People Share What Plot Holes In Religions They Don’t Get And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Insights
Religions are very, very complex. And in order to truly understand them, one has to really devote oneself to learning everything in and around them. But no matter how hard they try, some people just can't wrap their heads around some of the teachings.
So, in order to spark a discussion that would make sense of it all, Redditor u/sebastian-yrigoyen asked people to share, as they put it, the 'plot holes' they have noticed while practicing their religion. From Jesus' teenage years to the lack of dinosaurs, here's the sacred stories that are bugging everyone the most.
This post may include affiliate links.
Bring on the downvotes bc I know I'm going to get them.
No bible is the word of God written by man. They are the words of MEN written by MEN.
FFS there are over 1,000 denominations of Christianity alone, each knowing their version is the right one and all others are blasphemy.
Not to mention every bible from each religion is packed with contradictions...
All these 'plot holes' or people's search for answers in general highlight the fundamental differences between science and religion. The National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine) shared this statement on the topic:
"Science and religion are based on different aspects of human experience. In science, explanations must be based on evidence drawn from examining the natural world. Scientifically based observations or experiments that conflict with an explanation eventually must lead to modification or even abandonment of that explanation. Religious faith, in contrast, does not depend only on empirical evidence, is not necessarily modified in the face of conflicting evidence, and typically involves supernatural forces or entities."
"In the beginning there was Adam and Eve" Ok, I'm following that. 2 people on the planet.
They had 2 sons named Cain and Able. Yep, still with it. 4 people on the planet.
Cain killed Able. Ok, thats down to 3 people on the planet.
Cain took a wife. Wait, wut?
The National Academy of Medicine argues that because they are not a part of nature, supernatural entities cannot be investigated by science. In this sense, they say, science and religion are separate and address aspects of human understanding in different ways. Attempts to pit science and religion against each other create controversy where none needs to exist.
Virgin Mary had a child. Glances suspiciously at churches/catholic schools stating abstinence is 100% effective in avoiding a pregnancy.
Honestly Joseph, I didn't cheat on you with Matt next door. Nor Luke. Or Judas. It was ... umm... some sort of divine being that ... filled me with it's ... joy ... and... Now I am pregnant.
If Adam and Eve were the first two people on Earth and are responsible for the birth of all people ever, than the entire human race is the product of incest.
Although, to be fair, that does explain quite a lot.
I was told, that we should not take whole Genesis literally. You should look at it as a symbol - so Adam and Eve were symbols for a human race. But to be honest, we have a very "cool" priest, he said, that he has no problem to believe, that Adam and Eve migth even be a lower stage of human evolution, not Homo sapiens.
I would say about 3/4 of hardcore Christians think being LGBT is wrong and against their god, but then also say that "God created everyone exactly how he wants them to be" like ?????
The bible says to get the town together and stone the homosexuals to death! If you aren't willing to follow through on your evil god's commands, maybe shut up about homosexuality. The bible is so evil that if you really followed all of its instructions in our modern societies, you would be arrested for committing atrocious acts.
I could live my entire life, adhering completely to the Christian moral compass, save millions of lives, treat every person with the utmost respect and dignity, refuse all toxic thoughts and actions, and yet (according to most Christian dogma) I would still burn in hell for eternity if I didn’t believe the Christian God exists.
That sentiment alone tells me that morality, and the course of our lives in general, is irrelevant in the end. All that matters is that the Christian God gets recognition. That God, to me, sounds more narcissistic than benevolent and loving. And therefore, is not a God I wish to worship.
There’s also issues such as, if God is truly omnipotent and omniscient then he could have purged the world of all suffering and pain. But he hasn’t because... he loves us? Because somehow the gift of free will, and therefore the gift of imperfection is more important than letting your children suffer and experience pain? Some children are born into poverty, beaten, starved, and killed before 10 years of age, without ever seeing kindness. What’s the lesson there God? Why must you treat the creations you love with such disdain solely to “make a point.”
I could go on. There’s so many issues I have with that belief system and narrative.
The "God allows evil because free will" argument always confused me. I mean, isn't he supposed to be almighty? But... not almighty enough to remove evil without impacting free will? What kind of shoddy omnipotence is that supposed to be?
God is perfect and cannot sin. There exists “the wrath of God.” Wrath is one of the seven deadly sins.
God teaches us that it is a sin to be envious, and to be prideful, and that we must have compassion and understanding for others. And yet he will literally condemn someone to an eternity in hell for not worshiping him, even if said person has literally never heard of him.
To be fair, our perception of hell, fire, brimstone, the devil, torturing etc. Is more of a medieval invention. The Bible never mentions Satan as a ruler of hell nor does it describe any horrible firey torture. It actually speaks of hell as a place without God...the idea is your punishment is you never get blissful heaven
I don't believe in any kind of God but I've always found it funny how in the bible, God made the sun on the fourth day. How could there have been any days before that?
I don't know if this is considered as a plot hole:
Judas Iskariot was essential to Jesus' plan. If he didn't sold Jesus out then the prophecy will not come true.
Why then is he considered a villain? He should be at the top! He got the job done!
I actually asked this question when I was 7 or 8 at my Catholic school. I was told to go see the priest. He got angry at me because I couldn't understand. Made me say an entire rosary. I still don't understand why he is vilified. Apparently praying an entire rosary didn't give me the answers (go figure)
Plot hole: there are hundreds of other religions that also claim to be the only true one
This isn’t my religion, but I always found it hypocritical that the gods punished Oedipus for sleeping with his mother without realizing it, despite the fact that Zeus married his own sister while being fully aware that they were siblings.
Zeus could do whatever he wants.... who - besides Kratos - would disagree?
Late to the party, but in Islam there's the belief that God knows everything you will do before you're even born. Meaning that we don't control our own actions. At the same time, to get into Heaven, you need to-- of your own accord-- pray 5 times daily, read the Quran, etc. So my thing is this: If God knows what everyone is gonna do beforehand, and He knows people aren't gonna do what it takes to get into Heaven (cause he is omniscient); doesn't this then mean that God has already decided who goes to Heaven and who gets Hell? Cause there's no possible way in any Abrahamic religion (cause they all operate under the "do this to get into paradise" thing and all have God knowing everything before it happens) that we'd be able to try to get into Heaven. And this is just the tip of the iceberg on questions
Wait... If God controls your actions, He doesn't just know if you'll go to heaven or hell... He can make you perform actions that will send you to heaven or hell! Plot twist
I want to know why so many Christians say that murder is wrong but ignore all the killing that God did in the Bible. Like, how do they justify drowning everyone except Noah and his family?
Or the millions of people that died in the name of God because they refused this religion?
If man is not perfect, but man wrote the Bible how am I supposed to trust what I’m reading from the Bible. How do I know they didn’t mess anything up?
We can read Egyptian hieroglyphics. They kept extensive records. No mention of using Jewish slaves to build the pyramids, them revolting, a royal named Moses or a Red Sea parting.
Jewish slaves were kept and used but A sea splitting and ten plagues, really?
Not really a plot hole in the Christianity , but a plot hole in the interpretation of it.
Christianity was originally highly Jewish based and they didn’t like Romans, a few centuries later it was Roman/ European based and they heavily discriminated Jewish people. Wut
Also, modern Christianity was created when it was mixed with the pagan faith. No paganism is considered devil worship
I'm a lapsed catholic. Idolatry is one of the biggest "plot holes." If you worship the virgin Mary or any other saint you are as a matter of fact doing blasphemy. Don't come with the argument of them being a "middle man." Speak to god directly. The worship of saints is pretty much polytheism with yahweh (christian god) being Zeus's equivalent.
I asked my priest this when I was young (use to be catholic), I even told him why confess my sins to you? why not cut out the middle man and go straight to Jesus with my sins and prayers. He kicked me out of his office. I also brought up the point of graven images, where it is actually forbidden according to the catholic version of the 10 commandments. Then I told him the statue of Jesus on the cross, the rosary , and stained glass were all graven images. and again was kicked out.
Why would satan punish humans for rebelling against god, something that he himself once did. I've always thought of it as hypocritical, and that satan would reward the human for exercising their free will and living a life free of religious constraints.
Lucifer means the bearer of light (light=knowledge). I don't understand either...
It's not my religion but
"I love everyone no matter what" followed by "You better love me back or I'm gonna hate you forever and torture you for eternity" followed by "I don't love those people neither should you, what you should do is make their lives a living hell".
An omnipotent being is used to explain the origin of everything in this universe, but there's no explanation for the origin of said omnipotent being.
If Satan punishes those who sin, wouldn't he be considered a good guy?
Alternatively, if Satan is a bad guy, why would he punish other sinners?
That's not true even by biblical standards at least read the Bible before Saying things like that
What happened to Jesus in his teen years tho?
The concept of eternal peace and joy in heaven sounds very psychologically degrading long term. It sounds like living like a pet dog.
Valhall seems much more attractive, with unlimited mead drinking and fights all day, forever.
Why do Christians think the characters in the bible are white or very caucasian looking?
Um, the Nestorian Church in China (6th-17th centuries a large presence there) portrayed everyone as Asian looking, the Ethiopian Church portrays as black, the Byzantines did a very Mediterranean look, etc. Everyone imposed their look onto these figures for their own culture. However if you read both Ancient Greek and Egyptian writings about what Semitic people from the Levant looked like, it is very different than what you might think
Former catholic.. still waiting for somebody to explain Jesus's DNA situation is.. is he haploid? Where does his Y chromosome come from? So many questions.
I like to tell myself she was raped, but Joseph as a cool dude who kept loving her anyway (at that time in history she'd be executed for it) and either helped or went along with her b******t story to trick the idiots.
I am a Christian and a thing that has really puzzled me is that if Adam and Eve ever gave birth to a child wouldn't it be a sin even if marriage wasn't a thing back then? Like despite marriage not being a thing back then it would still technically be a sin in the future. Or did God make marriage a thing in the future and just brush it off since Marriage wasn't a thing back then? I am confusion.
Eve was created for Adam to be his wife and life partner. They were married as soon as Adam woke up from the sleep God had put him in, when Adam declares, "And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." (Read genesis 2 v23:24)
Why has there been no "holy magical" moments in our time like there's nothing to actually show gods presence. And that's why I'm secretly unreligous(my parents are religious)
If you’re god and you need to split off part of you to send to earth to die for the sins of mankind, wouldn’t it just be faster to like...forgive them yourself? I mean you aren’t scoring points from me for this convoluted story of some Virgin getting knocked up by you to give birth to a form of you that I’m supposed to feel bad about when they die for my sins even though that was their whole purpose.
Or how about just Yahweh just chill the f**k out in general and stop crying like a punk about some hungry girl eating a slice of fruit.
I used to be Catholic; I'm now an atheist.
But, if Jesus came to save everyone from sin 2,000 years ago, what about all the other human beings who lived and died 150,000 years before he showed up? Why weren't they saved? Christians will tell you that God saved them anyway, but why do we then have to deal with the can of worms Jesus opened and we have to follow the Ten Commandments and go to Church and tithe and everything else when they didn't have to?
There are about 100 billion galaxies each with about 100 billion stars; the odds are very favorable that intelligent life exists elsewhere containing civilizations who will rise up and go extinct before we ever even get CLOSE to finding them. Are they saved? Why didn't Jesus go to them?
The Bible is an arbitrary collection. Works were edited, things were lost in translation, books of the Bible were accumulated over time and voted on by councils; some made it in, some didn't. Given that it's basically held together by centuries of drafts and edits and additions and subtractions, how can we trust it? Yet, it's supposed to be THE word of God.
...I could go on.
There's nothing like being raised Catholic to make you a nonbeliever lol
Incest. The Garden of Eden was the Garden of Incest.
Surprised I scrolled down this far to find this, but this was a problem that I raised a lot in my religious classes a child. Never got an answer, usually I was met with a strict scolding.
About the closest I ever got to an answer was that in heaven everyone will be so perfectly happy it will be as if our connections from earth won't matter. Obviously they didn't know and were speculating but that actually made me feel even worse.
This is a reddit comment replying to another comment. It needs more context. “Surprised I scrolled so far to find this” and it doesn’t say what “this” is. You can kinda infer it but it’s still a stupid way to make an article on BP.
Oh boy I got some good ones
Christian here
So we all know that Jesus is the main focus of the new testament, but my biggest question is, what happened to him between the ages of 12 and 30
In the entirety of the bible itself,a number of immaculate creatures were named (such as the Behemoth, Leviathan,etc.) but not heard of after being mentioned and no one has ever interacted with them ever since
(Although I've read other christian texts, this is going to be one for people have not) where did giants come from, and even more astonishingly, where did they go
Also there were giants before Noah's flood. When god flooded the world he very specifically states that all of the evil things he kills with the flood will never come again. But, later in the bible, there are more evil giants. King David killed Goliath, another evil giant that came about after the flood. Is god incompetent? A liar? Sure seems like it.
Literally every biblical story. The more I read it, the less sense it makes.
Also the fact that we have to listen to some men who were "supposedly inspired by God" to write misogynistic crap and give stronger grounds to their own selfish need for power.
That Judas betrayal of Jesus doesn't make sense.
Jesus wasn't hiding. He rode into Jerusalem in broad daylight. Everyone knew he was coming. Judas' help wasn't needed to catch him.
Actually they needed Judas to identify him...there weren't photos of him circulating around. There are a lot of plot holes in Christianity but this isn't one of them
Why did they roll a big rock over the the entrance of the cave where Jesus's body was taken to after he died? It seems like something that was insanely impractical for people to do at the time. Was it common practice to throw bodies in a cave and then seal it? If so, was Jesus the last body to be put in? To a non-believer, it just seems like something the story added to make the story more convincing, but it doesn't really make sense outside of the set up for a resurrection story.
On the same subject, I've heard a preacher talk about how Jesus basically teleported out of the cave after the resurrection, but god apparently sent an angel to sit on the boulder which was moved out of the way (for no reason). That implies that not only was there a resurrection, but god thought it wasn't miraculous enough and had to add a dash of showmanship to the whole coming back from the dead thing. What's up with that?
"The burial caves were in continuous use for several generations by members of the same family. Simple tombs have a narrow opening, sealed with a square stone. " https://mfa.gov.il/mfa/israelexperience/history/pages/archaeological%20sites%20in%20israel%20-%20jerusalem-%20burial.aspx
Idk about plot holes in my religion, but I like one thing the most in my religion, it mentions a third form of life (apart from a man and woman) and I realized ancient India was very gender fluid, in fact even today whenever a baby is about to be born or is just born, Transgender people go to the new baby's house to give the baby blessing, it is considered auspicious. But ever since Britishers left India, LGBTQ+ community has been looked down upon. I hope they get the same recognition like the ancient times.
I am not that religious, I just was more curious about hinduism in quarantine coz boredom was eating me up so I thought let's try the spiritual way what my parents do lmao.
No longer religious, but one of the biggest contradictions in Christianity is that human beings by nature are morally imperfect beings. Yet a necessary component for the forgiveness of sins includes having the right sort of beliefs toward Jesus. How does it make sense that a person's eternal destiny relies solely on an imperfect being having a specific belief. I think we can all agree that human beings are morally imperfect, but I'd argue that they're far more imperfect when it comes to having true beliefs (assuming Christianity was true). It seems entirely unfair that that is the thing that people are judged on. People would have to be epistemically perfect to be judged on their beliefs.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all have different conflicting accounts of what happened regarding the empty tomb. Did just Mary go alone or did the other Mary go too? Was there an earthquake or did the stone instantly move away or was the stone already rolled away? Did one or two or no angels show and talk to them? Did they go and tell everyone or were they too afraid to? Did they find Jesus was gone and then called the disciples to come see or did the angels tell them to go tell all the disciples? Did Jesus appear in the tomb and talk to Mary?
This is one of the plot holes that led me from being a firm believer fundamentalist to an agnostic wishy washy whatevs guy :D
Now my Christian belief system has to come to terms with the Perfect Word of God and the imperfect accounts in the Old and New Testaments.
why doesn't Sleipnir have the same sentience as his half siblings when they're all children of Loki? where does all the extra mead from Heiðrún go? and that's only the beginning.
That the earth way created in 3 day. How tf were there days before the earth existed? Was God measuring 'days' based off another planet he created?
Christians claim that the people in the Bible lived to be absurdly old. For example, they say that Noah was around 650 years old when he built the ark and didn’t die until he was older then 900. How could this even be remotely possible? It doesn’t make sense because they would have lived much shorter lives then we do in the present. They wouldn’t have had access to modern medicine or anything.
The Vedas also say people lived about ten times longer in moderately ancient times compared to the modern lifespan.
Humans just invented religion to have a little more sense in life and how everything is the way it is. For humans everything must have a meaning, since all the things we invented make a sense and have a function, even we people ourselves need to have a function, but that's maybe not how the world is built, we are not here for any reason, it's only a happenstance that we exist, that life on our world exists. That's why I believe more in aliens than I believe in any kind of god. Sorry for the bad english by the way.
Ridiculous. If I were to invent a religion that I want to use as a crutch I would not invent Christianity which instructs me to love my enemies, forgive others who hurt me, live humbly, and abstain from the pleasures of the flesh. I would invent some sort of religion that makes God an inanimate force that I can tap into for my own benefit. Is that what Wiccans believe?
If Jesus' mother was told by an angel that she was going to bear the messiah in the book of Luke, why did she and the rest of the family go chasing after Jesus telling everyone he was out of his head in the opening pages of Mark?
If God is the all knowing intelligent being that created everything, what was his reasoning around making foxes mating noises, if Humans are his children and he loves us why make us suffer every night listening to screaming of little horny foxes.
Adam and Eve had 3 sons...
Although interestingly Moses is actually a fairly common Egyptian name but the guys who wrote the Bible didn't seem to know that. They made a different story about the name's origin (She named him Moses (Moshe), saying, 'I drew him out (meshitihu) of the water'.)
It's very weak, of course, but it's a hint that there might be some truth to the Moses was in Egypt story.
Actually 1) the name Moses was not, there was a common name in the ROYAL FAMILY which Egyptian version of that (moses or Moshe is the hebracized version of that name), and it would make sense as that was the name Pharaoh's daughter gave him, that she would give her adopted son a proper Royal name. Further the origin of the name fits as the original royal name it comes from specifically refers to the Bounty and Blessing of the Nile, the Nile which Pharaoh was the living god of in Egypt. This is more you ignorance than the bible's
Fun fact the bible has a few verses in it describing monstrosities that could be dinosaurs. Even dragons.
If god is so loving and loves all his children even sinners then why did he recommend stoning in the early testaments, why are children and innocent people dying of diseases and allow human suffering, why would god give boys foreskin but then decide that they should be circumcised as a “contract” between them and god, why did god create f*****g mosquitos, fleas, ticks and wasps (besides possible population control), how is it even possible for noah to have taken 2 of every animal. It is a logistically impossible and extremely inconceivable. Why would god punish everyone else for what 2 people did thousands of years ago. That is like punishing a whole classroom for the rest of the school year for the behaviour of one student. If god created satan and is all mighty then why hasn’t he destroyed satan. If humans were created to be perfect but have free will, how can we make bad decisions? that is not perfect, a perfect person wouldn’t make bad choices. I have soooooooo many more that I can ask but I would literally be here forever.
Yeah, I just saw a comment hidden with 34 upvotes... :P
Load More Replies...
Standard answer to discrepancies in the Bible: "you don't have to take that literally, it's more like metaphor". :-( Then why is it so specific all the time?
The biggest problem is a term called "lost in translation". For example, an easy experiment to do is to take a King James translation (which is the most accurate English translation or should be), and any other more modern English translation and compare the texts. You will find one says one thing and the other says something else when taken into context.
Load More Replies...
I feel like religion has also influenced a lot of gender discrimination
You’re right. Even the less harmful religions tend to discriminate against women.
Load More Replies... If God is perfect, and he has a plan for all, then what is the point of praying? You shouldn't be able to change a perfect things mind?
That's question is what started my journey to non belief.
Load More Replies...
I never understood Jehovah's Witnesses. Like, it must be awfully depressing. They believe that 144,000 people can get into Heaven. So either it's already full, or you're competing for a spot with every JW who ever lived and ever WILL live.
They have the belief that after armageddon and judgement day comes the righteous will live life peacefully, eternally on earth as we were originally created to be. The ones that are chosen to go to heaven are there to help Jesus rule over the earth as Jesus would be the king but under advisement of God. Kind of like a government system. Apparently the 144,000 people have already been chosen so there is no competition to get to heaven. The idea that we will live happily on earth for all eternity with all their loved ones, no suffering etc brings them the peace they need.
Load More Replies...
There's one constant about all religions. Even going back to when people were worshipping rocks, trees, the sun, whatever. There's always some person the tree, rock, sun, etc talks to personally and people are supposed to obey him. And provide for him. And give him things that he didn't earn. Can't understand God needing a middle- man.
Christians claim god is eternal (he always existed). They claim god is a perfect being. Claim he is all-knowing (knows everything). Claim he has a divine plan (knows the past, present and future). They claim he is inerrant and infallible (can never be wrong). If god is eternal that means that he existed for an infinite amount of time in the past. If he is a perfect being then he would have been perfectly content and perfectly full of self love for an infinite amount of time. From there, why create anything?! From there he creates angels. At least one angel betrays him. How could he not see that coming from an infinity time away? He is all-knowing and had a divine plan. Then he creates Adam and Eve and they betray him. He gets mad at them. How could he not see that coming? He lets mankind become evil so he decides to kill everything on earth except for Noah's crew with a torturous flood. He says that all evil will be erased with this flood, but there's still evil. A buffoonish god with a comedy of errors.
God allegelly killed over 2.8 million people, without countinting the estimated from Noah´s flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, etc. Satan apparently killed 10 people. God loves us all. Satan bad. Whaaat? Thank God I´m an atheist.
You say that you are an atheist and yet you say ,,thank god”?
Load More Replies... All of this supports my decision to be an atheist but still don't how to tell my very religious family
Be an Atheist. It's your choice, you don't have to tell your family if it's not that big an issue. If it's trivial things like praying before eating, just go with it, see it as a family tradition. If it's more, like being forced to go to church, things like that, then yes, maybe it becomes a problem then.
Load More Replies...
I am actually religious, but this still bothers me: So, Jesus was born at midnight on the 25th of December. BC means Before Christ. So, either there were six days at the start of AD, or the final year in BC was short??? IDEK.
One of the commandments is something like 'thou shalt have no other god before me'. This implies other gods and that this one is suuuuper petty.
"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people" - Karl Marx
Raised in a strict Catholic home and went to mass every Sunday. One particular Sunday I actually paid attention during the Eucharist. I asked my mother when we got home if it is just symbolic when the priest turns the bread into Christ's body and the wine into his blood. When she said, "No, we believe it is the actual body and blood of Christ", I ran to the bathroom and threw up. I came out and screamed, "We are cannibals!" Thus, began the rapid decline of my blind faith...
The god of the bible has the same traits as the men that created him. He's petty, jealous, wrathful, vengeful, prideful, boastful, hypocritical, homophobic, tribalistic, misogynistic, needs constant worship, etc. He's a blood thirsty warmonger. He was pleased when King David brought him hundreds of bloody foreskins. He was with his chosen people in a battle, but they still lost because the enemies had iron chariots!
Best thing to me? Every one of these are legitimate questions with coherent answers yet none of these people ever seem to actually want the answer. They simply need to feel smarter than believers, usually (but not always) to cover up a questionable lifestyle. While I'm no believer, these DO have legit answers.
I understand that there are many parts of faith that everyone can't make sense out of. People especially blame the Catholic Church for many of these things. I recommend a book that clears up Catholicism a bit. It's called "A Young Catholic's Apology for the Faith" read it or not. I respect you and your choices. I can't make you read it. Everyone has their own religion that is each right for them. While I am Catholic, others feel its best to be something else. You be you. I just feel that this book would help you understand what Catholicism is really about.
Why doesn’t god just speak for himself? A ton of child rape and cover up happens in the Catholic Church. Do you donate to the church? If so, you are knowingly funding child rape and cover up.
Load More Replies...
Hey, let's do this article but with Islam and its followers. Oh wait....we must respect their faith and not dare question it lest we be deemed bigots. I have read Christians mocked and ridiculed for their faith. But I notice if you did this article with any other religion it would be considered bigoted. Why are Christians the punching bag of the religious world. Seems one sided to me.
People are pointing out errors in Christianity because it is the dominant religion. Many young children are forced into being Christians and told that they will be punished if they don’t. Being a Christian by choice is fine with me, but forcing it upon others and having churches that take people’s money so they can ‘get into Heaven’ is not.
Load More Replies...
I was interested in this because it said plot holes in "religions". I assumed it would be about various religions but mostly just Christianity. Kinda disappointed.
So... Bored Panda jumping on the Christian bashing train? Why do so many atheists care if there are religious people out there? What does it matter to you? I have the right to believe what I want, the same as you. You want to have a logical discussion about religion, fine, but stop treating us like we're idiots or something. A lot of people have beliefs about a lot of things. Why can't we all just get along? Not everything needs to be so antagonistic.
I'd venture that atheists only care as far as the religious keep making it an issue by trying to make laws based on their faith. They try to inject their faith into public schools. No atheist anywhere would care one whit about someones personal religion, if they kept it their personal religion.
Load More Replies... 49 questions about Christianity, one about Islam (but includeds Christianity) and two from dead religions. This seems balanced.
Why would it be balanced? It’s taken from reddit which is an American based website. The most common religion in America is Christianity. My family is Muslim (I’m atheist) and I definitely know more about Christianity than Islam because I grew up in bible thumping America. Don’t spread your religion so effectively if you don’t want it to be widely discussed. Or learn Arabic and go on Arabic sites if you want to see questions about Islam.
Load More Replies...
Ian, christianity is making the positive claim (that god exists, etc.), so christianity tends to have the burden of proof. Why do you believe? Do you have a particularly good reason? Have you ever seen an angel, demon, soul, ghost, talking donkey, god, christ, etc? When there is good evidence, then atheists might have good reason to believe.
Load More Replies... 
Who said that? No one said that. You are just projecting. Besides one of the posts was specifically about Islam so take your concern trolling and go somewhere else.
Load More Replies... If god is so loving and loves all his children even sinners then why did he recommend stoning in the early testaments, why are children and innocent people dying of diseases and allow human suffering, why would god give boys foreskin but then decide that they should be circumcised as a “contract” between them and god, why did god create f*****g mosquitos, fleas, ticks and wasps (besides possible population control), how is it even possible for noah to have taken 2 of every animal. It is a logistically impossible and extremely inconceivable. Why would god punish everyone else for what 2 people did thousands of years ago. That is like punishing a whole classroom for the rest of the school year for the behaviour of one student. If god created satan and is all mighty then why hasn’t he destroyed satan. If humans were created to be perfect but have free will, how can we make bad decisions? that is not perfect, a perfect person wouldn’t make bad choices. I have soooooooo many more that I can ask but I would literally be here forever.
Yeah, I just saw a comment hidden with 34 upvotes... :P
Load More Replies... Standard answer to discrepancies in the Bible: "you don't have to take that literally, it's more like metaphor". :-( Then why is it so specific all the time?
The biggest problem is a term called "lost in translation". For example, an easy experiment to do is to take a King James translation (which is the most accurate English translation or should be), and any other more modern English translation and compare the texts. You will find one says one thing and the other says something else when taken into context.
Load More Replies... I feel like religion has also influenced a lot of gender discrimination
You’re right. Even the less harmful religions tend to discriminate against women.
Load More Replies... If God is perfect, and he has a plan for all, then what is the point of praying? You shouldn't be able to change a perfect things mind?
That's question is what started my journey to non belief.
Load More Replies... I never understood Jehovah's Witnesses. Like, it must be awfully depressing. They believe that 144,000 people can get into Heaven. So either it's already full, or you're competing for a spot with every JW who ever lived and ever WILL live.
They have the belief that after armageddon and judgement day comes the righteous will live life peacefully, eternally on earth as we were originally created to be. The ones that are chosen to go to heaven are there to help Jesus rule over the earth as Jesus would be the king but under advisement of God. Kind of like a government system. Apparently the 144,000 people have already been chosen so there is no competition to get to heaven. The idea that we will live happily on earth for all eternity with all their loved ones, no suffering etc brings them the peace they need.
Load More Replies... There's one constant about all religions. Even going back to when people were worshipping rocks, trees, the sun, whatever. There's always some person the tree, rock, sun, etc talks to personally and people are supposed to obey him. And provide for him. And give him things that he didn't earn. Can't understand God needing a middle- man.
Christians claim god is eternal (he always existed). They claim god is a perfect being. Claim he is all-knowing (knows everything). Claim he has a divine plan (knows the past, present and future). They claim he is inerrant and infallible (can never be wrong). If god is eternal that means that he existed for an infinite amount of time in the past. If he is a perfect being then he would have been perfectly content and perfectly full of self love for an infinite amount of time. From there, why create anything?! From there he creates angels. At least one angel betrays him. How could he not see that coming from an infinity time away? He is all-knowing and had a divine plan. Then he creates Adam and Eve and they betray him. He gets mad at them. How could he not see that coming? He lets mankind become evil so he decides to kill everything on earth except for Noah's crew with a torturous flood. He says that all evil will be erased with this flood, but there's still evil. A buffoonish god with a comedy of errors.
God allegelly killed over 2.8 million people, without countinting the estimated from Noah´s flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, etc. Satan apparently killed 10 people. God loves us all. Satan bad. Whaaat? Thank God I´m an atheist.
You say that you are an atheist and yet you say ,,thank god”?
Load More Replies... All of this supports my decision to be an atheist but still don't how to tell my very religious family
Be an Atheist. It's your choice, you don't have to tell your family if it's not that big an issue. If it's trivial things like praying before eating, just go with it, see it as a family tradition. If it's more, like being forced to go to church, things like that, then yes, maybe it becomes a problem then.
Load More Replies... I am actually religious, but this still bothers me: So, Jesus was born at midnight on the 25th of December. BC means Before Christ. So, either there were six days at the start of AD, or the final year in BC was short??? IDEK.
One of the commandments is something like 'thou shalt have no other god before me'. This implies other gods and that this one is suuuuper petty.
"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people" - Karl Marx
Raised in a strict Catholic home and went to mass every Sunday. One particular Sunday I actually paid attention during the Eucharist. I asked my mother when we got home if it is just symbolic when the priest turns the bread into Christ's body and the wine into his blood. When she said, "No, we believe it is the actual body and blood of Christ", I ran to the bathroom and threw up. I came out and screamed, "We are cannibals!" Thus, began the rapid decline of my blind faith...
The god of the bible has the same traits as the men that created him. He's petty, jealous, wrathful, vengeful, prideful, boastful, hypocritical, homophobic, tribalistic, misogynistic, needs constant worship, etc. He's a blood thirsty warmonger. He was pleased when King David brought him hundreds of bloody foreskins. He was with his chosen people in a battle, but they still lost because the enemies had iron chariots!
Best thing to me? Every one of these are legitimate questions with coherent answers yet none of these people ever seem to actually want the answer. They simply need to feel smarter than believers, usually (but not always) to cover up a questionable lifestyle. While I'm no believer, these DO have legit answers.
I understand that there are many parts of faith that everyone can't make sense out of. People especially blame the Catholic Church for many of these things. I recommend a book that clears up Catholicism a bit. It's called "A Young Catholic's Apology for the Faith" read it or not. I respect you and your choices. I can't make you read it. Everyone has their own religion that is each right for them. While I am Catholic, others feel its best to be something else. You be you. I just feel that this book would help you understand what Catholicism is really about.
Why doesn’t god just speak for himself? A ton of child rape and cover up happens in the Catholic Church. Do you donate to the church? If so, you are knowingly funding child rape and cover up.
Load More Replies... Hey, let's do this article but with Islam and its followers. Oh wait....we must respect their faith and not dare question it lest we be deemed bigots. I have read Christians mocked and ridiculed for their faith. But I notice if you did this article with any other religion it would be considered bigoted. Why are Christians the punching bag of the religious world. Seems one sided to me.
People are pointing out errors in Christianity because it is the dominant religion. Many young children are forced into being Christians and told that they will be punished if they don’t. Being a Christian by choice is fine with me, but forcing it upon others and having churches that take people’s money so they can ‘get into Heaven’ is not.
Load More Replies... I was interested in this because it said plot holes in "religions". I assumed it would be about various religions but mostly just Christianity. Kinda disappointed.
So... Bored Panda jumping on the Christian bashing train? Why do so many atheists care if there are religious people out there? What does it matter to you? I have the right to believe what I want, the same as you. You want to have a logical discussion about religion, fine, but stop treating us like we're idiots or something. A lot of people have beliefs about a lot of things. Why can't we all just get along? Not everything needs to be so antagonistic.
I'd venture that atheists only care as far as the religious keep making it an issue by trying to make laws based on their faith. They try to inject their faith into public schools. No atheist anywhere would care one whit about someones personal religion, if they kept it their personal religion.
Load More Replies... 49 questions about Christianity, one about Islam (but includeds Christianity) and two from dead religions. This seems balanced.
Why would it be balanced? It’s taken from reddit which is an American based website. The most common religion in America is Christianity. My family is Muslim (I’m atheist) and I definitely know more about Christianity than Islam because I grew up in bible thumping America. Don’t spread your religion so effectively if you don’t want it to be widely discussed. Or learn Arabic and go on Arabic sites if you want to see questions about Islam.
Load More Replies... Ian, christianity is making the positive claim (that god exists, etc.), so christianity tends to have the burden of proof. Why do you believe? Do you have a particularly good reason? Have you ever seen an angel, demon, soul, ghost, talking donkey, god, christ, etc? When there is good evidence, then atheists might have good reason to believe.
Load More Replies... Who said that? No one said that. You are just projecting. Besides one of the posts was specifically about Islam so take your concern trolling and go somewhere else.
Load More Replies...