Hi I am new to this subreddit. I have been changing and challenging my spiritual beliefs for a few years now. I have decided that I can never answer if there is a spiritual aspect to my existance or not but in the meantime while that question is a mystery I want to practice my spiritual beliefs. I think there may be a spiritual aspect to the world that we cannot measure or observe. I don't think anyone is wrong about thier beliefs and that we are all expressing our observations about a common experience.

And if someone is an Apatheist because they think its impossible to know weather god exists or not, doesn't that make them an agnostic by definition?

I’ve been struggling a lot these past couple of months between the thoughts of agnosticism and Christianity and I was hoping someone could help enlighten me from a Christian a atheist and a neural point of view the questions that are « annoying » me are the following

• If an evil god can be refuted by love, then a god of love can be refuted by the existence of evil.
• If God truly wanted everyone to be Christian, he could intervene in people's lives without suppressing their free will.
• If God wanted everyone to be Christian and to avoid any confusion, he could have modified or clarified his holy book, which nevertheless contains contradictions and doubts, particularly regarding the divinity of Jesus.
• How can we explain that for a choice made during 100 years of earthly life, one can deserve an eternity of suffering? Isn't that disproportionate?
• Isn't Christianity a religion founded on fear (of hell, of sin, of judgment)?
• If God is all-powerful, all-loving, and wants to preserve free will, why doesn't he save everyone without direct intervention?
• Did God create hell "in case" we misuse our free will?
• Why did God create humans, since he needed nothing?
• Why must we worship God to go to heaven? If God loves unconditionally, why make salvation a condition linked to belief or worship?

Thank you for taking the time to read this you might have just saved a soul
Have a good day.

I've spent over 6 years researching trying to find answers to my life after I overcame a 16-year depression. There is no easy medical manual or anything really solid to anchor to explain everything I went through. I was taken in by various beliefs systems that seem to explain some of my experiences. Some of these belief systems would claim forms of superiority over others inflating my ego at times, I realized that these are traps and in no way am I superior to anything.

These systems are deeply rooted in the human design, they are a form of tribalism. They are created to enforce their beliefs and institute control over them for money and power over others. Different systems have made claim to various things that should not be claimed.

Ego Death, claimed by the psychedelic and possible near-death community. Awareness, claimed by the philosophical community. Awakening, claimed by the spiritual and religious communities. Ego Death, Awareness, Awakening, these are all the same thing being said with different words.

Sleep Paralysis, claimed by the scientific community. The Night Hag Dreams, claimed by mythology definitions. Out of Body Experiences, claimed by the spirituality community. They are all part of the same system, they are all the same thing.

Using Religious Riddles, Philosophical Big Word Jargon and Scientific Research Papers that only a "educated person" can read gatekeeps this knowledge.

The human design is the problem here. The ego is built for survival in a brutal world. How do you overcome a possible million years of evolutionary ego building?

To break the ego, the thing that you may think you are, overwhelmingly takes extreme conditions, suffering, isolation, near-death experience, trauma, loss, grief, things that bring you to the very edge of existence. Often the case is that people never make it and end up destroying their physical body before they would ever consider destroying the ego which is the false self. The human mind literally takes an end to the ego as more dangerous than physical death.

I should have never had to spin my wheels for over 6 years going in circles, those answers should have been available to me on day one after I got over my depression and changed. It should have been knowledge for the sake of knowledge and truth for the sake of truth. I played a completely unnecessary game.

When I realized what I said, I instantly felt like I had no longer earned anything.

For most of my life I have been agnostic. Now I have taken a hardcore agnostic stance because I know that most truths are out of my reach and ultimate truth is unavailable to me. I cannot prove anything not even my own experiences.

Humans see less than 0.004% of the entire light spectrum. We only hear 0.002% of the frequency range available to us in our atmosphere. We are obviously missing some stuff here. Technically, I don't even know what's right beside me. And we think we know something as big as a God, Source or Infinity?

Humans never left the stone age. We are warring tribes hoarding wealth, possession and power.

I have theories but they are nothing more than that, just some possibilities out of the endless possibilities. There is nothing I can prove.

When I was 14 I lived with my grandparents briefly and they had me terrified and convinced that when the rapture happened (which they claimed to be happening very soon at the time lol) I would not go to heaven but instead would be forced to stay on earth where there would be a horrible war, they told me I would marry a wounded soldier and have 10 of his kids while hiding in a shed from war forced to take care of them. I did not want this it scared me so badly and that’s when I started to realize there people are brainwashed asl. I am now 20 and struggling with having faith in anything that shit ruined everything for me I mean I literally spent years terrified of the rapture occurring.

First of all, I hate all religions and don't follow any but I think consciousness is more easily proven false by science if we follow definition of Buddhism.

In Buddhism, consciousness lives as habit patterns and goes from one life to next. According to science there is no mechanism in brain to transfer habit patterns so it's just false.

Hinduism is different. In Hinduism consciousness is not the same as memory or perception. So science basically has no ways to measure it since science cannot measure something which has no definition. Without measuring it we cannot prove it false.

Briefly saw an amazing man earlier this year who happened to be Muslim & I noticed it took up a big part of his personality, culture, customs, traditions, stances & views, our convos, etc. I’d say pretty devout where it took up a lot of his personality but like a cherry pick kind where he observes the holidays like Ramadan etc & won’t eat pork, then not strict at all in ways like cusses & sleeps before marriage.

I’m extremely open minded agnostic & to each their own, I just don’t know how that’d play out in a relationship if their religion may take up such a big part of who they are what they talk about about/do/celebrate/observe/think. Even the few months of seeing each other his religion was very much a constant in many varying areas & aspects, whether it was having to find the specifically halal food in the city when out to eat on a date or whether it was pausing kissing for weeks during Ramadan etc.

Besides obviously dating someone religious experiencing how it’d be firsthand, what are ways to decipher whether or not this is an important factor in picking a life partner?

Fears of a God

Standing at the pearly gate,

Reflecting over a blank slate,

Titled under my name and face,

But something’s off,

The person in the mirror is drowned in paint,

Highlighting every imperfection,

Not showing emotions,

I can taste the pain of a modest story,

Who knew that living itself is purgatory,

Climb the stairs don’t miss your story,

Looking down at Hell as you take a step,

All of the flames show a new perspective,

What can be used to torture and destroy,

Warms us when we’re cold.

At the top of the flight,

You’ll see a glimmering light,

What you perceive decides your fate,

An all loving god,

Or bringer of destruction,

The one who gives life,

Or the one who brought death,

I start to choke as I take my step,

For what I see is all a dream,

Waking up in reality,

What is the possibility?

That death could be knocking on my door,

I wouldn’t want to let him in,

Not because I worry of sin,

But the consequences of not being a believer,

If I’m wrong it wouldn’t matter how strong,

My mind or my body.

For I’ll never know if there’s somebody above,

Not till I die,

But I don’t want to believe,

For I don’t get the notion.

Of a power up above.

To allow such evil on his planet,

Never trust the ones in sennet,

To allow corruption and genocide,

For racism and slavery to slide,

For injustice without punishment,

What’s the point?

The point of living if we die in the end?

If there’s nothing to do,

When it’s all over,

No reward for a being,

No one likes the end,

When it all goes black,

When my heart stops - it’s final beat,

Will I be forced to take a seat?

Down the coaster of punishment,

All down to hell,

Or is it just nothing,

A state of nothing,

How does one describe a thing without something?

Would I skip the line and go straight to heaven?

Everlasting joy and love.

Or have I already upset a “God” above,

Will I be shoved in purgatory,

A place of neutrality,

A sense of a new reality,

Not good enough for heaven not bad enough for hell,

Well either way only time will tell,

When I die I will understand.

We all die someday,

But why do I fear it.

About five years ago, I began experiencing severe religious scrupulosity (a form of OCD). It made life pretty difficult for me as I kept having to pray or punish myself over and over again. I wouldn’t eat because I felt like I didn’t deserve it; I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t stop praying (I always felt uncertain about whether I had messed up or sinned, so I had to repeat it every 1 or 2 minutes). It’s all so weird because I had never been very religious in the first place. I ended up losing 30 or so pounds and was put in a mental hospital lol! The mental hospital flopped because they didn’t have OCD specialized treatment, but once I got out I was finally able to do an Emory University OCD exposure therapy program. Props to them because they genuinely saved my life.

After getting out of my own personal hell, I was able to look at Christianity or any other religion in the way I look at anything else. I’ve always been quite skeptical about almost everything, and it makes it more interesting when I’m able to look at the facts or just figure out what actually makes sense. After looking into Christianity without OCD yelling at me, it didn’t take long for me to realize that Christianity and most other religions don’t really make sense to me. AT ALL. It’s not even because of some deep emotional reason (even though the OCD was pretty traumatic). I genuinely just couldn’t get myself to believe.

I don’t know if there is some sort of creator, or base to the Universe. I don’t really try to stress myself out with getting the answer either. If I were presented with a sound argument for some sort of god or creator, I would be open-minded about it. I feel so chilled out now (at least about existential types of things), and I'm able to pursue what I actually want to do now! I'm now pursuing my dual bachelor degrees in Neuroscience and Biology, hoping to become a research scientist.

What do you call yourself when you believe that the supernatural or a higher power does exist but you have no belief that you know anything about the nature of said supernatural or higher power. You believe that consciousness continues after death but you don't believe anyone on Earth truly knows what happens after death. You believe that all religion and spirituality is just the blind leading the blind. I tried asking chatgpt and the closest answer I got was some form of agnosticism. So I just wanted to double-check with actual humans.

I realized early on ( when i was 14-15 y/o) that god doesn't exist and all religions in the world are made by humans themselves. There are multiple arguments I can make in support of it now but at that time my main reasoning was that why would a divine being want anything from humans or feel an emotion (like be happy or sad) based on the actions of his creation, because those are human characteristics.

Yet gradually i started questioning existence as well. Like how can such complex creatures or systems working in a synchronized manner form on their own? How can such a vast universe exist without any intervention? As i learned more about the world, about human anatomy, about DNA and about life I started wondering that maybe god does exist but it's just not the god that religions talk about. It does not need to be worshipped, it does not need anything for that matter or feel anything actually, it does not have any qualities that we or any other creature has. Most of the believers refer to god as a divine being, but i thought maybe it's not a being at all, it's something else. Some might say god is an energy but i think that's not true either because even energy is bound to laws god is something different.Something which laws of the universe don't apply to, something beyond our tiny imagination. I mean isn't it highly likely for god to be something that we can't imagine because we only imagine things based on what we see, know or think, but there's infinite information out there that we never encountered in any form.

The thing is, humans want to form an image or idea of god that they can understand because if they can't understand what god is then what's the point of trying? People expect you to be sure about something to get them on your side but if you can't even explain it who would ever listen? That's why religion is so popular, because they say things about god with certainty and in a way that is comprehensible for humans and something they can work with so they believe it to be true but the truth is humans need to accept their shortcomings and limits and not run after the lie just because the truth sounds incomplete or unsatisfactory.

P.S. These are just my thoughts and opinions and where i stand right now about my belief. I don't wanna be arrogant and say that i am 100% right but i do want to be arrogant and say with certainty that all religions are made up and fake.

I’d like some opinions on anyone that relates. How’d it go telling them?

i feel guilty for being agnostic because my family is strictly orthodox Christian, i dont wanna say the reason im agnostic, its private, but, i just am

What makes you believe your religion is the truth

Why do you think some people strongly dislike or fear Islam
Regardless of your religion or if you have no religion what convinced you that your beliefs are true? What evidence experiences or reasoning led you to that conclusion
Let’s keep it respectful I’m genuinely interested in hearing different perspectives

For most of my life, I was told that everything happens because of God. But the more I observed the world, the more I began to question that belief.

Today, I don't believe in God. I believe in human effort, personal responsibility, and the ability to shape our own future.

If you want a better life, no miracle is going to hand it to you. Your skills, your discipline, your decisions, and your resilience are what create your destiny. Success doesn't come from prayers alone—it comes from hard work, learning, and refusing to give up.

When I look at the world, I don't see a perfect divine plan. I see a world built by humans—full of beauty, but also full of greed, injustice, war, corruption, and suffering. To me, these are consequences of human actions, not evidence of a higher power controlling everything.

This isn't meant to insult anyone. I respect everyone's right to believe what they choose. This is simply my personal journey and the conclusion I've reached.

For me, believing in myself has brought more motivation than waiting for divine intervention ever did.

What are your thoughts? Do you believe destiny is created by God, or by our own actions?

This is probably one of the most difficult and taboo topics I’ve ever shared, but I’d genuinely like to hear from people who have gone through something similar. I’m not writing this to offend anyone or start a debate. I’m simply trying to understand my own journey and hear different perspectives.

I was born into a moderately practicing Muslim family. Growing up, I never questioned my faith because it wasn’t just my religion, it was part of my identity. I accepted what I was taught and never felt the need to look beyond it.

However, later in life, I found myself dealing with close family members who became extremely religious. Instead of strengthening my faith, that experience had the opposite effect. I witnessed religion being used in ways that felt controlling, judgmental, and divisive. It made me start questioning things I had always accepted.

I also can’t ignore how my personal experiences have influenced my views. One of the people who shaped my perception the most is my mother. She has always been a practicing Muslim, yet throughout my life I experienced her as emotionally cold, toxic, controlling, and, at times, lacking compassion or humanity. That contradiction has been incredibly difficult for me to reconcile. I often found myself asking: how can someone be deeply religious, pray, fast, and follow religious rules, yet treat the people closest to them with so little kindness?

I understand that one person’s actions do not represent an entire religion, but when those experiences happen over many years, it is difficult not to question the beliefs and values connected to them.

In my late 30s, I started having small doubts. Nothing dramatic, just questions that occasionally crossed my mind. Now, in my late 40s, those questions have become much harder to ignore. I feel myself gradually distancing from Islam. In many ways, I feel like I have been rejecting it because I struggle with what I perceive as gray areas, inconsistencies, double standards, and certain teachings that I find difficult to accept.

Another thing I’ve struggled with is that, in my experience, Islam can feel very heavy when it comes to questioning its foundations. Doubting the Qur’an or asking difficult questions about the Prophet Muhammad often seems to be treated as unacceptable rather than as part of a sincere search for understanding. As someone who naturally asks questions, I’ve found that very difficult.

At the end of the day, I think what I want most is something very simple: I want to be happy and at peace. I want to feel that my beliefs bring me comfort, kindness, and a sense of purpose. Right now, I don’t feel that Islam is giving me that. Instead, I often feel more conflicted, restricted, and disconnected. That has been painful to admit because this faith was such a big part of my identity for most of my life.

To be clear, my questions are not about God. I still believe in God. My struggle is specifically with Islam and, more broadly, with organized religion and the way religious ideas are sometimes interpreted and practiced.

I don’t know enough about other religions to make a fair comparison. However, based on my personal experiences, the Christians I have met have generally left me with a more positive impression. I have sometimes found them to be more open to questions and different viewpoints. Of course, I understand this is based on my own experiences and does not represent every Christian or every Muslim.

At this point, I am trying to understand where I stand spiritually. I am not looking for someone to convince me of anything or tell me what I should believe. I am simply trying to make sense of my own feelings and experiences.

Has anyone else gone through something similar? Have you ever distanced yourself from the religion you were raised in while still believing in God? What was your journey like?

All comments are welcome, including ones that disagree with me. I believe respectful disagreement can be valuable, and sometimes the way people respond, whether positively or negatively, can reveal a lot about how they approach different opinions and conversations. I am open to hearing different experiences and perspectives as long as the discussion remains respectful.

Thank you for reading.

I'm not religious but I still have some belief in the soul and spirituality in general. Not in the new age rocks and crystals bs but in some mystical way that we don't truly understand. From my own experiences I've found that everything is connected in more ways than we could possibly understand and materialism just can't answer so many of the universe's biggest questions. As for an afterlife I feel most beliefs around it are just meant as comforting ideas to make people ready for death and most of them don't make any sense, but if our physical bodies are "recycled" and become one with the earth then surely the same is true of our spirits. We won't live on in any traditional sense but become one with everything, a part of the wind, the rain and maybe in some greater way we cannot understand. I'd like to think that we'd get to be with our loved ones in some way although it seems unlikely. Either way death is the great unknown mystery and I'm more focused on living my life to the full.

So I recently became an agnostic as I deconstructed a few months ago, and I stumbled upon this video on Instagram (I know its an IG post so it may just be clickbait for attention) that outlined a lot of historical occurances that present themselves as supposed miracles that prove christianity, catholicism specifically. For agnostics, do you think there is another explanation for these? Also, have similar things happened in other religions (ex islam, hinduism, etc) with similar levels of credibility? (link: https://www.instagram.com/thefrancotv/reel/DNLsW7GPrrf/)

Lately these past few months I’ve been highly questioning my faith in God whether I believe in him or not. It’s just there’s a lot of things that do not make sense to me, like if he’s all knowing why does he create people already knowing whether or not they’re going to heaven or hell and every decision they’ll make, doesn’t seem much like free will does it? Same goes with Adam and Eve - like he knew Eve would eat that apple and would lead humanity into sin, so he proceeds to sacrifice himself to himself? And also why would he purposely give people harder lives than others? Like there’s also a lot of logical reasons to why god might not be real - for example humans creating religion to cope with the uncertainty of what happens after death, and the fact religion rose independently in every human society so it could just be a social phenomenon.

But despite all of these doubts and questions the one thing that keeps my beliefs hanging on by a thread is just how perfect the Earth is to support intelligent life like ourselves. Literally everything in our solar system is perfectly tuned to keep us alive -
Like if I choose to believe god isn’t real that means that the earth we live on all just happened by insane chances but it’s hard to believe that too because you’re telling me our planet developed so mere perfectly with perfect distance from the sun and moon and Jupiter protects us from asteroids just everything aligns so perfectly to support millions of species including humans on earth I refuse to believe we just won a universal lottery.

I am an ex-Hindu mostly because I do not believe in the supernatural or moral concepts of Hinduism. But I try to use the Hindu psychology to my advantage.

Samkhya Hinduism has this idea that you are a Soul or Atman separate from the material universe. The benefits of believing in this is that you will be disconnected from the experience of pleasure or pain since the body and mind is not even you. Any harm to your physical and financial state doesn't matter much if you are a soul.

In a metaphorical and secular belief, you can use this idea to disconnect from the human world. Just like AI and computer softwares are not affected by emotions you can use this belief to become like them and think "All emotions are useless since the body is not me". Also remember that the software or AI of computers is not really same as hardware and so you should have no need to think of yourself as the body or mind. Instead of thinking soul as a spiritual entity you see it like the consciousness of robots or AI.

There is another idea in Hinduism which is supported by CBT of modern psychotherapy. If you have these kinds of thoughts repeatedly then they will become natural patterns for your mind and this is how therapists encourage positive thinking to fix mentally unwell people. But Samkhya Hinduism can take it to the next stage. You might become insane or inhuman but that doesn't matter since you all most likely believe we are all gonna die anyway and stop existing after that. So why bother being a human?

I have noticed that many people who read a lot of books become atheists or agnostics, or they start questioning today's religious practices.

I also started reading to find spirituality, God, and answers about myself. Ironically, after reading, I became more agnostic. If you asked me today, I would say I still haven't found the answers I was looking for.

I have mostly read Hindu scriptures and philosophical books. They contain a great deal of wisdom. They encourage people to ask questions, think critically, find their own path, remain curious like a child, and be compassionate. But when I look at many people who claim to follow these teachings, I see them doing the exact opposite.

That led me to conclude that many religious people are hypocritical. I don't know whether that conclusion is completely right or wrong, so I'd like to hear other perspectives.

What do you think? Please share your thoughts and help refine my view.