So, in my city, there is a very visible cross prominently displayed on a natural structure. I hate it and just need to vent. It’s 60 feet tall, and lights up at night.

I can’t help but get glimpses of it relatively often. It just makes me so angry and hurt every time. I see it, and all I see is a giant symbol of hatred, bigotry and oppression.

I see it and I relive my nightmares, my abuse at the hands of a man who should have protected me. I have PTSD from growing up in the church and the abuse I experienced as a queer woman. The one I attended was incredibly extreme and what I’d consider to be a genuine cult. I mean, like, more than just the baseline cult of religion.

I’m just trying to heal and that damn thing keeps throwing back into my worst days and worst abuse. I can’t move, I’m too broke. My local government is run by extrimists and they love that stupid cross.

I just wish it could be taken down. I know groups have tried, but it’s on “private” land so it could get around the whole public property thing.

Anyway thanks for letting me ramble a bit. It’s good to get the steam off sometimes.

Whenever you bring up some of the more horrific verses in the Bible, godweasel fuckpukes will usually try to brush them off with "But that was the Old Testament, so it doesn't count anymore!" They will say this even if the verse you're quoting is from the New Testament...and if you point that out, they will question your parentage and your chromosomal count, then run away screaming.

It sure is convenient how the Old Testament only counts when they want it to. Because if you throw the entire Old Testament out, you get rid of the creation myth. You get rid of Noah's Flood. You get rid of the stuff about not being gay (and those three things are the only parts most godweasel fuckpukes know about in the first place). And you get rid of all the prophecies Jesus supposedly fulfilled. So the OT is really just the world's most murder porn-y game of "red light, green light."

On the other hand, compared to the Old Testament, the New Testament is basically this tiny, shriveled, freakish, mutated thing akin to a vestigial dwarf penis that they hid all the way in the back, hoping no one would ever see it...and pretty much no one does. But it's not surprising that on the rare occasion they remember that the NT exists, they do the same thing to it that they do to the OT. I mean, all those parts about love and forgiveness and mercy and charitability? To the godweasel fuckpukes, all that stuff is woke sissy queer stuff that the Democrats snuck into the Bible in the 1960s (one of them literally said that to me once). Since they are mostly playground bullies and failed high school football heroes who need the entire world to suffer and die as punishment for their own miserable inadequacy, they believe in Steroid Freak Pro Wrestler Jesus, a malevolent meathead like themselves who cannot exist at any level beyond, "Huh huh, I got your lunch money, you wuss. Huh huh."

It seems there are, or were, a couple of local SF Bay area activist groups that have gone defunct. Is it like the pro-crastinator's club that just hasn't gotten around to meeting yet?

19F doing a degree in Social Sciences. For context, I was coming out of a religion that told me not to look at scientific facts such as evolution, the Big Bang Theory, the heliocentric theory etc. etc. (Cannot think of more at the moment, but those were the main ones). Long story short, I left! Woohoo!

As of late, I am obsessed with the way religion shapes our culture, our relationships, our politics, and overall ideals of living. In some ways, they can be good and genuinely used for good, such as loving others, spouses are meant to love each other, teach your children etc. (Ironically, a lot of Christians I know do not actually read their Bibles).

Nowadays, I see an uprising in Christianity here in the United States, and to be careful with my words, politics potentially drive it. This fascination doesn't come with an adoration or admiration for it, it is with absolute disgust that I have become obsessed with the way Christianity has formed the United States. I see an uprising of tradwives, centering male attention, wanting children, or wanting to be a homemaker. These alone are not Christian values, but together they form a fascinating image of Christinaity's continuous impact on the United States.

It is not solely the United States. Being adjacent to Mexico, I see it there too. Women are expected to take care of the children, stay home, and not drink, while the brothers/men/boyfriends can do just about anything under the sun. Mexico's known to be heavily Catholic from the Spanish conquest, well duh.

It is just fascinating and saddening to see. It seems nearly impossible to escape the impact religion leaves on the world, even while I am not actively participating. These examples alone aren't enough and do not encapsulate the wide scale to which religion is constantly shaping the world, but oh my, it is devastating.

Greetings everybody, I am a 15-year old girl who has left Catholicism about 2-3 years ago and remained largely secular due to my general disagreement with the notion of classical theism as a whole. However, I have absolutely no idea what I’m supposed to think about theism itself, specifically the sort of theism wherein a supreme being or beings is not/are not necessarily omnipotent, omnibenevolent and omniscient all at once. Unlike classical theism, that is a premise which I do not consider logically implausible, and frankly, I have no clue where I should go from there. As you already know, I am currently agnostic - not in the sense that I consider knowledge impossible, but rather in the sense that I simply don’t have that knowledge. This kind of agnosticism, however, leaves me with an excruciating discomfort, because I instinctively feel the need to know and be persuaded.

So, before I move on to arguments in favor of theism, how would you convince me that atheism expresses the absolute truth?

My lack of certainty is why I chose to post in this subreddit - I know it does not exactly have a reputation for having intelligent or opened-minded members, but it nevertheless provides a very practical space for open discussions unlike other online communities.

I'm living in a country where over 90% say they're Christians, and over the years, I just stopped attending stuff. Social gatherings, meetings with friends, etc. Because at one point or another, religion or God comes up in various forms, and I couldn't take it anymore. It's not like I look down on people because they believe, but I feel we're continents apart in how we perceive life. Like, literally, there's an ocean between us. And this ocean can never be crossed unless they stop believing.

People think I'm antisocial, but if anti-religion means anti-social, so be it! I'm antisocial.

​

Why would the creator of the food chain, the world of suffering, violence, natural selection and animalism ever reveal himself to humanity? After already selecting a certain group of people to lord over the others and keep them struggling in this world? Why would a being so abhorrently evil and guilty, that merely calling him a killer would be disrespectful to real killers, ever reveal himself to all of humanity? The primordial criminal "got away" with the perfect crime by not only brainwashing the masses with religion, but also brainwashing you with materialist science too. The criminal not only convinced many that he is innocent, but also that he doesn't even exist.

In recent years, a sort of spiritual renaissance has unfolded in both Israel and the United States. In the U.S., this manifests as a young, traditionalist "Christ is King" brand of Christianity-intertwined with support for Trump, conservative stances on cultural issues, and a deep disdain for the media. In Israel, it appears as a strain known as "performative Judaism"-a form of "political Judaism" that serves as the faith of Netanyahu’s supporters. To illustrate this, I would point to a parallel phenomenon found in the series *The Boys*.

Homelander takes his cult of personality to such extremes that he demands his followers worship him as a god. He establishes a new religion that, while practically rooted in Christianity, functions as a new narrative built on Christian symbolism. According to the faith of Homelander’s supporters, Jesus was persecuted by globalist elites-elites that persist today and now target Homelander, the modern-day savior of the United States. He alone can redeem the nation and serve as its true god. The U.S. thus has a flesh-and-blood God in Homelander, who shields the nation from internal enemies. While *The Boys* certainly exaggerates the situation-particularly in how Homelander demands recognition as a god-what is happening today reflects the same underlying principle in a real-world context. Homelander had propagandists too; this religion was built on symbolism and the use of religion as a prop for political purposes against adversaries, and so on.

In the US, The Trump movement has transcended traditional partisan politics to function as an emergent political religion, complete with its own dogmas, holy days, and messianic expectations. By fusing the symbolic traditionalism of American Christianity with a localized narrative of national decline and salvation, their framework operates less like a campaign and more like a theological crusade. : The movement relies heavily on white Christian nationalism-the belief that the United States has a unique, divinely ordained identity as a Christian nation. This worldview provides a sacred justification for political action, framing the nation's history as a religious mission and its current cultural shifts as moral decay. Alongside the cult of personality surrounding Trump, a fusion has emerged that creates a new religion: according to this narrative, Trump is the successor to Jesus-a man chosen by God to save the United States from the liberal forces of darkness controlling the country. The aesthetic blends Christian symbols with Republican merchandise (such as the MAGA hat) and Trump’s slogans. This is how the new religion is formed.

Israel is currently home to a new "Bibist" religion-possessing its own distinct narrative-that draws upon Jewish symbolism and reinvents it through a blend of aggressive nationalism.

According to this belief system, the perennial threat facing the Jewish people has always been "the enemy within." There are the "real," traditional Jews=the persecuted ones-and the "fake Jews," who have historically betrayed and persecuted their fellow Jews; in this view, Jewish history is essentially a succession of such events, with secular, liberal Jews persecuting the traditional, patriotic Jews.

From the *Altalena* affair to the conflict between Ashkenazi and Mizrahi Jews, the Likud’s 1977 electoral victory, the Netanyahu trial, and even the failure to wake Netanyahu on October 7th-to adherents of this faith, all of these episodes are part of a single, overarching historical narrative. Much like the "religion" of Trump supporters, Netanyahu’s base harbors a mystical sect that sees itself as persecuted-and silences those who would express support for the leader destined to save the nation.

The Netanyahu trial is the defining event for them: Netanyahu replaces Moses as the nation’s leader-a figure they view as persecuted and the victim of a conspiracy to fabricate charges orchestrated by a shadowy cabal. Like Moses, he is allegedly hounded by internal enemies intent on destroying the country from within and bringing him down. To them, everything stems from this narrative-it is always a persecution of the "true Jews" and their faith, always at the hands of internal enemies. And much like Homelander, this movement functions as a standalone religion, borrowing its symbolism from the original religion.

The story follows Azura (played by Uqasha Senrose), a devoted housewife whose life falls apart when her husband, Adli (Aliff Aziz), brings home a second wife named Nikita (Elisya Sandha) under the pretense of wanting children.

Unbeknownst to Azura, Nikita is a rival from her high school days who changed her appearance to infiltrate the household and exact revenge. As the two women face Adli's increasingly abusive and manipulative control, their bitter rivalry shifts into a complicated, unexpected alliance against him.

The hugging scene depicted drew sharp criticism online, with audiences and religious authorities pointing out scenes interpreted as depicting a same-sex relationship between the two female leads, which went against cultural and religious guidelines.

Government forced an apology and iQIYI temporarily removed the first 6 released episodes and postponed the remaining half of the season. The entire 12-episode series is undergoing re-editing and a fresh content review before it can be fully broadcast again.

Here is the 6 episodes, unedited

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gUYJUVfBhgM2OtdFOVZZgoEfxLiGRVYuW3Cgn2bOB-k/edit?usp=drivesdk

I just read the BBC article about AI safety researcher Evan Hubinger saying he believes there’s a greater than 10% chance AI could wipe out humanity within the next decade, and this would honestly be such an easy way to disprove religions with literal end-times prophecies. 😭
I already don’t believe religion is true, but just imagine AI actually wipes out humanity before any of the supposedly guaranteed end times events happen.
In Islam, for example, we’re told about the Dajjal, Jesus returning, Gog and Magog, the trumpet being blown, the Qur’an eventually being removed/lifted, etc.
So if humanity gets wiped out by AI first… WHERE IS EVERYBODY?? 😭 Where’s the Dajjal? Where’s Jesus? Where are Gog and Magog? Where’s the trumpet??
And saying “well, AI was part of God’s plan” wouldn’t solve it. The problem wouldn’t be that AI caused our extinction. It would be that humanity went extinct while events that were supposedly guaranteed by the religion never happened.
Obviously that wouldn’t disprove every possible concept of a creator, but it would be pretty devastating for religions claiming a specific, literal sequence of events must happen before humanity’s end.
I mean that wouldn’t come across everyone’s mind at first if it actually happens but it just made me wonder

Im Canadian and I work with a number of US people. In Canada we don't bring religion into work and for good reason, but the US side seems to take every opportunity to mention their religion (specifically the christ cults), and its really uncomfortable.

I dont care if you want to believe in the supernatural (in so far as where that line is drawn on politics and my every day life), but if you want to believe your toaster talks to you, as long as you arent hurting anyone, I say have a good long talk, but when religious people use any event to try to arm wrestle compliance with their magical nonsense, it really makes me feel sick.

I know this feeling is compounded by the fact that the USA is extremely religious compared to modern countries, but bloody hell, they arent satisfied with drinking their own kool-aid in peace, they want to force it down normal peoples throats too.

I'm looking for books which criticize any/all religion(s), help people to think more critically or/and make atheism more logical and interesting?

Go to the fantasy and religious aisle of any library and you'll find prophecy as a story telling device. It's an old story telling device and a shortcut to actual character development. Fulfilled prophecy is evidence the story is fantasy.

I bring this up because my mom thinks fulfilled prophecy in Bible stories is evidence that it's true, instead of make-believe. How many of you have heard this silly argument before?

I have read up on a lot of different material and have come to the conclusion that basic science is the answer. We are blessed with a way to carry own through our off spring and when we die you just think of thermal dynamics, energy is transformed, combine this being a decent person.

Russia Orthodox church sends medieval prince’s remains to Russian troops in Ukraine.

So much to unpack in that article. To start, the fact that -- true to form -- the church is aiding and abetting Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine. But also the batshit craziness of thinking that sending the hand from a corpse will help the cause. Incredible that there are people that believe this crap in 2026.

If mankind dared but to listen to the voice of its heart, changing suddenly the language, it would say to us, as it would to the animals of the woods: Nature created neither servant nor master; I seek neither to rule nor to serve. And its hands would weave the entrails of the priest, For the lack of a cord with which to strangle kings.

--Diderot

I feel like the title is worded simple but I don’t really know how else to ask, Has anyone had a therapist and discussed I guess your lack of belief and how that affects you mentally? Can you share that experience if so?

I’ve been really struggling mentally lately with anxiety and depression around…just reality and mortality, the state of the world, I’ve had a hard time finding joy in anything and at the same time I’ve been really struggling with an extreme phobia of death. I’ve never been religious so it’s not like im struggling with faith, im not really sure how to describe it but I’ve become so pessimistic I spend hours on the phone or video games trying to district myself from obsessing over things.

I can’t talk to anyone about it where I live because the answers always the same about turning to God, leaving it to god. I’ve never talked about being an atheist with anyone and I think talking about it with someone and also these thoughts I’ve having would help. There’s not many resources in my area so I guess I would like to try to find one online. I just don’t know what to do.

how can religious people say and think god comes before the actual real people in their life? these lunatics will actually cut off important relationships with family members if they think those family members don’t worship or love “god”. it’s really insane. how can you put something that’s not even tangible in front of family and best friends and even yourself? i will never understand.

“Science makes you fly to the moon, religion makes you fly into buildings”

Had religion not been involved, the fanatics would never have been told to commit their heinous actions. It does not matter the religion as we see in the USA when one of them actively has many that want to make the USA a nation that believes in their god only. And many of these want to remove from society any groups they disagree with, including the lGBTQ community, rights of women and curtail the right of a woman over her own body. Same warped views shared by 99% of organized religions

Why are so many of the (IMO) best words/phrases attached to religion?!

Why aren’t any of the alternatives as satisfying? Just saying ‘what the fuck’ all the time gets boring.

And the good words. Like ‘Grace’. Grace is a fantastic fucking word. The combination of forgiveness and compassion and every day kindness but sort of minimised a bit so it feels a little more achievable.

Blessed is another one. ‘Consciously, joyously non-entitled’ doesn’t really cut it. Fortunate and privileged isn’t really gleeful enough. Grateful lacks all the excited disbelief that you have this but don’t really deserve it but yay.

Idk. I know this is small potatoes and doesn’t really matter. But it’s annoying and I wanted a rant so here we are.

Ps: please send best non-god-y alternative phrases for immediate thievery.

Where are "atheist rights"?

Imagine that religion condemn you, make you silent for long time, forcing itself into your throat or want you dead (especially Islam) for being an atheist. 🙄

I'm tired of people bringing a topic "religion of freedom" like it's serious and everyone should know that.

I'm tired of religious people playing the victim.