I don't - I just don't embrace it - It isn't applicable to me in any way. but I don't reject it for anyone else if someone gets comfort from a bible or a hot water bottle I wouldn't want to deprive them of anything that gave solace.

A triple digit IQ and the ability to reason.

It is a form of control. Do as I say or you do not have gods acceptance. Do as I say or you are not welcome to socialize with the patrons. Give me your money or god will punish you. They just don't get how moronic that sounds. It is the basis for prejudice follow my churches rituals because your religion does it the wrong way. Then the principles eye for an eye what does that solve violence begets violence. Think Ben Franklin was rite the principles for society need to be reformed. To be proactive is a much better way, most of the world is reactive.

I'm an open minded person that is why I reject religion. Only closed and weak minded fool have religion. The last 7 weeks without religion/god have been better for me.

It partially came from my dog that hung himself. I was totally grief stricken, I told my dad I’d see the dog in heaven. My dad said, “Son, dogs aren’t allowed in heaven.” That was the moment when I decided I didn’t ever want to go to heaven, I wanted to go where ever my dog went.

I dont. I wouldnt presume on other peoples sensitivities it exists for some people - where I live is the tenth most god-less country in the world France is first. I rather think there was more religion before the first and second world wars and I wouldn twant anyone to tread heavily on my sensitivities about being godless either - Live and Let Live!

My parents and extended family were all atheists I think it might have had something to do with them living in the most bombed part of the world the east india docks. My father was in the theatre of war as communications officer and my mother was a welder in the docks - I grew up without a god but without the word 'atheist' until I was about 9 y.o. and was drummed out of the brownies for not attending church parade. when I realised I had never had a god and also realised I never wanted one. I just find religion much to 'throughother' and the stories I could read for myself like Alice in wonderland - What katy did , Count of Monte Christo etc. were real stories with hooks and story lines that made sense - why do your head in over biblical stuff when real books are so much more complete

I got tired of the restrictions, the closed minds, people telling what to believe,etc. I know there is no such thing as god and religion is bs. I wish I would seen the light earlier in life and had the courage to do something about it. I've been an Atheist for 6 weeks or so and it's quite liberating not to follow bs. I consider myself open minded person and religious people are closed minded.

Mainly, because religious faith (belief without a requirement of substantiation) is a totally failed epistemology that nether explains nor predicts reality as it is acutally experienced.

I don't like surprises. Surprises tell me that my mental model of reality needs work. Religion invariably worsens the accuracy of that model, if not completely dismantles it in favor of an incredibly shitty model. Reason, critical thinking, skepticism, and the things they lead to -- including atheism -- tend to improve that mental model.

An example of a faulty religious mental model: "God blesses the righteous and confounds the wicked".

For any remotely meaningful definition of "righteous" and "wicked" and "bless" and "confound" that we might agree to ... this immediately runs into the minor problem that in fact tons of nice people suffer and tons of asshats propser. This is undeniable, therefore the proposition (really, the baseless assertion) is clearly wrong.

I have replaced this with "stuff happens" combined with a belief that I have some meaningful although limited amount of freedom of choice to influence that "stuff", and lo and behold -- no more cognitive dissonance, no more surprises, no more "what did I do to deserve this, why is god punishing me", and on and on. Just stuff happening and me doing my best to make better stuff happen.

Another problem with this one faulty proposition (never mind the countless others!) is that it leads to other faulty propositions, some of them unconscious. One that crops up as a result of the notion that if I'm righteous god will be in my corner, is the specious notion that life owes me something. I'm entitled to be blessed, and if I'm not, then I'm cheated out of it.

But if life is just stuff happening then I have no special privileges, and none of the associated expectations to be violated when things occasionally go off the rails -- as they inevitably will.

Religion is not an idea. It is a social structure based around the belief in a deity. The purpose(s) of religion and its impact upon any given society depends upon who you talk to. Many people say they benefit from the practice of religion, others say religion is detremental to the society at large, fragmenting people based upon the tenets of those religions. I am not religious myself, but who am I to tell another person who prays to a deity for comfot what it takes to get them
"through the night."

Religion is a form of control no different to politics , designed by the few to control the many with the fear of problems in the after life , if you do not follow their rules or requirements . If any religious book was ever really written , it has been intentionally miss transated every few 100 years or less, to suit a political climate at that present time . If there ever was a book , not one word of its original content will be used these days. Religion is to manipulate and control in exactly the same way politic's are used to control us. My father was an over zeleous religious type, pretending to be higher than high and stating that his religion was a burden for him to carry, being as he was a part of a percecuted nation :-/ , ( yeah right ) . The sunday school I was allowed to attend until the introduction of the new testamont around 67-70, he then made us all leave sunday school , which I already hated, as all it stood for to me, was a cold place of harsh authoritarianism. Being yourself and being friendly and happy can easily be achieved with no religion, I feel we are all conduits of the same consciousness anyway<< that was once missinterpruted as a holy devine spirit, instead of the one thing that makes us all equal<< consciousness << thats not a condition of religion , its a state of mind ..

Without writing a book.... the dots just do not paint a rational picture. The holy books (Bible, Vedas, Koran) are full of ambiguities, contradictions, and ridiculous stories (talking snakes, flying horses, impossible floods, ...) that simply make no rational sense, many contradicted by actual science. Then one only has to look at reality (massive indiscriminate random suffering from natural disasters and diseases) to realize that if there actually was a God, it is either powerless or a sadistic evil entity.

No evidence.

I don't reject it I never embraced it - it has no meaning for me whatsoever -I don't reject it for other people, its a free country you may believe whatever you want .

Why do you accept it? I bet it's exactly the same reasons but I see them as negatives.

I reject the idea of religion because I value truth and honesty.

The foundation of religion is faith (belief without evidence) as truth assertions should be verifiable with demonstrable evidence, the concept that faith can be an avenue to truth is dishonest. I find this reprehensible as it promotes the baseless assertion of superstition over testable reality.

Wow, there are so many reasons... I think for me the most glaring one is how much most religions pushed the idea of choosing this one way to greatness and glory with a place at the foot of some all powerful being, the all knowing one, or any other way which is a fast track to a firey and painful afterlife and a lot of face time with the primary punisher. Pushing such a terror on people seems horribly shady and disturbing to me. Forcing one way and blocking out anything else is a brainwashing technique as well and most people, especially children, have a hard time dealing with that sort of fear. Somehow the idea of a cult is a scary thing to the people in these religions but this cultish, often bordering on terrorist behavior goes over the heads of those same people.

I grew up having friends in families who lived with those ideas and they honestly scared me far more than any threat of hell. You could be knocked over sometimes with the fear they have if you mention following something their church and family deemed evil.

I'm one of the last people who would ever tell someone what to believe or not to believe or to try to push my own on another. But I honestly feel sometimes my head would implode with the idea that learning about other paths and about the world around us, learning how religions get developed and the history of them, and how science really works are all bad things... Really??

Any "god" or religion that will allow a child of 5 or 6 to be sexually assaulted (male on male), physically abused by his father and older siblings, emotionally abused by parents and siblings, ground down to be made to feel worthless and fighting back was useless, live in fear of his family and others and be molested by deacon at age 11 is full of shit.
Children are to be nurtured and protected, not left to luck-of-the-draw circumstances to get "good" parents.
If I was omnipotent I would never allow children to be treated that way.
If jesus loves the little children and by virtue his father does as well, then where the hell were they when I needed help? Answer: gods are not real, religion is false and a leftover of the superstitious age.
And yes, I am still angry about what happened and I hope I do remember who assaulted me so I can confront them.

I do not "reject" the idea of religion, I just find it mostly silly and have no use for it! I am not fighting it off, I just do not care about it personally until it rears its ugly head into politics and law.

Religion is so often used as a method to avoid accountability for their actions. Morality and ethics are a self-supporting system. Religious people are some of the most corrupt people I've ever met and they avoid, at all cost, accepting responsibility for their actions, and the contradictions of their actions according to their own religion.

The answer to this question was best done by Matt Dillahunty, 'This shit makes no sense' enough said

Because once I put my johnson in my skivvies there was no room for nothing else. Plain and simple I am a Man of the 20th Century. But to quote Marlon Brando in "The Wild One"... What you have?

I never made any sense to me but not until I read "Illusions" was I able to formulate my thoughts. For me it boiled down to, religion is something man created. It is about control and power in todays world. I Think hundreds of years ago it was a way to explain the un-explainable. Keep the uneducated in awe of you and you can talk 'em into ANYthing.

I don't reject the idea of religion; I just don't see any reason to believe any of the claims of the religions I've encountered. The way the question is posed is similar to asking, "Why do you reject the idea of Big Foot?" Well, I mean, we know that large, hairy primates to live in some forested areas, so the idea of Big Foot isn't something I reject - I just need to see some evidence that any of them live in North America.

Religions make all sorts of claims that either cannot be tested/verified, or that have actually been demonstrated to be false. So while I don't reject the idea of religion, I refuse to believe things for which I have seen no good evidence.

What do you have? (Marlon Brando in the wild one)
Simply didn't worked for me. Just disappeared while in catholic elementary school. No event regardless the painful or dangerous to my life made me look back and return to something that never been there for me, or even simply doubt my non belief. Will something happen in the future? Can't say, I don't see me requesting for "Last Rites". Good Question but I like my last 55 plus years of sanity.