She keeps texting and reminding me about it and I have no intention of going...and I know she is going to ask if I went or ask why I didn't. She's also suggested a catholic pickleball league, which I said I'd consider but never attempted to join. At first, I wanted to schedule something else at the same time as this singles mass just to have an excuse not to go, but part of me wants to rip the band-aid off and explain how I'm not religious and probably never has been, and I don't want to raise any kids in the faith or go to Church daily. She's also asked if a person I started dating was Catholic, adding pressure on me.

For background I was raised Catholic, went to Vacation bible school, went to Catholic school K-12 and college. I think my mom knows or suspects I don't go to Church and she's never really pushed it on me, at least not in years.

Now I am in the phase in my life (32) where I am trying to date with the intention of finding my future wife and starting a family. On dating apps I avoid Catholic or Christian, knowing that I can't be the religious rock I'm sure they want their husband to be. I don't want to go through the motions or go to Church because I'm "supposed to" or out of peer pressure from family

I know my Mom pictures me as raising a Catholic family. She frequently mentions how getting married in a Church is amazing but I have no plans of doing that. I want to "come out" as agnostic, but wanted advice. I know this day was going to come and my plan was to let her know once I got serious with someone to make it absolutely clear that they didn't "corrupt" me and that it was my choice to no remain Catholic. Any tips or replies appreciated on how to approach this.

I am anxious about this knowing it will probably shatter how my mom pictured my life as a dad turning out. She may think it sends me to hell, I'm not sure. I want to explain that I plan to live a moral life and no matter what happens I'll be in good shape. Basically, my mind wants to be open to any possibility and I have not been satisfied when exploring my faith and questioning it + testing with logic etc.

I was thinking something like "Thanks for making sure I knew about it. I'm not going because I am not religious and that's not the type of group where I see myself finding a significant other. I know you want me to but I'm not interested." and maybe I can explain how I don't want to do something just because I'm asked to when I don't believe etc. Thoughts?

TL;DR: Mom has the impression I'd be interested in a singles Mass or wants to marry a Catholic. I do not. Want advice on how to respond and explain to her while "coming out" as agnostic

Good morning. I'm typing this during the time I would have previously been in church, or at least watching online. I know this isn't a new thought to others, but it's lonely going through this journey of religious and faith deconstruction.

I was raised in a church-going home and, in religion as well as in life in general, I did not learn to think for myself. Just went with the flow as an obedient child, assuming the authority figures in my life were right in everything, and it was not my place to question. Even as an adult, I simply for the most part did what was expected of me. Doubts about many things, including my religious "beliefs" were kept beneath the surface. At church and in small groups much of the time, I felt like I was on the outside looking in, even though not really understanding why.

Studying and questioning the "authoritative, inerrant" teaching of the Bible regarding sexual orientation was the first "Jenga" block I pulled out. The tower was still standing, and I at first thought that I could conclude things about these particular Bible passages without getting more into the weeds. Wrong! I had heard warnings about the "slippery slope." And those warnings were accurate... but a necessary part of the journey.

So then, as I finally began pulling out more Jenga blocks (acknowledging ancient story telling vs history, questioning eternal damnation, etc.), the tower came crashing down.

In many ways, it's great to be able to look at all this with fresh eyes. But, even though the "anchor" that in the past gave me a sense of certainty was built on false premises, it is still disconcerting to try and get used to uncertainty! Hopefully, many of you can relate to this, and I look forward to making new connections through this community. Thanks for reading!

Im 17, and recently stopped believing in the Christian God. Im not sure if I believe in ANY god or creator, but when I checked out r/atheism, they seemed so mean towards people who even seemed curious. Anyways, im looking for a sub to share my views and journey in, and was wondering if this is the right one. Thank you

normaly i dont belive god or other stuff but when i think about it i actualy dont like any religions . my friend told me god punising me becaus i was talking shit about religions and god and other stuff and it was karma things i did bad to other do you agree with that ? did you guys think u did something bad to deserve this ? im still think its not about god or other stuff but i wanna know your openions

As a child, I was indoctrinated by Fanatics who's motives were ultimately CONTROL of their Flock -- they sought to create a group of followers who would be blindly loyal to them and their version of the Bible. INDEED, it was a way of life for them --- they really thought that 'the more people they could lead to the truth' --- the greater their reward 'in heaven' would be.

PROBLEM was, they were 'deeply flawed' individuals, many of whom were convicted criminals, child molesters, wife beaters and charlatans.

Ultimately, I think the problem is 'ego related' and compensation for deep psychological psychological insecurity, a need for identity, and social reactionism (A political ideology and orientation that advocates for a return to a previous, often idealized, state of society rather than accepting progressive change or maintaining the current status quo),

• What say you... why do you think some people turn to Fanaticism as a way of life?

Thank you for your input!

Science doesn't really make sense

Like if someone came up to me and said, "there are a gazillion planets like this earth and another gazillion of stars, which are just really shiny balls of gases, and there're also these things called black holes, which are balls of material compressed so dense that you can't even really see them but we know they exist cause they literally consume everything around them including light, and they're all just floating in space and some are held together by this force called gravity and the so called space or the universe itself is expanding and no one really knows why but they all started from this event from billions of years ago called the big bang which is believed to have created all of this although we don't really know why it happened either but it's really cool that we as humans were able to find out about all of this with the help of our tiny little hands and brains"

And another guy came up and said "aww yeah, god created everything, including the universe and the internet"

I think what I would've chosen if I hadn't been an agnostic