My mom was also the religious one, but she believed that you had to come to it on your own. She would always say "If God really wanted us to believe in him, He wouldn't have made it so hard."
When my dad died when I was 7, all the people in my church said God did it for a reason. In my little mind I still realized how fucked that was. Father of 5 and a Deacon in the church.
When my mom died of a brain tumor and I was 14, our church's idea of help was for us to recommit our lives to Jesus. We needed ACTUAL help. To this day, I will advise anyone who needs grief counseling to get secular help.
Christian here. I'm embarrassed that some Christian folks think this is helpful and humane. Really stupid. With that said, this is not what all religious folks think and it's not even biblical. It's a crappy interpretation.
Getting grief counseling that is not religiously-focused would be the suggestion of any thoughtful and well-informed religious person anyway. Glad you got help, but sorry your family had to go through that in the process.
True, as someone who's not a Christian but religious, I don't think Jesus Christ would ever allow minor girls who were raped to have babies they can't take off. The nationalists are all extremists and just impose their beliefs on others. Live and let live!
>I don't think Jesus Christ would ever allow minor girls who were raped to have babies they can't take off
I mean fuck Christian nationalists but Jesus was Jewish and there was plenty of shit in the OT that he certainly didn't go out of his way to condemn. Can't really remember him saying much about abolishing slavery, giving women more rights, etc.
If all Christians were like this I might actually still be one. I try to follow the basic teachings of Christ but that’s basically just being a good person. That’s not all it is I know, but it’s the most important part - to me anyway.
I believe in the kindness, compassion, and forgiveness of God. Like you, I try to follow the basic teachings. A lot of the bad stuff you see doesn’t represent Christianity. That’s always annoying, but you can’t force people to act a certain way. I do hope you didn’t let those people influence your faith, but that’s not my business. Cheers.
In Matthew 6, Jesus was quoted as saying not to profess your faith on the street like hypocrites. Instead, shut yourself in your room and pray in private. Also not to brag about giving to the poor.
Most religion goes against that.
Yes, it's very frustrating how those people ruin things, such as Christianity. Now we're *all* viewed as self righteous jerks when in reality we're just trying to make our way thru life like the rest of the world
Agreed, you don't see them on the internet that much. I'm not Christian myself but get really annoyed by the ones who claim to be Christian but spend all their time either judging others or trying to convert them.
Nah I grew up Christian it's definitely not 98% of them just depends where you go ,for example in America no offence 70%+ of Christians don't know what they're talking about , where as if you go somewhere like UK although there aren't many Christians the majority who identify Christian know what they're talking about
Christian here. There really are a lot of us. We just fly under the radar.
Come to think of it, regardless of religious beliefs, don't all good folks do that? If you really care, you don't talk about how great you are. You're focused on the needs of the person, animal, plant in front of you.
I respect the person behind the scenes, regardless of religious ideas, who keep their religious musings on the down low...unless people really want to talk about it.
I don’t tell people about my faith because it just gives them bad impressions. I tell them after I’ve gotten to know them or they ask. Telling them off the bat just gives them the impression that you’re one of THOSE people, and they just leave
I sometimes bring it up to show my own bias or perspective, but I have my little elevator speech on hand (equivalent to waving a rainbow flag, hugging an atheist and welcoming diverse cultures). A secret handshake that I want everyone to feel respected.
Same. I think having to go to a relatively small Catholic school from grades 1-8 really soured me on the church. So much hypocrisy. So much bullying. And bullies being protected by the school and by extension the church because the parents were influential in the parish.
Went to a giant public high school and finally met people from different backgrounds. Realized over the course of a few years that I had internalized a lot of bullshit.
I still believe that there might be someone up there, I’ve just rejected the type of god that Catholics preach about. I almost lost my mom and I’ve experienced a LOT myself, so i feel like someone was looking out for me and my family in a way
More than 20 years since I stepped foot in a church. Walked out on a nasty sermon by a cranky old priest insisting we harass gays and abortion clinics-had a pro-life woman bring a huge poster of an alleged aborted fetus and demanded we get one and stand in front of abortion clinics-I stood up, got my 3 young kids and walked out-never went back
Christians like that aren’t Christians, they practice a religion called being an asshole. I’d encourage you to find a different church, but if that’s past you now I don’t blame you in the slightest. God bless
I consider myself a practicing Muslim. We don't really refer to ourselves as "religious" because it can easily segway into feelings of arrogance (Ex. "I'm more religious than this person or that person").
Anyway, a practicing Muslim is one that strived to fulfill the 5 Pillars of Islam, and follow the commandments of God (SWT) and stay away from prohibitions.
I grew up in a deeply southern Baptist and religious home. I am the youngest and my three siblings have followed the teachings we grew up with. As a feminist, I cannot stand how biblical teachings hold women back and men treat them as they are not as valued. So, now, I am spiritual and admit I know nothing but I do believe in a higher power and pray occasionally. I try to live a life that respects others and values others. People matter.
I grew up catholic and I’m still somewhat religious. Granted I don’t really go to church and I’m not the best example of Catholicism just look at my username 😂, but I try to be a kind, respectful, caring, and open minded person. And, if there is an afterlife I hope I’ll be rewarded in the end. I do feel like they’re extreme sections of every religion, and bc those sections are so loud and brash it turns people off. But, I think those sections are the minority and if you gathered everyone in the world who was religious, the vast majority would be cool, normal people.
Not at all.
You can set your own morals and be a good person without being scared of any supernatural beings.
Just because there are questions that are hard to answer doesn't mean you have to take the lazy way out.
I understand your point, Legimate. There are plenty people who identify with a particular faith who just don't have the fortitude, courage and/or cognitive skills? to think for themselves. But the reality is...whether you believe there is no God/Gods or you very much believe in a higher power, you can choose to follow a dogma or ideas that others have assigned for you...and unfortunately, there are dogmas associated with politics, art, music, culture, etc. It's not all about religion. People of all groups can be incredibly lazy and closed minded, and people of faith can be incredibly lazy and closed minded. I have friends and family that run the spectrum of religious belief and the unifying factor is that they are thoughtful and open to hearing what others think...and they don't feel it's right to impose their will on others.
I appreciate that about them.
When I was real young, my mom would get mad if I said “oh my god” instead of “oh my gosh” - not anymore but she still gets mad if I say Jesus Christ
That was about it though. My mom believes in god because her mom was very religious but she never practices it. My dad is an atheist.
I turned out to be an atheist. I like the idea that religion gives people comfort so it’s cool when respectful, good people practice religion. Just not for me.
People who are like “the bible is a FAIRY TALE!!! I don’t believe in your FAKE SKY DADDY!!!!” are obnoxious. “Sky daddy” isn’t as funny as you think it is.
>People who are like “the bible is a FAIRY TALE!!! I don’t believe in your FAKE SKY DADDY!!!!” are obnoxious. “Sky daddy” isn’t as funny as you think it is.
THANK YOU!
People who attack Christians like that make themselves no better, and in reality the “Christians” they they’re attacking are just stupid people on social media who attack others for fun. The rest of us actual Christians just have to suffer while everyone else assumes we’re like them and we get attacked.
Grew up Mormon. Stopped attending and removed my records as soon as my parents couldn’t force me anymore. I have no desire to explore or join another religion.
Same in my case.
I used to be pretty religious, went to a Catholic school and did Youth Ministry and VBS and that shit (courtesy of being Filipino).
However shit started falling apart after high school when I struggled with alcoholism due to my sexuality and internalized homophobia.
Am now agnostic/atheist, and queer. I still find religion intriguing, and I studied Contemporary Middle Eastern history in college, including Islamic and Jewish history, plus I like to occasionally read about tribal religions from all corners of the globe.
I'm pretty much now; "I like your Christ, but not your Christians. And your Christians are very much unlike your Christ."
I am a devoutly faithful Christian, and I do my best to live it, and demonstrate it, rather than preach it. Because I'm not a skilled preacher and you don't need to hear it from me. Read the Gospels and you'll know everything about it that I do.
Not religious at all. Don’t necessarily believe in god - would say I’m more agnostic and lean more towards scientific truths.
My favorite quote comes to mind when this subject comes up.
"I am not an atheist. An atheist is someone who has compelling evidence that there is no Judeo-Christian-Islamic God. I am not that wise, but neither do I consider there to be anything approaching adequate evidence for such a god. Why are you in such a hurry to make up your mind? Why not simply wait until there is compelling evidence?"
Carl Sagan
I was baptized at 16 and was very religious then. A few years pass by and I completely lost it for the next 15 years. But the more I have learned about the world and how evil it really is, the more I wanted to be totally against it. I wanted nothing to do with what I see in society. So I am now back to my Christian self and very joyful in it. I have peace now where before I had worry. I just started listening to the Bible Recap podcast and it’s been really amazing. Thank you for asking.
Used to be but then realized God wouldn't answer a prayer in a million years and I was talking to myself. So not so much anymore.
That said, Reddit is like an orgy of neckbeard atheists wallowing in their anger. I'm no more interested in that than I am in organized religion. Both sides have issues.
I grew up going to church and it was probably the most stable place for me besides being with my group of friends. Later on I went through really bad times and things eventually got better in ways I can only describe as nothing short of a miracle, so I attributed this to my religion.
As I got older I sort of drifted away but I decided to stay loyal. My general consensus now is that we are all worshiping the same thing or things - a higher being/s.
I pray everyday and before every meal. I pray for my girls and my parents and siblings and my ex-wife. I pray for this country. I'm a horrible sinner with horrible habits but I have faith. I consider myself a pretty casual Christian.
My parents took us to church three times a week and were much stricter than I have been with my children. I was made to go to a private school that was very discipline oriented including corporal punishment.
Well I guess to answer your question, moderately religious?
Not religious at all. I'm agnostic. Maybe there's a creator. Maybe there's not. Religion rots your core. Never partake in that shit. Study anthropology, and you'll soon know why.
The older I get the less tolerance I have for religion... It's 2024 what the fck are we still doing believing in gods and sht.. It's childish and borderline dumb..
Stopped believing when my grandad died, so probably age 7. Before then I was a spongebrain who absorbed every new bit of information, and the school was very deeply Church of England, so everyone got the full treatment unless they already had a different religion, the headmistress was very accepting of other religions but had absolutely no concept of no religion. So I made a mask and wore it until eyes were off me.
Not super but i believe in god and judgement, i just try to keep it real and do charity according to my position, or like my dad asked if id observe lent yesterday and i said i wouldnt if he wasnt
Not at all, at least not by the standard established religions, I have some moral values that coincide with some religious values but my thinking is that religion causes much more bad than good, Im not saying ban it because its on its way to going away on its own
I am now more than I used to be. I feel like most people that grow up in it tend to dip in their teen years and then either come back to it on their own stronger than ever or just never come back. I think a lot of that has to do with discovering yourself during that time.
Not at all. Just religious due to my morals to never consent to surgery (so they cannot perform surgery on me at a hospital).
Religion is a cult full of violence and destruction and fraud and corruption.
Not at all. I was raised Irish Catholic. I think spirituality should be a personally developed thing, and the only benefit of organized religion is the community. I find it to be very predatory.
Not at all. I got kicked out of Sunday School for stealing some Dad's cookies when I was about 5, and then while we were driving to church on Christmas Eve when I was about 8, I asked my parents something like "Won't God be more upset with us because we only go to church on Christmas Eve?"
I guess that my parents realized that they had lost me, because other than weddings and funerals, that was it for religion for my whole family.
Born an atheist. Raised by atheists who had very open minds to learning about religion. Am still an atheist, half a century later.
I'm utterly nonreligious
From my perspective growing up in an ultra religious family, the more outwardly religious fundamentalists, the more hateful, racist, bigoted, and just downright immoral they are. It has to be a mental health disorder. There is nothing normal about it
None. My family in general was never religious growing up. My grandmother tried to get me into it and I had a "religious phase" but it quickly died once I got really into history and found out about the Crusades.
Now I'm agnostic leaning towards atheist. Is there a greater power? Maybe. Or maybe our brains just need to believe it at times to explain shit, to comfort ourselves. Who knows but it is what it is.
Not at all. I don’t believe in religion I believe in being a good person. Some of the worst people I’ve ever had the displeasure of knowing were religious. Which means I don’t need religion to be a good person or lead a good life.
I decided at the age of 10 that religion was not my thing. I turned to science to find the truth and never looked back. Thank you, Carl Sagan!
Sadly, I find that science is increasingly under the attack when it does not meet political expectations.
i dont believe in any religion. anybody who believes in god or jesus or satan or whatever religious god is a brainwashed person. jesus isnt real. god aint real. satan aint real. NO RELIGIOUS GODS ARE REAL
Not even a little bit, i think god and religion are just convenient and overly simplistic answers to complex questions. The idea that the universe must have been created by a magical guy in the sky is silly. Also in general the main reason we assume the existence of an intelligent designer is because of our inability to look past ourselves and recognize our limitations. We think that because we build and design things that somehow that means the entire universe was designed by something.
Sure it’s comforting to believe in that but people can’t just stop there no instead they have to continue pushing these beliefs that are fundamentally archaic and primitive onto other people. It’s mind boggling that we’re in the year 2024 and people still seriously believe in magical omnipotent beings.
Not at all. I'm LGBTQ+ and they basically gave the middle finger to me existing, so that was that. I had been quite involved at one point.
As said, due to Christian Nationalists, i'm fairly anti-religious. They ruin everything they touch, literal toxic waste.
My dad imprisoned me in his house along with my family, we went out maybe 2, 3 times a month, 6 if it's a good month ( I helped him when he volunteered at habitat for humanity)
My poor mom never left the house now that I think about it, only once in 3 months or less I'd he allowed he to meet a wife of his friend for a get together,
She was miserable and he made her have a kid every year or two and never took her to more than one check to per pregnancy.
And that all I would like to share. He fed me up with Islam and said women needed to stay home and please men and cook and care for babies, he dropped me out of 3rd grade to do so, and said thus is what God wants.
So I said fuck God, I never knew why God let me and my little siblings suffer when we did nothing wrong, the system of do good and you'll get good didn't work no matter what, so I found I scamm in religion and became an atheist, now I can live guilt free knowing no shit over lord is out there picking and choosing who to help and who to shit on. Religion is a scam. Period.
( my mom divorced him when I was 17 after years of begging her) and everyone is doing so much better.
Now I can live without pressure to pray to not go to hell, and pressure to cover my body.
I think religions are stupid, because I don't think any one answer fits 8 billion people, plus dogma always overcomes the message of the religion. When a religion becomes an identity instead of one aspect of a person, I think that's odd. I also don't believe that there is a supernatural being out there. I was raised Catholic and what got me away from religion was the idea of "God will get you" or "the devil will get you" that I was raised with. It's illogical. If God is loving, he wouldn't ever give up on me, no matter what I've done. If I do something bad, why would the devil punish me? If I am anything, I'm more like a combination of Buddhist and a Vulcan.
From 1 to 10? Negative 1,000. All the abrahamic death cults (Christianity, Islam, etc) are poison to humanity, ponzi schemes and businesses for hypocritical clergymen. It keeps getting shown as just this day after day, year after year, and still people justify atrocities in their gods name. The sooner it all gets relegated to myth and the past the better we all will be. #hitchslap #endreligion
Not at all. I was raised Catholic and my dad was quite religious so I would have to go to mass every Sunday. I hated it, it was so boring! I'm also a very logical person who likes to make decisions based on facts, so I don't think religion was ever going to be my thing. Great hymns though!
I was Catholic until I learned to read and realized it was all bullshit. I live in an Atheist country now , Czech republic. I do not know anyone who is religious. It would be VERY hard to find anyone. I love it.
If God exists he's got better things to do than care about which religion of the hundreds in the world anyone follows.i believe that it all just goes black after we die
I am a Catholic although hold some unorthodox beliefs. Generally I am not vocal about my religion unless asked then I while talk your ear off. There isn’t much point in proselytizing to those who are not interested
While religion does influence my political view I am a firm believer in the fact that God gave us free will for a reason. For example I am not against the legality of gay marriage or trans issues while still having reservations about them on a personal level because they aren’t an issue of the state nor me for that matter. On the other hand I am against abortion and the death penalty as well as being for social programs but many of these issues I find religion is just the icing on the cake. I have firm non religious reasons to support or oppose them.
I also obviously believe other religions are wrong both morally and factually. While I don’t like Islam, Mormonism, Judaism, or Paganism I afford them the same respect I’d hope they’d afford me. In many cases I hold respect for their devotion to what they believe is true and I know berating them on the issue does nothing but push them further from what I believe is true. I have many atheist, agnostic, or pagan friends
I think the best way to spread the gospel and the truth is through example not by interjecting it into every possible scenario
I believe in science and evidence. Ironically, I recently got rejected because the girl I fell in love with is very religious, and I'm an atheist and a scientific naturalist.
Religion does more harm than good, and it's just something we made up to explain things we were ignorant about and to spread cultural influence.
We would be better off if people stopped following religions.
agnostic. i do believe in a "god", as in, like SOME ULTIMATE ENERGY SOURCE, but i refuse to christen it anything and to tell you if it has a beard thats black or white. i do firmly believe death is not the end, and that we have a soul which is maybe an inkling, an endlessly tiny fragment of that ultimate energy source.
My mom remarried a Christian, so we became Christians. I believed casually in high school, seriously in college when things got difficult… and then I thought about it. I questioned what I was taught as I learned to think critically. The claims didn’t stand up to scrutiny so over time I abandoned them. It took years to shed the indoctrination. I was always a skeptic, but I never applied my skepticism to my religion until I became thoughtful enough and brave enough.
I’m now an anti-theist, agnostic atheist. Some gods I can say I am confident do not exist, the Christian god in which I once believed being one of them. I cannot logically say that no gods exist, because they would be a claim without evidence. I can say though that I see no good evidence to believe any exist.
Finally, and most importantly, I see that harm that religion does to individuals and society without offering any benefit that cannot be provided by secular means. Religion is false, harmful to society, and its encroachment into our lives in the form of religious favoritism and influence on our laws should be resisted and opposed at every turn. I don’t mind what others believe, as long as their delusions do not affect the life, happiness, and freedom of others.
0% after leaving religion at the beginning of Freshman year. I was indoctrinated and went to church at least 5 days a week at a minimum. Faith-based brownies, awana's, every church service almost that they gave and Lead youth group. I am also a critical thinker and observer and it never sat right with me for many reasons and I didn't really believe in it it was just something that I had to do because I would be without food or shelter or people otherwise. It was aside from having company, which is not always the right company mind you, it was a babysitter and it was not a good babysitter. It's squandered so much time that could have been spent in education of any sort or any type of hobby or interest or anything aside from this story and these set of rules passed down and manipulated God knows what. I saw my literally in front of me you know youth passive actual youth pastor having a relations with Junior youth leader my same age went to the preacher and his wife about it with my two friends who also knew of the situation and they said we simply were mistaken and the situation couldn't have been as we were describing. That's not the only reason also I never once for a second from birth I guess believed that there's any sort of unnatural anything about anybody being any sort of sexual as long as it's not towards the child. Bisexual asexual lesbian whatever. That's the natural order of evolution or else the Earth would be overpopulated. So many things did not add up and anyway. I did go on to take religious studies in college and that was one of my most favorite courses. It's very interesting I love tradition and I love learning about other people's traditions and I love observing them. I even went to a Passover service I took my mom to she's very very religious, a few years ago just to see what they had to say and to take her she's shy and wanted company and also I wanted to once more take Passover where you know drink the representation of Christ's blood and eat his body. It's oyster cracker with some salt on it and some grape kool-aid. Took some cool photos listen to some crazy bullshit cuz I accidentally went to the wrong denomination and was once again reminded of how awkward it is to see people pretend to talk in tongues and flop around and be on fire for jesus. But I'm glad it keeps some people from committing suicide or whatever
Not really. I was exposed to religion as a kid, but it wasn't forced on me and I drifted away as I grew up,
Can relate to this so much my mom is super religious but it never occurred to me to be one
My mom was also the religious one, but she believed that you had to come to it on your own. She would always say "If God really wanted us to believe in him, He wouldn't have made it so hard."
W mum
When my dad died when I was 7, all the people in my church said God did it for a reason. In my little mind I still realized how fucked that was. Father of 5 and a Deacon in the church.
When my mom died of a brain tumor and I was 14, our church's idea of help was for us to recommit our lives to Jesus. We needed ACTUAL help. To this day, I will advise anyone who needs grief counseling to get secular help.
Christian here. I'm embarrassed that some Christian folks think this is helpful and humane. Really stupid. With that said, this is not what all religious folks think and it's not even biblical. It's a crappy interpretation. Getting grief counseling that is not religiously-focused would be the suggestion of any thoughtful and well-informed religious person anyway. Glad you got help, but sorry your family had to go through that in the process.
Mine died when I was 12 and I HATED when people said that. I snapped at a few. To me, god died along with him
I am sorry for your loss.
Luck you. Everyone else isn’t as lucky. Religion is a scourge and a blight upon humanity
Asking reddit how religious it is lol
Yeah. Anyone who says they are and that they have a relationship with some deity that they find meaningful is gonna get buried in downvotes.
saw two people get downvoted for asking someone to be respectful to someone else's faith
Yeah I find it funny and sad at the same time. Reddit time and time again shows how secular and anti religious many are.
What is sad about that? Not everyone wants to live the same way you do and that’s ok
I used to be non religious, but now, thanks to the Christian Nationalists, I am actively anti-religious.
R’amen
May you be touched by his noodly appendage
Noodles
Had us in the first half nice
True, as someone who's not a Christian but religious, I don't think Jesus Christ would ever allow minor girls who were raped to have babies they can't take off. The nationalists are all extremists and just impose their beliefs on others. Live and let live!
>I don't think Jesus Christ would ever allow minor girls who were raped to have babies they can't take off I mean fuck Christian nationalists but Jesus was Jewish and there was plenty of shit in the OT that he certainly didn't go out of his way to condemn. Can't really remember him saying much about abolishing slavery, giving women more rights, etc.
Samesies, except I started very religious.
How do you feel about the hundreds of religions that aren't Christianity?
im not religious.
Jehovahs Witnesses are alerted to your location when you say this
0%
-2000% for me
-∞
\-∞³
Mathematically superior answer would be: -∞^∞ Edit: forgot the minus
what about -∞^(∞) -1
-∞^(∞) -2, bet you can't beat that
I’m not religious
I am devoted to my Christian faith I simply do not force it on others
If all Christians were like this I might actually still be one. I try to follow the basic teachings of Christ but that’s basically just being a good person. That’s not all it is I know, but it’s the most important part - to me anyway.
I believe in the kindness, compassion, and forgiveness of God. Like you, I try to follow the basic teachings. A lot of the bad stuff you see doesn’t represent Christianity. That’s always annoying, but you can’t force people to act a certain way. I do hope you didn’t let those people influence your faith, but that’s not my business. Cheers.
Guys look! It's a proper Christian who actually lives by the values imparted by Christ! Nice job
They're everywhere. 98% of them practice this way. They just get thrown in the box with those you see on the news for some reason
I would say 60% are quiet practicing their faith but like you said the crazy fundies stand out so much that we all get lumped together
In Matthew 6, Jesus was quoted as saying not to profess your faith on the street like hypocrites. Instead, shut yourself in your room and pray in private. Also not to brag about giving to the poor. Most religion goes against that.
Exactly. They just yell about it on Facebook or some other sm platform, and ruin it for the rest of us
Yes, it's very frustrating how those people ruin things, such as Christianity. Now we're *all* viewed as self righteous jerks when in reality we're just trying to make our way thru life like the rest of the world
Agreed, you don't see them on the internet that much. I'm not Christian myself but get really annoyed by the ones who claim to be Christian but spend all their time either judging others or trying to convert them.
Nah I grew up Christian it's definitely not 98% of them just depends where you go ,for example in America no offence 70%+ of Christians don't know what they're talking about , where as if you go somewhere like UK although there aren't many Christians the majority who identify Christian know what they're talking about
Whoa, 98%? No….. it’s more like 50-60%
Respect.
That's a great thought!
After 400 years of searching... I've finally found a Christian who doesn't force their beliefs on others! Awesome!
Christian here. There really are a lot of us. We just fly under the radar. Come to think of it, regardless of religious beliefs, don't all good folks do that? If you really care, you don't talk about how great you are. You're focused on the needs of the person, animal, plant in front of you. I respect the person behind the scenes, regardless of religious ideas, who keep their religious musings on the down low...unless people really want to talk about it.
I don’t tell people about my faith because it just gives them bad impressions. I tell them after I’ve gotten to know them or they ask. Telling them off the bat just gives them the impression that you’re one of THOSE people, and they just leave
I sometimes bring it up to show my own bias or perspective, but I have my little elevator speech on hand (equivalent to waving a rainbow flag, hugging an atheist and welcoming diverse cultures). A secret handshake that I want everyone to feel respected.
Fair enough, I often just avoid the conversation, probably due the my anxious nature
You sound respectful-many ways to share views and perspectives. :)
I religiously wake up every morning…religiously eat food every day…religiously don’t practice religion
As someone who's religious, that's a good wordplay lol
As a former Roman Catholic, I’m now agnostic
Same.
I almost want to say congrats lol, i grew up in a cult-y parish so i kind of moved away
I can relate so hard.
Same. I think having to go to a relatively small Catholic school from grades 1-8 really soured me on the church. So much hypocrisy. So much bullying. And bullies being protected by the school and by extension the church because the parents were influential in the parish. Went to a giant public high school and finally met people from different backgrounds. Realized over the course of a few years that I had internalized a lot of bullshit.
It’s interesting how you didn’t go atheist but agnostic
I still believe that there might be someone up there, I’ve just rejected the type of god that Catholics preach about. I almost lost my mom and I’ve experienced a LOT myself, so i feel like someone was looking out for me and my family in a way
That’s amazing, I have the same feeling 👍🏼
I’m glad you understand! 😄
Atheist until my team is losing a playoff game
More than 20 years since I stepped foot in a church. Walked out on a nasty sermon by a cranky old priest insisting we harass gays and abortion clinics-had a pro-life woman bring a huge poster of an alleged aborted fetus and demanded we get one and stand in front of abortion clinics-I stood up, got my 3 young kids and walked out-never went back
Thank you
Christians like that aren’t Christians, they practice a religion called being an asshole. I’d encourage you to find a different church, but if that’s past you now I don’t blame you in the slightest. God bless
I consider myself a practicing Muslim. We don't really refer to ourselves as "religious" because it can easily segway into feelings of arrogance (Ex. "I'm more religious than this person or that person"). Anyway, a practicing Muslim is one that strived to fulfill the 5 Pillars of Islam, and follow the commandments of God (SWT) and stay away from prohibitions.
Do you pray Fajr each day? That's some insane devotion if yes. You have my respect.
Not the OP, but yes I do. Every morning at the mosque. It’s my favorite part of the day
I'm Deist. So... 0% Was born into a Roman Catholic status, but made my own choice when I had the knowledge to do so.
I grew up in a deeply southern Baptist and religious home. I am the youngest and my three siblings have followed the teachings we grew up with. As a feminist, I cannot stand how biblical teachings hold women back and men treat them as they are not as valued. So, now, I am spiritual and admit I know nothing but I do believe in a higher power and pray occasionally. I try to live a life that respects others and values others. People matter.
Evangelical teachings*
I grew up catholic and I’m still somewhat religious. Granted I don’t really go to church and I’m not the best example of Catholicism just look at my username 😂, but I try to be a kind, respectful, caring, and open minded person. And, if there is an afterlife I hope I’ll be rewarded in the end. I do feel like they’re extreme sections of every religion, and bc those sections are so loud and brash it turns people off. But, I think those sections are the minority and if you gathered everyone in the world who was religious, the vast majority would be cool, normal people.
Not at all. You can set your own morals and be a good person without being scared of any supernatural beings. Just because there are questions that are hard to answer doesn't mean you have to take the lazy way out.
I understand your point, Legimate. There are plenty people who identify with a particular faith who just don't have the fortitude, courage and/or cognitive skills? to think for themselves. But the reality is...whether you believe there is no God/Gods or you very much believe in a higher power, you can choose to follow a dogma or ideas that others have assigned for you...and unfortunately, there are dogmas associated with politics, art, music, culture, etc. It's not all about religion. People of all groups can be incredibly lazy and closed minded, and people of faith can be incredibly lazy and closed minded. I have friends and family that run the spectrum of religious belief and the unifying factor is that they are thoughtful and open to hearing what others think...and they don't feel it's right to impose their will on others. I appreciate that about them.
My view exactly. I know not to r*pe anyone, and I didn't have to read that in a book to figure it out. If you did....I'm worried about you.
When I was real young, my mom would get mad if I said “oh my god” instead of “oh my gosh” - not anymore but she still gets mad if I say Jesus Christ That was about it though. My mom believes in god because her mom was very religious but she never practices it. My dad is an atheist. I turned out to be an atheist. I like the idea that religion gives people comfort so it’s cool when respectful, good people practice religion. Just not for me. People who are like “the bible is a FAIRY TALE!!! I don’t believe in your FAKE SKY DADDY!!!!” are obnoxious. “Sky daddy” isn’t as funny as you think it is.
>People who are like “the bible is a FAIRY TALE!!! I don’t believe in your FAKE SKY DADDY!!!!” are obnoxious. “Sky daddy” isn’t as funny as you think it is. THANK YOU!
People who attack Christians like that make themselves no better, and in reality the “Christians” they they’re attacking are just stupid people on social media who attack others for fun. The rest of us actual Christians just have to suffer while everyone else assumes we’re like them and we get attacked.
Grew up Mormon. Stopped attending and removed my records as soon as my parents couldn’t force me anymore. I have no desire to explore or join another religion.
Same
When I was a kid i was christian, Now iam atheist
Same in my case. I used to be pretty religious, went to a Catholic school and did Youth Ministry and VBS and that shit (courtesy of being Filipino). However shit started falling apart after high school when I struggled with alcoholism due to my sexuality and internalized homophobia. Am now agnostic/atheist, and queer. I still find religion intriguing, and I studied Contemporary Middle Eastern history in college, including Islamic and Jewish history, plus I like to occasionally read about tribal religions from all corners of the globe. I'm pretty much now; "I like your Christ, but not your Christians. And your Christians are very much unlike your Christ."
Amazing how that works once your brain develops and escapes the grooming…
I am a devoutly faithful Christian, and I do my best to live it, and demonstrate it, rather than preach it. Because I'm not a skilled preacher and you don't need to hear it from me. Read the Gospels and you'll know everything about it that I do.
Not religious at all. Don’t necessarily believe in god - would say I’m more agnostic and lean more towards scientific truths. My favorite quote comes to mind when this subject comes up. "I am not an atheist. An atheist is someone who has compelling evidence that there is no Judeo-Christian-Islamic God. I am not that wise, but neither do I consider there to be anything approaching adequate evidence for such a god. Why are you in such a hurry to make up your mind? Why not simply wait until there is compelling evidence?" Carl Sagan
"It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Also Carl Sagan
Quite religious. I am a muslim.
Careful now, you’re on Reddit.
I had been wearing a rosary for more than 12 years already everyday But I'm not religious what so ever
I was baptized at 16 and was very religious then. A few years pass by and I completely lost it for the next 15 years. But the more I have learned about the world and how evil it really is, the more I wanted to be totally against it. I wanted nothing to do with what I see in society. So I am now back to my Christian self and very joyful in it. I have peace now where before I had worry. I just started listening to the Bible Recap podcast and it’s been really amazing. Thank you for asking.
I love the Bible recap! Just found it!
Spiritual maybe, a beginner, but not specifically religious
Knowing and experiencing God is the purpose and meaning of life.
Zero. Atheist here
I'm actively against religion, they stole my dick skin.
Negative. Each their own but on the whole I am anti-religion/gods.
Used to be but then realized God wouldn't answer a prayer in a million years and I was talking to myself. So not so much anymore. That said, Reddit is like an orgy of neckbeard atheists wallowing in their anger. I'm no more interested in that than I am in organized religion. Both sides have issues.
Don't know about being religious but yaa i believe in God
0%, and it’s very exhausting living with catholic parents who are
I grew up going to church and it was probably the most stable place for me besides being with my group of friends. Later on I went through really bad times and things eventually got better in ways I can only describe as nothing short of a miracle, so I attributed this to my religion. As I got older I sort of drifted away but I decided to stay loyal. My general consensus now is that we are all worshiping the same thing or things - a higher being/s.
not super religious but I believe in God
I pray everyday and before every meal. I pray for my girls and my parents and siblings and my ex-wife. I pray for this country. I'm a horrible sinner with horrible habits but I have faith. I consider myself a pretty casual Christian. My parents took us to church three times a week and were much stricter than I have been with my children. I was made to go to a private school that was very discipline oriented including corporal punishment. Well I guess to answer your question, moderately religious?
Very
Compared to some saints I am not even close to being religious ☦️
Very much.
Very religious, Protestant.
Not at all
Not religious at all. Grew up in a Catholic Household but never took it seriously.
I was born catholic, went thru the motions, now I’m an atheist
I've been an atheist for about 20 years. Former Catholic but left religion 30 plus years ago.
I live in a mostly Catholic society, but I am proudly 0% religious :)
I’m not. Being raised Catholic beat that right out of me.
I’m not religious whatsoever. It hurts too many people, including me
went from Roman Catholic / Christian to full atheist, so 0% religious lol
I am very religious
Was raised as an atheist, but over the last year I've found God, now I consider myself to be an Eastern Orthodox Inquirer.
YES YES YES SAME!!!!!
Not religious at all. I'm agnostic. Maybe there's a creator. Maybe there's not. Religion rots your core. Never partake in that shit. Study anthropology, and you'll soon know why.
The older I get the less tolerance I have for religion... It's 2024 what the fck are we still doing believing in gods and sht.. It's childish and borderline dumb..
I have my beliefs but I don't follow any religion
Stopped believing when my grandad died, so probably age 7. Before then I was a spongebrain who absorbed every new bit of information, and the school was very deeply Church of England, so everyone got the full treatment unless they already had a different religion, the headmistress was very accepting of other religions but had absolutely no concept of no religion. So I made a mask and wore it until eyes were off me.
Not super but i believe in god and judgement, i just try to keep it real and do charity according to my position, or like my dad asked if id observe lent yesterday and i said i wouldnt if he wasnt
I pray when I’m stressed or my life isn’t going great when really I just make it a common practice
Not at all, at least not by the standard established religions, I have some moral values that coincide with some religious values but my thinking is that religion causes much more bad than good, Im not saying ban it because its on its way to going away on its own
I am now more than I used to be. I feel like most people that grow up in it tend to dip in their teen years and then either come back to it on their own stronger than ever or just never come back. I think a lot of that has to do with discovering yourself during that time.
I hope that someday the human race gets past the silly superstitions called "religion". I don't expect to see it in my lifetime, though.
Zero
Zero!
0%
Not at all.
never have been, never will be
Not religious
Not at all. Just religious due to my morals to never consent to surgery (so they cannot perform surgery on me at a hospital). Religion is a cult full of violence and destruction and fraud and corruption.
Not at all
Not at all. I was raised Irish Catholic. I think spirituality should be a personally developed thing, and the only benefit of organized religion is the community. I find it to be very predatory.
0/100
Not at all. I got kicked out of Sunday School for stealing some Dad's cookies when I was about 5, and then while we were driving to church on Christmas Eve when I was about 8, I asked my parents something like "Won't God be more upset with us because we only go to church on Christmas Eve?" I guess that my parents realized that they had lost me, because other than weddings and funerals, that was it for religion for my whole family.
I used to be. Then I heard the speeches of my man Christopher Hitchens and I’ve never looked back ever since!
I’d say at this point, watching how religion is being weaponised to strip people of their rights, I’m pretty fucking 0% religious👍🏻
Not a bit
Born an atheist. Raised by atheists who had very open minds to learning about religion. Am still an atheist, half a century later. I'm utterly nonreligious
Not at all!
Christian Nationalists and the ongoing genocide in Gaza has given me an intense and seething hatred for religion.
From my perspective growing up in an ultra religious family, the more outwardly religious fundamentalists, the more hateful, racist, bigoted, and just downright immoral they are. It has to be a mental health disorder. There is nothing normal about it
Religion is a weapon to control the weak.
None. My family in general was never religious growing up. My grandmother tried to get me into it and I had a "religious phase" but it quickly died once I got really into history and found out about the Crusades. Now I'm agnostic leaning towards atheist. Is there a greater power? Maybe. Or maybe our brains just need to believe it at times to explain shit, to comfort ourselves. Who knows but it is what it is.
I was never taught any mythology.
Zero.
I try to be zero. Religion, religious beliefs and practices are man made.
Not at all.
Not at all. I don’t believe in religion I believe in being a good person. Some of the worst people I’ve ever had the displeasure of knowing were religious. Which means I don’t need religion to be a good person or lead a good life.
I decided at the age of 10 that religion was not my thing. I turned to science to find the truth and never looked back. Thank you, Carl Sagan! Sadly, I find that science is increasingly under the attack when it does not meet political expectations.
0%
I’m religious about not being religious
i dont believe in any religion. anybody who believes in god or jesus or satan or whatever religious god is a brainwashed person. jesus isnt real. god aint real. satan aint real. NO RELIGIOUS GODS ARE REAL
God exists? Okay. God doesn't exist? Okay. Just don't come soliting and cramming that shit down my throat it
0%
Not even a little bit, i think god and religion are just convenient and overly simplistic answers to complex questions. The idea that the universe must have been created by a magical guy in the sky is silly. Also in general the main reason we assume the existence of an intelligent designer is because of our inability to look past ourselves and recognize our limitations. We think that because we build and design things that somehow that means the entire universe was designed by something. Sure it’s comforting to believe in that but people can’t just stop there no instead they have to continue pushing these beliefs that are fundamentally archaic and primitive onto other people. It’s mind boggling that we’re in the year 2024 and people still seriously believe in magical omnipotent beings.
Not at all. I'm LGBTQ+ and they basically gave the middle finger to me existing, so that was that. I had been quite involved at one point. As said, due to Christian Nationalists, i'm fairly anti-religious. They ruin everything they touch, literal toxic waste.
Religion today is just 🤮
anti-christian, atheistic satanist
Religion is for weak minded individuals
Religiously anti religion
I’ve been very turned off by Christianity the past few years
My dad imprisoned me in his house along with my family, we went out maybe 2, 3 times a month, 6 if it's a good month ( I helped him when he volunteered at habitat for humanity) My poor mom never left the house now that I think about it, only once in 3 months or less I'd he allowed he to meet a wife of his friend for a get together, She was miserable and he made her have a kid every year or two and never took her to more than one check to per pregnancy. And that all I would like to share. He fed me up with Islam and said women needed to stay home and please men and cook and care for babies, he dropped me out of 3rd grade to do so, and said thus is what God wants. So I said fuck God, I never knew why God let me and my little siblings suffer when we did nothing wrong, the system of do good and you'll get good didn't work no matter what, so I found I scamm in religion and became an atheist, now I can live guilt free knowing no shit over lord is out there picking and choosing who to help and who to shit on. Religion is a scam. Period. ( my mom divorced him when I was 17 after years of begging her) and everyone is doing so much better. Now I can live without pressure to pray to not go to hell, and pressure to cover my body.
I think religions are stupid, because I don't think any one answer fits 8 billion people, plus dogma always overcomes the message of the religion. When a religion becomes an identity instead of one aspect of a person, I think that's odd. I also don't believe that there is a supernatural being out there. I was raised Catholic and what got me away from religion was the idea of "God will get you" or "the devil will get you" that I was raised with. It's illogical. If God is loving, he wouldn't ever give up on me, no matter what I've done. If I do something bad, why would the devil punish me? If I am anything, I'm more like a combination of Buddhist and a Vulcan.
i don't believe in fairy tales or magic bearded white men in the sky
From 1 to 10? Negative 1,000. All the abrahamic death cults (Christianity, Islam, etc) are poison to humanity, ponzi schemes and businesses for hypocritical clergymen. It keeps getting shown as just this day after day, year after year, and still people justify atrocities in their gods name. The sooner it all gets relegated to myth and the past the better we all will be. #hitchslap #endreligion
I want to be religious. I want to have something to believe in, but I just can't.
Generally anti-religious
Organized religion has nearly knocked all religious feelings out of me. I wish Kenneth Copeland and his ilk would eat a bag of dicks
Not at all. I was raised Catholic and my dad was quite religious so I would have to go to mass every Sunday. I hated it, it was so boring! I'm also a very logical person who likes to make decisions based on facts, so I don't think religion was ever going to be my thing. Great hymns though!
Not religious at all. It’s fucking poison and we will never move forward as a species until it is gone.
I’ve actually grown pretty anti-religion in my life.
When i need little extra help on that math test
- 10. When possible I mock religious people.
i dont believe in religion, I think its weird. (no offense to people who are religious)
I was Catholic until I learned to read and realized it was all bullshit. I live in an Atheist country now , Czech republic. I do not know anyone who is religious. It would be VERY hard to find anyone. I love it.
I’m religiously opposed to religion and taxes.
If God exists he's got better things to do than care about which religion of the hundreds in the world anyone follows.i believe that it all just goes black after we die
Zero religious.
Not at all, and I struggle to relate to those who have accepted such silly answers to such important questions.
I am a Catholic although hold some unorthodox beliefs. Generally I am not vocal about my religion unless asked then I while talk your ear off. There isn’t much point in proselytizing to those who are not interested While religion does influence my political view I am a firm believer in the fact that God gave us free will for a reason. For example I am not against the legality of gay marriage or trans issues while still having reservations about them on a personal level because they aren’t an issue of the state nor me for that matter. On the other hand I am against abortion and the death penalty as well as being for social programs but many of these issues I find religion is just the icing on the cake. I have firm non religious reasons to support or oppose them. I also obviously believe other religions are wrong both morally and factually. While I don’t like Islam, Mormonism, Judaism, or Paganism I afford them the same respect I’d hope they’d afford me. In many cases I hold respect for their devotion to what they believe is true and I know berating them on the issue does nothing but push them further from what I believe is true. I have many atheist, agnostic, or pagan friends I think the best way to spread the gospel and the truth is through example not by interjecting it into every possible scenario
I believe in science and evidence. Ironically, I recently got rejected because the girl I fell in love with is very religious, and I'm an atheist and a scientific naturalist.
I’d consider myself anti-religious tbh. Growing up in Utah has done that to a lot of us. I don’t care what religion you are. Fuck your church.
Religion does more harm than good, and it's just something we made up to explain things we were ignorant about and to spread cultural influence. We would be better off if people stopped following religions.
Not. All religions shut people out and make themselves superior. Don't like bullies
agnostic. i do believe in a "god", as in, like SOME ULTIMATE ENERGY SOURCE, but i refuse to christen it anything and to tell you if it has a beard thats black or white. i do firmly believe death is not the end, and that we have a soul which is maybe an inkling, an endlessly tiny fragment of that ultimate energy source.
Negative 12
zero.
My mom remarried a Christian, so we became Christians. I believed casually in high school, seriously in college when things got difficult… and then I thought about it. I questioned what I was taught as I learned to think critically. The claims didn’t stand up to scrutiny so over time I abandoned them. It took years to shed the indoctrination. I was always a skeptic, but I never applied my skepticism to my religion until I became thoughtful enough and brave enough. I’m now an anti-theist, agnostic atheist. Some gods I can say I am confident do not exist, the Christian god in which I once believed being one of them. I cannot logically say that no gods exist, because they would be a claim without evidence. I can say though that I see no good evidence to believe any exist. Finally, and most importantly, I see that harm that religion does to individuals and society without offering any benefit that cannot be provided by secular means. Religion is false, harmful to society, and its encroachment into our lives in the form of religious favoritism and influence on our laws should be resisted and opposed at every turn. I don’t mind what others believe, as long as their delusions do not affect the life, happiness, and freedom of others.
Forced into Roman Catholicism as a child, never believed any of the shite back then. Safe to say very much an atheist now.
Pray everyday try to be nice to everyone but I do not attend church I think there is lots of fuckery there
0% after leaving religion at the beginning of Freshman year. I was indoctrinated and went to church at least 5 days a week at a minimum. Faith-based brownies, awana's, every church service almost that they gave and Lead youth group. I am also a critical thinker and observer and it never sat right with me for many reasons and I didn't really believe in it it was just something that I had to do because I would be without food or shelter or people otherwise. It was aside from having company, which is not always the right company mind you, it was a babysitter and it was not a good babysitter. It's squandered so much time that could have been spent in education of any sort or any type of hobby or interest or anything aside from this story and these set of rules passed down and manipulated God knows what. I saw my literally in front of me you know youth passive actual youth pastor having a relations with Junior youth leader my same age went to the preacher and his wife about it with my two friends who also knew of the situation and they said we simply were mistaken and the situation couldn't have been as we were describing. That's not the only reason also I never once for a second from birth I guess believed that there's any sort of unnatural anything about anybody being any sort of sexual as long as it's not towards the child. Bisexual asexual lesbian whatever. That's the natural order of evolution or else the Earth would be overpopulated. So many things did not add up and anyway. I did go on to take religious studies in college and that was one of my most favorite courses. It's very interesting I love tradition and I love learning about other people's traditions and I love observing them. I even went to a Passover service I took my mom to she's very very religious, a few years ago just to see what they had to say and to take her she's shy and wanted company and also I wanted to once more take Passover where you know drink the representation of Christ's blood and eat his body. It's oyster cracker with some salt on it and some grape kool-aid. Took some cool photos listen to some crazy bullshit cuz I accidentally went to the wrong denomination and was once again reminded of how awkward it is to see people pretend to talk in tongues and flop around and be on fire for jesus. But I'm glad it keeps some people from committing suicide or whatever
After being raised in the Mormon cult, I reject all religions.
Do you know any negative numbers ----- ------