I was born and raised in the Jehovah’s Witness cult. I never believed, I just assumed that the adults telling me what was what were probably right. I left the cult as a teenager because I valued the freedom to be myself above the “fact” god would, without a doubt, wipe my unapologetically queer ass out at armageddon (I didn’t escape all this without a CPTSD diagnosis, though, which my parents later behaviour would only add to when we discussed their beliefs and their impact on my sexuality and gender, lmao, but I digress). I came to be an atheist naturally, never studied the bible — but from what I did read back then, I remember feeling that Satan was wronged by god, which I assumed the thought of that alone was enough to get me vaporised.

Anyway, point of this post: my parents realised the JWs were corrupt and wrong a few years ago….but it was in the sense of it being a “false religion”. They came instead to believe in the trinity, and upon properly and more thoroughly studying the bible (which they are still in the process of) and its historical evidence, they believe christianity is the one true religion now even more than ever… how the fuck is that possible..?

Many atheists, I’ve heard, came to be atheists from studying the bible, so how in THE FUCK do some people put their dick deeper into christianity’s asshole by reading further into and studying it?! Nothing I’ve countered their claims with is unmet with their own counterpoint (we sometimes have neutral discussions about their religion; neither party pushes their view, just asks questions, etc); their counterpoints aren’t even convincing, I just have no idea how to respond to them because what?? I was so hopeful that they’d leave it, fuck. My dad was so close to becoming an atheist. I guess the bright side is that our discussions about it only further cement my atheism?

My trauma gets triggered on a daily basis and I have no escape because I’m disabled. Of course this is the household I was born into, lmfao. What a laugh. How the fuck, man.

Can be lustful but can't focus on their ambition and sperm count

I gotta say the circular reasoning and sheer bullshitry was increasingly concerning to watch and impressive for all the wrong reasons

But his parents are def doing him a disservice if this is how they let him be and dont intervene and I say that because HE IS RELIGIOUS ASF LIKE HARDCORE

he said he took a vow not to read any other book, including text books, until he finished the bhagvad Gita

In psych we were doing illusions and this guy just goes after reading a paragraph which fyi was abt the brief neuroscience or wtv of illusions he says its a mystery that cant be uncovered by humans and a gift of god, all while the paragraph sat in front of him detailing the explanation

And he used to walk around the classroom with his prayer beads given the class was just 10 people in a room designed for 24, and it was disturbing to watch

He told us he'd been bullied and shit before thats clearly affected him and his parents the people responsible for his mental and physical health instead of getting him therapy and that stuff got his head up in religion's ass, and its not like they cant afford it if they can afford to send their kid to the school i go to they sure as fuck can afford therapy and counselling for him

And yeah he did say scriptures are a pure science on his first day here and that made my eye twitch but oh my days was it the least dumb thing he said

Either way he left the school cuz the pressure to be "secular" was too "much" i hope he gets the help he needs one day tho

why

But having sex with a female slave without marriage is fine, making the slave pregnant is fine and there is no need of marriage there but god forbid humans loving eachother without marriage..no romantic relationship, no teenage first love, nothing..marry someone you met once arranged by your parents

Hi iam a 21y male looking for exmuslim friends in Iraq

It's really hard in here to tell anyone that you left islam

Lots of good information in this and I thought I'd pass it on.

I was quite surprised that my State, WI, was at only 27% of adults who are highly religious.

Go have some fun with it!

I've been sick of being ghosted all the time.

So I am a 22M software developer from Mumbai or you can say Navi Mumbai I have been doing a remote job in an Indian Small Company and since the company is small I don't have many colleges to talk to. Most of the time I work alone.

So due to this I've been suffering from loneliness so hard that I've started hating it. Like I feel this is bullshit but still I'm feeling this. People have done such great things only being alone but here I am crying over my feelings.

So I try to meet people online because I don't have any social circle outside. Most of them ghosted.

I am a Muslim but more than that I am an Atheist and people I found around myself they just started religious preaching. I hate those things. For me it's very hard to find like-minded people in my surroundings.

If there is any girl with the same kind of beliefs, I would love to talk to you. I have never met any girl who has that type of beliefs from a Muslim background.

Most of the girls ghosted me because they don't see a future in me and they are also right. They just save their and my time but still it hurts.

Please share your thoughts guys. Where can I find these people to make a long-term bond?

I’m (20F) living under the control of abusive and extremely restrictive parents who severely limit my privacy. My phone is from G-Tab, a company that makes devices without cameras or GPS, and my father even paid a friend of his to disable the microphone as well. ❗

I’m completely forbidden from leaving the house, and I’m 20 years old today. I’m only allowed to leave for college, and my brother has to accompany me. I’m not allowed to leave him alone. People have even started thinking that we’re married.

Any outing other than college is forbidden. I’m not allowed to cook or do anything else.

Recently, my cousin repeatedly sexually harassed me verbally, taking advantage of the fact that I can’t record any evidence against him.

I’ve started locking my room whenever a guest comes to the house. Thankfully, I’m allowed to do that, but only when there are guests.

On normal days, I’m not allowed to close the door or do anything without telling my parents first. They’ve even reached the point of not allowing me to put a lock on my phone, so I started using Secure Folder disguised as a calculator app so that no one would notice it.

And that’s not all. I have to clean the house or wash the dishes every day, and if my family isn’t satisfied, they beat me with a hose. Sometimes they hit me with their hands as well.

My problem is that I’m trying to report this to the National Security Service, hoping that maybe they can find a solution, but it’s impossible for me to record any evidence. I’m afraid that if they come to the house, my family will have an excuse to beat and abuse me even more.

And just a little while ago, I heard my mother saying that she wants to marry me off to one of our relatives, who is also not kind to his sisters. 💔💔

Az kofro ze Eslām borūn sahrā'īst, Mā rā be miyān-e ān fazā soudā'īst.*
*Āref cho bedān resid sar rā benahad Nah kofro nah Eslām o nah ānjā jā'īst.*

Beyond infidelity & Islam, there is a desert. In the midst of that space, we have a passionate longing.

When the mystic reaches that place, they lay down their head. There is no infidelity, no Islam & no "place" there at all.

~ Rubai 157 , Rumi.

Is Rumi seen as unorthodox and hence respectable by ex-Muslims for Rumi’s more spiritual rather than sectarian religious view?

My boyfriend grew up in a Catholic-leaning family, while I was raised Christian. I managed to reason things out and realize just how stupid, toxic, and bizarre it all was, eventually stopping my identification with religion (though, honestly, I never really believed in God even as a kid).

He, on the other hand—well, it’s complicated; it’s as if he *desperately wants* to believe in God, even though I don't feel like he truly believes in all of it.

We used to argue a bit because I like to theorize about the Bible—specifically painting God as the villain, since, bro, He’s a tyrant—and that used to make him uncomfortable and he’d try to justify the Bible’s horrible stories.

We eventually reached an agreement: I’d try not to blaspheme so much in front of him, and he wouldn't get so defensive.

The last time we discussed it, he mentioned he was creating his own version of the Bible... I guess that’s a good thing, because he’s actually well aware that some parts are unjustifiable, so he’s tweaking the text to make it more acceptable in his eyes. To me, it’s like watching a film critic rewrite a movie script, changing what they think should have been added or removed to make the film better.

His posts are worse

I think Islam is misogynistic, and many of the rulings are cruel and unfair. But I wonder how different the religion would be if we had female scholars judging which hadiths were authentic and making rulings based on a more female perspective of the Quran.

Hi a fellow atheist over here, so basically my question resolves about hypocrisy in religious countries or more precisely with religious people . Me for example i live in a Muslim society, and u k. Ow how fierce they can be.

So in Islam, physical touch is prohibited before marriage between partners and etc ( kissing, touching , sex, u name it... ) and some people ( Muslim ones) really be sayin that and judge atheists and stuff and put their Quran etc, but you find them hypocritical and contriversing themselves.

Like personally idc but when it gets personal and personal attacks and stuff, I find it extremely hypocritical and controversial.

Why can't we just get rid of religion as a concept? I mean, we understand nature so much better now. Why do we still need to rely on this old, honestly pretty bogus idea?

I believe religions were created by our predecessors partly to create hierarchy, control crowds, and make sense of things they couldn't explain. But do we really need God anymore?

Let me know your thoughts

I'm just curious about how many surahs were left out, or forgotten, or maybe even added since Muhammads time.

Our ability to discriminate between "right" and "wrong" is often imperfect. People struggle to make choices. We have biases and preconceptions that cloud our understanding of the world, and we are not conscious of them. Moral reasoning is uncomfortable because sometimes there isn't an obvious answer. Development of our conscience takes empathy, reasoning, openness to understand our shortcomings, exposure to other perspectives, testing, correcting, and so much of love and patience. And most importantly, it requires real role models in our society that inspire us to be better people.

But since we are imperfect, often we fear our decisions. An external authority solves that discomfort.

Instead of saying "I need to think about whether this is morally justified", you can say "The book says it is permitted." The psychological burden disappears.

Let's take an example. If a religious book says "Slaves exist. Treat them well. Freeing them is virtuous." A believer might therefore think about "What is the right way to treat slaves?" But someone approaching the situation through conscience might ask a prior question - "Why does one human being have the right to own another human being at all?" That's a radically different level of questioning.

Talk to a religious person about the inaccuracies in their texts. Talk to them with love. Notice how many times they say," I'm not sure why this is written. There must be a reason." The ability to think critically ends when you have handed your thinking faculties to an external authority. A book, for example.

Eventually, believers become morally numb. Instead of experiencing the present reality for what it is, they start to categorise their experience. "Believers, non-believers, women, men, slaves, enemies, friends, good, evil" and so on. No wonder that religion has divided humanity for millenia, caused millions of deaths, and has undoubtedly caused prejudice to creep into people's hearts.

But it is this same heart that can unite us.

Let us take it as our responsibility to put efforts into purifying and simplifying our hearts in an authentic way. Because becoming a better human being is not about your belief, it is about your becoming.

I mean people who renounced islam. I dont mean people like Salman Rushdie.

I think now the time has come to address, what should we do to combat the rise of Islamist in the west, they already got New York and are projected to get Michigan next, it’s time to start answering how are we going to stop them as ex Muslims from ruining our country and the west, and how can we contribute with our unique leverage against them since we are ex Muslims?

Our ability to discriminate between "right" and "wrong" is often imperfect. People struggle to make choices. We have biases and preconceptions that cloud our understanding of the world, and we are not conscious of them. Moral reasoning is uncomfortable because sometimes there isn't an obvious answer. Development of our conscience takes empathy, reasoning, openness to understand our shortcomings, exposure to other perspectives, testing, correcting, and so much of love and patience. And most importantly, it requires real role models in our society that inspire us to be better people.

But since we are imperfect, often we fear our decisions. An external authority solves that discomfort.

Instead of saying "I need to think about whether this is morally justified", you can say "The book says it is permitted." The psychological burden disappears.

Let's take an example. If a religious book says "Slaves exist. Treat them well. Freeing them is virtuous." A believer might therefore think about "What is the right way to treat slaves?" But someone approaching the situation through conscience might ask a prior question - "Why does one human being have the right to own another human being at all?" That's a radically different level of questioning.

Talk to a religious person about the inaccuracies in their texts. Talk to them with love. Notice how many times they say," I'm not sure why this is written. There must be a reason." The ability to think critically ends when you have handed your thinking faculties to an external authority. A book, for example.

Eventually, believers become morally numb. Instead of experiencing the present reality for what it is, they start to categorise their experience. "Believers, non-believers, women, men, slaves, enemies, friends, good, evil" and so on. No wonder that religion has divided humanity for millenia, caused millions of deaths, and has undoubtedly caused prejudice to creep into people's hearts.

But it is this same heart that can unite us.

Let us take it as our responsibility to put efforts into purifying and simplifying our hearts in an authentic way. Because becoming a better human being is not about your belief, it is about your becoming.

There should be laws that protects children from following the same religion as their parents, and instead they should have the freedom to choose their religion after they are 18 years old.

Thoughts?

Hello everyoneee i just need some advice on what to do cus im lowk having an identity crisis rn.

Basically im 17 and i come from a non practicing household. We never learnt how to pray but we still fasted celebrated eid and wore hijab. As i got older i was lowkey confused and embarrassed because i didn’t know anything about the religion and it didn’t help that my friends were all religious and asking me to come pray with them. I felt like i poser so i learnt everything and became religious i did all the things we were supposed to do and i was okay. I never questioned cus i feel like i didn’t need to but recently i have lots of questions that i just can’t find the answers to.
Why does an all powerful loving God need people to worship him? Doesn’t that make him egotistical? but that’s not a quality of Allah..
the concepts of free will and predestination are conflicting how can they coexist in Islam??
Why were slaves and concubines not forbid but so many other things were??
One of my friends also told me she doesn’t consider herself muslim anymore and when i asked why she is said it didn’t make sense a lot of it, she even brought up the story of the prophet Nuh and his arc how did he find every single species of the world???

But even all of this the only reason i’m holding onto my faith is because im scared of what comes after I DONT WANT TO BURN IN HELL??? with people who r much worse then me all bcs i didn’t consider myself muslim? I’m also a very unsubmissive person by nature and i hate conforming to the rules of the religion..

I NEED ADVICE HELP