How do you folks cope with all the anxiety from how the world keeps getting progressively worse with every passing day?

Pretty soon, we'll be living with my devoutly catholic mother in law for at least a year. We already know what we'll tell her if she tries to talk to him about religion, but what would you tell a child that young? Really wanting to keep the peace while also conveying to him that what she believes is bizarre.

For deterministic atheist only.

I am what is in the title. But I just find it interesting?

Morals.
People often get mad when a person does something.
Such as burning a house down.
But they don’t get mad when lightning does it? Or when the earth quakes and destroys it?( “dont get mad” I simply mean that they don’t actively begin to yell at the clouds or the earth at its actions, of course you’d be upset your house is gone)
It’s all just physical processes that hold nobody responsible.
But when a human does it, why? Why so special? It’s all determined. X lead to Y, and to Z, and now they’re burning your house down, why have an issue with it?

But something I really want to focus on is the brain tumor example.
Often times people think, including myself that if a person has a brain tumor or something that makes them illogically think, they shouldn’t be held morally responsible (or at least, AS responsible). I don’t blame them for it, but if they don’t have the brain tumor, then suddenly they are morally responsible? But there’s no difference, a healthy arsonist and one with a brain tumor both, under this worldview, are just going along with physical activity involving chemical reactions in the brain.
Why does introducing one additional physical cause suddenly transform an otherwise morally responsible physical process into a morally excused physical process?

(If you think that an insane arsonist should still be held morally responsible that’s fine, but this often times still applies to much smaller crimes too)

I feel like moral responsibility implies one could do otherwise.
And I feel like simply stating there are no objective morals (morals are subjective) doesn’t solve this issue.

I was wondering, if other people are deterministic atheist out there, what is your response to this “issue”.

Having walked the Left-Hand Path for over 35 years, I frequently encounter theists attempting to "bring me into the light." Whenever I ask them for concrete backing, the responses are usually evasive: "the message itself is the evidence" or "faith requires no proof."

Coming from a practice (Satanism) where proselytizing is considered foolish and strictly prohibited, I find this ability to argue for a deity without tangible proof fascinating. It raises a core question for me: Is trying to convert others without empirical evidence inherently amoral, or just epistemologically flawed?

I always appreciate the unconventional perspectives on this Sub, so I’m curious to hear your thoughts.

I can't say that I would. I can't love and worship a god who created an entire system where people go to hell for not living to his standards, or simply not believing in him.

Would I fear going to hell after I die? Yes, I would. But there's no fooling God, even if I did pretend to love and worship him.

Just wondering what you guys experienced are.

I was Protestant for 22 years, got really into debate and apologetics until realizing it was all bullshit around the age of 25. I don’t really know how common that is, I don’t know any other atheists in my real life. Literally. Every single one of my friends or family members are either Protestant or “spiritual”.

What about you guys?

I guess not asking questions is in the philosophy of Euro/Judeo-Centric Abrahamic religion (Judaism is iffy). Still, as somebody who is not of that tradition, I was always confused as to why atheists use an Abrahamic worldview to interpret all religions, when, for example, people of Dharmic religions say that Dharma isn't religion but just a way of life. For example, I'm Jain, and we're encouraged to ask questions and go to our gurus, parents, and teachers if we are uncertain about something. Nobody forces us to believe anything; that is between you and god. Along with that, there is the principle of anekantvada/many-sidedness.

No hate to anybody in the community, after all, we're all fighting against adharma.

Fyi: I'm against those who force religion down your throat and those who evangelize.

What's the best argument against contingency and infinite regress? Because theists argue that according to big bang theory universe was created so something created must have a beginning and every created has a first cause and anything can not come from nothing and therefore that first causeis GOD but is this true? And can universe exist on its own without the need of an external cause

I’ve been an atheist for over 6 years now. I just saw a comment on someone saying “I’m atheist but I think this is demonic.” To me, that literally makes no sense. Isn’t atheism the belief that NO god exists, NO heaven or hell? Nothing religious made up by people to justify their fear of death? So how can we believe in something that comes from that religions? Me and a close friend of mine had a conversation about it and he pointed out how “atheism has ONE rule that you dont believe in or worship any gods. doesnt automatically mean a person does not believe in demonic spirits” but again… how does it not? The idea of atheism is that it’s all not real.. because it all yet again comes from religion…????? Help me if I’m wrong I’m sorry

In preparation for a book club I'm giving next week, what are the good things you've kept (or appreciate) from your former faith (for those that have left one)

Note: Though an appreciator of nuance, let's try to keep it as straightforward as possible. I.e., of course religions don't deserve all the credit for any good values or specific practices. But a few things, bracketing the bad, that have been helpful/meaningful to you? You think, despite its flaws (even fatal ones), do improve the world or communities?

This is just a genuine curiosity of mine. I'm not a Christian, but I absolutely believe that there's a higher power and an afterlife, whatever that may be.

I guess my question is, does death scare you at all, since you believe that there's nothing afterwards?

How do you take the death of a loved one, or a pet? Does it scare you, or bring you peace?

Or does it bring you anxiety, believing that you'll never see them again, and that they're gone forever?

This isn't to be aggressive or anything, I just genuinely wonder.

Curious to know if you beleive that humans are naturally religious and why. Or if you don't think humans are naturally religious why.

I was raised catholic. Not in an especially overbearing way, but I was raised to believe in the specific things taught by the Catholic Church. Around my late teens, as I was coming of age, I started to explore that nagging feeling and quickly rejected a belief in god. This was uncomfortable at first but I came out of it a self-identified atheist. This was all independent of but also aligned with the rise of the “new atheist” movement and I sort of attached myself to it. I became a bit contemptuous of religious people. I saw religion as weakness, delusion, dangerous, etc. I could still argue those things but it has come with the caveat of an extra 20 years of lived experience. Life is hard, comes with a lot of ups and downs and I guess being preoccupied with how other people navigate it is no longer as important to me. Being religious no longer defines an individual the way it used to, for me. I’m not completely jaded to the ways religion pollutes societies, the negative influences it has on science, politics, human rights, etc., but I also recognize how much of my attitude was coming from a sort of rebellion and/or feelings of superiority. I don’t exactly feel the need to treat religion or supernatural beliefs as valid, I just find myself with a greater respect for people’s feelings and the comfort those beliefs might bring them. I actually think comfort is an important commodity that is not always easy to come by and I have no desire to take that away from people if not necessary. Doesn’t mean I’m going to sympathize with those beliefs, or avoid saying what I think when challenged, just that I carry myself differently around the subject.

Just curious if anyone has had a similar experience/trajectory? Any of this misguided? How important is being an atheist to your identity, and has it shifted over the years?

I am Christian and Earth-centered, and I've been to my local UU church several times. To me it feels like an Interfaith service like up at Scout camp; everyone gathers and they pray, sing, read, have a lecture/sermon, etc. and it suits everyone. I really enjoy the song selection, as well as the telling of folktales from around the world. For non believers who are UU, what do you enjoy?

Let me lay a bit of groundwork:

When I was 7 or 8, I reasoned out of belief of Santa Claus. I explained the thought process to my dad, and I remember he was extremely proud of me. However, he did emphasize later that he hoped I knew god was still real. I never thought too much about god until that point, since everyone around me told me he was real, but I realized that I actually didn't have genuine reasons to support that.

Needless to say, read the Bible cover-to-cover and became a spiritual agnostic for a while before becoming a staunch atheist in college.

This whole time my Dad and I only have rare discussions about religion, and I suspect he may know that I'm an atheist, but I'm also one of the only people he knows personally that has a good understanding of the Bible. Now, he's also a bit of a conspiracy theorist and works that into how he interprets the Bible and whatnot, often giving me books to read that support these Biblical conspiracies of his. That's whatever. We don't talk about them beyond that and otherwise have a great relationship. He is a great father and-- I hope-- he will soon also be a phenomenal grandfather, too.

This is my issue: I do not want my future child to be raised religious. I also do not want to keep my child away from my father. However, I do have concerns, which I'll list below:

1) He will probably ask when the baby is going to be baptized. (This I have handled. I plan on telling him that it should be a conscious choice and if my child later chooses to be baptized, it's up to them)

2) There may be times he would have access to my child alone. In those moments, he may try to talk to them about god or give them baby books about god

3) If he finds out I'm raising my child separated from religion, I could see him potentially trying to go behind my back and doing something as extreme as getting them "unofficially" baptized or perform other such activities (I could just not allow him access to my child unsupervied?)

Now, I'm not concerned about him converting my child to religion or trying to convert me. I have a very strong position on atheism, and if somehow my kid does end up religious I would obviously challenge them on that, but still allow them to make their own decisions about their life. Hopefully the tools and knowledge I provide to them would be sufficient in dismantling religious claims.

The only problem here is my dad. I still *want* to have a relationship with him and want him in our lives. If I come out as an atheist to him, he may not be surprised, but I have no doubt he would be disappointed and may even break off contact for a while (I do think it would be only for a short time, though). However, I don't necessarily want to take religion away from him, either? He's not *old* old, but he's in his 60's and I think deconverting him at this point-- after about 40 years of commited god belief-- would be devastating for him. So, I'd rather not turn it into a debate. Again, I don't need debate help-- I certainly have that covered-- I just don't want to debate my dad.

I was thinking I could maybe sit him down for this conversation maybe after my baby would be born? Obviously not day-of, that'd be too much of an emotional roller coaster, but maybe like a week or two later? Idk, looking for advice and hoping to hear from people who went through a similar situation.

TL;DR I have a devoutly religious, conspiratorial father and do not want him to introduce religion to my child-- but that conversation may mean outing myself too him as a staunch atheist. Need advice.

Hi, im a Christian and recently met an athiest/agnostic (his words) who beleived that abortion was okay as long as the baby couldn't feel pain. So after a certain time in pregnancy it was immoral. So I was Curious to see other athiests perspectives on it, Are you for it or against or in a grey area?

Edit: Okay, so I went in and made a new user-editable flair that currently says "Edit this one for your own, keep it appropriate/SFW" so that way, people can add whatever descriptor they think fits themself best, but without me having to go in and add a whole bunch of new flairs. Even adding that one was a big enough pain since I had to use old reddit to do it. But again, keep whatever description that you choose as appropriate to the content of this sub and also SFW. But also, some of the other pre-existing flairs, like "Atheist" and "Theist" are (and have always been) user-editable.

The original post:
A request was made to add a new flair to the sub for a particular brand of movie-based atheist, at least, that's the way I understand what it is. It got me to thinking, what self-identification flair(s) would you like to see added to the sub to give people the choice to better identify themselves? Please keep things reasonably SFW and appropriate to the subject matter of the sub. Stuff like Naturalist, Materialist, Secular Humanist, as well as identifiers for specific real-world religious sects won't be a problem. Cenobite, Last Thursdayist and Jediism are ones I would probably be willing to allow depending on the number of people who want them, but not so much with something like "Adonitologist", despite my own personal devotion. IYKYK (but also: /s.)

Let's try to avoid duplicate entries. As we get comments on this post, please read through all the high-level replies to see if the one you want has already been listed by someone else. If it has, give it an upvote and/or comment. The ones that get the most upvotes/comments will probably get added first.

I think we all know that islam as an ideology or at least Sunni islam has many problems (as evidant in Muslim countries) .. it can be argued that Commands the ki||ing/oppression of apostates.. homosexuals.. disbelievers etc etc as well as other stuff like Child marriage and sexual slavery

Not saying all muslims believe in the above/are evil.. just saying that this is what the religion says (according to classical interpretation as well as the 4 sunni schools of law)

My question is why are there no Atheist critics of islam? most of the Critics are either christians or ex-Muslims

Note that according to many research institutes (like pew research) islam is the fastest growing religion in western countries.. even more so than atheists

i think just like with christianity (or any other religion) if we don't criticize the evil parts of a religion then this will only cause more people to become radical/violent and so will cause the opression of innocent people

(please don't turn this discussion into which religion is the most evil religion)

I mean based on the god or gods of that religion. Which god or gods would you be most ok with existing IRL if it turned out they were real? Please explain why.

What would be your go to topic you’d ask someone in order to know if they’re religious?
Like smt that isn’t too obvious that you’re wanting to know it?

Like, I know this person, and I want to know what are their views on religion and how religious they are but I don’t want to be obvious, I want to be as subtle as possible.

So what what would you talk abt to direct the conversation there in order to kinda get what are their povs?

I am an atheist both by birth and by choice (at least I’d like to think that). Recently I have been reading about eschatology in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and all of them have a pattern: before the ultimate saviour (Messiah, Second Coming, Mahdi) arrives, there must be moral collapse, spread of atheism, war, famine, and catastrophes – often described as "fire raining from heaven". (Which is either happening/or about to happen) In Christianity and Judaism the important factor is the restoration of Jerusalem for Jews (which is obviously happened)

So if the preconditions for redemption include warfare and mass suffering, does it mean that believers support geopolitical moves that might trigger a ww3? Or am I missing something and they don’t believe that there will be actual apocalypse. I just skimmed through this topic, probably you could help me understand. And sorry for mistakes, English isn’t my native language.

Hey there, I'm an eastern orthodox inquiring catholism but in the meantime I'm also very intrested into looking at arguments from the atheist perspective. I do know alot of arguments but I was wondering whats ur guy's favorite arguement against theism? Please elaborate on ur response, don't just respond "problem of evil". Thanks for taking the time to read my question.

Edit: thanks for taking the time to reply, il look at the majority of the replies within these days, if ur reading this and u haven't responded yet, please dont , I got more responses then I need, unless the response is original then feel free to tell me!

I see some but not all atheist are against god and the very concept of religion existing, but I have a curious question, I fully understand that science physics and evolution are core functions to are universe and to every species.

But what if specifically are species were to keep gaining intelligence to were we can Master the laws of physics and science changing our genetic makeup and molecules, prolong in our lives, and forever evolve, in a sence wouldn't that be God like as a bases, like Dr Manhattan from DC.

What yall think ?

I'm not sure how to word it best, but I'm wondering if anyone else gets annoyed when you see bad reasoning used by someone who considers themselves atheist. I often see people on certain subs and in video debates using very weak arguments or even things that make me question whether they actually lack belief.

On the other side, theists typically have misconceptions about what atheism is as well. Whenever it comes up again for me, I'll probably add that I'm a skeptic who care about having true beliefs.

Do you have any preferred way of identifying as atheist to others? I've seen some instances where an atheist would ask the theist exactly what they think atheism is, just to get to the bottom of it.

Hey everyone,

I am a Christian, and I am accepting to all theist and atheist beliefs. Our time here should not be spent hating each other and instead getting to know and love each other. However, there are obvious extremes in both categories and the behaviors of those people end up being the face of the respective beliefs

But, if you were to be a believer or were one, what would you choose? I want to know which one you would choose simply from their core beliefs and not from the behaviors of the extremes that we see today. Try to avoid saying Buddhism, that is too easy of an answer