Religion

[Waddle Bro]

I have my own religion and I'm okay with that.

ALL WORSHIP SLOWPOKEMON

[FSM-Reapr]

Yes, SlowPokemonism is quickly spreading across the world.

[SuperFireKirby]

Sounds like the most mediocre religion evur.

[MaestroUGC]

I hardly go to church, yet I'm still a devout Catholic and know more about the nature of my faith and the church's doctrines than those who attend mass every sunday.

No, I don't agree with everything my church teaches, but that doesn't make my faith any weaker than others'.

[blueflower999]

I have a lot of respect for Catholics like you, Maestro. Too many that I know are indifferent to the church's teachings. >.>

[SlowPokemon]

My brother is having his confirmation as a catholic tonight.

[Bubbles]

Moving this here because I'm a rule follower *halo emoji*

Generally speaking, if it doesn't have evidence, in science it's not considered to be fact.
It COULD be fact, but so could all the other 4000+ religions throughout history.

looking at it from a science based perspective. Not everything applies to science rules and its ironically close minded that you're pushing that

I've always been interested in this side of religion, as I've know people who go through a patch of depression and then take up religion for the aspects of unconditional love it gives them.
Seems to me like it would be better to learn to love yourself unconditionally than to just rely on someone else's, even if that person is supernatural.

For a second ignore the personification of God and see it as more of a concept. Teachings of Catholicism vary widely even just through the U.S., but from what I understand God is not meant to be seen as a supernatural person, it's just easier to refer to him that way. Focusing  thoughts in prayer is an easier and more logical way to reflect for most people than to try and wrap your head around a concept that can't be explained in words. Sort of like how death is sometimes personified to help people understand. God is not necessarily a person, it's just a visible way to explain it.

I somewhat agree, but the reason I have an issue with Christianity is that is practices suspension of critical thinking (everything is based on faith), as well as it tending to get special privileges within government (for example, I believe it was a Missouri police department that put "In God we trust" stickers on the back of their police cars).
A good example of this is the pledge of allegiance- the phrase "Under God" wasn't added until the 50's because we were separating ourselves from the "Godless Communists", and it's still mandated by many schools to be said each week (clearly violating the establishment clause of the first amendment).

Catholicism or religion itself is not the issue in instances like this, it's the way it's been skewed and interpreted differently as it passed through the generations. Catholicism does not require all of its members to have the exact same beliefs and act the exact same way. Plenty of things are lost in translation, as well as changing systems of belief throughout history. It's difficult for Catholicism to adapt to changing times because of their long history and the sense of tradition that defines the religion.

As for government, the same thing applies. The majority always wins in things like that, so since the majority believes in some form of Christianity of course their beliefs are going to be reflected in their actions because it's a part of who they are. I'm not condoning it, in just trying to get you to understand instead of just complain.

Religion is far from necessary. All things that religion promises (being healed if you're sick, eternal salvation) can all come from other much better places (secularism and most sciences), or simply don't exist.

Get this: that's your own personal belief. What if I called that your religion? Exactly what your thinking could be changed to a religion and it would stand true to that person practicing it. Religion is a way to help humans attempt to understand what they can't, adding a sense of comfort and allowing them to actually focus on living instead of being in constant fear of the unknown.

[mikey]

Bubbles, what do you think happens when you die?  Just curious

[Waddle Bro]

^You enter the void and become non-existence

[Tobbeh99]

I'm atheist.

[Pianist Da Sootopolis]

Moving this here because I'm a rule follower *halo emoji*
 looking at it from a science based perspective. Not everything applies to science rules and its ironically close minded that you're pushing that

If it's not applicable to science, or not provable by science, that would mean it doesn't have evidence. Thus, I give you Hitchen's Razor-

That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence

For a second ignore the personification of God and see it as more of a concept. Teachings of Catholicism vary widely even just through the U.S., but from what I understand God is not meant to be seen as a supernatural person, it's just easier to refer to him that way. Focusing  thoughts in prayer is an easier and more logical way to reflect for most people than to try and wrap your head around a concept that can't be explained in words. Sort of like how death is sometimes personified to help people understand. God is not necessarily a person, it's just a visible way to explain it.

What is God exactly, then? Because he's certainly characterized as a being that does actions that have an effect on our world, both by the Bible and by preachers.
 

Catholicism or religion itself is not the issue in instances like this, it's the way it's been skewed and interpreted differently as it passed through the generations. Catholicism does not require all of its members to have the exact same beliefs and act the exact same way. Plenty of things are lost in translation, as well as changing systems of belief throughout history. It's difficult for Catholicism to adapt to changing times because of their long history and the sense of tradition that defines the religion. 

Sure, that makes sense.

As for government, the same thing applies. The majority always wins in things like that, so since the majority believes in some form of Christianity of course their beliefs are going to be reflected in their actions because it's a part of who they are. I'm not condoning it, in just trying to get you to understand instead of just complain.

No, I understand that well. The issue is that since it's a constitutional issue, it doesn't matter what the majority wants, it matters what the constitution says- and what is says is to keep Church and State separate.
 [/quote] Get this: that's your own personal belief. What if I called that your religion? Exactly what your thinking could be changed to a religion and it would stand true to that person practicing it.[/quote]
Here's the definition of Religion:
Religion: "The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods."
Anti-theism, what we're discussing, is certainly a belief (the belief that religion is harmful), and I am anti-theistic to an extent. Atheism, however, is not- atheism is the lack of belief in any God or Gods. To say that atheism is a religion is to say that off is also a TV channel- it's not, it's the lack of one.

Religion is a way to help humans attempt to understand what they can't, adding a sense of comfort and allowing them to actually focus on living instead of being in constant fear of the unknown.

But that doesn't make it factually correct- the belief in God is a dubious one at best, and even if you believe in a God, you then have to go a step further and answer as to why you believe in the God of one particular religion, out of the thousands of religions that have ever existed that have just as much evidence (none).

[Sebastian]

Hey. I'd love to join this conversation but wouldn't it be easier to do it on Skype? Anyone who's interested in chatting about it I could add to the same conversation.

[Dude]

To say that atheism is a religion is to say that off is also a TV channel

I'm pretty sure you can stare at a TV that's off and still call that "watching TV"

[blueflower999]

Truly committing to atheism takes just as much faith as Christianity and therefore I count it as a religion.

[Bubbles]

Bubbles, what do you think happens when you die?  Just curious

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ it's not a big deal to me, I'm comfortable with just brushing the whole thing off because I know I won't find an answer and I'm not trying to stress

But I'd love for reincarnation to be real. Life is too great for us to have only one life, it's almost not fair for it to end in nothing or a new life in heaven or some other afterlife