What is your general attitude towards those who believe in religion whether they are jewish, Muslim, Christian etc etc.

Do you get on well with any religious friends and neighbours?

Have you ever thought of believing in a religion at some point?

If you do not like the faiths, why?

If you DO, also why? Does this come from your family? Maybe something went bad during your life?

I get that Lemmy might have the same stereotype in Reddit that there are loads of atheists, but there’s a good reason why despite criticism of religion, it is still here.

P.S. I am not religious or anti religious in any fashion, I am agnostic.

  • Jerkface (any/all)@lemmy.caEnglish
    0·
    6 months ago

    I hate the ignorance that edgy kids have about religion, having exposure only to a very very very narrow sample and extrapolating to infinity. Not every religious practice opposes truth, or oppresses and exploits its practitioners. No more than every political practice does. Religious practice is an expression of our innate humanity. You cannot just get rid of it, any more than you can get rid of any fundamental human need. What is important is finding safe, healthy, ethical and helpful means of expressing it.

      • Jerkface (any/all)@lemmy.caEnglish
        0·
        6 months ago

        50% grow out of it by mid thirties.

        The Internet atheism movement of the late 90s was extremely liberating and enlightening to many people. But, it has gradually become hateful and I think it has long since run out its useful lifetime. We can’t just stop there, we need to collectively develop a more informed, nuanced and compassionate view. Today’s threat isn’t baptist fundamentalism, it’s fucking fascism. You can’t hate yourself out of that, you only sink deeper.

        • beetlejuice0001@lemmy.zipEnglish
          0·
          6 months ago

          We can’t just stop there, we need to collectively develop a more informed, nuanced and compassionate view

          Like supporting trans, gay or poc rights or free food for children gun rights

          • Jerkface (any/all)@lemmy.caEnglish
            0·
            6 months ago

            Is it your poorly stated, smug, so-ironic-no-one-knows-what-you-are-talking-about point that all religions promote oppression based on sexuality and gender, of the poor, and of children? Because that sounds an awful lot like American conservatism, not religion. But since you won’t come right out and state your points clearly in a way that can be directly refuted, how about you just fuck off.

              • Jerkface (any/all)@lemmy.caEnglish
                0·
                6 months ago

                You are being hateful towards religion. That is very different than rationally opposing religious oppression and persecution, which obviously is a thing that does exist and needs to be opposed, but which does not define religion. You can’t make things better with hate. Figure your shit out.

    • Seleni@lemmy.world
      0·
      6 months ago

      My uncle is a pastor. So when his kid came out as trans, he and his wife did the ‘good moral Christian’ thing and shamed her and harassed her until she committed suicide.

      Then deadnamed her at the funeral, and wrote and published a book about how ‘his betrayal’ and ‘his unfortunate death’ were just tests from God to test their faith.

      This is not a rare or unique story; many people all over the world have stories like this. Is it any wonder those who pay attention find religion distasteful? It may be a part of humanity, but many unpleasant things are, and there is nothing ‘edgy’ about rejecting them.

      Yes, there are ‘good’ churches in my town that feed and clothe the poor; a far cry from my uncle’s church. But they are part of the same religion, and the fact that religion accepts both, morals be damned, means I have no interest in it.

      • TheGalacticVoid@lemm.ee
        0·
        6 months ago

        Their point is that there’s more than 1 widely-practiced religion, and there are plenty of sects that are tolerant to different forms of self-expression. Saying food is bad because you don’t like bananas isn’t sound logic, and applying that same logic to religion doesn’t work either.

        I can’t speak for any Christians, but many of the religious people I know are some of the most tolerant people I know because their religious schools focused on doing things with good intent.

                  • denshirenji@lemmy.world
                    0·
                    6 months ago

                    Bruh… That quoted text says that it is a monotheistic religion. Please just learn the thing and don’t die on the hill. They have a holy book (the guru granth sahib ji), together with a wider collection of religious and philosophical works (the bani). They have rituals and the like. Things like the 5 Ks. They believe in a singular deity (Ik Onkar) who is, according to Sikhism, the same deity that the Muslims call Allah. Onkar is the Punjabi symbol for Aum (A very important Hindu concept). The gurus (their leaders), are supposed to be god. The idea is that they are a reflection of God, likening God to the ocean and the gurus to a bucket that is filled by the ocean. Their holy book is the last and final guru and simultaneously god and leader/teacher.

                    Point of the above is I know what I am talking about. All of those are definitely religions with a belief in deities and afterlifes and holy books and miracles, etc…