322
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by Subject6051@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

I am Ganesh, an Indian atheist and I don't eat beef. It's not like that I have a religious reason to do that, but after all those years seeing cows as peaceful animals and playing and growing up with them in a village, I doubt if I ever will be able to eat beef. I wasn't raised very religious, I didn't go to temple everyday and read Gita every evening unlike most muslims who are somewhat serious about their religion, my family has this watered down religion (which has it's advantages).

But yeah, not eating beef is a moral issue I deal with. I mean, I don't care that I don't eat beef, but the fact that I eat pork and chicken but not beef seems to me to be weird. So, is there any religious practice that you guys follow to this day?

edit: I like religious music, religious temples (Churches, Gurudwara's, Temples & Mosques in Iran), religious paintings and art sometimes. I know for a fact that the only art you could produce is those days was indeed religious and the greatest artists needed to make something religious to be funded, that we will never know what those artists would have produced in the absence of religion, but yeah, religious art is good nonetheless.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] yukichigai@kbin.social 124 points 1 year ago

I still act respectful in churches and other "sacred" places, not out of any fear of the Magic Sky Wizard, but simply because other people respect them and it seems like a useful thing to encourage, even if I don't agree with the underlying reasoning. Having a place which most of society agrees should be a quiet, comforting sanctuary is not the worst thing at all, even if the comfort is derived from extreme wishful thinking.

Also, Christmas. Christmas music is great. A Charlie Brown Christmas is one of the best holiday albums ever, though we always skip "Hark the Herald Angel Sings" 'cause it's such a tonal shift compared to the rest of the album.

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] bunkyprewster@startrek.website 87 points 1 year ago

I went to Catholic catechism as a child and one of the few things I remember was Jesus washing other people's feet. I like the humility of that and it inspires me to want to do acts of service

[-] Blake@feddit.uk 34 points 1 year ago

Was chatting with a young (17-ish) atheist guy recently who misremembered this as “isn’t there a bit in the bible where Christian licks a prostitute’s feet?” which truly left me with so many things I wanted to say that I could bareky say anything without laughing so much, but I managed to get out “did you think Jesus was called Christian??”

[-] sloppy_diffuser@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 year ago

Similar upbringing in Catholic school. Acts of humility like a poor person giving what little they have holds more weight than a king giving their weight in gold, the golden rule, and showing general compassion has stuck with me decades later. Education was pretty good too. None of that dinosaurs lived 6000 years ago or whatever crap. I attribute the education to giving me the critical thinking skills to not fall for the indoctrination. I could tell the poor giving message was a lead in for tithing. Taking a message of helping someone in real need no matter your status to support this church that was the best looking building in town didn't pass the logic test.

[-] the_itsb@hexbear.net 10 points 1 year ago

Me too, this is one of the main things that stuck with me. Honestly, idk how to think of myself except in relation to my service to community, it has really shaped my entire experience of the world.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] krayj@sh.itjust.works 51 points 1 year ago

I still celebrate Christmas - though in more of a yule way than anything resembling christianity. What I think of as the spirit of christmas is...friends/family getting together in winter and sharing what they have.

And, of course, my circumcision...still got that.

[-] YoBuckStopsHere@lemmy.world 30 points 1 year ago
[-] Dressedlikeapenguin@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

Not the genital mutilation, though, that's Jewish. I never understood why Christians do it. Didn't Jesus fulfill the law and the prophets? Plus there was a spat over adults converting, but not getting circumcized that was settled on the side of "not required". I may be remembering it wrong.

[-] Thisfox@sopuli.xyz 11 points 1 year ago

It's an American thing. Australians mostly see it as mutilation; It isn't religion, it is yanks.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[-] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 41 points 1 year ago

In a way, I try to live my life so that if some kind of higher power existed, they'd think I am a good person. Not as a gambit to get into heaven or whatever, I don't believe in that. But trying to imagine an objective arbiter of morality makes it easier to take myself out of the equation, which means I'm more likely to treat others as I want to be treated.

[-] illectrility@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 year ago

I use biology. Being grateful and kind just has an evolutionary advantage

[-] TheWoozy@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Approaching kindness or generosity from a biological point of view seems (to me) to lead to The Prisoners' Dilemma. Everyone is better off if we are all generous, but if I can't trust others to be generous, I'm better off being selfish.

IMHO, religion is an evolutionary adaptation to "solve" this problem. It might have worked in small communities, but not in our global society.

I'm rambling...

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
load more comments (8 replies)
[-] noisypine@infosec.pub 31 points 1 year ago
load more comments (5 replies)
[-] TheControlled@lemmy.world 30 points 1 year ago

I enjoy blaspheming. (God dammit, Jesus fucking Christ, etc)

I try to pry it out of my lexicon but can't do it, especially when I'm mad which of course is most likely when I blaspheme.

load more comments (7 replies)
[-] xkforce@lemmy.world 28 points 1 year ago

Christmas because I have good memories of it and I like the idea of a holiday that by and large, brings my extended family together. And I like buying or creating personalized gifts for those close to me and vice versa.

My ex's family was ethnically but not religiously jewish and they still did hannukah which was interesting and being included in that meant a lot to me.

load more comments (1 replies)

I was a Satanist for a bit. I still use Magick to think about leadership and social manipulation. Its pretty useful for me, and it's also funny as hell to think of a boardroom meeting as a ritual circle around an altar of PowerPoint.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] XbSuper@lemmy.world 27 points 1 year ago

I was going to say nothing, but based on other answers here, it seems Christmas is being held as religious. I personally feel all religious connotations have been thoroughly washed away from xmas over the years, and it's simply a holiday like any other now. I still love the lights and decorations it brings out, the whole family coming together, and the food.

load more comments (6 replies)
[-] airportline@lemmy.ml 27 points 1 year ago

I recognize that Churches are often community centers and do a lot of good work

[-] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 27 points 1 year ago

I wasn't raised very religious.

I do think some of the stuff from the Christian Bible would be great if people followed it.

  • pray in private, not where people can see you
  • help other people. Like, go read the good Samaritan again. It's not long. That dude goes way the fuck out of his way to help someone he's never met. And some people do some fucking intense mental backflips to justify "no it's a metaphor man you don't have to like actually go near a poor person
  • you'll be judged by how you treat the least among you. Yeah, anyone can be nice to their friends, or suck up to wealthy. But how you treat the poor and vulnerable? That's telling.

Part of what makes the religious right in the US so infuriating is they spend so much time being mad about gay people and comparably no time on poverty.

Every mega church should be condemned as heretical and repurposed as housing or something for the needy.

load more comments (4 replies)
[-] MxM111@kbin.social 22 points 1 year ago

I say “bless you” when somebody sneezes.

load more comments (6 replies)
[-] mojo@lemm.ee 21 points 1 year ago

I really like churches, they are a good way to find a strong community. It can be really hard as an adult in a new area to meet people, and a church can basically solve that for you. I'm in a very religious area too where they desperately want me to go to one.

Also I've kind of understood "praying" now. I meditate a lot, and the goal to focus on your inner breath and be one with the present moment. Praying is kind of the opposite, instead of focusing on your inner self, you're focusing on something greater outside of you, like trying to connect your body to the universe. It's like trying to imagine you're part of something greater and it's kind of comforting.

[-] Ocelot@lemmies.world 10 points 1 year ago

100%! Cathedrals and Temples especially are some of the most amazing pieces of architecture. You can't walk in to a historic European cathedral with the ceiling reaching to the sky and stained glass windows and not feel something.

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] genuineparts@feddit.de 21 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yes that my local, now long deceased Priest didn't want my father to be buried at his graveyard, because he committed suicide and that is a sin. Made me a staunch atheist.

[-] PeckerBrown@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago

Feeling guilty for existing.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] SnokenKeekaGuard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 1 year ago

I'd say monogamy, but that isn't strictly religious. Sex outside of relationships ig (ik it's not marriage but still).

[-] stewie3128@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago

Hundreds of years ago, Christianity inspired some truly incredible music. Bach's BWV 63 (especially the Gardiner recording) is a miracle.

Contemporary Christian music, though, is probably the falling domino that ultimately led to the realization that my Christianity was just tribalism. Modern American Christian "culture" has no redeeming value, other than its lucrative redemption for fiat currency.

I do love visiting cathedrals, though.

I think there is a lot of beautiful wisdom in the bible that sticks with me, but usually it only comes out when I (way more often that I'd like) hear someone who claims to be Christian acting in a way that is completely antithetical to what is in the bible.

[-] Blake@feddit.uk 15 points 1 year ago

I’m atheist and my parents raised me without any religion. The first time I learned anything about religion was at primary school where Christianity was taught as fact. I was really confused as to why I hadn’t heard of this “god” fellow before now, and I asked my parents about it, and they explained the general concept of religious belief to me, and said that I was free to believe whatever I choose, and I remember being frustrated that my mum wouldn’t directly answer me as to whether or not this stuff was real or not real, and kind of just settled on the idea that it was like they read the Chronicles of Narnia and believed Aslan was real, which was like, fine with me, but seemed a little silly. It was kind of funny to learn a bunch of religious stuff in retrospect - it was kind of like, “dang, this Jesus dude really does force himself into everything doesn’t he?” Easter is the funniest one, it’s such a stretch, they clearly had no idea how to make that one about Christianity and just kinda phoned it in.

So, the one “religious” thing I keep, is saying stuff like “oh my god”, “for god’s sake” and stuff like that, but for me, it doesn’t really mean anything to do with god. It’s just like an otherwise meaningless idiom that people say.

load more comments (8 replies)
[-] handofdumb@lemm.ee 15 points 1 year ago

Sup, Ganesh! I’m HandOfDumb :) This is a neat question you’ve asked and I’m stoked to see more answers.

I was raised in Catholicism, though my family has, largely, stopped following that specific religion so closely (though many are still religious). I don’t follow any specific religion and am unsure what I consider myself - atheist fits well enough!

Somethings that stick for me are many of the kindnesses that live within bible stories. There’s a lot of good stuff in there, of course! And most of (what I consider to be) the good stuff is along the lines of being a good person. But some of it is kinda off-beat.

Like, there’s a bit in there about a proclamation that people should forgive debts after some seemingly arbitrary amount of time (seven years?) and that really jibed with me. Not the time part, but just forgiving pals/family you might have loaned money to. If I spot a friend $5 for something, I’m not going to hold it against them and ask them to repay. If they do repay? Great! But I will never expect it and I will not be offended if they do not.

Similarly with larger sums. If I’m okay to loan it to someone, I’m okay to lose it.

Anyhoo, I think it’s awesome that you like cows :) they remind me of big ol’ dogs and I like them very much. They can teach us more than they can fill our bellies, I think!

[-] all-knight-party@kbin.cafe 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'd say I'm agnostic, but my parents also didn't force religion on me, my dad is Catholic, and my mom is Thai Buddhist, and I view the Buddhist ideology to strive for being satisfied without material as an honorable goal. I feel as if I believe that attaining that mindset really is nirvana, and I don't think you need to be particularly religious to think that's possible.

load more comments (7 replies)
[-] kenoh@lemm.ee 14 points 1 year ago

Exmormon here, going on 20 years now. Don't miss pretty much anything from it except some of the music. Ignore the Republican-looking motherfuckers here and enjoy this: https://youtu.be/WwYm_mKQ3Gs

load more comments (14 replies)
[-] NuPNuA@lemm.ee 13 points 1 year ago

This seem to work on an assumption that people have a religion before becoming athiest/agnostic. I never did. My birth certificate says Church of England as that's the default here unless your parents ask for something else. However they never took me to church or raised me in a religious manner, I had an entirely secular upbringing so there's no elements of Religon to hang onto.

[-] 31415926535@lemm.ee 13 points 1 year ago

I went to old school, pre second Vatican council Latin masses. On our knees on other days in dusty, stone walled rooms, heads down, everyone quietly counting rosary beads. Had to wear veil over head to enter church because women's bare heads weren't fit for the eyes of god. Large cathedrals, Latin chanting bouncing echoes off walls. Hunky jesus nailed to cross behind gaudy altar, his loincloth sculpted so teasingly low.

No longer believe in god, but damn, the theatrical pomp was next class, probably influenced work I do as an artist, and why I like bdsm so much.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] neptune@dmv.social 13 points 1 year ago

This is probably slightly tangential, but after leaving a very dogmatic, Christian upbringing, I dabbled in the New Atheist Thing but have since come to realize religion and belief is on a two dimensional axes.

On the first axis, you have dogma, or a core set of beliefs or religious doctrine. High or low dogma. Your classic fundamentalists of any stripe are over here. Evangelical Christians, fundamentalist Islam. And yes even some strains of atheism can be relatively high dogma. On the lower end of the dogma scale you have agnostics, many atheists, some types of new age spirituality, and even some types of organized religion like Unitarianism or Buddhism.

On the second axis is humanism, or the relishing and participation in people, culture and acceptance of people or ideas that do not conform to the doctrine. High on the humanism scale would be literal secular humanists, and other faiths that prioritize people more than dogma.

Eventually, someone raised in a high dogma/low humanism religion might eventually learn there are some faiths that are relatively high humanism, even with a low or relatively high dogma score.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] CannotSleep420@lemmygrad.ml 13 points 1 year ago

I haven't believed in Catholicism for over 10 years and I still believe I deserve to be tortured so badly it's beyond human comprehension for eternity.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Kahlenar@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

Catholic guilt. My parents were atheists when they had me, but still instilled guilt in me so hard it hurts to this day.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Fukled@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

I celebrate Christmas for my children so they don't miss out. Does that count? I'm also very routine. I do the same thing the same way, every day. That might tie in to rituals? Hell if I know.

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] JokeDeity@lemm.ee 11 points 1 year ago

Christmas for sure because it's fun and there's good food and smells and all kinds of stuff. Beyond that, no not really.

load more comments (5 replies)
[-] aaaaaaadjsf@hexbear.net 11 points 1 year ago

As an atheist that was raised as an evangelical Christian, probably using the Lord's name in vain interestingly enough. Like going "thank God/Jesus" when something good happens, "oh God/lord" when shit hits the fan, and using Christ's name as a swear word. I know it's supposed to a sin in the Christian religion, but it's the one thing I still do.

load more comments (6 replies)
[-] rouxdoo@kbin.social 10 points 1 year ago

@Subject6051

My family put us to the church as kids as little as needed to prove that they exposed us to it. I thank them for that minimal exposure because I've always felt agnostic (of course, that was verbalized as atheism as a kid). My mom was raised German christian, my dad was raised Quaker.

I think that the most meaningful lessons I learned about religion were from my father (who never once mentioned god, Jesus or the church).

My father's religion was one of acceptance of all others, refusal of indoctrination to any structured religion and an absolute knowledge that men (and women) make their faith and their covenant to each other, not to a church. Thanks, dad!

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] 5714@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 year ago

Sometimes I listen to Gregorian chants.

About cows - there was a YTer who sucessfully connected atheism to veganism (but then didn't). I think veganism and atheism have a lot in common structurally.

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] nayminlwin@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 year ago

The way I talk to monks. In Theravada buddhism, monks are treated as a class above average humans. We had to special wording when speaking with them to be reverent, kind of like when speaking with nobles, royals and whatnot in Europe.

Still awkwardly doing that around most monks when I'm with my family, just out of respect for them. There are a few close monk friends that I can talk to normally though.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] nocturne213@lemm.ee 9 points 1 year ago

I am a non-theist Norse pagan and have been a Norse pagan since I was single digits in age. I was raised by a Catholic mother (her mother was Irish Catholic and her father was Roman Catholic), my father's mother was a Mennonite. I was not raised religiously, but i still have Catholic guilt, and use religious curses.

load more comments (5 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2023
322 points (95.2% liked)

Asklemmy

43733 readers
1150 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS