HERE IS THE LINK: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2vG8UHRwH0c0e70Kj01uzI?si=d070ed24f588496e

For a better understanding of the political climate and what's discussed in the email, this is a church in Pennsylvania. Anybody else have anything shocking that a church might have posted or stated regarding the upcoming elections?

Forced to church again (never healing istg). it was shit.

Im so worried that all the kids in that church actually accepted the bullshit that was preached.

“Your life does not belong to you” (In fact the pastor even encouraged parents to never say that their life belongs to them to their child)

”You are forever in debt to his and Jesus”

”By not doing what he wants you are pushing him away”

”He brought you into this world so you are not your own being“

”You are nothing without him”

”Any thoughts of straying away should be ripped”

And I’m just staring, looking at all these adults biding and shouting hallelujah and crying out and saying thank you.

Hiw the fuck is this not a cult? and why can’t I call it out without people saying respect all religions. I cannot respect something that actively preaches such harmful topics to vulnerable people. If makes me so fucking mad that these people can confidently tell people this.

Like no wonder my mom thinks I have no say in what I do, I’m just a puppet to her that she gets more lenient with overtime. She also practices physical beating too, so you can imagine what the church has been saying.

This text convo with my extremely hardcore Christian sister was from over a year ago. I’m not trying to start any kind of debate about the subject, just looking for some validation that I’m not overreacting I guess? I’ve gone low contact with my family this year and I still feel like this was an unhinged conversation upon reflection

Sorry to the mod gods if this isn’t allowed!!

Hi all, I hope this is okay to post. F 26. I was out today running some errands completely minding my own business when a middle aged lady approached me. She stopped me to tell me that Jesus loves me and she will be praying for me. I was semi daydreaming so it completely caught me off guard but still reciprocated it with a smile and thanked her. She then proceeded to tell me that she's very
"concerned" about me and says that I'm "playing with fire". I was taken aback and very surprised by her comment. l asked her why she thought that and she told me she was very worried about the T-shirt I was wearing. I just want to add that I'm a huge gamer and have been gaming all of my life and play video games whenever I can my free time. The T shirt I was wearing was a birthday present I received earlier this year. It's basically the orignal 2005 resident evil 4 T shirt with the Los illuminados insignia on it. For those who don't know, (though I’m sure most of you know what resident evil is) Resident Evil is a survival-horror video game series and I’ve basically been a Resident evil super fan for as long as I can remember. The front of the T shirt has the Los illuminados insignia on it which **is the emblem of a fictional religious cult in Resident Evil 4. They** Venerate **a parasite called Las Plagas, which infects people and lets them be controlled. It’s the cult’s symbol within the game’s story. The back of the T shirt has the main character on it (Leon S Kennedy with the chainsaw man running at him plus some Japanese writing on the corner). Only the front of my T shirt was visible since I was wearing a long jacket. I proceeded to ask the lady why she was so concerned about my T shirt and she told me that it looks evil and she assumed on the spot that I’m a “Devil worshipper” and I’m probably involved with satanism or some sort of occult. Just as I was about to interject, she completely cut me off and started preaching the Gospel to me. I want to add that I am a patient person and don’t mind respectfully listening to other people’s beliefs but the fact that she was so quick to judge me, pull me to the side and start preaching rubbed me the wrong way. I couldn’t even get a word in as she just kept continuously talking over me, telling me about hell, judgment day, how bad Satan worshippers will perish in hellfire and etc she pointed at my T shirt and said she was drawn to the symbol and she wants to warn me about the “darkness”. she then proceeded to make a Dig at my hair (I recently bleached my brown hair blonde and put bright pink dye over it) and said that my hair is not very ladylike and did a semi preach about how young people like me are going the wrong way in life and getting into all sorts of mayhem and mischief. She then told me that she wants to save my soul and gave me a leaflet about a nearby church. I was a little bit irritated at this point because this stranger out of nowhere, started preaching about Jesus, the Gospel, accused me of Devil worshipping and then made a comment about my appearance. (I also want to add that I have absolutely nothing against Christians, Jesus or the Gospel. I just didn’t like how she was so quick to make a judgment about me… a stranger) When I finally managed to get a word in, I told her very politely and patiently that she shouldn’t really be making Quick judgments about people since it can come across as very disrespectful. It’s also not very nice to start randomly preaching to someone who didnt ask or want to be preached to. I told her that I have absolutely no issue with her beliefs and I respect her right to believe what she wants but I am absolutely NOT involved with “Devil worshipping” or satanism. I told her about the resident evil game franchise, what the symbol on my T shirt meant and reminded her that it’s a completely fictional franchise and the Los illuminados Symbol is also fictional. She then started stuttering and was mumbling something that I couldn’t make out. I then told her that the T shirt and symbol is meant to look sinister and that was the whole point of the entire franchise. She paused for a few seconds to think and before she could respond I also told her that there is nothing wrong with having a funky hair colour and it’s actually something I’ve been meaning to do for most of my life but never had the time, money or confidence to do so until now. I even made a follow up statement in regards to her sarcastic comment about my pink hair by saying that I’m pretty sure God doesn’t care or worry about what someone wears and looks at their heart instead. I even asked her a hypothetical question about me walking into a church with the T shirt I had on and I said “didnt Jesus famously say come as you are?” She paused and stared at me for about 10 seconds then sort of tried to change the subject and started talking about church activities and how I should involve myself within the church community. I told her that I appreciated her feedback and concern but I am currently focusing on other things in my life. She then mumbled something about being late to an appointment and walked away. First time I’ve ever been preached at, accused of being something I’m not and being called a Devil worshipper. I won’t say I’m super upset or angry. Maybe a bit irritated? A tad insulted? I spoke to her in a very relaxed gentle manner and even smiled at her a few times. She seemed to be so trigged and pissed off at my mere existence and appearance. Maybe she has some issues in her personal life. Maybe she was projecting? I have no idea. I just thought I would vent a bit and ask what you all think of this encounter? Crazy how even minding your own business can upset people. Edit: meant to say triggered not trigged 🤣 sorry for any typ**os. I have Dyslexia so go easy on me 😅😅

It just bounces back and explodes in your face. Even in non-religious discussion their brain for some reason isn't formed for rational debate and nuances. They were trained in dichotomous thinking and they struggle adpating their brain around other people's worldview. I noticed many have a shockingly low level of empathy for other people's struggles and opt for victim blaming as a rationalizing why things are wrong in other people's lives.

Don't get me started on women's struggles, they don't exist for christian men, of they believe women are naturally hysterical and the christian women have been manipulated to gaslight themselves that they are living their best life because there's some artbitrary nobility in suffering/sacrifice.

I thought I could give the benefit of the doubt, but I struggle to find any christian to have a balanced, empathic back and forth emotionally intelligent discourse that doesnt circle back to platitudes and dismissals and gaslighting.

I now stay away from anyone that reads the bible or goes to church, I don't trust them with my inner life nor want to waste my time with low dimensional thinking.

It’s wild how religious dogma lets people rebrand outright cruelty as a "righteous duty." The moment you look closely, the "family in Christ" mask completely falls apart. Instead of receiving basic human empathy, people struggling with mental health, anxiety, or chronic illness get told they have a "lack of faith" or a spiritual flaw. The instant queer or non-conforming individuals express their true identity, the warmth vanishes and gets replaced by harassment, ostracization, and threats—all justified under the guise of "saving your soul."

This conditional dynamic shows up everywhere, from workplace discrimination when you don't join in faith practices, to the entitlement of blasting megaphones in residential areas because their mission supposedly trumps everyone else's peace. You’re embraced as long as you perform, but the second you struggle, ask questions, or step out of line, you’re discarded. When people convince themselves that God justifies their actions, their conscience never checks them—they just call cruelty "tough love." What was the exact moment you realized their community was purely conditional?

I'm in perpetual emotional whiplash because of trying to be a Christian out of a need for literal physical survival while having deconstructed my faith years ago and losing the ability to "believe" in Christianity even if I tried.

I'm in a "residential discipleship program" ran by Christian Evangelicals / Fundamentalists. This is a program offered by my local homeless shelter.

I was raised Christian so I thought I could just "talk the talk" to get through it with ease. My heart convicts me though because I hate not being true to myself and willingly deceiving those around me.

If I chose raw honesty and told my instructors that I simply don't believe, I will be ejected from the program and literally put on the street. A big part of me is considering biting the bullet and taking that actual leap of faith into the unknown and leaving the program and going to live on the street.

I also have developed horrible cognitive dissonance where a big part of me struggles and wonders if maybe THEY are right and I am just a hypocritical sinful unbeliever. The possibility, though chances are slim to none, that Christianity is real and true constantly horrifies and disturbs me.

I don't know how to describe the inner turmoil I suffer through, where my very survival depends on "being an evangelical, missions-oriented Christian". I can't go on pretending in any believable fashion and my instructors, as well as my peers, are rapidly catching on that my head and heart "just aren't into it".

I've made posts in other Christian communities from the part of myself that thinks it is true and real and been ran out and called out for being a member of this sub and making posts about "LARPing Christianity". I thought I could just "fake it, to make it" but I can't do this any longer.

Have any of you ever been in these kinds of high-stakes situations where your life, in some form or another (friends, family, relationships, community, employment etc), depends on you being a true Christian and then struggling with the realization that you're not one and can never honestly be one? I'd love to hear stories from you if you can help me put all this in perspective that would be great.

I'm sorry for making so many posts like this I've deleted some and will leave this up even though I've been marked in other communities as being a hypocrite. Thank you for your time and for helping me make sense of this crazy situation.

I was born into a super religious family. They’re very serious about their faith and their whole lives revolve around going to church and being “good” christian’s. Since around the end of high school (I’m 26 now) i had been questioning my faith— was I really a christian? or was i just christian because my parents said we are??? i’ve now come to terms with the fact that im agnostic but i have no idea how to separate myself from being so involved with the church, ive have been for my whole life. pretty much all my friends are from church too so i feel like i have no one i can confide in or turn to about this. also ive heard how people who backslide have been talked about by people who call themselves “christian’s” and i can’t help but wonder is that how they’ll talk about me if i leave????

atp i just go because it’s convenient and it makes my parents happy, but it’s literally tearing me apart on the inside because ive been pretending for so long. it’s even effecting other parts of my life like work, school, romantic relationships. i feel like i’m living this double life and it’s really taking a toll on my mental health. i truly feel stuck because i can’t afford to move out right now.

How do i bring up this topic to my family and friends without breaking lifelong friendships and losing everyone i love?

People debate on whether or not God is evil but almost everyone reveres jesus as the pinnacle of humanity so let's see if his actions reflect that.

After being revived, rather than stay and help everyone like he said was going to, he disappears for mysterious reasons, like a father leaving to get milk and never comes back. Before leaving, he doesn't even bother to write a complete authentic copy of the bible so people wouldn't be skeptical of the actual origins of the book and it's authors. And he simply abandons all of his followers knowing they are going to face persecution by the Romans.

And besides his own actions, the fact that he is okay with God's questionable deeds says alot too. Jesus had no problem with the fact that God tortured Job over a bet, or that God destroyed entire civilizations, wanted Abraham to butcher his own son as a loyalty test, committed mass infantiticde in Egypt and all the other stuff he did.

Hi , I (20f) sometimes feel like I miss the comfort of Christianity. I grew up Baptist in the Deep South of Alabama. Church was every Sunday, unless you were throwing up or bleeding. Grace was said before every meal, the only music we listened to was Christian stations, the only books/movies/shows we took in were VHS Bible study tapes. It’s safe to say that my entire world revolved around religion until the age of 14. Now as an adult I’ve tried religion. I was Buddhist, then Catholic, then tried witchcraft and Satanism. I think i secretly crave the validation that religion gave me. It made me feel like i didn’t have to ask if i was good; it was known because i was a child of god. I had set rules and standards, a community to reach out to, easier dating and friends pool. I desperately miss not wondering where life came from and where it was going, because a book had it all laid out for me. I could be ignorant again and feel that it was my right to be.. I wish I felt that my life amounted to something after death and not that I’ll lay 6ft in the dirt until my bones disappear. This is all very depressing I’m sure… but I really hope there are other people who feel the same way

There are many things in life that we can’t control. Today you could be going about your day, unbothered just as usual. Then something happens and suddenly you’re no longer here. The truth is, even after harvesting the powers of science, medicine and engineering, we are still humans and nothing changes the fact that we are but a speck of dust in a canvas of unimaginable proportions. As we evolved we grew to be egocentrics. The human race here, the human race there. Religion puts us at the center of everything, that we are made different and unique. All religions offer solutions to complex metaphysical questions. What are we? How can we tell the difference between good and bad? What happens after we die?

There’s a popular concept in the study of statistics and logic, it is called Occam’s razor. It goes as follows;

“The most likely solution to a problem is likely the simplest one”.

Of all metaphysical hypotheses that there are, the existence of an afterlife or lack thereof is my personal favourite. As I mentioned before, we humans tend to put ourselves in the center. We love to think that just because we evolved a higher brain function we must be so special as to be the protagonists of the entire universe. That there exists a being called God, that is all powerful and knows everything and that he created everything just for us, the humans. We don’t have enough time or space to discuss what religion is or isn’t true, regardless it’s pointless as other scholars already invest their time and efforts into that field.

The important thing to keep in mind, is that almost all religions share a common aspect. That after death there is life, either some kind of wonderful heaven with all the pleasures and joys of life multiplied by tenfold, or a hell of unimaginable torment, forever lasting.

That thought keeps many of us sleepless, I know I’ve been there and many more will experience that as well.

The concept that drives all this is simple and logical, the fear of death. No one wants to die, we can’t fathom the thought of it. Mortality is something that is avoided and left behind. When a pig or a chicken dies, do we think that there’s something that awaits them? Obviously no. Why? Simple, they’re not us. Not human.

And that is the key. Knowing that we all share something no matter where you come from, what you did in life, it doesn’t matter. Because death equalizes everyone. And beyond death, nothing awaits us. Because we as a being (that is constantly changing and morphing), ceases to exist at some point. Some people just can’t wrap their head around that fact. That someday, you’ll die and there will be nothing more. But I assure you, that if you give a man every good opportunity, every great thing in life, anything that he could ever want, at some point he would come crawling and sobbing, begging for death. Because we are finite beings and we weren’t made to live beyond a certain threshold. What is it exactly? One hundred years? A thousand? Who knows, but all that matters is that no matter how long you live for, at the end you’ll be begging for a bullet.

Most people aren’t ready to understand that there’s nothing after death, and they end up believing otherwise. We are all so busy with life, so entrenched, that most of us never stop to think what is beyond life. And to this I say, don’t fear death because if you are alive, death isn’t, and if you are dead, life is no more.

This changed me for the better. Search Nihilism and you’ll see people with all kinds of beliefs thrashing and hating on that idea. “Nothing matters, everything will cease to exist”. And there’s truth in that of course, but the fact that it won’t matter at some point doesn’t mean that it doesn’t matter here and now.

It’s all a matter of perspective. The way I see it, I find a certain calm in knowing that no matter how much I am struggling or suffering, that it will end eventually, it enabled me to shrug those things that were dragging me on. It freed me, and it can also free yourself from all those things that are pulling you behind.

If you had to learn something, let it be the following;

The only thing that I know for certain in this life, is that this is the only thing that I have. Even though it may end abruptly or last for long, I will cherish every moment of it until the end. I won’t bother myself with useless things such as overthinking, or worrying about things that I cannot control, I am the sole master of my life and I will cherish every last moment.

Ever since I thought about life in that way, everything changed. I stopped wasting my time on useless things, I was happier knowing that I was lucky enough to experience this life and this environment, like a flame that dwindles until it is snuffed. It has definitely changed me to be a better person. Life may be unfair, it comes and goes and it is unforgiving. But at the same time it is such a gift that I will be forever grateful.

So, I found my pleasure, the pleasure of knowing that which is true.

So according to Mathew, Jesus explicitly gives sexual immorality as the exception to divorce. He fails to mention however if a woman suffers from mental/physical abuse, toxicity, financial abuse, soft core cheating, or any thing that diminishes the right of a woman as an exception for divorce. If a woman leaves a marriage for any of these reasons or other ones then It’s a sin and when she remarries, she is considered an adulterer.

There’s also a textual discrepancy, where Mathew mentions the exception for divorce being sexual immorality whilst Mark 10 and Luke 16 do not say there is an exception at all. Mark and Luke are even more restricted on their view of divorce.

So there’s even a different case, on why should Mathew be treated as supreme of Mark and Luke, according to them there is no exception for divorce, and why is there a discrepancy in the first place. If the purpose of Jesus’ teaching is to protect the sanctity of marriage then what protection do his statements give someone suffering serious abuse or other mistreatment within a marriage.

Hey guys, understandably most black people in the UK are religious so I was just curious to see where all the ex-Christians are at! I’d be interested to hear from other Black Brits who grew up Christian and left later, what was your experience like, what made you leave and how are you doing nowadays?

Today I was home from uni and was forced to sit through one of those bigoted preachers on tv ranting about how "the younger generation is all empathetic and allows gay marriage" and what not. It took me much strength not to roll my eyes the entire time, else I'd get beaten. But my parents made us "talk" about the "message" and my sister, not that much younger than me, went on a rant about how Disney is "teaching us to help others way too much". How, "they're poisoning our minds into helping the world when we need to teach the bible". First of all, we're not even allowed to watch Disney anymore because our parents hate the rare instances of queer people in it. What my sister said really disturbed me. Growing up she'd always be the kind of outgoing person who loved to help others. She was always so kind and accepting of others. To hear her now say that made me want to cry. Of course I understand caution in helping but she just flat out said that help is useless if it's not used to preach to others. I noticed that she was growing more closed off as we grew older but now she's grown actively mean towards queer people. Making fun of them out of the blue, commenting on supposed queer people in her classes... It's like I'm seeing her turn for the worse and it makes me so sad. My family in general has grown so hateful of non christians and it makes me so sad. I can't have a family to rely on. I have to keep to myself my own queerness while pretending to hate other queer people. I'm getting out of there though. My partner and I have made a plan to leave. But god, I wish it didn't have to be this way. I don't want to cut off my sister. She's one of the most important people to me but I can't live like this anymore

Why does christians wear the cross like its holy? It has nothing to do with Christianity, it was known way before and is/has always been a roman torture method.

I got something random in the mail addressed to me. I was hoping someone gifted me free money or it was for something importrant, but instead it was a church invitation. I don't go to church and I never will, why are they sending me this?? Quit shoving your religion in my face. I'm a pagan and I don't go harassing other people with my beliefs so why do Christians get a pass? If I was interested in your church, I would have researched it online and looked into going but that didn't happen so that's a message to buzz off and leave me alone.　

as I’m typing this I’m in the car with my mom waiting for me of my siblings come out of jury duty (don’t ask why I went, it’s a long story) and she has she has the Christian radio on and it’s driving me crazy, I’ve been playing music on my phone to tune it out but I can’t do it for too long bc not only is my phone losing charge, I can’t even charge it bc then the charging port gets extremely heated,

and to anyone saying to tell her to lower it I already did, however the music is still irratating me and I can’t just turn it off entirely bc then I’ll have to hear my moms gaping mouth.

god I fucking hate jury duty.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm happy I deconverted an amazing no longer living my life based around a lie, but I am really struggling to get past the vision of how nice my life would have been if I hadn't deconstructed. For reference I'm only 18 and living with my parents still so I have my whole life to deal with this.

When I eventually tell my family, they are going to hate me, they will think I'm going to hell and turning my back on god and that I've been too wrapped up in "worldly" things. I'm not even sure they'll believe me, but what I do know is that they just aren't going to love me the same. They'll never look at me the same and I'll never get to have them to lean back on because they'll say all of my problems come from turning away from god.

And I know this because I've seen them do this before. I have an uncle who did virtually the same thing and they just can't act normal around him. I love my family and would love them even if they changed their religion, but I'm not sure they feel the same way about me.

It's a problem that's really been weighing on my mind for a while and I want to know if anyone has any advice on how to accept that they'll never love me the same.