For me, it is political. I put no energy into religion in my life. However for a lot of people it is cathartic, if you were a victim of indoctrination and are only now reasoning your way out, that takes recovery time.

To me, I live in a world just dripping in religious iconography, with preset holidays in the government based upon those religious ideas, so if I do NOT speak up, no one would ever know people who do not believe even exist, it would just be drowned out by the endless barrage from religion.

Sharing the best ways to confront the arguments one gets from the religious is of great benefit to younger atheists.

He is kind of fun to make fun of or fuck with. Having to live with his minions and their silly rules and laws for my entire life, it just feels good to do that.

Just wondering, could it be that we like the believers in god, need the reinforcement of others to firm up our unbelief?

I guess if many atheists have so much to say about God, maybe it's because many of us used to believe in God before braking free from him. Me too, I removed the crucifix off my bedroom wall at the age of 13.

right.. boring...

yeah, you'd think this site could be a break from all that. if all ones does it fight against something, you're still defined by that something.

Harry Pottrr God is considered a rather popular topic and considered to be addictive: With 35% of Americans having read at least one Harry Potter book, among the biggest fans are men aged 18-34 (44%), women aged 18-34 (61%) and women aged 35-54 (41%).

Once Americans have read one Harry Potter book, as a nation we’re hooked – YouGov asked which Harry Potter Book people had read. Among those in the US who had read at least one book, 47% had got through the entire series. [today.yougov.com].

Some of those postings are sort of amusing to me, sometimes I feel like chiming in to start the interchange of points of view. Usually I get bored pretty quickly, however there will be that time when the discussion may turn interesting. I guess I like to keep the door open to discover other angles I haven't considered yet.

I grew up in a very religious home. It still interests me, and I listen to Christian/Atheist debates very often. I can't talk about my lack of belief, or my distaste of Chrianity to my family because I want to keep the peace. I do come here and some other sites because I feel free to discuss it. I actually enjoy talking about religion, but I know it's not for everyone.

I've seen a lot of fakers here, either believe in "spirituality" (whatever that crap is) or not really non believers, I'm also sick of their stupid rethorical questions that usually start like this "if there is or isn't a god" followed by "then why does this happen or not happen". I call their bullshit everytime by saying "why should we care about inexisting crap"?

I believe in beings that reside beyond the clouds ... statistically, there must be intelligent life on other planets. Perhaps, one day, an alien civilisation will show up .... maybe they were here before and that was the foundation of the god myths

Agree. Too many posts about the old testament as if it was factual rather than mythological

because believers can't just leave us the fuck alone. they are driven to try indoctrinating everyone in their path, so they come here with their BS and think they have clever arguments, pretending to be "reasonable" while trying immature word games to influence people.

on the other side, because some agnostics are still seeking a final answer, contrary to the actual meaning of agnostic.

Some Agnostics think there MAY be such a thing as 'god,' IF you define the term broadly enough to include non-entity concepts like universal consciousness.
The universe is too big a place to close your mind entirely, people like me think.
Agnostics DON'T KNOW if there's a 'god' or not; therefore, they are free (unlike atheists) to discuss both sides of the subject unbiased and not obligated to argue vociferously about it.
As an atheist, you ARE biased, which is fine, but an agnostic "discussing" the topic with an atheist is is not likely to end fruitfully, but instead result in a circular, neverending argument going round and round like a circus ride.

God has a lot of Media connections and the politicians often say "God Bless America" With that that amount of PR God gets a lot of attention.

I always looked at it as we were talking about the people who mistakenly believe and the consequences of that. I"m also battling astrology, superstition, cooky medicines, and fraudilent science for the people in my community and society.

That's said, yeah, i limit my exposure to "diety culture" to about an hour every couple of days.

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God knows why.

Same here I don't support delusional thinking

I asked this question once and got jumped on about it. So now I drop by much less often. When I was young I believed in Santa Claus, and then I stopped. I spend almost zero time contemplating or talking about Santa these days. Why talk about something you don't believe exists?

I guess the new guys get a chance to vent. When they get to Level 7 I would hope they were able to discuss more eclectic subjects, however.

I totally agree with you! 🥴

I no longer believe in the invisible man in the sky either but I am finding out that everyone has a different story about it. I stopped believing when Jesus didn't bring me a pony one year. It was Christmas and I asked him about that. He knew I was angry but he told me it was his birthday and not mine.

Why am I not seeing this?

Am I that obvious to religion that it goes over my head?

I commend you for having such insight at a young age.

Rather then tell you what to do I am offering you some resources. Things I certainly have found useful earlier

1. There is a book I think you should read. Daniel Kahammen's think fast, think slow. It is a very clear, comprehensive book about human thinking. When you get confusing, contradictory advice you will know why. Human behaviour begins to make sense and it gives a clear understanding of the world generally.

2. If you get into reading then I recommend reading books about science- including psychology. In other words understanding the world through the eyes of experts. I recommend you start with books that only make it to the book shops. It costs more to get them on the shelves and realistically only respected, well credited authors can get pusblishers and stores to stock them.

3. Meditate. I wished I worked this out sooner. Nothing to do with buddhism and enlightment. It is by far the most useful, productive thing I have ever done. Out of the three this one is my favourite. How you do it is up to you. But after experimentation I found the best way is simply to get on with it. So sit down, back straight and supported, eyes closed.

As I said this is not so much advice but some resources. Things you can put to the test. Meditation would obviously be the easiest. I would emphasise though that you should give it at least 3 attempts before drawing a conclusion.

I look at a couple of people I know who are religious, and say that everything is ordained. They find a comfort and certainty in this. I view it as the ultimate cop-out. It is a bit harder to say "I am the captain of my ship, the master of my destiny ", but if not then what is the point of life?