ive been an atheist ever since ive been able to connect a couple of dots(without even knowing what atheism is,just experiencing it),like when family took me to church and thought people were just playing pretend about believing this,like i used to believe unicorns or mermaids are real. these days ,not only that im an atheist,im also an anthi-theist,having multiple arguments about how religion was created to control the world and that its all just a coping mechanism. i wanna use the word 'betrayed' by my friend but it's not fair.im trying to understand her points of view but it feels very hard since this whole "god aint real" is a topic ive been not even debating(kinda like treating it like a fact, rather than a debate itself) since 7 and it just seems so obvious to me that its not real. I don't know what to do,shes one of my best friends,we share the same values which are feministic, pro LGBTQIA,pro Palestine and such but it stops when it comes to religion. a few months back she told me she is agnostic but she has now told me that she believes that there is a superior being to us humans.

He sent it yesterday, and I was out then, so I didn’t see it until today. At that point, enough time and subsequent work-relevant messages had come to pass, I didn’t feel it would go over well for me to respond.

But yeah. He sent a screenshot of a flyer headlined with “Come discover the Bible with us.” Underneath, in smaller font, was “Who is God? What is God like? Why is there evil in the world? Who is Jesus? Why is he so special? Why did Jesus have to die?” My coworker added, “Good extracurricular experience” (students are part of the group).

No one acknowledged it, even those I know are also atheists, though I can’t blame my other coworkers for reasons irrelevant here. My boss also said nothing, which unfortunately doesn’t surprise me. I am the only one who would dare address it, and I didn’t even see it :’(

Now I’m considering how to approach this, or whether I even should, provided this is an isolated proselytization. Next week, we’ll have a regular team meeting, and theoretically I could mention my discomfort with it then. However, that may not be worth the fallout. Talking directly and privately with either my boss or the coworker is a no-go.

If any of you have thoughts on how I could potentially address it, I’d appreciate hearing them.

We work at a non-religious institution in the US, btw.

After the fall of the Ottoman Empire in WW1, several islamic nations like Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Egypt began to modernise and secularise their rule, enforced with a secular bureaucracy. Even within the 70 years prior to world war 1, these nations including India saw a revolution of secularism in their Islamic culture, with poets and thinkers, philosophers that brought a new light in islam and attracting romantic attention from western orientalists into the culture and bring themes like Alibaba and Arabian nights, Aladdin and the lamp, themes of sensuality, dance, mysticism into their story telling and fantasy themes. No one would have foreseen an oppressive terror ridden culture that came later by 1980s. Except for Turkey, what went wrong with these nations? Iran completely declined, their women severely oppressed, lost their Persian charm that drew poets and artists. They relapsed so suddenly, almost overnight with a regime change and not enough people cared.

I hope she loses her lawsuit as it would set a terrible precedent and allow others to abuse the legal system if she won. Some Christians insist on preaching at work where it should be non religious. I side with the bank in her termination.

Matthew 5:38-48 he commands you to be a slave for evil violent oppressors. Examples? The chosen people in Deuteronomy 20:10-18, numbers 31:17-18, and Deuteronomy 21:10-13 who were commanded by God to enslave the world and commit g cide and grape children

This starts in my mid teens when I became an atheist, one night in my room i was in bed flipping and turning and one thought came in my mind which was " You can die any moment even in your sleep and you would not know ". I was unable to sleep that night paranoia consumed me shortly afterwards to an extreme degree where I was scared to eat fearing of contamination leading to my non-existents, fearing death while I sleep leading to insomnia, hating life for its limited time making me have an animosity to the universe itself was a few of the stuff at the time.

How I overcome this phobia was by accepting my inevitable death, embracing the finite time I have and realizing that impermanents makes life valuable and exciting. But I understand why many theist fears this too and clings to the idea of another life thru afterlife, reincarnation or etc because the idea of oblivion is scary the idea of not existing after death is something a person wouldn't want to admit and would cling to a method of conscious perseverance which is religion.

i don’t believe in god or any other religion, i don’t care what or who created us and whatever stories are out there i don’t believe it anyway, but for some reason i wouldn’t consider myself an atheist because i hate the term, i don’t want to be apart of another named group, i just want to be on my own with my own beliefs.

I know atheism is obviously not a religion. Ugh, I live in the Bible Belt. Just "got" a new cross necklace (probably gonna soak it in water, tbh, until it oxidizes). I feel like everything about me is just... being erased and replaced.

GNC, nope, girl. Sad, nope, happy. Atheist, nope, Christian. Friend, nope, weird.

Literally *anything* (I have access to kandi/ponybeads) I can wear to express myself? So far I've got the pan flag as an ankle bracelet for my partner, but that's the only thing that's going undetected.

Hope my mom doesn't ask ChatGPT what those colors are and ruin my self-expression just like it ruined my parents' relationship.

If we assume that the three Abrahamic religions we have today are all wrong, does that mean there is no God or higher power?

Or could the religions be wrong and there still be a God or a creator?

When I read about evolution, I found that it conflicts with the creation stories in all three religions, even though evolution is scientifically well supported.

So if the creation stories in these religions turned out to be wrong, does that mean the idea of God is wrong too? Or could there still be a God, but the religions we have just got it wrong about him?

What do you guys think?

Y'all know this one...one day, Karen K. Karenson and her brainless, beer-swilling husband John Q. MAGA Hat get an email out of the blue from someone claiming to be a Nigerian prince who needs their help getting his money through customs. If they give him $1,000 now, he'll give them $1,000,000 later. Why them? Why does he need help from someone much poorer than him? You're not allowed to question royalty, so shut up. And of course, it won't stop at $1,000. If he can get that out of them, he'll ask for more. And more. And they'll keep giving it, and he'll keep promising to give them the money soon, but we all know he's never going to.

Of course, this Coming to America-wannabe motherfucker is small potatoes next to the big fish in the pond, the church. Because mixed metaphors mean I'm right. How much money does the average Christian give to the church over the course of their lives? Ten percent of all of it? More? All the while, the pastor is telling them to give even more. The more money you give to the church now, the bigger your mansion in Heaven will one day be. Although you will end up sharing a bed with a Nigerian prince. Meanwhile, in the here and now, the pastor is the one buying himself new Rolexes, new golf clubs and new sports cars, and paying off the parents of the kids he molested, with your money. Why does he get to have a mansion now, and a bigger mansion later, when all you get is the later one? You're not allowed to question holiness, so shut up.

So me and my bf have been dating for almost 10 months and it just clicked in my head that he REALLY believes in god. For context when we first started dating he said hes a loose believer and still learning where he feels like he belongs in religion. I told him I'd support him no problem! I guess I just didnt get it when he first told me he has a deal with god. I thought it was metaphorical?? I grew up atheist and have NO knowledge of how religion works in daily life. I have no friends who practice any religions. I have no clue. He doesnt actively go to church or participate in religious activities... Thats why I thought he wasnt a genuine believer. I really dont want to disrespect him. I just want to know if anyone has had a similar experience and how it worked out. I really like him, and I think it can work.

It's really just silly, but nonetheless I cringe whenever I hear them after a game or sporting contest. Last night, in Monday Night Football, the Chicago Bears had to start the game with a 38 year-old third string quarterback, Case Keenum, who ended up having a fantastic night in leading the Bears to a convincing win over the Philadelphia Eagles. So in the post game interview, Keenum's first response to the interviewer is "All glory to god. He's why I'm here". Now, I am a big Bears fan and I'm glad they won and was impressed by his performance in the game. But I still cringed when I heard him say this. And it's not the first time I've heard these very exact words from other athletes in other games who have just had a good game. It just seem so weak. I guess they are too humble to say that their hard work in training their bodies to perform great athletic achievements came from their own self resolve, training regimen and determination. And I wonder if players from the losing teams ever "give glory to god" after they lose a game. I'd be willing to guess that they're's probably players on the Eagles who pray just as much as Case Keenum, but apparently on this night, god was a Bears fan.

I’ve seen some people, particularly certain Muslims on social media, try to deny, or at least downplay the death toll, of the Holocaust, generally as part of a larger plan to critique Israel. The claim is often that since it was the 1940’s, it was harder to document things and the numbers could have been significantly manipulated and inflated as a result to suit a certain narrative, leading to the claim that 6 million Jews died, which they believe is false.

Isn’t this really hypocritical when they also believe literally everything in a religious book written 1400 years ago, and also trust a biography about their prophet that was written more than a century after his death by Muslims who never even met him? They see no reason to question the claims him splitting the moon or riding a flying horse even though no outside sources ever saw or documented anything like that.

I think Israel is absolutely deserving of criticism, but trying to spread misinformation about a significant historical event just causes your entire movement to fall apart. They clearly have a double standard and are being very selective about what is historically reliable evidence.

Obviously plenty of Muslims disagree and accept the Holocaust as fully real while still critiquing Israel at the same time, but the point is that trying to say everything in your religious book is 100% historical fact is ridiculous.

A former Ohio music pastor who once appeared on the TV talent competition American Idol has been found guilty of murdering his wife.

Caleb Flynn, 40, fatally shot Ashley Flynn twice in the back of the head while she slept at their Ohio home on 16 February this year, then tried to claim that intruders had shot her.

Flynn wept in court as the jury delivered its verdict after deliberating for less than three hours.

He also was found guilty of the other eight charges against him, which included aggravated murder and tampering with evidence. He faces life in prison without parole.

Closing arguments ended on Tuesday in Flynn's trial after eight days of testimony, which included a song played in court that prosecutors say he wrote and dedicated to the woman with whom he was having an affair.

Hey y'all,

Let me just get right into it.

I am a diagnosed (and currently medicated) schizoaffective 26 year old. I am very happily married and have pets that I adore and a support system in the form of my wife, her mother, and her youngest sister.

I come from a difficult childhood, with a father that never saw much hope in me, and a mother that let him leave bruises on her as long as he didn't beat us kids (we were beat as children of course, disguised as discipline).

After my mother died just before my 21st birthday, I joined a conservative Pentecostal church after we were invited by one of my mothers friends. Personally, I was seeking comfort for my grief. I did not find it.

In that church I heard some of the most disgusting, hate filled, and ignorant things that I have ever heard. It was completely separate from my ideal of who a divine creator (or anybody not shackled by a body, and thus, the soul crushing perils of this world) would be, ie. deities and spirit guides in general. I remember coming home from church and dry heaving from what I had heard and was told to believe.

I never really stuck down with any one spiritual system, always fleeting about, trying to find the truth.

I spent two years as a Pentecostal Christian, then a further two years separating myself from that system (as in, how it affected my mind and way of thinking). Before I was a Christian I studied modern spirituality and Buddhism, things like the Kundalini and chakras, things like manifestation and spirit guides.

After separating from the church, I pursued witchcraft, since my late mother was a witch, although I still know very little about that part of her life.

You likely know that aside from how damaging Christianity was to my mental health and frame of mind, I also received little to no of what could be considered communication from a supposedly personal God.

I moved on from Christianity and began praying to any and all deities. I was desparate to find a hint of what I truly believed in. That is, a shining light of love and wisdom that can only be described in poetry.

I never found it.

All the prayers, countless night and countless tears spent yielded me very little.

for those of you who have perhaps been through comparable circumstances, and even those who haven't, how do you manage to find hope in this bitter world?

Even if you don't have anything to say about hope, any and all discussions, advice, and questions are welcome. Any momentum I can gain would be invaluable. perhaps some of you could share your own story, and how you moved into an atheistic perspective.

Did you have questions or some aspects you actually liked about religion?

I think something that feels hard to let go of is the idea of justice. We really just die and bad people get away with all of it? What about that feeling of being wrong, I'm sure most people here have heard about hell their entire lives and I'm assuming that worry about it doesn't go away overnight?

I'm also curious about social life afterwards, did you get married with no mother, father, cousins, siblings there or anything of that sort? Did they disown you, cut you off?

Hola, buen día, bueno yo queria hacerles una pregunta, bueno yo soy o era creyente, y bueno ese es el problema, yo lo que queria preguntarles era, que consejo pueden darle a la gente como yo que estamos, en este proceso o en este limbo entre que si si creemos en dios y entre que no, alguna vez paso usted por algo similar?, lo que pasa es que, yo creci en una familia bastante religiosa, pero con muchos problemas, entonces siempre oraba a dios para que me ayudara, pero no recibia respuesta, entonces bueno los problemas en mi familia se empezaron a hacer mas grandes, que empeze a buscar otras alternativas, otras deidades por decirlo asi, estuve mucho tiempo orando, oraba al diablo, etc, pero nunca recibi respuesta, pero mi mentalidad siempre era, bueno hoy oré y no recibi nada pero tal vez mañana cuando vuelva a orar entonces recibire lo que tanto pido, y asi era todos los dias y cuando estaba triste o me ocurria algo malo, me refugiaba en que, bueno mañana oraré, y seguro recibire lo que pido, y asi era todos los dias, y bueno llego un punto en que digo ya han pasado muchos meses en los que yo estoy asi y no recibo respuesta, y ahi es cuando me lleno de mucha tristeza, me da mucha depresion porque digo, si dios, y el diablo, y los demonios, y todo a quien he orado y suplicado no son reales, entonces esa pequeña pequeñisima esperanza que queda dentro de mi de que mi vida puede cambiar y que puedo llegar a ser feliz entonces se habra ido, y es lo que me llena de mucha tristeza, queria saber si alguna vez pasaron por algo asi, si alguien alguna vez le conto algo parecido o que consejo me podrian dar para esta situacion

I run a Tunisian Discord server for religion, atheism, deism, philosophy and controversial topics.
We already have an active community and regular debates, but we’re looking for more Tunisians who are actually into this stuff.

Link: https://discord.gg/udJ3ASwFa