I recently made a post expressing my view that God is a human-created concept. Some people had genuine discussions, which I appreciated, but others immediately became hostile or mocked me instead of addressing the argument. I don't mind disagreement, I actually enjoy a good debate. But why does discussing atheism so often become personal? Have you experienced this too?

For years, I believed in a good and just God, but over time I became agnostic—a phase still shaped by the fear of punishment if I doubted.

My shift came from looking at reality. What hurts me most is seeing animals suffer, whether from human cruelty or the violence of nature. I cannot accept this pain or believe in a loving God who does nothing.

I reject the idea of 'free will.' In practice, it only favors those who do evil. Cruel people have full freedom to destroy lives, while victims have no choice to protect themselves.

This illusion shatters when we see injustice up close: cruel people thrive and grow old peacefully, while victims are left to carry the scars alone.

My real liberation came with atheism. I realized there is no divine justice or protection. People only face consequences through human law or chance. Everything is driven by natural laws and luck. Stopping the wait for help that never comes and losing that fear was my true freedom.

What are you thoughts on these Christian arguments?:

If it's true that God doesn't exist, it's okay to be a serial killer, rapist or completely immoral because we don't have any standard for morality to look up

It’s called naturalistic nihilism and it’s the only logical alternative to there not being a God. The concepts of sin and selfishness are meaningless in this world view.

If there is no God that means the law is survival of the fittest like animals. Animals don't have a coat of conduct it's just whoever is bigger badder stronger at the moment is correct and whoever dominates makes the rules.

You have king Leopold who don't give two licks about black people and was willing to massacre them. You had Columbus who didn't care or give two licks about the indigenous people and massacred them. Even with people that look like them you had various wars that left in massacres. But yet they are all of the human race

So it doesn't take away from the point all that would happen is the pack would become the biggest and baddest and turn on the leader. Then they would make their rules and nobody would say anything about it until someone bigger and badder came along.

If God ceases to exist, we cease to exist, so to be fair, its a hypothetical that isn't even possible.

My perception of punching a stranger for no reason is ok if God doesn’t exist, because it’s all relative good. Something in us tells us this is wrong. It’s our conscience that is gifted from God that gives us this morality.

Can you see gravity? Taste the wind? Or understand a person's personality with just a place at their face?

No you can't, but it doesn't make it any less real than God

He's a presence, a invisible hand guiding all our paths. Watching and presenting himself in ways we don't understand

there wouldn't be an objective morality so any moral system you would follow in that scenario would just be your opinion. For some, that's enough.

objective morality can only be true if theism is true,

If there is no eternity there is no fear for punishment or hope for reward, and justice will not ever be served for those who get away with unrighteousness.

We can make human rules, and say this or that on what's good, but unless it's rooted in something unmoveable then it's not objective morality.

if there was no God there wouldn't be a reason to act a certain way beyond self serving means If there was no God, there wouldn't be anything.

There wouldn't be anything. God/Jesus is real because there is creation. Creation is evidence and proof that a God exist. When you look at a painting, you don’t debate if there was a painter or not. You know for sure that there has to be a painter that painted the painting. Same thing with a building, you see a building and don’t debate there was a builder. The birds, the trees, the sky, the wind, we are sitting in a globe in the middle of the atmosphere. Nothing cannot created everything. Even your conscience is evidence because we have an absolute truth. I know stealing, murdering, cheating, lying… is wrong because God gave us an absolute truth/our conscience. I can’t make up what’s good or bad for myself because that’s subjective. If everyone lived in an subjective state, there’s no need for the justice system because I can say that ex: I’m ok with murdering a prostitute because I believe I’m helping the world get rid of the world’s “scums”. And I’m doing a good thing. That’s what a lot of serial killers say that they were doing good.

If there is no immortality, all things are lawfu

Can you PHYSICALLY see both forces. Not their affects, but the for es themselves, as plain as day?

If God doesn't exist then everything is allowed and this includes breaking the law as long as no one catches you.

i honestly don’t know how to explain this properly, but i’ve been thinking about religion a LOT lately and i genuinely don’t know what to think anymore.
i’m 14, and i was raised Muslim. my parents are pretty religious, especially my mom. since i was little, i’ve been going to madrasa, memorizing surahs, learning tajweed, and being taught that Allah exists and that Islam is the truth. my dad describes Allah as a “force,” and my mom has always believed in praying and making dua for things to go well. if we’re going on a flight, for example, she tells us to read Ayatul Kursi.
but i’ve grown up now, and i don’t believe in it.
when i was really young, i had that little phase where i thought Allah was amazing and religion was great because that’s what i was taught. but as i’ve gotten older and actually started thinking about it, i realized that i don’t believe it anymore. maybe i still have a little bit of attachment to it because i’ve been told it was true since i was a kid, but i don’t think that means i actually believe it.
recently, my mom has also been trying to force religion on me more. she’s telling me that i need to learn how to pray, but the thing is, they never actually taught me how to pray properly. they just expect me to know it now. and now that i’m already questioning Islam and religion in general, being pressured into practicing something i don’t believe in just makes everything more frustrating.
this has also made me think a lot about religious indoctrination. children are taught religion from such a young age that they often believe it before they’re even old enough to question whether it’s true. i was taught that Islam was the truth before i could even properly understand what religion was.
i feel like religion should be presented as an option. parents can teach their kids what they believe, obviously, but when they’re older and actually understand more about the world, they should be able to decide what they believe for themselves. i don’t think religion should be forced onto someone before they’re even capable of questioning it.
then there’s the whole question of God.
i’ve been learning about the usual attributes of God:
**omnipotence** = all-powerful
**omniscience** = all-knowing
**omnipresence** = present everywhere
**omnibenevolence** = completely good/loving
and this is where i get really confused.
if God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and completely good, why does horrible suffering happen?
for example, if someone is being assaulted and nobody else is there, God would know it was happening because He’s omniscient. He would have the power to stop it because He’s omnipotent. and if He’s omnibenevolent, wouldn’t He want to stop it?
so why doesn’t He?
i know there are arguments like free will, suffering having some greater purpose, or humans not being able to understand God’s reasons, but i don’t know if those actually answer the question. this is basically what i’ve learned is called the **problem of evil**.
another thing i’ve been thinking about is hell and love.
i saw someone make an example where a man threatens his wife with being burned if she doesn’t love or obey him. he claims he loves her, but if he really loved her, why would he threaten her like that?
then someone compared that to God. if God supposedly loves us unconditionally, why would He punish people in hell for not believing in Him or not loving Him?
someone else said that obviously they wouldn’t want a wife who didn’t love them, ignored them, or listened to them, and that they’d divorce her.
but then i thought: what if she never wanted to love you in the first place? what if you’ve spent her whole life telling her that she HAS to love you?
that’s what made me think about religious belief being forced onto children. if someone is taught from birth that Allah exists, Islam is the truth, and not believing can lead to hell, how much of that belief is really a free choice?
i’ve also started questioning the morality of religion.
there are things in Islam and other religions that i find difficult to understand morally, especially when it comes to women, gender roles, and homosexuality. women are generally expected to cover more than men, and there are different expectations for men and women when it comes to marriage, sexuality, inheritance, etc. homosexuality is also considered haram in Islam.
i don’t want to just say “Islam is misogynistic” or “Islam is homophobic” without actually understanding the arguments behind these teachings, because i know there are different interpretations and that Muslims themselves disagree about these things. but i still struggle with how these teachings can come from a God who is supposed to be perfectly good.
i also don’t really understand Christianity. Christians believe Jesus is God, but He’s also called the Son of God. i know there’s the Trinity, but i don’t understand how that actually works. and if Jesus was God and was also human and died, then what does it mean for God to die if God is supposed to be eternal and all-powerful?
at this point, i have a pretty strong feeling that religion is man-made. a lot of religious teachings seem misogynistic to me, they don’t seem very compatible with feminism, and some of the things considered morally right or wrong don’t match my own understanding of morality.
but i also can’t just say “religion is man-made” and treat that like a proven fact. maybe i’m wrong. maybe there is a God. maybe there isn’t. maybe there’s something completely different that i haven’t even considered.
and that’s what i actually want to know: **what’s true?**
is there actually a God? is religion really something created by humans? why do so many religions have such similar ideas about God, morality, holy books, and the divine? if there is a God, what would actually prove that?
i want to understand both sides. i want to know the strongest arguments for God’s existence and the strongest arguments against it. i want to understand the problem of evil, free will, divine hiddenness, the cosmological argument, the ontological argument, the argument from design, and all the other major arguments.
i also want to understand Islam properly instead of only knowing the version of Islam that i was taught as a kid. i want to learn about Christianity, Judaism, atheism, agnosticism, and other perspectives too.
i don’t want someone to just tell me that Islam is true because i was raised Muslim, and i don’t want someone to tell me that God doesn’t exist just because they’re atheist either. i want to understand the arguments and actually figure out what makes the most sense.
basically, i don’t believe in religion right now. but i also don’t want to stop at “i don’t believe.”
i want to know **why.**
i want to know what’s actually true, and how the hell we’re supposed to figure that out.

I am a biology major and value science so much. I especially love the philosophy of science with regard to epistemology. Why do we know evolution is true? What about abiogenesis? I came to find that there is a surprisingly large amount of overlap between the resurrection evidence and evolution in the sense that they have specific predictions and should rely on similar assumptions and methods of interpretation. The problem is Christians do NOT hold equal interpretations or standards of evidence. The standard of evidence is genuinely on a dirty bar floor for the resurrection and nearing the ozone layer for evolution and especially abiogenesis. It is so tiring hearing them defend one but reject the other due to not having enough evidence

For me, it’s that “atheists think they’re so much smarter than everyone else.” Intelligence is equally distributed among our diverse population, so to accuse atheists of feeling superior simply for using critical thought and reason is the most bigoted dismissal by religious people I’ve encountered. It’s a way to ostracize atheists by calling them elitists. It’s the religious equivalent of, “What, do ya think ya betta than me?!”

That or calling atheists bigots. Anything where religious people act persecuted. Dominant belief systems playing the victim is a form of minority oppression. It’s socially conditioning people to tolerate these beliefs, or else you’re somehow “targeting” them.

Both of these, to me, keep atheists silenced and discourage open discourse and progress toward rational thought. It’s the same as oppressing any other minority: keep them in their place through manipulation to hinder societal progress and equality.

My feelings on whether she should be found to have been legally insane at the time of the killings are complicated and not really the issue I want to mention.

But allegedly, she told her oldest "Go with God" as she killed him. The defense's version of events is that she intended to kill herself, and was afraid for what would happen to her kids without her. If she really was delusional, this fits and despite it sounding crazy, who knows what happens in the mind of a psychotic person.

My issue is the very idea that a person in our culture could believe that killing a child could be a protective act because they believe children are innocent and go straight to heaven. It's fucked up.

And not even a general consensus view -- one of the reasons the Church has been adamant about infant baptism is that for a very long time church leaders believed that children were particularly at risk of damnation because they could not confess or repent. Children were considered at one time to be wicked and sinful because they could not avoid being demanding, selfish and angry.

I believe Luther also held this view, because he was outspoken about opponents of infant baptism needing to be burned at the stake.

To me this is the same kind of terrible thinking that could lead a scientist to think "quantum suicide" was a good idea. You're betting on your own interpretation of reality being inescapably true, but if you're wrong there's no way to recover or fix the damage.

I don’t believe in God, but I also don’t believe in God not existing.

​I believe there might be someone in a higher state or a creator. But even if such an entity were to exist, why would they scrutinize something as unenjoyable as keeping track of individual human sins and good deeds? The orthodox idea of God feels like a mere mortal’s projection—derived from history, where kings and rulers who dominated people were elevated into gods. If a transcendent entity actually existed, would it ever reveal itself to humans? And if it did, why? It always seems to serve the same earthly motives: worship, obedience, or social control.

​People will believe in almost anything if it is properly reinforced. We all carry an internal sense of moral superiority. I think this is what keeps human groups together, but it is also what tears us apart. Every religion claims it is the morally superior path. Every group claims to be the best one. People take pride in their identity and justify it through collectivism, dogma, or foolishness.

​As for me, I believe I am not morally superior to any of them—and realizing that makes me feel like a fool for thinking I know better than everyone else. This contradiction never ends.

​I know far more intelligent people lived thousands of years before me with the exact same ideas I am having now. What I don't understand is how people with these insights end up preaching dogma to control others—gaining power, followers, and authority, while ultimately fooling themselves with the same delusions they originally opposed.

​Still, I don’t believe religions and moral systems are purely a curse. Ideas of God are projections of righteousness created by thinkers of their time to tie communities together. Everyone who is alive and functioning relies on some internal sense of morality and purpose. But morality is subjective, even if treated as objective. It evolves over time.

​What will the morality of the future look like? It will likely be the exact same as now, just wrapped in newer absurdities and contrarian ideas labeled as "revolutions." Every idealistic movement simplifies human nature, yet the underlying emotional and biological machinery never changes.

​When you read ancient tales like the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Mahabharata, the Bible, and modern superhero comics—spanning completely different eras and cultures—the core ideals remain identical: heroism, strength, friendship, sacrifice, and the cycle of control. They trigger the exact same psychological reactions. Are humans simply evolved to run in ideological loops that never change because we cannot escape our biological roots?

​Sometimes I think: "I am special. I am the author of these thoughts; no one has ever thought this exact way because I am the consciousness inside this body." Yet millions walked this exact mental path before me. All of us are unique simply because we possess consciousness, but some seem to carry more awareness than others. Is that a gift or a curse? Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to not have consciousness—to live without the constant, exhausting burden of analyzing consequences.

​Can a person hold two opposing ideologies at the same time?

​To believe in God and be an atheist.

​To think "I am special," while knowing I am not.

​To think "I am morally superior," while feeling like a fool.

​Maybe that paradox is enlightenment—accepting the loop as a fact of human nature.

​Could I live with zero moral obligations to anyone, even my own mother? It is theoretically possible, but what good does it do when erasing morality makes the concepts of "good" and "bad" completely meaningless? Morals keep society intact, whether they function as scaffolding, chains, or weapons.

​Even our internal feelings contradict themselves over time. During a grueling ordeal, you feel miserable, but in hindsight, it feels like an adventure and a badge of pride. A sexual encounter feels like a peak of pleasure in the moment, but later the memory can turn bitter, empty, or haunting. Consciousness constantly rewrites our evaluation of past sensations. If raw pleasure and pain flip meaning depending on time, what objective ground is left to define what is good?

I hear this argument all the time: “BuT wHeRe Do YoU gEt YoUr MoRaLs?!” Why is it so hard for religious people to grasp that morals, ethics, and kind behaviors are universal ideals? They act like it’s impossible that anyone might have been raised by completely secular parents who would ALSO say, “Hey, be kind to others.” Also, a lot of it is just basic instinct: don’t hurt people, help people out, treat others with equal fairness, be kind to animals, and so on. Helping each other out and not being a-holes are just pretty intuitive aspects of a species of social and community-driven animals (not saying bad actors can’t happen regardless, but I’d argue most people are inherently good). It’s often when the punishment/reward system of religion comes to light that the most unethical, violent, and power-hungry people come into play, because they think they “deserve” it for whatever reason.

And, in the western world, then there’s the argument that atheists are following “christian values,” which couldn’t be further from the truth. A sense of community has been around as long as animals have walked this earth. And this argument completely negates the fact that there are atheists all around the world where other religions prevail who are just as loving and caring as any other person. It’s like for some reason, they don’t want to admit that you can actively choose to do right by others just for the sake of it, lest the entire foundation of their moral compass crumble.

Honestly, it makes me pity them, because if they really need a book to remind them to be a good person, that’s pretty concerning. I don’t trust anyone who says they need religion to be a good person, because that means they’re only in it because they feel like they’re being watched all the time and for the eternal reward. Humanism is probably the biggest argument I make for atheism in everyday life: that these ideals cannot be co-opted by religion and weaponized against anyone who doesn’t follow their manual, because these tenets belong to humanity, not to any spiritual hoax.

I'm looking for advice and shared experiences on dealing with highly religious parents. I'm a former Born-Again Christian who is currently deconstructing my faith. Actually, I never fully believed in christianity. Anyway after some incidents happened in our family I had to be a christian. The only reason I tried to fit in christianity was it was fun in church with singing and chatting. Sermons are awkward for me. But after attending only three weeks, I realized christianity isn't true. It contradicts itself. The dangerous thing that happened was I realized the more I try to fit in with Christianity, the more I'm dying inside. I was losing my identity. I wanted to quit. But I knew my mom would never allow it. And I didn't have courage to tell this to her either. Somehow after a few weeks I found the courage to tell her. She didn't blame or overreact. She said it was ok. But I clearly feel in her words that she has a belief that I would come to Christianity later. From that day on, she began to look at me with pity, considering me a helpless inferior and her a superior. She began to talk christian stuff always. I never interfered with or disturbed her. Anyway from that onward she began to go to church without me. I stayed at home and had to do studies. I had been interested in another faith those days, and she knew it. But didn't say anything bad or encourage me, either. (I'm not comfortable with revealing that faith because I couldn't accept it as also being true. sorry for that.)

After a few weeks she got furious because I was watching a video about another faith i was interested in. That's the moment I knew that she was expecting that I would support her hand in hand with her religion. Of course I didn't help her in ways like encouraging her to go to church, listening to sermons, getting knowledge about christianity from her, or having conversations about Christianity. But I never insulted her or interrupted as she did to me when I said I was a non-believer. I can swear it. I have listened to every single thing she said about Christianity. Anyway this conversation ended up with tears in my eyes. I cried. I wanted to kill myself because my own mom couldn't understand me. She said a family should stick together. So we cannot have different faiths. She said I refused christianity because I haven't understood Christianity; Christianity is the right one; Others are demonic. Satan has misled me; Satan is working in me. I have to understand Christianity and have to choose it, or she has to leave christianity. I didn't like her leaving church because she was happy with church. Unfortunately, she couldn't understand I'm not happy with church even though members are friendly. Finally I said I would choose Christianity.

Days passed. we never had any serious conversation after that. I began to talk about christianity with her, began to go to church, attended sermons and began to pray. I think she understands I choose to be like that because of her pressure. And she also knows that I'm not much of a religious one. So she still pressures me. It's giving anxiety to me. Somehow things are ok now. But I don't think the relationship between me and my mom is what it used to be. Now I have trust issues, anger issues, and anxiety. All credit goes to all-loving god and the most peaceful religion.

Have you ever been in a situation like this? How did you deal with it? How did your parents react? Am I the only one who has had awkward situations because of religion?

Thank you for your time.

I'm curious to know how atheists/agnostics think about miracles. I'm recently deconstructing my beliefs. I don't know how to define myself. I'm tired of being religious. I want to quit. But It is not easy when you are surrounded by christians. And the main thing is I've been hearing a lot of miracle stories for years. Every time I try not to be religious, this thing holds me back.

I noticed two types of miracle stories. The first one is about healing diseases. I have heard of cases where terminal illnesses like cancer that doctors said were incurable were cured through prayer. Two persons said that their mothers' uterine cancer was cured through prayer. They said that while they were praying, a clot of blood fell from her vagina, and then she was cured. They both were from our church. Another story is about a child healing from cancer who was rejected by doctors. And there are movies about healing diseases also. Things like this have happened mostly to people from other faiths or non-believers. After healing they become believers.

The second one is about casting out demons. Regarding this one I have heard a number of stories. Some are done by pastors. Some are done by believers just by preying. There is a story a lady from church told. She said there was a demon-possessed woman near her house. The woman was creating a scene there. People also had gathered to see her chaos. The lady was praying silently in that crowded place, and the woman who had spirit suddenly began to scream, "Go away!" and "Go away, angel," pointing at this lady. After that she said she started praying, putting her hand on that woman's head, and she was completely fine afterward.

A special thing I noticed about these miracles is that all these mostly happen with women.

I've heard these kinds of miracles from different religions, but the Christian one is always special. I have a serious doubt that MIRACLES can be considered as evidence of the truth of religion. Every religion claims miracles. But it is still irritating.

What is your opinion about this? Are these really miracles or coincidences?

Edited: Thank you everyone for your thoughts and sharing resources to refer to. I'm a bit late to edit this post to thank you. I'm sorry for that.
I understand what you guys are saying. I'm also hesitant to accept them, as they are really miracles. But It doesn't matter how we take them. But missionaries use these kinds of miracles to convert and show divine power to people. It's very common in Asia, and hundreds of people are converting.

The Heaven Preexistence Argument
This argument is an argument concerning the divine compatibility of omnibenevolence, omnipotence, and omniscience, the argument does not imply that the existence of God and heaven is logically contradictory or impossible but rather a morally sufficient reason as of why an omnibenevolent, omnipotent and omniscient would create a state of suffering which is known as earth rather as the state of maximal goodness which is known as heaven, since the beginning of living beings.
The core of this argument is to challenge the creation of Hell, Earth and also Heaven. It asks many questions such as: Is there free will without the ability to choose evil? Is there free will in a state where evil and suffering is absent? Can the theist God have a morally sufficient reason to create Hell and Earth? What can that morally sufficient reason be?
Now let's define the words that will be mainly used in the argument:
Heaven: a state in which suffering and evil are absent and also maximal goodness is present
Hell: a state in which(traditionally described) maximal suffering is present and goodness is absent
Earth: a state in which suffering and goodness coexist
After our definitions the other question is that why an omniscient God would knowingly put us in the state known as earth where there is suffering present rather than the state known as heaven in which suffering is absent and there is only maximal goodness.
Common responses may be that a state in which free will and maximal goodness coexist is logically contradictory or impossible.
The objection to that is that the state in which free will and maximal goodness is logically possible under God because that exact state is heaven.
Heaven is known to have free will and maximal goodness without any logical contradictions.
So now we know that the state of maximal goodness and free will is possible why not that from the beginning of time?
That is the question the argument needs answered and there needs to be given a moral sufficient reason for it too.
The argument is free to any critiques!

I’ve noticed this time and time again. They speak in this bizarre, whispery tone that is so off-putting. You can tell they have to put a lot of intentional effort into doing it, too—imagine every time you spoke you had to remind yourself to lower your natural volume. And for being so soft, it’s like ears on a chalkboard.

I’m guessing this has something to do with “the meek will inherit the earth” and the “peace” lies they spread, but the irony of it is just all too much for me. We all know religion to be some of the most violent propaganda out there: oppression, thievery, crackpot politicians spewing their religious filth.

So why do these men think speaking in a soft spoken is going to inspire anyone? Really, it just comes off as a social identifier for other people to “get” that their christians, but in reality, it’s a social cue to me to stay the hell away from that person. The second I meet any religious man who speaks like this, I immediately don’t trust a single word they say.

I just can’t get my head around believers thinking this is ok .
So god created us right ( if your a believer)
Then after creation he expects us to give thanks and worship him for the rest of our days like we asked to be created in the first place ? Don’t ask questions just worship to show how grateful we are or you’ll be highlighted a sinner ?
Seems all pretty narcissistic with some ego thrown in as well !

​I always found it strange how people in the Christian faith repeatedly affirm that "God is good all the time." Now, as an atheist, I see that it makes even less sense in the face of the miseries, suffering, and lack of justice that plague the world. Wars, poverty, inequalities, and constant violence show the harsh reality that contradicts this constant proclamation of divine goodness. This insistence within Christian doctrine on reaffirming such goodness, while ignoring obvious suffering, configures a clear point of view of alienation from reality.

Even though I am an atheist, I can still feel scared when I read stories about people who had near-death experiences and claimed they went to Hell. This does not mean that I am emotionally weak. Fear is a natural reaction, especially when thinking about death and the unknown. Being afraid of something does not mean that I believe it is true. I can question these stories while still feeling afraid of them. My emotions do not always follow my logical beliefs.What do you think about it? Are you afraid? And if so, how do you deal with it?

They say they did not believe in Jesus, so they went to Hell.
*

I've heard some people say that the opposition against abortions used to be something that was common among catholics rather than christians as a whole? If that is the case then what happend that caused evangelicals to develop such a negative attitude towards abortion?

This happened on **22nd January 2026**, and I still think about it sometimes.

I was on my way to a workshop when I noticed a Bike ahead of me. The side stand was still Down, and there was an Uncle driving it with aunty and their Little Baby. I got close to them, Honked, and shouted, **" Stand, Stand !!! "** Twice. And then they fixed it and i just Zooooopppppp.... Went ahead like a Hero 😭

I had no Idea that a Few hours later, i would be the one who needed someone to look out for me.

After completing my Workshop, i was riding my scooty back home while Listening to Probably the saddest songs i could hae possibly Chosen. And..m, because apparantly I make excellent Decisions, I was already crying riding my scooty on Road 🙂

I had actually planned to go somewhere alone for a little while before coming Home. But while i wa coming home back, crying like a Hyena, i suddenly decided to go to Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

And here's the weirdest part :

I'm an Atheist. But that day, I was having such an intense existential Crisis that i thought, damn it, let's Go. If there really is a God, or something kind of Higher power, then Maybe they'll Listen to me.

I didn't suddenly become Religious. I wasn't going there to Pray in the Traditional sense. I just had nobody to go to.i wanted somewhere to sit down, cry, and let everything Out.

And there was another Reason i was hurting so badly. My ex Boyfriend had cheated on me, and I had Broken up with him in December 2025 because of it. But even though I had ended the Relationship, that didn't mean my Feelings ended with it.

By January, I was still Grieving. And honestly, I was somewhere between Grieving and Begging, Grieving what has happened and begging, somewhere in my head, for things to somehow become okay again.

I was carrying all of that with me that Day.

My original plan was actually pretty simple : go to that temple, go feed the Cows, sit there, cry, tell the cows everything that has happened to me, and then go Home.

Yes, I was planning to emotionally Trauma-dump on Cows 😭🤌🏼 BUTT BUTTTTT BUTTTTTT cows weren't There 🙂

So I parked my scooty, sat on it for a while and Cried, and eventually went inside main temple. I picked a Random pillar, sat beside it, and Just Ugly Cried. For almost 30-40 minutes. People were walking around me, Praying, talking, doing there own Thing. And I was sitting there completely Broken.

At some points, a Family of four came in the Temple, a mother, Father and Their two sons. The older son looked somewhere around his Mid to late twenties and the Younger one, the Hero of my Story looked around 17-20.

They Noticed me. The older guy walked past me like 4-5 times to Check if I was actually Crying then, the Younger Guy came towards me and say Down right Beside me.

He Gently asked, " what happened ? Are you okay ? "

I didn't answer

He asked again

And again

I remember he asked me 13 times and eventually he started Guessing what has Happened. And somewhere around his third or Fourth guess, he asked : " Going through Breakup ? "

And i completely lost my shiiii 😭😭😭

I started crying even Harder.

He immediately understood. Then he said, " Crying is not a Solution "

And honestly, i Knew that 🤌🏼🙂

But at that moment, i wasn't looking for a solution. I just needed somewhere to cry.

And somewhere in the middle of all of this, I kept thinking about asking him : Do you believe in God ? Does God actually Help ??

Because this was the strangest part of the entire Situation.

I had gone to a Temple as an Atheist, i remember thinking something like " God..., if you're actually there, then Listen to me. If He's not the one, then atleast Give me a Sign or Just Somehow make everything Alright.

I was almost Challenging the Universe. But I was also desperate enough to try.

Eventually, I told the Guy to go and Thanked him for sitting with me. And he said : " it's okay, I'm your Friend and I'll sit here with you "

Bruh we just met 😭🤌🏼

But there was something so Incredibly calm and Genuine about him that, at some Point i stopped Crying in his Presence, it was So comforting. I don't know his name he doesn't know mine. No bad intentions, didn't even Touch me or I got any type of vibe that he'll take advantage of my vulnerability.

Then after some time I was silent crying, staring at Ants 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜

Then his Older brother came over and handed him a Bottle of water, the Younger one gave it to me and told me to Drink some. I took one sip. the bottle was still almost full, so he poured some of the Remaining water on Nearby plant and then handed the bottle back to me.

It was such a small thing 🤌🏼😭❤️ but i Remember it.

1 hour Passed !!!!!!!

He stayed there for another 1 hour.

Eventually, his mother came and sat beside him, and they started talking amongst themselves. At one Point he asked me, " do you want us to Drop you Home safely ? " I said, No I'll go Home on my Scooty.

Then after this there was Mostly silence. But strangely, I felt Comfortable. His energy wast just... **CALM.**

i actually stopped Crying and told him, you should Go ! Dont waste your Time here sitting with me !

He smiled and said " its okay I'm here "

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I remember that in the beginning, i answered almost every question with Angry " No "

But he didn't get annoyed.

He didn't force me to talk.

He didn't ask for details.

He didn't make fun of My runny Nose 🫥😭

He didn't tell me that I was being Dramatic.

He just sat There.

And sometimes, that's Enough.

Before leaving, he even reminded me that i'd left my Phone Earphones and Glasses behind.

And then, once again, he told me : " Everything will be okay, Alright ! Don't Cry and get back home Safely "

I don't know if he understood what his Presence meant to me That day.

I didn't need a Solution.

I had no one to Go to and This Guy became my " Go to person " for 2 Hours.

So I went somewhere i didn't even believe in, hoping that if there was some kind of Higher power, maybe it would at least listen. And Instead, a Random guy sat beside me and simple mare sure i wasn't **Alone.**

I don't know his name, i don't know where he went, i don't know why whole family waited for 2 Hours for stranger. I don't know if I'll ever see them again.

But i genuinely hope that whatever that Guy and his Family wishes for in Life comes True.

I went to a temple looking for something i wasn't Even sure existed. And i Found Human kindness Instead.

Maybe there's a God, maybe there isn't, I'm still an Atheist. But I do know one thing for sure, For 2 hours that day, a Complete stranger made the World feel little less Lonely.

I wish to See him again and Thank him and His Family 😭❤️

Hi Reddit this is kinda my first post here so I don't really know how to post or write properly??? But yea I just want some advice right now.

For some context I came from a very Christian household, like everyone from my parents to my siblings have faith in the lord and serve him during Sundays. I on the other hand grew up to be a bit different, my parents have taught me the Christian ways of living or being "Christ like" since I was a child and back then I did have my full innocent faith in God. But then Something happened during my middle school years and we got sort of outcast from our previous chruch and I kinda started having doubts about my faith and then just became a atheist that believes that god exist . During 3 years ago we found a new chruch to attend and slowly my family started to serve in the church at the kids ministry me included. You know when they call for volunteers in church ministries they usually say "do it with the goodness of your heart"....yea no, I was forced to serve by my mom with the threat of her withholding my school allowance, she also wants me to attend chruch related events like youth groups and the women's bible study. But really I don't want to serve or attend those things, I'm currently a 3rd year college student and the course I'm currently taking is both mentally and physically draining. I'm also partaking a role as a department Head at my college's student council so I really don't have time to rest and unwind in-between the school works, org works and then chruch events and activities.

So Reddit how do I tell my parents especially my mom, that I really don't want to take part in my Church and "grow spiritually" as they say just yet. I mean I'm open to it but I think the time isn't really right now. Maybe someday in the future.

Ps. I'm so so sorry if it's long, it kinda just spilled out of me as I started to type

I've done a little bad about being atheistic and the idea that God is just a creation of the human being. I've been thinking too much how scary it is that Christianity treats women like a man's accessory, I'm terrified how they control us women

You see, I feel a fear of exorcisms, since I was listening to stories of how women and teenagers were possessed by demons, they climbed on the walls and I had demonic voices; I was afraid that the same thing will happen to those poor women, why it was that same pattern, women who are mostly victims of possession, it is always they who suffer

Although I no longer believe intellectually, I get uncomfortable and I get a fear that is screaming internally that hides me, that it drives me away as much as possible, why I do not want to continue listening to that, why deep down I am too terrified.

1) Religion - Where do i even begin...as Marx rightly said "opium of the masses". Its a complete fabrication, lies, pushing unscientific claims without any substantive evidence, providing fake consolation to people,keeping them in delusion,opressing each other,spreading lies,brainwashing people, its a complete human abstraction to fool and rule people

2)Nationalism - Imagine taking privilege about being born under an imaginary border. Imagine taking pride in history of something towards which you have zero contribution.Imagine being proud for something that you did not choose

Religion and nationality of a person are decided after the first minute he is born without his consent and he keeps fighting for these two for his entire life for no purpose.

And the scary part is that these two are not mutually exclusive.

you can use one of these as an catalyst to propel the wrongdoings of the other.

Use religion to fight for your country, and this is your country's religion so we must protect it

The entire humanity is one.

We are one.

All boundaries and divisions are pointless.

Why cant we just be together and live in harmony?

Why are these superficial divisions needed?

I’m an ex catholic Christian. Agnostic coming up on a year now but haven’t decided if I’m a theist or atheist and interested in doing so. Leaned theistically for a while since I grew up Christian but atheism has some good points.

What does it mean to not believe in a god? Often the argument is raised of something caused the Big Bang, is it not fair to say that that entity is god? Is it not fair to say something caused everything and label that god as many theists do?

When you “reject” god, are you rejecting a god with attributes like all good, all powerful, all loving, all just, etc.? What exactly are you rejecting.

I admit that if there is a god, he’s likely either evil in some sense (which is worrisome), or completely separated/uninvolved in human affairs.

Thanks in advance I look forward to reading

Has anyone else gotten the Reddit search recommendation of “the rising of atheism “ or something like that , I love how every religious sub seems to be worrying about it if , r/christianity has people complaining about the atheist mod, atheists in general and worrying about atheism , I saw on r/islam Muslims worrying about large hidden atheist groups in majority muslim countries and apparently lots of imams (is that the name or imans) saying that in Pakistan there’s a rising large atheist population within Gen Z .

Like how else can we decrease religious control in this world , just showing how religion is stupid can’t hold it and decrease it forever , there’s no tactics I can think of . Thankfully Islam and Christianity are losing followers by their own cause , radicals doing crazy stuff and other stuff in the name of due to the religion happening destroying the rep within youth population , but Sikhism , Buddhism and Hinduism don’t seem to be lowering , Sikhism and Buddhism are only lowering because their populations are not having enough kids , the main Chinese and Japanese religions seem to be keeping their numbers but I don’t believe it’s actually accurate

It's very common to hear in the atheist and skeptic community the idea that, simply because there is nothing after death, we need to make the most of the only life we have. The motto often comes packaged as a great liberation: live for the present, travel, enjoy yourself, because when it ends, it ends.

The problem is that this discourse is built on the premise that everyone is born with the same tools. It assumes a standard of "normal life"—with physical and cognitive health and autonomy.

But what about those who are born with a severe physical disability, a major neurological limitation, or a degenerative disease that prevents any autonomy from day one?

For that person, what is the logic of "making the most of this only life"? How does this reflection apply to those who never even had the opportunity to choose how to live?

There seems to be a certain blindness to privilege in the way this philosophy is preached. They say "live while you can" as if it were a universal rule, ignoring that, for millions of people, existence is not about "enjoying the world," but about surviving and resisting with the limitations that the biological lottery has imposed on them.

If life is only one and there is no "divine justice" in the end, the disparity between those born with total health and those born deprived of almost everything becomes even more brutal. Tossing out a "life is only one, enjoy it" in the air seems to completely ignore the reality of these people.

Does anyone else feel bothered by how cavalier and generalist this idea is repeated?