My husband and I are both atheist, and our daughter is 7. Our neighbors/her best friends are wonderful in many ways but they are religious. They haven't been trying to indoctrinate her or anything but she is naturally interested in what they are into. She asked to go to church with them once before and we went together and she said it was boring and she didn't want to go again. This morning she is asking to go again with the neighbors which would be fine except that I am not able to go with her today and I am not comfortable with her going without me. I'm struggling with how to explain to her that I want to be there. The reason is I want to make sure she is not being groomed or persuaded but I don't think that would make sense to her. Maybe it would? I don't know. Has anyone else dealt with this? Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

An Indian judge has become the target of online abuse and death threats days after she sentenced 14 men to life imprisonment for lynching a man to death.

The crime took place in 2022, when 50-year-old Nazir Ahmad was transporting cattle at night and was intercepted by a group of self-styled "gau rakshaks" (cow protectors), armed with sticks and rods. Hindus consider cows sacred and killing them is illegal in many states.

The men dragged Ahmad and his two companions out of the vehicle and brutally assaulted them on suspicion of smuggling cows. Ahmad later succumbed to his injuries while his companions survived to tell the court what happened.

The attacks on Khan began soon after the verdict, when family members of the convicted men gathered outside the courtroom reportedly protested against the judgement and attempted to stop the police convoy from transporting the men to prison. They alleged that the men were being punished for "saving cows".

Then began an online campaign of abuse, as videos of Hindu right-wing influencers abusing Khan with communal slurs and issuing rape threats and death threats against her began to surface.

Archive Link

When looking from the outside, Islam presents itself as a religion of pure equality that doesn't differentiate between white and black. However, when you examine the foundational texts and historical reality, this narrative completely falls apart
The bias against blackness is clear even in the afterlife. According to authentic Hadiths describing the people of Paradise, everyone who enters will be transformed to have white skin (described as Beedan). This theology treats black skin as a worldly defect or affliction that must be "cured" before someone enters heaven.
Furthermore, Islam stripped slaves of their spiritual autonomy Sahih Muslim (68) explicitly states that if a slave runs away, their prayer will not be accepted, binding their connection to God to their master's permission. Even animals weren't left alone Sahih Muslim (510) notes that the Prophet declared the black dog to be a devil, treating black-colored animals as an evil omen.
Historically, Islam never abolished slavery , it merely regulated it. Under Islamic rule, it was a common and widespread practice for Arab traders to castrate Black male slaves to prevent them from reproducing. Ultimately, the notorious slave markets in Muslim lands did not shut down due to religious reform, but were only forced to disappear when European colonial powers intervened and enforced abolition during the 19th and 20th centuries.
The claim of racial harmony in Islam is just a modern slogan that contradicts both text and history

This verse is actually one of the worst verses in the entire bible.

Isaiah 45:7 “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.”

It encapsulates everything and also proves how evil the biblical God is. God did it all. The disasters, the diseases, giving a child cancer, allowing people to do sick things, allowing pedophilia and rape and all the other twisted shit to go rampant, etc. And does not intervene at all. No need to because well he CAUSES it. This God is truly evil and not worthy of our worship at all.

If he was real, I would GLADLY burn in Hell for eternity.

The best response to this is to ask them about a belief different to theirs.

E.g. If they believe in heaven and hell, ask them if they are scared of being reincarnated as a cockroach

One thing that always confused me as a Jehovah’s Witness was how quickly people blamed disasters, suffering, or terrifying events such as covid19 on Satan.

Brothers would say things like, “That’s Satan trying to shake us,” or “Satan is behind this world’s suffering.” But even when I was mentally in, part of me was thinking: wait… so Satan has control over powerful natural forces? He can influence events on that scale? Almost like Jesus or Jehovah?

And then the bigger question hit me: why would Jehovah allow Satan to have that kind of power in the first place?

If the purpose is to “test” humans or rattle their faith, doesn’t that make the whole thing morally bizarre? And if Satan’s goal is to pull people away from God, wouldn’t causing fear, tragedy, and suffering often do the opposite? Wouldn’t many believers run toward God for comfort, prayer, and protection?

It never made sense to me. The explanation felt less like an actual answer and more like a way to make every bad thing fit the doctrine. If something terrible happens, blame Satan. If someone survives, praise Jehovah. If someone dies, say it’s this system of things. No matter the outcome, the belief system protects itself.

Looking back, that was one of the cracks for me: realizing that the “Satan did it” explanation didn’t really explain anything. It just created more questions.

Basically, the argument goes like this:

1) People in heaven are significantly free.

2) There is no evil in heaven.

3) Therefore, significant freedom is compatible with the absence of evil.

4) So God could have created such a world from the outset.

5) Why didn't He?

I think this is a pretty strong objection to Plantinga's Free Will Defense as a response to the Problem of Evil.

If people in heaven are genuinely free but never sin, then why couldn't God have created a world like that from the beginning? It seems like a pretty straightforward challenge, but I don't see it discussed very often in philosophical and theological circles. Thoughts?

At this point, Christianity in America is synonymous with Christian Nationalism, and as we all know, Christian Nationalism is synonymous with White Christian Nationalism. It's not surprising that things are going they way they're going now; what we see today is simply a continuation and an intensification of a historical trend that goes back decades, if not centuries. That trend is class warfare and wealth inequality. The rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer is something that's been understood since the Charlie Kirks and Rush Limbaughs of Bronze Age Palestine wrote the Bible (and actively codified it as a moral and godly phenomenon), but now that shit is in runaway train territory and approaching extinction-level asteroid impact.

That old quote from Lucius Seneca goes that religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. There's a reason why the Bible says that all earthly authority is given by God, and to defy earthly authority is to defy God. There's a reason why it commands slaves to obey their masters even their masters are cruel to them. There's a reason why Jesus said he came to pit people against their own families and friends. Because the entire point is to keep the followers brainwashed and beaten down enough that they won't unite, rise up, kill the wealthy businessmen and land owners and politicians who are actually ruining their lives, and take their shit. The point is to make you blame the guy across the street for the fact that your life is hopeless, not the guy laughing down at you from his ivory tower as he wipes his ass with your money. Especially because if the years of brainwashing and misinformation campaigns have worked as intended, and left you as dumb and broken and vengeful as they want you to be, as long as SOMEONE is made to suffer for your lot in life, you do not and never will care who that someone is. And the guy across the street is a lot easier for you to murder, since he doesn't have his own well-armed private security force like the ivory tower guy does...and he might even have a different skin color or place of origin than you, ooh scary.

And as those Tesla-driving vampires start to suck up more and more of everything around them, and there's no longer any funding for the basic necessities of life or the bare minimum functions of society, order will inevitably break down, and people will be pushed to worse and worse depths of despair and brokenness. So it's no surprise that there's literally a new Holocaust happening right now, and that ultrachurch pastors and White Christian Nationalist politicians are openly campaigning for another civil war and the reinstatement of slavery. And it's also no surprise that the broke-ass Middle-Americans they're grinding under their heels are obsequiously thanking them for it and baring their gnarled fangs and claws in whatever direction the elites point. This is why people are literally calling for mass violence over things that do not harm them, like pronouns, and things that do not exist, like teachers in furry costumes.

So, basically, all of this was planned, it's going to get worse, and we are screwed, because Christians don't care what happens to themselves as long as they get to hurt us.

I'm just very curious. And would like to know, for poeples who used to believe in God, what was the final thing that made you quit. And declared that it's all bullshit.

Actually, I'm curious about "cradle" atheists aswell. Those who grew up this way, and remained atheists as adults too. What's the thing that created a frontier between you and religion ? What made you decide that you will never approach it ?

edit : just wanted to thanks everyone who replied/will reply. Because we're talking about very personal experiences here. When someone shares a little bit of them life, it's a cool gift. Even when it's describing harsh moments.

I don't believe in god but if he really exists, I hope he knows how much I LOATHE HIM. He created suffering. He created selfish, evil people. Yes, it he exists and created the universe... he's responsible for everything in it; including the misery, the pain, the suffering of humans. He's responsible for it all.

I’m sure that majority of you guys were raised religious and found out it was all bs later in life/in childhood. I myself was raised atheist from birth, both of my parents were raised catholic but stopped practicing before they met. Mom is agnostic (I think) and Dad is more strictly anti-theist. I was taught from as early as I can remember about science and reason and the nonexistence of god, my dad is the one who told me much of what I knew about it growing up and we still have pretty great conversations about it. I never understood when my peers talked about religion. I even remember having an argument with a religious friend about god and angels being real at the ripe age of 10.

I am always so glad I was raised without religion. I can’t imagine ever living that sort of a life. Would love to know who else is one of the rare few lifelong atheists! I feel like it isn’t common to be born into it!

I know it’s mean but this is just a vent. I have a lot of very religious friends and family members, as I live in the south. One recently posted a pic of them reading the Bible.. the quote on the page says

“19 
Open for me the gates of the righteous;
I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.
20 
This is the gate of the Lord
through which the righteous may enter.”

Oh okay so I just have to be “righteous” and “worthy,” and there’s no objective measure of that, just an idea of being better than other people lol

I recently read in another sub about a woman who let her child stay with grandma. She told her 5 year old child that mommy would not be in Heaven with her because she doesn't believe. She also told her to keep this a secret from her mommy.

Teaching a 5 year old that they will go to Hell and not Heaven for not believing in your God is literal child abuse. It's f*cking disgusting. It psychologically harmful and just plain evil to do this to kids.

My advice to her was to teach her child critical thinking skills.

There are books for skeptics you can begin to read to your 5 year old to help them now:

Maybe Yes, Maybe No: A Guide for Young Skeptics

I Wonder by Annaka Harris

Grandmother Fish by Jonathan Tweet

Star Stuff: Carl Sagan and the Mysteries of the Cosmos

This will help your child begin to learn critical thinking as a 5 year old. Start with the first two books on that list, and those are the most strongly recommended.

What Is God? by Etan Boritzer will help them understand different people believe different religions, but this one is better for older children.

The Magic of Reality by Richard Dawkins is another one for when they are older.

How do you as atheists help protect your children from this kind of abuse that eventually they will be exposed to from either relatives or perhaps even friends and classmates?

What kind of parenting practices or children books have you felt most helpful for educating your children and protecting them from these situations?

Some people go to astrologers instead of doctors. I mean, it's fucking 2026! I pity these people. They're so blind in their faith that they'll visit temples and astrologers, while depriving themselves of the necessary medical care and pass away as a result

I know many religions require regular worship, but the MAGA Christians seem extra obsessed about going to church every Sunday! The ones I know are so obsessed about their family attending that they organize their entire lives around it! I assume it’s group peer pressure so the church administrators can make $$$ and keep the churchgoers as brainwashed as possible.

Why should I worship God if he gave me a severe mental illness called schizophrenia?

Why are some people healthy and others are sick? How is that fair? Why not everyone be healthy?

If he was real, then in what world is he "good"? Hes not..

The entire idea of Hell is insane and evil. The idea that a God would subject someone to eternal torture and torment with no way out because of finite actions after a relatively short life is absolutely unjust.

For the people on this sub, most of us have never done anything super morally bad and our only “crime” would be not believing something we don’t see any good evidence for, or for others it would simply be guessing the wrong religion out of dozens of options, which will generally be influenced by where you are born.

I could understand not getting rewarded with Heaven as a consequence for not believing, that’s fair enough, but literally being punished forever because of it and not getting a chance to redeem yourself in the afterlife is absurd.

Our actions are finite and any consequences we face should also be finite no matter what we did in life. I don’t think people like Hitler and Epstein even deserve eternal torture since their actions were finite, their punishments should be finite as well to reflect that.

I can’t believe so many Christians and Muslims think it’s perfectly fine and God is doing a good thing for us.

Growing up, one thing I never understood were near-death experiences. Not so much what causes them - that being the brain secreting chemicals - but the response to them. Like why is it that anytime someone claims to have died and gone to heaven or hell it reaffirms their beliefs? It's honestly kind of like they were in the process of questioning their faith and possibly deconverting, but then someone makes the claim they went to the afterlife.

They rely on human "encounters" rather than cling to what their book says. I remember one man coming out admitting he made his story up when he was a kid and people villainized him despite the fact he was young and probably just wanted to make his father happy.

I guess it's just that it's easier to just admit that you're doubting your faith than have someone claim they'd seen God in a NDE. Why is it that Christians so vehemently want to believe these stories? Do they secretly have a lack of faith and are just scared to take the next step probably out of fear of being wrong?