It is freeing to recognize that I have never sinned and it pissed Christians off when I say this. To clarify, in Christianity sin is not simply “the bad things we do” it is specifically an offense against god. God does not exists so i have never sinned against him.

I’ve been an atheist for for 16 years but it was only recently that I realized this distinction. It short-circuits the guilt based evangelism. It forces the christian to first demonstrate that god exists before they can convince me I have sinned and need to be saved from that sin. And to say the least, they are ill equipped to demonstrate the existence of god.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      For a bunch of so-called atheists, yous sure do spend a lot of time thinking about god 😂

      There are dozens of churches in my town. There are religious messages everywhere, from billboards to plaques. There are Christian radio stations people play music from when I go into their businesses. Religious people knock on my door trying to convert me.

      Of course I spend a lot of time thinking about it. You people shove it down my throat every chance you get.

      • Hugh_Jeggs
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        1 month ago

        You people

        😂😂😂

        Mate, we got rid of our religious nutjobs in the late 15th/early 16th century.

        Here’s the secret - stick them all on a boat, send them off to some distant western continent (we found that 3500 miles was the bare minimum) and let them create the most fucked up country on the entire planet while the rest of us slowly forget about their weirdo religion 😂

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          I can’t help but note that you don’t say where you live. And I have a feeling that it’s because there are, in fact, religious extremists in your country.

          • Hugh_Jeggs
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            1 month ago

            Yeah but they tend to be the “blowy-uppy” type so they tend not to push their agenda either

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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              1 month ago

              Once again, you aren’t saying where you live and it’s becoming more and more obvious that it’s because there are crazy Christians there and you don’t want us to know that.

    • tsonfeir
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      1 month ago

      Religious people sure spend a lot of time thing about getting little girls pregnant and marrying them.

    • waz@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      I’m curious of what your definition of “a civilized country” is.

      I expect the answer is going to be prejudice AF.

    • spaceghoti@lemmy.one
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      1 month ago

      What an amazing display of privilege. It must be nice to live in a society where religious belief isn’t being injected into the public and our government.

    • macattack@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      There is an irony that atheism becomes a religion to a lot of atheists.

      It reminds me of how some liberals have transformed into the people they disliked when they just want to own the MAGA crowd instead of actually rallying behind progressive policies and ideals

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            Atheism has nothing to say about the meaning of life. Atheism is the lack of belief in gods.

            So either religion is “a circle jerk around the meaning of life,” and therefore atheism is not a religion “to a lot of atheists” or your definition is wrong.

            Which is it?

            • macattack@lemmy.world
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              1 month ago

              Theism in its purest form is similarly devoid of religion. My point is that as a practicing atheist, I do not identify with the ways that many of you practice atheism.

              Look at the recently-created threads: “everyone, here’s a Christian pedophile”, “everyone here are stupid Christians” etc. there are ways to actualize your perspective on atheism without always punching down on religion. If we reduce ourselves to only comparing ourselves to the other, we lose who we are as individuals in the process.

              The approach that this board has is disappointing and mirrors religion in a way that seems obvious to those that are not taking part of the circle jerk

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                1 month ago

                So by ‘practice atheism,’ you mean talk about it. And that’s what makes a religion. Talking about something.

                So I guess discussing the weather is a religion.

                • macattack@lemmy.world
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                  1 month ago

                  If my main reference of weather was “why my weather forecast is better than your weather forecast”, then yes, weather becomes a religion

                  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                    1 month ago

                    I don’t think you understand the argument atheists are making if you think that’s all there is to it.

      • tsonfeir
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        1 month ago

        It’s an opinion on religion, not a belief. It is the lack of belief.