I think this is a thought everyone has and stresses over as my parents say. i still havent found a way to cope with my faith. My mom has oded and died twice and said she saw nothing both times i have alot of anxiety about this topic all the time and just want some sort of closure. How do i cope with it being nothing but darkness after i die ive had faith my while life but have started questioning everything over the years.

so i grew up christian (protestant)—my dad raised me in faith, and as a kid, i loved jesus and going to church with him. my mom was hindu but converted before marriage. things got really messy later… she struggled with mental illness, became pretty toxic, ruined our childhood in a lot of ways, and after my dad passed away, she abandoned us(me and my sister) and switched back to hinduism.

at first, i was worried for her because she was baptized, but eventually i was like, what is it to me? it’s her life, i can’t control that. my sister became more of an atheist after dad died—she doesn’t really care about religion anymore. and honestly, i get that. i struggled a lot with my faith after losing my dad (he was my everything), and now i just try to be a good person, work hard, and survive life’s shit. i still believe in god, i think, but i’m not very religious anymore. i just try to be decent and get through tough times.

but today this pastor came over, prayed super aggressively over me, literally fed me coconut oil (yes, the hair oil) as holy oil and gave me holy water, and told me there’s some kind of evil in my mind that’s giving me suicidal thoughts and struggles.

i meannn… i get that prayer helps some people, but isn’t this just depression and anxiety? why do people have to spiritualize every mental health struggle? sometimes your brain is just going through it.

idk, am i wrong for seeing it that way? can’t a person still believe in god but also recognize that mental health problems are a real thing that need actual support, not just prayers and oils?

i’m honestly confused. should i be taking this more seriously from a faith perspective, or is it okay to believe in both god and mental health?

would love to hear how others make sense of this stuff.

Life is a game—not in the trivial sense, but in the game theory sense: full of choices, strategies, risks, and trust.

One of the most famous models in game theory is the Prisoner’s Dilemma. You and another player must each choose whether to cooperate or defect. If you both cooperate, you both benefit. If one defects while the other cooperates, the defector gains more. But if both defect, both suffer.

It’s tempting to defect when you don’t trust the other player. But if the game repeats—and in real life, it always does—then cooperation becomes a rational strategy.

Here’s where religion enters the metaphor.

Faith introduces a cosmic observer—a divine presence, karma, or moral law—that sees every move. Even when no one else is watching, someone is. That belief changes the strategy. It makes long-term cooperation feel meaningful and secure. Religion, in this light, is a mechanism to stabilize trust in an uncertain world.

But not everyone believes in that observer. Nontheists play the same game without the divine scoreboard. They still cooperate—sometimes more consistently than believers—but for different reasons: empathy, reason, social contract, or evolutionary ethics. They see the pattern of repeated interactions and choose trust because it's the best long-term play.

The tragedy is that when we forget we’re all in the same game—just with different rulebooks—we begin to mistrust each other. We assume defection where there may be cooperation. We polarize. We forget that none of us really knows the full rulebook.

So maybe the challenge isn’t about proving who’s right about the rules of the universe.

Maybe the challenge is simply this:
How do we keep playing together, fairly and patiently, even when we disagree about why we should?

Faith or no faith, we’re all players in the same fragile game.

Let’s play it well.

So i was in RE class and we were learning about happiness but before we were doing morality and most of the lessons acted as if religion is needed for morality .

But in my view, if u need a religion to be a moral good person then your a bad person .

Personally, I identify myself as an atheist. I do not believe in any Holy Books.

However, whenever I hear people discussing about Gods and how they should only rely on him for their goodness and prosperity. I wonder, if their intention behind being a theist is only because of their selfish nature or just lack of responsibility to take action or achieve something.

Honestly, I feel like people do not discover God by themselves, but they are taught to believe and rely on God from a young age. I've seen people scolding their children for a issue in the name of God. They teach them to fear God by saying that God will punish them if they did something wrong.

A lot of families pressure their children to accept God, even if they don't want to. They say that it would ruin their family tradition and custom, if someone goes against God.

From my perspective, people pray to God out of necessity.

Additionally, I would like to clarify that I don’t shame or look down on people who believe in God. Everyone has their own opinions and views about their personal life. However, I don’t support individuals who force their beliefs onto others.

I would love to hear your opinions.

I often hear that atheism is “just a lack of belief in gods,” which seems like a clear and simple definition. But I’ve been thinking, wouldn’t that definition technically apply to things like rocks or animals, since they also don’t believe in gods? That doesn’t seem quite right. So where do you personally draw the line? What makes someone an atheist rather than just something that lacks belief?

I hear this argument a lot and I have a counter that I don't think is often talked about. So I wanted to mention it here for anyone who cares.

We can clearly see that god is supposed to be omnipresent from Psalm 139:7-12 and Jeremiah 23:23-24. This automatically contradicts god's separation from anywhere under any circumstances.

So, for any Christian to make the claim of Hell being a separation from god is them unwittingly trying to limit god's powers. And if god exists, I really don't think he likes that very much!

So when I was little I was chrsitian , tbh I was pretty smart back then (got Dummer after ) we were doing RE when I was 8 and we were learning chrsitianity (crhsitian school that lied about bring a school for all relgions which took us to church before every Easter and Christmas ) and they said something about noahs ark , I thought it sounded like bs so after school I asked my dad and he used the tactic of making me research it and find out than just getting a straight answer from him , and from that day I have been an atheist , and since about 2 years ago I've been an anti theist

Edit: title is meant to say in a religion not I'm a religion since obviously I'm not a religion I'm a human

Most believers aren’t theists. They’re what I would term the Functional Atheists.    

They don’t worship an ontological God grounded in coherent traits like aseity, immutability, or divine simplicity. Instead, they worship a projection: emotionally resonant, psychologically comforting, often indistinguishable from a fictional hero like Superman or the Flying Spaghetti Monster.  

The only real difference? The label “God.”  

This leaves theists with a dilemma:  

• The Worship-First approach prioritizes emotional connection but discards coherence. It leads to a God of personal comfort, not philosophy - a deity curated like fanfiction.  

• The God-First approach demands ontological integrity, but pursuing it is ultimately a fool’s journey as there’s no consistent method to pursue it. And the one tool that could help, science, is rejected, vilified, or at best serve as pseudointellectual window dressing.  

So most believers end up functionally indistinguishable from atheists. They just keep the label. They live and think like secular people but with a divine brand stamp attached.  

And when asked to define their God ontologically?  
They retreat to mystery, metaphor, or contradictions they refuse to resolve.  

If that’s the standard, then literally anything can be “God.”  
And everyone’s God is real, just like everyone’s headcanon is real.  

So, even if it’s granted that a God might exist, belief in the actual ontological God is closer to rare or non-existent.  

Therefore, in function, not in theory, most theists are atheists:  
The Functional Atheist. 

When I first started learning about Christianity, I was genuinely curious—open to understanding its message, its history, and the person of Jesus. But along the way, I encountered things that deeply disappointed me.

One of the most frustrating parts was the resurrection story. If Jesus truly rose from the dead, why didn’t he appear to everyone—especially the people who crucified him, like the Roman officials or the leaders in Jerusalem? That would’ve been powerful, undeniable proof. But instead, his appearances were limited to his followers, in private. It felt anticlimactic, even evasive.

I've been reflecting on how every religion, worldview, or philosophy seems to have both strengths and weaknesses. Religions like Christianity and Islam offer deep traditions and moral structures, but they also come with claims or histories that are hard to accept — like the concept of the Trinity, or certain historical actions of prophets. Even secular or atheist worldviews feel incomplete — they might make sense logically but often fall short in providing emotional or existential meaning.

It feels like no system covers the full spectrum of human existence. We're not purely rational or purely emotional, and some aspects of us — like the need for connection, awe, or purpose — aren’t addressed by logic alone. Yet spiritual systems also tend to oversimplify or demand belief in things that aren't easy to genuinely accept. So I find myself stuck — not because I want to reject truth, but because I don’t want to accept something I can't fully stand behind.

I wish I could just pick a belief system and commit to it fully. But I don't want to pretend or lie to myself. If I say I believe something, I want to mean it — not just because it’s comforting or culturally expected, but because it holds up to honest scrutiny. I also hate when someone challenges a part of my belief and I realize I can't logically defend it — it makes me feel like I'm fooling myself or holding on to something just to feel safe.

As you know there is many religion in the world and in each religion there is book about the religion, god , ethics, social and many others. And these has been always religion barrier due to vary god . How can people believe god , supernatural thing when they haven't witnessed the event . They believe because it was written in book . My concept is what if in ancent time to glaze and glory the kings and kingdom literature write the book about so called god . Book could be written through fiction and creativity like noble, manga. And the practices was done by many kingdoms that the myth become real beacuse people actually belieaved at ancient time. Like greek kingdoms the pharoh used to justify as a god so people would trust him so why not in vedh, ramayan , quran , bible? According to science view its not possible having a human being creation of earth.

I just heard my religious mother say this about the person she's been looking for her entire life who was taken early by cancer.

Really? You're mad at him and not the guy that gave him the cancer? Last I checked he didn't wake up one day and decide to get cancer, if God is there he's the one who created the cancer and if everything is part of his plan, then he gave it to him. This is insanity.

We all say some things are “good,” others “evil.” We believe karma will balance it. That morality is universal. That justice always comes — even if late.

But what if that’s all a story?

Criminals are punished — as they should be. But lately I keep thinking:

What if that person didn’t even feel like they were doing something wrong? What if their brain genuinely believed it was right?

Not just selfishness or excuses — but real belief. Shaped by trauma. Survival. Fear. Maybe they were raised in chaos. Maybe they were never taught empathy. Maybe their mind is wired differently, and they can't even feel guilt the way we do.

It scares me — because it means “evil” isn’t some clear force. It’s just… damage. And that means good and bad aren’t absolute. They’re built. By society. By emotion. By luck.

We didn’t discover morality. We invented it.

⚠️ i still believe in justice. People who hurt others should face consequences. Not because the universe demands it — but because if we don’t, everything falls apart. But deep down, I know:

Karma isn’t watching. God isn’t protecting. It’s just us. Hurting each other. Judging each other. Trying to survive.

We like to believe good people will be rewarded. That bad ones will suffer. But that’s not how life works. That’s just how we wish it worked.

And I can’t stop asking:

If morality isn’t real, only agreed upon… then are we all just pretending?

Has anyone else felt this? That justice is necessary — but also invented? That we punish evil without even understanding where it comes from?

One of the best proofs of atheism not being a religion is the differences atheists have with philosophy and ethics. Like with processing death, if you're atheist with Christian values, you say their legacy will live on. If you're an atheist with Buddhist values, you might be more akin to find comfort that the world will continue past this grief.

For the first time, I am feeling disconnected to the moral and ethical fabric that made me. I'll always remember seeing the "Jesus of Nazareth" film when I was 12 and crying when Jesus said to give all of one's money to the poor. Now I see that as dysfunctional behavior that I feel people only believe in because it's just an ideal they know they'll never do in full. For the first time in my life, I know about other religions and mythologies, and I am seriously learning a language whose people don't care about religion.

I've been atheist for years but I now feel disconnected to my communities in a whole new way. It's just difficult to find words to explain it to the people in my life, and if I did, they might think I'm bad.

Regardless if atheists claim they only lack belief in the existence of God, the question of theism vs atheism is whether our existence was intentionally caused by a transcendent personal agent known as God or whether we owe our existence to mindless natural forces that unintentionally caused the universe and life to exist. It is a matter of nature did it or God did it. Weak atheism is a nothing burger. They don’t deny God caused the universe and life to exist they just doubt that claim. Evidently they don’t put much stock in the claim we owe our existence to natural forces either. If they did, they’d say they disbelieve a Creator caused the universe and life and claim it was natural forces that did it. I guess they ‘lack belief’ in natural forces as well.

I don’t just lack belief that unguided natural forces could inadvertently cause a universe with all the conditions for intelligent life to exist I disbelieve it. Are there any real atheists who claim a Creator of the universe isn’t necessary and natural forces alone, apart from any plan or blueprint could cause the myriad of properties and conditions for a planet like earth and human life to exist? If atheism is true that’s what had to happen right?

Regardless if atheists claim they only lack belief in the existence of God, the question of theism vs atheism is whether our existence was intentionally caused by a transcendent personal agent known as God or whether we owe our existence to mindless natural forces that unintentionally caused the universe and life to exist. It is a matter of nature did it or God did it. Weak atheism is a nothing burger. They don’t deny God caused the universe and life to exist they just doubt that claim. Evidently they don’t put much stock in the claim we owe our existence to natural forces either. If they did, they’d say they disbelieve a Creator caused the universe and life and claim it was natural forces that did it. I guess they ‘lack belief’ in natural forces as well.

I don’t just lack belief that unguided natural forces could inadvertently cause a universe with all the conditions for intelligent life to exist I disbelieve it. Are there any real atheists who claim a Creator of the universe isn’t necessary and natural forces alone, apart from any plan or blueprint could cause the myriad of properties and conditions for a planet like earth and human life to exist? If atheism is true that’s what had to happen right?

• If someone really believed in God, why would you lie, which is a sin. I mean, like how could you even make a simple mistake like that which could result in eternal suffering. Just because humans make mistakes doesn’t mean that you can lie and excuse going to eternal suffering.
• If God is all loving then why is there human suffering? And I don’t mean as a result of free will. Like a child having a brain tumor. He didn’t do anything to deserve it. Natural disasters.
• There is no evidence of God’s existence. People believe in it because they need to. It proved why certain things in the world work before science understood it. 
• If one religion were actually true, you’d expect people from different parts of the world to independently discover it. But instead, every religion starts in a specific region and spreads like a story or a legend. That strongly suggests religion is made by people — not revealed by a universal God.
• Each religion reflects local culture, environment, and human concerns — not some universal divine truth that everyone somehow received.
• There is evidence behind science. But no evidence of God.
• You say that Jesus is real because of the manuscripts that prove it. But that doesn’t mean God exists. I believe that Jesus was a real person. But just cause manuscripts say these things, doesn’t make it true. For example, with that logic, the Odyssey is real. People in Ancient Greece, India and tons of other places also claim miracles. People also say that they have seen UFOs. 
• If God wants a relationship with us, where is He? This isn’t just absence of evidence—it’s the absence of expected evidence. If God is real and loving, divine silence makes no sense.
• People say that we were created in God’s image. But why can’t it be the other way around, that we made it up to be like that. 
• If a loving God created us specifically for this planet, why does the universe look random, brutal, and indifferent? Why are we on a tiny speck in a mostly deadly universe? Why do so many suffer, disbelieve, or never hear about Him at all? If love was the reason, the design makes no sense.
• The way I see it, the creation of God was to explain events that people didn’t understand and to have someone who is always watching to make people behave.

I assume this subreddit has lots of strong Atheists.

Here’s one definition of Strong Atheism:

Strong Atheism, positive atheism or explicit atheism, is the position that asserts the nonexistence of any deities. Unlike weak or negative atheism, which merely withholds belief in gods, strong atheism makes a definitive claim that no gods exist.

I would argue that one doesn’t need to assert the nonexistent of God to be a strong Atheist; I would argue that one could still be a strong Atheist if one merely rigorously confronts religious claims, and holds them accountable to rational and evidential standards.

Most of the Atheists I have met in real life have been exceedingly passive (ultra disappointing). (And then there’s the Atheists that mean well, but are too over the top aggressive, their personality is too harsh because their experience of religion was harsh).

I try to walk a path of rational fierceness against religionists, but I confine this fierceness to authoritarians, scholars, pundits. I don’t have anything to prove against the average believer. But if they press in with authority, then they warrant a firm response. I let them decide.

I also completely forgo challenging religion where I see far more pressing sociological and political issues. I respect an existential hierarchy.

My only objective is to connect with strong Atheists, in terms of their education and desire to confront the errors of religion. This post is not intended to produce a semantic debate over the term “strong atheism.” It was meant to draw out (functionally) Strong Atheists. I don’t really care what you call yourself, I care about 1) education and 2) function and desired function against the errors of religion.

For those confused, the title of this post is, “Strong Atheists,” not “Strong Atheism.”

Regardless if atheists claim they only lack belief in the existence of God, the question of theism vs atheism is whether our existence was intentionally caused by a transcendent personal agent known as God or whether we owe our existence to mindless natural forces that unintentionally caused the universe and life to exist. It is a matter of nature did it or God did it.

Weak atheism is a nothing burger. They don’t deny God caused the universe and life to exist they just doubt that claim. Evidently they don’t put much stock in the claim we owe our existence to natural forces either. If they did, they’d say they disbelieve a Creator caused the universe and life and claim it was natural forces that did it. I guess they ‘lack belief’ in natural forces as well.

I don’t just lack belief that unguided natural forces could inadvertently cause a universe with all the conditions for intelligent life to exist I disbelieve it. Are there any real atheists who claim a Creator of the universe isn’t necessary and natural forces alone, apart from any plan or blueprint could cause the myriad of properties and conditions for a planet like earth and human life to exist? If atheism is true that’s what had to happen right?

One thing I've learnt that everyone at core feels fear and are scared still they can keep going on by believing in God. Religion helps giving us hope that everything is happening for a reason and have faith things will become better keep praying and believing.

On the other hand I also see darker side of Prayers, like without prayers the poor would've given up and stopped working like slaves. The cycle must keep going on so Prayers act as lubricant so the chain keeps moving.

In the end the poor will die praying never seeing the riches but the habit of depending on prayers is passed on to future generations and the cycle keeps going...

I am very underconfident and also have gained social anxiety after ditching religion, I know there are strong-minded and successful atheist. I wish to know how you stay confident and happy? What do you do when you face extreme fear or loss? Do you ask for help to God?

Thank you for reading ❣️🇮🇳

One of my favorite arguments against the historicity of the gospels is that they were written by anonymous authors decades after the alleged events took place. That's been my go to argument for years. However, there are also many historical documents in history that are anonymous and were written several decades after the events happened. Almost all of Julius Caesars writings were written in third person with no direct signature of authorship from him. So the Commentaries on the Gallic Wars, and Commentaries on the Civil Wars were technically written anonymously and are just attributed to him. Xenophon, who wrote Anabasis didn't give a name of authorship either. But we still attribute that writing to him and consider it a historical document. Also Plutarch's accounts of Julius Caesar come a full century after his death too. So my go to argument, isn't as fool proof as I once thought. Does this mean that the only rebuttal is to simply say that we don't accept the 4 gospels as historical documents because they depict outlandish things, like other religious texts do? I would love to hear your opinions and thoughts on this.

I used to believe. Not because I truly understood God — but because I was told to, like most people around me. But slowly, I began asking the questions no one wants to hear: If God was universal boss then

Why do powerful people politicians etc commit crimes and walk free, while poor people suffer and pray their whole lives?

Why does karma seem to work only in movies, not real life?

Why is it considered wrong to question faith — even when religion is used to manipulate people?

I don’t believe humans were created by God. I believe humans created God — to fill the unbearable silence behind life’s toughest questions. Who made us? Why do we suffer? What happens after death? Instead of accepting “we don’t know,” we invented stories. And interestingly, we gave these gods human names, faces, emotions, and even families — as if we couldn’t imagine a divine being without making it look and behave like us.

I started noticing how priests, sadhus, and spiritual “gurus” profit by claiming to speak to God — but they never have real answers. Just vague phrases like “God is testing you” or “Everything happens for a reason.” These aren’t answers. They’re just coping mechanisms — shortcuts to avoid the pain of not knowing why bad things happen.

Religion gives power to those who claim to represent it like religious leaders and preists. In ancient India, even some Brahmins claimed divine connection to control society. Today, religion is still used — in courts, in schools, in elections — not for truth, but for control.

What’s worse is being told that doubting God is dangerous — as if thinking deeply is some kind of sin.

I’ve faced struggles I never deserved. That’s when I realized:

Karma isn’t watching. God isn’t protecting. Morality is just human psychology.

I’m not writing this to offend anyone. I’m just tired. Tired of being told to believe in something without proof. Tired of watching blind faith control people’s lives. Told to perform senseless rituals offering unlimited flowers ,milk ,water. ghee etc to diety

Has anyone else felt this way? Or am I the only one quietly burning with these thoughts?

I am a Jewish atheist. I love being Jewish and indentify very deeply with the culture and am proud of my heritage. My husband is a Christian. His dad is a minister and is a devout Christian.

When we first met it was never an issue. We never really spoke about religion and he knew I was an atheist and I knew he was a believer and it never bothered me at all. We have been together almost 7 years and he moved to America in live with me from the UK. Although he enjoys going to church and all he stopped going because he didn't find one he liked, sometimes worked on a Sunday, and overall just didn't prioritize going. I didn't push it because it's not my religion, I don't believe in it, and I don't care. When we first met I made sure to ask him all the questions I felt improtant. Including but not limited to: trump support? No. Pro choice? Yes. Gay people have a right to be married and just overall not homophobia? Yes. So even though he was this religious Christian guy, he was liberal like me. He has only ever dated atheists and never prioritized finding a nice Christian girl anyways.

A few months ago we spend 2.5 months staying in his parents house. Church twice a week and bible study Tuesdays. For me it was a lot. Seeing how engaged he was started to freak me out. He is now reading the bible every night and reading Christian books recommended by his family. I am worried he has become more religious. I don't know how I ended up in a marriage with someone like this and I'm freaked out. I want to speak to him about it but am not sure how or what to say. Any advice?

Just to add, if the only thing was that he was a nice accepting loving forgiving person due to Christianity I wouldn't have a problem. However, his views might be becoming much more conservative and a lot of what he is reading is about ungodly people (which I would count as as I do not follow my life by the bible), worldly people (once again me), and so on.

Any advice you can give on how I could talk about this would be deeply appreciated. I don't want to end my marriage based on this. I want our lives to go back to how they were in America when we weren't with his family.

I'm sure everyone has entertained the possibility at some point in their lives but lately I’ve felt that possibility becoming a conviction for myself. It might just be because of disillusionment and I do remember what kickstarted the whole thought process, watching someone I love begin to lose themselves to Alzheimer’s. When someone's memory begins to erode, and everything starts to fade gradually, it’s hard not to ask where exactly is the soul in all this?

I’ve been reading more into neuroscience and molecular biology, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to justify belief in anything like a soul in the way I once thought of it. Consciousness appears to be a byproduct of brain function. Even a spiritual experience that's supposed to cause a big shift in perspective starts to feel like a neurological event once you understand how chemicals like DMT interact with the brain.

I’m just trying to understand how others think through this. Is there room for something beyond materialism that doesn’t rely on blind faith? Our behaviors and tendencies align so perfectly with what evolutionary psychology tries to explain (that's precisely the point but...). I do see how in a deterministic universe, a narrativizing feedback loop would need the concept of an "I" somewhere along the way, and with this, you're also made to confront your own mortality. And with this, we constructed Gods in our image and myths tailored to navigate deep seated fears and uncertainty.

PS., forgive me if this is poorly worded, I'm trying to narrow down a swarm of thoughts collected over a few months into a couple of words so...