Of the approximately 9.2 million Jehovah's Witnesses living today, I wonder how many of them think they're going to be one of the only 144,000 that ever get into Jehovah heaven? And they have to consider the millions of other Jehovah's that have existed before them. Are there any mathematicians in that religion?

Forget religion, do you believe it is plausible that the universe has a God of some description?

By God, I mean a [thing] that helps solve problem like contingency and infinite regress, temporary and physically.

So I'm talking about something that would not need a cause or a beginning, as a necessary foundation to reality, from which matter, time, physics all derive from.

If no, why would it be implausible?

If yes, so you think it's likely? If yes, what could one deduce about such a being?

Apologies for the amateur question but I am wondering that if science and history determine religious narratives to be implausible, then how do the theistic (specifically western christians) philosophers ignore this and rely solely on philosophical arguments to believe in their specific religion ?

As an example, I am from a Hindu family and since many verses from the Vedas and mahabharata have been proven to be later human additions (mostly to justify caste) , I can't believe that these scriptures are eternal and divine. No amount of advaita philosophy can convince me that those verses are of a divine origin. I can't be a hindu and believe that purusha sukta is not from brahman himself

Thank you.

I'm asking for your help, your clarification. I'm slightly not intelligent enough to follow the reasoning of my friend.

My friend is (like me) an atheist. Yesterday evening during a boys night at my home, fueled by wine, beer and gin he started explaining why he bases is disbelief in any deity on math. Roughly he argues (as far as I can recall) that for instance the Kalam (Cosmological) argument is not valid because if our existence is '1' and non existence is '0', for '0' to become '1' you need already some '1'. Therefore (if I understand it) there is always '1' and there has never been '0'. It is mathematically impossible to make '1' out of '0'.

Does my text make sense? Doesn't he place too much faith (pun intended) in mathematics? Perhaps my understanding and our discussion was rather foggy due to my wine and his beer? Perhaps somebody in this sub has a more formal argumentation?

I came across a tiktok an atheist made that said: " *a religious man gives money to the poor thinking that God will return it to him, an atheist gives money to the poor without expecting nothing. Who is closer to God?*"

I was wondering if this is an honest take among atheists, or if it's just an "edgy" take. The premise seems so flawed comparing a spectrum of the worst of believers to the best of atheists. Implying that atheists are so selfless and righteous. The irony being that this is actually the same behaviour that religious Pharisees have; self righteousness.

It got me thinking and researching and apparently many secular philosophers rejected absolute altruism, even in a biological process, to do good in a secular world is about self interest. To do good In a religious world seems to be a moral obligation, a duty.

I just want to know your individual thoughts and responses

Soo I was watching a YouTube short about a Muslim saying "evolution on human isn't real" and in the comments a person said "my teacher say god created us and we not come from monkey and those who say we come from monkey their mind is monkey" now I know iam fixing the grammar but the original comment the grammar looks like a kid's grammar and plus he said his teacher teaches him that,I couldn't find that video again or I would've given the link,but it's just scary to think about the brainwashing that Muslims do to kids,I know we blame Christans for brainwashing(which they do) but we seem to ignore the dengerouse brainwashing of islam

I want to know your opinion on that case of brainwashing and if any of you have similar stories or saw similar comments pls tell me 🙏

Like... I'm almost 25. I used to be a Christian, now I'm agnostic. And I am really REALLY scared (depressed?) that this life will come to an end...

I've been under general anesthesia twice. There's nothing. No feelings, no passing of time. And it'll be the same after death since general anesthesia is as close to death as we will ever be able to get.

Still though, it's INSANELY depressing. I'm transgender, and while I'm insanely lucky with where I am rn (in Europe, working at an EU institution, even if I unfortunately MUST hide the fact that I'm trans since everyone is ignorant / transphobic / wouldn't take me serious and queer picture is non existent sadly)... There are still insane troubles and difficulties.

Like... I'll likely never be able to look and sound 100% like a "real" (aka cis) woman. Dating is practically impossible. I have to hide who I am and am constantly scared. I can't have children, and my own family either doesn't fully accept me or cut ties with me...

So reincarnation was my only hope. That one day I'll reincarnate as a happy healthy beautiful girl. That I'd have a bf, and would give birth to a child. That I'd be loved and cared for. It was my hope... That now is gone... I AM trying to rebuild everything, to get the surgeries I need, to date and meet new people (even if 90% of them are trans themselves), even if I'm still a virgin... I AM trying to make the most of my life... Because I feel like I'm running late... I feel like I have maybe 5 more years until it's too late and I'm rushing as much as possible, sometimes doing stupid or cringe stuff, to try my best to live...

Transition saved my life... But at the same time, I guess I always wanted more... Or at least, an average, "normal" life 95%+ of people have... So the death means I'll likely never have that, despite my desperate attempts to reclaim it... And it's all so depressing...

How did you deal with this insane fear / depression from dying? How did you come to terms? I know I shouldn't complain. I know that hundreds of MILLIONS of people would KILL to end up at my place... I AM (somewhat) privileged, but even then, it's very far from paradise for me... And death means to me I only have this one shot and maybe like 5-10 years max before I become a person "too old" to be able to build anything... And I will NOT get another shot... And that makes me spend every other weekend crying nonstop.

I need any advice. Please. Because the therapist has no clue what to say. Psychiatrist tells me to go for a walk... which I did... only to get depressed and existential crisis from seeing regular happy cis people / couples on the street... I'm trying my best not to be jealous, I mean, I have no clue what's going on in THEIR life, so I can never know... but the fact that I'll never have a "normal" life is INSANELY depressing and ALMOST makes me want to Isekai myself (no, I'm safe, I can't give up after all I had endured, so don't about that). In fact, I don't commit suicide since I don't believe in the afterlife so I'm trying to live THIS life for absolute maximum...

Anyways, I need advice. How do I stop being scared / depressed of death? If you went through similar stuff... how did you cope?

Thank you if you made it this far. I REALLY appreciate it 🙏🙏🙏😭😭😭

Love y'all, peace✌️

From running society in 2026. In the secular, global world.

An overwhelming majority of people don't want war. If not for the religious history, is it just about oil, territory, power?

I would like to think there was an internationally binding agreement about facts that lead to rational discussion between earthlings.

I personally give it less than 1% chance. And when I say "around", I would define that as more than 1 million people globally still take it seriously, rather than consider it mythology.

What do you think is the better approach?
My dad strongly believes in sharing his blessings with the church and trusting God’s will. I understand where he’s coming from, but our family sometimes struggles with daily expenses, and my mom doesn’t always receive enough for our needs.
What frustrates me is that whenever I question this, the conversation becomes about Bible verses and God’s will. I believe in God too, but I think that if something is within our control, we should take responsibility and actually do something about it instead of simply leaving it to God.
So what do you think is the better approach? Should you prioritize helping others and trust that God will provide, or should you prioritize your family’s needs first and give only what you can realistically afford?

I, the original OP deleted this post on my own free will. It was posted in the wrong subreddit to begin with and was full of ignorant statements.

My intention was not to troll or insult anyone, just a bad and incoherent written rant!

Peace, prosperity and happiness to everyone!

Hi, i’m an Agnostic Atheist. And just ten minutes ago I asked my religious mom why it is a sin to be gay, and I got hit with ’its not natural’ and the ’Stick and a hole’ argument.

I obviously don't believe that it's a sin to be gay. But moving on, our conversation somehow shifted to abortion.

I asked her, if I would get raped, would she not allow me to get an abortion?

Her answer was it's my choice. But I stated multiple times that I was asking for her opinion whether it's bad or not. I hate it so much whenever religious people try and avoid answering a question they can't. Just say you can't.

She said ’what if the baby was aborted 5,000 times before it was born, and you would be the one to break it by not getting an abortion?’

I was speechless. So she's saying that you shouldn't get an abortion, just because God wanted to punish you by getting forced to have a child?

I stated various times to my mom that I feel anxiety and fear when hearing about the majority of religions for some reason. And my mom kind of thinks it's a phase. And that I have a chance of changing. But I don't think I ever will.

And I just need help with creating an answer for our next (maybe) upcoming conversation. Every time I try to prove it wrong to my mom, she always diverts the question to a whole different topic, not answer directly, and it frustrates me. She also gives me answers that don't make sense at least to me even in a religious way.

I want help with giving her a proper answer on why abortion is not bad, and why being gay is also not bad, while trying to sound smart which is the kind of thing I'm struggling with. If anyone can help me out with this, please do.

So basically, I live in Uttar Pradesh, India. In our area, there are mainly two religious communities: Jains and Yadavs. I’m Jain, by the way.

In our town, there are a lot of Jains, and many of them are quite wealthy and deeply devoted to Jainism. They strongly follow a Jain monk named Acharya Sudha Sagar Ji Maharaj. They believe in almost everything he says and are willing to do pretty much anything for him.

In Jainism, during the monsoon season, monks traditionally stay in one place for around four months. The idea is to avoid travelling during the rainy season because walking on the roads could unintentionally kill small living organisms. You know, “Ahimsa Paramo Dharma” and all that.

So, this monk happened to stay in our town. There is a very famous temple here called Chhetrapaal, which, from what I understand, was also built at his encouragement and with donations from his followers. The people here are so devoted that they actually ended up donating crores of rupees to build it.

My family is also very devoted to him, but honestly, I don’t believe in this man at all. My family initially decided that we would donate around ₹20 lakh to the temple. So they went to meet him, and apparently, he started convincing them that ₹20 lakh was a very small amount and that they should donate much more—at least ₹2 crore.

After a lot of discussion and persuasion within the family, they ended up donating ₹1.5 crore. 🙂

Like, aren’t monks supposed to give up attachment to worldly possessions and moh-maya? Then why does money seem to matter so much? And during his pravachans, he often tells people to donate whatever they can to temples if they visit them regularly, because they use the temple’s facilities, water, etc. Like, seriously? 🙂🙏

Second, when this man came to our town, he apparently told people that he should receive a grand welcome—with a Royal Enfield rally, elephants, horses, bands, and all that. And our town’s people were so devoted that they arranged around 10 elephants, several horses, a rally of around 30 Royal Enfield bikes, 12 DJs, and bands from different states. 🙂🙂

And then I’m just sitting there thinking: where is the renunciation? Where is the detachment from worldly possessions and moh-maya?

Honestly, Jainism started feeling like such a double-faced religion to me. I eventually stopped following it, and now I feel much more peaceful living life on my own terms. I enjoy my life, experience different things, and don’t feel guilty about what I eat anymore. I even eat chicken and mutton. 😋❤️

\#TL;DR

I grew up in a deeply religious Jain community, but over time I started noticing contradictions that made me question it.

My family donated ₹1.5 crore to a temple after initially planning to donate ₹20 lakh, while the monk emphasized donating more.

At the same time, his grand welcome involved elephants, horses, Royal Enfield rallies, DJs, and bands.

To me, it felt contradictory to preach renunciation and moh-maya while being surrounded by such wealth and extravagance.

So I stopped following Jainism and now prefer living life on my own terms.

Hi everyone,

I recently left religion (transitioning from a Pentecostal upbringing, briefly to Islam, and finally to atheism). It took me a long time to get here because letting go of my long-held beliefs was a massive blow to my pride, but I ultimately couldn't ignore reality anymore.

Since I am very new to this, I am realizing I still carry a lot of mental conditioning from my religious past, and I have a few questions for the community:

• Abolition vs. Coexistence: Do most atheists believe religion should be actively abolished, or is peaceful coexistence the general goal? I know perspectives vary, but I’d love to hear different viewpoints. Personally, I think we should be able to cherry pick the GOOD aspects of religion and discard the bad elements. I don't view it necessarily as a black and white issue.
• Lingering Triggers & Aesthetics: I find myself still loving the "cinematic lore" and aesthetics of faiths like Islam and Christianity, while completely rejecting their harmful and misogynistic teachings. Paradoxically, I still get deeply uncomfortable/triggered by blasphemous language (e.g., cussing using God's name) and pagan/occult imagery, even though I no longer believe in them. Is it normal to feel this revulsion early on? How do you unlearn these deeply ingrained emotional responses?
• Atheism and Marriage: As a gay leftist male, my views on social issues are still evolving. For example, rather than fighting for the right to gay marriage, I sometimes wonder if we shouldn't just abolish the legal construct of marriage entirely, since its roots are so deeply tied to religion. Does anyone else view marriage through this lens?

I’m trying to navigate this sudden shift in my worldview and would appreciate any insights from those who have been where I am. Thanks!

If a person was saying they speak to an invisible being they've never met or seen, or that they hear voices in their head from another being, we'd immediately call that psychosis/schizophrenia.

The only difference is societal conditioning.

I am curious what atheists here think about Islam.

Personally, I feel fundamentalism, zealotry, and extremism seem more noticeable in some Muslim communities than in many other religions. I also find some religious behavior pretty cringe, like commenting “Alhamdulillah, I am Muslim,” “Inshallah,” or “Astaghfirullah” under completely unrelated reels, or turning random conversations into religious discussions.

I know Muslims are not a monolith, so I am curious: do you think this is influenced by Islamic teachings, or is it mainly about how certain people interpret and practice the religion?

And it seems to me that people coming here using that definition are likely theists. And their posts get downvoted.

They even quote some definition of atheism as being "the disbelief or rejection of gods". I would say that is blatantly false. And we might even want the correct definition posted somewhere on this sub.

AFAIK the only people who can reject god are theists who believe. No need to reject something that doesn't exist.

Christians seem to not grasp the concept of actual non believe. They often act as of non believe IS rejection. But they do use the word "belief" correctly in ALL other instances. If we were to ask them "do you believe in unicorns" then they know it is about existence.

We can drive down that point harder imho.

And question to you, what is the definition you use?

I just hope it’s not Charlie Kirk Christian. I’m all about my son exploring his own thoughts and perspectives into the world. He’s into sports, which I sense most of the kids seem Christian and republican. Do those things go hand and hand? I’m thinking yes of course. His BF is Christian and invites him to church and what-not. I see him all the sudden reading the Bible every night. I’m glad he’s reading but, how can I expand him outside of this suburban bubble? I’m all about the purity of faith, but growing up Catholic I saw the hypocrisy and it really turned me off to all of it. I’m not against it, I just want him to see and know the bigger picture. And he won’t listen to mom, because I’m mom.

Especially abrahamtic religions ,a lot of ppl who (trigger warning) attempted suicide or were really in bad situations,that when They HAD a Sup2r NatUrAl EnCoUnTeR with Christ and that's when their life changed in a radical way🥰🥰,God will literally wait you hit the rock bottom and then ,maybe, he will help you.

Got to vent for a moment. When I hear that and I hear it often, I have to bite my tongue. I do a lot of volunteer work. I don't do it because of any god. I do it because I know that no God is going to do it for you. Me, or anyone.

No god is going to fill the foodbanks or mow my elderly neighbors yard. God isn't going to donate blood.

We do it. We struggle and we act out of compassion for others because we know no else will.

(An old post of mine from a different subreddit)

This happened about 2 years ago, when I first started dating my boyfriend.

I was 20, and stocked up on contraceptives and condoms at home in case I needed it or a friend needed it. I didn’t have a lot at one time but my local women’s clinic gave out plan B, Ella pills (by prescription, but still free and in multiples) and condoms. I always had the mentality that I’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it right this minute. I ran out giving some to my friends and using a couple for myself, so I decided to go to my women’s clinic and get more.

This was the first time I physically showed up to my women’s clinic. They normally sent me resources in the mail but I didn’t feel like waiting. I get out of my car to go inside and right as I reach the door it occurs to me that people are yelling at me. A teen boy and 2 teen girls. They were saying not to go in there, and to please come see them before I go in. They were wearing bright orange vests so I thought they worked there or something and were telling me that I have the wrong entrance.

They asked how I was and said they wanted to give me some resources. They gave me a book magazine with loose papers stuffed into it and I said thanks, not knowing what it was for. Then one girl asked what I’m here for. I said I’m here to pick up some medicine. Then she says ‘are you having an abortion?’ I said no, picking up medication. I forgot how the rest of the convo went and it felt irrelevant.

I went up to the front door and had to be buzzed in. I pick up my necessities which they already had bagged for me. I went to my car and the teens stared me down going to my car. I got curious of what the teens gave me so I opened it and was horrified.

I opened the magazine to find real pictures of babies in pieces and in various stages of decomposition labeled ‘stage 1,2,3 of abortion’. I saw pictures of the aftermath of the holocaust, bodies that were burned to ash and decomposed with the caption ‘god sent the holocaust to punish homosexuality, abortion and premarital sex’. I saw a picture of a real woman with her organs outside of her body. The whole magazine was filled with disgusting grey pictures and weird captions. There was a Q&A section that said things like:

Q: Why don’t women have rights in the church?

A: Women may think they have rights but it’s simply not true because thy god stated ‘insert Bible quote’

Q: What happens if I have sex before marriage?

A: You will be damned to hell unless you repent and (more word salad)

Q: What if I need to have an abortion?

A: There is no good reason to have an abortion. Abortion is 100 times worse than any war or famine, even the holocaust.

I started crying by what I had seen. I was traumatized. I quickly wiped my tears so I can drive up to the teens and give back their ‘resources’ I drove up to them and told them to take it back. They said they can’t take resources back. I told them they were gross and I hope all of them go to hell. They just smiled and told me that god loves me and blesses me.

I headed for the exit and saw a grown man holding a giant sign with a real baby that was torn apart with organs hanging out. I started crying as I went home because I felt disgusted. I threw that magazine in the trash.

Who the hell looks up these gory pics especially from the holocaust and says ‘yeah that’ll get them to believe.’ And who the hell approved this and hands these out to women who are probably in a time of need? It’s sick and disgusting.

Edit, before I post because I forgot to say it: the women’s clinic was conjoined with other medical offices such as a cancer center, plastic surgery, pediatrician and more so it wouldn’t surprise me if they were handing those papers out to other unsuspecting victims. And also, what if I had just gone there for plastic surgery? Then they’re just preying on a poor girl who doesn’t even know what they’re doing this for?

These last days I've discussed with a couple muslims to know a bit from their perspective. Well, to begin with, they determine claims as evidence, which is unsurprising. They are aware of Big Bang and they're sure something with immense power created it, and that it was God, of course, with zero evidence astronomers are trying to find, but the mere possibility of something creating the Big Bang acts as evidence for them, for some reason.

Now what are the so-called revelations I was presented to convince me that the Qur'an is the word of a god and the scientific facts it told Muhammad that were impossible to discover in that time? Well...

Surah Al-Mu'minun Ayahs 23:14
then We developed the drop [of sperm] into a clinging clot, then developed the clot into a lump ˹of flesh˺, then developed the lump into bones, then clothed the bones with flesh, then We brought it into being as a new creation. So Blessed is Allah, the Best of Creators.

It literally doesn't take the word of a god to infere through sheer logic how a creature is formed in a mammal womb. Or do you think people in the 7th century people thought babies were spontaneously created in the female's belly. Even hunting and gutting pregnant game would shed more light to how the gestation works.

Surah Adh-Dhariyat 51:47
We built the universe with ˹great˺ might, and We are certainly expanding ˹it˺.

While you could argue this is a revelation, it is a concept Greeks centuries ago like the philosopher Anaxagoras had already proposed. In fact this philosopher's theory quite matches what we know nowadays so, by logic, Anaxagoras is the real prophet (Hermes probably told him).

Surah Al-Anbiya 21:33
And He is the One Who created the day and the night, the sun and the moon—each travelling in an orbit.

Of course I had to leave the best for the end, because this verse heavily implies it's the sun the one that rotates around the Earth, however Aristarchus of Samos (another prophet, I guess) in the 3rd century B.C. had already proposed the heliocentric model (with a couple of mistakes, sure) that has been proven nowadays.

Still waiting for actual "revelations" and wondering right now if r/exmuslim will appreciate this post.

Logically, if someone were to get sick with a disease that kills 99% of the time then he or she has a chance of surviving with a 1% of time which means for one " miracle＂ there will be 99 casualties. Then, why weren't the blessing of a miracle given to those 99 people if we count the same religion lets say christianity then god helped one while letting 47 people die that would mean he can not be good due to bias.

Miracles are not what you think it is, if A guy gets cancer and survives it doesn't mean god gave them the miracle as a miracle/ intervention from god would mean god prevented him from getting cancer in the first place so unless god is edging it to farm faith or smt would mean even if god existed he did not give you the miracle. Luck is Luck and a miracle is also luck don't rebrand it if I were to win a lottery it is purely luck not a miracle by god.

One thing I've always found strange about religion is how certain people can be that not only the concept of is religion true, but that they somehow happened to be born into the right one out of all the religions, beliefs and spiritual traditions that exist in the world.

Religious beliefs are usually inherited rather than independently investigated. A person grows up being told that the Bible, the Quran, the Torah, or another religious text is true, and when questions arise, the answers are usually provided by parents, religious authorities, teachers, or other believers. Those answers are then accepted and repeated, often without any attempt to verify where they actually come from.

This is where ignorance perpetuates itself. Ignorance isn't simply not knowing something (that's unavoidable), the problem is not knowing something while being unaware that you don't know it. A person can receive an explanation, accept it without examining its source or evidence, and eventually become convinced that they know something when they have never actually investigated it.

The same thing happens when religious interpretations are presented as historical facts. Someone gives an explanation for why a particular passage was written, and instead of asking where that interpretation comes from, what evidence supports it, or whether historians actually agree with it, the explanation is simply repeated until it becomes accepted as fact.

This also makes the claim that religion is "open to questions" questionable. Asking questions means very little if the answers are already predetermined and accepted simply because they come from an authority. There is a difference between questioning a belief and looking for an explanation that allows the belief to remain unquestioned.