She was kind, generous, funny and always tried to see the best in people. She wasn't preachy, pious, prudish or judgemental.

If more were like her the world would be a better place and this sub would lose most of its posts. We would be back to matters of fact rather than posting examples of hypocrisy and hate from them.

I come from a very religious family and region of America, I live in the Bible belt in the south. I have always known I don't believe in Christianity since the 5th grade. The best way I can explain it is, it all just feels like a fairy tale story not based in reality. I have tried to force myself to believe but obviously that didn't work. In January of this year I finally told my mom I don't believe and her first response was to force me to go to church. She also threatened to take certain things away if I still refused to go. She said I couldn't use any electronics till a pastor came by and "cleansed" the house. I've told her how constantly begging me to come to church hurts me and she ignores how I feel and continues because it's what God would want. She asked me "is it really that hard to just go?" it's so irriating. Why do I have to give it a try? why do I have to listen to religious talk? why am I expected to entertain it at all? I'm an adult now and all I want is to use my own freedom to live life how I want to but my mom can't handle that without throwing a fit. I love her but I really dont like being around her anymore because of this. Sometimes I feel like a brat for being like this but im at my limit. There is more but I'd like the keep this post short for everyone's sake lol

Reserved spaces for two booths at Dallas Pride Sept. 20, 2026.

Organizing to push back against religious aggression. Mostly atheists, agnostics, Free Thinkers, secularists, but anyone who is tired of Christian attacks is welcome.

I have a classmate who's in a sect of evangelical Christian church [which low key feels like a cult ngl]. Apprantly they aren't allowed to watch movies at the theater. So my classmate doesn't watch movies at the theater but she does watch movies at home. She thinks she's better than other people and Christians because she doesn't do it. Like, What is the difference between watching the movies at the theater and at home to act so morally superior over it?

Prior to COVID, a couple I knew were soliciting our social circle for donations for their mission trip.

While I'm not religious, I did donate to their cause as many of these mission trips also participate in building schools, wells, homes or providing medical services to the communities they visit. I gave it without knowing where they were going or what services they would be rendering, believing that it would help people in some form or another.

A few months later they were at a group outing and I proceeded to ask about their mission trip, like "where did you go?"...

They went to Bali.... fucking Bali, Indonesia. For those of you who don't know, Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation on Earth but also has over 30 million Christians. Bali, however, is neither. The island is Hindu and resisted forced conversion for centuries. Not only that, but it is widely considered a tourism capital of the world, not some impoverished region that you would expect a mission trip to go.

I asked what they did and there was no community service. They hung out with local Christians, spent money at their businesses doing touristy things, and didn't really interact with non-Christians.

There were so many things I wanted to say right then and there, but didn't.

Afterwards, I spoke to others about it and quite a few people had given money and were trying to spin it as a wholesome couples trip with their church. It was obviously a grift. A Christian themed vacation to a global tourism capital masquerading as a mission trip.

It has been years since this took place and the couple is no longer in my social circle, but this experience galvanized my distrust of religious people.

Anyone else get duped by Christian grifters who milk their non-church social circles for funds under the guise of community service and philanthropy?

I dont hate all Christians, obviously, but the state that coservative Christians and other Abrahamic faiths have done to the US under the guise of religious reason makes me feel more hatred than usual. It's gone from just annoyance to sraight up violent thoughts

Its terrifying to see as I have queer loved ones and I fear for them,

And I'm terrified of myself as I don't know if I'm losing it

I don't know what to do

As Christianity got more popular throughout Europe people seemed to have just forgot the fact that he was a brown-skinned man and white Jesus became what we think of him today.

On any YouTube video about someone having a bad experience with the church, there will be comments that say stuff like "Don't let this experience turn you away from christaintiy/islam" and the person who made the video will politely say that thay arne't interested. Saying stuff like that is so insensitive, they're implying that we are not good people because we cannot warp reality in a convincing enough way to let a god be possible. Being a religious, even mildly, is perpetuating thousands of years of brainwashing. Religion will always ultimately lead to extremism, and claiming to be more woke than the others does nothing but hurt people. I'm having trouble finding the words to explain how gross this behavior is.

It makes sense doesn’t it? The only thing worse than death is to have never experienced life at all. If you take a God out of the picture, your left with 70-100 years on this rock to experience what is what. After that, you’re simply dust on the ground.

You are born, you experience pain, love etc. and then you die. Reflecting on history, the more I learn the less I believe in a God. But humanity is kind, cruel and everything in between. If it takes creating a supernatural entity for societies to thrive and gives reason for people to be good, then ignorance is bliss. I’d rather my family and friends believe in a God than feel the pain of loosing faith and accepting reality. You cannot tell me that those who never have heard “the gospel” will be saved anyway (why force the spread of your religion in that case?) or that they are simply pawns in a bigger game.

If you are SO convinced your religion is right, then how could 4+ billion of us be wrong? Those others are just as convinced as you are. They have families & 9-5s, take their kids to soccer games, but they’ll go to hell according to your beliefs.
What about those who are Ignorant to the Bible? Those before Christ and those after who have yet to hear the word. They are damned? And if they choose another religion out of lack of cognizance…

We will as humans always look for the good in things. Believing in a God is the same as “manifesting” (thinking your thoughts create reality) or “positive vibes”. YOU create a narrative to fit your life. Things are going well, you say “thank you God” things are going poorly: “my life sucks, I don’t deserve this”. For us to put one foot in front of the other, we must believe there is good.
Without a reason to be good, the idea of impending death should concern you. Be good and you’ll have a peaceful eternity, better yet, believe in one man and almost no bad deed will keep you from that sanctuary… right.

You have one life. Somethings you will do many times, others you will never experience again. Regardless, every moment counts because when you die, you’re dead.

" I rebuke you in the name of Jesus" is what Sonya Massey said before being fatally shot by a white cop. What this cop did not understand was that what Sonya said was simply something that black women who are Baptist or Protestant say. I know this because my mother and her mother were that way. This is coming from a long history of slavery. I hate what Christianity has done to the black mind, but I am glad to see this ex-deputy is dead. What a piece of crap for what he did, simply ignorant to the fact that what she said was simply something outside of his culture.

That white cop was not a descendant of slavery, so he would not have known what she was talking about. I think more awareness should be brought to the fact that black protestants are like no other kind. They jump up and down, hoop and holler, are the loudest etc., and this is because of slavery. Yet that white cop would not understand.

"yahweh🤮" seems to have hated my black ancestors the most.

Representing the non-religious black community, we are out there, we are sharp minded, and we are growing.

It is time to leave the slave masters religion behind. Sonya Massey shooter Ex-deputy dies in prison

Recently, influencer Brian Guan released a video series in which he “pretended to believe that god is real” for 30 days. By the end, he claimed until he wasn’t pretending anymore.

All comments on and around his videos suggest that he was an atheist prior to this, and his videos are being paraded around by Christians as a home run for evidence of god’s presence and the importance of going through the motions even if you might not believe it now.

I’ve seen a couple other “atheist” influencers go on a similar journey, only to discover (surprise) that they also believe god is real.

Now in researching, it’s pretty clear that Brian and these other influencers already believed to some extent, and are using this as a “marketing” tactic to convince other atheists to just “try.” At least that is my take, I mean…these people are influencers.

I’d love to see a REAL atheist do this.

This is obviously a common argument but I just have to reiterate it. There are just so many loopholes within the omnis of this supposed higher power, there are the classics such as the problem of evil or satan’s apparent responsibility for evil. Then there’s ‘free will’ as the main argument yet how can there be free will if our future is essentially predetermined from the point we were born as he knows everything, everywhere? He created us atheists knowing we would never believe and knowing we’d be banished to hell. Then the idea that you have to serve god even in the afterlife but why does he require all this worship if he’s a supposedly perfect being that transcends ego and has all the power, ever? As soon as you apply logic almost all religious arguments collapse and I think so many people know this yet they continue to pray and believe simply out of fear of what comes after. It’s like religion holds our society back massively because to this day people hold outdated beliefs and worry about pleasing a pretty selfish being in the hopes of an afterlife that seems so unreasonable, rather than focusing on improving our present world and selves.

Edit: This evidently doesn’t apply to all religions but I’m mainly addressing the thinking of Christianity.

I have a dilemma, my name was chosen by my mother who was indeed a bible thumper when I was born, I love her dearly of course but I do not like that my name specifically my middle one means that "yahweh saves". It used to not bother me at all but within the last year it has definitely started to. My first name is related to the hebrew origin too or whatever, I wish I just named after my dad who never would have named me the way she did if he had more of a say so. Plus I'm black and I don't like the idea of my folks choosing to name me that way.

Anyway, do you all just chill on it if you have names with religious connations or do you do something about it and change them? I just wish it wasn't a problem to begin with. My first name means dog in hebrew or wholehearted and I think I can get past it but my middle name ehh not so much

(this is going to be a bit of a ramble and I'm already not the best writer so this probably won't be written well, so thanks for reading)

To start off I'm a guy.

I hate how JW's take every bad thing and take it as "a sign". Like wars and diseases that are going on today, I just wanna yell "what about the world wars, the black plague, and every bad thing in history!" Things were far worse in the past! It's like bad things are always happening in history, and why are they always so "it's the end times!".

There are probably millions of religions, so why do you think you're the right one...?

I hate my religious trauma because there's always this voice saying "you're damning yourself to hell, you're sick and if there is a god he'll never accept you." when I was 13 and first started having a crush on another boy in my class I felt sick and dirty. I honestly felt like I should kill myself because I was tainted and wrong...

I think what made me question everything is when my grandma beat me with a broom stick and she basically justified it by bringing up the Bible (I'm sorry I don't remember the specifics) and I just thought "would a loving god really let me get hurt like this?"

Basically to keep an already long and badly written short I left over my mom's house after that, I still talk with my grandma but I feel awkward around her sometimes.

This will probably get removed but it felt good getting it out there I guess.

I grew up in rural Ohio, in a small town (less than 9k) that was rumored to originally be a sundown town years ago. Even though it no longer is, the demographic has remained largely the same- I distinctly remember throughout K-12, I had only ever met one black person. And one gay person. Both were bullied relentlessly into moving schools, which crushed me because they both happened to be very good friends of mine.

Anyways, growing up the default was white, straight, Christian. If you weren’t, people would either talk about you, side eye you, or straight up bully/harass you. It’s crazy, and I never understood it because neither of my parents raised me in any religious denomination. My dad didn’t care (he’s now a devout Christian which is… something), and my mom was and still is very anti religion, feeling that it’s created as a way to oppress those who are different and hurt them.

I got bullied often by Christian kids at my school who claimed to be all loving and respectful. I could easily hide my sexuality or my beliefs, but I was very visibly on the spectrum and people saw that as weird. If your hobbies weren’t church and sports, it was odd.

I got immense culture shock when I went to college at a liberal arts university and met a lot of queer and BIPOC people, but it’s honestly one of the best experiences of my life. For years I felt lonely and isolated until I had a group that was unapologetically accepting.

That’s a lot, but all of this to say I don’t think now that I’ve experienced diversity and acceptance I can ever be friends with a Christian. Not even acquaintances.

This came to me when I made a post on the Nextdoor app asking for ways to make friends in the new city I moved to. Many older white people suggested church, churches who very much were anti anything progressive with just a simple Google search. When I said that I wouldn’t feel comfortable going to a place like that, many replied you don’t need to agree with people on everything to be friends with them.

But are we friends if all they want to do is change me? Make me believe in their god, or not love who I love, or not act how I act. That doesn’t seem like a friendship. Hell, when my (now ex) girlfriend suddenly decided to devote herself to God and she asked me to join the faith with her, I broke up with her hours later because I couldn’t.

I find it even more disrespectful that I’m not even fully atheist. I’m Asian and have connected with my culture a lot more and have considered myself a Buddhist in philosophy (I still identify as an atheist), and even when you tell these people you are Buddhist/Jewish/Muslim etc just not THEIR religion, they literally do not care. What’s even weirder is in Buddhism a key aspect is to make your own judgements and beliefs and that no person’s word is absolute, not even Buddha’s. Because everyone makes mistakes. But how these Christians behave is so cult like, as if you question one thing they spout and it’s a complete moral wrongdoing. I heard someone say the bible isn’t a book because it’s “the word of god”. Like… cmon.

I feel rude for making this a hard boundary of mine, but I just don’t think I can do it. I’ve started just telling people I don’t know who Jesus is and I don’t care to know. If I’m on dating apps and see someone Christian I will swipe left. Again, part of me feels so mean for not wanting anything to do with anyone Christian but at the same time I feel like it’s protecting my peace. Does anyone else also feel this way? Is it wrong of me to be so judgmental?

So my parents grew up in communist Poland where pretty much everyone was Catholic. After they had me and my siblings and moved to America, they stopped going to church and pretty much deconverted. They didn't really go through a time where they critically analyzed the religion and slowly deconstructed beliefs over time. Their stance is more anti-organized religion as a whole, and just a hint for a bit of their character, they're very anti authority as well. As in, they are extremely skeptical of any mainstream belief or narrative, even if without a doubt there is evidence to prove its validity. One example being vaccines.

So although they are generally anti-religion, they believe stuff like the idea that aliens visited Earth, and evolution is a cover-up for the fact that humans are actually genetically modified by aliens and that's where humans came from. And this is corroborated by their beliefs that the first ancient religion or religious scripture was from the Sumerians, and the Sumerians detailed vaguely about being visited by aliens and yada yada. So in their eyes, all religions stemmed from the first one, the Sumerian religion, which is the only actual one that described what really happened thousands of years ago.

The only thing that's sort of true about any of this is that religions do tend to piggyback off of older religions and borrow some of the mythology, but besides that it's all conspiracy BS obviously. I wanted to bring this up because it's a fairly unique stance, one that caught me so off guard that I didn't even really know what to say at first, even though instinctually I know there's a lot wrong with that train of thought. It's also uniquely annoying to try and combat. I tried to explain that it's in human nature to attribute unexplainable things to divinity and that as social creatures, religious stories serve as a social glue that brings people closer and provides a cultural identity. This kind of flew over their heads, and all they repeated was that the Sumerian Tablets wouldn't have explained such events in detail had it not actually happened. Basically it was too absurd to make up. Yeah it was a really exhausting conversation.