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America's nonreligious are a growing, diverse phenomenon. They really don't like organized religion

Mike Dulak grew up Catholic in Southern California, but by his teen years, he began skipping Mass and driving straight to the shore to play guitar, watch the waves and enjoy the beauty of the morning. “And it felt more spiritual than any time I set foot in a church,” he recalled.

Nothing has changed that view in the ensuing decades.

“Most religions are there to control people and get money from them,” said Dulak, now 76, of Rocheport, Missouri. He also cited sex abuse scandals in Catholic and Southern Baptist churches. “I can’t buy into that,” he said.

30mag ,

Mike Dulak grew up Catholic in Southern California, but by his teen years, he began skipping Mass and driving straight to the shore to play guitar, watch the waves and enjoy the beauty of the morning. “And it felt more spiritual than any time I set foot in a church,” he recalled.

This is not a uncommon sentiment even among people who are religious. Usually, it is something like, “I’d rather be fishing and thinking about God, than sitting in a church thinking about fishing.”

frozencat ,

why

m3t00 ,
@m3t00@lemmy.world avatar

we are no different than the bug that just splattered on the windshield. one second your brain is screaming “pull up!”. The next next second, _________

m3t00 ,
@m3t00@lemmy.world avatar

raised in a southern baptist leaning midwestern area. grew to resent being lied to. recall one pastor who got caught cheating on wife. last straw when I found a big-wheel in mom&dad’s closet a month before xmas. more lies

bob_wiley ,
@bob_wiley@lemmy.world avatar

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    m3t00 , (edited )
    @m3t00@lemmy.world avatar

    One of the congregation ran over my first dog. ground was frozen so i kept a fire going for a few days to thaw it enough to dig a hole. was about 7. later worked on grandpa’s hog farm. didn’t see a whole lot of difference between humans and livestock. nightmares about nuclear death from the sky. delusions about heaven while tempting were just unbelievable. one of my favorite poems: en.wikipedia.org/…/There_Will_Come_Soft_Rains_(sh…. hope: Imagine, John Lennon www.google.com/search?q=Imagine%2C+John+Lennonfurther reading: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Hitchens

    DagothUr ,

    Nerevar, there you are. I have just started reading this Lemmy Post about Religion. What an intoxicating and grand waste of my time. Nerevar the only People that are happy without Religion are the Argonians, and you know as well as I, Dagot Ur(the god) how miserable these creatures are.
    Not a single Dunmer in all of Morrowind would try to claim that they do not believe in god.
    Yes Nerevar, i would kill them but that isn’t the point.

    Smacks ,
    @Smacks@lemmy.world avatar

    I don’t mind religion, it’s the crazies that use their religion to push hate that are the problem.

    frozencat ,

    based

    bob_wiley ,
    @bob_wiley@lemmy.world avatar

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    Smacks ,
    @Smacks@lemmy.world avatar

    I think those types fit into the crazy category

    shectabeni ,

    Agreed. I even have found myself thinking over years that some people in my life would have been better off if they had found religion, though I am not myself religious.

    Zozano ,

    It really depends on how you’re conditioned. If you consider an aliens perspective, anyone who believes in something so important without good enough evidence are crazy, whether they act like it or not.

    HawlSera ,

    This is what a depressed society looks like.

    SatansMaggotyCumFart ,

    Why would you call society moving away from religion being depressed?

    HawlSera ,

    Because on average it’s shown that atheists tend to become depressed and nihilistic upon leaving religion

    I’d love to go back myself but I can’t convince myself there’s a God.

    SatansMaggotyCumFart ,

    Why would you love to go back?

    Fraylor ,

    Ignorance is bliss

    SatansMaggotyCumFart ,

    Nothing to do with religion is bliss but I feel for the people who’s entire lives are intertwined with it and lose everything when they see the light.

    Fraylor ,

    I mean that’s inherently not true. Do you understand why people join a church? Community, belonging, being part of something that can give someone meaning. Not everything about religion is crusades, beheading and lgbtq discrimination. If I were to prescribe to anything though it’d be Buddhist. Nevertheless, you can point to all of the bad things in religion you want. I’m not saying that there isn’t likely even more bad than good, but you can’t plug your ears and say “lalalala all religion bad 100%” and expect anyone to see your perspective seriously.

    SatansMaggotyCumFart ,

    I know many more people who have left a church then joined one.

    Fraylor ,

    Okay?

    Furbag ,

    In a thousand years, I wonder if humanity will be at war with itself because they can’t agree if Luke Skywalker or Harry Potter is the true prophet in their version of creation mythology.

    Stonewyvvern ,

    They are both wrong. The prophet is Paul Muad’dib Atreides…Long live Muad’dib. Bi lal kaifa!

    root ,

    The federation will be the last one standing when everything has fallen. Live long and prosper. :p

    Bakersfield ,

    Nanu nanu.

    arin ,

    Religious orgs are cancer, they also steal tax dollars by avoiding taxes, corrupt organizations and their mansions

    kicksystem ,

    Cancer is really a very good analogy. It is parasitic, self preserving, good for nothing, preys on the weak, always trying to expand and lure you deeper and total garbage.

    Jim Jeffries said it best though:

    youtu.be/m4GEhbQQdpo?si=a6TjBMj95pU7sH7Q

    Bakersfield ,

    Not just mansions but the private jets are ridiculous. Seriously, some megachurch “leaders” have private jets. Some plural as in they have more then one for themself. It’s sickening.

    See: Joel Osteen

    duckduckgo.com/?q=joel+osteen+private+jet&t=f…

    Smokeydope ,
    @Smokeydope@lemmy.world avatar

    Im not religous but am spiritual, I prefer to come to my own conclusions about certain things.

    sturmblast ,

    all religions are based on lies and fairy tales

    Drgon ,

    The older I get the more angry the concept of God makes me. It’s hit the point where I hope I’m wrong, so when I die I can spit in his face and call Him a useless God

    elucubra ,

    The idea that their “love” god kills, maims, allows horrendous birth defects, molestation, etc of children is one of the multiple proofs that god doesn’t exist. Oh, and wasps and mosquitoes.

    Karyoplasma ,

    The bible describes God as a manchild that gets upset and throws a tantrum when his playthings don’t function the way he wants them to. The loving, benevolent God only exists when things are going his will and then he gives out presents of kindness. It’s pretty much the definition of an abusive relationship with a narcissist.

    samus12345 ,
    @samus12345@lemmy.world avatar

    Abusive narcissists control people, so why not make up a magical abusive narcissist to control a lot of people?

    Adalast ,

    Oh oh oh, let’s make him omnipotent and gaslight everyone by saying all the abuse is just his way of showing love so we can excuse our own toxic traits as holy.

    merc ,

    Speaking of controlling people, isn’t it an interesting coincidence that the religions that tend to survive are the ones that say that the political leader (king, emperor, kaiser, tsar, chief, raj) has a divine right to rule, and is chosen by god? Also, what an interesting coincidence that whenever the king has a divine right to rule, the religious head seems to have a cushy life? How unusual is it that the suffering of common people is something that is good for your soul, especially if you bear the suffering silently.

    It’s like every successful religion coincidentally also sets up a society that’s easy for a leader to rule over. Crazy huh?!

    blindbunny ,

    Wasps pollinate plants and mosquitoes are an important step in the food web. Nothing in this existence is here for no reason and “god” to is show man’s own arrogance.

    root ,

    Don’t forget bedbugs.

    bob_wiley ,
    @bob_wiley@lemmy.world avatar

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    Wahots ,
    @Wahots@pawb.social avatar

    Damn, this version of hell fucks.

    merc ,

    There are approx. 4000 religions out there today. Most of them have a rule saying “our religion is the right one, believe in the wrong one and terrible things happen to you after you die”. If one of those is right and 3999 of them are wrong, what are the odds of anybody picking the right one? Most believers don’t even put in the effort and learn all about the other 3999 to be sure that the one they picked is likely to be correct. They’re just gambling with a tiny chance of avoiding “hell”.

    bob_wiley ,
    @bob_wiley@lemmy.world avatar

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    merc ,

    Unless the correct religion is one that is really harsh on people who believe in one of the heathen religions, but welcoming of non-believers who nevertheless live a good life.

    merc ,

    I just have more and more trouble believing that actual functional adults believe in this crap. My mom is one of them, and I keep boggling at her ideas.

    Like, if she misplaces her keys then finds them, she thanks her god for finding them for her. Never blames it for hiding / losing the keys, of course. She’s absolutely confident that her beliefs match what her god wants, despite hers being picking and choosing from the various holy books. Her church isn’t quite mainstream for her religion. Her beliefs don’t quite match her church. But, of course, she’s right.

    A family friend of hers is dying of dementia. He is non-verbal and can no longer feed himself. Soon he’ll have to be on a feeding tube because he’ll no longer be able to swallow. This, of course, is her god’s plan. He wants a nurse to have to handle his waste and feed him with a tube. But, naturally, her god doesn’t want those same medical professionals to assist someone in dying with dignity.

    She also literally believes stories that are less believable than fairy tales. Apparently some holy person didn’t eat or drink for years! This other one healed people! Another one predicted future events! We know these are true because other people from that religion verified it, and if you can’t trust people of her religion, who can you trust?

    How can an adult stop believing in things like Santa Claus and underpants gnomes, but keep believing in this religious stuff?

    electrogamerman ,

    Instead of having anti lgbt protests, or anti abortion protests, we should really start having anti religion protests. They are really a cancer to society.

    WuTang ,
    @WuTang@lemmy.ninja avatar

    anti-nihilistic protest too…

    gentooer ,

    Something tells me you don’t know what nihilism is

    WuTang ,
    @WuTang@lemmy.ninja avatar

    and you are pedantic, pal.

    gentooer ,

    Good point, I hadn’t thought of it that way

    s_s ,

    Doesn’t fucking matter, now does it? 😅

    WuTang ,
    @WuTang@lemmy.ninja avatar

    13 nihilists downvoted this comment.

    Exatron ,

    You really don’t understand what a nihilist is.

    atkion ,

    I don’t understand this comment. What harm has nihilism caused that is worth protesting?

    not_woody_shaw ,

    They peed on The Dudes rug.

    dangblingus ,

    What do you mean by this? Nihilism is the one true philosophy.

    American_Communist22 ,
    @American_Communist22@lemmygrad.ml avatar

    i mean it has its uses but calling it the one true ideology is not an educated statement

    maniclucky ,

    I’m really confused. Why is nihilism worth protesting?

    ThePac ,

    Creationist spotted.

    HawlSera ,

    We tried New Atheism That shit is toxic

    bob_wiley ,
    @bob_wiley@lemmy.world avatar

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    electrogamerman ,

    Exactly. Live and let live. Except religious groups are not letting other live their lifes.

    bob_wiley ,
    @bob_wiley@lemmy.world avatar

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    electrogamerman ,

    The problem is they are still part of the same group.

    If there is an anti lgbt protest organized by christians or muslims or whatever, sure im not saying 100% of all christians and muslims are there, but even if its 1% of the christians or muslims, these 1% are still in church with the rest of the christians or muslims, and the remaining 99% are not doing anything about it. They are not coning out and saying “That 1% of religious people are not a part of us”. They all care is about growing their religious groups, and anything else doesn’t matter.

    bob_wiley ,
    @bob_wiley@lemmy.world avatar

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    electrogamerman ,

    First of all, I dont associate myself with people doing bad things to others. It’s really easy to do honestly. I recommend you to do it too.

    Second, are you saying is ok for religious people to be antilgbt because other people are part of some group, by choice or not, that associates with people doing things you, or others, think is evil?

    LongPigFlavor ,

    I’m happy to be a part of that demographic. My upbringing only contributed to my irreligiosity.

    Octavio ,

    It’s about time. I have been fed up with religion since 1978.

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