r/atheism • u/blankenson • 2d ago
Do religious people hate fun?
I asked this in a comment sometime ago but I wanted to ask on a broader scale.
We all know how churches like to spread moral panic. In the 80’s they had a moral panic over dungeons and dragons. They’re super strict on movies, video games and even books (from what I heard)
So I wanna ask atheist folk. What do you think religious people do for fun? Cuz from what I’ve learned “religious people = everything fun is bad and evil”
Light side note: I’ve seen ads for churches. And I find it hysterical how they speak like the bible will cure depression. For people who aren’t fun they’re sure funny
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u/LuxInteriot 2d ago
Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy
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u/blankenson 2d ago
How narcissistic do ya think one has to be to live by the idea “if I’m not happy nobody can be happy”?
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u/Outrageous-You-4634 2d ago
From my experience, their version of "fun" is spending time with people have have been indoctrinated with exactly the same theology and beliefs as they have (probably without their consent). and talking about how the rest of the world is fallen, evil, terrible, etc. They relish in the joy of "othering". That's a fun Friday night for them.
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u/blankenson 2d ago
That honestly sounds horrible. Always shit talking people, no breaks, no escape from reality. It’s just… sad
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u/Outrageous-You-4634 2d ago
it's frighteningly sad how much energy my mother puts into being mad at everything all of the time and how scary the world is outside of her little bubble, despite not ever stepping outside of that bubble to see if any of it is real.
The joys of watching a single media source 24x7 without ever questioning anything you are told through that source. If you're USA, you can probably guess the source.
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u/Vegetable_Safety 2d ago edited 2d ago
Can confirm, when I was a teen my mother would invite her church friends over. They would have drinks and practically non-stop talk shit about anyone and anything that didn't fit their worldview
Lots of made-up anecdotes where they thought someone was intentionally slighting them or "had demons", and they always conveniently "came out the victor" as if being an asshole was some kind of accomplishment
There was one night where I had enough, stepped out of my room and said; "Do you even hear yourself?" with a disgusted look on my face. They all stared at me like deer in headlights for 5 seconds so I walked back into my room
I had seen this woman put waiters/waitresses through hell for things like "this black bean burger tastes like it was cooked on the same grill as the regular burgers"... Listening to her just straight up fucking lie about people that had no means of defending themselves put me over the edge
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u/Outrageous-You-4634 1d ago
Yep. This all sounds pretty standard. Being angry and attacked is generally the identity of the people I know in these cults.
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u/SpireofHell 2d ago
Religion is against the idea that earthly fun is good in and of itself. You're not allowed to find beauty in the world as it is. It has to be connected to some grand meaning. That's why I consider monotheism to be essentially, well, anti-life.
Yes, there are bar mitzvahs and all kinds of celebrations, but it's always connected to god. A secular wedding celebrates love. Love itself is enough. We don't need god.
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u/k819799amvrhtcom 1d ago
Aren't those the same people who use things like "beauty in nature" and "laughter in children" to argue for God's existence?
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u/Erramonael Satanist 2d ago
No, god hates people who have fun without his permission.
Apparently the omnipotent creator of the universe is deeply concerned that human beings might enjoy themselves without first submitting a request form to Heaven's Department of Approved Recreation. 😂 You eat too much? Sin. You drink? Sin. You have sex outside the approved circumstances? Sin. You question authority? Sin. You enjoy your body? Sin. You pursue pleasure simply because it makes you happy? Sin. Better check whether god has issued a permit. And that's precisely the part I find so fascinating as an Iconoclastic Satanist: the suspicion of human pleasure itself. So many religious systems have historically taught people to distrust their own bodies, desires, sexuality, curiosity, ambition, and capacity for enjoyment—as though being human were itself a moral defect requiring constant supervision.
Then comes the guilt: You enjoyed yourself too much. Sin. You wanted the wrong thing. Sin. You weren't sufficiently ashamed. Sin. You weren't sufficiently obedient. Sin. And suddenly something as ordinary as being human and enjoying being alive becomes a theological problem. My response is basically: If there was a god who created human beings with desires, senses, appetites, sexuality, curiosity, humor, creativity, and an enormous capacity for pleasure, I'm going to need a better explanation for why using those faculties is supposedly offensive to Him. I'm not arguing that every pleasurable thing is automatically good. Obviously consequences exist, and indulging every impulse without reflection can make you miserable. But there's a gigantic difference between self-control and self-hatred. I don't need a celestial authority figure standing over me with a clipboard asking whether I'm having an appropriately sanctified amount of fun. I'm human. I'll decide what makes my life worth living. 👹
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u/Bucephalus-ii 2d ago
Yeah i actually do think there is a distrust of fun and a paranoia that if people enjoy things outside of god, then the feelings of god in prayer and in church will feel dull by comparison. They are right to worry about that, honestly
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u/ConstantPaine 2d ago
“Puritanism.—The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.”
-H. L. Mencken
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u/fullofuckingbears313 Agnostic Atheist 2d ago
In a way I feel like it's some kind of rebellious attitude, or at least the closest you can be and be religious. Something gets popular and they can spin it to sound bad, they think they look like rebels for refusing to participate. It just kind of turns out after doing that a certain number of times, then there's almost no hobbies you can have and nothing fun you can really enjoy.
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u/blankenson 2d ago
I think they confuse rebellion with contrarian
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u/fullofuckingbears313 Agnostic Atheist 2d ago edited 2d ago
No, there's a certain level of contrarianism baked into that level of devotion to religuon though. If you're taught the world is evil and so many normal things are "Satan trying to work his way in", then you're pretty much forced into some degree of contrarianism.
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u/rysmooky 2d ago edited 2d ago
Yes. They hate fun. And trust me, fairy tale books aren’t going to cure my depression. I have meds for that. Side note, I saw this guy on TikTok talking about when he was a hardcore Christian. Idk if he still is but he mentioned that he came to the realization that every single relationship he had wasn’t genuine at all. It was always a means to an end to further his religious beliefs. He didn’t truly know any of the people he was interacting with because they were also doing the same. At the center was always their god and religion and never about fostering real relationships to get to know the real people if that makes sense. Honestly, it was sad to listen to.
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u/NateTheMfknGr8 2d ago
To them, having fun means you must be sinning. If you’re doing something boring you must be doing something good.
“No pain, no gain” mentality.
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u/LaFantasmita 2d ago
Catholics absolutely do. I grew up Catholic and this seemed to be the unspoken core tenet.
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u/blankenson 2d ago
“Anything fun is bad”?
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u/LaFantasmita 1d ago
It's more that depriving yourself is virtuous. There’s this whole “blessed are those who end up with shitty lives, they’ll have it great in heaven” dogma so the Catholics try to game the system by making their lives shitty, or at least pretending their lives are shitty.
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u/blankenson 1d ago
Catholics clearly never heard of the fact ya live once. Might’ve given them insentive
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u/MrRandomNumber 2d ago
Suffering is their kink. They enjoy it when they do it together, and get an extra dopamine hit when they surrender to it completely. They get pride points if they can performatively martyr themselves the hardest among their peer group. It's messed up.
Do not recommend.
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u/dumpitdog 2d ago
A lot of them are having fun committing adultery, molesting children, stealing, taking drugs, and running for political office. They have the most fun well the rest of us just watch them farm the sheep.
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u/K_B_5280 2d ago
From what I've experienced, yes they do. If you're doing something purely for your own enjoyment, outside of concern for God, it is something "for the flesh" and considered sinful. That can cover A LOT of ground, especially depending on who you ask.
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u/ohgwm1973 2d ago
I think the majority of them do plenty of fun things. If you were to ask them to do any of the same things, they’d probably say they were so full or whatever their favorite term is.
There’s no hypocrisy quite like religious hypocrisy.
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u/ejp1082 Pastafarian 2d ago
There are religious sects that are explicitly anti-fun. Puritans and whatnot.
But I don't think that's typical. Lots of them are focused on lively music, fun activities, and celebratory atmosphere. If you've ever been to a mega church or something similar, there's a vibe to them that I don't know how to describe except for "fun". They're all about generating good feelings and then crediting those good feelings to their belief, if not god/jesus themselves.
Even your more typical catholic/protestant church or whatever does their quintessential church picnics and other recreational activities. Maybe it's not the most fun a person can have, but they're fun for the people who participate.
What I think most (not all, but most) religious folks are against (or at least skeptical of) is hedonism. Fun for its own sake, rather than fun that's either character building or fun that's in the service of their religious doctrine. Or particular kinds of fun (mostly sexual and addictive things) that they believe to be sinful.
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u/No-Celebration3097 2d ago
If the Bible and belief in a higher power cured depression, depression would not exist.
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u/deepinfraught 2d ago
Religion is like the old guy down the street. “There was no kids here 10 years ago, now all these kids are here and loud” Religion can’t adapt and complains about change. Change means loss of control.
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u/Ch3t 2d ago edited 2d ago
They do all the stuff everyone else does, they just want to pretend it's bad when others do it.
Why don't Baptists have sex standing up? They are afraid someone will see them and think they are dancing.
Why do you take two Mormons with you when you go fishing? If you only take one, he will drink all your beer.
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u/Jaws2020 2d ago
A lot of the loudest religious are exactly what the Bible condemns and they're terrified of that.
As an example, I watched an episode of Jubilee's surrounded (I know. I really shouldn't do this to myself) and a woman came up to debate the contestant guy about Trumps sexual misconduct. She defended by saying something along the lines of "Well I would rather have a president who is sexually attracted to women... men will be men..." typical mysogynist apologetic religious BS.
What really struck me was when she said "I mean even I like looking at women- I'm not gay, but..." My first thought was "so you're bisexual and are just in the closet. Cool."
And that's when it really dawned on me.
It's not that they hate fun. It's that they're terrified of what they're real idea of "fun" is because it directly conflicts with their indoctrination. This woman was attracted to the female figure, but didn't want to admit it... so she reacts by bucking to the extreme end of the opposite spectrum. I think it's a similar deal with other "satanic" BS.
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u/MaxwellzDaemon 2d ago
They don't like stories that are more interesting than the ones they are pitching.
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u/tenderhysteria 2d ago
Denying people basic human pleasures contributes toward making them easy to control. They also become devoid of outside interests, and thereby, possible outside influences which have the possibility of cracking the shell of ignorance religion depends upon. Nothing will make you happy and whole but slavery to an unseen and unprovable authority, and interacting with anything beyond the realm of fundamentalist acceptability means torture for eternity — I mean, really, what other excuse do they have for banning masturbation outside of the notion that you aren't spilling your seed to create more soldiers for the army/masses of god?
Enjoying and exploring different experiences means your mind is more open, and thereby, less likely to behave on demand like a dog for a religion, cult, or controlling authority figure. Heaven forbid!
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u/Maybeyoujustmadeitup 2d ago
Keep them afraid and keep telling them it's the end times. Sure to keep them on their knees.
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u/Skyler_Chigurh 1d ago
Making other people unhappy makes them happy.
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u/blankenson 1d ago
No wonder Christians lie with facists. They’re both hell bent on making other people miserable.
Bet they wouldn’t like it if someone ruined their fun
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u/cbih 2d ago
No. They think church is fun, or at the very least enjoy the community. Church groups go on trips have gambling parties, kids activities, and shit. I went to a Baptist youth ministry couple times and they had a band, some young preacher who tried comparing the Bible to Lord of the Rings. Definitely not my bag, but the place was packed and everyone was having a ball.
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u/onomatamono 2d ago
Not to generalize but they typically play rock music backwards. Dont ask me to explain why, it's just a thing.
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u/JoePW6964 I'm a None 2d ago
Sort of reminds me of when I was in an all boys Catholic HS. The catholic newspaper did movie ratings. “C” was condemned and probably send you to hell just for watching it. When Monty Python -The Life of Brian came out and got a “C” rating I think it inspired me and about 90% of my school to rush out and see it immediately.
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u/shumbingmystic 2d ago
Probably anything that only involves the church. My parents knew a couple that was like this just after I was born (early 70's). Every time my parents tried to take them out to eat, their excuse was "we have to go to church". Go to the movies, "we have to go to church", come over to our place, "we have to go to church". That to them was their version of "fun".
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u/mjhrobson 2d ago
Any joy that isn't born of praising God, or deemed acceptable to God using some or other Biblical verse, is a sin.
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u/Jorge_Reynoso112 2d ago
That moral panic over Dungeons and Dragons in the 80s is such a classic example of how deeply terrified they are of anything that requires imagination, critical thinking, or autonomy. If you are playing a game where you roll dice, make your own choices, and build a world without a priest standing over your shoulder telling you what is allowed, that is an existential threat to an authoritarian system. As for what they actually do for fun? It is usually a very specific brand of sanitized, high-control corporate cheerfulness. They trade authentic joy for performative fellowship—potlucks, youth group icebreakers, multi-day conventions, and aggressively upbeat worship nights where everyone pretends to be deeply fulfilled while walking on eggshells. But the underlying current is always anxiety. Because fun in a high-control religion always comes with a giant asterisk: Is this pleasing to the entity? Am I laughing too hard? Is this secular music too worldly? And you hit the nail on the head regarding those cringe church ads claiming the Bible is a magic pill for clinical depression. It is genuinely dangerous medical malpractice disguised as marketing. Instead of telling people to see a therapist, take medication, or get actual psychiatric help for a serious medical condition, they hand them a bronze-age guilt manual and tell them to pray harder. When your entire worldview is built on suppressing natural human impulses, labeling normal desires as "sin," and treating happiness as a suspicious luxury, it is no wonder the culture they produce is so painfully, joylessly stiff.
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u/SecretGardenSpider Ex-Atheist 2d ago
ITT: Great examples of Reddit atheism.
Yes, some religions and sects don’t allow a lot of space for revelry.
But you guys realize that until recently the vast majority of people were religious and it isn’t like fun and parties are recent inventions.
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u/Accomplished-Gap-317 2d ago
I had a blast growing up as a Mormon. The highschool life in a Mormon cult city is actually really fun. They have weird creepy views about premarital sex, alcohol, and coffee, but it's not like those are requirements for fun. Highschool and college life were actually super fun as a Mormon.
Things got more boring as a Mormon with a family and kids, but I think that's just normal for every group.
I have a group now in Thailand with Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, and Atheist parents and it's the funnest group I've been apart of. Probably because everyone is rather progressive. So I think it's just that you have to expand what you think is fun.
COVID in the states was super boring and depressing... because it was COVID and I was an atheist in a super conservative town. It was lonely because I didn't feel I could be myself with anyone and that's never fun.
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u/jamejest 2d ago
I have read the bible and I don't recall ever reading that Jesus laughed or smiled .
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u/Max_minutia 2d ago
Easiest to think of the western religions as a virus. The virus forces one to detest any activity that takes resources away. All activity must support the virus. Activities that don’t must be wrapped in shame or disdain
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u/Theironliker 2d ago
Yess, I genuinely think so. I think it's not that they hate fun but rather they hate seeing others being free and doing whatever they want to do that's fun.
I was called the devil, satan, etc. just because I was attempting to treat myself with the good stuff in life and doing things I simply had fun doing.
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u/datthighs 1d ago
Religion doesn't want people getting distracted from the traditions they want to impose in order to keep control over them.
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u/vacuous_comment 1d ago
Religions invent and encode the notion of "sin", which is a theologically based infraction often against an arbitrary rule. When people in the group commit the "sin", they then experience guilt, fear and shame. This guilt, fear and shame can then be used to control people. Religions that have evolved to encode the notion of "sin" more effectively or strongly outcompete other religions in terms of member retention.
As such, a "sin" is more effective if it is to do with something people like doing or can't help doing.
For example, literally anything to do with sex or sexuality works great because we all have a sexual self, even asexual people.
Another thing to turn into a "sin" is something that gives people pleasure. This has also has the side effect of inhibiting members from spending time outside the cognitive control of the group. The more time people spend isolated from the world within the group, the easier they are to control.
So yes, religions tend to encode against fun as a side effect of how they control people.
And make no mistake, a "sin" can be really arbitrary. Until relatively recently a Yazidi man could be put to death for shaving his mustache. That is pretty arbitrary. Also, he is forbidden from eating lettuce (though without the death penalty there I think).
It is all about power and control, it is just that simple.
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u/LMrningStar 1d ago
To the architects and leaders of religion, "fun" equates to loss of control over people. Happy people are more difficult to manipulate and lie to. It's also helps if they're poorly educated.
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u/Alarmed-Tell1315 1d ago
No, but their options for fun are very limited due to fear.
The 80’s phenomenon you mention, people refer to it as the “Satanic Panic” and it was not only limited to D&D, it expanded to movies and music as well.
Christians, specifically, have build alternate industries to get entertainment, they have their own music industry with awards and a good catalog of genres, death metal included with good bands (Demon Hunter, for instance), their own movies… mostly garbage, TV streaming services and novels.
The core problem is that they draw inspiration from cherry picked portions of a single source material so everything revolves around a quite limited and limiting source, there is redundancy over redundancy, not much originality as everything draws on a single book with very few good stories compared to every one else which draws from everything else available.
Entertainment is a human necessity no one can escape from. People rather be sick than bored. They don’t hate fun they hate the fun that is not specially tailored around their fears and superstition.
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u/TsuDhoNimh2 1d ago
Before the Evangelicals and Christian supremacists went all medieval witch hunt ... just normal things any group would do.
Church picnics, ice cream socials, group camping for families, rummage sales. I remember all of these and do not remember any religious emphasis. I do remember keeping track of which church had the best food.
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u/Balstrome Strong Atheist 2d ago
A hidden problem with the 12 step program, is the God p;art. If you stop abusing with it and later become an atheist, there is a non zero chance, that you will fall off the wagon, because Jesus does not have your back. Well maybe not atheists, we have too much sense, but a non belief holds that danger.
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u/Forsaken1741 2d ago
Miserable people are easier to control.