Please help me Escapists!! I need to stop pretending to be religious; I need advice

[Spineyguy]

Belief in a God does not make religion a necessity, the idea that you can either be a Christian or a heathen is insane. Personally, I call myself an Atheist because its something people can understand, that's not to say that they always do understand it, but you get the idea.

Assume for a moment that there exists a 'Parallel Dimension', for want of a better term, in which everything and everyone in the dimension we inhabit exists purely as energy. That's not limited to people and items either, this energy is not heat, or light, or movement, it is all of these things and a million things more, transcending numbers, logic, reason; everything that ties us to this world is lost in the other one.

Would it not be reasonable to say that in a world where matter is not a necessity of existence, a being; that is to say, an entity of compound parts could evolve through freak chance to possess a consciousness, a personality, even self-awareness? This being is what I would call God, though the connotations of that term vastly undersell what it is. This isn't a creator, or a destroyer, it doesn't require worship, it didn't sacrifice it's son to save anyone. This 'God' is just as stupid, as flawed, as weak and as corrupt as anything that exists in the material universe, it doesn't have anything to teach us and it doesn't care whether we kill, make graven images, remember the Sabbath, nothing. It's essentially a normal bloke who likes celestial football and drinks in the star-pub with its universe-mates and then goes home to remorselessly beat its wife to within an inch of her life.

And the only weird thing about this being is that some idiots in this Universe have decided that it wants us to follow some pretend teachings about intolerance and homophobia.

That's God, and if you don't want to worship that being, then you may count yourself lucky that no-one forces you to.

Nope, not reasonable, you just transcended reason.

I like your post and your story and I don't deny there's an option of the existence of a mighty being. It could be an alien or the scientist that runs this simulation. We can search for proof of the existence of this alien or for proof that we are in a simulation.

Not directed against you, but to religious persons that transcend 'reason and logic';
I love it how you just dismiss reason and logic as some useless stuff yet use it in EVERY situation except while defending your senseless religion that's clearly a fraud.

I'm not religious, I have never been anything but an Atheist and I will cut my own throat before I allow myself to be controlled like that.

The concept of Atheism is something religious people just don't get, in the same way that Atheists don't understand how anyone could believe in the Giant Bearded Man in the Sky. I have had religious people accuse me of Science worship, of hypocrisy and of denial. Atheism is not necessarily the denial of the existence of an all-powerful being, what it is is the refusal to worship an all powerful being.

My story is ridiculous, but in a frame of existence as diverse and variable as the one we inhabit, it is just as likely to be true as anything in the Bible, or the Qu'ran and anything that Stephen Hawking can think of.

 

[thylasos]

And now we can take a step back and look at what you said. You claimed it was carefully engineered. Now prove it.

Sir, I direct you to the Third Council of Nicaea.

 

[Spineyguy]

Well, I can completely understand why someone believes in the Giant Bearded Man in the Sky. If your family, your school and your community are all religious and there's a lot of indoctrination and social pressure, it isn't strange if you keep believing.

I can understand that, but I can't understand why those circumstances give anyone a good reason to abandon proper thought. I grew up in a Christian family, my primary school had us pray and sing hymns every day and through Scouts I was made to attend Church gatherings and swear and oath by a God that I didn't worship, but I can honestly say that I didn't buy any of it. I felt ridiculous praying to empty space every morning at School, and I was always under the impression that I was really swearing an oath to the Queen at Scouts.

It's incredibly easy to say 'Well, my family is Christian, so I suppose I am too.' I know a lot of people who do that. But it's not proper religious conviction, it's just laziness. It's refusal to think properly about your beliefs because your scared of what you might find out, or worse, your scared of what other people might think.

If you're having doubts about your religion, then there are few better ways to deal with it that just having a good think about it. Don't go and see a Priest, or a family member, because then it won't be your decision. Learn to stand up on your own logic, and damn anyone who tries to sway you from it. No-one's opinion matters more than your own about God, so stop being idle and just think.

It only takes a few minutes if your serious about it, just decide what your opinion is and then let it be heard. But for fuck's sake, let it be heard in a safe environment, don't go shouting about your abandonment of Islam in a Mosque, because they'll just kill you for it.

 

[rokkolpo]

He doesn't have to agree with you.

As long as it is out, all is good.
He can deal with the fact you don't believe the same things he does in his own way.

It's still his house though, and it's best to let him have his traditions.

I had something similar.
Whenever in Church I refuse to make a cross when they say prayers.
I am still there out of respect to my family (only weddings and funerals) but I don't practise anything of it.

 

[Ham_authority95]

what am I to do?

EDIT: Okay, I didn't make this clear enough and I am sorry. I have told him that I don't believe what he does, or at least tried. But as I said, he interrupts, doesn't let me finish what I was saying, corrects everything as though he knows the truth, and believes its' just a "phase" I am going through. So round one is done, it's out there that I don't believe; I just need to make it clear. So round two is coming up, any suggestions? I just want him to understand that I really don't believe what he does and that he can't make me and hopefully be accepting (no guarantee on acceptance obviously).

When you try to tell him again, start by saying that you need him to not interupt and hear you out. Next, just say that, while you have nothing against Islam, you can't believe in it any longer. Most of all, tell him that you still respect and love him despite your differences in religion.

After that, there isn't much you can do. If he just doesn't accept you for it and gets pissed, you'll have to avoid him for a while. In the end, it's better to come out with it rather than bottle up your true beliefs.

Also, PM a mod to get this posted in the Advice section. You'll get more mature answers there.

 

[Gmans uncle]

First question, are you of an age where you can just move out if they don't like it? 'cause if you are, Mr Rambo has some advise for you...
Yeah, I never really bought that idea that you need to stay connected and close to family, I don't even know 80% of my extended family, to me, blood is by no means thicker than water.

buuuuuuuuuuuuuut if you're 17 or younger than I really don't have a solution for you, sorry

 

[Srkkl]

Eh, If your dad is just a jerk about it then just don't bring up the subject around him, if he asks you about your beliefs just say you don't agree with established religion. In my situation my dad is religious (christian) and I'm an Atheist. We constantly have talks about the universe and life on a relatively civil level. We are mostly always disagreeing but we always come out of the discussions a more open minded person getting both sides. If he was just close minded and said I was wrong and that he was right then I would just never bring it up, it would be frustrating and pointless.