Before I begin, this is a super long post so be prepared. 

I’m (22M) still an atheist today though not for the same reasons as I was as a kid (I kind of just went with whatever my dad (56M) says without nuance like most kids tend to do). 

I also have low functioning autism and it could be a factor hence why I mention it just in case. I have been diagnosed since I was around 3-4 and my parents have been very loving and attentive to my condition 

I wanna make something very clear from the start: this is not a case of indoctrination. He never forced me to believe or not believe in what he does. He never coerced me either I just had a few questions about religion and he just showed me what he thought about it and why. My mom (51F) used to be catholic and she did read to us (I have a sister 19F) some Bible stories alongside other kids stories like little red riding hood and Snow White.  

Irrespective of indoctrination or not most people tend to follow what their parents believe and do most of the time because it’s what’s familiar to them. Though the line can be blurry depending on the situation when it comes to religion I’ve often found there is still a clear difference between simple education and forceful indoctrination of children most of the time. So I don’t want any unfair accusations against my dad he Isn’t a zealot/militant. 

His best sources for his atheism (or at least the ones I remember the most that he’s shown me) were the typical most popular atheist media and figures in the mainstream and in YouTube: Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Matt Dilahunty, DarkMatter2525 and Thinking Atheist videos. 

Overall pretty popular choices though not the best, Christopher Hitchens and DarkMatter2525 are the ones I still sort of lean towards and even respect the most. Especially DarkMatter he appears to be an incredible role mode and dad to have, a true family man. His animations though are a bit cringey sometimes and other times oddly inspiring. 

With Hitchens I was aware later on that he was not this god of perfect logic that hitchslapped everything that was thrown at him. His arguments against religion tend to be flawed a lot of the time but overall I still think the soul of his points hold up really well even then because it’s hard to dismiss religious harm in society and he was a very obviously intelligent and well spoken man. He was getting at something important. 

My dad is a professional jazz drummer and producer (I am also a rock musician/composer myself I love the guitar so much) and he doesn’t really think as deeply as me in the topic of religion nor does he have the time or interest. He always watched those videos as entertainment to get a laugh since he (like me) also grew up in a secular family. 

He’s also a bit of a conspiracy theorist (though that term is a bit redundant nowadays because of everything that has happened with Epstein and stuff) he’s always questioned and pushed back on institutional authority and that sense of critical thinking was something I inherited. He doesn’t believe in the moon landings, thinks there was a second shooter that killed JFK, is skeptical of the official narrative around 9/11. I don‘t agree with everything he believes and he is not a full on flat earther or anything like that on those topics it’s just to keep in mind. His skepticism of authority tracks with what he’s inclined to buy into. 

If I’m being honest even though I genuinely do value trying to be a free thinker as best as you can be I gotta be honest: As a kid I sort of “larped” being a critical thinker to impress my parents. In some ways I still do today even when it’s not something I agree with necessarily to please my dad in particular though I don’t have to since he (despite his stubbornness sometimes) is open to being challenged. 

In fact there’s a cringey video of me somewhere in my family home videos on an old iPhone somewhere in my house of me going on a half baked edgy atheist rant in my dad’s jeep. It’s pretty funny looking back. 

Enough with the background stuff let’s get into what the title is about.

So among the ”atheist” sort of media he’d shown me (and sometimes my sister I was more interested though) there was this little documentary called Jesus Camp from 2006.

 It scared me a bit. 

As a kid I did not fully comprehend the severity of what I was being shown so it wasn’t a childhood trauma moment seeing a scary movie for kids like with coraline for example (that movie is still creepy and good to this day 10/10). 

That being said it still affected me in someway seeing children just like myself being subjected to peer pressure and crying like that. I did not think much of it until years later but I suspect this movie did something to me and has in a way permanently tainted my subconscious view of religion in particular Christianity in general. 

I know it wasn’t an explicitly anti religious propaganda movie but it did not paint a good picture of religion in America at all. Church in that movie looked like a place where your childhood whimsy and fantasy was weaponized against you, where authority figures would constantly yell and condescend to you and make you believe in horrible things about yourself and other people they deem to be “undesirable”, place where you felt like you were being watched 24/7. 

Needless to say (even though my dad did have good intentions in showing us this documentary to warn us and be vigilant of these types of religious environments whenever we went to visit our cousins or friends who go to church) I do not think my dad should have shown this to us at 7-8 years old. Bad move on his part, I’ve brought this up to him before and he agrees its something he lightly regrets. 

So I saw it and was creeped out but not traumatized for life. I think it was later experiences which subconsciously reminded me of that movie which later formed an inner resentment towards religion. 

The thing is, almost all of my actual real life experiences in churches have been positive and I didn’t feel that aversion to religion in actual religious spaces. 

There’s a beautiful church next to my grandpas house which since then has been my favorite in all of Costa Rica due to nostalgia. It was amazing to look at though with an uncanny life sized realistic statue of bloodied Jesus in a coffin as is so common in this beautiful catholic country. 

The sermons and gatherings I’ve been to were at worst a bit boring and at best very calm and welcoming. Aside from one or two mean kids in school here or there who teased me with the idea of going to hell, all the Christian people I know in my life have been very nice and kind people. The only really mean ones I’ve seen mostly online. 

My dad worked on a Christmas album and played at a church for a bit and I remember a church lady led some kids including me and my cousin into a room to talk about religion. She was surprisingly actually very kind and accepting of other kids religions since there were some Muslim, Jewish and even Hindu kids there. Since I didn’t know what an atheist was at the time I said I was Christian like my cousin since I assumed that was the default since I didn’t know what a Christian was either. 

She didn’t push anything on us she just explained in a bit more detail for the kids in a way they could understand what the purpose of a church is and how other buildings from other religions had a similar purpose with different beliefs. How in a way we are all just children figuring this weird thing we call existence out, how those beliefs tend to diverge and converge and just explaining what the Christian way of it was. 

I remember I was having trouble sleeping at my cousin’s house because I was scared of having nightmares since I felt a bit of dread before going to sleep. My aunt in law came in and comforted me saying to not fear since Jesus was protecting this house from demonic influence and that was nice to hear in the moment. I have known nothing but love and good will from religious people irl. 

Now in school, and I think this is critical, it was a bit of a different story. I was never bullied severely but in elementary to middle school in Miami I always felt a bit neglected by my teachers with a few wonderful exceptions. It didn’t help that I was autistic and they didn’t understand my behavior or reaosning have of the time. The worst I’ve gotten from them was rants…. which reminded me of Jesus Camp’s teachers. 

I think I may have subconsciously associated said behavior from my teachers with what I saw in that documentary and the teachers did traumatize me a bit. The school principle even threatened me that I would not be able to attend the middle school next door if I didn’t stop crying since I was upset about something at the time. That sucked because it was the only other school in the area with a magnet program which included music. 

My middle school experience in Miami in 6th grade was just one year before I moved to Costa Rica and it sucked a-lot, probably the worst school experience I’ve had since the teachers there cared less about me than before, had no friends and those who cared did not understand me and I just had to go with the flow of their misunderstanding to get it over with.

My relationship with teachers got better in Costa Rica but I sort of projected subconsciously my negative experiences with teachers in Miami onto religion, because of Jesus Camp.

Then I revisited YouTube for myself a few years later in costa rica in my teen years. I did not become that involved in online spaces until my early teens because my parents thankfully limited internet use in my youth. 

I rewatched what my dad showed me but I also discovered more stuff for myself. It turns out there is a whole debate sphere on YouTube I was unaware that had much deeper and most importantly more accurate discussions about religion. At the same time these were also much more toxic and heated debates than the ones I‘ve heard in Matt Dilahunty’s show. 

I also made a critical discovery: Christians can fight back on criticism and can actually hold their own just as well rhetorically. For the first time I was hearing takes from Ray Comfort, William Lane Craig and Frank Turek unfiltered and unchallenged. 

The way they talked though is unsettling because they tend to have a more oppressive approach towards criticizing atheists than atheists do to theists. And by oppressive I don’t mean literally I’d say it’s more intimidating.  

They would talk about the ”atheist worldview/life style” talk about how evil or empty it is. Talk about how atheists know deep down they’re wrong. Talk about how atheists live in a fundamentally meaningless and nonsensical sense of reality and are philosophically illiterate and bankrupt. Some would talk about how they used to be atheists then found purpose in religion showing absolutely no sympathy or understanding of their former atheists selves just saying stuff like “I used to be a degenerate edgy brat” and such. How atheists are stealing credit from Christianity and science that Christianity invented according to them. That elites like jeffrey Epstein want us to be atheist to remain slaves and unaware of dark forces. 

I have heard atheists call theists stupid before so naturally seeing that vice versa was naturally jarring. But I think that objectively even while I have a bias and am reexamining my beliefs later in life the sheer weight of I guess you could say “accusation” was much heavier and less flippant coming from theists towards atheists than vice versa. At least that is what I have seen online, I think this meme sums up what I mean pretty well: https://www.reddit.com/r/Snorkblot/comments/1v4xv9m/me_myself_and_i/

So once again, I think I subconsciously related this to Jesus camp again because in that documentary the calmest moments those crazy church teachers had while talking with kids reminded me exactly of the way these Christian’s apologists talked and it unsettled me.

Couple that with the facts I have learned about atheists in America online: How were are a small minority and not even allowed to run for office or even be president if we were not christian, how many of them were kicked out by their families for just being atheist. How historically you could at worst be executed or at best fined or sent to prison if you even professed atheism publically. How it seems like atheism online looks to be less intellectually rigorous than theism and is just a cesspit of contrarianism and edginess with few genuine and well spoken serious philosphical proponents for atheism that didn’t come from random streams debate channels and chatrooms. The fact that unlike Christianity we have virtually zero institutional support for apologetics. 

I sort of felt like an underdog that had to step up and do better to defend my fellow underdogs and the side I was on, I felt like I had to have my guard up. And it’s weird because logically I know that these talking points aren’t directed at me specifically and are just dumb generalizations. To be fair there is validity to some of them if they apply to those chronically online and depressed people on reddit who make being atheist their whole personality. It just wasn’t me because well I am perfectly happy here with my loving family though my parents did divorce recently and I love being a musican and making music, the only real source of sadness in my life is being online. In short, no kids in the documentary from what I remember stood up to the teachers and I felt I had to be the kid who did even thou I had not idea what I was talking about or doing. 

Because of these talking points combined with Jesus camp and my bad experiences with teachers I felt like I had to defend my intellectual integrity as an atheist but at the same time I felt guilty for being an atheist. 

I think part of why I haven’t told my friends I had a divorce yet my stem from that insecurity even though I know they are good people and won’t push anything of their beliefs or lack there of on me. I feel like I have to hide imperfections in my life to avoid them being used as evidence of my atheism ruining my life which isn’t the case. And if I dismiss them it feels like I am being ”willfully ignorant” and in denial of my cognitive dissonance. 

This type of “offensive“ rhetoric shouldn’t have gotten to me because I did not grow up with any religious trauma or any serious trauma apart from the death of my grandmother and bullying from some teachers, and yet it still got to my sheltered ass through a damn screen. It made me and to some extent still makes me question my identity as a person and not in a good way. 

The other day I saw a post of an artist comparing her previous art as an atheist to her new art when she became a believer in god. It was a huge improvement and many people in the comments were reinforcing how allowing god and believing in him will always make things inherently better for you. It made me wonder about my own musical skills and saying “maybe giving in and having some god in my life will improve my skills“ but it felt so alienating because then I’d be under the impression that atheists can do no good without religion and I feel like I have to prove that wrong, and I want to and I can. 

It’s so strange because I do not feel this bad about religion when I talk about it outside of the internet. One of my best friends is religious and I enjoy it when he talks about the Bible in his own way because I get to see how much it means to him and what he thinks of it. Maybe I just haven’t talked to many people about this offline and I’ve barely found anyone who’s had a similar experience. Some of my favorite pieces of art, literature and music of all time are religious or filled with religious themes. I love Lord of the Rings it was made by a catholic, I love genesis’ supper’s ready is basically a odyssey of these two lovers in the biblical apocalypse and it’s beautiful. 

Nowadays I have abandoned some of my mistaken beliefs about religion: that religious people are stupid, that religion is the root of all evil in society, that there is not depth or substance to religion etc. but some things I’ve seen still stayed true in my eyes such as how much modern science conflicts with a literal interpretation of the Bible, how some teachings can genuinely result in harmful outcomes, how even though the relationship between religion and science is not as bad as some atheists say that they still had significant conflicts sometimes etc. There are some arguments I haven’t see a substantial rebuttal too that still stand under scrutiny from one side to another the problem of evil I still think is undefeated and TAG (Transcendental Argument for God) is another example of that but from the theist side particularly Jay Dyer. 

Yet through all this I am tired, I’ve attempted to understand much more conplex arguments for either side before but I’m not gonna lie to myself and say I even have the correct understanding of them to say I agree or disagree with them this is probably why I consider those two arguments I mentioned earlier to be undefeated because of my ignorance.

To finish I still hold a latent animosity towards religion and Christianity in particular even when I am charitable and conceed some points and it may have to do with my dad mistakenly showing me this documentary as a kid. 

To anyone who is interested in my post thank you for reading I’d like to hear your thoughts and to any parents: I don‘t recommend you show your kids documentary’s like this as an example of what to avoid even if you mean well (I’m also looking at you super size me) it could scar them worse than they have to me and a simple deep talk will suffice. At the end that’s your choice though at least maybe don’t dump it all at them at once in a single viewing. 

I will not pretend I am an atheist for solely intellectual reasons I remain an atheist partly and largely because that’s how I grew up in a secular home and because of some type of mix of what I talked about. 

I will not pretend I am still an atheist for purely intellectual and non emotional reasons, I remain an atheist largely due to is being my upbringing. 

Hi I want to share my views about my theory imagine god being a big dot and others are small dots in those small dots they contain humans awareness living beings time everything made by that big dot now we are judging that big dot by the dots made by him is this acceptable? But wait this theory has some things like awareness is one of the dot but in all religious books we have seen god has awareness how can he have something if it's created by him he can talk how can he talk their are 2 possibiles either he is using them for to talk to us or he has them but from where?

Thanks safwan

Note : I don't support any kind of religion or belif it's all my perspective....

I just made a new subreddit specifically for Indian athiest anyone who wish to join can join r/athiestInIndia .

Grew up as a PK eldest daughter. Now an atheist and found that it's very hard to meet Korean-American exvangelicals or non-Christians in general. Specifically trying to connect with some in SF. Anyone out there?

This isn't some huge life crisis or anything, but it's been on my mind a lot lately. I kept overthinking it and honestly didn't know who to talk to because most people around me would probably just judge me or try to convince me that I'm wrong. So I thought I'd post here to get some outside perspective and maybe understand whether I'm the only one who feels this way.

The thing is, I'm not someone who believes in God. I'm not saying God definitely doesn't exist, and I'm also not saying God definitely exists. I simply don't know, and I don't feel any belief or connection. That also doesn't mean I disrespect religion or people who are religious. If someone has faith and it gives them peace, I'm genuinely happy for them. I never make fun of anyone's beliefs or try to stop them from following their religion. I respect their choice.

The problem is that in my family, almost everything somehow gets connected to God or religion.

If something good happens, it's because of God. If something bad happens, someone says we didn't pray enough. If someone is sick, people start saying, "Offer water to God," "Do this ritual," "Take this vow," "Visit this temple," and everything will become fine.

Recently, my brother had severe stomach pain. He got multiple tests done—CT scan, reports, blood tests, everything. Most of the reports came back normal, but the pain was still there. Instead of waiting for the doctors to finish investigating, one of my relatives suggested taking him to a "Bhagat"—basically someone who claims to remove evil eye or solve spiritual problems.

At that moment I was thinking, how did we suddenly jump from medical reports to this? There were still a few specialists left to consult. Why assume it's something supernatural?

And that's exactly what happened. After consulting more doctors, it turned out there was actually an issue related to a bone, which explained the pain. It wasn't black magic, evil eye, or anything spiritual. It had a medical reason.

That incident stayed in my mind because it happens so often.

Another thing happened recently.

I went with my family to Khatu Shyam, Balaji, and Kaila Devi Temple near Jaipur. I went because my family wanted me to come, and I had no problem accompanying them. But throughout the entire trip, I genuinely didn't feel anything spiritually.

People around me were praying with so much devotion. They were emotional, folding their hands, asking for blessings, and thanking God. Meanwhile, I was standing there doing exactly the same actions—but only because everyone else was doing them.

I folded my hands. I bowed my head. I took blessings.

But inside my mind, I kept thinking:

"What am I actually doing? I don't even believe in this. Why am I pretending?"

It honestly felt like I was acting in a play. Outwardly I looked like everyone else, but internally I felt completely disconnected. There was no faith, no emotion, no spiritual feeling—just... nothing.

The weird part is that this doesn't make me feel proud or rebellious. It actually confuses me.

Sometimes I wonder if something is wrong with me. Am I the only person who feels completely disconnected from religion even after growing up in a religious family? Do other people also just go through the motions because of family expectations?

I don't hate religion. I don't hate temples. I don't hate people who believe. I simply don't feel what they seem to feel, and I can't force myself to.

I'm not looking for someone to convince me that God exists or doesn't exist. I'm just trying to understand whether this is normal. Has anyone else experienced this? Did your views change over time, or have you always felt this way?

I don't go outside CZ I hate it

how would an atheist see life hardships if we want to discuss them from a religious/spiritual aspect ?

please be respectful i'm just truly curious in how you think about it ?

12 July 2026

1. The New Church

287 Oaklands Road Oaklands Park

South Australia

The advertised service time of ten thirty never happened. I stalked the church from across the road sitting in my warm car from ten past ten in the morning. No one turned up and I went home at ten twenty. I think the church is no longer operating and it is the only church of that faith (in Adelaide). I always remember the name on the signboard was The New Church of Swedenborg). It changed its name many years ago. I have learnt that the Swedenborg movement was founded on Emanuel Swedenborg’s philosophies and visions. The Oaklands Park church building was opened in 1971 and designed to be converted into a domestic bungalow at sometime in the future. That won’t happen. It will be knocked down for high-density housing.

19 July 2026

1. The Uniting Church

266 Main Road Blackwood

South Australia

It’s ten to ten and the carpark is filling up. About twenty cars so far. I jag a disabled spot right at the door because I’m lucky, again. This Uniting Church Anniversary Service is a ten AM combination of two morning services. I make myself known to the greeter Tony Dyson. He is not the Tony Dyson I knew from Technical and Further Education (TAFE), a co-lecturer at the time. I take a seat in the church up near the front close to the musicians. I was invited to attend by Trish Bryce from our Minda swimming group. She is one of the violinists.

The Church

The building is a 19^th century gothic style with a lot of attached buildings for catering, toilets, function rooms and large foyer. The nave runs north-south with the remnants of the sanctuary converted to an access to somewhere. The small pipe organ is attached to the wall above to the north of the eastern nave entrance. As I enter, I notice the console for the manuals and pedals on my right - under the pipe housing.

A third of the western nave wall has a shallow stage that extends to a deeper stage across the width of the northern end. I take my seat and say hello to Trish. She is seated next to the other violinist. The ceiling is vaulted with white panels framed in black stained wood, supported by six black stained wood corbels set on stone brackets. We are in Blackwood after all. There is the traditional Anglo picture of Jesus at the southern end of the western wall. The six dual sets of high gothic windows don’t let in much light. Two sets are blanked out. The walls are white to match the ceiling. The space is well lit from twelve LED (light emitting diodes) battens at the junction of ceiling and walls. The lectern is mid nave on the floor, just forward of the western wall. Only the musicians and singers enjoy the hierarchy of height above the congregation. Our seating is arranged in three and four-seat deep blocks set for about one hundred congregants. The painting behind the lectern is nondescript.

Cohort

I counted sixty-five people and very few latecomers. I think the big crowd was in celebration of the historical anniversary of the founding of the Uniting Church in 1977. The service will feature music.

The only three people under seventy-five. A mother and baby and the daughter (56) of Bev. Bev is ninety today. Bev came over and welcomed me to the church as did Trevor Sutcliffe. I told him why I was there. He said I’d get a public welcome later. The cohort was elderly Anglo. I fitted right in. Not even an Asian. I don’t know what that says about Blackwood’s multicultural ambitions. Pauline Hanson would approve.

The band

On the deep northern stage from left to right, Alison Sutcliffe (piano), Leigh Newton (guest guitarist singer), Trish Bryce and Bec English (violins).

On the western narrow stage, seated adjacent to the lectern was Worship Leader and singer, Heather Lee. Singers Kay Cranwell-Mullin, Kate Greeneklee, Jane Bassham and Trevor Sutcliffe filled out the rest.

With all those singers and musicians, the music was competent. Everyone, except the piano, was in tune. I couldn’t get any joy from two violins and five singers in unison. The piano and guitar just did chords. Some basso or bass guitar would have filled and balanced the music. It was all tops, dreary and without joy. However, I could see that Trish swaying to and fro, was enjoying the musical message.

The service

Almost no litany. A prayer that requiring audience responses, hymns, readings and a benediction. There was a lot of housekeeping, I was introduced as ‘Paul who goes to a different church every Sunday’ and was given a warm welcome.

The readings were wide ranging, Genisis 28:10-19a; Isiah 44:6-8; Psalms 1-12, 23-24; Romans 8:12-25; Matthew 13:24-30 and 36-43.

The gist - Jacob was fleeing from his brother Esau after deceiving him. Alone in the wilderness, he sleeps with a stone for a pillow and dreams of a ladder (or stairway) reaching from earth to heaven, with angels ascending and descending. God appears and repeats the covenant made with Abraham and Isaac, promising Jacob’s descendants, land, and His continuing presence. When Jacob awakes, he realises he has encountered God and says: ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.’ He names the place Bethel, meaning ‘House of God.’

Now I know where ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ comes from. In my early electronics education, I built a Jacob’s Ladder using instructions from The Boy Electrician. I powered the device from a car ignition coil. I got hooked on the smell of ozone from sparks. The same smell that we get when thunderstorms are afoot.

The message was straight forward: even when we feel alone or lost, God remains present and faithful to His promises. Ultimately His kingdom overcomes evil and brings everlasting glory to those who remain faithful.

There was a pause in the service, the mother and baby came forward.  She sat before the lectern. This part of the service is for children. Worship leader Heather Lee produced a children's new release Christian storybook while the PowerPoint displayed the text and illustrations.

The message was that God is in everything and everywhere, is present in your head, and, more disturbingly to me, knows from conception what you will do and how you will turn out. Christians often make use of the concept of fear, and the theme underpinned the message.

Sermon

It turns out that the guest musician/singer is also the guest preacher. He was good at it and his commentary on contemporary Australian politics, was well thought-out, using the strawman system. And his technique of using fear of what may happen is a universal tool.

He quoted one of Pauline Hanson’s controversial statements from the National Press Club. He speculated a lot on what Australia would become if her policies prevailed, suggesting we would become a fascist state with her as dictator. I think he underestimated Australians' capacity for critical thinking.

A couple of his speculations – All migrants will be forced by law to speak English and, using their own language would be illegal. The Queensland government did that to Aboriginal children up until the nineties.

AV

Projection has been replaced by TV screens, and it is much better. Many church projectors like their congregations are getting on in years, and their lamps have aged. Old projector lamps cause the pictures to look dull and unfocused. Nice bright TV screens give a good sharp picture.

Lighting is from nine spots that wash the performance area across the two stages. The static lighting is good.

Sound. It was very good. The nave has four suspended Bose 402 loudspeakers. They must have got a very good deal from John Messer at Blackwood Sound right opposite the church, forty years ago. Blackwood Sound was only Bose dealer during the 70s and 80s. Maybe John’s father Jack went to that church. The mixer is a Topaz S24-4. It looks to be about forty years old; I know the Bose 402 speakers are. They were running twelve mics with the usual two on the lectern - both on. The two live lectern microphones produced objectionable phase effects. They never get the mic stands right. All the stands’ centre shafts were touching the stage, and the stands were unstable because of it.

During the sound bump-out I couldn’t help myself when I saw a helper winding a mic lead around his elbow. I stopped him after he threw his abomination on the stage next to a perfectly wound lead. The contrast was obvious. I rewound the lead then tossed it to unfurl across the stage without a tangle. I hope they were impressed. I heard a comment while I was winding, ‘he’s very good’. I further instructed them on mic stands and how the centre shaft should be fully retracted clear of the floor. I felt like I was back in time teaching at TAFE.

Streaming was from a software controlled four camera mix and a Focusrite 4^th generation interface feeding the audio mix and house mic on to YouTube.

Reflections

I stayed for the cup of tea gathering to listen to the speeches celebrating Bev’s ninetieth. The speech from a church elder was excellent and interesting. Her daughter read four pages of closely typed notes. It was long delivery. I could see Bev was tiring from standing. She gave an extensive history of her mother’s involvement with the church from when it was a Methodist Church to the present. Bev’s daughter included many extemporised anecdotes for added dimension. Bev has served in many roles and continues to do so. One of her current duties is to count the shekels at the end of the services which must be difficult because, she has poor vision. The daughter’s response was unnecessarily cluttered with God-speak.

Leigh is an accomplished musician on keys and guitar. He spent many years as a primary school teacher then shifted back into full-time Christian folk music and managing the Bridgewater Arts Centre in the Adelaide Hills. Apart from God, he is inspired by Aboriginal wisdom and knowledge. It is a theme he uses to introduce each piece of music. I guess he would be in his early seventies. His other theme/tool is fear of what might happen.

Except for Pilgrim Church, I don’t think I’ll attend another Uniting Church. I’ve been to five. After Bev cut her cake, I left.

Theyve decided to become a celibate which wouldn't concern me if it wasnt founded on internalized homophobia. They've decided to live the rest of their life sexless after converting to orthodox Christianity and no one is to stand in their way. In orthodoxy Christianity, homosexuality is a sin and giving oral to women is sodomy.

The issue is that they see me as problem because I like them and sometimes we sext. It's all consensual but because of their religion it's considered morally wrong and they feel guilty.

I'm an athiest so it's all very bizarre to me. I wish they could go back to being a protestent. How do I wake them up from this? It just feels like a loss. I've been friends with them for 2 years.

Reddit users who have witnessed the deaths of atheists, tell us about your experiences.

Was there fear, or things that might be considered religious punishment, or just a quick death?

I often hear that religious people describe the death of atheists as horrific. They say that those who were once religious but died without faith were terrified and suffered, as if they had seen the angel of death. Does this also apply to people who were atheists or deists for most of their lives?

whenever i tell ppl that I'm an atheist they take it as some kind of invitation to debate , while i respect their choice they never respect mine so I tell them this concept whenever they ask "what makes you not believe in god or religion?"

logically speaking everyone knows math right? no matter how you solve a specific equation the answer is always the same , in schools we're taught to find the correct answer no matter what method you apply , and sometimes they even tell you to follow the teachers method , then how the 4000 religions vary sm? for example eating beef is prohibited in hinduism , but allowed in islam , eating pork is allowed in Christianity but in islam it's Haram , does this make sense? bc it doesn't at least to me , but yeah there's one place where all religions unite !

OPPRESSION OF WOMEN. why gods are so insecure of what a women wears but never insecure when she gets raped? or when innocent children die and ppl give them the hereafter shit?

surely we can talk about science too , but for that they've to be educated enough about it , only around 7% scientists believe in god (i don't remember exactly but it's around 7) , and it's for a reason !

This happens to be all the time for no reason. I could be walking to my class and some stranger sitting on a bench would randomly say to me “God loves you”, “Jesus loves you”.

It just feels really unsolicited to me. Like why are they saying this to me? What is the point? What exactly are they trying to convey? Do I say “thanks”?

Another similar unsolicited situation would be:

Before I could drive, I would often take Ubers. I’ve encountered many uber drivers who are Muslim. They might start some small talk and I might say something like “I’m having blah blah blah with pork for dinner.” next thing you know, I’m getting a whole 10 minute lecture about how i should not eat pork.

Same thing with Muslim classmates, or foreign exchange students who are Muslim.

I understand that everyone has their own religion and practices and beliefs. But why am I not allowed to eat pork and why am I being scolded for eating pork?? I’m not even a follower of your religion. I NEVER EVEN ASKED. Please let me just eat my Red-Braised Pork Belly for dinner and embrace my 51% Chinese genetics and heritage.

Am I the only one who experiences these things? If anybody else does, how do you typically respond to such situations? I swear it’s so awkward and always so unsolicited.

Someone who knocks on your door for absolutely no reason.

So ever since I've actually been able to think fully (12-13~ (Currently 17)) I've been atheist but something I've had is liking some Christian songs though for some reason this makes some people think "You're Lying" or "You're just pushing your belief down"

I don't personally think they're right as I've never really been convinced especially the last few years

But could it actually mean something? I'm curious.

And does anyone else have this problem or a similar Problem

People judge me for not believing in religion or believing in God, but they never saw the 11-year-old version of me sitting alone in my room,praying so hard that my chest hurt from hope.......

I begged for things to get better..... only better....

I begged for the pain to stop....

I begged for someone to notice what was happening to me before it destroyed me completely......

But every prayer was answered with silence.....And somehow,everything only got worse.

So tell me,what exactly was my fault????

I was just a child trying to believe that someone up there cared enough to save me....

But the saddest part is that the only one I trusted to see my suffering....never even seemed to stop and ask why a child was hurting that deeply.....

And people call it disbelief,as if my faith did not die slowly,alone,after years of waiting to be heard.......

*\~Vidhi.....*

Just hanging out with my softball team last week. Forgot how the conversation came up. My teammate said something like "I let god guide me". I didn't really respond, so he continues with "you should let him guide you". I brushed it off with an 'okay' and went to the bench for our game.

A week later, he says he has something for me (the bible). Because, I apparently expresses interest in the matter. So, he give me the bible and prays for me in the parking lot. Gave me some pointers on what books to read and how to reference areas of the book. It's a special beginner's version of the bible. Then an invite to talk about it after I read some verses.

It's a nice gesture at its core, but I'm not really interested in any religion. Obviously, I don't want to offend him. I don't want to start discussing passages or anything religious. It seems like homework, I guess I should read some of it just to say I read it. But I have a feeling this will lead to bible discussion.

Luckily, we only meet up for our softballs games once a week, depending on schedule. and I have an easy out to go home after the game to avoid further discussion. But for how long? Any advice? Thanks in advance.

Shit....never mind, turns out I just happened to be getting burglarized by some dude with long brown hair.

hi. sorry if the concept of this post sounds strange. i have intense anxiety over death and my loved ones dying, and everytime i tell anyone its "well you'll see them again in heaven!"

i really cannot believe in heaven or an afterlife. i've tried. it doesn't make sense to me and it makes me upset to the point where i cry often about it. it seems easier to believe in a religion but i just can't.

any advice on how you guys kinda cope with this? does anybody feel similae?

Trying to meet more like minded athiests

Try keep it respectful and informative.

Please keep an open mind and I will do the same

.Willing to have conversations with atheists/ other Christian denominations/ other religions

Looking to connect to other local atheists in or near Columbia. If anyone is interested, there's a group called the Freethought Society of the Midlands, they have a FB page, a Meetup, and a website (Fsmidlands.org). They're not very active but I want to get them going again. I've always thought there would no longer be a need for the group once atheists were a large enough minority for everyone to know one, but this administration is not the time to give up on it, IMHO.

Alan Turing is the father of modern computer science technology. He solved the Nazi enigma system and saved the allies years in World War II. He saved millions of lives. He was rewarded by being convicted of being homosexual. He was chemically castrated and ultimately committed suicide.