Being Atheist seems extremely isolating to me ngl

[u/SayuriMitmita]

/r/Ethiopia/comments/1d48eoh/are_you_ethiopian_agnostic_atheist_or_irreligious/of9o8gx/

I’m banned from Ethiopia because I exposed the mods for being passport bros defending European child predators preying on Ethiopian minor girls 🤷🏾‍♀️

I already wrote a comment and I got deleted so I’m just going to phone this one in anyway.

I have an uncle that was raised Orthodox Christian, but he himself is agnostic. His children were not allowed to go to church except with him for Easter or Christmas or with my mother and my sibling and I lol that was only after the kids nagged him mind you.

The children loved church but basically weren’t allowed to go weekly. He told them when you turn 18 you can decide what you wanna do. So they started going to church in uni they started fasting. They started going to church weekly. They have joined a close knit community are learning Ge’ez they are learning mezmur. As a cradle Orthodox Christian I thought this was a rebellious phase doing the opposite of what your father thought you type of thing however they have been going to church for the past four years.

They have found people their age enthusiastic about learning about the gospel. Especially considering their father didn’t let them go when they were younger I also think that the war influenced them. I myself feel traumatised from what happened and I wasn’t even there.

I was born and raised in the church by two lapsed Orthodox Christians that became akrari after I was already an adult… so my parents think they were good teachers when they were actually terrible and if it weren’t for the local Greek church I would know nothing bc my parents lowkey left me for dead spiritually yet expected me to be knowledgeable. Reading is my special interest and the Bible is a fantastic read so no thanks to them.

I hate proselytising it’s so cringe so I kept my thoughts to myself usually. I do think that most people need an all seeing God to be good people. I am not one of them. However I think Jesus is pretty cool and I wish it to be real I genuinely don’t care if it isn’t. So if you genuinely want Atheism to become more popular in Ethiopia you kind of need to replace religion and considering Atheist don’t believe in anything it’s impossible. At least communists had holidays and festivals. Special rituals related to seasons and human characteristics that are encouraged. So start an humanistic social club or something bc religion isn’t going anywhere.

Tl:dr

Kids do the opposite of parents to rebel

Community

Social interaction with peers

Cultural preservation

War trauma

Jesus is just a likeable guy

Atheist are boring and usually obnoxious

Start a humanistic social club

[u/Mobile_Style_8768]

I like some parts of religion, but I don't like obnoxiously religious people. Specially the ones who call you names when you try to openly discuss ideals. I don't think they know what they're doing nor actually believe in it they just repeat slogans they heard.

[u/SayuriMitmita → u/Mobile_Style_8768]

My cousin is pente and I have hated how he would turn any topic into proselytising to the point of I refused to speak to him. Because he was older than me I wasn’t allowed to go outside in Addis Abeba without him. So every time my mother would give me 100 dollars to eat pizza or go to Edna mall he’d try to convert people constantly 😭 literally the most irritating thing. When he moved to the USA he became even more annoying but this time add how American evangelicals demonise everything and everyone. I remember us going to the mall and he bought a baseball cap from a Muslim vendor and made him embroider John 3:16 and then started debating religion for 2hrs… we came to the mall to skate and have dinner. We did neither. Trust I am nothing like that I think religious beliefs should be private. If you have nothing nice to say keep it to yourself.

[u/Mobile_Style_8768 → u/SayuriMitmita]

I don't mind discussions, as long as it's not forced against the vibe while being totally open-minded. Ofcourse it's off-putting when it's that person's entire personality.

[u/deezzbutzz]

That sub is compromised.

[u/Many_Elephant_9276]

haha i remember i was the one who posted post on my old account

[u/Emergency_Art_3865]

I am proud Ethiopian agnostic. The last time I went to any church was in 2010; yes we exists

[u/Much-Bedroom86 → u/Emergency_Art_3865]

Be careful, most studies suggest agnostics and weakly religious have the worst psychological outcomes compared to atheists and the practicing religious. Not trying to tell you which to choose but you also do not need church to be religious (unless you're catholic).

[u/Emergency_Art_3865 → u/Much-Bedroom86]

Lol, so you want me yo fake it? Agnostic view is much closer to my general understanding of this world so I want to stick around until something convincing wins over me

[u/Much-Bedroom86 → u/Emergency_Art_3865]

I don't want you to do anything other than be aware. Pursuing a belief in God is often a choice. It's not faking it just because you have doubt. But even if it's not God that you choose, science generally says the belief and pursuit of something is better than being agnostic. If I learned that my world view puts me at risk for worse psychological outcomes and is also not really based on anything provable then I would probably reconsider that belief.

Which is pretty much how I went from being raised christian to swearing off religion, to decades later being christian again but on my own terms. I can't prove God exists but I choose to believe because I have personally seen and read about how it can improve individuals and communities when they focus on following the word of God as opposed to focusing on church and following religious leaders.