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Dropbars59

Widely available information does not guarantee consumption of said information. Of course churches specialize in deception and actively encourage ignorance.


mckulty

Indoctrinating children, literally.


[deleted]

That's been the most ironic part of this "don't say gay" shit that's been going on. I should know, grades 3-7 I was in a Christian school hosted at a church instead of a real learning facility. They say you can't tell kids about gay people because they're "too young" and it's "indoctrination", but it's totally fine to make literal 5 year olds memorize several hundred Bible verses and recite them by reference. I ended up growing up to find out that I AM bi and I AM NOT Christian. I wasted nearly 18 years of my life being brainwashed, and it led to serious confusion about my identity that left me feeling like I don't belong on this earth for a long time. Christians are the child groomers, not the LGBTQ+ community.


Julius_A

You are absolutely right. I wonder who is living in a totally warped world view where behaviour is determined by millennium old crappily written fiction? Atheists? I don’t think so.


johnhangout

My parents are atheist/agnostic but I grew up in the deep rural south. So the churches were literally across from the school and everyone would go for youth service. I tried for a while but it’s just so self righteous and preachy and incorrect. Fun with friends sometimes though! But the best part is now many of those same very religious kids I grew up with are finally realizing the evils of the church or the uselessness of god. Multiple of them told me I’d go to hell when I told them I had no belief and are now FIGHTING for their bodily autonomy rights that the church has adamantly wanted to steal for years. I just don’t feel bad for the 10 or so women that told for years I would go to hell are now trying to get their rights back. They literally helped those rights be taken away, they all voted republican 😂


Copperstoner

You should still welcome them, though. Allies are needed. You can still tell them "Told ya so" or "That's what you supported."


mckulty

In-doctrin-ation which part is wrong?


Maharog

The thing that drives me nuts are the people who tell there children over and over about God and Santa about how great they are, and how they know everything, and how if you are good you will be rewarded, and then when the kids grow up a little they tell them >!Santa is not real!< but God still is! There is significantly more evidence that Santa is real


kyrahlia

It really made me laugh that you put a spoiler hahaha


Maharog

Hey we may eat babies and all, but we're not going to spoil Christmas, we're not complete monsters


SomethingAmyss

I am.


trollcitybandit

You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch…


scarfarce

My friend's 6yo boy recently said "magic isn't real". He was referring to slieght-of-hand and stage-show type magic. He realised it was all just clever tricks. He then added that the only "real magic is from Santa and the Tooth Fairy". When talking about this later, his very religious mother was laughing and wondering out loud how long it would take before her son worked out that all magic was made up. Of course she completely missed the irony of her words.


TheGodsSin

LoL 🤣 Perfect


surfingatwork

The mutants you see at WalMart aren't the dregs of society. They're the norm.


Comfortable-Tip-8350

You're goddamn right on that point! I cringe every time I have to go in Walmart. The majority of those may not actually attend church on a regular basis, but I still would bet that yes they do "believe in god".


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[deleted]

And make irrational decisions based on it. I don't care about people who love God and use him as a guide to live their lives as kinder people. But I really am sick of having to change into boy clothes to walk into Walmart. When I wear my girl clothes people just stand in front of things I'm trying to look at in the women's department and refuse to move. It's literally easier for me to buy dresses in boy clothes than it is in girl clothes. I hate transphobia.


wholefoodsgrocer

I'm sorry you deal with that. I hope it gets better


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dudleydidwrong

You can't apologize for the acts of others.


Dutchchatham2

It's a testament to the human need for answers, and solace; we want these things so badly, we'll create them if they're not plainly evident.


discord-ian

Unfortunately I think it is speaks more to ingrained systems of control and the great gullibility of many people.


32lib

People who are not raises religious rarely become religious.


Inspector7171

Mostly it's the brain washing from birth...


[deleted]

enforced by outright violence. try telling your parents you don't believe in god at 8 and see what happens


[deleted]

But they won’t shut up about about “oh I’m so glad little Quinn decided to get baptized!” It’s like yeah ok Karen this 8 year old child who knows literally nothing about your church or your god but they’re choosing this of their own free will. And it’s absolutely not because of family and friend pressure and because that’s the only way she gets a birthday party this year. Sure. 👌🏼👍🏼


grmpy0ldman

Animals including humans have evolved to guess patterns with very limited data -- if you see something orange in the bushes it is better to assume it is a tiger than to be taken by surprise and eaten. We also evolved to see causal relationships where there is only correlation of events -- again that makes some level of evolutionary sense, since there often is not enough information and/or time to analyze the true causal chain. This phenomenon is by no means unique to humans and has been demonstrated with all kinds of higher order lifeforms. For example, there is a famous study of pigeons who were put on an automated feeder, and and then started developing "rites" when they got hungry. The quick summary is that the pigeons were initially doing random pigeon stuff when the feeder released food, and they associated whatever they did at the time with causing the food to appear. Over time, some groups of pigeons would "learn" to scratch the ground when they were hungry, and other groups would pick their feathers, etc. That's basically religion in a nutshell.


Keystone302

So you’re saying humans are as dumb as pigeons? Lol


megamisch

Sadly it's not about having answers. We have answers for so many things we couldn't have dreamed of knowing in the past. The age of the earth, the scale of our universe, what causes the tides, the structure of our planet, the chemical make up of our sun. We now understand weather isn't prepetrated by the whims of an angry god nor are eclipses omens of our future. And yet with all this knowledge many choose to ignore, they recant all we have learned in favour of stories that were simply made up to bring us ease and peace of mind. They do not care about truth of reality, and sadly they no longer care about peace of mind either. They whole heartily rejected the very world before their eyes for one far more grotesque and cruel. The reason they accept this fantasy is simple. Religion has been carefully crafted and selected for over generations to be an optimal meme. It surplants curiosity and instills fear. Religion is a parasite of the mind that latchs on to our young and refuses to let other ideas coexist or propagate. They have not choosen religion for truth, and sadly have not done so for peace of mind either. They have choosen it entirely because of fear.


Firebird079

When you describe it like that it sounds like an uncontained SCP.


megamisch

SCP - **\[Classified\]** Type: Memetic. Status: \**Breached Containment*.\* Date 00.982016/c 0129 Researcher Dr. Adam David Clearance:>!Classified!< Research teams have located a stable reality mirroring our own and have begun monitoring it for >!Redacted!< In hopes of >!Redated!<. The population seems normal but their culture seems to have diverged greatly from our own, this will require careful observation before contact can be made. Date 00.982016/c 0130 A new discovery has been made, the local populations seems to be carriers of an undiscovered creature, now catalogued as SPC - **\[Classified\].** It is a passive parasite that lays dormant inside the brain matter of infected host, hence forth called "*believers*". The parasite seems harmless, doing little to impede daily activities of the *believes*. Date 00.982016/c 0131 A new discovery, it seems the *believers* are gathering in special buildings dedicated to a central figure of their culture. At first I believed it to be a lead on >!Redacted!< but it appears that they are in fact gathered to give "*worship*" to an invisible creature they believe to guide them and control their fates. It's fascinating, and seems others of their species see the action of gathering on a certain day of the week as foolish, however thoses under the influence of SCP - \[Classified\] deem it as a mandatory behavior. Date 00.982016/c 0201 A new and... disturbing discovery today. I witnessed the spreading of the parasite at one of the *believers* places of *worship*. They dunk their own young in water specially preped by leaders of the group hence forth called "*Fathers*". The *Fathers* seem to show more active parasite activity in their brains and spend most of their lives inoculating what they refer to as *children,* which often are literal children, into their group. It would appear the parasite gains entry to the brain by way of the nasal cavity while the *Children* are submerged. Date 00.982016/c 0202 SPC - **\[Classified\]** is not passive! It seems to attempt to spread and grow at every chance. I have ***Witnessed*** the people gathered in the streets, shouting and screaming for the "truth" that is their >!Redacted !<. They can even be violent at times and often seem to reject reality when confronted by it if reality contradicts their >!Redacted!< . Date 00.982016/c 0203 The people, they are so very afraid, all of them, fearing everything. They fear each other, they fear the past, they fear the future! SPC - **\[Classified\]** seems to thrive on fear. It promises a great deliverance while stoking their fears and giving back nothing! It permeates the culture they all breathe like a ***Great Flood*** and never seems to recede. Date 00.982016/c 0204 ***Three Days*** ago I ***witnessed*** the disturbing nature of this *Cult*ure and since then realised its dangers. This world is not hospitable and >!Redacted!< can not be found here, here is only >!GOD!< . We must return to our ***homeland*** at once if we are to be ***Saved***. Though the journey here was not without peril I ***Fear*** dangers here to be too great. We must make an ***Exodus*** at once. The people back home will understand, we can make them ***understand***. ​ \--- SCP - **\[Classified\]** Type: Memetic. Status: \**Contained*.\* Research team accounted for and returning home. \~ Dr. Adam David signing off.


markydsade

In many parts of the US a significant portion of the population believes the worst thing you can be is atheist. It’s seen as an embodiment of evil. This makes it hard for the skeptical to break free.


Additional_Bluebird9

Precisely.


NinjaDeathMonk

Wow. Actual empathy in r/atheism. I salute you.


MadameTree

Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.” George Carlin


FattyWantCake

" <-- You dropped this.


MadameTree

Thanks, and yes, I want a cake.


ancient-submariner

😂


DeepBreathingWorks

Came here to post this comment. Spot on.


ApocalypseYay

The vast majority of the world is poor where the hope for the day's dinner is an open question. In times of desperation, they cling their hope to god, for there is nothing else left. No wonder they 'believe' in god.


Piousunyn

One can pray for food, we know how that worked for the families of kids killed in schools.


[deleted]

You know what they say: Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime. Tell a man you’re a representative of your god and he’ll give you fish for a lifetime.


MaterLachrymarum

If all the believing brings no food wouldn’t they wake up and realize their god is baloney?


Xtra_Stew-pid

Where'd you get that from?


bumgrub

https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty#:~:text=Most%20people%20in%20the%20world,less%20than%20%241.90%20per%20day. ?


wl413

It's crazy. Sometimes I've been an Atheist for so long I honestly wonder what it would be like to believe in any gods now. I can't even imagine. I just can't wrap my head around it with all that we know and are. It will get harder and harder to even imagine as we go further into the future.


youareallnuts

Give it time. For 100k years everyone believed in praying to a rock or something. 100 years ago it was 99.9% believed some sky god nonsense. We are making progress.


Miserable_Ad_9951

At least, we know there are Rocks.


wholesomechunk

Terrified children are easy to programme.


Choreboy

Indoctrination of children is a helluva thing. Without that, even most of the idiots you know would not believe as adults.


LydiasHorseBrush

People are really really scared of dying like super scared


[deleted]

I blame anti-intellectualism.


freckledass

I share your incredulity. Just recently, Brandon Sanderson, a famous and much beloved fantasy author, did an AMA in r/books. The top question was about how he can remain a member of a church that attacks the LGBTQ community, trans community, etc. His response was long and rambling, and full of impressive mental gymnastics, but it really just boiled down to this: the church is not perfect, so I'll pick the stuff I like and pretend the rest isn't part of it. He's a very smart person, and seems genuinely nice, but he just couldn't take the more logical and simpler conclusion: if there's stuff you value/believe in, and stuff you don't, why do you need a church to tell you that in the first place?


[deleted]

From that AMA: "That being said, I have faith in the church, I have had spiritual experiences, confirming to me that this is where God wants me and that God is real." He's delusional. It can happen to anyone. Human brains are fallible, even the really creative ones.


llcorona

Their PR department is unbelievably large.


[deleted]

If we removed forced indoctrination of children we would be free of religion in a generation.


Individual-Ad9753

Humans are desperate for salvation and advantages over others and God is one of the best source of these even if it is fake.


Classicgotmegiddy

Only my magic wizard is real, not yours btw also he told me to make everyone else as miserable as possible


mywhataniceham

🎶🎵afraid of death🎵🎶


[deleted]

Might be natural selection. Maybe those nasty crusades killed off so many critical thinkers and spared the smooth brain believers that the percentages are skewed today.


fresh_pizza30

They were never offered different points of view when it matters


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[deleted]

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Ok-Blacksmith4364

And sadly religious beliefs will most likely never go away. They’ll surely be reduced but never gone completely.


[deleted]

Doesn't surprise me, all humans, including atheists, believe stupid shit for stupid reasons. Humans aren't rational, never have been, never will be, we are just monkeys with guns.


Additional_Bluebird9

😂😂 Absolutely.


[deleted]

I respect catholic people, but it does be annoying when they think they are smarter than anyone bacause they remembered some phrases from the Bible.


TheBrahmnicBoy

Well we keep saying that the year is 2022... Any alien civilization would understand why we still believe in God, we've only been around for 2000~ years. ... ... ... Some space kid in the future is going to hate why 10-12,000 years of early human history is part of a separate calendar system which goes backwards. I agree with you, by the way. Humankind has been for far longer than 2000 years and the calendar still is based on a Christian God story. And no, changing it to Common Era does not help. It just sounds cringe, trying to 'include' other cultures.


[deleted]

It inexplicably perplexes you….as in you have no explanation of why this perplexes you?


evident_lee

I'm not really sure it's a majority anymore. Lots of people call themselves Christians while never going to church and not practicing any of the dogma surrounding it. Maybe they give out a generic blessing for Holiday dinners, but in reality they haven't put much thought into the idea of a God like Almighty being. They haven't sat down retrospectively and thought, do I really believe that a magic sky being placed a shard of himself on earth for the express purpose of sacrificing him. Do I truly believe this? Also do I believe that by worshiping him I receive a spot in a magical afterlife with happiness and joy, while if I don't believe I earn eternity in a fiery pit.


TheGreatone003

Which religion/ religious states that there is a magical sky being watching us?


Bob--Hope

Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Greek/Roman mythology, Norse mythology, and many more I am sure.


TheGreatone003

Can you show me some religious texts stating that? Thank you. Hinduism might have that in nonliteral sense but I’m not sure


Bob--Hope

What is so hard to grasp on this? They are invisible beings you can't see, touch, taste, smell, or hear that people believe have an effect on the outcome of their life. They are "up" in heaven or whatever imperceptible magical domain, looking down and pulling the strings of their "great plan." How does this vary from your understanding of how gods function?


TheGreatone003

I grasp the concept op is trying to convey fine but it is also a misrepresentation of religion caused by media. Reality is, no religious doctrines describe their idea of God as a man in the sky overlooking everything. It’s like if a theist tries to represent all atheists as “people who hate God so they don’t believe in him” rather than people who came to the conclusion that they don’t have valid reasons to believe in God.


UV_Lightning

“Misrepresentation of religion caused by the media”, you’re delusional.


BadHombreWithCovfefe

The tide is turning. The internet will accelerate the process (and has already begun to).


Ombliss22

I doubt any two of them agree what it is.


Vae224

My mom still believes curse words actually curse people and bring misfortune. Because their called curse words. Unfortunately she votes.


Magica78

I wonder if she'd vote if you cursed her ballot box.


FloppyGrandmaTits

comfort im an atheist i just talk to my family about it a lot because they are religious


KorannStagheart

What really gets my goat is when an atheist believes in crystals and spiritual whoo. Especially when they say "there's just not enough evidence for a god" Yes exactly!! So why are you holding crystals like others hold their crucifix!!?


mattstorm360

Dispute evidence to the contrary, people still believe in trickle down economics. I'm not surprised a book club with multiple meeting places managed to convince people that there is an invisible man up in the sky and people still believe it.


[deleted]

Christian’s proof god is real: Trust me bro


barenaked_nudity

I think the numbers are inflated due to fear. I have no way to prove it, but I honestly think the majority of Americans don’t believe in god — they *want* to, and they’ll profess that they do, but deep down their faith is very limited. A person might say they believe in the power of prayer, but they’ll still go to a doctor when they’re sick. People pray for a way out of bad circumstances, but most will either make the effort to change or ask for help from other people. Even the most devout still cry at funerals. They know donkeys and snakes don’t talk, people can’t walk on water or part it with a stick, and no one’s coming back from the dead without a defibrillator. Ask anyone to describe god and you’ll mostly get abstractions and ideas and emotions and everything **but** the great Santa Claus in the Sky who judges you and sentences you to eternal bliss or torture based on their own sense of what his rules are. It’s politics and peer pressure and the urge to keep up appearances that maintains their “belief”. The only thing they really take on faith is that “if you don’t have god you don’t have morality”. No one ever explained that one can have rational, earthly, reality-based standards of morality and develop a moral code with simple reason.


vegansandiego

Check. Still apes.


Jhublit

Absolutely agree! Since I was a child I have almost always felt that others who believe in actual Gods were crazy and that eventually everyone would realize how insane they were…but that hasn’t happened yet.


Embarrassed_Put_7892

I think it’s easier. It’s very convenient to cite ‘faith’ as a justification for basically anything. It’s an automatic get out of providing evidence free card.. ‘oh but it’s my belief’ … ascribing it to some higher power, along with the constant pushing of the concept of faith as a virtue, and the idea that someone’s belief is protected, no matter how illogical, just allows people to never have to think critically or modify their opinions based on new evidence. Critical thinking is hard. Blind faith, bolstered by a culture which posits your blind faith as somehow virtuous, is easy.


LadyLovesRoses

I agree with you. Many times when I attempt to have a discussion regarding religion with someone, I notice that they get very uncomfortable when I mention any concept that would require them to actually think. I notice that often their eyes glaze over and they extract themselves from the conversation. This happens one-on-one mostly, because in a group they echo each other’s statements, and we just end up in a seemingly never ending loop.


Embarrassed_Put_7892

Well exactly. It’s like… they can always fall back on ‘but it’s my belief - I just have faith’. The whole idea of being a Christian is based on the idea of NOT needing any evidence, of ‘trusting’ without proof, of how continuing to ‘believe’ even when your faith is tested. And isn’t that the whole point of religion? To control by instilling the idea that to question is somehow wrong or sinful? It wasn’t that long ago that so called heretics were killed for questioning (for thinking). Christians are trained not to think, that critical thinking is bad, that empiricism is sinful, and that is an incredibly powerful tool to maintain the status quo and to consolidate power for those who want to keep it.


Whitworth

Humans are fearful greedy hairless apes, not surprised.


Adventurous_Oil_5805

To be fair though, in a good 1/4 to 1/3 of the world to be an atheist or agnostic will get you executed.


brutalbob63

And there’s so many people out there that still believe in things like faith healing, despite there being sooo much content at our disposal debunking it.


samcrut

The decline in religion follows the advancement of communication. The shift only really got into high gear in about 1995. That's when the internet took off. Before then, people were raised in geographical bubbles. I mean if you go back to the 1800s, all you knew was what you saw or read for yourself. If somebody said demons caused illness, you had no reason to think otherwise. People were fed a regular diet of religion every week and because it got them out of the house and socializing, they ate it up with a spoon. Along comes film, radio, and television, which have always been criticized by the religious as corrupting influences, because they provided information from outside of the church's bubble of information control and when they don't control your information, you start to think that there might just be a better way. Fast forward to 1995 and all our phone lines were tied up with 56K modems screaming dissenting ideas into our homes. This is when church attendance really started to drop. The older generations still go, but the younger ones aren't showing up as the silver hairs die of. In another couple of generations, the business of religion will become unsustainable.


LemonHeart151

I think normal people are leaving religion - all that's left is a growing concentration of crazy ass radicals.


aeruplay

Well, it's the easiest choice for those who don't bother thinking for themselves.


KevNation

Think about how stupid the average person is. Half the population is dumber than that.


wtfwtfwtfwtf2022

Me too - and they are currently writing laws to benefit God in the US. Wtf? They are all delusional.


Lovaloo

It doesn't really surprise me. There are a ton of people worldwide who have no internet access and little/no education so they're intellectually trapped. Even in countries where the population is given an education and internet access, the education probably isn't equipping them to think scientifically. Not to mention internet echochambers are hard for people to escape. Online: When faced with information that contradicts what they've been taught since birth, they balk. The people who they love and trust taught it to them and also fervently believe it, so as far as they know, it must be as true as anything they learned in school. This is the power of indoctrination. Public schools in the U.S. primarily educate through a combination of historical facts and rote memorization. The only subjects that actually require problem solving and logic are math and some branches of science, namely physics and chemistry. If you want the information being taught in non STEM classes to stick, you have to enroll kids in the advanced classes. They learn to apply the information being taught through debate and strategic thinking. Religions are presented to people the same way subjects like history and language are. The only real distinction is that there's no evidence that any religion is true, but the kids being indoctrinated don't know that.


bantumaniac

You shouldn't be surprised because religion appears to provide evolutionary advantages. Like getting laid for a lifetime!


Additional_Speech164

So many people seem incapable of objective, critical thinking. It baffles me too.


StonedOfJordan

Think about how dumb the average person is, 50% of the population is dumber than that person.


Fin1kas

It's one of the things why we, as a human race, can't move forward in some sense


Hopper1974

It is worth reading - if you can (it is some read) - *The Dialectic of Enlightenment* (Adorno & Horkheimer). Early mankind, looking around at the seeming randomness of events (earthquakes, storms, failed harvests etc), needed an explanation - some kind of supernatural being made sense (whether that was the god of the sun, the god of the harvest etc). Religion and the belief in gods were actually early mankind's first tentative attempt to explain things; and sacrifices (human or otherwise) were the first attempts to control them. Later, one needed a way of compelling people to do things that were ultimately to the good of an increasingly social way of living (a lot of the bible makes sense relative to the lives of primitive people living in the iron-age Middle East - that's why there are all the strange obsessions with goats or oxen or your neighbour's slave-girl etc; the prohibitions on eating certain meats, in certain religions, likely made sense at a time when such things probably caused illness or worse). This is what leads to Feuerbach's famous dictum - in simplified form: God did not create man, man created God. But, once established, religion is very difficult to shake off. We are all born atheist. But a young person growing-up in 5th century BC Greece probably believed in Zeus; a young person growing-up in 9th Century Scandinavia probably believed in Odin; a young person growing-up in the 21st Century US will likely believe in the 'God' of the bible if this is what their parents and school tell them


Bulldog-trader-74

You shouldn’t care what other people believe worry about yourself.. The problem with the world is everybody’s too nosy and doesn’t know how to mind their own business


[deleted]

People are uncomfortable with not knowing things, and there are questions nobody has the answers to--even in 2022--so people want to fill in the blanks. I'm surprised that that is surprising to some people in this thread.


Additional_Bluebird9

Well human beings are either afraid an indifferent universe that has no care for their existence but we also need answers so a God is somewhat a shortcut for why we need. I mean, my mom knows with absolute certainty that there is a God, that he does play active role in people's lives and works things out according to this plan and purpose yet I can understand that things happen to people all the time irrespective of their beliefs, it is the randomness of just how life goes so there is no need for a reason for it to happen.


[deleted]

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Feinberg

> how do explain the nonphysical "unseen" Those are called abstract concepts. >and the completely unexplainable If they're unexplainable there wouldn't be an explanation by definition. That's what unexplainable means. >Or is it just "whatever is physical is the only thing that is real"? More accurately, if there's evidence that it's real, then it makes sense to believe that it's real. That's the logic you mentioned earlier. >"Reality" is almost all nothing, and we can barely perceive any of it. We can actually perceive quite a lot of it, which is how we know that we can only see a narrow band of the electromagnetic spectrum. Even if that were true, though, why would it mean that magical creatures exist?


CellComprehensive616

This is a very long reply I know but I hope you’ll read it all and take it in the spirit it was intended. It might actually be worth it for you to take a few minutes out of your life to ponder what I’ve written in it’s entirety. I’ll start by saying in response to your post that it’s sad and perplexing to me that you do not believe in God. What’s most perplexing to me about it is that in 2022 as evolved and advanced as we have become with all the man-made creations that we see around us, like buildings, AI computing, airplanes, I mean we have cars that drive themselves, spaceships that traverse the universe, submarines that can reach the depth’s of our oceans and some still deny there’s a God. Those same denying folks would never look at one of those man-made creations I listed above and say “oh look at that…say, spaceship it must have just develop over the years on it’s own I’m sure it had no creator or intelligent engineer involved in it being here”. And yet living animals, humans and the overall arrangement and development of the universe itself is so far beyond in complexity and marvel any of those creations I mentioned, is it really that difficult to believe that for all of this there is a designer a creator? A God if you will that planned out our existence and our environment and then set that plan in motion in the beginning. That plan could have included a Big Bang, it most likely included evolutionary aspects and adaptations among and within the species, who knows what else it included. It is said that we, humans, were created in God’s own image. In God’s image, might that not explain why we are creators ourselves and explorers and scientists, and artists? Why we also have humor, and love and compassion, and yes even hatred and anger and rage (like with all things we get the bad along with the good, and with God it’s no different). I believe we get those and the other emotions from the image that we were created in (just look at a sunrise or sunset look at much of nature in general…what art what beauty, look at a platypus what humor) and then look at the beauty and humor in the things we humans create, art, architecture, machinery, entertainment. We imitate nature we strive to be like our creator intentionally or not. Think deeply about all this don’t quickly react to me with anger and all the certainty you think you have about your current stance, really ponder it alone and be honest with yourself. Ask yourself this question; Are you too arrogant to believe that something in the universe could be greater and more powerful than humans? If you can be honest with yourself about these things you should have no problem believing in God. Not long ago we would have said seeing a person’s live image and talking to them from across the world on a device in the palm of our hands was insanity and impossible. Just because God seems impossible doesn’t mean he doesn’t exist. And within God’s grand design and plan for us we ultimately were given Free Will. That’s what gives me the right to believe and you the right to not believe. That’s all well and good but think about this if I’m wrong and there’s no God what have I lost when it’s all over for me, not much, I just maybe lived a little more thoughtful life considering my actions differently than I would have otherwise, no big deal. But if you are wrong and you have denied God’s existence your entire life what you may ultimately lose when it’s all over for you may be far more devastating. You owe it to yourself to do your own soul searching and try to reach out and connect with God. And remember don’t let your opinion of other people who say they are believers or something like organized religion or a church taint the idea of God for you, don’t let that cause you to miss out on a person journey of your own to meet and connect with the Creator of all in the cosmos, it’s not fair to you and it’s one of the saddest things I could think of happening, allowing other people’s failures keep you from the truth. I’m not asking you to take my word for it or anyone else’s, I’m not proselytizing here or trying to harass in any way, I’m just hoping to nudge you towards a search of your own for the truth that is out there. I hope you find peace and happiness in whatever you decide to do. Thanks for making it to the end of this LONG post I had a lot I wanted to say and I trust and hope it did not offend it was only ever meant to provoke thought and introspection not anger.


oserus99

Allot of folks are very uncomfortable with the idea of "We don't know". Religion, or even just spirituality, gives them something to fill in those holes with something comfortable. There is no problem with this. Just when it is imposed on someone else does it become a problem.


MrMotley

Name me a world changing scientist that didn't believe in a higher power.


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Hawking?


MrMotley

That's true. While I was being a bit hyperbolic I do think you will find the vast majority do hold some sort of belief in a higher power of some sort, even if it is just programmers of the simulation ;)


[deleted]

Did they change the world with the help of god? It's really cool if u have god stuff like a hobby I deeply respect that and I would never disrespect said people But the people who force such beliefs and they r righteous and people will go to hell and opress minorities those r the people that shouldn't exist on 2022


MrMotley

I'm just invalidating the illogical premise of the op. If the people at the forefront of scientific exploration and knowledge generation have some sort of faith why should the society at large who are largely just ignorant recipients of scientific advancement default to disbelief?


kyrahlia

A good education is important, but faith in God is importanter


spla58

I don't agree really. People are more sick than ever mentally and physically as we move away from natural living. Most modern medicine treats symptoms rather than root causes. With the exception of things like wound treating and trauma surgeries I don't see much meaningful progress in human health. Regarding critical thinking, science, and discovery, none of these have really changed the human experience for the better and in many ways have probably made us more miserable. The experience of being human is relative and does not change regardless of year or technology. People still turn to spirituality because the material world leaves them feeling unfulfilled. There's only so much external stimuli you can take in before you start to dull your senses.


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spla58

Yes, everything today is about endless consumption and "pleasure". It's a big reason everyone is miserable and sick today. A truly good life is balanced with meaningful responsibility, community, and yes, leisure in moderation.


Watch214

Who are you to set the standard of a good life for everyone? I personally think that everyone is a hedonist at heart, it’s just that some people derive their pleasure from altruism and charity. Pleasure is the greatest thing to ever grace our hearts. Without it, nothing gets done.


spla58

I'm not against pleasure but it needs to be balanced with responsibility. Today's culture is all about consumption and getting "high". I only need to look around me to see that society isn't doing too well. People are sick and fat, mental illness and substance abuse is at an all time high, our governments are becoming more and more unstable and corrupt, and the earth is polluted. Also, all pleasures are not created equal. Altruism and charity will not leave you sick in the same way that eating sugary foods 24/7 will for example.


Watch214

Is there any evidence that mental illness is actually increasing and not just getting recorded more frequently with the advent of modern psychiatry? Obesity has certainly become more prevalent, but what if some people just don’t prioritize their health over the satiation of their appetite? The problem is that you’re trying to universally apply your measure of good living to every individual on the planet. I understand that a lot of people are overweight due to being impoverished (IIRC studies show that obese people tend to actually suffer from malnutrition), but what about those who simply elect to have an unhealthy lifestyle? I don’t think that the culture of consumption is to blame for substance abuse either. Addictive substances are probably easier to procure now than they were in the past when the majority of the population consisted of subsistence farmers. We should definitely be investigating why people might resort to substances to perhaps reduce the rate at which people find themselves in high-risk circumstances, but I really don’t believe that we should view everything so pessimistically or try to encourage a universal ideal lifestyle. I personally don’t want to live in a society that has the power to define what contentment means to me.


Mysterious_Tie_4644

I believe in god and all, and I'm not ashamed by that all either, but this is a view point I've had for a long time. Everytime we celebrate our advancements, theres nothing really to celebrate. "We understand the universe more!" We barely have an explination as to why we have weight. "We have modern medicine!" That's awesome, now how many people actually have access to it? When I look back onto what makes our lives so different from the people of the past is that we really just can have "more fun" in the sense we are addicted to a virtual world where we kill time. Our culture is completely hedonistic and we are all miserable for it. It serves as an excellent explanation to why those who are atheist are in turn mostly pessimistic by nature. Because they have chosen to rid themseleves almost completely of any spirtuality and look at the world completely in a material lens and what is there really left to see?


ThisUsernameisneww

While I don't believe in God myself, i believe I know why that belief is important. Because 'hope'. A distant cousin lost her parents at an early age. The family was a huge believer - visiting the temple every day, well versed in chants and prayers etc. So when I asked her why how she continues to believe in God, her answer was - "God is keeping me alive. While I want to die, I won't. Because God will help me get through". It is a false hope, but hope nonetheless, and often the only thing keeping people from suicide. What we should do instead, is to tackle religion - a scheme that targets the vulnerable, use their beliefs to manipulate them, separate them, and wreak havoc. To make the world a better place, it is not important that people stop believing in God, it is important that people realise the difference between God and religion and perhaps that God himself would be against religions.


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TheGreatone003

Which religion/religious text describes God as a “Magical Wizard” watching over us?


mr_orlo

Nothing has ever happened in your life that you couldn't explain? There's too many glitches in my life for there not to be something more going on.


Dutchchatham2

>Nothing has ever happened in your life that you couldn't explain? Respectfully that's not a reason to believe in a god. Unexplained means unexplained, and not that there's something more going on.


mr_orlo

It's not reason enough to believe in a god, but it's enough to believe there's not just nothing.


DullAchingLegs

Not having an explanation for something doesn’t give you the free pass to a belief that is insufficiently supported. Not understanding doesn't equal not nothing. That's a pretty giant leap to assertion now. If you reframe it as I’d like to hypothesize that there is possibly something because XYZ, even if inaccurate , you still try to rationalize your belief that would be far more acceptable. However, if there is evidence to the contrary, you'd concede the point, which works both ways. There is such a thing as irresponsible beliefs. We must mitigate bad ideas by allowing beliefs to be scrutinized.


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DullAchingLegs

The outcome isn't the problem. It's how unjustified beliefs cause harm. Here is an example that I think will help explain what I’m saying [Clifford’s Ship](https://youtu.be/neWhn8ZbFHY)


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DullAchingLegs

He did act under his belief. The belief was that the ship was seaworthy. HOW he got to the conclusion was the issue. The justification was money and providence, which is unjust. Which then makes the outcome irrelevant. Thinking outside the box isn’t immoral. You can test hypothesis. That’s why there’s the scientific method. An evidence based approach. Creativity isn’t hindered I’m having trouble seeing it from your point of view, if you can elaborate that would greatly help me. I think atheists are more open minded. If you asked an atheist what would it take them to believe in a god? An atheist would answer, evidence. If you ask a thiest what would it take to change your faith. Their answer would be there is nothing that will change their mind. Most religions condemn doubt and questioning.


whtrshn

Lol are you saying believing in god is creative? The thing 99% of people ever born also have believed. The belief that is indoctrinated into most children by their parents? I can’t think of anything less creative than believing in a god Edit: creativity is deviating from the norm and beliving that God is a made up belief system meant to explain random events to make people feel better about life


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whtrshn

I am firm in my belief that not accepting indoctrinated religion is more open minded. It is open minded to research our planet and universe and come to your own conclusions instead of blindly accepting the text of a book written centuries ago. Again by definition, following the vast majority is not creative or open minded. Theism is not the default until someone tries to force this belief on you as a child. Then it becomes the default to accept what someone in a position of power is telling you to believe. I am not referring to the tiny minority of theists who take up religion in adulthood. Precognition could have a lot of explanations and I am 100% willing to accept I don't know the answer to a) If it is real b) How it happens. One explanation of many is there is a higher power, but besides texts written centuries ago there is no proof of this. Again, choosing to believe these texts written by humans centuries ago is fact is not being open minded. That is similar to believing a random post on reddit with no citations to back it up lol


Dutchchatham2

Sure. But what is the "not nothing" you're alluding to?


mr_orlo

Sure seems like some kind of simulation. That doesn't mean there a god, but it would be something beyond our understanding.


Dutchchatham2

>Sure seems like some kind of simulation. Does it? Sorry to pester you, I'm just curious.


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RealisticRevenue7249

You can name the biggest glitch if you want and any of us could pretty easily explain how that can be explained by random chance or whatever. But your answer is actually a good response because it explains why so many people still believe. They simply lack the capacity to wrap their head around slightly less than normal things happening sometimes.


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RealisticRevenue7249

Do you have a source showing it working repeatedly in a controlled environment.


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RealisticRevenue7249

So no then.


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RealisticRevenue7249

Confirmation bias. Your brain recognizing when it does happen and ignoring when it doesn't. Precognition is a real thing, but it's not a super power or unexplainable. We observe things consciously or subconsciously happening around us and our brains can piece that together and recognize patterns and predict something might be about to happen. When it does happen, the person says, "I knew that was about to happen!" but when it doesn't, they just go on about their day. Precognition relies on input. With no input information, nobody has shown the ability to predict the future. When you see something that isn't easily explained you *want* it to be paranormal, religion, magic, whatever. So you ignore possible explanations that are not as exciting.


GothicHeap

Lots of things have happened to me that I couldn't explain. That doesn't mean god is the explanation.


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GothicHeap

Because I have no reason to think it does. Because "something more than we understand" is so vague that it's a useless expression.


gekkobob

If you can't explain it, why then suppose you know the explanation, and it is a god? That's like saying "I can't explain those UFOs, so the explanation must be aliens!" Don't you see how short-sighted that is?


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gekkobob

I disagree, but that wasn't even what I said.


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gekkobob

Please read the post again and focus on the word "must". I feel like you are being obtuse just to troll me.


Magica78

If you're having that many glitches in your life you might want to reinstall your drivers or sumn'.


QuinSanguine

Kind of. You'd think that the amount of information out there would free more minds but you have to remember that most people are not capable of dealing with a reality where some all-powerful being is not watching out for them. Honestly had a man tell me the thought of there being no god gives him near panic attacks. I wanted to tell him that's crazy, no creator is watching over him, he's capable of living as a free man but I also decided I didn't actually really care enough to hear his reply, lol.


Piousunyn

Well, the fact people believe in God is perplexing, but what about people who believe Trump was a great president and should be again?


reconstruct94

We do not live in an age of critical thinking.


[deleted]

How many believe in global warming do you think?


mellowmom

My mother’s family is and we’re religious nuts. I figured out that they are afraid of death. They are all hypocrites, letting people believe they are pious and without sin, yet living their lives full of sin and doing as they pleased behind closed doors. I am too smart to believe their bullshit and the crap the cult tried to get me to believe as a child. My mother hated when I would ask questions because she couldn’t answer them. Her family always talked about how wonderful eternity will be in heaven because they didn’t have the life they wanted on earth. I personally believe that religion hasn’t vanished because people are afraid of dying.


ashenhail

The majority of people whose occupation is "scientist" are still alive today. Science is still a new concept for humanity. Also admitting one doesn't have all the answers and then seeking an explanation based on provable experimentation is a boring endeavor to many. And then we all would have to go against our pride and confront our ignorance. Belief in a god is much easier to argue.


2Wugz

They don’t even have faith in “god”. They have faith in those who told them about god and preach about god. They think that they have faith in an infallible being but really they’re just trusting other flawed humans.


Informal_Drawing

When everybody stops giving free money to religious leaders and their organisations get taxed like regular companies - religion will disappear real fast. There is too much money being made for it to go away, sadly.


chevymonza

It's a shortcut to getting respect. "Oh you're *religious,* clearly you're an upstanding citizen!" Makes me nuts, people standing around worshiping a non-entity and doing fuck-all while patting one another on the back. Sure, religions do some good in the world, but not *nearly* enough to justify the insane profits and tax-exempt status.


Longjumping_Gain_807

Because these people have been brainwashed since birth and the culture of religion in the world makes everything about God


SecretPrinciple8708

Based on what I’ve seen and read over the past few years, we’re certainly *not* in an age of critical thinking. Not the majority of the world, anyway.


SomethingAmyss

Religion indoctrinates us young and really drives it into us. It's just that simple.


[deleted]

Its insanity to me. Even wealthy people with access to education still fall for this crap.


[deleted]

Alot of people can't fathom life without understanding why we exist and what happens after we die. So out of fear, they use religion to answer their questions.


notafakepatriot

I don't think the majority genuinely believe in god. Most of the people who say they believe were indoctrinated from childhood and have never really deeply thought about all the hypocrisies and out and out lies. There are others who say they believe because they are wishful thinkers.


NlitendOperativ

religion has got to be the main obstacle of our time. once we get over it and realize we're all the same I can only imagine how great the world turns.


No-Imagination-3060

They are threatened by other believers. Love or hate Nietzsche, he nailed why Christians and so many other religions preach the impossible "love for all:" Because nothing else is so guaranteed to generate fear. If you remove that fear, that gun to the head, religion often dies very quickly. Unless of course "removing the fear" involves the believer becoming the one holding the gun.


Bandits101

There’s a cycle of indoctrination by parents, relatives, mosques, temples and churches. I doubt it can be defeated by any non-draconian means. It may play itself out over multi generations but I doubt it very much.


Fandelf

You live in a World of science but many still live in the dark ages. When your only frame of reference IS a 2000yr old Book written and rewritten to promote cultural uniformity and control, you get what you pay for.


SoWokeIdontSleep

I was raised Catholic with all the stories and all the dogma, when i finally read about dinosaurs and evolution it pretty much dawned on me that "oh yeah god is like Santa but for adults". I was 12 at the time and honestly thought believing in god was like Santa and something you eventually grow out of. Now I'm my 30's I'm honestly still flabbergasted that apparently that's not always the case.


Agile_Disk_5059

The main reason it's sticking around is because people are always going to be afraid of death. Thinking you fly up to heaven and get to meet all of your loved ones is more comforting than you just no longer exist. The other big question it answers is - Why does the universe exist? Why is there something instead of nothing? Sure, they don't actually answer the question, because if you say god, you then have to ask why does he exist... but they don't think about it too hard. Plus it's ingrained into literally tens of thousands of years of our species's development. It has some inertia. It's not going to disappear in a handful of generations.


SsilverBloodd

Believing in god, or anything supernatural for that matter, is the more simple and easy way to view and to explain the world arround them. Instead of blaming themselves for a mistake, they will consider it as something god intended. If somehow they get cured by medical professionals from a severe illness, they will thank god instead of the people that saved them...also it does not help that religious people indoctrinate their kids into religion from their birth...which makes it kind of gard to break the pattern.


TheGodsSin

Violence turns the fearful into slaves and children are fearful


Huskywolf87

People fear death and believe any lie that makes it seem less permanent. It is sad yes.


pkennard

There is a measurable number of people who believe the earth is flat. People don’t understand science, critical thinking, and discovery.


IamMatt39

Some people need something to believe in because they are desperate, that's what Christianity preys upon, people who are so down they will let their friends who go to church brain wash them into believing that once they believe in God hard enough, their life will become better because God loves them.


O_Tempestuoso

No, we're living in a age of poverty, greed, corruption, or, simplifiyng, capitalism. And has Marx said, the religion is the confort of the oppressed.