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.
I think the only thing we lose is community – I’m jealous that religious people automatically have that.
The solution of course is trying to return to having neighborhood communities.
I’m telling you from experience that their “community” is fake. The people are fake. Under the fake stuff that looks nice on the outside is a deep culture of judgment and shame and fear. It’s not any community I would ever want. Like family get together for family’s that hate each other but they fake it.
To those who will try to tell me “well not ME or MY church.” I don’t care and I don’t believe you. I have been harmed too much too consistently by these groups.
Under the fake stuff that looks nice on the outside is a deep culture of judgment and shame and fear.
Funny, that’s what Christianity seems to be mostly about anyway.
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.
Non-Religion is cool if you get used to it. 91% of all Germans are “Not practising any religion”. On paper some 70% still are members of religious communities but otherwise we don’t give a fuck and instead going to church we meet for beer and bretzel breakfast on sunday. We stopped being religious after two World Wars as God was never on our side. Now we ain’t on his side either. Never been more happy.
Funny thing, officially Religion is part of school. But from what I remember it was more a history lesson. I remember every jewish and muslim holiday but not a single Christian Martyrer. Yes, around half of religious lessons at school was about other religions. Most likely because of selective memory - on holidays I could have beer and bretzel breakfast. Martyrers don’t feed me.
misread your comment and thought you said that most people only went to church on Sundays for beer and bretzel breakfast. Was like, shit, I could get behind that religion.
Go back 50 years and that was what we did: Go to church for 30 Minutes and sing, then feast with beer, sausages and bretzels for 60 minutes.
I’ve heard about the “rise of the nones” for fucking years now. I’m in my mid 30s. When the fuck will this trend translate into policy reform
When the all 80+ year olds in congress
retiredie out
I’m curious what the overlap between the growing number of atheists and regular users of Lemmy, because I’m not sure if the comments on this article being so one sided towards atheism is a product of Lemmy users being primarily atheists or if religious people don’t feel comfortable sharing an opposing view. I’d love to hear a counter perspective, but as an atheist myself I’m not the person to start that conversation. I will say that society functions most properly when the majority of people hold similar views about most issues, when the Overton window is smaller, and religion historically has been a reliable tool for aligning people in that sense. It seems more challenging to me to be a kid these days, in the sense that kids are presented with so many choices for “good” that it seems harder to choose values. I’m not a fan of religion, but it’s worth calling out that moving away from organized religion en masse does come with some societal costs.
I’m Christian and usually stay out of these discussions because it’s a waste of time to try to change anybody’s mind here, and anything I say sounds like “not all Christians” anyway. I can do without the hate and contempt in my inbox.
Hey, if it makes you happy and you don’t swing it around in front of my face: you have my blessing.
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.
It’s about time. I have been fed up with religion since 1978.
I don’t mind organized religion. What I do hate is that religion pushing their beliefs onto everyone they meet, pushing their religion beliefs throughout school systems, etc. If religious can keep to themselves, I see it like yoga or CrossFit.
Religious orgs are cancer, they also steal tax dollars by avoiding taxes, corrupt organizations and their mansions
Religion ruins everything.
Besides architecture. Cathedrals are dope. But everything else, yeah.
I don’t hate some older religious music.
Gregorian chants are epic
That first Enigma record is a regular in my listening because of exactly that.
This is what a depressed society looks like.
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
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.
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.
Even religious groups hate organized religion. They just make an exception for the one they happen to be part of.
“Never do business with a religious son-of-a-bitch. His word ain’t worth a shit – not with the Good Lord telling him how to fuck you on the deal.”
― William S. Burroughs
