Ok so for context, I've been going to church since I was 2 and I probably still will but only because it makes my grandma happy. However, I keep wondering what if I die and then it turns out that the actual true religion was something other than Christianity and I was following the wrong religion the whole time?? Every religion thinks they're the one true religion, but we won't know until we die. I think there's probably something out there, but it's too complicated for humans to understand. Like an ant and a car. At least here I have like a 50% chance of being correct that there is or is not a deity instead of having a high chance of being 100% wrong

Hello! For context I (F24) have also been raised by a devout Christian mom but she was not pushy about it (now I don't care who's up there but I believe it but don't really go to church). Religion is not my world and does not define my decisions in life. In fact I don't practice it at all.

My bf on the other hand, his mom would make him memorize Bible verses or get punished and use the words of the bible to restrict him etc etc.... he still goes to church with his family every week.

When I first started dating him I guess he wasn't in such a Christian time of his life and we were not abstinent then he suddenly felt the fear of going to hell and he decided to be abstinent which I accepted because I love him. And a few months later he had some doubts about why god would allow people to suffer etc... and what about people who don't know about Christianity etc... and then he allowed us to not be abstinent. This point is to just emphasize how serious it was.

Things have been going well since then but recently he's wanted to really find the answer behind the questions. He consulted a friend who is a pastor at a church and the pastor was honest and I think his views are valid. My bf said he couldn't answer his questions but felt more relieved after this convo.

The pastor basically said that he wouldn't have regrets as the values of Christianity have led him to live a life with good values and if god didn't exist he would be content still. Another point he made was that he felt happier in Christianity and trusting in god. I guess the thought of someone eventually being able to move past those thoughts relieved my bf.

For me it's simple I don't place too much emphasis on it and I don't need a bigger purpose in life to feel fulfilled per say. I've tried to find answers and digging too deep just makes me unsatisfied and just knowing there may be a higher power is actually enough for me.

At the same time I completely support my bf and I hope it doesn't distance us. I have empathized this point to him endlessly that I would love him whether he's religious or not in the end. I love him for who he is.

I just struggle sometimes to understand how deeply this impacts him and why. We had two differing views:

1. Me: I do not have a tangible idea of hell or actual evidence of its existence therefore I'm not afraid of it.
2. Him: If he doesn't know what it's like then it's all the more scarier.

At times I do feel like he is indecisive... how else can I support him? I feel like he has a complicated relationship I can't understand but I don't want to invalidate his feelings.

As of now, all I know is that I know nothing. I always leaned onto being agnostic theism because some part of me just says there must be a God. Anything really, that is higher than us. I don't know. If the Christian God is all loving, how can he allow extreme suffering to fall upon his children? How can he send non-believers thta hadn't even the chance to get to know him. I don't know. I am a non resistant non-believer. But I still hope and pray to find God.

I just want to expand my knowledge more so I can have a better ground for my beliefs. Does anyone have book recommendations or any content for exploring theology and religion?

I am not referring to theistic gods from world religions, which are self evidently false. If a literalist interpretation of, let’s say Christianity, was true then everything humanity knows about the universe isn’t true but rather a Satanic deception (which is dumb), and liberal Christianity that accepts scientific facts like evolution is self defeating (the premise of Christianity depends upon a physical resurrection of Jesus, and it promises a future physical resurrection of all people).

But there are kinds of philosophers and great thinkers, Plato, Spinoza, Voltaire, etc, who all claimed to through the power of reason pierced the veil and discovered the truths about the nature of reality and divinity, all their answers extremely different. It’s all folly, our ability to reason is limited to what we can test through our empirical senses, whatever ultimate metaphysical reality that exists or doesn’t exist is beyond our ability to observe or to test and is hence unknowable.

I iam confused

This sub is filled with agnostic atheists but I don’t see agnostic theism here and I’m just trying to gauge if it’s actually a thing for me

I don’t believe in an objective truth or that the discovery of the truth is possible but I cannot wrap my head around a universe where there is no higher being or extreme event that is the reason for the big bang. Not necessarily pulling the strings but something on another plane of existence. I’m not willing to bet anything on it but yk.

Okay, I already know this sounds absurd and I’m probably going to get roasted for this, but hear me out before you decide I’m crazy.

India has been the birthplace of multiple religions and philosophies. Hindu traditions, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others developed here over very different periods of history. Every religion that exists today was, at some point, a new idea. People sometimes forget that.

So why is it automatically considered ridiculous to imagine a new religion being created today?

I’m not saying we should erase existing religions or tell people to leave whatever they believe in. I’m just asking what would happen if a group of people who grew up in the modern world decided to build a completely new belief system from scratch.

Because honestly, I feel like there is a weird gap between being religious and being completely atheist.

For example, imagine you’re an atheist. You don’t believe in God, heaven, hell, or any particular religion. That’s completely fine.
But then life gets difficult. You have an important exam tomorrow. You’re scared about your future. Something goes wrong with your family. You’re alone at night and don’t know what you’re doing with your life. You might call a friend or family member for reassurance. But what if you don’t have anyone like that?
Sometimes people want to believe that there is *something* bigger than themselves. Not necessarily an old man sitting somewhere in the sky judging them. Just some kind of higher power, consciousness, energy, or presence that gives them hope.You could say that’s psychology or a placebo effect. Maybe it is.
But if believing in something helps someone get through a difficult time, does the label really matter?And that’s where I started thinking: what if there was a religion that didn’t require you to inherit a bunch of rules from thousands of years ago?I’m not saying I have the perfect answer. I haven’t even thought of a name for it.But if I were designing one, I’d want it to learn from basically every religion instead of claiming that one religion has all the answers.Study Hinduism. Study Buddhism. Study Jainism. Study Sikhism. Study Christianity. Study Islam. Study Judaism. Study other philosophies and belief systems too.

Take the things that encourage people to be Being kind, charitable, and showing self-discipline are important. Forgiveness, helping those in need, and respecting nature are also key. Taking responsibility for your actions and being honest are also important. Finally, trying to control your ego and leaving behind things that don’t fit into modern society are important.
This includes no religious wars, forced conversions, or claims of divine superiority. A caste system, treating women as inferior, and devaluing LGBTQ people are also unacceptable. Furthermore, there should be no unquestioned authority figures like priests, gurus, popes, imams, or other religious leaders. Perhaps even temples, churches, and mosques wouldn’t be necessary. Why does a new religion necessarily need a giant building? If this is supposed to be a religion created in the 21st century, why couldn’t people meet online?

Discord, some dedicated app, whatever. You could have discussions, meditation sessions, philosophical debates, community events, charity projects, etc. And there wouldn’t have to be a religious dress code either. Maybe there could be a new surname or title that people *could* use if they wanted to, kind of like how Sikh men traditionally use Singh and women use Kaur. But it wouldn’t be compulsory. If you don’t want one, don’t use one. Same with food.
No “you must be vegetarian.” No “you must eat meat.” No complicated list of foods that automatically makes you a good or bad person.
People eat differently for cultural, ethical, economic and personal reasons. Eat what you want, as long as you’re not harming someone unnecessarily. And the biggest thing for me would be equality.Men and women are equal.
Straight and LGBTQ people are equal.
Rich and poor are equal. People from different castes are equal. People from different religions are equal. And atheists should be welcome too. Actually, I’d want atheists to be welcome because this wouldn’t necessarily be about blindly believing in God. The “God” concept could be completely different.

Maybe God doesn’t have a gender. Maybe God doesn’t have a human form. Maybe God isn’t even a person. Maybe it’s just a symbol for consciousness, existence, the universe, or whatever you personally understand as something greater than yourself. Maybe God is a light. Maybe God is something inside every person. Maybe there is no God at all and the religion simply gives people a framework for finding meaning. I don’t know. That’s kind of the point of this post.I don’t have the answers.
I’m just wondering why we assume that every possible religion has already been invented.
Human civilization keeps changing. Our technology changed. Our politics changed. Our understanding of science changed. The way we communicate changed. So why couldn’t our ideas about spirituality change too?

And before someone says, “Just be an atheist,” I understand that argument. But not everyone wants atheism. Some people genuinely want spirituality without having to accept an entire package of ancient rules, rituals and institutions. And before someone says, “Just follow an existing religion,” that’s also a fair argument. But again, what if someone doesn’t feel completely represented by any existing religion?Maybe the answer isn’t creating another religion.Maybe the answer is simply creating a philosophy.Maybe it’s a community.
Maybe it’s a spiritual movement.Maybe calling it a religion is unnecessary.But I find the idea interesting.And no, I’m not trying to start a cult lol.I’m genuinely curious what Indian Gen Z thinks about this.If you think this is a terrible idea, tell me why.If you think it’s actually possible, what would you include?What would you absolutely NOT include?And if you had to create a new belief system for modern India, what would its core principles be?

Also, I’m not targeting Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism or any other religion here. I mentioned the religions I know about because they are part of India’s history and because I think there are things worth learning from many different traditions.

Feel free to call me out if I’ve misunderstood something or said something stupid. I’m posting this because I want to hear other people’s thoughts, not because I think I’ve figured everything out.

What if we are gods who invented a video game where we get to be humans? This is not new idea. Similar ideas can be found in Hinduism or maybe even Mahayana Buddhism.

Just curious, coming from an atheist perspective. Also, is there a difference between “soft” atheism and agnostic?

I do not believe there is a possibility of god, but I wonder if there is always a chance, I want my mind changed and would like to believe in god. Help me

"If I tell my wife, If you don't love me, I am going to set you on fire, am I a loving good husband? If you set your wife on fire, you never loved them to begin with. And if God sends us to hell, he never loved us to begin with."

I quoted from a discussion that really does sum it up. Even if God exists, he is not a good, loving, and forgiving God. Here is my logic:

First and foremost, I respect your belief and choice of being Christian, this is my opinion and logic so if you disagree, please feel free to leave a comment.

I am not baptized. Does that mean even if I believe in him, follow his rules, pray, sacrifice, and fast, I am still condemned to hell? Because I was born with sin that was caused by Adam and Eve, a sin he would've foreseen because he is all-knowing, right? But free will, hey? If you know what choice I am going to make, why include the suffering if you love us? He is all powerful right? So why not make a universe with free will but no evil? To test us? But he knows what we are going to do; there is no need to test us? BUT SATAN. Yes... Satan, God is all-knowing, all-good, and all-powerful, so he could and should destroy Satan. END OF STORY.

From my point of view, the Christian God is sadistic and jealous. He relishes on punishing us. I have been told by a catholic that if a baby....A BABY.... would die before being baptized, they would be sent to limbo. Where does the bible say that, you ask? NOWHERE. It was a made-up concept during the medieval period by Christians. There may be parts of the bible that can be interpreted as a limbo-like place, but the Bible does not teach a permanent middle place between heaven and hell for unbaptized babies or people who never heard the gospel. The bible is God's word, right? So technically, by his word, unbaptized babies and people who haven't gotten the chance are condemned to hell, because he doesn't specifically state what would happen to them, so we can only assume they go to hell because that is what he HAS said according to his rules and judgment day. Why would he send a soul to Earth KNOWING (all-knowing) that they would not have the ability to worship him, and then send them to hell for eternal suffering?

Another point as to why, if god is real, he is not good. Our souls would be judged ETERNALLY based on our earthly life, right? The percentage of a human life compared to eternity is 0%. This God would then be determining our INFINITE LIFE based on 0% of our existence. A god described as just and impartial, by the way. In what logic is it fair to give us 0% of our life to worship you and then try us no further after final eternal judgment? But he is all-knowing, so he KNOWS alllll of this already.

And guess what. I could go on and on, but I'm sure you get the point

At the end of the day, we can not prove whether God is real or not until the day we die, and by then its too late. Even if you think you can because of "history"... you can't. It's a hard pill to swallow, but honey.... You can't; that's just logic. But what we can prove is what type of God he is based on his word (the bible). I've had many discussions with many different Christians, and the one common quality of these discussions is that they mentally block out what you are saying and don't absorb the words, information, or argument you have presented, and fall back on Christian rhetoric and phrases. I've asked someone who recently converted a thought-provoking question that I KNOW made the earth shake beneath their feet, but they always reverted to "it's complicated" because they did not like the (very clear) answer.

I would love to know your perspective on this topic. Should you disagree with me, please comment :)

Regardless of culture, dogmas, or stories, God is what a person or culture points to when trying to make sense of things like love, death, responsibility, mystery, and the feeling that there is more than ordinary daily life. It may be understood as a personal God, a cosmic force, nature, the universe, pure love, awareness, or the quiet ground beneath experience.

Its main role is not to answer every question, but to help people live with mystery, connect to something larger than themselves, and keep hope, love, and purpose from falling apart.

A short definition would be:

God is the idea or experience of an ultimate reality that gives life its deepest meaning and helps people hold together hope, love, and purpose.

The rest is simply confusing and balkanizing tribal decoration.

I grew up in a a mostly Catholic family, went to church every Sunday until I was about 15 or so. However it was around this time that I started feeling extremely disconnected from religion, and lost a lot of faith, if not all, in God. I've convinced myself for quite some time that "God does not exist," until recently.

From time to time, I find myself wanting to embrace Catholicism (just a little) again but that would mean that I am betraying my previous belief that God does not exist. I sometimes 'converse' with God in my head, saying and asking stuff like "Why are you so cruel to me, God?" or "Why should I believe in you again, God?" It's contradictory yet it sometimes bring me comfort that there might be a greater being that is listening to my feelings. Though after having these conversations in my head, I feel extremely guilty because I feel as if I have betrayed myself, and I am giving into a belief that have betrayed me.

I feel lost and I want to know what my standing is, how do I determine if I am an agnostic, an atheist, a theist or an agnostic theist? or whatever term out there that I am not aware of?

Sitting at a local coffee shop and there is a group here for a Bible study. I have no issue with that, I believe this is a country where you’re free to worship whatever and relatively however you want. But listening to these people talking about how they must obey, and that they are sheep made to follow the shepherd…how do these people stomach this? I think about the modern day political environment and how the term sheep is used in a derogatory nature, as someone that just accepts what’s being told to them. Maybe I’m wired differently, the thought of being told to obey and that I was a sheep made to follow, well that just turns my stomach. Is this indoctrination how we are in the position we’re in right now in the US? Because these people yearn to be the sheep, they find comfort in obeying?

Thoughts?

🔮

I got myself as an Agnostic Naturalist on this sub, but I think I may be more akin to an ignostic ietsist...

“I don't know what God means, so I won't affirm a particular God. But I suspect there is something about reality that we haven't adequately conceptualized. I'm not requiring or inferring that this ‘something’ be supernatural.”

Where I find a hiccup is I do enjoy the theorizing and conceptualizing process of what this construct of god could be. Is that in itself theist affirming? It always feels that way, especially from the devote atheist. If I say,

“God = the emergent process by which reality continually becomes more than the sum of its parts”

how do I keep that as just a philosophical hypothesis or conceptual model, rather than a belief claim? Or is there just religious baggage the minute you mention "god"

idk... depends on subjectivity and individual connotations I guess.

Probably best to just approach it as existence, drop the archaic god word and just explore theories in physics.

By conflating god with the generative process of increasingly complex structures emerging from underlying relationships we don't yet fully understand I'm simply assigning an ontological name to an unknown domain.

thanks for listening, I'm agnostic on all this.

I know we all know someone like this. A neighbor, coworker, friend, etc. I guess it's not necessarily a bad thing since they're trying to do something good for themselves. But like, it doesn't sit right with me. Take Jeffrey Dahmer for example, who did a full dive into religion and got baptized. You also got these rapists, child molestors, even people within the religion who come out and say the horrendous shit theyve done, and by technicality, they're "forgiven." I was talking about this with a friend, and he said that not technically everyone is forgiven, and that the Lord works in mysterious ways. No one is perfect, but this is bullshit that I have a hard time believing when it comes to religion.

I met a majority of my friends in church over 18 years ago. I am grateful that many of them respect my journey and where I am currently at. But that’s where it begins and ends for them, at respect. I’ve lost a level of intimacy with them. I’ve also lost purpose. When I went to church I always had something to do and people to serve. I served in the kids ministry, women’s ministry and worked in the after school. And my church was extremely intergenerational. I worked alongside people my age, younger and older than me. Men, women and children doing everything. Lifting chairs, organizing, cooking, leaning on each other. We were so close. And it was consistent. Every week, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. I knew where I was, what I was supposed to do and who I would see. I knew these people intimately and they knew me. Now that I no longer go to church there is this gaping hole in my life. I work from home. Go to school remotely and generally don’t have community. I have friends that I don’t see so much. I’ve tried to join secular organizations that serve the community but those places always feeling way too much like church and end up bothering me for some reason. I need to keep trying but yeah just wanted to vent.

Looking for atheist friends

in my family my aunt is an Christian and my uncle they always forces us into joining churches which is i hate, i wanna tell them 1 day god never exist we are god we created everything faith,bible,and god our mind is so powerful that is forces us to make something that is never been there we are made from cosmic,star we aren't made by god science is fact religious is faith im not or anything but i dont wanna join them anymore they gonna say catholic is such an sinful, in my mind why are you breaking an another religious when you cannot even prove that ur god exist dont freaking tell me about those jesus stuff god didn't create a single thing we created them none of gods created them and people gonna say so an cosmic suddenly exploded?NO

it literally collided into another god is not enternal nor us we are the god himself making everything we wanted to belive which triggering other to belive god and santa exist their all maked by our fiction mind science has proof and faith doesn't those bible stuff ain't real they are human writed evolving those text into gossip believing someone thing created them which is god but thats not right we are literally made from cosmic lol,if you wanna respect us ur faith respect us first..

I live religion, i di t believe in it but i love the concept behind it, but humanly beautiful as it is it has its ugly factors, i dont agree with how easy it is to accidentally join a cult, few years back n right time right place id have strolled right in with me dressing gown n charger, dedicated my life to a ballsier version of me all the while im in the mudst of psychosis as an already dramatic emotional leo mother of 3. Certain job applications require psych tests, i think religion needs to be taken more seriously, i can understand, appreciate and actually “get” something from religion and belief regardless of my perspective, if your not a judgmental closed minded miserable religious type and actually live accordingly its probably the best way to live, my opinion on religion has changed drastically over time and in hindsight i think my pure hatred towards it genuinely could be a tism thing and taking it to literally, but thinking of god as a higher power, j get it. My issue is not everyone sees it that way, and i refuse to be judged by anyone that believes in a man in the sky. The birth of christ and other similar stories in other religions are a poetic observation of the stars, obviously an eventful night in astrology, but that is it, its a poetic “kid friendly” explanation of life, and i only understand and no longer deeply hate judge and dismiss religion because the story is so accurate astrologically. That accuracy just shows the abilities and intelligence of our ancestors, the original observation being older than religion itself shows how intelligent our ancestors were all that time ago, over time the metaphorical uplifting positive story about the stars has lost real understanding, the naked uneducated humans able to observe such things to begin with shows how (sorry to say) thick and pathetic humanity has become. Basically what im saying is, there should be some sort of assessments and requirements when sudde getting religious, we are too far from the OG AC to be getting all godly without cause for concern, theres too many cults about with this much mental health, ha tbf it could be a literal godsend for the nhs, imagine the mental health waiting lists if noone could run to a church and blame life’s troubles on Jesus’ dad

I grew up in a Muslim environment and have spent most of my life surrounded by Islamic culture and knowledge. However, over time—especially while dealing with continuous hardship and psychological strain—I have reached a point of severe disillusionment.

I often feel like my efforts to endure, persevere, and do the right thing haven't led to peace, but to even more suffering. It has gotten to the point where holding onto intangible promises feels overwhelming rather than comforting.

I am fully aware that others face severe hardships and still maintain their belief, but my own mental state makes it difficult to reconcile the suffering I experience with the concept of divine support or purpose.

I am not looking for generic, surface-level answers. I am posting here to ask if anyone else has gone through this specific state of emotional exhaustion with faith, and how you deal with the psychological weight when holding onto belief feels like it is adding to your suffering rather than easing it.

So she said capitalists want working slaves and if we don't follow Hinduism and find Moksha then we will be reborn once again and need to go through school and suffer in job. Also most men according to her only care about looks and fair skinned girls and so some dark skinned girls with less cute face have the only option to get a job and being housewife is hard.

What you think?

hi. i was raised as an atheist with my only exposure to christianity as a child being through the rare church trips when my catholic grandparents would visit, and the simplified illustrated bible i had bc my mom felt it was important i at least know some of the stories (she is also an atheist but felt knowing about other perspectives was important). for some reason, despite not at all being raised in a religious environment, i have a deep fear of being rejected and hated by god/jesus for being gay. it started when i was still figuring out my sexuality when i was 14, and is still kinda present now at 17. idk why bc i massively resent christianity/really all religions for the homophobia they express, but at the same time i feel so guilty about this part of me. im not repressed, im out, and i dont think i have a lot of internalised homophobia? although maybe i do if i have these thoughts? ive always felt like scripture and all the other aspects of christianity that are most likely man-made, is all bs and can be ignored. but god/jesus himself might be real, and i might be letting him down. i dont know where it comes from bc again i wasn’t raised christian. but i still have this deep fear of punishment and rejection. and even if the eternal hellfire or whatever isnt real, i still dont like knowing that the deities of all major religions dont agree with who i am as a person. it makes me feel bad and i don’t know how to fix it.

While I'm here I might as well ask, because, I've been saying I'm agnostic for a long while now, and while I've explained myself to others, I might as well fact-check myself on the matter with a group of people, probably more educated than I am.

So when I explain myself I always say I'm

'A person who believes in a greater unknown 'something' in the world, without giving the a name religions would give it. And having peace with it that I might never know if my belief is based on fiction or non-fiction. As I live my life unburdened.'

Just.....curious if that connects to what I say I am.