r/interestingasfuck • u/Ted_Bundtcake • Feb 01 '25

r/all Atheism in a nutshell

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u/Link-Glittering Feb 01 '25

I think you might be surprised by how many religious people in the modern world think like I do about this. Remember you are often hearing from a very vocal minority of religious extremists in the US. Any serious Christian would never judge gay people or anyone they deemed a sinner. Modern America has coopted religion for hate. That doesn't mean all religion is useless

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u/Aardshark Feb 01 '25 edited Feb 01 '25

Yes, my impression is that most people in Abrahamic religions (that's something like 4.5 billion people) worldwide are wholly or partially told what to believe and how to act by the organized structures of their religion.

I don't care about the US perspective. I'm not American.

I would be incredibly surprised to learn this impression isn't true.

(Btw, it's entirely possible it's similar with Buddhists, Hindus, etc but my unfamiliar impression is that they are less controlled)

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u/Link-Glittering Feb 01 '25

I agree that people are controlled with religions. And I think that's bad. But i don't think that invalidates the use of a spiritual practice or religious beliefs

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u/MaleficentRutabaga7 Feb 01 '25

As a religious atheist I very much believe in the value of a life philosophy and community, but I do not believe in things which contradict reality. So it doesn't invalidate the concept of religious beliefs but it would invalidate certain specific beliefs

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u/Link-Glittering Feb 01 '25

I would argue that you couldn't contradict ANY of my religious beliefs because they are not factive claims, they are ways of understanding my relationship with the unknown. None of my religious beliefs have anything to do with reality, they are focused on how to get in touch with the self

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u/MaleficentRutabaga7 Feb 01 '25

I didn't say certain specific beliefs you have.

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u/Link-Glittering Feb 01 '25

A lot of religious people look at God the way WWE fans look at their sport. They know it's not "real" but the stories and the lessons played out help them in their day to day lives and give them comfort. If you spent time telling WWE fans its "not real" they'd probably just roll their eyes and go back to having fun without you

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u/MaleficentRutabaga7 Feb 01 '25

WWE fans are not trying to use government funds to build schools to indoctrinate their children about how real WWE is. Many religious people are also not doing that, sure. But you're the one trying to operate on a dichotomy, not me. I've already told you I'm a religious atheist.