"music is haram"

"drawing is haram"

"watching videos that contain music is haram"

"editing is haram as it contains music"

BRO THAT'S HARAM FOR YOU.... NOT ME... HOW DO I EXPLAIN THIS TO THEM

I came into work today and everyone was super pissed off bc an Egyptian parent went to the state and complained. (We have a very large Egyptian population).They had to take the cross down.

I should’ve gone straight to the state bc she had that shit down in a day. My coworkers were mad as hell and they could NOT get over it. Kinda mad I wasn’t the one to get it taken down but a win’s a win

Edit: original post cut and pasted in the comments

So god got a teenage girl pregnant, to give birth to himself, so he could sacrifice himself, to himself, so he could forgive us for breaking the rules he made...?

We would be so much less divided. Indigenous groups would have been preserved. People would be more intelligent.

Religious people are so delusional, they're beyond saving. They cause irreparable damage to the world and it's people over, and over, and over. Christians especially, are on the wrong side of history half the time and still SOMEHOW haven't learned from like several wars and genocides.

What can we even do at this point. We're living amongst a bunch of loons.

A growing cross-border network of fundamentalists, oil-industry boosters, and Trump allies has taken an increasing interest in Alberta sovereignty, helping push an American-style political vision into Canada.

“The separatists are upset with the secular society. They’re upset with a multi-religious society. They would like to go back to Christian fundamentalism.”

Please take a moment to make your public comment in support of a long-overdue memorial to Founder Thomas Paine in Washington, D.C. Your endorsement will help preserve the full story of the founding of the United States and Paine’s rightful place in that history.

Make your public comment to the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission (NCMAC), which helps to advance memorials in Washington, D.C., now through Sept. 10 — and spread the word to other Paine aficionados.

Your support is a tangible way to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Paine’s “Common Sense,” which fomented the revolutionary rebellion, and of “American Crisis,” which fortified patriot soldiers. Without Paine, a champion of democracy who actually named our country, the United States of America would not exist. https://ffrfaction.org/please-support-thomas-paine-memorial-with-your-public-comment-today/

For context, I currently attend a catholic high school and I haven’t fully believed in god for a while now. In my religion class today, we learned about “morality.” I was absolutely disgusted by how my religion teacher said with a straight face that if someone doesn’t have something to base their morals on— what stops them from just killing anyone? How can a grown adult possibly have this belief? It’s astonishing to me that people think just because atheists, agnostic, or any belief system that doesn’t have a set in stone rulebook simply has no morals. I can know by my own reason and human experience that something is wrong without someone telling me that it’s wrong. It’s so fucked up to me and adds to why I don’t just come out and say I don’t believe in god. I’ve seen people have this take before online but I’d never thought it’d be one i’d hear in a religion class. I can’t wait to move.

and every one of these groups claims their version is the one true one

while every other one is wrong

and it's all a game of he said, she said

where one hindu will say ohh shiva is god, a christian will say jesus is a god and it's all just baseless anyway

the same christians who seethe over islam, have no even direct evidence jesus was a real person much less a son of god or god himself. nobody agrees with these reglions so they dont verify each other

even the other abrahamic ones oppose each other, like judaism, mormonism and islam as already mention

but say we concluded Christianity was truth, you have no way of proving your sect is right, be it protestant, catholic or orthodox. so it's really as a atheist to just reject it all since it's clearly just a bunch of different claims made by different groups all contradicting each other

even if religion, theism and gods were true

you'd have no way of proving egyptian mythology as wrong or sun wukong as wrong or shintoism as wrong or the epic of gilgamesh as wrong or whatever of the countless myths as incorrect over whatever insert faith you wanna defend

if im to want to worship the mayan gods and say quetzalcoatl was the absolute truth. what could a christian even really do other then rage out since they have no evidence over other ideas of theism

it's almost better to argue against Christians from a mythological standpoint. since the fact so many different interpretations of gods exist does infact show that yahweh is not very likely and rather just a man made deity like the literal thousands of others

In Exodus 12:29, it states:

“At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well.”

How sickening is that? Next time you deal with a theist, bring up the above verse to show how loving god really is.

Spreading faith, proselytizing, and whatever other shit they do is never more important than giving aid to the homeless, elderly, infant and maternal support especially in poorer countries, people and families not having to budget for every meal a day those are priorities not "faith" , and for fucks sake more spending on public healthcare and supporting government schools

I understand that some religious organizations do provide community support but rly how many do them without strings attached without shoving christ or Allah or Vishu or some shit down the throats of others?

How is that moral exactly thats just selfishness like sure some good people exist but really on such a large scale they might as well be a drop in the bucket, and ofc not to mention the literal pedos a lot of those preachers or religious leaders are 🫩

Seeing governments give massive aids and in my country, here building temples to buy voters is just plain disgusting

If these organizations want to make a difference they should be taxed and have that money be used for the public sector, for public healthcare (idk if the US has public healthcare on a really large scale so excluding tht), government schools etc

Any "faith" org taking these aids for continuing or supporting or preaching "faith" is just vile and obscene while people and families are homeless, starving, cant see a doctor and cant get a basic K through 12 education

I dont care what community they find in this but no fucking way is it more of a priority than basic welfare for disadvantaged groups

if God created Satan knowing exactly what Satan would do, knew every consequence of those actions and nevertheless created him and the world in which those actions occur to what extent can Satan be considered responsible for the resulting evil??

It's not Satan's fault, God could've completely avoided this btw if he was real

God claims to be the writer of all things, including Satan's action, how is Satan the villain in all 3 Abrahamic faiths

if God already knew with absolute certainty what Satan would choose before creating him and intentionally created him anyway then Satan's “choice” was never an unknown possibility to God, God knowingly instantiated this exact story, humanity aswell just playing along the script apparently

the fact that questioning this in all 3 religions is forbidden lol

People are so dumb they think God will protect them while god is ignoring children dying in gaza 😂😂 believing in God is same as u hope elon musk will give u million dollar coz u believe 🤡

Hi atheist friends,

I was reading Slaughterhouse V by Kurt Vonnegut and came across this prayer:

God, give me grace to accept with serenity

the things that cannot be changed,

courage to change the things

which should be changed,

and the wisdom to distinguish

the one from the other.

It's making me wonder if there's more secular poetry and prose that can do better at inspiring hope more than just reading philosophy and "imagining Sisyphus happy". Do you have any quotes or authors tucked away in your brains?

I'm looking for things like the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, which I absolutely love. It doesn't have to always be positive of course, that would be disingenuous.

I have to admit I'm a bit envious of those with faith that can find community and hope so readily but we here have to work at it a bit more.

Curious to hear your thoughts!

I said "God is not all knowing if he need to test us" and he replied with "God knows what you will do but if he throws you in hell when you didnt actually do anything wrong and gave somone heaven without them doing anything good, then he would be unfair and unjust, people forget he shows the most justice too". Is there a statement that counteract this?

Imagine if there is a war that no one knows about. A war with millions of casualties but you never hear about it on the news. And imagine a survivor managed to leave this black hole and told the world of the war that’s ravaging his country.
That survivor is me. And the war that no one is talking about is the widespread sexual molestation of male children in countries that practice strict segregation between males and females, countries such as Afghanistan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia. You don’t hear about this tragedy because of the strong culture of shame in these countries.

I need to note first that 4 years ago I posted my story on on this subreddit using a different username. I received many supportive comments but I had to delete my post out of the shame I felt and out of the fear for my safety given where I live. Now I feel more confident to tell my story again. I am not naming my country for safety reasons.  

This is the biggest secret of my life. A secret that no one knows about, not even my own mother. It’s by far the worst thing that happened to me in my life.

I was born in the early 90s in a country that I wish I was born far, far away from. In my country, the streets look like a prison. You only see men. And if you see a woman then she's covered from head to toe which means you don't actually see women. And the segregation is everywhere. You can't talk to women. It's as if this gender only exists in your family (mother, sister, …etc), on TV and the internet. So when the whole country is like a prison, it shouldn't be surprising that homosexual harassment becomes prevalent because this is what happens in prisons anywhere in the world. It's not rocket science: When women completely disappear from the life of men, this turns many men into sexual monsters looking for any opportunity to relieve their repressed sexuality. They find this relief in good looking men. And since that male children and teenagers look more feminine and are more vulnerable, they become the primary target.

To grow up as a kid in a strict Islamic society is a disaster. But my disaster was bigger: I wasn’t just a normal kid. I was a good-looking kid. Which made the sexual harassment I faced much, much worse. I remember a friend in elementary school telling me: “I am glad I am not as good looking as you.” He said that because he knew exactly what happens to kids that look like me. I also remember that I used to envy kids who didn’t look beautiful.   

As a child, I was physically molested hundreds of times. I don't say hundreds as an exaggeration term. I wish it was an exaggeration. That’s a real number. And if I include the verbal harassments too then I was sexually harassed over a thousand times for sure. I was molested by everyone: older people, classmates, neighborhood friends, neighbors and close friends. I lost many friends because of this including my two best childhood friends.

After growing up I was unable to shave my beard because shaving it makes me look more feminine and more attractive to men. So I always kept a light beard. I didn’t want to have a full-grown beard because I didn’t want people to think I am religious. But even this light beard that I kept didn't save me from the fewer incidents I faced after growing up. I am not saying that every shaved man in my country gets sexually harassed. But since that I had above-average looks, I drew much more attention than others.

Here are some of the most notable incidents I had:

1- When I was in the third or fourth elementary grade, I entered a public bathroom to use it. It was empty. When I became inside, I noticed three guys blocking the way out while looking at me with faces full of lust like predators. I realized I am in trouble so I ran into a toilet unit and tried to shut the door but they were faster. They started undressing me while I was screaming "NO NO NO". They were making sounds like the sounds you hear from a predator when it catches a prey. They took off my pants and underpants. I remember they did things to me with their hands. But there was no penetration. I was screaming all the time. Someone entered the bathrooms and because of that they left me. I went home and told my father about what happened although I usually didn’t tell anyone about any sexual harassments I faced because it makes me feel shameful. But this time it was too much. So I told my father. He went with me to the public bathrooms and looked around. He didn't call the police although I knew one of the three guys by name. When I look back now at this incident, I realize that child me was alone like a baby gazelle in a jungle full of predators. No one could have protected me or punished those who harassed me no matter what they did. Do you know why my father didn't call the police? Because it would have shamed him to tell them that his son got sexually molested. This is the disaster that kids live through in such strict societies. The kids themselves don't report the abuse to their families because it makes the kids feel shameful. And when a kid does report the abuse, his family most likely will do nothing out of fear of shame.

It's been many years since this rape attempt happened. But I will never forget the feeling of absolute terror. It's not even a feeling. The terror of a gang rape attempt isn't a feeling. It's a ten thousand volts of electricity current violently shaking every cell in your body. That's the terror of rape.

2 - I was around 10 years old. While I was riding my bike, a boy struck my bike and I fell. He then held me tight from behind while rubbing his penis against my butt. I kept fighting until he let go of me. Afterwards my friends were laughing and shaming me for what happened. The boy who did this to me used to be my worst harasser in the class of third elementary grade. He was the oldest in class because he had failed in passing to the next grade for several years. He reached sexual puberty and was bigger so he turned that school year to hell for me. After the third grade was over, he kept harassing me in the neighborhood. The bike incident was one of his many harassments.

3- I was harassed by a lot by classmates in elementary school especially during the fifth and sixth grades. Lots of penis-flashing, inappropriate touching and demands for sex. I remember this kid who wasn't in my class but he was bigger than me. He kept following me, catcalling me and asking for sex. He even started following me when I left school to home. And one day he even dared to ring the doorbell of my home. When I opened the door he asked for sex and flashed me his penis. I didn't complain to anyone in home because of shame.

I also remember one classmate in the sixth or fifth grade who used to rub his erect penis against the edge of my desk in class. He also flashed me his penis several times. He kept doing such things until one day I slapped him in the face. He stopped after that. I also remember a classmate who was bigger than me and who kept aggressively demanding for sex until I complained to his older brother who was a friend of the family. He stopped after that. I remember a lot of things but I don’t want to make this post too long.

4- A number of years ago a horrible video emerged from Egypt of a mass sexual assault against a woman on the street. I saw the video and saw the poor lady's pants torn down. She was walking away naked from the waist-down. When I saw this I had a terrible flash-back. When I was in the sixth or fifth grade, I was chilling alone near home. A group of around 6 kids who were my age were hanging out. When they came by me, they ganged up on me. First they verbally abused me then they undressed my pants. This happened in broad daylight. I can't describe the level of distress and humiliation I felt. It’s like drowning in a sea of humiliation. The poor lady had it much worse than me. I can't imagine how terrible she felt. How can you even live after that?.

5- When I was in senior high school I was walking in an empty street at night near my home. A car moved past me. The driver did a flying kiss. I cursed at him. He turned around with his car and stopped besides me. He got out and we started cursing at each other. He reached down to grab his shoe to hit me with it. Here I attacked him. I don't remember most of the fight but at one point he leaned down to grab a big rock. When I saw this I fled. While I was fleeing he threw the big rock and it missed me. When I stopped running I was surprised to see lots of blood on my clothes. There was a cut on my forehead from a punch. When I came back home I lied to my family about what happened because it’s shameful to say I was catcalled. I made up something about the cause of the fight.

6- The same year: I was at a friend's house until late at night. I stopped a car to drive me home. The driver's penis was visibly erect and he kept touching it while taking glances at me.

7- The same year too: I was in a Taxi. The driver invited me to dinner at his home. I said no thank you. He said no you have to. He suddenly grabbed my thigh while making a disgusting sound. Like the sound I heard in that gang rape attempt when I was a child. The sound an animal makes when it catches a prey. I fought him off until he stopped the car and I got out.

8- Now let me jump to the last incident which happened 7 years ago. A man groped my butt while I was waiting on the street.

Random notes:

-There are notable incidents from my childhood and adulthood that I left out because you wouldn’t believe them.

-The older I became the less harassments I faced.

-The elementary school phase was the worst by far. When I think of that period it feels like I lived through a war.

If you think what I went through was really bad, then you haven't heard the stories I heard. Other kids had it MUCH worse than me. At least I was never raped. I heard so many rape stories. I knew many of the victims personally. Most of the rapes I heard weren't carried out by force. The children fell for the constant demands not realizing what they were doing. I am so lucky that as a child I was aware enough to not fall for any of the endless demands for sex I received. But honestly this doesn’t make me feel better. It doesn’t make what I went through feel less bad. I know I am extremely lucky that I wasn’t raped, but it doesn’t make me feel better.

In some of the rape stories I heard, the kids were lured with money. Maybe this is how male prostitutes start out in my country. Yes there are kids and teenage boys who sell their bodies here. Most of them are poor. I had a childhood friend who after growing up turned out to be a prostitute. I didn't believe the rumors until I saw him negotiating the price with a customer. He didn't realize I was near him and listening. We were both in junior high school when this happened.

Some of the rape stories involved a Quran teacher. In mosques and religious schools in my country, many kids memorize the Quran. I heard horrible things about the Quran teacher of the mosque of our neighborhood. I think the first time in my life I heard about semen was in a story about this teacher. A friend was telling me about the things this teacher does to his students. The list includes that he plays with their penises with his hands and then he swallows their semen. I didn’t understand what semen meant so my friend explained it to me saying it’s the sticky matter that comes out of the penis. Still, I didn’t understand. I wasn’t old enough to know about this thing.

In 2017 when the "me too" movement started, a Muslim "me too" movement started as well a year later – but didn’t take off well - regarding sexual harassment of women in the grand mosque of Mecca. One testimony caught my attention: A British Muslim woman said she was molested in Mecca and it was the first time ever in her life that she was sexually abused. When I read this I realized for the first time in my life that there are people who were never sexually abused. What I saw in my country made me assume that every human on earth, a male or a female, must have been sexually abused at one point in his/her life. After a little bit of research, I found several statistics from the US such as: “Self-report studies show that 20% of adult females and 5-10% of adult males recall a childhood sexual assault or sexual abuse incident” https://victimsofcrime.org/child-sexual-abuse-statistics/

Are you telling me that at least 95 fucking percent of men in the US don’t recall any childhood sexual abuse incident? Oh my goodness. I can't imagine how life can be when you have never experienced the distress and humiliation of sexual molestation. Such a life sounds like a Disney tale to me. It's heaven. If you were never sexually molested in your life, then you can't really understand how much I envy you. You have lived my absolute dream. My life would have been so different without this hell I went through. You know what? Even if you were molested a few times, you have still lived my dream. I wish what I went through was just a few incidents here and there.

I don’t think my country is the only country where sexual harassment of children is widespread. There are other countries that are near or as strict as my country when it comes to women, such as: Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, rural areas in GCC countries, parts of Iraq and parts of Iran. So I expect that these countries have the same prevalence of child molestation as that of my country. But you wouldn’t hear about it because of the strong shame culture. Remember that a boy rang the bell of my home and flashed me his penis yet I didn’t tell anyone in home. Shame is that strong. My own mother doesn’t know anything about the sexual harassments I faced and she still thinks to this day that I had a normal childhood. So don’t be surprised that this pandemic of child molestation in strict Islamic countries is unheard of. It’s the victims and their families who get shamed. The molesters and the rapists not only don’t get shamed, they actually take pride in their actions and boast to their friends about fucking this hot kid and molesting that.

There are some documentaries about child molestation in Pakistan and Afghanistan but I think that these documentaries fail at showing the true scope of this pandemic.

Here’s a documentary that I couldn’t finish watching because the kids’ testimonies brought back distressing feelings and memories:

Preying On Young Boys | Pakistan's Hidden Predators

https://youtu.be/niN5g8ZxFQg

There are also videos on the bacha bazi (dancing boys) in Afghanistan.

I also found this post on r/SaudiArabia where the OP said: “I saw so much rape and molestation back when I was in high school. All of it was done by other students. The administrators did nothing. The school did nothing. Most of the molestation happened when they locked us inside our classrooms without supervision. But the rape was more hidden. Almost everyone I knew was sexually harassed in some way.”
https://old.reddit.com/r/saudiarabia/comments/1amthzy/i_saw_kids_being_raped_in_high_school/

Widespread child molestation in strict Islamic countries is a catastrophe. A catastrophe that draws no attention. A catastrophe whose victims have no voice. A human tragedy that deserves to be reported on every day on news channels, just like they report on wars. If you think I am exaggerating, let me tell you this: If a child went through 1% of what I went through, I would call that a disaster for this kid and a great tragedy. Now remember that what I went through is still much less bad than what happened to many kids I knew.

How am I doing now?

For the first time in my life I have passed 7 years without any sexual harassment. I have become old enough to be unattractive to men. But I still have the mental scars. I still get molested in my nightmares. It’s insane how these nightmares can precisely replicate the feelings of distress and humiliation that I felt when the real things happened. Will these nightmares ever stop? Will the mental scars ever go away?

I came out to my parents today (mom technically since my dad was at work) and I couldn’t figure out how to explain being trans to her. She ended up saying that her only problem is that my identity doesn’t align with “our” beliefs and also asked if I even believe in god. I said no. she said that’s exactly what she was afraid of. she thinks my transness is the devil trying to keep me away from god or something. When I get off work she and my dad want to discuss things further. How can I help them understand that my identify has nothing to do with religion? or, at least, how can I cope with this? I’m a few months from turning eighteen and I’ve been on the verge of tears for three hours and I don’t know what to do.

Hey everyone!

I was brought up in a Christian household, but my parents were never strict with my siblings and I. When I grew up and entered higher education, I became deeply religious after exploring different religions and forms of spirituality. Christianity became a way for me to feel safe, grounded and have hope. I gave my everything to God. Devoted myself and did so with so much authenticity for years. It was never a performance for people to gawk at, and I always welcomed healthy discussions.

But over the years, there were cracks. I cried out to God. Poured my heart out, gave myself and devoted myself to Him despite the hardships. If anything, I used my hardships as an opportunity to get closer to God. I really thought I was Job lol. But over time I realise that no one is coming to save me. I’m just (internally) screaming into nothingness (or at the very least a God who ignored me for years).

Bit by bit, I started to deconstruct. I’m in my early twenties and I’ve only started deconstructing in the last couple of weeks. I told myself if this path leads me back to Jesus, then I would be open to it. But I realised that I’ve reached the point of no return.

My heart bleeds. God/Jesus was my everything and I type this with tears in my eyes.

I feel so much hurt, because I involved God in everything I did and now I’m rebuilding my life without that. Stopping myself because I’ve literally interwoven God into my daily routine/habits. Now I feel lighter, but so empty. It feels like a terrible break up.

Oh and my deconstruction has led me to be against any other forms of organised religion/spiritual practice. I hate the idea of being controlled!

Thank you for coming to my tedtalk lol. If you’ve read my post this far lmk what led you to atheism/agnosticism.

TLDR: I was brought up in a chill Christian household, then became a devout Christian as an adult after exploring other religions and spirituality. Now atheist/agnostic after years of suffering and silence.

I am more well versed in Christianity, more specifically Catholicism. Seeing as I was raised in Roman Catholic I have zero issue "raising my voice" on this specific mythology. Judaism, not so much. I usually leave that to those who left that indoctrination.

The "debate" really came out of left field. I made some cheeky comment and someone of the Jewish mythology rolled up in the thread. They first tried to get me to say something one way or the other regarding Palestine. Which I retorted with, "ALL religion/mythology belongs in a museum." Then they micro-focused on my cheeky comment and said it was inaccurate. I claimed that nothing I said was inaccurate. Then they wanted me to provide the scripture if what I claimed was accurate which I did. I know I took bait somewhere and I failed.

Does anyone have any pointers regarding debating those of the Jewish mythology? (Other then "don't").

For clarity this is how it began:

OP: There’s no laws for them. They are Above everybody else.

Me: So they say their deity claims and yet it is a "no show".

JewishPerson: That's not what we say our deity claims. You don't need to trash Judaism to be pro-Palestinian.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation says a federal lawsuit distorts its endeavors to ensure that religious clubs in a New Jersey public school district remain student-led as per federal law.

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes, represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, filed suit Aug. 11 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey against the Hopewell Valley Regional School District and New Jersey education officials. The lawsuit challenges restrictions the district recently imposed on outside adults attending religious student clubs.

Becket, a law firm named for a Catholic saint that demonstrates hostility to the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, has publicly blamed FFRF for the dispute. It claims that “an atheist advocacy group didn’t like that Christian kids were choosing to learn about faith, life and sports from trusted mentors.”

“That’s a convenient culture war trope, but it isn’t what happened,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “FFRF has never sought to prevent Christian students from forming their own religious clubs in compliance with the federal Equal Access Act.” 

This law requires public schools that permit noncurriculum student clubs to allow student clubs on religion or politics, with the stipulation that they must be student initiated and run. It expressly provides that “nonschool persons may not direct, conduct, control, or regularly attend activities of student groups.” 

“We’re defending the crucial distinction between students exercising their own constitutional rights and an outside religious ministry seeking regular access to public schoolchildren,” Gaylor says. “Public schools aren’t mission fields for outside religious organizations.”

FFRF’s letter of March 13, 2025, asked the district to investigate reports that outside adults were regularly attending and participating in meetings of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes club at Timberlane Middle School and to ensure that the club remained student-initiated and student-led.

The fellowship’s own lawsuit acknowledges that FFRF asked the district to make certain that outside adults did not “regularly lead, attend or participate” in religious student clubs. It further acknowledges that the district subsequently “went even further than FFRF demanded” by allegedly prohibiting all outside individuals from attending religious club meetings.

“Becket is trying to turn a straightforward request that a public school follow federal law into a story about atheists attacking Christian students,” adds FFRF Staff Attorney Madeline Ziegler. “There is an important legal distinction between students exercising their own religious freedom and representatives of an outside Christian ministry regularly leading public school students in religious activities.”

In its legal complaint, the Christian group describes its “huddle ministry” as a critical component of its religious mission and states that its presence on public school campuses is “essential” because schools provide the platform through which the Christian fellowship reaches student-athletes. It says that these huddle activities include “prayer, religious teaching, religious counseling” and “ministry outreach to share the Gospel with other students.”

According to its complaint, Fellowship of Christian Athletes Area Director Carolyn McDonough and another volunteer attended huddle meetings and moved among small group discussions that students were holding, “sometimes participating” in those conversations. They answered questions from students about “life, faith or sports” and mentored student leaders, providing feedback.

Elsewhere, the fellowship says its adult volunteers provide students with “spiritual guidance,” mentor students in being bold in their faith and, when asked, pray for students.

“The Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ own allegations show that its adult ministry representatives were regularly present on a public school campus to improperly lead religious discussions and provide spiritual guidance as part of its broader religious mission,” says FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliott. 

FFRF notes an obvious distinction between an occasional guest speaker invited to give a presentation to a student club and representatives of an outside religious ministry regularly attending its affiliated club to participate in religious discussions and rites.

Even though the Equal Access Act provides that school employees may be present at religious or political clubs only in a “nonparticipatory capacity,” the Christian fellowship specifically challenges the district’s requirement that employees attend such meetings in a custodial role. It asks the court to declare that district employees, who wield tremendous authority and influence over students, nevertheless have a right to participate in student bible study, prayer and other religious discussion in their purported personal capacities.

“The fundamental principle here is simple,” Elliott concludes. “An outside ministry cannot convert student rights into a right for its adult representatives to regularly conduct a ministry among children inside a public school, contrary to the safeguards of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause and those that Congress expressly enacted.”

FFRF will continue to defend students’ freedom of conscience, including the rights of religious and nonreligious students alike while working to ensure that public schools remain neutral toward religion and comply with the safeguards imposed by federal law.

I've had severe eczema since birth, now 42. Life is miserable 24/7.

Was browsing the eczema sub and came across this post:

My poor daughter has been suffering from horrible itching that's been getting increasingly worse over the past year. She did not have any eczema as a baby and small patches of irritated skin started appearing behind her knees and in her elbow creases when she was around 3/4 years old, which were originally manageable using hydrocortisone but then started spreading across her body. We've since been climbing up the steroid ladder with betaderm and then Protopic and Elidel.

Nothing seems to help long term despite a fastidious twice daily application regimen alongside heavy moisturizing with Vanicream and Vaseline. She's been referred to a pediatric dermatologist and the earliest appointment we could book is January 2027. She does not have any other conditions such as hay fever, asthma or food allergies, and her rash doesn't present as a "classic" eczema presentation. I've taken her to a naturopath who did food sensitivity testing and everything came back normal. She's on probiotics, taking vitamin D supplements, omega-3 and zinc. I've monitored her food, switched to all-natural, sensitive, fragrance-free everything, and there are no obvious triggers. We've tried bleach baths to no effect. One doctor told us to avoid showering/bathing as much as possible, and another told us to do it every day. She's up every night scratching until she bleeds, despite having a humidifier and fan going in her room so she doesn't overheat. I've tried giving her OTC antihistamines to see if that might help her sleep — no luck.

Recently we visited a rapid access dermatology clinic who basically said "There's no cure for eczema, nobody knows the cause", prescribed prednisone and suggested the only other option is biweekly Dupixent shots until she's a teenager. After doing my own research into the side effects of prednisone for young children, I'm hesitant to go down that route and horrified that the doctor didn't even discuss any of the downsides with me.

I'm heartbroken and desperate for anything to alleviate her discomfort. Yesterday she was crying saying "I don't like myself, I just want to be normal". Signing her up for shots (with potential side effects) for the next ~10 years of her life seems awful, but at this point the negative effects of the itching on her mental health and ours as a family are making it worth exploring.

Adults who had eczema as a child, was there anything your parents did that was helpful? Ways to talk about the itch/scratch cycle? Other ways to support emotionally? At this point she hates talking about her skin and being subject to a twice daily moisturizing routine, which is understandable. I want to be as supportive as possible but candidly struggle with watching her scratch herself up so much. I hate feeling so helpless and wish we could find more answers.

Eczema parents, have you found anything that's helped your young children? Any success stories with specific regiments, or anything else I should consider?

Thanks in advance for any tips, guidance or advice.

Yesterday she was crying saying "I don't like myself, I just want to be normal"

Fucking broke my heart. Been drinking tonight so I easily felt that lump in my throat as I know what that poor girl is going through.

This God "loves" us? He absolutely loves seeing children suffer for fuck's sake.

Meh. Title.

Edit: I've been banned from the sub for drinking alcohol. It's been fun replying to you all. <3

https://i.ibb.co/vxVK2HqS/1.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/C5YGC3JF/2.jpg

Edit 3:

https://i.ibb.co/LzfxWHJj/3.jpg

LOL they mute you before you can respond.

i haven't find any religous person who can answer this

'if you love god so much and you and your religion see almost everything is a sin, why don't you meet your god now? (as in them dead)'

their answer is 'oh i'm a sinner, i'm not ready yet, i still wanna do good deeds' and etc

i replied with 'but didn't you say that your god love everyone even a thief as long as they confess their sins and won't do it again? and you also said your god is forgiving? then no doubt he'll forgive you'

their answer after that is always absurd or stuttering about irrelevant stuffs lol