and if you atheist/switched faiths, why did you do it and what faith did you choose?
im in a curious mood today :>
Subgenius.
I wasn’t really raised with religion, but most of my family is Christian. I considered myself atheist as a young adult. But after many spiritual experiences, I believe in the unexplainable, but I’m not a fan of organized religion or cults.
Quaker curious
It’s complicated but I used to be essentially atheist but now believe that there is something one might as well call “God” after studying philosophy. Essentially everything has a cause and something must be at the end of that chain, and we might as well call that “God.” I also practice Christianity because I feel that it is good to have the community and structure that a religion can provide but I don’t think that “God” necessarily exists in the way Christianity typically presents it.
Upvoting you because as an atheist I think its stupid that others are downvoting just because someone says they lean towards christianity
Atheist. I was raised in various flavors of southern, whites protestant churches. Mostly the so-called charismatic, non-denominational, types, but also mainstream Southern Baptists, Presbyterians, etc, but not excluding some of the weirder cultish strains.
I left because I began to realize just how fucked in the head they raised me. I couldn’t relate to regular people very well at all, and couldn’t trust the judgement of religious people at any level. I got out and got the help I needed. I only wish I had done it sooner.
No evidence for God, that’s why I’m an atheist.
I’m an atheist. I grew up super religious and had a falling out with my church due to their “if someone believes different than our denomination they are going to hell” mindset. After that I found out that most other denominations are like that except for mormons but they are worse in other ways. Then I did more and more research that sort of caused what belief I had left to fall apart and now its kind of like Santa Claus, once you figure out its your parents putting presents under the tree theres no believing in Santa anymore
I am an atheist and ordained dudeist priest. Because it aligns with my values.
Grew up in a very religious home, in a very religious country (orthodox christian). I don’t think I ever truly “believed”, but I didn’t want to upset my family, so I got married in church and baptized my kids. I am an atheist, and don’t practice any religion now.
Antitheist.
If there is some kind of almighty God that created and rules everything then it must be the most evil being to ever exist and we must destroy it. It created evil, it created suffering, it created loss, it created death, and for what? Fun?
This is also me. If there’s an afterlife, I’m spending it beating “god’s” ass.
I once read about an african creed that states the original creator of reality created it because it found something existing was better than only void - in the sense of absolute nothing - existing, and thus set what we perceived as reality into building itself and let it to its own devise, to never again interfere or meddle with it, to then disappear.
It’s a convoluted way to state: deal with your own mess; I just set the stage, you write and act your own play.
It’s a good way to deny people of the easy cop out.
Imagine you intentionally become pregnant, give birth to a child, and then throw them in a dumpster. That’s the god you described.
Except multiply that by billions of lives.
If such happens it is entirely on the responsability and choice of who did. No cop out, no resorting to a scripture to excuse actions, no easy forgiveness.
I think you misunderstood - God is the one throwing the baby in a dumpster.
You got my atention. Explain your point of view, please.
Who is responsible for birth defects? For natural disaster? For sickness? These things aren’t choices and we aren’t responsible for them, they happen because god created a cruel world for us to suffer and die in. God created the dumpster and threw us in.
Who is responsible for birth defects?
Biology, genetics and environmental causes. And poor judgment from the parents. So, it depends.
For natural disaster?
I guess… physics, primordially? Followed by stuborness, shortsightness and stupidity of humans?
For sickness?
Virus, bacteria, exposure, malnourishment, and others?
These things aren’t choices […]
A good part is outside our capability to act upon, I will gladly grant you that. But there are parts where we can in fact influence the outcome.
[…] and we aren’t responsible for them, […]
The moment any individual realizes something shoul not be in such a way, that individual can take responsibility to avoid or mitigate it.
[…] they happen because god created a cruel world for us to suffer and die in. God created the dumpster and threw us in.
At best, reality is indeferent to what happens to an individual, a species, a planet, a star system or even a galaxy.
We have been setting our course in reality from the moment we achieved sentience and consciousness. We find things cruel, unfair, whatever, because they do not favour us. We’re owed nothing for existing. We take a debt towards each other in helping exist in such reality.
There are no gods nor higher powers to shift blame here. We’re here, now, and we have to deal with it. We can choose to try to make this world better for others or allow it to follow its own devises or even actively make it worse.
Individual agency. The stage is set: write and enact your own play.
It was wrong then - nothing existing is far preferable to this world with all its suffering
Tell me you are a broken human being without saying it.
I’m honestly sad for knowing you take life to such regard but there is more to reality and life than our own small sliver of experience and understanding.
I’m curious why you would define your belief in terms of opposition to one deity in specific when human history is littered with gods, many of whom were huge assholes. How do you feel about, say, Zeus or Mithras or Ahura Mazda? 'Fuck all of ‘em’ is a position I can understand, but ‘Fuck this one in specific and the rest are fine’ just seems a little odd, ya know?
I think more broadly you could say I’m anti-demiurge, I guess I don’t particularly hate the other gods but they’re just jumped up elementals/spirits. Like, whatever, some guy demands to be worshipped in exchange for boons or to bestow curses or whatever. I think he’s an asshole for lording his cool lightning powers over us, but I don’t think he needs to be destroyed for it per se.
Christian. Only by the Grace of God am I alive today.
Atheist. Religion is an explanation of the world that’s made the fuck up. I think people make shit up to explain reality because accepting uncertainty is difficult, but that doesn’t make it ok. The world around you exists, just like it is. There is no special place you get to go if you follow the right set of rules .
Atheist, I never was interested in spirituality as I believe religions are population control tools.
However, I recently got the chance to meet Sikh peoples, and I understand they define themselves more as warriors than group of religious people. I just fell in love with what they are, what they represent.
Nihilist, insofar that even if there is a god (about as likely as me actually being a secret agent for moon people) why would it matter? While nihilism is not a religious belief I think it fits the prompt.
I made a poop the other day, I’m its creator, I don’t care about it, I don’t control its destiny beyond the flush.
I’m an optimistic nihilist, nothing matters and that’s kinda neato. Existence happens, how fascinating is that? It’s absolutely meaningless just like everything in the universe, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the ride.
Diving into nihilism and existentialism was really an eye-opener for me. It kind of made me stop hating myself and other people and even stop being an atheist. If nothing means anything I get to decide what matters, I get to create my own meaning. So I did.
Baptized catholic by my parents, did all the ritual things all my youth until i was 16. Then i was old enough to try to understand it, got exposed to other schools of thought, and it all collapsed like a house of cards.
I am now fully atheist, and I find religion ridiculous, like fairy tales for adults, based on nothing. Organized religions are also usually structures of power for men. This can all go.
My spirituality would be:
We are made of star-stuff. Temporary piles of molecules which work together and stop after a while, to recombine into something new. I don’t need to be remembered, I don’t need to leave my mark. Just try to do no harm, any maybe help others along the way, while on this ball of rock and water, tumbling into the immensely empty void.
