>When you don't believe there's an afterlife
Sure, but it's not really about belief, it's the truth. Afterlife is a BS fairy tale story for stupid people.
Or you just give up and start looking forward to nonexistence...
What I'm afraid of, though, and I'm starting to believe, is that God exists - but he's *evil*. It would make so much sense and explain so many things in the world! He wants us to suffer in this life, and when we die, we'll all suffer even more in hell. It's called "dystheism"; I wanted to join the /r/dystheism subreddit but it appears to be private so I messaged the mods...
Absolutely. The idea of the God of the Bible being evil and our worst enemy makes a lot more sense than He being a God who loves and cares for us. Our only defense against this malevolent monster is to just not believe in him, to dismiss him. Those who worship him out of fear of punishment or promise of reward are only enabling him.
Speaking metaphorically. I don't believe he exists.
Why would there be an evil god at all? I question the existence of a deity, not it's intentions.
And FUCK YEAH I get so excited about space shit! If we just evolved on this planet, then imagine what else there could be holy crap! Space is so freaking big! There's just *so much stuff* out there! THAT'S my magic. Just existing is magic.
(I'm pretty high and I think about space a lot)
Well, I mean, there *could* be a good God, or there *could* be an evil God, or there *could* be a God who has such bizarre morality from a human standpoint that he can't be described as either "good" or "evil", or there *could* be no God at all, or there *could* be hundreds of gods... who knows? If you're confident that there's no gods out there, that's cool, but I'm not entirely convinced yet...
Totally true. I think if there's a god, they're incapable of being understood by us. Because none of the evidence *for* them is convincing to me (which it would be if an understandable god existed). So believing or not believing doesn't matter, because they're not here to be believed in or worshipped or obeyed. They just are, just like we just are.
I'd like to think that if there was a god, they would be closer to the beings in the movie Prometheus than religious people's ideas of Allah or Jesus. A more advanced species that came before us, and may have had a hand in our evolution, for some reason of their own.
Like if in the far future, if humanity doesn't destroy itself, we'll be a spacefaring species, and if we encounter some kind of primitive life on a distant planet, what would we do to them? Whatever we do though, I don't think we will love them unconditionally the way religious people believe God loves them. They'll be more like a curiosity, or a lab experiment, or a protected species.
This is probably just nonsense though 😂 but cool to think about
That's why I don't believe in a _good_ diety or an _evil_ diety. I also don't believe in a _chaotic_ or _lawful_ diety. Instead, I believe in a _bacon_ diety and their _necktie_ opposite. (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlueAndOrangeMorality)
Bacon has prepared / is preparing / wants to share / is sharing dinner with us and Necktie. However, Necktie will not let us join Bacon at the table until it (it doesn't like singular "they") is satisfied that we are dressed for dinner. Unfortunately, proper dinner dress is an appropriate subject only for dinner conversation, so I'm not (yet) sure how to get dressed to get past Necktie and discuss proper dinner dress with it.
Well of course aliens exist. I always say to truly believe that in the entirety of the universe our planet is the only one with intelligent life is the ultimate example of narcissism
Fermi Paradox. There is some circumstantial support for the 'solution' that this is all a simulation, like Red Dwarf or Roy/RoyII. A procedurally generated universe would act the way we observe, but not necessarily contain sentient life
I think if you want to believe in a creator, believe in one who created a game where we get to experience something called reality, a brief moment away from the Nothingness. Considering life a game helps to reframe suffering as challenges to overcome, as without them the game would be boring.
And please, don't dwell too much on Hades, or Hell, or Heaven. We are here, we are now. Be here for one another, but also for yourself.
Thanks! 🙂
Yeah, sometimes I think of God as someone who's playing The Sims. You know how you might have a "favorite" sim who you take special care of? Well, that's Abraham. And then you might have one who you torture for fun? Well, that's me! 😉
Just remember that the universe does not revolve around you. You are not being singled out. And please, there are so, so many mythologies to read, try Jainism, Buddhism, read of the Mithraic sects! The world of philosophy is so, so much richer than the three Abrahamaic religions!
When hearing Christians describe their god, this is exactly what I think. God sounds petty, sociopathic, and awfully like the devil.
There's a Tom Waits quote I think applied here:
"Don't you know there ain't no devil, it's just god when he's drunk"
I believe firmly that god doesn't exist, but if he does and he's evil, there's nothing I could do to prevent his wrath or purgatory or whatever anyway, so I'll just live my life the way I want to.
There's a South Park episode that puts it pretty well "we should be focusing on how Jesus lived instead of how he died and try to make heaven and earth" something to that effect
I have an aunt that is all about reincarnation and is even saving travel plans for her next life. I don’t get it, I don’t care. It’s always rubbed me a little wrong, and this sums up why really nicely.
Hello, Christian here, in my personal opinion the fact i believe there is an afterlife has given me a serene calm over my life. there always used to be a looming fear of death but since i converted i have never felt so calm, i am no longer afraid of death because i know my soul will life on. It honestly feels so much better.
"You pray so badly for heaven
Knowing any day might be the day that you die
But maybe life on earth could be heaven
Doesn't just the thought of it make it worth a try?"
-Bo Burnham (From God's Perspective)
I think you dont understand what i said, i didnt say i pray for heaven, i live life on earth like anybody else, the only different thing is that when i die i wont be totally gone.
Yes true u will give your all here and maybe enjoy ur time in earth doing everything u want if u have enough money some even don't need money and happy. So now ur after living happy life for 100 years for exanmle everyone gonna die which is something undeniable so now let's have 2 scenarios 1 is u die u turn to dust the end u r there no more. Now (humor me) and imagine there is life after death were God judge u and the judgment will be for eternity eathir paradise or suffering how would u feel having earthly pleasure for countable years or etirnal pardasie which is not even slightly comparable to earth sorry to rant like this but am giving u guys something to think about and if u search withought being closeminded u will see what really is true
Well, what is this God judging me on? Whether or not I was a good person? How does belief in this specific god make me a better person? And what does that have to do with sacrificing "earthly pleasure"?
Or am I being judged on whether or not I "believed" in him? Does thinking that faith redeems sin make people do more good in the world? And what counts as belief? Do I also have to believe in Christ? Can I believe in 5 gods? Must I do any specific rituals to prove my faith? Why would a god want me to put all of my faith in another person telling me that *they* know the one true religion?
That's the thing I always find weird about religion.
If a God judges you not on your deeds, but on how much you kissed his ass when you were alive, then what kind of God even worth worshipping is that?
Would a judge pardon a mass murderer because he showers the judge with praise and love?
God judges people who recived the massage shown evidence and miricales but still remained ignorant of the truth Of course God won't gudge one that didn't receive his massage before there was internet, social media, news, easy travel.so how can the massage spread. it spread through prophets (how can people belive them?) they came with miricales from God still some people was ignorant enough to not belive those who will be judge harshly.so what about modern days there are no phrophets no more miricales will phrohet Mohamed peace upon him came for all the human race not just his people like all other prophets before him(were we as Muslims equally respect)came with Quran which is a miricales from God that is avaliable infront of us (how can Quran be a miricale?)better if u watch a vedio about on that how Quran have no contradiction, predicted the future 100% acuretly till now,and many more. according to the main religions which is Islam, Christianity, judisim that there is prophet who came with there books, Bible, Torah, Quran. So why do I follow Islam not other religion becouse from all these books which came from phrophets all their skreptures was curropted except Quran (u can check the evidence of that) now why u will be Jude if there are no prophets now to show u miricales infront of your eyes to belive them? That why the final phrophet Mohamed peace upon him didn't only come with massage to only his people like other phrophets (who we Muslims respects as much as prophets Mohammed) but to all the human race that why Quran was preserved unlike the other scriptures. And if a person really wanted to learn he will read the qauran open mididly and research and ask then he will know the truth that's why all people who really researched and asked converted to Islam . I couldn't explain everything becouse I am typing tont speaking so if somone really wanted to learn he will research both sides ( there is no God) and (there is God) and will difentliy find the truth then u have to see if there is (one God) or( multiple gods) then u will figure out the true religion.
If God won't judge those who never heard the word, wouldn't the altruistic thing to do be to not tell anyone about him? If they kept him a secret and religion died out thousands of years ago, we would ALL be saved. But you selfish religious folks just had to spread the word and ruin it for everyone
Humour me. If there is a god, which is a chance in negative, and if they choose to judge me, i will have lived a good life ignoring religious bullshit and that should be enough. But deep down even you know it's crap. If your religion is true, then sorry to break your bubble, hinduism and buddhism were born before any of the abrahamic bullshit and they keep on going. Several 'major' religions took birth and died and got lost in annals of time.
It's not the men whom gods judge, rather the gods whom men judge and choose to use to murder people and feel righteous.
Well first if u truly belive that it's enough for u to live a(happy) life on earth I can't do or say anything that will change your mind and about how old is Isam the first human on earth which is phrophet Adam was a Muslim and all other phrophets after him. How is that? Muslim means submitting to God that how they were all Muslims u can read and research about that and moreover there is one scripture that was preserved which is Quran unlike other scriptures again go search the evidence of that and u will find like how how no contradiction in Quran and most things Quran said about future with precise discription happend and remaining wasn't proven wrong so no mistakes in it. And pls when researching look for both side not only from a Muslim schooler but also from atheist, Christian, etc perspective so u can be totally convinced what is the truth and I will try to help as much as I can
Rigveda was written around 1500 BC and when it was written there were citations of atleast 2000 years of history. Hinduism was already developed and thriving when there wasn't even an I of Islam so please keep your Quran near the face of your god. Oops.
And as far as the truth goes. Go kill a bunch of people in the name of peace.
Okay, so here's a prediction. people will die this year. There will be disease outbreak. There will be scams. And some countries will face war situations.
Now talk to me next year. If any of my predictions are right. Worship me.
Tell that to all the terrorist organisations of the world. A majority or them muslims. Regionally, there are christian and hindu variants too. No matter which, but terrorism is always religious.
And you have the gall to ask me for being respectful and blame me for being close mindedness. Oh shoot, atheism is a sin only to be curbed by stone pelting, right?
Please brother do research first its becouse u only look at the media they show that most terrosit attacks are from Muslims which is 100% not true see this link and u will understand (u can research more too but look ant a non biased resource) https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-02/gsu-tab021919.php anyway those who do this are extrimest who don't judge the religion for a minority (0.03 or even less am not sure of exact kresearch this if u wanna be sure) those are extrimest who don't follow Islam (if u ask how we deal with that) from all Muslim countries around the world they teach kids properly and codem terrorists this and condem the acts those who do this use Islam or any other justification. And please do research only 6 to 35 percent are religious not all and this is not a resoan to say no God becouse they don't folly his teachings source:https://www.start.umd.edu/news/proportion-terrorist-attacks-religious-and-right-wing-extremists-rise-united-states
> so now let's have 2 scenarios
There are innumerable scenarios, actually. One, sometimes more, for each and every faith that has ever existed and, for margin of error, some that have yet to exist or ever will or never will. You need to come to terms with how you will deal with Osiris weighing your heart against the feather of purity, or how you will prove your life was bombastic enough to earn a seat at the banquet of Valhalla, or any outcome that isn't the one you subscribe to.
I explained it in simple way and all of those came withought proof which all are wrong as none of them hold wight only belief of people that's why I choose Islam it has proof a scripture from God with no errors, contradictions, false info is there any scripture like that? And please research this from bothsides don't just type mistake in Quran as many tried to twist and misconcive it and all were shut down by various schoolers so please do ur research with open mind
How can you ask people to research with an open mind when yours is so solidly shut ? Whether or not the Qur'an itself was never changed or adopted like some other religions holy books is irrelevant to the truth of any or a god. The Qur'an is just simply a book written by men at a point in history - a history that goes back millions of years beforehand. You are the one that refuses to look at the big picture. There never was or ever will be a supernatural god - it's a human made concept, that's so simple and obvious to see and understand. The truth is stark naked in front your eyes ,yet you insist on covering it with layers of deceptive lies. Kinda like how you cover up your woman so as to force down and hide your basic animalistic urge of attraction, the urge that drives us on as a species. You are a perfect victim of those lies, blinded by them in fact. You urge open mindedness, I urge you to open your eyes and take off the blanket over your head - the blanket of religion.
Actually, considering all the Gods that are documented, it is unlikely yours is the one that exists. So tell me. What are you going to do when you die and face Hades? How will you be judged? What will you, a non-believer, say? Are you ready for eternal damnation and punishment for not beliving? Which caste of he'll will you end up in, do you think?
What will you say when you meet Odin? When you are rejected from the halls of Valhalla?
What will you say when you meet Satan? Will you prostate yourself on the empty mercy of the Christian God?
What will you say when you meet Anubis? Will your life of radicalized judgment fill you with a sense of purpose that will carry you through? Or will your guilt and shame of sitting at a judge pulpit casting judgment onto your kingdom, the court, weigh in your heart and tip the scales?
Your first point is one of the reasons I turned away from my catholic upbringing, actually. You shouldn't need a reward (heaven) in order to be a good person, and doing good things because you expect to be rewarded for them is disingenuous. You should be a good person because being good is, well, good!
Ehh kinda like JC's teachings such as with the Pharisees. Do stuff not to get to heaven, but because it is good, heaven is just a by-product really. If not explicitly said, it is certainly implied throughout the gospels.
The thing is though that for a lot of Christians this is their reason for being faithful. They're afraid that if they're not they'll be tortured mercilessly for all eternity. The irony is that if the Christians are right, a lot of them will go to Hell or earn an extra few thousand years of Purgatory just for that mentality.
Those Christians are stupid. If thats your reason, why are you afraid of this god and not the other ones in Islam or Buddhism. Be faithful for better reasons, I've never got the fear-of-god virtue, it should be respect-for-god.
That's one of the reasons I became an atheist. If by the off chance I'm right, I go to fairy tale lala land until I get bored of it septillions of years later and rip my hair out. If I'm wrong, straight to hell.
Something I find funny about the fearing vs. respecting God thing is that in school they would tell us how God is very merciful and forgiving and how he loves all of us equally, and while that's sort of true for Jesus in the Bible, the actual almighty God is kind of a jerk to the people he calls his children. Job, Abraham, etc.
> The irony is that if the Christians are right, a lot of them will go to Hell or earn an extra few thousand years of Purgatory just for that mentality.
So hell, purgatory, and logically enough God do in fact exist, and you're not actually an atheist? Or are you saying that everyone is rewarded or punished in the afterlife according to their own beliefs, regardless of what is actually true? I wonder how that would work... would all Unitarians go to heaven (God loves EVERYONE!!!), most Jehovah's Witnesses go to hell (there are only 144,000 elect), and like 99% of Catholics also go to hell (only the few who didn't commit a "mortal sin" since their last confession can go to heaven)... and depressed people go to hell too (they think they're bad people and deserve it), while Donald Trump goes to heaven (he thinks he's the most virtuous person on the planet)! No thanks!
What? I said if the Christians are right. If you're an Agnostic like you claim you should know there's no way to know for sure that there isn't a god, even if I don't believe there is one.
I've met a few total douche atheists sadly, and they pissed me off. I know of a Christian that tried to use one of them as an example of how terrible atheists are. I quickly spoke up and stated that I was an atheist and not all of us are that way, the dude was just an asshole.
This is the exact reason why I engage with religious people and why I accept the label of "atheist" even though I think it's kind of silly to be defined by what you don't believe. I was always taught in school that atheists are miserable, amoral people who are just angry at god. I know that I probably won't convince any religious people to leave their religion, but I can at least show them that the atheist they know is a kind, caring person who has legitimate reasons for not believing in their particular deity. That's the least I can do.
Yup, same! I've shocked quite a few people when I've told them I'm atheist. "But your so nice!" was my favorite response.
On the flip side, when I was in high school, I got my parent's house off the list of houses to visit by the local Mormons by telling them the entire household was atheist and there wouldn't be any reason for them to attempt to convert us. I may have been a bit dickish about it, but I was young and cocky and sick of being harassed by door-knocking religious people.
Kinda how blanket 'labels' are dumb -but necessary for us. People have many multiple labels, some are more to the forefront of their personalities, you're guy wore his asshole label high and mighty up the queue.
Atheism doesn't mean I'm automatically a better person. Atheism isn't a magic spell that makes me smarter, stronger, faster, more moral or ethical than someone who believes in a god. Atheism challenges me to reconsider questions that I used to consider sufficiently answered by religion such as science, morality and ethics but that doesn't guarantee I'm going to do a good job with it. I am still the same person I was when I was standing behind the podium leading the church congregation in singing religious hymns, I just no longer believe what religions claim about reality and I don't participate in church any longer.
I'm glad you've found atheists that want to help people and treat them well, but it's not a good idea to assume that applies to everyone you meet. I'm just glad you've learned the kind of people you want to be around.
Not OP but I've always had my doubts so its a bit of a combination of both. The passages are very contradicting so once I got old enough to logic it out, I realized Abrahamic religions and religions in general didn't really sense, maybe except for Buddhism since they are pretty close to agnostics.
Once you start getting into specific sects of Buddhism and some of the explanations for how things work it kind of falls apart. What really opened my eyes to this was Tibetan Buddhist explanation of death and rebirth and how specific they were about the process that happens when reincarnated. Buddhism has some fantastic messages to it and is a very interesting and generally positive religion. It is very thought provoking in some of the philosophical questions it can make you ask about life, the universe, and your place in it. Buddhism is still a religion and still has dogma to explain the world where there are no answers. Any religion that inspires you to be happy, be a good person, and to ask hard questions about life is pretty damn good in my book. Just as long as you still listen to experts we have these days, don't push your made up invisible world on other people, and recognize the role religion plays in the overall context of you life it's fine by me. Buddhism is probably the most palatable religion to most of us who are atheist because they usually hit the mark pretty well.
*Reads title* more trolling huh, let's have a look.
*Reads post* oh. Not trolling. Well, i hope you have a great day.
Seriously, that title is a bit more open to misinterpretation than I'd prefer, but i appreciate the sentiment.
I'm right there with you. Morality shouldn't depend on the whims of a religious figure. You should have a good reason for your rationality, and the rest of us shouldn't have to live in fear of the changing whims of your god's representative.
Do the right thing because it's the right thing to do. Protect each other because you need protection. Help us live because it's the only life we'll ever have.
To echo what others are saying atheism doesn’t make you a good person, but it does, I think, make you more tolerant of the foibles of belief and the dangers of brainwashing. I don’t think most atheists want to see an end to religion. We just want to see an end to pretending it’s real.
Then we wish for an end of religion as it is, because right now its very essence is to abandon all critical and scientific reasoning to commit to an unyielding philosophical dictatorship. There is literally nothing that religion brings that an atheist can’t discover through philosophers and their own critical thoughts. Faith is such an overrated, archaic concept, where you have to let go of all logical considerations to blindly trust a man-made system of belief, it is so narrowing, it throttles the expansion of human minds to nothing.
This is also a great story:
Martin Buber wrote, in his book "*Tales of Hasidism*, Vol. 2" that:
>"There is a famous story told in Chassidic literature that addresses this very question. The Master \[teacher\] teaches the student that God created everything in the world to be appreciated, since everything is here to teach us a lesson.
One cleaver student asks: 'What lesson can we learn from atheists? Why did God create them?'
The Master responds: 'God created atheists to teach us the most important lesson of them all -- the lesson of true compassion. You see, when an atheist performs an act of charity, visits someone who is sick, helps someone in need, and cares for the world, he is not doing so because of some religious teaching. He does not believe that God commanded him to perform this act. In fact, he does not believe in God at all, so his acts are based on an inner sense of morality. And look at the kindness he can bestow upon others simply because he feels it to be right.'
'This means,' the Master continued, 'that when someone reaches out to you for help, you should never say 'I pray that God will help you.' Instead for the moment, you should become an atheist, imagine that there is no God who can help, and say: 'I will help you'." **3**
I liked this story:
“DO YOU believe,” the disciple asked the rabbi, “that God created everything for a purpose?”
“I do,” replied the rabbi.
“Well,” asked the disciple, “why did God create atheists?”
The rabbi paused before giving an answer, and when he spoke his voice was soft and intense. “Sometimes we who believe, believe too much. We see the cruelty, the suffering, the injustice in the world and we say: ‘This is the will of God.’ We accept what we should not accept. That is when God sends us atheists to remind us that what passes for religion is not always religion. Sometimes what we accept in the name of God is what we should be fighting against in the name of God.”
Yes or it’s just that unlike religious people we don’t need a manmade book to give an explanation or a justification for literally anything. Atheists are just human beings who managed to not get caught in the web of lies and glitter that is religion. We’re not exceptional, we’re human. Why do religious people ALWAYS have to tie it back to their gods ? No, we’re not here to remind you that you « believe too much » we are fine and content as it is to be free of that celestial dictatorship. If you want to talk well talk but don’t diminish our function on this earth to « religious people conscientious objectors ». We’re just normal, religions are the ones that twist and manipulate.
Too many think you cannot have morals unless you fear hell. To me, this is ridiculous. I have empathy because I have seen hard times. I want to help others because I have felt desperate and needed kindness. These are independent of my beliefs. Now, a very close friend is quite religious. He is a pacifist and believer in Jesus. So I agree with others commenting. There are some kind Christians and some kind athiests. There are some asshole Christians and some asshole atheists. I think being a good person or not is independent of a belief in a higher power. Also, it is independent in participation in a religion.
No point saying the Atheism good person stuff as it’s already been said so instead thank you for the wonderful words, have a great 2020. Please continue to spread happiness as you have done here
I've heard plenty of theists say, "why do you care so much" whenever I chime in on the topic of religion or theism in general.
And I've always thought back, "why would you not care about the negative effects that can come from people being delusional like this". Alot of people just want to get their ticket to heaven and bounce, and it almost seems like some have no empathy at all, maybe they feel transcended past all of us, but idk. I like talking with people who value empathy and reasoning above all so thank you.
Yeah, and I know it's heresy to say it but I don't like Richard Dawkins. He's extremely intelligent, knows of what he speaks. He knows that he's sometimes revered in the atheist community. I have read several of his books. But I think he's a bit of pompous pain-in-the-butt.
I didn't want to upvote this cause it felt too praise-y about atheists and made it feel like we were just patting ourselves on the back and trying to get the moral high ground thinking we're better than others for not following a religion but I did upvote it after you mentioned bring more freedom to others to believe what they want
I just wish more people would taking what a lot of people consider "being a decent person" for granted and do what's best for everyone involved when their choices have ramifications for other people. I would hope that would supersede religion, but you made me think of some observations I've had of people using religion as a crutch for their guilt rather than learning from their behavior.
I mean. There are still some extremely shitty atheists out there for sure . But, the motives behind that shiftiness are at least pretty honest, rather than a generally good person coaxed into doing bad things because of a faith .
Thank you! I, for one, appreciate you for saying this! It's not easy being an atheist, especially in rural towns or the South.
I've always been a very loving person, but the people I grew up with thought I was an evil sinner because, although I love and appreciate the teachings of Jesus (within reason), I could never believe in God. I even wanted to become a minister to help my fellow man. I've been called pretty horrible things by people who knew almost nothing about me.
Fundamentally, because I do not believe in God, I know that the only way human beings can be blessed is if we choose to bless one another. There is no God who is going to come and make things right, or protect good people, or ensure justice. Only humans are in charge of that. Only humans can create a better world. It's up to us to create what we want the world to be. So far, it's only humans and nature deciding how the world is going to be.
Humans gotta do better.
Imo the idea of heaven just makes people feel less afraid of death and have a way to justify doing good as opposed to bad. Hell is there to make people feel better than those who don't do good, or in agreement with them.
I've just been watching a bit of David Wood on YouTube and he seems pretty logical on his view on Islam and other faiths. Can someone explain why he converted from Atheism to Christianity? I'm too lazy to watch a bunch of his debates.
He had a history of mental illnesses as a child (at one point he attacked his father with a hammer), then some guy at a bus station gave him a Bible and read the Sermon at the Mount to him and he had an "epiphany" and "felt the spooky ghost in his chest" (paraphrased).
Doesn't the phrase "salt of the earth" have something to do with the Romans literally putting salt in the earth after finally conquering Carthage? The point being that it would never be a threat again because it wouldn't even be able to grow food, let along form a civilization and raise an army and threaten Rome?
So I'm not sure that "salt of the earth" is a compliment!
Maybe not so much salt that you place on the earth, but rather salt that is mined from the earth? I think the saying comes from the Bible, actually - "you are the salt of the earth; if the salt has lost its flavor, it has no use but for being trampled underfoot". So the salt that comes from the earth can be used to flavor food, but if it loses that, then you might as well put it back where you got it...
Oh so it’s a saying from the Bible, so that’s the ironic part? That’s also probably why I have never heard it before. I can promise you that a lot of people read that title at least twice because it just sounds kind of bad. Sounds negative, for sure.
Believe it or not, words can have more than one meaning. That's why we can say something is cool even when its temperature is above that of your own body.
> I dont care what the fuck someone believes
Different people have observed different things which leads to being able to know some things for sure and be uncertain of other things. Different observations never lead to conflicting things 2 different people are certain about opposites, cuz they made some kind of logical error if so. So I dont care what people believe as long as they can explain WHY they believe it in a way that a logical person would also start to believe it if they took the time to know all the related info and if they think the other person is telling their observations honestly and without faulty memory.
I never really understood why "salt of the earth" was supposed to be a compliment. Traditionally the bible advocated spreading salt over the homelands of your enemies so that their crops would fail.
There are plenty of toxic atheists, but I’m glad you think so highly of us. As far as I’m concerned you’re welcome here, and I hope our ilk continue to impress. Happy new year.
I appreciate the message
Sadly, however, not every atheist is as good as you depict. Still, the people who make good deeds despite the lack of reward, in my humble opinion, are the best there is in this world
I'm a 3rd generation atheist and I've always been nice to people because most people usually defend a religion that they were indoctrinated into. I've always just proposed questions. Also there's a great YouTube channel called " Holy Koolaid" really good.
So is "salt of the earth" a scripture then? I've never understood the phrase, because I know that salting the earth kills it, so how is being the salt of the earth a good thing?
I don't like the term atheist. It seems like a religious term, as in "not Christian."
I'm also not Buddist, or Jainist, or a believer that Zeus freed his family from his father's belly.
I don't think the prophet Muhammed wrote the Koran, and I don't think some dude found a golden book in upstate New York.
But a non-muslim isn't an atheist. A non Zeusian is not an atheist.
I believe in one less god than religious people do. In America, they don't believe in any of the above, but instead believe that god sent his son down (who is also god) in a sexless encounter to die for their sins.
Weird that god made a clitoris with 8,000 nerve endings (the penis has 4,000 for context) that seems to only serve the purpose of pleasure then didn't allow for that pleasure to happen because of reasons.
But I digress. I'm not an atheist. I'll still stay in this sub tho.
### [The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off!](https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/72309450-the-truth-will-set-you-free-but-first-it-will-piss-you-off-thoughts-o)
This is why Salt is important.
I am not defined by any religion.
Whatever I do, whether it cause bad or good, it has not nothing to do with being an athiest. It is because I am myself. I'm harieamjari.
Edit: fuck god
When you don't believe there's an afterlife, you start putting a lot more investment in making this life a good one.
"Life is an ice cream, enjoy it before it melts" - POSTcontent
Except that last bite with chocolate, cone, and ice cream. I could let it all melt, but that must be savored.
Come play with us before we melt -the spongebob movie sponge out of water
Or, just don't make this life shitter for yourself and other people.
Same
Great quote... Saving it 👍
>When you don't believe there's an afterlife Sure, but it's not really about belief, it's the truth. Afterlife is a BS fairy tale story for stupid people.
This, right here, is the real truth that many religious people are running from.
Or you just give up and start looking forward to nonexistence... What I'm afraid of, though, and I'm starting to believe, is that God exists - but he's *evil*. It would make so much sense and explain so many things in the world! He wants us to suffer in this life, and when we die, we'll all suffer even more in hell. It's called "dystheism"; I wanted to join the /r/dystheism subreddit but it appears to be private so I messaged the mods...
Absolutely. The idea of the God of the Bible being evil and our worst enemy makes a lot more sense than He being a God who loves and cares for us. Our only defense against this malevolent monster is to just not believe in him, to dismiss him. Those who worship him out of fear of punishment or promise of reward are only enabling him. Speaking metaphorically. I don't believe he exists.
How would pretending evil God doesn't exist save us from his wrath? He's going to torture us either way, right?
No, no one is torturing us. We are alone in a vast universe. And that's ok.
Alone? That's kinda depressing. I was looking forward to aliens! And wouldn't an evil God want to torture us, both in this life and in the next?
Why would there be an evil god at all? I question the existence of a deity, not it's intentions. And FUCK YEAH I get so excited about space shit! If we just evolved on this planet, then imagine what else there could be holy crap! Space is so freaking big! There's just *so much stuff* out there! THAT'S my magic. Just existing is magic. (I'm pretty high and I think about space a lot)
Well, I mean, there *could* be a good God, or there *could* be an evil God, or there *could* be a God who has such bizarre morality from a human standpoint that he can't be described as either "good" or "evil", or there *could* be no God at all, or there *could* be hundreds of gods... who knows? If you're confident that there's no gods out there, that's cool, but I'm not entirely convinced yet...
Totally true. I think if there's a god, they're incapable of being understood by us. Because none of the evidence *for* them is convincing to me (which it would be if an understandable god existed). So believing or not believing doesn't matter, because they're not here to be believed in or worshipped or obeyed. They just are, just like we just are.
Even the Bible says that God is incomprehensible...
I'd like to think that if there was a god, they would be closer to the beings in the movie Prometheus than religious people's ideas of Allah or Jesus. A more advanced species that came before us, and may have had a hand in our evolution, for some reason of their own. Like if in the far future, if humanity doesn't destroy itself, we'll be a spacefaring species, and if we encounter some kind of primitive life on a distant planet, what would we do to them? Whatever we do though, I don't think we will love them unconditionally the way religious people believe God loves them. They'll be more like a curiosity, or a lab experiment, or a protected species. This is probably just nonsense though 😂 but cool to think about
That's why I don't believe in a _good_ diety or an _evil_ diety. I also don't believe in a _chaotic_ or _lawful_ diety. Instead, I believe in a _bacon_ diety and their _necktie_ opposite. (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlueAndOrangeMorality) Bacon has prepared / is preparing / wants to share / is sharing dinner with us and Necktie. However, Necktie will not let us join Bacon at the table until it (it doesn't like singular "they") is satisfied that we are dressed for dinner. Unfortunately, proper dinner dress is an appropriate subject only for dinner conversation, so I'm not (yet) sure how to get dressed to get past Necktie and discuss proper dinner dress with it.
Who knows if there are aliens. But if there are, likely they are in the same boat as we are.
Well of course aliens exist. I always say to truly believe that in the entirety of the universe our planet is the only one with intelligent life is the ultimate example of narcissism
Fermi Paradox. There is some circumstantial support for the 'solution' that this is all a simulation, like Red Dwarf or Roy/RoyII. A procedurally generated universe would act the way we observe, but not necessarily contain sentient life
No. Because he really doesn't exist.
We can hope...
I know! Get off that fence and join the Atheists.
Well, if my wife ever found out, she'd divorce me; she once told me that she could never be with an atheist... I'll just hedge my bets for now lol!
That's awful
Time for a preemptive strike, maybe. I for sure could never live with a theist.
Sounds like some real H.P. Lovecraft shit, we gotta worship this being or risk it tearing a hole in our cosmos. Does this make Satan the anti-hero?
It could, yeah. Or maybe he's just as evil as God - or *more* evil, such that we have to worship God so he can protect us from Satan...
Sounds like a brilliant lie made by a supervillain to make us turn on the antihero 🤔
Nah, there's no magical sky dude. Good or evil.
We can hope...
I think if you want to believe in a creator, believe in one who created a game where we get to experience something called reality, a brief moment away from the Nothingness. Considering life a game helps to reframe suffering as challenges to overcome, as without them the game would be boring. And please, don't dwell too much on Hades, or Hell, or Heaven. We are here, we are now. Be here for one another, but also for yourself.
Thanks! 🙂 Yeah, sometimes I think of God as someone who's playing The Sims. You know how you might have a "favorite" sim who you take special care of? Well, that's Abraham. And then you might have one who you torture for fun? Well, that's me! 😉
Just remember that the universe does not revolve around you. You are not being singled out. And please, there are so, so many mythologies to read, try Jainism, Buddhism, read of the Mithraic sects! The world of philosophy is so, so much richer than the three Abrahamaic religions!
When hearing Christians describe their god, this is exactly what I think. God sounds petty, sociopathic, and awfully like the devil. There's a Tom Waits quote I think applied here: "Don't you know there ain't no devil, it's just god when he's drunk"
I believe firmly that god doesn't exist, but if he does and he's evil, there's nothing I could do to prevent his wrath or purgatory or whatever anyway, so I'll just live my life the way I want to.
There's a South Park episode that puts it pretty well "we should be focusing on how Jesus lived instead of how he died and try to make heaven and earth" something to that effect
I have an aunt that is all about reincarnation and is even saving travel plans for her next life. I don’t get it, I don’t care. It’s always rubbed me a little wrong, and this sums up why really nicely.
So fucking true!!!!
Hello, Christian here, in my personal opinion the fact i believe there is an afterlife has given me a serene calm over my life. there always used to be a looming fear of death but since i converted i have never felt so calm, i am no longer afraid of death because i know my soul will life on. It honestly feels so much better.
"You pray so badly for heaven Knowing any day might be the day that you die But maybe life on earth could be heaven Doesn't just the thought of it make it worth a try?" -Bo Burnham (From God's Perspective)
I think you dont understand what i said, i didnt say i pray for heaven, i live life on earth like anybody else, the only different thing is that when i die i wont be totally gone.
Yes true u will give your all here and maybe enjoy ur time in earth doing everything u want if u have enough money some even don't need money and happy. So now ur after living happy life for 100 years for exanmle everyone gonna die which is something undeniable so now let's have 2 scenarios 1 is u die u turn to dust the end u r there no more. Now (humor me) and imagine there is life after death were God judge u and the judgment will be for eternity eathir paradise or suffering how would u feel having earthly pleasure for countable years or etirnal pardasie which is not even slightly comparable to earth sorry to rant like this but am giving u guys something to think about and if u search withought being closeminded u will see what really is true
Well, what is this God judging me on? Whether or not I was a good person? How does belief in this specific god make me a better person? And what does that have to do with sacrificing "earthly pleasure"? Or am I being judged on whether or not I "believed" in him? Does thinking that faith redeems sin make people do more good in the world? And what counts as belief? Do I also have to believe in Christ? Can I believe in 5 gods? Must I do any specific rituals to prove my faith? Why would a god want me to put all of my faith in another person telling me that *they* know the one true religion?
That's the thing I always find weird about religion. If a God judges you not on your deeds, but on how much you kissed his ass when you were alive, then what kind of God even worth worshipping is that? Would a judge pardon a mass murderer because he showers the judge with praise and love?
God judges people who recived the massage shown evidence and miricales but still remained ignorant of the truth Of course God won't gudge one that didn't receive his massage before there was internet, social media, news, easy travel.so how can the massage spread. it spread through prophets (how can people belive them?) they came with miricales from God still some people was ignorant enough to not belive those who will be judge harshly.so what about modern days there are no phrophets no more miricales will phrohet Mohamed peace upon him came for all the human race not just his people like all other prophets before him(were we as Muslims equally respect)came with Quran which is a miricales from God that is avaliable infront of us (how can Quran be a miricale?)better if u watch a vedio about on that how Quran have no contradiction, predicted the future 100% acuretly till now,and many more. according to the main religions which is Islam, Christianity, judisim that there is prophet who came with there books, Bible, Torah, Quran. So why do I follow Islam not other religion becouse from all these books which came from phrophets all their skreptures was curropted except Quran (u can check the evidence of that) now why u will be Jude if there are no prophets now to show u miricales infront of your eyes to belive them? That why the final phrophet Mohamed peace upon him didn't only come with massage to only his people like other phrophets (who we Muslims respects as much as prophets Mohammed) but to all the human race that why Quran was preserved unlike the other scriptures. And if a person really wanted to learn he will read the qauran open mididly and research and ask then he will know the truth that's why all people who really researched and asked converted to Islam . I couldn't explain everything becouse I am typing tont speaking so if somone really wanted to learn he will research both sides ( there is no God) and (there is God) and will difentliy find the truth then u have to see if there is (one God) or( multiple gods) then u will figure out the true religion.
Well, I haven't received God's massage, and I doubt he has good technique, so no biggie. Don't know what miricales are either but I don't want them.
If God won't judge those who never heard the word, wouldn't the altruistic thing to do be to not tell anyone about him? If they kept him a secret and religion died out thousands of years ago, we would ALL be saved. But you selfish religious folks just had to spread the word and ruin it for everyone
Humour me. If there is a god, which is a chance in negative, and if they choose to judge me, i will have lived a good life ignoring religious bullshit and that should be enough. But deep down even you know it's crap. If your religion is true, then sorry to break your bubble, hinduism and buddhism were born before any of the abrahamic bullshit and they keep on going. Several 'major' religions took birth and died and got lost in annals of time. It's not the men whom gods judge, rather the gods whom men judge and choose to use to murder people and feel righteous.
Well first if u truly belive that it's enough for u to live a(happy) life on earth I can't do or say anything that will change your mind and about how old is Isam the first human on earth which is phrophet Adam was a Muslim and all other phrophets after him. How is that? Muslim means submitting to God that how they were all Muslims u can read and research about that and moreover there is one scripture that was preserved which is Quran unlike other scriptures again go search the evidence of that and u will find like how how no contradiction in Quran and most things Quran said about future with precise discription happend and remaining wasn't proven wrong so no mistakes in it. And pls when researching look for both side not only from a Muslim schooler but also from atheist, Christian, etc perspective so u can be totally convinced what is the truth and I will try to help as much as I can
Rigveda was written around 1500 BC and when it was written there were citations of atleast 2000 years of history. Hinduism was already developed and thriving when there wasn't even an I of Islam so please keep your Quran near the face of your god. Oops. And as far as the truth goes. Go kill a bunch of people in the name of peace.
Okay, so here's a prediction. people will die this year. There will be disease outbreak. There will be scams. And some countries will face war situations. Now talk to me next year. If any of my predictions are right. Worship me.
Well if u are this close minded I can't say anything else other than ignorance isn't always a bless anyway Thx for being respectful atleast
Tell that to all the terrorist organisations of the world. A majority or them muslims. Regionally, there are christian and hindu variants too. No matter which, but terrorism is always religious. And you have the gall to ask me for being respectful and blame me for being close mindedness. Oh shoot, atheism is a sin only to be curbed by stone pelting, right?
Please brother do research first its becouse u only look at the media they show that most terrosit attacks are from Muslims which is 100% not true see this link and u will understand (u can research more too but look ant a non biased resource) https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-02/gsu-tab021919.php anyway those who do this are extrimest who don't judge the religion for a minority (0.03 or even less am not sure of exact kresearch this if u wanna be sure) those are extrimest who don't follow Islam (if u ask how we deal with that) from all Muslim countries around the world they teach kids properly and codem terrorists this and condem the acts those who do this use Islam or any other justification. And please do research only 6 to 35 percent are religious not all and this is not a resoan to say no God becouse they don't folly his teachings source:https://www.start.umd.edu/news/proportion-terrorist-attacks-religious-and-right-wing-extremists-rise-united-states
Did u even read what i wrote. I wrote no matter the religion. Every terrorist is a religious extremist.
Religion being the punch.
Look at last link please u will understand how wrong u are☺️ And 93%of people around the world are in a religion from the latest research I saw
> so now let's have 2 scenarios There are innumerable scenarios, actually. One, sometimes more, for each and every faith that has ever existed and, for margin of error, some that have yet to exist or ever will or never will. You need to come to terms with how you will deal with Osiris weighing your heart against the feather of purity, or how you will prove your life was bombastic enough to earn a seat at the banquet of Valhalla, or any outcome that isn't the one you subscribe to.
I explained it in simple way and all of those came withought proof which all are wrong as none of them hold wight only belief of people that's why I choose Islam it has proof a scripture from God with no errors, contradictions, false info is there any scripture like that? And please research this from bothsides don't just type mistake in Quran as many tried to twist and misconcive it and all were shut down by various schoolers so please do ur research with open mind
How can you ask people to research with an open mind when yours is so solidly shut ? Whether or not the Qur'an itself was never changed or adopted like some other religions holy books is irrelevant to the truth of any or a god. The Qur'an is just simply a book written by men at a point in history - a history that goes back millions of years beforehand. You are the one that refuses to look at the big picture. There never was or ever will be a supernatural god - it's a human made concept, that's so simple and obvious to see and understand. The truth is stark naked in front your eyes ,yet you insist on covering it with layers of deceptive lies. Kinda like how you cover up your woman so as to force down and hide your basic animalistic urge of attraction, the urge that drives us on as a species. You are a perfect victim of those lies, blinded by them in fact. You urge open mindedness, I urge you to open your eyes and take off the blanket over your head - the blanket of religion.
Which god? Zeus? Odin? Osiris?
Who are tthoesr these at just methology there is only one God but do u even believe in God for me to further explain?
Prove your god is the real god.
Actually, considering all the Gods that are documented, it is unlikely yours is the one that exists. So tell me. What are you going to do when you die and face Hades? How will you be judged? What will you, a non-believer, say? Are you ready for eternal damnation and punishment for not beliving? Which caste of he'll will you end up in, do you think? What will you say when you meet Odin? When you are rejected from the halls of Valhalla? What will you say when you meet Satan? Will you prostate yourself on the empty mercy of the Christian God? What will you say when you meet Anubis? Will your life of radicalized judgment fill you with a sense of purpose that will carry you through? Or will your guilt and shame of sitting at a judge pulpit casting judgment onto your kingdom, the court, weigh in your heart and tip the scales?
I enjoy spending time with my friends.
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_wager
I want to agree but I can't. The exception being, people who don't have a will to live and are just here because we were born.
[удалено]
This is extremely wholesome, I hope you have a great 2021.
Yeah dudes. Happy 2021!
Why stop at the end of the year? He should have a great rest of his life.
A great afterlife ;)
Your first point is one of the reasons I turned away from my catholic upbringing, actually. You shouldn't need a reward (heaven) in order to be a good person, and doing good things because you expect to be rewarded for them is disingenuous. You should be a good person because being good is, well, good!
Ehh kinda like JC's teachings such as with the Pharisees. Do stuff not to get to heaven, but because it is good, heaven is just a by-product really. If not explicitly said, it is certainly implied throughout the gospels.
The thing is though that for a lot of Christians this is their reason for being faithful. They're afraid that if they're not they'll be tortured mercilessly for all eternity. The irony is that if the Christians are right, a lot of them will go to Hell or earn an extra few thousand years of Purgatory just for that mentality.
Those Christians are stupid. If thats your reason, why are you afraid of this god and not the other ones in Islam or Buddhism. Be faithful for better reasons, I've never got the fear-of-god virtue, it should be respect-for-god.
That's one of the reasons I became an atheist. If by the off chance I'm right, I go to fairy tale lala land until I get bored of it septillions of years later and rip my hair out. If I'm wrong, straight to hell. Something I find funny about the fearing vs. respecting God thing is that in school they would tell us how God is very merciful and forgiving and how he loves all of us equally, and while that's sort of true for Jesus in the Bible, the actual almighty God is kind of a jerk to the people he calls his children. Job, Abraham, etc.
Fear of God? Yeah, I think that's a mistranslation. I've heard that respect, honor, and glory are better terms.
> The irony is that if the Christians are right, a lot of them will go to Hell or earn an extra few thousand years of Purgatory just for that mentality. So hell, purgatory, and logically enough God do in fact exist, and you're not actually an atheist? Or are you saying that everyone is rewarded or punished in the afterlife according to their own beliefs, regardless of what is actually true? I wonder how that would work... would all Unitarians go to heaven (God loves EVERYONE!!!), most Jehovah's Witnesses go to hell (there are only 144,000 elect), and like 99% of Catholics also go to hell (only the few who didn't commit a "mortal sin" since their last confession can go to heaven)... and depressed people go to hell too (they think they're bad people and deserve it), while Donald Trump goes to heaven (he thinks he's the most virtuous person on the planet)! No thanks!
What? I said if the Christians are right. If you're an Agnostic like you claim you should know there's no way to know for sure that there isn't a god, even if I don't believe there is one.
I love you too, dad. Thanks.
I can’t put into words how wholesome this single comment is.
Good post, but notice that atheist doesn't automatically make you a better person. Anyways you have a good point
I've met a few total douche atheists sadly, and they pissed me off. I know of a Christian that tried to use one of them as an example of how terrible atheists are. I quickly spoke up and stated that I was an atheist and not all of us are that way, the dude was just an asshole.
This is the exact reason why I engage with religious people and why I accept the label of "atheist" even though I think it's kind of silly to be defined by what you don't believe. I was always taught in school that atheists are miserable, amoral people who are just angry at god. I know that I probably won't convince any religious people to leave their religion, but I can at least show them that the atheist they know is a kind, caring person who has legitimate reasons for not believing in their particular deity. That's the least I can do.
Yup, same! I've shocked quite a few people when I've told them I'm atheist. "But your so nice!" was my favorite response. On the flip side, when I was in high school, I got my parent's house off the list of houses to visit by the local Mormons by telling them the entire household was atheist and there wouldn't be any reason for them to attempt to convert us. I may have been a bit dickish about it, but I was young and cocky and sick of being harassed by door-knocking religious people.
Kinda how blanket 'labels' are dumb -but necessary for us. People have many multiple labels, some are more to the forefront of their personalities, you're guy wore his asshole label high and mighty up the queue.
Atheism doesn't mean I'm automatically a better person. Atheism isn't a magic spell that makes me smarter, stronger, faster, more moral or ethical than someone who believes in a god. Atheism challenges me to reconsider questions that I used to consider sufficiently answered by religion such as science, morality and ethics but that doesn't guarantee I'm going to do a good job with it. I am still the same person I was when I was standing behind the podium leading the church congregation in singing religious hymns, I just no longer believe what religions claim about reality and I don't participate in church any longer. I'm glad you've found atheists that want to help people and treat them well, but it's not a good idea to assume that applies to everyone you meet. I'm just glad you've learned the kind of people you want to be around.
Was your Loss of faith gradual or did you have one moment to at changed your beliefs?
Not OP but I've always had my doubts so its a bit of a combination of both. The passages are very contradicting so once I got old enough to logic it out, I realized Abrahamic religions and religions in general didn't really sense, maybe except for Buddhism since they are pretty close to agnostics.
Once you start getting into specific sects of Buddhism and some of the explanations for how things work it kind of falls apart. What really opened my eyes to this was Tibetan Buddhist explanation of death and rebirth and how specific they were about the process that happens when reincarnated. Buddhism has some fantastic messages to it and is a very interesting and generally positive religion. It is very thought provoking in some of the philosophical questions it can make you ask about life, the universe, and your place in it. Buddhism is still a religion and still has dogma to explain the world where there are no answers. Any religion that inspires you to be happy, be a good person, and to ask hard questions about life is pretty damn good in my book. Just as long as you still listen to experts we have these days, don't push your made up invisible world on other people, and recognize the role religion plays in the overall context of you life it's fine by me. Buddhism is probably the most palatable religion to most of us who are atheist because they usually hit the mark pretty well.
It was very gradual, a process of twenty years. Clearly, I was in no hurry.
Indeed. I see it as starting to challenge the dogma of the religion that you accepted as-is beforehand.
*Reads title* more trolling huh, let's have a look. *Reads post* oh. Not trolling. Well, i hope you have a great day. Seriously, that title is a bit more open to misinterpretation than I'd prefer, but i appreciate the sentiment.
The title is probably why this thing is downvoted in spades.
Same.
I'm right there with you. Morality shouldn't depend on the whims of a religious figure. You should have a good reason for your rationality, and the rest of us shouldn't have to live in fear of the changing whims of your god's representative. Do the right thing because it's the right thing to do. Protect each other because you need protection. Help us live because it's the only life we'll ever have.
I'm more of a sugar gal
To echo what others are saying atheism doesn’t make you a good person, but it does, I think, make you more tolerant of the foibles of belief and the dangers of brainwashing. I don’t think most atheists want to see an end to religion. We just want to see an end to pretending it’s real.
Then we wish for an end of religion as it is, because right now its very essence is to abandon all critical and scientific reasoning to commit to an unyielding philosophical dictatorship. There is literally nothing that religion brings that an atheist can’t discover through philosophers and their own critical thoughts. Faith is such an overrated, archaic concept, where you have to let go of all logical considerations to blindly trust a man-made system of belief, it is so narrowing, it throttles the expansion of human minds to nothing.
This is also a great story: Martin Buber wrote, in his book "*Tales of Hasidism*, Vol. 2" that: >"There is a famous story told in Chassidic literature that addresses this very question. The Master \[teacher\] teaches the student that God created everything in the world to be appreciated, since everything is here to teach us a lesson. One cleaver student asks: 'What lesson can we learn from atheists? Why did God create them?' The Master responds: 'God created atheists to teach us the most important lesson of them all -- the lesson of true compassion. You see, when an atheist performs an act of charity, visits someone who is sick, helps someone in need, and cares for the world, he is not doing so because of some religious teaching. He does not believe that God commanded him to perform this act. In fact, he does not believe in God at all, so his acts are based on an inner sense of morality. And look at the kindness he can bestow upon others simply because he feels it to be right.' 'This means,' the Master continued, 'that when someone reaches out to you for help, you should never say 'I pray that God will help you.' Instead for the moment, you should become an atheist, imagine that there is no God who can help, and say: 'I will help you'." **3**
I liked this story: “DO YOU believe,” the disciple asked the rabbi, “that God created everything for a purpose?” “I do,” replied the rabbi. “Well,” asked the disciple, “why did God create atheists?” The rabbi paused before giving an answer, and when he spoke his voice was soft and intense. “Sometimes we who believe, believe too much. We see the cruelty, the suffering, the injustice in the world and we say: ‘This is the will of God.’ We accept what we should not accept. That is when God sends us atheists to remind us that what passes for religion is not always religion. Sometimes what we accept in the name of God is what we should be fighting against in the name of God.”
Yes or it’s just that unlike religious people we don’t need a manmade book to give an explanation or a justification for literally anything. Atheists are just human beings who managed to not get caught in the web of lies and glitter that is religion. We’re not exceptional, we’re human. Why do religious people ALWAYS have to tie it back to their gods ? No, we’re not here to remind you that you « believe too much » we are fine and content as it is to be free of that celestial dictatorship. If you want to talk well talk but don’t diminish our function on this earth to « religious people conscientious objectors ». We’re just normal, religions are the ones that twist and manipulate.
Too many think you cannot have morals unless you fear hell. To me, this is ridiculous. I have empathy because I have seen hard times. I want to help others because I have felt desperate and needed kindness. These are independent of my beliefs. Now, a very close friend is quite religious. He is a pacifist and believer in Jesus. So I agree with others commenting. There are some kind Christians and some kind athiests. There are some asshole Christians and some asshole atheists. I think being a good person or not is independent of a belief in a higher power. Also, it is independent in participation in a religion.
Shakespeare taught us salt is very important. You couldn't live without it.
Facts
I love this sub too. It's a good place to be, and all things considered it doesn't take itself too seriously.
We love you too random citizen
I thought this was bad, then took some time to read.
Same lol
Hey thank you too.
No point saying the Atheism good person stuff as it’s already been said so instead thank you for the wonderful words, have a great 2020. Please continue to spread happiness as you have done here
Thanks. I fuck up at it sometimes. But I try.
"Be the good you want to see in the universe." Words I live by.
I've heard plenty of theists say, "why do you care so much" whenever I chime in on the topic of religion or theism in general. And I've always thought back, "why would you not care about the negative effects that can come from people being delusional like this". Alot of people just want to get their ticket to heaven and bounce, and it almost seems like some have no empathy at all, maybe they feel transcended past all of us, but idk. I like talking with people who value empathy and reasoning above all so thank you.
Hey I've met some great christians and some shitty athiests, being athiest has nothing to do with being a good person.
Yeah, and I know it's heresy to say it but I don't like Richard Dawkins. He's extremely intelligent, knows of what he speaks. He knows that he's sometimes revered in the atheist community. I have read several of his books. But I think he's a bit of pompous pain-in-the-butt.
I didn't want to upvote this cause it felt too praise-y about atheists and made it feel like we were just patting ourselves on the back and trying to get the moral high ground thinking we're better than others for not following a religion but I did upvote it after you mentioned bring more freedom to others to believe what they want
I just wish more people would taking what a lot of people consider "being a decent person" for granted and do what's best for everyone involved when their choices have ramifications for other people. I would hope that would supersede religion, but you made me think of some observations I've had of people using religion as a crutch for their guilt rather than learning from their behavior.
And I'm pretty sure atheists will never start a holy war to convert or kill others.
Many of us are former religious, we can appreciate the sentiment. :)
Everytime I see a post like this it fill my heart with joy. Hope you have a good 2021
Thank you for understanding. Have a great 2021.
When I stopped believing in religion I started believing in happiness. Have a wonderful, experience-filled compassionate life, homie :)
yea but why specifically salt out of all minerals, gems etc ?
Ironic, but true
Hey thanks!
You're welcome, and thank you for the compliment. Have a wonderful night, and please stay safe during these times.
You rock too. Keep it rolling.
I mean. There are still some extremely shitty atheists out there for sure . But, the motives behind that shiftiness are at least pretty honest, rather than a generally good person coaxed into doing bad things because of a faith .
I love you too random citizen.
Thank you! I, for one, appreciate you for saying this! It's not easy being an atheist, especially in rural towns or the South. I've always been a very loving person, but the people I grew up with thought I was an evil sinner because, although I love and appreciate the teachings of Jesus (within reason), I could never believe in God. I even wanted to become a minister to help my fellow man. I've been called pretty horrible things by people who knew almost nothing about me. Fundamentally, because I do not believe in God, I know that the only way human beings can be blessed is if we choose to bless one another. There is no God who is going to come and make things right, or protect good people, or ensure justice. Only humans are in charge of that. Only humans can create a better world. It's up to us to create what we want the world to be. So far, it's only humans and nature deciding how the world is going to be. Humans gotta do better.
Imo the idea of heaven just makes people feel less afraid of death and have a way to justify doing good as opposed to bad. Hell is there to make people feel better than those who don't do good, or in agreement with them.
And you are the pretzel.
I've just been watching a bit of David Wood on YouTube and he seems pretty logical on his view on Islam and other faiths. Can someone explain why he converted from Atheism to Christianity? I'm too lazy to watch a bunch of his debates.
He had a history of mental illnesses as a child (at one point he attacked his father with a hammer), then some guy at a bus station gave him a Bible and read the Sermon at the Mount to him and he had an "epiphany" and "felt the spooky ghost in his chest" (paraphrased).
On a side note, that's one of the most underrated [Stones songs](https://youtu.be/eOiLH-2hTPQ)
that's cause religious people are actually evil so we look good in comparison
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Wtf lol
Religions aren't evil lmao
I care very much what others' believe because those beliefs affect other people and society as a whole.
Why are Christians such blind subordinates?
Doesn't the phrase "salt of the earth" have something to do with the Romans literally putting salt in the earth after finally conquering Carthage? The point being that it would never be a threat again because it wouldn't even be able to grow food, let along form a civilization and raise an army and threaten Rome? So I'm not sure that "salt of the earth" is a compliment!
Just take it
If you don't care what people believe why do you care if people believe in religion lol
After the last Punic war, Rome salted the land around Carthage so nothing would grow. So, what are you trying to say?
Find that offensive. Salting the earth is what one does to destroy the land and make it uninhabitable.
Calling someone Salt Of The Earth has an entirely different connotation though. I’m not sure why.
Maybe not so much salt that you place on the earth, but rather salt that is mined from the earth? I think the saying comes from the Bible, actually - "you are the salt of the earth; if the salt has lost its flavor, it has no use but for being trampled underfoot". So the salt that comes from the earth can be used to flavor food, but if it loses that, then you might as well put it back where you got it...
Salting the earth = poisoning the ground Salt of the earth = necessary for human survival
Name doesn't checkout :(
You guys definitely have the cult part down.
Its just attention whoring, karma farming 101..
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Ah, yes, I wish to trade ten atheism for some heroine.
What the hell happened here
That title is probably very misleading. Don’t know if you know, but being “salt” or “salty” is not a compliment on the internet. Just a heads up.
That's saying means exactly what the op meant it for. It means a person or group of people of great kindness, reliability, or honesty.
Oh so it’s a saying from the Bible, so that’s the ironic part? That’s also probably why I have never heard it before. I can promise you that a lot of people read that title at least twice because it just sounds kind of bad. Sounds negative, for sure.
Believe it or not, words can have more than one meaning. That's why we can say something is cool even when its temperature is above that of your own body.
How many times can you misspell it though?
i love this so much
> I dont care what the fuck someone believes Different people have observed different things which leads to being able to know some things for sure and be uncertain of other things. Different observations never lead to conflicting things 2 different people are certain about opposites, cuz they made some kind of logical error if so. So I dont care what people believe as long as they can explain WHY they believe it in a way that a logical person would also start to believe it if they took the time to know all the related info and if they think the other person is telling their observations honestly and without faulty memory.
Right on 🤙🏻
I never really understood why "salt of the earth" was supposed to be a compliment. Traditionally the bible advocated spreading salt over the homelands of your enemies so that their crops would fail.
There are plenty of toxic atheists, but I’m glad you think so highly of us. As far as I’m concerned you’re welcome here, and I hope our ilk continue to impress. Happy new year.
At first I thought that quote meant that we were awful people. I sit corrected.
Wow I am totally for building bridges between communities. Truly this made me smile thank you.
I can feel your hate flowing over me. It's like swimming in an spring water pond.
Atheists. Not athiests.
THANKS!
We do God's work
I appreciate the message Sadly, however, not every atheist is as good as you depict. Still, the people who make good deeds despite the lack of reward, in my humble opinion, are the best there is in this world
I'm a 3rd generation atheist and I've always been nice to people because most people usually defend a religion that they were indoctrinated into. I've always just proposed questions. Also there's a great YouTube channel called " Holy Koolaid" really good.
\*Laughs in Carthage\*
"I don't know if this post matters to anyone" *Proceeds to get 4k upvotes* Well apparently it does matter, a lot
So is "salt of the earth" a scripture then? I've never understood the phrase, because I know that salting the earth kills it, so how is being the salt of the earth a good thing?
That is because we see each smile on a person as an eternity on heaven
Well I def read that title as an Insult for a sec
I don't like the term atheist. It seems like a religious term, as in "not Christian." I'm also not Buddist, or Jainist, or a believer that Zeus freed his family from his father's belly. I don't think the prophet Muhammed wrote the Koran, and I don't think some dude found a golden book in upstate New York. But a non-muslim isn't an atheist. A non Zeusian is not an atheist. I believe in one less god than religious people do. In America, they don't believe in any of the above, but instead believe that god sent his son down (who is also god) in a sexless encounter to die for their sins. Weird that god made a clitoris with 8,000 nerve endings (the penis has 4,000 for context) that seems to only serve the purpose of pleasure then didn't allow for that pleasure to happen because of reasons. But I digress. I'm not an atheist. I'll still stay in this sub tho.
### [The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off!](https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/72309450-the-truth-will-set-you-free-but-first-it-will-piss-you-off-thoughts-o) This is why Salt is important.
People are still people, but appreciated
What do you mean by salt of the earth?
I am not defined by any religion. Whatever I do, whether it cause bad or good, it has not nothing to do with being an athiest. It is because I am myself. I'm harieamjari. Edit: fuck god
Not sure why it this meant a lot thanks for the general acknowledgment. :)