How Come You're Not Religious? (r/AskReddit)

whyare or anti-religious serious I was raised as a Southern Baptist my grandfather is a preacher retired now I used to believe quite strongly my faith began to fade in my late teens one of my problems with religion is that there are so many of them practically every culture for all time has had their own separate religion and each one believed that theirs was the one what made me think mine was the right one and billions of other people throughout history were wrong and are burning in heck I just happened to get lucky enough to be born into a family that believed the right religion that's bulls clearly religion is just an attempt to explain a frightening and complex world we don't understand on a personal level I had a bad experience I had been an active member of my church's youth group for years I got my girlfriend pregnant in high school you have thought I murdered someone many of the people treated me like crap about it not everyone of course but enough that it hurt where was the undying love and compassion they preached about I sure could have used it at that time in my life I'm not religious because I wasn't raised in a house that ever practiced sit religion was a non-issue in my family and I never read the Bible so the whole idea of religion and God just didn't ever make any logical sense to me when I was in elementary school I was the most religious kid you would ever meet I dragged my parents to church on Sundays I vowed that when I got older I would give away all my money to the poor charities and I was even thinking of becoming a priest then one day during fifth grade my teacher was dictating to the class only those who let Jesus into their hearts and are Catholic will be accepted into heaven I rose my hand and asked my mom is Protestant is she going to heaven no your mother is going to heck I can still remember that to this day it just completely shattered my beliefs and I went home crying to my parents they raised heck at my school like no one's business and the teacher was forced to apologize but that was such a major blow to everything I believed in and it really started me on the path of completely walking away from the church that is such a horrible thing to say to a child one more knowledgeable can correct me but I'm pretty sure that isn't even Catholic teaching raised Catholic went to a Catholic Primary School church every Sunday was baptized First Holy Communion etc then went to a Catholic secondary school high school but part of the religious studies class was to look at other faiths also was taking classics the study of ancient civilizations Egypt Greek Rome and well I think this old phrase best sums it up study one religion and you'll be hooked for life study two religions and you're done in an hour I was raised in a Hindu family and whenever I was up to some mischief my nanny would tell me God is always watching and he would poke your eyes out if you get into trouble I was six and I would think if God created me and made me get in trouble why would he punish me for that I don't think I ever seriously believed whenever we went to any temples I would admire the sculptures and all the jewels adorned by the gods and goddesses but that's it a friend told me that when she went to a temple and saw the deity she would feel a small shiver of thrill of happiness I am Not sure go through her I remember thinking dang why doesn't that ever happen to me I thought staring at the idol intently would make me shiver mid nope I felt nothing my mom is religious and my dad and elder brother or not I think that also had an influence on me I didn't know that atheism was a thing until I read God's delusion though and suddenly I went oh I am one but Hinduism does have some really cool stories I will give you that the mythologies are so intricately written and fascinating I'm Jane if that means anything I've always thought that Hinduism was less about worshipping gods and more about actual self-realization and Nirvana fine from the UK most people I know are not religious they're not even atheist religion simply doesn't factor in their lives they don't go to church don't pray don't believe in God when I was 12 or so years old God was in the same place as Santa and the Easter Bunny a story for children not harmful not true when I first went to America and met lots of religious people for the first time it was a very strange experience imagine if you went to visit another country where everybody seriously and earnestly believed in the Easter Bunny that was me visiting the deep south TL DR social upbringing nobody is really that religious where I'm from imagine if you went to visit another country where everybody seriously and earnestly believed in the Easter Bunny that was me visiting the deep south that's what it's like for a lot of people from America too I was raised by religious parents in a religious community in a country where religion still has power over certain political agendas and there has been huge scandals exposed in recent years I see the harm of organized religion and always have been expected to behave a certain way under this religion anything else is disrespectful through my teenage years certain things just did not seem to fit together I do not like the idea of organized religion I believe that whether there is a God or not should be a personal thing and people should just be respectful of others views instead of trying to force them to obey what their religion believes I agree on your idea of a personal religion people should be free to think what they want as long as they don't enforce it on others though a discussion with arguments is always welcomed or influenced others in a bad way because their religion demands it I am a Christian I wasn't raised in it my parents never went to church I became interested when I was in elementary school and was baptized I moved away from the faith later and eventually accepted that I was an atheist last year I started to get this itch I wanted to know more my wife is religious and I went to church with her because she wanted to raise the kids in the church and I frankly didn't care that had gone on for a couple of years but last year I picked up the Bible and I started realizing that everything I had ever known about Christianity was wrong Christ clearly calls us to love other people he doesn't talk about getting into heaven he says the kingdom of God is within us and will come to earth he filled his life with misfits and taught that we should love our enemies he told us not to judge each other but to help each other out he saves us by His grace not by actions people have done and said a lot of stupid stuff in his name I read through this thread and I see so many people who have been damaged and destroyed and cast aside by their churches and I just want to say I'm sorry we are not all like that the dirty little secret that many in the church like to forget is that we are all damaged and broken people and that we should try to be better but being a Christian doesn't automatically make you a good person it boggles my mind that people take a faith based on humility and self-sacrifice and service and turn it into a way to make money but they do I hope that everyone here who has been hurt by a church or a Christian is able to find some sort of peace or catharsis and I am truly sorry that something that was supposed to be a beacon of lights and the darkness has been used to give you pain I like your view on things and as an atheist I can identify with some of it I would never consider myself Christian as I won't accept any of the supernatural claims about Jesus or any other Bible character but I can take inspiration from what Jesus is claimed to have said and constantly try and better myself using him as a kind of role model like many other role models I have greetings from India I personally do not believe in following a religion and I am not at all religious even though my family is but what I've noticed is that religion and castes and everything causes problems in the society may they be problems related to inter caste marriages or unto che ability or any such thing so I choose to treat every person equally no matter what family or what religion or what status they have also if anyone chooses to believe in religion and follow it then I have no quarrel with them I learnt to accept people as they are a long time back it keeps things simple live a good life if there are gods and they are just then they will not care how to vote you have been but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by if there are gods it's unjust then you should not want to worship them if there are no gods then you will be gone but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones that is exactly what I believe if a God sends me to heck for not worshipping him properly then he is not a God I would to worship my worship is trying to be the best person I can be parents were religious school was pretty religious community was definitely religious I was religious for probably my first 23 - 24 years of my life I became non-religious because I first realized I was wasting my time with a bunch of hypocrites granted I knew and understood that everyone was a sinner with the leaders of the church that I directly worked with middle people would go out in data bunch of people freaked them divorced their wives and their lives were messed up and they never seemed to correct that behavior if they also spoke in tongues and led Bible studies their lives were more freaked up than mine and the grace of God never seemed to help change anything that was the initial push which made me raise my eyebrows I started reading a bunch more and getting more interested in science philosophy I did some internal debating and reading from CS Lewis on one side to Dawkins and Hitchens needless to say I agreed mall with Dawkins and Hitchens from an intellectual perspective I quit going to church and learned I really enjoyed sleeping in and having 3-4 hours available before kick-off equals when I was in middle school and high school I always found other religions fascinating I was raised Christian but my parents weren't super religious and we never went to church in the time I that I was learning about religions I kept wondering why any of it made sense I'm more of a math science guy and I like to make sure things are proven if it isn't a theory backed up with trustworthy data then I question why anyone could think it you can't prove God people can swear up and down that they can feel his guiding hand but nobody can have any concrete proof of it that's why you need faith after questioning why it's a thing I took world history and that opened my eyes even further there are so many religions even some that are dead now but they all have something in common Zoroastrianism is an ancient Persian religion that is very close to Christianity that was created centuries beforehand it seems like everything stems from something or another and most God stories were created by storytellers to explain how the world religion was created to keep us from being afraid of the unknown the hope it brings keeps people from worrying about things like death and disease because they have a guardian protecting them if they are holy I am NOT an atheist but neither am i religious I will forever be a skeptic until the day I die and can see whether there is life after death or if I just disappear into the void only time will tell you'll get this answer a lot I'm sure but it simply doesn't make sense I was raised in a baptist family but I've never been a believer why because no matter how much I was taught to believe I've never had a personal experience that I could without doubt say oh yeah God my aunt and uncle recently confronted me about my atheism I asked them this do you believe in unicorns they said no of course not I asked them why not they said they'd never seen a real living unicorn or any proof that real living unicorns exist if I told you I could snap a pencil in half with my bare hands you wouldn't ask me for proof because it is easily within the realm of possibility if I told you I could do a triple backflip into a cartwheel and land on both feet you might believe me but you'd probably ask to see me do it if I told you that I could leap over my workplace building in a single bound you likely would not believe me without some proof first extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof the more extraordinary the claim the the more extraordinary the proof that is required many religious people say well I've had close personal experiences with my religion but there is no doubt in my mind there was my deity miracle whatever but human beings are fallible these same people like millions of others have probably experienced sensory illusions such as thinking they heard someone call their name when nobody did or seeing something out of the corner of their eye that wasn't there yet these trivial things get easily dismissed so how can I take the personal experience of a fallible human being as proof that their religion is true their deity exists when we all know that the force of belief and the human mind allows us to play tricks on ourselves show me measurable proof of anything that I could unquestionably relate to a religious experience and then I'll start seriously rethinking my position life is scary bad crap does happen for no reason but facing the the unfair realities of life and death and coming to terms with it is extremely challenging for people especially when your entire paradigm gets shaped for you from the time you're born to the time you become a free thinking independent person it basically requires going back to square one and rethinking things all over again that is super scary and difficult and requires a lot of mental fortitude intellectual honesty and persistence I do not say that with the intent to put down anyone who is religious or belittle their beliefs the fact is that I completely 100% know myself that looking into the existential void is scary in that religious faith brings a comfort with it that can help shelter a person from that I just personally cannot be intellectually honest with myself and do that no matter how scary it might be I wasn't raised in a family that was religious my parents gave my sister and I the option if we wanted to and we did go to a few churches with friends for the experience ultimately we decided not to be though I chose not to be not because of my lack of faith in God I simply didn't feel that the church was something that was required for any faith I chose to have my current views are not to have 100% faith in any known religion we have I don't feel that only one religion is 100% right and all the rest are wrong I believe there is a higher being than ourselves but that could be God aliens who knows I believe in being as good a person as I can be and in not judging others for their own views I don't believe in the ideas of heaven or heck but I do believe that after death we evolved into something greater than we are now I'm satisfied with this : 3 I had an interesting conversation with a minister a while back she said I don't believe in a physical heaven and heck but that you can make someone's life a heaven or heck that seemed like such a better way to phrase it than the literal physical representation of heaven or heck because the foundations of religion seem logically inconsistent to me or at least more logically inconsistent than other options I am religious because it makes me happy simple as that it comforts me to think that someone somewhere is watching out for me yet you don't need religion for that but it helps me through tough times it really is that simple I am not religious I will preface that by saying that I am also not an atheist I was raised in a Methodist household and our church was very liberal and tolerant nonetheless as I reached my mid-teens I found myself desperately wanting the depth of faith I saw in others I took two message boards and chat rooms spoke to those of a myriad systems of belief and it always came to a point where my questions ended with a singular response well you must have faith for a time after that I ascribed to atheism believing that it was the logical course to take as I grew into an adult I found that many who declared themselves atheists practiced the same sort of bias and discrimination as I had seen from the far more prevalent Christians I grew up around I'm 23 now and with the aid of our wondrous internet and a plethora of books I've been able to examine both history and faith and my personal deduction is that it all comes down to being human we're intelligent animals but were still limited in our understanding of many topics because of our intellect we also obsess over eventualities or possibilities nurture fears and complexes that would not exist where our drives simply attaining enough food and shelter to survive I understand the logic of faith and the areas where it can provide an individual with security or peace of mind both of these are invaluable things to possess given how many arguments I've endured about this my stance has become rather more streamlined imagine yourself in utter pitch darkness you cannot even see your own hand an inch in front of your face you stand before a forest and your goal lies on other other side you absolutely must pass through it and as you do you hear the crackle of leaves nocturnal predators and prey snapping twigs and the small fits of slumbering creatures your mind possessing the towering drive for creativity which it does fills your head with nightmare visages and slobbering mores is it easier to simply say I must do this and so despite my fears I will press on or to give that fear up to believe that your actions are ordained that you are defended by some force beyond your understanding or reckoning that to simply clutch at a talisman or invoke a name carries with it the power to see you safely on your way it is my humble belief that faith on one stripe or another will exist until mankind eradicate severy gap of knowledge in the known universe so long as those gaps exist fear will fill them and Men will do their best to plaster those fears with duct tape and faith for me to simply exist with the functions of a human being is enough I do what I can to thrive in the moment and take great joy and comfort in the simple mechanics of living breathing and feeling the Sun beat down upon my back I would love to have the certainty provided by a deep and abiding faith but it remains beyond me and probably always will TL DR I am which is enough it is my humble belief that faith of one stripe or another will exist until mankind eradicate severy gap of knowledge in the known universe so long as those gaps exist fear will fill them and Men will do their best to plaster those fears with duct tape and faith this hit home for me ro I was never a huge fan of organized religion I used to be that butthole atheist but I've calmed down a lot since becoming a huge fan of astrophysics just the vastness of the universe inspires and are for within me without having to marvel at a deity the universe is my deity in a way I also don't believe in an afterlife most people are scared to death of the fact that once you're dead that's it no more you period I feel the opposite the idea of simply I'm bang once you're dead gives me a great amount of inner peace as I struggle with mental health issues and I look forward to the day when I no longer am residing in nothingness and silence science serves as my Dogma and its philosophical implications serve as my after knowing the matter that comprises my body will eventually be a part of the earth is my idea of reincarnation and it gives me enough comfort without the need for religious authorities prayer sites or ancient texts few have been visited by the skilled Papa replied JIT gut Papa for good skill thanks for watching if you are new to the channel you can subscribe I publish new videos every day until then check another video or don't either way have a great day you magnificent people [Music]

Channel: On Tap Studios

Views: 18,316

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Keywords: #updootst, updoot, reddit, r/askreddit, askreddit, ask reddit, r/, \r, r\, best of reddit, reddit stories, reddit story, top posts, funniest posts, funny, funny posts, funny askreddit, reddit funny, askreddit funny, askreddit stories, sub, reddit cringe, memes, comment awards, dankify, toadfilms, updoot everything, updoot reddit, chill, story, stories, reddit on tap, reddit serious, reddit serious stories, reddit religion, reddit crazy religious, reddit believer, reddit non believers

Id: pP9crpKNdlU

Length: 20min 17sec (1217 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 14 2020