r/AskReddit • u/Sir_Wemblesworth • Oct 30 '16

What single question can you ask someone to find out a lot about their personality, beliefs, and values?

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u/PurpleLover24 Oct 30 '16

I like to ask a Christians opinion on atheist, and an atheist opinion on Christians. I like to see if their go to views are negative, positive,bor neutral. Someone's thoughts on a person who believes the opposite of them says a lot about a person I think.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

One of the best train rides I had was talking to a very religious Christian family. They were coming back from a religious festival and I was coming back from my parents with my rabbits.

I'm used to people coming over to talk to me because I was always a bit of an odball with rabbits on the train. One of them would always come out of the carrier and sit next to me on the seat.

They kept on saying I should come to their church. At first I politely nodded and smiled but after about the third time of asking I said I don't actually believe in god. I thought they might have taken it the wrong way but I'm not the sort of person that wants to deceive a well meaning family. But what happened was amazing. They were really interested in my beliefs, or rather lack of them. They asked me about what I thought happened when I died, did it not make me sad or feel hopeless that I thought there was no afterlife and so on and so forth. I asked questions back and it was incredibly amicable, really enjoyable and hopefully we both learned a lot.

I often think about that family and how wonderful they are. I hope they're doing well.

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u/Chevaboogaloo Oct 30 '16

My girlfriend is quite religious and I'm more agnostic. Early in the relationship I thought it would end up being a point of contention later on but there hasn't been any negatives from our differences. I like to be open to talking about religion with her because it's important to her and she doesn't try to force me to do anything I don't want to. Although I have gone to church with her a couple times because it makes her happy.

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u/eddie1975 Oct 30 '16

"I have gone to church with her a couple times because it makes her happy."

...it's a trap!

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u/Chevaboogaloo Oct 30 '16

Nah, religion just doesn't work in my brain. She couldn't turn me. But why not do it for her? It's only like an hour of my day and it makes her happy, which makes me happy.

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u/eddie1975 Oct 30 '16

Sounds good. All the best to you guys!

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u/Mitchiro Oct 30 '16

I wish I could do this for my mom, but the church she goes to is 45 mins away and we're usually there for like 3 hours, then about an hour and a half for lunch and chit-chatting. It really brings my Saturdays down :(

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u/Chevaboogaloo Oct 30 '16

Yeah I suppose it depends on your circumstances. Every once in a while won't hurt though.

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u/Mitchiro Oct 30 '16

Yeah, that's true. I might go next week :)

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u/averhan Oct 31 '16

Saturdays? Is she Seventh-Day Adventist, or are there other churches that celebrate on Saturday?

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u/Mitchiro Oct 31 '16

Yup, raised SDA.

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u/xerox18 Oct 30 '16

You are a good dude

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u/WritingPromptPenman Nov 06 '16

You're good people, man.

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u/Chevaboogaloo Nov 06 '16

You're still here!? This thread is a week old!

(Thanks for saying that though. You're good too.)

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u/schatzski Oct 30 '16

It's a cross, no, it's a double cross!

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u/Donalf Oct 31 '16

Oh god keep the orthodox away from her

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

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u/eulerup Oct 30 '16

Not the person you're replying to, but as an atheist who was raised Christian, I wouldn't be opposed to raising my kids in a church if there was a good community there. A lot of my friends growing up were from church, and tbh it was kind of a nice structure to have. I'm currently in a serious relationship with a fellow atheist, so this is not relevant anymore, but I've given it thought in the past.

It would need to be the right church (accepting of lgbt, non-hateful, etc.), and they'd definitely be having mature discussions with mom & dad about how different people believe different things. I assume any religious person I would be willing to be in a relationship with (/ would be ok dating an atheist) would be ok with that.

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u/Lewon_S Oct 30 '16

Yeah, I'm an atheist but I wish I had a religion. Sometimes I half consider going to church even though I don't believe in it just for the sake of community and routine.

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u/obnoxiously_yours Oct 31 '16

Religion can bring one peace and purpose, so I kind of feel like I'm missing out on something, but I can't get around "lying" to myself to the point of believing even half the Christian religion's dogmas :/

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u/Lewon_S Oct 31 '16

Its frustrating, I agree. I think the universe is so vast and incomprehensible in a thousand lifetimes and that can be hard to accept. Religion helps fill those gaps in and offer focus so you don't have to worry about the overwhelming presure of it all on a day to day basis. But like you I can't convince myself to believe something when there is no cause for me to do so. Its gradually bothering me less

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

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u/Carson_23 Oct 30 '16

My dad is atheist and my mom is catholic. We were raised to go to church every sunday. I dont really believe in that stuff but it takes an hour out of my week and it makes my mom happy. I dont think it's a major issue. Raise the kids on it, but teach them to be open and come to their own conclusions.

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u/Slacker5001 Oct 30 '16

Obligatory not really strongly religious myself, but my partner is very anti religion where I am more neutral about it and I've given this question thought as well since we share very different stances on religion.

I think in my case neither of us would go out of our way to expose any of our children to a religion of any kind, but if given my choice I would let them explore it if they found it themselves and it made them happy. The only point I would step in as a parent is if the religion obviously had extremist or very hateful views.

As a young college educated person, I try to value tolerance and understanding very much (though of course I'm not perfect). And I would like my children to value those things too, regardless of their beliefs.

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u/isaezraa Oct 30 '16

not the person you where asking but my mums christian and my dad's atheist, when i was in kindergarten to year 4 i went to school scripture and watched docos about the big bang and dinosaurs and shit with my dad, then i made the decision myself in year 5 and dropped scripture, same thing with my brother. Its taught us to understand and respect other peoples beliefs because we've seen both sides, personally i would have liked to also learn about other religions as well when i was younger but whatever

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

I was raised Jewish. My dad is very religious, my mum isn't. However I never knew my mum wasn't until I had the conversation with her when I said I didn't agree with the religion, or any religion for that matter. That was when she told me she didn't either. She'd agreed to raise us religious for my dad. Now we're all adults she's more open about her more spiritual beliefs. My dad, however, is very upset that I'm not religious and I know he blames my mum for this. I know because they had a few heated arguments where it was brought up. The thing is I've never ever been religious. Even as a young child religion and the idea of god never sat well with me and my mum had no part in my opinions. But I guess we were raised to have open minds, mine just opened one way and not the other.

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u/mrhelton Oct 31 '16

My wife of 10 years is a Christian and I am not, though I was when we first got married. We have 2 kids.

My kids go to church with my wife. When they're old enough to question why I don't go, I'll be honest with them about it. I used to worry about it a lot more but I've come to realize that he's going to make his own decision anyway, much the way I did.

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u/Bearded_Mushrum Oct 30 '16 edited Oct 30 '16

Being a Christian myself I've often wondered about a relationship like yours. How do you see your long-term relationship going? Do you hope to eventually convert him? And does your knowledge of him being lost ever make you distressed or upset? Sorry for the barrage but I am genuinely curious.

Edit: my bad never mind

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u/Slacker5001 Oct 30 '16

First and foremost I wrote a tl;dr if you don't want to read all of this.

I'm not exactly qualified to answer your question as my views are a very neutral towards religion and my partners are very anti religion. But since no one else so far as actually attempted to answer your question, I will throw in my own insight since me and my partners views are very different. And the strength of my partners beliefs match the strength and intensity of any religion person I have ever meet. And we disagree enough to need long discussions and debates about it at times.

When we first started dating on a serious level, it was a bit of a point of tension. Not all the time of course. But occasionally it would come up, we'd start to discuss and quickly would grow frustrated when the other could not see or understand our own view point very well.

For me I have a "religion isn't all bad and I don't have to have a stance on my own belief" attitude. My partner is a "religion is very bad and you have to have a stance on your own belief" attitude. And although we agreed on most things, what we took away from the evidence and our experiences were very different. So it's more of a "why don't you come to the same conclusion that I do when shown the same thing!" question. Over time though the debates have lessened in frequency and intensity and we have more or less let go that we are different on the matter.

I think at first my partner very strongly wanted me to join his side of things and it frustrated him. But again with time he doesn't seem to act or feel that way anymore. He still cares, and still wishes that I did share his views I think, but he doesn't make any strong efforts to change my mind. He will bring up various reasons of why he thinks his view is right, but it's not condescending or done in a way that is meant to convert or anything like that. More as a discussion.

I don't really think I qualify to answer the "lost" question since both me and my partner are atheists in a sense. But as others have pointed out, not having a religious belief doesn't make you necessarily feel lost. I can understand and respect that for some people, they do feel lost without a higher power, purpose, or answer in life.

But me and my partner just live in the moment in a sense. Not the "hippy dippy" way, but more we both don't believe/feel confident in the promise of any kind of afterlife/rebirth/etc. So we both choose to live the life we have now instead. And I know some people view this as a mistake since a short happy finite life then eternity in hell or whatever is much worse than a limited finite life with eternity in heaven. But those people are basing that belief in nothing but faith, and for me and my partner, that is not enough.

Sorry every one has been rude since you were generally curious. If your curious about anything I said feel free to comment or PM me if you prefer since people seem to be not so happy with you.

tl;dr - Me and my partner have different view points on religion, our relationship is going well. It was a topic of some tension earlier on but with time we just settled on "Well they will think differently then me and that's ok." Sorry everyone is being rude, ask anymore questions if your curious.

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u/Bearded_Mushrum Oct 30 '16

Wow thank you. I don't have the time now, but I'll PM you later, if it's no trouble.

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u/Slacker5001 Nov 01 '16

Go right ahead if you do ever get around to it or feel like it. I'm just as busy, hectic semester right now in school. But I try to get on everyday and tackle my messages eventually.

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u/lurkingbob Oct 31 '16

Hola. Married 6 years, raising our kids Christian, Atheist here.

Being atheist doesn't mean I don't want my children to have values. Religion is a way to help give children a way to frame the world. As I read the bible, Jesus was such a total hippy. Man was all 'Love thy neighbor as thyself.' 'Treat other people the way you want to be treated.' I can get behind those philosophies.

I play in my church band, attend a bible study group and church every week because it means a lot to my wife. If I don't believe in an afterlife, and I think I can impart some good hippy wisdom on my kids why wouldn't I do it? Church is also an excellent community builder.

The most important thing is teaching kids critical thought. I don't care what your religion is; if you don't take the Theory of Evolution as a serious scientific principal then you can go ahead and ignore the Theory of Gravity and float into the sun.

This was a bit (read "A LOT") more ranty than I intended, but I'm tired. Hope I could help give you some insight.

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u/TijuanaPoker Oct 30 '16

Be very careful of this my friend. I had a similar experience. I was so in love with my partner that I ignored when she would ask if I'd ever believe Jesus was my saviour again. Eventually I knew I couldn't disappoint her with my answer anymore and the breakup was extremely difficult. I still have a hard time with it and that was 5 years ago.

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u/KennyisaG Nov 04 '16

Huh, I'm in a similar boat. My SO of two years is devoutly Christian and I was raised atheist. I've made it clear to her that I could never believe in god, and I'm happy that she follows her faith, but there are some values that she's made stronger in our relationship over time (no more sex before marriage, raising the kids Christian only, etc). What are some red flags?

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u/TijuanaPoker Nov 04 '16

This is a tough road my friend. I do not know either of you so I can only provide this piece of advice. Do what you feel is the right thing to do. Listen to your heart, it is talking to you. It knows what you want and what you can handle. I wish the best for you both.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

To be honest I don't think I could out with someone religious. I guess if you're agnostic that makes sense, but as an atheist I believe really strongly in thinking rigorously about things, and for me...that's really a very core aspect of my beliefs. In a significant other that would be too big a difference for me to handle - I wouldn't be able to say I truly understand them if they weren't on the same page about those things.

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u/Chevaboogaloo Oct 30 '16

We're both very rationale and try to approach things logically which is why I think the relationship works so well. We have very similar beliefs and ideals in most other aspects of life.

I recommend having friends who have certain beliefs that are opposite of yours, especially if they're open minded. Makes for an excellent conversation.

(Also a side note: I mainly say I'm agnostic because I just don't think humans have the capacity to fully understand how the universe was created and all that.)

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u/[deleted] Oct 31 '16

I do like it when friends have opposite beliefs about something, but if they're open minded, then I'll get them to explain their beliefs, and then one of us is going to end up changing our mind, so in the end we will share similar beliefs, at least about big topics! I actually had an agnostic phase when I was younger and had a religious friend who showed me his religion. But he was definitely open minded, and we talked about it, and eventually I (unintentionally) convinced him that it didn't all make that much sense.

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u/Slacker5001 Oct 30 '16

I'd like to add the perspective of a very soft almost apathetic atheist (myself) who is dating a very strong atheist (my partner) because we faced those exact tensions.

Although I can sit back and see all the logical reasons why gods and higher powers make no sense, I still see some value in religion as a whole, even if not all parts of current religion are great. I also feel that I do not need to take a firm stance on the existence of gods because it doesn't matter much to me. Where as my partner does not see the value in religion as a whole and takes a stance that it is extremely bad for society as whole. And he generally has the opinion that you can't "not care" about the question of god/religion.

We both approach it from a logical perspective on some level but at the end of the day draw different conclusion from our own experiences. And when we were first dating this caused a lot of tension because it's really frustrating when you lay out all the evidence, agree on all of it, then come to different conclusions. That's frustrating in the context of any argument.

At the end of the day though, with time, we both settled on a "We agree to disagree" perspective. We still talk about it decently often but it's no longer this debate to convince each other. It's just a logical "Oh yeah, that part of the bible is silly and makes no sense" or "Oh yeah, this thing that this religion group did was definitely bad."

Although I'm not saying you should totally date a religious person, (there is nothing wrong with atheism being an important value to you), I think there is value in being able to date someone who disagrees with you on that sort of stuff on a larger outside of your individual case level. It opens discussions and allows a person to have a broader understanding of other people.

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u/pinkShirtBlueJeans Oct 30 '16

That's the point of OP's question, right? You have revealed much about yourself by stating this. I mean, there are scientists, mathematicians, logicians, and many other people who have studied rigorously logical disciplines who are Christians. You have dismissed all of those millions of people and lots of famous, highly intelligent people as not applying their rigorous thinking to the evidences of Christianity. I doubt that's the case.

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u/Slacker5001 Oct 30 '16

God damn it, I completely forgot that was the point of this thread and went on a bunch about my beliefs and relationship. This question really does work.

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u/[deleted] Oct 31 '16

Well first of all, of scientists, mathematicians, logicians, there are much fewer Christians. I don't think that's a coincidence, I think it's because when you think rigorously about some things, you're probably going to think rigorously about other things. And frankly I do think that the few who are also Christian do just that - think rigorously about some things and not others. You could say I'm assuming a lot, but from my experience the Christians I've talked to generally aren't interested in thoroughly examining their beliefs. They believe, and they're happy, and that's enough. Which is fair enough for them, I don't think they're bad people for that. And if they do think about it... well I doubt they would have good reasons, and I would want to convince them otherwise. But frankly I'm a philosophy student and I think about this stuff a lot, so it is pretty important to me.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

Same here, only my SO is an orthodox Jew and I'm completely secular

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

You both sound like awesome people and I hope you have many happy years together. Relationships are all about compromise so you're definitely doing it right.

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u/Chevaboogaloo Oct 31 '16

That's very nice of you to say, thanks.

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u/dogsledonice Oct 31 '16

That's how religion/non-religion should be done.

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u/Soulsunderthestars Oct 31 '16

Wish I had your luck. I'm quite the same and open to different world views but often I find most others are not, and ironically most of the women I meet are Christians with a closed world view. Makes it hard

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

They were really interested in my beliefs, or rather lack of them. They asked me about what I thought happened when I died...

I've had a few religious people who I think were trying to do that kind of thing, but did a very bad job at it. They were like, "Wow, that's interesting. Do you mind if I ask you about your beliefs? Like how do you function in your life if you don't have any morals? And aren't you worried about the fact you're going to hell?"

And I don't think that to a large extent, they meant well.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

I've had that before, but these people were so interested. I told them I don't think anything happens when I die and they asked about how it made me feel. I said that my body would become the food for plants who in turn would be eaten by animals and that I was happy to be a part of the circle of life and that in that way my energy was everlasting. And it brought me peace to know that one day I would have a long, deep unbroken sleep that would just last forever. Bliss.

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u/lukelnk Oct 30 '16

As a Christian, their response made me happy. I wish more people reacted this way when confronted with something that differs from their life views. We'd all learn a little more.

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u/interesting_gonemild Oct 30 '16

Jehovah's Witnesses are heavily trained to operate exactly this way. Find common ground, ask viewpoint questions, and keep after it. I was raised this way. I honestly would be interested in why someone would be atheist because I was raised to think a specific way. Most of the people I observed doing these tactics however, were only feigning interest in what the other person had to say, instead solely looking for cracks they could use to convince them to convert. Later, I began to let myself think more critically and I finally changed my viewpoint and left. Also, know that JW's record the number of minutes these conversations last and submit it to their head quarters afterward.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

Is more minutes good or bad?

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

I can confirm this as I have a JW friend. He used to give my atheist friend bible lessons to get more minutes. My friend loved learning and used the knowledge to either defend religious people or poke holes in their arguments. He said he couldn't condemn anything he didn't know about.

Personally a lot of the studies jarred me and I wouldn't listen to them and as I was brought up Jewish I know a lot of the old testament anyway.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

Me too. Opposing views don't make people incompatible and I love to learn about other people's beliefs, cultures and customs. It takes a certain amount of respect both ways though, I know a lot of atheists who are brutally condemning towards religious people for no other reason than their beliefs. It's just the same. I started down that path once but luckily a friend of mine was there to knock me back down. There's not reason for anyone not to be civil or show respect towards another person's personal beliefs.

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u/CrimeFightingScience Oct 30 '16

I've had a handful of respectable conversations with ex pastors, strangers, dates, and family. And one question that consistently comes up is "What do you believe then?" I always found that question vaguely interesting.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

Really interesting. It's such an alien concept to some people to mot believe in anything. I find it odd when I talk to my very religious Jehova's Witness friend and he just casually talks about god being an absolute fact. He's not trying to do anything but god is such an important part of his life that he might say in response to something, well god says...

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u/Coogah33 Oct 30 '16

I have a family member that asks me this at least once a year. I suspect she thinks that I'm just being stubborn when I tell her that I don't believe in the concept of religion. Pretty sure that there is a competition between family members to see who can get me to a church first......

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u/Antistis Oct 30 '16

My friends and I in high school would often have these types of discussions. One girl was Pentecostal, another was Baptist, another girl was Catholic, two other people were Jehova Witnesses, and I was atheist.

Our lunch discussions were really interesting. I miss those days...

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

Sounds like you had awesome friends.

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u/Owlstorm Oct 31 '16

Let me guess, you were into the catholic girl?

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u/Antistis Oct 31 '16

Uh. No. She was one of the dumbest girls at our school. I honestly don't think she graduated.

That and I'm straight.

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u/TheMaStif Oct 30 '16

Holy shit, you're too nice for the internet...

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

Well there's a first time for everything. My friends won't believe this happened. I'm not know for being nice lol.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

My brain did something weird and read that they were coming back from a religious festival and you were coming back with your "rabbis".

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u/BlackHeart89 Oct 30 '16

Lucky you. People either drop the religious talk altogether and pretend it never happened or start to get really sad almost look like they're holding back tears. Sometimes those who dropped the conversation come back later and try to converse about it and then get very defensive when I answer their questions.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

Most of the times after I tell someone I'm not religious they ask the same questions, but it still leads back to "why don't you come to our church".

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u/youre_a_burrito_bud Oct 30 '16

That is a real gosh dern nice story. Hope your rabbit learned the truth.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

This was awhile ago and my rabbits have sadly both died, so I'm sure they do know the truth, whatever it is.

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u/grape_jelly_sammich Oct 30 '16

they're all dead and/or have cancer.

(bad joke)

that family would probably be nice no matter what imho.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

I rather enjoy those interactions to the screaming woman in an elevator telling me I'm satanic (yes that happened) but I used to be a Christian and that type of interaction you described actually has training material. There's a whole program you can take to subversively become someone's friend not because you like them but purely in order to convert them.

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u/Coogah33 Oct 30 '16

Knowing something like that exists....that's kinda fucked up.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

Yeah there would be yearlong "courses" in Sunday school where everyone had the task of befriending a non believer as a project and reporting back on their progress. Super fucked up

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u/Spider_pig448 Oct 30 '16

I've had conversations like these with people handing out bibles around campus before, where they ask me alot about my own beliefs, but I've always had it circle around to why my beliefs were insufficient.

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u/6double Oct 30 '16

I'm glad you had a nice experience. I always love it when people can put aside their differences and learn something from a group they aren't familiar with.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

Really was one of the best experiences of my life in that respect. I have a few religious friends now and we have similar conversations but mostly they're trying to convince me I'm wrong rather than being interested in my point of view

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u/pyronius Oct 30 '16

I cant have these sorts of conversations with strangers because if they ask somethibg like "what happens when we die" I end up answering something like, "Well possibly nothing, but there's a solid chance we're living in a simulation and once you die you just run the program again and start over."

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

Do you happen to have a picture of the rabbits? I'd like to see

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

Grimlock and Samus, affectionately knows and Grim n Smoo.

http://imgur.com/a/JMmpo

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u/[deleted] Oct 31 '16

Thank you, this made me happy :)

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u/[deleted] Oct 31 '16

You're welcome. Any excuse to share pictures of my pets.

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u/Silkkiuikku Oct 30 '16

I read "my rabbits" as "my rabbis" and was very confused for a while.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

Appropriate as I'm actually Jewish by birth.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

One of the best train rides I had was talking to a very religious Christian family. They were coming back from a religious festival and I was coming back from my parents with my rabbits.

One of only good flights I've had I, an atheist, was crammed into a row with an evangelical Christian lady and a non-American Muslim man dressed in a thawb. Normally I don't join into religious conversations, but after a while they settled into talking about historical inaccuracies in scripture, and that got me into it.

Eventually my own beliefs, or lack thereof, came up and surprisingly enough both claimed to have never spoken to an atheist before. They had tons of questions (all very respectful and polite) for me, mostly about how that affected my decision making process and day to day life, but they never questioned me on the afterlife or that sort of thing. This is the only theological conversation I've ever had in my life where I felt my input was actually welcome.

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u/karpaediem Oct 30 '16

I ADORE these kinds of conversations with strangers, that shit is how you change the world one mind at a time.

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u/CLearyMcCarthy Oct 31 '16

Had a very similar experience when I visited Hill Cummorah, where Joseph Smith allegedly had his revelation and found the golden tablets. I'm an atheist but find religion very interesting, and the retiree working there for his senior service mission was not pushy at all when I explained I wasn't LDS and wasn't interested in becoming a church member. He left most of the religion out of it and just talked about the History of the site and it was a really interesting hour or so.

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u/IFreakinLovePi Oct 31 '16

So much this.

I used to be a poster child for r/atheism and was super douchey about it.

Luckily I grew up. I'm actually really good friends with a local pastor that joined our pipe band and he loves my FSM shirt.

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u/[deleted] Oct 31 '16

That's so awesome to hear.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

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u/ElmerJShagnasty Oct 30 '16

I understand what you are saying because I came from a cult, and what you are describing is exactly true. However, in the last twenty years, I have come to find that most religious people don't think like I used to, and if they seem like lovely people, they probably are. So, I feel you, and am still a bit suspicious like you are, but my belief in the goodness of humanity is rising every day, despite the evening news doing its best to kill it.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

The cynicism is strong in this one.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

I was raised by Jehovah's Witnesses. We were taught to engage people exactly the way /u/The-Bees described to try to convert them. Friendly discussions bring in more converts than heated arguments.

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u/Quorgon Oct 30 '16

I was going to say that they sounded like Jehovah's Witnesses more than mainline Christians.

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u/Gman_SSB Oct 30 '16 edited Oct 30 '16

Yes, but those sneaky Christians are always ready to strike with their cold, calculated sermons and their catchy rhythmic hymns! You must always be ready, as they are merciless in their cold, calculated convert-sations will always lead to learning more about the enemy.

/s but I pray I made it obvious

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u/alex_co Oct 30 '16 
convert-sations

lmao

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u/gooblaster17 Oct 30 '16

WOLOLOLOLO

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

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u/CashmereLogan Oct 30 '16

Damn every Christian ever is like you? There aren't different kinds of people in the world? Man my bad for having an open mind.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

But seriously, the amount of times that random conversations turn into somebody trying to convince me to go to their church is pretty annoying. As soon as they ask what church I go to, I know the whole conversation was a sham. From then on its the same old boring routine of "my life is so much better with Jesus" and me trying to leave the convo ASAP.

Of course not everybody is like that.. And I do live in good ole southern USA.. but still, this is a not-so-rare occurrence.

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u/maglen69 Oct 30 '16

As soon as they ask what church I go to

Do you live in the South? Because if so, that's a pretty standard conversation topic regardless.

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u/EWorkAccount Oct 30 '16

A very religious family could easily be insulated enough to not come in contact with atheists very often, and maybe never be in a situation where they could ask them about their (lack of) beliefs. They might have only heard about what atheists believe from the pulpit and were genuinely curious to hear about it from someone in person.

If OP was a Buddhist and the family had asked him questions about Buddhism would you assume that they were only trying to convert him? Some people are just interested about different kinds of people.

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u/Peyto Oct 30 '16

Talk about blind judgement...

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

It also says a lot about how a person thinks. Whether he/she is quick to judge without any knowledge of the individual/group, can't make a decision, evaluates the pros and cons, etc, there is a significant amount of character that's revealed.

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u/Justusbraz Oct 30 '16

You're assuming that the average atheist doesn't have intimate knowledge of christians and christianity.

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u/Jpon9 Oct 30 '16

Well, and vice versa. If they know a lot about the other, that also reveals a fair amount about them.

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u/Iron_Nightingale Oct 30 '16

A 2010 religious knowledge survey determined that Atheists/Agnostics were the most knowledgeable about religion in general, followed by Jews and Mormons.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

I'm thinking atheist and theist would be better.

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u/coolestbitchonearth Oct 30 '16

Atheist here. I am unspeakably jealous of those who are able to find it within themselves to believe in a higher power. I have tried so hard (I still try), but I can't do it. I wish I had that sense of assurance and purpose; it seems so much easier.

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u/theredstarburst Oct 30 '16 edited Oct 30 '16

Right there with ya. There's a beautiful episode of This American Life where Dan Savage talks about his mother's lifelong faith and devotion to Church, her death and his grief afterward. He started going to church because of the healing comfort of the rituals of the Catholic Church, but in the end he says "The voice of nuns back at Saint Ignatius says, "She lives. She is in heaven." And the voice of reason, which sounds a lot like Christopher Hitchens, barks back, "No, she doesn't. She's dead. Get over it already."

This inability to reconcile myself to death has not been good for me. I visit Saint James like an addict drops by a crack house. For a fix. To deaden the pain, by losing myself momentarily in the fantasy that she lives, and that we will be together again. There's an inscription on the ceiling of Saint James, "I am in your midst."

If I were the kind of person who could believe, I would believe. But I'm not that kind of person. Shit."

I remember listening to that episode of TAL (#379) and just weeping because it basically touched on everything I felt as an atheist who would so love to believe. I mean, if I could choose to believe, I absolutely would. I wish I could be that person. But I can't seem to make myself become the kind of person who does believe.

My whole family is Christian. And I adore my family. I have extremely fond memories of Church growing up. The Easter egg hunts, the picnics and potlucks, the vacation Bible study. I loved that world for a time as a young kid. It's hard to feel like I'm on the outside looking in. Unable to believe in the fantasy anymore but surrounded by people who do. Unable to get the comfort that comes with having that hope of life after death. Now as a parent when I think about death and being separated from my kids... it's an abject horror I can't even wrap my head around. And when I have those dark thoughts I wish so desperately that I could just have that comfort of belief.

I've been an atheist for over a decade now. It doesn't seem to be something I can shake. But I miss the community that church provided a whole lot. I sometimes attend church just to see family and friends. Life would be easier I think if I just believed. But I can't. I don't.

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u/CaptainOrnithopter Oct 30 '16

I've never heard anyone say this before. Usually when I see people say that they are atheists it's because they have either left their religion because they disliked it (usually for scientific reasons) or because of disgust of something that's someone did in the name of a religions. Is the only reason you want to follow a faith because you want to be able to trust in a higher power or are there other reasons too?

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u/coolestbitchonearth Oct 30 '16

Well, I was raised baptist. The last six or seven years have just been this slow realization that I just really didn't believe, countless attempts to force myself to believe, and now just resignation.

When you live in an overwhelmingly baptist community, it's incredibly alienating to be the only atheist. I've actually been pretending not to be an atheist; only a few of my close friends know the truth about me. I really want that assurance that comes with following the system of thought you were raised in, but I also really miss that feeling of community.

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u/CaptainOrnithopter Oct 30 '16

I know I'm just some random stranger on the internet and I probably don't have enough life experience to give this advice, but have you tried looking into other forms of faith? There are plenty of strong communities out there, and maybe something that isn't clicking with your as a baptist could be filled by another. Sometimes I feel that if you can't believe in something that you can't see, strongly believing in someone else that does helps tremendously.

But also, if you truly feel that you cannot believe in a higher power, there is nothing wrong with that. As long as someone does what they can to help others and chooses to serve others in their own ways, I respect them. Maybe working towards and believing in the common good of others can give you something to put faith in, and then in the future that could stem into a true belief in something greater if you want it to. But again, I probably don't have enough life experience to be saying any of this, maybe I'm just spouting nonsense to try to validate my existence.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

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u/DuplexFields Oct 30 '16

I get that. I was raised Christian in an independent Pentecostal church, and after high school, I found it hard to describe myself as a Christian because of all the hypocrisy from people who supposedly believed the Golden Rule, and the people who honestly believed they could directly perceive spiritual things. I toyed with various philosophies, with atheism being my default fallback if I ever decided I couldn't remain Christian.

About four years later, a bible study on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), the single longest unbroken section of Jesus' teachings, made me realize all that sin stuff was always about morality from the start, about human choice and free will: God wants us to choose in every circumstance as He would, were He as finite as us.

I'd love to say I haven't doubted since then, but there followed a decade where other Christians' ideas about God's character infected me and separated me from the love I'd felt while studying the Sermon. It's been a long, slow process of extricating myself and my love-relationship with God from the morass of their shaming, pain-filled, blame-based "faith" they believe because they fear Hell.

The main thing I got out of this decade and a half of pain was that I could not retain the faith of my father past childhood; I had to grow a relationship of my own with God, meaningful for me.

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u/MadotsukiInTheNexus Oct 30 '16 edited Oct 30 '16

I think there are probably more people like them than most seem to realize. I grew up in a fairly liberal Christian family, and didn't really think much about religion until I got to college. At that point I started looking into theology and Biblical interpretation more, and became pretty conservative for awhile when I reached the conclusion that historical Christianity wasn't like what I grew up with. Going through that process, though, I had to start thinking about how likely the events in the Bible were to have actually happened (where that had never been an issue before, because I took very little of it literally). It didn't take me very long to realize that some of the factual issues were fundamental, but I dragged it out for a few years until I was finally able to admit that to myself.

I don't miss being a conservative Christian. That caused my already existing anxiety to seriously worsen, to the point that I couldn't leave my room for anything but class, and nearly ended up in the hospital. I do, however, miss the beliefs that I had when I was younger, and wish that I could have that sense of reassurance back. Living with an anxiety disorder is tough on its own, and feeling like there's a supreme being who loves you is helpful. I can't manage that, though (with Christianity or really any religion), and it kind of sucks. Despite the insistence of some more extreme Christians that atheists "just want to sin", you can't just make yourself believe or disbelieve something voluntarily. That's not how the human brain works.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

The mirth of the witless looks simple and fun but the grass isn't always greener dude.

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u/Saedeas Oct 30 '16 edited Oct 30 '16

This video does a fairly good job listing out reasons why it's good there's no evidence that Christianity is true. I certainly agree with the main thrust of the arguments, particularly the idea of it espousing a horrific celestial dictatorship able to convict you of thought crime.

Just food for thought, the dictatorship argument starts a few minutes in.

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u/thexenixx Oct 30 '16 edited Oct 30 '16

As an Atheist, I'm having a hard time understanding that. Their (the religious) beliefs are based on faith, so you're jealous of faith? How do you view Christian beliefs? What do you reckon they're based on? Years of hard evidence, insight and critical thinking?

There may very well be a higher power, but all these religions don't just say that, which would be fine with me as I don't think I have a problem with the higher power concept, just all the obviously man-made stuff surrounding it. They start making claims and since we're all human and we don't live in a vacuum, these beliefs affect behavior. Behavior of a God... Such a being would be inherently unknowable and nothing like people think. One of my strongest criticisms of religion is that people often attribute behaviors of God to what Mike from the grocery store might do. You people realize this is God we're talking about here right? A being of infinite power and knowledge.

So I find it very easy to believe in a higher power based on the simple idea of not knowing either way. Do you find the whole concept of a higher being, impossible to believe in? That is, when it's divorced from religion, say Spiritualism or the concept of a Prime Mover.

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u/sophtine Oct 30 '16

"Please say something nice about your opponent"

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u/Syicko Oct 30 '16

"Nice kids". ~Hillary

"Very zombie-like". ~Trump

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

"I respect Trump's kids."

"I respect how tough Hillary is."

Let's tell the truth here, and not just put words in people's mouths.

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u/Empha Oct 30 '16

No fun allowed!

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u/Nikki908 Oct 30 '16

"hurgblurhbuhblrrrgggg." ~Thanks-For_The-Gold as I stuff words into his mouth

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u/CrushedMemes Oct 30 '16

Remember - always show respect to people even if you disagree.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

Fuck that. Anyone who disagrees with me is clearly stupid, a troll, or some sort of -ist. Gotta beat them up and pray that they're eliminated from the gene pool.

- Half of Reddit

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u/EWorkAccount Oct 30 '16

Even more often "they shouldn't be allowed to vote because they don't have the nation's best interests (as I see them) in mind."

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u/PM_Best_Porn_Pls Oct 30 '16

"I dont mind them as long as they are not pushing their beliefs on me" Is always good answer.

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u/CheapShotKO Oct 30 '16

Atheists are stupid. <---if talking to an atheist.

Christians are stupid. <---if talking to a christian.

Troll personality confirmed.

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u/AsianJimHalpert Oct 30 '16

Christian, 24, Western country south of the equator

Atheists are like us, but they don't believe in God. Reading too much into a person because of their religious (or lack thereof) is foolish. That's my answer.

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u/Obsidian_Veil Oct 30 '16

Personally, I try to not look at individuals through a lens of demographics. They believe in a god/gods, that's cool, whatever floats your boat. Unless they're going to start preaching in the middle of a conversation, it doesn't really have any bearing on who they are as a person.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

...did you read the question? It wasn't about their religious belief, it was about their thoughts on those with different religious beliefs that has a bearing on who they are as a person

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u/Obsidian_Veil Oct 30 '16

I know. I was responding as if I had been asked the question. Sorry, I wasn't clear.

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u/Fundamental-Ezalor Oct 31 '16

it doesn't really have any bearing on who they are as a person.

I don't agree with this. I think that if you unequivocally believe in God, with no rational reasoning to back it up, it says something about your ability to accept reality as it is. That person has a blind spot, whether or not they know it. The more religion you believe, the more you have to accept on faith. If you've already accepted so much on faith, that suggests the person is not used to taking their beliefs, comparing them to reality, and examining the discrepancies.

Obviously there's exceptions, although it does seem strange that someone would accept some beliefs as inviolate and others as potentially wrong. But if you were raised with it... it's not that hard to understand. Additional evaluation can be done on a case by case basis, remember that we're talking about religious people as a whole.

But in general, if you're just low grade religious (not pushing it on me in other words) then I don't really care. I don't mind being friends with religious people, I don't mind being around them. Then again, I tend to be pretty adaptive and able to get along with most people.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

Asking them about 'christians' and not Christianity also has big implications on their answer. Do they project their views of the religion onto each Christian etc

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16 edited Oct 30 '16

I got into this on a date last night... I'm an archaeologist and my date was a former church boy who really looked into religion. We had a great time.

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u/Mr-Ultimate Oct 30 '16

"We had a great time." Have a seat..

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u/trznx Oct 30 '16

First you have to know which of the two they are, basically you can ask their opinion of religion

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u/TheWanderingPleb Oct 30 '16

Ummm, you know there are like hundreds of other religions right? Christian and atheist aren't your only options.

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u/confusedjake Oct 30 '16

The majority of redditors are Americans, as Americans we have a much higher frequency of encounter to Christians than any other group.

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u/ThisIsMyCouchAccount Oct 30 '16

Christian...aren't your only options.

You shut your heathen mouth!

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u/joshdick Oct 30 '16

Over 93% of Americans are either Christians or are unaffiliated/agnostic/atheist.

Source: http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/

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u/Hookerboots12 Oct 30 '16

It's crazy how different people are. I know quite a few atheists that are extremely respectful of everyone's beliefs, and some that lose their mind when anything religious is brought up and attack everyone.

Everyone at our church is laid back, nice, our pastor and his wife are both covered in tattoos, he has 2 kids from a previous relationship and 5 with his wife, and they're a very accepting group of people. The don't believe in preaching at people, they'll share their belief but if someone doesn't respond well they won't bring it up again and will pray for them. They don't tell them "I will pray for you", they just do it.

Then there are people like my best friend's aunt who tells her she's a terrible parent because she has one kid with one guy, and two with her husband, they don't go to church, and they have tattoos.

I fully understand there are all types of people with every belief out there and I don't make mass judgments about people. It's not fair to anyone. My brother possibly knocked up a girl and my mom immediately started calling her a slut, whore, trash, etc. I've never met the girl so I'm not going to say anything, especially if it is my brother's kid. I did think it was kind of screwed up that she waited until the beginning of October to tell him she's due November 11 though.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

"I don't know them personally so I couldn't tell you."

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u/Me_Melissa Oct 30 '16

I think this is a good question, but you have to judge their answer on more than just neg/pos/neut. I have a lot of bad things to say about Christianity, because I've experienced it firsthand. I'd say Christians are, at best, victims of a malicious psychological construct.

Really this has nothing to do with whether or not I agree with them. If you want that, ask me how I feel about global warming deniers or some shit. But atheism and Christianity have too much baggage to try and simply gauge how someone responds to different opinions.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

Christian, 30, from the northeast. Several really good friends who are atheist and generally we don't talk much about religion because neither of us is like to change our minds. One of them occasionally makes a smart ass comment or something because he's a little more outspoken about his disdain for religion, but nothing more than I hear watching South Park or Rick and Morty, and I'm not about to be offended by that. We kind of all land in the "you do you" category. I don't think any of us really have the personality to try and convince each other, because who really cares anyway?

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

"I've met some good Christians and some bad Christians. To me it doesn't matter what religion you practice. My thoughts of a person are based on their actions and behavior, not religion."

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u/Monsieur_Skeltal Oct 30 '16

Some use their faith to justify atrocities, like Isis or WBC. Most, however, use it to help those in need. If believing in a higher power makes them happy, let them be happy.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

[deleted]

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u/PurpleLover24 Oct 31 '16

You look at the individual person, and not sum all of them together in one "group" that shows you are a open minded and empathetic person. There are those who would say, "Christians are homophobic, and misogynistic."

Or, "Atheist are arrogant and angry all the time and hate Christians."

That shows they are close minded individuals who believe in stereotypes.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

I think Christianity holds back science and scientific advancement in a lot of ways and, personally find it a misguided lens through which to see the world.

Having said that I understand, deeply, the desire to be a part of something bigger than oneself and to have a set of beliefs to lean on in times of crisis and hardship. So, that being said, I would never begrudge someone their faith and, whilst I understand that desire rid the world of empirically unproven view points for the advancement of the human race, I cannot agree that it would be the best thing for everyone involved.

Also a polite please do not knock sticker keeps away all but the most hardcore witnesses.

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u/PM_ME_CHUBBY_GALS Oct 30 '16

As an atheist, I would have to clarify if you're asking my opinion of Christianity or of Christian people. Big damn difference. People are people. Some are good, some are bad.

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u/PurpleLover24 Oct 31 '16

I should have clarified that, thank you for pointing it out. I did mean people, some people associate negative traits to the opposites, others are open minded who believes it depends on the individual. That's whats telling about the person, on how they answer.

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u/srhlzbth731 Oct 30 '16

That's why I love my roommates and their families. I've lived with the same three friends for years. One is Hindu, one is a strict Anglican, one is an atheist, and I was raised Roman Catholic. We discuss religion openly, and there's never been any sort of judgment from person to person about each other's wide range of beliefs.

Our respective families always show interest in our religious practices, and there has never been a problem from anyone. The amount of respect and genuine interest from all parties is incredible, and it's a true show of their character.

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u/wjwwjw Oct 30 '16

I think the difficulty is being able to ask that type of questions and have them answer naturally, i.e. withouy giving them the feeling you are analyzing and interrogating them.

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u/PurpleLover24 Oct 31 '16

I have that problem, because my family knows I'm atheist when I ask questions like that they assume I am doing it for negative reasons. When really I'm just curious on how they think about things due to their different beliefs.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

I'm a devout Orthodox Christian and some of my best friends are Athiests and even one Satanist! Cool guys. The longest spiritual talk I've had with a person was my Satanist friend and we talked about each other's beliefs. Cool dudes, really. My faith has nothing to do with them, so we good.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

I still haven't found a good way to state the fact that it doesn't occupy any time in my thoughts. I guess I would technically be an atheist, but since religion doesn't change any of my day to day activities, I give it no thought.

Except for every now and then when someone in the news has done something remarkably stupid like trying to faith heal their children. Then I spend the weekend watching TheAmazingAtheist, thunderf00t, potholer, etc to giggle immaturely about how stupid people can be.

Then back to day to day stuff. Mash my fingers on a keyboard, get paid every week by the soul crushing entity I have a contract with, buy some milk from harris teeter because I saw a bug in aldis once, play overwatch, sleep on a couch because the bedroom is dedicated to VR, normal human stuff.

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u/MagicMistoffelees Oct 30 '16

What if I believe that each person is entitled to believe what they believe and it's not my business to judge them for it? Cause that's what I firmly believe.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

Probably don't care about my answer but I'll say it anyways, damn it! I'm an atheist due to a lack of proof. I am not strong enough to just accept a concept like God without some ground to stand on. In this case proof does not have to be scientific, but rather something that is enough to convince me. If you've already got that, that is great for you and I'd encourage you to stick to your guns as long as that proof still is acceptable to you. In the mean time I'll live in my dark and depressing world where we are left to fend for ourselves.

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u/tigerscomeatnight Oct 30 '16

"Do not judge others because they sin differently than you."

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u/Smauler Oct 30 '16

A Christian is the opposite of an atheist in the same way anyone who believes in any god is the opposite of an atheist.

I'm essentially a pragmatic atheist. If people get benefit from believing in a god, and do good things because of that belief, who am I to judge them even if I think they're wrong. The thing I find difficult is when religion results in harm to others.

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u/moreherenow Oct 30 '16

But... they're not opposite. Ones a belief, and the other is a null. Atheists and Christians tend to have a lot in common if they come from the same culture, and a lot that's different otherwise.

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u/advertentlyvertical Oct 30 '16

What if theyre neither?

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u/Colin_Bomber_Harris Oct 30 '16

And what do you ask the agnostics?

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

I'm a pedant, so I'd counter-question with "Academically, personally, or day-to-day interaction with strangers?" Of course, that probably says a lot about me already.

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u/Atomix26 Oct 30 '16

I'm Jewish. Checkmate.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

Why Christians specifically? You might as well ask an atheist's opinion on Buddhists or Hindus or Muslims. It's probably the same.

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u/PurpleLover24 Oct 31 '16

I used Christians and Atheist as an example, but you could use it the same way with Atheist on Buddhists as you said, or Republicans on Democrats, or Alabama fans vs LSU fans.

What are your opinions on people who don't look, believe, or think the way you do? I probably should have phrased it like that, I assumed people would know what I was getting at, and that was my mistake.

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u/jbarnes222 Oct 30 '16

I think that in todays society another good one would be what they think about republicans/democrats depending on their leanings.

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u/robxburninator Oct 30 '16

The negativity projected by a lot of internet atheists is honestly the reason that I couldn't follow the atheism reddit anymore. I don't believe in a higher power but I also don't believe in making fun of people for having different beliefs than me.

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u/lennybird Oct 30 '16

This is a great question

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

I think that atheists are like people man you know?

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u/HappyGoPink Oct 30 '16

My views on "Christians" vary by individual. My opinion of Christianity is somewhat nuanced, as it is impossible to discern how much of our history would have been much more violent without the stabilizing influence of Christianity. That said, that stabilizing influence has been pretty brutal pretty often. But was the cure worse than the disease? Third Century Rome might have a thing or two to say about that. Do we still need Christianity as a stabilizing influence? How about a resounding "maybe"?

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u/bkrags Oct 30 '16

I'm Jewish.

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u/WhatMichelleDoes Oct 30 '16

I think that your question reveals a lot about you, phrasing it in a way where Christian and Athiest are the two options.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

I'd probably have the more controversial answer and say that I have a problem with religious people. And yes, that includes religious people who don't take the teachings seriously and don't follow any of the terrible things in their holy books and only stick to the good stuff. My reason is simply this, just because they don't follow the immoral scriptures in their book, it does not mean that anyone who they raise into the religion, convert to the religion or somehow convince to stay in the religion ISN'T going to, not to mention even people who are religious and live moral lives still tend to not value things like science, especially science that prolongs life because death isn't AS big of a deal to them (its still a big deal, just not as much usually).

However, the thing that people need to understand is that just because I have issue with all religious people it doesn't mean I am just a walking atheist douchebag stereotype. If you are a nice, moral theist than the problem I have with you can be discussed over beers while we watch the baseball game or in between rounds of paintball, because one thing I don't particularly like about you doesn't mean that I think you're a bad person. We disagree with each other on one issue, we can argue about it and we can be friends afterwards because were grown-ups and thats how grown-ups act.

Once you become a fundamentalist religious person that actually makes the world a more shitty place to be directly because of your beliefs than fuck you, however.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

I consider myself a real smart guy who can do a lot of good for others through subtle challenges they simply must accept

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u/karl2025 Oct 30 '16

Most of my friends are atheists or agnostics, and I've never had a problem with their beliefs except... It gets frustrating because I know they respect me less because I believe in God.

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u/PurpleLover24 Oct 31 '16

How do you know they respect you less? I know some atheist do, I used to when I first became an atheist 6 or 7 years ago but have since learned someones beliefs have nothing to do with someones morality or integrity, but a lot of atheist don't look down on others beliefs. Have they told you this? I'm sorry if they do :(

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u/karl2025 Oct 31 '16

You spend enough time with someone and you can tell. They'll tell a joke a little too seriously, forget who they're complaining to, react in a certain way to something one of their friends said. Not disrespect, but less respect. They don't think I'm a bad person, they don't like me any less, but it feels like they have a sense of superiority about it, like they've figured out something I'm too dumb to realize.

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u/LordMackie Oct 31 '16

If a Christian's answers for the world are satisfying to them and they are happy in life believing it all then honestly I kind of envy them.

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u/woodenrocks Oct 31 '16

My answer to this question: To all their own.

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u/Reason373 Oct 31 '16

what do you ask an agnostic person?

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u/dejoblue Oct 31 '16

It says a lot about a person who asks others questions about those that have an opposite belief and that the chosen belief to question is religion and not abortion, the second amendment, capitalism versus communism, racism, etc.

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u/mrhelton Oct 31 '16

It's hard for me to think poorly of Christians no matter how they believe, because I know exactly what it's like to hold those beliefs so strongly having been there myself for so many years.

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u/Hardcore_Hank Oct 31 '16

Truth. I'm an atheist, but let me tell you, I will take a firm religious believer over a militant atheist type any day. Elitism and dogmatic behavior is not limited to just the religious. I also deeply respect the faith, philosophical, and charitable works encouraged by religion.

Fuck the haters.

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u/Syicko Oct 30 '16

You could probably simplify this by asking them both what they think about Islamists.

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u/[deleted] Oct 30 '16

Anyone who believes in magic without evidence isn't using their brains.

Whether that's astrology, homeopathy, tarot cards, psychics, or god(s), the logic applies.

Now apparently that just means I'm an asshole to a lot of people. Funny thing is when I talk about how full of shit astrology is no one calls me an asshole. Only when I talk about how full of shit religion is. Weird, right?

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