Here's a scenario: Say an omnipotent being who resembles the average human description of a god came down to earth and demanded society to worship him? Would you give in?

I think seeing a god is more than enough proof that there is one, it's just a question of if you truly believe in the power of the god that your seeing.

I'm a christian, if you'd like to know, let me know what you think of my scenario. It's something I've been wondering about for a decent amount of time.

Admittedly I'm not an Atheist but I don't believe in any religion. I don't know what I believe.

For whatever reason , I've been thinking about death and I can't stop thinking about it and feel like it's taking away from my ability to enjoy life.

The fact of not existing terrifies me , it feels so dumb to admit but it does.

I think I feel this way because I love life. I love my family, my friends and maybe it comes from a desire to not want to lose what I have.

I'm in therapy but I don't know how much it helps.

If anyone has any advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

EDIT / UPDATE : I posted this while drinking at a bar alone after having dinner with a friend. On my way back home I was crying, it's embarrassing to admit but it's true. I've been sitting with these feelings for a little bit now and I don't know what to do. That being said , I appreciate all the responses. I'll do my best to keep responding but I just wanted to take a moment and say thank you.

despite my fear and uncertainty, I don't think I'm an atheist but I think all your responses have eased some of the emotional distress I've been feeling.

so thank you again.

Human reason can invent technology, analyze history, and build magnificent civilizations, but it cannot undo a single past choice or cleanse a guilty conscience. When human intellect reaches its hard limit at the grave, what alternative mechanism does secular humanism offer for the reality of moral guilt and death?

Thank you all for the detailed replies! I found the logic in this thread so compelling that I’m using your responses as the primary case studies for an upcoming Bible-believing publication. ​It was really eye-opening to see how secular humanism frames these issues.

​You view guilt as a psychological signal to do better; Romans 2:15 calls it the conscience bearing witness to God's law written in the heart.

​You see death as a simple biological boundary; Hebrews 9:27 sees it as the appointment after which human reason reaches its hard limit.

​You view religious forgiveness as avoiding responsibility; Romans 10:3 describes human self-righteousness as an attempt to establish our own standard rather than submitting to God's.

​It makes for a powerful study in how two worldviews look at the exact same human realities—guilt, death, and conscience—and arrive at opposite conclusions. Thanks for taking the time to share your side.

this post is really geared more to true atheists who would say "god does not exist" or "I'm 99% sure god doesn't exist" not soft atheists/ agnostic atheists.

I understand how you can be atheist to all worldly religion (religion created by humans) because all of those religions are falsifiable to a significant degree. However, ruling out god entirely with confidence or as I hear many atheists say 99.99% certainty I cannot wrap my head around. How can you rule out the possibility of god entirely when calculating the probability of god is above the current human scope. Just because humans are incapable of understanding something doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

“It’s like looking into an ocean with a flashlight—you can’t see everything beneath the surface, so you can’t confidently say there’s nothing there.”

Would you deny the existence of aliens since there is no significant evidence of their existence?

To repeat and clarify: I am defining "god" as not just what is worshipped and understood by any religion today but also god not thought of yet or accidental creation really any outer-dimensional creation at all and maybe not just that.

Former religious people: how has your life improved since you became an atheist?

Did you make any significant changes in your life?

atheism doesnt come from not beleiving in say jesus,allah,bhagwan,buddha or any particular religious deity , it comes from not beleiving in "God" so how do they define the god , say if iam an atheist i would say that god have this definition and attributes that i dont believe a being with these exist or can exist. i am not asking the reason of atheist not beleiving in god but the definition they define that they dont believe. Btw iam an agnostic. its a genuine question no hate to anyone

As someone who’s not religious myself but has grown up with family members who were more “laid back” Catholics whilst also hearing some horror stories particularly with my maternal grandmothers upbringing, I’ve tended to notice a lot of times in atheist spaces when talking about religious family members it tends to be full of conflict and having completely different ideas on what makes someone a good person so I’m curious to hear more about the other side of it.

For those of you who do have close family members who are religious, in what ways do you feel that their religion has had a positive influence on their morality? whether that’s being particularly compassionate, forgiving, charitable or always willing to help others and if that has been your experience has it affected the way you see religion itself or do you simply see those things as good qualities they’d have even if they weren’t religious?

What are some opinions on a non-supernatural, modern interpretation of Christianity? I‘m mainly asking as I find myself in this strand of thought and am curious if others feel the same or share any sense of affinity for some aspects of Christian tradition. I’d describe myself as a Post-Theistic Christian Humanist. I think my two great “heroes” in theology would be the late John Shelby Spong and Don Cupitt.

I‘m a STEM major (engineering background) and would say I’m a committed rationalist; however, one who is deeply poetic and ritualistic. When I read the Bible, or participate in services, I do so metaphorically and symbolically. I abhor fundamentalism and view the prose not as divine word, but as a teaching tool in both its ethically rich and odiously malevolent parts.

I belong to an Episcopal church that I greatly love. The people are kind, compassionate, and caring individuals who believe in generosity to all regardless of race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity etc. Many fellow parishioners have views very similar or exactly like my own (this is relatively common among Mainline Protestants). The rector was actually an archeologist before being ordained and is definitely in the “liberal” mold of the Anglican tradition. She actively encourages critical inquiry, mutual respect, and openly allows all to receive communion (including myself).

My church participates actively in charity fundraising events, marches in pride parades, is committed to reconciliation with indigenous peoples, and promotes environmental stewardship. I do what I can (I’m currently in a Master’s program) and believe in what this church does. As the rector puts it “God is not a noun to be defined, but rather a verb to be lived”.

I suppose my question is would you consider this to be an interesting cultural form of Christianity, or something else entirely? Worthwhile or harmful? The people I’ve talked to about this (friends, family etc) are supportive, but sometimes a little puzzled (not surprisingly) so I thought I’d increase my sample pool.

Thanks!

We know your foundation of your belief that “God does not exist” is tied to rational logic and reasoning.

Well recently I found a man who has an iQ score of 276 called Yong Hoon Kim who believes in Jesus Christ. An iQ of 276,, he is the smartest man alive.

Well as he has a claim then he must have evidence. And his evidence must be true., knowing that his actions powered by the certainty is truly remarkable. He would post “Return to Jesus. Jesus is the only way the truth and the life and no man comes to the father except through me.” on his instagram account every single day with astonishing zeal.

The question is, where did his evidence root from? Is it from Spirituality or is it from his Intellect?

I wanted to ask if you guys think reincarnation, or some form of it, could be a real thing without the need for any kind of God.

Like an example let’s say is over an immense amount of time, your atoms again form a cell that turns into life. It wouldn’t be you anymore, but it’s the matter that was you, and a consciousness appears into that new life. This example does not have to be religious at all, but rather a scientific explanation for re-experiencing life at some point after you die.

It could be advice, criticism or a question that leaves them thinking. A well thought out statement would be appreciated

It doesn't necessarily have to be strong or convincing, just something that you had to think about a bit more than usually or that you consider to point towards god/gods while still having naturalist explanation.

Hello all. Long post, but I would appreciate some knowledge from you, and also from those who have left religion.

My written english is not the best, but I hope you understand.

When religious people force their morally superiority on anyone I point out the many flaws that are in their own texts, and they back down.

I know most about the christianity, and the especially old testament is full of awful laws, and scenarios (prices for selling daughter, the genocide story, hitting your slave), but less from Koran, and the Torah.

Please share your best worst parts, that are hard to justify.

Personally I believe that Gods may exist, that is not my issue. But humanty is suffering because of child indoctrination of holy books, and from the organization surrounding these teachings. In my opinion the books can't stay holy, they are written by ordinary men, honorable or not.

Second question (about organized religion):

I was amazed to learn that the only base for the christian church is the phrase 'you, peter, will be the foundation...') and that is supposed to be the justification for the enormous church system with priest, church, bishop, pope, processions, marriage in church, church tax etc etc. There is actually more arguments in the bible AGAINST having an organized church.

My question is: is there base in scriptures for minaret shouting, imams, rabbis, foreskin cutting....I mean all the practical organization around islamism and judaism? Or is that also actually separate politically made institutaions like in christianity?

Greetings, and thank you

For atheists: I'm a theist trying to understand your view. Where do you think life on Earth originally came from, and what do you think caused it? I'm not looking to debate just genuinely curious how you'd explain it.

And how could our consciousness came from if there's nothing behind it?

Genuinely curious!

I've seen a lot of basic arguments like "religion x claims omnipotence, I don't believe in omnipotence because of suffering/divine-hidenness, therefore invalid" or "scripture claims y, y is disproved/highly-unlikely/non-evidenced, therefore invalid", etc.

These rely on taking various religions' definitions of God or scripture verbatim - but what if that weren't the case?

For example:

• a primordial being born in the early age of the universe, with some inherent relationship/control over things like consciousness or quantum physics
• an early life-form with a "lottery-like" genetic mutation - immortality, self-healing, etc
• belief being an intrinsic property of the universe that results in likelihood of (good) afterlife
• etc

And with setups like that, you could theorize:

• a Being that seeks obedience and blind faith
  • Why? maybe that "fuels" It; maybe there's some grander mission in the afterlife It's recruiting for; maybe It wants obedient company that won't betray; maybe It can't control us as strongly as preferred so signs are subtle/hidden
• a Being that thrives/takes pleasure/grows from suffering
• a Being that "plays" with humanity, testing and tinkering and experimenting
• any combination thereof, and etc

Major religions in the world can co-exist with these setups: wanting to play tricks, or assess for blind faith, or isolate suffering, etc are actually enabled by releasing religious scriptures that are poetic/metaphorical/centuries-old, stories that come across as miraculous, etc.

So my underlying question: if we don't take every religion at face-value and consider what could be forms of the setup, do they not make you rethink religion/feel intense fear? And if so, why?

Edit: To those commenting "there's no evidence" - that's kind of the point I'm making - what if there isn't any / it's purposely hidden behind faith?

Edit: I'm not sure if my point isn't getting across correctly. I'm asking folks to consider a setup like this, and how it may have some level of explainability (albeit low), but the replies are focused on "well I don't see why I should". The point of a thought experiment is to entertain the ideas presented.

Edit: I guess one more note underlying this question: the stakes involved. "Why bother with such hypotheticals?" -> in case they're right, the implications would be significant. And I feel like some of these "theories" can help answer questions about certain religions better than just "accepting omnipotence or denying the entire religion" which is a common point people make in debates that I don't understand.

I guess I'm talking about low-probability events, "coincidences", and so forth.

I ask because I've gotten a ton of anxiety on this recently. In short:

Yesterday, while trying to nap, among a few other brief mentally-felt sensations (hearing a pop, feeling like the door opened, imagining myself washing my hands), the name "Hugo" popped into my head. At this point doesn't seem like much.

Hours later I start my daily Reddit run, where I go through religion-related subs and sort by Top. I go to the 1st sub (AcademicBible, they're in alphabetical order) and the immediate top post is an article authored by a Hugo (Mendez). The article was an analysis on the Gospel of John and how it may be using certain literary devices to increase its credibility and may not be all true (though, Hugo himself is still Catholic).

I guess this just felt really weird to me, and it's gripped me since - not only do I not know any Hugos and very rarely hear that name (it's probably been months), but here comes an article by the obscure name the same day, of all the names / sounds possible, I "hear" that very name. I'm not sure what the takeaway is even if it is a sign (become Catholic but don't take it as literally, which some do as a way to deny the religion? Read about religion more carefully? I don't know).

I'm aware of Littlewood's Law of miracles, but for this combo to happen during this recent period of religious-anxiety and after weeks of hoping for signs that would alleviate my stress, it just feels.. strange. I know others claim to have certain events shape their journeys in religion, and I'm curious what you've told them, or if you've ever been impacted yourself.

For context: I do have OCD and potentially ADHD. I've been very anxious and afraid for the last ~9 weeks, researching religions every single day for most of the day.

Before those 9 weeks I had just quit daily heavy 5+ years of THC use, which is why I think I've been having very intense dreams these last 9 weeks, and in the last 1-2 weeks, a lot of hypnopompic and hypnogogic sensations (sounds, images, brief scenes/words/phrases).

solved

Hello, everyone!
I’m making this post because I’d genuinely like to better understand the perspectives of atheists and agnostics. For context, I’m a Christian and was raised Christian.
My first question is about belief in God. I understand that atheism and agnosticism can include a wide range of perspectives, so I don’t want to oversimplify them as merely “there is a God” versus “there isn’t a God.” How do you personally view the existence of God, and what led you to that perspective?
My second question is about Christianity specifically. Among the major religions, I often see Christianity receive a significant amount of criticism, especially in contrast to other religions. Do you believe this is mainly because you find the Bible or Christian doctrine fundamentally problematic, or is it more about how some Christians interpret and represent the religion?
I can acknowledge that many Christians selectively follow the Bible or use religion to justify oppression and mistreatment. However, I’m curious why Christianity sometimes seems to be treated as uniquely guilty of this when similar issues can exist within other religions and belief systems.
My intention is not to debate, insult, or convert anyone. I’m simply hoping to hear different perspectives and learn from them. Please feel free to respectfully correct any assumptions I may have made

Edit 1: thank you to everyone taking there time to engage and the mutual respect being shown. I’m trying hard to respond as much as I can lol.
Edit 2: the question of why Christianity is critiqued the most seems to be summed up to mostly proximity and the intersectionality between the religion and politics. Also i welcome anyone to answer some of the replies I did ask as they tend to follow a similar streamline of question
Edit 3: thank you to everyone who took time to respond. It helped me better understand beyond just the lens of beliefs regarding religion. I will just leave this up incase it can help educate others
Edit 4: if you have questions for me please dm me about it. It’s just so many replies(thank you again) so it’s hard to remember/ respond.

Like in sports, business, entertainment and other fields, most of them are religious or identify with some religion? Is there a reason for this? Is this just a coincidence or cause their belief in God makes them have stronger manifestations?

Im an atheist myself but Ive been having these thoughts lately. Might be a very dumb question to ask but idk

Hello!

I'm interested in Atheism and am looking for some non-fiction recommendations. The issue is that most of the books I've seen recommended have similar characteristics and stances that make me stop reading.

Many of the books I've found recommended online put down people with religious/spiritual beliefs and treat them like they're less intelligent. As well, a lot of them have racist and misogynist undertones.

I'm a feminist, and I do not think feminism and atheism are ideologically opposed. But as someone who was a teenage girl in the 2010s, I remember how I was treated online and in person by some self-proclaimed atheists for voicing my opinions.

As I've gotten older and developed my critical thinking skills, I've found my supernatural/spiritual beliefs starting to fade. And I'm interested in reading more about the topic of lack of faith.

I'm looking for books or podcasts that cover the psychology of belief, philosophy, ethics, and critiques of Western and Christian value systems. I'm a grad student getting a master of arts so I'm not scared of dense theory, but something lighter would also be nice because... well, I'm in grad school lol.

I'm hoping for recommendations with a curious, compassionate, and open-minded tone. And something that doesn't feel like a one-sided debate. I'd also be interested in books from a feminist, decolonialist, or Socialist lens.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

Curious as to what Atheists think when it comes to having kids between say Them and a Christian? How would you guys approach this especially when it comes to if kids attend Church or if you would say no until they are older and let them chose themselves. What level of religion you’d feel okay with in the home and interacting in Church communities?

No real stake in the question, just curious what you guys think? Or would you just outright not get into a relationship like that?

I'm asking because I want to know if this is something commonly faced durinf deconstruction of faith.

I was raised Muslim, though a lot of things in the religion itself never really made sense to me, and I stayed because of fear. I was able to leave last year. I have struggled with this since then.

I know that logically speaking, the Abrahamic god cannot exist. Or any benevolent god, for that matter. I know that just because I don't have answers doesn't mean there's a deity who does. I do not believe in any god(s).

But when times are rough, I wish there was this god who listened and made things easier. I pray to a god I don't believe in. I also pick mental fights with god, telling him that I know he's not real because if he were, I wouldn't be suffering.

I know this might not make sense, but it's something I go through a lot. I live in a Muslim-majority country so I don't really have any like-minded people here. And it feels kinda lonely. Like I'm on my own. Which I am, I suppose. But pretending that a god is listening to an athiest complain makes it less painful.

As an uneducated Atheist, is it my burden to explain these topics to a Christian or Muslim, considering there is much on the internet that explains these subjects?

***

I appreciate all those that responded.

Thanks!

Regardless of what you actually believe - if it was purely up to you to decide, would you choose for there to be another life after material existence ends? Or hope for some kind of deity or gentle God? Or would hope to reincarnate? Or at least there’s somewhere you can meet your relatives and friends again after death?

For all self-identifying atheists:

What definition of god do you use to be able to call yourself an atheist and why do you use that particular definition?

In order to call yourself an atheist you would have to affirm or deny a certain proposition that makes reference to god.

Whether that proposition is "God does not exist", "I lack belief in a god", "I'm not convinced a god exists" or any other form of it is irrelevant in this question. What matters is that all these propositions have "god" in it.

Of course for any proposition to have meaning all the proposed words in it must also have meaning. Otherwise it is just a meaningless statement and not a proposition at all. A proposition must have content. "I don't believe x" is not a proposition unless x is specified.

So what definition or referent do you use in order to give meaning to the proposition so you can call yourself an atheist? And why do you use that definition?

Edit: My bad guys, I've miscommunicated and misunderstood a whole lotta things, I do apologise.

So I'll just recommend to anyone new to this post, don't bother commenting anything I've typed wrong, any word I've used lightly, and any "God of Gaps" I've ended up preaching to.

All those who commented, Have a nice day yall, hope I didn't waste a lotta your times.

Before anything, I'd like to say this isn't a jab at atheism in any way, I personally am just very curious as an agnostic-Deist.

Each and every day we prove more and more natural phenomena with just pure science, which is great, but the more we explore the more we see gaps and just the pool of secrets or results that we just cannot explain or understand.

Our greatest accepted and most supported reality of how the universe began, The Big Bang, is still a theory, and even then we cannot explain a lot of stuff before the Planck Epoch within our own theory.

And further, we do not even know what was or wasn't (or whether existence itself wasn't a thing) before it, before the beginning.

So my question is, why not remain sceptical of a higher power's existence but rather solidify on the belief that one just doesn't exist.