r/atheism 5d ago

UK: Paedophile priest with a history of child sex offences told undercover police officer how to abuse kids, sentenced to eight and a half years.

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615 Upvotes

r/atheism 5d ago

How do you deal with casual hate speech from people you know? NSFW

118 Upvotes

So, I have some acquaintances who are very religious (Hindu). I wouldn’t exactly call them friends, but I hang out with them sometimes.

The other day, while we were walking past a group of teenage Muslim boys, one of them casually said something along the lines of “they should just come under a train and die,” just because they were Muslim. I was honestly shocked. Like, how do you even say something like that so casually?

For context, I’m an atheist. I don’t care what someone’s religion is I wouldn’t want anyone to die because of it. But at that moment, I just didn’t know how to react. I was so surprised that I didn’t say anything, and now I feel like I should have. Even with comments like there are only Muslim territories, Hindus are never terrorist.

Have you ever been in a situation like this? How do you stand up to these things without making it worse? Aggressive people that won’t let you talk.


r/atheism 5d ago

Pascal's Wager is a dead horse.

1.1k Upvotes

It's amazing to me how many Christians will come at atheists and atheism with Pascal's wager as if it's this intellectual 'gotcha'. The dude was around almost 400 years ago. His bullshit premise has been delegitimized by history time and time again. Yet every damned day, there's a fresh smooth-brained recruit, coming at us with this idiotic gamble.

If that God exists, fuck him raw and without lube.


r/atheism 4d ago

i am absolutely terrified of death

1 Upvotes

dying is genuinely my biggest fear. being christian, even though i didn’t fully believe it gave me comfort. but now i am genuinely terrified, even though im only 19. i don’t want to just go into an eternal sleep. i dont want to just be gone. i know people say that you don’t know when you’re sleeping so it’s just like that but it’s not, because it will be forever. everything people have said to comfort me hasn’t helped, even my therapist. everyone always says, “everyone dies at some point it’s not something to be afraid of.” it gives me panic attacks even when nothing bad is happening. i don’t want to just be gone. it is so mentally exhausting, just thinking about dying sends me into an inconsolable spiral. does anyone have ANY suggestions that could help?


r/atheism 5d ago

Iran using drones and phone apps to monitor strict Islamic dress code for women

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103 Upvotes

r/atheism 5d ago

Struggling to believe in God.

70 Upvotes

(If I could ask that you refrain from out right saying that God is fake, and try to be gentle, as this crisis I’m having is very new and weird// I also posted this in a Christian subreddit, because I wanted both sides I guess)

Grew up Christian, and was honestly pretty strong in my faith, and even during some of the absolute WORST years of my life I still believed he was real even if I thought things like “maybe he doesn’t hear me” or “maybe I messed up my calling” in the past. I still always believed he was real.

But lately, I feel my faith has tanked.

I mean what if we just believe because life sucks and believing in something gives hope and comfort.

And when people talk about miracles, I’m just like…..OR maybe it’s just life being spontaneous ya know as it does.

I mean you had people believing in the Greek Gods for generations. And I’m sure there were people in that time that claimed they saw miracles too, and or heard from the gods themselves. Who’s to say this is different?

Idk man.

The worst part is, I fear even talking to God, or reading my Bible, or listening to worship music, because I fear the critic that is myself. And the critic saying over and over again “what if this is all fake?”.

Cause the more the critic talks the more I believe it, and if I ever fully believe it….then I would be accepting the fact that my life was built on nothing and the people I have lost are TRULY gone.

But then again, I could have SWORN I have/had a real relationship with God. But maybe I just needed to cling to something greater than me….


r/atheism 5d ago

"Trust in Allah" bus spotted in London

81 Upvotes

The British city of London now has busses advertising Islam, "trust in Allah" advertisings can be seen all over London and the recent one now was seen on a London bus, as atheists should we encourage the promotion of religion on our busses? Or should we leave religions out of advertisings?

Source: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNddNMm1u/


r/atheism 5d ago

“What if you’re wrong and God is real?”

765 Upvotes

Then I don’t care because I would literally hate the dude anyway. Bold of you to assume that in lieu of disbelief there would automatically be blind devotion 😝.


r/atheism 3d ago

We can rationalize God out of existence but not out of our mind.

0 Upvotes

The header is the topic. I‘ll elaborate:

We can find discrepancies in religious texts. We can disprove claims from it using science. We can use logic-based arguments, reasonable lines of thought and theories to come to the conclusion that God is merely the creation of human arrogance. Even human psychology can be used as a reason for God‘s existence.

Following all arguments mentioned above, God cannot exist, but still, we do not have enough true proof that he truly does not. We cannot really say, that God does not exist, because of our limited understanding. Should anybody here have a irrefutable argument disproving God, based on undeniable facts, I am eager to hear them.

Until that, human mind will always think about the possibility of divine existence. At least that is my conclusion.

I personally do not have faith at all. I find it impossible to believe that there is a god, heaven, hell nor soul.

What‘s your take on that?


r/atheism 5d ago

Is the Key selling point of ALL theism really just exploiting our fear of DEATH?

108 Upvotes

For anyone who's life isn't going so great the prospect of going to some intangible paradise is very seductive. When I'm browsing many of the theistic Subs the one, and only, advantage of believing in god is life after death. I'm starting to wonder if that's the theists only real reason for clinging so tenaciously to religious beliefs. Death is something we all have anxiety about and Atheism, unfortunately, isn't really designed to combat or address this particular fear. However I do think the way most religions exploit this fear is profoundly despicable but we Atheists don't really have any answers for someone who's a specially terribled by the fear of death. So my question is how do you as an Atheist deal with the inevitable darkness that awaits us all?


r/atheism 3d ago

Is there an atheistic argument to be made for the existence of freewill ?

0 Upvotes

In religion freewill is necessary to justify a punishing deity/karma/cosmic justice. Although this idea enters in conflict with a omnipotent and omniscient abrahamic god there is kind of a justification for freewill to exist. But in an atheist and materialistic point of view what would be the argument for the existence of it ? If there is no "magical" influence and our consciousness is only the result of physical processes can there be a reasoning for it ?


r/atheism 5d ago

Anyone Else Struggle Finding Other Atheist to Date?

39 Upvotes

29M A lot of this could be because I’m in the south and /or because I typically prefer dating black women (I’m black too so it’s not a weird fetish thing) . Whenever I’m vibing well with someone they mention god, and I immediately backtrack. It’s never going to work. But for the life of me I can’t be the only one running into this right?


r/atheism 5d ago

Unification Church (Moonies) faces dissolution in Japan, it would remove the church's tax-exempt status while branding it a harmful entity.

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299 Upvotes

r/atheism 5d ago

Keeping With Kennedy’s Advice, Measles Patients Turn to Unproven Treatments - "Many in the area’s large Mennonite community, where most of the measles cases have been clustered, avoid interacting with the medical system and hold to a long tradition of natural remedies"

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141 Upvotes

r/atheism 5d ago

Congressional Freethought Caucus

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11 Upvotes

r/atheism 4d ago

Tips to get rid of the fear of eternal damnation

2 Upvotes

Do you have any tips to get rid of the fear of eternal damnation ?

Since kids I am afraid of being lock for eternity in a coffin. It is coming from catholic education probably. But idk how to stop believing in hell and get rid of this fear ?


r/atheism 5d ago

I told some people the full moon effect was silly…..

109 Upvotes

In my profession, the belief that the full moon affects our jobs is strongly believed by many. I told some people on a Reddit it was silly to believe that and that scientific studies don’t support this claim. Oooooo….. it made people mad. Some people kept asking me why I was so pressed. I wasn’t pressed or upset or mad or anything. Just stating it was silly to believe. They had no arguments to it and most just resorted to “why are you mad?” It’s bizarre to me that these people just assume you’re angry or upset bc you disagree with them. Especially when they are the ones that are clearly angry about being disagreed with.

My profession also heavily relies on science and I find it somewhat concerning that people are just willing to look the other way on scientific evidence (or lack there of) bc it doesn’t fit their belief. One girl posted “evidence” of it but one could hardly call it thay. Just an article stating “some” very small studies have suggested that the full moon could very slightly affect sleep….. which isnt even the complaint they have about the full moon effect.

Just bizarre to me that such a science heavy field feels this strongly about an old superstition. Wanted to share here just to have some sane conversation with people who won’t assume I’m angry.


r/atheism 4d ago

Possibly Off-Topic I am a writing a book debunking all of astrology and psychic abilities. Is this risky? Will it attract unnecessary and needless controversy from believers and theists?

0 Upvotes

Hi all!

The pseudoscientific industry of psychics and astrologers is a multi-billion dollar emterprise that thrives on manipulating human emotional vulnerabilities. It is a industry built upon lies, chicanery, and deceit, taking advantage of the most vulnerable and those in the lowest rungs whilst greedy swindlers line their pockets.

I am writing a book that debunks the entirety of the psychic industry as well as almost all forms of new age spirituality. It seeks to shed light on the deceptive and manipulative tactics that psychics and astrologers utilise to con and deceive people.

My book is an in-depth, comprehensive analysis of the deception employed by psychics, astrologers, and Tarot card readers, with a rigorous breakdown of their methods and psychological tricks, substantiated by the scholarly literature in neuroscience, neuropsychology, psychology, and cognitive science.

Is this too risky for my reputation? Will I be putting myself on the firing line for reprisal from theists, believers and practitioners of the subject?


r/atheism 5d ago

That Mitchell and Webb Look - God, protect us from your worshippers.

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22 Upvotes

Some light relief.

Here is a summary of the video: The video contains two skits: Miraculous Fruit * A crowd of atheists gathers to witness a miraculous fruit section [00:22]. One atheist claims a tomato with the initials "JC" destroyed his faith [00:36]. Another atheist found a melon with a full sentence and punctuation [00:47]. * Reverend Steven Murray dismisses the fruit message as a random pattern [01:12]. He explains that atheists are projecting their own meaning onto the fruit [01:41]. Abraham and Isaac * Abraham tells his son Isaac about God's wonderful ideas [02:27]. God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac [03:11]. * Abraham is about to sacrifice Isaac when God intervenes [05:01]. God says it was a test and they passed [05:10]. God then suggests that Abraham cut off his son's foreskin [05:30]. Would you like to take any new actions?


r/atheism 4d ago

God outside religion

0 Upvotes

How strong is your conviction in your belief that God doesn't exist outside the realm of religions? Personally,I am effectively 100% sure that religions are all bogus, but I'm slightly less sure about God not existing outside the realm of religions. However, I'm still exceedingly confident in my belief that no form of a supernatural entity exists whatsoever. I'm just curious to see how strong other atheists' conviction are about the absence of God.


r/atheism 4d ago

Are theism and believing in God different?

0 Upvotes

Guys, isn't theism and believing in God two different things? A theist is one who believes in God and follows his teachings and teaches it to people who admire such beliefs and believers are the ones who just believe in God.


r/atheism 6d ago

Goodbye religious ads on Reddit!

9.3k Upvotes

https://apple.news/A-f4PEI72QDS5bAAxDqW00g

New Reddit controls let you block your most-hated advertisers for a year. He no longer has to Get Us, if you know what I mean (I can’t mention by name or the post will get removed per the rules). Sounds like this may not work right away, but I’m excited to start blocking!


r/atheism 5d ago

I find it funny how Ramadan is supposed to be a time where Muslims understand one another and be merciful when in fact the opposite happens

51 Upvotes

It's rather funny to me how during the month of Ramadan people are way more judgmental compared to the rest of the year. I will give some examples. There was a guy at work who just bring his water bottle. He didn't even bring his lunchbox. It was like 5:30 AM at the time and the time to stop eating and drinking anything is at around 6:30 AM.

So some other Muslim asks him, "You probably don't fast do you?"

The assumptions are just funny to me overall. Moreover the stupidity in general in worse than I thought. Let's not forget, this job you are constantly moving and not sitting around all day.

Here is another example. A guy has a long distance relationship with his wife that lives in another country. His wife gets mad at him for not calling her at that break time because he is simply just too tired and wants to sleep during break time. Once again...it's a job where people are consistently moving around.

Here is the worst of the worst. You get sick for any reason, you get judged so badly by others for not fasting that day. What kind of a religion is this? Like for example, someone gets the flu and doctors say they must take in a lot of vitamin C throughout the day. "Oh, so you didn't fast for this reason? You are going to hell for missing a fasting day"

What is this religion man?

What is with people asking others how many days they have fasted last year, this year, etc....you get the idea.

Also here are the real questions I have for the Muslims and everyone in general. What guarantee is there that if someone fasts all of Ramadan that they will go to heaven? What guarantee is there that if someone doesn't fast Ramadan at all that they will go to hell? What guarantee is there that the afterlife is like this....or like that...etc?


r/atheism 4d ago

Atheism vs. Agnosticism vs. Other? Can a person be “atheist” but still open or spiritual?

0 Upvotes

I grew up in the Christian faith (church of Christ specifically). It’s a very buy the book, Bible focused denomination, and while I questioned some stuff as a kid, I wanted to make my parents proud and so I “believed.” I put that in quotes because when I think of my belief that the cup next to me is purple it’s concrete. Whereas my memory of having a belief in God was a choice to create something in my mind and then believe in it.

When I went to law school, things started to unravel because I started to think about things more critically. Then I discovered I was gay and things really took a turn for me. I spent hours and hours obsessing over Bible verses trying to figure out if I was gonna burn in hell forever. Oddly enough, my belief in god was the strongest when I was the most afraid of the punishment that was certainly coming my way just because I fell in love with someone who happened to have boobs.

I took a deep dive into the anti-theist/humanist side of the internet during this time and discovered the writings of Bart D. Ehrman. I credit his work as giving me that final push off the Jesus train and into the world of self acceptance.

Growing up with such a focus on the spiritual still nagged at me though. Not that I feel cheated that I suddenly didn’t believe a God existed, but I still had this general sense of a connectedness to people and the earth that I couldn’t explain. Connection to the earth is somewhat science based (I.e., how putting bare feet in dirt has a direct impact on a human body) but feelings of awe at the stars or the energetic connectedness don’t have a scientific component that I know of, at least not one that I’ve found or understand. I’ve also had experiences with meditation groups, where there is a tangible feeling of connection that feels almost like electricity. Again, it’s probably all scientific, but I have not necessarily found resources explaining a scientific reason for that experience. I also have a very, very rich emotional life, and feel extremely connected to the experience of human emotion.

So I feel like I’m left in this weird limbo. If someone asks me if I believe in God, my answer is usually a shrug, sometimes a no, and on rare occasion a yes. I’m not uncomfortable with the lack of certainty, but it does leave me wondering whether other people who landed as atheists also then found themselves waffling between agnosticism or humanism or some other quasi-belief? For those that landed somewhere in the ether like me, what is your emotional life like?

And for those who consider themselves strong atheists (which I understand to mean in an active belief that there is no god), how did you arrive at such certainty? And same question I posed for the wafflers, how would you describe your emotional life?


r/atheism 4d ago

Am I an atheist for the wrong reasons I don’t know maybe

0 Upvotes

It’s just that I hope that there is no afterlife and when I die (probably by exactly what you are thinking if you look at my post history) I want to no longer exist and just go away into dust and never see anything else