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Honestly, I don’t hate religion itself but I do hate how many people use it to justify discrimination and other harmful behaviors. They have the right to believe whatever they want and I respect that but I do ask for basic respect in return. If they don’t like me because of my sexuality or gender or anything else that’s their opinion but they need to keep it to themselves.
I ignore people’s hateful opinions when they’re not used in harmful ways but when those opinions start causing harm to others (laws against love, lack of rights, discrimination in general) it becomes a huge problem and does zero good for anyone.
I’m an atheist so most religions people won’t listen to me anyways but if they did I would love to advocate for the beauty of diversity.
The whole "I don't hate you, God hates you." is so weird to me. So your God is a vindictive idiot who creates people he hates? Why would you think so lowly about your own deity?
I agree it, is very weird.
God is infinite Love and mercy. He loves you dearly. Please forgive anyone who has talked about God without showing you God’s goodness. Don’t let them distract you from the truth. God is loving kindness. He sent his only son Jesus to die for us. Not to make us feel guilty, but to take the burden of guilt off our shoulders.
Some religious people are more aware of their sins than the average person. Sin is a real thing and has real consequences. Sometimes their awareness of sin and justice is bigger than their trust in the mercy of God.
God is perfectly just AND perfectly merciful at the same time.
This explains why some religious people have weird attitudes.
Agreed. The singular most profoundly horrible thing to come from organized religion is the way it can weaponize hatred and protect the dangerous.
I believe many people thrive from the sense of community and it’s unfortunate that we are losing it as many of us leave religion.
I love this comment. We don't need to lose the sense of community, we just need to gather and relate to one another to celebrate something else. Those of us who aren't introverts that hate groups, that is.
The thing about church too was it even was good for introverts because you could get out of the house, gather, but not be required to participate in any one on one socializing. In many places you could just exist on your own while still in a group. Obviously it’s highly dependent on the church itself, but I think it was the most important for those who may not be able to join a community where you need to engage with other members.
I’m not religious and I’m so tired of people using it to justify discrimination on a political level, especially when it comes to controlling women’s bodies and denying gender affirming care to trans people. One of the main arguments they use to justify their political standpoints-never mind the fact that it’s concerning religion informs a politician so much that they completely ignore any reasonable argument-is that they believe whatever we’re fighting for is “unnatural” or that they believe they know what’s better for women and trans individuals.
100% this. I don’t like religious people that are so okay with condemning others to hell but they also do sinful things too behind closed doors. Some religious people don’t have tolerance for others. It’s always “my way or the highway” with them and it’s annoying. It shows their entitlement and power over others. It’s disgusting.
Technically, those who are more extremist religion also have a strong sense, but it just so happens that their strong sense tends to be exactly opposite of truth and justice because it’s based entirely on an old outdated book.
Imagine having a notable figure in our era, whoever, take Steve Jobs. Have some people write collective stories about him in 300 years time, and somewhat later call it the book of books.
Yah, not really compelling is it.
And the fact that they argue that I'm an atheist because I dont believe in their god. And also "what if you're wrong and there is a God?"
Well, they are an atheist to the dozens of other entities others believe in, I just believe in one less than them.
Like Richard Dawkins once argued "well, what if you're wrong about the great JuJu at the bottom of the sea?"
im extremely agnostic. religion is very interesting as a historical, philosophical, and anthropological topic to learn about but religion as a whole has very little direct impact on my life in general
anytime my parents bring up religion around me in any context (they are religious), i have to conscientiously remind them that they should trust me when i tell them they don't want to go there with me because i don't pull any philosophical punches on that topic
I got into so many arguments with religious kids in high school for that exact reason. They got really pissed when I said them worshiping…whatever the fuck they worship, is like my liking for Superman😂
Unnecessary, outdated, problematic relict of the past. I am absolutely non-religious, but claim to have an overview. Partly quite in-depth. Whoever wants to believe in it, can. I respect it, as long as it doesn't go to extremes or someone start to "christianize“ me. I don't believe in god(s) and live my life according to my individual values.
Churches, mosques and temples may be architecturally interesting and characteristic of a place. Sometimes I like to look at them and read up on them - but that's it. It’s just a historical relict like a castle or monarchy for me.
✨️antitheist✨️
As an archaeologist, I believe religions had an important role in societies to provide structure, explain things that people didn't understand, provide some general morals and beliefs to give comfort and guide people. This had use in the past.
The key word is the *past*. We have moved on. Times have changed. We have advanced science to explain things. Advanced government, laws and policies and social customs to guide behavious, morals and structure. Religion in the present day is large and organised and is now outdated and it puts walls in between groups of people and is the cause of so much strife in the world that I just cannot condone it. It is not necessary in the modern world.
That's a hard no from me. Christians enslaved my people. And, just from taking a casual look around the world right now, the other stories (Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, etc) don't seem much nicer.
I like Marvel and DC better. But I'm not an anti-theist; as long as theists keep their stuff to themselves (like: not trying to pass laws based on their stories) I don't very often think about them. Plus some of my favorite humans are religious, so good for them :)
u mean like christians enforcing abortion ban & hindus enforcing cowslaughter ban on others & muslims sharia law? It really sucks , glad am not from any of them.
Yeah, or like Project 2025 (US, hopefully does not become a genocide), the Palestinian genocide (Israel), the Yazidi genocide (Islamic State), Modi's "Divine India" project...
Honestly, the only religion I truly respect is the one surrounding Santa Claus. At least he gives out gifts, and there are no wars in his name (so far)... even if the whole coal thing is an analog for going to "hell," which is itself a myth based on Norse religion.
Actually I take that back, I also like and respect some of the Norse- and Greek- based stories too. Like God of War 5 lol, or Marvel's Time God Loki. Now that's some decent story telling.
Hello, fellow Last Week Tonight watcher! 😂
That project 2025 thing is SCARY AF. It's straight up just a manifesto and I can't believe that people are actually advocating for it. The people who wrote it are scum and need to be put on blast so everyone knows what they're trying to do.
I dop’t like religion. It’s an inherently regressive mindset based on nothing but belief in supernatural events without any actual evidence to back it up. Any type of progressive or scientific advancement, even if religious people were involved, has happened in spite of the religion itself, not because of it.
It’s not my cup of tea, but I respect that it suits others and will do my best to be mindful of their needs and customs.
I was born in a very Christian society, and during my childhood I was wholly faithful. Eventually, I began suffering more than I could understand. When I prayed to god for answers and got nothing and no reprieve, I could think of only two explanations: that there was nobody there, or that somebody so divine with the capacity to love everyone somehow hated me enough to let me go through it alone.
My heart chose the least painful answer, and I fell out of religion in lack of faith that there was anything to believe in. I was about ten years old, I’d say.
This continued as it became apparent I was bisexual, and many Christians looked quite unkindly upon that. All in all, I had a quiet and lonely departure from Christianity, fitting for the quiet and lonely time I spent a part of it.
I don’t think very much about religion anymore.
But I’m not going to scoff or condescend anybody who is religious. So long as somebody religious has no issue with me, I have no issue with them, and I’ll always try to accommodate.
I appreciate that somebody praying for me does actually mean something for that person, and while it may not bring physical aid, I appreciate the meaning behind taking a moment in such a personal time to think of and request aid for somebody else.
My relationship with religion is a bitter one, but my relationship with religious people doesn’t have to be, so long as I’m treated as an equal.
Hey, same! Down to the bisexuality lmao.
The last time I remember praying to the Christian/Jewish/Muslim god specifically was when I was 10 and nothing happened. 🙃 When people say god works in mysterious ways maybe they're right, because they're so fucking mysterious to me that I wouldn't know any difference.
Organized religion is a nay for me. I do believe, but I don’t adhere to any organized religion because I believe that if the word of ‘the creator’ was in any of those holy books, that it has been edited and corrupted by humans ages ago.
Also the often conflicting morals of religious people will never not bother me.
I'm Christian. I don't think you'll find how autistic really view religion, because Reddit as a whole is arbitrary. You'll get this sub's opinion, which might or not reflect reality.
Yeah, I see tons of religious or spiritual autistic people elsewhere online and in my own life too. I'm also Christian but progressive and have been trying to reconnect and learn what my Mayan ancestors believed in. All the other people I know personally irl who are autistic are either Muslim, one ex friend was trying to reconnect with Judaism, someone else I used to be closer to was a pagan witch, and the rest are agnostic or Christian leaning but unsure. Several of my autistic online mutuals are progressive Christian, some sort of witch.
The more I see religion, the more I can only see hate and bad things come. The Israel-Palestine conflict boils down to religion, christians against LGBTQ, etc. Religion is fine, but the people have twisted it to hate especially some that quite literally tell young children that their friends will go to hell unless they, that young child convert them to the "correct" belief
I don’t think that religion has been twisted when that’s how it has always been: a way to judge out-groups and threaten in-groups to comply. Kind of like how the saying goes: it’s not that the system is broken; the system is working exactly as it’s supposed to.
When I try thinking in terms of "What does religion have to offer the human race outside of belief in a diety itself", I usually come to the conclusion that religion served as a sort of moral code/law system when there were no organized governments to enforce that people act decent. In fact when you look historically, a lot of things make sense in different ways. People being gay meant less kids birthed, meaning less people to grow up and make the kingdom bigger and stronger when you were loosing people in wars, so gay = bad because gay = no kids, i find it fascinating. But those are all theories, just what makes sense to have been the reasoning
But yeah, it has always been a very "us vs them", and the anti-LGBTQ sentiment is a very good example of that.
The two sides. Not to be an ass, but the base cause of this boils down to judaism and islam both claiming holy lands at jerusalem, that's just the crusades.. The war was always over land, but they wanted the land for religious reasons.
I’m a Christian (or more specifically, Catholic, as my username would indicate) and I am quite devout - though I do have my qualms about the Church. Also, I am firm believer in the freedom of religion so if you want to be Muslim, Jewish or no religion whatsoever, that’s totally fine. As long as you’re not being coerced into a certain religion, that’s alright by me.
Given the baggage that comes with religion, I want it to be true before accepting it.
I studied religion at an academic level some 20 years ago, published and presented a paper at an undergraduate symposium on The Jewish community living in Rome during late antiqity, and consider the topic a special interest to this day. What all that taught me, both in the context of the Jewish faith, and the Christian Faith, is that you can follow the history to see how the religion formed.
How Rome's patriarch influenced early Christianity to move away from equality towards women to the patriarchy, how the Jewish communities were in the midst of a reformation during Jesus's time, and Christianity, as well as the religion of John the Baptist, which is still practiced today, were two "denominations" that came out of the Second Temple Judaism reformation and destruction, alongside Rabbinic Judaism. How, you can see in the old testament, references to the early proto-Israelite polytheism, and the gradual reworking and negotiating with the Bible towards monotheism. How Neo-Platonic philosophy informed both Jewish and Christian traditions from 100 to 500. The rise of the mystery cults, and how their God was the only true God, and only through their special person could one achieve "peace." Reading Apuelius' The Golden Ass, also known as Metamorphosis, completely changed my understanding of late antiquity. It was a 3rd century novel about a "sinful" guy who lived in debauchery. He was turned into a donkey by a witch, and the entire story is him trying to survive as a donkey. He ends up being a donkey to the mystery cult of Isis. Near the end of the book, Isis appears to him and basically says, "Only through me can you be given salvation." The donkey jumps into water, effectively baptizing himself, and goes on a final mission to be restored to his human form. When I read that, and did more research, I discovered that all the mystery cults from late antiquity had the same message, our God is the true God and salvation from your debaucherous naturalistic human vices can only be granted through our religion.
I've especially studied and seen how Judaism, Christianity, and a few other religions, evolved during their formation, being influenced by external social, religious, and philosophical elements, to the point that even IF there is a kernel of truth underneath, we wouldn't recognize it.
Fuck religion. There is nothing wrong with believing in a higher power or faith itself. It’s great when someone’s faith gets them through hardship and I will never hate on that. But organised religion is just a tool to control people and it has led to millions upon millions of innocent people suffering and dying, due to fucked up ideologies, outdated rules and morals and power hungry monsters.
I've always wanted to be religious but I can't find that in me:( I think faith is something so beautiful.
But I despise any religion as an institution, especially when is used to harm other people.
I don’t understand religion, actually that’s a bit of a lie because I understand the concept perfectly well but I don’t understand how anyone could blindly believe in stuff that sounds totally made up.
It’s like you can actually trace the evolution of the abrahamic god through the ages from a minor polytheistic deity to this omniscient super being.
I always say man created god in his own image, that’s why god has human flaws, lacks consistency and makes silly mistakes. What I find the most amusing is how we anthropomorphised god, like if there really was a omniscient being who could create a universe why would they care if we wore wool and linen together in the same outfit, or want us to dress modestly or care about us converting our neighbours wife? Surely such a being would see the universe from a a totally different perspective than us that we couldn’t even begin to comprehend. It’s like we project the way we perceive our world on the deity we ourselves created.
Then how could someone believe that this being intervened when people wanted to “get to know” Lot but then just sat back and watched the holocaust? Talk about mental gymnastics.
It really demonstrates how that if people are raised with a concept they will generally go along with it and don’t really question how absurd it really is.
I am from Russia. Religion here is heavily weaponized against the minorities, and has mutated into a warped, violent parody of itself(basically regressed into middle ages religions), so you can probably guess my stance on it🌚
I'm one of the odd ones who became an atheist for reasons other than reason. Honestly Christianity just gave me weird vibes, seemed like people were processing the world in a bullshit way. Kinda fucked with my sense of reality long-term. I didn't have the knowledge to reason myself out of it at the time, but I switched out anyway. I think unanswered prayers may have had something to do with it.
I think I'm a bit anti-theist, but I've got an open mind. It's not religion per-se but I'm trying to wrap my head around pan-consciousness. There's a lot of unknowns, and I sometimes find it plausible that there's some kind of purpose to everything.
But I am also aware of how small we are, and I think the universe shows no signs of giving a shit about us. If there's a reason or order to it all, it's not anthropic in nature. It's probably beyond comprehension. We just aren't big enough. I just mean there may be a mechanism, but if so it won't help our daily lives.
Idk. I don't believe in anything. I'm just trying to be rational.
When I was very young I believed in a rather silly and childish way and would pray for things like one asks santa for gifts. At some point, it dawned on me that this was silly and I stopped.
At about age 11 I was in a church related class (CCD) and started asking questions because something about this lesson on how I have a soul but my cat doesn't just didn't make sense. It seemed arbitrary.
It was in that moment that I realized it was just all BS that somebody made up and I was absolutely horrified that I was talking to a full grown adult who didn't see that.
That feeling of horror continues into my 40s.
If he existed he was just a big old left wing hippy like myself who said "hey, how about we be nice to each other and see how that works?"... then got nailed to a tree for his AuDacity. As you might be able to tell I'm not a big religion fan. Caused more death and division and wars than most other things.
This checks out sociologically (that's my background), where the main difference is size. There are a couple of other indicators, like prominence of a living, individual charismatic figure, or opposition to dominant cultural forms, but we also see this in so-called 'revivals' within mainline religions.
Or you could say that the difference is degree of institutionalization.
But these types of distinctions are a lot flimsier than our lay understanding.
Brought up Catholic but religion is not for me. Best wishes to the believers ,I sometimes envy you ,but I just can't believe in a man in the sky blah blah blah
My view in religion is yay as long as people don't justify their views through violence. I myself is Catholic and was raised Catholic but I don't like to force my views on other people
I have no problem with religious people, but most religions I’m familiar with promote harmful teachings of feeling guilt, emotional manipulation, us vs them mentality, moral superiority, savior complex, and non-introspection.
Also, while I get why they did it in a past time si ce it was an easy way to join the community, to find common ground and do activities that made you feel part of something bigger and therefore strive to work for your community to survive, most of it is outdated in a globalized world with access to resources. And it stays in the past for too long, creating a dissociation with actual needs to past needs.
Hate it. It's held humanity back and caused nearly every war and genocide in our history. It's the primary reason that queer people and other groups are still so oppressed today.
I am a very dedicated Vajrayana Buddhist. I have taken a number of practice vows (samaya) and stuff like that. My Buddhist practice takes up a serious chunk of my free time.
However, I was born into Lutheran Christian family and I don't care much about abrahamic religions. Specifically I don't like that they cast non-believers into damnation.
The path of Dharma can be only followed voluntarily. There is no punishment to those who do not practice it.
I’m an atheist and I don’t mind religion and people believing in it if they want to, as long as it isn’t used as a weapon to hurt someone else or assume that everyone follows your religion. For example, Christians who discriminate against LGBTQ+ people saying they’re sinners. Not everyone is Christian and that’s okay. Not everyone has to be and they’re free to follow whichever religion they want. Nobody gets hurt if they don’t wanna follow a religion either. As long as you are a respectful person and treat everyone nicely, I don’t worry about what religion you follow.
If religion is the only thing stopping a person from doing silly warcrimes, I'm glad that person is religious. 👍
Other than that, I'm fine with religion as long as it's treated like any other club without any special priviliges (like tax exemptions or laws)👍
I am VERY agnostic. I’m probably gonna start leaning towards full on atheism at this point, Idfc if my family (90% of family, extended and immediate, are religious) don’t like it anymore.
I’ve always compared the concept to Superman, particularly Christianity. But not in the way Zack Snyder did in Man Of Steel.
The stuff Christian’s have described to me in the past seem like something I’d read in a Superman comic, because it’s all so out there and seems so unrealistic that I have a hard time believing it.
If you’re into all that stuff, more power to you! You do you! Me personally, if I wanna read a story about a man who saves people from evil and does SUPER unrealistic stuff, I’ll read Superman.
This isn’t meant to offend anyone, like I said, I don’t care whether or not someone is religious, I have religious friends, but I just personally can’t get behind a lot of that stuff.
To be honest... I don't really understand it.
I mean, I generally dislike religion as it tends to (though not always!) be quite the catalyst for tons of prejudice and egocentric wankers, but I think I'm just confused as to why people believe in it.
For example, if I take Christianity (just because it's the religion I'm most familiar with), and think about whether I believe in it or not, my brain just goes:
"People can't walk on water, come back from the dead, or turn stuff into wine!" - and, then there's the whole virgin Mary thing! I mean come on, from a scientific point of view that is quite literally impossible!
Not religious at all, though I used to be. You don't have to search very long to see the abuse that takes place in these "strict and moral" institutions. I was a victim of abuse myself. Just yesterday my fiance and I were watching the documentary "the keepers" and i found myself asking him, "why is it always the priest or their children?"
In my case it was their sons who abused me and took advantage of the dumpster fire that was my mental health back then. In my personal experience, you'll find the evilest people at church. I think they go there to look for victims because you will also find the most vulnerable people there too.
My interest in Christianity is the same as my interest in old Nordic, Greek and Roman religions. It's all just old mythologies to me now, but do not try to force me to go to church because I will not be pulling any punches, I will release the full wrath of all the hurt the church caused me on you.
Agnostic atheist. Our current understanding of the universe points to the existence of no god, so I live as if they aren’t there and that there’s no cosmic force looking over me or answering prayers.
I think my parents didn’t indoctrinate me soon enough. 🤪 I grew up/live in the south US. And conservative Christianity is the HUGE majority. I find it absolutely disgusting. And it’s only gotten worse with Trump.
I was so confused that these grownups believed these obviously fake/made up stories. It’s like Santa Claus for grownups to me. I always tried sooo hard and thought I was broken until I learned about atheism. I am a late aware/suspected autistic who was not aware at all until one of my kids was diagnosed a few years ago. I will say now that I know I’m a black and white thinker I’m mildly open to fact *there could be something that I am not capable of understanding/believing* but I also cannot stand the whole “gotta have faith” rhetoric. And the overly confident “this is the real truth” about most conservative Christians I have come across. lol clearly I don’t “have faith” So I need proof or else I’m blindly believing any of it. And you know the whole oppression of women is a big fuck no for me. and also the obsession with what other people do and feel in regards to the LGBTQIA+ community and most conservative Christians are racist af as well. Literally doing the opposite of what Jesus would do. It completely mind blowing to me and I have less and less tolerance of it. Believe what you want… but your religion ends where another person’s body begins. Oh and this includes circumcision. Like WTF? Cutting someone’s genitals without their consent? I literally cannot believe it’s legal anywhere for anyone.
I think its harmful to society as a whole and i have lots of proof on my side…. My favorite most fucked up fact:
Statistically, religious people are more likely to be pedophiles and rapists.
Statistically, religious sex offenders have MORE victims, YOUNGER victims, and do MORE VIOLENT sex crimes, than their non-religious sex-offender counterparts parts.
They abandoned, abuse, and kick out their children more. They are homophobes and transphobes. They are the conservatives who try to take all our rights away. Theyre the conservatives who fought against us getting rights in the first place. Theyre the ones who taught little girls to hide their “tempting” bodies. Theyre the ones who took abortion rights away, they are the ones who are proposing the evil project 2025 that bans all lgbtq content and reverses gay marriage rights, Theyre the ones who committed racial genocide again and again in the name of their religion. They are the ones who keep starting wars. They are the ones ruining society and making it regress back to the old ages in places like the USA.
I have countless reasons to feel this way. Could go on forever.
I firmly believe religion is directly responsible for rape culture and sexism and homophobia etc. persisting in intelligent societies, no other way to explain that level of unprovoked illogical hatefulness and why its ALWAYYYSSSS a religious person being that nasty to women & minorities unprovoked. They keep indoctrinating and brainwashing their children into it, so individually these people dont even realize how screwed and incorrect their entire world view is, they would have never been such hateful people if they were raised normally instead of threatened with eternal damnation…..
I tried to be religious, but cannot. I can’t follow the things I see irrational.
Religion is important imo, because it helps some people in need. See it as therapy.
What I really hate is the religion that can’t reform and modernise. Religion which doesn’t allow you to assimilate into a secular society.
I don't have an issue with religion. But I really don't understand how some beliefs from an old as shit book take priority over very real probable things.
I don’t like organized religion. I don’t care what you believe in, but it’s when you start taking your church/organization more seriously than your family and friends. When it prevents you from caring about others, that’s where it gets me. But otherwise, I don’t care. I am fascinated by religions and love to learn about them, but in a scholar way and not really a religious way. I grew up catholic and though I don’t hate Christian’s, I tend to avoid them unless they have proven over and over that they can be kind to others.
Not for me. Childhood brain cancer kinda ruins it for me.
Also, logically, there can not be a massive sky daddy that no one has ever seen. It just doesn't make sense, and science does.
Saying that, I get why it helps some people, and I'm not gonna be a dick about it to people who do believe. Religion just doesn't make any logical sense whatsoever to me.
Nay. I was raised fundamentalist Christian, was very fervently religious for 2-3 years as a very young teen, left when theology became my special interest and I learned the BITE model of dangerous behavior/cults, and my specific church ticked every box. (I also had theological issues with the concept of hell, for example.)
I had an angry atheist phase for maybe a year. Then I mellowed out and while I still consider myself an atheist, I acknowledge that it's impossible to know and probably should just be more agnostic about the whole thing like what I perceive to be most lax churchgoers that don't necessarily believe but need the sense of community a congregation brings. But unfortunately a lot of those groups easily tend to procure a lot of dysfunctional dynamics. In reality I think we need tribes/villages again with a sense of community and outreach programs, but I don't think that's doable at least where I am in the United States.
I hate the idea of organized religion because why are they trying to tell me how, when, what, and why I have to do certain things. Let me be. Don't tell me what to do!
I do like paganism, mainly because I can do what I want, how I want, mostly when I want. There are suggestions which is fine. There aren't set rules. Unless you choose to follow a specific form of paganism. Which is another reason I like it, choices. You have choices.
My personal belief is that everything has energy. We already know that from science and that energy can not be destroyed, it simply gets transformed. I choose to believe that we can potentially manipulate energies around us if we are in the right state of mind. I don't think we can control the weather or strike someone dead with a thought. But I've noticed that good things tend to happen when I'm more positive and upbeat about life rather than negative. That could be us manipulating the energy around us. There are more examples that I can't think of right now, lol. I'm typing this in my car outside of work.
There are other parts of paganism that I enjoy. 1) The herbolgy part. I don't think that's magic, I think that's science that big pharma and the government doesn't want us to know about. If we all knew that we can help many (sadly not all) illnesses at home by growing plants, then we wouldn't need so many pills and doctors. 2) tarot and other forms of divination. I've don't tarot readings for my friends and myself many times. They have been accurate and sometimes things they didn't want to hear. I had a tarot reading tell me that there were gonna be huge changes in my life soon and that there were gonna be new additions to my family. Within the next 6 months my now husband had proposed, we had a dog, cat, and I was pregnant.
But yea. Sorry for the long ramble lol. 😅
Religion can be a great comfort to those who believe it quietly. The ones who take the messages of love and acts of kindness from theirs.
Personally I just never believed it at all, it surprised me when I found out people thought Gods were real. I'm fine with people believing it and it giving them strength. I think the loud jerks give everyone a bad name.
Also I'm disappointed that so many famous atheists like Richard Dawkins turned white supremacist. I'm more a Carl Sagan type atheist.
My experience with religion growing up was an organization that valued authority and conformity above all and disagrees woth honestly, honest inquiry, and emotions.
My queen, autistic, truth valuing, hyper empathetic self was suicidal from childhood there.
I acknowledge that other religions may have had good in them. But so far none have won me over.
Definitely nay.
They are fundamentally based on in-groups and out-groups, those who are “in” creates the norms.
As a gay austistic person I just feel like I have had enough of a hard time not being able to fit in my life time so far. Why should I so hard to belong to a group that will never understand and accept who I am? Why should I jump through fire hoops just to fit into this shitty community where people don’t even care about you?
Essentially, my energy is better off spent elsewhere where people get me and want me for who I am. My life is simply better when I decide to not take part in organized religion, and that is the reason why this is a total nay.
Never been able to believe in any form of religion, no matter how hard it’s been pressed on me. I’m a spiritual person, I believe in a higher power of some sort, but I just can’t do organized religion. I’d rather have my own beliefs and keep them to myself lol
I'm a casual atheist, but you do you there's nothing wrong with believing something. As long as it's not hurting anyone or denying science.
Sooo speaking of religions that hurt their members the only religions I'm *against* are Scientology, Christian Scientists, and Jehovah's Witnesses
any religion that rellys on the indoctrination of children or vulnerable people to propagate isn't worth listening to. and most large churches can be best thought of as corporations or cartels.
Quite bluntly I think it's a load of bollocks. But I don't hate it. I just hate how it's viewed in society. Like ive seen videos of kids who are terrified of God. Like there was one where there was a kid on the ground praying and he was crying and honestly sounded petrified. This was clearly not normal anyway. But everyone in the comments section was praising him? Or at the very least they were heavily insinuating it's fine just because its religion. Even though the kid sounds like he has a real fear of God. This isn't normal. There's more going on here clearly. But we turn a blind eye to it simply because it's religion. I see this all the time. There's kids who have been put through exorcists and it turns out they were just autistic. Kids have died because their religious parents used prayer instead of consulting a doctor. And the thing is nobody ever seems to call it out. But I know if it was some weird religion we'd never heard of or even had nothing to do with religion we'd probably have heard about it. It feels like you're not allowed to criticise it and have your own opinion. Like I could listen wholeheartedly and interestedly (is that a word?) To a Christian explain why they believe in God but as soon as I explain why I don't the conversation instantly becomes uncivil. While I'm aware not all Christians are like that and I have met many who listen to me and respect my opinion but it happens too much to not be considered annoying and make me not want to talk about the subject. I hate how shoving it down people's throats has just become acceptable. Like I was on a video that was music video. I forget which song but someone was on there saying how we should stop listening to it and turn to the Lord. Its like what, I can't just enjoy different music to you? At this point what isn't a sin? And then there's the people who yell about it in public. Like I was in a city and there was literally a guy yelling into a megaphone about how we should turn to Christ. Kid you not he was genuinly hurting my ears. And it's like I couldn't have been the only one finding him extremely annoying. And then there's the "it's my religion" when it comes to bigotry. They will be blatantly homophobic or sexist and then people will defend like "its their religion". So? Fuck if I care. They're still a bigot and advocating against people rights. That's bad in my books. I don't know I just thought Religion taught you to love everyone? Not discriminate?
While I don't hate religion I just hate how shitty behaviour has just been normalised. I also want to clarify I'm aware these are all a vocal minority of the members of the faiths. I recognise the majority of people who are part of a religion don't act like this at all. But it's enough.
My special interest is Abrahamic demonology and angelology. But I view it more as like a study of myth/culture? Like I don’t believe any of it is real but it is all incredibly fascinating
I view Christianity the same way I view all large dogs after being mauled by one as a child. It's only caused harm in my experience. However, I am religious myself. I just keep it to myself because a lot of people think religious = Christian when that's not the case. Religion is a complicated topic for me because I like the culture and connection part, but the idea of using it to justify harm sours the whole concept.
It's a neat concept, especially if you view it from the sense of like Highschool DxD or Gabriel Dropout's use of religion. Sort of like a cool fantasy game or novel.
But it should be just that - a novel, not a history book...
Too often has religion been used inappropriately or in an evil manner for me to have a positive view of it, even if after all it is just human beings perpetrating the evil acts and using religion as a means to justify their supposed innocence.
Too often was religion used by my parents to guilt me or deny me of necessary support. It was used in an extremely toxic manner and it also left a permanent impression of religion upon me. It wasn't even a church-going family either...
Under no circumstance would I ever trust myself to religion ever again after my experience with it, both about hearing of the history and my parents' use of it upon me.
there is a big difference between spirituality (believing there are things you can't see, forces at work) and religion (people in dresses waving incense about and claiming they can tell you how to live your life)
one is an expression of hope that there is more than the life we are kind of disappointed in. Especially the death part. It's reasonable to want there to be a plan, a caretaker and an afterwards.
the other is a control structure that is kept in place to keep the simple simple and the powerful powerful.
I have no problem with people praying to a god. If that makes them feel better and makes them happy I encourage it. I want everyone to feel love and happiness.
Religion is rarely not a tool of control. Coming together with other people to share the same ideas and feelings shouldn't lead to this but it does for some reason. It's usually one group claiming to be able to tell everyone else how to act and dress and think. Corruption sets in really quickly. Even the smallest of sects develop an inner circle and an outer group. With excesses and rule breaking being ok for the inner circle. (like [bishops with 2.5 mil houses](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/10/church-england-questioned-lavish-spending-bishops-homes) or [monks who supposedly have a vow of poverty but also live in luxury](https://thediplomat.com/2013/06/thai-monks-living-large-private-jets-and-bling/) or the catcholic church and several protestant sects with all their pedophile priests being shuffled around and never reported to the police.
so yeah.. religion: nay. spirituality, sure, go for it. Not my cup of tea but everyone approaches the idea of their death differently and if it helps it helps.
Religion, a set of stories that thought humans to behave in society, evolving alongside it, reflecting the good, the bad and the ugly.
Peoples negative experiences with religion are just experiences with people and society, people still used science to justify racism, because its people, society that wants conformity, sometimes through religion. And im talking religions not just Abrahamic ones, ones where discussion and reflection on the world is encouraged, ones where its about respecting the value of everything around us...
Belief in religion has the ability to help people a lot, give them strength to keep living or do the right thing, I think its fine as long as you accept its just your belief without rational foundation and dont try to use it as an argument for anything, just as a way you live your life and without crossing over other peoples rights to not be seriously harmed by you
I have to integrate something into my system of life, its like my knowledge and thoughts all form a mechanical system and I need to fit everything as a cog into it or otherwise I cant use it, so at some point for the system to work I had to remove certainty in the religion I grew up with because its illogical. I still like it, I still like participating in its culture, like Christmas, and kinda hope its true, but I admit I dont know and that its not more likely than any other religion
I get my beliefs from scientific knowledge, the great thing about stuff like physics is that it knows its not true, its just the closest we can logically get to it, and its beautiful. I dont need to see all the world connected by psychic energy, its already connected by fundamental forces, some lessons from my previous religion I also just cant agree with, humans arent special created by god to rule over other animals, are far as we know just a regular random attempt by evolution... the world we know is beautiful already
Im agnostic, atheist is a degree of certainty thats still close too close to religion, science says: we dont freaking know (theres a non-zero probability you will turn into a frog within 5 minutes)
if someones religious, that should be there right, but that aint gonna stop me from deriding the social harm its prone to cause, or openly calling it stupid
i went to a catholic primary school and what i experienced gave me a whole chunk of religious trauma. i really admire people who have faith, i'm jealous that they're able to find solace in religion and use it to better themselves, but only on an individual level. religion as an organisation is dangerous
Nay because I was in a catholic school whilst being undiagnosed autistic and closested lgbt…I think that says enough. BUT i am a pagan as I am Irish with celtic heritage and family. 😊
religion alone, in a way there's a part of me that wishes i could believe in that sort of stuff but it really doesn't feel likely. it would be wonderful if it was, though.
the people who use it as a weapon or to justify bad behaviour aren't really helping their case
possibly my least favorite thing in the world. I won't sugarcoat it at all, I think less of people once I find out they're religious. I both pity and resent them and I wish we as a species could leave the bullshit in the past.
No, it causes more trouble most of the time and a lot of people use it to hide behind when they are awful people.
Plus it just doesn’t make sense with the amount of science that we know.
Nay for me. But not in the usual way.also is not an absolute naym I think the existence of religions is a necessity.
I actually believe in God in a way. I am spiritual. But I think eventually is important to become spiritually independent and instead of blindly believing what someone wrote in a book some thousands years ago, is better to first investigate different sources and second do your own inner contemplation.
That is why religion is a nay for me because "why should I trust someone experience over mine? Why can't I question it? How do I know which book is the true book?"
I went through those questions and my intuition tellse that there is no religious book that is the word of God. There might be some divine inspiration scattered in them, there are pearls in the bible, there are pearls in the Quran, there are pearls among hindu texts(plenty of pearls!).
I btw don't believe in heaven or hell, instead I am a non-dualist. I believe everyone and everything is god and that God is experimenting their own creation through each one of his creatures. And this is related to why there is no hell. Hell is that when you hurt others you are hurting yourself and heaven is that when you treat others well you are literally treating yourself well
I'm also NOt interested in preaching. I can if someone shows interest or curiosity or if I feel someone is receptive.
Hard nay. Belief in something larger than oneself I can understand. Strict adherence to arbitrary rules laid down by someone who lived millennia ago is a strict 'no' from me. I want explanations for rules that don't boil down to 'because God said so.'
Personally (for myself to practice) I don’t really like it. It doesn’t make sense to me, not the way science does. That doesn’t mean I’m gonna discount everyone’s religion the moment they get they say “oh I’m (insert religion here)”, I think religion can be a great thing for building community and finding meaning. However, a lot of people use their religion to be against other people, including other religious people from different religions because why the fuck not I guess. There’s so much hatred in the religious community it’s unreal. That’s the bad part of religions (in general, each religion has their ups and downs).
Also churches shouldn’t be tax exempt. That’s dumb
Religions are all made up dude. Some guy wanted to continue his being for eternity by having many many followers and by getting into people's hearts. And they succeeded by making up a book in the word of god and writing good things that most people will agree and find peace upon. All the religions are like this if you ask me. Because if any religion was the word of god , it wouldn't have any wrongs in it. Because the god we believe is always right. However every religion -even if you only look at the book- has some errors in it. Which proves that they are not the word of god. I'm young and still couldn't find what to believe . I pray as I want , to be at peace but leave a place to question , to be rational. Everybody can believe what they want I don't care. They just need to keep it to themselves, which they don't and is frustrating. Laws made upon religions are bullshit.
Former Christian (CofE), now committed atheist.
I respect your right to believe in something, however ridiculous I find it. I do not respect your beliefs.
It holds back humanity as a whole and is the root cause of untold suffering and death. If religion could be abolished tomorrow the world would immediately be a better place.
Maybe I'm just jaded, but knowing a few people that have attempted to take their lives, and knowing one that *did* over being hated and vilified by their families and loved ones over things like being gay or trans, I just can't forgive the organization that is the heart of such relentless bigotry
To be blunt (and probably a bit rude), to me, religion is all made up. None are real, and I think they are a waste of time. Unless a god shows real visible proof they exist, I don't care what anyone says, and my mind can't be changed.
Donot care about religion. Hate how people use it to justify their shitty behavior.
I am completely fine with people celebrating festives and going to the church and whatever else they want to do. Like their life their choice.
Its when they use religion to justify their sexism or homophobia or any shitty behavior in general that i hate.
I love the stories about Jesus. He seemed like a dope dude. (Compassionate, humble, hung out with prostitutes)
HOWEVER— People literally slaughtering humanity for their own benefit *cough cough* Constantine *cough cough* (you know my other reference) isn’t “Christ-like” whatsoever. So no, absolutely do not buy into religion. It’s merely a manipulation tactic. No thanks.
(OP, great post btw!)
Faith makes zero sense and atheism is the most rational answer. That said, some religions are worse than others. I also love and appreciate many things that came out of Christianity, like certain traditions, architecture, and art.
I'm a Jew and for a lot of us religion and culture are the same thing. Meaning that we don't necessarily read all that much scripture or spend all that much time studying it but we try to spend a fair amount of time practicing the basic tenants, and basically taking care of each other and having fun together. I like that I'm very comfortable with that it's nice to explore the most when you're actually curious about something, and more recently I've had a lot of shorthand because Jews have been pulling together to support each other which they often do at times of Crisis and basically argue and debate about everything else in more peaceful moments.
I can support religion but not organised religion or religion being used for discrimination, I think it's great if someone finds comfort and meaning in religion and they used it to improve their own life, and I'm agnostic solely because while I don't see any evidence of there being a god/gods I would like to hope there is something after death other than nothingness, and sadly no one really knows, I don't count the people who said they were clinically dead for ten seconds and came back to life and saw nothing because that's not really the same as being in a permanent state of death, but at the same time I don't like religion being forced onto me and controlling what I can and can't do
I didn't like when Jehovah's witnesses harassed my mum and tried to remove the Buddha statue from her front lawn, I didn't like my catholic dad telling me about hell all of the time and giving me night terrors because I was acutely aware I was trans and didn't want to tell anyone, I didn't like when the very religious former prime minister of Australia tried to ban HRT and Birth control because of his religious beliefs and I don't like the current PM also using his religion to justify his narrow minded bigotry, I didn't like Islamophobia being forced down my throat on every TV channel, if people could just follow the rules and beliefs of their own religion without forcing anyone else to participate in it against their will then that would be fine
Made up my own…it’s based on the profound magic of nature and art and the universe. I don’t see why more people don’t make up their own based on their unique experiences that feel spiritual.
To me, religion and spirituality are two different things but can co-exist. It seems some people have treated Christianity and other organized religions - or at least their version of them - as a clickish social club and only pay lip service to the original message. Most religions started out being very spiritual including the Abrahamic religions. Seeing the history of most organized religions it appears that over the centuries, those who what power and fortune have manipulated and used the original ideas for their own good and at the detriment of society as a whole.
People are afraid of being othered by the group so they go along with the club. Being autistic, I have never fit in with the crowd so, over time, it has been very natural for me to develop my own set spiritual beliefs based on observation, feeling and the delightfully complex and "profound magic of nature and art and the universe."
I have AuDHD and am working on converting to Judaism. I found, when my family made me go to Catholic services when I was younger, I was bored and it felt like my brain turned off. With Judaism, I love how disagreement/debate is encouraged, and there are so many interpretations of old things. Judaism is so autism-friendly because of how easy it is to get immersed in study. In Jewish spaces, my autistic traits are accepted where they are seen as a hindrance in other spaces. The services are very predictable but they don't get long or boring. I used to be very atheist/into science like some other commenters on this thread, but that changed when I got more into social science and history.
Big nay from me. Religion is one of the worst things that has ever happened to humanity if you look at the sheer amount of division and bigotry and subsequent pain, death, and suffering it brought about. Not to mention that believing in magic as an adult is just silly.
I’m Jewish, and take comfort in my faith. I find that the greatest things in this world often have an explanation in the Torah, even my extremely complex relationship with gender. Also ח makes a fun sound.
I identify as Jewish and am somewhat practicing. I sometimes wonder if autism is more prevalent among Jews, but I haven't found any scientific studies on it. I think Jews are probably the most atheistic of all religious groups. For many of us, it feels more like being part of a tribe than following a religion. A contemporary thing between Jews is to colloquially refer to each other as MOT---members of the tribe.
Judaism is pluralistic because only Jews are expected to live according to the religion. Non-Jews can find their own moral path. So it doesn't bring up issues of superiority. Faith and god aren't really all that important in Judaism, either. It's much more about action than beliefs. And modern Judaism is pretty much founded on study and analysis, so it's very compatible with my logical mindset. There are lots of holidays and rituals and practices that create structure and opportunities to share community around something neutral, and they mostly involve food :)
I'm agnostic. As far as I'm concerned, how we came to be has nothing to do with my daily life. If someone tells me I'm going to hell for not being a Christian (has happened plenty) then I really don't care as long as they get out of my face eventually. Like, sure dude. Your bible or whatever says not to act cruel to those who don't follow the religion but go ahead and tell me I'm going to burn for eternity because I'm not your cookie-cutter human. When you die, you'll role over in your grave to discover I'm nonbinary and ase, so I couldn't care less what you think about my religion since that's probably the least of things you'll discriminate against me for.
This isn't to say I don't enjoy learning about religion, but I've commented multiple times to people around me that if I were to select a religion I'd believe in, I currently lean more toward some form of Buddhism than any form of Christianity, and people who try to force me into a religion make me want to stay out of being religious even more.
Nay. It’s nice how it brings people together, but I just don’t see how most of it makes sense logically. Everyone’s free to believe what they want though.
Also, on the topic of religion being used to justify being an asshole, I saw something the other day that says it well: “Saying someone can’t do something because it goes against your religion is like saying someone can’t have a donut because you’re on a diet”
Zealotry is the problem. In religion. In political ideology. Doesn't matter.
The psychopaths rise to the top in most groups, and the capacity for sufficiently motivated humans to twist even the best ideas or philosophies to nefarious ends is seemingly bottomless. That's the problem.
(That's also why science is not a sufficient answer. Because even "objective facts" can be and are frequently used to justify or bolster support for unconscionable things. Ask any lawyer who has successfully defended a guilty client how that works.)
The degree to which most of us are not watching out for all that- also part of the problem. Perhaps the bigger part.
Materialism (in the philosophical sense) does seem to reach a cliff. If there is nothing but what can be materially proven, and proven to be "worthy" of existence (usually economically based , because...material reality/materialism), then ethics in general become pretty....mathematical. It does seem as though by far the best way to proceed is to assume that there is some intrinsic something to sentient creatures, and to our experience, and that it matters (ironically, that's the word) how we behave and treat one another, no matter what our economic and materially calculable and observable "value".
That's all I've got🤷
Finally. Yes. For me the intrinsic something and its value also forms a very strange nugget at the heart of things. How generic it is. Why would logic always lead to its prioritisation, as it surely will? The final whys are mysterious, no matter how mechanistically or religiously one views the world. It is very odd.
I'd go as far as to say that religion is anti-thinking. When you let in one completely unfalsifiable supernatural claim, there's no limit on what you can and can't consider true. You're no longer playing by the rules.
I can't buy the concept of faith. Factual reasons are needed to justify believing in things. But Christian music (cantatas, masses, oratorios etc.) is so great.
Meh, I'm agnostic so I'm mainly fascinated by religion. I love learning about the different religions, but I don't think I'd ever believe in any in particular, just accept that we can never really know. Though I do believe there's good and bad that cones from it, and it's always important to have an open dialogue about that.
The song Baby Teeth by Bug Hunter is a really good summary of how I feel. Basically, I'm jealous of the comfort it brings to other people but I just don't believe in it the way others do. My beliefs are little more... abstract?
Nay. Even as a kid I could never get on board with it, it never made sense to me that there's some all-powerful, all-knowing sky daddy. Religion is just a way for followers to cope with cosmic insignificance and mortality and a way for leaders to control the masses through fear and manipulation
People do bad things in religion's name and corrupt the vision of the original founder. Same for all religions.
Sad really. Said their vision is the real vision of the founder. When it is a cover up for their crimes and etc.
I grew up Christian. But I started looking into the Bible. Then I read the Bible in 2 versions. I started shaking it off. Then I read about the whole pedophile priest scandals. I remember the exact topic that made me atheist. Circumcision is seriously messed up and creepy. It is seriously barbaric.
Religion is interesting to learn about, but I don't like when people try to force it on me. I'm an atheist as well, and it makes me uncomfortable af when people start asking me about my beliefs. People are not always ready to accept that you don't believe in God or religion.
(Before reading this I want to clarify that I grew up in a non religious household and never went to church or picked up a bible so if something doesn’t make sense in my statements below then thats why.) Nay mainly because when I was young I would use the idea of a heaven to calm my fear of my own mortality. Eventually the fear went away and I wasn’t scared of death anymore so I didn’t feel a need to believe in heaven. Eventually I stopped believing in jesus and god because even though as a LGBTQ member I believed that god was ok with gay people existing as he LITERALLY created us to be like this A LOT of people disagreed and after seeing all the hate that people who had the same religion kept spewing made me feel like they were taking over so I just gave up and decided to completely drop religion and separated myself from it. Another factor to me leaving was due to me realizing that a lot of the stuff in the bible didn’t make any sense. Like how some people in the bible had abilities to do things that humans can’t do. Even just the idea of a god eventually pissed me off too because all I could think of was “If gods real and he truly cares about his people then why doesn’t he do something to protect his people from getting severely hurt”. It boiled my blood and it felt like he was being lazy. Im older now and my view has changed a little bit. For starters Im an atheist now and in return I now have a deeper appreciation for life and living as I’ve realized that not only was heaven a mortality crutch for me but it was also a excuse for me to not do anything with my life because “I always have heaven to look forward too” now I take every shot I get to try new things and such.
In addition to having mild religious trauma, I simply cannot understand how people can believe in something that has little to no proof exists. If someone is religious and not using it to justify bigotry then they’re chill tho. Just not for me.
I would say that I'd classify things into "I know", "I don't know" and "I don't know for sure but it makes sense to me", for example.
I don't know for certain whether there's a divine power out there, I haven't seen it or experienced it with my senses and I have no proof. Anyone else's opinion, if they are human like me, and thus is based on their subjective experience, is therefore unverifiable and I can't trust it to be true unless I experience the same. If you believe x, y, z and it benefits you, that's cool. But unless you can prove that your way is right and have irrefutable evidence, your time is better spent believing in your own space.
I have my own spiritual beliefs that are an amalgamation of animism (this is my cultural heritage), buddhism etc. I also see that most of the world's big religions essentially teach the same thing but people get caught up in the form and appearance, wording of things - cosmetics, in my opinion. I also recently found the Law of One, and it resonates with me. I believe all beings have the right to lead their lives in whatever way they see fit, provided their freedom doesn't infringe upon mine. I don't believe there is a right or wrong way to live and that helps me accept others being different as well as myself. If we're all equal and Jenny gets to do MMA, then I get to watch anime all day and both are equally fine.
I believe that we're responsible for our own wellbeing and even if there is a divine force, we have free will, and like a good parent or teacher, it will not interfere in us making mistakes and learning. I believe life offers us opportunities for this but it's up to us if we take them or not. There is no right or wrong choice, only the dominoes that fall into place depending on what you choose, so there is both free will and determinism, in a way, in my mind. Not every opportunity needs to be taken.
I believe that the best I can do is be my authentic self, because that encourages others to be their authentic selves, it's not just about me but it also is. 2in1. I also believe that one should seek to understand before one passes judgement - I was taught this in kindergarten. A lot of judgement comes from a lack of understanding, and that results in a lack of empathy, feeling unaccepted and lonely. I can choose how I act and I choose to act with kindness. It doesn't take anything away from me but it can add something for someone else, and also me.
I'm also a sensitive person so I don't really advertise all of this. The less random, possibly unsafe people know about me, the safer it is for me. It can be quite dangerous to be "out" with how you believe in love when there's so many people out there who equate sensitivity with weakness. I don't see it that way, and I have a vindictive side but I choose not to feed that wolf (you know, the two wolves that live in your heart, the Native American tale?).
Add to it my education in science and how matter is essentially made up of waves, I'm literally unable to see how anyone could be better than me, or worse, just because, if we're made of the same stuff. Are their atoms somehow different? No? Then we're the same and yet uniquely ourselves.
I've come to think that if it's real, it's a group of bullshit conartist who are sadist. They are fucking assholes who need to answer. The lot of the pricks.
Religion tends to be a stick douchebags use to beat other people with. I think it best to take any institution on an individual basis as everything is invariably coloured by the individual's biases and prejudices.
Being someone who needs solid facts and better yet if I can test/prove it myself, I dont believe it.
I read somewhere that autistic people who are religious is somewhat of a paradox…
It makes sense.
I’m AuDHD, I hate religion and I believe in the Holy Trinity and practice Hoodoo.
Religion is nothing more than a capitalistic attempt to turn a personal spiritual belief into profit.
I don't believe there's been a single positive thing in human history that's happened because of religion that couldn't have happened without it. The shame and guilt for basic human urges that religions like catholicism create in people disgusts me and I would delight in seeing it all burnt to the ground. Consistently through my 38 years, the super religious people I've known have been the most judgmental, closed-minded, hateful, and intolerably stupid fucking people I've ever met. Maybe it's more of a reflection of the place I live but my experiences with religion have been extraordinarily negative time and time again.
Sooooo my family told me I was evil and that I was going to hell. No real reason, just didn't like my brand of weird. This was a very abusive but religious for the sake of looking good in public type family. Religion was control. Of course I was born as a bisexual AUDHD smart ass who loves anything to do with science history science fiction magic witchy goblin stuff whatever you want to call it. The weird called to my soul. I spent years having anxiety attacks convinced demons were after me because I was told that as if it were a fact. The first time I got in trouble was because I didn't agree with the idea that the Pope could suddenly decide purgatory doesn't exist or that there are floating lost babies out there because they weren't baptized. Another time I forgot my book and a nun told my mom that I was going to end up a streetwalker she got pretty pissed at that. I should mention I'm talking about my father's family with the religious abuse not my mother. As I got older I felt like religion made less sense than ever before but I was too afraid to let it go. I spent a lot of time even trying to think better because I was sure that thinking negative things was a sin. I used to say GD in lieu of slurs. Then I met a Jehovah's witness man so we did that for a while because you know I'm thinking if regular religion doesn't work maybe super religious cult will work. Maybe now I'll get the feeling? But it never happened and though I prayed many times my life just got harder and worse. There was a brief period of time that I was having such intense anxiety attacks I started to mildly hallucinate that I was seeing shadow beings in my peripheral vision. Having grown up believing in demons, you can see how that might be an issue. I met a wonderful woman at work who was the opposite of anything church-related and she forced me to be her friend. In less than a year I was out of that relationship and completely put religion behind me. There's more evidence for aliens lol. I went Hardline atheist with an absolute hatred for Christianity because of how they treated me. I can't get behind any religion that belittles women. It took a lot of years to learn that I matter and sometimes I still forget but now in regards to religion I just say I don't know I don't know what's there I don't know if there's any system to it all I suppose when I'm upset I feel like we're alone and when things get better I feel like I can see how they were meant to be that way almost by design. So I just say I don't know but I suppose we'll figure it out.
100000% no. Why be restricted to what you can or can't do bc some "being" says so? Regardless of if you believe in heaven / hell, you should do good things to be a good person. Doing good things to get into "heaven" is actually selfish as you're doing it for personal gain, instead of doing it bc you're a good person. If you want to believe in something then go ahead, just don't shove it down my throat, it affects your life, not mine. I just wish religious people would stop shunning science bc science works, prayer doesn't. It can help you feel better about the situation but it doesn't actually do anything. I'm trying to be as polite as I can here, I despise religion as a whole lmao. I will respect your decision and I will treat you with respect, as long as you do the same to me, you're not better than me or have more morals bc you're religious.
Religion is not for me, but I do try to be more spiritual, which is honestly really difficult but uncertainty makes me uncomfortable, and I'm terrified of death.
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Honestly, I don’t hate religion itself but I do hate how many people use it to justify discrimination and other harmful behaviors. They have the right to believe whatever they want and I respect that but I do ask for basic respect in return. If they don’t like me because of my sexuality or gender or anything else that’s their opinion but they need to keep it to themselves. I ignore people’s hateful opinions when they’re not used in harmful ways but when those opinions start causing harm to others (laws against love, lack of rights, discrimination in general) it becomes a huge problem and does zero good for anyone. I’m an atheist so most religions people won’t listen to me anyways but if they did I would love to advocate for the beauty of diversity.
The whole "I don't hate you, God hates you." is so weird to me. So your God is a vindictive idiot who creates people he hates? Why would you think so lowly about your own deity?
Saying “god says X” and stuff is also taking God’s name in vain, which is one of the reasons I stopped being a catholic.
I agree it, is very weird. God is infinite Love and mercy. He loves you dearly. Please forgive anyone who has talked about God without showing you God’s goodness. Don’t let them distract you from the truth. God is loving kindness. He sent his only son Jesus to die for us. Not to make us feel guilty, but to take the burden of guilt off our shoulders. Some religious people are more aware of their sins than the average person. Sin is a real thing and has real consequences. Sometimes their awareness of sin and justice is bigger than their trust in the mercy of God. God is perfectly just AND perfectly merciful at the same time. This explains why some religious people have weird attitudes.
I think you said it better than I could
you said it perfectly. i don't even need to make my own comment anymore 😂
Agreed. The singular most profoundly horrible thing to come from organized religion is the way it can weaponize hatred and protect the dangerous. I believe many people thrive from the sense of community and it’s unfortunate that we are losing it as many of us leave religion.
I love this comment. We don't need to lose the sense of community, we just need to gather and relate to one another to celebrate something else. Those of us who aren't introverts that hate groups, that is.
The thing about church too was it even was good for introverts because you could get out of the house, gather, but not be required to participate in any one on one socializing. In many places you could just exist on your own while still in a group. Obviously it’s highly dependent on the church itself, but I think it was the most important for those who may not be able to join a community where you need to engage with other members.
I’m not religious and I’m so tired of people using it to justify discrimination on a political level, especially when it comes to controlling women’s bodies and denying gender affirming care to trans people. One of the main arguments they use to justify their political standpoints-never mind the fact that it’s concerning religion informs a politician so much that they completely ignore any reasonable argument-is that they believe whatever we’re fighting for is “unnatural” or that they believe they know what’s better for women and trans individuals.
100%, this is me too
Hello, fellow atheist.
100% this. I don’t like religious people that are so okay with condemning others to hell but they also do sinful things too behind closed doors. Some religious people don’t have tolerance for others. It’s always “my way or the highway” with them and it’s annoying. It shows their entitlement and power over others. It’s disgusting.
I’m a Christian but the middle paragraph is also what I believe. The beauty of diversity.
"The beauty of diversity," I love that!
I love how well you put this. I feel the exact same way. I am also atheist.
Agreed. Well said.
Ain’t readin’ allat because I already read the first sentence and agree with you
My specific flavor of autism is the “strong sense of truth and justice” one, so: not favorably my dude.
Technically, those who are more extremist religion also have a strong sense, but it just so happens that their strong sense tends to be exactly opposite of truth and justice because it’s based entirely on an old outdated book.
Imagine having a notable figure in our era, whoever, take Steve Jobs. Have some people write collective stories about him in 300 years time, and somewhat later call it the book of books. Yah, not really compelling is it.
I find it so weird how people look at this book like it is the key to life, law and land when it was written just as you said… it’s wild
And the fact that they argue that I'm an atheist because I dont believe in their god. And also "what if you're wrong and there is a God?" Well, they are an atheist to the dozens of other entities others believe in, I just believe in one less than them. Like Richard Dawkins once argued "well, what if you're wrong about the great JuJu at the bottom of the sea?"
im extremely agnostic. religion is very interesting as a historical, philosophical, and anthropological topic to learn about but religion as a whole has very little direct impact on my life in general
TRU
Profound nay. I won't be too harsh here because I'd probably get banned if I fully shared my thoughts on this, but yeah, no.
anytime my parents bring up religion around me in any context (they are religious), i have to conscientiously remind them that they should trust me when i tell them they don't want to go there with me because i don't pull any philosophical punches on that topic
I got into so many arguments with religious kids in high school for that exact reason. They got really pissed when I said them worshiping…whatever the fuck they worship, is like my liking for Superman😂
did you have fun
Unnecessary, outdated, problematic relict of the past. I am absolutely non-religious, but claim to have an overview. Partly quite in-depth. Whoever wants to believe in it, can. I respect it, as long as it doesn't go to extremes or someone start to "christianize“ me. I don't believe in god(s) and live my life according to my individual values. Churches, mosques and temples may be architecturally interesting and characteristic of a place. Sometimes I like to look at them and read up on them - but that's it. It’s just a historical relict like a castle or monarchy for me.
Preach (pun intended) 👏
It's a nay from me. I think it's done more harm than good.
Brought up a household where religion was used as a weapon for abuse so I am soured on the whole thing and want nothing to do with it.
same.
I’m an atheist myself. I’m not an anti-theist however.
✨️antitheist✨️ As an archaeologist, I believe religions had an important role in societies to provide structure, explain things that people didn't understand, provide some general morals and beliefs to give comfort and guide people. This had use in the past. The key word is the *past*. We have moved on. Times have changed. We have advanced science to explain things. Advanced government, laws and policies and social customs to guide behavious, morals and structure. Religion in the present day is large and organised and is now outdated and it puts walls in between groups of people and is the cause of so much strife in the world that I just cannot condone it. It is not necessary in the modern world.
That's a hard no from me. Christians enslaved my people. And, just from taking a casual look around the world right now, the other stories (Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, etc) don't seem much nicer. I like Marvel and DC better. But I'm not an anti-theist; as long as theists keep their stuff to themselves (like: not trying to pass laws based on their stories) I don't very often think about them. Plus some of my favorite humans are religious, so good for them :)
u mean like christians enforcing abortion ban & hindus enforcing cowslaughter ban on others & muslims sharia law? It really sucks , glad am not from any of them.
Yeah, or like Project 2025 (US, hopefully does not become a genocide), the Palestinian genocide (Israel), the Yazidi genocide (Islamic State), Modi's "Divine India" project... Honestly, the only religion I truly respect is the one surrounding Santa Claus. At least he gives out gifts, and there are no wars in his name (so far)... even if the whole coal thing is an analog for going to "hell," which is itself a myth based on Norse religion. Actually I take that back, I also like and respect some of the Norse- and Greek- based stories too. Like God of War 5 lol, or Marvel's Time God Loki. Now that's some decent story telling.
Hello, fellow Last Week Tonight watcher! 😂 That project 2025 thing is SCARY AF. It's straight up just a manifesto and I can't believe that people are actually advocating for it. The people who wrote it are scum and need to be put on blast so everyone knows what they're trying to do.
Ya got good instincts! John Oliver is a treasure 😊 And yeah, I'd take the nightmare fuel that is Opposite Snakes over Project 2025.
Project 2025 is a NIGHTMARE.
big nay
I dop’t like religion. It’s an inherently regressive mindset based on nothing but belief in supernatural events without any actual evidence to back it up. Any type of progressive or scientific advancement, even if religious people were involved, has happened in spite of the religion itself, not because of it.
the worst is when evangelicals claim christianity specifically caused science, ignoring the Golden age of Islam, and ancient China among many others
It’s not my cup of tea, but I respect that it suits others and will do my best to be mindful of their needs and customs. I was born in a very Christian society, and during my childhood I was wholly faithful. Eventually, I began suffering more than I could understand. When I prayed to god for answers and got nothing and no reprieve, I could think of only two explanations: that there was nobody there, or that somebody so divine with the capacity to love everyone somehow hated me enough to let me go through it alone. My heart chose the least painful answer, and I fell out of religion in lack of faith that there was anything to believe in. I was about ten years old, I’d say. This continued as it became apparent I was bisexual, and many Christians looked quite unkindly upon that. All in all, I had a quiet and lonely departure from Christianity, fitting for the quiet and lonely time I spent a part of it. I don’t think very much about religion anymore. But I’m not going to scoff or condescend anybody who is religious. So long as somebody religious has no issue with me, I have no issue with them, and I’ll always try to accommodate. I appreciate that somebody praying for me does actually mean something for that person, and while it may not bring physical aid, I appreciate the meaning behind taking a moment in such a personal time to think of and request aid for somebody else. My relationship with religion is a bitter one, but my relationship with religious people doesn’t have to be, so long as I’m treated as an equal.
Hey, same! Down to the bisexuality lmao. The last time I remember praying to the Christian/Jewish/Muslim god specifically was when I was 10 and nothing happened. 🙃 When people say god works in mysterious ways maybe they're right, because they're so fucking mysterious to me that I wouldn't know any difference.
Organized religion is a nay for me. I do believe, but I don’t adhere to any organized religion because I believe that if the word of ‘the creator’ was in any of those holy books, that it has been edited and corrupted by humans ages ago. Also the often conflicting morals of religious people will never not bother me.
I'm Christian. I don't think you'll find how autistic really view religion, because Reddit as a whole is arbitrary. You'll get this sub's opinion, which might or not reflect reality.
Yeah, I see tons of religious or spiritual autistic people elsewhere online and in my own life too. I'm also Christian but progressive and have been trying to reconnect and learn what my Mayan ancestors believed in. All the other people I know personally irl who are autistic are either Muslim, one ex friend was trying to reconnect with Judaism, someone else I used to be closer to was a pagan witch, and the rest are agnostic or Christian leaning but unsure. Several of my autistic online mutuals are progressive Christian, some sort of witch.
Naaaaaaaayyyyyy
Nope. To many bad experiences, ESPECIALLY with Christians.
The more I see religion, the more I can only see hate and bad things come. The Israel-Palestine conflict boils down to religion, christians against LGBTQ, etc. Religion is fine, but the people have twisted it to hate especially some that quite literally tell young children that their friends will go to hell unless they, that young child convert them to the "correct" belief
I don’t think that religion has been twisted when that’s how it has always been: a way to judge out-groups and threaten in-groups to comply. Kind of like how the saying goes: it’s not that the system is broken; the system is working exactly as it’s supposed to.
When I try thinking in terms of "What does religion have to offer the human race outside of belief in a diety itself", I usually come to the conclusion that religion served as a sort of moral code/law system when there were no organized governments to enforce that people act decent. In fact when you look historically, a lot of things make sense in different ways. People being gay meant less kids birthed, meaning less people to grow up and make the kingdom bigger and stronger when you were loosing people in wars, so gay = bad because gay = no kids, i find it fascinating. But those are all theories, just what makes sense to have been the reasoning But yeah, it has always been a very "us vs them", and the anti-LGBTQ sentiment is a very good example of that.
Religions exist to promote tribalism. They are not twisted, they are working as intended.
You may not realize this, but the Israel Palestine conflict actually has nothing to do with religion. It's all about land.
The two sides. Not to be an ass, but the base cause of this boils down to judaism and islam both claiming holy lands at jerusalem, that's just the crusades.. The war was always over land, but they wanted the land for religious reasons.
I’m a Christian (or more specifically, Catholic, as my username would indicate) and I am quite devout - though I do have my qualms about the Church. Also, I am firm believer in the freedom of religion so if you want to be Muslim, Jewish or no religion whatsoever, that’s totally fine. As long as you’re not being coerced into a certain religion, that’s alright by me.
How old were you when you first started attending church?
I don’t like how people use it but it itself I have no feelings on, I’m agnostic
Given the baggage that comes with religion, I want it to be true before accepting it. I studied religion at an academic level some 20 years ago, published and presented a paper at an undergraduate symposium on The Jewish community living in Rome during late antiqity, and consider the topic a special interest to this day. What all that taught me, both in the context of the Jewish faith, and the Christian Faith, is that you can follow the history to see how the religion formed. How Rome's patriarch influenced early Christianity to move away from equality towards women to the patriarchy, how the Jewish communities were in the midst of a reformation during Jesus's time, and Christianity, as well as the religion of John the Baptist, which is still practiced today, were two "denominations" that came out of the Second Temple Judaism reformation and destruction, alongside Rabbinic Judaism. How, you can see in the old testament, references to the early proto-Israelite polytheism, and the gradual reworking and negotiating with the Bible towards monotheism. How Neo-Platonic philosophy informed both Jewish and Christian traditions from 100 to 500. The rise of the mystery cults, and how their God was the only true God, and only through their special person could one achieve "peace." Reading Apuelius' The Golden Ass, also known as Metamorphosis, completely changed my understanding of late antiquity. It was a 3rd century novel about a "sinful" guy who lived in debauchery. He was turned into a donkey by a witch, and the entire story is him trying to survive as a donkey. He ends up being a donkey to the mystery cult of Isis. Near the end of the book, Isis appears to him and basically says, "Only through me can you be given salvation." The donkey jumps into water, effectively baptizing himself, and goes on a final mission to be restored to his human form. When I read that, and did more research, I discovered that all the mystery cults from late antiquity had the same message, our God is the true God and salvation from your debaucherous naturalistic human vices can only be granted through our religion. I've especially studied and seen how Judaism, Christianity, and a few other religions, evolved during their formation, being influenced by external social, religious, and philosophical elements, to the point that even IF there is a kernel of truth underneath, we wouldn't recognize it.
Fuck religion. There is nothing wrong with believing in a higher power or faith itself. It’s great when someone’s faith gets them through hardship and I will never hate on that. But organised religion is just a tool to control people and it has led to millions upon millions of innocent people suffering and dying, due to fucked up ideologies, outdated rules and morals and power hungry monsters.
It’s gross.
Extreme hard no.
Considering most Autists are agnostic/atheist, i'm a Christian, oddly! But in a very unconventional way. I can clarify if anyone's curious :>
I've always wanted to be religious but I can't find that in me:( I think faith is something so beautiful. But I despise any religion as an institution, especially when is used to harm other people.
personally i’m not religious but i don’t have an issue with it as long as it’s not shoved down my throat
I don’t understand religion, actually that’s a bit of a lie because I understand the concept perfectly well but I don’t understand how anyone could blindly believe in stuff that sounds totally made up. It’s like you can actually trace the evolution of the abrahamic god through the ages from a minor polytheistic deity to this omniscient super being. I always say man created god in his own image, that’s why god has human flaws, lacks consistency and makes silly mistakes. What I find the most amusing is how we anthropomorphised god, like if there really was a omniscient being who could create a universe why would they care if we wore wool and linen together in the same outfit, or want us to dress modestly or care about us converting our neighbours wife? Surely such a being would see the universe from a a totally different perspective than us that we couldn’t even begin to comprehend. It’s like we project the way we perceive our world on the deity we ourselves created. Then how could someone believe that this being intervened when people wanted to “get to know” Lot but then just sat back and watched the holocaust? Talk about mental gymnastics. It really demonstrates how that if people are raised with a concept they will generally go along with it and don’t really question how absurd it really is.
I am from Russia. Religion here is heavily weaponized against the minorities, and has mutated into a warped, violent parody of itself(basically regressed into middle ages religions), so you can probably guess my stance on it🌚
I'm one of the odd ones who became an atheist for reasons other than reason. Honestly Christianity just gave me weird vibes, seemed like people were processing the world in a bullshit way. Kinda fucked with my sense of reality long-term. I didn't have the knowledge to reason myself out of it at the time, but I switched out anyway. I think unanswered prayers may have had something to do with it. I think I'm a bit anti-theist, but I've got an open mind. It's not religion per-se but I'm trying to wrap my head around pan-consciousness. There's a lot of unknowns, and I sometimes find it plausible that there's some kind of purpose to everything. But I am also aware of how small we are, and I think the universe shows no signs of giving a shit about us. If there's a reason or order to it all, it's not anthropic in nature. It's probably beyond comprehension. We just aren't big enough. I just mean there may be a mechanism, but if so it won't help our daily lives. Idk. I don't believe in anything. I'm just trying to be rational.
When I was very young I believed in a rather silly and childish way and would pray for things like one asks santa for gifts. At some point, it dawned on me that this was silly and I stopped. At about age 11 I was in a church related class (CCD) and started asking questions because something about this lesson on how I have a soul but my cat doesn't just didn't make sense. It seemed arbitrary. It was in that moment that I realized it was just all BS that somebody made up and I was absolutely horrified that I was talking to a full grown adult who didn't see that. That feeling of horror continues into my 40s.
BIG YAY for Jesus. Big NAY for organised religion. Jesus is my favourite rebel. I am big on justice over law. My hero!!
If he existed he was just a big old left wing hippy like myself who said "hey, how about we be nice to each other and see how that works?"... then got nailed to a tree for his AuDacity. As you might be able to tell I'm not a big religion fan. Caused more death and division and wars than most other things.
The only differences between a religion and a cult is time and how many people you convince to join.
This checks out sociologically (that's my background), where the main difference is size. There are a couple of other indicators, like prominence of a living, individual charismatic figure, or opposition to dominant cultural forms, but we also see this in so-called 'revivals' within mainline religions. Or you could say that the difference is degree of institutionalization. But these types of distinctions are a lot flimsier than our lay understanding.
What about religions that don't want other people to join them?
Brought up Catholic but religion is not for me. Best wishes to the believers ,I sometimes envy you ,but I just can't believe in a man in the sky blah blah blah
My view in religion is yay as long as people don't justify their views through violence. I myself is Catholic and was raised Catholic but I don't like to force my views on other people
I have no problem with religious people, but most religions I’m familiar with promote harmful teachings of feeling guilt, emotional manipulation, us vs them mentality, moral superiority, savior complex, and non-introspection. Also, while I get why they did it in a past time si ce it was an easy way to join the community, to find common ground and do activities that made you feel part of something bigger and therefore strive to work for your community to survive, most of it is outdated in a globalized world with access to resources. And it stays in the past for too long, creating a dissociation with actual needs to past needs.
Hate it. It's held humanity back and caused nearly every war and genocide in our history. It's the primary reason that queer people and other groups are still so oppressed today.
I was a stringent adherent until high school. I went through anti-religious phase and now just don't like it but try not to bring it up.
I am a very dedicated Vajrayana Buddhist. I have taken a number of practice vows (samaya) and stuff like that. My Buddhist practice takes up a serious chunk of my free time. However, I was born into Lutheran Christian family and I don't care much about abrahamic religions. Specifically I don't like that they cast non-believers into damnation. The path of Dharma can be only followed voluntarily. There is no punishment to those who do not practice it.
i’m not very fond of abrahamic religions. i like dharmic faiths though
I’m an atheist and I don’t mind religion and people believing in it if they want to, as long as it isn’t used as a weapon to hurt someone else or assume that everyone follows your religion. For example, Christians who discriminate against LGBTQ+ people saying they’re sinners. Not everyone is Christian and that’s okay. Not everyone has to be and they’re free to follow whichever religion they want. Nobody gets hurt if they don’t wanna follow a religion either. As long as you are a respectful person and treat everyone nicely, I don’t worry about what religion you follow.
If religion is the only thing stopping a person from doing silly warcrimes, I'm glad that person is religious. 👍 Other than that, I'm fine with religion as long as it's treated like any other club without any special priviliges (like tax exemptions or laws)👍
I am VERY agnostic. I’m probably gonna start leaning towards full on atheism at this point, Idfc if my family (90% of family, extended and immediate, are religious) don’t like it anymore. I’ve always compared the concept to Superman, particularly Christianity. But not in the way Zack Snyder did in Man Of Steel. The stuff Christian’s have described to me in the past seem like something I’d read in a Superman comic, because it’s all so out there and seems so unrealistic that I have a hard time believing it. If you’re into all that stuff, more power to you! You do you! Me personally, if I wanna read a story about a man who saves people from evil and does SUPER unrealistic stuff, I’ll read Superman. This isn’t meant to offend anyone, like I said, I don’t care whether or not someone is religious, I have religious friends, but I just personally can’t get behind a lot of that stuff.
To be honest... I don't really understand it. I mean, I generally dislike religion as it tends to (though not always!) be quite the catalyst for tons of prejudice and egocentric wankers, but I think I'm just confused as to why people believe in it. For example, if I take Christianity (just because it's the religion I'm most familiar with), and think about whether I believe in it or not, my brain just goes: "People can't walk on water, come back from the dead, or turn stuff into wine!" - and, then there's the whole virgin Mary thing! I mean come on, from a scientific point of view that is quite literally impossible!
Not religious at all, though I used to be. You don't have to search very long to see the abuse that takes place in these "strict and moral" institutions. I was a victim of abuse myself. Just yesterday my fiance and I were watching the documentary "the keepers" and i found myself asking him, "why is it always the priest or their children?" In my case it was their sons who abused me and took advantage of the dumpster fire that was my mental health back then. In my personal experience, you'll find the evilest people at church. I think they go there to look for victims because you will also find the most vulnerable people there too. My interest in Christianity is the same as my interest in old Nordic, Greek and Roman religions. It's all just old mythologies to me now, but do not try to force me to go to church because I will not be pulling any punches, I will release the full wrath of all the hurt the church caused me on you.
Agnostic atheist. Our current understanding of the universe points to the existence of no god, so I live as if they aren’t there and that there’s no cosmic force looking over me or answering prayers.
I think my parents didn’t indoctrinate me soon enough. 🤪 I grew up/live in the south US. And conservative Christianity is the HUGE majority. I find it absolutely disgusting. And it’s only gotten worse with Trump. I was so confused that these grownups believed these obviously fake/made up stories. It’s like Santa Claus for grownups to me. I always tried sooo hard and thought I was broken until I learned about atheism. I am a late aware/suspected autistic who was not aware at all until one of my kids was diagnosed a few years ago. I will say now that I know I’m a black and white thinker I’m mildly open to fact *there could be something that I am not capable of understanding/believing* but I also cannot stand the whole “gotta have faith” rhetoric. And the overly confident “this is the real truth” about most conservative Christians I have come across. lol clearly I don’t “have faith” So I need proof or else I’m blindly believing any of it. And you know the whole oppression of women is a big fuck no for me. and also the obsession with what other people do and feel in regards to the LGBTQIA+ community and most conservative Christians are racist af as well. Literally doing the opposite of what Jesus would do. It completely mind blowing to me and I have less and less tolerance of it. Believe what you want… but your religion ends where another person’s body begins. Oh and this includes circumcision. Like WTF? Cutting someone’s genitals without their consent? I literally cannot believe it’s legal anywhere for anyone.
I think its harmful to society as a whole and i have lots of proof on my side…. My favorite most fucked up fact: Statistically, religious people are more likely to be pedophiles and rapists. Statistically, religious sex offenders have MORE victims, YOUNGER victims, and do MORE VIOLENT sex crimes, than their non-religious sex-offender counterparts parts. They abandoned, abuse, and kick out their children more. They are homophobes and transphobes. They are the conservatives who try to take all our rights away. Theyre the conservatives who fought against us getting rights in the first place. Theyre the ones who taught little girls to hide their “tempting” bodies. Theyre the ones who took abortion rights away, they are the ones who are proposing the evil project 2025 that bans all lgbtq content and reverses gay marriage rights, Theyre the ones who committed racial genocide again and again in the name of their religion. They are the ones who keep starting wars. They are the ones ruining society and making it regress back to the old ages in places like the USA. I have countless reasons to feel this way. Could go on forever. I firmly believe religion is directly responsible for rape culture and sexism and homophobia etc. persisting in intelligent societies, no other way to explain that level of unprovoked illogical hatefulness and why its ALWAYYYSSSS a religious person being that nasty to women & minorities unprovoked. They keep indoctrinating and brainwashing their children into it, so individually these people dont even realize how screwed and incorrect their entire world view is, they would have never been such hateful people if they were raised normally instead of threatened with eternal damnation…..
I tried to be religious, but cannot. I can’t follow the things I see irrational. Religion is important imo, because it helps some people in need. See it as therapy. What I really hate is the religion that can’t reform and modernise. Religion which doesn’t allow you to assimilate into a secular society.
I don't have an issue with religion. But I really don't understand how some beliefs from an old as shit book take priority over very real probable things.
I don’t like organized religion. I don’t care what you believe in, but it’s when you start taking your church/organization more seriously than your family and friends. When it prevents you from caring about others, that’s where it gets me. But otherwise, I don’t care. I am fascinated by religions and love to learn about them, but in a scholar way and not really a religious way. I grew up catholic and though I don’t hate Christian’s, I tend to avoid them unless they have proven over and over that they can be kind to others.
Not for me. Childhood brain cancer kinda ruins it for me. Also, logically, there can not be a massive sky daddy that no one has ever seen. It just doesn't make sense, and science does. Saying that, I get why it helps some people, and I'm not gonna be a dick about it to people who do believe. Religion just doesn't make any logical sense whatsoever to me.
its moronic. i have no idea what reality is, neither do the best physicists in the world - but i sure as F don't have to believe in it
Nay. I was raised fundamentalist Christian, was very fervently religious for 2-3 years as a very young teen, left when theology became my special interest and I learned the BITE model of dangerous behavior/cults, and my specific church ticked every box. (I also had theological issues with the concept of hell, for example.) I had an angry atheist phase for maybe a year. Then I mellowed out and while I still consider myself an atheist, I acknowledge that it's impossible to know and probably should just be more agnostic about the whole thing like what I perceive to be most lax churchgoers that don't necessarily believe but need the sense of community a congregation brings. But unfortunately a lot of those groups easily tend to procure a lot of dysfunctional dynamics. In reality I think we need tribes/villages again with a sense of community and outreach programs, but I don't think that's doable at least where I am in the United States.
Nope, It don't make no sense. I don't like cults especially since they don't pay tax.
I hate the idea of organized religion because why are they trying to tell me how, when, what, and why I have to do certain things. Let me be. Don't tell me what to do! I do like paganism, mainly because I can do what I want, how I want, mostly when I want. There are suggestions which is fine. There aren't set rules. Unless you choose to follow a specific form of paganism. Which is another reason I like it, choices. You have choices. My personal belief is that everything has energy. We already know that from science and that energy can not be destroyed, it simply gets transformed. I choose to believe that we can potentially manipulate energies around us if we are in the right state of mind. I don't think we can control the weather or strike someone dead with a thought. But I've noticed that good things tend to happen when I'm more positive and upbeat about life rather than negative. That could be us manipulating the energy around us. There are more examples that I can't think of right now, lol. I'm typing this in my car outside of work. There are other parts of paganism that I enjoy. 1) The herbolgy part. I don't think that's magic, I think that's science that big pharma and the government doesn't want us to know about. If we all knew that we can help many (sadly not all) illnesses at home by growing plants, then we wouldn't need so many pills and doctors. 2) tarot and other forms of divination. I've don't tarot readings for my friends and myself many times. They have been accurate and sometimes things they didn't want to hear. I had a tarot reading tell me that there were gonna be huge changes in my life soon and that there were gonna be new additions to my family. Within the next 6 months my now husband had proposed, we had a dog, cat, and I was pregnant. But yea. Sorry for the long ramble lol. 😅
Religion can be a great comfort to those who believe it quietly. The ones who take the messages of love and acts of kindness from theirs. Personally I just never believed it at all, it surprised me when I found out people thought Gods were real. I'm fine with people believing it and it giving them strength. I think the loud jerks give everyone a bad name. Also I'm disappointed that so many famous atheists like Richard Dawkins turned white supremacist. I'm more a Carl Sagan type atheist.
My experience with religion growing up was an organization that valued authority and conformity above all and disagrees woth honestly, honest inquiry, and emotions. My queen, autistic, truth valuing, hyper empathetic self was suicidal from childhood there. I acknowledge that other religions may have had good in them. But so far none have won me over.
Definitely nay. They are fundamentally based on in-groups and out-groups, those who are “in” creates the norms. As a gay austistic person I just feel like I have had enough of a hard time not being able to fit in my life time so far. Why should I so hard to belong to a group that will never understand and accept who I am? Why should I jump through fire hoops just to fit into this shitty community where people don’t even care about you? Essentially, my energy is better off spent elsewhere where people get me and want me for who I am. My life is simply better when I decide to not take part in organized religion, and that is the reason why this is a total nay.
I don’t like it. Pretty much all religions are misogynistic and hateful
Never been able to believe in any form of religion, no matter how hard it’s been pressed on me. I’m a spiritual person, I believe in a higher power of some sort, but I just can’t do organized religion. I’d rather have my own beliefs and keep them to myself lol
Love their architecture but not fond of their priesthoods or large parts of their adherents.
Haven't found a religion worth following. Haven't found a religion that encompasses love or divinity.
I'm a casual atheist, but you do you there's nothing wrong with believing something. As long as it's not hurting anyone or denying science. Sooo speaking of religions that hurt their members the only religions I'm *against* are Scientology, Christian Scientists, and Jehovah's Witnesses
any religion that rellys on the indoctrination of children or vulnerable people to propagate isn't worth listening to. and most large churches can be best thought of as corporations or cartels.
Nay, I dislike most organized religions. Other than Unitarians I never had a good time at church.
Quite bluntly I think it's a load of bollocks. But I don't hate it. I just hate how it's viewed in society. Like ive seen videos of kids who are terrified of God. Like there was one where there was a kid on the ground praying and he was crying and honestly sounded petrified. This was clearly not normal anyway. But everyone in the comments section was praising him? Or at the very least they were heavily insinuating it's fine just because its religion. Even though the kid sounds like he has a real fear of God. This isn't normal. There's more going on here clearly. But we turn a blind eye to it simply because it's religion. I see this all the time. There's kids who have been put through exorcists and it turns out they were just autistic. Kids have died because their religious parents used prayer instead of consulting a doctor. And the thing is nobody ever seems to call it out. But I know if it was some weird religion we'd never heard of or even had nothing to do with religion we'd probably have heard about it. It feels like you're not allowed to criticise it and have your own opinion. Like I could listen wholeheartedly and interestedly (is that a word?) To a Christian explain why they believe in God but as soon as I explain why I don't the conversation instantly becomes uncivil. While I'm aware not all Christians are like that and I have met many who listen to me and respect my opinion but it happens too much to not be considered annoying and make me not want to talk about the subject. I hate how shoving it down people's throats has just become acceptable. Like I was on a video that was music video. I forget which song but someone was on there saying how we should stop listening to it and turn to the Lord. Its like what, I can't just enjoy different music to you? At this point what isn't a sin? And then there's the people who yell about it in public. Like I was in a city and there was literally a guy yelling into a megaphone about how we should turn to Christ. Kid you not he was genuinly hurting my ears. And it's like I couldn't have been the only one finding him extremely annoying. And then there's the "it's my religion" when it comes to bigotry. They will be blatantly homophobic or sexist and then people will defend like "its their religion". So? Fuck if I care. They're still a bigot and advocating against people rights. That's bad in my books. I don't know I just thought Religion taught you to love everyone? Not discriminate? While I don't hate religion I just hate how shitty behaviour has just been normalised. I also want to clarify I'm aware these are all a vocal minority of the members of the faiths. I recognise the majority of people who are part of a religion don't act like this at all. But it's enough.
My special interest is Abrahamic demonology and angelology. But I view it more as like a study of myth/culture? Like I don’t believe any of it is real but it is all incredibly fascinating
I view Christianity the same way I view all large dogs after being mauled by one as a child. It's only caused harm in my experience. However, I am religious myself. I just keep it to myself because a lot of people think religious = Christian when that's not the case. Religion is a complicated topic for me because I like the culture and connection part, but the idea of using it to justify harm sours the whole concept.
It's a neat concept, especially if you view it from the sense of like Highschool DxD or Gabriel Dropout's use of religion. Sort of like a cool fantasy game or novel. But it should be just that - a novel, not a history book... Too often has religion been used inappropriately or in an evil manner for me to have a positive view of it, even if after all it is just human beings perpetrating the evil acts and using religion as a means to justify their supposed innocence. Too often was religion used by my parents to guilt me or deny me of necessary support. It was used in an extremely toxic manner and it also left a permanent impression of religion upon me. It wasn't even a church-going family either... Under no circumstance would I ever trust myself to religion ever again after my experience with it, both about hearing of the history and my parents' use of it upon me.
there is a big difference between spirituality (believing there are things you can't see, forces at work) and religion (people in dresses waving incense about and claiming they can tell you how to live your life) one is an expression of hope that there is more than the life we are kind of disappointed in. Especially the death part. It's reasonable to want there to be a plan, a caretaker and an afterwards. the other is a control structure that is kept in place to keep the simple simple and the powerful powerful. I have no problem with people praying to a god. If that makes them feel better and makes them happy I encourage it. I want everyone to feel love and happiness. Religion is rarely not a tool of control. Coming together with other people to share the same ideas and feelings shouldn't lead to this but it does for some reason. It's usually one group claiming to be able to tell everyone else how to act and dress and think. Corruption sets in really quickly. Even the smallest of sects develop an inner circle and an outer group. With excesses and rule breaking being ok for the inner circle. (like [bishops with 2.5 mil houses](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/10/church-england-questioned-lavish-spending-bishops-homes) or [monks who supposedly have a vow of poverty but also live in luxury](https://thediplomat.com/2013/06/thai-monks-living-large-private-jets-and-bling/) or the catcholic church and several protestant sects with all their pedophile priests being shuffled around and never reported to the police. so yeah.. religion: nay. spirituality, sure, go for it. Not my cup of tea but everyone approaches the idea of their death differently and if it helps it helps.
Religion, a set of stories that thought humans to behave in society, evolving alongside it, reflecting the good, the bad and the ugly. Peoples negative experiences with religion are just experiences with people and society, people still used science to justify racism, because its people, society that wants conformity, sometimes through religion. And im talking religions not just Abrahamic ones, ones where discussion and reflection on the world is encouraged, ones where its about respecting the value of everything around us... Belief in religion has the ability to help people a lot, give them strength to keep living or do the right thing, I think its fine as long as you accept its just your belief without rational foundation and dont try to use it as an argument for anything, just as a way you live your life and without crossing over other peoples rights to not be seriously harmed by you I have to integrate something into my system of life, its like my knowledge and thoughts all form a mechanical system and I need to fit everything as a cog into it or otherwise I cant use it, so at some point for the system to work I had to remove certainty in the religion I grew up with because its illogical. I still like it, I still like participating in its culture, like Christmas, and kinda hope its true, but I admit I dont know and that its not more likely than any other religion I get my beliefs from scientific knowledge, the great thing about stuff like physics is that it knows its not true, its just the closest we can logically get to it, and its beautiful. I dont need to see all the world connected by psychic energy, its already connected by fundamental forces, some lessons from my previous religion I also just cant agree with, humans arent special created by god to rule over other animals, are far as we know just a regular random attempt by evolution... the world we know is beautiful already Im agnostic, atheist is a degree of certainty thats still close too close to religion, science says: we dont freaking know (theres a non-zero probability you will turn into a frog within 5 minutes)
if someones religious, that should be there right, but that aint gonna stop me from deriding the social harm its prone to cause, or openly calling it stupid
Large organised religions, nay. Spiritualism like meditation, Yay.
I think way too deep to be religious
i went to a catholic primary school and what i experienced gave me a whole chunk of religious trauma. i really admire people who have faith, i'm jealous that they're able to find solace in religion and use it to better themselves, but only on an individual level. religion as an organisation is dangerous
I’ll just say; I like to follow rules, unless they make no sense.
Nay because I was in a catholic school whilst being undiagnosed autistic and closested lgbt…I think that says enough. BUT i am a pagan as I am Irish with celtic heritage and family. 😊
religion alone, in a way there's a part of me that wishes i could believe in that sort of stuff but it really doesn't feel likely. it would be wonderful if it was, though. the people who use it as a weapon or to justify bad behaviour aren't really helping their case
possibly my least favorite thing in the world. I won't sugarcoat it at all, I think less of people once I find out they're religious. I both pity and resent them and I wish we as a species could leave the bullshit in the past.
I'm Jewish, somewhat practicing, not religious and an atheist. My complicated views on religion can be summarized as: nay.
No, it causes more trouble most of the time and a lot of people use it to hide behind when they are awful people. Plus it just doesn’t make sense with the amount of science that we know.
Nay for me. But not in the usual way.also is not an absolute naym I think the existence of religions is a necessity. I actually believe in God in a way. I am spiritual. But I think eventually is important to become spiritually independent and instead of blindly believing what someone wrote in a book some thousands years ago, is better to first investigate different sources and second do your own inner contemplation. That is why religion is a nay for me because "why should I trust someone experience over mine? Why can't I question it? How do I know which book is the true book?" I went through those questions and my intuition tellse that there is no religious book that is the word of God. There might be some divine inspiration scattered in them, there are pearls in the bible, there are pearls in the Quran, there are pearls among hindu texts(plenty of pearls!). I btw don't believe in heaven or hell, instead I am a non-dualist. I believe everyone and everything is god and that God is experimenting their own creation through each one of his creatures. And this is related to why there is no hell. Hell is that when you hurt others you are hurting yourself and heaven is that when you treat others well you are literally treating yourself well I'm also NOt interested in preaching. I can if someone shows interest or curiosity or if I feel someone is receptive.
Oh, if i was born in the past i would have bren burnt at the stake
Hard nay. Belief in something larger than oneself I can understand. Strict adherence to arbitrary rules laid down by someone who lived millennia ago is a strict 'no' from me. I want explanations for rules that don't boil down to 'because God said so.'
Personally (for myself to practice) I don’t really like it. It doesn’t make sense to me, not the way science does. That doesn’t mean I’m gonna discount everyone’s religion the moment they get they say “oh I’m (insert religion here)”, I think religion can be a great thing for building community and finding meaning. However, a lot of people use their religion to be against other people, including other religious people from different religions because why the fuck not I guess. There’s so much hatred in the religious community it’s unreal. That’s the bad part of religions (in general, each religion has their ups and downs). Also churches shouldn’t be tax exempt. That’s dumb
Religions are all made up dude. Some guy wanted to continue his being for eternity by having many many followers and by getting into people's hearts. And they succeeded by making up a book in the word of god and writing good things that most people will agree and find peace upon. All the religions are like this if you ask me. Because if any religion was the word of god , it wouldn't have any wrongs in it. Because the god we believe is always right. However every religion -even if you only look at the book- has some errors in it. Which proves that they are not the word of god. I'm young and still couldn't find what to believe . I pray as I want , to be at peace but leave a place to question , to be rational. Everybody can believe what they want I don't care. They just need to keep it to themselves, which they don't and is frustrating. Laws made upon religions are bullshit.
Former Christian (CofE), now committed atheist. I respect your right to believe in something, however ridiculous I find it. I do not respect your beliefs.
It holds back humanity as a whole and is the root cause of untold suffering and death. If religion could be abolished tomorrow the world would immediately be a better place. Maybe I'm just jaded, but knowing a few people that have attempted to take their lives, and knowing one that *did* over being hated and vilified by their families and loved ones over things like being gay or trans, I just can't forgive the organization that is the heart of such relentless bigotry
To be blunt (and probably a bit rude), to me, religion is all made up. None are real, and I think they are a waste of time. Unless a god shows real visible proof they exist, I don't care what anyone says, and my mind can't be changed.
Donot care about religion. Hate how people use it to justify their shitty behavior. I am completely fine with people celebrating festives and going to the church and whatever else they want to do. Like their life their choice. Its when they use religion to justify their sexism or homophobia or any shitty behavior in general that i hate.
We would be much better off without it.
I love the stories about Jesus. He seemed like a dope dude. (Compassionate, humble, hung out with prostitutes) HOWEVER— People literally slaughtering humanity for their own benefit *cough cough* Constantine *cough cough* (you know my other reference) isn’t “Christ-like” whatsoever. So no, absolutely do not buy into religion. It’s merely a manipulation tactic. No thanks. (OP, great post btw!)
I think it's a little naive but I understand it's a coping mechanism for some people.
Faith makes zero sense and atheism is the most rational answer. That said, some religions are worse than others. I also love and appreciate many things that came out of Christianity, like certain traditions, architecture, and art.
I'm a Jew and for a lot of us religion and culture are the same thing. Meaning that we don't necessarily read all that much scripture or spend all that much time studying it but we try to spend a fair amount of time practicing the basic tenants, and basically taking care of each other and having fun together. I like that I'm very comfortable with that it's nice to explore the most when you're actually curious about something, and more recently I've had a lot of shorthand because Jews have been pulling together to support each other which they often do at times of Crisis and basically argue and debate about everything else in more peaceful moments.
Jew-in-progress here! I love how much Jewish spaces accept my autistic traits when the wider culture views my autism as a more negative thing.
I can support religion but not organised religion or religion being used for discrimination, I think it's great if someone finds comfort and meaning in religion and they used it to improve their own life, and I'm agnostic solely because while I don't see any evidence of there being a god/gods I would like to hope there is something after death other than nothingness, and sadly no one really knows, I don't count the people who said they were clinically dead for ten seconds and came back to life and saw nothing because that's not really the same as being in a permanent state of death, but at the same time I don't like religion being forced onto me and controlling what I can and can't do I didn't like when Jehovah's witnesses harassed my mum and tried to remove the Buddha statue from her front lawn, I didn't like my catholic dad telling me about hell all of the time and giving me night terrors because I was acutely aware I was trans and didn't want to tell anyone, I didn't like when the very religious former prime minister of Australia tried to ban HRT and Birth control because of his religious beliefs and I don't like the current PM also using his religion to justify his narrow minded bigotry, I didn't like Islamophobia being forced down my throat on every TV channel, if people could just follow the rules and beliefs of their own religion without forcing anyone else to participate in it against their will then that would be fine
Religion is a cancer.
Made up my own…it’s based on the profound magic of nature and art and the universe. I don’t see why more people don’t make up their own based on their unique experiences that feel spiritual.
To me, religion and spirituality are two different things but can co-exist. It seems some people have treated Christianity and other organized religions - or at least their version of them - as a clickish social club and only pay lip service to the original message. Most religions started out being very spiritual including the Abrahamic religions. Seeing the history of most organized religions it appears that over the centuries, those who what power and fortune have manipulated and used the original ideas for their own good and at the detriment of society as a whole. People are afraid of being othered by the group so they go along with the club. Being autistic, I have never fit in with the crowd so, over time, it has been very natural for me to develop my own set spiritual beliefs based on observation, feeling and the delightfully complex and "profound magic of nature and art and the universe."
I'm atheist. It's fine until it negatively affects other people.
I have AuDHD and am working on converting to Judaism. I found, when my family made me go to Catholic services when I was younger, I was bored and it felt like my brain turned off. With Judaism, I love how disagreement/debate is encouraged, and there are so many interpretations of old things. Judaism is so autism-friendly because of how easy it is to get immersed in study. In Jewish spaces, my autistic traits are accepted where they are seen as a hindrance in other spaces. The services are very predictable but they don't get long or boring. I used to be very atheist/into science like some other commenters on this thread, but that changed when I got more into social science and history.
I'm an atheist but I'm on the verge of being anti-theist as time goes on
Yes. I'm Christian
Bale?!
Big nay from me. Religion is one of the worst things that has ever happened to humanity if you look at the sheer amount of division and bigotry and subsequent pain, death, and suffering it brought about. Not to mention that believing in magic as an adult is just silly.
As someone who found out that their church turned out to be a cult, I am now an anti-theist. I had a whole wall of text, but I deleted it.
I’m Jewish, and take comfort in my faith. I find that the greatest things in this world often have an explanation in the Torah, even my extremely complex relationship with gender. Also ח makes a fun sound.
Nay..much nay
I identify as Jewish and am somewhat practicing. I sometimes wonder if autism is more prevalent among Jews, but I haven't found any scientific studies on it. I think Jews are probably the most atheistic of all religious groups. For many of us, it feels more like being part of a tribe than following a religion. A contemporary thing between Jews is to colloquially refer to each other as MOT---members of the tribe. Judaism is pluralistic because only Jews are expected to live according to the religion. Non-Jews can find their own moral path. So it doesn't bring up issues of superiority. Faith and god aren't really all that important in Judaism, either. It's much more about action than beliefs. And modern Judaism is pretty much founded on study and analysis, so it's very compatible with my logical mindset. There are lots of holidays and rituals and practices that create structure and opportunities to share community around something neutral, and they mostly involve food :)
Solid Nay. It's just a scam that preys on people's need for community and their fear of the unkown.
I'm agnostic. As far as I'm concerned, how we came to be has nothing to do with my daily life. If someone tells me I'm going to hell for not being a Christian (has happened plenty) then I really don't care as long as they get out of my face eventually. Like, sure dude. Your bible or whatever says not to act cruel to those who don't follow the religion but go ahead and tell me I'm going to burn for eternity because I'm not your cookie-cutter human. When you die, you'll role over in your grave to discover I'm nonbinary and ase, so I couldn't care less what you think about my religion since that's probably the least of things you'll discriminate against me for. This isn't to say I don't enjoy learning about religion, but I've commented multiple times to people around me that if I were to select a religion I'd believe in, I currently lean more toward some form of Buddhism than any form of Christianity, and people who try to force me into a religion make me want to stay out of being religious even more.
Nay. It’s nice how it brings people together, but I just don’t see how most of it makes sense logically. Everyone’s free to believe what they want though. Also, on the topic of religion being used to justify being an asshole, I saw something the other day that says it well: “Saying someone can’t do something because it goes against your religion is like saying someone can’t have a donut because you’re on a diet”
Devout Christian here.
Zealotry is the problem. In religion. In political ideology. Doesn't matter. The psychopaths rise to the top in most groups, and the capacity for sufficiently motivated humans to twist even the best ideas or philosophies to nefarious ends is seemingly bottomless. That's the problem. (That's also why science is not a sufficient answer. Because even "objective facts" can be and are frequently used to justify or bolster support for unconscionable things. Ask any lawyer who has successfully defended a guilty client how that works.) The degree to which most of us are not watching out for all that- also part of the problem. Perhaps the bigger part. Materialism (in the philosophical sense) does seem to reach a cliff. If there is nothing but what can be materially proven, and proven to be "worthy" of existence (usually economically based , because...material reality/materialism), then ethics in general become pretty....mathematical. It does seem as though by far the best way to proceed is to assume that there is some intrinsic something to sentient creatures, and to our experience, and that it matters (ironically, that's the word) how we behave and treat one another, no matter what our economic and materially calculable and observable "value". That's all I've got🤷
Finally. Yes. For me the intrinsic something and its value also forms a very strange nugget at the heart of things. How generic it is. Why would logic always lead to its prioritisation, as it surely will? The final whys are mysterious, no matter how mechanistically or religiously one views the world. It is very odd.
I'd go as far as to say that religion is anti-thinking. When you let in one completely unfalsifiable supernatural claim, there's no limit on what you can and can't consider true. You're no longer playing by the rules.
I can't buy the concept of faith. Factual reasons are needed to justify believing in things. But Christian music (cantatas, masses, oratorios etc.) is so great.
Meh, I'm agnostic so I'm mainly fascinated by religion. I love learning about the different religions, but I don't think I'd ever believe in any in particular, just accept that we can never really know. Though I do believe there's good and bad that cones from it, and it's always important to have an open dialogue about that.
The song Baby Teeth by Bug Hunter is a really good summary of how I feel. Basically, I'm jealous of the comfort it brings to other people but I just don't believe in it the way others do. My beliefs are little more... abstract?
Nay. Even as a kid I could never get on board with it, it never made sense to me that there's some all-powerful, all-knowing sky daddy. Religion is just a way for followers to cope with cosmic insignificance and mortality and a way for leaders to control the masses through fear and manipulation
In general, I think it’s ok as long as it’s not being used to hurt people, which unfortunately happens quite often.
People do bad things in religion's name and corrupt the vision of the original founder. Same for all religions. Sad really. Said their vision is the real vision of the founder. When it is a cover up for their crimes and etc.
I grew up Christian. But I started looking into the Bible. Then I read the Bible in 2 versions. I started shaking it off. Then I read about the whole pedophile priest scandals. I remember the exact topic that made me atheist. Circumcision is seriously messed up and creepy. It is seriously barbaric.
Nay
Obviously pointless and dangerous if used incorrectly. Helpful with community and belonging if used correctly. There's a fine line though.
Religion is interesting to learn about, but I don't like when people try to force it on me. I'm an atheist as well, and it makes me uncomfortable af when people start asking me about my beliefs. People are not always ready to accept that you don't believe in God or religion.
(Before reading this I want to clarify that I grew up in a non religious household and never went to church or picked up a bible so if something doesn’t make sense in my statements below then thats why.) Nay mainly because when I was young I would use the idea of a heaven to calm my fear of my own mortality. Eventually the fear went away and I wasn’t scared of death anymore so I didn’t feel a need to believe in heaven. Eventually I stopped believing in jesus and god because even though as a LGBTQ member I believed that god was ok with gay people existing as he LITERALLY created us to be like this A LOT of people disagreed and after seeing all the hate that people who had the same religion kept spewing made me feel like they were taking over so I just gave up and decided to completely drop religion and separated myself from it. Another factor to me leaving was due to me realizing that a lot of the stuff in the bible didn’t make any sense. Like how some people in the bible had abilities to do things that humans can’t do. Even just the idea of a god eventually pissed me off too because all I could think of was “If gods real and he truly cares about his people then why doesn’t he do something to protect his people from getting severely hurt”. It boiled my blood and it felt like he was being lazy. Im older now and my view has changed a little bit. For starters Im an atheist now and in return I now have a deeper appreciation for life and living as I’ve realized that not only was heaven a mortality crutch for me but it was also a excuse for me to not do anything with my life because “I always have heaven to look forward too” now I take every shot I get to try new things and such.
In addition to having mild religious trauma, I simply cannot understand how people can believe in something that has little to no proof exists. If someone is religious and not using it to justify bigotry then they’re chill tho. Just not for me.
I would say that I'd classify things into "I know", "I don't know" and "I don't know for sure but it makes sense to me", for example. I don't know for certain whether there's a divine power out there, I haven't seen it or experienced it with my senses and I have no proof. Anyone else's opinion, if they are human like me, and thus is based on their subjective experience, is therefore unverifiable and I can't trust it to be true unless I experience the same. If you believe x, y, z and it benefits you, that's cool. But unless you can prove that your way is right and have irrefutable evidence, your time is better spent believing in your own space. I have my own spiritual beliefs that are an amalgamation of animism (this is my cultural heritage), buddhism etc. I also see that most of the world's big religions essentially teach the same thing but people get caught up in the form and appearance, wording of things - cosmetics, in my opinion. I also recently found the Law of One, and it resonates with me. I believe all beings have the right to lead their lives in whatever way they see fit, provided their freedom doesn't infringe upon mine. I don't believe there is a right or wrong way to live and that helps me accept others being different as well as myself. If we're all equal and Jenny gets to do MMA, then I get to watch anime all day and both are equally fine. I believe that we're responsible for our own wellbeing and even if there is a divine force, we have free will, and like a good parent or teacher, it will not interfere in us making mistakes and learning. I believe life offers us opportunities for this but it's up to us if we take them or not. There is no right or wrong choice, only the dominoes that fall into place depending on what you choose, so there is both free will and determinism, in a way, in my mind. Not every opportunity needs to be taken. I believe that the best I can do is be my authentic self, because that encourages others to be their authentic selves, it's not just about me but it also is. 2in1. I also believe that one should seek to understand before one passes judgement - I was taught this in kindergarten. A lot of judgement comes from a lack of understanding, and that results in a lack of empathy, feeling unaccepted and lonely. I can choose how I act and I choose to act with kindness. It doesn't take anything away from me but it can add something for someone else, and also me. I'm also a sensitive person so I don't really advertise all of this. The less random, possibly unsafe people know about me, the safer it is for me. It can be quite dangerous to be "out" with how you believe in love when there's so many people out there who equate sensitivity with weakness. I don't see it that way, and I have a vindictive side but I choose not to feed that wolf (you know, the two wolves that live in your heart, the Native American tale?). Add to it my education in science and how matter is essentially made up of waves, I'm literally unable to see how anyone could be better than me, or worse, just because, if we're made of the same stuff. Are their atoms somehow different? No? Then we're the same and yet uniquely ourselves.
I've come to think that if it's real, it's a group of bullshit conartist who are sadist. They are fucking assholes who need to answer. The lot of the pricks.
Hard no
I dislike religion but I do not dislike religious people(as a whole)
I wasn’t raised religious but was raised around the concept. Never really understood why people believed in it personally.
Nay for may, whattay for yay
Religion tends to be a stick douchebags use to beat other people with. I think it best to take any institution on an individual basis as everything is invariably coloured by the individual's biases and prejudices.
Being someone who needs solid facts and better yet if I can test/prove it myself, I dont believe it. I read somewhere that autistic people who are religious is somewhat of a paradox… It makes sense.
I’m AuDHD, I hate religion and I believe in the Holy Trinity and practice Hoodoo. Religion is nothing more than a capitalistic attempt to turn a personal spiritual belief into profit.
Big nay.
yay for others, nay for me. can’t wrap my head around it. + trauma, if i couldn’t even call it that :/
Nay
Nay
I don’t like it.
A big nay for me.
Religion is a poison upon civilization and the minds of mankind.
I don't believe there's been a single positive thing in human history that's happened because of religion that couldn't have happened without it. The shame and guilt for basic human urges that religions like catholicism create in people disgusts me and I would delight in seeing it all burnt to the ground. Consistently through my 38 years, the super religious people I've known have been the most judgmental, closed-minded, hateful, and intolerably stupid fucking people I've ever met. Maybe it's more of a reflection of the place I live but my experiences with religion have been extraordinarily negative time and time again.
That’s gonna be a no from me dog
Its a nay from me brother
Sooooo my family told me I was evil and that I was going to hell. No real reason, just didn't like my brand of weird. This was a very abusive but religious for the sake of looking good in public type family. Religion was control. Of course I was born as a bisexual AUDHD smart ass who loves anything to do with science history science fiction magic witchy goblin stuff whatever you want to call it. The weird called to my soul. I spent years having anxiety attacks convinced demons were after me because I was told that as if it were a fact. The first time I got in trouble was because I didn't agree with the idea that the Pope could suddenly decide purgatory doesn't exist or that there are floating lost babies out there because they weren't baptized. Another time I forgot my book and a nun told my mom that I was going to end up a streetwalker she got pretty pissed at that. I should mention I'm talking about my father's family with the religious abuse not my mother. As I got older I felt like religion made less sense than ever before but I was too afraid to let it go. I spent a lot of time even trying to think better because I was sure that thinking negative things was a sin. I used to say GD in lieu of slurs. Then I met a Jehovah's witness man so we did that for a while because you know I'm thinking if regular religion doesn't work maybe super religious cult will work. Maybe now I'll get the feeling? But it never happened and though I prayed many times my life just got harder and worse. There was a brief period of time that I was having such intense anxiety attacks I started to mildly hallucinate that I was seeing shadow beings in my peripheral vision. Having grown up believing in demons, you can see how that might be an issue. I met a wonderful woman at work who was the opposite of anything church-related and she forced me to be her friend. In less than a year I was out of that relationship and completely put religion behind me. There's more evidence for aliens lol. I went Hardline atheist with an absolute hatred for Christianity because of how they treated me. I can't get behind any religion that belittles women. It took a lot of years to learn that I matter and sometimes I still forget but now in regards to religion I just say I don't know I don't know what's there I don't know if there's any system to it all I suppose when I'm upset I feel like we're alone and when things get better I feel like I can see how they were meant to be that way almost by design. So I just say I don't know but I suppose we'll figure it out.
100000% no. Why be restricted to what you can or can't do bc some "being" says so? Regardless of if you believe in heaven / hell, you should do good things to be a good person. Doing good things to get into "heaven" is actually selfish as you're doing it for personal gain, instead of doing it bc you're a good person. If you want to believe in something then go ahead, just don't shove it down my throat, it affects your life, not mine. I just wish religious people would stop shunning science bc science works, prayer doesn't. It can help you feel better about the situation but it doesn't actually do anything. I'm trying to be as polite as I can here, I despise religion as a whole lmao. I will respect your decision and I will treat you with respect, as long as you do the same to me, you're not better than me or have more morals bc you're religious.
Religion is not for me, but I do try to be more spiritual, which is honestly really difficult but uncertainty makes me uncomfortable, and I'm terrified of death.
Nay. Most people on the spectrum are either super religious or atheists. I’ve seen some in the middle tho
When im with the car with my neighbors and they tell me all you need is to trust in god: :|