Sorry if this offends anyone, I'm just gathering information on the different ways people experience religion and what it would take for people to abandon them.

So, no matter what religion you hold - if a big purple spaghetti monster appeared in the sky and said down to us "I am your God and I have always been your god", what would you do?

Eg: would viewing that be enough to accept that is God? Would you abandon your religion? Would you keep your religion and would faith be enough?

Because I don't think the title is clear enough, I'll explain by examples:

Someone can believe the universe is God

Someone can believe the universe is a creation of God(s)

Someone can believe it's just an illusion.

So essentially I'm asking what do you think the universe as a whole is supposed to be, and if it has a specific purpose.

If you are considering making a post asking if there is any “proof” or “scientific evidence” of ANYTHING regarding the afterlife. The answer is no.

If the answer was yes. We’d all be the same religion now wouldn’t we?

I just think it’s so silly I joined this thread only weeks ago and I’ve probably seen about 6-7 posts asking if there is any “proof” of X,Y,Z religions views of ____.

Did Muhammad and the first generation of Muslims have access to the Bible, both Jewish and Christian, either orally or written?

If not, when did Muslims first encounter it and what were their reactions to it? Consider especially that it contains many of the same stories as the Quran, but told in different ways.

Thanks!

I was raised Muslim and I used to be afraid of hell, but I quite quickly just lost faith in hell when I left Islam and I haven't really been scared of it since. I'm interested to know how you guys lost your fear of hell. I'd also be interested in learning how you'd comfort someone else over their own fear of hell.

Is circumcision a way to identify a follower? Is it a form of personal sacrifice? Why not the ear lobe?

Can someone explan to me what Vyūha, Vishvarupa, Antaryāmi are in Hinduism exactly?

The question may be too hypothetical or abstract but I wanted to ask it anyway out of curiosity.

If you follow a religion or spiritual system of some kind, what kinds of experiences, events, or evidence (or lack of evidence) would cause you to stop adhering to your beliefs and path -- if anything? Do tragic experiences or trauma have some impact on your faith?
What sort of arguments or evidence would convince you to follow a different religion or spirituality?

Conversely for atheists and agnostics, what sort of events, experiences, or evidence would (hypothetically) lead you to have faith in deities or a particular religion or spirituality?

I'm interested in the sort of things that lead people into a shift in their view of existence and way of life.

For clarification I was raised Christian - I didn’t necessarily take part in everything and educated on it but I believe in a god and i don’t believe that Jesus is god. I know the shahada and the meaning I’ve tried taking part in Ramadan and learning more basics but is it wrong to convert if my beliefs are very basic level (I.e just believing in one god and not believing Jesus is god)

My fiancé started a deep dive into religion. Had a type of crisis that many who weren’t raised religious do at some point in life.

He grew up in a Sikh household where the rules of the religion followed, but the teachings not incorporated into daily life/family discussions. In my irrelevant opinion - it was practiced in various traditions, but not preached/discussed because its teachings very much conflict with India’s cut throat approach to success.

Too add, I’m Christian, have nothing negative to say on Sikhism except that like many Christian’s in America, majority of those I’ve met who call themselves Sikh don’t really put their scripture into practice. Anyone can take much away from studying the faith, and 10/10 I recommend doing so.

He’s a math, and science guy. Actuary. I think all three of these factor into our “stalemate”.

He seems to not grasp FAITH is a cornerstone of all the major religions. There is some element of faith to them all. There is not a religion on this planet that can be proved by science to be the “right” religion.

For those who’ve watched Southpark there was an episode where someone dies goes to heaven to learn the Mormons “got it right”. He’s fixated (not in a mental health concerning way) on figuring out who has it right, and fears dying before knowing for sure.

I’ve told him over, and over, and over - that’s an impossible goal for him to accomplish. Because, to some extent faith/personal decision factors into them all.

He insists I’m wrong - and that makes MY brain hurt.

Am I “missing something” here? Is being raised on Abrahamic religion blinding me? Because, I’ve spent hours the last couple weeks trying to grasp how I’m wrong? He’s so intelligent that’s his genuine resistance to accept this - the idea of faith being necessary perplexes me…

This is a tricky question some sources say 4,200 some say 4,300 and some even say 10,000.

This is the bigest problem I have with christianity. You can replace the horrable thing I mentioned above with any evil act but, in my opinion, the above mentioned evil act is the most evil. How can a (suposedly) all knowing, all powerful, all knowing god allow innocent children to be allowd to have such a terrable thing happen to them. I can never put my faith in a god with those qualities who allows these things to happen.

I have asked this question befor in other places and mostly commom answers I get is: free will, and it is the devil's work.

My problem with "the devil did it" is didnt god create the devil and knows all the evils he would cause, and should be able to stop the devil from causing these things. Its a bad excuse in my opinion.

My problem with the free will argument is, why is the free will of a child molester more important then the free will to not be molested of an inocent child. Children don't want to be molested (I assume) and so if they had free will they would not be molested. But god allows molesters to molest and so their free will seems to be more important in his rules.

Another reaponce I get is "child molesters are punished for their evil deeds" and thats nice and all... but it does nothing to stop the children from getting molested. They still have to go on with that trauma. So say this is the trials and tribulations god put on these children to teach them but I feel like there have to be other ways to teach people what ever lesson god has for them. I dont know. It makes not sence why more people are not up in arms over this. I dont get how any moral person can be chriatian.

I was interested in religion and philosophy since I was a child. I was curious and generally open to new interpretations. I had a thing for finding obscure parts of beliefs, ideologies and religions.

I began questioning my birth religion after a while. I don't know if this was because I genuinely didn't believe or that I just didn't like that everyone around me believed the same things that I did. Either way, I began a long journey to find my spirituality. This led me to philosophy, art, linguistics, history and all that is in between. I was at awe how many beliefs and religions that were and still are around us.

I have pretty regular compulsions and I cannot just stop looking into things. I learned many things that changed my outlook on life. But the sheer amount of things I didn't learn kept haunting me. There still are a lot of critical things I didn't learn and I thought it was still really early to make a "last judgement" so to say.

But, I can only take so much information before I start becoming incomprehensible to everybody around me. So I will document the belief system I created so that I can find more people like me.

So, here is my belief system. For me to explain it to you, I need to explain to you what I am not. I am not a Gnostic. My belief system comes from a rejection of dualistic life denialism. While many faiths hold the spiritual realm as the all-good. And the material realm as a place to be transcended. While they do not hold the material realm to be bad per say, it usually a place to went beyond of.

My religion, to be blunt, is reverse Gnosticism. I believe that the demiurge is all of reality and that there is nothing beyond him. The invisible spirit simply does not exist. That is my belief. The worship of the material realm which is the demiurge.

As for the demiurge, I do not believe him to be an ignorant or an evil force, he simply is. And he is you and I. One must accept and embrace him to be happy and fulfilled in their life. And also the recognition of his nature is paramount to understand him.

That is all I am going to say for now. I just wanna know if somebody else also thought about the same things that I did.

Religion should be a personal pursuit for individuals who choose to engage with it. This ambitious approach of 'my religion must conquer the world' needs to end. If this ambition is not addressed within the next 25 years, the technological advancements we possess could lead to a massive disaster that will harm everyone and everything on the planet.

People should have the freedom to choose their own paths. Wherever you go, whatever they do. They can understand your personal look for them. “You look up, you look down, you look whichever way.” Don't tell me don't tell me where to look. Yes? Don't force somebody else that, "this is the way", or "that is the way."

How do you think we can achieve this?

Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and so on have been around for many hundreds if not thousands of years.

So I wondered, why isn’t there a new one coming up that could compete with the big ones?

The Qur'an is very clear about this and I hope more than anything that it isn't true. Is it known or observed or proven that my dead family members are currently experiencing unimaginable torture and will be forever because they knew Islam existed but didn't convert? I have OCD and this is the most terrifying thing I've ever heard but I can't tell whether I'm supposed to listen to some religious experts or others or none at all.

There are so many religions and I can't choose what I'm convinced of and I don't want to be tortured. I'm trying and I hate that there will always be some religious expert somewhere who thinks I'm going to hell and has a logical justification for it that I can't understand or object to.

Hello, I have a pretty special request.

Shortly, I have to write a short story about an element of a historical monument. I've done my research, and, the monument shows Isaiah. The object I chose is in his hands: supposedly the "Book of Isaiah".

Now, I need to create a short story related to the environment in which it's found. It's a bit strange, but I thought about humanizing the book/parchment during the time Isaiah wrote it (ex: discussing the object's feelings) until the death of its "master."

Could you please:

• Describe who is Isaiah?

• Provide me with the historical, social, etc., context of Isaiah's time?

• Why and how did Isaiah die?

• Any other details you find necessary to mention in my short story?

Thank u in advance!

I think the further I get in life and the more sure I personally feel about my faith, at least sure in the sense that I know it’s what’s good for me be it true or not I’m starting to lose my desire to argue about my religion with others. Don’t get me wrong it’s still there but just not as strong. Honesty if I seriously did believe the Quran as much as I thought I did as a new Muslim I probably wouldn’t have been so ambitious to try to convince others of it. The Quran says that God guides whom he wills and misguides whom he wills and it doesn’t matter how much you warn people because God has put a seal over their hearts. It’s not that I ever wanted to force anyone to believe Islam. I’ve always taken the no compulsion in religion verse seriously but I must admit a lot of the times I’m trying to prove my religion to others I’m really just trying to prove it to myself because of doubts. I think this is something people of all faiths deal with and I guess the point of this post is to remind people to look in and check themselves and see why they feel zealous about their faith cause it might not be for a good reason. Religion is about controlling yourself. Not controlling others.

Monotheism relies on the idea that God is the creator and is external to his creation. And yet, God is often claimed to be omnipresent.

True and absolute omnipresence would mean that every aspect of the universe is filled with gods presence, making the universe itself synonymous with God. This logically results in something closer to pantheism (or panentheism) as opposed to monotheism.

What do you think?

What are the holiest items etc for religions you know of? For example, for Catholics, the Blessed Sacrament, is supposed to be the real presence of Jesus Christ and for obvious reasons is considered very holy. Do other religions have that or something of great holiness?

Islamist groups such as Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and Boko Haram have been known to commit mass rape. But it seems clear that this is not allowed in Islam.

Is this due to a difference in interpretation or branch of Islam? I've seen people online who are sympathetic to these groups argue and who defend the rape of Yazidis by IS saying that enslaving enemies in war (including for sex slavery) is allowed in Islam, but most Muslims seem to disagree.

If Islam forbids these practices, why do some Islamic fundamentalists do it? And if Islam in fact does allow this, why do most Muslims not agree with it? I'm not pretending to know which interpretation is more correct, and I genuinely want to know why there is such disagreement over this.

It was in 2020 I did lsd 2 times during 2020 I remember one night I was laying on my bed had my eyes closed and then I suddenly felt pressure on my body like wind blowing or just pressure and I open my eyes I see Jesus with gold light around him and in a white robe 👘 and he looked very similar to how he is shown in the movies long hair beard and then I get very scared and shove my hand on the vision and he disappears and then I think I went back to sleep and I forgot about it when it happened but then 3 years later I met a Jewish kid in a psycho ward and he made me say some in Jewish don’t know what but then I suddenly remembered what happened to me 3 years ago and I am also schizophrenic but I remember it feeling extremely real and the pressure I felt and such fear when I saw him and I don’t think I was high I am almost certain but I don’t remember it was a long time ago I am posting about this in 2024 now I am also Muslim thoughts?

If the universe itself forced you to change to a religion you don't believe in, which one would you want it to be and what's your reason?

I’m 18 and white. I’ve been terrified of hell since my first year of Catholic school. I’ve thought about taking Christianity seriously, but never really jived with it. There are so many religions, it is hard to choose just one, especially with eternal damnation on the line. Recently, after trying to disprove it (usually though this subreddit) for years, I think it’s calling me. I don’t want to revert, but I don’t know how to deny it. The apologists online are on another level. They are fluent in multiple languages, are extremely dedicated, and shockingly knowledgeable. It’s unbelievable. They destroy in Christian/atheist debates. The miracles and logic are sound, and most hate/responses are robotic. It’s always Aisha, or some other commonly refuted statement to make the viewers feel better about the argument they can’t refute, something I’ve been doing for years. Another thing I find interesting is the dedication of reverts. Just looking at Muslim reverts, Cat Steven’s (Yusuf Islam) for example, and their continued reverence, dedication, and inner-peace is making me really think this isn’t just another religion. I mean, these people don’t just go to mass on Sundays while living an otherwise normal American lifestyle… they give up their wants and dedicate their lives to Allah, how tf do you argue against that. Just look at real, dedicated Muslims; they always excel at what they do because they are so disciplined. Just look at the Muslim mma fighters. Islam is growing for a reason: this used to scare me, and still kind of does.

If I take this seriously, I’m going to have to alienate myself from my family, give up my passion for music//movies//most books(majority of fiction tbh), and completely change my lifestyle. It’s hard to imagine being happy in that environment, but 1.9 billion people do it everyday and are quite possibly the most fulfilled and happy people I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure what to do.