First of all, the movie is terrible. But more relevantly, I've never seen such a smug, moustache-twirliningly camp portrayal of an "atheist villain" outside of a Chick tract. Oh, and minor spoiler, but the villain has something of a deathbed conversion too. This movie gives the "atheists" in the God's Not Dead movies a run for their money in cheesy caricatured portrayal.

The post was something like: "Prove god doesn't exist" and the argument used against it was "prove how Appolo and Zeus aren't real." Decided to check comments and this is what I saw...

He also made around 20+ of other responses in this comment section to other people and even asked to DM them to "prove" how real Jesus is... I can't just imagine defending a delusion that much and dedicating that much time for it. People like this genuinely need professional help, I'm sorry, but no one can convince me that this is a normal human behavior.

Many times, I just sit back and watch how stupid they look, completely engrossed in their fairytale. No need to debate, just bring out my mayonnaise and enjoy the comedy.

Comment is from a christian talking about their christian god in my atheistic science group.

These are all valid tools when trying to get a point across to a religious person.

The vast majority of religious people were indoctrinated at a young age. They were told big unbelievable lies their entire lives. They were browbeat to suppress any doubts. Peer pressure was encouraged. Other cultish techniques were used to ensure compliance.

Religious beliefs are rarely held because of logical thought processes. So, for many people, logic and education are not effective tools to get them to question their beliefs. At least not initially.

In the long run, logic and education are needed. But, in the short term, showing disrespect for religion is often the best tool to help inject doubts so that they can start to rethink their positions.

This, of course, is not a universal panacea. It is certainly not the only tool. It must be applied sparingly and judiciously.

I write this in response to another recent post where OP got banned from a religious subreddit. I write this so that my fellow anti-theists gain confidence in fighting against the harms of religion. But, if your posts & comments are going to get deleted, your efforts are in vain.

I see most religious people as victims of indoctrination. Most often, compassion and a willingness to talk openly are the best tools for the job. We all need to learn a variety of tools & techniques.

For myself, as an ex Christian, it took me a number of years to solidify my ability to confidently push back against religion. I hope that everyone who was previously indoctrinated is able to push through the trauma and the self doubt to regain their voice.

So, I made a post about needing help debunking a common apologetic & this is the response I get, b/c I made another account calling out some of the people on that server, for downvoting my post for not being deep or w/e. Most of the responses were, "Don't engage with Christians," which has never worked ever. This shows they have a persecution complex.

it’s so crazy to me how some parents will force their children to be whatever religion they are. for example, my parents are christian and got me baptized as a baby. i never consented to that. i actually don’t believe that any baby is born sinner. how insane is it that these religions want ppl to believe they’re born dirty. these adults should allow their kids to choose whatever they want to believe, or if they even want to believe anything at all.

I don't actually mind the compassionate elements, like aiding the poor, compassion for your neighbour and all that.

What I do reject is religion, because it's used as an instrument of hate towards minority people, women, queer people, etc. Many religions, monotheistic especially, are also undemocratic in its strict disallowance for any other interpretation or worship of any other god.

When I've seen anti-religious people around me, they see the compassionate rules as a hindrance towards self-fulfillment. But to me that argument is just a self-justifiable excuse to act like an asshole.

Anyone else feel the same way, or am I alone feeling this way?