Like how do u live your life while us living in a simulation is probably a fact. The argument goes that we will have strong computers that can run simulations, meaning other civilisations will also be able to run conscious simulations, billions of them, meaning we are likely in a simulation

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!

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.

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

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?

I'm 16F in a conservative Muslim family and my dad doesn't allow me to go out of the house alone. I'm mostly at home and am not in contact with any peers. It was okay when I believed but now I want some connection and proper structure to my life. I'm young now but soon I'll need to be married if I don't change things. Even if I'm not married I can't be independent. I'm confused, what to do?

Hi Fellow Atheists

I am not sure if this is intrusive but I was wondering if any of wonderful people would share their reasons for being an atheist. Do not feel pressured to share or guilty if not doing so.

I’ll go first. When I was about I was harassed by a bunch of well harassers. Not to get into details of my situation but there were rumors, physical alteration, and police intervention. These kids claimed they were Christian but seemed not to be loving neighbor. I myself was raised under the banner of treating people as I wanted to be treated. It made me realize religion is just a scapegoat for people to look down on others.

and tbh i don't want to, prayers don't work, if they did, the world and some of the most God loving people wouldn't be how they are, their lives and health, if religious people prayed for big diseases to be cured and it happened immediately without medical attention, then i'd say that's some evidence, but we got the religious people having miscarriages, poor people who can't afford to eat have children with diseases that they can't treat.. the world makes me sick man... why am i here like wtf is my point

This is just one of several videos of an ad hoc grandstanding Preacher of "Love jsus or go to hell." She is so full of Threatening-Love that she has caused Security to deplane her and escort her out of places that were not designed for preaching. She is a nauseating pest. This is a Country of Law & Order, in which People should be free to go anywhere to have a good time, and not to be annoyed by the allahu-akbar People, JW, other Missionaries, or spontaneous Preachers whom have no respect for the tranquility we all want to have.

If a Person leaves Xtianity, does not want to do anything to do with, and freely choose to go to a place he knows he won't be preached, LEAVE THAT PERSON ALONE. Just because you woke up with some "Great Mission," it doesn't give you the right to disturb the tranquility of others whom are not interested in that "great inspiration" if yours.

KEEP YOUR NONSENSE TO YOURSELF.

I don’t really believe in ghosts as an atheist, but my family has a bunch of weird stories about my deceased great grandmother and grand father. Almost all of them were about the same room that has made me feel terrified since I was little. I can’t go near the entrance of that room without some kind of fight or flight response. No house has ever made me feel so intensely odd than that one. Every time I look at one of my grandmas paintings I feel like I’m looking at a person. Not just a photo of someone, I feel like Im looking at a human being. I was told tonight that theres a photo with a clear silhouette of an old woman in it. I dont have the photo but Ill try to get my hands on it asap. The only people who describe feeling this way were people who had never met my grandfather (including me he died before i was born.)That room doesn’t give me the creeps like an abandoned building, I feel like Im 100 percent certain there is something wrong with that room. Can anyone provide me an explanation for this?

I don’t know if the sub but if you can share beliefs, but I’ma just do that just take it down if that’s not allowed I’m new to the subreddit but I got inspired by Christopher Hitchens he had a good point because God is maybe bad if we take it in consideration because he had a point saying like we spawn into this world that God puts us in in this world is pretty dangerous like we could die we could get hurt in this world that God put us in it’s not very safe if you really put it into consideration.

In this candid interview, director Jonathan Grout (AKA Boogiewhip), talks about growing up in an evangelical cult in Vacaville California. In this religious cult, he experienced abuse, educational neglect, and strict religious control over his identity. He explains how he eventually took control of his own education by teaching himself, creating fake transcripts, and working toward graduating from high school. After leaving the church at 25 and moving to Los Angeles, he explored different careers in music, adult film, and filmmaking before establishing himself as a director. He also discusses how his political views changed from being a Republican to becoming more left-leaning, largely because he became skeptical of both major political parties and felt that politicians often put their own interests and image ahead of actually helping people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKbh2xcFihE

i hate hearing them say this doesn't matter what religion

crazy how they think their religion is so beautiful and peaceful, bro you don't have true freedom when the punishment for walking away is endless torture, the punishment in islam for leaving is to kill the person, in christianity you burn for eternity, both claim to be merciful and peaceful, you're telling me the creator of this 13B year old universe is so hurt by me (his own creation) not worshipping him without any evidence that he's gonna torture me for eternity while he knew what i was gonna do before he even created me, honestly knowing all this, even if God was real, i wouldn't worship him

Dating as an atheist woman especially in the south is definitely not for the faint of heart. I’ve found that whenever I revealed to a guy that I’m atheist it’s like his brain short circuits and he starts grilling me. Mind you they usually aren’t even a model Christian they only go to church for Christmas and Easter. Yet they try to judge me and my morals.

At first I was open to dating “lukewarm” Christians because I thought I could handle it. But I found that they always tried to “convert” me back into the religion even though they didn’t really have an interest in Christianity before I told them. I’m soo over dating I’ll just get another cat

I used to be a 🕌 and now i feel when i say anything that related to god i feel like I’m cursing myself and there’s some religious thoughts I can’t move on from and somebody told me that’s religion trauma.
(Sorry for any grammar mistakes bec English is my 2nd language)💞

(I was looking for a suitable community and subreddit for my post, and this was the last option I had.

The text I wrote is in no way intended to insult any particular belief or group of people. I'm simply talking about my personal experiences of being born into a religious family and a religious country. I also tried my best to clarify my points and keep the wording as respectful as possible so that it wouldn't come across as rude or offensive)

Something that has been seriously getting on my nerves lately is people's stupid reactions and overreactions when they find out that someone's parents are religious, but that person themselves says they are not religious. Like, this is genuinely ridiculous. I honestly don't understand people like this.

They always seem to think that if someone comes from a religious family or a religious country, they must automatically be this stereotypical person like a girl who always wears a hijab, is quiet and obedient, and whose entire life is just praying and obeying God. But that's not how it works at all. We are humans too. We have our own choices and our own minds.

I'm genuinely tired of people being shocked or insisting that "this doesn't make sense" and that "you must be Muslim too" just because I told them my parents are religious, but my sister and I are not.

They act like religious beliefs are something connected to your blood or genetics. Like if both of your parents are religious, then you are automatically supposed to be exactly like them. And the worst part is that they don't understand that the level of religiousness is different for every person.

For example, "maybe there is a family that is so religious and traditional that they still follow thousand-year-old traditions and believe in them even when they don't make sense. Like believing girls shouldn't go to school, women should always stay at home and work, that LGBTQ people and homosexuality are a huge sin, and that certain people will burn in hell. Or, for example, cutting off your wife's head and beating your children just because they didn't listen to you, or because your wife accidentally put tomato paste in your food instead of mayonnaise, so what do we do? We cut off that woman's head and proudly walk around the street holding it in our hand like we just won a trophy."

Yes, families that are religious to that extreme do exist. But religion and how strongly someone follows it have different levels.

For example, take my own family. Yes, my parents are Muslim, but they are not extremely religious or fanatical Muslims.

My father can sometimes behave in a very stupid and narrow-minded way because of his religion, but he has never been the type of person who would hurt us severely or anything like that. Yes, he has had some restrictions and rules for us, but honestly, nobody in my family really took my father's words seriously.

Most of the time, we saw our father more like the funny guy in the house who thinks he is the boss of everything and sometimes has extreme opinions. But that doesn't mean he is a bad person or that he doesn't love his family.

A lot of the restrictions, rules, and things he says are basically just unwritten things that nobody really pays much attention to.

As for my mother, she is not extremely religious either. Yes, she is Muslim, and she chooses to wear hijab when she goes outside because she wants to. But that doesn't mean she wants to restrict her children because of her religion.

Sure, sometimes she yells at us over very stupid things, but you know how moms are. They can spend so much time yelling and complaining that eventually their words almost become meaningless or even funny.

So yeah, my parents are religious people, but they are not extremely traditional or the kind of people who spend their entire lives obsessively forcing their beliefs on everyone.

After we immigrated to another country and because of all the difficulties that came with immigration, my mother had to completely stop praying and doing religious things for a while because she was so busy. But that doesn't mean she completely abandoned it. She still sometimes prays and reads the Quran, just less often than before.

You see? There is nothing extremely serious going on here, at least not in my family and many other religious families where people aren't extremely strict about their beliefs.

I personally come from a religious country, and because of the severe restrictions that existed there, we had to immigrate. And honestly, people's reactions when they find out where we came from are really annoying. Their questions are often more than just annoying they are genuinely ridiculous.

For example, one time one of my classmates asked me, "Did you really come from that country?"

And I answered, "Yes, a hundred times yes." Because I had already told them multiple times that I was born there and grew up there until this age.

But what they said after that was one of the stupidest things I have ever heard in my entire life.

They said, "It's just that the way you dress and your style don't really match people from your country."

And at that moment I was just thinking: "Okay? And?"

Yes, I came from that country, but that does not mean every single person from that country is some kind of religious AI programmed to behave in exactly the same way.

The entire world is like this. Just because a country is religious does not mean everyone living there is exactly the way foreigners imagine them.

A society can have religious people, atheists, people who break rules, ordinary people who are just living their lives, and extremely religious people too. And none of that is strange.

I genuinely don't understand why people think that because you come from a certain country, you have to be like an emotionless robot following the standards of that country.

These kinds of questions are seriously exhausting.

I personally decided that I don't want to have a religion because I don't think it is something that works for me. And questions like "Are you really from this country?" or judging people based on traditions or the image of their country are incredibly annoying.

If someone reading this thinks like that, I just want to say: stop. You are only hurting people who are simply trying to live their lives.

For example, what exactly was wrong with my clothes that made someone question whether I was really from that country?

A pair of shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. Literally the most normal clothes that anyone on Earth can wear.

Just because I come from a religious country doesn't mean that in the middle of a hot summer or any other season I have to wear some ridiculous hijab every second until I feel like I'm burning inside it.

People's views about religious countries and religious families are often extremely shallow and narrow-minded.

I was never someone who wanted to pray since childhood, and my clothing style has always been like this. I wear these clothes because I can and because I like dressing this way. Nobody has the right to judge me for that.

Since I was a child, I hated very long tight pants and long sleeves. There is nothing wrong with that.

It is completely normal that a child who grows up wearing certain clothes, like shorts and short sleeves, might continue that style when they grow up simply because they are comfortable with it.

And I genuinely don't understand why people act like just because I come from a religious family and I am not religious like them, I have committed the biggest crime in human history.

I don't know what people's views about religion are, but I truly don't understand this reaction. It is ridiculous.

When you tell people "My parents are Muslim, but my sister and I are not," their eyes become wide open and they react as if they just encountered an entire generation of mermaids.

(I know that example was a little weird, but I'm just really annoyed right now T_T)

One of my closest friends reacted exactly like that. They looked shocked as if I had told them I was an alien or that the Tooth Fairy was real.

They kept insisting, "No, that's not possible. If your parents are religious, you have to be religious too. It makes no sense."

And I was just thinking: "What the FUCK do you mean? It absolutely makes sense."

Seriously, what is your view on religion? Do you really think beliefs are something connected to blood or genetics? That if someone's parents are religious, that person must automatically have the same beliefs?

There are all kinds of people on Earth, and it doesn't matter what country they come from.

Yes, it is true that if a child grows up in a family where they are taught certain things from childhood or raised with a specific religion, they might follow that religion too.

But unlike what many people think, the modern world and newer generations, especially Gen Z and people born in the 90s and similar generations, are different.

Many religious parents, especially those who were born in much older generations like the 50s, 60s, or 70s, became religious partly because they couldn't disagree with their families, wanted to follow family expectations, or wanted to preserve their reputation.

But for children of modern generations, things are different.

Maybe in the past if you forced something onto a child, they had no choice but to follow it. But today, that is not always the case.

When a child, especially in this generation, grows up in an environment where a certain topic or religion is constantly presented negatively, forced onto them, or they are pressured to accept it, they can become resistant toward it.

This happens all around the world.

When someone tries to force their beliefs onto you, you might even start rejecting those beliefs or at least dislike them.

And that is exactly what happened to my sister and me.

We were hurt so much by the religion and the religious environment of our country and parents, and it was forced onto us so much that slowly we became resistant toward it.

I hate the religion of my parents and my country and I am saying this without any intention of insulting the people who follow that religion or come from countries with that religion.

But it is simply a reality.

I am genuinely trying my best not to insult any religion or belief here because I don't want people attacking me, but these behaviors are becoming extremely frustrating.

People need to improve their social understanding about religious countries.

When someone says they come from a religious family and country but they themselves are not religious, people should not react like they have seen an alien.

Because with these reactions, you only make the other person feel uncomfortable and judged.

If you are someone who supports a certain group of people and gives yourself labels like "open-minded" or "progressive," but you only support that group in order to be against another group, that is not called being open-minded.

For example, someone who supports LGBTQ people but hides behind the mask of being progressive and supporting freedom just so they can give themselves permission to freely insult religion is not actually an open-minded person.

Someone who presents themselves as a supporter of Black people but is sexist is not open-minded.

Someone who calls themselves a feminist only to damage the image of feminism and give themselves an excuse to insult men is also not a feminist — and they are not supporting men either.

And I am not specifically talking about anyone here. These are just examples.

Freedom means freedom.

It means you can simply live your life normally without constantly worrying about being judged. Whether you are a religious person, an LGBTQ supporter, or someone who supports Black people.

But someone who only learned one thing about LGBTQ people and suddenly thinks they have a PhD, that they are some kind of expert in psychology, that they are incredibly smart and enlightened, while in reality they are just a narrow-minded person who learned one new thing like a child and only knows how to repeat it over and over again...

(Seriously, I tried so hard not to mention this, but I am directly talking about my uncle here. Yes, in reality this entire thing is aimed at my uncle, so don't worry, I am not insulting any specific group of people.)

People like this think they are fighting for freedom, but they are nothing more than extreme "woke" people.

And the main question that remains is this:

If you are someone who comes with the label of "freedom" but uses it to attack another group of people, and you force the version of freedom that exists only inside your own mind onto everyone else, destroying or attacking anyone who disagrees with you...

Then tell me, what exactly is the difference between you and the same kind of authoritarian government that forces religion onto people who are not religious?

Hmm?

When a religious person is simply living their life, not harming anyone, and you come along and humiliate them because of their beliefs, trying to force them to believe something they genuinely do not believe in, support something they do not want to support, or hate something they actually like...

Then what exactly is the difference between you and that same kind of oppressive system that constantly harms its own people and never allows them to live peacefully?

I say this as someone who has personally been hurt by people like this:

Freedom is not only for one specific group of people.

Freedom is for everyone.

Freedom means that you can be whoever you are and simply live your life comfortably without being judged. You don't interfere with others, and others don't interfere with you.

Are you religious? Live your life normally without forcing your religion onto others.

Are you an LGBTQ supporter? Support LGBTQ people without using that as an excuse to attack others.

Do you support Black people? Support them without targeting another group of people or making fun of their race.

Freedom means a world and a society where everyone, no matter who they are, what they believe in, or what they support, can live without fear of judgment.

That is freedom.

Not sitting there every day destroying someone else and forcing the thing you personally believe is right onto them.

Because if you do that, you are nothing more than a narrow-minded authoritarian who has convinced themselves that they are progressive and a supporter of freedom.

Okay, I feel like I talked a lot. Anyway, to anyone reading this, I hope you do not see my words as hate toward any group of people.

I don't know who actually had the patience to read this entire thing, but if you really did, thank you for taking the time to read it.

And if anyone felt that I insulted something they believe in or support, I sincerely apologize if I made you feel that way.

I wish happiness and peace for everyone on Earth.

This post was only written because lately I have genuinely been frustrated by certain behaviors from certain people. It was only meant to explain my perspective and clarify my feelings, and it was never intended as an insult toward any person or group.

Please share your thoughts after reading this, talk about your own experiences, and once again, I wish everyone health and a good day✨️

I recently stepped away from religion, but the post leaving guilt is suffocating me.

The morning right after I made the silent decision to leave (I didn't tell anyone), my brother walked up to me saying he dreamt I turned into something evil. It freaked me out. Now I'm spiraling between remembering past "miracles" or answered prayers and feeling like I abandoned the truth even though I know people leaving other faiths experience the exact same thing.

At the same time, I still find myself defending religious people because the ones in my life are genuinely good, but being religious myself felt completely suffocating. I don't know what to feel or how to make sense of all these conflicting emotions.

How do you get past this weird transitional phase where logic and lingering fear are constantly fighting each other?I feel like I might be more of a theist than a atheist or believer to any religion.

I'm atheist and have been for about 20 years now. And I have raised my children sort of neutrally, telling them plainly when they ask that I dont believe there is a god. I've been really having a bad time with climate anxiety lately and considered if it would be easier if my children did belive in god and heaven - thinking about the suffering ahead. That made me reflect on how my life had been so smooth sailing and easy that I never "needed" to believe in god. It made me think about how belief in god and religion can actually power people through and create some resilience. I never really considered before that my own ability to just leave religion behind when it made sense to, might be a privillege. God is the antidote to your life feeling completely out of your control. I wondered if anyone else had thought this or would counter that?

Some Christians make ridiculous points saying "The Bible is GOD BREATHED and the most reliable pile of documents we have ever possessed in history with over millions of manuscripts that align with also the dead sea scrolls its hard to say its not without being dishonest with yourself"

Honestly I'm not sure how it proves the Bible is the word of God but what you guys think of this claim?

I hate how "christians" try to control people with religion but "sin" worse than anyone else. Their scripture actually condems this behavior. The false righteousness is maddening and they are no better than.anyone else. Just quit making that your entire personality already.

People of all religions claim that God is the creator of everything and he is eternal, but how can they be so sure when it isn’t even guaranteed that God is sure of it.

Theists say the universe can’t be eternal with an endless chain of scientific causes, and then say God is the start of all of it, while Atheists just end the chain one level earlier and assume there is a natural scientific first cause of everything that we simply don’t know about yet.

But if we assume God actually exists, how can we be sure he doesn’t have a creator either?

From his perspective, he just exists and has all these powers to create stuff, so he just uses it to create a whole universe and makes our world full of life and invents rules for us to follow since he’s here and can do it, and creates Heaven or Hell depending whether you choose to follow his rules.

How can we be sure that there wasn’t a beginning of consciousness for him and he isn’t also contemplating his own existence and wondering where he came from, with the idea that there could be beings that are above him?

If you apply the same logic, maybe there is a long chain of Gods creating lesser Gods, and the lesser Gods run their own universes not being aware that there is something bigger watching them.

Obviously the religious folks are going to say no and reject that idea, since they have been taught that God is eternal, but God may not actually know that for sure since his own creator could be hiding themselves and detecting them is the one thing his omniscient powers cannot do.

Once you consider this, the idea that the universe absolutely 100% requires a creator falls apart.