken that rule (it's a generalized statement but I believe it to be true whether or not I believe in the garden of Eden story). So by bringing the world a truly holy man who had never sinned once, and to have him die, he paid the price for all of our sins because he (and only he) is the only person who didn't deserve to be executed for their sins to ever have existed in the past, present, and future. This is the BEST way that God can see things to be done (whether you believe it or not, you're not God so thinking that any human would know a better way than God is just ignorant) with consideration that he built a perfect world and humans have messed it up. tl;dr: So specifically in that way? Yes. Why? Only God knows.

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t5_2qh1i

cemgc1p

I think it is more of: God created a perfect world and he created two people who he gave free will to and one rule (without any rules to live by, there really isn't any free will because there is no right/wrong) which they broke. And each and every single one of us would have broken that rule (it's a generalized statement but I believe it to be true whether or not I believe in the garden of Eden story). So by bringing the world a truly holy man who had never sinned once, and to have him die, he paid the price for all of our sins because he (and only he) is the only person who didn't deserve to be executed for their sins to ever have existed in the past, present, and future. This is the BEST way that God can see things to be done (whether you believe it or not, you're not God so thinking that any human would know a better way than God is just ignorant) with consideration that he built a perfect world and humans have messed it up.

So specifically in that way? Yes. Why? Only God knows.

Ludwig_van_Whiskers

Religion is a big word. You also asked a big question, but I don't have time to write a book, so I'll try to be really concise and just add to the pile. Then again, concise on such a big question still is quite a bit. My parents are moderately religious, but they agreed on my birth that they would only indoctrinate me with simple moral and nothing more, allowing me to think these things through by myself. My town is pretty balanced between conservatives and liberals so it made my surroundings rather moderate. It's still developing, but when I was a teenager I started thinking religiously about religion, existence, and all of that other shitty existential stuff that crossed my teenage mind. This is what I've decided so far. If you're speaking about formal religions, I'm not religious because to me they're nothing more than stories made from a variety of causes for a variety of purposes and have impacted society from small tribes to entire nations in a variety of ways. Nevertheless, they are still stories of both human creation and human maintenance, there are a lot of reasons why I say this the essence of it all is because once you dissect a religion's "evidence" for being factual you end up with the same as any fictional story whether it's as well known as Santa Claus or the God. I'm not against religion itself because in the same way Santa Claus makes children happy and gives them a reason to be good, God gives adults motivation, hope, and of course, a reason to be good. I think this sort of thing is beautiful. Of course, religion can also be incredibly destructive as we see throughout history and current events, it gives people the motivation, hope, and justification to commit atrocities; I don't ignore this, and it certainly affects my view on religion, but that deviates from your question so I'll leave it out. Personally, I don't need the explicit motivation or feeling of purpose that religion brings. I don't need a God, at least. I'm very comfortable with nothingness after death, primarily because if death does bring nothingness, then it doesn't matter how I feel about nothingness because my conscious won't exist to experience it. This idea actually makes life, especially suffering, that much more beautiful. It's almost a masochistic thought, but even pain is a quality of life, and to be able to experience such a thing reminds you that you are alive. Further, you don't have to believe in formal religions to have religious like beliefs. My example of this is racism and love. Both spread in similar ways to religion, both give us reassurance and explanation, and both can also make us do awful things. Fortunately, the only thing that I do believe in religiously is love and faith that as a species we are capable of creating a happier place for everyone, but we're just too stupid, disorganized, and divided to realize that capability. Still, the capability alone is enough for me, in fact, the way that things are still awful can even serve as motivation. From this, you're probably starting to see how you don't need a formal religion to reap the benefits that religion brings. I'm agnostic (Religion and Santa Claus cannot be disproved or proved, so I live as if it doesn't exist, however, I'm not going to explicitly state that they don't) because I've found beauty in living without religion which is only enhanced by being able to take away the bad parts of religion. TLDR: I don't need to believe in a god to reap the positive aspects that religion brings.

Religion is a big word. You also asked a big question, but I don't have time to write a book, so I'll try to be really concise and just add to the pile. Then again, concise on such a big question still is quite a bit. My parents are moderately religious, but they agreed on my birth that they would only indoctrinate me with simple moral and nothing more, allowing me to think these things through by myself. My town is pretty balanced between conservatives and liberals so it made my surroundings rather moderate. It's still developing, but when I was a teenager I started thinking religiously about religion, existence, and all of that other shitty existential stuff that crossed my teenage mind. This is what I've decided so far. If you're speaking about formal religions, I'm not religious because to me they're nothing more than stories made from a variety of causes for a variety of purposes and have impacted society from small tribes to entire nations in a variety of ways. Nevertheless, they are still stories of both human creation and human maintenance, there are a lot of reasons why I say this the essence of it all is because once you dissect a religion's "evidence" for being factual you end up with the same as any fictional story whether it's as well known as Santa Claus or the God. I'm not against religion itself because in the same way Santa Claus makes children happy and gives them a reason to be good, God gives adults motivation, hope, and of course, a reason to be good. I think this sort of thing is beautiful. Of course, religion can also be incredibly destructive as we see throughout history and current events, it gives people the motivation, hope, and justification to commit atrocities; I don't ignore this, and it certainly affects my view on religion, but that deviates from your question so I'll leave it out. Personally, I don't need the explicit motivation or feeling of purpose that religion brings. I don't need a God, at least. I'm very comfortable with nothingness after death, primarily because if death does bring nothingness, then it doesn't matter how I feel about nothingness because my conscious won't exist to experience it. This idea actually makes life, especially suffering, that much more beautiful. It's almost a masochistic thought, but even pain is a quality of life, and to be able to experience such a thing reminds you that you are alive. Further, you don't have to believe in formal religions to have religious like beliefs. My example of this is racism and love. Both spread in similar ways to religion, both give us reassurance and explanation, and both can also make us do awful things. Fortunately, the only thing that I do believe in religiously is love and faith that as a species we are capable of creating a happier place for everyone, but we're just too stupid, disorganized, and divided to realize that capability. Still, the capability alone is enough for me, in fact, the way that things are still awful can even serve as motivation. From this, you're probably starting to see how you don't need a formal religion to reap the benefits that religion brings. I'm agnostic (Religion and Santa Claus cannot be disproved or proved, so I live as if it doesn't exist, however, I'm not going to explicitly state that they don't) because I've found beauty in living without religion which is only enhanced by being able to take away the bad parts of religion. TLDR: I don't need to believe in a god to reap the positive aspects that religion brings.

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t5_2qh1i

cemgdeo

Religion is a big word. You also asked a big question, but I don't have time to write a book, so I'll try to be really concise and just add to the pile. Then again, concise on such a big question still is quite a bit. My parents are moderately religious, but they agreed on my birth that they would only indoctrinate me with simple moral and nothing more, allowing me to think these things through by myself. My town is pretty balanced between conservatives and liberals so it made my surroundings rather moderate. It's still developing, but when I was a teenager I started thinking religiously about religion, existence, and all of that other shitty existential stuff that crossed my teenage mind. This is what I've decided so far. If you're speaking about formal religions, I'm not religious because to me they're nothing more than stories made from a variety of causes for a variety of purposes and have impacted society from small tribes to entire nations in a variety of ways. Nevertheless, they are still stories of both human creation and human maintenance, there are a lot of reasons why I say this the essence of it all is because once you dissect a religion's "evidence" for being factual you end up with the same as any fictional story whether it's as well known as Santa Claus or the God. I'm not against religion itself because in the same way Santa Claus makes children happy and gives them a reason to be good, God gives adults motivation, hope, and of course, a reason to be good. I think this sort of thing is beautiful. Of course, religion can also be incredibly destructive as we see throughout history and current events, it gives people the motivation, hope, and justification to commit atrocities; I don't ignore this, and it certainly affects my view on religion, but that deviates from your question so I'll leave it out. Personally, I don't need the explicit motivation or feeling of purpose that religion brings. I don't need a God, at least. I'm very comfortable with nothingness after death, primarily because if death does bring nothingness, then it doesn't matter how I feel about nothingness because my conscious won't exist to experience it. This idea actually makes life, especially suffering, that much more beautiful. It's almost a masochistic thought, but even pain is a quality of life, and to be able to experience such a thing reminds you that you are alive. Further, you don't have to believe in formal religions to have religious like beliefs. My example of this is racism and love. Both spread in similar ways to religion, both give us reassurance and explanation, and both can also make us do awful things. Fortunately, the only thing that I do believe in religiously is love and faith that as a species we are capable of creating a happier place for everyone, but we're just too stupid, disorganized, and divided to realize that capability. Still, the capability alone is enough for me, in fact, the way that things are still awful can even serve as motivation. From this, you're probably starting to see how you don't need a formal religion to reap the benefits that religion brings. I'm agnostic (Religion and Santa Claus cannot be disproved or proved, so I live as if it doesn't exist, however, I'm not going to explicitly state that they don't) because I've found beauty in living without religion which is only enhanced by being able to take away the bad parts of religion.

I don't need to believe in a god to reap the positive aspects that religion brings.

BeenLurkingForEver

Probably too late to comment but story time: I grew up in a atheist house, both of my parents were. Despite being atheists they would (almost) never talk about god in any way, "good" or "bad. They simply didn't. So as child I never even considered believing or not I simply didn't think about it at all; and so did my little sister. However when my little sister was around 7-8 years old her friends at the time went to church for classes ater the elementary school (the elementary was a normal state one but the local church gave free 1 hour classes everyday at the end of the day for those who wanted). Anyway since no one ever tried to make her believe in god, she simply didn't think about it too but she wanted to spend more time with her firends so she asked my mom if she could enroll in those classes. My mom asked if she was sure and why but agreed. So my sister frequented this classes for like 2 months untill one day my mom says to her "I adore you" (in portuguese the world "love" can be roughly translated to 2 forms, one similiar to the word "adore", and other one) and my sister answered the same but quickly stops herself and says "oh I shouldn't have said that, we can only adore god" (implying she should have said the equivalent to 'I love you too'). Needless to say that my mom removed her from those classes the very next day. Her argument was "I'm not going to let my daughter in a place where they forbid her to say she adores her mother". I was like 16 at the time and that (not by itself) helped making up my mind about religion. TL;DR my mom removed my sister from church classes because she was only allowed to adore god. PS: sorry about the english errors in advance, not my first language

Probably too late to comment but story time: I grew up in a atheist house, both of my parents were. Despite being atheists they would (almost) never talk about god in any way, "good" or "bad. They simply didn't. So as child I never even considered believing or not I simply didn't think about it at all; and so did my little sister. However when my little sister was around 7-8 years old her friends at the time went to church for classes ater the elementary school (the elementary was a normal state one but the local church gave free 1 hour classes everyday at the end of the day for those who wanted). Anyway since no one ever tried to make her believe in god, she simply didn't think about it too but she wanted to spend more time with her firends so she asked my mom if she could enroll in those classes. My mom asked if she was sure and why but agreed. So my sister frequented this classes for like 2 months untill one day my mom says to her "I adore you" (in portuguese the world "love" can be roughly translated to 2 forms, one similiar to the word "adore", and other one) and my sister answered the same but quickly stops herself and says "oh I shouldn't have said that, we can only adore god" (implying she should have said the equivalent to 'I love you too'). Needless to say that my mom removed her from those classes the very next day. Her argument was "I'm not going to let my daughter in a place where they forbid her to say she adores her mother". I was like 16 at the time and that (not by itself) helped making up my mind about religion. TL;DR my mom removed my sister from church classes because she was only allowed to adore god. PS: sorry about the english errors in advance, not my first language

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t5_2qh1i

cemgggv

Probably too late to comment but story time: I grew up in a atheist house, both of my parents were. Despite being atheists they would (almost) never talk about god in any way, "good" or "bad. They simply didn't. So as child I never even considered believing or not I simply didn't think about it at all; and so did my little sister. However when my little sister was around 7-8 years old her friends at the time went to church for classes ater the elementary school (the elementary was a normal state one but the local church gave free 1 hour classes everyday at the end of the day for those who wanted). Anyway since no one ever tried to make her believe in god, she simply didn't think about it too but she wanted to spend more time with her firends so she asked my mom if she could enroll in those classes. My mom asked if she was sure and why but agreed. So my sister frequented this classes for like 2 months untill one day my mom says to her "I adore you" (in portuguese the world "love" can be roughly translated to 2 forms, one similiar to the word "adore", and other one) and my sister answered the same but quickly stops herself and says "oh I shouldn't have said that, we can only adore god" (implying she should have said the equivalent to 'I love you too'). Needless to say that my mom removed her from those classes the very next day. Her argument was "I'm not going to let my daughter in a place where they forbid her to say she adores her mother". I was like 16 at the time and that (not by itself) helped making up my mind about religion.

my mom removed my sister from church classes because she was only allowed to adore god. PS: sorry about the english errors in advance, not my first language

TheAntiyouRises

I have never been the religious type. Even when I was "Christian" I wasn't heavily into it nor devout. I just have other things happening in my life, other than God or a god. If you're wondering, I was raised in a "Christian" household, though my parents don't really hold tightly to their religion either. I went to church regularly up until I was seven. Then I couldn't go anymore. No biggie. Jump ahead to freshman year of high school, I began to question things. It took much debating over two years, but finally I decided I would be an Agnostic (which I pretty much was, and still kinda am). I then started looking at other beliefs. Nothing really stood out, I liked bits and pieces of some religions, but not the entire doctrine of these dogmas. I then watched a video on YouTube from a MrRepzion about something, I forget what, but the thumbnail had him holding a book that said The Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor LaVey. A bit more background on me, I am really into Marilyn Manson and shock rock. I read Manson's autobiography, and remember him mentioning Anton LaVey and that he was the founder of the Church of Satan. I really didn't like the idea of Satanism at the time of reading the book, because of the stereotypical things that spring to mind when someone says Satanism. MrRepzion said the book actually changed his life for the better, with it's philosophies. I went out on a limb and bought it at the nearest BAM!. It was pretty much the only dogma that made total sense to me. So I became a Satanist not too long ago. TL;DR: Went from Christian, to Agnostic-Deist, to Satanist

I have never been the religious type. Even when I was "Christian" I wasn't heavily into it nor devout. I just have other things happening in my life, other than God or a god. If you're wondering, I was raised in a "Christian" household, though my parents don't really hold tightly to their religion either. I went to church regularly up until I was seven. Then I couldn't go anymore. No biggie. Jump ahead to freshman year of high school, I began to question things. It took much debating over two years, but finally I decided I would be an Agnostic (which I pretty much was, and still kinda am). I then started looking at other beliefs. Nothing really stood out, I liked bits and pieces of some religions, but not the entire doctrine of these dogmas. I then watched a video on YouTube from a MrRepzion about something, I forget what, but the thumbnail had him holding a book that said The Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor LaVey. A bit more background on me, I am really into Marilyn Manson and shock rock. I read Manson's autobiography, and remember him mentioning Anton LaVey and that he was the founder of the Church of Satan. I really didn't like the idea of Satanism at the time of reading the book, because of the stereotypical things that spring to mind when someone says Satanism. MrRepzion said the book actually changed his life for the better, with it's philosophies. I went out on a limb and bought it at the nearest BAM!. It was pretty much the only dogma that made total sense to me. So I became a Satanist not too long ago. TL;DR: Went from Christian, to Agnostic-Deist, to Satanist

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t5_2qh1i

cemghjq

I have never been the religious type. Even when I was "Christian" I wasn't heavily into it nor devout. I just have other things happening in my life, other than God or a god. If you're wondering, I was raised in a "Christian" household, though my parents don't really hold tightly to their religion either. I went to church regularly up until I was seven. Then I couldn't go anymore. No biggie. Jump ahead to freshman year of high school, I began to question things. It took much debating over two years, but finally I decided I would be an Agnostic (which I pretty much was, and still kinda am). I then started looking at other beliefs. Nothing really stood out, I liked bits and pieces of some religions, but not the entire doctrine of these dogmas. I then watched a video on YouTube from a MrRepzion about something, I forget what, but the thumbnail had him holding a book that said The Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor LaVey. A bit more background on me, I am really into Marilyn Manson and shock rock. I read Manson's autobiography, and remember him mentioning Anton LaVey and that he was the founder of the Church of Satan. I really didn't like the idea of Satanism at the time of reading the book, because of the stereotypical things that spring to mind when someone says Satanism. MrRepzion said the book actually changed his life for the better, with it's philosophies. I went out on a limb and bought it at the nearest BAM!. It was pretty much the only dogma that made total sense to me. So I became a Satanist not too long ago.

Went from Christian, to Agnostic-Deist, to Satanist

Jeanze

Born to a loving, yet non-religious, family in the middle of the south-eastern southern baptist Bible Belt. I just never really thought of religion at all until like high school. One of the first questions most people will ask you here are "What church do you go to?" I never had an answer, so I just stopped talking to people. Every time I told people I didn't go to church, they would automatically go in to recruit mode and just become obnoxious until I found a way to get away. When I found my current girlfriend she came from a different life, her grandfather (who she lived with) had survived a type of brain cancer that had a very low chance of survival. He went from sort of religious to very super religious. I really liked the girl and I was willing to try new things (plus I had always been curious about how church was, what went on In those rooms that had people changing their lives and had people building huge buildings to accommodate their miraculous praises. So I went to her church for a while. At first it was very overwhelming for a shy guy like myself. Standing, singing, listening to miraculous stories, having big celebrations at holidays and all of that stuff. But just as quick as it became overwhelm it became underwhelming. The songs became repetitive and shallow, the stories became repetitive and unbelievable, and the celebrations just became selfish for the causes that the church was supposed to be standing for. Even after all that I stayed with the girl, and one day I asked why she went because she didn't seem to be enjoying herself, she said because her grandfather and grandmother made her. That's when I started clicking, what would I have been like if I would have been forced since I was young, was there any reason to continue now? I have since stopped going to church, I'm an atheist/agnostic at best, but never really put much mind to it to determine for real. I don't judge people based on their beliefs at all. I judge people on their actions. I live my life for me with my own principles, I help people as much as I can, I work hard and I go out of my way for anybody who needs it and I don't expect and repayment. And the girl I found has now been my girlfriend for 3 years and I'm hoping to make it a life time. TL;DR not religious after some soul searching and trying it out thanks to a girl.

Born to a loving, yet non-religious, family in the middle of the south-eastern southern baptist Bible Belt. I just never really thought of religion at all until like high school. One of the first questions most people will ask you here are "What church do you go to?" I never had an answer, so I just stopped talking to people. Every time I told people I didn't go to church, they would automatically go in to recruit mode and just become obnoxious until I found a way to get away. When I found my current girlfriend she came from a different life, her grandfather (who she lived with) had survived a type of brain cancer that had a very low chance of survival. He went from sort of religious to very super religious. I really liked the girl and I was willing to try new things (plus I had always been curious about how church was, what went on In those rooms that had people changing their lives and had people building huge buildings to accommodate their miraculous praises. So I went to her church for a while. At first it was very overwhelming for a shy guy like myself. Standing, singing, listening to miraculous stories, having big celebrations at holidays and all of that stuff. But just as quick as it became overwhelm it became underwhelming. The songs became repetitive and shallow, the stories became repetitive and unbelievable, and the celebrations just became selfish for the causes that the church was supposed to be standing for. Even after all that I stayed with the girl, and one day I asked why she went because she didn't seem to be enjoying herself, she said because her grandfather and grandmother made her. That's when I started clicking, what would I have been like if I would have been forced since I was young, was there any reason to continue now? I have since stopped going to church, I'm an atheist/agnostic at best, but never really put much mind to it to determine for real. I don't judge people based on their beliefs at all. I judge people on their actions. I live my life for me with my own principles, I help people as much as I can, I work hard and I go out of my way for anybody who needs it and I don't expect and repayment. And the girl I found has now been my girlfriend for 3 years and I'm hoping to make it a life time. TL;DR not religious after some soul searching and trying it out thanks to a girl.

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t5_2qh1i

cemgjlj

Born to a loving, yet non-religious, family in the middle of the south-eastern southern baptist Bible Belt. I just never really thought of religion at all until like high school. One of the first questions most people will ask you here are "What church do you go to?" I never had an answer, so I just stopped talking to people. Every time I told people I didn't go to church, they would automatically go in to recruit mode and just become obnoxious until I found a way to get away. When I found my current girlfriend she came from a different life, her grandfather (who she lived with) had survived a type of brain cancer that had a very low chance of survival. He went from sort of religious to very super religious. I really liked the girl and I was willing to try new things (plus I had always been curious about how church was, what went on In those rooms that had people changing their lives and had people building huge buildings to accommodate their miraculous praises. So I went to her church for a while. At first it was very overwhelming for a shy guy like myself. Standing, singing, listening to miraculous stories, having big celebrations at holidays and all of that stuff. But just as quick as it became overwhelm it became underwhelming. The songs became repetitive and shallow, the stories became repetitive and unbelievable, and the celebrations just became selfish for the causes that the church was supposed to be standing for. Even after all that I stayed with the girl, and one day I asked why she went because she didn't seem to be enjoying herself, she said because her grandfather and grandmother made her. That's when I started clicking, what would I have been like if I would have been forced since I was young, was there any reason to continue now? I have since stopped going to church, I'm an atheist/agnostic at best, but never really put much mind to it to determine for real. I don't judge people based on their beliefs at all. I judge people on their actions. I live my life for me with my own principles, I help people as much as I can, I work hard and I go out of my way for anybody who needs it and I don't expect and repayment. And the girl I found has now been my girlfriend for 3 years and I'm hoping to make it a life time.

not religious after some soul searching and trying it out thanks to a girl.

mynewaccount_420

Raised protestant, was an average youth group attending kid throughout high school. Took a religion class senior year of high school that led to me questioning and deciding when I went to college I would be an atheist. Started smoking weed, doing psychedelics. Got caught, sent home from school. About this time I sort of felt a calling to look more into God and Jesus and that sort of thing, so I started meeting with my pastor, also my parents started sending me to a christian counselor. It was in that period that my view of christianity sort of changed from a view of following rules and maybe serving at a soup kitchen on occasion and reading the bible and praying, to a really more transcendental thing involving the holy spirit actually moving in me. The thrill and spiritual experience I got from doing psychedelics kind of motivated me to look for the "real deal" I guess, and I can say I am equally satisfied by my new understanding of God as I was by a good acid trip. Not to say I still don't crave drugs at times. I know its not for everyone, and I am a universalist in that I think you can come to God through any religion or any personal spiritual journey. This is just the way that my thirst for the divine has been satisfied. I don't really literally believe everything in the bible actually definitely had to happen, and choose to ignore some things that I don't think were actually from God, same as I ignore false prophets. Its important to remain critical of all scripture and teachers, even though you still need to put your faith in them somewhat to get closer to God. I could talk about it for days though. tl;dr Raised protestant, became atheist/agnostic for a couple years, then my view on christianity and religion changed and I am now a practicing christian

Raised protestant, was an average youth group attending kid throughout high school. Took a religion class senior year of high school that led to me questioning and deciding when I went to college I would be an atheist. Started smoking weed, doing psychedelics. Got caught, sent home from school. About this time I sort of felt a calling to look more into God and Jesus and that sort of thing, so I started meeting with my pastor, also my parents started sending me to a christian counselor. It was in that period that my view of christianity sort of changed from a view of following rules and maybe serving at a soup kitchen on occasion and reading the bible and praying, to a really more transcendental thing involving the holy spirit actually moving in me. The thrill and spiritual experience I got from doing psychedelics kind of motivated me to look for the "real deal" I guess, and I can say I am equally satisfied by my new understanding of God as I was by a good acid trip. Not to say I still don't crave drugs at times. I know its not for everyone, and I am a universalist in that I think you can come to God through any religion or any personal spiritual journey. This is just the way that my thirst for the divine has been satisfied. I don't really literally believe everything in the bible actually definitely had to happen, and choose to ignore some things that I don't think were actually from God, same as I ignore false prophets. Its important to remain critical of all scripture and teachers, even though you still need to put your faith in them somewhat to get closer to God. I could talk about it for days though. tl;dr Raised protestant, became atheist/agnostic for a couple years, then my view on christianity and religion changed and I am now a practicing christian

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t5_2qh1i

cemglxv

Raised protestant, was an average youth group attending kid throughout high school. Took a religion class senior year of high school that led to me questioning and deciding when I went to college I would be an atheist. Started smoking weed, doing psychedelics. Got caught, sent home from school. About this time I sort of felt a calling to look more into God and Jesus and that sort of thing, so I started meeting with my pastor, also my parents started sending me to a christian counselor. It was in that period that my view of christianity sort of changed from a view of following rules and maybe serving at a soup kitchen on occasion and reading the bible and praying, to a really more transcendental thing involving the holy spirit actually moving in me. The thrill and spiritual experience I got from doing psychedelics kind of motivated me to look for the "real deal" I guess, and I can say I am equally satisfied by my new understanding of God as I was by a good acid trip. Not to say I still don't crave drugs at times. I know its not for everyone, and I am a universalist in that I think you can come to God through any religion or any personal spiritual journey. This is just the way that my thirst for the divine has been satisfied. I don't really literally believe everything in the bible actually definitely had to happen, and choose to ignore some things that I don't think were actually from God, same as I ignore false prophets. Its important to remain critical of all scripture and teachers, even though you still need to put your faith in them somewhat to get closer to God. I could talk about it for days though.

Raised protestant, became atheist/agnostic for a couple years, then my view on christianity and religion changed and I am now a practicing christian

shoganaiyo

I wasn't raised religious but I became a very devout pentecostal in high school. I bought into the love and be loved by God message. I struggled with my self-image and self-acceptance for a long time so my first experiences were very emotionally cathartic. However, what I didn't realize was that I was on a very dark path of self-loathing and systematic shaming. Unfortunately the core tenets of Christianity reinforced my beliefs that I was unworthy and inadequate. I was already a very sensitive person so it didn't take much to make me feel guilt and shame, which was every time I went to church and prayed (being contrite and all). What's worse is that I got this weird emotional high from balling my eyes out every time (which is our bodies' natural physiological response to coping with pain), which I ended up becoming addicted to. I got into this weird fucked up paradigm where beating myself up to the point of tears would be the only way I could cope with the pain of existence in an emotionally isolated world. Apologetics would say that I am made worth through Christ, which I find to be actually worse. It wasn't until I realized that acceptance of myself as I am was the only way to escape that vicious cycle. What's worse is how fear and love are connected which is the essence of sado-masochism. Again, at the time it seemed to make sense because of the real life relationship I had with my father whose outbursts of anger made me fear his wrath constantly. Fearing the one you love, and being made to love the one you fear, is not healthy. I'm not sure how Christianity gets a pass on this when if you applied that same dynamic to any other relationship people would instantly recognize it as an abusive one. Nearly 15 years after I became a Christian, I swore it off for good and I've never been happier. I don't feel shame for being human any more and I've actually started to realize my own self-worth by measuring all the positive influences I've left on the world around me. Now I lift my head instead of lowering it in fear so an external force can justify my existence. TL;DR: Christianity fucked me up. Letting go of it made me better.

I wasn't raised religious but I became a very devout pentecostal in high school. I bought into the love and be loved by God message. I struggled with my self-image and self-acceptance for a long time so my first experiences were very emotionally cathartic. However, what I didn't realize was that I was on a very dark path of self-loathing and systematic shaming. Unfortunately the core tenets of Christianity reinforced my beliefs that I was unworthy and inadequate. I was already a very sensitive person so it didn't take much to make me feel guilt and shame, which was every time I went to church and prayed (being contrite and all). What's worse is that I got this weird emotional high from balling my eyes out every time (which is our bodies' natural physiological response to coping with pain), which I ended up becoming addicted to. I got into this weird fucked up paradigm where beating myself up to the point of tears would be the only way I could cope with the pain of existence in an emotionally isolated world. Apologetics would say that I am made worth through Christ, which I find to be actually worse. It wasn't until I realized that acceptance of myself as I am was the only way to escape that vicious cycle. What's worse is how fear and love are connected which is the essence of sado-masochism. Again, at the time it seemed to make sense because of the real life relationship I had with my father whose outbursts of anger made me fear his wrath constantly. Fearing the one you love, and being made to love the one you fear, is not healthy. I'm not sure how Christianity gets a pass on this when if you applied that same dynamic to any other relationship people would instantly recognize it as an abusive one. Nearly 15 years after I became a Christian, I swore it off for good and I've never been happier. I don't feel shame for being human any more and I've actually started to realize my own self-worth by measuring all the positive influences I've left on the world around me. Now I lift my head instead of lowering it in fear so an external force can justify my existence. TL;DR: Christianity fucked me up. Letting go of it made me better.

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t5_2qh1i

cemgp7e

I wasn't raised religious but I became a very devout pentecostal in high school. I bought into the love and be loved by God message. I struggled with my self-image and self-acceptance for a long time so my first experiences were very emotionally cathartic. However, what I didn't realize was that I was on a very dark path of self-loathing and systematic shaming. Unfortunately the core tenets of Christianity reinforced my beliefs that I was unworthy and inadequate. I was already a very sensitive person so it didn't take much to make me feel guilt and shame, which was every time I went to church and prayed (being contrite and all). What's worse is that I got this weird emotional high from balling my eyes out every time (which is our bodies' natural physiological response to coping with pain), which I ended up becoming addicted to. I got into this weird fucked up paradigm where beating myself up to the point of tears would be the only way I could cope with the pain of existence in an emotionally isolated world. Apologetics would say that I am made worth through Christ, which I find to be actually worse. It wasn't until I realized that acceptance of myself as I am was the only way to escape that vicious cycle. What's worse is how fear and love are connected which is the essence of sado-masochism. Again, at the time it seemed to make sense because of the real life relationship I had with my father whose outbursts of anger made me fear his wrath constantly. Fearing the one you love, and being made to love the one you fear, is not healthy. I'm not sure how Christianity gets a pass on this when if you applied that same dynamic to any other relationship people would instantly recognize it as an abusive one. Nearly 15 years after I became a Christian, I swore it off for good and I've never been happier. I don't feel shame for being human any more and I've actually started to realize my own self-worth by measuring all the positive influences I've left on the world around me. Now I lift my head instead of lowering it in fear so an external force can justify my existence.

Christianity fucked me up. Letting go of it made me better.

predalienmack

Preface: I'm just putting my thoughts down, so this may seem somewhat disjointed. Apologies in advance. My Mom never "taught" any religious belief system to me, and to this day, what she does or does not believe in remains a mystery to me (I'm 20 years old). All I do know is that she is not into the brain-washing community aspects of religion (mainly church/religious schooling here in the US), and may or may not believe in a higher power. This intentional ambiguity and her emphasis on me figuring out things for myself and being my own person played a major part in the path to me being an agnostic atheist. That does not mean that there were not bumps in this path in terms of colliding with the possibility of having faith along the way, though. Being raised as a middle class child in the US means that I watched Disney movies, which in some cases arguably promoted very monotheistic, particularly Christian ideas and morals, and I celebrated widely accepted/"mainstream" holidays (if only for the candy and presents) like Easter and Christmas with the fam, so you could say I lived in a very "on the surface" Christianity-oriented world. In the world I lived in as a child away from my Mother (with the extended family and at school or with friends), Chrsitianity was the commonly accepted and assumed religion, and especially in the wake of events like 9/11, kids who followed Islam were certainly ridiculed and treated as if they were criminals in the little microcosm of society that was a private school in my elementary years (though other religions were certainly looked down upon as well). Admittedly, I did not give the whole issue much thought while I went to said private elementary-middle school in SoCal, and I knew so little about religions at the time that in a conversation with friends about the topic, I recall classifying myself as something to the tune of "15% Catholic, 35% Protestant, and 50% Christian." This state of ignorance ended when I moved to Colorado around the end of the fourth grade. I started taking an interest in what these religious doctrines (particularly Christianity) dictated for us to do and what our purpose was in the fifth grade. Reading into basic logical inconsistencies and hypocrisies in the Bible (like God telling man not to kill, with God on the other hand having wiped out entire portions of humanity for not being what he intended them to be, when he was the one who created them and gave them free will to do what they wanted in the first place) definitely turned my ten year old brain off to the idea of religious belief based on faith and belonging. It was at that point that I became an atheist, though my emphasis on empiricism and demonstrable evidence being the basis for the adoption of ideas came later on. I recall reading "God is not Great" in middle school and being very roused by the ideas in it, to the point where I became very much an anti-theist as opposed to just an atheist, which led to me being very aggressive and hostile in debate/argument settings with my peers who happened to have deeply held religious beliefs. I killed the possibility of a lot of friendships due to my strongly held stance. As I got into high school and went through it, I slowly, but steadily mellowed out on the anti-theism stance until I got to the stance that I basically hold now: I have not witnessed any piece of convincing or demonstrable evidence that a higher power exists or that I should follow any specific religious doctrine, which leads me into having an agnostic-atheist stance. I'm cool with people who choose to believe in such things (though it's obviously difficult to be really strong friends with people you disagree with on so many fundamental levels of philosophy and the nature of our existence), and I only really take an issue with other people's beliefs when they use them as an excuse to discriminate against others on social/political/economic levels or if they believe that physical violence can be excused because of these beliefs or when they brainwash children into a specific mindset from an age where they don't know any better and can't weigh the factors for themselves. TL;DR - I'm an agnostic atheist because of various factors that have contributed towards my development in life.

Preface: I'm just putting my thoughts down, so this may seem somewhat disjointed. Apologies in advance. My Mom never "taught" any religious belief system to me, and to this day, what she does or does not believe in remains a mystery to me (I'm 20 years old). All I do know is that she is not into the brain-washing community aspects of religion (mainly church/religious schooling here in the US), and may or may not believe in a higher power. This intentional ambiguity and her emphasis on me figuring out things for myself and being my own person played a major part in the path to me being an agnostic atheist. That does not mean that there were not bumps in this path in terms of colliding with the possibility of having faith along the way, though. Being raised as a middle class child in the US means that I watched Disney movies, which in some cases arguably promoted very monotheistic, particularly Christian ideas and morals, and I celebrated widely accepted/"mainstream" holidays (if only for the candy and presents) like Easter and Christmas with the fam, so you could say I lived in a very "on the surface" Christianity-oriented world. In the world I lived in as a child away from my Mother (with the extended family and at school or with friends), Chrsitianity was the commonly accepted and assumed religion, and especially in the wake of events like 9/11, kids who followed Islam were certainly ridiculed and treated as if they were criminals in the little microcosm of society that was a private school in my elementary years (though other religions were certainly looked down upon as well). Admittedly, I did not give the whole issue much thought while I went to said private elementary-middle school in SoCal, and I knew so little about religions at the time that in a conversation with friends about the topic, I recall classifying myself as something to the tune of "15% Catholic, 35% Protestant, and 50% Christian." This state of ignorance ended when I moved to Colorado around the end of the fourth grade. I started taking an interest in what these religious doctrines (particularly Christianity) dictated for us to do and what our purpose was in the fifth grade. Reading into basic logical inconsistencies and hypocrisies in the Bible (like God telling man not to kill, with God on the other hand having wiped out entire portions of humanity for not being what he intended them to be, when he was the one who created them and gave them free will to do what they wanted in the first place) definitely turned my ten year old brain off to the idea of religious belief based on faith and belonging. It was at that point that I became an atheist, though my emphasis on empiricism and demonstrable evidence being the basis for the adoption of ideas came later on. I recall reading "God is not Great" in middle school and being very roused by the ideas in it, to the point where I became very much an anti-theist as opposed to just an atheist, which led to me being very aggressive and hostile in debate/argument settings with my peers who happened to have deeply held religious beliefs. I killed the possibility of a lot of friendships due to my strongly held stance. As I got into high school and went through it, I slowly, but steadily mellowed out on the anti-theism stance until I got to the stance that I basically hold now: I have not witnessed any piece of convincing or demonstrable evidence that a higher power exists or that I should follow any specific religious doctrine, which leads me into having an agnostic-atheist stance. I'm cool with people who choose to believe in such things (though it's obviously difficult to be really strong friends with people you disagree with on so many fundamental levels of philosophy and the nature of our existence), and I only really take an issue with other people's beliefs when they use them as an excuse to discriminate against others on social/political/economic levels or if they believe that physical violence can be excused because of these beliefs or when they brainwash children into a specific mindset from an age where they don't know any better and can't weigh the factors for themselves. TL;DR - I'm an agnostic atheist because of various factors that have contributed towards my development in life.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemgssq

Preface: I'm just putting my thoughts down, so this may seem somewhat disjointed. Apologies in advance. My Mom never "taught" any religious belief system to me, and to this day, what she does or does not believe in remains a mystery to me (I'm 20 years old). All I do know is that she is not into the brain-washing community aspects of religion (mainly church/religious schooling here in the US), and may or may not believe in a higher power. This intentional ambiguity and her emphasis on me figuring out things for myself and being my own person played a major part in the path to me being an agnostic atheist. That does not mean that there were not bumps in this path in terms of colliding with the possibility of having faith along the way, though. Being raised as a middle class child in the US means that I watched Disney movies, which in some cases arguably promoted very monotheistic, particularly Christian ideas and morals, and I celebrated widely accepted/"mainstream" holidays (if only for the candy and presents) like Easter and Christmas with the fam, so you could say I lived in a very "on the surface" Christianity-oriented world. In the world I lived in as a child away from my Mother (with the extended family and at school or with friends), Chrsitianity was the commonly accepted and assumed religion, and especially in the wake of events like 9/11, kids who followed Islam were certainly ridiculed and treated as if they were criminals in the little microcosm of society that was a private school in my elementary years (though other religions were certainly looked down upon as well). Admittedly, I did not give the whole issue much thought while I went to said private elementary-middle school in SoCal, and I knew so little about religions at the time that in a conversation with friends about the topic, I recall classifying myself as something to the tune of "15% Catholic, 35% Protestant, and 50% Christian." This state of ignorance ended when I moved to Colorado around the end of the fourth grade. I started taking an interest in what these religious doctrines (particularly Christianity) dictated for us to do and what our purpose was in the fifth grade. Reading into basic logical inconsistencies and hypocrisies in the Bible (like God telling man not to kill, with God on the other hand having wiped out entire portions of humanity for not being what he intended them to be, when he was the one who created them and gave them free will to do what they wanted in the first place) definitely turned my ten year old brain off to the idea of religious belief based on faith and belonging. It was at that point that I became an atheist, though my emphasis on empiricism and demonstrable evidence being the basis for the adoption of ideas came later on. I recall reading "God is not Great" in middle school and being very roused by the ideas in it, to the point where I became very much an anti-theist as opposed to just an atheist, which led to me being very aggressive and hostile in debate/argument settings with my peers who happened to have deeply held religious beliefs. I killed the possibility of a lot of friendships due to my strongly held stance. As I got into high school and went through it, I slowly, but steadily mellowed out on the anti-theism stance until I got to the stance that I basically hold now: I have not witnessed any piece of convincing or demonstrable evidence that a higher power exists or that I should follow any specific religious doctrine, which leads me into having an agnostic-atheist stance. I'm cool with people who choose to believe in such things (though it's obviously difficult to be really strong friends with people you disagree with on so many fundamental levels of philosophy and the nature of our existence), and I only really take an issue with other people's beliefs when they use them as an excuse to discriminate against others on social/political/economic levels or if they believe that physical violence can be excused because of these beliefs or when they brainwash children into a specific mindset from an age where they don't know any better and can't weigh the factors for themselves.

I'm an agnostic atheist because of various factors that have contributed towards my development in life.

ChrisDowntaker

I might be late to the party but thought that I'd share anyway because this is an interesting topic. I was raised in a family that wasn't practicing any sort of religion, just like most families in my country. Even though neither my father, mother or grandparents were Christians they did read stories from the bible, stories about Jesus, Abraham, Virgin Mary etc. They would also read stories about our history, about the Babylonians, Sumerians, Egyptians, Greeks etc. Eventually when i grew older I started asking questions about god and our existence and my mother would simply just say "What do you think?". When i was about 4-6 years old I believed in god and that he was the creator, but the older I got and the more literature I read, the more I started to question it and when I was about 8 I asked my mom again, "Does god exist?" and once again she answered "What do you think". After a while I formed my own opinion and am now an atheist and don't care a lot about religion, it is not a big part of my life and I barely think about it ever. TL;DR Mom raised me to form my own opinions, eventually decided to not bother with religion.

I might be late to the party but thought that I'd share anyway because this is an interesting topic. I was raised in a family that wasn't practicing any sort of religion, just like most families in my country. Even though neither my father, mother or grandparents were Christians they did read stories from the bible, stories about Jesus, Abraham, Virgin Mary etc. They would also read stories about our history, about the Babylonians, Sumerians, Egyptians, Greeks etc. Eventually when i grew older I started asking questions about god and our existence and my mother would simply just say "What do you think?". When i was about 4-6 years old I believed in god and that he was the creator, but the older I got and the more literature I read, the more I started to question it and when I was about 8 I asked my mom again, "Does god exist?" and once again she answered "What do you think". After a while I formed my own opinion and am now an atheist and don't care a lot about religion, it is not a big part of my life and I barely think about it ever. TL;DR Mom raised me to form my own opinions, eventually decided to not bother with religion.

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t5_2qh1i

cemguq3

I might be late to the party but thought that I'd share anyway because this is an interesting topic. I was raised in a family that wasn't practicing any sort of religion, just like most families in my country. Even though neither my father, mother or grandparents were Christians they did read stories from the bible, stories about Jesus, Abraham, Virgin Mary etc. They would also read stories about our history, about the Babylonians, Sumerians, Egyptians, Greeks etc. Eventually when i grew older I started asking questions about god and our existence and my mother would simply just say "What do you think?". When i was about 4-6 years old I believed in god and that he was the creator, but the older I got and the more literature I read, the more I started to question it and when I was about 8 I asked my mom again, "Does god exist?" and once again she answered "What do you think". After a while I formed my own opinion and am now an atheist and don't care a lot about religion, it is not a big part of my life and I barely think about it ever.

Mom raised me to form my own opinions, eventually decided to not bother with religion.

Random_dg

One difference is what each of them is purported to be by the people who use it. Wikipedia is purported to be written by and improved by thousands of authors. So it's only as accurate and consistent as the people who write it make it. On the other hand, some Churches and the Jewish orthodoxy (I'm much more familiar with this one) purport that it's all truth and written through some kind of divine will or some such (think about the story of how the Septuagint was translated - 70 different scribes, exact same translation). This is rather inconsistent with accounts of multiple human authors, copying errors, and various translations that logically can't keep the exact same meaning. Many Hebrew words (old testament) and Greek words (new testament) just can't be translated perfectly into Latin, English and all other languages, and thus different editions aren't the exact same "truth". Of course, that's not considering some blatant contradictions within each edition. Another further difference is the evidence for these sources' being accurate and consistent: Wikipedia doesn't purport to be accurate and consistent so it doesn't need to provide evidence for anything. The Bible, and believers in the Bible, on the other hand, purport that it's all true, but hardly ever provide evidence for it. On some occasions I actually hear about people, that when asked wherefrom they know it's true, they answer that it's written in it. And a liar can't lie about his/her own integrity?! TL;DR Wikipedia doesn't purport to be consistent and accurate, many people who believe in the Bible believe it to be so, although there's clear evidence that it's not.

One difference is what each of them is purported to be by the people who use it. Wikipedia is purported to be written by and improved by thousands of authors. So it's only as accurate and consistent as the people who write it make it. On the other hand, some Churches and the Jewish orthodoxy (I'm much more familiar with this one) purport that it's all truth and written through some kind of divine will or some such (think about the story of how the Septuagint was translated - 70 different scribes, exact same translation). This is rather inconsistent with accounts of multiple human authors, copying errors, and various translations that logically can't keep the exact same meaning. Many Hebrew words (old testament) and Greek words (new testament) just can't be translated perfectly into Latin, English and all other languages, and thus different editions aren't the exact same "truth". Of course, that's not considering some blatant contradictions within each edition. Another further difference is the evidence for these sources' being accurate and consistent: Wikipedia doesn't purport to be accurate and consistent so it doesn't need to provide evidence for anything. The Bible, and believers in the Bible, on the other hand, purport that it's all true, but hardly ever provide evidence for it. On some occasions I actually hear about people, that when asked wherefrom they know it's true, they answer that it's written in it. And a liar can't lie about his/her own integrity?! TL;DR Wikipedia doesn't purport to be consistent and accurate, many people who believe in the Bible believe it to be so, although there's clear evidence that it's not.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemgvne

One difference is what each of them is purported to be by the people who use it. Wikipedia is purported to be written by and improved by thousands of authors. So it's only as accurate and consistent as the people who write it make it. On the other hand, some Churches and the Jewish orthodoxy (I'm much more familiar with this one) purport that it's all truth and written through some kind of divine will or some such (think about the story of how the Septuagint was translated - 70 different scribes, exact same translation). This is rather inconsistent with accounts of multiple human authors, copying errors, and various translations that logically can't keep the exact same meaning. Many Hebrew words (old testament) and Greek words (new testament) just can't be translated perfectly into Latin, English and all other languages, and thus different editions aren't the exact same "truth". Of course, that's not considering some blatant contradictions within each edition. Another further difference is the evidence for these sources' being accurate and consistent: Wikipedia doesn't purport to be accurate and consistent so it doesn't need to provide evidence for anything. The Bible, and believers in the Bible, on the other hand, purport that it's all true, but hardly ever provide evidence for it. On some occasions I actually hear about people, that when asked wherefrom they know it's true, they answer that it's written in it. And a liar can't lie about his/her own integrity?!

Wikipedia doesn't purport to be consistent and accurate, many people who believe in the Bible believe it to be so, although there's clear evidence that it's not.

nopix

I just created a castle made out of cards and with some skill also created card people. I am the creator. I just want everyone to abide by my standards of loving one another, and by giving them the option to do so or not I give them free will (for card people whose brains are vastly different then ours). Although I am the one who did the creating, I have not created evil or sin. I have created card people with free will. They start to murder each other, steal from each other, and hurt each other. Is that my fault as the creator that they are doing these things? I think not. I let them choose. It in turn is their fault. Another thing you bring to light. The chemical reactions in our brain reacting have much to do with sin. When God created a perfect world with Adam and Eve, we see that eating the fruit was not an impulse. It was tempting because they weren't supposed to eat it. This is where free will comes in. They didn't HAVE to eat it. They chose to eat it. The act of them wanting to eat the fruit was not a sin, but the act of actually eating the fruit is the sin. Just because our brains make us desire something (good, bad, right, wrong) doesn't mean that we have zero control over it. I want to drink some beer right now but that would be irresponsible as I have to drive in 20 minutes. So I will not be drinking a beer even though I realllllly want to right now. This is a very dumbed down version of free will, because I could go drink a beer if I wanted to but i choose not to. God sent down his son to die for our sins because not a single person EVER in the history of the world, deserves to be with God. Whether or not you like that statement or respect that statement, if you study who deserves to be with God, the answer is nobody. That is except for Jesus. As the only person on this earth to never have sinned and still be executed, he bears all of our sins for all people who exist (past, present, and future). And if you put your faith in him, then basically he will be your advocate to God. If you don't put your faith in him, then he cannot advocate for you. This is why I believe that my relationship with Jesus (and not any organized religion) is true. tl;dr: card people turn murderous, chemical reactions do not justify how we react to situations, and jesus loves you

I just created a castle made out of cards and with some skill also created card people. I am the creator. I just want everyone to abide by my standards of loving one another, and by giving them the option to do so or not I give them free will (for card people whose brains are vastly different then ours). Although I am the one who did the creating, I have not created evil or sin. I have created card people with free will. They start to murder each other, steal from each other, and hurt each other. Is that my fault as the creator that they are doing these things? I think not. I let them choose. It in turn is their fault. Another thing you bring to light. The chemical reactions in our brain reacting have much to do with sin. When God created a perfect world with Adam and Eve, we see that eating the fruit was not an impulse. It was tempting because they weren't supposed to eat it. This is where free will comes in. They didn't HAVE to eat it. They chose to eat it. The act of them wanting to eat the fruit was not a sin, but the act of actually eating the fruit is the sin. Just because our brains make us desire something (good, bad, right, wrong) doesn't mean that we have zero control over it. I want to drink some beer right now but that would be irresponsible as I have to drive in 20 minutes. So I will not be drinking a beer even though I realllllly want to right now. This is a very dumbed down version of free will, because I could go drink a beer if I wanted to but i choose not to. God sent down his son to die for our sins because not a single person EVER in the history of the world, deserves to be with God. Whether or not you like that statement or respect that statement, if you study who deserves to be with God, the answer is nobody. That is except for Jesus. As the only person on this earth to never have sinned and still be executed, he bears all of our sins for all people who exist (past, present, and future). And if you put your faith in him, then basically he will be your advocate to God. If you don't put your faith in him, then he cannot advocate for you. This is why I believe that my relationship with Jesus (and not any organized religion) is true. tl;dr: card people turn murderous, chemical reactions do not justify how we react to situations, and jesus loves you

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemgxln

I just created a castle made out of cards and with some skill also created card people. I am the creator. I just want everyone to abide by my standards of loving one another, and by giving them the option to do so or not I give them free will (for card people whose brains are vastly different then ours). Although I am the one who did the creating, I have not created evil or sin. I have created card people with free will. They start to murder each other, steal from each other, and hurt each other. Is that my fault as the creator that they are doing these things? I think not. I let them choose. It in turn is their fault. Another thing you bring to light. The chemical reactions in our brain reacting have much to do with sin. When God created a perfect world with Adam and Eve, we see that eating the fruit was not an impulse. It was tempting because they weren't supposed to eat it. This is where free will comes in. They didn't HAVE to eat it. They chose to eat it. The act of them wanting to eat the fruit was not a sin, but the act of actually eating the fruit is the sin. Just because our brains make us desire something (good, bad, right, wrong) doesn't mean that we have zero control over it. I want to drink some beer right now but that would be irresponsible as I have to drive in 20 minutes. So I will not be drinking a beer even though I realllllly want to right now. This is a very dumbed down version of free will, because I could go drink a beer if I wanted to but i choose not to. God sent down his son to die for our sins because not a single person EVER in the history of the world, deserves to be with God. Whether or not you like that statement or respect that statement, if you study who deserves to be with God, the answer is nobody. That is except for Jesus. As the only person on this earth to never have sinned and still be executed, he bears all of our sins for all people who exist (past, present, and future). And if you put your faith in him, then basically he will be your advocate to God. If you don't put your faith in him, then he cannot advocate for you. This is why I believe that my relationship with Jesus (and not any organized religion) is true.

card people turn murderous, chemical reactions do not justify how we react to situations, and jesus loves you

Ighnaz

so you were a christian then you converted to atheist and now you're a christian again? can't believe people still think atheism is a belief. It boggles my mind to see people like this say "Oh I was a christian then I accepted I was an atheist(wdf does that even mean) then I started reading bible and BAM! christian again. Seriously atheist is NOT something you convert to. It's like saying 2+2=3. Realizing your mistake and accepting that the answer is 4 but then a while later reading what some idiot wrote in some paper and believing it's 3 again. If you can go there, don't you ever dare to say you were an atheist because that implies you had some capacity for rational thought which you clearly did not. > People have done and said a lot of stupid stuff in his name. I read through this thread and I see so many people who have been damaged and destroyed and cast aside by their churches and I just want to say I'm sorry. We are not all like that. The dirty little secret that many in the church like to forget is that we are all damaged and broken people, and that we should try to be better, but being a Christian doesn't automatically make you a good person. oh please, so your saying you follow jesus the right way? How hard is it to realize that the book is completely irrelevant to how you are as a human and that all it does is force people onto beliefs that are against their nature? > The dirty little secret that many in the church like to forget is that we are all damaged and broken people yup that's why people like you should shut the fk up when it comes to saying what is right because you people are not to be trusted(for the reasons you stated yourself). I am sad for ALL children reading your post. Seriously, I am. I hope none of them will take you seriously. Noone should ever think something along the lines of what you have said. This whole idea of "sin" is a disgrace. We are human and we do mistakes, we are NOT 'damaged and broken" or any other form of "sinful". > It boggles my mind that people take a faith based on humility and self sacrifice and service and turn it into a way to make money. But they do. I hope that everyone here who has been hurt by a church or a Christian is able to find some sort of peace or catharsis, and I am truly sorry that something that was supposed to be a beacon of light in the darkness has been used to give you pain. oh please, the apologetics inc. How about you say you're sorry for following a religion that endorses slavery among torture and rape and everything else clearly described in your book. But oh wait, you never are, you're just sorry for people who misinterprit what is stated in the book in plain. How not hypocritical of you at all. You either do not realize what is written in your book or you are just so stupid that it is irrelevant to you if your interpretation actually makes sense or not. Again your lack of rational thought shows. > a beacon of light you make me sick. TLDR: what the author of the post wanted to say "Old testament is wrong, follow the new one and you're OK.. kinda.. if you interpret it right."

so you were a christian then you converted to atheist and now you're a christian again? can't believe people still think atheism is a belief. It boggles my mind to see people like this say "Oh I was a christian then I accepted I was an atheist(wdf does that even mean) then I started reading bible and BAM! christian again. Seriously atheist is NOT something you convert to. It's like saying 2+2=3. Realizing your mistake and accepting that the answer is 4 but then a while later reading what some idiot wrote in some paper and believing it's 3 again. If you can go there, don't you ever dare to say you were an atheist because that implies you had some capacity for rational thought which you clearly did not. > People have done and said a lot of stupid stuff in his name. I read through this thread and I see so many people who have been damaged and destroyed and cast aside by their churches and I just want to say I'm sorry. We are not all like that. The dirty little secret that many in the church like to forget is that we are all damaged and broken people, and that we should try to be better, but being a Christian doesn't automatically make you a good person. oh please, so your saying you follow jesus the right way? How hard is it to realize that the book is completely irrelevant to how you are as a human and that all it does is force people onto beliefs that are against their nature? > The dirty little secret that many in the church like to forget is that we are all damaged and broken people yup that's why people like you should shut the fk up when it comes to saying what is right because you people are not to be trusted(for the reasons you stated yourself). I am sad for ALL children reading your post. Seriously, I am. I hope none of them will take you seriously. Noone should ever think something along the lines of what you have said. This whole idea of "sin" is a disgrace. We are human and we do mistakes, we are NOT 'damaged and broken" or any other form of "sinful". > It boggles my mind that people take a faith based on humility and self sacrifice and service and turn it into a way to make money. But they do. I hope that everyone here who has been hurt by a church or a Christian is able to find some sort of peace or catharsis, and I am truly sorry that something that was supposed to be a beacon of light in the darkness has been used to give you pain. oh please, the apologetics inc. How about you say you're sorry for following a religion that endorses slavery among torture and rape and everything else clearly described in your book. But oh wait, you never are, you're just sorry for people who misinterprit what is stated in the book in plain. How not hypocritical of you at all. You either do not realize what is written in your book or you are just so stupid that it is irrelevant to you if your interpretation actually makes sense or not. Again your lack of rational thought shows. > a beacon of light you make me sick. TLDR: what the author of the post wanted to say "Old testament is wrong, follow the new one and you're OK.. kinda.. if you interpret it right."

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemh0h6

so you were a christian then you converted to atheist and now you're a christian again? can't believe people still think atheism is a belief. It boggles my mind to see people like this say "Oh I was a christian then I accepted I was an atheist(wdf does that even mean) then I started reading bible and BAM! christian again. Seriously atheist is NOT something you convert to. It's like saying 2+2=3. Realizing your mistake and accepting that the answer is 4 but then a while later reading what some idiot wrote in some paper and believing it's 3 again. If you can go there, don't you ever dare to say you were an atheist because that implies you had some capacity for rational thought which you clearly did not. > People have done and said a lot of stupid stuff in his name. I read through this thread and I see so many people who have been damaged and destroyed and cast aside by their churches and I just want to say I'm sorry. We are not all like that. The dirty little secret that many in the church like to forget is that we are all damaged and broken people, and that we should try to be better, but being a Christian doesn't automatically make you a good person. oh please, so your saying you follow jesus the right way? How hard is it to realize that the book is completely irrelevant to how you are as a human and that all it does is force people onto beliefs that are against their nature? > The dirty little secret that many in the church like to forget is that we are all damaged and broken people yup that's why people like you should shut the fk up when it comes to saying what is right because you people are not to be trusted(for the reasons you stated yourself). I am sad for ALL children reading your post. Seriously, I am. I hope none of them will take you seriously. Noone should ever think something along the lines of what you have said. This whole idea of "sin" is a disgrace. We are human and we do mistakes, we are NOT 'damaged and broken" or any other form of "sinful". > It boggles my mind that people take a faith based on humility and self sacrifice and service and turn it into a way to make money. But they do. I hope that everyone here who has been hurt by a church or a Christian is able to find some sort of peace or catharsis, and I am truly sorry that something that was supposed to be a beacon of light in the darkness has been used to give you pain. oh please, the apologetics inc. How about you say you're sorry for following a religion that endorses slavery among torture and rape and everything else clearly described in your book. But oh wait, you never are, you're just sorry for people who misinterprit what is stated in the book in plain. How not hypocritical of you at all. You either do not realize what is written in your book or you are just so stupid that it is irrelevant to you if your interpretation actually makes sense or not. Again your lack of rational thought shows. > a beacon of light you make me sick.

what the author of the post wanted to say "Old testament is wrong, follow the new one and you're OK.. kinda.. if you interpret it right."

I_am_the_LION

I was always raised as a Catholic but until high school, it wasn't really important to me. It wasn't until my sophomore year that my family really started going to church. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either; we always got Chipotle afterwards, so the ends justified the means. All in all, I would say for the better part of the last 10 years of my life, religion has been relatively important to me. Right up until this past year or so when I've started questioning WHY it's important. What kills religion for me, is it's used all too often as a weapon. A pedestal for people to stand on and point out the flaws in others. "Mine is a loving God, unless your beliefs don't align perfectly with mine. In which case you better change or you're going to hell. I only tell you this because I love you, and don't want to see you sent down the river of eternal damnation." But I digress. The other thing I hate about religion is the insane over-saturation of it all. It's literally, goddamn everywhere. I can't go on FB without some fuck face calling out my beliefs by posting some "like: go to heaven; keep scrolling: go to hell" bullshit. To me, it's disrespectful. Religion isn't something you use to garner likes and shares. The same goes for the people that wear a rosary, or some big ass, diamond encrusted cross. It's not jewelry and I hope it's thick enough to effectively support you so you can hang yourself with it. I know I'm just being judgmental at this point but come on, man. I don't know. I'm still not sure where I stand on my own religion. The only thing that keeps me on the fence is, despite all of the bad that people have done in the name of religion, so much good has come from it as well. It gives people strength, and hope when they need it most. And to me, that's beautiful. TL;DR: This clip pretty much sums up how I feel (NSFW) E: grammar nazi'd my damn self...

I was always raised as a Catholic but until high school, it wasn't really important to me. It wasn't until my sophomore year that my family really started going to church. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either; we always got Chipotle afterwards, so the ends justified the means. All in all, I would say for the better part of the last 10 years of my life, religion has been relatively important to me. Right up until this past year or so when I've started questioning WHY it's important. What kills religion for me, is it's used all too often as a weapon. A pedestal for people to stand on and point out the flaws in others. "Mine is a loving God, unless your beliefs don't align perfectly with mine. In which case you better change or you're going to hell. I only tell you this because I love you, and don't want to see you sent down the river of eternal damnation." But I digress. The other thing I hate about religion is the insane over-saturation of it all. It's literally, goddamn everywhere. I can't go on FB without some fuck face calling out my beliefs by posting some "like: go to heaven; keep scrolling: go to hell" bullshit. To me, it's disrespectful. Religion isn't something you use to garner likes and shares. The same goes for the people that wear a rosary, or some big ass, diamond encrusted cross. It's not jewelry and I hope it's thick enough to effectively support you so you can hang yourself with it. I know I'm just being judgmental at this point but come on, man. I don't know. I'm still not sure where I stand on my own religion. The only thing that keeps me on the fence is, despite all of the bad that people have done in the name of religion, so much good has come from it as well. It gives people strength, and hope when they need it most. And to me, that's beautiful. TL;DR: This clip pretty much sums up how I feel (NSFW) E: grammar nazi'd my damn self...

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemh13l

I was always raised as a Catholic but until high school, it wasn't really important to me. It wasn't until my sophomore year that my family really started going to church. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either; we always got Chipotle afterwards, so the ends justified the means. All in all, I would say for the better part of the last 10 years of my life, religion has been relatively important to me. Right up until this past year or so when I've started questioning WHY it's important. What kills religion for me, is it's used all too often as a weapon. A pedestal for people to stand on and point out the flaws in others. "Mine is a loving God, unless your beliefs don't align perfectly with mine. In which case you better change or you're going to hell. I only tell you this because I love you, and don't want to see you sent down the river of eternal damnation." But I digress. The other thing I hate about religion is the insane over-saturation of it all. It's literally, goddamn everywhere. I can't go on FB without some fuck face calling out my beliefs by posting some "like: go to heaven; keep scrolling: go to hell" bullshit. To me, it's disrespectful. Religion isn't something you use to garner likes and shares. The same goes for the people that wear a rosary, or some big ass, diamond encrusted cross. It's not jewelry and I hope it's thick enough to effectively support you so you can hang yourself with it. I know I'm just being judgmental at this point but come on, man. I don't know. I'm still not sure where I stand on my own religion. The only thing that keeps me on the fence is, despite all of the bad that people have done in the name of religion, so much good has come from it as well. It gives people strength, and hope when they need it most. And to me, that's beautiful.

This clip pretty much sums up how I feel (NSFW) E: grammar nazi'd my damn self...

xaiatora

My experience with religion is kind of... different. This is long and will probably get buried, but it's my reason and I want to share it. Like many of you, I was raised in a fairly non-religious household. My mom is Indian; she would tell me Hindu stories, and Hindu prayers, but they were more of ideas than actual all-powerful figures, if that makes sense. I devoured stories of mythology as a child, still do, and I found the idea of gods fascinating. In a sense I did believe in everything, for a while. But I can never be religious. When my mom met my stepfather, he was very into new age spirituality. Faith healing, crystal power, the works. God is real and so is every other spiritual deity. If you have enough faith you can channel spiritual figures. Etc. I bounced along with this, though I've always been a skeptic at heart; but the idea was so cool, and it fulfilled my desire for all of it to be real, the existence of Gods and validity of Pantheons. My mom bought into it hook, line, and sinker, and as a nine year old with no father figure, I followed along. As I got older, things got weirder. I won't bore you with the spiral into insanity, but they got so wrapped up in their beliefs that soon they had isolated themselves from the world. They quit their jobs to do their 'spiritual work' full time, leaving the only sources of income for our four-person family my stepfather's pension and the money I started earning at age eleven. Not to worry- if they believed hard enough we would be rewarded with a pile of gold bricks on our balcony (I shit you not)! We don't need to see doctors; we can heal everything with the power of our faith! Other people just pollute our purity with their karmic doubt; we can't let them into our lives. I have a *lot* more stories. The only one who was holding us back was me, and my doubt, and growing withdrawal from this madhouse. Eventually I learned to smile and nod, pretend I went along with things because that was the easiest way. I'm in college now, getting ready to graduate in May, and I'm finally adjusting to the idea that it isn't always *that bad*. I rarely go home anymore (it's a long trip), and when I do my stepfather no longer speaks to me, and I wouldn't care except it messes with my relationship with my mom. I hate what the blinding, consuming belief has done to my family, and I hate that I still *want* to believe in something bigger than me. I *want* to think there's something else out there, but I doubt I'll ever believe. I've studied Biology and learned to look to nature for answers, because I don't trust faith. Maybe there is a God- if so, I think it's less a divine entity than a divine *idea*, a creation given 'life' by the strength we as humans give it. I still study Pantheons. But I'm not religious. I don't think I ever will be. **TL/DR:** parents want to pray gold bricks into existence. Turned me off the whole idea.

My experience with religion is kind of... different. This is long and will probably get buried, but it's my reason and I want to share it. Like many of you, I was raised in a fairly non-religious household. My mom is Indian; she would tell me Hindu stories, and Hindu prayers, but they were more of ideas than actual all-powerful figures, if that makes sense. I devoured stories of mythology as a child, still do, and I found the idea of gods fascinating. In a sense I did believe in everything, for a while. But I can never be religious. When my mom met my stepfather, he was very into new age spirituality. Faith healing, crystal power, the works. God is real and so is every other spiritual deity. If you have enough faith you can channel spiritual figures. Etc. I bounced along with this, though I've always been a skeptic at heart; but the idea was so cool, and it fulfilled my desire for all of it to be real, the existence of Gods and validity of Pantheons. My mom bought into it hook, line, and sinker, and as a nine year old with no father figure, I followed along. As I got older, things got weirder. I won't bore you with the spiral into insanity, but they got so wrapped up in their beliefs that soon they had isolated themselves from the world. They quit their jobs to do their 'spiritual work' full time, leaving the only sources of income for our four-person family my stepfather's pension and the money I started earning at age eleven. Not to worry- if they believed hard enough we would be rewarded with a pile of gold bricks on our balcony (I shit you not)! We don't need to see doctors; we can heal everything with the power of our faith! Other people just pollute our purity with their karmic doubt; we can't let them into our lives. I have a lot more stories. The only one who was holding us back was me, and my doubt, and growing withdrawal from this madhouse. Eventually I learned to smile and nod, pretend I went along with things because that was the easiest way. I'm in college now, getting ready to graduate in May, and I'm finally adjusting to the idea that it isn't always that bad . I rarely go home anymore (it's a long trip), and when I do my stepfather no longer speaks to me, and I wouldn't care except it messes with my relationship with my mom. I hate what the blinding, consuming belief has done to my family, and I hate that I still want to believe in something bigger than me. I want to think there's something else out there, but I doubt I'll ever believe. I've studied Biology and learned to look to nature for answers, because I don't trust faith. Maybe there is a God- if so, I think it's less a divine entity than a divine idea , a creation given 'life' by the strength we as humans give it. I still study Pantheons. But I'm not religious. I don't think I ever will be. TL/DR: parents want to pray gold bricks into existence. Turned me off the whole idea.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemhfg7

My experience with religion is kind of... different. This is long and will probably get buried, but it's my reason and I want to share it. Like many of you, I was raised in a fairly non-religious household. My mom is Indian; she would tell me Hindu stories, and Hindu prayers, but they were more of ideas than actual all-powerful figures, if that makes sense. I devoured stories of mythology as a child, still do, and I found the idea of gods fascinating. In a sense I did believe in everything, for a while. But I can never be religious. When my mom met my stepfather, he was very into new age spirituality. Faith healing, crystal power, the works. God is real and so is every other spiritual deity. If you have enough faith you can channel spiritual figures. Etc. I bounced along with this, though I've always been a skeptic at heart; but the idea was so cool, and it fulfilled my desire for all of it to be real, the existence of Gods and validity of Pantheons. My mom bought into it hook, line, and sinker, and as a nine year old with no father figure, I followed along. As I got older, things got weirder. I won't bore you with the spiral into insanity, but they got so wrapped up in their beliefs that soon they had isolated themselves from the world. They quit their jobs to do their 'spiritual work' full time, leaving the only sources of income for our four-person family my stepfather's pension and the money I started earning at age eleven. Not to worry- if they believed hard enough we would be rewarded with a pile of gold bricks on our balcony (I shit you not)! We don't need to see doctors; we can heal everything with the power of our faith! Other people just pollute our purity with their karmic doubt; we can't let them into our lives. I have a lot more stories. The only one who was holding us back was me, and my doubt, and growing withdrawal from this madhouse. Eventually I learned to smile and nod, pretend I went along with things because that was the easiest way. I'm in college now, getting ready to graduate in May, and I'm finally adjusting to the idea that it isn't always that bad . I rarely go home anymore (it's a long trip), and when I do my stepfather no longer speaks to me, and I wouldn't care except it messes with my relationship with my mom. I hate what the blinding, consuming belief has done to my family, and I hate that I still want to believe in something bigger than me. I want to think there's something else out there, but I doubt I'll ever believe. I've studied Biology and learned to look to nature for answers, because I don't trust faith. Maybe there is a God- if so, I think it's less a divine entity than a divine idea , a creation given 'life' by the strength we as humans give it. I still study Pantheons. But I'm not religious. I don't think I ever will be.

parents want to pray gold bricks into existence. Turned me off the whole idea.

Spiralofourdiv

1. Nothing in my life has ever presented itself to me as good evidence for the existence of a higher power. One might certainly exist, but it has failed to convince me of that (if that was ever it's intention). Additionally, I don't think any truly omnipotent and benevolent higher power would fault me for wanting to discover truth and facts for myself the best I can and making decisions based on that original research instead of choosing to believe the (unverifiable) words of a human written book on the abstract subject (one book of many like it). I don't understand why a "god" that is going to punish me for not believing in him regardless of my character would be called a "god"; rewarding blind faith and punishing critical thought (not that critical thought isn't put forth by many believers as well) sounds much more like a devil to me. Religion seems to have a lot of being taught **what** to think and little to no being taught **how** to think, it even seems that the later is strongly discouraged (critical thought is often rewarded with a heavy dose of guilt and shame in many religious organizations). 2. Organized religion, while bringing joy to many, is also perhaps the most central root of fear, doubt, guilt, violence, war, and hatred throughout all of recorded human history. I certainly wasn't getting any joy, truth, or meaning out of religion, so I decided I didn't want to partake since I found it associated with so many horrible things. I can be a good and happy person without religion, so why would I want to associate with it when, in my opinion, it is responsible for a lot of awful things (both historically and today). Especially as a young person in USA: I see most civil liberty issues being a result of religion. Abortion, LBGT rights, etc. are largely religiously motivated issues that I'm ashamed to say are still regularly debated. In fact, it's sickening that purely christian values have any legitimate say in the politics of a nation not comprised of only christians. The biggest lie of America is the First Amendment: we're so proud as a country that our government is above religion and race, that it's a neutral representation of a "melting pot" constituency with diverse ideologies, but all my life I've only seen it mostly dominated by christian fundamentalist ideologies. They don't get everything they want, but they hold back progress substantially (e.g. why is evolution is schools even a fucking talking point? Wasn't the Scopes trial almost a **century** ago?! Same with abortion and the 40+ year old Roe v. Wade. Religion is the only reason these issues aren't behind us. Religion is a big enough industry that it can dictate **a lot** of what is and isn't discussed in politics and news (simply because it can easily generate controversy large enough to overshadow most everything else), and it doesn't seem interested in addressing more important issues like mental illness, declining education quality, etc.). Religion seems to talk about loving people a lot, but at it's forefront is a lot of hateful acts and words. I don't know how sane, religious people can even handle the "god hates fags" sign holders. An open question to christians: If you're an everyday christian who doesn't hold the "god hates fags" sentiment, how do you not publicly ostracize those people to save face? I feel like if I were christian, I'd just be so ashamed of being associated with those people I'd just **have** to let them, and everybody else, know I don't condone their actions; maybe get a sign apologizing for them and trying to send a better religious message. As an atheist it's easy to say "wow, what an ignorant dumbass"; I get to feel unconnected to such hateful sentiments because I **am** unconnected to them. How do you mock ideas that come from your own ideology? 3. Even when I was a kid, one hour every Sunday morning always seemed like one hour too much of talking about a man in the sky, and Christian summer camps are just guilt trips, literally. They take pre-teens and make them feel as bad and guilty as possible before "saving" them with Jesus; they deliberately take advantage of kids by using a time in their lives defined by a struggle to find identity against them (but for Jesus (i.e. the Church, religious PAC's, pro-life organizations, public school biology textbook committees, etc.)). Summer camp is when I realized religion was a corporation. Organized religion, above all else, makes money, and they do that in the the same way Brazzers makes money: membership. But religion can be a tough sell (at least a lot tougher sell than unlimited LCD sex for $10 a month), so it's developed very manipulative, and as far as I'm concerned evil, tactics like pre-teen summer camps. tl;dr Never grew up with a sense that there exists a higher power. No evidence seems convincing enough including personal experiences. In fact, no "evidence" even seems like actual evidence; only evidence *against* any described "god" seems to exist. On top of that organized religion makes itself extremely easy to hate if you have even a tinge of socially liberal values. Hell, if it weren't for religion, I might actually be able to say "I'm proud to be an American" without feeling like I'm lying at least a little bit. Honestly, I'm *happy* to be an American, and appreciate a lot of it's great features, but I believe in constantly striving to be better. The religious right has great influence in American politics and society that I find so negative, so non-progressive, so... "anti-striving to be better" that I can't look upon all that and say I'm truly "proud". That is why I don't believe in a god, and why I don't support most religious organizations.

Nothing in my life has ever presented itself to me as good evidence for the existence of a higher power. One might certainly exist, but it has failed to convince me of that (if that was ever it's intention). Additionally, I don't think any truly omnipotent and benevolent higher power would fault me for wanting to discover truth and facts for myself the best I can and making decisions based on that original research instead of choosing to believe the (unverifiable) words of a human written book on the abstract subject (one book of many like it). I don't understand why a "god" that is going to punish me for not believing in him regardless of my character would be called a "god"; rewarding blind faith and punishing critical thought (not that critical thought isn't put forth by many believers as well) sounds much more like a devil to me. Religion seems to have a lot of being taught what to think and little to no being taught how to think, it even seems that the later is strongly discouraged (critical thought is often rewarded with a heavy dose of guilt and shame in many religious organizations). Organized religion, while bringing joy to many, is also perhaps the most central root of fear, doubt, guilt, violence, war, and hatred throughout all of recorded human history. I certainly wasn't getting any joy, truth, or meaning out of religion, so I decided I didn't want to partake since I found it associated with so many horrible things. I can be a good and happy person without religion, so why would I want to associate with it when, in my opinion, it is responsible for a lot of awful things (both historically and today). Especially as a young person in USA: I see most civil liberty issues being a result of religion. Abortion, LBGT rights, etc. are largely religiously motivated issues that I'm ashamed to say are still regularly debated. In fact, it's sickening that purely christian values have any legitimate say in the politics of a nation not comprised of only christians. The biggest lie of America is the First Amendment: we're so proud as a country that our government is above religion and race, that it's a neutral representation of a "melting pot" constituency with diverse ideologies, but all my life I've only seen it mostly dominated by christian fundamentalist ideologies. They don't get everything they want, but they hold back progress substantially (e.g. why is evolution is schools even a fucking talking point? Wasn't the Scopes trial almost a century ago?! Same with abortion and the 40+ year old Roe v. Wade. Religion is the only reason these issues aren't behind us. Religion is a big enough industry that it can dictate a lot of what is and isn't discussed in politics and news (simply because it can easily generate controversy large enough to overshadow most everything else), and it doesn't seem interested in addressing more important issues like mental illness, declining education quality, etc.). Religion seems to talk about loving people a lot, but at it's forefront is a lot of hateful acts and words. I don't know how sane, religious people can even handle the "god hates fags" sign holders. An open question to christians: If you're an everyday christian who doesn't hold the "god hates fags" sentiment, how do you not publicly ostracize those people to save face? I feel like if I were christian, I'd just be so ashamed of being associated with those people I'd just have to let them, and everybody else, know I don't condone their actions; maybe get a sign apologizing for them and trying to send a better religious message. As an atheist it's easy to say "wow, what an ignorant dumbass"; I get to feel unconnected to such hateful sentiments because I am unconnected to them. How do you mock ideas that come from your own ideology? Even when I was a kid, one hour every Sunday morning always seemed like one hour too much of talking about a man in the sky, and Christian summer camps are just guilt trips, literally. They take pre-teens and make them feel as bad and guilty as possible before "saving" them with Jesus; they deliberately take advantage of kids by using a time in their lives defined by a struggle to find identity against them (but for Jesus (i.e. the Church, religious PAC's, pro-life organizations, public school biology textbook committees, etc.)). Summer camp is when I realized religion was a corporation. Organized religion, above all else, makes money, and they do that in the the same way Brazzers makes money: membership. But religion can be a tough sell (at least a lot tougher sell than unlimited LCD sex for $10 a month), so it's developed very manipulative, and as far as I'm concerned evil, tactics like pre-teen summer camps. tl;dr Never grew up with a sense that there exists a higher power. No evidence seems convincing enough including personal experiences. In fact, no "evidence" even seems like actual evidence; only evidence against any described "god" seems to exist. On top of that organized religion makes itself extremely easy to hate if you have even a tinge of socially liberal values. Hell, if it weren't for religion, I might actually be able to say "I'm proud to be an American" without feeling like I'm lying at least a little bit. Honestly, I'm happy to be an American, and appreciate a lot of it's great features, but I believe in constantly striving to be better. The religious right has great influence in American politics and society that I find so negative, so non-progressive, so... "anti-striving to be better" that I can't look upon all that and say I'm truly "proud". That is why I don't believe in a god, and why I don't support most religious organizations.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemi1tq

Nothing in my life has ever presented itself to me as good evidence for the existence of a higher power. One might certainly exist, but it has failed to convince me of that (if that was ever it's intention). Additionally, I don't think any truly omnipotent and benevolent higher power would fault me for wanting to discover truth and facts for myself the best I can and making decisions based on that original research instead of choosing to believe the (unverifiable) words of a human written book on the abstract subject (one book of many like it). I don't understand why a "god" that is going to punish me for not believing in him regardless of my character would be called a "god"; rewarding blind faith and punishing critical thought (not that critical thought isn't put forth by many believers as well) sounds much more like a devil to me. Religion seems to have a lot of being taught what to think and little to no being taught how to think, it even seems that the later is strongly discouraged (critical thought is often rewarded with a heavy dose of guilt and shame in many religious organizations). Organized religion, while bringing joy to many, is also perhaps the most central root of fear, doubt, guilt, violence, war, and hatred throughout all of recorded human history. I certainly wasn't getting any joy, truth, or meaning out of religion, so I decided I didn't want to partake since I found it associated with so many horrible things. I can be a good and happy person without religion, so why would I want to associate with it when, in my opinion, it is responsible for a lot of awful things (both historically and today). Especially as a young person in USA: I see most civil liberty issues being a result of religion. Abortion, LBGT rights, etc. are largely religiously motivated issues that I'm ashamed to say are still regularly debated. In fact, it's sickening that purely christian values have any legitimate say in the politics of a nation not comprised of only christians. The biggest lie of America is the First Amendment: we're so proud as a country that our government is above religion and race, that it's a neutral representation of a "melting pot" constituency with diverse ideologies, but all my life I've only seen it mostly dominated by christian fundamentalist ideologies. They don't get everything they want, but they hold back progress substantially (e.g. why is evolution is schools even a fucking talking point? Wasn't the Scopes trial almost a century ago?! Same with abortion and the 40+ year old Roe v. Wade. Religion is the only reason these issues aren't behind us. Religion is a big enough industry that it can dictate a lot of what is and isn't discussed in politics and news (simply because it can easily generate controversy large enough to overshadow most everything else), and it doesn't seem interested in addressing more important issues like mental illness, declining education quality, etc.). Religion seems to talk about loving people a lot, but at it's forefront is a lot of hateful acts and words. I don't know how sane, religious people can even handle the "god hates fags" sign holders. An open question to christians: If you're an everyday christian who doesn't hold the "god hates fags" sentiment, how do you not publicly ostracize those people to save face? I feel like if I were christian, I'd just be so ashamed of being associated with those people I'd just have to let them, and everybody else, know I don't condone their actions; maybe get a sign apologizing for them and trying to send a better religious message. As an atheist it's easy to say "wow, what an ignorant dumbass"; I get to feel unconnected to such hateful sentiments because I am unconnected to them. How do you mock ideas that come from your own ideology? Even when I was a kid, one hour every Sunday morning always seemed like one hour too much of talking about a man in the sky, and Christian summer camps are just guilt trips, literally. They take pre-teens and make them feel as bad and guilty as possible before "saving" them with Jesus; they deliberately take advantage of kids by using a time in their lives defined by a struggle to find identity against them (but for Jesus (i.e. the Church, religious PAC's, pro-life organizations, public school biology textbook committees, etc.)). Summer camp is when I realized religion was a corporation. Organized religion, above all else, makes money, and they do that in the the same way Brazzers makes money: membership. But religion can be a tough sell (at least a lot tougher sell than unlimited LCD sex for $10 a month), so it's developed very manipulative, and as far as I'm concerned evil, tactics like pre-teen summer camps.

Never grew up with a sense that there exists a higher power. No evidence seems convincing enough including personal experiences. In fact, no "evidence" even seems like actual evidence; only evidence against any described "god" seems to exist. On top of that organized religion makes itself extremely easy to hate if you have even a tinge of socially liberal values. Hell, if it weren't for religion, I might actually be able to say "I'm proud to be an American" without feeling like I'm lying at least a little bit. Honestly, I'm happy to be an American, and appreciate a lot of it's great features, but I believe in constantly striving to be better. The religious right has great influence in American politics and society that I find so negative, so non-progressive, so... "anti-striving to be better" that I can't look upon all that and say I'm truly "proud". That is why I don't believe in a god, and why I don't support most religious organizations.

SBUK20

I'm a permanent agnostic There are degrees of agnosticism, each one having slightly different twists on specifics. In permanent agnosticism, your belief is essentially, "I don't know if there's a God or not, but I don't think we'll ever gain sufficient evidence to prove one or the other." It's also important to know that agnostics aren't all 50/50: sitting on the fence. I'm 99% certain that there is no supernatural being watching over us, but I don't have the evidence to deny this as a possibility. I'm a very logical, scientific guy. While this means I'm against virtually all religious theory, there also isn't any evidence to disprove God. One day, I'd like to create an evidence-based religion. It would be more like a "way of life" similar to Buddhism, rather than a "worship and praise" religion. There isn't any fixed belief as new evidence brings new knowledge. You wouldn't have to fall in line and act in a certain way, but actions that negatively affect others should not be carried out unless there is evidence to support it. E.g. You could not discriminate against homosexuals. As there is no evidence to prove homosexuality as harmful to others, it should be accepted as a personal choice. TL;DR: Join my ever-changing evidence & logic based religion!

I'm a permanent agnostic There are degrees of agnosticism, each one having slightly different twists on specifics. In permanent agnosticism, your belief is essentially, "I don't know if there's a God or not, but I don't think we'll ever gain sufficient evidence to prove one or the other." It's also important to know that agnostics aren't all 50/50: sitting on the fence. I'm 99% certain that there is no supernatural being watching over us, but I don't have the evidence to deny this as a possibility. I'm a very logical, scientific guy. While this means I'm against virtually all religious theory, there also isn't any evidence to disprove God. One day, I'd like to create an evidence-based religion. It would be more like a "way of life" similar to Buddhism, rather than a "worship and praise" religion. There isn't any fixed belief as new evidence brings new knowledge. You wouldn't have to fall in line and act in a certain way, but actions that negatively affect others should not be carried out unless there is evidence to support it. E.g. You could not discriminate against homosexuals. As there is no evidence to prove homosexuality as harmful to others, it should be accepted as a personal choice. TL;DR: Join my ever-changing evidence & logic based religion!

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t5_2qh1i

cemi3zp

I'm a permanent agnostic There are degrees of agnosticism, each one having slightly different twists on specifics. In permanent agnosticism, your belief is essentially, "I don't know if there's a God or not, but I don't think we'll ever gain sufficient evidence to prove one or the other." It's also important to know that agnostics aren't all 50/50: sitting on the fence. I'm 99% certain that there is no supernatural being watching over us, but I don't have the evidence to deny this as a possibility. I'm a very logical, scientific guy. While this means I'm against virtually all religious theory, there also isn't any evidence to disprove God. One day, I'd like to create an evidence-based religion. It would be more like a "way of life" similar to Buddhism, rather than a "worship and praise" religion. There isn't any fixed belief as new evidence brings new knowledge. You wouldn't have to fall in line and act in a certain way, but actions that negatively affect others should not be carried out unless there is evidence to support it. E.g. You could not discriminate against homosexuals. As there is no evidence to prove homosexuality as harmful to others, it should be accepted as a personal choice.

Join my ever-changing evidence & logic based religion!

Xeroll

This is pretty much the reason I'm not religious either. The development of the ideas you presented are the reason religion is still practiced today. As humans' capabilities in logic progressed and thought patterns and ideas became more complex so did Gods to complement them. After natural gods of the Sun, lightning, snow/ice; etc, came gods of abstract ideas and emotions such as love, hate, luck, and greed. Then of course stories and backgrounds came along and so did true organized religion. Now nobody would take you seriously, even most followers of religion, if you tried to explain that Zeus is making it stormy outside, or that your crops won't grow If you don't sacrifice a goat every month. But thats because science now has answers for all, or at least most, phenomenon. However, this brings us to the real reason why religion is still practiced today. The one thing science can not, and may never be able to, answer is the meaning and purpose of human life, and what, if anything, comes after death. If you look at any popular modern religion those two questions are the sole foundation behind the reason people follow. It promises you an afterlife, and gives you a guide on how to live your life. I consider most religious believers to be too ignorant and/or naive to realize that it's possible there is no meaning, or life after death. Not that I blame them though, "ignorance is bliss", and I can't say I'm not envious for belonging to an organized religion, but it's not for me. TL:DR: Religion has always been around to explain the unexplainable, and, with modern science, today the questions still exist: Why are we here? And where do we go?

This is pretty much the reason I'm not religious either. The development of the ideas you presented are the reason religion is still practiced today. As humans' capabilities in logic progressed and thought patterns and ideas became more complex so did Gods to complement them. After natural gods of the Sun, lightning, snow/ice; etc, came gods of abstract ideas and emotions such as love, hate, luck, and greed. Then of course stories and backgrounds came along and so did true organized religion. Now nobody would take you seriously, even most followers of religion, if you tried to explain that Zeus is making it stormy outside, or that your crops won't grow If you don't sacrifice a goat every month. But thats because science now has answers for all, or at least most, phenomenon. However, this brings us to the real reason why religion is still practiced today. The one thing science can not, and may never be able to, answer is the meaning and purpose of human life, and what, if anything, comes after death. If you look at any popular modern religion those two questions are the sole foundation behind the reason people follow. It promises you an afterlife, and gives you a guide on how to live your life. I consider most religious believers to be too ignorant and/or naive to realize that it's possible there is no meaning, or life after death. Not that I blame them though, "ignorance is bliss", and I can't say I'm not envious for belonging to an organized religion, but it's not for me. TL:DR: Religion has always been around to explain the unexplainable, and, with modern science, today the questions still exist: Why are we here? And where do we go?

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t5_2qh1i

cemj0d4

This is pretty much the reason I'm not religious either. The development of the ideas you presented are the reason religion is still practiced today. As humans' capabilities in logic progressed and thought patterns and ideas became more complex so did Gods to complement them. After natural gods of the Sun, lightning, snow/ice; etc, came gods of abstract ideas and emotions such as love, hate, luck, and greed. Then of course stories and backgrounds came along and so did true organized religion. Now nobody would take you seriously, even most followers of religion, if you tried to explain that Zeus is making it stormy outside, or that your crops won't grow If you don't sacrifice a goat every month. But thats because science now has answers for all, or at least most, phenomenon. However, this brings us to the real reason why religion is still practiced today. The one thing science can not, and may never be able to, answer is the meaning and purpose of human life, and what, if anything, comes after death. If you look at any popular modern religion those two questions are the sole foundation behind the reason people follow. It promises you an afterlife, and gives you a guide on how to live your life. I consider most religious believers to be too ignorant and/or naive to realize that it's possible there is no meaning, or life after death. Not that I blame them though, "ignorance is bliss", and I can't say I'm not envious for belonging to an organized religion, but it's not for me.

Religion has always been around to explain the unexplainable, and, with modern science, today the questions still exist: Why are we here? And where do we go?

faux-name

There was a bit of a journey towards non-religion to me, no single factor. My whole family was very religious when I was young, church on sundays, christian school etc etc. By the time I was 17 and going to church social functions of my own volition, it was pretty apparent that I just didn't fit in, socially. I had zero interest in the whole 'get married and procreate' train that everyone else seemed to be on. I also had a somewhat rebellious nature that the others just didn't seem to understand. Inevitably, I stopped going to church as other things became more important. I was old enough to start to look at the whole deal objectively, and of course, started looking into other religions, and other forms of spirituality. It was pretty obvious that no one religion was any better than another, and yet my whole (christian) reference group described any other school of thought as simply "evil". Over the interceding years, I've really gotten the impression that religion was something that may have served humanity well in the past, but as life, culture, civilization, and science progresses, religion just becomes less and less relevant. The obvious things are answers to questions like "where do we come from?". It's an important question, that everyone seeks an answer for, but as science becomes more and more able to adequately answer it, taking it on faith, as 'magic' just starts to seem quite absurd. I guess, I'm saying that faith was fine when it was holding a belief in the absence of proof. But holding a belief in the context of proof to the contrary is just arrogant, rather than faith. Having said that, I think there are still profound questions which science is not able to adequately answer. The mystery of the soul, or spirit, or maybe more aptly 'sentience' are yet to be unraveled. I don't think that trawling the depth of some ancient belief system is the way to answer those questions, but rather that science will answer them in due course. tl;dr, didn't fit in, grew up, became rational, became non-religious

There was a bit of a journey towards non-religion to me, no single factor. My whole family was very religious when I was young, church on sundays, christian school etc etc. By the time I was 17 and going to church social functions of my own volition, it was pretty apparent that I just didn't fit in, socially. I had zero interest in the whole 'get married and procreate' train that everyone else seemed to be on. I also had a somewhat rebellious nature that the others just didn't seem to understand. Inevitably, I stopped going to church as other things became more important. I was old enough to start to look at the whole deal objectively, and of course, started looking into other religions, and other forms of spirituality. It was pretty obvious that no one religion was any better than another, and yet my whole (christian) reference group described any other school of thought as simply "evil". Over the interceding years, I've really gotten the impression that religion was something that may have served humanity well in the past, but as life, culture, civilization, and science progresses, religion just becomes less and less relevant. The obvious things are answers to questions like "where do we come from?". It's an important question, that everyone seeks an answer for, but as science becomes more and more able to adequately answer it, taking it on faith, as 'magic' just starts to seem quite absurd. I guess, I'm saying that faith was fine when it was holding a belief in the absence of proof. But holding a belief in the context of proof to the contrary is just arrogant, rather than faith. Having said that, I think there are still profound questions which science is not able to adequately answer. The mystery of the soul, or spirit, or maybe more aptly 'sentience' are yet to be unraveled. I don't think that trawling the depth of some ancient belief system is the way to answer those questions, but rather that science will answer them in due course. tl;dr, didn't fit in, grew up, became rational, became non-religious

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t5_2qh1i

cemj482

There was a bit of a journey towards non-religion to me, no single factor. My whole family was very religious when I was young, church on sundays, christian school etc etc. By the time I was 17 and going to church social functions of my own volition, it was pretty apparent that I just didn't fit in, socially. I had zero interest in the whole 'get married and procreate' train that everyone else seemed to be on. I also had a somewhat rebellious nature that the others just didn't seem to understand. Inevitably, I stopped going to church as other things became more important. I was old enough to start to look at the whole deal objectively, and of course, started looking into other religions, and other forms of spirituality. It was pretty obvious that no one religion was any better than another, and yet my whole (christian) reference group described any other school of thought as simply "evil". Over the interceding years, I've really gotten the impression that religion was something that may have served humanity well in the past, but as life, culture, civilization, and science progresses, religion just becomes less and less relevant. The obvious things are answers to questions like "where do we come from?". It's an important question, that everyone seeks an answer for, but as science becomes more and more able to adequately answer it, taking it on faith, as 'magic' just starts to seem quite absurd. I guess, I'm saying that faith was fine when it was holding a belief in the absence of proof. But holding a belief in the context of proof to the contrary is just arrogant, rather than faith. Having said that, I think there are still profound questions which science is not able to adequately answer. The mystery of the soul, or spirit, or maybe more aptly 'sentience' are yet to be unraveled. I don't think that trawling the depth of some ancient belief system is the way to answer those questions, but rather that science will answer them in due course.

didn't fit in, grew up, became rational, became non-religious

Registering_Bad_Idea

If you are still reading, here's mine: I was a little fundamentalist in elementary school. It kind of baffled my parents, as my dad was a cultural Lutheran but not a big believer, and my mom was an excommunicated Mormon who went to church with my dad because it was easier. I just believed in Authority Figures, and God was a big one. I remember being, like, seven, and feeling very sad and guilty because I had friends: God said to love everyone equally, so I must be doing it wrong if I loved some people more. I continued in this sort of literalist understanding of religion until high school. Gay rights, racism, and feminism were probably the first cracks in that literalism -- there may be clobber verses ("man shall not lie with man for god hates that," the epistle's "women should cover their heads and not talk in church," the old "slaves should be loyal to their masters" verses that were used in the 1800s against emancipation), but clearly, the main thrust of the Gospels, and of Jesus' teachings, runs counter to those verses. "In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female;" "love god and love one another; every other commandment comes from these," etc. In short, I learned the Bible contained contradictions. I thought about them a lot but my previous childlike, literal reading of the Bible didn't give me a lot of room to deal with them. In college, I found a really liberal and really academic campus center. The ELCA is a liberal denomination in general, but the campus center really pushed the boundaries. The atmosphere there was one of "radical hospitality," and the center served as a meeting place for the campus Ten Percent Society (LGBT rights and support) and Alcoholics Anonymous; it held interfaith seminars and, for all of its events except worship itself, you would regularly find atheists, Muslims, Catholics, pagans and neopagans of various stripes, etc. So that was cool. But the breakthrough for me there was academic. This campus center never, ever lied or shied away from harsh truths. "Virgin" is a mistranslation that happened hundreds of years after Jesus died. This is scholarly fact, it just hasn't trickled down to all congregations because some preachers, pastors, priests, etc, are afraid of it and what it means for their theology. But even if you take "maiden" to mean "virgin," virgin birth stories were commonly told about kings, gods, and leaders -- they were a shorthand, a code, a way of communicating respect. For a virgin birth story to be applied to a poor cult leader from the middle of nowhere meant that people saw something kingly, godly, leaderly in him. It's not literal, but it does have a meaning. Another example: there are two creation stories in Genesis, and they flat contradict each other. This is fact. The reason is historical: when two groups of Israelites came together to form one identity, they each brought their beliefs and creation stories with them. They mashed them together as best they could. The stories are not literal, and, like most mythology, were never really intended to be. Instead, they are a storyteller's shorthand, a pre-scientific way of communicating: "God made you, God loves you. We, this united group, believe the following things about the world. We believe we are blessed." So, I believe Jesus existed and I believe the Bible is a hodgepodge of different stories written, edited, and collected by different people at different times. (There's like three endings to Mark, each added on later because people didn't feel like the previous ones were good enough.) I believe the books were written for different reasons: some to record tribal history and identity, some to encourage people to change, some to record songs and poetry, some to dispense specific advise at specific times to specific churches. (Revelation is written to a specific church at a specific moment, not a big prophecy of the end of days.) Some were written to record the memory of a divisive religious teacher whose beliefs were going viral in the ancient world after his death. (All of the Gospels were written after Jesus died; most of the epistles were written earlier. The earliest Gospel, Mark, takes the most human view of Jesus; the latest Gospel, John, has built up his legacy to the point where he is a mystical creation, the son of God who was there at the creation of the world.) So what does all this academic BS mean for my actual, personal belief -- good question. I do believe in God -- but not as a being. I believe in God, in the sacred, in religious experience, the same way I believe in love: our brains release chemicals that cause us to have this experience of the world. I believe in God as a spirit, a force, a relationship. (And this honestly isn't uncommon in industrialised countries where religion is still a presence, and it's very common in theology -- pick up Spong, Bonehoeffer, Borg, and there's this really cool Catholic author who wrote a whole book called "God Beyond Being.") Can I still call myself a Christian -- sort of. I still go to church occasionally, because I like the grounding, the constant call to service, self-reflection, and forgiveness; I like the built-in community and the easy opportunities for volunteerism and charity. I believe Jesus existed and was a great teacher, but I believe the only way you could call him the "son of God" would be metaphorically; people looked at him and saw something sacred, holy, and tried to describe it. I believe it's the job of people who call themselves Christian to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world today -- to love, to serve, above all else to build up the poor. (Jesus talked about money more than he talked about anything else.) I call myself an atheist sometimes because, literally, I am an a-deist (I don't believe in god as a deity, a being) -- but that's not a common word, and just confuses the issue, so I call myself spiritual or Christian. Why, though... I'm spiritual, I guess, because I've felt it, the same way I've felt love. Is it a physical reality of the universe-- probably not. Is it a real human experience-- definitely. (See: the brain scans of Buddhist monks in deep meditation compared to Catholic nuns in deep prayer, how their brains light up the same way.) I organise my beliefs around the Christian vocabulary because it's the most culturally relevant and familiar to me, but I think every religion has been trying to describe the same thing. I think every religion takes different angles, places primary importance on different points, adds on different human heirarchical bullshit. But I think the spiritual experience is the same. I think that the atheists and humanists who see beauty and meaning in the universe and in each other are also on the right track, because when I look at the stars, or the beauty of nature, I can see God there too, have that sense of spiritual openness and love. So I think that feeling is probably kind of universal, whatever words we use to describe it. Tl;dr I think religion is a construct based around an almost-universal human experience of awe, wonder, love. I choose to keep some of the construct because it makes sense to me, but I don't think it's literal.

If you are still reading, here's mine: I was a little fundamentalist in elementary school. It kind of baffled my parents, as my dad was a cultural Lutheran but not a big believer, and my mom was an excommunicated Mormon who went to church with my dad because it was easier. I just believed in Authority Figures, and God was a big one. I remember being, like, seven, and feeling very sad and guilty because I had friends: God said to love everyone equally, so I must be doing it wrong if I loved some people more. I continued in this sort of literalist understanding of religion until high school. Gay rights, racism, and feminism were probably the first cracks in that literalism -- there may be clobber verses ("man shall not lie with man for god hates that," the epistle's "women should cover their heads and not talk in church," the old "slaves should be loyal to their masters" verses that were used in the 1800s against emancipation), but clearly, the main thrust of the Gospels, and of Jesus' teachings, runs counter to those verses. "In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female;" "love god and love one another; every other commandment comes from these," etc. In short, I learned the Bible contained contradictions. I thought about them a lot but my previous childlike, literal reading of the Bible didn't give me a lot of room to deal with them. In college, I found a really liberal and really academic campus center. The ELCA is a liberal denomination in general, but the campus center really pushed the boundaries. The atmosphere there was one of "radical hospitality," and the center served as a meeting place for the campus Ten Percent Society (LGBT rights and support) and Alcoholics Anonymous; it held interfaith seminars and, for all of its events except worship itself, you would regularly find atheists, Muslims, Catholics, pagans and neopagans of various stripes, etc. So that was cool. But the breakthrough for me there was academic. This campus center never, ever lied or shied away from harsh truths. "Virgin" is a mistranslation that happened hundreds of years after Jesus died. This is scholarly fact, it just hasn't trickled down to all congregations because some preachers, pastors, priests, etc, are afraid of it and what it means for their theology. But even if you take "maiden" to mean "virgin," virgin birth stories were commonly told about kings, gods, and leaders -- they were a shorthand, a code, a way of communicating respect. For a virgin birth story to be applied to a poor cult leader from the middle of nowhere meant that people saw something kingly, godly, leaderly in him. It's not literal, but it does have a meaning. Another example: there are two creation stories in Genesis, and they flat contradict each other. This is fact. The reason is historical: when two groups of Israelites came together to form one identity, they each brought their beliefs and creation stories with them. They mashed them together as best they could. The stories are not literal, and, like most mythology, were never really intended to be. Instead, they are a storyteller's shorthand, a pre-scientific way of communicating: "God made you, God loves you. We, this united group, believe the following things about the world. We believe we are blessed." So, I believe Jesus existed and I believe the Bible is a hodgepodge of different stories written, edited, and collected by different people at different times. (There's like three endings to Mark, each added on later because people didn't feel like the previous ones were good enough.) I believe the books were written for different reasons: some to record tribal history and identity, some to encourage people to change, some to record songs and poetry, some to dispense specific advise at specific times to specific churches. (Revelation is written to a specific church at a specific moment, not a big prophecy of the end of days.) Some were written to record the memory of a divisive religious teacher whose beliefs were going viral in the ancient world after his death. (All of the Gospels were written after Jesus died; most of the epistles were written earlier. The earliest Gospel, Mark, takes the most human view of Jesus; the latest Gospel, John, has built up his legacy to the point where he is a mystical creation, the son of God who was there at the creation of the world.) So what does all this academic BS mean for my actual, personal belief -- good question. I do believe in God -- but not as a being. I believe in God, in the sacred, in religious experience, the same way I believe in love: our brains release chemicals that cause us to have this experience of the world. I believe in God as a spirit, a force, a relationship. (And this honestly isn't uncommon in industrialised countries where religion is still a presence, and it's very common in theology -- pick up Spong, Bonehoeffer, Borg, and there's this really cool Catholic author who wrote a whole book called "God Beyond Being.") Can I still call myself a Christian -- sort of. I still go to church occasionally, because I like the grounding, the constant call to service, self-reflection, and forgiveness; I like the built-in community and the easy opportunities for volunteerism and charity. I believe Jesus existed and was a great teacher, but I believe the only way you could call him the "son of God" would be metaphorically; people looked at him and saw something sacred, holy, and tried to describe it. I believe it's the job of people who call themselves Christian to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world today -- to love, to serve, above all else to build up the poor. (Jesus talked about money more than he talked about anything else.) I call myself an atheist sometimes because, literally, I am an a-deist (I don't believe in god as a deity, a being) -- but that's not a common word, and just confuses the issue, so I call myself spiritual or Christian. Why, though... I'm spiritual, I guess, because I've felt it, the same way I've felt love. Is it a physical reality of the universe-- probably not. Is it a real human experience-- definitely. (See: the brain scans of Buddhist monks in deep meditation compared to Catholic nuns in deep prayer, how their brains light up the same way.) I organise my beliefs around the Christian vocabulary because it's the most culturally relevant and familiar to me, but I think every religion has been trying to describe the same thing. I think every religion takes different angles, places primary importance on different points, adds on different human heirarchical bullshit. But I think the spiritual experience is the same. I think that the atheists and humanists who see beauty and meaning in the universe and in each other are also on the right track, because when I look at the stars, or the beauty of nature, I can see God there too, have that sense of spiritual openness and love. So I think that feeling is probably kind of universal, whatever words we use to describe it. Tl;dr I think religion is a construct based around an almost-universal human experience of awe, wonder, love. I choose to keep some of the construct because it makes sense to me, but I don't think it's literal.

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t5_2qh1i

cemja6s

If you are still reading, here's mine: I was a little fundamentalist in elementary school. It kind of baffled my parents, as my dad was a cultural Lutheran but not a big believer, and my mom was an excommunicated Mormon who went to church with my dad because it was easier. I just believed in Authority Figures, and God was a big one. I remember being, like, seven, and feeling very sad and guilty because I had friends: God said to love everyone equally, so I must be doing it wrong if I loved some people more. I continued in this sort of literalist understanding of religion until high school. Gay rights, racism, and feminism were probably the first cracks in that literalism -- there may be clobber verses ("man shall not lie with man for god hates that," the epistle's "women should cover their heads and not talk in church," the old "slaves should be loyal to their masters" verses that were used in the 1800s against emancipation), but clearly, the main thrust of the Gospels, and of Jesus' teachings, runs counter to those verses. "In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female;" "love god and love one another; every other commandment comes from these," etc. In short, I learned the Bible contained contradictions. I thought about them a lot but my previous childlike, literal reading of the Bible didn't give me a lot of room to deal with them. In college, I found a really liberal and really academic campus center. The ELCA is a liberal denomination in general, but the campus center really pushed the boundaries. The atmosphere there was one of "radical hospitality," and the center served as a meeting place for the campus Ten Percent Society (LGBT rights and support) and Alcoholics Anonymous; it held interfaith seminars and, for all of its events except worship itself, you would regularly find atheists, Muslims, Catholics, pagans and neopagans of various stripes, etc. So that was cool. But the breakthrough for me there was academic. This campus center never, ever lied or shied away from harsh truths. "Virgin" is a mistranslation that happened hundreds of years after Jesus died. This is scholarly fact, it just hasn't trickled down to all congregations because some preachers, pastors, priests, etc, are afraid of it and what it means for their theology. But even if you take "maiden" to mean "virgin," virgin birth stories were commonly told about kings, gods, and leaders -- they were a shorthand, a code, a way of communicating respect. For a virgin birth story to be applied to a poor cult leader from the middle of nowhere meant that people saw something kingly, godly, leaderly in him. It's not literal, but it does have a meaning. Another example: there are two creation stories in Genesis, and they flat contradict each other. This is fact. The reason is historical: when two groups of Israelites came together to form one identity, they each brought their beliefs and creation stories with them. They mashed them together as best they could. The stories are not literal, and, like most mythology, were never really intended to be. Instead, they are a storyteller's shorthand, a pre-scientific way of communicating: "God made you, God loves you. We, this united group, believe the following things about the world. We believe we are blessed." So, I believe Jesus existed and I believe the Bible is a hodgepodge of different stories written, edited, and collected by different people at different times. (There's like three endings to Mark, each added on later because people didn't feel like the previous ones were good enough.) I believe the books were written for different reasons: some to record tribal history and identity, some to encourage people to change, some to record songs and poetry, some to dispense specific advise at specific times to specific churches. (Revelation is written to a specific church at a specific moment, not a big prophecy of the end of days.) Some were written to record the memory of a divisive religious teacher whose beliefs were going viral in the ancient world after his death. (All of the Gospels were written after Jesus died; most of the epistles were written earlier. The earliest Gospel, Mark, takes the most human view of Jesus; the latest Gospel, John, has built up his legacy to the point where he is a mystical creation, the son of God who was there at the creation of the world.) So what does all this academic BS mean for my actual, personal belief -- good question. I do believe in God -- but not as a being. I believe in God, in the sacred, in religious experience, the same way I believe in love: our brains release chemicals that cause us to have this experience of the world. I believe in God as a spirit, a force, a relationship. (And this honestly isn't uncommon in industrialised countries where religion is still a presence, and it's very common in theology -- pick up Spong, Bonehoeffer, Borg, and there's this really cool Catholic author who wrote a whole book called "God Beyond Being.") Can I still call myself a Christian -- sort of. I still go to church occasionally, because I like the grounding, the constant call to service, self-reflection, and forgiveness; I like the built-in community and the easy opportunities for volunteerism and charity. I believe Jesus existed and was a great teacher, but I believe the only way you could call him the "son of God" would be metaphorically; people looked at him and saw something sacred, holy, and tried to describe it. I believe it's the job of people who call themselves Christian to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world today -- to love, to serve, above all else to build up the poor. (Jesus talked about money more than he talked about anything else.) I call myself an atheist sometimes because, literally, I am an a-deist (I don't believe in god as a deity, a being) -- but that's not a common word, and just confuses the issue, so I call myself spiritual or Christian. Why, though... I'm spiritual, I guess, because I've felt it, the same way I've felt love. Is it a physical reality of the universe-- probably not. Is it a real human experience-- definitely. (See: the brain scans of Buddhist monks in deep meditation compared to Catholic nuns in deep prayer, how their brains light up the same way.) I organise my beliefs around the Christian vocabulary because it's the most culturally relevant and familiar to me, but I think every religion has been trying to describe the same thing. I think every religion takes different angles, places primary importance on different points, adds on different human heirarchical bullshit. But I think the spiritual experience is the same. I think that the atheists and humanists who see beauty and meaning in the universe and in each other are also on the right track, because when I look at the stars, or the beauty of nature, I can see God there too, have that sense of spiritual openness and love. So I think that feeling is probably kind of universal, whatever words we use to describe it.

I think religion is a construct based around an almost-universal human experience of awe, wonder, love. I choose to keep some of the construct because it makes sense to me, but I don't think it's literal.

AmputeeBall

I disagree. Though the intellectuals realize there is much more out there that is to be learned the average person does not understand the depth of the known unknowns and the unknown unknowns. Crappy example of sorts: I am an average consumer who wants the newest coolest iPhone. I know that circuits are why my phone can do what it does, but I don't have a grasp on truly what the circuits are doing. Whereas the electrical engineer understands precisely what is at play. However the same EE realizes and, more importantly, cares about what is happening on a different scale. Not only for the items they are directly working with but getting a degree in EE also requires some other classes along the lines of chemistry, physics, etc. for background knowledge. This background brings them closer to the edge of human understanding. I think this EE (or similar people) is what you are referring to, but I think the average schmuck might not care as long as things are working. TL;DR think of how dumb the average person is, half are dumber than that, but they still want iPhones and shit.

I disagree. Though the intellectuals realize there is much more out there that is to be learned the average person does not understand the depth of the known unknowns and the unknown unknowns. Crappy example of sorts: I am an average consumer who wants the newest coolest iPhone. I know that circuits are why my phone can do what it does, but I don't have a grasp on truly what the circuits are doing. Whereas the electrical engineer understands precisely what is at play. However the same EE realizes and, more importantly, cares about what is happening on a different scale. Not only for the items they are directly working with but getting a degree in EE also requires some other classes along the lines of chemistry, physics, etc. for background knowledge. This background brings them closer to the edge of human understanding. I think this EE (or similar people) is what you are referring to, but I think the average schmuck might not care as long as things are working. TL;DR think of how dumb the average person is, half are dumber than that, but they still want iPhones and shit.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemjd1e

I disagree. Though the intellectuals realize there is much more out there that is to be learned the average person does not understand the depth of the known unknowns and the unknown unknowns. Crappy example of sorts: I am an average consumer who wants the newest coolest iPhone. I know that circuits are why my phone can do what it does, but I don't have a grasp on truly what the circuits are doing. Whereas the electrical engineer understands precisely what is at play. However the same EE realizes and, more importantly, cares about what is happening on a different scale. Not only for the items they are directly working with but getting a degree in EE also requires some other classes along the lines of chemistry, physics, etc. for background knowledge. This background brings them closer to the edge of human understanding. I think this EE (or similar people) is what you are referring to, but I think the average schmuck might not care as long as things are working.

think of how dumb the average person is, half are dumber than that, but they still want iPhones and shit.

gorjusgeorgus

I'm always wary of posting stuff on the net like this but seeing as it's what's being asked I'll proceed. Excuse the absolute wall of writing. Here we go. Shortly after I was born my parents were told that they should be prepared for the worst. I was born with pneumonia I think. If I'm wrong it was something very similar and the long and short of it is that I had a few days at best. My dad was obviously upset but determined to not let that happen. He took the news back to the church he was attending at that point and asked them to fast and pray. I began to recover and the doctors were baffled by my hasty, and not to mention miraculous, recovery. Jump forward a few years and I was at a holiday club held at a church and the leader asked us all if any of us would like to become a christian. Something in me said yes. On reflection, I think I knew it would be tough but knew God's love. I was probably about 6 or 7 at this point. When I was 9 the children's worker at church asked if my sister and I, who was 6 at the time, would like to be baptised. Dad must have explained it to me or I already knew about it. I said I'd love to be and I was baptised on easter day. I've often described both of these events as the happiest moments of my life so far and you'll learn why soon enough. I was quite insecure as a teenager and struggled mostly with wanting to be noticed by people, specifically girls. This led to lot's of problems with self image. I'm not exactly the skinniest of men and it didn't help that I was a bit estranged from most as I'm really into videogames and pop-culture. I had friends don't get me wrong but I always looked for something a lot more than that. I started going to a baptist church with a friend of mine and soon started dating a really nice girl but we went for it purely for teenage hormones rather than because we enjoyed each others company. It ended quickly and sourly. I felt horrible for a good while and completely broke down. I left the church for about 3 months and started speaking to a family friend about it. She was so kind and generous to me, really picked me up and years later is still there for me and I've had the privilege of doing the same for her since. I started going to church with her but the minister was accused of being greedy (wrongly in my opinion) because he ran another job alongside his church work. To avoid politics my family left the church. I was attending church still but I was also attending a drama group that were constantly trying to get me to break my morals which at this point had become partially nominal. I was also playing D&D with a group of guys who were constantly trying to get me into a relationship, but their motivations weren't the most pure. The drama group dragged me down a lot, they all would get drunk which I was less than comfortable with but went along with it because I wanted them all to be safe and have a good time. I began to fall and fast as the temptations of the lustful group grew stronger and stronger, stealing my innocence from me. I never had sex, but I did a lot of things I knew were bad for me. I had a lot of guilt and nowhere to take it. I ended up in a new group of friends in Sixth form and they were all Christians. I started going to their church set up a christian union and began to *try* to sort out my lusts. In England we have an event called 'Soul Survivor' which is a youth event set up by a church in Watford. I went along with these friends and the first week there asked for prayer for my guilt. After a few minutes of prayer I felt grace like a single drop of water and once again I knew Christ's love, whom died for me on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins. It didn't matter what I'd done, but rather, what *he'd* done. Skip forward a year and I'm still at this church. This was a church run mostly by people my own age, so roughly 16-18. I soon learned that they needed some better leadership as one of the youngest leader told my best friend that he was causing his gf's panic attacks. I didn't take that well and had been thinking about leaving for a while because of a few other things but that was the final straw. Around this point all my friends were talking about University but I was never good at school so I was undetermined to go but I wanted to continue study. The only subject I did well at school was Theology so I thought I might go to Bible college to study it academically in a Christian environment. To cut what has been a lot longer than initially expected that's where I am now. I'm in my final year of Bible college studying for Christian ministry. The way that my life has been shaped leads me to the belief that God saved me for a reason when I was a baby. I hope that through faithful service I can change hearts just as God's changed mine. I'm not perfect but I want to share the love given to me. TLDR; I believe in Christ because he forgave my guilt.

I'm always wary of posting stuff on the net like this but seeing as it's what's being asked I'll proceed. Excuse the absolute wall of writing. Here we go. Shortly after I was born my parents were told that they should be prepared for the worst. I was born with pneumonia I think. If I'm wrong it was something very similar and the long and short of it is that I had a few days at best. My dad was obviously upset but determined to not let that happen. He took the news back to the church he was attending at that point and asked them to fast and pray. I began to recover and the doctors were baffled by my hasty, and not to mention miraculous, recovery. Jump forward a few years and I was at a holiday club held at a church and the leader asked us all if any of us would like to become a christian. Something in me said yes. On reflection, I think I knew it would be tough but knew God's love. I was probably about 6 or 7 at this point. When I was 9 the children's worker at church asked if my sister and I, who was 6 at the time, would like to be baptised. Dad must have explained it to me or I already knew about it. I said I'd love to be and I was baptised on easter day. I've often described both of these events as the happiest moments of my life so far and you'll learn why soon enough. I was quite insecure as a teenager and struggled mostly with wanting to be noticed by people, specifically girls. This led to lot's of problems with self image. I'm not exactly the skinniest of men and it didn't help that I was a bit estranged from most as I'm really into videogames and pop-culture. I had friends don't get me wrong but I always looked for something a lot more than that. I started going to a baptist church with a friend of mine and soon started dating a really nice girl but we went for it purely for teenage hormones rather than because we enjoyed each others company. It ended quickly and sourly. I felt horrible for a good while and completely broke down. I left the church for about 3 months and started speaking to a family friend about it. She was so kind and generous to me, really picked me up and years later is still there for me and I've had the privilege of doing the same for her since. I started going to church with her but the minister was accused of being greedy (wrongly in my opinion) because he ran another job alongside his church work. To avoid politics my family left the church. I was attending church still but I was also attending a drama group that were constantly trying to get me to break my morals which at this point had become partially nominal. I was also playing D&D with a group of guys who were constantly trying to get me into a relationship, but their motivations weren't the most pure. The drama group dragged me down a lot, they all would get drunk which I was less than comfortable with but went along with it because I wanted them all to be safe and have a good time. I began to fall and fast as the temptations of the lustful group grew stronger and stronger, stealing my innocence from me. I never had sex, but I did a lot of things I knew were bad for me. I had a lot of guilt and nowhere to take it. I ended up in a new group of friends in Sixth form and they were all Christians. I started going to their church set up a christian union and began to try to sort out my lusts. In England we have an event called 'Soul Survivor' which is a youth event set up by a church in Watford. I went along with these friends and the first week there asked for prayer for my guilt. After a few minutes of prayer I felt grace like a single drop of water and once again I knew Christ's love, whom died for me on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins. It didn't matter what I'd done, but rather, what he'd done. Skip forward a year and I'm still at this church. This was a church run mostly by people my own age, so roughly 16-18. I soon learned that they needed some better leadership as one of the youngest leader told my best friend that he was causing his gf's panic attacks. I didn't take that well and had been thinking about leaving for a while because of a few other things but that was the final straw. Around this point all my friends were talking about University but I was never good at school so I was undetermined to go but I wanted to continue study. The only subject I did well at school was Theology so I thought I might go to Bible college to study it academically in a Christian environment. To cut what has been a lot longer than initially expected that's where I am now. I'm in my final year of Bible college studying for Christian ministry. The way that my life has been shaped leads me to the belief that God saved me for a reason when I was a baby. I hope that through faithful service I can change hearts just as God's changed mine. I'm not perfect but I want to share the love given to me. TLDR; I believe in Christ because he forgave my guilt.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemjpa8

I'm always wary of posting stuff on the net like this but seeing as it's what's being asked I'll proceed. Excuse the absolute wall of writing. Here we go. Shortly after I was born my parents were told that they should be prepared for the worst. I was born with pneumonia I think. If I'm wrong it was something very similar and the long and short of it is that I had a few days at best. My dad was obviously upset but determined to not let that happen. He took the news back to the church he was attending at that point and asked them to fast and pray. I began to recover and the doctors were baffled by my hasty, and not to mention miraculous, recovery. Jump forward a few years and I was at a holiday club held at a church and the leader asked us all if any of us would like to become a christian. Something in me said yes. On reflection, I think I knew it would be tough but knew God's love. I was probably about 6 or 7 at this point. When I was 9 the children's worker at church asked if my sister and I, who was 6 at the time, would like to be baptised. Dad must have explained it to me or I already knew about it. I said I'd love to be and I was baptised on easter day. I've often described both of these events as the happiest moments of my life so far and you'll learn why soon enough. I was quite insecure as a teenager and struggled mostly with wanting to be noticed by people, specifically girls. This led to lot's of problems with self image. I'm not exactly the skinniest of men and it didn't help that I was a bit estranged from most as I'm really into videogames and pop-culture. I had friends don't get me wrong but I always looked for something a lot more than that. I started going to a baptist church with a friend of mine and soon started dating a really nice girl but we went for it purely for teenage hormones rather than because we enjoyed each others company. It ended quickly and sourly. I felt horrible for a good while and completely broke down. I left the church for about 3 months and started speaking to a family friend about it. She was so kind and generous to me, really picked me up and years later is still there for me and I've had the privilege of doing the same for her since. I started going to church with her but the minister was accused of being greedy (wrongly in my opinion) because he ran another job alongside his church work. To avoid politics my family left the church. I was attending church still but I was also attending a drama group that were constantly trying to get me to break my morals which at this point had become partially nominal. I was also playing D&D with a group of guys who were constantly trying to get me into a relationship, but their motivations weren't the most pure. The drama group dragged me down a lot, they all would get drunk which I was less than comfortable with but went along with it because I wanted them all to be safe and have a good time. I began to fall and fast as the temptations of the lustful group grew stronger and stronger, stealing my innocence from me. I never had sex, but I did a lot of things I knew were bad for me. I had a lot of guilt and nowhere to take it. I ended up in a new group of friends in Sixth form and they were all Christians. I started going to their church set up a christian union and began to try to sort out my lusts. In England we have an event called 'Soul Survivor' which is a youth event set up by a church in Watford. I went along with these friends and the first week there asked for prayer for my guilt. After a few minutes of prayer I felt grace like a single drop of water and once again I knew Christ's love, whom died for me on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins. It didn't matter what I'd done, but rather, what he'd done. Skip forward a year and I'm still at this church. This was a church run mostly by people my own age, so roughly 16-18. I soon learned that they needed some better leadership as one of the youngest leader told my best friend that he was causing his gf's panic attacks. I didn't take that well and had been thinking about leaving for a while because of a few other things but that was the final straw. Around this point all my friends were talking about University but I was never good at school so I was undetermined to go but I wanted to continue study. The only subject I did well at school was Theology so I thought I might go to Bible college to study it academically in a Christian environment. To cut what has been a lot longer than initially expected that's where I am now. I'm in my final year of Bible college studying for Christian ministry. The way that my life has been shaped leads me to the belief that God saved me for a reason when I was a baby. I hope that through faithful service I can change hearts just as God's changed mine. I'm not perfect but I want to share the love given to me.

I believe in Christ because he forgave my guilt.

Neo0311

Why don't I believe in Religion? It's make no sense, Theirs no evidence. I'm going to try not to attack any religion. [First reason]( and second [Second reason]( Why so many? Why do people believe in (What to me looks like to be later revisions of the same ideas) a new religion. Why was the last one wrong? They didn't talk to god? Did you just not like something about it? Before anyone says it (They fallowed the wrong god/false prophets.) How can you tell anyone, Even you self, that this revision of god is correct? How do you know you're not being tricked by a new false prophet? How can you define what god is when no one has seen him or talk to him (?In thousand of years?)? Does this mean he doesn't exist, no, but I'm not looking to disprove that which is not real (Fools quest). Just think critically about what you read and heard, ask question's, do research. [Third]( Your god wants you to go and kill the people who believe something just a little different then you. Foruth:[Cafeteria Christianity](Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cafeteria_Christianity) I went to church, but I stopped, despite that its been a 15+ years since I've bothered to read the bible or go to church, but most poeple don't seem to know their own religious teachings, and I find that most religious people I know do NOT fallow. fifth: The logic behind god being omnipotent, all knowing, and responsible for everything that happens. That simply is not true. Unless god wants us to sin and go to hell.]( Going with that logic more, God wanted all the jew's dead. Just saying. Sixth: Earth and hell would be pointless. Just make your creatures with good intent. Last but not least Science and medicine. If an(All power, all knowing) god wanted you to die from Tetanus you would. Also the universe wouldn't need to be as complicated as it is. We wouldn't need to be as complicated as we are now. TL:DR Their is no logic behind any of it.

Why don't I believe in Religion? It's make no sense, Theirs no evidence. I'm going to try not to attack any religion. First reason a new religion. Why was the last one wrong? They didn't talk to god? Did you just not like something about it? Before anyone says it (They fallowed the wrong god/false prophets.) How can you tell anyone, Even you self, that this revision of god is correct? How do you know you're not being tricked by a new false prophet? How can you define what god is when no one has seen him or talk to him (?In thousand of years?)? Does this mean he doesn't exist, no, but I'm not looking to disprove that which is not real (Fools quest). Just think critically about what you read and heard, ask question's, do research. [Third]( Your god wants you to go and kill the people who believe something just a little different then you. Foruth: Cafeteria Christianity I went to church, but I stopped, despite that its been a 15+ years since I've bothered to read the bible or go to church, but most poeple don't seem to know their own religious teachings, and I find that most religious people I know do NOT fallow. fifth: The logic behind god being omnipotent, all knowing, and responsible for everything that happens. That simply is not true. Unless god wants us to sin and go to hell.]( Going with that logic more, God wanted all the jew's dead. Just saying. Sixth: Earth and hell would be pointless. Just make your creatures with good intent. Last but not least Science and medicine. If an(All power, all knowing) god wanted you to die from Tetanus you would. Also the universe wouldn't need to be as complicated as it is. We wouldn't need to be as complicated as we are now. TL:DR Their is no logic behind any of it.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemjpuh

Why don't I believe in Religion? It's make no sense, Theirs no evidence. I'm going to try not to attack any religion. First reason a new religion. Why was the last one wrong? They didn't talk to god? Did you just not like something about it? Before anyone says it (They fallowed the wrong god/false prophets.) How can you tell anyone, Even you self, that this revision of god is correct? How do you know you're not being tricked by a new false prophet? How can you define what god is when no one has seen him or talk to him (?In thousand of years?)? Does this mean he doesn't exist, no, but I'm not looking to disprove that which is not real (Fools quest). Just think critically about what you read and heard, ask question's, do research. [Third]( Your god wants you to go and kill the people who believe something just a little different then you. Foruth: Cafeteria Christianity I went to church, but I stopped, despite that its been a 15+ years since I've bothered to read the bible or go to church, but most poeple don't seem to know their own religious teachings, and I find that most religious people I know do NOT fallow. fifth: The logic behind god being omnipotent, all knowing, and responsible for everything that happens. That simply is not true. Unless god wants us to sin and go to hell.]( Going with that logic more, God wanted all the jew's dead. Just saying. Sixth: Earth and hell would be pointless. Just make your creatures with good intent. Last but not least Science and medicine. If an(All power, all knowing) god wanted you to die from Tetanus you would. Also the universe wouldn't need to be as complicated as it is. We wouldn't need to be as complicated as we are now.

Their is no logic behind any of it.

CheapShotKO

Religion is for intelligent people who recognize reality. The truth, even from religious perspectives, is that everything in the physical world is going to die eventually. Atheists know and admit to this. However, atheists are also hypocrites, and call atheism "the truth." Minerals don't care about truth; they don't think at all. The only reason people care about the "truth" is so they can be right and "prove" something wrong. Again, right and wrong are two specific human emotions. Atheists care about "being right" so that they can "further humanity, without the constraints of religion." Humanity and whatever spawns from it are not going to be around forever. When life is gone, even just intelligent life, what is "furthering humanity" going to do? Nothing. The rocks aren't going to care how many thousands of years humanity managed to survive, or what it managed to produce. Nothing will be around to acknowledge or care about life, let alone human life. So knowing that "furthering humanity" as a non-religious goal has no REAL truth to it, what is the point? There is none. The whole "truth" behind atheism is "realizing" that life is pointless, and just a temporary struggle to survive. The lie that "Atheism sets people free" is a lie people tell themselves because they're afraid to die and want to feel "in control" of the way they die. If that statement were not true, why do true atheists bother with atheism at all? If they ACTUALLY recognize the fact that everyone is dead and their lives are pointless, whether they do good or bad or build incredible civilizations or sit on their ass, if they recognize it is all going to be pointless when no one can see or hear about what humanity has done, why WOULDN'T they like religion, or like faking a belief until they actually believe it? I'll tell you; it's because they think that somehow, some where, there is an escape for them in it. Why else do you hear all of this, "I'm an atheist....but when my daughter died...I still prayed she went to heaven." ?? People don't WANT things they love to go away, so if it is going to happen anyway, TO EVERYONE, what is the fucking point? Again, when everything is dead, no one is going to care if you "furthered" humanity, because *perception will not exist.* So from the atheist perspective: "Why delude yourself and tie yourself down to religion?" To that, I say: Why the fuck not? Nothing is going to survive. With plenty of positive religious beliefs out there, including ones that recognize reality and try to think beyond it, the only reason to not pick (or invent) a religion is that you're an idiot or a masochist. You can fake it until your brain believes it. You can make yourself and your community a happier place. You can believe you're going somewhere wonderful when you die, and it costs you nothing. So why not?! Because your mommy and daddy weren't perfect and you hated your church as a kid? Or Ahmed from across the ocean killed a woman? Well, you were an idiot as a kid, you don't have to go to church, and you have not and will likely NEVER MEET Ahmed from across the ocean. So the fucks you currently give about religious issues? Third hand and pointless. Pick the rules you like that will make you feel good as a person and that will surround you with good people who like you, and just stick with those. Pick things that YOU think will make YOU a better person. That is more than most of the idiots in this world do. TL;DR Atheists are as smart as they sound; that's not a compliment. Pick religious beliefs YOU like that make YOU better, and stop worrying about stupid atheists and stupid Christians and stupid Muslims or stupid Buddhists with their non-bug-killing philosophy. Don't get me wrong, I love a lot of Buddhist philosophy, but I bet those guys don't have many temples in Australia, if you catch my drift. Recognize reality and choose the best that's being offered.

Religion is for intelligent people who recognize reality. The truth, even from religious perspectives, is that everything in the physical world is going to die eventually. Atheists know and admit to this. However, atheists are also hypocrites, and call atheism "the truth." Minerals don't care about truth; they don't think at all. The only reason people care about the "truth" is so they can be right and "prove" something wrong. Again, right and wrong are two specific human emotions. Atheists care about "being right" so that they can "further humanity, without the constraints of religion." Humanity and whatever spawns from it are not going to be around forever. When life is gone, even just intelligent life, what is "furthering humanity" going to do? Nothing. The rocks aren't going to care how many thousands of years humanity managed to survive, or what it managed to produce. Nothing will be around to acknowledge or care about life, let alone human life. So knowing that "furthering humanity" as a non-religious goal has no REAL truth to it, what is the point? There is none. The whole "truth" behind atheism is "realizing" that life is pointless, and just a temporary struggle to survive. The lie that "Atheism sets people free" is a lie people tell themselves because they're afraid to die and want to feel "in control" of the way they die. If that statement were not true, why do true atheists bother with atheism at all? If they ACTUALLY recognize the fact that everyone is dead and their lives are pointless, whether they do good or bad or build incredible civilizations or sit on their ass, if they recognize it is all going to be pointless when no one can see or hear about what humanity has done, why WOULDN'T they like religion, or like faking a belief until they actually believe it? I'll tell you; it's because they think that somehow, some where, there is an escape for them in it. Why else do you hear all of this, "I'm an atheist....but when my daughter died...I still prayed she went to heaven." ?? People don't WANT things they love to go away, so if it is going to happen anyway, TO EVERYONE, what is the fucking point? Again, when everything is dead, no one is going to care if you "furthered" humanity, because perception will not exist. So from the atheist perspective: "Why delude yourself and tie yourself down to religion?" To that, I say: Why the fuck not? Nothing is going to survive. With plenty of positive religious beliefs out there, including ones that recognize reality and try to think beyond it, the only reason to not pick (or invent) a religion is that you're an idiot or a masochist. You can fake it until your brain believes it. You can make yourself and your community a happier place. You can believe you're going somewhere wonderful when you die, and it costs you nothing. So why not?! Because your mommy and daddy weren't perfect and you hated your church as a kid? Or Ahmed from across the ocean killed a woman? Well, you were an idiot as a kid, you don't have to go to church, and you have not and will likely NEVER MEET Ahmed from across the ocean. So the fucks you currently give about religious issues? Third hand and pointless. Pick the rules you like that will make you feel good as a person and that will surround you with good people who like you, and just stick with those. Pick things that YOU think will make YOU a better person. That is more than most of the idiots in this world do. TL;DR Atheists are as smart as they sound; that's not a compliment. Pick religious beliefs YOU like that make YOU better, and stop worrying about stupid atheists and stupid Christians and stupid Muslims or stupid Buddhists with their non-bug-killing philosophy. Don't get me wrong, I love a lot of Buddhist philosophy, but I bet those guys don't have many temples in Australia, if you catch my drift. Recognize reality and choose the best that's being offered.

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t5_2qh1i

cemk8bx

Religion is for intelligent people who recognize reality. The truth, even from religious perspectives, is that everything in the physical world is going to die eventually. Atheists know and admit to this. However, atheists are also hypocrites, and call atheism "the truth." Minerals don't care about truth; they don't think at all. The only reason people care about the "truth" is so they can be right and "prove" something wrong. Again, right and wrong are two specific human emotions. Atheists care about "being right" so that they can "further humanity, without the constraints of religion." Humanity and whatever spawns from it are not going to be around forever. When life is gone, even just intelligent life, what is "furthering humanity" going to do? Nothing. The rocks aren't going to care how many thousands of years humanity managed to survive, or what it managed to produce. Nothing will be around to acknowledge or care about life, let alone human life. So knowing that "furthering humanity" as a non-religious goal has no REAL truth to it, what is the point? There is none. The whole "truth" behind atheism is "realizing" that life is pointless, and just a temporary struggle to survive. The lie that "Atheism sets people free" is a lie people tell themselves because they're afraid to die and want to feel "in control" of the way they die. If that statement were not true, why do true atheists bother with atheism at all? If they ACTUALLY recognize the fact that everyone is dead and their lives are pointless, whether they do good or bad or build incredible civilizations or sit on their ass, if they recognize it is all going to be pointless when no one can see or hear about what humanity has done, why WOULDN'T they like religion, or like faking a belief until they actually believe it? I'll tell you; it's because they think that somehow, some where, there is an escape for them in it. Why else do you hear all of this, "I'm an atheist....but when my daughter died...I still prayed she went to heaven." ?? People don't WANT things they love to go away, so if it is going to happen anyway, TO EVERYONE, what is the fucking point? Again, when everything is dead, no one is going to care if you "furthered" humanity, because perception will not exist. So from the atheist perspective: "Why delude yourself and tie yourself down to religion?" To that, I say: Why the fuck not? Nothing is going to survive. With plenty of positive religious beliefs out there, including ones that recognize reality and try to think beyond it, the only reason to not pick (or invent) a religion is that you're an idiot or a masochist. You can fake it until your brain believes it. You can make yourself and your community a happier place. You can believe you're going somewhere wonderful when you die, and it costs you nothing. So why not?! Because your mommy and daddy weren't perfect and you hated your church as a kid? Or Ahmed from across the ocean killed a woman? Well, you were an idiot as a kid, you don't have to go to church, and you have not and will likely NEVER MEET Ahmed from across the ocean. So the fucks you currently give about religious issues? Third hand and pointless. Pick the rules you like that will make you feel good as a person and that will surround you with good people who like you, and just stick with those. Pick things that YOU think will make YOU a better person. That is more than most of the idiots in this world do.

Atheists are as smart as they sound; that's not a compliment. Pick religious beliefs YOU like that make YOU better, and stop worrying about stupid atheists and stupid Christians and stupid Muslims or stupid Buddhists with their non-bug-killing philosophy. Don't get me wrong, I love a lot of Buddhist philosophy, but I bet those guys don't have many temples in Australia, if you catch my drift. Recognize reality and choose the best that's being offered.

s7ae1k3r

This, a thousand times. Raised Christian for the most part, started thinking about it in Middle School, decided it wasn't for me. Then I started noticing all of these bullies that just treated everyone like shit, but on Sundays went to church and got to feel a good and warm inside. Fuck that. TL;DR Religion doesn't change the face that "people aren't against you; they're for themselves." And it should.

This, a thousand times. Raised Christian for the most part, started thinking about it in Middle School, decided it wasn't for me. Then I started noticing all of these bullies that just treated everyone like shit, but on Sundays went to church and got to feel a good and warm inside. Fuck that. TL;DR Religion doesn't change the face that "people aren't against you; they're for themselves." And it should.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemkjr6

This, a thousand times. Raised Christian for the most part, started thinking about it in Middle School, decided it wasn't for me. Then I started noticing all of these bullies that just treated everyone like shit, but on Sundays went to church and got to feel a good and warm inside. Fuck that.

Religion doesn't change the face that "people aren't against you; they're for themselves." And it should.

Shepard-of-Fire

I don't believe in any religions because I think it is a way of controlling the masses. Christianity for example, is full of people who twist the bible to suit their own needs. (in my opinion, there's quite a lot of people, not everyone though) I saw a post on r/atheism (can't find link) where someone said that in accordance to the ten commandments, which is the worst? 1- shouting 'Jesus Christ when you stub your toe... 2- raping your baby sister Now in the ten commandments, it mentions number one being the worst thing to do, but it does not mention anything about rape? Obviously rape is worse. tl:dr I don't believe in any form of religion and if there are any mistakes or anything, grammar Nazis can leave me be, I'm too tired for this crap.

I don't believe in any religions because I think it is a way of controlling the masses. Christianity for example, is full of people who twist the bible to suit their own needs. (in my opinion, there's quite a lot of people, not everyone though) I saw a post on r/atheism (can't find link) where someone said that in accordance to the ten commandments, which is the worst? 1- shouting 'Jesus Christ when you stub your toe... 2- raping your baby sister Now in the ten commandments, it mentions number one being the worst thing to do, but it does not mention anything about rape? Obviously rape is worse. tl:dr I don't believe in any form of religion and if there are any mistakes or anything, grammar Nazis can leave me be, I'm too tired for this crap.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemkym4

I don't believe in any religions because I think it is a way of controlling the masses. Christianity for example, is full of people who twist the bible to suit their own needs. (in my opinion, there's quite a lot of people, not everyone though) I saw a post on r/atheism (can't find link) where someone said that in accordance to the ten commandments, which is the worst? 1- shouting 'Jesus Christ when you stub your toe... 2- raping your baby sister Now in the ten commandments, it mentions number one being the worst thing to do, but it does not mention anything about rape? Obviously rape is worse.

I don't believe in any form of religion and if there are any mistakes or anything, grammar Nazis can leave me be, I'm too tired for this crap.

Djentleguy95

I was raised in church at a young age with my parents being children's pastor. But then one Sunday, we just stopped going all together. I lived my childhood after that hanging out with some bad people, and then started my pornography addiction. At age 11, I was pretty bad at it. Watching it every single day after school with parents at work. I was always the "good kid", as most people told me that I was because I was really respectful of my elders. Around age 14 or 15, I almost got arrested for reasons I would like to keep private. I was sleeping when my mother bursts in my room screaming at me, crying her eyes out, telling me that the police are here to see me. The amount of guilt that followed after that day was unbearable and I thought about suicide on a daily basis because I couldn't stand to look at my mom and see the disappointment in her face. Anyway, around age 17, I met this amazing girl. Let's call her, Julie. She showed me affection and was one of the few girls that actually liked me. Sex wasn't really in my head because of fear of what happened 2 or 3 years back. Even if I wanted to, we wouldn't because she is a devout Christian. We talked a ton, but the subject of Church always found it's way in our conversation and it annoyed me because people at church didn't really like me. But eventually I did end up going because of her being stubborn at times. I went even though I was terrified and nervous has heck. But I loved it. The people there were really loving, although some people still looked at me bad, but I just paid no attention to them. I eventually wound up giving my life to Jesus. It was so amazing because I felt that guilt of my stupid mistakes in the past lift off of my chest. I tried very hard, from then on, to restore the bridges that were very nasty with a ton of people. I've seen and experienced too much to call God fake. tl;dr Guy who did really stupid things and found life in Jesus.

I was raised in church at a young age with my parents being children's pastor. But then one Sunday, we just stopped going all together. I lived my childhood after that hanging out with some bad people, and then started my pornography addiction. At age 11, I was pretty bad at it. Watching it every single day after school with parents at work. I was always the "good kid", as most people told me that I was because I was really respectful of my elders. Around age 14 or 15, I almost got arrested for reasons I would like to keep private. I was sleeping when my mother bursts in my room screaming at me, crying her eyes out, telling me that the police are here to see me. The amount of guilt that followed after that day was unbearable and I thought about suicide on a daily basis because I couldn't stand to look at my mom and see the disappointment in her face. Anyway, around age 17, I met this amazing girl. Let's call her, Julie. She showed me affection and was one of the few girls that actually liked me. Sex wasn't really in my head because of fear of what happened 2 or 3 years back. Even if I wanted to, we wouldn't because she is a devout Christian. We talked a ton, but the subject of Church always found it's way in our conversation and it annoyed me because people at church didn't really like me. But eventually I did end up going because of her being stubborn at times. I went even though I was terrified and nervous has heck. But I loved it. The people there were really loving, although some people still looked at me bad, but I just paid no attention to them. I eventually wound up giving my life to Jesus. It was so amazing because I felt that guilt of my stupid mistakes in the past lift off of my chest. I tried very hard, from then on, to restore the bridges that were very nasty with a ton of people. I've seen and experienced too much to call God fake. tl;dr Guy who did really stupid things and found life in Jesus.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemkz08

I was raised in church at a young age with my parents being children's pastor. But then one Sunday, we just stopped going all together. I lived my childhood after that hanging out with some bad people, and then started my pornography addiction. At age 11, I was pretty bad at it. Watching it every single day after school with parents at work. I was always the "good kid", as most people told me that I was because I was really respectful of my elders. Around age 14 or 15, I almost got arrested for reasons I would like to keep private. I was sleeping when my mother bursts in my room screaming at me, crying her eyes out, telling me that the police are here to see me. The amount of guilt that followed after that day was unbearable and I thought about suicide on a daily basis because I couldn't stand to look at my mom and see the disappointment in her face. Anyway, around age 17, I met this amazing girl. Let's call her, Julie. She showed me affection and was one of the few girls that actually liked me. Sex wasn't really in my head because of fear of what happened 2 or 3 years back. Even if I wanted to, we wouldn't because she is a devout Christian. We talked a ton, but the subject of Church always found it's way in our conversation and it annoyed me because people at church didn't really like me. But eventually I did end up going because of her being stubborn at times. I went even though I was terrified and nervous has heck. But I loved it. The people there were really loving, although some people still looked at me bad, but I just paid no attention to them. I eventually wound up giving my life to Jesus. It was so amazing because I felt that guilt of my stupid mistakes in the past lift off of my chest. I tried very hard, from then on, to restore the bridges that were very nasty with a ton of people. I've seen and experienced too much to call God fake.

Guy who did really stupid things and found life in Jesus.

Nutella_Sandwich

You're absolutely right, but that's irrelevant. We're talking specifically about the quote: >If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. It supposes that there are unjust Gods and that you do believe in them, as many people do. And those people all fear hell because they believe in hell. I just think it reeks of tarragon to think you would be one of the minority of people to actually stand up to a God while genuinely believing your punishment would be an eternity in hell. Again, it's easy to take that stance if you don't believe the punishment is real to begin with (which was the point of my initial post). It's kind of reminiscent of the bystander effect, various other psychological experiments and numerous brutal and barbaric moments in history. Everyone says "that wouldn't be me", but experiments show that this is usually false. If you actually believe in an omnipotent being judging you and truly had the fear of hell struck into you and accepted it as reality, I highly doubt you wouldn't be on your knees praying to your God. Same goes for 99% of the people that praise that quote. TL;DR: You can take that stance because you have the convenience of not believing.

You're absolutely right, but that's irrelevant. We're talking specifically about the quote: >If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. It supposes that there are unjust Gods and that you do believe in them, as many people do. And those people all fear hell because they believe in hell. I just think it reeks of tarragon to think you would be one of the minority of people to actually stand up to a God while genuinely believing your punishment would be an eternity in hell. Again, it's easy to take that stance if you don't believe the punishment is real to begin with (which was the point of my initial post). It's kind of reminiscent of the bystander effect, various other psychological experiments and numerous brutal and barbaric moments in history. Everyone says "that wouldn't be me", but experiments show that this is usually false. If you actually believe in an omnipotent being judging you and truly had the fear of hell struck into you and accepted it as reality, I highly doubt you wouldn't be on your knees praying to your God. Same goes for 99% of the people that praise that quote. TL;DR: You can take that stance because you have the convenience of not believing.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemlldh

You're absolutely right, but that's irrelevant. We're talking specifically about the quote: >If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. It supposes that there are unjust Gods and that you do believe in them, as many people do. And those people all fear hell because they believe in hell. I just think it reeks of tarragon to think you would be one of the minority of people to actually stand up to a God while genuinely believing your punishment would be an eternity in hell. Again, it's easy to take that stance if you don't believe the punishment is real to begin with (which was the point of my initial post). It's kind of reminiscent of the bystander effect, various other psychological experiments and numerous brutal and barbaric moments in history. Everyone says "that wouldn't be me", but experiments show that this is usually false. If you actually believe in an omnipotent being judging you and truly had the fear of hell struck into you and accepted it as reality, I highly doubt you wouldn't be on your knees praying to your God. Same goes for 99% of the people that praise that quote.

You can take that stance because you have the convenience of not believing.

Presidential_Mudkip

I'm an atheist (so is like 90% of this thread) but I totally agree with you. I was raised catholic but I saw the same things that you noted (complete hypocrisy in the teachings of Jesus) which made me totally uninterested in religion. Although I'm an atheist I still think the ideas of loving your neighbor and most things from the 2nd testament are a great way to live by. If Jesus existed then he was one smart guy. If not, the people that wrote the 2nd testament were genius (I'll get to this later). IMHO, I think that if Christianity wants to survive in today's world with the changing views, they need to ditch the 1st testament. To me, the 1st and 2nd testaments contradict each other a lot and I only see hate come from the 1st (discrimination against gays, women as second class citizens, murder, war, ect). Correct me if I'm wrong but its not very often you see Jesus quoted saying things against gender, race, sexuality, ect. Not only that but a lot of the scriptures in the 1st testament were just very hard to believe. God seemed like a totally different person. He burned cities and cleared the way for "his people", the people he chose to bring to heaven (the hebrew people). Jesus, or whoever wrote the 2nd testament and stories of Jesus, must have seen this and wanted things to change. They read the scriptures and they probably didn't agree. They saw God as a loving being and people needed to know that they needed to love as well. This is why they are genius. Earlier I said I became totally uninterested in religion. While its true I don't believe in a supreme being, I don't think its fair to lump religion with church. I think church is a lot worse than religion itself. Religion is just faith, believing in something more. Church (this being the head organization of a given religion) is much different. As you may be able to tell, I am sort of directing this at Catholicism specifically yet this still may apply to the church of many other religions. I've heard it said better by other people but church is man made. The holy books are man made. So much is man made that there isn't really a way to tell if what you read or are being taught is really true. Does god really hate _____? Will he send them to hell? No. That's just dumb. Church gained power and became corrupt. The catholic church still tries to recover from the backlash it gets. Just like what you said, I think a lot of people leave religion because church ruined it for them. I think its fine for someone to say "I believe in God (or a god, or multiple gods) but I do not believe in (insert religion said deity is from)". I could go on with my own experience in church/mass and how i felt it all felt fake/I was trying to get a ticket to heaven by showing up but I think this thread covered that well. **TL;DR** 2nd testament has some good ideas, 1st testament is crazy and filled with hate. Church is man made while religion is just your belief. It's fine to believe in a supreme being but stay away from organized religion (church)

I'm an atheist (so is like 90% of this thread) but I totally agree with you. I was raised catholic but I saw the same things that you noted (complete hypocrisy in the teachings of Jesus) which made me totally uninterested in religion. Although I'm an atheist I still think the ideas of loving your neighbor and most things from the 2nd testament are a great way to live by. If Jesus existed then he was one smart guy. If not, the people that wrote the 2nd testament were genius (I'll get to this later). IMHO, I think that if Christianity wants to survive in today's world with the changing views, they need to ditch the 1st testament. To me, the 1st and 2nd testaments contradict each other a lot and I only see hate come from the 1st (discrimination against gays, women as second class citizens, murder, war, ect). Correct me if I'm wrong but its not very often you see Jesus quoted saying things against gender, race, sexuality, ect. Not only that but a lot of the scriptures in the 1st testament were just very hard to believe. God seemed like a totally different person. He burned cities and cleared the way for "his people", the people he chose to bring to heaven (the hebrew people). Jesus, or whoever wrote the 2nd testament and stories of Jesus, must have seen this and wanted things to change. They read the scriptures and they probably didn't agree. They saw God as a loving being and people needed to know that they needed to love as well. This is why they are genius. Earlier I said I became totally uninterested in religion. While its true I don't believe in a supreme being, I don't think its fair to lump religion with church. I think church is a lot worse than religion itself. Religion is just faith, believing in something more. Church (this being the head organization of a given religion) is much different. As you may be able to tell, I am sort of directing this at Catholicism specifically yet this still may apply to the church of many other religions. I've heard it said better by other people but church is man made. The holy books are man made. So much is man made that there isn't really a way to tell if what you read or are being taught is really true. Does god really hate _ ? Will he send them to hell? No. That's just dumb. Church gained power and became corrupt. The catholic church still tries to recover from the backlash it gets. Just like what you said, I think a lot of people leave religion because church ruined it for them. I think its fine for someone to say "I believe in God (or a god, or multiple gods) but I do not believe in (insert religion said deity is from)". I could go on with my own experience in church/mass and how i felt it all felt fake/I was trying to get a ticket to heaven by showing up but I think this thread covered that well. TL;DR 2nd testament has some good ideas, 1st testament is crazy and filled with hate. Church is man made while religion is just your belief. It's fine to believe in a supreme being but stay away from organized religion (church)

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t5_2qh1i

cemlzyk

I'm an atheist (so is like 90% of this thread) but I totally agree with you. I was raised catholic but I saw the same things that you noted (complete hypocrisy in the teachings of Jesus) which made me totally uninterested in religion. Although I'm an atheist I still think the ideas of loving your neighbor and most things from the 2nd testament are a great way to live by. If Jesus existed then he was one smart guy. If not, the people that wrote the 2nd testament were genius (I'll get to this later). IMHO, I think that if Christianity wants to survive in today's world with the changing views, they need to ditch the 1st testament. To me, the 1st and 2nd testaments contradict each other a lot and I only see hate come from the 1st (discrimination against gays, women as second class citizens, murder, war, ect). Correct me if I'm wrong but its not very often you see Jesus quoted saying things against gender, race, sexuality, ect. Not only that but a lot of the scriptures in the 1st testament were just very hard to believe. God seemed like a totally different person. He burned cities and cleared the way for "his people", the people he chose to bring to heaven (the hebrew people). Jesus, or whoever wrote the 2nd testament and stories of Jesus, must have seen this and wanted things to change. They read the scriptures and they probably didn't agree. They saw God as a loving being and people needed to know that they needed to love as well. This is why they are genius. Earlier I said I became totally uninterested in religion. While its true I don't believe in a supreme being, I don't think its fair to lump religion with church. I think church is a lot worse than religion itself. Religion is just faith, believing in something more. Church (this being the head organization of a given religion) is much different. As you may be able to tell, I am sort of directing this at Catholicism specifically yet this still may apply to the church of many other religions. I've heard it said better by other people but church is man made. The holy books are man made. So much is man made that there isn't really a way to tell if what you read or are being taught is really true. Does god really hate _ ? Will he send them to hell? No. That's just dumb. Church gained power and became corrupt. The catholic church still tries to recover from the backlash it gets. Just like what you said, I think a lot of people leave religion because church ruined it for them. I think its fine for someone to say "I believe in God (or a god, or multiple gods) but I do not believe in (insert religion said deity is from)". I could go on with my own experience in church/mass and how i felt it all felt fake/I was trying to get a ticket to heaven by showing up but I think this thread covered that well.

2nd testament has some good ideas, 1st testament is crazy and filled with hate. Church is man made while religion is just your belief. It's fine to believe in a supreme being but stay away from organized religion (church)

disashyk

It all started when my aunt got pregnant. She was due on April. 3 months before she gave birth to her unborn child the doctor did a scan. The scan showed that the baby had his umbilical cord coiled around his neck. The doctor said it wasn’t a big deal, and that they would do the scan again when the contractions started to check if the baby is still in that state. If the baby was still in the same state, the doctor said he would adjust and stuff before proceeding with the giving birth part. I was a pretty unfaithful Muslim. I had lost all my faith in God. I was living as if I was an atheist. I didn’t care much about life and my existence. It was somewhat ironic that my aunt’s contractions started on the 1st of April. April fools day. Cause the universe was about to fool us in the most horrible way I could possibly imagine. It was the day everything changed. The contractions that my aunt was having were not very frequent and strong. So she was acting cool and stuff. Suddenly the doctor appeared and wanted to start the procedure. He burst the Amniotic sac himself and tried to hurry the baby out. The baby came out with the cord tangled around his neck. My aunt passed out. At this moment the people outside the room knew very little we had deduced from the worried looks of the nurses that something was wrong. We asked them and they said that the baby and the mother were dying. The hospital we were in didn’t have an intensive care unit. So the baby and my aunt were rushed to another hospital nearby. The people there told us that the mother was getting better and that the baby was in pretty bad shape. They informed us of the health of the baby. Since the cord coiled around the neck of the baby when he came out, it cut the blood supply to the brain and the baby didn’t cry so he couldn’t also breathe on his own. His liver and kidneys were badly damaged. Well the doctor there told us that the baby was suffering from the worst case of Cerebral Palsy. I got super depressed about it. My whole family was. I even thought about committing suicide. But then I had the chance to see the baby. After two months in ICU family members were allowed to see the baby, only once though. They didn’t tell us why. I figured that the baby was going to die soon and this was our chance to say goodbye. Oh my… the baby looked beautiful; he had extremely bright skin, and an unimaginably cute face. I stayed there for as long as I could, just watching his lungs sync with the machine next to him. It was what changed my life. This little baby changed my perception of everything. He died that week. I cried a lot. Cause he was just a baby and here I was a teenager who had thought of committing suicide after living so long. I decided that I would study everything about life. I had gone through so many books I looked upon so many religions. I finally found my purpose. When I did find the best religion out there, I wanted to live on it to the very core. Do everything it said everywhere and anywhere. People called me a “fundamentalist”. However I knew I was doing this for him. I still visit his grave every Friday and cry like a little baby in front of his grave. TL;DR : I'm sorry lazy people. I don't know how to shorten this story for you. Edit: I didnt get religious just because I witnessed something like this, but I actually found that God does exist. There are so many signs, our ignorance is blinding us and we dont see any of it.

It all started when my aunt got pregnant. She was due on April. 3 months before she gave birth to her unborn child the doctor did a scan. The scan showed that the baby had his umbilical cord coiled around his neck. The doctor said it wasn’t a big deal, and that they would do the scan again when the contractions started to check if the baby is still in that state. If the baby was still in the same state, the doctor said he would adjust and stuff before proceeding with the giving birth part. I was a pretty unfaithful Muslim. I had lost all my faith in God. I was living as if I was an atheist. I didn’t care much about life and my existence. It was somewhat ironic that my aunt’s contractions started on the 1st of April. April fools day. Cause the universe was about to fool us in the most horrible way I could possibly imagine. It was the day everything changed. The contractions that my aunt was having were not very frequent and strong. So she was acting cool and stuff. Suddenly the doctor appeared and wanted to start the procedure. He burst the Amniotic sac himself and tried to hurry the baby out. The baby came out with the cord tangled around his neck. My aunt passed out. At this moment the people outside the room knew very little we had deduced from the worried looks of the nurses that something was wrong. We asked them and they said that the baby and the mother were dying. The hospital we were in didn’t have an intensive care unit. So the baby and my aunt were rushed to another hospital nearby. The people there told us that the mother was getting better and that the baby was in pretty bad shape. They informed us of the health of the baby. Since the cord coiled around the neck of the baby when he came out, it cut the blood supply to the brain and the baby didn’t cry so he couldn’t also breathe on his own. His liver and kidneys were badly damaged. Well the doctor there told us that the baby was suffering from the worst case of Cerebral Palsy. I got super depressed about it. My whole family was. I even thought about committing suicide. But then I had the chance to see the baby. After two months in ICU family members were allowed to see the baby, only once though. They didn’t tell us why. I figured that the baby was going to die soon and this was our chance to say goodbye. Oh my… the baby looked beautiful; he had extremely bright skin, and an unimaginably cute face. I stayed there for as long as I could, just watching his lungs sync with the machine next to him. It was what changed my life. This little baby changed my perception of everything. He died that week. I cried a lot. Cause he was just a baby and here I was a teenager who had thought of committing suicide after living so long. I decided that I would study everything about life. I had gone through so many books I looked upon so many religions. I finally found my purpose. When I did find the best religion out there, I wanted to live on it to the very core. Do everything it said everywhere and anywhere. People called me a “fundamentalist”. However I knew I was doing this for him. I still visit his grave every Friday and cry like a little baby in front of his grave. TL;DR : I'm sorry lazy people. I don't know how to shorten this story for you. Edit: I didnt get religious just because I witnessed something like this, but I actually found that God does exist. There are so many signs, our ignorance is blinding us and we dont see any of it.

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t5_2qh1i

cemn9q7

It all started when my aunt got pregnant. She was due on April. 3 months before she gave birth to her unborn child the doctor did a scan. The scan showed that the baby had his umbilical cord coiled around his neck. The doctor said it wasn’t a big deal, and that they would do the scan again when the contractions started to check if the baby is still in that state. If the baby was still in the same state, the doctor said he would adjust and stuff before proceeding with the giving birth part. I was a pretty unfaithful Muslim. I had lost all my faith in God. I was living as if I was an atheist. I didn’t care much about life and my existence. It was somewhat ironic that my aunt’s contractions started on the 1st of April. April fools day. Cause the universe was about to fool us in the most horrible way I could possibly imagine. It was the day everything changed. The contractions that my aunt was having were not very frequent and strong. So she was acting cool and stuff. Suddenly the doctor appeared and wanted to start the procedure. He burst the Amniotic sac himself and tried to hurry the baby out. The baby came out with the cord tangled around his neck. My aunt passed out. At this moment the people outside the room knew very little we had deduced from the worried looks of the nurses that something was wrong. We asked them and they said that the baby and the mother were dying. The hospital we were in didn’t have an intensive care unit. So the baby and my aunt were rushed to another hospital nearby. The people there told us that the mother was getting better and that the baby was in pretty bad shape. They informed us of the health of the baby. Since the cord coiled around the neck of the baby when he came out, it cut the blood supply to the brain and the baby didn’t cry so he couldn’t also breathe on his own. His liver and kidneys were badly damaged. Well the doctor there told us that the baby was suffering from the worst case of Cerebral Palsy. I got super depressed about it. My whole family was. I even thought about committing suicide. But then I had the chance to see the baby. After two months in ICU family members were allowed to see the baby, only once though. They didn’t tell us why. I figured that the baby was going to die soon and this was our chance to say goodbye. Oh my… the baby looked beautiful; he had extremely bright skin, and an unimaginably cute face. I stayed there for as long as I could, just watching his lungs sync with the machine next to him. It was what changed my life. This little baby changed my perception of everything. He died that week. I cried a lot. Cause he was just a baby and here I was a teenager who had thought of committing suicide after living so long. I decided that I would study everything about life. I had gone through so many books I looked upon so many religions. I finally found my purpose. When I did find the best religion out there, I wanted to live on it to the very core. Do everything it said everywhere and anywhere. People called me a “fundamentalist”. However I knew I was doing this for him. I still visit his grave every Friday and cry like a little baby in front of his grave.

I'm sorry lazy people. I don't know how to shorten this story for you. Edit: I didnt get religious just because I witnessed something like this, but I actually found that God does exist. There are so many signs, our ignorance is blinding us and we dont see any of it.

tsaxjr

This thought reminds me of the best religious experience of my life. Preface: I have always been math oriented and its some me and my youth leader bonded over. One day, I come chuch bummed this -my whole religion, way of life, and thought - doesn't make sense...what am I to do. Nothing worse than teenage me having an existential crisis. My mentor was like make it. If this book, or the New Testament or the entire Bible had a set of axioms what be what conclusion do they draw. It took me five years to get through the whole thing, and I'm still working on it, but it's a fun project. It really brings together my religion and my love of analysis and philosophy. I can never thank mentor more than that moment. tl;dr:: It may not be logical in its given order, but it sure is fun to see if it can be and trying make it so.

This thought reminds me of the best religious experience of my life. Preface: I have always been math oriented and its some me and my youth leader bonded over. One day, I come chuch bummed this -my whole religion, way of life, and thought - doesn't make sense...what am I to do. Nothing worse than teenage me having an existential crisis. My mentor was like make it. If this book, or the New Testament or the entire Bible had a set of axioms what be what conclusion do they draw. It took me five years to get through the whole thing, and I'm still working on it, but it's a fun project. It really brings together my religion and my love of analysis and philosophy. I can never thank mentor more than that moment. tl;dr:: It may not be logical in its given order, but it sure is fun to see if it can be and trying make it so.

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t5_2qh1i

cemnhdb

This thought reminds me of the best religious experience of my life. Preface: I have always been math oriented and its some me and my youth leader bonded over. One day, I come chuch bummed this -my whole religion, way of life, and thought - doesn't make sense...what am I to do. Nothing worse than teenage me having an existential crisis. My mentor was like make it. If this book, or the New Testament or the entire Bible had a set of axioms what be what conclusion do they draw. It took me five years to get through the whole thing, and I'm still working on it, but it's a fun project. It really brings together my religion and my love of analysis and philosophy. I can never thank mentor more than that moment.

It may not be logical in its given order, but it sure is fun to see if it can be and trying make it so.

fcumbadass

Raised by, open, but atheist parents. Have never (luckily) had any horrible parts of my life where I've needed to search spiritually for some meaning, help or guidance, and I just don't understand the reasoning behind the horrid things religion leads to, like God punishing every person for Adam and Eve succumbing to the forbidden fruit. I know I sound pretty closed but religion, very recently, has baffled me, such as those "God hates fags" protests, going to soldiers funerals to picket about religion, I can get if you maybe want to push your beliefs onto others, I have that feeling sometime too, which is a vice, but a funeral is about respecting those who have lost their lives, despite religion, race, gender, sex or appearance. My morals are just be a good person, do to others and you want done to yourself (from the Bible I believe?), and to be open, honest and go through life with no regrets or enemies. TL;DR Upbringing, good life, religion baffles me, my morals be a good person.

Raised by, open, but atheist parents. Have never (luckily) had any horrible parts of my life where I've needed to search spiritually for some meaning, help or guidance, and I just don't understand the reasoning behind the horrid things religion leads to, like God punishing every person for Adam and Eve succumbing to the forbidden fruit. I know I sound pretty closed but religion, very recently, has baffled me, such as those "God hates fags" protests, going to soldiers funerals to picket about religion, I can get if you maybe want to push your beliefs onto others, I have that feeling sometime too, which is a vice, but a funeral is about respecting those who have lost their lives, despite religion, race, gender, sex or appearance. My morals are just be a good person, do to others and you want done to yourself (from the Bible I believe?), and to be open, honest and go through life with no regrets or enemies. TL;DR Upbringing, good life, religion baffles me, my morals be a good person.

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cemnkue

Raised by, open, but atheist parents. Have never (luckily) had any horrible parts of my life where I've needed to search spiritually for some meaning, help or guidance, and I just don't understand the reasoning behind the horrid things religion leads to, like God punishing every person for Adam and Eve succumbing to the forbidden fruit. I know I sound pretty closed but religion, very recently, has baffled me, such as those "God hates fags" protests, going to soldiers funerals to picket about religion, I can get if you maybe want to push your beliefs onto others, I have that feeling sometime too, which is a vice, but a funeral is about respecting those who have lost their lives, despite religion, race, gender, sex or appearance. My morals are just be a good person, do to others and you want done to yourself (from the Bible I believe?), and to be open, honest and go through life with no regrets or enemies.

Upbringing, good life, religion baffles me, my morals be a good person.

Snorgledork

First time admitting this to anyone but myself: I grew up religious. Parents were religious, took me to church every Sunday, and everything I learned was through the lens of religion. When thinking about what I wanted to do with my career (in fifth grade, because every grade schooler thinks about that kind of stuff), the only logical thing to do was to make religion my life. Therefore, I was determined to become a pastor. I went to college to be a youth pastor, and around my junior or senior year I couldn't ignore the fact that I didn't believe in all of it. Post grad, I stopped attending church, started really looking into my beliefs, and stopped believing. I haven't told my friends, my family, or my wife. How can I when I'm still so dependant on my parents, who paid for my college? But that's not all! Even thought I don't believe the teaching that I grew up with, I still believe in God. Why? Because I can't honestly answer why we are on this earth. If all we do is tied to electrical impulses in our brains, then what's the point of trying in life? I have to believe in a god in order to find a sense of purpose in my life. Therefore, I am agnostic. tl;dr: parents made me christian, turned agnostic when I finally learned to think for myself. also, bonus insight: I don't know if there's an afterlife, but if there is, I hope it's a state of ultimate enlightenment where I finally understand everything in the world.

First time admitting this to anyone but myself: I grew up religious. Parents were religious, took me to church every Sunday, and everything I learned was through the lens of religion. When thinking about what I wanted to do with my career (in fifth grade, because every grade schooler thinks about that kind of stuff), the only logical thing to do was to make religion my life. Therefore, I was determined to become a pastor. I went to college to be a youth pastor, and around my junior or senior year I couldn't ignore the fact that I didn't believe in all of it. Post grad, I stopped attending church, started really looking into my beliefs, and stopped believing. I haven't told my friends, my family, or my wife. How can I when I'm still so dependant on my parents, who paid for my college? But that's not all! Even thought I don't believe the teaching that I grew up with, I still believe in God. Why? Because I can't honestly answer why we are on this earth. If all we do is tied to electrical impulses in our brains, then what's the point of trying in life? I have to believe in a god in order to find a sense of purpose in my life. Therefore, I am agnostic. tl;dr: parents made me christian, turned agnostic when I finally learned to think for myself. also, bonus insight: I don't know if there's an afterlife, but if there is, I hope it's a state of ultimate enlightenment where I finally understand everything in the world.

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cemnyt1

First time admitting this to anyone but myself: I grew up religious. Parents were religious, took me to church every Sunday, and everything I learned was through the lens of religion. When thinking about what I wanted to do with my career (in fifth grade, because every grade schooler thinks about that kind of stuff), the only logical thing to do was to make religion my life. Therefore, I was determined to become a pastor. I went to college to be a youth pastor, and around my junior or senior year I couldn't ignore the fact that I didn't believe in all of it. Post grad, I stopped attending church, started really looking into my beliefs, and stopped believing. I haven't told my friends, my family, or my wife. How can I when I'm still so dependant on my parents, who paid for my college? But that's not all! Even thought I don't believe the teaching that I grew up with, I still believe in God. Why? Because I can't honestly answer why we are on this earth. If all we do is tied to electrical impulses in our brains, then what's the point of trying in life? I have to believe in a god in order to find a sense of purpose in my life. Therefore, I am agnostic.

parents made me christian, turned agnostic when I finally learned to think for myself. also, bonus insight: I don't know if there's an afterlife, but if there is, I hope it's a state of ultimate enlightenment where I finally understand everything in the world.

MajorBarbara

Despite being raised in a largely non-religious family, I was very interested in religion as a child and even begged my mom to sign me up for communion/confirmation classes (which she did not do). There are two memorable experiences that led me to be the Atheist I am today. The first is when I was ten years old and decided that, if no one was going to teach me about God, I was going to read the bible myself and see what it was all about. I got as far as Genesis 3:16, the part where God says "Your desire will be for your husband,and he will rule over you,” and decided that anything telling me that a man defines my life was bullshit. Afterwards, I still believed in God but affirmed that my faith was "personal" and that I didn't subscribe to any specific doctrine. I think I prayed about boys and getting skinny a lot. The second experience was shortly after I graduated high school, while I was traveling abroad with a friend. We went into this really beautiful church and because I was supposed to, I crossed myself and kneeled down a few minutes to pray. I was feeling particularly conscious of my actions as this friend knew me very well and yet had never seen me in a religious setting. She kind of wandered around while I was repeating some of the prayers my grandmother taught me, and I realized that she didn't have any spiritual connection to the church. I asked her "Don't you feel anything when you walk in? Like, special somehow?" She answered that yes, she felt special because churches reminded here of "how amazing it is that humans evolved into creatures that can build and paint places like this." After that moment, I began to evaluate my beliefs and tried to articulate what "God" meant to me. I realized that I always felt in-genuine about going to church, about crossing myself in front of my friend, because deep down I always thought it was a show. My trivial, half-hearted prayers were a mix of tradition and naive hope that a santa-like figure in the sky could possibly solve my problems. My former desire to make communion and be confirmed stemmed from my desire for community and exclusivity. I then began to learn more about evolution and revere science instead of the vague religious fiction I had invented for myself. Religion continues to fascinate me from an academic perspective and I now study Islam and hope to enter a phd program. TL;DR I stopped believing in God when my friend made me realize I never did in the first place.

Despite being raised in a largely non-religious family, I was very interested in religion as a child and even begged my mom to sign me up for communion/confirmation classes (which she did not do). There are two memorable experiences that led me to be the Atheist I am today. The first is when I was ten years old and decided that, if no one was going to teach me about God, I was going to read the bible myself and see what it was all about. I got as far as Genesis 3:16, the part where God says "Your desire will be for your husband,and he will rule over you,” and decided that anything telling me that a man defines my life was bullshit. Afterwards, I still believed in God but affirmed that my faith was "personal" and that I didn't subscribe to any specific doctrine. I think I prayed about boys and getting skinny a lot. The second experience was shortly after I graduated high school, while I was traveling abroad with a friend. We went into this really beautiful church and because I was supposed to, I crossed myself and kneeled down a few minutes to pray. I was feeling particularly conscious of my actions as this friend knew me very well and yet had never seen me in a religious setting. She kind of wandered around while I was repeating some of the prayers my grandmother taught me, and I realized that she didn't have any spiritual connection to the church. I asked her "Don't you feel anything when you walk in? Like, special somehow?" She answered that yes, she felt special because churches reminded here of "how amazing it is that humans evolved into creatures that can build and paint places like this." After that moment, I began to evaluate my beliefs and tried to articulate what "God" meant to me. I realized that I always felt in-genuine about going to church, about crossing myself in front of my friend, because deep down I always thought it was a show. My trivial, half-hearted prayers were a mix of tradition and naive hope that a santa-like figure in the sky could possibly solve my problems. My former desire to make communion and be confirmed stemmed from my desire for community and exclusivity. I then began to learn more about evolution and revere science instead of the vague religious fiction I had invented for myself. Religion continues to fascinate me from an academic perspective and I now study Islam and hope to enter a phd program. TL;DR I stopped believing in God when my friend made me realize I never did in the first place.

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t5_2qh1i

cemofrh

Despite being raised in a largely non-religious family, I was very interested in religion as a child and even begged my mom to sign me up for communion/confirmation classes (which she did not do). There are two memorable experiences that led me to be the Atheist I am today. The first is when I was ten years old and decided that, if no one was going to teach me about God, I was going to read the bible myself and see what it was all about. I got as far as Genesis 3:16, the part where God says "Your desire will be for your husband,and he will rule over you,” and decided that anything telling me that a man defines my life was bullshit. Afterwards, I still believed in God but affirmed that my faith was "personal" and that I didn't subscribe to any specific doctrine. I think I prayed about boys and getting skinny a lot. The second experience was shortly after I graduated high school, while I was traveling abroad with a friend. We went into this really beautiful church and because I was supposed to, I crossed myself and kneeled down a few minutes to pray. I was feeling particularly conscious of my actions as this friend knew me very well and yet had never seen me in a religious setting. She kind of wandered around while I was repeating some of the prayers my grandmother taught me, and I realized that she didn't have any spiritual connection to the church. I asked her "Don't you feel anything when you walk in? Like, special somehow?" She answered that yes, she felt special because churches reminded here of "how amazing it is that humans evolved into creatures that can build and paint places like this." After that moment, I began to evaluate my beliefs and tried to articulate what "God" meant to me. I realized that I always felt in-genuine about going to church, about crossing myself in front of my friend, because deep down I always thought it was a show. My trivial, half-hearted prayers were a mix of tradition and naive hope that a santa-like figure in the sky could possibly solve my problems. My former desire to make communion and be confirmed stemmed from my desire for community and exclusivity. I then began to learn more about evolution and revere science instead of the vague religious fiction I had invented for myself. Religion continues to fascinate me from an academic perspective and I now study Islam and hope to enter a phd program.

I stopped believing in God when my friend made me realize I never did in the first place.

bryangoboom

I went to a small Christian school, which had a great education system, but ended up being to small in the later grades to continue (15 people in 5th and 6th grades with 12th grade having a graduating class of 2) I remember it perfectly. Me and my best friend were talking about dinosaurs one day and my teacher over heard. We were told that dinosaurs weren't real, and the carbon dating used to date the bones was just a glorified washing machine that spat out a random number. (We then we're given timeouts for the rest of the day for questioning it.) A few weeks later we were reading a book about the big bang (which got confiscated quite quickly after asking a few questions about it) and our question of the big bang was "wouldn't it make sense that God had the blue print for life and knew where it would go from there, but ultimately allowed science to make sense of evolution and such." She told us, absolutely not and you aren't even Christians for doubting the truth of the bible (we fully believed the bible, but figured hey man wrote it and he could have misinterpreted our origins) and gave us a full week of no recess(me and my friend were the top two students in our grade as well. Overall I considered myself to be a priest (born and raised Catholic) later in life, but after those few years, I became an atheist. She doesn't realize she ruined religion for me and my friend. Tl:Dr questioned origins at a Christian elementary school while fully believing in god. After that day I hated religion forever and was forced to do my confirmation.

I went to a small Christian school, which had a great education system, but ended up being to small in the later grades to continue (15 people in 5th and 6th grades with 12th grade having a graduating class of 2) I remember it perfectly. Me and my best friend were talking about dinosaurs one day and my teacher over heard. We were told that dinosaurs weren't real, and the carbon dating used to date the bones was just a glorified washing machine that spat out a random number. (We then we're given timeouts for the rest of the day for questioning it.) A few weeks later we were reading a book about the big bang (which got confiscated quite quickly after asking a few questions about it) and our question of the big bang was "wouldn't it make sense that God had the blue print for life and knew where it would go from there, but ultimately allowed science to make sense of evolution and such." She told us, absolutely not and you aren't even Christians for doubting the truth of the bible (we fully believed the bible, but figured hey man wrote it and he could have misinterpreted our origins) and gave us a full week of no recess(me and my friend were the top two students in our grade as well. Overall I considered myself to be a priest (born and raised Catholic) later in life, but after those few years, I became an atheist. She doesn't realize she ruined religion for me and my friend. Tl:Dr questioned origins at a Christian elementary school while fully believing in god. After that day I hated religion forever and was forced to do my confirmation.

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t5_2qh1i

cemp6cx

I went to a small Christian school, which had a great education system, but ended up being to small in the later grades to continue (15 people in 5th and 6th grades with 12th grade having a graduating class of 2) I remember it perfectly. Me and my best friend were talking about dinosaurs one day and my teacher over heard. We were told that dinosaurs weren't real, and the carbon dating used to date the bones was just a glorified washing machine that spat out a random number. (We then we're given timeouts for the rest of the day for questioning it.) A few weeks later we were reading a book about the big bang (which got confiscated quite quickly after asking a few questions about it) and our question of the big bang was "wouldn't it make sense that God had the blue print for life and knew where it would go from there, but ultimately allowed science to make sense of evolution and such." She told us, absolutely not and you aren't even Christians for doubting the truth of the bible (we fully believed the bible, but figured hey man wrote it and he could have misinterpreted our origins) and gave us a full week of no recess(me and my friend were the top two students in our grade as well. Overall I considered myself to be a priest (born and raised Catholic) later in life, but after those few years, I became an atheist. She doesn't realize she ruined religion for me and my friend.

questioned origins at a Christian elementary school while fully believing in god. After that day I hated religion forever and was forced to do my confirmation.

WarpathII

I was raised Mormon. Not the bat shit crazy polygamist Mormons, but the regular crazy Mormons with the missionaries on bikes who annoy you on the weekend. I am now Athiest. (Not a dick, believe what works for you, but I don't believe it and would never tell someone else they were wrong) For me, I was about 18 and preparing to become one of the missionaries, you go out when you are 19, but things we were learning just kind of went in one ear and out the other, and personally when they started talking about creation and shit, I was pretty much decidedly on the side of science for that and most other things. There wasn't really one thing that did it, just nothing about it really made sense any more. The history of it all, the ceremony, the pretentious buildings of worship that are lavishly designed and anything but humble. It just seemed counter intuitive. I checked out basic beliefs of most religions it just kind of boiled down to doing the right thing. If you did the right thing and were a good person, you get the reward (obvious understatement is obvious). And being on the side of science and history, I saw that a lot of ancient religions have lots of overlap to their stories and principals. One day I asked myself if I believed in god and the answer was no, and it was the weirdest feeling. I expected to feel hurt or angry, but I was incredibly happy. I told my parents (My mom still thinks it is a phase 8 years on). I told my friends in the church (lost some, but a lot just still treated me like me). I told my leaders at the church that I did not believe any longer and would no longer fulfill my duties to the church and I was out. Sorry for the extra long reply, most people just assumed you are traumatized by something and that is what takes your faith away and I want people to understand it isn't one thing, it is everything. TL;DR: Religion didn't make sense, stopped believing in god, mixed reactions from loved ones, life is awesome.

I was raised Mormon. Not the bat shit crazy polygamist Mormons, but the regular crazy Mormons with the missionaries on bikes who annoy you on the weekend. I am now Athiest. (Not a dick, believe what works for you, but I don't believe it and would never tell someone else they were wrong) For me, I was about 18 and preparing to become one of the missionaries, you go out when you are 19, but things we were learning just kind of went in one ear and out the other, and personally when they started talking about creation and shit, I was pretty much decidedly on the side of science for that and most other things. There wasn't really one thing that did it, just nothing about it really made sense any more. The history of it all, the ceremony, the pretentious buildings of worship that are lavishly designed and anything but humble. It just seemed counter intuitive. I checked out basic beliefs of most religions it just kind of boiled down to doing the right thing. If you did the right thing and were a good person, you get the reward (obvious understatement is obvious). And being on the side of science and history, I saw that a lot of ancient religions have lots of overlap to their stories and principals. One day I asked myself if I believed in god and the answer was no, and it was the weirdest feeling. I expected to feel hurt or angry, but I was incredibly happy. I told my parents (My mom still thinks it is a phase 8 years on). I told my friends in the church (lost some, but a lot just still treated me like me). I told my leaders at the church that I did not believe any longer and would no longer fulfill my duties to the church and I was out. Sorry for the extra long reply, most people just assumed you are traumatized by something and that is what takes your faith away and I want people to understand it isn't one thing, it is everything. TL;DR: Religion didn't make sense, stopped believing in god, mixed reactions from loved ones, life is awesome.

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t5_2qh1i

cempc1m

I was raised Mormon. Not the bat shit crazy polygamist Mormons, but the regular crazy Mormons with the missionaries on bikes who annoy you on the weekend. I am now Athiest. (Not a dick, believe what works for you, but I don't believe it and would never tell someone else they were wrong) For me, I was about 18 and preparing to become one of the missionaries, you go out when you are 19, but things we were learning just kind of went in one ear and out the other, and personally when they started talking about creation and shit, I was pretty much decidedly on the side of science for that and most other things. There wasn't really one thing that did it, just nothing about it really made sense any more. The history of it all, the ceremony, the pretentious buildings of worship that are lavishly designed and anything but humble. It just seemed counter intuitive. I checked out basic beliefs of most religions it just kind of boiled down to doing the right thing. If you did the right thing and were a good person, you get the reward (obvious understatement is obvious). And being on the side of science and history, I saw that a lot of ancient religions have lots of overlap to their stories and principals. One day I asked myself if I believed in god and the answer was no, and it was the weirdest feeling. I expected to feel hurt or angry, but I was incredibly happy. I told my parents (My mom still thinks it is a phase 8 years on). I told my friends in the church (lost some, but a lot just still treated me like me). I told my leaders at the church that I did not believe any longer and would no longer fulfill my duties to the church and I was out. Sorry for the extra long reply, most people just assumed you are traumatized by something and that is what takes your faith away and I want people to understand it isn't one thing, it is everything.

Religion didn't make sense, stopped believing in god, mixed reactions from loved ones, life is awesome.

BadinBoarder

I was also raised religious. As a kid I remember my mom getting grief from her mom for switching from a Catholic church to a Presbyterian one cause I had more friends from school in the new church. My grandma thought she had given up Christianity altogether. She thought my mom was sending our whole family to hell. The only difference I saw as a kid is they take Communion once a week, Presbyterians did it once a season. I remember being really scared when I took my First Communion, because if the world ended, I might not go to Heaven cause I wasn’t good enough. Before First Communion I was too young, adults told me I’d automatically go to Heaven. I was petrified of Hell. I always doubted Christianity growing up, I always asked questions and never got a straight answer, adults would just reply “You need to just have faith. Just have faith”. Yeah, I can have faith that there are 13 planets in the solar system, doesn’t mean I should base my life on it. I wanted proof, they relied on faith. I actually ended up working at a Church Camp for 3 summers, not cause I was religious, but cause I loved kids. The people I met there are the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life. They were so full of joy and faith and happiness, Lord were they happy. I remember one time a lady came in and described her experience with meeting Jesus, how he talked to her and how it strengthened her faith. I was so jealous, I wanted God to talk to me. I wanted faith to be that easy for me. I wanted to believe so bad. I wanted to be happy like everyone else. I didn’t want to go to Hell for having doubts. I couldn’t shake all my doubt though. So many questions that couldn’t be answered. So much hypocrisy over a book written and rewritten and translated and edited thousands of times over thousands of years. For years I tried finding God, I prayed every night, no answers. My roommates were all very religious and I would go to church with them and then just be a huge cynical cunt. I wanted happiness, I wanted guidance, couldn’t find it. I started thinking about the start of religion and humans and consciousness and why religion would be started, why science and religion are always at odds. Why people seemed to need religion. I started reading about history of religions online. Then one day I had an epiphany. I realized religion is completely made up to help answer questions before science could. I realized there was no God (or if there is a creator he doesn’t care about us), there is no Heaven, there was no Hell, there was no afterlife. This is it. This is all you have. One tiny miniscule life on a tiny miniscule planet on the edge of a galaxy where anything you do has no effect on anything else. You will be forgotten after you die. Your memory will fade, your consciousness will end, history will erase any evidence of your existence, you will be forgotten. It scared the shit out of me, it still does. I realized it was the only logical conclusion. I had seen the man behind the curtain in Oz. I could not sleep for weeks, I was physically ill for weeks. I didn’t want to be alone to think about it, I tried keeping my mind off of it. I was depressed and scared. Everything I was told growing up was a lie (I don’t blame my parents, they were told the same thing by their parents, they meant well). After a while I realized that ppl are the only animals that know they will die, how can you live knowing it is pointless? Knowing you will die? Ppl need purpose. They need guidance, structure, & rules to live by. Religion, self-help books, spiritual groups (like karate and samurai), cults, and life-coaches gives ppl something to live for, so anarchy doesn’t ensue. I’m no different, I need guidance. I just decided to make my own rules, pick and choose the best things from each religion and follow them. The Love your Neighbor of Christianity, Anti-Materialism of Buddism, Don’t be a Douchebag of Atheism, and 15 Underage Wives of Mormonism are my favorites. I also realized that I can live forever through my kids (genetically) and anyone I influence (memory) and that’s all that matters. I’m not afraid of Hell anymore and I’m finally happy. TL;DR I was raised Christian, drank the kool-aid, spit it out, realized there’s no God, shit myself, started my own religion with my own rules just for me, finally happy, started serving kool-aid to others

I was also raised religious. As a kid I remember my mom getting grief from her mom for switching from a Catholic church to a Presbyterian one cause I had more friends from school in the new church. My grandma thought she had given up Christianity altogether. She thought my mom was sending our whole family to hell. The only difference I saw as a kid is they take Communion once a week, Presbyterians did it once a season. I remember being really scared when I took my First Communion, because if the world ended, I might not go to Heaven cause I wasn’t good enough. Before First Communion I was too young, adults told me I’d automatically go to Heaven. I was petrified of Hell. I always doubted Christianity growing up, I always asked questions and never got a straight answer, adults would just reply “You need to just have faith. Just have faith”. Yeah, I can have faith that there are 13 planets in the solar system, doesn’t mean I should base my life on it. I wanted proof, they relied on faith. I actually ended up working at a Church Camp for 3 summers, not cause I was religious, but cause I loved kids. The people I met there are the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life. They were so full of joy and faith and happiness, Lord were they happy. I remember one time a lady came in and described her experience with meeting Jesus, how he talked to her and how it strengthened her faith. I was so jealous, I wanted God to talk to me. I wanted faith to be that easy for me. I wanted to believe so bad. I wanted to be happy like everyone else. I didn’t want to go to Hell for having doubts. I couldn’t shake all my doubt though. So many questions that couldn’t be answered. So much hypocrisy over a book written and rewritten and translated and edited thousands of times over thousands of years. For years I tried finding God, I prayed every night, no answers. My roommates were all very religious and I would go to church with them and then just be a huge cynical cunt. I wanted happiness, I wanted guidance, couldn’t find it. I started thinking about the start of religion and humans and consciousness and why religion would be started, why science and religion are always at odds. Why people seemed to need religion. I started reading about history of religions online. Then one day I had an epiphany. I realized religion is completely made up to help answer questions before science could. I realized there was no God (or if there is a creator he doesn’t care about us), there is no Heaven, there was no Hell, there was no afterlife. This is it. This is all you have. One tiny miniscule life on a tiny miniscule planet on the edge of a galaxy where anything you do has no effect on anything else. You will be forgotten after you die. Your memory will fade, your consciousness will end, history will erase any evidence of your existence, you will be forgotten. It scared the shit out of me, it still does. I realized it was the only logical conclusion. I had seen the man behind the curtain in Oz. I could not sleep for weeks, I was physically ill for weeks. I didn’t want to be alone to think about it, I tried keeping my mind off of it. I was depressed and scared. Everything I was told growing up was a lie (I don’t blame my parents, they were told the same thing by their parents, they meant well). After a while I realized that ppl are the only animals that know they will die, how can you live knowing it is pointless? Knowing you will die? Ppl need purpose. They need guidance, structure, & rules to live by. Religion, self-help books, spiritual groups (like karate and samurai), cults, and life-coaches gives ppl something to live for, so anarchy doesn’t ensue. I’m no different, I need guidance. I just decided to make my own rules, pick and choose the best things from each religion and follow them. The Love your Neighbor of Christianity, Anti-Materialism of Buddism, Don’t be a Douchebag of Atheism, and 15 Underage Wives of Mormonism are my favorites. I also realized that I can live forever through my kids (genetically) and anyone I influence (memory) and that’s all that matters. I’m not afraid of Hell anymore and I’m finally happy. TL;DR I was raised Christian, drank the kool-aid, spit it out, realized there’s no God, shit myself, started my own religion with my own rules just for me, finally happy, started serving kool-aid to others

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ceq3rt8

I was also raised religious. As a kid I remember my mom getting grief from her mom for switching from a Catholic church to a Presbyterian one cause I had more friends from school in the new church. My grandma thought she had given up Christianity altogether. She thought my mom was sending our whole family to hell. The only difference I saw as a kid is they take Communion once a week, Presbyterians did it once a season. I remember being really scared when I took my First Communion, because if the world ended, I might not go to Heaven cause I wasn’t good enough. Before First Communion I was too young, adults told me I’d automatically go to Heaven. I was petrified of Hell. I always doubted Christianity growing up, I always asked questions and never got a straight answer, adults would just reply “You need to just have faith. Just have faith”. Yeah, I can have faith that there are 13 planets in the solar system, doesn’t mean I should base my life on it. I wanted proof, they relied on faith. I actually ended up working at a Church Camp for 3 summers, not cause I was religious, but cause I loved kids. The people I met there are the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life. They were so full of joy and faith and happiness, Lord were they happy. I remember one time a lady came in and described her experience with meeting Jesus, how he talked to her and how it strengthened her faith. I was so jealous, I wanted God to talk to me. I wanted faith to be that easy for me. I wanted to believe so bad. I wanted to be happy like everyone else. I didn’t want to go to Hell for having doubts. I couldn’t shake all my doubt though. So many questions that couldn’t be answered. So much hypocrisy over a book written and rewritten and translated and edited thousands of times over thousands of years. For years I tried finding God, I prayed every night, no answers. My roommates were all very religious and I would go to church with them and then just be a huge cynical cunt. I wanted happiness, I wanted guidance, couldn’t find it. I started thinking about the start of religion and humans and consciousness and why religion would be started, why science and religion are always at odds. Why people seemed to need religion. I started reading about history of religions online. Then one day I had an epiphany. I realized religion is completely made up to help answer questions before science could. I realized there was no God (or if there is a creator he doesn’t care about us), there is no Heaven, there was no Hell, there was no afterlife. This is it. This is all you have. One tiny miniscule life on a tiny miniscule planet on the edge of a galaxy where anything you do has no effect on anything else. You will be forgotten after you die. Your memory will fade, your consciousness will end, history will erase any evidence of your existence, you will be forgotten. It scared the shit out of me, it still does. I realized it was the only logical conclusion. I had seen the man behind the curtain in Oz. I could not sleep for weeks, I was physically ill for weeks. I didn’t want to be alone to think about it, I tried keeping my mind off of it. I was depressed and scared. Everything I was told growing up was a lie (I don’t blame my parents, they were told the same thing by their parents, they meant well). After a while I realized that ppl are the only animals that know they will die, how can you live knowing it is pointless? Knowing you will die? Ppl need purpose. They need guidance, structure, & rules to live by. Religion, self-help books, spiritual groups (like karate and samurai), cults, and life-coaches gives ppl something to live for, so anarchy doesn’t ensue. I’m no different, I need guidance. I just decided to make my own rules, pick and choose the best things from each religion and follow them. The Love your Neighbor of Christianity, Anti-Materialism of Buddism, Don’t be a Douchebag of Atheism, and 15 Underage Wives of Mormonism are my favorites. I also realized that I can live forever through my kids (genetically) and anyone I influence (memory) and that’s all that matters. I’m not afraid of Hell anymore and I’m finally happy.

I was raised Christian, drank the kool-aid, spit it out, realized there’s no God, shit myself, started my own religion with my own rules just for me, finally happy, started serving kool-aid to others

Airfckborne

I just believe in something different than religion, something above but I dont know what and I don't live my life according to this nor I worship or whatever. as I said , I was raised in a muslim family so I believed in the same things but it could have been différent if I was born in a christian family. For me I began to change when I grew up and saw these self proclaimed prophets criticizing everything about western society but who dont mind drinking alcohol or go to hookers. But every religion has its lost sheeps I was thinking. I totally changed when I was deployed in Africa and I saw muslims\christians hate each other, killing in the name of someone they never saw nor heard, blind by their faith , narrow minded who can' t hear something that will question their beliefs. I even heard a guy telling that he didnt need any body armour like us to stop AK bullets because God was protecting him. Really man? Anyway hope I answered and that you're not offended by my english, I did my best! And sorry I dont know how to format on mobile. Édit: TL;dr : living my life according to my valors.

I just believe in something different than religion, something above but I dont know what and I don't live my life according to this nor I worship or whatever. as I said , I was raised in a muslim family so I believed in the same things but it could have been différent if I was born in a christian family. For me I began to change when I grew up and saw these self proclaimed prophets criticizing everything about western society but who dont mind drinking alcohol or go to hookers. But every religion has its lost sheeps I was thinking. I totally changed when I was deployed in Africa and I saw muslims\christians hate each other, killing in the name of someone they never saw nor heard, blind by their faith , narrow minded who can' t hear something that will question their beliefs. I even heard a guy telling that he didnt need any body armour like us to stop AK bullets because God was protecting him. Really man? Anyway hope I answered and that you're not offended by my english, I did my best! And sorry I dont know how to format on mobile. Édit: TL;dr : living my life according to my valors.

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t5_2qh1i

cem87yk

I just believe in something different than religion, something above but I dont know what and I don't live my life according to this nor I worship or whatever. as I said , I was raised in a muslim family so I believed in the same things but it could have been différent if I was born in a christian family. For me I began to change when I grew up and saw these self proclaimed prophets criticizing everything about western society but who dont mind drinking alcohol or go to hookers. But every religion has its lost sheeps I was thinking. I totally changed when I was deployed in Africa and I saw muslims\christians hate each other, killing in the name of someone they never saw nor heard, blind by their faith , narrow minded who can' t hear something that will question their beliefs. I even heard a guy telling that he didnt need any body armour like us to stop AK bullets because God was protecting him. Really man? Anyway hope I answered and that you're not offended by my english, I did my best! And sorry I dont know how to format on mobile. Édit:

living my life according to my valors.

pomlife

Common misconception; I urge to to look up strong/weak & Gnostic/agnostic atheism. Atheism is a lack of belief, while gnosticism (lowercase g) refers to knowledge. Most atheists are actually agnostic atheists - "I don't claim knowledge of a deity, and therefore lack belief." Tl;dr: it's not theist-agnostic-atheist, it's gnostic theist, agnostic theist, gnostic atheist, agnostic atheist.

Common misconception; I urge to to look up strong/weak & Gnostic/agnostic atheism. Atheism is a lack of belief, while gnosticism (lowercase g) refers to knowledge. Most atheists are actually agnostic atheists - "I don't claim knowledge of a deity, and therefore lack belief." Tl;dr: it's not theist-agnostic-atheist, it's gnostic theist, agnostic theist, gnostic atheist, agnostic atheist.

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t5_2qh1i

cemagl8

Common misconception; I urge to to look up strong/weak & Gnostic/agnostic atheism. Atheism is a lack of belief, while gnosticism (lowercase g) refers to knowledge. Most atheists are actually agnostic atheists - "I don't claim knowledge of a deity, and therefore lack belief."

it's not theist-agnostic-atheist, it's gnostic theist, agnostic theist, gnostic atheist, agnostic atheist.

iFreilicht

What if god just doesn't give a shit? Couldn't god just love and adore us humans? If a god exists, he must have a vastly superior intelligence to ours, he isn't human in any way, at least that's what I think and what most religions state. What if the relationship between us and god is like our dogs and us? When you come home, and your dog jumps on you and wags his tail and licks your face and is the most happy little thing on earth, do you really care if he thinks of you as "Paul", "Barkbark" or "Awesome being"? No, I guess not. You just love him and care for him. Couldn't that be exactly how it is for us humans? Your dog doesn't know why you leave 5 days in a row but stay 2 days after that and then start all over again. We don't know why a god does the things he does. I know, there is a great difference between dogs and us in that we have never seen god, but I think it works as an analogy. I belive that if a god exists, he just exists and floats around in the universe and thinks all the time, and maybe sometimes he stops by our planet for a moment and says to himself: "Look at these humans. They are so small and matter so little, yet have achieved so much more than any other specie in this supercluster." __TL;DR:__ dog < us < god. Think about it.

What if god just doesn't give a shit? Couldn't god just love and adore us humans? If a god exists, he must have a vastly superior intelligence to ours, he isn't human in any way, at least that's what I think and what most religions state. What if the relationship between us and god is like our dogs and us? When you come home, and your dog jumps on you and wags his tail and licks your face and is the most happy little thing on earth, do you really care if he thinks of you as "Paul", "Barkbark" or "Awesome being"? No, I guess not. You just love him and care for him. Couldn't that be exactly how it is for us humans? Your dog doesn't know why you leave 5 days in a row but stay 2 days after that and then start all over again. We don't know why a god does the things he does. I know, there is a great difference between dogs and us in that we have never seen god, but I think it works as an analogy. I belive that if a god exists, he just exists and floats around in the universe and thinks all the time, and maybe sometimes he stops by our planet for a moment and says to himself: "Look at these humans. They are so small and matter so little, yet have achieved so much more than any other specie in this supercluster." TL;DR: dog < us < god. Think about it.

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t5_2qh1i

cemb2qb

What if god just doesn't give a shit? Couldn't god just love and adore us humans? If a god exists, he must have a vastly superior intelligence to ours, he isn't human in any way, at least that's what I think and what most religions state. What if the relationship between us and god is like our dogs and us? When you come home, and your dog jumps on you and wags his tail and licks your face and is the most happy little thing on earth, do you really care if he thinks of you as "Paul", "Barkbark" or "Awesome being"? No, I guess not. You just love him and care for him. Couldn't that be exactly how it is for us humans? Your dog doesn't know why you leave 5 days in a row but stay 2 days after that and then start all over again. We don't know why a god does the things he does. I know, there is a great difference between dogs and us in that we have never seen god, but I think it works as an analogy. I belive that if a god exists, he just exists and floats around in the universe and thinks all the time, and maybe sometimes he stops by our planet for a moment and says to himself: "Look at these humans. They are so small and matter so little, yet have achieved so much more than any other specie in this supercluster."

dog < us < god. Think about it.

aLx1234

living in eastern germany (old GDR) where it was basically not really accepted to be openly religious by the goverment ( my grandpa had to leave church so my mum could study) and so my grandparents and parents (all from the GDR) arent religious (we call it being heide) TL;DR parents not religious and almost all my school friends aswell

living in eastern germany (old GDR) where it was basically not really accepted to be openly religious by the goverment ( my grandpa had to leave church so my mum could study) and so my grandparents and parents (all from the GDR) arent religious (we call it being heide) TL;DR parents not religious and almost all my school friends aswell

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t5_2qh1i

cembov7

living in eastern germany (old GDR) where it was basically not really accepted to be openly religious by the goverment ( my grandpa had to leave church so my mum could study) and so my grandparents and parents (all from the GDR) arent religious (we call it being heide)

parents not religious and almost all my school friends aswell

fruitwoop

To add on to this - Why would the destination of something as precious and eternal as a soul be determined by actions of the physical body? Take into account the story of Phineas Gage. Physical change yields change in personality, change in personality yields change in action. I could potentially go and drive a spike through someone's brain. Given they survive, they may not be the same person. Do their actions after this point determine their fate? edit: or any other illness/injury/disorder that causes change in brain function TL;DR - food for thought

To add on to this - Why would the destination of something as precious and eternal as a soul be determined by actions of the physical body? Take into account the story of Phineas Gage. Physical change yields change in personality, change in personality yields change in action. I could potentially go and drive a spike through someone's brain. Given they survive, they may not be the same person. Do their actions after this point determine their fate? edit: or any other illness/injury/disorder that causes change in brain function TL;DR - food for thought

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t5_2qh1i

ceme5qm

To add on to this - Why would the destination of something as precious and eternal as a soul be determined by actions of the physical body? Take into account the story of Phineas Gage. Physical change yields change in personality, change in personality yields change in action. I could potentially go and drive a spike through someone's brain. Given they survive, they may not be the same person. Do their actions after this point determine their fate? edit: or any other illness/injury/disorder that causes change in brain function

food for thought

heyitshorse

My parents are athiests but I was educated in a Catholic School from kindergarten to 12th grade. At that time I believed there was a god and prayed to him to give me strength. However I never went to church or did any religious based activity. Then I went to university. Slowly I was distanced from Catholicism. I felt guilty for abandoning god. Then in second year my friend asked me if I believed in a god. I answered him, but realized how illogical my answer was. He then introduced me to Reddit. Subtly he converted me to an athiest. As an ex Catholic, I realized I was illogical and believed in lies easily. However I feel as though I have lost motivation to do things as I know that there is no god to help me. I guess I have become more pessimistic because i began to believe scientific facts told me the truth. But then again, science only falsifies or disproves something. So I guess in terms of being motivated to do a seemingly impossible task, one can still defy a fact only when pigs can fly. I'm probably pretty gullible, but I'm still working on it. Evolution can not be disproven. Creationist theories can be disproven. What sounds like a smarter deal? Atheism. I find that as a non practicing Catholic I was more blissful because I was more ignorant. One thing I know for sure is that religion was never really relevant in my life. I was pseudo religious who prayed to a god who never existed and who I thought helped me through tough times, when I fact I had created an imaginary character that was part of my subconscious. So thanks religion for making me develop multiple personalities. However I do feel some religious teachings and traditions are based on improving human life. For example fasting; scientific research had shown that reducing your caloric intake could increase lifespan. Also some commandments, such as honor your Father and mother. But then again those are coincidences. I feel as though religion was based on common sense and knowledge but to pass it on they had to tell stories so it increased publicity and so they wouldn't forget. Then some idiots started to believe these stories to be true, kind of like fairytales on cocaine; the stories may have contained cautionary advice but probably did not happen and were morphed so many times from innacurate translations. Then some organizations got out of hand and then dedicated they're lives to a BOOK. Religion is equivalent to twihards who think the Twilight books are true, real and begin trying to control others to conform to their ways. Religion is a manipulative book fanclub rather than the self help book fan club that it used to be. I'd rather be in the scientific journal fan club. And that is how and why I became an athiest. Sorry for the rant I will probably get lots of hate. But I think there are many ways to live life and I still respect you if you respect me (although I don't seem very respectful here... Sorry I can only express myself through analogies. I can imagine the responses to my post already). To be honest I'd rather be religious again, because I feel happier and more motivated. But I just can't because of blatant evidence that disproves religion. Maybe another time. But whatever, people can live successful or unsuccessful lives with our without religion so I don't judge. I only hate the fact that religion exists not the neccesarily the people who believe in a religion. Religion does not make a person good or evil. You are good if you are good. You are evil if you are Hitler. I'm still an athiest though. *wow. such rant. Tl;dr: Religion is irrelevant. Don't be a dick*

My parents are athiests but I was educated in a Catholic School from kindergarten to 12th grade. At that time I believed there was a god and prayed to him to give me strength. However I never went to church or did any religious based activity. Then I went to university. Slowly I was distanced from Catholicism. I felt guilty for abandoning god. Then in second year my friend asked me if I believed in a god. I answered him, but realized how illogical my answer was. He then introduced me to Reddit. Subtly he converted me to an athiest. As an ex Catholic, I realized I was illogical and believed in lies easily. However I feel as though I have lost motivation to do things as I know that there is no god to help me. I guess I have become more pessimistic because i began to believe scientific facts told me the truth. But then again, science only falsifies or disproves something. So I guess in terms of being motivated to do a seemingly impossible task, one can still defy a fact only when pigs can fly. I'm probably pretty gullible, but I'm still working on it. Evolution can not be disproven. Creationist theories can be disproven. What sounds like a smarter deal? Atheism. I find that as a non practicing Catholic I was more blissful because I was more ignorant. One thing I know for sure is that religion was never really relevant in my life. I was pseudo religious who prayed to a god who never existed and who I thought helped me through tough times, when I fact I had created an imaginary character that was part of my subconscious. So thanks religion for making me develop multiple personalities. However I do feel some religious teachings and traditions are based on improving human life. For example fasting; scientific research had shown that reducing your caloric intake could increase lifespan. Also some commandments, such as honor your Father and mother. But then again those are coincidences. I feel as though religion was based on common sense and knowledge but to pass it on they had to tell stories so it increased publicity and so they wouldn't forget. Then some idiots started to believe these stories to be true, kind of like fairytales on cocaine; the stories may have contained cautionary advice but probably did not happen and were morphed so many times from innacurate translations. Then some organizations got out of hand and then dedicated they're lives to a BOOK. Religion is equivalent to twihards who think the Twilight books are true, real and begin trying to control others to conform to their ways. Religion is a manipulative book fanclub rather than the self help book fan club that it used to be. I'd rather be in the scientific journal fan club. And that is how and why I became an athiest. Sorry for the rant I will probably get lots of hate. But I think there are many ways to live life and I still respect you if you respect me (although I don't seem very respectful here... Sorry I can only express myself through analogies. I can imagine the responses to my post already). To be honest I'd rather be religious again, because I feel happier and more motivated. But I just can't because of blatant evidence that disproves religion. Maybe another time. But whatever, people can live successful or unsuccessful lives with our without religion so I don't judge. I only hate the fact that religion exists not the neccesarily the people who believe in a religion. Religion does not make a person good or evil. You are good if you are good. You are evil if you are Hitler. I'm still an athiest though. wow. such rant. Tl;dr: Religion is irrelevant. Don't be a dick

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t5_2qh1i

cempust

My parents are athiests but I was educated in a Catholic School from kindergarten to 12th grade. At that time I believed there was a god and prayed to him to give me strength. However I never went to church or did any religious based activity. Then I went to university. Slowly I was distanced from Catholicism. I felt guilty for abandoning god. Then in second year my friend asked me if I believed in a god. I answered him, but realized how illogical my answer was. He then introduced me to Reddit. Subtly he converted me to an athiest. As an ex Catholic, I realized I was illogical and believed in lies easily. However I feel as though I have lost motivation to do things as I know that there is no god to help me. I guess I have become more pessimistic because i began to believe scientific facts told me the truth. But then again, science only falsifies or disproves something. So I guess in terms of being motivated to do a seemingly impossible task, one can still defy a fact only when pigs can fly. I'm probably pretty gullible, but I'm still working on it. Evolution can not be disproven. Creationist theories can be disproven. What sounds like a smarter deal? Atheism. I find that as a non practicing Catholic I was more blissful because I was more ignorant. One thing I know for sure is that religion was never really relevant in my life. I was pseudo religious who prayed to a god who never existed and who I thought helped me through tough times, when I fact I had created an imaginary character that was part of my subconscious. So thanks religion for making me develop multiple personalities. However I do feel some religious teachings and traditions are based on improving human life. For example fasting; scientific research had shown that reducing your caloric intake could increase lifespan. Also some commandments, such as honor your Father and mother. But then again those are coincidences. I feel as though religion was based on common sense and knowledge but to pass it on they had to tell stories so it increased publicity and so they wouldn't forget. Then some idiots started to believe these stories to be true, kind of like fairytales on cocaine; the stories may have contained cautionary advice but probably did not happen and were morphed so many times from innacurate translations. Then some organizations got out of hand and then dedicated they're lives to a BOOK. Religion is equivalent to twihards who think the Twilight books are true, real and begin trying to control others to conform to their ways. Religion is a manipulative book fanclub rather than the self help book fan club that it used to be. I'd rather be in the scientific journal fan club. And that is how and why I became an athiest. Sorry for the rant I will probably get lots of hate. But I think there are many ways to live life and I still respect you if you respect me (although I don't seem very respectful here... Sorry I can only express myself through analogies. I can imagine the responses to my post already). To be honest I'd rather be religious again, because I feel happier and more motivated. But I just can't because of blatant evidence that disproves religion. Maybe another time. But whatever, people can live successful or unsuccessful lives with our without religion so I don't judge. I only hate the fact that religion exists not the neccesarily the people who believe in a religion. Religion does not make a person good or evil. You are good if you are good. You are evil if you are Hitler. I'm still an athiest though. wow. such rant.

Religion is irrelevant. Don't be a dick

trekbette

When I was 14, my 18-year old aunt died. She has Cystic Fibrosis and heart problems. She was always in pain. She looked like she was my age. Honestly, I didn't know her that well. However, the idea that someone is born in pain, lives in pain and dies young; and that a god would have the power to alleviate pain, but chooses not to, well that didn't make sense. It took a week of really deep thinking before I talked to my Dad about what was on my mind. I honestly thought I was the first person to come to this concept of 'no god'. He told me about atheism, agnosticism, and said I was an agnostic. I told him that I was sure there was no god, and that I was an atheist. He said "okay" and that was that. I didn't really think about it much after that. Not until 9/11. There was this huge backlash against atheists that was counter-initiative to me. That made me look more into the, I guess you can say, philosophy. I met other atheists online, and went to a few events. Some were nice people. Some were asses. Just like people everywhere. Personally, I don't care what someone else believes or does not believe. As long as they are not hurting anyone, what does it matter? **tl;dr I've been an atheist for 26 years. Maybe it's just a phase?**

When I was 14, my 18-year old aunt died. She has Cystic Fibrosis and heart problems. She was always in pain. She looked like she was my age. Honestly, I didn't know her that well. However, the idea that someone is born in pain, lives in pain and dies young; and that a god would have the power to alleviate pain, but chooses not to, well that didn't make sense. It took a week of really deep thinking before I talked to my Dad about what was on my mind. I honestly thought I was the first person to come to this concept of 'no god'. He told me about atheism, agnosticism, and said I was an agnostic. I told him that I was sure there was no god, and that I was an atheist. He said "okay" and that was that. I didn't really think about it much after that. Not until 9/11. There was this huge backlash against atheists that was counter-initiative to me. That made me look more into the, I guess you can say, philosophy. I met other atheists online, and went to a few events. Some were nice people. Some were asses. Just like people everywhere. Personally, I don't care what someone else believes or does not believe. As long as they are not hurting anyone, what does it matter? tl;dr I've been an atheist for 26 years. Maybe it's just a phase?

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t5_2qh1i

cemqr32

When I was 14, my 18-year old aunt died. She has Cystic Fibrosis and heart problems. She was always in pain. She looked like she was my age. Honestly, I didn't know her that well. However, the idea that someone is born in pain, lives in pain and dies young; and that a god would have the power to alleviate pain, but chooses not to, well that didn't make sense. It took a week of really deep thinking before I talked to my Dad about what was on my mind. I honestly thought I was the first person to come to this concept of 'no god'. He told me about atheism, agnosticism, and said I was an agnostic. I told him that I was sure there was no god, and that I was an atheist. He said "okay" and that was that. I didn't really think about it much after that. Not until 9/11. There was this huge backlash against atheists that was counter-initiative to me. That made me look more into the, I guess you can say, philosophy. I met other atheists online, and went to a few events. Some were nice people. Some were asses. Just like people everywhere. Personally, I don't care what someone else believes or does not believe. As long as they are not hurting anyone, what does it matter?

I've been an atheist for 26 years. Maybe it's just a phase?

BurningCircus

I understand your points entirely, and I'll explain why, but I would suggest to you that all of history is taught in a subjective manner (not just religious principles) because of its nature. First, let me justify that comparison: everything that the Church believes stems from historical evidence. What we have are records of the teachings of Jesus and the conversations that God had directly with mortal men (disregarding, for now, the fact that some of the latter may be metaphorical). Therefore a theologian or even an elementary religious education teacher is essentially a specialized history teacher. Now, I don't know about you, but I've had a few history teachers, and all of them have had a different take on things. Listening to lectures from an old vet and lectures from an old hippie really brings about different perspectives and teachings about historical events. All of these teachers also try to inject their material with the moral that they see behind the story (from patriotism and the horrors of war all the way out to peace and love). I think you're seeing the same effect in religion teachers and theologians. They are all teaching the same material, but each sees the moral of the story differently and each has a different take on it. This isn't wrong, per se, it's just the way humans are. **TL;DR** Religion teachers are just like history teachers; they each have a different take on their material that isn't right or wrong, it just is.

I understand your points entirely, and I'll explain why, but I would suggest to you that all of history is taught in a subjective manner (not just religious principles) because of its nature. First, let me justify that comparison: everything that the Church believes stems from historical evidence. What we have are records of the teachings of Jesus and the conversations that God had directly with mortal men (disregarding, for now, the fact that some of the latter may be metaphorical). Therefore a theologian or even an elementary religious education teacher is essentially a specialized history teacher. Now, I don't know about you, but I've had a few history teachers, and all of them have had a different take on things. Listening to lectures from an old vet and lectures from an old hippie really brings about different perspectives and teachings about historical events. All of these teachers also try to inject their material with the moral that they see behind the story (from patriotism and the horrors of war all the way out to peace and love). I think you're seeing the same effect in religion teachers and theologians. They are all teaching the same material, but each sees the moral of the story differently and each has a different take on it. This isn't wrong, per se, it's just the way humans are. TL;DR Religion teachers are just like history teachers; they each have a different take on their material that isn't right or wrong, it just is.

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t5_2qh1i

cemr0rt

I understand your points entirely, and I'll explain why, but I would suggest to you that all of history is taught in a subjective manner (not just religious principles) because of its nature. First, let me justify that comparison: everything that the Church believes stems from historical evidence. What we have are records of the teachings of Jesus and the conversations that God had directly with mortal men (disregarding, for now, the fact that some of the latter may be metaphorical). Therefore a theologian or even an elementary religious education teacher is essentially a specialized history teacher. Now, I don't know about you, but I've had a few history teachers, and all of them have had a different take on things. Listening to lectures from an old vet and lectures from an old hippie really brings about different perspectives and teachings about historical events. All of these teachers also try to inject their material with the moral that they see behind the story (from patriotism and the horrors of war all the way out to peace and love). I think you're seeing the same effect in religion teachers and theologians. They are all teaching the same material, but each sees the moral of the story differently and each has a different take on it. This isn't wrong, per se, it's just the way humans are.

Religion teachers are just like history teachers; they each have a different take on their material that isn't right or wrong, it just is.

RivenPls

If you REALLY wanna think about it critically... Pascal wrote that we are infinitely ignorant towards the super natural. He then gives us two options (God exists or He does not) with four consequences based on what we believe about those options. There's an issue there: How can he affirm that there are two options with four consequences when we are infinitely ignorant? The fact is there are an infinite number of possible consequences with respect to the afterlife. There could be a being playing with a yo-yo that contains every soul, and upon death we all just become a part of his soul yo-yo. Or maybe there's a soul-harboring roller coaster that goes on forever once we die. Or maybe there's nothing. When there are infinitely many consequences, it's pointless to wager one consequence is greater than the other. TL;DR: There are infinitely many things that could happen (to our "souls" at least) after we die. Saying option A is better than option B/saying that A and B are the only options is bogus.

If you REALLY wanna think about it critically... Pascal wrote that we are infinitely ignorant towards the super natural. He then gives us two options (God exists or He does not) with four consequences based on what we believe about those options. There's an issue there: How can he affirm that there are two options with four consequences when we are infinitely ignorant? The fact is there are an infinite number of possible consequences with respect to the afterlife. There could be a being playing with a yo-yo that contains every soul, and upon death we all just become a part of his soul yo-yo. Or maybe there's a soul-harboring roller coaster that goes on forever once we die. Or maybe there's nothing. When there are infinitely many consequences, it's pointless to wager one consequence is greater than the other. TL;DR: There are infinitely many things that could happen (to our "souls" at least) after we die. Saying option A is better than option B/saying that A and B are the only options is bogus.

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t5_2qh1i

cemr78f

If you REALLY wanna think about it critically... Pascal wrote that we are infinitely ignorant towards the super natural. He then gives us two options (God exists or He does not) with four consequences based on what we believe about those options. There's an issue there: How can he affirm that there are two options with four consequences when we are infinitely ignorant? The fact is there are an infinite number of possible consequences with respect to the afterlife. There could be a being playing with a yo-yo that contains every soul, and upon death we all just become a part of his soul yo-yo. Or maybe there's a soul-harboring roller coaster that goes on forever once we die. Or maybe there's nothing. When there are infinitely many consequences, it's pointless to wager one consequence is greater than the other.

There are infinitely many things that could happen (to our "souls" at least) after we die. Saying option A is better than option B/saying that A and B are the only options is bogus.

DarthVictozard

I used to be very religious. It came to a point where I wanted to go to church all the time and I wanted the family to come with me. It was a really important thing to me. So, finally my friend at school invited me to go to her church. I showed up with my brother and another friend. It was a cool little youth group thing that had a band and everything. It was actually a lot of fun. Anyway, I used to go every single week and it really became part of who I was. While this was going on, I was also discovering the existence of other religions and other cultures. I was always the sort of kid who wanted to know about everything, so I didn't think much of it. I started to realize that a lot of things were similar and thought, "If these gods aren't real, what makes mine real?" Of course, I threw out the thought as I got it because I was scared that God would punish me for thinking it. This was a frequent thing and I'd ask for forgiveness every Wednesday at church. Even still, I always kept in mind other beliefs. One day, we had a girl from the church who had moved to Japan Skype with us. The youth pastor said something that disturbed me during the conversation. "Lord," he said while we were in prayer. "We ask that you look over (Insert girl's name here) and her family while they are in a place where you are not. Since you are not in Japan, it is clear that Japan is a poor place and the people must be sick without you." It was this assertion that got me thinking that it was all a load of shit. I knew that Japan was an awesome country and the people were some of the nicest and happiest in the world. After that, I stopped going to church as often. I started to feel like my beliefs were compromised. I started exploring other beliefs and then I started discovering science. I started using Stumbleupon and I got curious about evolution and then atheism, so I started using those topics. Eventually I made a decision. I no longer believed in Christianity and I wasn't sure how much I believed in the existence of a god. Over the years, I realize that I don't believe that there is any god. Maybe there's some sort of guiding force, but I don't believe that it is a god. I have accepted that I am an agnostic atheist and that religion in its current form is nothing more than emotional masturbation and a money-making scheme. I am not religious because I feel that there is so much more to discover and so much more to understand about the universe and for that, we cannot claim to have all the answers. I'm also not religious because I frankly do not trust the religions of the world anymore, at least not the organized versions of them. I'm not the type of person to say that people shouldn't be religious, but I think that people take it too far. No, that's not true. I know that they do because I used to take it too far. TL;DR: I grew out of it.

I used to be very religious. It came to a point where I wanted to go to church all the time and I wanted the family to come with me. It was a really important thing to me. So, finally my friend at school invited me to go to her church. I showed up with my brother and another friend. It was a cool little youth group thing that had a band and everything. It was actually a lot of fun. Anyway, I used to go every single week and it really became part of who I was. While this was going on, I was also discovering the existence of other religions and other cultures. I was always the sort of kid who wanted to know about everything, so I didn't think much of it. I started to realize that a lot of things were similar and thought, "If these gods aren't real, what makes mine real?" Of course, I threw out the thought as I got it because I was scared that God would punish me for thinking it. This was a frequent thing and I'd ask for forgiveness every Wednesday at church. Even still, I always kept in mind other beliefs. One day, we had a girl from the church who had moved to Japan Skype with us. The youth pastor said something that disturbed me during the conversation. "Lord," he said while we were in prayer. "We ask that you look over (Insert girl's name here) and her family while they are in a place where you are not. Since you are not in Japan, it is clear that Japan is a poor place and the people must be sick without you." It was this assertion that got me thinking that it was all a load of shit. I knew that Japan was an awesome country and the people were some of the nicest and happiest in the world. After that, I stopped going to church as often. I started to feel like my beliefs were compromised. I started exploring other beliefs and then I started discovering science. I started using Stumbleupon and I got curious about evolution and then atheism, so I started using those topics. Eventually I made a decision. I no longer believed in Christianity and I wasn't sure how much I believed in the existence of a god. Over the years, I realize that I don't believe that there is any god. Maybe there's some sort of guiding force, but I don't believe that it is a god. I have accepted that I am an agnostic atheist and that religion in its current form is nothing more than emotional masturbation and a money-making scheme. I am not religious because I feel that there is so much more to discover and so much more to understand about the universe and for that, we cannot claim to have all the answers. I'm also not religious because I frankly do not trust the religions of the world anymore, at least not the organized versions of them. I'm not the type of person to say that people shouldn't be religious, but I think that people take it too far. No, that's not true. I know that they do because I used to take it too far. TL;DR: I grew out of it.

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t5_2qh1i

cemrdie

I used to be very religious. It came to a point where I wanted to go to church all the time and I wanted the family to come with me. It was a really important thing to me. So, finally my friend at school invited me to go to her church. I showed up with my brother and another friend. It was a cool little youth group thing that had a band and everything. It was actually a lot of fun. Anyway, I used to go every single week and it really became part of who I was. While this was going on, I was also discovering the existence of other religions and other cultures. I was always the sort of kid who wanted to know about everything, so I didn't think much of it. I started to realize that a lot of things were similar and thought, "If these gods aren't real, what makes mine real?" Of course, I threw out the thought as I got it because I was scared that God would punish me for thinking it. This was a frequent thing and I'd ask for forgiveness every Wednesday at church. Even still, I always kept in mind other beliefs. One day, we had a girl from the church who had moved to Japan Skype with us. The youth pastor said something that disturbed me during the conversation. "Lord," he said while we were in prayer. "We ask that you look over (Insert girl's name here) and her family while they are in a place where you are not. Since you are not in Japan, it is clear that Japan is a poor place and the people must be sick without you." It was this assertion that got me thinking that it was all a load of shit. I knew that Japan was an awesome country and the people were some of the nicest and happiest in the world. After that, I stopped going to church as often. I started to feel like my beliefs were compromised. I started exploring other beliefs and then I started discovering science. I started using Stumbleupon and I got curious about evolution and then atheism, so I started using those topics. Eventually I made a decision. I no longer believed in Christianity and I wasn't sure how much I believed in the existence of a god. Over the years, I realize that I don't believe that there is any god. Maybe there's some sort of guiding force, but I don't believe that it is a god. I have accepted that I am an agnostic atheist and that religion in its current form is nothing more than emotional masturbation and a money-making scheme. I am not religious because I feel that there is so much more to discover and so much more to understand about the universe and for that, we cannot claim to have all the answers. I'm also not religious because I frankly do not trust the religions of the world anymore, at least not the organized versions of them. I'm not the type of person to say that people shouldn't be religious, but I think that people take it too far. No, that's not true. I know that they do because I used to take it too far.

I grew out of it.

18scsc

His arguments are solid, but also completely useless. At least if his goal is to have a scientificly literate and educated world. A bible thumper who finds even the name offensive will not pick it up, nor will your average person that either doesn't read or only reads fictional works of no great quality or length, an atheist willing to read the book has already been converted. Really the only target audience that makes sense would be someone questioning their beliefs and is already leaning far enough to atheism that they'd be okay with reading a book as blunt and aggressive as the God Delusion A much more effective book, that would have a larger potential audience, would be something that encourages skepticism and reason. Especially in conjunction with some of the more pop science works (cosmos, short history of nearly everything, universe in a nutshell, ect.) While such a reading list might not be as effective at converting people to atheism (although I might even argue that point), it will help much more than the God Delusion in regards to the aforementioned goals of an educated world. What does it matter if one believes in a religion you dislike, as long as they act like you want. Even now 43% of Catholics are in favor of same sex marriage, there are plenty of self proclaimed religious people who are pro choice. Plenty scientists who believe in a god. And even more engineers and doctors. Stating that religion precludes logic, progressiveness, and scientific advancement is a false dichotomy at best. tl;dr the demon haunted world + a short history of nearly everything &gt; the God Delusion, and religion =/= ignorance

His arguments are solid, but also completely useless. At least if his goal is to have a scientificly literate and educated world. A bible thumper who finds even the name offensive will not pick it up, nor will your average person that either doesn't read or only reads fictional works of no great quality or length, an atheist willing to read the book has already been converted. Really the only target audience that makes sense would be someone questioning their beliefs and is already leaning far enough to atheism that they'd be okay with reading a book as blunt and aggressive as the God Delusion A much more effective book, that would have a larger potential audience, would be something that encourages skepticism and reason. Especially in conjunction with some of the more pop science works (cosmos, short history of nearly everything, universe in a nutshell, ect.) While such a reading list might not be as effective at converting people to atheism (although I might even argue that point), it will help much more than the God Delusion in regards to the aforementioned goals of an educated world. What does it matter if one believes in a religion you dislike, as long as they act like you want. Even now 43% of Catholics are in favor of same sex marriage, there are plenty of self proclaimed religious people who are pro choice. Plenty scientists who believe in a god. And even more engineers and doctors. Stating that religion precludes logic, progressiveness, and scientific advancement is a false dichotomy at best. tl;dr the demon haunted world + a short history of nearly everything > the God Delusion, and religion =/= ignorance

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t5_2qh1i

cemrmjy

His arguments are solid, but also completely useless. At least if his goal is to have a scientificly literate and educated world. A bible thumper who finds even the name offensive will not pick it up, nor will your average person that either doesn't read or only reads fictional works of no great quality or length, an atheist willing to read the book has already been converted. Really the only target audience that makes sense would be someone questioning their beliefs and is already leaning far enough to atheism that they'd be okay with reading a book as blunt and aggressive as the God Delusion A much more effective book, that would have a larger potential audience, would be something that encourages skepticism and reason. Especially in conjunction with some of the more pop science works (cosmos, short history of nearly everything, universe in a nutshell, ect.) While such a reading list might not be as effective at converting people to atheism (although I might even argue that point), it will help much more than the God Delusion in regards to the aforementioned goals of an educated world. What does it matter if one believes in a religion you dislike, as long as they act like you want. Even now 43% of Catholics are in favor of same sex marriage, there are plenty of self proclaimed religious people who are pro choice. Plenty scientists who believe in a god. And even more engineers and doctors. Stating that religion precludes logic, progressiveness, and scientific advancement is a false dichotomy at best.

the demon haunted world + a short history of nearly everything > the God Delusion, and religion =/= ignorance

TheMusiKid

Why I am (currently) **non-theist**: I was raised by both my father's parents (who are very, *very* Christian) and my mother &amp; stepfather (who are both atheist). I had a very conflicting ideals on life and faith as a child. Whenever I was with my grandparents, they would take me to church and I often felt like there was a God watching over me and my family that did love me. I read (past-tense; English is stupid) the bible all the time because I felt like I should. I was a legitimate heart-on-fire bible-thumping 10-year-old when I was with my grandparents, but I would forget about all of it whenever I went back home because it just didn't feel worth it. When I got to High school, I started hanging out with a lot of smart people with whom I got along really well with, even though they were all atheist. Sometimes we'd even have theological debates just for the fun of it. We both knew we would never change the views of the opposing side but we agreed to do it just for the sake of debate. And then they started throwing logic at me and I didn't know how to compete with it. One day I went home (to my grandparents') feeling unusually defeated and asked my grandmother to read an essay they (the heathens) suggested I read, called ["The Argument from Reason for the Nonexistence of God"^\(link\)]( and help me stop feeling so conflicted. She got to the end of the first section (the uh, *intro*), stopped reading and told me (paraphrasing) "Honey, be careful who you spend time with; the devil has many ways of trying to take you off the path to eternal Life." And it all went to Hell from there... Aaaand here I am today, watching videos by [**Underlings**^\(link\)]( and [**ThePreachingAtheist**^\(link\)]( on YouTube like a good little heretic. To be fair though I have no idea where I'm going in life and everything kinda feels hopeless sometimes, so I think people of faith have it better off than I do in that regard (ignorance ?= bliss). I always try to follow the Golden Rule (which pretty much covers the ten commandments anyways) and I am always as loving and kind as I can be though. **TL;DR:** Was conflicted as a child, but started hanging out with the "wrong crowd" and began to see things logically. Butimagudpersonsodontsmitemegodplzkthx

Why I am (currently) non-theist : I was raised by both my father's parents (who are very, very Christian) and my mother & stepfather (who are both atheist). I had a very conflicting ideals on life and faith as a child. Whenever I was with my grandparents, they would take me to church and I often felt like there was a God watching over me and my family that did love me. I read (past-tense; English is stupid) the bible all the time because I felt like I should. I was a legitimate heart-on-fire bible-thumping 10-year-old when I was with my grandparents, but I would forget about all of it whenever I went back home because it just didn't feel worth it. When I got to High school, I started hanging out with a lot of smart people with whom I got along really well with, even though they were all atheist. Sometimes we'd even have theological debates just for the fun of it. We both knew we would never change the views of the opposing side but we agreed to do it just for the sake of debate. And then they started throwing logic at me and I didn't know how to compete with it. One day I went home (to my grandparents') feeling unusually defeated and asked my grandmother to read an essay they (the heathens) suggested I read, called "The Argument from Reason for the Nonexistence of God"^(link) , stopped reading and told me (paraphrasing) "Honey, be careful who you spend time with; the devil has many ways of trying to take you off the path to eternal Life." And it all went to Hell from there... Aaaand here I am today, watching videos by Underlings ^(link) ]( on YouTube like a good little heretic. To be fair though I have no idea where I'm going in life and everything kinda feels hopeless sometimes, so I think people of faith have it better off than I do in that regard (ignorance ?= bliss). I always try to follow the Golden Rule (which pretty much covers the ten commandments anyways) and I am always as loving and kind as I can be though. TL;DR: Was conflicted as a child, but started hanging out with the "wrong crowd" and began to see things logically. Butimagudpersonsodontsmitemegodplzkthx

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cemru42

Why I am (currently) non-theist : I was raised by both my father's parents (who are very, very Christian) and my mother & stepfather (who are both atheist). I had a very conflicting ideals on life and faith as a child. Whenever I was with my grandparents, they would take me to church and I often felt like there was a God watching over me and my family that did love me. I read (past-tense; English is stupid) the bible all the time because I felt like I should. I was a legitimate heart-on-fire bible-thumping 10-year-old when I was with my grandparents, but I would forget about all of it whenever I went back home because it just didn't feel worth it. When I got to High school, I started hanging out with a lot of smart people with whom I got along really well with, even though they were all atheist. Sometimes we'd even have theological debates just for the fun of it. We both knew we would never change the views of the opposing side but we agreed to do it just for the sake of debate. And then they started throwing logic at me and I didn't know how to compete with it. One day I went home (to my grandparents') feeling unusually defeated and asked my grandmother to read an essay they (the heathens) suggested I read, called "The Argument from Reason for the Nonexistence of God"^(link) , stopped reading and told me (paraphrasing) "Honey, be careful who you spend time with; the devil has many ways of trying to take you off the path to eternal Life." And it all went to Hell from there... Aaaand here I am today, watching videos by Underlings ^(link) ]( on YouTube like a good little heretic. To be fair though I have no idea where I'm going in life and everything kinda feels hopeless sometimes, so I think people of faith have it better off than I do in that regard (ignorance ?= bliss). I always try to follow the Golden Rule (which pretty much covers the ten commandments anyways) and I am always as loving and kind as I can be though.

Was conflicted as a child, but started hanging out with the "wrong crowd" and began to see things logically. Butimagudpersonsodontsmitemegodplzkthx

xLoveLexi

My parents never took my sister and I to church. We used to go to church with our friends across the street on ocassion. So, church was never really a normal thing for me to begin with. When I was around 12/13 I struggled with the idea of a God, I thought my life was very unfair but I tried to pray and tried to convince myself that would help my situation. In bible school, I would listen but could never really fully trust what I was told. There are so many different ways to interpret the bible, no one teaches it the same way. It was confusing for me as a child and I couldn't apply the teachings to my own life. I'm not religious now as an adult because I don't see a reason to be. I try to be the best version myself each and every day, I work very hard and try to treat everyone with respect. I don't need a God to lean on I make miracles happen for myself through hard work and perseverance. TLDR: Religion is weird and I'm fine without it.

My parents never took my sister and I to church. We used to go to church with our friends across the street on ocassion. So, church was never really a normal thing for me to begin with. When I was around 12/13 I struggled with the idea of a God, I thought my life was very unfair but I tried to pray and tried to convince myself that would help my situation. In bible school, I would listen but could never really fully trust what I was told. There are so many different ways to interpret the bible, no one teaches it the same way. It was confusing for me as a child and I couldn't apply the teachings to my own life. I'm not religious now as an adult because I don't see a reason to be. I try to be the best version myself each and every day, I work very hard and try to treat everyone with respect. I don't need a God to lean on I make miracles happen for myself through hard work and perseverance. TLDR: Religion is weird and I'm fine without it.

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cemrxco

My parents never took my sister and I to church. We used to go to church with our friends across the street on ocassion. So, church was never really a normal thing for me to begin with. When I was around 12/13 I struggled with the idea of a God, I thought my life was very unfair but I tried to pray and tried to convince myself that would help my situation. In bible school, I would listen but could never really fully trust what I was told. There are so many different ways to interpret the bible, no one teaches it the same way. It was confusing for me as a child and I couldn't apply the teachings to my own life. I'm not religious now as an adult because I don't see a reason to be. I try to be the best version myself each and every day, I work very hard and try to treat everyone with respect. I don't need a God to lean on I make miracles happen for myself through hard work and perseverance.

Religion is weird and I'm fine without it.

cshippee

My parents always took me and my family to church (protestant) on every Sunday until my mom died when I was five. After that we became less frequent until we just stopped going. My father became an alcoholic and my grandfather started questioning if there was a God why would he take a mother who cared for children away while other mothers who abused their children were allowed to live. I only went to church once a year, at boy scout camp because it's a religious group. Then in college I started dating this really religious protestant girl. At first I thought I could change her and make her more agnostic like me. Boy was I wrong. She has turned me into a believer. And I'm still with her 4 years later. I'm not one of those Christian's who goes around bragging about it and trying to convert everyone I meet. I still don't show up at church every Sunday but when I can. Tl;dr: was religious till moms death, lost faith, refound faith with girlfriend of four years.

My parents always took me and my family to church (protestant) on every Sunday until my mom died when I was five. After that we became less frequent until we just stopped going. My father became an alcoholic and my grandfather started questioning if there was a God why would he take a mother who cared for children away while other mothers who abused their children were allowed to live. I only went to church once a year, at boy scout camp because it's a religious group. Then in college I started dating this really religious protestant girl. At first I thought I could change her and make her more agnostic like me. Boy was I wrong. She has turned me into a believer. And I'm still with her 4 years later. I'm not one of those Christian's who goes around bragging about it and trying to convert everyone I meet. I still don't show up at church every Sunday but when I can. Tl;dr: was religious till moms death, lost faith, refound faith with girlfriend of four years.

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cemt31u

My parents always took me and my family to church (protestant) on every Sunday until my mom died when I was five. After that we became less frequent until we just stopped going. My father became an alcoholic and my grandfather started questioning if there was a God why would he take a mother who cared for children away while other mothers who abused their children were allowed to live. I only went to church once a year, at boy scout camp because it's a religious group. Then in college I started dating this really religious protestant girl. At first I thought I could change her and make her more agnostic like me. Boy was I wrong. She has turned me into a believer. And I'm still with her 4 years later. I'm not one of those Christian's who goes around bragging about it and trying to convert everyone I meet. I still don't show up at church every Sunday but when I can.

was religious till moms death, lost faith, refound faith with girlfriend of four years.

Kreative-Dragon

I was raised Lutheran by a Mother who is very strong in her belief and a father that I am not so sure about (he has mentioned praying a couple of times). With a child who was constantly asking "why" and "how" and "what next", my parents were very good at trying to find answers. And some of those answers were LOGICAL. My mother is a huge science buff, and she was always able to incorporate God and science together. When 9/11 happened, I actually took it very personally, and at Eight I experienced my first round of depression. My mother would come into my room and hold me as I cried. We would pray the Apostles creed, and then the child's prayer. Then she would sing hymns, and there would be this heavy presence that would rest on me. There was one point in my life when my faith was really shook, and that was when the church we were attending basically chased out the Youth pastor due to the fact that she was divorcing her abusive husband. This was a community I had trusted since I could remember, and it was one of the strongest feelings of betrayal. My parents decided that this church was not meeting our spiritual needs, and we left. I remember my mother quoting "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone". It has stuck with me ever since. I've been accused of wasting my IQ for believing; but I feel that going through my world and the Bible, and understanding where it makes sense and supports each other, is one of the greatest mind games I can practice. My faith has given me hope, and has helped me understand people of other views and beliefs. I think it is *because* of my religion, that I have become more compassionate. tl:dr. My mother used Religion to help me understand the parts of the world that didn't have answers, and it has also helped me connect better with people.

I was raised Lutheran by a Mother who is very strong in her belief and a father that I am not so sure about (he has mentioned praying a couple of times). With a child who was constantly asking "why" and "how" and "what next", my parents were very good at trying to find answers. And some of those answers were LOGICAL. My mother is a huge science buff, and she was always able to incorporate God and science together. When 9/11 happened, I actually took it very personally, and at Eight I experienced my first round of depression. My mother would come into my room and hold me as I cried. We would pray the Apostles creed, and then the child's prayer. Then she would sing hymns, and there would be this heavy presence that would rest on me. There was one point in my life when my faith was really shook, and that was when the church we were attending basically chased out the Youth pastor due to the fact that she was divorcing her abusive husband. This was a community I had trusted since I could remember, and it was one of the strongest feelings of betrayal. My parents decided that this church was not meeting our spiritual needs, and we left. I remember my mother quoting "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone". It has stuck with me ever since. I've been accused of wasting my IQ for believing; but I feel that going through my world and the Bible, and understanding where it makes sense and supports each other, is one of the greatest mind games I can practice. My faith has given me hope, and has helped me understand people of other views and beliefs. I think it is because of my religion, that I have become more compassionate. tl:dr. My mother used Religion to help me understand the parts of the world that didn't have answers, and it has also helped me connect better with people.

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cemtgcu

I was raised Lutheran by a Mother who is very strong in her belief and a father that I am not so sure about (he has mentioned praying a couple of times). With a child who was constantly asking "why" and "how" and "what next", my parents were very good at trying to find answers. And some of those answers were LOGICAL. My mother is a huge science buff, and she was always able to incorporate God and science together. When 9/11 happened, I actually took it very personally, and at Eight I experienced my first round of depression. My mother would come into my room and hold me as I cried. We would pray the Apostles creed, and then the child's prayer. Then she would sing hymns, and there would be this heavy presence that would rest on me. There was one point in my life when my faith was really shook, and that was when the church we were attending basically chased out the Youth pastor due to the fact that she was divorcing her abusive husband. This was a community I had trusted since I could remember, and it was one of the strongest feelings of betrayal. My parents decided that this church was not meeting our spiritual needs, and we left. I remember my mother quoting "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone". It has stuck with me ever since. I've been accused of wasting my IQ for believing; but I feel that going through my world and the Bible, and understanding where it makes sense and supports each other, is one of the greatest mind games I can practice. My faith has given me hope, and has helped me understand people of other views and beliefs. I think it is because of my religion, that I have become more compassionate.

My mother used Religion to help me understand the parts of the world that didn't have answers, and it has also helped me connect better with people.

eirinlinn

I was born into a Mormon family and brought up in an environment where we would go to church every Sunday nearly without fail. I went to the church lessons for kids my age after the first meeting; and never really paid much attention to what was being taught. I pretty much endured the entire thing, bored out of my mind. As I began to get older; I noticed that the church seemed more like a social function, instead of a church. People seemed to go there more for the face value rather than what was actually being talked about. I remember very distinctly that there was a mother and her daughter (my age [about 12-13]) that would always prance in to the chapel with a brand new outfit every single week. They looked immaculate, as if they had spent two hours in just getting ready for church. I felt like I was in the Stepford wives most of the time because of all the fake smiles and ingenuity. Neither my siblings or I ever made friends with the kids that we went to church with; and now that I look back on it, it was because we didn't act like robots, and we didn't display the false perfection act that nearly all of them did. If you didn't do your hair just right; you were ignored. If you didn't sit prime and proper constantly; you were ignored. If you dared in any way to show imperfection about you, it was as if you were immediately ostracized by your peers. All of the people that are high on the social ladder miraculously get all the ''callings'' such as bishop, 1st counselor, 2nd counselor, etc. This makes everything so palpable that you can taste it. Essentially, in order to get callings, you either have to be one of the ''popular'' families, or you have to just get lucky. Miraculously the bishop's wife will be called to be the Relief Society (a meeting for women over 18 in the church) president, or the 1st counselor's wife is called to be the primary (a meeting for children) president! It's all so coincidental isn't it? With age, I grew further and further from the church; because nothing made sense. The temple rituals were WEIRD. The belief that god lives on another planet is WEIRD. The special underwear you get after you're marries is WEIRD. Need I go on? Like other religions you are expected to hand over 10% of your income as a form of tithing. They have a ''doctrine'' that says if you don't pay your tithing, you aren't going to receive god's blessings. If you don't pay your tithing, you aren't allowed to get into the temple. They don't care if you are in a tight place financially; you are expected to pay 10% anyway. I live in Utah, so Mormon culture is in my face everyday. I used to live in the more progressive county in the state so mo-mo stuff was never blown up in my face (that much). I moved to the county that happens to be MORMON central. You think there are a lot of Mormons in Salt Lake County? Look at Utah County. I can give a pretty good estimate that 3/5 people that reside in Utah county are Mormons. And yeah, I am not in any shape or form considered religious. **TL;DR** The Mormon church seems more like a popularity contest than a religion.

I was born into a Mormon family and brought up in an environment where we would go to church every Sunday nearly without fail. I went to the church lessons for kids my age after the first meeting; and never really paid much attention to what was being taught. I pretty much endured the entire thing, bored out of my mind. As I began to get older; I noticed that the church seemed more like a social function, instead of a church. People seemed to go there more for the face value rather than what was actually being talked about. I remember very distinctly that there was a mother and her daughter (my age [about 12-13]) that would always prance in to the chapel with a brand new outfit every single week. They looked immaculate, as if they had spent two hours in just getting ready for church. I felt like I was in the Stepford wives most of the time because of all the fake smiles and ingenuity. Neither my siblings or I ever made friends with the kids that we went to church with; and now that I look back on it, it was because we didn't act like robots, and we didn't display the false perfection act that nearly all of them did. If you didn't do your hair just right; you were ignored. If you didn't sit prime and proper constantly; you were ignored. If you dared in any way to show imperfection about you, it was as if you were immediately ostracized by your peers. All of the people that are high on the social ladder miraculously get all the ''callings'' such as bishop, 1st counselor, 2nd counselor, etc. This makes everything so palpable that you can taste it. Essentially, in order to get callings, you either have to be one of the ''popular'' families, or you have to just get lucky. Miraculously the bishop's wife will be called to be the Relief Society (a meeting for women over 18 in the church) president, or the 1st counselor's wife is called to be the primary (a meeting for children) president! It's all so coincidental isn't it? With age, I grew further and further from the church; because nothing made sense. The temple rituals were WEIRD. The belief that god lives on another planet is WEIRD. The special underwear you get after you're marries is WEIRD. Need I go on? Like other religions you are expected to hand over 10% of your income as a form of tithing. They have a ''doctrine'' that says if you don't pay your tithing, you aren't going to receive god's blessings. If you don't pay your tithing, you aren't allowed to get into the temple. They don't care if you are in a tight place financially; you are expected to pay 10% anyway. I live in Utah, so Mormon culture is in my face everyday. I used to live in the more progressive county in the state so mo-mo stuff was never blown up in my face (that much). I moved to the county that happens to be MORMON central. You think there are a lot of Mormons in Salt Lake County? Look at Utah County. I can give a pretty good estimate that 3/5 people that reside in Utah county are Mormons. And yeah, I am not in any shape or form considered religious. TL;DR The Mormon church seems more like a popularity contest than a religion.

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cemtj8d

I was born into a Mormon family and brought up in an environment where we would go to church every Sunday nearly without fail. I went to the church lessons for kids my age after the first meeting; and never really paid much attention to what was being taught. I pretty much endured the entire thing, bored out of my mind. As I began to get older; I noticed that the church seemed more like a social function, instead of a church. People seemed to go there more for the face value rather than what was actually being talked about. I remember very distinctly that there was a mother and her daughter (my age [about 12-13]) that would always prance in to the chapel with a brand new outfit every single week. They looked immaculate, as if they had spent two hours in just getting ready for church. I felt like I was in the Stepford wives most of the time because of all the fake smiles and ingenuity. Neither my siblings or I ever made friends with the kids that we went to church with; and now that I look back on it, it was because we didn't act like robots, and we didn't display the false perfection act that nearly all of them did. If you didn't do your hair just right; you were ignored. If you didn't sit prime and proper constantly; you were ignored. If you dared in any way to show imperfection about you, it was as if you were immediately ostracized by your peers. All of the people that are high on the social ladder miraculously get all the ''callings'' such as bishop, 1st counselor, 2nd counselor, etc. This makes everything so palpable that you can taste it. Essentially, in order to get callings, you either have to be one of the ''popular'' families, or you have to just get lucky. Miraculously the bishop's wife will be called to be the Relief Society (a meeting for women over 18 in the church) president, or the 1st counselor's wife is called to be the primary (a meeting for children) president! It's all so coincidental isn't it? With age, I grew further and further from the church; because nothing made sense. The temple rituals were WEIRD. The belief that god lives on another planet is WEIRD. The special underwear you get after you're marries is WEIRD. Need I go on? Like other religions you are expected to hand over 10% of your income as a form of tithing. They have a ''doctrine'' that says if you don't pay your tithing, you aren't going to receive god's blessings. If you don't pay your tithing, you aren't allowed to get into the temple. They don't care if you are in a tight place financially; you are expected to pay 10% anyway. I live in Utah, so Mormon culture is in my face everyday. I used to live in the more progressive county in the state so mo-mo stuff was never blown up in my face (that much). I moved to the county that happens to be MORMON central. You think there are a lot of Mormons in Salt Lake County? Look at Utah County. I can give a pretty good estimate that 3/5 people that reside in Utah county are Mormons. And yeah, I am not in any shape or form considered religious.

The Mormon church seems more like a popularity contest than a religion.

pushtheputton

Was Christian, a full paid member of the God squad. Then I started to try and live by the teachings of the bible and quickly realised that they often contradicted or promoted something other than the all encompassing love I'd come to expect from my religion. Then I worked in a Catholic school and saw first hand the indoctrination of children. There's a reason children are introduced to religion early. Came to the conclusion that being part of a religion was just a way of drawing a line between people. TL.DR critical thinking, realised it made no sense.

Was Christian, a full paid member of the God squad. Then I started to try and live by the teachings of the bible and quickly realised that they often contradicted or promoted something other than the all encompassing love I'd come to expect from my religion. Then I worked in a Catholic school and saw first hand the indoctrination of children. There's a reason children are introduced to religion early. Came to the conclusion that being part of a religion was just a way of drawing a line between people. TL.DR critical thinking, realised it made no sense.

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cen0qub

Was Christian, a full paid member of the God squad. Then I started to try and live by the teachings of the bible and quickly realised that they often contradicted or promoted something other than the all encompassing love I'd come to expect from my religion. Then I worked in a Catholic school and saw first hand the indoctrination of children. There's a reason children are introduced to religion early. Came to the conclusion that being part of a religion was just a way of drawing a line between people.

critical thinking, realised it made no sense.

danshaffer96

I don't really understand what point you're trying to make. Is it basically "If God wrote the Bible with inaccurate historical facts, then the faith-related things must also be wrong"? If so, I don't think you're really understanding the Bible. First of all, "An omnipotent god couldn't get that bit right" makes it sound like you think God wrote the Bible himself. That's incorrect, obviously. Catholics believe that the Holy Spirit worked through the human authors. There's been a couple heresies surrounding this point, one of which you seem to believe. That is, it is incorrect that God dictated the Bible to human "secretaries". Really, God "inspired" the authors of the various books of the Bible. Of course, the authors had their own goals in writing their books. For example, John writing the Book of Revelation. It was a huge metaphor for the Roman empire of the time. While it did serve that purpose John wanted it to serve, it also served God by containing factual faith. Thus, it can still be considered "word of God". TL;DR: God doesn't write the Bible, and he doesn't care if the writers of the Bible get little stuff wrong/say things to serve their own purposes, as long as the truths of faith are still correct.

I don't really understand what point you're trying to make. Is it basically "If God wrote the Bible with inaccurate historical facts, then the faith-related things must also be wrong"? If so, I don't think you're really understanding the Bible. First of all, "An omnipotent god couldn't get that bit right" makes it sound like you think God wrote the Bible himself. That's incorrect, obviously. Catholics believe that the Holy Spirit worked through the human authors. There's been a couple heresies surrounding this point, one of which you seem to believe. That is, it is incorrect that God dictated the Bible to human "secretaries". Really, God "inspired" the authors of the various books of the Bible. Of course, the authors had their own goals in writing their books. For example, John writing the Book of Revelation. It was a huge metaphor for the Roman empire of the time. While it did serve that purpose John wanted it to serve, it also served God by containing factual faith. Thus, it can still be considered "word of God". TL;DR: God doesn't write the Bible, and he doesn't care if the writers of the Bible get little stuff wrong/say things to serve their own purposes, as long as the truths of faith are still correct.

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cen22t5

I don't really understand what point you're trying to make. Is it basically "If God wrote the Bible with inaccurate historical facts, then the faith-related things must also be wrong"? If so, I don't think you're really understanding the Bible. First of all, "An omnipotent god couldn't get that bit right" makes it sound like you think God wrote the Bible himself. That's incorrect, obviously. Catholics believe that the Holy Spirit worked through the human authors. There's been a couple heresies surrounding this point, one of which you seem to believe. That is, it is incorrect that God dictated the Bible to human "secretaries". Really, God "inspired" the authors of the various books of the Bible. Of course, the authors had their own goals in writing their books. For example, John writing the Book of Revelation. It was a huge metaphor for the Roman empire of the time. While it did serve that purpose John wanted it to serve, it also served God by containing factual faith. Thus, it can still be considered "word of God".

God doesn't write the Bible, and he doesn't care if the writers of the Bible get little stuff wrong/say things to serve their own purposes, as long as the truths of faith are still correct.

FrescoColori

My parents were divorced when I was 7; my Dad's family is Catholic and my mother is protestant. Like many things, they couldn't agree on how I should be raised when it came to religion, so I was left to my own ideas. I didn't really think about religion until high school when I felt left out of my friends' youth groups. That's when I started "sampling", mostly within Christianity, but I basically said yes to anyone who invited me to church with them. Finally, in college, I was invited to Mass at the university Newman Center. The first time I went, it felt like home. (Background: I ended up being raised by my Dad's Italian catholic family with almost no exposure to my mother or her family by that point.) I went through RCIA (basically convert to Catholicism classes) led by Dominicans who taught us to challenge scripture to better understand its context and to come to terms with its meaning. I'm sad when I tell this story to other Catholics and they have not had this experience. Beyond the feeling of "at home-ness", I loved Catholicism because it was the most inclusive and academic church I had experienced. I'm still not sure why I no longer believe (or maybe I never did; I was homesick all along?). As a scientist, I grapple with the statistics of thing, and tend to be a very analytical, evidence based person. I don't think that religion and science is fundamentally incompatible, I just think the personality type attracted to one has a hard time thriving in the other. Also, I'm embarrassed to admit, the antics of extreme fundamentalists make me shy away from all religion more and more, even moderate churches who aren't to blame. tl;dr I grew up without religion, but surrounded by Catholicism. In college I found an open minded Catholic church that made me feel at home, so I converted. Now I call myself a cultural Catholic because I love how it feels to be a part of a church but struggle with the believing part.

My parents were divorced when I was 7; my Dad's family is Catholic and my mother is protestant. Like many things, they couldn't agree on how I should be raised when it came to religion, so I was left to my own ideas. I didn't really think about religion until high school when I felt left out of my friends' youth groups. That's when I started "sampling", mostly within Christianity, but I basically said yes to anyone who invited me to church with them. Finally, in college, I was invited to Mass at the university Newman Center. The first time I went, it felt like home. (Background: I ended up being raised by my Dad's Italian catholic family with almost no exposure to my mother or her family by that point.) I went through RCIA (basically convert to Catholicism classes) led by Dominicans who taught us to challenge scripture to better understand its context and to come to terms with its meaning. I'm sad when I tell this story to other Catholics and they have not had this experience. Beyond the feeling of "at home-ness", I loved Catholicism because it was the most inclusive and academic church I had experienced. I'm still not sure why I no longer believe (or maybe I never did; I was homesick all along?). As a scientist, I grapple with the statistics of thing, and tend to be a very analytical, evidence based person. I don't think that religion and science is fundamentally incompatible, I just think the personality type attracted to one has a hard time thriving in the other. Also, I'm embarrassed to admit, the antics of extreme fundamentalists make me shy away from all religion more and more, even moderate churches who aren't to blame. tl;dr I grew up without religion, but surrounded by Catholicism. In college I found an open minded Catholic church that made me feel at home, so I converted. Now I call myself a cultural Catholic because I love how it feels to be a part of a church but struggle with the believing part.

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t5_2qh1i

cenebcq

My parents were divorced when I was 7; my Dad's family is Catholic and my mother is protestant. Like many things, they couldn't agree on how I should be raised when it came to religion, so I was left to my own ideas. I didn't really think about religion until high school when I felt left out of my friends' youth groups. That's when I started "sampling", mostly within Christianity, but I basically said yes to anyone who invited me to church with them. Finally, in college, I was invited to Mass at the university Newman Center. The first time I went, it felt like home. (Background: I ended up being raised by my Dad's Italian catholic family with almost no exposure to my mother or her family by that point.) I went through RCIA (basically convert to Catholicism classes) led by Dominicans who taught us to challenge scripture to better understand its context and to come to terms with its meaning. I'm sad when I tell this story to other Catholics and they have not had this experience. Beyond the feeling of "at home-ness", I loved Catholicism because it was the most inclusive and academic church I had experienced. I'm still not sure why I no longer believe (or maybe I never did; I was homesick all along?). As a scientist, I grapple with the statistics of thing, and tend to be a very analytical, evidence based person. I don't think that religion and science is fundamentally incompatible, I just think the personality type attracted to one has a hard time thriving in the other. Also, I'm embarrassed to admit, the antics of extreme fundamentalists make me shy away from all religion more and more, even moderate churches who aren't to blame.

I grew up without religion, but surrounded by Catholicism. In college I found an open minded Catholic church that made me feel at home, so I converted. Now I call myself a cultural Catholic because I love how it feels to be a part of a church but struggle with the believing part.

thingkr

Here's a Christian point-of-view answer to your question. I don't want to start an argument, I respect your question and wanted to show you a Christian's answer. In Christianity, we believe that God is absolutely perfect, He is not unjust and there is no corruption in Him. When He created human, He made us perfect, but with an aspect of free choice. Humans took this free choice and destroyed their perfect nature, they chose to sin and brought corruption and death into the world. Since God is perfect and just, He cannot even be in the presence of corruption, so humans are sent to the other reality: hell. Because humans chose corruption, we deserve hell; that's why Jesus's death is so important to Christians, because it was the sacrifice that took away our damnation and gave us a chance to be with God. So when people are killed, tortured or decapitated, it's just the product of our corrupted world; which is what Jesus could save us from. I tried to keep out my own bias as much as possible, sorry if it sounded preachy. This isn't necessarily an absolute answer to the question, just a Christians point of view. I hope this helps :) TL;DR: Humans deserve death and corruption because they brought it into the world. We receive the product of our own sinful actions. Jesus is a sacrifice that can take away this corruption after death.

Here's a Christian point-of-view answer to your question. I don't want to start an argument, I respect your question and wanted to show you a Christian's answer. In Christianity, we believe that God is absolutely perfect, He is not unjust and there is no corruption in Him. When He created human, He made us perfect, but with an aspect of free choice. Humans took this free choice and destroyed their perfect nature, they chose to sin and brought corruption and death into the world. Since God is perfect and just, He cannot even be in the presence of corruption, so humans are sent to the other reality: hell. Because humans chose corruption, we deserve hell; that's why Jesus's death is so important to Christians, because it was the sacrifice that took away our damnation and gave us a chance to be with God. So when people are killed, tortured or decapitated, it's just the product of our corrupted world; which is what Jesus could save us from. I tried to keep out my own bias as much as possible, sorry if it sounded preachy. This isn't necessarily an absolute answer to the question, just a Christians point of view. I hope this helps :) TL;DR: Humans deserve death and corruption because they brought it into the world. We receive the product of our own sinful actions. Jesus is a sacrifice that can take away this corruption after death.

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t5_2qh1i

cem5am0

Here's a Christian point-of-view answer to your question. I don't want to start an argument, I respect your question and wanted to show you a Christian's answer. In Christianity, we believe that God is absolutely perfect, He is not unjust and there is no corruption in Him. When He created human, He made us perfect, but with an aspect of free choice. Humans took this free choice and destroyed their perfect nature, they chose to sin and brought corruption and death into the world. Since God is perfect and just, He cannot even be in the presence of corruption, so humans are sent to the other reality: hell. Because humans chose corruption, we deserve hell; that's why Jesus's death is so important to Christians, because it was the sacrifice that took away our damnation and gave us a chance to be with God. So when people are killed, tortured or decapitated, it's just the product of our corrupted world; which is what Jesus could save us from. I tried to keep out my own bias as much as possible, sorry if it sounded preachy. This isn't necessarily an absolute answer to the question, just a Christians point of view. I hope this helps :)

Humans deserve death and corruption because they brought it into the world. We receive the product of our own sinful actions. Jesus is a sacrifice that can take away this corruption after death.

darkiron112

Well, I know I used a lot of logically convoluted phrases and negations in what I said-- but basically, what you said agrees with what I said. Religion and science can coalesce where they do not conflict. Though, if you are saying that the two can mutually exist on points where they oppose, and I've misunderstood you, that would be the incorrect assertion, due to their natural opposition. Edit: tldr; Science isn't gunning for God, but sometimes he still gets hit.

Well, I know I used a lot of logically convoluted phrases and negations in what I said-- but basically, what you said agrees with what I said. Religion and science can coalesce where they do not conflict. Though, if you are saying that the two can mutually exist on points where they oppose, and I've misunderstood you, that would be the incorrect assertion, due to their natural opposition. Edit: tldr; Science isn't gunning for God, but sometimes he still gets hit.

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t5_2qh1i

cem8l7o

Well, I know I used a lot of logically convoluted phrases and negations in what I said-- but basically, what you said agrees with what I said. Religion and science can coalesce where they do not conflict. Though, if you are saying that the two can mutually exist on points where they oppose, and I've misunderstood you, that would be the incorrect assertion, due to their natural opposition. Edit:

Science isn't gunning for God, but sometimes he still gets hit.

TehScrumpy

I was very religious most of my childhood. It reached its peak through high school. I was apart of groups and on boards. Through it I traveled across the country. The biggest part of it all was giving back to my community and the world. On those boards I was the Social Action/Tikun Olam officer. On that trip, we stopped off in cities to work in food drives, homeless shelters, clean parks, clean deserts (2 hours of picking up bullet casings out of vegas for the win). It was some of the best times I've ever had. And yes I loved the community, but mostly because I had no other community. I was very alone outside of my religion. Then I went to college. I met like minded people who were interested in my same hobbies, but were not the same religion. So my religion just fell out of focus. When I graduated, I had a new life with new people. My time was prioritized differently and I really hadn't had religion in my life. It just waned away. But I'm going to make this point clear: spirituality was never apart of my religion. Thoughts of whether there is a god or not filled my head for a long time, but now I just don't care. Rule on how I should or should not regulate my life were questioned, now I can choose based on my own morals. I was religious for the community and the controlled experiences to help. As an adult I no longer need that. I went from praying 3 times a day and keeping kosher to not giving a single thought and pigging out on pig. So I suppose TL;DR I forgot to one day and haven't missed it from my life.

I was very religious most of my childhood. It reached its peak through high school. I was apart of groups and on boards. Through it I traveled across the country. The biggest part of it all was giving back to my community and the world. On those boards I was the Social Action/Tikun Olam officer. On that trip, we stopped off in cities to work in food drives, homeless shelters, clean parks, clean deserts (2 hours of picking up bullet casings out of vegas for the win). It was some of the best times I've ever had. And yes I loved the community, but mostly because I had no other community. I was very alone outside of my religion. Then I went to college. I met like minded people who were interested in my same hobbies, but were not the same religion. So my religion just fell out of focus. When I graduated, I had a new life with new people. My time was prioritized differently and I really hadn't had religion in my life. It just waned away. But I'm going to make this point clear: spirituality was never apart of my religion. Thoughts of whether there is a god or not filled my head for a long time, but now I just don't care. Rule on how I should or should not regulate my life were questioned, now I can choose based on my own morals. I was religious for the community and the controlled experiences to help. As an adult I no longer need that. I went from praying 3 times a day and keeping kosher to not giving a single thought and pigging out on pig. So I suppose TL;DR I forgot to one day and haven't missed it from my life.

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t5_2qh1i

cem8zkc

I was very religious most of my childhood. It reached its peak through high school. I was apart of groups and on boards. Through it I traveled across the country. The biggest part of it all was giving back to my community and the world. On those boards I was the Social Action/Tikun Olam officer. On that trip, we stopped off in cities to work in food drives, homeless shelters, clean parks, clean deserts (2 hours of picking up bullet casings out of vegas for the win). It was some of the best times I've ever had. And yes I loved the community, but mostly because I had no other community. I was very alone outside of my religion. Then I went to college. I met like minded people who were interested in my same hobbies, but were not the same religion. So my religion just fell out of focus. When I graduated, I had a new life with new people. My time was prioritized differently and I really hadn't had religion in my life. It just waned away. But I'm going to make this point clear: spirituality was never apart of my religion. Thoughts of whether there is a god or not filled my head for a long time, but now I just don't care. Rule on how I should or should not regulate my life were questioned, now I can choose based on my own morals. I was religious for the community and the controlled experiences to help. As an adult I no longer need that. I went from praying 3 times a day and keeping kosher to not giving a single thought and pigging out on pig. So I suppose

I forgot to one day and haven't missed it from my life.

GreenThunderDovsky

Religions are ways for people to explain the unknown in the universe without much hassle because they just give bullshit explanations without providing any proof and refuse to accept any other idea. I understand people who CHOOSE to live in delusion because the idea of "death" scares them, it's basically easy comfort. However, I'm not afraid of death, I am living a happy life and I know it will one day end. But it doesn't scare me nor make me sad because in the end its better to have had a life (even more so if you were happy) than not be given the opportunity to have one. I don't usually even think of it as "death" just your life ending, and you should be grateful you had one. For that I never felt compelled to go to a place where some uneducated pseudo teacher tells me I'm going somewhere else good instead of just stopping to live. EDIT: **TL;DR** - Not afraid of death, yet understanding of those who are.

Religions are ways for people to explain the unknown in the universe without much hassle because they just give bullshit explanations without providing any proof and refuse to accept any other idea. I understand people who CHOOSE to live in delusion because the idea of "death" scares them, it's basically easy comfort. However, I'm not afraid of death, I am living a happy life and I know it will one day end. But it doesn't scare me nor make me sad because in the end its better to have had a life (even more so if you were happy) than not be given the opportunity to have one. I don't usually even think of it as "death" just your life ending, and you should be grateful you had one. For that I never felt compelled to go to a place where some uneducated pseudo teacher tells me I'm going somewhere else good instead of just stopping to live. EDIT: TL;DR - Not afraid of death, yet understanding of those who are.

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t5_2qh1i

cem95vo

Religions are ways for people to explain the unknown in the universe without much hassle because they just give bullshit explanations without providing any proof and refuse to accept any other idea. I understand people who CHOOSE to live in delusion because the idea of "death" scares them, it's basically easy comfort. However, I'm not afraid of death, I am living a happy life and I know it will one day end. But it doesn't scare me nor make me sad because in the end its better to have had a life (even more so if you were happy) than not be given the opportunity to have one. I don't usually even think of it as "death" just your life ending, and you should be grateful you had one. For that I never felt compelled to go to a place where some uneducated pseudo teacher tells me I'm going somewhere else good instead of just stopping to live. EDIT:

Not afraid of death, yet understanding of those who are.

xanothis23

I'm not religious because as a teenager, when I thought I knew everything but was slowly growing out of it i began to think, and i came to one conclusion: I'm terrified of not existing. Seriously, I had some huge existential stuff going on, I considered that I there were three major themes to the afterlife in today's religions (I"m sure there are more but for the sake of brevity bear with me) the first being heaven or hell, the second, reincarnation, and the third is the atheistic view of not existing. To me the reincarnation was just as bad as not existing since you dont get to remember your previous lives as you live them. So i was a christian, not because i was necessarily a believer but because I was afraid. So one day in my inner thoughts one came to me that made perfect sense "The truth doesn't care what you're afraid of." And its true, i was terrified I'd break up with my first GF, but that happened, that i might not get to stay at the school i was at, that happened as well. Things are what they are regardless of how you feel about them. I realized this, and that it was the only string tying me to any type of religious affiliation. To this day I'm still sorta terrified of not existing, but its not what i believe will happen, so i try not to dwell on it, because as a surprisingly deep reddit comment once told me in response to "what's the meaning of life" its "to give your life meaning" TL;DR I'm not religious because i realized i only was out of fear

I'm not religious because as a teenager, when I thought I knew everything but was slowly growing out of it i began to think, and i came to one conclusion: I'm terrified of not existing. Seriously, I had some huge existential stuff going on, I considered that I there were three major themes to the afterlife in today's religions (I"m sure there are more but for the sake of brevity bear with me) the first being heaven or hell, the second, reincarnation, and the third is the atheistic view of not existing. To me the reincarnation was just as bad as not existing since you dont get to remember your previous lives as you live them. So i was a christian, not because i was necessarily a believer but because I was afraid. So one day in my inner thoughts one came to me that made perfect sense "The truth doesn't care what you're afraid of." And its true, i was terrified I'd break up with my first GF, but that happened, that i might not get to stay at the school i was at, that happened as well. Things are what they are regardless of how you feel about them. I realized this, and that it was the only string tying me to any type of religious affiliation. To this day I'm still sorta terrified of not existing, but its not what i believe will happen, so i try not to dwell on it, because as a surprisingly deep reddit comment once told me in response to "what's the meaning of life" its "to give your life meaning" TL;DR I'm not religious because i realized i only was out of fear

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t5_2qh1i

cem9uic

I'm not religious because as a teenager, when I thought I knew everything but was slowly growing out of it i began to think, and i came to one conclusion: I'm terrified of not existing. Seriously, I had some huge existential stuff going on, I considered that I there were three major themes to the afterlife in today's religions (I"m sure there are more but for the sake of brevity bear with me) the first being heaven or hell, the second, reincarnation, and the third is the atheistic view of not existing. To me the reincarnation was just as bad as not existing since you dont get to remember your previous lives as you live them. So i was a christian, not because i was necessarily a believer but because I was afraid. So one day in my inner thoughts one came to me that made perfect sense "The truth doesn't care what you're afraid of." And its true, i was terrified I'd break up with my first GF, but that happened, that i might not get to stay at the school i was at, that happened as well. Things are what they are regardless of how you feel about them. I realized this, and that it was the only string tying me to any type of religious affiliation. To this day I'm still sorta terrified of not existing, but its not what i believe will happen, so i try not to dwell on it, because as a surprisingly deep reddit comment once told me in response to "what's the meaning of life" its "to give your life meaning"

I'm not religious because i realized i only was out of fear

Japanamatronica

I grew up catholic and went to catholic school but I never felt accepted with my peers. Everyone left me out of events and recess games and it had a huge impact on me at a young age. I figured from a young age that if you're not completely religious and somewhat question it, people move on without you. You're either 100% or someone who needs Jesus. I didn't need Jesus, at the time I was perfectly ok with the dude, I just needed a friend and I wasn't gonna get that in Catholicism so I started expand my ventures and study a variety of religions. Another key point was when I was in middle school. I went to a stereotypical christian camp in the wilderness of Texas. It was complete with 4-5 prayer breaks throughout the day and a blob. Anyway, I had gone twice and on my second trip my mind was made up on the matter of religion. On the second trip we were told to be careful and mind the neighboring land because the landowners weren't too thrilled with Christians. Anyway, by the 3rd day of our 5 day trip all hell breaks loose, the neighbors who we were told that the unfriendly neighbors were coming after us. The groups were split up and we were told to seek cover and shelter a couple of miles into the heart of the camp's property. Rumors start spreading that the neighbors have guns and are seeking retribution on the Christians. We eventually make it to the camp's "Safe house", which was just a shabby old barn and we go in and are directed to pray for safety. Were there for ten minutes when we hear some redneck start yelling something along the lines of, "We'll spare anyone who renounces Jesus as the holy savior, and the rest who still maintain their Jesus as the holy will just have to suffer the consequences. I nope'd the fuck out of there and renounced Jesus then and there. I walked out of the barn and told them, "I don't believe in miracles, and I don't believe in Jesus as the one true savior." It was then I found out the whole scenario was a sham to get the kids to believe harder in Christ and that this was a mock scenario of what happens on a "global scale", the persecution of Christians. It was then I realized, "This isn't a religion of love, it's a religion of fear." So I said fuck that. Now, I like to believe that there is probably a higher being because there's no proof to deny it, nor is there any proof to fully prove its existence but miracles don't happen to the everyday person who probably does need one, like a person with stage 4 leukemia. So I kinda follow a deistic belief and have been happy loving everyone for who they are regardless of religion or creed, even the crazy conservative christians, I love them too. Sorry for the wall of text, TL;DR - I never felt involved as a catholic, and I went to a crazy Jesus Camp.

I grew up catholic and went to catholic school but I never felt accepted with my peers. Everyone left me out of events and recess games and it had a huge impact on me at a young age. I figured from a young age that if you're not completely religious and somewhat question it, people move on without you. You're either 100% or someone who needs Jesus. I didn't need Jesus, at the time I was perfectly ok with the dude, I just needed a friend and I wasn't gonna get that in Catholicism so I started expand my ventures and study a variety of religions. Another key point was when I was in middle school. I went to a stereotypical christian camp in the wilderness of Texas. It was complete with 4-5 prayer breaks throughout the day and a blob. Anyway, I had gone twice and on my second trip my mind was made up on the matter of religion. On the second trip we were told to be careful and mind the neighboring land because the landowners weren't too thrilled with Christians. Anyway, by the 3rd day of our 5 day trip all hell breaks loose, the neighbors who we were told that the unfriendly neighbors were coming after us. The groups were split up and we were told to seek cover and shelter a couple of miles into the heart of the camp's property. Rumors start spreading that the neighbors have guns and are seeking retribution on the Christians. We eventually make it to the camp's "Safe house", which was just a shabby old barn and we go in and are directed to pray for safety. Were there for ten minutes when we hear some redneck start yelling something along the lines of, "We'll spare anyone who renounces Jesus as the holy savior, and the rest who still maintain their Jesus as the holy will just have to suffer the consequences. I nope'd the fuck out of there and renounced Jesus then and there. I walked out of the barn and told them, "I don't believe in miracles, and I don't believe in Jesus as the one true savior." It was then I found out the whole scenario was a sham to get the kids to believe harder in Christ and that this was a mock scenario of what happens on a "global scale", the persecution of Christians. It was then I realized, "This isn't a religion of love, it's a religion of fear." So I said fuck that. Now, I like to believe that there is probably a higher being because there's no proof to deny it, nor is there any proof to fully prove its existence but miracles don't happen to the everyday person who probably does need one, like a person with stage 4 leukemia. So I kinda follow a deistic belief and have been happy loving everyone for who they are regardless of religion or creed, even the crazy conservative christians, I love them too. Sorry for the wall of text, TL;DR - I never felt involved as a catholic, and I went to a crazy Jesus Camp.

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t5_2qh1i

cema0xd

I grew up catholic and went to catholic school but I never felt accepted with my peers. Everyone left me out of events and recess games and it had a huge impact on me at a young age. I figured from a young age that if you're not completely religious and somewhat question it, people move on without you. You're either 100% or someone who needs Jesus. I didn't need Jesus, at the time I was perfectly ok with the dude, I just needed a friend and I wasn't gonna get that in Catholicism so I started expand my ventures and study a variety of religions. Another key point was when I was in middle school. I went to a stereotypical christian camp in the wilderness of Texas. It was complete with 4-5 prayer breaks throughout the day and a blob. Anyway, I had gone twice and on my second trip my mind was made up on the matter of religion. On the second trip we were told to be careful and mind the neighboring land because the landowners weren't too thrilled with Christians. Anyway, by the 3rd day of our 5 day trip all hell breaks loose, the neighbors who we were told that the unfriendly neighbors were coming after us. The groups were split up and we were told to seek cover and shelter a couple of miles into the heart of the camp's property. Rumors start spreading that the neighbors have guns and are seeking retribution on the Christians. We eventually make it to the camp's "Safe house", which was just a shabby old barn and we go in and are directed to pray for safety. Were there for ten minutes when we hear some redneck start yelling something along the lines of, "We'll spare anyone who renounces Jesus as the holy savior, and the rest who still maintain their Jesus as the holy will just have to suffer the consequences. I nope'd the fuck out of there and renounced Jesus then and there. I walked out of the barn and told them, "I don't believe in miracles, and I don't believe in Jesus as the one true savior." It was then I found out the whole scenario was a sham to get the kids to believe harder in Christ and that this was a mock scenario of what happens on a "global scale", the persecution of Christians. It was then I realized, "This isn't a religion of love, it's a religion of fear." So I said fuck that. Now, I like to believe that there is probably a higher being because there's no proof to deny it, nor is there any proof to fully prove its existence but miracles don't happen to the everyday person who probably does need one, like a person with stage 4 leukemia. So I kinda follow a deistic belief and have been happy loving everyone for who they are regardless of religion or creed, even the crazy conservative christians, I love them too. Sorry for the wall of text,

I never felt involved as a catholic, and I went to a crazy Jesus Camp.

kuroikawa

Raised by none religious parents. We never talked about religion in my family the same thing with our sexuallity and "the talk." My parents let my sister and me decide and discover what we like and dislike. I turns out im not really interested in religious stuff, and my sister have a girlfriend. And i perfectly now how to populate without having a awkward talk with my parents. But the bad side tho is i dont quite understand people that are religious engaged. I always like science and technique since i was litte, things that been discovered, invented, proven. I have a lot of friends that are religious and everytime they say "On sunday i cant because i have church" or "Lets pray before dinner." I get a bit puzzled, the same feeling when you install another webbrowser on your moms computer and she always end up using internet explorer. I dont understand why she does that, but i will respect it aslong i dont need to do it. But i think religion is good. A relative thats been in prison for drugs got religious and now he owns a pretty good company, wife, kids. And he belive thats because of god. ANd thats really nice for him. And hey, religion have helped to build the civilitation we know. A lot of laws and moral/ethic come from religion. My religion teacher told me once: "There is alot less now but, If there would be no god, in what name would people kill each other in?" TL:DR: For some is religion is importent for some not. For some is naturscience importent for some not. And religion is just not my cup of coffe.

Raised by none religious parents. We never talked about religion in my family the same thing with our sexuallity and "the talk." My parents let my sister and me decide and discover what we like and dislike. I turns out im not really interested in religious stuff, and my sister have a girlfriend. And i perfectly now how to populate without having a awkward talk with my parents. But the bad side tho is i dont quite understand people that are religious engaged. I always like science and technique since i was litte, things that been discovered, invented, proven. I have a lot of friends that are religious and everytime they say "On sunday i cant because i have church" or "Lets pray before dinner." I get a bit puzzled, the same feeling when you install another webbrowser on your moms computer and she always end up using internet explorer. I dont understand why she does that, but i will respect it aslong i dont need to do it. But i think religion is good. A relative thats been in prison for drugs got religious and now he owns a pretty good company, wife, kids. And he belive thats because of god. ANd thats really nice for him. And hey, religion have helped to build the civilitation we know. A lot of laws and moral/ethic come from religion. My religion teacher told me once: "There is alot less now but, If there would be no god, in what name would people kill each other in?" TL:DR: For some is religion is importent for some not. For some is naturscience importent for some not. And religion is just not my cup of coffe.

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t5_2qh1i

cemb8p4

Raised by none religious parents. We never talked about religion in my family the same thing with our sexuallity and "the talk." My parents let my sister and me decide and discover what we like and dislike. I turns out im not really interested in religious stuff, and my sister have a girlfriend. And i perfectly now how to populate without having a awkward talk with my parents. But the bad side tho is i dont quite understand people that are religious engaged. I always like science and technique since i was litte, things that been discovered, invented, proven. I have a lot of friends that are religious and everytime they say "On sunday i cant because i have church" or "Lets pray before dinner." I get a bit puzzled, the same feeling when you install another webbrowser on your moms computer and she always end up using internet explorer. I dont understand why she does that, but i will respect it aslong i dont need to do it. But i think religion is good. A relative thats been in prison for drugs got religious and now he owns a pretty good company, wife, kids. And he belive thats because of god. ANd thats really nice for him. And hey, religion have helped to build the civilitation we know. A lot of laws and moral/ethic come from religion. My religion teacher told me once: "There is alot less now but, If there would be no god, in what name would people kill each other in?"

For some is religion is importent for some not. For some is naturscience importent for some not. And religion is just not my cup of coffe.

EmbyrFlayme

I will tell you what does it for me, though everyone is different. I apologize in advance for the length. I am a Scientist (PhD) and a devout Christian (ie: I believe in Christ). When looking at the world, at religion, at science, nothing made sense on it's own to me. I get that Evolution is a highly supported Theory (yes it is technically still a theory), but the idea of EVERYTHING happening by chance just didn't work with my brain. After a lot of thought I came to the personal belief that Evolution makes a lot more sense if there were a pinch of direction. Rather like a scientist at a lab bench mixing experiments then letting them go for a while. Still evolution, still working by natural laws, but with a touch of guidance. For me, that made sense (and no that is not what my religion teaches, to my knowledge they don't really have an explicit "doctrine" about evolution aside from "god created the earth"). After I had that thought about the world, everything clicked for me. I believe in a God who doesn't micro manage our lives, but who has omniscience (all knowledge and, ironically, all science). He knows that certain actions/philosophies/life choices, are more likely to bring happiness, so he instructs us to live a certain way. When we live that way, the probability that we will be happy is high. Then, when you add in concepts like Faith, where we see signs in the day to day world, well, some of that is our belief making us see that as a sign, and other parts are perhaps things that God did put in the world as signs for us to stumble across during the course of our lives. A lot of the blessings we get in life are through our own doing, but by praying and reading religious works we fill our minds with the knowledge of how to overcome troubles and that comes back in a time of need. Additionally, I believe in God because I had a loving home and family. I was taught then that God is the father/creator of our spirits/intelligent souls. He loves us like a father loves his children and wants us to be happy like any good dad would want his kids to be happy. A defining moment in my spiritual ideology was watching my niece and her father be reunited after a week apart and that overwhelming joy and excitement struck me really hard. For me, having been taught that God loves me like a father loves his children, that was a powerful experience because I want that interaction with God. Yes some may say, as they have on this thread already, that was my mind making things up for me, and maybe it was, but it was a witness for me at that moment that God loved me as much as my brother loved his 3 year old daughter. To sum up/TLDR: I believe in God because it makes sense to me. Yes, many things that I believe are attributable to God can be explained by other means, but since I believe that God works through natural means, that doesn't shake my faith. Faith in God is a self fulfilling prophecy to some extent, when you believe in God, things point to him. If you really want to believe in God I recommend trying it out for a bit. Act as though you believe when you read (though I would stick with the new testament if you read the bible). Act as though you believe when you go hiking. Act as though you believe when you study religions. Look at the world as though God had a hand in it. Try that for a while, if after a few months or so you still don't believe, well then you tried it out and it wasn't for you, but maybe in the process you will find a belief in God. If belief is what you want, then you should act as though you have it for a while.

I will tell you what does it for me, though everyone is different. I apologize in advance for the length. I am a Scientist (PhD) and a devout Christian (ie: I believe in Christ). When looking at the world, at religion, at science, nothing made sense on it's own to me. I get that Evolution is a highly supported Theory (yes it is technically still a theory), but the idea of EVERYTHING happening by chance just didn't work with my brain. After a lot of thought I came to the personal belief that Evolution makes a lot more sense if there were a pinch of direction. Rather like a scientist at a lab bench mixing experiments then letting them go for a while. Still evolution, still working by natural laws, but with a touch of guidance. For me, that made sense (and no that is not what my religion teaches, to my knowledge they don't really have an explicit "doctrine" about evolution aside from "god created the earth"). After I had that thought about the world, everything clicked for me. I believe in a God who doesn't micro manage our lives, but who has omniscience (all knowledge and, ironically, all science). He knows that certain actions/philosophies/life choices, are more likely to bring happiness, so he instructs us to live a certain way. When we live that way, the probability that we will be happy is high. Then, when you add in concepts like Faith, where we see signs in the day to day world, well, some of that is our belief making us see that as a sign, and other parts are perhaps things that God did put in the world as signs for us to stumble across during the course of our lives. A lot of the blessings we get in life are through our own doing, but by praying and reading religious works we fill our minds with the knowledge of how to overcome troubles and that comes back in a time of need. Additionally, I believe in God because I had a loving home and family. I was taught then that God is the father/creator of our spirits/intelligent souls. He loves us like a father loves his children and wants us to be happy like any good dad would want his kids to be happy. A defining moment in my spiritual ideology was watching my niece and her father be reunited after a week apart and that overwhelming joy and excitement struck me really hard. For me, having been taught that God loves me like a father loves his children, that was a powerful experience because I want that interaction with God. Yes some may say, as they have on this thread already, that was my mind making things up for me, and maybe it was, but it was a witness for me at that moment that God loved me as much as my brother loved his 3 year old daughter. To sum up/TLDR: I believe in God because it makes sense to me. Yes, many things that I believe are attributable to God can be explained by other means, but since I believe that God works through natural means, that doesn't shake my faith. Faith in God is a self fulfilling prophecy to some extent, when you believe in God, things point to him. If you really want to believe in God I recommend trying it out for a bit. Act as though you believe when you read (though I would stick with the new testament if you read the bible). Act as though you believe when you go hiking. Act as though you believe when you study religions. Look at the world as though God had a hand in it. Try that for a while, if after a few months or so you still don't believe, well then you tried it out and it wasn't for you, but maybe in the process you will find a belief in God. If belief is what you want, then you should act as though you have it for a while.

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t5_2qh1i

cembvri

I will tell you what does it for me, though everyone is different. I apologize in advance for the length. I am a Scientist (PhD) and a devout Christian (ie: I believe in Christ). When looking at the world, at religion, at science, nothing made sense on it's own to me. I get that Evolution is a highly supported Theory (yes it is technically still a theory), but the idea of EVERYTHING happening by chance just didn't work with my brain. After a lot of thought I came to the personal belief that Evolution makes a lot more sense if there were a pinch of direction. Rather like a scientist at a lab bench mixing experiments then letting them go for a while. Still evolution, still working by natural laws, but with a touch of guidance. For me, that made sense (and no that is not what my religion teaches, to my knowledge they don't really have an explicit "doctrine" about evolution aside from "god created the earth"). After I had that thought about the world, everything clicked for me. I believe in a God who doesn't micro manage our lives, but who has omniscience (all knowledge and, ironically, all science). He knows that certain actions/philosophies/life choices, are more likely to bring happiness, so he instructs us to live a certain way. When we live that way, the probability that we will be happy is high. Then, when you add in concepts like Faith, where we see signs in the day to day world, well, some of that is our belief making us see that as a sign, and other parts are perhaps things that God did put in the world as signs for us to stumble across during the course of our lives. A lot of the blessings we get in life are through our own doing, but by praying and reading religious works we fill our minds with the knowledge of how to overcome troubles and that comes back in a time of need. Additionally, I believe in God because I had a loving home and family. I was taught then that God is the father/creator of our spirits/intelligent souls. He loves us like a father loves his children and wants us to be happy like any good dad would want his kids to be happy. A defining moment in my spiritual ideology was watching my niece and her father be reunited after a week apart and that overwhelming joy and excitement struck me really hard. For me, having been taught that God loves me like a father loves his children, that was a powerful experience because I want that interaction with God. Yes some may say, as they have on this thread already, that was my mind making things up for me, and maybe it was, but it was a witness for me at that moment that God loved me as much as my brother loved his 3 year old daughter. To sum up/

I believe in God because it makes sense to me. Yes, many things that I believe are attributable to God can be explained by other means, but since I believe that God works through natural means, that doesn't shake my faith. Faith in God is a self fulfilling prophecy to some extent, when you believe in God, things point to him. If you really want to believe in God I recommend trying it out for a bit. Act as though you believe when you read (though I would stick with the new testament if you read the bible). Act as though you believe when you go hiking. Act as though you believe when you study religions. Look at the world as though God had a hand in it. Try that for a while, if after a few months or so you still don't believe, well then you tried it out and it wasn't for you, but maybe in the process you will find a belief in God. If belief is what you want, then you should act as though you have it for a while.

jostler57

I was brought up Mormon. My sisters, brother, and mother all had stopped going to church by the time I was in middle school. So it was just me and dad still going. Unfortunately, my dad passed away when I was 16. Same year, at 16, I was summoned to the Bishop's office (in Mormonism, the bishop is the head of your local branch). He asked me a lot of personal questions, like, "Do you masturbate," "Have you ever had sex" etc. in an attempt to ascertain if I have a pure soul or not. Well, after I lied my way through that meeting (since I had been flogging my dilly bar since I was 12), he said I've been called to do Baptisms for the Dead. This is where they get pubescent teens to act as a proxy for the baptism of some long-dead person. They read off a name, say the baptism prayer, and dunk the proxy in the water to baptize someone postmortem. Anyways, after I had proxy-baptized about 10 dead people, I started feeling ultra guilty for having lied about my masturbatory habits. Instead of coming clean (no pun intended), I just stopped attending church altogether. Also, it helped that my good buddy at the time would invite me over to play video games every Saturday night, and we'd play til 4am, making me too tired for church in the morning. After 9 weeks of Saturday night video gaming, he declared that his "9 Week Program" had worked to get me out of church going. Also, it helped that my entire family had stopped going to church. So, I stopped being religious. *edit* **tl;dr** No - read this.

I was brought up Mormon. My sisters, brother, and mother all had stopped going to church by the time I was in middle school. So it was just me and dad still going. Unfortunately, my dad passed away when I was 16. Same year, at 16, I was summoned to the Bishop's office (in Mormonism, the bishop is the head of your local branch). He asked me a lot of personal questions, like, "Do you masturbate," "Have you ever had sex" etc. in an attempt to ascertain if I have a pure soul or not. Well, after I lied my way through that meeting (since I had been flogging my dilly bar since I was 12), he said I've been called to do Baptisms for the Dead. This is where they get pubescent teens to act as a proxy for the baptism of some long-dead person. They read off a name, say the baptism prayer, and dunk the proxy in the water to baptize someone postmortem. Anyways, after I had proxy-baptized about 10 dead people, I started feeling ultra guilty for having lied about my masturbatory habits. Instead of coming clean (no pun intended), I just stopped attending church altogether. Also, it helped that my good buddy at the time would invite me over to play video games every Saturday night, and we'd play til 4am, making me too tired for church in the morning. After 9 weeks of Saturday night video gaming, he declared that his "9 Week Program" had worked to get me out of church going. Also, it helped that my entire family had stopped going to church. So, I stopped being religious. edit tl;dr No - read this.

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t5_2qh1i

cemccsv

I was brought up Mormon. My sisters, brother, and mother all had stopped going to church by the time I was in middle school. So it was just me and dad still going. Unfortunately, my dad passed away when I was 16. Same year, at 16, I was summoned to the Bishop's office (in Mormonism, the bishop is the head of your local branch). He asked me a lot of personal questions, like, "Do you masturbate," "Have you ever had sex" etc. in an attempt to ascertain if I have a pure soul or not. Well, after I lied my way through that meeting (since I had been flogging my dilly bar since I was 12), he said I've been called to do Baptisms for the Dead. This is where they get pubescent teens to act as a proxy for the baptism of some long-dead person. They read off a name, say the baptism prayer, and dunk the proxy in the water to baptize someone postmortem. Anyways, after I had proxy-baptized about 10 dead people, I started feeling ultra guilty for having lied about my masturbatory habits. Instead of coming clean (no pun intended), I just stopped attending church altogether. Also, it helped that my good buddy at the time would invite me over to play video games every Saturday night, and we'd play til 4am, making me too tired for church in the morning. After 9 weeks of Saturday night video gaming, he declared that his "9 Week Program" had worked to get me out of church going. Also, it helped that my entire family had stopped going to church. So, I stopped being religious. edit

No - read this.

ThEflatClarinet

Probably will get buried, but here it goes! As a Filipino, from birth I was raised as a very traditional Catholic. My parents instilled the whole idea that if you do bad you go to Hell and that God was this being to be feared and that we had to constantly ask for mercy. There were many times where I found myself questioning whether or not a God existed. More times than that, I found myself disagreeing with the teachings of the Catholic church (especially living in the San Francisco Bay Area). I was on the brink of leaving the church. However, in my teens, I started attending a youth group in my parish and had met an amazing youth minister. She was a free thinker, liberal, wanted change in the church; yet she completely loved her faith, loved Jesus, and loved teaching people to love Jesus. Ultimately, from her, I'd learned that I wasn't going to hell for disagreeing with the Church and that it was okay to have a close and personal relationship with Him. She taught me that Jesus' message was love and accepting EVERYONE. Going through college, I continued to explore my faith. I learned many of the traditions in the Catholic faith and learned how beautiful they were. I continued to have this comforting relationship with Jesus that was based on love and not fear. I continued to disagree with many of the teachings, and while that was difficult sometimes, I was okay with that. I learned to LOVE my faith. Eventually, after graduating, I was hanging out with that same youth minister. She was trying to apply for a position higher up in the parish, and suggested I apply for the youth minister job. So I did, and got it... I've never been happier. That was a mouthful so: TLDR; I grew up hating the Catholic tradition because of all the "rules" and fear. Almost left the faith. Met a youth minister who taught me it was about love and helping people and just being a good person for the sake of being a good person. Now, I took her job and want to make a difference in the Catholic church (because they can be wrong about things) and the world, and I want to inspire teenagers to do the same.

Probably will get buried, but here it goes! As a Filipino, from birth I was raised as a very traditional Catholic. My parents instilled the whole idea that if you do bad you go to Hell and that God was this being to be feared and that we had to constantly ask for mercy. There were many times where I found myself questioning whether or not a God existed. More times than that, I found myself disagreeing with the teachings of the Catholic church (especially living in the San Francisco Bay Area). I was on the brink of leaving the church. However, in my teens, I started attending a youth group in my parish and had met an amazing youth minister. She was a free thinker, liberal, wanted change in the church; yet she completely loved her faith, loved Jesus, and loved teaching people to love Jesus. Ultimately, from her, I'd learned that I wasn't going to hell for disagreeing with the Church and that it was okay to have a close and personal relationship with Him. She taught me that Jesus' message was love and accepting EVERYONE. Going through college, I continued to explore my faith. I learned many of the traditions in the Catholic faith and learned how beautiful they were. I continued to have this comforting relationship with Jesus that was based on love and not fear. I continued to disagree with many of the teachings, and while that was difficult sometimes, I was okay with that. I learned to LOVE my faith. Eventually, after graduating, I was hanging out with that same youth minister. She was trying to apply for a position higher up in the parish, and suggested I apply for the youth minister job. So I did, and got it... I've never been happier. That was a mouthful so: TLDR; I grew up hating the Catholic tradition because of all the "rules" and fear. Almost left the faith. Met a youth minister who taught me it was about love and helping people and just being a good person for the sake of being a good person. Now, I took her job and want to make a difference in the Catholic church (because they can be wrong about things) and the world, and I want to inspire teenagers to do the same.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemchpf

Probably will get buried, but here it goes! As a Filipino, from birth I was raised as a very traditional Catholic. My parents instilled the whole idea that if you do bad you go to Hell and that God was this being to be feared and that we had to constantly ask for mercy. There were many times where I found myself questioning whether or not a God existed. More times than that, I found myself disagreeing with the teachings of the Catholic church (especially living in the San Francisco Bay Area). I was on the brink of leaving the church. However, in my teens, I started attending a youth group in my parish and had met an amazing youth minister. She was a free thinker, liberal, wanted change in the church; yet she completely loved her faith, loved Jesus, and loved teaching people to love Jesus. Ultimately, from her, I'd learned that I wasn't going to hell for disagreeing with the Church and that it was okay to have a close and personal relationship with Him. She taught me that Jesus' message was love and accepting EVERYONE. Going through college, I continued to explore my faith. I learned many of the traditions in the Catholic faith and learned how beautiful they were. I continued to have this comforting relationship with Jesus that was based on love and not fear. I continued to disagree with many of the teachings, and while that was difficult sometimes, I was okay with that. I learned to LOVE my faith. Eventually, after graduating, I was hanging out with that same youth minister. She was trying to apply for a position higher up in the parish, and suggested I apply for the youth minister job. So I did, and got it... I've never been happier. That was a mouthful so:

I grew up hating the Catholic tradition because of all the "rules" and fear. Almost left the faith. Met a youth minister who taught me it was about love and helping people and just being a good person for the sake of being a good person. Now, I took her job and want to make a difference in the Catholic church (because they can be wrong about things) and the world, and I want to inspire teenagers to do the same.

trparker

I was born with no inherent belief in a creator; consequently, my atheism was never something *attained*, but rather something *maintained*. Joseph Campbell, in one of his interviews with Bill Moyers, speculates that early theism amongst hunter-gatherers (and I'm super-paraphrasing here) was a kind of animal worship, born of the seemingly-divine sustenance that their quarry graciously *provided*. Man treated animals with reverence because he feared starvation. As man became more agrarian and, thus, more reliant upon the Sun for sustenance, the manner, and focus, of worship changed. This, coupled with theism's clearly-geographic variation, seems like the best argument against its intrinsic divinity. EDIT/TL;DR: To me, it seems more probable that religion is a sort of remnant of human evolution.

I was born with no inherent belief in a creator; consequently, my atheism was never something attained , but rather something maintained . Joseph Campbell, in one of his interviews with Bill Moyers, speculates that early theism amongst hunter-gatherers (and I'm super-paraphrasing here) was a kind of animal worship, born of the seemingly-divine sustenance that their quarry graciously provided . Man treated animals with reverence because he feared starvation. As man became more agrarian and, thus, more reliant upon the Sun for sustenance, the manner, and focus, of worship changed. This, coupled with theism's clearly-geographic variation, seems like the best argument against its intrinsic divinity. EDIT/TL;DR: To me, it seems more probable that religion is a sort of remnant of human evolution.

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t5_2qh1i

cemd3sv

I was born with no inherent belief in a creator; consequently, my atheism was never something attained , but rather something maintained . Joseph Campbell, in one of his interviews with Bill Moyers, speculates that early theism amongst hunter-gatherers (and I'm super-paraphrasing here) was a kind of animal worship, born of the seemingly-divine sustenance that their quarry graciously provided . Man treated animals with reverence because he feared starvation. As man became more agrarian and, thus, more reliant upon the Sun for sustenance, the manner, and focus, of worship changed. This, coupled with theism's clearly-geographic variation, seems like the best argument against its intrinsic divinity. EDIT/

To me, it seems more probable that religion is a sort of remnant of human evolution.

GrandpopJimJim

As a child, I was very confused by religion. We didn't really talk about it in my house, but I heard about it (Christianity) at school and in movies. So I had questions, and I asked people for the truth. I wanted to know because I was frightened; I didn't know all the rules. What if I was sinning and didn't even know it? Was I going to hell forever? Was god watching me when I was naked? I stayed up late at night worrying and fearful. No one had a good answer for me. My parents just told me that I could decide when I was older. My friends at school confirmed that yes, I was probably going to hell because I didn't go to church. This was very upsetting. I went to a church group with a friend and it was just like daycare without as much supervision. The children ganged up on the developmentally disabled girl, chanting "Jesus doesn't love you!" Until she was crying and blubbering with snot. "Jesus loves everybody!" She tried to retort, choking on the words. After many sleepless nights and attempts to contact god and the dead through prayer, I was exhausted and more confused than ever. But some things were becoming clear. God probably wasn't watching me while I was naked, for one thing, he wouldn't have time to watch everyone, and for another...why would he want to? The same logic worked for prayer. People are praying all day, how could any one entity hear and respond to that many people (not that I knew of any evidence that he ever responded to anyone). My brother used god and hell to psychologically torture me, so it was similar to global warming and the axe murderers he threatened me with: unlikely to kill me in my lifetime. It came down to suffering. Specifically the suffering of children, and more specifically, my own suffering. Why would god intentionally allow children to die of starvation, be molested, etc.? Free will, the devil, were they so much stronger than god? It didn't make sense. I also wondered why god would send me to he'll for not going to church. I was SEVEN. Besides, no one deserved an eternity of suffering (if there was such a thing, which I doubted), so was god just a jerk? I concluded that there was probably no truth to the supernatural claims of any religion, a conclusion that I still stand by and feel confident about. I decided as a child that as long as I was a good person, I would be fine. If there was a god, I would confront him upon my death and make my case to be spared from his torture dungeon. That was the best I could do, then I just didn't think about it anymore. By adulthood, my observations, studies, and friendships only confirmed my beliefs. I read things written by some very intelligent people who said things that I had always thought but could never put into words. I have no anxiety about death or hell, and I live in awe of nature. I do get disturbed by atrocities (past and present) committed in the name of religion, but understand from studying neuroscience that religion is similar to addiction. It builds connections in the brain that are very hard to break. I don't think that excuses the religious when they commit atrocities, but I understand that they can't help it. I feel sorry for them because I imagine they are living in fear as I once did. But I also feel sorry for our society as a whole; who knows what we could have accomplished had we not held so firmly to what are ultimately destructive beliefs? We should be helping each other, as Jesus suggested in the gospels (I have read the bible, and agree with the person who said the gospels were good. That's the part I think people are not reading about...) TL;DR: I am not religious and thank my parents for letting me learn and grow and develop into the person I am today. Regardless of what happened in the past, we can take care of each other now. It's what Jesus would have wanted. Religion is divisive and a vehicle for terror.

As a child, I was very confused by religion. We didn't really talk about it in my house, but I heard about it (Christianity) at school and in movies. So I had questions, and I asked people for the truth. I wanted to know because I was frightened; I didn't know all the rules. What if I was sinning and didn't even know it? Was I going to hell forever? Was god watching me when I was naked? I stayed up late at night worrying and fearful. No one had a good answer for me. My parents just told me that I could decide when I was older. My friends at school confirmed that yes, I was probably going to hell because I didn't go to church. This was very upsetting. I went to a church group with a friend and it was just like daycare without as much supervision. The children ganged up on the developmentally disabled girl, chanting "Jesus doesn't love you!" Until she was crying and blubbering with snot. "Jesus loves everybody!" She tried to retort, choking on the words. After many sleepless nights and attempts to contact god and the dead through prayer, I was exhausted and more confused than ever. But some things were becoming clear. God probably wasn't watching me while I was naked, for one thing, he wouldn't have time to watch everyone, and for another...why would he want to? The same logic worked for prayer. People are praying all day, how could any one entity hear and respond to that many people (not that I knew of any evidence that he ever responded to anyone). My brother used god and hell to psychologically torture me, so it was similar to global warming and the axe murderers he threatened me with: unlikely to kill me in my lifetime. It came down to suffering. Specifically the suffering of children, and more specifically, my own suffering. Why would god intentionally allow children to die of starvation, be molested, etc.? Free will, the devil, were they so much stronger than god? It didn't make sense. I also wondered why god would send me to he'll for not going to church. I was SEVEN. Besides, no one deserved an eternity of suffering (if there was such a thing, which I doubted), so was god just a jerk? I concluded that there was probably no truth to the supernatural claims of any religion, a conclusion that I still stand by and feel confident about. I decided as a child that as long as I was a good person, I would be fine. If there was a god, I would confront him upon my death and make my case to be spared from his torture dungeon. That was the best I could do, then I just didn't think about it anymore. By adulthood, my observations, studies, and friendships only confirmed my beliefs. I read things written by some very intelligent people who said things that I had always thought but could never put into words. I have no anxiety about death or hell, and I live in awe of nature. I do get disturbed by atrocities (past and present) committed in the name of religion, but understand from studying neuroscience that religion is similar to addiction. It builds connections in the brain that are very hard to break. I don't think that excuses the religious when they commit atrocities, but I understand that they can't help it. I feel sorry for them because I imagine they are living in fear as I once did. But I also feel sorry for our society as a whole; who knows what we could have accomplished had we not held so firmly to what are ultimately destructive beliefs? We should be helping each other, as Jesus suggested in the gospels (I have read the bible, and agree with the person who said the gospels were good. That's the part I think people are not reading about...) TL;DR: I am not religious and thank my parents for letting me learn and grow and develop into the person I am today. Regardless of what happened in the past, we can take care of each other now. It's what Jesus would have wanted. Religion is divisive and a vehicle for terror.

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t5_2qh1i

cemd6us

As a child, I was very confused by religion. We didn't really talk about it in my house, but I heard about it (Christianity) at school and in movies. So I had questions, and I asked people for the truth. I wanted to know because I was frightened; I didn't know all the rules. What if I was sinning and didn't even know it? Was I going to hell forever? Was god watching me when I was naked? I stayed up late at night worrying and fearful. No one had a good answer for me. My parents just told me that I could decide when I was older. My friends at school confirmed that yes, I was probably going to hell because I didn't go to church. This was very upsetting. I went to a church group with a friend and it was just like daycare without as much supervision. The children ganged up on the developmentally disabled girl, chanting "Jesus doesn't love you!" Until she was crying and blubbering with snot. "Jesus loves everybody!" She tried to retort, choking on the words. After many sleepless nights and attempts to contact god and the dead through prayer, I was exhausted and more confused than ever. But some things were becoming clear. God probably wasn't watching me while I was naked, for one thing, he wouldn't have time to watch everyone, and for another...why would he want to? The same logic worked for prayer. People are praying all day, how could any one entity hear and respond to that many people (not that I knew of any evidence that he ever responded to anyone). My brother used god and hell to psychologically torture me, so it was similar to global warming and the axe murderers he threatened me with: unlikely to kill me in my lifetime. It came down to suffering. Specifically the suffering of children, and more specifically, my own suffering. Why would god intentionally allow children to die of starvation, be molested, etc.? Free will, the devil, were they so much stronger than god? It didn't make sense. I also wondered why god would send me to he'll for not going to church. I was SEVEN. Besides, no one deserved an eternity of suffering (if there was such a thing, which I doubted), so was god just a jerk? I concluded that there was probably no truth to the supernatural claims of any religion, a conclusion that I still stand by and feel confident about. I decided as a child that as long as I was a good person, I would be fine. If there was a god, I would confront him upon my death and make my case to be spared from his torture dungeon. That was the best I could do, then I just didn't think about it anymore. By adulthood, my observations, studies, and friendships only confirmed my beliefs. I read things written by some very intelligent people who said things that I had always thought but could never put into words. I have no anxiety about death or hell, and I live in awe of nature. I do get disturbed by atrocities (past and present) committed in the name of religion, but understand from studying neuroscience that religion is similar to addiction. It builds connections in the brain that are very hard to break. I don't think that excuses the religious when they commit atrocities, but I understand that they can't help it. I feel sorry for them because I imagine they are living in fear as I once did. But I also feel sorry for our society as a whole; who knows what we could have accomplished had we not held so firmly to what are ultimately destructive beliefs? We should be helping each other, as Jesus suggested in the gospels (I have read the bible, and agree with the person who said the gospels were good. That's the part I think people are not reading about...)

I am not religious and thank my parents for letting me learn and grow and develop into the person I am today. Regardless of what happened in the past, we can take care of each other now. It's what Jesus would have wanted. Religion is divisive and a vehicle for terror.

freewheelinCW

Not taken as negative. The God of the gaps argument, which is nail on the head accurate to this thought, is very interesting. Your comment is the first I've read on it, and I agree/like it. edit/TL;DR: I'm not well schooled enough theologically to be taken very seriously.

Not taken as negative. The God of the gaps argument, which is nail on the head accurate to this thought, is very interesting. Your comment is the first I've read on it, and I agree/like it. edit/TL;DR: I'm not well schooled enough theologically to be taken very seriously.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemdz69

Not taken as negative. The God of the gaps argument, which is nail on the head accurate to this thought, is very interesting. Your comment is the first I've read on it, and I agree/like it. edit/

I'm not well schooled enough theologically to be taken very seriously.

oneultralamewhiteboy

My interpretation is not that God is trying to punish you for not worshipping him. God wants a deep, personal relationship with humanity, but that's impossible because he's perfect and people suck (or sin). The only way to get around major suckitude is to accept that Jesus took the bullet for you and admit your own failing as a human being. Then you can have a direct relationship with God and that also equals Heaven. The reverse is rejecting a relationship with God and so he's like, "Alright, fine. I guess you want to spend an eternity in a place without me. Welp, since I am Love and all things good, you can go to a place where none of those things exist AKA Hell." TL;DR - Hell is a choice, not a punishment.

My interpretation is not that God is trying to punish you for not worshipping him. God wants a deep, personal relationship with humanity, but that's impossible because he's perfect and people suck (or sin). The only way to get around major suckitude is to accept that Jesus took the bullet for you and admit your own failing as a human being. Then you can have a direct relationship with God and that also equals Heaven. The reverse is rejecting a relationship with God and so he's like, "Alright, fine. I guess you want to spend an eternity in a place without me. Welp, since I am Love and all things good, you can go to a place where none of those things exist AKA Hell." TL;DR - Hell is a choice, not a punishment.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemg53l

My interpretation is not that God is trying to punish you for not worshipping him. God wants a deep, personal relationship with humanity, but that's impossible because he's perfect and people suck (or sin). The only way to get around major suckitude is to accept that Jesus took the bullet for you and admit your own failing as a human being. Then you can have a direct relationship with God and that also equals Heaven. The reverse is rejecting a relationship with God and so he's like, "Alright, fine. I guess you want to spend an eternity in a place without me. Welp, since I am Love and all things good, you can go to a place where none of those things exist AKA Hell."

Hell is a choice, not a punishment.

Daniel1201

I think the fact that someone way back when started the idea that a "God" was knocking about biased the rest of humanity. I'll use ghosts rather than "God" as an example because maybe that would be less controversial. If you were sitting in your living room and your remote lifted off the table, spun around, and flew across the room, you'd be freaked out. If I argued that it was a freak occurrence of wind and heat, you'd say that was impossible because the chances are a billion to one that would happen. You have some familiarity with wind and heat, and you've never seen that happen before, so you can't accept that explanation. If I said it was a "ghost," that might actually seem more plausible, because that sort of behavior is "consistent" with ghosts. But that assumes the existence of ghosts in the first place. It ignores the statistical odds of there being a "spirit," and that spirit deciding to come back after we die, and that one of these spirits felt like entering your living room and messing with your remote, etc. Somehow all of that seems MORE plausible than a freak heat/wind combo, because you've accepted the notion of a ghost in the first place. And you ignore that the "ghost" idea is based solely on completely undocumented/unproven stuff passed down through the ages. I think you see the same thing with "God." People have an idea of God that they learn about when young and that becomes the starting point. Then the versions that are too specific (individual faiths) seems to make less and less sense to them, so they start identifying as "spiritual" or "agnostic." They started with the idea that God existed, and then discarded the parts of the story they couldn't agree with. If they started without that initial bias, and simply studied everything scientifically starting from a completely blank slate, I'm not sure modern man would come to the conclusion that there must be some supernatural entity. They might just think "we still have more stuff to figure out." tl;dr: Somebody drop a baby off on an island with no human contact, but leave a bunch of biology, physics and math books and see if he ends up creating the idea of God. Oh, and food. I guess we should leave the kid a food source...

I think the fact that someone way back when started the idea that a "God" was knocking about biased the rest of humanity. I'll use ghosts rather than "God" as an example because maybe that would be less controversial. If you were sitting in your living room and your remote lifted off the table, spun around, and flew across the room, you'd be freaked out. If I argued that it was a freak occurrence of wind and heat, you'd say that was impossible because the chances are a billion to one that would happen. You have some familiarity with wind and heat, and you've never seen that happen before, so you can't accept that explanation. If I said it was a "ghost," that might actually seem more plausible, because that sort of behavior is "consistent" with ghosts. But that assumes the existence of ghosts in the first place. It ignores the statistical odds of there being a "spirit," and that spirit deciding to come back after we die, and that one of these spirits felt like entering your living room and messing with your remote, etc. Somehow all of that seems MORE plausible than a freak heat/wind combo, because you've accepted the notion of a ghost in the first place. And you ignore that the "ghost" idea is based solely on completely undocumented/unproven stuff passed down through the ages. I think you see the same thing with "God." People have an idea of God that they learn about when young and that becomes the starting point. Then the versions that are too specific (individual faiths) seems to make less and less sense to them, so they start identifying as "spiritual" or "agnostic." They started with the idea that God existed, and then discarded the parts of the story they couldn't agree with. If they started without that initial bias, and simply studied everything scientifically starting from a completely blank slate, I'm not sure modern man would come to the conclusion that there must be some supernatural entity. They might just think "we still have more stuff to figure out." tl;dr: Somebody drop a baby off on an island with no human contact, but leave a bunch of biology, physics and math books and see if he ends up creating the idea of God. Oh, and food. I guess we should leave the kid a food source...

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemgad1

I think the fact that someone way back when started the idea that a "God" was knocking about biased the rest of humanity. I'll use ghosts rather than "God" as an example because maybe that would be less controversial. If you were sitting in your living room and your remote lifted off the table, spun around, and flew across the room, you'd be freaked out. If I argued that it was a freak occurrence of wind and heat, you'd say that was impossible because the chances are a billion to one that would happen. You have some familiarity with wind and heat, and you've never seen that happen before, so you can't accept that explanation. If I said it was a "ghost," that might actually seem more plausible, because that sort of behavior is "consistent" with ghosts. But that assumes the existence of ghosts in the first place. It ignores the statistical odds of there being a "spirit," and that spirit deciding to come back after we die, and that one of these spirits felt like entering your living room and messing with your remote, etc. Somehow all of that seems MORE plausible than a freak heat/wind combo, because you've accepted the notion of a ghost in the first place. And you ignore that the "ghost" idea is based solely on completely undocumented/unproven stuff passed down through the ages. I think you see the same thing with "God." People have an idea of God that they learn about when young and that becomes the starting point. Then the versions that are too specific (individual faiths) seems to make less and less sense to them, so they start identifying as "spiritual" or "agnostic." They started with the idea that God existed, and then discarded the parts of the story they couldn't agree with. If they started without that initial bias, and simply studied everything scientifically starting from a completely blank slate, I'm not sure modern man would come to the conclusion that there must be some supernatural entity. They might just think "we still have more stuff to figure out."

Somebody drop a baby off on an island with no human contact, but leave a bunch of biology, physics and math books and see if he ends up creating the idea of God. Oh, and food. I guess we should leave the kid a food source...

CHR1STHAMMER

I was a devout Catholic for some time. The two things that got me tired of it were: God creates our universe because why not. God allows us to do whatever we want, but if we stray from him, we get sent to a fiery pit to suffer for eternity. If we keep following God, we may either go to purgatory or straight to Heaven. If we go to purgatory, we need to do mundane things until we get to Heaven. Once we get to Heaven, guess what we get to do? Sit and stare at God's glory for an eternity. It just sounds like God is this self-indulgent being and our only point of existing is to keep his ego up. Also, the people. Those sweet, innocent, God-fearing people while they're in the Church who turn into walking piles of shit the moment they leave Church. For instance, I have worked retail for a while, and I saw some people that I had gone to Church with. They were acting like the stereotypical retail customers that you hear about, yelling at the poor cashier, ordering the manager to do stupid shit. I walked up to them when they got to their car (I was a cart pusher at the time) and told them I recognized them from Church. Cue sweetness and innocence. I then told them their behavior inside that store should be confessed and that they should feel ashamed to act that way just because they weren't inside the Church at the time. I didn't see them at confession later on, and yet I saw them at Mass, receiving Communion (believed to be a mortal sin if you haven't confessed your sins before receiving) TL;DR God is self-absorbed and we were created to stare and admire him, and those pricks that act decent in Church but turn into monsters when they step outside.

I was a devout Catholic for some time. The two things that got me tired of it were: God creates our universe because why not. God allows us to do whatever we want, but if we stray from him, we get sent to a fiery pit to suffer for eternity. If we keep following God, we may either go to purgatory or straight to Heaven. If we go to purgatory, we need to do mundane things until we get to Heaven. Once we get to Heaven, guess what we get to do? Sit and stare at God's glory for an eternity. It just sounds like God is this self-indulgent being and our only point of existing is to keep his ego up. Also, the people. Those sweet, innocent, God-fearing people while they're in the Church who turn into walking piles of shit the moment they leave Church. For instance, I have worked retail for a while, and I saw some people that I had gone to Church with. They were acting like the stereotypical retail customers that you hear about, yelling at the poor cashier, ordering the manager to do stupid shit. I walked up to them when they got to their car (I was a cart pusher at the time) and told them I recognized them from Church. Cue sweetness and innocence. I then told them their behavior inside that store should be confessed and that they should feel ashamed to act that way just because they weren't inside the Church at the time. I didn't see them at confession later on, and yet I saw them at Mass, receiving Communion (believed to be a mortal sin if you haven't confessed your sins before receiving) TL;DR God is self-absorbed and we were created to stare and admire him, and those pricks that act decent in Church but turn into monsters when they step outside.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cemhwds

I was a devout Catholic for some time. The two things that got me tired of it were: God creates our universe because why not. God allows us to do whatever we want, but if we stray from him, we get sent to a fiery pit to suffer for eternity. If we keep following God, we may either go to purgatory or straight to Heaven. If we go to purgatory, we need to do mundane things until we get to Heaven. Once we get to Heaven, guess what we get to do? Sit and stare at God's glory for an eternity. It just sounds like God is this self-indulgent being and our only point of existing is to keep his ego up. Also, the people. Those sweet, innocent, God-fearing people while they're in the Church who turn into walking piles of shit the moment they leave Church. For instance, I have worked retail for a while, and I saw some people that I had gone to Church with. They were acting like the stereotypical retail customers that you hear about, yelling at the poor cashier, ordering the manager to do stupid shit. I walked up to them when they got to their car (I was a cart pusher at the time) and told them I recognized them from Church. Cue sweetness and innocence. I then told them their behavior inside that store should be confessed and that they should feel ashamed to act that way just because they weren't inside the Church at the time. I didn't see them at confession later on, and yet I saw them at Mass, receiving Communion (believed to be a mortal sin if you haven't confessed your sins before receiving)

God is self-absorbed and we were created to stare and admire him, and those pricks that act decent in Church but turn into monsters when they step outside.

i_grok_cats

Turn this around. If black women start dressing in say, “the white girl uniform," what happens? Is this appropriating? Should races and their culture be kept sterile? IMO, when we accuse others of appropriating, it is a very fine line we walk. On one hand, it is fair to say that these people who are not black are using pieces that don't belong to their heritage. On the other hand, those same people might be strongly identifying as black and, imo, in those cases, it can vary a lot, depending on what part they identify with. This can be really good and will help two cultures blend. When Miley Cyrus identifies with Lil Kim, I hardly doubt it is with her childhood or her rise to fame since Miley had her father's career to ride on. I think Miley identifies with Lil Kim's music and shows respect by imitating in some ways. I also wish we had a more mature ambassador to represent the mixing of the two cultures. Miley is... young and says stupid shit. No one who was not born in that culture will really understand. It is impossible, especially if they are very far removed from that actual culture. But appropriating can allow us to try to understand. At the very least it opens a doorway to the other side. When we look back on history, there has always been an inner mixing of culture. This has brought about quite a lot of innovation and new ideas. It is unfair to the human species to keep these cultures sterile from one another. Say, if we never did mix with other cultures, the [European literary canon would have been lost to us]( It is because of the Byzantine empire that these were saved. When our future generations look back on this, it will fit into their narrative some how. We might be seeing the beginning stages of true cultural blending. Or, perhaps, we are seeing the beginning of more racial tensions. I personally think the former is more correct than the latter, or somewhere in-between. Either way, I believe appropriation is more a sign of respect than disrespect. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, after all. We shouldn't encourage blind adaptation, but we shouldn't encourage clear divides of what one can and cannot wear simply because one does not belong to that culture. Tldr: good article, I think all the opinions are correct in their own way. But let's not call everyone a racist just because they dress a certain way.

Turn this around. If black women start dressing in say, “the white girl uniform," what happens? Is this appropriating? Should races and their culture be kept sterile? IMO, when we accuse others of appropriating, it is a very fine line we walk. On one hand, it is fair to say that these people who are not black are using pieces that don't belong to their heritage. On the other hand, those same people might be strongly identifying as black and, imo, in those cases, it can vary a lot, depending on what part they identify with. This can be really good and will help two cultures blend. When Miley Cyrus identifies with Lil Kim, I hardly doubt it is with her childhood or her rise to fame since Miley had her father's career to ride on. I think Miley identifies with Lil Kim's music and shows respect by imitating in some ways. I also wish we had a more mature ambassador to represent the mixing of the two cultures. Miley is... young and says stupid shit. No one who was not born in that culture will really understand. It is impossible, especially if they are very far removed from that actual culture. But appropriating can allow us to try to understand. At the very least it opens a doorway to the other side. When we look back on history, there has always been an inner mixing of culture. This has brought about quite a lot of innovation and new ideas. It is unfair to the human species to keep these cultures sterile from one another. Say, if we never did mix with other cultures, the [European literary canon would have been lost to us]( It is because of the Byzantine empire that these were saved. When our future generations look back on this, it will fit into their narrative some how. We might be seeing the beginning stages of true cultural blending. Or, perhaps, we are seeing the beginning of more racial tensions. I personally think the former is more correct than the latter, or somewhere in-between. Either way, I believe appropriation is more a sign of respect than disrespect. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, after all. We shouldn't encourage blind adaptation, but we shouldn't encourage clear divides of what one can and cannot wear simply because one does not belong to that culture. Tldr: good article, I think all the opinions are correct in their own way. But let's not call everyone a racist just because they dress a certain way.

femalefashionadvice

t5_2s8o5

cema5vk

Turn this around. If black women start dressing in say, “the white girl uniform," what happens? Is this appropriating? Should races and their culture be kept sterile? IMO, when we accuse others of appropriating, it is a very fine line we walk. On one hand, it is fair to say that these people who are not black are using pieces that don't belong to their heritage. On the other hand, those same people might be strongly identifying as black and, imo, in those cases, it can vary a lot, depending on what part they identify with. This can be really good and will help two cultures blend. When Miley Cyrus identifies with Lil Kim, I hardly doubt it is with her childhood or her rise to fame since Miley had her father's career to ride on. I think Miley identifies with Lil Kim's music and shows respect by imitating in some ways. I also wish we had a more mature ambassador to represent the mixing of the two cultures. Miley is... young and says stupid shit. No one who was not born in that culture will really understand. It is impossible, especially if they are very far removed from that actual culture. But appropriating can allow us to try to understand. At the very least it opens a doorway to the other side. When we look back on history, there has always been an inner mixing of culture. This has brought about quite a lot of innovation and new ideas. It is unfair to the human species to keep these cultures sterile from one another. Say, if we never did mix with other cultures, the [European literary canon would have been lost to us]( It is because of the Byzantine empire that these were saved. When our future generations look back on this, it will fit into their narrative some how. We might be seeing the beginning stages of true cultural blending. Or, perhaps, we are seeing the beginning of more racial tensions. I personally think the former is more correct than the latter, or somewhere in-between. Either way, I believe appropriation is more a sign of respect than disrespect. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, after all. We shouldn't encourage blind adaptation, but we shouldn't encourage clear divides of what one can and cannot wear simply because one does not belong to that culture.

good article, I think all the opinions are correct in their own way. But let's not call everyone a racist just because they dress a certain way.

whytekenyan

In reaponse to the incentive once in office portion of your post. I think you have an excellent point. I have a solution ive been thinking about and would welcome some discussion to flesh it out. If the federal goverment has a restricted ability to legislate putside of certain enumerated issues (yes, you guessed it... federalism!) then there would be less reason to compensate your congress person. Id the federal government could not legislate the music industry's business model, they wouldnt invest so much money. Now, the states individually would still have the ability to do so. However, the industry would have to pay 50 times instead of 1. Moreover, there will always be one state to take a different path and demostrate the outcomes (states as laboratories of democracy idea). I think the fix is to restrict legilsation under the commerce clause rather than persist in its current, all encompassing state (althoughp props to the Roberts court for not finding the ACA constitutional under it). Well thats my rant. Anyone have thoughts? tl,dr: restrict legislation under the commerce clause. If congress didnt have the power, special interests wouldn't pay them.

In reaponse to the incentive once in office portion of your post. I think you have an excellent point. I have a solution ive been thinking about and would welcome some discussion to flesh it out. If the federal goverment has a restricted ability to legislate putside of certain enumerated issues (yes, you guessed it... federalism!) then there would be less reason to compensate your congress person. Id the federal government could not legislate the music industry's business model, they wouldnt invest so much money. Now, the states individually would still have the ability to do so. However, the industry would have to pay 50 times instead of 1. Moreover, there will always be one state to take a different path and demostrate the outcomes (states as laboratories of democracy idea). I think the fix is to restrict legilsation under the commerce clause rather than persist in its current, all encompassing state (althoughp props to the Roberts court for not finding the ACA constitutional under it). Well thats my rant. Anyone have thoughts? tl,dr: restrict legislation under the commerce clause. If congress didnt have the power, special interests wouldn't pay them.

politics

t5_2cneq

cemr6bo

In reaponse to the incentive once in office portion of your post. I think you have an excellent point. I have a solution ive been thinking about and would welcome some discussion to flesh it out. If the federal goverment has a restricted ability to legislate putside of certain enumerated issues (yes, you guessed it... federalism!) then there would be less reason to compensate your congress person. Id the federal government could not legislate the music industry's business model, they wouldnt invest so much money. Now, the states individually would still have the ability to do so. However, the industry would have to pay 50 times instead of 1. Moreover, there will always be one state to take a different path and demostrate the outcomes (states as laboratories of democracy idea). I think the fix is to restrict legilsation under the commerce clause rather than persist in its current, all encompassing state (althoughp props to the Roberts court for not finding the ACA constitutional under it). Well thats my rant. Anyone have thoughts?

restrict legislation under the commerce clause. If congress didnt have the power, special interests wouldn't pay them.

mickeysf

I don't think that was his point. He says that the rich are a "drain on US wealth". That is poorly worded but I take it to mean that the rich are takers not givers, but the rich are huge givers and without them we would be totally screwed. Now if you say that they are takers in the sense that they don't contribute enough of what they have to the common good, we could at least begin that discussion. You might say that the rich should contribute more. Others on this thread have advocated seizing the assets of the rich. That seems a little extreme. I would say that the top ten percent already contribute 70 percent. Even if you taxed them higher you are never going get enough out of them to solve the problem. The problem is cultural and structural. Tldr: if you are poor it's not the rich persons fault

I don't think that was his point. He says that the rich are a "drain on US wealth". That is poorly worded but I take it to mean that the rich are takers not givers, but the rich are huge givers and without them we would be totally screwed. Now if you say that they are takers in the sense that they don't contribute enough of what they have to the common good, we could at least begin that discussion. You might say that the rich should contribute more. Others on this thread have advocated seizing the assets of the rich. That seems a little extreme. I would say that the top ten percent already contribute 70 percent. Even if you taxed them higher you are never going get enough out of them to solve the problem. The problem is cultural and structural. Tldr: if you are poor it's not the rich persons fault

politics

t5_2cneq

cen09t9

I don't think that was his point. He says that the rich are a "drain on US wealth". That is poorly worded but I take it to mean that the rich are takers not givers, but the rich are huge givers and without them we would be totally screwed. Now if you say that they are takers in the sense that they don't contribute enough of what they have to the common good, we could at least begin that discussion. You might say that the rich should contribute more. Others on this thread have advocated seizing the assets of the rich. That seems a little extreme. I would say that the top ten percent already contribute 70 percent. Even if you taxed them higher you are never going get enough out of them to solve the problem. The problem is cultural and structural.

if you are poor it's not the rich persons fault

neurorex

&gt;Her resume does nothing to highlight or market her abilities. Not all manager and HR positions require the same consistent set of skills. I see that her specialization has been in HRIS, OB/OD, and Selection, but not so much employment laws - which she covered at the end of the resume. To ensure that, I would just have to cover it in the interview, if needed. &gt;I want to see the hard numbers. Why? You'd let the applicants' self-report define your organizational needs. People who ask for hard numbers just want to be impressed by numbers. They usually don't understand how that translate into their own organizations, or whether or not those metric mean anything. It's also assuming that any success or failure rate is a direct result of the implementation she enacted. She can certainly describe what she's done, but the numbers attached to it could be the result of the whole team. And you're just assessing her individually. &gt;And on marketing, what is her pitch? That's for the interview. This is a lot of mistakes that hiring managers/recruiters make. They want to see everything up front, and be wow'd by it. By the time candidates get to the interview, it's assumed that they have the KSAOs, so instead of evaluating that, interviewers try to determine "fit" (in the most terrible methods). It's the job of interviewers to responsibly assess relevant qualifications. They should never expect to be catered to them throughout the entire selection process. **tl;dr: You've ignored a lot of the metrics you asked for, which she did present. However, since it's not in the layout that you like, you assumed that this is "terrible". The advice is just an exercise in aesthetics more than functionality, without a solid rationale as to why someone should manipulate resumes in this manner. To be brutally honest, those tips will only add confusion and criticism for the next person reading that resume.**

>Her resume does nothing to highlight or market her abilities. Not all manager and HR positions require the same consistent set of skills. I see that her specialization has been in HRIS, OB/OD, and Selection, but not so much employment laws - which she covered at the end of the resume. To ensure that, I would just have to cover it in the interview, if needed. >I want to see the hard numbers. Why? You'd let the applicants' self-report define your organizational needs. People who ask for hard numbers just want to be impressed by numbers. They usually don't understand how that translate into their own organizations, or whether or not those metric mean anything. It's also assuming that any success or failure rate is a direct result of the implementation she enacted. She can certainly describe what she's done, but the numbers attached to it could be the result of the whole team. And you're just assessing her individually. >And on marketing, what is her pitch? That's for the interview. This is a lot of mistakes that hiring managers/recruiters make. They want to see everything up front, and be wow'd by it. By the time candidates get to the interview, it's assumed that they have the KSAOs, so instead of evaluating that, interviewers try to determine "fit" (in the most terrible methods). It's the job of interviewers to responsibly assess relevant qualifications. They should never expect to be catered to them throughout the entire selection process. tl;dr: You've ignored a lot of the metrics you asked for, which she did present. However, since it's not in the layout that you like, you assumed that this is "terrible". The advice is just an exercise in aesthetics more than functionality, without a solid rationale as to why someone should manipulate resumes in this manner. To be brutally honest, those tips will only add confusion and criticism for the next person reading that resume.

jobs

t5_2qhnd

cemzvb9

Her resume does nothing to highlight or market her abilities. Not all manager and HR positions require the same consistent set of skills. I see that her specialization has been in HRIS, OB/OD, and Selection, but not so much employment laws - which she covered at the end of the resume. To ensure that, I would just have to cover it in the interview, if needed. >I want to see the hard numbers. Why? You'd let the applicants' self-report define your organizational needs. People who ask for hard numbers just want to be impressed by numbers. They usually don't understand how that translate into their own organizations, or whether or not those metric mean anything. It's also assuming that any success or failure rate is a direct result of the implementation she enacted. She can certainly describe what she's done, but the numbers attached to it could be the result of the whole team. And you're just assessing her individually. >And on marketing, what is her pitch? That's for the interview. This is a lot of mistakes that hiring managers/recruiters make. They want to see everything up front, and be wow'd by it. By the time candidates get to the interview, it's assumed that they have the KSAOs, so instead of evaluating that, interviewers try to determine "fit" (in the most terrible methods). It's the job of interviewers to responsibly assess relevant qualifications. They should never expect to be catered to them throughout the entire selection process.

You've ignored a lot of the metrics you asked for, which she did present. However, since it's not in the layout that you like, you assumed that this is "terrible". The advice is just an exercise in aesthetics more than functionality, without a solid rationale as to why someone should manipulate resumes in this manner. To be brutally honest, those tips will only add confusion and criticism for the next person reading that resume.

EjaculateEvacuator

No joke, I am having issues determining what I am looking at. As a reference point, is there an anus in this pictures? To me it looks like a back with dimples from removed scar tissue and I'm not seeing the NSFW portion. TL,DR: I came for NSFW, having a hard time finding NS.

No joke, I am having issues determining what I am looking at. As a reference point, is there an anus in this pictures? To me it looks like a back with dimples from removed scar tissue and I'm not seeing the NSFW portion. TL,DR: I came for NSFW, having a hard time finding NS.

WTF

t5_2qh61

cemj1e3

No joke, I am having issues determining what I am looking at. As a reference point, is there an anus in this pictures? To me it looks like a back with dimples from removed scar tissue and I'm not seeing the NSFW portion.

I came for NSFW, having a hard time finding NS.

A_large_yetti

Doesn't exist any more? Tl;dr obvious

Doesn't exist any more? Tl;dr obvious

WTF

t5_2qh61

cemjufp

Doesn't exist any more?

obvious

Lazer_Destroyer

If you're new to the sport, you might not want to purchase those. It's far easier to ride a carved ski, especially in the beginning. They are far shorter and easy to turn. Easiest are so-called "rocker" skis, which require slightly less power to turn than normal carving skis (but it's minimal). If you are completely new, maybe you should consider renting skis just to see if you even like skiing (?). I'd say they are worth approximately 100$, less if they have scratches, but I'm no expert... EDIT: This might help: The skis on your pictures are quite old. Newer (carving) skis will be wider on the top and bottom of the ski. This means that if you ride on the ski's edge, it will bend and thus turn. The skis on your picutres are not carved, wich means that you will always have to slide to make turns. This is especially nasty on icy surfaces. TL;DR: Don't buy these skis as a beginner.

If you're new to the sport, you might not want to purchase those. It's far easier to ride a carved ski, especially in the beginning. They are far shorter and easy to turn. Easiest are so-called "rocker" skis, which require slightly less power to turn than normal carving skis (but it's minimal). If you are completely new, maybe you should consider renting skis just to see if you even like skiing (?). I'd say they are worth approximately 100$, less if they have scratches, but I'm no expert... EDIT: This might help: The skis on your pictures are quite old. Newer (carving) skis will be wider on the top and bottom of the ski. This means that if you ride on the ski's edge, it will bend and thus turn. The skis on your picutres are not carved, wich means that you will always have to slide to make turns. This is especially nasty on icy surfaces. TL;DR: Don't buy these skis as a beginner.

skiing

t5_2qig7

cemixel

If you're new to the sport, you might not want to purchase those. It's far easier to ride a carved ski, especially in the beginning. They are far shorter and easy to turn. Easiest are so-called "rocker" skis, which require slightly less power to turn than normal carving skis (but it's minimal). If you are completely new, maybe you should consider renting skis just to see if you even like skiing (?). I'd say they are worth approximately 100$, less if they have scratches, but I'm no expert... EDIT: This might help: The skis on your pictures are quite old. Newer (carving) skis will be wider on the top and bottom of the ski. This means that if you ride on the ski's edge, it will bend and thus turn. The skis on your picutres are not carved, wich means that you will always have to slide to make turns. This is especially nasty on icy surfaces.

Don't buy these skis as a beginner.

shrewphys

Let's steer away all the people who think solidly proven maths is to be debated from poor old 0.999... It's had to fight that battle too much in it's lifetime. Let's point them to the fact that 1+2+3+4+5+... all the way to infinity = -1/12. (it's 100% provable and true, the TL;DR proof is that infinite sums do weird things) That will rustle their jimmies, and 0.999... can finally get some rest

Let's steer away all the people who think solidly proven maths is to be debated from poor old 0.999... It's had to fight that battle too much in it's lifetime. Let's point them to the fact that 1+2+3+4+5+... all the way to infinity = -1/12. (it's 100% provable and true, the TL;DR proof is that infinite sums do weird things) That will rustle their jimmies, and 0.999... can finally get some rest

news

t5_2qh3l

cemrqer

Let's steer away all the people who think solidly proven maths is to be debated from poor old 0.999... It's had to fight that battle too much in it's lifetime. Let's point them to the fact that 1+2+3+4+5+... all the way to infinity = -1/12. (it's 100% provable and true, the

proof is that infinite sums do weird things) That will rustle their jimmies, and 0.999... can finally get some rest

Papyah

Yeah its actually pretty simple. The urine/hair/saliva drug screens we're all used to don't test for THC itself so much as they test for the metabolites, the primary one being THC-COOH. These metabolites aren't psychoactive, so they don't measure if you're high, but they are a good indicator that you've ingested THC in the past. The classic pre-employement drug screen goes something like this. You piss in a cup and it's testing for a wide range of a bunch of metabolites. About 50ng/ml is the cut off, less than that and you'll pass. More and you'll fail. If you pass then you pass. If you fail, then they send your sample to be tested by a GC/MS which will specifically look for THC-COOH. The cut off for THC-COOH by itself is 15mg/ml for labcorp (and i think this is standard). The blood tests given to DUI suspects in colorado are blood tests that aren't testing for THC-COOH but for the active THC itself. If you've got active THC in your blood stream, you're under its effects. Like alcohol they've got some cut off to say "this is too much". tl;dr pre-employment and dui drug tests are testing for different chemicals because they're two different tests for two different purposes.

Yeah its actually pretty simple. The urine/hair/saliva drug screens we're all used to don't test for THC itself so much as they test for the metabolites, the primary one being THC-COOH. These metabolites aren't psychoactive, so they don't measure if you're high, but they are a good indicator that you've ingested THC in the past. The classic pre-employement drug screen goes something like this. You piss in a cup and it's testing for a wide range of a bunch of metabolites. About 50ng/ml is the cut off, less than that and you'll pass. More and you'll fail. If you pass then you pass. If you fail, then they send your sample to be tested by a GC/MS which will specifically look for THC-COOH. The cut off for THC-COOH by itself is 15mg/ml for labcorp (and i think this is standard). The blood tests given to DUI suspects in colorado are blood tests that aren't testing for THC-COOH but for the active THC itself. If you've got active THC in your blood stream, you're under its effects. Like alcohol they've got some cut off to say "this is too much". tl;dr pre-employment and dui drug tests are testing for different chemicals because they're two different tests for two different purposes.

news

t5_2qh3l

cemtkp8

Yeah its actually pretty simple. The urine/hair/saliva drug screens we're all used to don't test for THC itself so much as they test for the metabolites, the primary one being THC-COOH. These metabolites aren't psychoactive, so they don't measure if you're high, but they are a good indicator that you've ingested THC in the past. The classic pre-employement drug screen goes something like this. You piss in a cup and it's testing for a wide range of a bunch of metabolites. About 50ng/ml is the cut off, less than that and you'll pass. More and you'll fail. If you pass then you pass. If you fail, then they send your sample to be tested by a GC/MS which will specifically look for THC-COOH. The cut off for THC-COOH by itself is 15mg/ml for labcorp (and i think this is standard). The blood tests given to DUI suspects in colorado are blood tests that aren't testing for THC-COOH but for the active THC itself. If you've got active THC in your blood stream, you're under its effects. Like alcohol they've got some cut off to say "this is too much".

pre-employment and dui drug tests are testing for different chemicals because they're two different tests for two different purposes.

Endevorite

They did something similar in my home state of Oregon to dissuade people from stealing the mile marker 69. The ODOT tried a few different things to stop thieves, like making the post bigger, stronger, secured at more points, but nothing worked, every month or so the sign would be stolen again. Finally, ODOT Came up with a solution, they would make a nearby landmark sign bigger and just print the mile marker on the side of it. Since they did this the sign has not been stolen (since it is now massive), but the problem has only sort of gone away, as they decided to affix mile marker 69 to the sign denoting Sexton Pass, it just makes it funnier. TL;DR: Oregon puts mile marker 69 on "Sexton Pass" sign to stop it from being stolen.

They did something similar in my home state of Oregon to dissuade people from stealing the mile marker 69. The ODOT tried a few different things to stop thieves, like making the post bigger, stronger, secured at more points, but nothing worked, every month or so the sign would be stolen again. Finally, ODOT Came up with a solution, they would make a nearby landmark sign bigger and just print the mile marker on the side of it. Since they did this the sign has not been stolen (since it is now massive), but the problem has only sort of gone away, as they decided to affix mile marker 69 to the sign denoting Sexton Pass, it just makes it funnier. TL;DR: Oregon puts mile marker 69 on "Sexton Pass" sign to stop it from being stolen.

news

t5_2qh3l

cemua50

They did something similar in my home state of Oregon to dissuade people from stealing the mile marker 69. The ODOT tried a few different things to stop thieves, like making the post bigger, stronger, secured at more points, but nothing worked, every month or so the sign would be stolen again. Finally, ODOT Came up with a solution, they would make a nearby landmark sign bigger and just print the mile marker on the side of it. Since they did this the sign has not been stolen (since it is now massive), but the problem has only sort of gone away, as they decided to affix mile marker 69 to the sign denoting Sexton Pass, it just makes it funnier.

Oregon puts mile marker 69 on "Sexton Pass" sign to stop it from being stolen.

shorternet

You should probably read the article, it doesn't help your case. I suggest that you start reading at &gt;The lending of wives to perfect strangers happened occasionally in some places, but it was never the widespread custom it has been made out to be. As noted in the article (for those not inclined to follow the link) the best known examples *were* (passed tense) religious/spiritual in nature as directed by the holy men of the day. It's not a contemporary practice however there are (IMO) quite bizarre religious/spiritual customs that are that can be interpreted as more than slightly strange..... male genital mutilation and ritual symbolic cannibalism practiced in front of a representation of a holy man being tortured spring immediately to mind. TL:DR: There are many customs practiced in the past that are not practiced today. Misrepresenting them is not generally helpful and may lead to rebuttal comments including words like ignorance and bigotry.

You should probably read the article, it doesn't help your case. I suggest that you start reading at >The lending of wives to perfect strangers happened occasionally in some places, but it was never the widespread custom it has been made out to be. As noted in the article (for those not inclined to follow the link) the best known examples were (passed tense) religious/spiritual in nature as directed by the holy men of the day. It's not a contemporary practice however there are (IMO) quite bizarre religious/spiritual customs that are that can be interpreted as more than slightly strange..... male genital mutilation and ritual symbolic cannibalism practiced in front of a representation of a holy man being tortured spring immediately to mind. TL:DR: There are many customs practiced in the past that are not practiced today. Misrepresenting them is not generally helpful and may lead to rebuttal comments including words like ignorance and bigotry.

canada

t5_2qh68

cen92h7

You should probably read the article, it doesn't help your case. I suggest that you start reading at >The lending of wives to perfect strangers happened occasionally in some places, but it was never the widespread custom it has been made out to be. As noted in the article (for those not inclined to follow the link) the best known examples were (passed tense) religious/spiritual in nature as directed by the holy men of the day. It's not a contemporary practice however there are (IMO) quite bizarre religious/spiritual customs that are that can be interpreted as more than slightly strange..... male genital mutilation and ritual symbolic cannibalism practiced in front of a representation of a holy man being tortured spring immediately to mind.

There are many customs practiced in the past that are not practiced today. Misrepresenting them is not generally helpful and may lead to rebuttal comments including words like ignorance and bigotry.

pushTheHippo

Shit like this is one of the reasons I decided to ETS... Obviously this is at some CQ area during off-duty hours - probably a NG/Reserve unit (notice the glassed area that's empty with the lights off). I never understood why anyone would get so fucking fired up about anyone being outside of regs when it comes to a uniform during off-duty hours. I was an NCO and I hated motard assholes who outranked me that got upset about this shit. There are only a couple reasons why anyone would do this: 1. They are truly fucked up and wanted to get their ass chewed out, or they didn't care. Either way, there are overwhelming chances that they will fuck up way worse when it comes to other aspects of being a soldier and they will get handled for those. 2. They're in a unit that realizes that uniform regs and other "Army traditions" are fucking stupid; esp. when it comes to being around your own unit (i.e. SF units where its cool to not wear nametapes, have your hands in your pockets, wear unshined boots and soft caps {this was before ACU's...on Ft. Bragg...anyone who was there around that time and and dealt with the the 82nd knows what I mean}, and even not salute officers in your company - I mean like an E-4 NOT saluting their CO...no shit, I've seen it happen with no repercussions when said E-4 was squared away). Honestly, who gives a flying fuck? When you really get down to it, your uniform is not the best representation of what kind of soldier you are (especially depending on the situation). Some of the best soldiers I have ever had the pleasure to serve with looked like hobos while we were deployed, and would have taken a bullet for any of them. This kind of mentality breeds incompetence. Incompetence as in NCO's that are not bred to be truly good leaders. Looking good and having a good PT score does not mean you are or will be a good leader. It just means you're an asshole who cares more about the ever-changing regs and covering your own ass than taking care of your guys. Get over your egotistical, self-image of what it means to be a good soldier and focus on what it means to be a good man. TL;DR: Don't judge a man by his appearance. Judge a man by his character. EDIT: Unless they're wearing fuckin' Uggs apparently...Jesus...

Shit like this is one of the reasons I decided to ETS... Obviously this is at some CQ area during off-duty hours - probably a NG/Reserve unit (notice the glassed area that's empty with the lights off). I never understood why anyone would get so fucking fired up about anyone being outside of regs when it comes to a uniform during off-duty hours. I was an NCO and I hated motard assholes who outranked me that got upset about this shit. There are only a couple reasons why anyone would do this: They are truly fucked up and wanted to get their ass chewed out, or they didn't care. Either way, there are overwhelming chances that they will fuck up way worse when it comes to other aspects of being a soldier and they will get handled for those. They're in a unit that realizes that uniform regs and other "Army traditions" are fucking stupid; esp. when it comes to being around your own unit (i.e. SF units where its cool to not wear nametapes, have your hands in your pockets, wear unshined boots and soft caps {this was before ACU's...on Ft. Bragg...anyone who was there around that time and and dealt with the the 82nd knows what I mean}, and even not salute officers in your company - I mean like an E-4 NOT saluting their CO...no shit, I've seen it happen with no repercussions when said E-4 was squared away). Honestly, who gives a flying fuck? When you really get down to it, your uniform is not the best representation of what kind of soldier you are (especially depending on the situation). Some of the best soldiers I have ever had the pleasure to serve with looked like hobos while we were deployed, and would have taken a bullet for any of them. This kind of mentality breeds incompetence. Incompetence as in NCO's that are not bred to be truly good leaders. Looking good and having a good PT score does not mean you are or will be a good leader. It just means you're an asshole who cares more about the ever-changing regs and covering your own ass than taking care of your guys. Get over your egotistical, self-image of what it means to be a good soldier and focus on what it means to be a good man. TL;DR: Don't judge a man by his appearance. Judge a man by his character. EDIT: Unless they're wearing fuckin' Uggs apparently...Jesus...

Military

t5_2qh8y

ceng6e2

Shit like this is one of the reasons I decided to ETS... Obviously this is at some CQ area during off-duty hours - probably a NG/Reserve unit (notice the glassed area that's empty with the lights off). I never understood why anyone would get so fucking fired up about anyone being outside of regs when it comes to a uniform during off-duty hours. I was an NCO and I hated motard assholes who outranked me that got upset about this shit. There are only a couple reasons why anyone would do this: They are truly fucked up and wanted to get their ass chewed out, or they didn't care. Either way, there are overwhelming chances that they will fuck up way worse when it comes to other aspects of being a soldier and they will get handled for those. They're in a unit that realizes that uniform regs and other "Army traditions" are fucking stupid; esp. when it comes to being around your own unit (i.e. SF units where its cool to not wear nametapes, have your hands in your pockets, wear unshined boots and soft caps {this was before ACU's...on Ft. Bragg...anyone who was there around that time and and dealt with the the 82nd knows what I mean}, and even not salute officers in your company - I mean like an E-4 NOT saluting their CO...no shit, I've seen it happen with no repercussions when said E-4 was squared away). Honestly, who gives a flying fuck? When you really get down to it, your uniform is not the best representation of what kind of soldier you are (especially depending on the situation). Some of the best soldiers I have ever had the pleasure to serve with looked like hobos while we were deployed, and would have taken a bullet for any of them. This kind of mentality breeds incompetence. Incompetence as in NCO's that are not bred to be truly good leaders. Looking good and having a good PT score does not mean you are or will be a good leader. It just means you're an asshole who cares more about the ever-changing regs and covering your own ass than taking care of your guys. Get over your egotistical, self-image of what it means to be a good soldier and focus on what it means to be a good man.

Don't judge a man by his appearance. Judge a man by his character. EDIT: Unless they're wearing fuckin' Uggs apparently...Jesus...

TeamTripleZero

Back story: When I was in middle school I used to get bullied because of my weight. So I didn't really have any friends but that all changed when i went to high school because I started going to the gym and got a lot taller and lost the fat and replaced it with muscle. The first day I got into high school I knew that if I acted the same way i did in middle school I would be bullied for the next four years. So me being an idiot, I acted like a big shot. The people there helped too (mostly the girls) because until then I was never called good looking or anything. So being told that I looked like a model sorta gave me a massive ego boost. So now am basically living a lie, everyone thinks I get all the girls and i'm a big shot but all I'm doing is.....Acting. (In grade 11 now) Tl/dr: Everyone thinks that I'm something that I truly I'm not

Back story: When I was in middle school I used to get bullied because of my weight. So I didn't really have any friends but that all changed when i went to high school because I started going to the gym and got a lot taller and lost the fat and replaced it with muscle. The first day I got into high school I knew that if I acted the same way i did in middle school I would be bullied for the next four years. So me being an idiot, I acted like a big shot. The people there helped too (mostly the girls) because until then I was never called good looking or anything. So being told that I looked like a model sorta gave me a massive ego boost. So now am basically living a lie, everyone thinks I get all the girls and i'm a big shot but all I'm doing is.....Acting. (In grade 11 now) Tl/dr: Everyone thinks that I'm something that I truly I'm not

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cenjqn9

Back story: When I was in middle school I used to get bullied because of my weight. So I didn't really have any friends but that all changed when i went to high school because I started going to the gym and got a lot taller and lost the fat and replaced it with muscle. The first day I got into high school I knew that if I acted the same way i did in middle school I would be bullied for the next four years. So me being an idiot, I acted like a big shot. The people there helped too (mostly the girls) because until then I was never called good looking or anything. So being told that I looked like a model sorta gave me a massive ego boost. So now am basically living a lie, everyone thinks I get all the girls and i'm a big shot but all I'm doing is.....Acting. (In grade 11 now)

Everyone thinks that I'm something that I truly I'm not

shitisgettingannoyin

I've got a compound false bullshit problem going on currently: Earlier this year I was at a party of one of my friends house, and like usual we were all smoking pot. I made the mistake of being surprised when I found out that one of friends didn't smoke pot. This dude takes it to mean that I am somehow making a racist judgement about him, and I made a further mistake of thinking that he was joking and laughing at his accusation until [I realized that he was not laughing at all whatsoever.]( I apologized ad nauseam, I was embarassed (although I kind of don't like being called racist for presumably being white) and that's all I really remember. So that faux pas was solved, **or so I thought.** Not a couple of fucking weeks ago I'm designated driving for my room mates becuase I'm poor but don't want them to die, and I have another conversation with this fellow. He now tells me (drunkenly) about how horrible of a person I've become since junior high when we first met, we've grown apart since then and he doesn't know what happened to me in the last 8 years or so, and he keeps talking about this class we had together in 8th grade. We didn't have this class, but shit: I'm not destroying the one good thing this guy thinks I have going for me. Also, he told me that everyone I know actually hates me too, and people only hang with me for old time's sake. That hurt a lot, but dude was drunk and I'm not going to start something with a guy who's got depression issues. Tl;dr: Guy think's I'm a racist asshole, but reminisces about old times that we never had.

I've got a compound false bullshit problem going on currently: Earlier this year I was at a party of one of my friends house, and like usual we were all smoking pot. I made the mistake of being surprised when I found out that one of friends didn't smoke pot. This dude takes it to mean that I am somehow making a racist judgement about him, and I made a further mistake of thinking that he was joking and laughing at his accusation until I realized that he was not laughing at all whatsoever. and that's all I really remember. So that faux pas was solved, or so I thought. Not a couple of fucking weeks ago I'm designated driving for my room mates becuase I'm poor but don't want them to die, and I have another conversation with this fellow. He now tells me (drunkenly) about how horrible of a person I've become since junior high when we first met, we've grown apart since then and he doesn't know what happened to me in the last 8 years or so, and he keeps talking about this class we had together in 8th grade. We didn't have this class, but shit: I'm not destroying the one good thing this guy thinks I have going for me. Also, he told me that everyone I know actually hates me too, and people only hang with me for old time's sake. That hurt a lot, but dude was drunk and I'm not going to start something with a guy who's got depression issues. Tl;dr: Guy think's I'm a racist asshole, but reminisces about old times that we never had.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cenl4b3

I've got a compound false bullshit problem going on currently: Earlier this year I was at a party of one of my friends house, and like usual we were all smoking pot. I made the mistake of being surprised when I found out that one of friends didn't smoke pot. This dude takes it to mean that I am somehow making a racist judgement about him, and I made a further mistake of thinking that he was joking and laughing at his accusation until I realized that he was not laughing at all whatsoever. and that's all I really remember. So that faux pas was solved, or so I thought. Not a couple of fucking weeks ago I'm designated driving for my room mates becuase I'm poor but don't want them to die, and I have another conversation with this fellow. He now tells me (drunkenly) about how horrible of a person I've become since junior high when we first met, we've grown apart since then and he doesn't know what happened to me in the last 8 years or so, and he keeps talking about this class we had together in 8th grade. We didn't have this class, but shit: I'm not destroying the one good thing this guy thinks I have going for me. Also, he told me that everyone I know actually hates me too, and people only hang with me for old time's sake. That hurt a lot, but dude was drunk and I'm not going to start something with a guy who's got depression issues.

Guy think's I'm a racist asshole, but reminisces about old times that we never had.

AccidentalJew

First, this is a throw away account as my normal username is too linked to me... Secondly, although this is true, I don't expect anyone to believe me... So, in high school, my friends and I would crack all kinds of jokes, including racists ones (yes, I am a bad person.) One time I reacted with mock horror to a Jewish joke, which my friends took for real horror, and from then on assumed I was Jewish. I just went along with this for a few months, since it entitled me to crack Jewish jokes. You know, kinda how when black people use a certain word, then it's ok? Then there was this culture week thing at school, so my friends encouraged me to wear the "little Jew hat" for culture week, and I was too deep in the lie at this point to not... So I ordered a Kippah online and learned a little bit of Jewish culture (even learning a sentence in Hebrew) for culture week. So from then on, my whole high school thought I was Jewish... I ended up dating a girl during this time (who, of course, believed I was Jewish) and we moved to a different state after high school for work. I had to keep the Jewish thing up for her sake (she would have killed me for lying like that to her) and so kept it up in this new city, including at work... She eventually left, but I had to keep the Jewish thing up still, this time for my co-workers... After a few years of that job (and the friends I made there) believing my Jewish history, I left for another job... Only to find out that 2 of my co-workers at my new job knew me from my last job... So I had to keep up the Jewish thing for them... Essentially, what started out as a joke with friends has led to a lie that has followed me across state lines and jobs and friends... It's been almost 10 years now. TL;DR I accidentally converted to Judaism

First, this is a throw away account as my normal username is too linked to me... Secondly, although this is true, I don't expect anyone to believe me... So, in high school, my friends and I would crack all kinds of jokes, including racists ones (yes, I am a bad person.) One time I reacted with mock horror to a Jewish joke, which my friends took for real horror, and from then on assumed I was Jewish. I just went along with this for a few months, since it entitled me to crack Jewish jokes. You know, kinda how when black people use a certain word, then it's ok? Then there was this culture week thing at school, so my friends encouraged me to wear the "little Jew hat" for culture week, and I was too deep in the lie at this point to not... So I ordered a Kippah online and learned a little bit of Jewish culture (even learning a sentence in Hebrew) for culture week. So from then on, my whole high school thought I was Jewish... I ended up dating a girl during this time (who, of course, believed I was Jewish) and we moved to a different state after high school for work. I had to keep the Jewish thing up for her sake (she would have killed me for lying like that to her) and so kept it up in this new city, including at work... She eventually left, but I had to keep the Jewish thing up still, this time for my co-workers... After a few years of that job (and the friends I made there) believing my Jewish history, I left for another job... Only to find out that 2 of my co-workers at my new job knew me from my last job... So I had to keep up the Jewish thing for them... Essentially, what started out as a joke with friends has led to a lie that has followed me across state lines and jobs and friends... It's been almost 10 years now. TL;DR I accidentally converted to Judaism

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cenlx15

First, this is a throw away account as my normal username is too linked to me... Secondly, although this is true, I don't expect anyone to believe me... So, in high school, my friends and I would crack all kinds of jokes, including racists ones (yes, I am a bad person.) One time I reacted with mock horror to a Jewish joke, which my friends took for real horror, and from then on assumed I was Jewish. I just went along with this for a few months, since it entitled me to crack Jewish jokes. You know, kinda how when black people use a certain word, then it's ok? Then there was this culture week thing at school, so my friends encouraged me to wear the "little Jew hat" for culture week, and I was too deep in the lie at this point to not... So I ordered a Kippah online and learned a little bit of Jewish culture (even learning a sentence in Hebrew) for culture week. So from then on, my whole high school thought I was Jewish... I ended up dating a girl during this time (who, of course, believed I was Jewish) and we moved to a different state after high school for work. I had to keep the Jewish thing up for her sake (she would have killed me for lying like that to her) and so kept it up in this new city, including at work... She eventually left, but I had to keep the Jewish thing up still, this time for my co-workers... After a few years of that job (and the friends I made there) believing my Jewish history, I left for another job... Only to find out that 2 of my co-workers at my new job knew me from my last job... So I had to keep up the Jewish thing for them... Essentially, what started out as a joke with friends has led to a lie that has followed me across state lines and jobs and friends... It's been almost 10 years now.

I accidentally converted to Judaism

Ausjs14

I've never really told this to anyone because it really pisses me off. Some of my family thinks I'm some fucking pervert and touch little kids. See my cousin, who is like 20 had a kid and really wasn't able to watch it all the time. So doing what anyone would do, my family helped babysit very frequently. I'm talking like 3 or 4 times a week. Now this little girl had no father figure so she quickly got attached to me. She was always saying my name and occasionally called me "daddy". Anyway, I guess one time my cousin was changing her diaper and the little girl said my name. My cousin automatically jumps to the conclusion that I'm some freak and touched her inappropriately. She tried to get me in trouble with the police but they just pretty much laughed at her. So now all of my extended family hates me and thinks I'm a pervert because my cousin isn't mentally stable. My grandma knows I didn't do anything and is on my side. So my cousins all completely disown her and always talk shit about her. My grandma just wants to die so she doesn't have to deal with any of this anymore. All I've got for family now is my immediate family and I'm completely ok with that. Tl/dr: my family thinks I'm a pervert and touch kids Edit: It's been about a year and a half since I've seen the little girl, I guess she still talks about me and asks to see me. Poor thing will never have a male role model in her life. Edit 2: Thanks everyone for all the kind words! I've moved on and it's to the point where I stopped caring. I focus on my studies now more than anything.

I've never really told this to anyone because it really pisses me off. Some of my family thinks I'm some fucking pervert and touch little kids. See my cousin, who is like 20 had a kid and really wasn't able to watch it all the time. So doing what anyone would do, my family helped babysit very frequently. I'm talking like 3 or 4 times a week. Now this little girl had no father figure so she quickly got attached to me. She was always saying my name and occasionally called me "daddy". Anyway, I guess one time my cousin was changing her diaper and the little girl said my name. My cousin automatically jumps to the conclusion that I'm some freak and touched her inappropriately. She tried to get me in trouble with the police but they just pretty much laughed at her. So now all of my extended family hates me and thinks I'm a pervert because my cousin isn't mentally stable. My grandma knows I didn't do anything and is on my side. So my cousins all completely disown her and always talk shit about her. My grandma just wants to die so she doesn't have to deal with any of this anymore. All I've got for family now is my immediate family and I'm completely ok with that. Tl/dr: my family thinks I'm a pervert and touch kids Edit: It's been about a year and a half since I've seen the little girl, I guess she still talks about me and asks to see me. Poor thing will never have a male role model in her life. Edit 2: Thanks everyone for all the kind words! I've moved on and it's to the point where I stopped caring. I focus on my studies now more than anything.

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t5_2qh1i

cen8nz0

I've never really told this to anyone because it really pisses me off. Some of my family thinks I'm some fucking pervert and touch little kids. See my cousin, who is like 20 had a kid and really wasn't able to watch it all the time. So doing what anyone would do, my family helped babysit very frequently. I'm talking like 3 or 4 times a week. Now this little girl had no father figure so she quickly got attached to me. She was always saying my name and occasionally called me "daddy". Anyway, I guess one time my cousin was changing her diaper and the little girl said my name. My cousin automatically jumps to the conclusion that I'm some freak and touched her inappropriately. She tried to get me in trouble with the police but they just pretty much laughed at her. So now all of my extended family hates me and thinks I'm a pervert because my cousin isn't mentally stable. My grandma knows I didn't do anything and is on my side. So my cousins all completely disown her and always talk shit about her. My grandma just wants to die so she doesn't have to deal with any of this anymore. All I've got for family now is my immediate family and I'm completely ok with that.

my family thinks I'm a pervert and touch kids Edit: It's been about a year and a half since I've seen the little girl, I guess she still talks about me and asks to see me. Poor thing will never have a male role model in her life. Edit 2: Thanks everyone for all the kind words! I've moved on and it's to the point where I stopped caring. I focus on my studies now more than anything.

CornyCorn

Not me personally, but I helped perpetrate the lie. My brother and I used to work at the same restaurant together and would always tell the new employees that my brother was a member of 'Kidz Bop' when he was a kid. Since the service industry has pretty high turnover in employees, after a while a lot of the people working there believed it was true. For some reason nobody ever questioned it or asked for proof; I guess the story kind of kept itself afloat after a while, when people heard it they automatically believed it because everyone else did. TL;DR Brother and I convinced our co-workers he was a member of Kidz Bop.

Not me personally, but I helped perpetrate the lie. My brother and I used to work at the same restaurant together and would always tell the new employees that my brother was a member of 'Kidz Bop' when he was a kid. Since the service industry has pretty high turnover in employees, after a while a lot of the people working there believed it was true. For some reason nobody ever questioned it or asked for proof; I guess the story kind of kept itself afloat after a while, when people heard it they automatically believed it because everyone else did. TL;DR Brother and I convinced our co-workers he was a member of Kidz Bop.

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cenbk76

Not me personally, but I helped perpetrate the lie. My brother and I used to work at the same restaurant together and would always tell the new employees that my brother was a member of 'Kidz Bop' when he was a kid. Since the service industry has pretty high turnover in employees, after a while a lot of the people working there believed it was true. For some reason nobody ever questioned it or asked for proof; I guess the story kind of kept itself afloat after a while, when people heard it they automatically believed it because everyone else did.

Brother and I convinced our co-workers he was a member of Kidz Bop.

PrairieKid

My family rarely talked about sex/relationships when I was a kid. I mean, my siblings and I all understood it, but we never even discussed crushes or anything sexual. If there was a rapist on the news, that was one thing, but Frasier makes a sexual joke? No body cracks a smile. It was just... I don't know, not discussed. I never talked about the girls I liked, and my sisters were similar. It led to all of us thinking the rest of us were gay, at least for a period of time. I am still not entirely positive about one of my sisters, but the others have both had relationships and/or convinced me otherwise. But, despite this, I think my sisters and possibly my parents still think I am gay. A few years ago, my oldest sister started getting involved in the whole "gay pride" campaign and I noticed her using me as an example online when she thought I wouldn't see it. ("This is for my brother..." or "My brother is not comforable", etc.) Not sure if she is still as convinced as she was, but I don't think she would be shocked if I "came out of the closet." It also has to do with the fact that, even now, I don't focus on relationships. I am a nice guy (or so I like to think), and care about school. Politically, I'm a Libertarian. I guess I have a few of the stereotypical "gay" traits. I don't know... But they were convinced for a while. tl;dr My family never really discusses sex or relationships which has led to my siblings thinking I am gay, which is mostly because I am not a pervert.

My family rarely talked about sex/relationships when I was a kid. I mean, my siblings and I all understood it, but we never even discussed crushes or anything sexual. If there was a rapist on the news, that was one thing, but Frasier makes a sexual joke? No body cracks a smile. It was just... I don't know, not discussed. I never talked about the girls I liked, and my sisters were similar. It led to all of us thinking the rest of us were gay, at least for a period of time. I am still not entirely positive about one of my sisters, but the others have both had relationships and/or convinced me otherwise. But, despite this, I think my sisters and possibly my parents still think I am gay. A few years ago, my oldest sister started getting involved in the whole "gay pride" campaign and I noticed her using me as an example online when she thought I wouldn't see it. ("This is for my brother..." or "My brother is not comforable", etc.) Not sure if she is still as convinced as she was, but I don't think she would be shocked if I "came out of the closet." It also has to do with the fact that, even now, I don't focus on relationships. I am a nice guy (or so I like to think), and care about school. Politically, I'm a Libertarian. I guess I have a few of the stereotypical "gay" traits. I don't know... But they were convinced for a while. tl;dr My family never really discusses sex or relationships which has led to my siblings thinking I am gay, which is mostly because I am not a pervert.

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t5_2qh1i

cenbmd2

My family rarely talked about sex/relationships when I was a kid. I mean, my siblings and I all understood it, but we never even discussed crushes or anything sexual. If there was a rapist on the news, that was one thing, but Frasier makes a sexual joke? No body cracks a smile. It was just... I don't know, not discussed. I never talked about the girls I liked, and my sisters were similar. It led to all of us thinking the rest of us were gay, at least for a period of time. I am still not entirely positive about one of my sisters, but the others have both had relationships and/or convinced me otherwise. But, despite this, I think my sisters and possibly my parents still think I am gay. A few years ago, my oldest sister started getting involved in the whole "gay pride" campaign and I noticed her using me as an example online when she thought I wouldn't see it. ("This is for my brother..." or "My brother is not comforable", etc.) Not sure if she is still as convinced as she was, but I don't think she would be shocked if I "came out of the closet." It also has to do with the fact that, even now, I don't focus on relationships. I am a nice guy (or so I like to think), and care about school. Politically, I'm a Libertarian. I guess I have a few of the stereotypical "gay" traits. I don't know... But they were convinced for a while.

My family never really discusses sex or relationships which has led to my siblings thinking I am gay, which is mostly because I am not a pervert.

123jonahv

u/123jonahv's new years eve: After fireworks everyone is working out where to stay because it is late and most people live far away, two people end up coming back to my house as i live fairly close by. Of these two, one was a guy who needed somewhere to crash, the other was a girl who needed somewhere to wait for a taxi as none were available til 3am. I proceed to loudly have sex with my female friend (the dude was just playing assassins creed IV) but then she left when her taxi arrived. In the morning, me and guy friend appear and say hi to my parents, who are for some reason being really weird and asking me all about my "friend". It suddenly dawns on me that they heard the sex noises, and assumes they were made by me and this dude last night, and that i am in fact a homosexual. **tl;dr sexual partner leaves in the middle of the night so parents think i am gay**

u/123jonahv's new years eve: After fireworks everyone is working out where to stay because it is late and most people live far away, two people end up coming back to my house as i live fairly close by. Of these two, one was a guy who needed somewhere to crash, the other was a girl who needed somewhere to wait for a taxi as none were available til 3am. I proceed to loudly have sex with my female friend (the dude was just playing assassins creed IV) but then she left when her taxi arrived. In the morning, me and guy friend appear and say hi to my parents, who are for some reason being really weird and asking me all about my "friend". It suddenly dawns on me that they heard the sex noises, and assumes they were made by me and this dude last night, and that i am in fact a homosexual. tl;dr sexual partner leaves in the middle of the night so parents think i am gay

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t5_2qh1i

cenc0lp

u/123jonahv's new years eve: After fireworks everyone is working out where to stay because it is late and most people live far away, two people end up coming back to my house as i live fairly close by. Of these two, one was a guy who needed somewhere to crash, the other was a girl who needed somewhere to wait for a taxi as none were available til 3am. I proceed to loudly have sex with my female friend (the dude was just playing assassins creed IV) but then she left when her taxi arrived. In the morning, me and guy friend appear and say hi to my parents, who are for some reason being really weird and asking me all about my "friend". It suddenly dawns on me that they heard the sex noises, and assumes they were made by me and this dude last night, and that i am in fact a homosexual.

sexual partner leaves in the middle of the night so parents think i am gay

canhead83

Sooo.... I fell out of a parking garage when I was younger and acquired a concussion as is the norm for falling two stories. My sisters still don't believe me that I don't remember the next few hours. It just bugs me that it is such a nominal thing. The reason they and now everyone else think this is because some nurse tech told them I probably would remember. The funny part is they told me I was annoying for those few hours because I kept repeating myself and acting like I couldn't remember anything. Fuck, I'm seriously still pissed because of this. TLDR; my sisters are cunts who won't believe me.

Sooo.... I fell out of a parking garage when I was younger and acquired a concussion as is the norm for falling two stories. My sisters still don't believe me that I don't remember the next few hours. It just bugs me that it is such a nominal thing. The reason they and now everyone else think this is because some nurse tech told them I probably would remember. The funny part is they told me I was annoying for those few hours because I kept repeating myself and acting like I couldn't remember anything. Fuck, I'm seriously still pissed because of this. TLDR; my sisters are cunts who won't believe me.

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cend9jn

Sooo.... I fell out of a parking garage when I was younger and acquired a concussion as is the norm for falling two stories. My sisters still don't believe me that I don't remember the next few hours. It just bugs me that it is such a nominal thing. The reason they and now everyone else think this is because some nurse tech told them I probably would remember. The funny part is they told me I was annoying for those few hours because I kept repeating myself and acting like I couldn't remember anything. Fuck, I'm seriously still pissed because of this.

my sisters are cunts who won't believe me.

strangelyaverage

Lol, this one is occurring now. Had my Christmas work meal and drinks last month and the annoyingly loud girl ended up very drunk, as did I. I have a girlfriend of 4 years and she knew I wouldn't cave to anything, but boners just happen. She was moaning about her SO not putting out etc and said she was getting horny. I started pitching a tent but manage to tuck it sideways to avoid it being obvious and she grabs it exclaiming "I bet you've got a big piece". I was surprised at what was going on and pushed her hand away. Next week at work I get asked by a co-worker, " is it really that about 8"?" I laughed it off not knowing what she was on about. Only clicked an hour later that the biggest mouth in my company thinks I'm packing a weapon and has spread the rumour everywhere! Wouldn't go anywhere with the rumour as to prove it but it's good fun. TL;DR gossip girl gets drunk at work do and grabs my meat. Was hard but tucked to the side and she thought it was flaccid. Tells everyone at work I've a big dick when I'm average

Lol, this one is occurring now. Had my Christmas work meal and drinks last month and the annoyingly loud girl ended up very drunk, as did I. I have a girlfriend of 4 years and she knew I wouldn't cave to anything, but boners just happen. She was moaning about her SO not putting out etc and said she was getting horny. I started pitching a tent but manage to tuck it sideways to avoid it being obvious and she grabs it exclaiming "I bet you've got a big piece". I was surprised at what was going on and pushed her hand away. Next week at work I get asked by a co-worker, " is it really that about 8"?" I laughed it off not knowing what she was on about. Only clicked an hour later that the biggest mouth in my company thinks I'm packing a weapon and has spread the rumour everywhere! Wouldn't go anywhere with the rumour as to prove it but it's good fun. TL;DR gossip girl gets drunk at work do and grabs my meat. Was hard but tucked to the side and she thought it was flaccid. Tells everyone at work I've a big dick when I'm average

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t5_2qh1i

cene327

Lol, this one is occurring now. Had my Christmas work meal and drinks last month and the annoyingly loud girl ended up very drunk, as did I. I have a girlfriend of 4 years and she knew I wouldn't cave to anything, but boners just happen. She was moaning about her SO not putting out etc and said she was getting horny. I started pitching a tent but manage to tuck it sideways to avoid it being obvious and she grabs it exclaiming "I bet you've got a big piece". I was surprised at what was going on and pushed her hand away. Next week at work I get asked by a co-worker, " is it really that about 8"?" I laughed it off not knowing what she was on about. Only clicked an hour later that the biggest mouth in my company thinks I'm packing a weapon and has spread the rumour everywhere! Wouldn't go anywhere with the rumour as to prove it but it's good fun.

gossip girl gets drunk at work do and grabs my meat. Was hard but tucked to the side and she thought it was flaccid. Tells everyone at work I've a big dick when I'm average

Blitzero21

My mother believed I was addicted to gambling during my senior year of high school and a large portion of college. During my senior year of high school we would have poker nights have $5-$10 buy-ins for fun between all the guys. We would do these about once a month. Went to the casino a few times when friends turned 18 and 21. We have Indian casinos so 18 is the age of admittance for nearly all of them. I always did okay going and won money from blackjack just by learning odds and what not and I was good about setting a limit. Well one day we were waiting on a table at a restaurant and I opened up a Solitaire app on my phone and was playing it while we waited. My mother sees this and says "There you go again always playing cards." I was confused cause i was just playing solitaire. I say "What?" She responds with "I know you go to the casinos every weekend at college and that you only play cards to win money." I responded with "I don't go to the casinos every weekend." and she says "Sure you don't that's why you are playing online poker on your phone right now." "This is solitaire" i replied completely in shock to her accusation. She replies with "It's still a card game." "If you have an addiction you should really seek help." I stood there completely dumbfounded by what I just heard. In that time span of 6 years I can literally count on two hands the number of times I've been in a casino, and she thinks i was going 4 times a month minimum. Luckily since then she's realized I don't do that and I don't have a gambling problem but for a while there it was definitely awkward. TL;DR: Had some poker nights with the guys in high school a few times, from that my Mom thought i developed a gambling addiction and was going literallly every weekend during college.

My mother believed I was addicted to gambling during my senior year of high school and a large portion of college. During my senior year of high school we would have poker nights have $5-$10 buy-ins for fun between all the guys. We would do these about once a month. Went to the casino a few times when friends turned 18 and 21. We have Indian casinos so 18 is the age of admittance for nearly all of them. I always did okay going and won money from blackjack just by learning odds and what not and I was good about setting a limit. Well one day we were waiting on a table at a restaurant and I opened up a Solitaire app on my phone and was playing it while we waited. My mother sees this and says "There you go again always playing cards." I was confused cause i was just playing solitaire. I say "What?" She responds with "I know you go to the casinos every weekend at college and that you only play cards to win money." I responded with "I don't go to the casinos every weekend." and she says "Sure you don't that's why you are playing online poker on your phone right now." "This is solitaire" i replied completely in shock to her accusation. She replies with "It's still a card game." "If you have an addiction you should really seek help." I stood there completely dumbfounded by what I just heard. In that time span of 6 years I can literally count on two hands the number of times I've been in a casino, and she thinks i was going 4 times a month minimum. Luckily since then she's realized I don't do that and I don't have a gambling problem but for a while there it was definitely awkward. TL;DR: Had some poker nights with the guys in high school a few times, from that my Mom thought i developed a gambling addiction and was going literallly every weekend during college.

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t5_2qh1i

cenf5jl

My mother believed I was addicted to gambling during my senior year of high school and a large portion of college. During my senior year of high school we would have poker nights have $5-$10 buy-ins for fun between all the guys. We would do these about once a month. Went to the casino a few times when friends turned 18 and 21. We have Indian casinos so 18 is the age of admittance for nearly all of them. I always did okay going and won money from blackjack just by learning odds and what not and I was good about setting a limit. Well one day we were waiting on a table at a restaurant and I opened up a Solitaire app on my phone and was playing it while we waited. My mother sees this and says "There you go again always playing cards." I was confused cause i was just playing solitaire. I say "What?" She responds with "I know you go to the casinos every weekend at college and that you only play cards to win money." I responded with "I don't go to the casinos every weekend." and she says "Sure you don't that's why you are playing online poker on your phone right now." "This is solitaire" i replied completely in shock to her accusation. She replies with "It's still a card game." "If you have an addiction you should really seek help." I stood there completely dumbfounded by what I just heard. In that time span of 6 years I can literally count on two hands the number of times I've been in a casino, and she thinks i was going 4 times a month minimum. Luckily since then she's realized I don't do that and I don't have a gambling problem but for a while there it was definitely awkward.

Had some poker nights with the guys in high school a few times, from that my Mom thought i developed a gambling addiction and was going literallly every weekend during college.

TeeCrow

I've been told that I am a lunatic murderer. I found this out by someone who I had only talked to online. I met this girl on okcupid and she and I had been talking pretty extensively and after two months of talking she informs me that a character named "will" (I'm pretty sure I know who will is but I don't know for a fact so I'm reserving ass kicking and judgement) who knows most of my personal past girlfriends. Somehow this Will told this girl that I actually killed one of my first girlfriends, still very much alive, that I cheated on countless other girlfriends and then I'm an all around asshole. TL;dr I'm a murderous cheating asshole

I've been told that I am a lunatic murderer. I found this out by someone who I had only talked to online. I met this girl on okcupid and she and I had been talking pretty extensively and after two months of talking she informs me that a character named "will" (I'm pretty sure I know who will is but I don't know for a fact so I'm reserving ass kicking and judgement) who knows most of my personal past girlfriends. Somehow this Will told this girl that I actually killed one of my first girlfriends, still very much alive, that I cheated on countless other girlfriends and then I'm an all around asshole. TL;dr I'm a murderous cheating asshole

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t5_2qh1i

cenfxgq

I've been told that I am a lunatic murderer. I found this out by someone who I had only talked to online. I met this girl on okcupid and she and I had been talking pretty extensively and after two months of talking she informs me that a character named "will" (I'm pretty sure I know who will is but I don't know for a fact so I'm reserving ass kicking and judgement) who knows most of my personal past girlfriends. Somehow this Will told this girl that I actually killed one of my first girlfriends, still very much alive, that I cheated on countless other girlfriends and then I'm an all around asshole.

I'm a murderous cheating asshole

DrWhatsisname

People tend to come to the conclusion that I'm violent and angry because I'm outwardly withdrawn and tend not to express much in the way of emotions. I'm fairly certain one of my ex-girlfriends broke up with me because she thought I was going to start beating her. I had to quit wrestling after a year because I was always too worried I was going to get hurt by being too submissive to actually fight. To be fair I do get frustrated when I'm trying to teach or tutor, but I can't even be aggressive in a sport based on fighting so I really don't understand why people continue to think of me as violent. Tl; dr: people think I'm violent, can't even be violent in a fight

People tend to come to the conclusion that I'm violent and angry because I'm outwardly withdrawn and tend not to express much in the way of emotions. I'm fairly certain one of my ex-girlfriends broke up with me because she thought I was going to start beating her. I had to quit wrestling after a year because I was always too worried I was going to get hurt by being too submissive to actually fight. To be fair I do get frustrated when I'm trying to teach or tutor, but I can't even be aggressive in a sport based on fighting so I really don't understand why people continue to think of me as violent. Tl; dr: people think I'm violent, can't even be violent in a fight

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cengz35

People tend to come to the conclusion that I'm violent and angry because I'm outwardly withdrawn and tend not to express much in the way of emotions. I'm fairly certain one of my ex-girlfriends broke up with me because she thought I was going to start beating her. I had to quit wrestling after a year because I was always too worried I was going to get hurt by being too submissive to actually fight. To be fair I do get frustrated when I'm trying to teach or tutor, but I can't even be aggressive in a sport based on fighting so I really don't understand why people continue to think of me as violent.

people think I'm violent, can't even be violent in a fight

thespacebetweenus

My old roommate thinks I'm deathly afraid of the butt ends of loaves of bread. He asked me one day if he could eat my butt ends, since he wanted to make toast and was out. I said sure and that I don't like them. He asked why, and rather than being boring I made up a story. On the spot, I said how when I was in college I got really drunk one night and passed out. All the friends I was drinking with collected all the butt ends of their loaves of bread, and all the butt ends of everyone living in the dorm complex, and covered me with them. I vividly described how I woke in horror to be covered in butt ends and have been afraid ever since. Tl;dr I'm afraid of butt ends

My old roommate thinks I'm deathly afraid of the butt ends of loaves of bread. He asked me one day if he could eat my butt ends, since he wanted to make toast and was out. I said sure and that I don't like them. He asked why, and rather than being boring I made up a story. On the spot, I said how when I was in college I got really drunk one night and passed out. All the friends I was drinking with collected all the butt ends of their loaves of bread, and all the butt ends of everyone living in the dorm complex, and covered me with them. I vividly described how I woke in horror to be covered in butt ends and have been afraid ever since. Tl;dr I'm afraid of butt ends

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cenhh12

My old roommate thinks I'm deathly afraid of the butt ends of loaves of bread. He asked me one day if he could eat my butt ends, since he wanted to make toast and was out. I said sure and that I don't like them. He asked why, and rather than being boring I made up a story. On the spot, I said how when I was in college I got really drunk one night and passed out. All the friends I was drinking with collected all the butt ends of their loaves of bread, and all the butt ends of everyone living in the dorm complex, and covered me with them. I vividly described how I woke in horror to be covered in butt ends and have been afraid ever since.

I'm afraid of butt ends

Anthony356

I know that feel. I was severely depressed for a number of years. Pretty suicidal for about 5 or 6 months last year. My age doesn't help. I'm fifteen. The only advice I ever get is "you'll grow out of it." Or "it's just a phase." Yeah, we'll if I'm fucking dead then will I grow out of it? The problem is *right now* I have a strong urge to end my life *now* getting better 5 years from now won't fucking help me. The only other advice I get is the ever helpful "we'll just be happy." Depression sucks man, it's really awful. I'm only alive today because of my best friend. Things are still a bit messed up but I can assure you , while this may sound harsh, the best advice you can possibly give is shutting your mouth and giving him/her a hug. Emotions are lose some of their meaning when put into words. Tl;dr sometimes you just need a hug.

I know that feel. I was severely depressed for a number of years. Pretty suicidal for about 5 or 6 months last year. My age doesn't help. I'm fifteen. The only advice I ever get is "you'll grow out of it." Or "it's just a phase." Yeah, we'll if I'm fucking dead then will I grow out of it? The problem is right now I have a strong urge to end my life now getting better 5 years from now won't fucking help me. The only other advice I get is the ever helpful "we'll just be happy." Depression sucks man, it's really awful. I'm only alive today because of my best friend. Things are still a bit messed up but I can assure you , while this may sound harsh, the best advice you can possibly give is shutting your mouth and giving him/her a hug. Emotions are lose some of their meaning when put into words. Tl;dr sometimes you just need a hug.

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t5_2qh1i

cenjftd

I know that feel. I was severely depressed for a number of years. Pretty suicidal for about 5 or 6 months last year. My age doesn't help. I'm fifteen. The only advice I ever get is "you'll grow out of it." Or "it's just a phase." Yeah, we'll if I'm fucking dead then will I grow out of it? The problem is right now I have a strong urge to end my life now getting better 5 years from now won't fucking help me. The only other advice I get is the ever helpful "we'll just be happy." Depression sucks man, it's really awful. I'm only alive today because of my best friend. Things are still a bit messed up but I can assure you , while this may sound harsh, the best advice you can possibly give is shutting your mouth and giving him/her a hug. Emotions are lose some of their meaning when put into words.

sometimes you just need a hug.

get_grizzed

About a year and a half ago, we had a cross-country trip to a meet in Kentucky. When we were at the hotel, some of us decided to sneak out late at night. Slowly people started going back to their rooms and eventually it was just me and this one other girl. As the night went on, we just talked ONLY TALKED and we were about to go to our rooms (it was around 3 am). Suddenly, a police officer came up the stairs (we were in the hotel stairwell). He asks what we were doing and we said we were just talking. Well he escorts us back to our rooms, and when I'm opening the door to my room it wakes my roommate up and he asks what happened and I tell him. The next morning I wake up and go to the lobby to eat breakfast. Most of the team was there and they start asking me about when we got caught (my roommate started rumors about us and what happened) and said that we were having sex, which was totally not true. No one would stop talking about it for an entire year until finally I went off on one of my friends to stfu about it for once. TL;DR me and girl get caught in stairwell, friends thought we had sex, wouldn't shut up about it for a year

About a year and a half ago, we had a cross-country trip to a meet in Kentucky. When we were at the hotel, some of us decided to sneak out late at night. Slowly people started going back to their rooms and eventually it was just me and this one other girl. As the night went on, we just talked ONLY TALKED and we were about to go to our rooms (it was around 3 am). Suddenly, a police officer came up the stairs (we were in the hotel stairwell). He asks what we were doing and we said we were just talking. Well he escorts us back to our rooms, and when I'm opening the door to my room it wakes my roommate up and he asks what happened and I tell him. The next morning I wake up and go to the lobby to eat breakfast. Most of the team was there and they start asking me about when we got caught (my roommate started rumors about us and what happened) and said that we were having sex, which was totally not true. No one would stop talking about it for an entire year until finally I went off on one of my friends to stfu about it for once. TL;DR me and girl get caught in stairwell, friends thought we had sex, wouldn't shut up about it for a year

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cenjmtl

About a year and a half ago, we had a cross-country trip to a meet in Kentucky. When we were at the hotel, some of us decided to sneak out late at night. Slowly people started going back to their rooms and eventually it was just me and this one other girl. As the night went on, we just talked ONLY TALKED and we were about to go to our rooms (it was around 3 am). Suddenly, a police officer came up the stairs (we were in the hotel stairwell). He asks what we were doing and we said we were just talking. Well he escorts us back to our rooms, and when I'm opening the door to my room it wakes my roommate up and he asks what happened and I tell him. The next morning I wake up and go to the lobby to eat breakfast. Most of the team was there and they start asking me about when we got caught (my roommate started rumors about us and what happened) and said that we were having sex, which was totally not true. No one would stop talking about it for an entire year until finally I went off on one of my friends to stfu about it for once.

me and girl get caught in stairwell, friends thought we had sex, wouldn't shut up about it for a year

Imjoefosho

Well, there's this girl (Let's call her Bitchface) that just so happened to be the "best friend" of two of my exes. I hear from Ex 2 that Bitchface said I pushed Ex 1 down a flight of stairs and threatened to kill her when she broke up with me the first time. Pause The first time she broke up with me it was over the phone on Good Friday because she "didn't care about [me] enough to put up with the move" because she was moving over the summer. About a half hour away. Unpause Ex 2 believes this and questions me nonstop about it (she is still an ex at this point, but we're still friends. Distance was coincidentally an issue again, but this time it was an 11 hour distance) and didn't believe me until my brother overheard a conversation about it and said "Wait, how did you push her down a flight of stairs over the phone". Ex 2 is finally on my side so I thought I won. Come to find out, this "fact" is being spread throughout everywhere, and people start letting me know it's a thing, but they're actually on my side Pause again Bitchface is known as a pathological liar, one reason being because she "declined a full ride to Vanderbilt because Oklahoma State was a better life choice for [her]" among other things. Unpause... Again People come out of the woodwork as the rumor spreads, most believing that she's a joke because I'm a really easygoing guy for the most part, and I'm really civil when I get broken up with/end relationships. Other people that don't know me just think I'm the scum of the earth, and rage at me over social media. They just won't have anything to do with what I try to say. Background: I have no idea why a Bitchface hates me other than that I would always call her out on bullshit debates she tried to have in history class Junior year of high school. Fairly petty considering everyone else did the same thing; I was just one of the few that didn't five up arguing with the idiot. It still never got heated on my end, so it wasn't hateful. Shit, man. I'm not even sure why I wrote this. I feel like a bitch considering this is one of my worse problems. Oh also: when I told Ex 1 of this, she believed her "best friend" when she asked Bitchface, and Bitchface claimed she did no such thing. TL;DR I pushed one of my ex girlfriends down a flight of stairs over a telephone, I guess.

Well, there's this girl (Let's call her Bitchface) that just so happened to be the "best friend" of two of my exes. I hear from Ex 2 that Bitchface said I pushed Ex 1 down a flight of stairs and threatened to kill her when she broke up with me the first time. Pause The first time she broke up with me it was over the phone on Good Friday because she "didn't care about [me] enough to put up with the move" because she was moving over the summer. About a half hour away. Unpause Ex 2 believes this and questions me nonstop about it (she is still an ex at this point, but we're still friends. Distance was coincidentally an issue again, but this time it was an 11 hour distance) and didn't believe me until my brother overheard a conversation about it and said "Wait, how did you push her down a flight of stairs over the phone". Ex 2 is finally on my side so I thought I won. Come to find out, this "fact" is being spread throughout everywhere, and people start letting me know it's a thing, but they're actually on my side Pause again Bitchface is known as a pathological liar, one reason being because she "declined a full ride to Vanderbilt because Oklahoma State was a better life choice for [her]" among other things. Unpause... Again People come out of the woodwork as the rumor spreads, most believing that she's a joke because I'm a really easygoing guy for the most part, and I'm really civil when I get broken up with/end relationships. Other people that don't know me just think I'm the scum of the earth, and rage at me over social media. They just won't have anything to do with what I try to say. Background: I have no idea why a Bitchface hates me other than that I would always call her out on bullshit debates she tried to have in history class Junior year of high school. Fairly petty considering everyone else did the same thing; I was just one of the few that didn't five up arguing with the idiot. It still never got heated on my end, so it wasn't hateful. Shit, man. I'm not even sure why I wrote this. I feel like a bitch considering this is one of my worse problems. Oh also: when I told Ex 1 of this, she believed her "best friend" when she asked Bitchface, and Bitchface claimed she did no such thing. TL;DR I pushed one of my ex girlfriends down a flight of stairs over a telephone, I guess.

AskReddit

t5_2qh1i

cenkb5l

Well, there's this girl (Let's call her Bitchface) that just so happened to be the "best friend" of two of my exes. I hear from Ex 2 that Bitchface said I pushed Ex 1 down a flight of stairs and threatened to kill her when she broke up with me the first time. Pause The first time she broke up with me it was over the phone on Good Friday because she "didn't care about [me] enough to put up with the move" because she was moving over the summer. About a half hour away. Unpause Ex 2 believes this and questions me nonstop about it (she is still an ex at this point, but we're still friends. Distance was coincidentally an issue again, but this time it was an 11 hour distance) and didn't believe me until my brother overheard a conversation about it and said "Wait, how did you push her down a flight of stairs over the phone". Ex 2 is finally on my side so I thought I won. Come to find out, this "fact" is being spread throughout everywhere, and people start letting me know it's a thing, but they're actually on my side Pause again Bitchface is known as a pathological liar, one reason being because she "declined a full ride to Vanderbilt because Oklahoma State was a better life choice for [her]" among other things. Unpause... Again People come out of the woodwork as the rumor spreads, most believing that she's a joke because I'm a really easygoing guy for the most part, and I'm really civil when I get broken up with/end relationships. Other people that don't know me just think I'm the scum of the earth, and rage at me over social media. They just won't have anything to do with what I try to say. Background: I have no idea why a Bitchface hates me other than that I would always call her out on bullshit debates she tried to have in history class Junior year of high school. Fairly petty considering everyone else did the same thing; I was just one of the few that didn't five up arguing with the idiot. It still never got heated on my end, so it wasn't hateful. Shit, man. I'm not even sure why I wrote this. I feel like a bitch considering this is one of my worse problems. Oh also: when I told Ex 1 of this, she believed her "best friend" when she asked Bitchface, and Bitchface claimed she did no such thing.

I pushed one of my ex girlfriends down a flight of stairs over a telephone, I guess.

KiloLee

&gt;R.P.M on Broad &gt;very expensive. I believe they charge so much because they have a lifetime guarantee . TL;DR if the tint needs to be back on the window, they'll do it.

>R.P.M on Broad >very expensive. I believe they charge so much because they have a lifetime guarantee . TL;DR if the tint needs to be back on the window, they'll do it.

rva

t5_2qpvj

ceoaih0

R.P.M on Broad >very expensive. I believe they charge so much because they have a lifetime guarantee .

if the tint needs to be back on the window, they'll do it.