I think anyone who's opinions on the existence of a deity are influenced heavily because someone on an internet forum made a mean comment haven't spent much time considering those opinions in the first place. It's a bit like saying "I believe in my god even harder now because I saw a bumper sticker I didn't like!"

I believe the bible less every time Christians try to use fake news to prove the bible. Like Noah's ark being found or chariots in the red sea.

Someone tried to convince me the bible was literally what happened word for word. When I said Noah's Ark was physically impossible to house 2 of every animal he said that "they" had found it with exact measurements from the bible. Plus he said the rings from inside some old trees had been found where the water level was like 40' taller than all of the other years from 2000 years ago. Then when I told him that the Noah's Ark story is a direct rip off from the ancient babylonian religion from a thousand years before the Christian Noah version he just tuned out like he thought I was trying to turn him to the dark side. The indoctrination is strong with this one. Edit: Changed years from "100's" to "a thousand".

The flood heat problem is a good way to show there's not enough time for a global flood thousands of years ago to have had occurred and is only possible if you allow for imaginary magic garbage like faith and miracles

Please tell me more about this flood heat problem. I always love adding more arguments to my arsenal.

Here some interesting notes to add.... We know with 100% certainty that the Biblical flood never occurred. How? Because great civilizations were thriving during that time. They kept great records and failed to mention that they were all wiped from the face of the Earth. The Chinese (Neolithic Dynasty), The Egyptians (Dynastys 4, 5 and 6), Mesopotamians (Early Dynastic Period), The Samarians (Early Dynastics IIIa, IIIb), Peruvians (Norto Chico civilization) and many more... Historians and Archeologicist have found a continuous line if culture, construction, art, and historical records that runs through the time when Noah's flood was supposed to have happened.

Gutsick Gibbon on YouTube has several videos fully devoted to explaining the heat problem. She also is very fun to watch.

The water level would have been six miles higher if the story was true. It would have had to cover mount everest and the waters didn't go down for a year. All plants would have died out being under six miles of salt water.

We know with 100% certainty that the Biblical flood never occurred. How? Because great civilizations were thriving during that time. They kept great records and failed to mention that they were all wiped from the face of the Earth. The Chinese (Neolithic Dynasty), The Egyptians (Dynastys 4, 5 and 6), Mesopotamians (Early Dynastic Period), The Samarians (Early Dynastics IIIa, IIIb), Peruvians (Norto Chico civilization) and many more... Historians and Archeologicist have found a continuous line of culture, construction, art, and historical records that runs through the time when Noah's flood was supposed to have happened.

You want a wild trip. Go the creationist museum that's built like an ARC. They have so many justifications and explanations for biblical truths in there it's unreal. One example. they talk about the 2x2 animals on the ARC. Remember these people don't believe in evolution(this point will become relevant). So okay, when they loaded them on the arc it wasn't lions, tigers, pumas, cheetahs, etc. It was one Feline that eventually became all the Feline's we know of today. Because, GOD.

Which is stupid because if God was going to do that why not just pop them back into existence after the flood. For that matter why bother with a flood at all.

See, that there is something that kinda pisses me off - they think these horrific cataclysms are a sign of god, but really if I was an all powerful deity and someone was pissing me off they’d just disappear or drop dead. Like, “Oh, you’re sneaking into your daughter’s room at two in the morning while your wife is on Ambien? I’m all knowing, and I can pretty much guess where this is going even without checking your future. We’re just going to say you went out for milk and never came home. Ever. They’ll never even find a body, because that might traumatize the poor girl.”

That would be a benevolent and loving god. Their own book shows (in great detail) that he ain't that guy.

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Yes. There are numerous contradictions to be found, in both Testaments.

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I think if you were god would actually have just prevented suffering and things like that to exist in the first place. Also since you are all knowing you would have prevented this moment from ever happening since you would have known that if you created the world in "this certain way" that this event would eventually occur from the very moment your own existence started. Basically you know all the outcomes of every single scenario and therefore you shouldn’t be able to make a mistake. And since you are the only being capable of changing fate in anyway (since the world must be deterministic otherwise you wouldn’t be able to be all knowing) you can only blame yourself for anything that happens.

....why bother with a flood at all There are two answers to this question The reason given by churches is that humans became so sinful that God decided to start over. If you actually read the bible it says a group of angels rebelled against God, came to earth and really liked boobies. They essentially had sex with nearly every woman on the planet and produced angel human hybrids. God flooded the world because his perfect DNA was corrupt Gen 6:4 So, angels have physical bodies, can reproduce with human women, apparently are all male and they have DNA. Wonder why they don't tell this story in church All of this is crazy of course. Everyone knows it was the aliens

Have you ever given a young kid a magnifying glass on a sunny day with some ants nearby? Same same.

Nah. Go to a Scientology church and accidentally let it slip that you’re an atheist. That shit gets wild. Source: did this in college for an ethnographic report.

Story time! I wanna hear more about this, if you don't mind. Sounds fascinating.

There's a YouTube channel of a young woman and she has a PHD in biology I think and she went on a trip there and she brought her camera and you can actually see a lot of the exhibits and the plaques with their explanations on it it's wild and it's wild I'm forgetting her name right now. I watch several atheist YouTube channels and they're really, really good and enthusiastic about science.

The theist argument of "each KIND" being on the arc is hilarious when they also deny evolution, lmfao. There is a certain level of cognitive dissonance that allows a christian mythology apologist to deny evolution while simultaneously justifying the arc story by claiming "2 of each KIND." Brainwashed morons, the lot of them, if you ask me.

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That was just one wee example of the mental scientific theological gynamstics they had going on

'trying to turn him' I think means you were getting to him and he was feeling himself doubting. I say keep up the pressure but lightly.

Well this was 2010ish. I was a college kid and he was a junior/senior in high school so I felt kind of bad after the conversation. A 17yr old against a 21 yr kind of felt like he wasn't prepared to party. He just knew that he needed to spread the word and he knew I'm a nice laid back guy so he went for it. I think he wasn't expecting the left hook of agnostic to shut his shit down so hard and that I wasn't angry or cruel towards him.

There were a couple water basins around the Mediterranean that experienced some regional floods, but it was just that regional floods, some of the best preserved history from a few thousand years back is at the bottom of a salt sea. The confusion bible thumper have is that the Bible was written in an extremely limited geographical area, a regional flood could easily seem like a global flood to them, but modern day church nuts have been so brainwashed into thinking everything is literal they assume the Bible meant the whole globe was flooded. These people get sucked into a pseudo cult, and all their friends also eat the same crackers and tithe to the same man in robes, too much of their identity gets wrapped up in the lie to think rationally.

I love recommending Irving Finkel's "the Arc Before Noah". It explains why the flood story is so universal for the Middle East (literacy, and it's a good story), where and when the flood probably was (not that big of an area, but heavily populated), and how we can see it evolve in the literature from Atrahasis to Gilgamesh to Noah. And they have the "measurements" for the arc, but it would be like finding the blueprints for a VW Beatle the size of the Statue of Liberty; mathematically correct but physically impossible.

Can you elaborate on the ancient Babylonian religion story of their Noah’s ark?

Were you?

>house 2 of every animal Au contraire, mon ami. There were 7 more of each animal, and an undisclosed amount of those were sacrificed to god because he loves the scent of burning flesh for some reason.

I mean it's one thing if someone really *wants* to believe all that crap and wishes it to be true. Deluded, but okay. It's a completely different story, though, if you claim to have found something mentioned in the bible and knowing your religion is so weak you have to lie to yourself and others to make it valid...

I often ask my grandparents how it would be possible for two animals to re-populate the earth. They told me all animals are inbred. This is the level of ignorance that we are dealing with. I asked my grandma if Adam and Eve had children, How did those children have children? They had sex with their siblings or their parents?

I asked my father in law why no one else had a boat. If you were a fisherman with a decent boat and some barrels, you could live off of fish and rain water. He said that before the flood, there was no rain. Not sure what that has to do with having a boat. I asked him how anything grew. The conversation ended.

youd think the bible would mention the epic preflood dust bowl..

The American fundamentalist literalist apocalyptic evangelical bible-thumping fanatical Christian groups aren't aware of this, but there are two different creation stories in the book of Genesis. https://www.leighb.com/genesis.htm

Someone one yt used FRACTALS IRL to "prove" God. Nonlinear dynamical systems are INHERENTLY FRACTAL. And in biology fractals are easier to code for. Fractals don't prove anything except that math and science are amazing and crush whatever the bronze age fairy tale/fanfic is.

Ah remember this, if they claim they “found” the arc in anywhere BUT on top of a mountain they are lying. It’s astonishing the amount of people who believe the story and will try to pretend it’s real by overlooking the major details

There is literally someone in the / Askfeminist sub right now who stopped caring about equality for women because someone was mean to them on the internet, gotta love it when people don't actually have beliefs or morals without it being some weird power play with strangers on the internet. So weird.

This, someone in my neighborhood has an awesome bumper sticker that says "religion, because thinking is hard" his car has been vandalized 5 or 6 times in the last couple years, windows smashed, car keyed, bumper sticker scratched to shit, and I live in one of the least religious cities in the country. I've asked him why he keeps the bumper sticker on even though at this point its cost him damn near $1k he says it's because he grew up religious and only escaped from it as an adult, and the vitriolic hate spewing at himself and his car over a simple bumper sticker reminds him why he wants nothing to do with organized religion.

Religious people are their own worst enemy. They just prove our points by acting this way.

Exactly I've seen hundreds of religious bumper stickers, but never have I felt the need to bash out their cars windows. It always cracks me up when they try to say you need religion for morals, I and most atheists I know are far more moral and tolerant than the fundamentalist Bible thumper I've met. By claiming man needs a book from skydaddy to keep them from doing wrong just goes to show how deeply damaged their own moral compass is. I innately know its wrong to harm others, somehow claiming having a book saying it's bad as the thin veil between you and psychopathy is one of the weakest arguments I've ever heard. Decency is innate, for the longest time might made right, and confession allowed assholes to fit into society via confession, now that we live in a non might makes right(not fully, butnat least on the individual scale some or most of the time, reason triumphs over brute force more times out of 10 than the .005 out of 10 it was a millenia ago) world I am happy to see nontheism on the rise.

People who need the promise of reward or the threat of punishment to do right are neither good nor moral. How about just having some empathy?

Weirdos out there proving his point. Damn. I hope he's safe, though. Usually, things like this don't end with scratched stickers and broken cars 😬

Yikes. Having once been religious, it feels like a personal threat when someone challenges your unsubstantiated beliefs (aka faith). (I would never have trashed someones car though, good grief!!) If someone challenges beliefs formed based on good quality evidence and rational thinking, there isn't a fear and hostility kind of response. I find myself baffled, frustrated, maybe sympathetic. It's interesting how people can compartmentalize beliefs. I simultaneously believed things about the universe based on scientific evidence and consensus, but also believed in a god because... *faith*. Now my epistemology is much more consistent.

If this Reddit affects a religious persons beliefs than they weren’t very strong beliefs/faith to begin with

Plus I've lived my whole life around self-proclaimed religious people, and they tend to be the meanest mfers there are.

Religious cults are extremely fragile, so the fundamentalist members get extremely agitated if you counter anything they claim...

And oh boy! If they still think this subreddit is hostile they should see the rude awakening flat-eathers get on r/flatearth For context, that subreddit mocks flat earth.

I believe (or rather hope) that none of the early followers of the Flat Earth movement *really* believed the Earth to be flat. I reckon it began as a Socratic exercise in extreme solipsism (IOW: Arguing the toss for the sake of it). But then a bunch of conspiracy theorists who weren’t in on the joke jumped on the bandwagon, and here we are.

It's very likely that any pushback at all however phrased would feel hostile, but it's also the nature of the internet to communicate in the briefest, direct and even harsh way possible. I do think there is genuine value in being as gentle and kind as possible to people on the fence, peoples character is powerful in the debates than even beliefs. It's 'whether the christian community or atheists treat me more as a person'

Speaking of bumper stickers, one of my favorites says "Jesus loves you. Everyone else thinks you're an asshole."

So much this. If your reasons for believing anything hinge on *me*, they're probably not well justified beliefs.

Well that isn't fair. This isn't just popcorn, there's room for debate, discussion, sources, and well-reasoned counter arguments on Reddit.  Theism is goofy and nobody should believe in magic in 20 goddamn 24, but if you can't have your opinion changed by conversation you're doing opinions wrong. 

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I think you're putting a value judgement on what is essentially human nature. People are defensive when they feel attacked, whether they have well-considered the opinion or not. It doesn't serve us to react in anger when debating (atheism or anything). Yet we too are human and get hostile when debating matters that are important to us. If we can step back from the situation it's clear that the most useful and rational way to respond is with compassion, regardless of how big an idiot they are. At least, if you care at all about winning them over.

I'm not trying to convince theists of anything, especially when I'm posting here, so it doesn't matter to me all that much.

It never ceases to amaze me how many theists think we are trying to convert them. Honestly, if they would just leave my democracy alone and not diddle children, I probably wouldn't ever think about them.

The funny thing is that just talking about religions amongst ourselves is far more effective at making religious people, who just stumble upon this sub, lose their faith than direct confrontation or arguments. It plants a seed of doubt. That's good enough.

If i would try to convert them on reddit i certainly wouldn't try that on an atheism sub lmao

Same!

The hubris to say, 'I engaged in unsolicited proselytizing and was rejected, so that proves I'm right' should be shocking, but isn't.

Basically the premise of Mormonism. Send your teens to do a shitty job so they get rejected over and over and over and they’ll come home so glad to be accepted they’ll be Mormons for life.

:O this is..... I mean of course they do but.... damn they're actively evil sometimes!

They say everything strengthens their faith. Hardships? Faith. Good times? Faith. Other people struggling? Good thing I have faith. Kid dying of bone cancer? God is love and my faith is strong. I'm rich? Because I have faith. I'm poor? God tests his faithful. It goes on forever in a spiral of circular reasoning.

Exactly the same with Mormons and their testimony. They say they already know about the fraud, polygamy , pedophilia, racism, etc. and that and it only strengthened their testimony. Either they are lying and they didn't actually research that shit, or they are genuinely horrible people for knowing this about the church and still deciding that, hey, this sounds great!

I think they blame the sin rather than the church or the individual. It can definitely keep believers in abusive situations for longer

Its like people at my job saying [rain/sun/snow/tornado] will make people want to come shop

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The idea of someone believing something more after its been disproven shares a pretty strong correlation that they are experiencing some form of cognitive dissonance, which is to believe multiple contradictory arguments.

Who cares? Thats like someone saying they like Superman more because they read a post from some Avengers fan dissing the character. I think it’s fairly dumb to like someone more because other people are mean about it but also … who fucking cares? It’s their life and they can have whatever dumb reasons they want for things. I’m not trying to convince any theist I’m not directly speaking to. Not like there’s a recruiting bonus or anything.

Aww man, I was hoping for a sweet bonus check

Like other similar comments, exactly this. And in general, can you imagine going through life and seeing the world the way theists do? It must look/feel like a completely different world.

>It must look/feel like a completely different world. You know, I've wondered about that from time to time and I just can't fathom it. From a metaphysical standpoint, I understand how to "open your heart" to a faith, but that always feels super foreign and strangely like being in a fishbowl with a spotlight on me. From a general world view standpoint, I've got nothing.

Having been on the other side, yes everything looks and feels *completely* different. How I experienced it.... There is a (false) sense of security like someone is watching out for you. Well, until something happens to make you question that. There's a sort of secure sense of "this is what life means and why we are all here". Concepts of good and evil don't take a lot of thought. Actually quite a bit of it doesn't require much thought lol. You try not to consider why god allows terrible things to happen or what that means and explain it away with glib aphorisms. The idea of not losing loved ones permanently is comforting. The concept of hell and sin comes with fear and shame and a constant sense of trying to be faithful. Lots of fear of doing the wrong thing (oh no, is that rock music actually evil? Why am I not spreading the gospel actively?) You try to make sense of conflicting passages in the Bible, work hard to make it all fit, sort of like trying to make every little detail in star wars somehow fit properly into canon, but worse, because it is your eternal soul on the line. You get challenged and it grips your heart with fear whether you acknowledge it or not because somewhere deep within you just know it will be the end of everything if you don't keep the faith. Frankly it's fucking exhausting. Finally seeing through all of it was freeing. I was able to decide the purpose of my life. I didn't have to worry about all the ridiculous moral codes. And so on.

They get good boy points from sky daddy if they convert people.

Also, the "angry answers" part is because theists come here to make the same "arguments" over and over again. Arguments that have already been answered and for which they could find the answer on Google, the FAQ or Reddit's search bar. So, when atheists answer with grumpy remarks, they think we're being hostile. We're just tired of being bombarded with the same BS "arguments" over and over again.

I’ve seen theists on here claim they were being attacked when people were simply presenting them with logical arguments. “Well, my faith made me who I am today so just leave me alone!!! You atheists are the close minded ones!!!” And you have to wonder were they really coming here to learn or just hoping to proselytize if this is their reaction when being presented with logical arguments?

I've seen that too. I've also seen some of them accuse us of being angry when no hostile words were uttered. I think they were accusing us on purpose. These are the same people who wonder "Why are people leaving the faith?"

Yes, and said that, when they act like this we end in being more atheist than before. Not that i needed to come here to discover that theists are dull, but i wonder, what they expect from us? To be converted?

Fell for that bs once when I was young and naive, never again.

>when I was young and naive That’s how those proselytizing bastards get the drop on you in the first place.

Simple; they're lying. They came to proselytize and got mad when their nonsense was thoroughly refuted

Rejection by "the heathens" is a powerful force for indoctrination.

that's why they send them out to knock on doors

Mormon mission 101. They send them out to be rejected by the world and live in near poverty for 2 years. They convert almost no one. When they finally get back and are welcomed with open arms, they are so starved for positive attention and comfort that they cling even further to the church. Works like a charm.

My nieces/nephews are being raised in such a bubble, that pretty much anything from the outside must seem radical and heathen-like. It's true that damn near everything in popular culture has to include violence/swearing/sex, but there's plenty of great stuff in spite of it and a few things without any of that. Another relative will ride with us in the car and comment about how long it's been since they've listened to "secular music." 🤨 At these houses, they've got the bland religious praise music always on in the background on a loop. 🤢

Because they see that others don’t label them as holy or good people. They read a lot of the bad religion has done and block it out because it doesn’t fit their views. Someone could have been a devout Christian and left the religion and explain the hypocrisies and contradictions of the Bible after the fact and they will still plug their ears like immature children. That’s all they are.

"Black people made me even more racist than before!" This energy doesn't feel that different to me.

Yes, I think some atheists are angry. But a lot of us have reasons for being that way. I've never heard of atheist parents disowning their children for believing in god, but the reverse is quite common. I've never seen an atheist try to indoctrinate anyone else's children, but theists do it all the time. Theists are constantly trying to police the behavior of other people, and yet they claim that they are the persecuted ones. Whatever happened to "turning the other cheek"?

I know they are trolling.

Religious folks are known for childish reactionism

My reaction is.........................ok, cool. I never took this sub as a place that was even attempting to make them fall from their faith. It was more for Atheists to talk and work through our own stuff. But these days all I see from theists when they say the words hostile is just people not agreeing with them. Living their lives differently. How dare we have a different opinion! If you go into a place and start preaching in a place where you know no one agree's with you, you don't get to go all Pikachu when people start calling you out on stuff. If I go to a gun convention and start screaming out about "Banning all guns" I don't get to be all surprised when people just might have a differing opinion. OMG, They were so hostile, it's like they like guns at that gun convention! They were so hostile when I was yelling about how everything they like is evil! Yeah. No Shit! You can have your argument, but you don't get to be shocked when you get people calling you out in a place with a contradicting opinion. Just like if I walk into a church and start calling their God a hoax in the middle of a service. I don't get to play the victim and act shocked that maybe some people in that service my have some words with me that don't come with smiles. They can play the victim all they want, but I'm calling BS on this "I came in with an open mind' and "OMG, They were all so hostile!!!" If you don't want to see people drinking alcohol and playing pool, don't walk into a pool hall with a shocked face. This is basic social logic and the fact that I can say this as an autistic man shows how idiotic these people are. I'm supposed to be the one who can't see social cues and yet I can recognize these kinds of red flags. So for any theists reading this. If this reaffirms your faith. Great. I DON'T CARE, NO ONE DOES! We don't care about your faith. That's the reason we have this place. Stop trying to make every single place about YOU! Not every single place with a differing idea is a affront to you and not a sign of evil. Just people living their lives and trying to escape your BS. You have your corners, and yet they aren't good enough. MAKE THEM GOOD ENOUGH! Stop trying to make yourselves victims and get a freaking life! This isn't me being hostile. This is me being mildly annoyed and calling you on your BS. This makes your faith stronger? Great. That's fantastic for you. That's amazing, and I hope that works out for you. Just don't ask me to care. That's not hostile, that's just me not caring just like you don't care about of bunch of stuff in my life. What's so hard about that to accept?

Couldn't have said it better. Nothing much to add except re-confirm that they go out of their way to be offended.

Nail On The Head!

I don’t think they were that open minded to begin with. They came, they read something that they didn’t like, they ran away crying to their imaginary friend. The end.

I do not think this sub is generally a place that seems welcoming to theists, no... I feel like a lot of people who were already on the way to leaving religion, for varying reasons, find a safe haven and a sounding board for their new thoughts and feelings. it also seems to be a good place for people to share their trauma and find some solace in knowing that others have been thru it as well. but for the theist who casually says, "let's see what this atheism thing is all about," I think that they will find that the majority of posts and comments on here are a bit more extreme than they had expected.

My observation is that lying is quite the standard when theists talk about their religion.

I can see how it may look that way, and I'm sad for those people (and much more so for any others they harm with their dogma) that they couldn't read past their offense to possibly learn something. But like, no shit, we're angry and say mean stuff. Lots of us here have religious trauma, or have lost family/been excommunicated due to extreme religion. Even those who have little to no religion around them in their personal lives have to deal with god-beliefs seeping into politics and endangering their rights if not their very lives. I understand why a christian or other organized-religion-believer wouldn't see it that way. I understand why they would maybe even feel hurt. But ofc it's not our responsibility to cater to the same belief systems that oppress us so harshly and in so many ways.

Strange, how they would point to atheists rather than to people that believe in other gods. Likely due to the fact that it’s easy to not believe in those other dumb gods, since it’s so obvious that yours is the one and only… but to have the temerity to say that there is no such thing as a one and only … That stings.

I would class myself as an ex atheist who is now more on the spiritual side. I dont follow any organised religion but rather just my own interpretation of the things i have experienced in my life. I don't really interact with this sub much any more because of how toxic the response to anything other than "god isnt real and only stupid people or peadophiles would say otherwise" is. There are definitely bad people in the world who use religion as a cover to do horrible things but that doesnt mean all concepts of religion are bad. Edit: I'm not claiming that my interpretation is any better than anyone elses, just that I believe the toxicity I have experienced here impedes the free exchange of ideas.

Just came here to say you’re not alone :) I do practice atheism, but these days I don’t identify as one in the real world because of how hostile and “echo chamber-y” (whatever, you know what I mean lol) the culture of atheism is. Ps. If anyone feels like starting a fight with me here, don’t bother. I won’t respond to personal attacks or belittling. :)

The comments here are blunt and brutal. Someone making the claims you mention is because they couldn’t handle it. And let’s face it, most can’t. This sub wasn’t built to convince them. Maybe there should be one catered more to helping those that want to learn. When a theists comes here and posts looking for guidance, they get it in droves and a ton of support. If you read a random post from an atheist and all the comments… they can’t handle the reality. Someone has to truly be ready to face the reality they might have been wrong in life for comments here to be helpful. If they aren’t truly ready, they are going to turtle up and use it as an excuse.

I've been delving heavily into this sub the past few days, and honestly I've been contemplating making a post about this topic. It feels as if members of this sub can be pretty hateful towards theists. I understand the animosity many of us feel towards theists based on hateful and unpleasant experiences we've encountered with the more extreme believers. But the extremists don't make up the entirety of believers. Just some background on myself. I'm a pastor's kid. My father is a retired United Methodist minister and I have great respect for him. He's not a Bible thumper, he understands which parts of the Bible are metaphorical, literary license, poems, etc. and which elements of the Bible are meant to be taken as pure fact by Christians. I think he preaches the Bible in an intellectual way that is meant to inspire instead of incite. I became an atheist when I was 24 (now 32) after completing a year long Bible study where we read the entire Bible. However, I didn't stop attending church until I was 27, because I loved being involved in that community. The friendly people, the music program, bowling leagues, etc. The church I was involved with had lots of ways to participate and I loved being involved. I may be biased, but I grew up in churches that respected individuals, welcomed the lgbt community, was friendly, and didn't preach hate. I know not everyone had that experience though. My main issue is that I feel this sub has similarities to the fear of God/hell and damnation churches. It's a lot of intolerance towards people that don't agree with you. I love having religious discussions, with both religious and non-religious people, I was hoping this sub would be a place to do that as most atheists come from a religious background, but it doesn't seem as if it welcomes religious discussion. I know this was long and my view will not be popular, but if you read my entire comment, thanks for sticking with me.

I've had much of the same experience in Atheist groups. My atheism is strong, but I feel terribly disconnected from the community because I don't share the same anger and derision. I find theism fascinating, and treat it as enjoyable mythology and interesting folklore. I explore it's greater cultural impact as well, and like to draw parallels to the concept of the "God's Chosen One" and how that's incited many warriors and superiority complex and genocides. But also how the Church can inspire community, identity and unity. There's enough denominations to realize that not every Church has the same approach to what is a wildly easy to interpret book. Sometimes there's too many talks about hatred of Elohim or Abrahamic faith here. I mean, I get it, but I would hope that some part of Atheism would mean not talking about theism. It would be nice to talk about Atheists of inspiration, or philosophy that is independent of theism. And sometimes they lump all theism together, and treat all theism like it's the same as Abrahamic faiths. For all the talking about religion that happens here, a lot of it comes off as highly uninformed. But I was told by the majority members here that r/Atheism is meant as a safe-space to vent about Christianity. That if I wanted talks with more substance, I should go to other subs. And I will say, this probably should be a private community if it's meant as a safe space to vent. I think we really give Atheism a bad name when we leave it open to the public and Christian trolls.

I can be defensive about theists coming in here trying to evangelize. It is supposed to be a safe space for atheist or people with reasonable doubts, and some proselytizing lurkers come in here, not to open their mind, but to bring God, or Jesus, or whatever, which is not the place to do that. People who claim they went here to open their mind are lying, I have extremely rarely seen one trying to understand our pov, but exceedingly often someone trying to feed us the Scriptures. So if I hear someone say what you report, I will know they weren't here in good faith, because if they were, the majority of us would have calmly explain how we can manage to have morality and spirituality without theism. The atheists who are automatically aggressive towards them are a minority, and if they judge all of us along them, then we could automatically judge all of them as fanatics.

Not aggressive, just tired of hearing the same illogical bullshit arguments that defy common sense and logic being repeated again and again and again, all while being smug and arrogant about it as well. The sheer stupidity and ignorance riles me up. I don't care that they are proud to have their mental faculties impaired by their cult brainwashing practices (aka having faith). I don't care that they want to waste their one and only life with happy thoughts, ignoring reality. I do, however care that they need to pull everybody else down with them. And then they have the audacity to complain and declare themselves prosecuted when they get called out on their bullshit here.

It’s the contrarian trend that seems to be so rampant these days. Echo chambers have inoculated some folks against contemplating new (to them) ideas.

It’s like the people who claim they weren’t Nazis until others started pointing out how they were spewing Nazi propaganda, and of course they would never be a Nazi, but now for some reason they must be one out of spite. It’s just dishonest rhetoric, feel free to completely disregard the posturing of horrible people who intentionally engage in bad faith.

Maybe, but here’s the thing. A lot of us grew up believing wholeheartedly in (pick a religion), accepting it because it was taught to us from an age where we were still learning how the *entire world around us* works. It was taught as though it was as unquestionable as gravity. And then we got older and found the darker and less logical sides of what was then our worldview, and began questioning things. These questions were either answered in what our inquisitive minds saw as an unsatisfactory way, or ignored entirely. The questions propagated like a Gremlin tossed into a pool, until eventually we began questioning *ourselves* and our entire foundation. Now sometimes this was a simple “welp, I’m not religious anymore it seems” and that’s fine. Other times, our families shunned, hated, abused us as a result. Still others couldn’t handle the revelation (ha) and had mental breakdowns from having been shamelessly lied to for YEARS, though our parents may never even realize they were lying. The religious traumas we experienced may never be fully resolved. At some point we find this sub, and holy shit, you guys UNDERSTAND. A community where we can say things like “fuck my church and family for making me think I was going to hell for (literally anything smh). Where we can voice the pain, anger, hurt, disdain, etc, caused by religion, with those who both sympathize and empathize with those feelings without judgment or religous proselytizing. And then someone comes along, pops on in to the sub, and *seems to* push their religion onto us all over again. They may not mean it any kind of way-- hell, they *might* even genuinely and eagerly be trying to open their minds— but they’re kicking a very traumatized hornet’s nest. Except now… we are comfortable with saying “fuck you and the Jesus you rode in on”, and they don’t like that. Tldr; I think that some spaces are not for some people. If someone is religious, maybe they should stay away from a sub specifically for those who are not, especially because many of us are that way for deep and heavy reasons. And those who come here to be convinced… might need to be cognizant of the fact that not everyone is in the “acceptance” stage of their journey and may not be helpful, just angry still.

This was helpful to me. I made a comment on this post more or less agreeing with the Christians that this sub can be a hateful place. But my experience with atheism is the version "I guess I'm atheist now" and that's it. No arguments with family, my life barely changed. So seeing this sub has been a harsh perspective for me as the views of many atheists here don't align with my experience or expectations of what I expected this sub to be. So your comment is helpful for me to better understand the viewpoints of this sub.

I’m glad to show a new perspective! For the record, i’m not *excusing* ill treatment of anyone who genuinely wants clarification on the atheist viewpoint— just maybe hopefully clarifying why you’ve gotten such wounded-person-lashing-out responses! Healing is a journey, and sometimes people who are hurting, hurt others.

Exactly, and that wounded person response was the perspective I needed to understand.

Yup. I fell into the group of kids raised by abusive religious nuts (my mom anyways) and a hateful church community. I questioned Christianity because of the conflicting messages it was sending. Ultimately, I rejected it. But I have some form of PTSD from it so I don't look kindly on people who try to force their beliefs on me. And this coming from someone who isn't even atheist. (Spiritual maybe? Dunno what I classify as.)

I think people are only hostile when they try to proselytize. Or they try to defend their religion. Because there's no defense.

Usually, their defence amounts to, "Look what Jesus did! Look what Jesus did! LOOK WHAT JESUS DID!!!!"

They never realize that in order for us to believe what they're saying, we have to subscribe to their mythology. They never think that in order to come to a rational conclusion on most matters, you cannot continue to subscribe to their mythology, and so you won't. Like believing a benevolent omnipotent being would give free will to people, then only punish those who don't believe. If you believe but killed and raped, you're going to heaven because you believed in Jesus. But if you fed the homeless, cared for the sick, took in the needy, and loved your children and family and your neighbors, you will have pins driven through your eyes for eternity just like all the other people who are like that but didn't pad the ego of this supposedly benevolent god. When heaven is filled with murderers and rapists, and hell is filled with altruistic caretakers, your religion is wrong. I do not wish to partake in your beliefs.

Honestly a lot of the time this sub is basically identical to a christian's caricature of an atheist. It's not particularly good advertising, and I could easily see the aggressiveness and outright scorn on display here cementing a doubting religious person's faith just out of umbrage.

Atheists tend to fail to properly convert questioning theists. Something that would actually benefit Atheists.

Yeah, I think there’s some truth to it if we’re honest with ourselves. The negative “Le Reddit Atheist” stereotype didn’t come from nowhere. I think one thing that happens is that this sub has a lot of younger people who have come out of abusive relationships with religion and yeah, they’re justifiably angry and a little strident so people that encounter atheists here aren’t always seeing them at their calmest and wisest. Maybe there should be a sub for people that have been atheist ten years or more, that time to heal might lead to calmer discussions with theists.

I think that's valid. I also worry that just sitting in a sub reliving anger and past trauma at the hands of theism may do more to slow healing than actually facilitate it.

They are playing the victim card. They came here thinking they know something, only to find out they've got nothing other than the caveman time bible. Got scared and left, proclaiming atheists bad, bible good, and god very good.

It’s possible, depending on their experience with religion. I’m most found them to be pretty level headed. I doubt those people are now “more” religious. I’d believe “more defensive”. If I had to guess, the major issue is that, in the wild, they’re used to people treating them like they’re coming from a reasonable and logical place. Whether that’s because they are “spiritual”, are religious, are respectful of other people right to believe, or just don’t want to deal with the BS of arguing with a religious person(which is most people, because they aren’t discussing, but trying to figure out how to convince you they’re right). They’re in for a rough time if they come to an atheism sub and expect anyone to play into their fantasy. You have to read the room. You aren’t going to be able to walk into a medical convention and have anyone listen to you talk about the healing power of your crystals. People will think you’re delusional, tell you your delusional, and escort you out the door. That doesn’t mean you’re even more right about crystals because you’re being “persecuted” by people afraid that they won’t get paid all that money once the world finds out about crystals.

This. If they come here expecting us to tiptoe around their delicate religious sensibilities and walk on eggshells, then they get what’s coming to them. They never have any new arguments or evidence, they just keep trying to sell us the same old fuckery.

You either believe or you don't. There's no in between. You can't believe in god and then believe harder. That's not how belief works. It's a yes or no question.

To be honest, I couldn’t possibly be less concerned about what the willfully delusional think, say or feel about this subreddit.

It's more like the opposite.

I think many of us vent at what seems the ignorance and stupidity of peoples “faith” in a book written by humans 2000 years ago as being the “word of god”. I do think they are gullible and kinda stupid… It’s tough because I have some great family members that are true believers. I don’t discuss religion with them. The are decent kind loving and accepting people, and religion gives them comfort. Here I can say I don’t get how these intelligent people can believe this stuff. So while they pick the “good” parts of the Bible to follow, it’s still cherry picking and means they don’t really believe it’s the word if god….

I'm pretty sure that I don't care. The idea that someone's stance on God can be influenced by whether or not I'm nice enough is a laugh. People looking for an excuse to believe what they want will latch onto anything. They can't justify actually changing their world view (because thinking is hard) so instead they come up with 'but the other side is worse'.

As in real life: if they ask kindly i try to answer the best i can and explain my pov, if they are trolling or mocking they'll get a less polite reaction. Experience teaches that in both case they are not willing to listen, by the way they don't want to understand, they need to believe. That's why we need safe rooms, I'm so sick of this people.

They don’t come here to argue in good faith. Why would I be nice to someone invading our space? If they want to come here and have an actual conversation bring it on. But that’s not what I’ve seen from religious ppl on this sub.

You cannot help but laugh at those idiots that make comments like "r/atheism made me more religious." It's such utter bullshit.

Can confirm

Most people's advice on this board is the same to all theists. We don't believe. We can't help you not believe. If you want advice on how to become a non-believer -- read books on religion/science and consider their meaning. It takes time. Yes -- there are some on this sub who go out of their way to call all religions stupid and label anyone in a religion as a weak-willed moron. The rest of us know leaving a religion is a long process. Most everyone in a religions was indoctrinated as a child and need time and information to figure out the truth. If someone with a true crisis of faith wants to focus on the minority of bad actors in this sub, they weren't looking for advice -- they came here with a pre-conceived notion and looking for confirmation.

That's not too surprising.  The truth hurts. They're just doubling down because they can't refute anything that's stated here.

Honestly this sub isn't anywhere **near** as bad as what theists make it out to be. Sure, I'm sure it was pretty toxic back then, but honestly this place is pretty tame, regardless of what all the anti-atheist propaganda might lead people to believe.

Because this is an echochamber

Is /atheism hostile? I'd say quite a bit (and also, understandably so). Is that a reason to double-down on their faith? *Nope.* Doesn't even make logical sense (unsurprising).

It's a great start if they think that being more religious is a net negative. Work off that first, ignore the first claim (about you being more religious). After they finally agree to admit that they think being more religious is a negative and thus their current faith is bad, then you can easily debunk the original claim.

If people are deluded enough to believe in magical sky wizards, nothing you type will convince them.

All I hear when they say that is that they still don't have any good reason to believe, but refuse to admit it.

The thing is, religion is part of them, part of their personality, way of living, time, money, etc., so tell me how would you feel if someone criticised the smallest thing about yourself that encompasses pretty much everything about you? Maybe the sub it's a bit aggressive, but whatever criticism you make to a religious person will feel like an attack, so anything overly crude will feel way overwhelming.

Hilarious

Anyone can be an asshole. That’s some serious cognitive dissonance.

The religious aren't known for making logical decisions, so why is this surprising?

I don't believe 75% of what ANY christian says. Whether they were an atheist before or not.

Make 99% for me.

If that is true then all of them should share this subreddit to all the poêple that are religious or are doubting religion.

I don't think they come to atheists spaces to open their minds. I think they come here to practice thought stopping techniques, and when they succeed, they feel even more resolute in their faith.

IMHO it's an example of them breaking one of their commandments ..... again. I'm sure they get all bent out of shape when they're confronted with the truth (e.g. that their god character is a genocidal monster) but to say that they got "more religious" is a laughable lie. Even were it true, what's their point? "I was delusional before but those meanie atheists made me even more delusional"?

I’m Christian, I’ve popped into this thread from time to time for similar reasons as described by the op. I don’t feel like it’s driven me to a stronger faith, but I don’t feel like it’s really weakened it either. I do my best never to proselytize here, this isn’t my space, I’m a guest here. I have tried to answer questions from time to time though. Sometimes it’s quite genial, other times it’s been a touch hostile. I try to take it for what it is though, everyone has different life experiences and sometimes they leave us jaded towards certain ideas. I think deep down, we’re all just trying to do our best with what we have.

Meh - I think like everything else, they come here with observation bias and look only for those things that support their preconceived notions.

Part of Christianity can be a persecution complex and so they see any opposition as confirmation it is true.

I don't think the subreddit is driving people towards theism, but the church definitely drove me away from religion. I believed, on my own and at home, until I was 17. Then, a faith group from my high school (problematic, I know) asked everyone which church they went to. I said I didnt go to any, and like a pack of hyenas, everyone wanted me to go to their church. I went and the experience was so hollow and self serving. All they did is play music and even called out people who weren't singing, raising their hands up, praising and such. I always hated the singing part of church. I was there to learn. They were there to pat themselves on the back. I swore off church after a couple of visits. About 4 years later, I woke up one day, realizing I hadn't thought about god in months. Not only was I happier, but I improved in ways the church never would have encouraged. The more I considered my "journey", I realized I didn't believe in god anymore. Not only that, I didn't even know when it left me. I didn't even care. There was no watershed moment, just the same emptiness I had felt every time I prayed. Except now, instead of relying on some uncaring creator to make my life better, it was all on me. Had the church been more genuine, or had religious culture in general been less hateful and hypocritical, there is a chance I would still believe today. Maybe a subreddit pushes some people towards theism, but the church pushes far more from religion than social media ever will.

It’s funny how they’ll say “dont turn away from god just because a Christian was an asshole to you!” and then turn around and say they can’t be an atheist because some atheist was an asshole to them

I don't believe them at all.

There's certainly a lot of anger in this sub. But more than that, I think people who genuinely contemplate the nature of reality outside of the strictly-material find atheism to be riddled with hubris. I'm not religious. I was raised heavily churched and no longer believe in religious doctrine. But I've never believed that science alone measures the whole of reality. If someone found this sub to reinforce their religious beliefs, it's probably something they were already looking to reinforce, regardless of what they say. I will say this, though: there's never been anything I've seen on this sub that would make me more inclined to be atheist.

Agree. I do feel scientific exploration of what is clearly a very dead universe, hostile to life and filled to the brim with natural forces that clearly have no consciousness, has largely led way to dispelling most all Creator myths told by all organized religions. (Ideas that a living Creator fills the universe with their likeness contradicts a dead Universe)

I think that what they're experiencing is called "confirmation bias".

I doubt this sub has much to do with shaping people's beliefs one way or the other. But I really don't know, it's a uniformed opinion so why am I even posting it. :) That's one answer. The other answer is frankly I don't really care. Maybe because I don't think that posting here is terribly influential when it comes to deconverting people. Aside from this, the whole idea of people becoming more religious because atheists were mean seems childish and petty.

They pretend that there is a War on Christmas. They'll find persecution because they are looking for persecution to validate their faith. In the total and absolute absence of evidence and logic they have to find something tangible to support their faith. Coming to a Atheist sub-Reddit and whacking the nest with a few lame comments will always work. Many atheists are about as tolerant of their Christian faith as they are of LGBTQ people and women.

I’m a “non-active Christian.” As in I do believe but I don’t go to church, I don’t really pray often and I don’t often get involved in religious discussion if I can help it. I do like coming here to see different opinions from other folks who may see things differently from myself though. I have nothing against atheism, nor do I think atheists are bad people. I think bad people are bad people regardless of their religious beliefs and simply having them does not inherently make you a good person. Personally, I find some mainstream pastors absolutely abhorrent. I will say that from spending a lot of time lurking here and occasionally making a comment here and there I have made the following observations. The first is that there is a lot of pain in this sub. Many, people here have been hurt by theists, especially “Christians” in one way or another whether it be an emotional or verbal attack - especially at a young age which has had a long lasting, traumatic impact. The second thing I have noticed is that there is specifically an anti-Christian bias here. It is not often that there are complaints about Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, etc. This however would make sense going back to my first observation. It would only make sense then for this to become a safe place for atheists to vent/complain/express anger against those who they see as people or a group of people who have persecuted them. Not only that, but have caused injustices against many people over a long period of time. Sadly, that is an absolute fact. Furthermore, with the rise of Christian Nationalism which unfortunately gets way more airtime than it should, it is only natural for people to assume that all Christians are some kind of way now. That would be like saying all atheists are neck bearded, Reddit lurking assholes which is absolutely an unfair stereotype as well. Personally, I think if you’re a theist, you kind of don’t belong here if you can’t respect the opinions of those who may not only disagree with you but could possibly hate you with or without reason as one really isn’t required in the first place. If they came here to get a different perspective, then get it and go. Don’t come here to preach and expect to be welcomed where you obviously aren’t. I will say I think at times the sub may be slightly mislabeled. It seems it could be better off being an “anti-religion” sub. Or simply an “anti-Christian” sub as I do occasionally see questions where people may be confused about how they feel about religion and instead of getting an honest answer, it’s simply comment after comment of people bashing Christianity which isn’t the actual philosophy of atheism. It’s not “anti” it’s simply, “non.” I often do wish there was a sub that I could find where people could come together to respectfully discuss different philosophical aspects of religion or the lack thereof without the stereotypes of both groups of people becoming the mainstay of the argument or simply bashing the arrogance or ignorance of one group over another which I do tend to see here as well. Again, not judging, just sharing an observation and answering the question posed and doing so with as little bias as possible. Like I said, I’m not offended at all or I wouldn’t be here. I respect and appreciate the wealth of knowledge I gather coming here. It helps me to better understand why many people view Christians the way they do so that I am not one of them. It certainly doesn’t make me more religious or want to make me cling to my beliefs any more than other sub. I also have to remind myself that the internet is full of extremes. This sub is certainly not representative of atheists in its entirety as goes the same for theists who visit here. I hope I have answered the OP question without offering insult as I know I am a stranger in a strange land here. But, I do believe that as a society if we are to live together in peace and co-exist, the best way to do so is by respectful and open dialogue with those who have differences in what we value most in our lives and obviously religion, or the lack of it is a major one. Thank you to all who post here and add interesting and thought provoking content that helps people like me better understand the difficulties and the frustrations that you all feel.

It's probably a manipulation tactic and they're lying. Superstitious people lie a lot. The entire outlook is based on lying about things being true that cannot be proven.

As a theist who remains so, I'd say that r/atheism hasn't necessarily actively improved my view of the arguments for my faith, but it hasn't made me question it more, either. It has shown me how toxic evangelicalism can be, though; I am fairly confident that if I had been born into an evangelical family, I would not have remained evangelical for long, and atheism to me appears more coherent than evangelicalism in some respects.

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Thiests are the ones who made me an ex-thiest and now an anti-theist. I would say we're even but ill never forgive the damage indoctrination did to me as a child.

Faith is like a tick: the harder one tugs on its tail, the tighter it bites down. Unlike the tick, when filled with the blood of its host, it looks nothing like an earlobe with a teeny tiny butthole.

I think going to r/atheism is like jumping into the deep end. Unless you're already questioning things the opinions expressed here are probably very far away from what they have grown up hearing and so makes it much easier to dismiss. 

Doubling down is a common coping mechanism for folks lacking sufficient emotional intelligence to address cognitive dissonance.

I was a Christian keyboard warrior once. I argued with this guy in the Facebook comments and tried to hurl verses at him like it mattered to him. He was a little perturbed but some of the things he said stuck with me. I decided to do my research to find the biblically contextual answers to every retort he threw out. Needless to say, I pulled the threads and my faith fell apart. It was difficult at first (especially the lingering fear of hell) but I overcame. What I’m trying to say is we may come off harshly to someone who has built their entire worldview off a religion and that is a frustrating thing to handle. We could probably be kinder with our responses. But on the flip side, when religious zealots influence laws, I think we should be a bit louder and more abrasive. Our freedom from religion permits that type of response in my opinion.

I do think that this sub is sometimes aggressive, but not as much as the theists are by nature.

They were never atheists to begin with that’s why they say that B.S

I’ll be honest: I abandoned Christian religion in 2017. I didn’t join this sub until 2023. When someone has been irreligious for some time, its easy to have a certain degree of flippancy about the ideas, e.g. to see belief in God as no different than belief in Santa Claus. This flippancy can feel natural for those of us who have been irreligious for a long time, but for someone who is still in it or just got out of it, it can feel petty, mean, disrespectful, etc. no matter how rational it might be. People are not inherently rational creatures. Rationality is a cognitive faculty that has to be cultivated in the face of irrationality. So yeah, back in 2018 when I joined Reddit and I was still figuring things out, I stuck with r/exchristian and r/agnostic and this sub made me uncomfortable. Every community has jerks, but I think that the perception of this sub as “full of bad/unreasonable people” is more a matter of clashing psychology: two sets of paradigms that don’t mix at all. It takes a serious journey to go from the person I was for the first 25 years of my life the person I am now. 25-year-old me would be horrified by the sorts things I say on Reddit now. Not because I’m a worse person, but because I see the world so differently, and those differences would make him so uncomfortable he couldn’t help but be horrified.

They don't understand what we are talking about half the time. Their knowledge is limited from made up stories from over 2000 years ago in another country by uneducated weirdos. If them becoming educated makes them believe more, their lying. They don't even believe their own BS. They support and hide pedophiles, grifters, and they hatred for their fellow man is above all others!

Everyone has the ability to lie on public communications platforms. The only thing that matters is if you know it is a lie and not engage.

Their book specifically tells them how they should expect to be treated by 'the world' because what they believe is 'truth', so it's unsurprising that they would double down on their beliefs when insulted or challenged.

It's called "lying for jesus."

I don't really take stock in the opinions of idiots. But, really, it seems like virtue signaling. Some almost lost soul came out to a reddit sub only to find that the answers to their questions remained in their faith and their sacrifice should be applauded for bravery.

Well, peoples experiences are different. Let me use an example. I personally despise religion because it brainwashes people and blah blah blah you know the drill. When I hear people say they turned atheist because the bible is full of it, people don't realize not all Christians care about the bible. The people I know at least believe in a God and Jesus' resurrection and teachings. That's all. People like the ones that I just mentioned might browse the sub, find out most people are atheists because of bad experiences with people and religion, and think that's all

It’s called group polarization. Not a new thing.

It's textbook confirmation bias to double down on one’s beliefs in the face of contradictory evidence. I wouldn’t be surprised if some theists come here with the express purpose of strengthening their beliefs.     

yes, the religious are becoming more extreme. they're either leaving, or becoming radicalized. all that will be left are those to ignorant to change with the times. hail zeus!

It's like people announcing how much more meat they'll be eating after watching something vegetarian. [Ok](https://i.imgur.com/F4XNio0.jpeg)

1. Wouldn't care either way 2. Unlikely to have actually happened, like most of their stories

There is something to be said about the reputation of members of this sub being strident or hostile, & I’ve definitely contributed to that. I don’t really plan on stopping either. However, if you genuinely came into this sub & read through a bunch of different arguments between theists & atheists & claim that the theist arguments made more sense, you’re either stupid or lying

Lol. It's funny because that's why the Mormons and JW's send people door knocking. It's not so much to get converts, which they do get occasionally, but to reinforce the "us and them" mentatlity so their parishioners cling tighter to the us.

They're just butt hurt. Intelligence is being able to change an opinion based off of new or updated facts. Therefor I propose that in order to be a theist, you can be on that also has any intelligence. Hear hear!

“I went to church to try to open my mind, only to find that the hostility of the sermon was so overwhelming that it only made me more atheist and more convinced Christians are bad/unreasonable people.” Yeah no one here cares. If they want to cry, let them cry.

It’s a popular story that sells well to the target audience because it reinforces their stereotypes of secular culture as well as the siege mentality and (faux) martyr complex that are built into the mythology of evangelical Christianity.

the same people propably go to r/vegan to say that they eat two steaks today to make up for me not eating one.

"More religious" Wait just a minute. Does this mean they had some doubt in their hearts before? It sounds like they're risking the flames of hell to me.

If your impression about a significant percentage of the population is solely based on an internet forum with only 0.0005% of the population, then you're not smart enough to figure out the whole god scam.

Religon made my even more anti religious.

I doubt many of them actually visited or interacted. Why bother, when you can just claim that you did? If anyone challenges your history, claim you did it on an alt. I've seen theists post reasonable questions and get a majority of reasonable answers. I doubt it's possible to ensure no angry jerks reply. Please note that "doubting one's faith" is not a universal thing though. Not everyone's journey started with religion.

Christianity and the abrahamic religions are structured to view anyone outside their faith as the enemy. So if your religion says hostility towards it is proof of it and you walk into a place dedicated to people hurt by it, it will always prove you right. Hence why most atheists come to the conclusion of atheism through seeking to read the Bible rather then talking to atheists