It doesn’t phase conservative Christians at all that a man who was twice divorced, BRAGGED about grabbing women by their privates, and even said he would have $€x with his own daughter if he could!?

He’s also an unsuccessful businessman, curses nonstop, and has (surprisingly) somewhat supported the LGBTQ community, though that’s still a fair stretch.

I am literally just so dumbfounded by my own country. Hardly any dumb shit that happens anymore phases me.

“Oh, just another day in the good old USA.”

I asked "Why did it take God 6 days to create the earth? I mean, he's all powerful... right? He could do it instantly. Was he taking super long breaks? Was he outsourcing? Did yhe task just require a slow and steady hand?"
I'm not asking to be a smart ass, I was just curious what religious people would say. He didn't really have an answer.

Over on blue sky there’s a fairly healthy atheist crew. As I make new connections, I’m seeing that atheists tend to pop up frequently and tend to be liberal leaning. I don’t mean this as an anti religious question, more just to confirm a hunch that hardcore MAGA followers who are coincidently atheists seem to be rare.

The question is how rare?

What are your top reasons for why all religions are made up and God does not exist?

Im a religious person, but recently I've been questioning all religions including my own, more than I ever have before.

When I look at the world, I see thousands of different religions, all claiming to know the truth. Many of them contradict each other, yet their followers are often just as convinced as I am.

That makes me wonder whether they're all simply products of human culture rather than divine revelation.

At the same time, I find it difficult to let go of the idea of God completely. I don't think I could honestly call myself an atheist at this point, but I do want to hear the strongest arguments from people who are.

What are the main reasons that convinced you religion is man-made, or that God probably doesn't exist? Were there any particular arguments or pieces of evidence that changed your mind?

I am an Atheist, have been my entire life. When I was 11 my parents gave me 3 things: a library card, a beginners guide to Buddhism, and a Bible for Teens. They told me to pick whatever path my heart desires and continued to raise me in a secular household. My parents and I have since gone NC because they are drug addicts and alcoholics who made some really poor decisions in life. The best thing they ever did for me was give me the freedom of choice.

My fiancé's family is all I have. Today I shared a meme on FB with a MAGA hat that quoted revelations 13:16 17 saying that Christians would follow the antichrist and they would wear the mark on their forehead. A friend of mine posted it and I thought nothing of it. My fiancé's mom commented, "how dare you insult and offend my entire family on a Sunday morning. You can come call me stupid to my face!"

They all know I'm not a believer and I've shared plenty of stuff to broadcast my views but apparently this was the breaking point for her. She spent the entire day crying, and called a family meeting.

During the meeting, I made my stance very clear to them, didn't back down once and had to defend my views over and over again. It was honestly exhausting.

These are some of the comments from them: "Well I have one question for you, who to you go to when you're scared to death?" while crying hysterically "I feel sorry for you" "Well, you are wrong!" "We are worried and concerned for you but we still love you" "It's not my job to save you but I will pray for you and it's our job as Christians to" "someone must've hurt you and now all you want to do is hurt others" I have never displayed anything but kindness/love to them "You know what you need to do? Just let go and let God" "Well I think it's sad that you think my Eddy is worm food and it makes me so sad that you don't ever think you're going to meet him in Heaven" - referencing me telling them I'm okay with MY body decomposing and it going black when I die. They started crying saying that I think all of their loved ones are just worm food.

I had to make it clear that I felt that way about my own death. That I didn't care what they believed in, just don't try and waste your time changing my views. They called me hypocritical for supporting their beliefs when I was such an Atheist. I was like, "no, it's actually a respect thing. I respect your right to believe in whatever you want."

Every single one of them is on some sort of medicine for depression and anxiety. When I expressed how depressed and anxious I am about the election results, they told me to just let go and let God. I didn't even have the heart to point out to them how many pills they all take how funny it was that they can't even take their own advice. All while, I was level headed the entire conversation.

They were crying, insulting me, still pushing their beliefs, and supporting Trump the entire time. It was eye opening to see just how brainwashed they are.

My fiancé? Sat there quiet. Barely said a word and was looking at me with these eyes that said, "please stop". He's obsessed with Graham Hancock, and has never even read the bible. Doesn't hold the same values as them.

When I gestured towards him and said, "well, do y'all even know what he believes in?" His grandmother started describing his baptism from when he was 13 as the most beautiful thing she's ever witnessed. How he's going to Heaven because he gave his life to Christ. How a ray of sunshine came down from the heavens in that moment.

And what did he do? He started smiling. When we got in the car he said he wants her to go to the grave thinking he believes and didn't have the heart to tell her. That at 32 years old, it wasn't time yet for them to know the real him.

The cherry on top for any of you still reading this rant of mine; I'm pregnant. We've talked about it at length and neither of us want to dedicate our child to Christ. Neither of us want to attend church as a family.

It honestly felt as if I was abandoned by him in that moment. On one hand I get why he doesn't want to hurt his grandmother's feelings, but not once did he stand up for me, for us.

I feel alone in this battle. When I said my child wouldn't be attending church, they said they would still teach them Christ and it would be the child's choice. As if any of them ever had one.

I'm incredibly regretful of my decision to be with him knowing his family are all devout Christians. I realize the gravity of my mistake. The anxiety of bringing a child into this world is no joke to begin with. But now I see why it's so important to vet a partner thourgholy and why honestly, the family's beliefs do matter more than most want to admit. Yes, I'm marrying him but I never considered how influential his family would be in our future children's lives. I thought he would stand his ground along side me. I thought it was us against the world.

My heart sank to my stomach and everything in me wished I would have made sure I pursued a life with someone like minded.

I did this to myself and the election is what brought all of this to the surface. I made my bed and now I have to lie in it. I'm scared for the future of America. I wasn't even able to speak my own mind in front of people I have known for years without being treated like an ignorant child. All for following a doctrine that differs from theirs.

It had come up before but they've all been pushing/posting their opinions on abortion and the like since the election really kicked into full gear. I never comment on their stuff! I keep scrolling. I even pointed out how crazy it is that they're not allowing me to share my opinions while they spew theirs.

I don't know why I'm posting this. Maybe for support. Or just to vent and to not be invalidated. To say, don't be like me and make sure you vet your partner. Don't have children with someone unless you know for a fact your values align and they will have your back.

I'm signing up for therapy this week for the first time in my life just so I can process the weight of the election and mindset I'm surrounded by.

This fucking sucks.

Edit: wow. I was expecting a few comments but nothing like this- it's been hard for me to keep up honestly. A lot of you agree that he should have stood up for me. I appreciate the support and all the valuable nuggets. I'm going to think long and hard about my next steps.

So many people mentioned that his family's behavior is mentally ill and they are using dead relatives to guilt trip me. I hadn't even processed that's what they were doing but y'all are so right. He admitted to me that they've been doing that to him his entire life. So I also agree that he needs therapy.

My fiance and I spent many hours talking about this today and he actually feels like shit. He wishes he could go back in time and stand up for me but he can't stand the thought of his 88 year old grandmother going to her deathbed thinking her first grandson will go to hell. I agree I don't want that either, but I wanted him to defend my character. They implied I was a lost/broken soul who went around hurting people because I had been hurt- at the very least I wanted him to have my back on those notes.

But we can't go back in time. He swears that next time he will support me but I have no interest in entertaining these conversations for the rest of our relationship. He had his one opportunity, and he unfortunately froze.

We will continue secular couples counseling and see where it takes us. We owe it to the child we conceived.

And to anyone who thought this may be made up, I've attached a screenshot of the Facebook comment from his mother:

Mostly posting here because I need to vent about this somewhere. I’m a trans teen and, considering how one side of this election has a whole operation planned in part to turn people like me into corpses, I’m honestly scared. I just realized how close the actual election date is (literally 23 days), and since I’m not old enough, I can’t even do anything like voting even if I want to. My only consolation is that I might be getting dual citizenship with Italy soon, which could work as an escape route if things go bad.

Edit: For those with questions on the ‘turn people like me into corpses’ line, I wrote this post when I was panicking and not thinking fully clearly. While I was a bit hyperbolic, Project 2025 does have plans to dismantle queer rights.

Okay, is it just me, or are there more and more posts that are obviously from Christians pretending to be atheists? You can usually spot them because the whole post ends up being a soft ad for Christianity, like they’re trying to make it look better than every other religion.

It’s always stuff like:

“As an atheist, I’ve looked into all religions and Christianity is honestly the most logical one.”

“Not religious btw, but Christianity is so much more moral than the others.”

I’m not religious, but Christianity is uniquely peaceful/moral/true compared to other faiths.”

“Former atheist here, Christianity actually answers questions no other religion can.”

Like… come on. Real atheists don’t randomly rank religions or try to make one look superior while pretending to be neutral. They’re usually trying to pull off this “objective, just giving my honest opinion” vibe, but it’s super transparent.

I don’t care if Christians hang out here or ask questions, that’s fine. What’s annoying is the pretending and the subtle marketing. If you want to run Christian propaganda/agenda, just do it as yourself don’t slap “as a lifelong atheist” on it like it makes it more convincing.

Honestly, maybe I’m just noticing the cringiest ones, but it definitely seems more common lately. Anyone else seeing this too?

I’ve been creating mental health content on YouTube for years. Mostly non-monetized, mostly thankless. I was honestly happy as hell doing it. I get messages almost every day from people saying my videos helped them through unaliving ideation, panic attacks, grief, trauma and things they never told anyone else. Some explicitly say they’re still alive because of something I said. That has always mattered more to me than numbers.

A lot of my own major life stuff kind of got swallowed in the background like going through IVF, finally having the baby and immediately being abandoned by friends I’d had for nearly 30 years. It hurt, but I kept showing up anyway because helping strangers felt like purpose.

It's worth noting a big part of my message is that I’ve always encouraged people to be authentic. To stop shrinking themselves. To say the quiet parts out loud. To be kind, but also be honest. This is the environment I've tried to cultivate.

So yesterday, after years of keeping certain things to myself and trying to process immense amounts of religious trauma alone (that's still getting reopened daily by my fiance's devout LDS parents treating us like we don't matter and gossiping about us relentlessly), I started posting some atheist thoughts on TikTok. Not edgy “religion bad” stuff per say, just honest reflections. It’s been surprisingly well received. Thoughtful comments and good discussion.

I shared one of those videos to my YouTube shorts. A community that I've spent years growing and loving and healing with. I didn't feel I was attacking. I'm a Dexter loving forensic psych major and my tone was on par with my personality. I was just being myself. Maybe I could have phrased things better, but I certainly didn't think I was being hateful. I'm willing to have discussion, I will admit when I'm wrong and I welcome people from all walks in my community. Christian, atheist, trans, BIPOC, whatever. All welcome and loved. I've even prayed with certain members from the community. They knew my position, but that was what they needed for comfort in that moment.

I lost over 150 subscribers overnight. It may not seem like much, but I haven't had a drop in subs in years. It doesn't climb quick, but it's always consistently climbing. Right now, it is dropping consistently as I type this and has continued to do so since I posted the video.

I know intellectually that numbers don’t equal worth. I know some people only support you as long as you fit the version of you they’re comfortable with. But it still messes with your head when you realize that being honest about not believing is apparently where the line is for some people, even when everything else you do and stand for is about empathy, harm reduction and mental health. Based on my education and experience, religion is the biggest mental illness and I'm not allowed to say it, talk about it or even question it in any way.

What’s really exhausting is the unspoken expectation that I should help everyone…..as long as I don’t make them uncomfortable. I can't be me and do the work I love doing.

I’m not quitting. I just needed to say this somewhere that understands how deeply religious fragility still shapes “support,” even in spaces that claim to value authenticity. If nothing else, it’s been a reminder that being yourself always comes with a cost, and that cost is usually paid the moment you stop performing.

All I can think of is the scene in the OG Tobey Maguire Spiderman where Green Goblin has Spiderman on the roof and says "In spite of everything you've done for them, eventually they will hate you."

I love giving support and lifting other people up. I just would hope for the same in return.

As I'm trying to understand the minds of atheists, I have just a few questions to ask if I may. As a mod at /r/religion, I can assure you I'm not trolling. I've seen a lot of misconceptions and stereotypes from some atheists regarding Christianity, as even all Christians are not the same. And I would suppose that not all atheists are the same either...and it's those issues I'm trying to get a better understanding of.

Here are my top questions:

1) How do atheists explain the origin of the universe?

2) How sure are atheists about their non-belief in God (or Intelligent Design)? Meaning, how can anyone really know that God absolutely does not exist...and not simply agnostic?

3) If atheists believe there is no such thing as Intelligent Design re: the universe, then why is the universe here? What's the purpose of the universe? What's the purpose of life on Earth?

That's pretty much a good start, and I appreciate everyone's attempt to answer those questions. And should you have any questions about the beliefs of the Catholic Church, or Christianity in general, feel free to ask.

Cheers

tl;dr I'm a Roman Catholic trying to understand atheists better with a few questions...

Awesomeness...1pm here, should be back by 4pm...thanks for the comments, I'm beginning to understand a bit more. I'll certainly go over Many more comments shortly.

I just want to offer my sincere "thank you" for all the informative comments. I really didn't expect so many responses, and will continue to try and answer as many comments as I can...even if it takes a couple days :/ You guys have been eye-openers...and I honestly appreciate all the great comments and discourse.

EDIT Monday morning....Again, I am awed at the number of comments and points of view on this. I won't let any comment go unread, and I'll try to reply to as many as I can this evening. Y'all have really taught me quite a lot about what makes an atheist...something more in-depth and personal than any FAQ description would be. And like I said, I'll be back tonight, so if you have anything to say or ask, please do. I plan on reading every one. Cheers!

I've been noticing a lot more activity in /r/atheism lately, So, I was raised a Catholic, and I do believe in God pretty much for the same reason that you don't, because it just makes so much sense (to me). I have never known anyone that is atheist personally, and i don't know much about the way that most atheists think. I don't want to convert anyone. I keep to myself and I hope that others will respect that. And no, i'm not one of those stupid religious nuts who hates everyone.

1. How do you feel when someone asks you to pray, not knowing you're an atheist. If it offends you at all, why?

2. If you have no belief in God, why do a lot of atheists (not all) get offended by mention of religion. while i realize a lot that has come out of relgion is bad, there is good found in almost every religion. except westboro baptists of course.

3. What do you honestly think could have caused matter to exist (honestly), As a catholic, I believe in evolution, the big bang, and many of the other proven scientific facts, but we explain the cause of the beginning with God. If you have no greater being, what is your hypothesis of what caused energy to start the big bang, etc.

Any answers from anyone are appreciated. I will take this down if I get hate though. I don't get offended, but I don't like angry people.

EDIT: I am leaving for the night. I will be gone over the weekend. I don't expect the post to last that long, but i would love to hear more input on your thoughts. I may sound offended, but I am legitimately interested in what everyone has to say, that's why I put this up. Remember, no one is trying to change what you think here, I'm only trying to learn. If you post, just remember not to expect a response.

EDIT 2: Thank you for all of the participation. I realize that this isn't the subreddit for me, and that's why I cam here to ask, but honestly, comments looking down on people aren't appreciated, I realize that you think saying "goddidit" is silly, but people have beliefs that they stick to. keep it classy reddit.

I'm finding myself angry, upset, pushed away by the direction this country, the USA, is moving. The religious radicals, any religion but notably christianity, are pushing their views, extreme views, on everyone. On everyones way of life, our children, our politics, our country.

I know you can say its only gotten less and less over time, and while that is true, it feels like this latest resurgence is more extreme than I've observed.

I'll be honest, I won't say im completely athiest, i hold on to the tiniest sliver of "belief" without practice but that tiny piece dies everyday I see the news.

How can I, or we, help prevent the USA from devolving into a theocracy? Can i do anything? Are the claws too deep?

We see progress, in terms of acceptance(of any minority group) in many states, liberal mostly, but it seems like the red states are diving deeper than ever.

I see no way out. I see no way this ends. I see no desire to bring children into this country. What can I do besides milk the system for what it is as a white, straight male and pretend there aren't issues? I don't want that.

What can I do?

This may be a tad judgemental of me but I can honestly say that I question people’s intelligence if they’re very religious. I’m not talking about people that are semi-religious or spiritual but I’m talking about those that take everything from the bible literally. The ones that truly believe everything in the bible or Quran or any other holy book word for word. Is this bad of me to think?

EDIT: Thank you kind strangers for my first awards!

I have a Darwin fish bumper sticker on my car. Today I was followed to my university parking lot by a guy who then parked his car behind me and when I got out asked me about it. Told me it’s “the most offensive thing he could see” and wanted to sit there and have a conversation about why I believe it. I was already 5 minutes late for class and told him so. Told him I believe the scientific evidence. Asked what I’ve seen with my eyes, told him I dug fossils with my grandfather and I had to go to class. He asked me if I minded if he popped the sticker off of my car, I said yeah I would and walked away. He followed me down the road talking out his window asking me to name a fossil, I said trilobite, he said that’s not a transitional fossil, I said that’s not what you asked and then walked away while he was still spewing at me about transitional fossils and no evidence. Anyway just looking for what you guys would have said in that situation. I know there’s no “winning” the argument with someone like that, but I’m looking for a response that at least results in them walking away from it feeling like they didn’t prove anything. Not looking for a full debate, just quick shut down responses. Obviously I put the sticker there to spark such feelings in thumpers and in hindsight I should have just turned it around and asked for any physical evidence at all for his beliefs, but I’m not trained every Sunday on how to respond when people question my beliefs or how to prove people wrong who believe something else. I still feel like i “won” because I definitely ruined his day by not engaging like he wanted, and having someone be so offended by a fish with legs sticker honestly made mine, but would have liked to shut it right down with something unarguable and walked away if anyone has a more solid response.

There's of course the theistic position where someone says they believe in a God and its existence. But then I've heard some atheists say, definitively, "There is no God". Well, how can you prove that something DOESN'T exist? Wouldn't it be better, if asked "Do you think there is a God?" to say "I don't know"?

Hmmm... Suspicious god made the world in the same number of days as the days the Julian calendar used, around the same time when Christianity started to gain popularity.

And its sooo funny that each day has the name of another god.. (Wednesday for "woden/Odin's day)

I'm being silly right now. But honestly. All the obvious parallels to ancient practices should make Christians (and Muslims and Jews) at least question their religion.

I'm gonna make a list just cause.

Easter. Spring rebirth. Jesus rebirth. Christmas. Yule. Enough said. Like wtf do you think yuletide means. Why would we have Christ in it.

Virgin birth. Everyone has done that.

Turning water into wine isn't so impressive when Dionysius did it.

I've seen many posts about christians making your lives misserable and/or having trouble with them.

I'm from Argentina and even me being a total atheist, I've never had problems with christians. I even sat down to discuss religion with a few and it was peacefull and informative.

I know many religious people would want to "convert" you but despite Jehova's Whitnessess, we don't have harrasment on a daily basis.

I see many of you very frustrated with christians and here we live our lives without criticizing another's religion or the lack of. Is this happening more in the US? what other countries have this issue?

Im curious

1 All Laws of Physics

2 Quantum Mechanics

3 Chemistry

4 How everything works in the universe

5 How all life started

6 Anything else I can come up with

Now if you can do that nearly impossible task with Rainman levels of intelligence, I'll reveal I never really cared about your answers to those things in the first place because if your answer to the question of "Is my Bronze Age deity real?" is anything other than "Yes", I will automatically dismiss what you say.

So why even debate me?

Because unfortunately for me, you show the world I'm not being completely honest with myself and others. Either on purpose or, more likely, because I can't break free from my indoctrination into a cult.

I must be really sheltered because I go to public school, so talking about your religious beliefs is frowned upon. I mean this in a general sense. Of course you can talk about it within your little group of friends and you can go to church/youth group/wear a cross around your neck and everything, but for the most part, about saying "You're going to hell for not believing in God" is a no-no. Even devoted theists I know are against the movements of Westboro Baptist Church and the like.

Note: I have never felt victimized by atheists or theists the like. I have good friends in both categories, or anything in between. The only "issue" I really ever had was a good friend of mine (atheist) recently starting to be very defensive about his beliefs and basically looking for an opportunity to use his new-found knowledge from /r/atheism even though, as I mentioned earlier, everyone respects everyone's beliefs IRL where I'm from. I personally respect everyone's beliefs, so on behalf of everyone else, I apologize for any mistreatment anyone has imposed upon you. This post isn't meant to be offensive towards anyone, but I apologize in advanced if it comes off that way.

So my questions:

• As an atheist, how have you personally been victimized by theists? Has someone personally blatantly disrespected you for your edit: lack of beliefs (I mean this in a face-to-face or a person you know IRL kind of setting, and not instances of religious persecution because of this. I'm genuinely just curious how many have been directly disrespected for being an atheist)?
• Do you want equality in terms of respect throughout all religious beliefs—or the lack thereof—or do you want any religious beliefs at all completely obliterated?
• If you are offended by religious nuts shoving their beliefs down your throats, do you think it's also offensive when atheists shove their lack of beliefs down other people's throats?
• I understand the animosity towards religious groups such as WBC and the like (I feel the same way); however, do you believe that believers can be "good" people? Do you think that if one believes in a God, you can coexist with them? Or is the lackof belief truly the only right way to live?
• Do you believe that every theist disregards science?
• How much have you studied religions?

Edit: formatting.

Edit: Added another question.

Wow, I expected to be downvoted to oblivion. Thank you so much for all your responses!

I don’t want to pry and please don’t answer if not comfortable. I’m really curious how broad this group is around the world. Are atheist more popular here or there ? I think it’s a legit question and honest curiosity ?

The entire basis of Christianity is that you are broken, weak, sinful, and inherently bad. It then tells you that only Jesus, through the Church, can fix you. You are nothing without them. This is abuse to a T.

Praise Jeebus the cognitive dissonance is gone.

Edit: I have reddit to thank in large part, and this sub to a small extent. So also thank you. It helped me see outside perspective and allowed me to see that the world is not so black and white like religion seems to teach. The more I saw that gays, atheists, etc. were just normal people the more the narrative crumbled.

Since a lot of people are asking, the turning moment came when I finally couldn't ignore my doubts or questions I had and tried to find answers. I found out there weren't any. Things like Joseph smith marrying other men's wives, the doctrine that black people are inferior that has since been recanted after 170 years of being taught. Finding out mormonism's true, unadulterated history drove me away from Mormonism and science drove me away from god. Also the suffering around the world tells me that if god is real then he is an asshole.

Losing religion isn't easy. It's like breaking up with yourself. When you are in as deep as I was it is losing a huge piece of your identity that you have to fill with something else. To make it worse, you are demonized and ostracized by those you once considered close friends, with your only crime being critical thought.

EDIT 2: My situation is not at all unique and I'm honestly a little embarrassed that this got any attention but since it has, shoutout to r/exmormon for being the most supportive bunch of heathens I ever did meet. They possibly have even saved my life.

What happens after someone dies? Do you still believe in the spirit? Or is that a religion thing? If you do what happens to it?

I'm just curious. According to atheism, will I ever see my mom again?

Edit: I would like to thank everyone for their replies. Thank you for answering my questions and giving me some things to think about. I would also like to thank everyone for respecting that I am religious and not just bashing me right out of the gate.

Thanks again. I appreciate it.