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I don't believe in the Bible God, because he is an A-Hole.
But I believe that in the universe, somewhere, even though there is ...
... a lot of evidence that there is nothing out there, there could be another dimension.
We don't know.
I am open to some supernatural and spiritual ideas.
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We've probably all had the experience of some older person saying: ''Oh well when you're on your deathbed,
I'm sure you'll, you'll believe, you'll want Jesus or something, and...'' Nooooo. Like I'm just-
I'm happy, I'm content, I'm excited about my beliefs.
I'm open to ideas that can fit within a reasonable framework,
but no spiritual or supernatural idea has ever fit that standard.
Like I'm open to... That's why I'm like I'm that weird category of agnostic-atheism, and a lot of people were like: ''What's that?
How can you be an agnostic atheist that's weird, you're contradicting yourself.'' But I'm open to it.
I don't believe in the Bible God because he's, he's an A-hole.
But I believe that in the universe somewhere, even though there's a lot of evidence that there's nothing out there,
there could be another dimension, there could be like black holes like interstellar could go somewhere. We don't know.
For me, you know, I'm open to wicanism and paganism, you know.
[Giggles] It's a fun little thing to do, to see what happens.
I think you can be atheist and spiritual too.
You can have different beliefs. I've had some crazy Ouija board experiences. I believe in ...
... something else. I don't believe in someone else.
I believe as above so below I think everything is very connected
and I believe that I should behave in a way that I would want
acted towards back to me and I think that's a very spiritual idea, you know, that the energy is recycled and that our actions invite actions.
Praying is a waste of time.
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Do I think it's a waste of time.
Prayer is, people argue very often to me, that prayer brings a lot of comfort and has meaning to them.
You know why it has to be that over all of the other options you can do?
I don't know and when considering that, in a lot of cases,
you're choosing to step back. You're choosing to remove your responsibility from any situation.
Yeah, I have issues with that.
Nothing aggravates me more, too, like especially like our current political climate, when a group of people is gunned down
and our public and politician tweets out like: ''Sending thoughts and prayers.'' But at the same time, I'm on the somewhat disagree side because I
personally think praying will not accomplish anything.
But I think that what someone has to do to put positive energy out into their life and start their day
and I know that my parents pray for me every night and it makes me happy but I think like they're
sending out positive thoughts.
I grew up religious.
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I was born into Catholicism, I was born into a Catholic family. I think the majority of religion is
indoctrination of children, it's just by happenstance of where you're born, what religion you're born into and who
your parents happen to be.
I grew up in a very quintessential Jew-ish household,
but I did go on birthright when I was 18
and I think that was a big factor in my atheism because while I was on that trip
I asked a lot of questions, which I think you're supposed to do to get out of it,
and all I could think about was how I was a couple miles over I might be praying to Allah instead of Hashem.
I couldn't find a difference in my God vs another god or
justification for why my God was more likely of existing than another god.
For me growing up Mormon
it was just really oppressive. It was basically your life and your whole identity and
everyone that you even had to just hang out with or just be around was Mormon
You don't have a choice, basically
It's been a struggle for me.
I left when I was 18 years old.
I wouldn't have it any other way honestly,
because I just I do not like to believe in a lie.
Mormonism is a lie and it's a fraud.
Yeah.
I think we're very close, on like the same spectrum,
but I grew up born and raised Jehovah's Witness believing- Believing that Jehovah was God. Believing that, you know,
Armageddon was gonna come and if you weren't a Jehovah's Witness and we didn't convert everyone else Jehovah's Witnesses they were gonna die.
You believe this way: No holidays. No birthdays. No, no Christmas.
No blood transfusions. Like thousands of people have died
- Dangerous.
of some of these beliefs
for no reason. I know many people have died and they shouldn't have. This is for no reason.
But,
[Choked up] I'm glad that I'm out because that's really scary.
Was super religious and once I was out, it was like a relief on my shoulders because part of me when I got this fellowship
was like: ''Oh shit!'' You know, my life is all new. You lose your family. You lose your support system. Everyone kicks you out.
You're dead.
It was nice to believe that we were scammed and we were lied to and we deserve better.
Yeah.
The world would be better off without religion.
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Can I not?
[Laughter]
I mean all anyone has to do is just research. Just look, just read,
just go out there and see the harms that religion, not inherently does, but that it can and therefore does.
Any major issue you can take in the US and
somehow religion will find a way to be behind that.
The reason why I'm standing here, despite being hurt by religion in the past, is that I feel like
religion brings a lot of good to like the world in general. The pros outweigh the cons in my view.
If there are people out there who feel like they need an instruction manual to be a good person,
I think they should have it.
The more I've thought about it, I've kind of looked at maybe large institutions,
power structures, dogmatic beliefs are maybe more the real problem than the really broad, big, unwieldy definition of religion.
The community I run is called ''Atheist United'', most people in my community
would love to destroy religion in the world and think the world will suddenly be better
but I see a bunch of atheists then, that are struggling with the same exact problems. That still have the same
prejudices, that deal with the same stereotypes and we just changed the label.
I do agree that there is community that's brought by religion,
but wherever there's community, there someone outside of that community.
There are people not accepted into that community.
There's ostracism, but I think in a world where
there is either no religion or multitude of religions
there's always going to be like division in that multitude and I just don't know if the ostracism and the pain is worth
the hope that the community will override that.
Just to push back a little bit. Given that we are tribal animals, right? We do get together
you know, if it's not going to be religion,
which I'm fine with, then it's maybe your soccer team or your chess club or your sorority.
And my biggest concern and why I work in this community is: I don't know if you want to raise your children
necessarily there or if you feel like they share your values enough to help you if you're in the hospital or,
you know, they're the people you can turn to if you're on your deathbed.
Just push back a little bit too. I think that
there is an issue if you think that the only group of solace that you can find for deep existential or
physical problems is your religious group. If they are the only people that you can turn to for help,
then that's a problem, because then you're feel trapped inside of them. That you can't escape that kind of group
and you touched on that a lot.
-Absolutely.
Having different groups with different opinions instead of one group that has one fundamental idea and said some morality.
You need a group that can check that morality.
I wish I believed in a higher power.
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I don't think it would make my life easier. I would have all the same questions I have and have worse answers.
I think it'd be very comforting to believe in a higher power. To believe that no matter what happens, you'll be ok.
I think I'd be a much happier person. But I'm also very proud of what I have accomplished on my own.
I know everything that I have achieved is through my own effort.
Last year someone that I used to be very close with
died of an opioid addiction and it was like rattled my world because I'd never really been faced with the idea that like
like you always know like you're gonna die one day and people die and it happens, but it just it was
like this like visceral reaction that we are so immortal and we are so powerless and
And it really messed me up
and sometimes I still like wake up at night and I'm like I have to drink a lot of water and relax
I'm so terrified of the idea of not existing anymore. It's not the idea of dying, it's just the idea of nothing.
I would be upset if my children believed in God.
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Hmm, shit.
I can't be a hypocrite and say I would do the exact same thing.
I know what religion and the religious have done to me and others hearing all of you and say you're disowned.
You're no longer welcomed into my home.
You are no longer a part of my life.
I can't do that. And so therefore I'm going to change my answer to this. [Laughs]
Your own relationship with God is very personal.
So, who am I to say who you should believe in or what you shouldn't believe in as long as you're not hurting anybody or yourself.
Whatever is in your heart just do it. As long as you're not hurting anybody.
Would I be upset if my child believed in a God?
A little bit. [Laughter] I'm not gonna lie. I'd be like damn I didn't do a good job.
I agree with a lot of your guys's points, like as long as they're not hurting people, as long as you're like pursuing your happiness,
Be yourself. Be happy, whatever that looks like.
I also think my problem with a religious person has never been their religion.
It has been like things that they have used that religion to justify.
-The interpretation of it.
Yeah or actions or behaviors in name of their God, you know
so if my child chooses to believe in God and they
don't use that to justify harm or malice then that's fine.
Yeah, and one person I really look up to, who is kind of Christ-like is Mr. Rogers.
He's always been gentle and nice, you know, and he believes in God.
Who am I to say "Hey, Mr. Roger, you need to stop.''?
[Applause]
Yeah, you guy want to do lunch?
Yeah.
I really enjoyed that discussion.
Yeah, absolutely. It was really interesting to hear that some of these atheists are still open to spiritual ideas.
Definitely.
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