Yup. When I stopped believing I still held on to Christian morals for a while. I thought the god didn’t exist, but the rules were still good. It had been drilled into my head for so long that I didn’t know how to think otherwise. Then I became friends with a lesbian couple and realized that the “good book” wanted me to kill them. Boy did that inspire a lot of reevaluating what makes things good or bad!

Boomer Gen here. Many of my friends are coming to the same conclusion.

Don't worry, Gen Z have their own oppressive and harmful cults. Gen Z are absolute religious fanatics

​@@TheCount991 oh boy... My country 70 years lived with religion being banned, because it's "harmful and oppressive". But don't worry, we had concentration camps and being gay/lesbian was a criminal offense. Seems like you don't need religion to be bad 😏😏

@@BigChiken44 Who's saying that religion is the only cause of people doing bad things? Of course it isn't. But it does encourage harmful behavior and can be and is used as a convenient excuse for those things even when it doesn't directly encourage them. Banning religion isn't helpful. That's just trading one form of oppression for a different one. It also doesn't work. Prohibitions tend to just make whatever they are prohibiting worse than it was in the first place because now there's no oversight to help keep things from going off the rails. I'd love for religion in general to disappear. But the only way for that to work is for people to realize that it isn't helpful.

Me too. As a religious person, this will test my mettle.

Doing so is the *actual* moral imperative of our time.

Of course the benefits are immense, and self reflection and humility can allow us to listen to criticism and minimize and potential downsides.

GO TO HELL FOR ONE SMALL SIN? People argue that stealing a piece of candy doesn’t deserve hell. Firstly stealing $1 makes you as much a thief as stealing $1000, if someone just sins 3 times a day that’s a 1000 sins per year which is 10’s of thousands of sins in a lifetime that all have to be answered for, also in Heaven EVERTONE is perfect. Were they perfect on earth? No, They lived repentant lives and put their faith in Jesus so, the righteousness of Jesus is placed on them, and God sees them with a sin count of 0 so He lavishes His goodness on them forever.

People often say, “I’m not hurting anyone so it’s ok to sin (lying, stealing, sexual sins, disrespecting parents etc)” The same God who said to love your neighbour first said to love Him to the best of your ability. If you carry on sinning, then you do not love God but are selfish like the devil so you will be joined to your father in hell or repent of your sins and believe in Jesus as God so Jesus adopts you as His child and you will join Him in Heaven forever.

@@thereisnonegoodbutgodjohn363 A lot of Christians have problematic beliefs when it comes to things like views on LGBTQ+ individuals, or other human rights issues like abortion. Leave everyone else alone you groomers

That's the first time I've ever seen that christogram used that way

@@thereisnonegoodbutgodjohn363 But what if your parents were abusive? Would you honour them? No, I'm not being pedantic or whatever, I just want a genuine answer. If I were in that situation, I wouldn't. There would be no point. They wouldn't be worth the effort.

Religious by far the biggest contribution to the world, Harvard University, worlds history, arts, medicine, philosophy etc. See religious people are so smart and creative, all the news shows is fear, anger, or loss!

Never heard of that guy, I guess it's good for him his name isn't "Lesscock". Lol.

​@@kenpachizaraki255and now religion is dying. Without fear people arent going to believe in abstract undefinable concepts. Hell even christians admit they dont even know what their god is. Bishop barron pretty much outed himself as an igtheist while debating oconnor.

@Frenorbulax I don’t mean anything, I am not the source. However, I’m pretty sure that it doesn’t just apply to Christianity.

@@kenpachizaraki255 That makes no sense to me. If a religious person does something, it doesnt mean that it's a contribution of religion. In history most people were religious or claimed to be so. You couldn't get anywhere if you said you were atheist. Do you think artists would get any work if they did so? If a church paid an artist to do work, that doesnt make it a religious contribution either. All the music and art that "came from religion" would have been other art and music, if religion wasn't around. Religion is just were the money was. Religion has always been very important to people in history, but now that many of us are not religious, creation hasn't stopped. Science, art and music still happens, even if people have stopped believing in the supernatural. You say "religious people" are smart and creative, but without the religious part they still are. You don't need to be religious for this. In fact, any time in history a person went against church doctrine with their creativity, they were harmed or hindered. The church actually slowed people down.

I also think it's because a lot of younger people are so self absorbed, religion takes a backburner.

The rampant hypocrisy doesn’t help much either.

There is no conclusive science behind transgenderism, let alone promoting medical experimentations on minors that eventually lead to genital mutilations. You're in a cult. /anti-woke GenX ex-Dem

That's a good point. I would also add that a contributing factor is this age of the internet. Religious zealots can no longer keep the youth from information about the world and different viewpoints. Religious institutions have gone on so long Gathering followers through just asserting, that they crumble at the slightest bit of pushback. Completely unprepared for this generation of skeptical minded young people. Not to mention in a world full of problems that need fixing, religion in the United States at least, is clearly not helping. I have spoken with many Christians about the current state of the world and what we should do. About half have the attitude of that we should do nothing and wait on Jesus to come back to fix everything. It is as if they have this Twisted View that all the world's ills is somehow supposed to be this way or worse so Jesus will come back thus giving the impression that they are pleased with the problems. I could go on and on but, in 2023 it is clear that religion isn't as sexy as they used to be and that is the problem they have to address. turns out hooking people with fear, guilt and false hope is a lot harder when you can go to the internet to find out what a logical fallacy is.

@@mykoal5 Bit rich, when the younger woke-addled generation asserts "trans women are women!"

"When you drink from the cup of science you become an atheist, only to find God on the bottom of the cup." - Werner Heisenberg

​@@MrSeedi76Its been ten years. I still haven't found God. When will I find him?

⁠@@carnivoroussarah You see, he was painted there by a human. He did not appear on the cup himself, and was simply shoved into a gap in the bottomless cup of science. It works better than Mr Seed was thinking

Well put ,and as it as a group there is a part that refuses to move on and figh the truth .

@@MrSeedi76 I don’t think it was science in that cup. Sounds like a strong cocktail.

Here's to hoping schools avoid using the Bible for mythology studies, though, unless it's in an abridged format. The Iliad and the Odyssey tell us stories without commandments of how to live. What's worse than followers of existing terrible religions? People who zealously recreate said terrible religions. You think there's a lot of cherry picking now; you have no idea.

At the end of the Iliad, Ulysses appears to be the first atheist in literature. Because the gods allowed the massacre of the Trojans, he questioned whether they should be even be considered as gods and maybe not even exist.

They have been mythological all along.

Thanks Obama?

​@@AnnoyingNewsletters Yo, is your name a reference to Johnny The Homicidal Maniac?

People often say, “I’m not hurting anyone so it’s ok to sin (lying, stealing, sexual sins, disrespecting parents etc)” The same God who said to love your neighbour first said to love Him to the best of your ability. If you carry on sinning, then you do not love God but are selfish like the devil so you will be joined to your father in hell or repent of your sins and believe in Jesus as God so Jesus adopts you as His child and you will join Him in Heaven forever.

and the more stupid they sound

Separating the wheat from the chaff. The stock of religious Gen Z are more pious than Gen X by far, and I’m all for it.

Same with the conservative party

Did a lighthouse invent modern science?

I told a religious family member this, considering how much they value being a "light" to those around them, it did actually make them think. Unfortunately it wasn't enough, but at least it's a start

All the LGBT hysteria is really off-putting as well.

In the UK we have the established Church of England, bishops sit in the House of Lords. The interesting thing is that they are often criticised for being more left wing than their church goers.

Yeah, I was going to make a similar post. Entwining religion and politics has had great short-term benefits. Tying Salvation to Republicanism has had people voting religiously, and has afforded the Church a lot of political influence. But it also means an easier rejection of the Church if you don't hold Republican values.

Early millennial here. I was raised conservative Christian. I was already shifting left by 2013. My deconversion was looking like a much slower process. I'm sure I would've become atheist eventually, but might still be a very liberal Christian today without the rise of Trump. Instead, the hypocrisy and cruelty acted as an extreme accelerant. I couldn't continue to justify my own beliefs in the face of all the bullshit. As a result I was an outspoken atheist before the end of 2015.

And reason number two may be a precursor of reason number one.

@micahcolorado5483 It very well could be. People tend to be vague when doing polls. It's also worded in a not so accurate sense. I believe many of the people still hold their faith in the religion, just not in the church. Number 2 could actually be much higher, but people didn't want to give that answer openly.

@@nicholas4514 For me, my opinion of the messenger bleeds over to my view of the message. I'd not trust anything that Greg Locke says about anything; even if he said chocolate ice cream was awesome I'd maybe start to not like it anymore.

@@SantasGAINdeer To be fair a lot of them have this pressed upon them from early childhood. They're not just unable to distinguish fact from fiction off their own bat.

@@foxesofautumn How do you explain those who use logic and rational to deduce the existence of a god without a religious upbringing?

@@DGT_-mv5ju impossible to use logic to come to that conclusion as no evidence exists to allow for that.

​@@DGT_-mv5ju as a spritual person, that believes in a source, tha would still be greatly different than what most religious people believe, in fact the main problem with them is that they are divide and that the church has forgotten sprituality (its core since religion is supposed to be spriitiality and science together, but ow religion is outside of both spirituality and science, muslims are usually more stubborn about their believes because many parts of science are not teached in their nations, like for example evolution), but in reality most of all religious people don't know God nor love or humility, amd that's why so many atheists sprout. I see this as a necessary part of human history, with time people might logically go towards pure spirituality and religion might be recreated from scrap in a way better form.

Information was always available and there are countries where home schooling is illegal, like where I live. I'm Gen X and spent a lot of time in the local library as a teen, reading through all kinds of stuff, including occult books, esoteric, etc. Nobody raised me Christian and people rarely ever go to church here except on Xmas. Yet still I became a Christian in my early 20s and studied theology. Left the church however. I think religion should be a private matter. I hate when Christians try to influence politics and therefore the lives of non Christians.

@@MrSeedi76 That's interesting. It's rare for a person raised with no particular religious upbringing to become a Christian (or any other religion for that matter) in their twenties. Not saying it never happens but it is the exception to the rule. I'd be interested to know what it was that convinced you of the truth of Christianity over any other religion, presumably there must have been something that you did or read that converted you?

I think it is also easier now to say I don't know. People are more aware of how much they don't know.

@@stephenolan5539 It's always been easy to say, 'I don't know' unless you are a theist. They have to claim to know things with 100% certainty that no man can possibly know.

@@andystokes8702 I've just converted about 6 months to islam purley through self education on religion. I just turned 17

I'd have to say unlikely, it'll probally stay around for quite a while, even if it shrinks by a lot

​@@mathman0569 But I can dream, can't I? 😊

@@tkat6442 yeah, I'd be hoping for something more like it's not a major role in society or something

@@mathman0569 That would be great, and if the religious people can at least drop their judgemental attitudes and contribute in a positive way to making a better world, that would be great, too!

Religion will never die. Muslims have more kids. They're gonna take over and it won't be pretty.

That's such a dumb argument. Christians believe in forgiveness. If anything hides psychopathy it's Wokeness.

A lot of them seem to be positively thirsting for some kind of Mad Max existence.

Most of the evangelical folks don’t think their actions have any impact on their afterlife- they are “saved by grace and not by works”. Maybe if they did think works were important we’d see them be less shitty on some stances 🤷 #exvangelical

Actually, I think it's the opposite. Most of the nutjobs think they're doing god's work. The people burning women for being a witch didn't think that they were going to be punished in the afterlife for that, and neither do the current round of fundamental christian cultists.

I suspect that for many of the religious right, it is not a matter of their belief, but one of their culture. Belief in God and church attendance is just something their culture requires. That is how/why their claimed belief can so easily be twisted to fit the behaviour and way of thinking they would have with no belief.

I agree, I think you're onto something there. As a former Catholic turned atheist that went Catholic School from 1989 to 2003, and who's parents worked for the church, I never would have guessed that homosexuality would gain majority acceptance in the US within a couple decades. I hope you are correct that this same destigmatization process is currently happening for atheism and the non-religious. Even though I'm nearly 40, I still have to hide the fact that I'm an atheist from my family and from my superiors at work (who are both hard-core Catholics) in order to avoid severe reprisals - and I work for a firm where the minimum requirements include AT LEAST a four-year college degree in a scientific field. I also think you're right that there's some sort of tipping point where something starts becoming widely accepted and is then very difficult to reverse that trend. One example that comes to mind is that my supervisors are all still extremely homophobic, but they are intelligent enough to know that they can no longer be expressing such views openly in the workplace, as in the past, without consequence. I think they know this is doubly true around our younger employees. So in effect, acceptance of homosexuality reached a point to where it was no longer acceptable to be openly homophobic in most workplaces, creating environments where people are no longer (or less likely to be) exposed to homophobia. People in environments where their fellow human beings are not expressing homophobic ideas (or are even expressing positive ideas about homosexuality) are almost certainly less likely to be homophobic themselves, thus creating a self-sustaining feedback loop or "tipping-point".

⁠@@dougt7580 It’s already reached that point for me where I was growing up, although that might have been my autism not giving enough shits about others to notice any distaste for atheism.

Wokeness is our new secular evangelical religion.

@@dougt7580 Thanks. Really well said.

@@ribbrascal Right? Wokeness is apparently just treating everyone fairly and with common decency. I can get behind that.

Statue of a guy up in a tree. 😆

@@mjjoe76 actually I Kind of think I remember them saying a monkey in a tree, but that was ten years ago so I’m not sure if I accurately remember that or it’s a funny thought that I constructed afterwards. Because I know that eyewitnesses are fallible. And I give the most charitable portrayal of my opposing viewpoint.

I can imagine of you drove past a Catholic church like the one my siblings and I attended growing up they might've asked why they still had their Halloween decorations up.

Statue of a guy up a tree?? Why can’t I picture what you’re trying to describe. Like Jesus on a cross or something?

Tell them all about white Jesus.

The issue at hand is sin and God’s nature of being just. Sin brings suffering (the pleasure is short term, and the suffering is long term-on earth and in hell forever). God brings Righteousness (may have short term suffering followed by long term pleasure- on earth and in Heaven). If you love yourself repent of your sins (lying, hatred, unforgiveness, sexual sins, taking the Lord’s Name in vain, stealing, dishonouring your parents etc) & believe in Jesus for forgiveness of sins. (Jesus died on the Cross as a sacrifice and defeated death by rising from the dead)

People often say, “I’m not hurting anyone so it’s ok to sin (lying, stealing, sexual sins, disrespecting parents etc)” The same God who said to love your neighbour first said to love Him to the best of your ability. If you carry on sinning, then you do not love God but are selfish like the devil so you will be joined to your father in hell or repent of your sins and believe in Jesus as God so Jesus adopts you as His child and you will join Him in Heaven forever.

It's all about power. Always was, and as long as humankind exists, always will be. Personal power is our central craving.

@@stevetournay6103 In heaven no unclean person is allowed in, you are unclean if you have sinned just once like lying, stealing, sexual immorality, taking the Lord’s Name in vain, evil thoughts etc Jesus (God manifest in the flesh) can put his sinless righteousness on you since He died on the cross, rose from the dead so REPENT AND BELIEVE IN HIM TODAY

I feel like Gen-X were that first generation to move away from the church as young adults. We just didn't trust those institutions, even if we gave them a chance to convince us. They failed. We were finding empathy for the people they told us to hate and something had to give. It was them.

Agnostic is a copout answer. It says nothing of belief, it is a knowledge claim. It's like if someone asked you if you like chicken and your answer is, ooh the sky is blue. Agnostic means I don't know, not I don't have an opinion or I don't believe. You can't be undecided if you believe or not.

​@@publicguy1664"I don't know" is a perfectly valid answer to the question of belief. The structure of belief is not distilled to a single or simple question. Do I believe in the Christian God? Do I believe that The Bible is the word of God? No. Do I believe in the possibility of a "higher power"? Depends on how you define it. Do I believe in undiscovered life forms incomprehensible or unfathomable to us? Probably, man. The Universe is a big fuckin' place. I'm hard pressed to believe we're the only, or most, intelligent thing out there. I believe in science, I accept scientific explanations for the existence of things as we know them... but is the molecular or chemical makeup of matter the same as we understand it on the other side of the universe? Can we even properly conceptualize the "other side of the universe"? Like, is water still "water" on some planet billions of light-years away? Find me someone who's been there to ask. In some ways, Atheists are just as intolerant of non-linear schools of thought as the zealously religious.

@@publicguy1664 I find those that claim to know that there is no higher power to be just as inflexible as those who claim to know that their god is real. There's nothing wrong with saying that there is not enough evidence for any higher power at this time and leaving it at that.

Im about 40 years if we are still in the same system as now, millennial and gen z will be in charge for sure. I hope it isn't too late. I'm 1995, on the cusp of both generations.

I think they may get skipped over. It will probably go from a geriocracy(sp) to young people.

You're running out of time. Rapidly.

Invisible spooks! Love it. ❤

11 you aren't forced into giving money to a place because of an invisible spook "totally real and legitimate curse that will ruin your life" 12 peace of mind because you live in a world without gods and monsters around every corner

13) You don't have to attend boring services sunday morning

14. You know true morality, not some tyrannical control freak's lust for mere obedience or his minions' power-grabbing, mind-fucking oppression.

@@filipe.sm31 along with holidays

Excellent. Praise the lord🙄

Which one? There are thousands of so called Lords. 🤷🏻‍♂️

@@johnburn8031 They must mean famous poet Lord Byron

I’m glad. More opportunities to evangelize and spread a more pure and intellectual breed of my religion.

That question? They want more power, that's why. Like the investor class who will not rest until they have ALL the money (it's the exact same thing, since in the West money is the currency of personal power)...

In heaven no unclean person is allowed in, you are unclean if you have sinned just once like lying, stealing, sexual immorality, taking the Lord’s Name in vain, evil thoughts etc Jesus (God manifest in the flesh) can put his sinless righteousness on you since He died on the cross, rose from the dead so REPENT AND BELIEVE IN HIM TODAY

I think it goes even further back than the Evangelicals. The South's Confederacy wrote-up a Constitution that explicitly put "God" all over it, essentially wanting to eliminate the First Amendment, along with all the other evil fascist crap they wanted.

I grew up in Texas in a largely atheist and agnostic family. I was once more cautious about revealing my lack of belief, but now people just have to deal with it.

I was raised Christian. Became a Buddhist. Lo g story shuort, bad experiences with Christians and Christianity. The change might not be permanent, but that's why I remind myself why I left Christianity

The issue at hand is sin and God’s nature of being just. Sin brings suffering (the pleasure is short term, and the suffering is long term-on earth and in hell forever). God brings Righteousness (may have short term suffering followed by long term pleasure- on earth and in Heaven). If you love yourself repent of your sins (lying, hatred, unforgiveness, sexual sins, taking the Lord’s Name in vain, stealing, dishonouring your parents etc) & believe in Jesus for forgiveness of sins. (Jesus died on the Cross as a sacrifice and defeated death by rising from the dead)

Im from Gen X... My kids had some religion when they were younger.... bc I was swept into it... thankful Im no longer that way... 100% atheist... and happy and at peace with my life... my children were given the choice to be whoever and whatever they wanted... they're all atheists.... they're millennials...

Proud to have raised two children and one grandchild without religion. That doesn't keep you from teaching values, compassion, science and reason.

@@enviromental2565 Wokeness is the negation of all of that. /ex-Democrat

@@ribbrascal I am not an American so could you please explain to me your personal interpretation of what 'woke' actually means.

​@@ribbrascal if you're going to lie at least make it believable LOL

The issue at hand is sin and God’s nature of being just. Sin brings suffering (the pleasure is short term, and the suffering is long term-on earth and in hell forever). God brings Righteousness (may have short term suffering followed by long term pleasure- on earth and in Heaven). If you love yourself repent of your sins (lying, hatred, unforgiveness, sexual sins, taking the Lord’s Name in vain, stealing, dishonouring your parents etc) & believe in Jesus for forgiveness of sins. (Jesus died on the Cross as a sacrifice and defeated death by rising from the dead)

@@thereisnonegoodbutgodjohn363 why do you believe this is actually true?

@@doctorshell7118 I gave God the benefit of the doubt and know i see soo much ( believing is seeing not the other way around) Look ill share something personal. I’ve personally seen Jesus (Not worthy), Heaven and Hell. Hell is worse than what you think (I was shaking after that experience), and Heaven is better than what you think. I have also received a personal healing miracle, I can go into details if you want. This is how God works. If you give Him the benefit of the doubt, He gives you more and more. Would I spend even 2 minutes preaching if I had an ounce of doubt? (I’ve experienced way too much)

@@doctorshell7118 🤣🤣🤣

@thereisnonegoodbutgodjohn363 I agree with you. God bless.

It's kind of beautiful to watch. Heartbreaking for those affected of course, but its awesome to see their failed attempts continue and die out.

Thanks in part to the internet - where religions go to die!

One of my favourite lines on the TV show Bones is from the young intern Zach, when the group is discussing their faith. "I'm a rational imperialist all the way, unless you're talking to my mother. Then, I'm Lutheran." 🤣

@@pcoleman1971 same here but it is my dad instead of my mother, and around him i am bapist

​@@kaliban4758Then you aren't Baptist, you're an actor to survive.

@@carnivoroussarah i dont want to hear my dads BS

​@@kaliban4758 honestly, athiest in christians households should go into acting... we are really good at acting and know all the lines to avoid trouble, granted it's mostly for survival.

In heaven no unclean person is allowed in, you are unclean if you have sinned just once like lying, stealing, sexual immorality, taking the Lord’s Name in vain, evil thoughts etc Jesus (God manifest in the flesh) can put his sinless righteousness on you since He died on the cross, rose from the dead so REPENT AND BELIEVE IN HIM TODAY

@@thereisnonegoodbutgodjohn363 🤣😂😄

@@momszycat4148 Receive the love of God or the Hate of the devil. Be Holy or be sinful. Choose light or stay in the darkness. Be selfless or selfish. Life or death. Right or wrong. Win or lose. Sins forgiven or spend eternity paying for your sins. Heaven or Hell. Choose life, choose Jesus today.

Yep...

Hope you stay strong and enjoy life more and more. Good on you knowing yourself well and working out problems !!

@@onedaya_martian1238 Thank you, kind friend. May you find peace, health, and happiness. 🙏

I struggle to believe in the concepts of reincarnation and karma, but it sounds like you’ve been on quite the journey, and I’m really glad that you found a path that works really well for you. Stay strong!

wow, thats really something.

Same. I came out as atheist before bi.

Probably you just supressed your sexuality because it was carved into your brain that being gay was a sin and all that crap religion imposes. Without the guilt of betraying God, people usually is much more honest with others and with themselves. I'm glad you left

Me too 😹🤲. I came out as atheist before I came out as lesbian

And now just to wait for a Christian to claim my atheism and sexuality are intertwined.

And now men can be women and all truth is subjective. Bravo.

@@hismajesty6272 inclusivity rules, bigotry sux.

Some of them. It's made others hella fashionable.

I'd say it depends on where you grew up. Where I has born, NYC, is famously a very diverse place where people somehow still get along just fine on a day to day basis. Once you look outside and see the "others" aren't really bad people, the dominos start falling

Growing up and learning about all these different religions, how can you be so sure which the "true one"? Every religion believes theirs is the only real one

He's not entirely wrong, "nones" often include people who are "spiritual but not religious". However, him blocking you sounds more like he just doesn't want to consider alternatives

I suspect many religious leaders and churches would try and apply some kind of ambiguity or obfuscation to 'non-religious' and 'non-belief' in order to try and soften the blow, especially to current theists and dissuade them from dropping the Religion and god belief too. It's obvious Religion has an innate contempt for disbelief even more so than some other persecuted and maligned groups, especially of former believers and many Christian apologists often drag 'Atheism' in the mud. Atheism gets to the heart of the matter and is a threat to Religion's power, they simply do no believe the Religion's claim of a god(s) When people do no believe in Religion's claims of a god(s) Religion loses its authority, power and control over people and becomes irrelevant. The conmen and ultra rich on top of the Religion lose out.

@@annaairahala9462 I suspect "not entirely wrong" was not enough for him.

Look online, you might find an atheist "church" in your area. We have quite a few here even in Dallas, TX.

There's been a lot of discussion (not enough, actually) about the loss of "third spaces", something outside of work and your home, which for most people was a church. A lot of religious people seem to treat religion like a social club with a lot of rules they're afraid of breaking. Like, they only pretend that they genuinely believe this stuff (and convince themselves that they really do) so they can stay in the club. I certainly did for a while. Getting knocked out of the club is scary. I personally wish we could come up with a good alternative. Without something conceptual for people to dump their worries into, they just fall into discussing politics, and while politics *are* important one of the advantages of a church is that good ones don't give a shit. A few people have tried going look, I just worship nature itself, meet me for cool celestial events n' shit, but unsurprisingly most atheists balk at the idea. Lemme create my own symbols. Let me fall into a bit of hopeful magical thinking while fully understanding how bullshit it is and not letting it take over my life. Let people hop in a wooden box together on Sundays and do their personal TED talks or whatever, anything to get people in a community actually recognizing and interacting with each other.

I've been a progressive Christian for most of my life, and I really get why people are leaving religion behind, especially Christian Nationalism: it's a cult. The need for deep community suffers though, as people isolate themselves, and so many religious based charitable services are drying up due to lack of volunteers. Would gen z dare to volunteer once a week at a church soup kitchen feeding hundreds every day, or do people need to try to organize outside of churches? I kinda wonder if churches spent more time doing service unconditionally rather than judging others, would that make any difference?

It'll remain but of course other sides of it will continue dismissing unrighteousness

@@helpme100 unrighteousness? Are you suggesting that there is something righteous about religion?

The issue at hand is sin and God’s nature of being just. Sin brings suffering (the pleasure is short term, and the suffering is long term-on earth and in hell forever). God brings Righteousness (may have short term suffering followed by long term pleasure- on earth and in Heaven). If you love yourself repent of your sins (lying, hatred, unforgiveness, sexual sins, taking the Lord’s Name in vain, stealing, dishonouring your parents etc) & believe in Jesus for forgiveness of sins. (Jesus died on the Cross as a sacrifice and defeated death by rising from the dead)

@gloriaf6971 Religion has held society together for millennia. It created monogamy, which made society more egalitarian. It reigned in the power of elites, making it more fair for the underclasses. Religion drove the abolition of slavery, the equal protection of women, the concept of bankruptcy, and even our understanding of genes.

Well, just changed Golden Rules. The current one (in the Western world) is He Who Has The Gold Makes The Rules.

Yeah.....about that _verge of extinction_ thing we've already drove past that point. In fact the other major political party in America doesn't even have it on their agenda and their clowns on the Supreme Court are probably going to rule that government regulatory agencies are unconstitutional so there's that. But hey it was nice out today perhaps we could take some solace in counting them down before the air is to thick to breathe.

Thank you for being a actual good Christian and not a belligerent moron ♥️

Bad apples spoil it for everyone through no fault of the group as a whole. Any group that does that is usually a cult or a very small club if they have that level of uniformity in thoughts and actions.

Actually not, we all know youths thend to be not much religion because they feel they will never go to die, but when they got older they become more religious, only a godless and souless idiot do not get that... No respect for you Godenier

Back when I believed, I always hated the dude. Never understood how anyone could want to worship someone who watches you having sex.

@@carnivoroussarah what hell are you talking about? You see you have nothing to say, then nothing you think you will be... You really are that alone and godless ass kisser?

@carnivoroussarah Simply because God is morality personified. Morality follows you into the bedroom, to work, and is a constant until death. You can either be receptive to morality, or ignore it.

Most people have heard “Jesus/God loves you”. Does that mean they have a relationship with God and will go to heaven? Depends on the individual. A relationship is 2 sided, you receive love and you give love back. God showed His love by suffering, dying on the cross and rising from the dead for you, now you show Love back by repenting of your sins (lying, stealing, sexual sins, taking the Lord’s Name in vain etc) and believing in Jesus as your Lord and saviour so that Heaven is in your future not hell

I doubt that most people leave due to religious fundamentalism. It is probably mostly due to stress. As highly stressed humans cannot keep up the mental 🧠 illusion that their religion is true. This is especially true if they have gotten used to valuing their religion 🗄 less over time.

@@UniDocs_Mahapushpa_Cyavana I know more than a few modern conspiracy theorists. They seem to buy into their own form of BS. Many are constantly angry. Being constantly angry doesn't seem to make them want to leave. On the surface most religions will say they do only good things. Love thy neighbor. When you did deep, there is some fundamentally weird stuff. Eat flesh, drink blood of my zombie sky daddy. With conspiracy theorists its more like Politicians are corrupt. Yep sure, many people will agree. "It's lizard people." Nope, time for me to leave.

They do, because those in charge are always, eventually, power-mad. All. Of. Them.

And your point about reading...yes yes yes. The single most dangerous thing you can do if you want to hang onto a Peace In The Valley kind of faith...is read your Bible cover to cover and actually pay attention to what you're reading.

The issue at hand is sin and God’s nature of being just. Sin brings suffering (the pleasure is short term, and the suffering is long term-on earth and in hell forever). God brings Righteousness (may have short term suffering followed by long term pleasure- on earth and in Heaven). If you love yourself repent of your sins (lying, hatred, unforgiveness, sexual sins, taking the Lord’s Name in vain, stealing, dishonouring your parents etc) & believe in Jesus for forgiveness of sins. (Jesus died on the Cross as a sacrifice and defeated death by rising from the dead)

@@thereisnonegoodbutgodjohn363 I have no desire to follow the Christian mythology of the Middle East. It’s misogynistic, cruel and a copy of previous mythologies. See Horas and Mithras. Your Bible is gobbledygook.

Most people have heard “Jesus/God loves you”. Does that mean they have a relationship with God and will go to heaven? Depends on the individual. A relationship is 2 sided, you receive love and you give love back. God showed His love by suffering, dying on the cross and rising from the dead for you, now you show Love back by repenting of your sins (lying, stealing, sexual sins, taking the Lord’s Name in vain etc) and believing in Jesus as your Lord and saviour so that Heaven is in your future not hell

@@NyxErebus197 There is order in the universe, for instance the sun is at a perfect distance from the earth to allow for sustaining life (food, water, sowing and harvesting etc) You can only give what you have Humans have a sense of love, freewill (robots do not have free will), Justice (animals do not care about Justice, whereas human’s setup courts), feelings. A Being who has these attributes gave them (God). 100% of the time we get life from life. Therefore, Human life came from God. We all have a built-in conscience (knowledge of right and wrong). It is universal that murder is wrong, lying is wrong, stealing is wrong. (Conscience is God given)

Voting is useless. You really believe the wlites let us vote? It's all a game

BRAVO !!! Perhaps the bravest Scout too !!!!

Well done!

@@onedaya_martian1238 Thank you, but no. Those are the openly LGBT+ scouts from more than five years ago. Scouting has long been a hostile environment for gay and trans boys, and I didn’t even realize I was in the closet until my 20’s…it was also a rather shallow closet. Honestly, I’m more proud of my conservative, religious scoutmaster and that senior council member being willing to listen to a stubborn 17-year-old make an impassioned defense of why he viewed the world differently and actually *hear* what I said. They have my eternal respect for that.

@Ansible1000 I have a very similar experience. I used to be a scout in the scouting organisation of Croatia. To become a scout you had to swear an oath which contained the words: "I will be loyal to god". And my, very religious scouts troop leader who goes to church every week, knew that I even as a 13 year old didn't believe. She felt it was unfair to me and potential other disbeliveing children to have to say something they don't believe and has nothing to do with the scouting movement. She contacted and presented my case in front of the national scouting assembly and the assembly agreed with her. They changed the oath to contain the words:"I will respect peoples religious beliefs" instead. Small people have more power than we think.

@@doraspoljar697 that is fantastic! The world needs to be big enough for both the secular and the divine. Both religious people and the non-religious need to recognize that.

Most people have heard “Jesus/God loves you”. Does that mean they have a relationship with God and will go to heaven? Depends on the individual. A relationship is 2 sided, you receive love and you give love back. God showed His love by suffering, dying on the cross and rising from the dead for you, now you show Love back by repenting of your sins (lying, stealing, sexual sins, taking the Lord’s Name in vain etc) and believing in Jesus as your Lord and saviour so that Heaven is in your future not hell

@@thereisnonegoodbutgodjohn363 watch out the Jesus people will molest you and cause untold violence. They Christians are the ultimate sinners. A lion doesn't need to tell other animals that it's a lion. Actions speak louder than words.

@@NyxErebus197 DO YOU BELIEVE HAU-NTED HOMES EXIST? What are they Haunted by? De-mons. De-mons are evil spirits, for evil to exist good must exist. Therefore, God exists. Dem-ons depart at the name of Jesus; therefore, Jesus is God, Join the winning team today.

@@thereisnonegoodbutgodjohn363so he loves you but sends you yell for eternity? Next time a 12 year old steals a candy bar they will go to prison forever. Crime doesn’t fit the punishment.

@@markelraya10 GO TO HELL FOR ONE SMALL SIN? People argue that stealing a piece of candy doesn’t deserve hell. Firstly stealing $1 makes you as much a thief as stealing $1000, if someone just sins 3 times a day that’s a 1000 sins per year which is 10’s of thousands of sins in a lifetime that all have to be answered for, also in Heaven EVERTONE is perfect. Were they perfect on earth? No, They lived repentant lives and put their faith in Jesus so, the righteousness of Jesus is placed on them, and God sees them with a sin count of 0 so He lavishes His goodness on them forever.

Also younger people congregate in cities as there is simply more to do in a city

So has atheism. Stalin, Hitler, Mao, and Pol Pot were atheists, and together killed well over 100 million people in under a hundred years.

Nazism and Marxism, two dogmatically atheist ideologies, killed well over 130 million people in under 100 years…

Totally agree with you here!

Religion is great. I love it, and am happy that the wheat is being separated from the chaff. The new stock of Christians will be more fit than ever before.

They're already trying.

Agreed, down with Christian nationalism, and the far right Christians, and may we preserve freedom and personal choices, and pass it along to future generations.

The issue at hand is sin and God’s nature of being just. Sin brings suffering (the pleasure is short term, and the suffering is long term-on earth and in hell forever). God brings Righteousness (may have short term suffering followed by long term pleasure- on earth and in Heaven). If you love yourself repent of your sins (lying, hatred, unforgiveness, sexual sins, taking the Lord’s Name in vain, stealing, dishonouring your parents etc) & believe in Jesus for forgiveness of sins. (Jesus died on the Cross as a sacrifice and defeated death by rising from the dead)

@@thereisnonegoodbutgodjohn363 guy... Just accept that some of us think that's a load of bullshit. I am a good, caring, generous person without the need of an imaginary friend. I have close Christian friends that accept me and love me just as I am. You can not just tell someone to believe!! You don't believe in monsters do you. And no one could talk you into believing in monsters? Well that's how I feel. You do you and I'll very happily do me!!!

@@meganjones1184 No one is good for all have sinned and fallen short of God's Glory Look ill share something personal. I’ve personally seen Jesus (Not worthy), Heaven and Hell. Hell is worse than what you think (I was shaking after that experience), and Heaven is better than what you think. I have also received a personal healing miracle, I can go into details if you want. This is how God works. If you give Him the benefit of the doubt, He gives you more and more. Would I spend even 2 minutes preaching if I had an ounce of doubt? (I’ve experienced way too much)

​@@meganjones1184 Quite, Megan. Faith cannot be manufactured. If you try forcing it, the resulting false faith is useless at best and dangerous at worst...

Agreed. There's the Ethical Society and Sunday Assembly that are non religious organizations. In a sense, the Unitarians might be similar.

They had mentioned that in the video, they said atheist agonostic or nothing in particular

it's not really worth arguing over but despite the number of words there are describing god belief you either think there's a god or you don't, and if you don't care if there's a god or not that's kinda atheist. and the important number is believers, if there fewer believers, then god is starting to not exist anyway. like marty mcfly, his image is fading.

@@HarryNicNicholas I'd have to say yes and no, nones aren't nessarly not caring, just they don't belong to any originized religion, so they could at least in theory still believe in gods/deities, and atheist is also typically self-prescribed, not given to you via the defintion.

That’s cool. At least they don’t have some pastor telling them what to do.

I’m glad I will be able to rebuild Christianity with less unnecessary bloat. Gen Z’s reconstruction of Christianity will see more piety and intellectualism than Gen X, and will be more robust.

Repeat on and on until they reduce themselves to a puddle of misery and exasperation huddled up on the floor~ 🤣

Agreed. Traditional Christianity (not harsh Evangelicalism) is tolerant of non Christians. Fanaticism of some sort will always will the void, whether it be red pill insanity or political ideologies. I have a feeling we’ll miss Christianity when it declines.

Yep. Tribalism. Tends to win. And wreak havoc. The Mideast, for instance. A 3800-year-long family feud...

Don’t forget Sunday I’m glad/a bit sad I don’t remember much about it

@@streetwatcher_ yeah me neither

Religious beliefs aren't the reason progressive ideas are being held back. Money is the reason. Money was what was used to corrupt religious beliefs so that they might serve capitalism and/or fascism. Once religion demonstrates that it is no longer able to subvert elections to place pro-business interests in positions of power, I expect the investor class will quietly kill religion in this country.

The issue at hand is sin and God’s nature of being just. Sin brings suffering (the pleasure is short term, and the suffering is long term-on earth and in hell forever). God brings Righteousness (may have short term suffering followed by long term pleasure- on earth and in Heaven). If you love yourself repent of your sins (lying, hatred, unforgiveness, sexual sins, taking the Lord’s Name in vain, stealing, dishonouring your parents etc) & believe in Jesus for forgiveness of sins. (Jesus died on the Cross as a sacrifice and defeated death by rising from the dead)

@@thereisnonegoodbutgodjohn363 Are you a bot? : 3

@@switchie1987 I am a real Human being like you, we are greater than animals or robots. We have authority over them, and God is greater than us so He has authority over us. If an animal does evil it has to answer to no one, but you must answer to God, so it is best to get right with God today by repenting and believing in Jesus for forgiveness of sins and to go to the awesome heaven.

@@thereisnonegoodbutgodjohn363 Human?! How DARE you?! Compare ME?! To such filth? (Except for the cool ones, that understand reality n' shit) [Not assumin' anything, but you did come to an atheist channel, so-] I'm clearly a Protogen- You can see it in my PFP~

@@switchie1987 The point is you have countless sins that need forgiveness and the bare minimum you do is repent