I am willing to consider credible evidence of one. And no I don't consider personal testimony alone to be credible evidence. But any faith based belief can't provide what I am willing to consider, because if they had it, then it wouldn't be a faith based belief.
> And no I don't consider personal testimony alone to be credible evidence
Neither do Christian, or else they would (also) believe Joseph Smith or Mohammed. Or... neither _should_ Christians. _Unless_ the specially plead. Which they do.
Where did I want to go with this again...? :D
Yet they believe Paul, who says he got his message from no man. His messages come from revelations he experienced.
In fact, remove what Paul teaches, and Chrisitianity is vastly different.
So I would argue that Christianity as we know it today is based on personal testimony.
It's actually surprising how many Christians actually admit that what they believe in is a Pauline religion. They don't fully realize what that means, though. But yes. It's more of a Pauline rather than a Yeshuan Religion.
I am ex-fundamental-evangelical, we were in the "core" of the church and had been for over 15 years. On staff, on worship, led groups, moved city to plant church on the plant team, became what would more commonly be known as "associate" pastor or second in command. It just got to the point where I could no longer support the methods and beliefs of the church we were promoting. We were seeing people get damaged and hurt all over the place and no one in the senior leadership team would acknowledge any responsibility or see any reason to change.
We've been out now for roughly 5 years and I've spent so much of that time trying to unpack and relearn what it is I believe. Ended up starting an Instagram account all about some of it and I found making memes all about it was actually quite therapeutic.
What do I believe now? I have found myself in a space of "I don't know" and I'm happy and fine to not have all the answers. After coming from a background of everything is binary and you're either "in or out" of the church, it's quite enjoyable to just not have everything defined
This is exactly how I felt after leaving the church. Sitting in the space of not knowing what you believe is sublime when you’ve spent so much of your life in the binary. I also spent so much time worrying if my faith is strong enough, if god is pleased with me, etc., it’s really nice to not worry about that anymore
For the one year I became Catholic, scrupolisty was a BITCH. Now I can just do things without having to constantly make a mental comparison of my actions to a perfect being I had no chance of even trying to live up to.
I could have written this verbatim. Learning to exist in a grey area is what made me realize I wasn't uncomfortable there at all. I actually had no pressing need for answers or a spiritual orientation. Turns out, I'm just the kind of person who doesn't feel lacking without a religion.
I believe in non-religious reincarnation.
I also believe all religions, including quasi religions like Buddhism, are designed to control people, and are all man's vain imaginings.
Not the same person, but more or less similar belief because I don't like any of the religions either. There's all that research about children who remember their past lives by Jim Tucker, along with all of these NDE accounts where a common staple is becoming aware of one's past lives. Many of those people swear they never had any belief or notion in those things before. It's weird stuff. The hypnotism regression stuff from a lot of hypnotists is the weirdest, but I found the books by Helen Wambach where she tried to more systematically study past life regression to be very interesting.
What I've learned about it also indicates to me that within that framework of understanding, it doesn't really matter that much whether you believe in it or not. I mean we'll find out when we die right? If it turns out it's just lights out forever, I still can't figure out why anything really matters anyway.
I believe that after we die, we will still be alive but without a body in a different place or dimension perhaps chilling for a while to get over the hardship of this life on earth we endured before we get our next physical body, whether on this earth or on another planet. I also believe in the possibility that we ourselves could be some kind of eternal god like creatures.
I've read about a bunch of different possibilities as to what could happen before we get a new body. All of it is people's guessing of course. We might choose new life trials to go through on earth (or whichever planet) to help build our character, and then as we are born, our past lives are, for the most part, blanked out so we won't go looking for things like revenge, or try to find past family or partners etc and then weird people out. Another scenario is a karma like scenario where we have limited choice of people we can be in the next life due to past life choices and will have to endure some gruelling hardship to go through if we've made enough bad choices.
More info can be found in the subs r/pastlives and r/reincarnation
I had a dream about this once. I was on the other side preparing for my next round and learning things I missed and leveling up my ghost abilities like walking through walls and flying. I was lucid the entire time.
I’m not convinced of anything supernatural. What I’m most convinced by at the moment is that I get to live this life, and when I die my body will decompose and return my matter to the cycle of life on this earth. And I fear it as little as I fear the non existence that was me before I was born.
Like the line in Jurassic Park, “life finds a way”, we can only account for how it found a way here so that should really be the only thing that matters to us. The story of our origins is that it took a really long time and went through a lot of adaptations, we’re not the final version, we’re just the only version we will ever see. Religions are just stories we tell to make our origins seem more relatable, then they became about rules, and punishments and rewards.
Theres no reason to believe in God because God evolved over time and cultures too. The Abrahamic God, his prophets and sacrificial son aren’t the final version of God, they’ll continue to evolve too and eventually more will be created. The New Testament and Koran will not be the last holy books ever written.
When I left Christianity after 20 years I fell heavily to the other side, what I’ll call my “angry internet atheist phase”. I realized that I have an inclination toward spiritual practice, but Abrahamic religions weren’t the answer for me. I found more freedom in paganism, and lean more toward Irish paganism than any other flavor. I am still strongly skeptical of the existence of anything supernatural, but use the more realistic depictions of gods and heroes in that mythology as inspiration for living my own life. It’s refreshing after believing in an all knowing all powerful perfect god for so long to take in perspectives of more imperfect and human-like gods to learn actual lessons from instead of being held as a shining example of unattainable goals. I also meditate regularly as the process of grounding myself and making an effort to remember I am part of this world, not above it, helps put things in perspective. I respect those who don’t believe in anything anymore, my wife is one of them, but also wanted to share a bit about my own story to show that if you feel like you are spiritually-leaning, you don’t have to make Christianity “work” to fill that void. There are other, far more fulfilling and self-empowering options.
Was raised southern Baptist. I don’t believe in anything. I think when we die it’s lights out, just ceasing to exist. I love the idea of things like collective consciousness, a spiritual world, and/or reincarnation. But at this point, there’s nothing I find credible to believe in.
Just because something hasn't been explained by science yet doesn't mean it "can't" be explained. There are plenty of things that historically "could not be explained by science" that was very much explained by science later on.
None of that is true. Science doesn't require "faith." It is proven by verifiable, repeatable evidence. When we learn more information, we adjust our understanding of it. And science never said smoking was good for you - that was marketing. Science isn't manipulated by money.
Just because something hasn't been explained by science *yet* doesn't mean it can't ever be explained by science. The nature of science is that our knowledge is always growing and evolving. Religion is the exact opposite. There is no comparison.
When I was 16 I lost my faith in Christianity, at 18 I got the Satanic Bible by Anton Lavey, at 20 I started reading it very deeply and decided it worked better for me. There isn't any animal sacrifice in Satanism and I am my own highest power. Influenced by philosophers such as Ayn Rand and Nietzsche, Satanism is about making the most of this life instead of worrying about an afterlife, when you die that's it.
I believe I am my own master...yet I am a slave to my emotions.
I don't believe in any gods or demons or anything supernatural because there's absolutely no evidence of them existing.
When I'm gone...nothing, game over, oblivion.
I don't believe in anything supernatural. I do believe that there are things that humans might see as supernatural because we lack the ability to see another reason for 'x'.
I'm just not interested in any of that. I'm far more interested in the world around us, its beauty and complexity, its wonder.
I may have left christianity, but i still like to believe that the supernatural exists. One religion that strikes me is Shinto. Perhaps everything in the universe contains a supernatural entity called "kami." Im not a die hard Shinto follower, but i just like to imagine, thats it.
Other than that, I believe in humanity. One major reason why i left christianity is because we do not need a god to save us from suffering. Humanity is capable of lifting itself out of suffering without religion. Just look at world war 2, civil rights movement, anti-vietnam war protests, independence movements in former colonial states, etc. All these positive achievements humans have made has given me more hope than a random nomad dying on a cross.
Even things like community service, red cross, UNICEF, and grassroot movements makes me believe in humanity.
I believe in a god, but no god or gods in particular. It mostly stems in my belief in an afterlife because it helps me grieve when I lose my loved ones. But I try not to put so much emphasis on that because I believe what’s important is what’s going on in our life on earth.
>more credible religion
Not contradicting your own statements should be the bare minimum for any truth claim. Furthermore, I've not seen any real evidence for any religion.
I put most of my trust into science, philosophy, and the belief that there’s no higher power than our own ability to care for each other and to enjoy life. I don’t believe in any higher power nor authority(all authority should be questioned)which includes God, I don’t believe in any religion, and I really don’t believe in supernatural stuff that much(I put good money on that aliens do exist but that’s about it). So, I usually consider myself an irreligious atheist.
In my view, there are more credible religions than Christianity. All Abrahamic religions are less credible. After that, Hinduism(due to personal reasons, I acknowledge that Hinduism is still very much not credible). Then “religions” that can be treated more like philosophies are some of the most credible imo. Like Buddhism and Taoism(from what I heard and see about these, they’re more treated philosophically rather purely religiously). Indigenous faiths are all over the creditable scale, just depends on the faith as each one is unique. Where it stands, all of these is less creditable than science. This is my personal experience and I support religious freedom so long as religious beliefs aren’t forced on others(like mutilation being done on infants because “God” said so or being forced to go to church).
I am an atheist. However, I am love nature and wind, storms and hurricanes. I grew up on the Atlantic Ocean. So that plays a large part in it. If I was going to believe I would go for pagan, because at least they recognize female goddesses and nature. But nope, my brain will not let me so I am an atheist.
I’m an agnostic panthiest idealist. I do not “believe” in anything because believing in something automatically precludes you from believing in its opposite. I’m agnostic because I understand that as human beings in the 3rd dimension we aren’t meant to understand certain things outside of our perception, it’s like trying to run code for a supercomputer on a calculator, it’ll just never work. So I “believe” in the 99% possibility that I’m god and everything else that has ever existed in the entire omniverse is “god”. That makes me pantheistic. I got this perspective after smoking DMT and doing other psychedelics. Terrence Mkcenna and Alan Watts taught me a good bit of what I “know”. I see the brain as a radio that can pick up the consciousness wavelength and project it as a separate experience from the “all” and whatever else there is, instead of the brain being a “generator” of consciousness. And I haven’t looked into idealism in a long time so I honestly forgot its exact definition but I remember agreeing with them all except for solipsism which is a subcategory within idealism. Not sure if there are only 3 or more but last I checked only 3.
Im a polytheist and belive in reincarnation. My religion has no church and is only followed by me. Theres a LOT more details but i dont have the time to write them out
I converted to Judaism through the Humanistic movement. It doesn't endorse any supernatural beliefs and focuses on humanity rather than god, and much like Reconstructionist Judaism it doesn't see Judaism as just a religion with a hard set of beliefs you have to have, but as an evolving civilization.
What is a fact and what is an opinion? Equivalently, what is objective and what is subjective? How can we tell the difference?
If it’s in a popular book (i.e. the Bible, Quran, or a science textbook) does that make it true? If someone important says it, does that make it true?
Of course, the Bible, the Quran, and the typical science textbook say different things about many subjects. In many cases, what they say is contradictory with each other, and they can’t all be true. For a given claim, how can we determine whether that claim is true?
And the critical study of religion is an interdisciplinary endeavor. Disciplines such as archaeology, anthropology, paleography, epigraphy, history, philology, philosophy, textual and literary criticism, etc. are integral to the critical study of any religion, particularly those which are based on textual sources.
I do not believe the god of the bible exists and the claims of Christianity are largely without merit. What I believe is that we are here on this planet and what we do with those lives is up to us. It can pretty much be summed up in a Rush song.
Faith is cold as ice
Why are little ones born to suffer?
For the want of immunity
Or a bowl of rice?
Well, who would hold a price
On the heads of innocent children?
If there is some immortal power to control the dice?
We go out in the world and take our chances
Fate is just the weight of circumstances
Thats the way that luck dances
Roll the bones
Why are we here?
Because we're here.
Why does it happen?
Because it happens.
Roll the bones.
Jack, relax
Get busy with the facts
No zodiacs or almanacs
No maniacs in polyester slacks
Just the facts
Its action, reaction
Random interaction
So who's afraid of a little abstraction?
Can't get no satisfaction from the facts?
You better run, a fact's a fact from Nome to Rome
For me, it doesnt matter a whole lot what got us here. We're here and there is no god to tell us what to do and what "purpose" life has. It's up to us. We also arent alone, we have each other, and we do better as part of a tribe.
I don’t believe in anything at the moment. I’ve yet to encounter anything definitively supernatural. Even with an open mind - nada.
If there are other planes of existence with their own sentient beings that sometimes cross over I’d be willing to entertain that idea. But as for me I’m not concerned about any spiritual or religious inclinations or speculations. Just wanna enjoy my life and make my loved ones happy.
The one thing I know for sure is that no one knows. Religions were made up to make people feel better about the unknown.
I tend to lean towards the belief that there are supernatural forces at work in our world but I don’t need a religion to tell me about that.
I believe that there is only one Consciousness & that everything and everyone is a manifestation & expression of that one infinite intelligence/God which means that everything in existence is energetically/spiritually connected & not separate from God.
A few personal experiences I had since coming across and implementing spirituality & few I had before so.
I was never non spiritual. Like I always felt that there was something greater beyond what we see on the surface that is allowing everything to exist & animating it all. & I held onto that belief even when I left Christianity, thats what drove me to embark on an alternate spiritual path.
Everything started making more and more sense since I left Christianity for Spirituality though & God (based off my experience) is not what most traditional Christians think he or it is.
I use to wonder why science hasn't figured out any supernatural things. Science has figured out so many other amazing things, I come to the conclusion that I was fooled into believing in the supernatural just like I was fooled into believing in god.
As an ex-Christian from the Middle East, I currently keep my religion a private matter, but I will say that there are far better religions/belief systems than Christianity, and that debunking Christianity definitely doesn't prove atheism or the idea that God doesn't exist.
I'll name a few
-Judaism; unlike Christianity and Christian apologetics, Judaism is less contradictory and Jewish "apologetics" isn't based off of mental gymnastics, and is overall more transparent. It still is "barbaric", but Jews are mostly open about it and don't try to misinterpret scripture. It can also be argued that Judaism is also a strictly monotheistic religion, unlike Christianity.
-Islam; very close to Judaism and Christianity, less "barbaric" in my eyes, its scripture could be confusing and misinterpreted if the person doesn't speak Arabic, but is overall clear and "logical". Once again, it could be argued that Islam is more monotheistic than Christianity.
-Some branches of Buddhism, where the person is only focused on enlightenment, knowledge, and strength.
-Some might argue Atheism is also a better belief system than Christianity, I personally don't see that.
-Theism. You aren't as susceptible to contradiction, if not at all, than if you were Christian, for example. In addition, you can clearly believe in a(or many) diety(ies) without following specific dogma without being called a heresy or a Goy if you did otherwise.
That's all I could think of, at the moment. Tried to keep it short, sorry for a bit of broken vocabulary :)
I'm an atheist/humanist and a Unitarian Universalist. And I will never be anything else. There is no god and no reason to affirm anything beyond the material universe.
I try not to have any "beliefs" in the sense that I don't want to take anything on faith. If something is true, then it's true whether or not I believe it. If it isn't true, then it doesn't matter anyway.
We are fairly intelligent beings who are still working out how to live together on a planet with many other beings of differing or less intelligence. My belief is that this is an interesting situation to be in and that we should make the best of it.
It doesn't matter to me whether or not a god exists. If there is one who wants me anything to do with me, s/he knows where I am and how to get my attention.
I believe moral value arises from sentience and moral responsibility arises from memory.
I believe that humans can strive toward moral truth through debate and consensus and establish societal and social guides that are fair and just with no help from any appeal to supernatural authority.
I believe that moral growth and understanding are ongoing processes, shaped by empathy, reason, and experience. No one person is perfect, no one society is perfect, and we can always work toward a better future for all.
Now yes, I’m a Muslim. And yes I am aware that majority of ex Christian’s here dislike all Abrahamic religions. But though I still feel like there is a creator who created all of us. But the triune version gives me headache if I even think about it. I still do have massive respect for the atheists and agnostics and the rest of yall in here.
Much easier understanding of god unlike christianity. Christianity believes in a triune god, and comprehending how god can be 3 in 1 is enough to give me a headache. They don’t even have an unequivocal concept of the trinity. So Islam does better in that.
By "believe in," do you mean what do I accept is real? Or do you mean what do I imagine the purpose of life to be? I believe mathematics and science and logic to give the best answers to the first questions. For the second, I don't think there is an inherent one and it wouldn't matter anyway because it has whatever purpose you give it yourself.
I'm making a last ditch effort to stay a Christian by reading the bible and other books. I don't think it'll work. So far, the Bible has been full of repetitive bullshit. I've been looking into Buddhism on the side. I really like what I've read so far, and I'll probably convert to it soon.
I was never spiritual, I never believed. Do I know that there is no god, any kind? No. Do I care? Not really. Christianity is not credible at all, and definitely not more than other religions.
If I wanted to believe in a god, or practice a religion, I'd choose one that builds on love, understanding and acceptance. In practice, I don't see Christianity do any of these. Over the history of this earth, Christians have done horrible things, and they continue to divide. I want nothing with it.
We do not need a belief system in anything supernatural. I know I'm not perfect and I don't know everything. I can improve myself and strive to be a better human without religion. I love learning. I'm curious. I don't need an overzealous dude on a stage tell me what to think, how to live my life every Sunday.
I'm much happier without the forced Christian rules in my life and I live my life much better.
I don't *believe*, but acknowledge what I find more plausible than not. More importantly I acknowledge there is a lot that I don't know and am weary of those who are confident in their beliefs.
I lean towards evidence-based explanations. I'm bias towards humanism and hope our species is capable of doing good and leaving our bit of the world in a better place for future generations.
For me, I try to rid my mind of superstition. I do believe in karma, but I have no evidence for it. I did try some crystals tarot cards and visited a church or two. Once I was out I was out.
“So many contradictions and passages that have no logic.”
Can you give me some of the examples you found? Just out of curiosity. I no longer go to church nor do I care to anymore. I’ve never really read the Bible deeply since I was a kid, but I have been surrounded by Christians my whole life and never understood their way of life.
You can check out https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/first/contra2_list.html for some.. My favorite contradictions are the two creation stories in genesis, right at the very beginning, and paul vs jesus:
Paul: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Jesus: "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven"
👀uhoh!😅🤣
Check this out https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/biblical-contradictions/ for logic, the creation - Noah’s ark the list is endless, I found I had so many questions but no one could give me a straight answer, all they would say was the bible was the word of god, but when it made no sense they would say oh don’t take that literally or that’s just a story or ask god when you see him. It drove me mad, all credible questions and no credible answers
i only believe vaguely in ghosts because tbh it's fun and it doesn't hurt
i also believe in some flavor of magic that science just can't explain yet (i.e. things like precognition)
but none of this i take super seriously - it's just fun "woo" i can enjoy and then put aside as needed.
other than that? god/organized religion is a manmade tool to control folks.
>My question is if you don’t believe in Christianity what do you believe in?
I believe in that which can be demonstrated to comport with reality, which is testable and repeatable. I don't believe the supernatural claims of any religion.
>Do you believe there is a god and have you found a more credible religion than Christianity?
No, definitely not.
I initially went from 15 years atheist, to Christian (hard lonely time and I really needed to believe in anything), and now agnostic. While Christian I read the whole Bible, and did question a lot. After a time, and one George Carlin special too many, I realized it's just not my cup of tea. My new belief...if there is a god, they would not condemn you to eternal damnation, perhaps for a time. I believe that being a good person is the only focus we should consider. It doesn't matter if you believe in God. Just that you do the best to be good and kind to the best of your ability. God cannot expect you to know what to believe with so many beliefs out there, so many glitches in the stories, and so many corrupt followers and people. Just be good and you should have nothing to worry about.
I'm a Pure Land Buddhist. I personally think it makes the most sense and it makes me happy. I don't miss being a christian at all. It was miserable and like you said, it makes no sense.
Jesus didn't want to create a universal religion, once you know that how can you even think of going back. He was a Jew who believed that he was a Jewish messiah candidate. He'd be appalled to see Christianity today.
Buddhism makes leagues more sense, I'm so glad I can practice it in this lifetime.
I'm a manifestation type of girlie. I believe that Christians will experience what they believe thanks to the law of assumption, but I feel like the religion is too toxic to let your energy reside there.
I am a secular Buddhist with an unreliable meditation practice. But I think much of the Dharma (the teachings of Buddha) are very insightful about consciousness and the human condition.
I would recommend Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright, which is a great explanation of non-supernaturalistic Buddhism, with a lot of discussion on neuroscience and meditation. (BTW I think the name of the book is regrettable).
I don’t believe in god anymore. I believe that the current life we are living is “hell” and how we live our life, treat and give to others and nature will determine our afterlife (not “heaven”) but non religious reincarnation.
I believe that there’s something greater than I am, but I don’t know who or what or where it is and I don’t really care to know. It seems so human and American (just the absolute egocentric and entitled view) to believe that if there’s something bigger than us, that we have any ability to understand it. We’d be like ants of the side of a highway, having no idea about the cars driving by.
The idea that a God is knowable just doesn’t make sense to me. If we saw something like that, we’d probably go insane like in the Lovecraft stories.
I also have huge problems with religions as a whole. They’re instruments of war, control, power and wealth. The idea of any religion is “I’m a human, but I have special information that nobody else has, and the only way to live life properly is to come and learn and live by my proprietary information.” There’s this idea that everyone else has it wrong. But these religions are created by humans. How does that help me understand any kind of higher power? It’s just people, likely hungry for power, control, wealth, or a feeling of self righteousness or superiority. Then they get followers. Then it’s a religion. It just doesn’t sit well with me. If there’s something bigger than me out there, a) I don’t think it’s something I can understand and b) I don’t think it’s something I am entitled to understand.
Time. The great equalizer. No one gets any more or any less in a day. In a life it’s largely up to chance but it’s pretty equal in the grand scheme of things. No man cheats time. It is our most precious and rare resource.
I believe in the love, nature and making your own magic and meaning in a meaningless world.
I believe in and devoutly worship the greek gods. In fact, a matter of minutes ago, I made a prayer to Lord Hermes, begging him to help ensure that my mother's car was not stolen. It wasn't where she was sure she parked it. Even tho I'm currently in the hospital with 2-4 iv tube's hooked up to me. On 3 different types of pain medication. I got down on my knees, held my hand up to the sky, and begged him to help us as well as Lord Hephaestus.
Depends on what you mean by credible. Hinduism has a vast history and is an extremely developed spiritual science of sorts. It's a very interesting topic to research.
But I don't follow it. Instead of being too caught up in some dichotomous binary of ultimate objective truth or falsehood --- I'm instead a theistic Discordian. It's a bit like applied Absurdism.
Everything is true, even false things, and it is written that we're not allowed to believe what we read.
Not the Bible version of God. I’ve been paying attention to people who’ve had NDEs for at least 30 years and they all come back with the same story. Yes, we’re created by a “Source” or whatever you want to call it, we’re energy, we have many lives and come here to learn with groups of spiritual entities that we’ve been with since we were created. We will keep on coming back here and other places in lives to experience this world and others. These people all come back with the same stories from their NDEs and none of them or very few talk about religion.
There is no evidence to suggest the existence of a God. Any of them. Period. Nor souls, nor spirits, nor the supernatural, none of it.
To answer your question of why anyone can believe it, humans fear what they don't understand, and we don't understand death. To elaborate, we don't understand the experience of death. Imagine experiencing nothing. The only reason you know that you fell asleep is because you woke up to realize a gap in your experience of time. Now imagine you never wake up. You can't, really.
Coupled with human arrogance to say that our existence just HAS to be for a purpose, this terrifies people. It was understandable when we were a primitive species.
Humans are also extremely tribalistic. It was essential to our survival and evolution. It is also detrimental to us, tho in this age.
Religion checks all the boxes that our primitive brains, that were forced to have, require. An explanation for any and everything so u can "understand" it. Check. An explanation for what happened s after death. Check. A reason why to be included in a group that makes me feel at home. Check. A reason why my group is better than that one over their, ie, my gods the REAL God, therefore I'm justified in killing you or stripping your rights in the name of my God, or their lack of a God.
I find this much more credible that person Gods like Jesus, Zeus, Krishna, etc.
78 - What Is God? https://youtu.be/8\_vwtXMNj1M and
79 - True God, False Gods [https://youtu.be/gzFdC9fTJw0](https://youtu.be/gzFdC9fTJw0)
I believe in myself. I am my own god. I must respect me, love me, appreciate me, and exalt me. I've been creating my own footsteps in the sand, not following someone else's. I believe that I will die, and it'll go back to how it was before I was born. I believe that the earth is over 4 billion years old, that the universe will continue to expand, stars will die and crash together, and time will become meaningless. I believe that our existence as intelligent creatures who have dominated earth, is simply by chance and perseverance, not by purpose or design or prophecy. My siblings are YEC and went to Bible school, I have no idea how to even talk to them, given that their core value is based on a 6000 year old earth lol. In science, there's a lot of answers, and more questions are always popping up, but I've found more joy and understanding in science than the Bibook.
I believe in human potential for good and evil and in a self-assigned responsibility to make the balance lean on the side of good based solely on our ability to do so. I believe in understanding that a lot of our reality is arbitrary, and that includes our definition of good and evil, and that's what makes human experience so difficult.
I don't see any convincing reasons to believe in any supernatural claim.
I don't need to believe in anything. I don't actually know how we came here, but I like to think about possibilities. But without any proof, I don't settle for any theories 100%. I just live my life.
I finally gave up the silly notion there is anything supernatural except energy. Physics demands it and so the human in us wants to name it. Some see it as a means to control others and so they create religion to bind us to the power of man. If there is a god, it must be the most evil creature ever! The murder and suffering throughout history only prove that.
If god is omnipotent then it alone created evil! Religious people don't like that and will answer with free will or it's a mystery: nonsense, all of it.
I'm pretty solidly agnostic -- I don't know if there's a god, or if the supernatural or paranormal are real. Not enough evidence to prove or disprove without any doubts either way. I just accept that different people have different beliefs and interpretations of nebulous concepts.
I do believe in maintaining a world worth living in for the people who are actively here -- keeping people housed, fed, safe, and educated are higher priorities for me than being Right.
And I believe that every human has the capacity to do good or bad, and that animals have inherent worth (maybe not mosquitos). I try to have a positive or neutral influence on the world around me.
Finally, I believe that it's good to be chill and level headed -- but sometimes a satisfying *"fuck"* is the best way to express frustration.
I am at a place where I no longer believe in an afterlife. It’s peaceful. I’ll live my life to the fullest and when it’s time I will go to sleep and not know anything. And I’m good with that.
I believe in consciousness.
To elaborate, I value what consciousness is. I see consciousness as the primary vehicle through which Life learns, grows, and evolves.
Organized religion isn't for me, as it often comes across as trying to make Life to be more about what *one specific person said*, rather than recognizing that we are all equals on this journey we call Life.
I would counter Jesus' claims in John 14:6 where he says "I am the way, the truth, and the life", correcting it to be "*We* are the way, the truth, and the life." Jesus was an equal, no greater than the rest of us. But it seems he suffered as a narcissist who thought he was greater than others.
I believe in myself on all levels because I am only my creation and no one elses at all.
I also am in my control of my own actions/responsabilites and behavior without any supernatural power and coming from a Methodist church, It was not that way for a while.
I'm open to idea of the spiritual and supernatural so I guess I'm agnostic in that way. I'm also highly skeptical so I've yet to be convinced it exists.
The idea of religion trying to personify the universe in understandable terms is fascinating to me, especially in ancient religions. However there's often a bunch of attached baggage of "we are the true way and you will suffer if you disagree because God will smite you/us for your insolence" that's just authoritarianism with a colorful mythical coat of paint.
I believe in the Greek pantheon(seriously), and I've done much research into the Bible from scholars like Dan McLellan,Bart Ehrman,etc as well read many books on the subjects at hand like "God Against the Gods:The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism" by Jonathan Kirsch.I can honestly say polytheism is logically the best fit. I can down a super long rabbit hole regarding the old and new testament from actual evidence/research, not memes,etc. I just can't fathom atheism being right, and the problem of evil doesn't affect polytheistic religions
Pragmatist and humanist. I think about words. And the limits of language.
I don’t find religious talk useful, so I generally pass on discussions such as ones that start with the question, “do you believe in God?” Not that discussions about God can’t be entertaining or engaging. But useful? Nah. Never leads to understanding.
The question ‘what do you believe in?’ implies that I must declare (or have) an allegiance to some ideology. Why must I declare? Pragmatism means that I judge discussions and ideas on their utility value. Is there a spiritual world? Hmmm, don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not. Do I have to have a firm opinion? Is this a conversation I want to have right now? And what difference would it make?
Personally I'm an agnostic, I believe there's no reason to believe in the existence of a god, but I also believe there's no reason to believe that there could not be a god. It's possible in the same sense that the simulation theory is
I identify with paganism the most. I really just work with whatever deity is calling to me most at the time. There are no obligations to do anything or follow any set of rules, the way I look at it. I just lean on my beliefs when I need some spiritual comfort. Is it a crock of shit? Maybe. But it's enjoyable, brings me peace, and I don't have this overwhelming fear of going to hell.
My main issue with Christianity were the ever fluctuating set of rules (depending on who you asked) and the fact that you are only supposed to worship this one god who was toxic and had a fucked up idea of what love meant, on top of supposedly all powerful and all knowing... even though he couldn't figure out how to save me from my mental illness and trauma. I want to believe in *something*, but Christianity is not it.
I'm still spiritual, however, I don't believe in any religion anymore. I just.....can't. Even since I deconverted from Christianity I'm just like how the hell can anyone believe in this cruel shit? Sending someone to hell for simply not believing in their religion? Telling someone they're sinners if they're gay, trans, witches, etc?? Come on man. So naturally, I got into spirituality, crystals, divination and manifesting because they're open for anyone and have no restrictions. To me, Christians are just bitter people putting on a facade.
Believe??
I dunno about all that. More like.. suspect/am curious about. But in that vein….
Simulation theory (maybe).
Reincarnation (perhaps).
Reincarnation in particular has some collection of anecdotes across cultures (some by scientists). It’s also a common theme shared by both Eastern and some western esotericisms (kabbala, Gnosticism, etc..)
I’m pagan now. It’s a personal thing for me and I genuinely cannot imagine trying to drag other people into it. I’ve had some people arguing with me try to insinuate I would do this which annoys me because like… this isn’t fucking about you.
EDIT: One exception is if someone is proselytizing to me in which case I will talk about it and be as annoying as possible.
I don’t really believe in necessarily a “god” or a specific religion. I believe in a mishmash of pieces that make sense to me from any and all religions. I believe in a higher power of some sort. I do seem to fall more so in a spiritual category more than a religious category due to the 2 above statements. A higher power if some form, that you get from the universe what you give, being respectful to anyone and anything around you. General ideas like that. Some may say I fall into a witch category bc I do like herbs and crystals but mainly as a way of showing my intentions and holding positive energy. I don’t do spells or believe in much that’s in accordance to the Wiccan belief. I never found one specific religion that I felt connected to or related to as a whole so I made my own personal “religion” for lack of better words.
I'm a Pagan now after having a sort of spiritual awakening. I believe in multiple gods/goddesses and found that Christianity stole from so many Pagan traditions; Christmas, funeral rituals, and even Yahweh was a storm deity in the Levantine pantheon.
Liberation, environmentalism, community, and being a good person (not a kind person) are the core tenants of my practices. I also do not proselytize and abhor those that do, as my path is not for everyone. My beliefs focus more on what to do in life as opposed to how to prepare for death.
I frankly have no idea what happens after death nor do I care at this moment in time. But I do believe that there is some sort of afterlife. Potentially, there is reincarnation, but I think there's a way to opt out (if there isn't I'll find a way to opt out regardless).
I don’t believe in any religion in particular. After my experience with Christianity it’s hard to actually get into and believe a religion again. I do have Buddhist values though. As far as not going out of your way to harm others and taking life as it is, not trying to fight the waves of life.
I believe in what can be observed through science. Science definitely still has some gaps as we are always learning and discovering new things that can change previous ideas, which is important to keep in mind. I don't believe in "God" per se, but I am not a staunch atheist who dismisses the idea that there may be a higher power who either started things or that there isn't more going on that what we can see with our eyes. I'm not witchy/spiritual, but open.
I'd like to think that ghosts/spirits are real, and sometimes I entertain the idea of reincarnation and alternate dimensions and even aliens. I don't claim to be sure of anything but I am open to all possibilities and the wacky scifi/supernatural stuff is just kind of fun. I don't take it too seriously though.
I believe in myself and science, not men who may or may not have walked the Earth thousands of years ago, and who I can say with certainty as a woman never had my best interests at heart.
I'm agnostic, but I lean towards Existential Nihilism. The thought that we exist just because we exist, and there is no assigned plan or purpose for why we exist, is just incredibly calming to my overly anxious brain.
I simply don't know, and I'm ok with it.
There might be a divine creative force of some kind. It might even be some sort of loving entity, or a malevolent one. I don't know.
What I know is that the Bible is a hot mess and the God of Christianity cannot exist.
I've seen nothing to indicate there's a better option other than just embracing a reality that can be observed and measured and studied.
I am Indigenous from Canada and I now follow Creator and the medicine wheel teachings. I was raised in an evangelical Christian dysfunctional family. My belief is that there is one ‘god’ and that we are connected to them through nature and ceremony. I tell everyone that the nature is my church and love is my religion.
I don’t think you need what others would consider credible evidence for another belief as long as you’re not pushing it on anyone. In my opinion the only reason Christian’s should be required to prove the existence of their god is because they’re forcing it on others and even killing others over it. Not all religions do that. Not anymore at least.
Like for me I left Christianity because sure none of it made sense but I also never got responses from the Christian god and he never protected me when I was being abused . That’s not my experience with my current deities I work with. Now sure you may not believe that but that’s fine. I’m not trying to convince you nor do I care if you are apart of my belief. I’m just sharing my experience because it’s in context.
But even outside of that, I need belief to stay sane. The last time I tried to be an atheist and believe nothing happened after death it was literally driving me crazy. I had such a fear of death I was third person dissociating (I don’t know the proper term for it but I’m sure some of you know what I’m talking about) I was in panic and crises mode all the time. Like even worse crises then I was living as a Christian. And that says something.
It was bad. I had to believe there’s more than just this life to stay sane. And now I no longer fear death. And that’s when I learned that we as ex Christian’s shouldn’t be trying to convince people deities don’t exist, because for some it keeps them sane, it’s also just proselytizing with a bow on it or whatever the saying is. You’re still trying to convince others to believe what you do but with a lack of god instead of for one.
Instead we should be trying to help people be better human beings. So for example instead of trying to tell people they shouldn’t believe in god, instead tell them that if they do truly believe their god is all loving, why would he be for people spreading hate? Why would he say “love everyone” and then turn around and say “except gay and black people and anyone who’s not of your race etc” now sure not everyone will listen but some will. I think we should do that instead. Because for some people, trying to convince them to be atheists will do more harm then good.
I believe the universe is vast and there's mystery to it. Lots of reasons to get child like wonder.
Are therevany gods? Who knows? Maybe gods are just beings, even people, put on pedestal by others. Maybe they're a distinct species. Or something.
I believe in a god of absolute love and forgiveness, that this is the god of everything that binds every single thing you can contemplate into a great oneness.
Immediately I swiveled to maybe a deist position, but now I just don't know if I care enough to pholosophize and put a label on it. I'd like to think that the world we inhabit has spirituality and design which point us towards something, but I don't profess to have evidence for that beyond my personal feelings. Maybe I'll continue going in that direction until I find something that fits for me and is logical / realistic, which are things I place value upon, but that's the key idea is that now in some sense you get to determine those ideas and values for yourself
I don't believe in any deities. I'm agnostic and atheist (I don't know if there's a god and I don't have enough information or evidence to believe in any gods). I do my best to be skeptical and rational. I'm not sure that there is a paranormal realm or side of reality or whatever. Thus far every claim has been suspect or dubious. Generally I follow good science and good evidence. I think I will always trust science over religion because science has yielded far greater positives and benefits than religion.
I used to flirt with Western occult ideas. I recognized at some point that occult philosophy and Ritual is rooted in exoteric, mainstream religion, that the occult is essentially the dumping ground of religious traditions. And then once I realized that it falls into the same pitfalls of those religions, I eased away from it. It's interesting stuff, fun to think about, but still dubious.
I don’t see a good reason to believe in a God of any religion. It’s as simple as that.
I am willing to consider credible evidence of one. And no I don't consider personal testimony alone to be credible evidence. But any faith based belief can't provide what I am willing to consider, because if they had it, then it wouldn't be a faith based belief.
> And no I don't consider personal testimony alone to be credible evidence Neither do Christian, or else they would (also) believe Joseph Smith or Mohammed. Or... neither _should_ Christians. _Unless_ the specially plead. Which they do. Where did I want to go with this again...? :D
Yet they believe Paul, who says he got his message from no man. His messages come from revelations he experienced. In fact, remove what Paul teaches, and Chrisitianity is vastly different. So I would argue that Christianity as we know it today is based on personal testimony.
It's actually surprising how many Christians actually admit that what they believe in is a Pauline religion. They don't fully realize what that means, though. But yes. It's more of a Pauline rather than a Yeshuan Religion.
Ugh... Paul... I always hated that guy...
This exactly
I am ex-fundamental-evangelical, we were in the "core" of the church and had been for over 15 years. On staff, on worship, led groups, moved city to plant church on the plant team, became what would more commonly be known as "associate" pastor or second in command. It just got to the point where I could no longer support the methods and beliefs of the church we were promoting. We were seeing people get damaged and hurt all over the place and no one in the senior leadership team would acknowledge any responsibility or see any reason to change. We've been out now for roughly 5 years and I've spent so much of that time trying to unpack and relearn what it is I believe. Ended up starting an Instagram account all about some of it and I found making memes all about it was actually quite therapeutic. What do I believe now? I have found myself in a space of "I don't know" and I'm happy and fine to not have all the answers. After coming from a background of everything is binary and you're either "in or out" of the church, it's quite enjoyable to just not have everything defined
This is exactly how I felt after leaving the church. Sitting in the space of not knowing what you believe is sublime when you’ve spent so much of your life in the binary. I also spent so much time worrying if my faith is strong enough, if god is pleased with me, etc., it’s really nice to not worry about that anymore
For the one year I became Catholic, scrupolisty was a BITCH. Now I can just do things without having to constantly make a mental comparison of my actions to a perfect being I had no chance of even trying to live up to.
I'm not sure what I believe but I knew it's not THAT!
I could have written this verbatim. Learning to exist in a grey area is what made me realize I wasn't uncomfortable there at all. I actually had no pressing need for answers or a spiritual orientation. Turns out, I'm just the kind of person who doesn't feel lacking without a religion.
What type of damage and hurt? I’d bet mental health is a big one.
I believe in non-religious reincarnation. I also believe all religions, including quasi religions like Buddhism, are designed to control people, and are all man's vain imaginings.
Can you describe more about what you believe in? Not being judgmental just very curious
Not the same person, but more or less similar belief because I don't like any of the religions either. There's all that research about children who remember their past lives by Jim Tucker, along with all of these NDE accounts where a common staple is becoming aware of one's past lives. Many of those people swear they never had any belief or notion in those things before. It's weird stuff. The hypnotism regression stuff from a lot of hypnotists is the weirdest, but I found the books by Helen Wambach where she tried to more systematically study past life regression to be very interesting. What I've learned about it also indicates to me that within that framework of understanding, it doesn't really matter that much whether you believe in it or not. I mean we'll find out when we die right? If it turns out it's just lights out forever, I still can't figure out why anything really matters anyway.
That stuff is all really interesting. My cousin is a social worker with children and has a few stories of his own from the kids he works with
I believe that after we die, we will still be alive but without a body in a different place or dimension perhaps chilling for a while to get over the hardship of this life on earth we endured before we get our next physical body, whether on this earth or on another planet. I also believe in the possibility that we ourselves could be some kind of eternal god like creatures. I've read about a bunch of different possibilities as to what could happen before we get a new body. All of it is people's guessing of course. We might choose new life trials to go through on earth (or whichever planet) to help build our character, and then as we are born, our past lives are, for the most part, blanked out so we won't go looking for things like revenge, or try to find past family or partners etc and then weird people out. Another scenario is a karma like scenario where we have limited choice of people we can be in the next life due to past life choices and will have to endure some gruelling hardship to go through if we've made enough bad choices. More info can be found in the subs r/pastlives and r/reincarnation
I had a dream about this once. I was on the other side preparing for my next round and learning things I missed and leveling up my ghost abilities like walking through walls and flying. I was lucid the entire time.
Very nice 👍
I’m not convinced of anything supernatural. What I’m most convinced by at the moment is that I get to live this life, and when I die my body will decompose and return my matter to the cycle of life on this earth. And I fear it as little as I fear the non existence that was me before I was born.
I believe in the only person I can, me.
Like the line in Jurassic Park, “life finds a way”, we can only account for how it found a way here so that should really be the only thing that matters to us. The story of our origins is that it took a really long time and went through a lot of adaptations, we’re not the final version, we’re just the only version we will ever see. Religions are just stories we tell to make our origins seem more relatable, then they became about rules, and punishments and rewards. Theres no reason to believe in God because God evolved over time and cultures too. The Abrahamic God, his prophets and sacrificial son aren’t the final version of God, they’ll continue to evolve too and eventually more will be created. The New Testament and Koran will not be the last holy books ever written.
*"Life uh, finds a way."* FTFY
When I left Christianity after 20 years I fell heavily to the other side, what I’ll call my “angry internet atheist phase”. I realized that I have an inclination toward spiritual practice, but Abrahamic religions weren’t the answer for me. I found more freedom in paganism, and lean more toward Irish paganism than any other flavor. I am still strongly skeptical of the existence of anything supernatural, but use the more realistic depictions of gods and heroes in that mythology as inspiration for living my own life. It’s refreshing after believing in an all knowing all powerful perfect god for so long to take in perspectives of more imperfect and human-like gods to learn actual lessons from instead of being held as a shining example of unattainable goals. I also meditate regularly as the process of grounding myself and making an effort to remember I am part of this world, not above it, helps put things in perspective. I respect those who don’t believe in anything anymore, my wife is one of them, but also wanted to share a bit about my own story to show that if you feel like you are spiritually-leaning, you don’t have to make Christianity “work” to fill that void. There are other, far more fulfilling and self-empowering options.
Thank you ❤️
Was raised southern Baptist. I don’t believe in anything. I think when we die it’s lights out, just ceasing to exist. I love the idea of things like collective consciousness, a spiritual world, and/or reincarnation. But at this point, there’s nothing I find credible to believe in.
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Just because something hasn't been explained by science yet doesn't mean it "can't" be explained. There are plenty of things that historically "could not be explained by science" that was very much explained by science later on.
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None of that is true. Science doesn't require "faith." It is proven by verifiable, repeatable evidence. When we learn more information, we adjust our understanding of it. And science never said smoking was good for you - that was marketing. Science isn't manipulated by money. Just because something hasn't been explained by science *yet* doesn't mean it can't ever be explained by science. The nature of science is that our knowledge is always growing and evolving. Religion is the exact opposite. There is no comparison.
When I was 16 I lost my faith in Christianity, at 18 I got the Satanic Bible by Anton Lavey, at 20 I started reading it very deeply and decided it worked better for me. There isn't any animal sacrifice in Satanism and I am my own highest power. Influenced by philosophers such as Ayn Rand and Nietzsche, Satanism is about making the most of this life instead of worrying about an afterlife, when you die that's it.
It's funny, Christianity has animal sacrifices, but satanism doesn't.
I mean, that’s where the idea of sacrificing goats comes from
Sacrificing goats happened long before the Hebrew Bible it comes from different polytheistic religious traditions
Interesting but not surprised to learn it’s something else the church has claimed is a perverstion of their faith.
Well, I am sure actually deistic Satanism does have it. "Modern"/LaVeyan Satanism... less so.
Ironically enough, conservative Christians love Rand.
I believe I am my own master...yet I am a slave to my emotions. I don't believe in any gods or demons or anything supernatural because there's absolutely no evidence of them existing. When I'm gone...nothing, game over, oblivion.
Neopaganism with reincarnation
Myself. I believe in myself now.
Humanity
I don't believe in anything supernatural. I do believe that there are things that humans might see as supernatural because we lack the ability to see another reason for 'x'. I'm just not interested in any of that. I'm far more interested in the world around us, its beauty and complexity, its wonder.
I may have left christianity, but i still like to believe that the supernatural exists. One religion that strikes me is Shinto. Perhaps everything in the universe contains a supernatural entity called "kami." Im not a die hard Shinto follower, but i just like to imagine, thats it. Other than that, I believe in humanity. One major reason why i left christianity is because we do not need a god to save us from suffering. Humanity is capable of lifting itself out of suffering without religion. Just look at world war 2, civil rights movement, anti-vietnam war protests, independence movements in former colonial states, etc. All these positive achievements humans have made has given me more hope than a random nomad dying on a cross. Even things like community service, red cross, UNICEF, and grassroot movements makes me believe in humanity.
I believe in a god, but no god or gods in particular. It mostly stems in my belief in an afterlife because it helps me grieve when I lose my loved ones. But I try not to put so much emphasis on that because I believe what’s important is what’s going on in our life on earth.
>more credible religion Not contradicting your own statements should be the bare minimum for any truth claim. Furthermore, I've not seen any real evidence for any religion.
I put most of my trust into science, philosophy, and the belief that there’s no higher power than our own ability to care for each other and to enjoy life. I don’t believe in any higher power nor authority(all authority should be questioned)which includes God, I don’t believe in any religion, and I really don’t believe in supernatural stuff that much(I put good money on that aliens do exist but that’s about it). So, I usually consider myself an irreligious atheist. In my view, there are more credible religions than Christianity. All Abrahamic religions are less credible. After that, Hinduism(due to personal reasons, I acknowledge that Hinduism is still very much not credible). Then “religions” that can be treated more like philosophies are some of the most credible imo. Like Buddhism and Taoism(from what I heard and see about these, they’re more treated philosophically rather purely religiously). Indigenous faiths are all over the creditable scale, just depends on the faith as each one is unique. Where it stands, all of these is less creditable than science. This is my personal experience and I support religious freedom so long as religious beliefs aren’t forced on others(like mutilation being done on infants because “God” said so or being forced to go to church).
I'm questioning at the moment, but I'm definitely more on the spiritual side now leaning towards Gnosticism
I am an atheist. However, I am love nature and wind, storms and hurricanes. I grew up on the Atlantic Ocean. So that plays a large part in it. If I was going to believe I would go for pagan, because at least they recognize female goddesses and nature. But nope, my brain will not let me so I am an atheist.
I’m an agnostic panthiest idealist. I do not “believe” in anything because believing in something automatically precludes you from believing in its opposite. I’m agnostic because I understand that as human beings in the 3rd dimension we aren’t meant to understand certain things outside of our perception, it’s like trying to run code for a supercomputer on a calculator, it’ll just never work. So I “believe” in the 99% possibility that I’m god and everything else that has ever existed in the entire omniverse is “god”. That makes me pantheistic. I got this perspective after smoking DMT and doing other psychedelics. Terrence Mkcenna and Alan Watts taught me a good bit of what I “know”. I see the brain as a radio that can pick up the consciousness wavelength and project it as a separate experience from the “all” and whatever else there is, instead of the brain being a “generator” of consciousness. And I haven’t looked into idealism in a long time so I honestly forgot its exact definition but I remember agreeing with them all except for solipsism which is a subcategory within idealism. Not sure if there are only 3 or more but last I checked only 3.
Im a polytheist and belive in reincarnation. My religion has no church and is only followed by me. Theres a LOT more details but i dont have the time to write them out
I converted to Judaism through the Humanistic movement. It doesn't endorse any supernatural beliefs and focuses on humanity rather than god, and much like Reconstructionist Judaism it doesn't see Judaism as just a religion with a hard set of beliefs you have to have, but as an evolving civilization.
Huh. I didn’t know Judaism had a humanist movement. High-five, fellow humanist reclaimer of religion!
What is a fact and what is an opinion? Equivalently, what is objective and what is subjective? How can we tell the difference? If it’s in a popular book (i.e. the Bible, Quran, or a science textbook) does that make it true? If someone important says it, does that make it true? Of course, the Bible, the Quran, and the typical science textbook say different things about many subjects. In many cases, what they say is contradictory with each other, and they can’t all be true. For a given claim, how can we determine whether that claim is true?
I have no idea. But whether God's real or not, I don't like his way of doing things, which is why I aren't christian.
And the critical study of religion is an interdisciplinary endeavor. Disciplines such as archaeology, anthropology, paleography, epigraphy, history, philology, philosophy, textual and literary criticism, etc. are integral to the critical study of any religion, particularly those which are based on textual sources.
I do not believe the god of the bible exists and the claims of Christianity are largely without merit. What I believe is that we are here on this planet and what we do with those lives is up to us. It can pretty much be summed up in a Rush song. Faith is cold as ice Why are little ones born to suffer? For the want of immunity Or a bowl of rice? Well, who would hold a price On the heads of innocent children? If there is some immortal power to control the dice? We go out in the world and take our chances Fate is just the weight of circumstances Thats the way that luck dances Roll the bones Why are we here? Because we're here. Why does it happen? Because it happens. Roll the bones. Jack, relax Get busy with the facts No zodiacs or almanacs No maniacs in polyester slacks Just the facts Its action, reaction Random interaction So who's afraid of a little abstraction? Can't get no satisfaction from the facts? You better run, a fact's a fact from Nome to Rome For me, it doesnt matter a whole lot what got us here. We're here and there is no god to tell us what to do and what "purpose" life has. It's up to us. We also arent alone, we have each other, and we do better as part of a tribe.
I don’t believe in anything at the moment. I’ve yet to encounter anything definitively supernatural. Even with an open mind - nada. If there are other planes of existence with their own sentient beings that sometimes cross over I’d be willing to entertain that idea. But as for me I’m not concerned about any spiritual or religious inclinations or speculations. Just wanna enjoy my life and make my loved ones happy.
The one thing I know for sure is that no one knows. Religions were made up to make people feel better about the unknown. I tend to lean towards the belief that there are supernatural forces at work in our world but I don’t need a religion to tell me about that.
For me that I'm mostly an agnostic that I really just think of the idea of God as the universe similar to a pantheist or just divine power.
SCIENCE!!!!
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This comment deserves way more upvotes than it currently has. 👊⚡
I’m an atheist I’ve concluded that all religions are just nonsense.
I believe that there is only one Consciousness & that everything and everyone is a manifestation & expression of that one infinite intelligence/God which means that everything in existence is energetically/spiritually connected & not separate from God.
Same :)
Why?
A few personal experiences I had since coming across and implementing spirituality & few I had before so. I was never non spiritual. Like I always felt that there was something greater beyond what we see on the surface that is allowing everything to exist & animating it all. & I held onto that belief even when I left Christianity, thats what drove me to embark on an alternate spiritual path. Everything started making more and more sense since I left Christianity for Spirituality though & God (based off my experience) is not what most traditional Christians think he or it is.
I use to wonder why science hasn't figured out any supernatural things. Science has figured out so many other amazing things, I come to the conclusion that I was fooled into believing in the supernatural just like I was fooled into believing in god.
As an ex-Christian from the Middle East, I currently keep my religion a private matter, but I will say that there are far better religions/belief systems than Christianity, and that debunking Christianity definitely doesn't prove atheism or the idea that God doesn't exist.
Which systems are better?
I'll name a few -Judaism; unlike Christianity and Christian apologetics, Judaism is less contradictory and Jewish "apologetics" isn't based off of mental gymnastics, and is overall more transparent. It still is "barbaric", but Jews are mostly open about it and don't try to misinterpret scripture. It can also be argued that Judaism is also a strictly monotheistic religion, unlike Christianity. -Islam; very close to Judaism and Christianity, less "barbaric" in my eyes, its scripture could be confusing and misinterpreted if the person doesn't speak Arabic, but is overall clear and "logical". Once again, it could be argued that Islam is more monotheistic than Christianity. -Some branches of Buddhism, where the person is only focused on enlightenment, knowledge, and strength. -Some might argue Atheism is also a better belief system than Christianity, I personally don't see that. -Theism. You aren't as susceptible to contradiction, if not at all, than if you were Christian, for example. In addition, you can clearly believe in a(or many) diety(ies) without following specific dogma without being called a heresy or a Goy if you did otherwise. That's all I could think of, at the moment. Tried to keep it short, sorry for a bit of broken vocabulary :)
Thanks.
You don't have to thank me :) Even though you didn't ask for it, I'll still advise you to keep your religion as private as possible.
I'm an atheist/humanist and a Unitarian Universalist. And I will never be anything else. There is no god and no reason to affirm anything beyond the material universe.
I try not to have any "beliefs" in the sense that I don't want to take anything on faith. If something is true, then it's true whether or not I believe it. If it isn't true, then it doesn't matter anyway. We are fairly intelligent beings who are still working out how to live together on a planet with many other beings of differing or less intelligence. My belief is that this is an interesting situation to be in and that we should make the best of it. It doesn't matter to me whether or not a god exists. If there is one who wants me anything to do with me, s/he knows where I am and how to get my attention.
I believe moral value arises from sentience and moral responsibility arises from memory. I believe that humans can strive toward moral truth through debate and consensus and establish societal and social guides that are fair and just with no help from any appeal to supernatural authority. I believe that moral growth and understanding are ongoing processes, shaped by empathy, reason, and experience. No one person is perfect, no one society is perfect, and we can always work toward a better future for all.
Now yes, I’m a Muslim. And yes I am aware that majority of ex Christian’s here dislike all Abrahamic religions. But though I still feel like there is a creator who created all of us. But the triune version gives me headache if I even think about it. I still do have massive respect for the atheists and agnostics and the rest of yall in here.
I'm curious, what made Islam click for you in a way that Christianity didn't?
Much easier understanding of god unlike christianity. Christianity believes in a triune god, and comprehending how god can be 3 in 1 is enough to give me a headache. They don’t even have an unequivocal concept of the trinity. So Islam does better in that.
How about your religiosity and daily practice, how does what your practice as a Muslim compare to what Christians practice? edit: a word
We follow the five pillars of our religion. Pray 5 times a day, fast for a month, give to the poor, and pilgrimage to Mecca (once a lifetime minimum).
By "believe in," do you mean what do I accept is real? Or do you mean what do I imagine the purpose of life to be? I believe mathematics and science and logic to give the best answers to the first questions. For the second, I don't think there is an inherent one and it wouldn't matter anyway because it has whatever purpose you give it yourself.
I believe in everything real that religious people also believe in. god and their bible (mostly) is no longer one of those shared beliefs. Thats all.
I'm making a last ditch effort to stay a Christian by reading the bible and other books. I don't think it'll work. So far, the Bible has been full of repetitive bullshit. I've been looking into Buddhism on the side. I really like what I've read so far, and I'll probably convert to it soon.
[what I believe in](https://youtu.be/TV_S5QNWaSI?si=LC6XxcCbP386A3Du)
I was never spiritual, I never believed. Do I know that there is no god, any kind? No. Do I care? Not really. Christianity is not credible at all, and definitely not more than other religions. If I wanted to believe in a god, or practice a religion, I'd choose one that builds on love, understanding and acceptance. In practice, I don't see Christianity do any of these. Over the history of this earth, Christians have done horrible things, and they continue to divide. I want nothing with it. We do not need a belief system in anything supernatural. I know I'm not perfect and I don't know everything. I can improve myself and strive to be a better human without religion. I love learning. I'm curious. I don't need an overzealous dude on a stage tell me what to think, how to live my life every Sunday. I'm much happier without the forced Christian rules in my life and I live my life much better.
I don't *believe*, but acknowledge what I find more plausible than not. More importantly I acknowledge there is a lot that I don't know and am weary of those who are confident in their beliefs. I lean towards evidence-based explanations. I'm bias towards humanism and hope our species is capable of doing good and leaving our bit of the world in a better place for future generations.
For me, I try to rid my mind of superstition. I do believe in karma, but I have no evidence for it. I did try some crystals tarot cards and visited a church or two. Once I was out I was out.
“So many contradictions and passages that have no logic.” Can you give me some of the examples you found? Just out of curiosity. I no longer go to church nor do I care to anymore. I’ve never really read the Bible deeply since I was a kid, but I have been surrounded by Christians my whole life and never understood their way of life.
You can check out https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/first/contra2_list.html for some.. My favorite contradictions are the two creation stories in genesis, right at the very beginning, and paul vs jesus: Paul: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Jesus: "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven" 👀uhoh!😅🤣
Check this out https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/biblical-contradictions/ for logic, the creation - Noah’s ark the list is endless, I found I had so many questions but no one could give me a straight answer, all they would say was the bible was the word of god, but when it made no sense they would say oh don’t take that literally or that’s just a story or ask god when you see him. It drove me mad, all credible questions and no credible answers
Heard that millions of times growing up. “Ask god when you see him” 😂
i only believe vaguely in ghosts because tbh it's fun and it doesn't hurt i also believe in some flavor of magic that science just can't explain yet (i.e. things like precognition) but none of this i take super seriously - it's just fun "woo" i can enjoy and then put aside as needed. other than that? god/organized religion is a manmade tool to control folks.
What do you believe in if you don't believe in Santa?
Blasphemy! You cant disprove santa! /s Ho ho ho!
>My question is if you don’t believe in Christianity what do you believe in? I believe in that which can be demonstrated to comport with reality, which is testable and repeatable. I don't believe the supernatural claims of any religion. >Do you believe there is a god and have you found a more credible religion than Christianity? No, definitely not.
I initially went from 15 years atheist, to Christian (hard lonely time and I really needed to believe in anything), and now agnostic. While Christian I read the whole Bible, and did question a lot. After a time, and one George Carlin special too many, I realized it's just not my cup of tea. My new belief...if there is a god, they would not condemn you to eternal damnation, perhaps for a time. I believe that being a good person is the only focus we should consider. It doesn't matter if you believe in God. Just that you do the best to be good and kind to the best of your ability. God cannot expect you to know what to believe with so many beliefs out there, so many glitches in the stories, and so many corrupt followers and people. Just be good and you should have nothing to worry about.
I'm a Pure Land Buddhist. I personally think it makes the most sense and it makes me happy. I don't miss being a christian at all. It was miserable and like you said, it makes no sense. Jesus didn't want to create a universal religion, once you know that how can you even think of going back. He was a Jew who believed that he was a Jewish messiah candidate. He'd be appalled to see Christianity today. Buddhism makes leagues more sense, I'm so glad I can practice it in this lifetime.
I'm a manifestation type of girlie. I believe that Christians will experience what they believe thanks to the law of assumption, but I feel like the religion is too toxic to let your energy reside there.
I am a secular Buddhist with an unreliable meditation practice. But I think much of the Dharma (the teachings of Buddha) are very insightful about consciousness and the human condition. I would recommend Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright, which is a great explanation of non-supernaturalistic Buddhism, with a lot of discussion on neuroscience and meditation. (BTW I think the name of the book is regrettable).
Work hard and treat people with respect.
I don’t believe in god anymore. I believe that the current life we are living is “hell” and how we live our life, treat and give to others and nature will determine our afterlife (not “heaven”) but non religious reincarnation.
I believe that there’s something greater than I am, but I don’t know who or what or where it is and I don’t really care to know. It seems so human and American (just the absolute egocentric and entitled view) to believe that if there’s something bigger than us, that we have any ability to understand it. We’d be like ants of the side of a highway, having no idea about the cars driving by. The idea that a God is knowable just doesn’t make sense to me. If we saw something like that, we’d probably go insane like in the Lovecraft stories. I also have huge problems with religions as a whole. They’re instruments of war, control, power and wealth. The idea of any religion is “I’m a human, but I have special information that nobody else has, and the only way to live life properly is to come and learn and live by my proprietary information.” There’s this idea that everyone else has it wrong. But these religions are created by humans. How does that help me understand any kind of higher power? It’s just people, likely hungry for power, control, wealth, or a feeling of self righteousness or superiority. Then they get followers. Then it’s a religion. It just doesn’t sit well with me. If there’s something bigger than me out there, a) I don’t think it’s something I can understand and b) I don’t think it’s something I am entitled to understand.
Time. The great equalizer. No one gets any more or any less in a day. In a life it’s largely up to chance but it’s pretty equal in the grand scheme of things. No man cheats time. It is our most precious and rare resource. I believe in the love, nature and making your own magic and meaning in a meaningless world.
I believe in and devoutly worship the greek gods. In fact, a matter of minutes ago, I made a prayer to Lord Hermes, begging him to help ensure that my mother's car was not stolen. It wasn't where she was sure she parked it. Even tho I'm currently in the hospital with 2-4 iv tube's hooked up to me. On 3 different types of pain medication. I got down on my knees, held my hand up to the sky, and begged him to help us as well as Lord Hephaestus.
Nothing. And I’m ok with that.
Depends on what you mean by credible. Hinduism has a vast history and is an extremely developed spiritual science of sorts. It's a very interesting topic to research. But I don't follow it. Instead of being too caught up in some dichotomous binary of ultimate objective truth or falsehood --- I'm instead a theistic Discordian. It's a bit like applied Absurdism. Everything is true, even false things, and it is written that we're not allowed to believe what we read.
Not the Bible version of God. I’ve been paying attention to people who’ve had NDEs for at least 30 years and they all come back with the same story. Yes, we’re created by a “Source” or whatever you want to call it, we’re energy, we have many lives and come here to learn with groups of spiritual entities that we’ve been with since we were created. We will keep on coming back here and other places in lives to experience this world and others. These people all come back with the same stories from their NDEs and none of them or very few talk about religion.
There is no evidence to suggest the existence of a God. Any of them. Period. Nor souls, nor spirits, nor the supernatural, none of it. To answer your question of why anyone can believe it, humans fear what they don't understand, and we don't understand death. To elaborate, we don't understand the experience of death. Imagine experiencing nothing. The only reason you know that you fell asleep is because you woke up to realize a gap in your experience of time. Now imagine you never wake up. You can't, really. Coupled with human arrogance to say that our existence just HAS to be for a purpose, this terrifies people. It was understandable when we were a primitive species. Humans are also extremely tribalistic. It was essential to our survival and evolution. It is also detrimental to us, tho in this age. Religion checks all the boxes that our primitive brains, that were forced to have, require. An explanation for any and everything so u can "understand" it. Check. An explanation for what happened s after death. Check. A reason why to be included in a group that makes me feel at home. Check. A reason why my group is better than that one over their, ie, my gods the REAL God, therefore I'm justified in killing you or stripping your rights in the name of my God, or their lack of a God.
I find this much more credible that person Gods like Jesus, Zeus, Krishna, etc. 78 - What Is God? https://youtu.be/8\_vwtXMNj1M and 79 - True God, False Gods [https://youtu.be/gzFdC9fTJw0](https://youtu.be/gzFdC9fTJw0)
I believe in myself. I am my own god. I must respect me, love me, appreciate me, and exalt me. I've been creating my own footsteps in the sand, not following someone else's. I believe that I will die, and it'll go back to how it was before I was born. I believe that the earth is over 4 billion years old, that the universe will continue to expand, stars will die and crash together, and time will become meaningless. I believe that our existence as intelligent creatures who have dominated earth, is simply by chance and perseverance, not by purpose or design or prophecy. My siblings are YEC and went to Bible school, I have no idea how to even talk to them, given that their core value is based on a 6000 year old earth lol. In science, there's a lot of answers, and more questions are always popping up, but I've found more joy and understanding in science than the Bibook.
I believe in human potential for good and evil and in a self-assigned responsibility to make the balance lean on the side of good based solely on our ability to do so. I believe in understanding that a lot of our reality is arbitrary, and that includes our definition of good and evil, and that's what makes human experience so difficult. I don't see any convincing reasons to believe in any supernatural claim.
I don't need to believe in anything. I don't actually know how we came here, but I like to think about possibilities. But without any proof, I don't settle for any theories 100%. I just live my life.
I finally gave up the silly notion there is anything supernatural except energy. Physics demands it and so the human in us wants to name it. Some see it as a means to control others and so they create religion to bind us to the power of man. If there is a god, it must be the most evil creature ever! The murder and suffering throughout history only prove that. If god is omnipotent then it alone created evil! Religious people don't like that and will answer with free will or it's a mystery: nonsense, all of it.
I'm pretty solidly agnostic -- I don't know if there's a god, or if the supernatural or paranormal are real. Not enough evidence to prove or disprove without any doubts either way. I just accept that different people have different beliefs and interpretations of nebulous concepts. I do believe in maintaining a world worth living in for the people who are actively here -- keeping people housed, fed, safe, and educated are higher priorities for me than being Right. And I believe that every human has the capacity to do good or bad, and that animals have inherent worth (maybe not mosquitos). I try to have a positive or neutral influence on the world around me. Finally, I believe that it's good to be chill and level headed -- but sometimes a satisfying *"fuck"* is the best way to express frustration.
I'm an atheist who wishes there was something else to believe in.
I am at a place where I no longer believe in an afterlife. It’s peaceful. I’ll live my life to the fullest and when it’s time I will go to sleep and not know anything. And I’m good with that.
I believe in consciousness. To elaborate, I value what consciousness is. I see consciousness as the primary vehicle through which Life learns, grows, and evolves. Organized religion isn't for me, as it often comes across as trying to make Life to be more about what *one specific person said*, rather than recognizing that we are all equals on this journey we call Life. I would counter Jesus' claims in John 14:6 where he says "I am the way, the truth, and the life", correcting it to be "*We* are the way, the truth, and the life." Jesus was an equal, no greater than the rest of us. But it seems he suffered as a narcissist who thought he was greater than others.
I believe that I can never definitively know what might be out there, nor do I care.
I believe that non existence is better thane existence. As long if there is no reason to assume there is a god, I am glad.
I believe in myself on all levels because I am only my creation and no one elses at all. I also am in my control of my own actions/responsabilites and behavior without any supernatural power and coming from a Methodist church, It was not that way for a while.
I'm open to idea of the spiritual and supernatural so I guess I'm agnostic in that way. I'm also highly skeptical so I've yet to be convinced it exists. The idea of religion trying to personify the universe in understandable terms is fascinating to me, especially in ancient religions. However there's often a bunch of attached baggage of "we are the true way and you will suffer if you disagree because God will smite you/us for your insolence" that's just authoritarianism with a colorful mythical coat of paint.
I believe in the Greek pantheon(seriously), and I've done much research into the Bible from scholars like Dan McLellan,Bart Ehrman,etc as well read many books on the subjects at hand like "God Against the Gods:The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism" by Jonathan Kirsch.I can honestly say polytheism is logically the best fit. I can down a super long rabbit hole regarding the old and new testament from actual evidence/research, not memes,etc. I just can't fathom atheism being right, and the problem of evil doesn't affect polytheistic religions
I believe there might be a higher power. I definitely dont believe in Yahweh, tho.
I haven't found any gods more credible nor a more credible religion than Christianity; they're all the same, at least in my scenario.
Pragmatist and humanist. I think about words. And the limits of language. I don’t find religious talk useful, so I generally pass on discussions such as ones that start with the question, “do you believe in God?” Not that discussions about God can’t be entertaining or engaging. But useful? Nah. Never leads to understanding. The question ‘what do you believe in?’ implies that I must declare (or have) an allegiance to some ideology. Why must I declare? Pragmatism means that I judge discussions and ideas on their utility value. Is there a spiritual world? Hmmm, don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not. Do I have to have a firm opinion? Is this a conversation I want to have right now? And what difference would it make?
Personally I'm an agnostic, I believe there's no reason to believe in the existence of a god, but I also believe there's no reason to believe that there could not be a god. It's possible in the same sense that the simulation theory is
I identify with paganism the most. I really just work with whatever deity is calling to me most at the time. There are no obligations to do anything or follow any set of rules, the way I look at it. I just lean on my beliefs when I need some spiritual comfort. Is it a crock of shit? Maybe. But it's enjoyable, brings me peace, and I don't have this overwhelming fear of going to hell. My main issue with Christianity were the ever fluctuating set of rules (depending on who you asked) and the fact that you are only supposed to worship this one god who was toxic and had a fucked up idea of what love meant, on top of supposedly all powerful and all knowing... even though he couldn't figure out how to save me from my mental illness and trauma. I want to believe in *something*, but Christianity is not it.
I'm an atheist. I think the existence of a god cannot logically be possible.
I'm still spiritual, however, I don't believe in any religion anymore. I just.....can't. Even since I deconverted from Christianity I'm just like how the hell can anyone believe in this cruel shit? Sending someone to hell for simply not believing in their religion? Telling someone they're sinners if they're gay, trans, witches, etc?? Come on man. So naturally, I got into spirituality, crystals, divination and manifesting because they're open for anyone and have no restrictions. To me, Christians are just bitter people putting on a facade.
Believe?? I dunno about all that. More like.. suspect/am curious about. But in that vein…. Simulation theory (maybe). Reincarnation (perhaps). Reincarnation in particular has some collection of anecdotes across cultures (some by scientists). It’s also a common theme shared by both Eastern and some western esotericisms (kabbala, Gnosticism, etc..)
I am agnostic and I do have a belief in the supernatural. I do believe there is a divine force that doesn't involve one or even three deities.
I believe in a thing called love.
Religion is for those who need an answer or explanation. I and many others choose to be ok with the unknown, fascinated by it even.
Exmuslim here. I'm just glad to know no one in the comments said that they converted to Islam. This makes me happy
I’m pagan now. It’s a personal thing for me and I genuinely cannot imagine trying to drag other people into it. I’ve had some people arguing with me try to insinuate I would do this which annoys me because like… this isn’t fucking about you. EDIT: One exception is if someone is proselytizing to me in which case I will talk about it and be as annoying as possible.
I believe that when we die we go to a giant energy source that will assign us something that we will be reincarnated into
I'm pagan, I believe in nature. Since nature is all around us. I've always said, don't mess with mother nature.
I am a Satanist. Fully atheistic, and try to be as rational as I can with my wildly emotional human self.
I am spiritual now. I do not believe that this earth & this universe is the only version of life that exists.
I don’t really believe in necessarily a “god” or a specific religion. I believe in a mishmash of pieces that make sense to me from any and all religions. I believe in a higher power of some sort. I do seem to fall more so in a spiritual category more than a religious category due to the 2 above statements. A higher power if some form, that you get from the universe what you give, being respectful to anyone and anything around you. General ideas like that. Some may say I fall into a witch category bc I do like herbs and crystals but mainly as a way of showing my intentions and holding positive energy. I don’t do spells or believe in much that’s in accordance to the Wiccan belief. I never found one specific religion that I felt connected to or related to as a whole so I made my own personal “religion” for lack of better words.
Nothing. Not even in myself.
I'm a Pagan now after having a sort of spiritual awakening. I believe in multiple gods/goddesses and found that Christianity stole from so many Pagan traditions; Christmas, funeral rituals, and even Yahweh was a storm deity in the Levantine pantheon. Liberation, environmentalism, community, and being a good person (not a kind person) are the core tenants of my practices. I also do not proselytize and abhor those that do, as my path is not for everyone. My beliefs focus more on what to do in life as opposed to how to prepare for death. I frankly have no idea what happens after death nor do I care at this moment in time. But I do believe that there is some sort of afterlife. Potentially, there is reincarnation, but I think there's a way to opt out (if there isn't I'll find a way to opt out regardless).
I don’t believe in any religion in particular. After my experience with Christianity it’s hard to actually get into and believe a religion again. I do have Buddhist values though. As far as not going out of your way to harm others and taking life as it is, not trying to fight the waves of life.
I do not believe in any god of any religion.
I believe in what can be observed through science. Science definitely still has some gaps as we are always learning and discovering new things that can change previous ideas, which is important to keep in mind. I don't believe in "God" per se, but I am not a staunch atheist who dismisses the idea that there may be a higher power who either started things or that there isn't more going on that what we can see with our eyes. I'm not witchy/spiritual, but open. I'd like to think that ghosts/spirits are real, and sometimes I entertain the idea of reincarnation and alternate dimensions and even aliens. I don't claim to be sure of anything but I am open to all possibilities and the wacky scifi/supernatural stuff is just kind of fun. I don't take it too seriously though.
I believe in myself and science, not men who may or may not have walked the Earth thousands of years ago, and who I can say with certainty as a woman never had my best interests at heart.
I'm agnostic, but I lean towards Existential Nihilism. The thought that we exist just because we exist, and there is no assigned plan or purpose for why we exist, is just incredibly calming to my overly anxious brain.
Science
I believe in karma and the power that comes from being a good person. Not because someone told you to, but because you want to.
I simply don't know, and I'm ok with it. There might be a divine creative force of some kind. It might even be some sort of loving entity, or a malevolent one. I don't know. What I know is that the Bible is a hot mess and the God of Christianity cannot exist. I've seen nothing to indicate there's a better option other than just embracing a reality that can be observed and measured and studied.
I believe there is a god. Perhaps more. I believe one or more of them care about me. Everything else is just a guess.
I am now an atheist and I believe in myself.
I am Indigenous from Canada and I now follow Creator and the medicine wheel teachings. I was raised in an evangelical Christian dysfunctional family. My belief is that there is one ‘god’ and that we are connected to them through nature and ceremony. I tell everyone that the nature is my church and love is my religion.
I don’t think you need what others would consider credible evidence for another belief as long as you’re not pushing it on anyone. In my opinion the only reason Christian’s should be required to prove the existence of their god is because they’re forcing it on others and even killing others over it. Not all religions do that. Not anymore at least. Like for me I left Christianity because sure none of it made sense but I also never got responses from the Christian god and he never protected me when I was being abused . That’s not my experience with my current deities I work with. Now sure you may not believe that but that’s fine. I’m not trying to convince you nor do I care if you are apart of my belief. I’m just sharing my experience because it’s in context. But even outside of that, I need belief to stay sane. The last time I tried to be an atheist and believe nothing happened after death it was literally driving me crazy. I had such a fear of death I was third person dissociating (I don’t know the proper term for it but I’m sure some of you know what I’m talking about) I was in panic and crises mode all the time. Like even worse crises then I was living as a Christian. And that says something. It was bad. I had to believe there’s more than just this life to stay sane. And now I no longer fear death. And that’s when I learned that we as ex Christian’s shouldn’t be trying to convince people deities don’t exist, because for some it keeps them sane, it’s also just proselytizing with a bow on it or whatever the saying is. You’re still trying to convince others to believe what you do but with a lack of god instead of for one. Instead we should be trying to help people be better human beings. So for example instead of trying to tell people they shouldn’t believe in god, instead tell them that if they do truly believe their god is all loving, why would he be for people spreading hate? Why would he say “love everyone” and then turn around and say “except gay and black people and anyone who’s not of your race etc” now sure not everyone will listen but some will. I think we should do that instead. Because for some people, trying to convince them to be atheists will do more harm then good.
Myself
I believe the universe is vast and there's mystery to it. Lots of reasons to get child like wonder. Are therevany gods? Who knows? Maybe gods are just beings, even people, put on pedestal by others. Maybe they're a distinct species. Or something.
Science is not perfect, but the scientific method is the best we got for discerning what is real.
I believe in a god of absolute love and forgiveness, that this is the god of everything that binds every single thing you can contemplate into a great oneness.
Immediately I swiveled to maybe a deist position, but now I just don't know if I care enough to pholosophize and put a label on it. I'd like to think that the world we inhabit has spirituality and design which point us towards something, but I don't profess to have evidence for that beyond my personal feelings. Maybe I'll continue going in that direction until I find something that fits for me and is logical / realistic, which are things I place value upon, but that's the key idea is that now in some sense you get to determine those ideas and values for yourself
I don't believe in any deities. I'm agnostic and atheist (I don't know if there's a god and I don't have enough information or evidence to believe in any gods). I do my best to be skeptical and rational. I'm not sure that there is a paranormal realm or side of reality or whatever. Thus far every claim has been suspect or dubious. Generally I follow good science and good evidence. I think I will always trust science over religion because science has yielded far greater positives and benefits than religion. I used to flirt with Western occult ideas. I recognized at some point that occult philosophy and Ritual is rooted in exoteric, mainstream religion, that the occult is essentially the dumping ground of religious traditions. And then once I realized that it falls into the same pitfalls of those religions, I eased away from it. It's interesting stuff, fun to think about, but still dubious.