met this christian man, friend of my friend, at this cookout my friend was hosting, and I can’t totally remember how but him and I started talking about religion. he (my friends friend) told me how he was a devout christian and he was talking to me about his faith. i was just listening and trying to make small talk, until he asked me if I was religious. im not, and I told him I was atheist. you could see his face go pale. he asked “you don’t believe in god? how?“ in response I told him how all this scientific evidence keeps on supporting the theory of evolution, and how I just personally don’t think theres a high power. he listened for a second then interrupted me, saying “evolutions not proven, its just a theory so I’m not gonna believe in some made up tale about us being monkeys”. he went on to say he has hope that evolution will be debunked and everyone will believe in god. the irony of this man! evolution and science have evidence and reasoning religion has none! I couldn’t believe the ignorance coming out of his mouth, it’s crazy and Im still amazed at how people are this opposed to logic and reasoning.

ps, sorry about grammar I’m on my phone and it’s not working well :(

(I assume you guys already knew about the Rapture and Armageddon.)

You guys probably already saw this post from today, that JD Vance is ok if the world has to end. I'm glad it got your attention.

https://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/s/Wlq8V7Hng6

I've been following the related news, let me share something I read here in case some of you missed these.

JD Vance's mentor, Pete Thiel, and Elon Musk, Steve Bannon together with many trump supporters in the Whitehouse, are zealot believers of The Fourth Turning, believes that they should destroy the world, so that they could rebuild it as they see fit. (The fourth turning is a great book about democracy, but they decided to read it differently.)

They believe that the welfare, regulatory, tax, and bureaucratic systems of modern democracies are too slow and sclerotic; they must be dismantled through extreme political upheaval (accelerationism) in order to smash the modern state administrative apparatus and disrupt the State.

What's more scary:

How much Evangelical has infiltrated and influenced the U.S. Military:

Colorado Springs, home to the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA), serves as a major hub for the American evangelical and "radical Christian" movements (hosting organizations such as Focus on the Family).

Since the 1990s, the Academy has repeatedly faced controversy over a trend toward "evangelicalization," with instructors and upperclassmen subjecting cadets holding minority beliefs, such as Judaism, atheism, or moderate views, to forced proselytizing, exclusion, and even bullying.

Over time, these young cadets, having come of age in this "evangelical atmosphere," have risen through the ranks to become colonels, generals, and high-level commanders at the Pentagon.

The Pentagon and the "Weekly Cabinet Bible Study" for Senior Politicians:

During the Trump administration, a "Cabinet Bible study" led by Evangelical pastor Ralph Drollinger (of Capitol Ministries) was held weekly in Washington.

Its members included several key officials responsible for national security and military power, such as former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (a self-described deeply devout Evangelical), former Vice President Mike Pence, and former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.

This Bible study openly promoted the idea that the military is a legitimate instrument ordained by God to punish evil on earth, framing the Cold War and Middle East geopolitics directly within a binary conflict of "divine righteousness versus heresy."

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), an organization dedicated to monitoring religious freedom within the U.S. military, receives thousands of complaints from active-duty service members each year.

Many active-duty soldiers have reported that, during pre-deployment briefings or routine military briefings, some Evangelical commanders explicitly use terms with "Book of Revelation” connotations, such as "Armageddon", to characterize military operations in the Middle East or against specific nations.

Infiltration and Risks within the "Nuclear Decision-Making Chain":

For the U.S. nuclear arsenal, capable of destroying the Earth multiple times over, the infiltration of Evangelical apocalyptic theology has introduced extremely dangerous "psychological vulnerabilities":

"Doomsday Readiness Tests" in Missile Silos (The "Jesus Loves Nukes" Training)

In 2011, a sensational scandal regarding religious doctrine at U.S. nuclear bases came to light:

At Vandenberg Air Force Base, intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) officers—those responsible for the launch keys—underwent mandatory training where military chaplains used biblical scripture and Christian "Just War Theory" to provide psychological counseling.

Training materials even cited passages from the "Book of Revelation" to convince missile operators that "using nuclear weapons to wipe out entire cities aligns with God's will." Within the military, this training was sarcastically dubbed the "Jesus Loves Nukes" course.

Undermining the Core Premise of "Nuclear Deterrence": Desensitization to Casualties

Modern nuclear deterrence theory (such as Mutually Assured Destruction, or MAD) rests on a rational, secular assumption: no party can bear the cost of its own annihilation, so no one will be the first to press the nuclear button.

However, if the high-ranking officers controlling nuclear launch authority deeply believe in the "Rapture" and the apocalyptic prophecies of the "Book of Revelation", this secular rationality collapses instantly:

This theological logic believes that a global nuclear war is not the end of human civilization, but rather God's reckoning with the old world and a prelude to the ascension of devout believers to Heaven.

This mindset, viewing nuclear casualties merely as the fulfillment of God's grand design, significantly lowers the psychological threshold for decision-makers to press the nuclear button during a crisis.

So I have been dating for about 6-7 months my past relationship was an interracial relationship that lasted almost a year. I was with a black woman and me as a white male supported everything I could up until the religion started.

I went through hurdle after hurdle to just be able to see her because her mom was the main problem, she saw I wore all black and had tattoos and my ears pierced and I was also called a devil worshiper and she was being racist. However I went to church with them to make my girlfriend happy, i went a few times and let me tell you that made me hate Christianity even more.

I initially told her I was Christian (I lied to her) just to try my best to hold onto my relationship with my partner. Even after all the ridicule for 10 months, my partner told me "come pick me up I want out of here." So I did that, mind you both of our dreams was to finally not have to go through her mom to meet up and for us to finally be able to see each other all day every day btw I'm 20 at the time and she's 19. (She is in no way a minor, shes basically grown enough to make her own decisions) However when we finally got together it was paradise, a weight lifted off my shoulders, all up until I hear these 4 words

"I Wanna Go Home"

So I just looked at her and looked and said alright pack your stuff (in my mind I was thinking, you've told me you wanted this since we got together) but I didn't lash out I drove her home like the quote on quote "devil worshiper" I am. And just like that I ended it.

She didn't want to end it but guys I couldn't take no more there's only so much religious bullshit I could take and when I got her out of that situation I thought I was free but nope. Basically she planted the nails in the coffin and I hammered them in.

All of this ridiculous bullshit was because of religion, because of her mom and herself. I think I was eventually seen by her as a bad person in her fucked up mind.

Anyways everyone else I've talked to while trying to date, when I mentioned atheism they run and hide, you don't hear from them again. I had an older guy tell me at a restaurant "buddy you are in a minority and people will shit on you every chance they can because of the way you believe" and man that has stuck with me and it's so true. Dating and being an atheist is hard, but guess what I wouldnt change my true beliefs for anyone.

Fuck Christianity, love you guys!

The West still clings to a “Christian heritage” self-image that no longer fits a modern secular state. That’s the core problem.
As long as the state and the culture define themselves as culturally Christian, you can’t apply the same standard to Islam without immediately being called a racist or an Islamophobe. Christianity is framed as “ours,” Islam as the outsider faith. Then every criticism of parallel societies, honor culture, gender roles, or legal dualism gets recoded as bigotry against a minority.
In a consistently atheist / secular state that argument collapses. Religion is a private hobby — for everyone. No special privileges, no state-backed holidays as moral authority, no faith-based exemptions from the law, no “but this is a Christian country” exception. If you’re going to restrict religion in public life, restrict all of them equally. The cleanest version: keep belief private and keep revelation out of legislation, education, and public policy. Pray at home if you want. Do not treat a 7th- or 1st-century text as a source of public morality.
What I find genuinely wild is letting people vote whose entire moral framework comes from a 2,000-year-old book. Written in a world where women had almost no rights, slavery was normal, and the baseline ethics were brutal by modern standards. A lot of believers don’t do “good” because they independently concluded it was right. They do it because the fantasy novel promises heaven or threatens hell. That’s not adult ethics. That’s carrot-and-stick for children.
If your politics, your view of women, your idea of justice, or your willingness to accept harm is primarily derived from scripture, you should not have the same political weight as someone whose values are grounded in evidence, secular law, and present-day human standards.
Yes, Christianity shaped parts of Western history. That does not make it a governing philosophy for 2026. Either the West becomes actually secular — religion has no claim on public order — or demographics and fertility will eventually settle the question without a debate.
This isn’t “hate the believers.” It’s the observation that revealed religion and liberal modernity are not stable long-term roommates. Pretending otherwise just delays the collision.

Man, can you imagine living your life in blind dedication to an “all knowing, all powerful” God only to have him drop a sign on your head when you are worshipping him at a religious festival?

I hate to say it, but this “God” being sounds like a real jerk.

Genuinely I can’t understand the idea that I should be respectful to religious people because it’s their choice. Yes, they choose to live their lives in these ways and choose to believe in this bs

And this idea of there being some sort of “moderates” within any religion is laughable. So it’s okay to believe in this stuff as long as you don’t do it?

It’s okay to think women shouldn’t have rights as long as you don’t say it out loud? Or to think that marrying a child is okay as long as you don’t actually do it? Or hating gays and not actually acting upon your hatred for them?

The only line drawn for these people are the laws that society’s follow, if it wasn’t for that all of these people do these things not just think them.

Today is my first birthday since I told my family 3 months ago that I left religion since they aren’t very religious they were just mad at me and didn’t physically hurt me. However they’ve been giving me the silent treatment for the past few months
I really didn’t think they’d surprise me for my birthday, but the surprise was that literally all the gifts were religious
I got 5 gifts: an abaya, a Quran, a dua book, and a prayer mat. My little sister was the only one who got me a normal gift a computer mouse
I honestly felt so disrespected it’s a very clear message that they don’t respect my decision at all

Ever since I was younger, like as early as 11. I have never understood why people believe in most modern religions.

It simply just doesn't make sense, like how can there be some magical being constantly watching over humans every move?

And if you do something that magical being doesn't like? Well, apparently you are going to BURN for ETERNITY?

Like, how can you even prove this? Through a ancient book? Something that we don't even know who originally wrote it?

If that doesn't sound ridiculous, and possibly a bit crazy, then I don't know what does.

I also feel like many people only believe in religion to cope with reality. As this is definitely a well known phenomenon, that people will turn to things that give them purpose, that make them feel better when in distressed states. (Especially)

And in that case, it's religion.

I feel like religon prevents people from living the peace they claim religion gives us.

For example: Religious people constantly fighting other religious people for subjective beliefs, some religious people using religion to justify bigotry and hatred, higher ups using religion to control certain populations and discriminate... etcetera..

It's so ridiculous..