this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2023
151 points (79.8% liked)

Asklemmy

43944 readers
597 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy ๐Ÿ”

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[โ€“] Veraticus@lib.lgbt 144 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful. โ€” Seneca

load more comments (6 replies)
[โ€“] theKalash@feddit.ch 94 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[โ€“] 30p87@feddit.de 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[โ€“] theKalash@feddit.ch 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)
load more comments (1 replies)
[โ€“] LapGoat@pawb.social 77 points 1 year ago (13 children)

nah, religion seems like a scam that usually results in unhinged beliefs and abuse.

Not a fan generally speaking.

if you dig into any religions beliefs, it goes into some wild fairy tail stuff that just...doesnt happen.

Not to mention that folks tend to base their morals on religion, and religions have very flawed morals.

the difference between god and myself is that if I could, I would prevent a child from getting bone cancer.

load more comments (13 replies)
[โ€“] Zikeji@programming.dev 72 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I'm an agnostic theist, I believe in the possibility of god(s) or god-like entities.

There is a quote I resonate with by Marcus Aurelius:

Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but 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. I am not afraid.

load more comments (3 replies)
[โ€“] shrugal@lemm.ee 56 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

No.

Imo the more you think about it the more you realize that "god" is just a very human way to cope with feeling lonely or powerless, and life having no ultimate direction or purpose. People imagine a friend or guardian who has a plan and will set things right, and some use this shared fantasy to make others do what they want.

[โ€“] Chainweasel@lemmy.world 51 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

From the things I've seen in my lifetime I can only assume there's no God, and if there is a God then he's not worth worshipping for letting the amount of suffering exist as there is in the world today.

load more comments (1 replies)
[โ€“] cakeslayer@lemmy.world 37 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't believe in any deities. Although, Greek mythology really would be cool if it was real.

[โ€“] JackGreenEarth@lemm.ee 25 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Cool, and also terrifying.

load more comments (4 replies)
[โ€“] coffee@lemm.ee 35 points 1 year ago (7 children)

If there is a god, it takes a special sadist to allow the amount of torment present on earth.

So I prefer to believe there's no higher spirit ravelling in the suffering of all creatures rather than there being a malevolent creator watching with glee as we die a slow, painful death.

load more comments (7 replies)
[โ€“] TheImpressiveX@lemmy.ml 35 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Here we go...

EDIT: Surprisingly not as toxic as I thought...

[โ€“] Mane25@feddit.uk 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You must've been thinking of Reddit...

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[โ€“] Rouxibeau@lemmy.world 26 points 1 year ago

Apatheist here. Whether there is or isn't a god, I don't give a shit. Just stop trying to shove your shit down my throat and leave me the fuck alone.

[โ€“] crazyminner@sh.itjust.works 26 points 1 year ago (11 children)
load more comments (11 replies)
[โ€“] regalia@literature.cafe 24 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

You can't disprove God because you can keep changing the definition. If I define God as the culmination of everything in the universe, you can't really disprove that.

If you disagree with me, then I can just keep changing the definition of God!

load more comments (4 replies)
[โ€“] jet@hackertalks.com 23 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Do I believe in god? No.

Do I deny the existence of god? No.

I don't have evidence either way

load more comments (3 replies)
[โ€“] thelsim@sh.itjust.works 22 points 1 year ago

No, not at all. I went to a christian high school and that experience removed pretty much any doubts I might have had.
I'm a happy atheist, don't really care about all this religious stuff. I don't mind that others believe, just as long as they don't impose their views on others.

[โ€“] n3m37h@lemmy.dbzer0.com 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I believe there is an all powerful being made of spaghetti and meatballs floating somewhere out there. May you all be touched by his noodley appendage!

[โ€“] Bongles@lemm.ee 15 points 1 year ago
[โ€“] Government_Worker666@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago (3 children)
load more comments (3 replies)
[โ€“] Swarfega@lemm.ee 18 points 1 year ago (5 children)
load more comments (5 replies)
[โ€“] PixelOfLife@lemm.ee 18 points 1 year ago

Nope. At best, religion is a fairytale created for those who are uncomfortable with ignorance, and at worst, it's a tool to control gullible people.

[โ€“] FlexibleToast@lemmy.world 18 points 1 year ago

No, and I have peace in my life because I do not have that abusive relationship.

[โ€“] spiderman@ani.social 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

No. There is no God and if there was one, most of the gore crimes in the pasage of history should have been stopped like human trafficking, slavery, child abuse and countless murders. If there is one and he is simply watching, he should not be worshipped.

load more comments (5 replies)
[โ€“] victron@programming.dev 17 points 1 year ago
[โ€“] Baphomet_The_Blasphemer@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

There have been over 18,000 different gods, goddesses, and various animals or objects worshipped by humanity since we started writing our history, and likely countless more that have been lost to time. The majority of these worshipped deities are no longer believed in, and the fact we as a species have been unable to move beyond the fairytales of omnipotent gods told during the bronze age will never cease to amaze me.

Religion in all its various current forms is a tool of manipulation used against the masses to keep them complacent and scared. That being said, even though I tend to lean towards an atheististic view, I will concede that the possibility exists of a higher life form we may consider as a god. If such a life form does exist, it would be so far beyond our ability to comprehend that any claim to know what it expects of us is pure human foolishness or intended maliciously to control the ignorant.

I live my life by the simple principle that if a god exists and is a just god then I'll be judged by my actions in this life, whether I caused harm to others or lived well doing what I'm able to make the world better, and not on whether or not I believed in and worshipped them. If a god exists that would punish me for all eternity for not worshipping them, then they are not a just god, and as such would be unworthy of such devotion. Bottomline is we will never know as long as we live, and with as short as our lives are, why waste them worrying about what we can never know. Just live your life well, be kind to others, and be the best you that you can be.

Edit: fixed a typo

load more comments (1 replies)
[โ€“] birdcat@lemmy.ml 16 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Yep. In all of them, just to be sure in case...

load more comments (3 replies)
[โ€“] sorrowl@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 points 1 year ago
[โ€“] Boggy@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Nope, if Iโ€™m wrong and there is a god I plan to kick their dick instead out for all the anguish and suffering that could have been avoided. god cannot be both omnipotent and all loving. Only one or the other.

Also, in the loosely remembered words of Ricky Gervais, โ€œif all recorded history of religion, and of science were suddenly erased from the earth; in a thousand years youโ€™d have all the science back exactly the same, but the religions would be totally different.โ€ Which I find very compelling.

load more comments (7 replies)
[โ€“] vis4valentine@lemmy.ml 16 points 1 year ago (3 children)

No. And I dont believe in anything supernatural.

load more comments (3 replies)
[โ€“] Dequei@sopuli.xyz 14 points 1 year ago
[โ€“] DelvianSeek@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago

No. And while I will treat those who do with the same level of dignity and respect I grant to everyone, I secretly do think less of them for it (especially when I see them perpetuating the indoctrination with their children).

[โ€“] god@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Nope. Can't understand the reasoning behind "some dude has always existed, you can't see him though or touch him or anything, but he created everything! Also only we few know about this and only recently! All the other beliefs are wrong." Where would a giant fairy come from? No idea.

Spent a good while searching for evidence as a doubting kid. Didn't find anything. I realized the absurdity later on of believing in ghosts and psychics and magic when one of the defining qualities is how they can't be recorded or even reproduced scientifically.

God loves you, watches you, judges you and can do anything, but he won't move a leaf on the floor to tell a crying bullied kid to hold on to hope, that he exists. God is such a human-centric thing anyway. Humans are specks of nothingness, a million years in a tiny planet in a sea of infinite time and space. But yeah some dude created us specifically and we look like him!


I just realized I'm on the God account. ๐Ÿ™๐Ÿ˜ (God wants people to doubt him so he can send them to hell without feeling bad about it?!?!)

load more comments (1 replies)
[โ€“] sylverstream@lemmy.nz 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've been raised as a Christian, but always found it weird that there was zero proof and all based on a book. It seems like the longest running book club ever. I'm still going to church regularly, mainly because I enjoy the company and the church we're going to promotes a good lifestyle: Take care of each other, respect other's people's choices, and be kind.

I really despise the news where people are banning e.g. aborting / LGBTQ /queer in the name of Christianity. Just respect what other people do!

And I think there are things we can't explain. I recently read "After" written by a doctor who has spent decades to research NDE's and there are many things he can't explain, and scientists still don't know what exactly the conscience is.

load more comments (1 replies)
[โ€“] retrieval4558@mander.xyz 13 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Nope. Or to be more specific, I have not been convinced by any of the claims of a god that have been presented to me.

load more comments (5 replies)
[โ€“] Echo71Niner@lemm.ee 12 points 1 year ago

How could people have faith in a non-interfering God who allows terrible events, even to young children? If such a God exists but doesn't intervene, then there's no reason to worship it, as its presence holds no significance for humanity. Moreover, it's likely that if this God is real and unaware of our existence, it's because we're inconsequential. This becomes even more plausible if numerous planets similar to Earth with their own life forms exist.

[โ€“] Sowatee@lemmy.ml 12 points 1 year ago

No

I was almost 14 years old when I lost my faith. I grew up in severe poverty, was severely depressed due to bullying and my weight, and I am LGBT. I found a website listing the inconsistencies in the Bible. I attempted to show my grandmother, who proceeded to laugh in my face. So I kept reading, then I came to a conclusion on my own.

The moment it finally "clicked" it honestly felt like a weight off my shoulders. Like I'd finally was free. My lack of faith hasn't waivered since then.

[โ€“] nudnyekscentryk@szmer.info 12 points 1 year ago

All people are atheists towards most of the "gods" humans came up with. I just go a step further and refuse to believe in one more.

[โ€“] Monkeyhog@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

Of course not, that's silly.

[โ€“] ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Nope. Never have that I remember.

I did go to Catholic school though

[โ€“] nothacking@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I don't know, and no one has any good arguments.

A god is not required to explain anything in the universe, so I just assume a god does not exist.

In the Cristian sense of god, god has no direct effect on the world, making the question meaningless.

It would be the same as believing there is an teapot in orbit between Uranus and Neptune, too small and dark to see with any telescope. I could say it exists, and no one would be able to disprove me, but that doesn't make it real.

Strangely enough, if instead of a teapot (which at least would be possible, if hugly impractical to find) you use an entity that is invisible, intangible, does not do anything else that could allow it to be detected (most omni-gods), then billions believe it.

load more comments
view more: next โ€บ