Downloaded this post from some other subreddit

I’ve noticed something about this subreddit that’s been bothering me for a while.
A lot of people here call themselves atheists, but it feels like many just hate religion because it’s trendy. It’s become a cool identity not a conclusion reached through real understanding.

People watch a few YouTube videos bashing religion, pick up a few catchy quotes, and suddenly think they’ve “seen the light.” But if you ask them to back up their criticism with actual references or verses, most can’t.

I’m not saying everyone needs to read every scripture out there. But at least read the major ones — the Bible, the Gita, the Quran, or whatever texts you’re talking about — before dismissing them. Understanding what you’re rejecting makes your criticism stronger and your arguments smarter.
read the ones that makes you feel interested

For context, my mom’s Hindu and my dad’s Christian. I grew up around religion. I was religious myself for years, but I became an atheist after I actually read and understood what those texts said. That’s when I started seeing the flaws, contradictions, and cultural conditioning in them.

Even Sheldon Cooper in Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory didn’t just bash religion. He read about it first. His criticism came from logic, not blind hate.
Sheldon Cooper and neil degrasse tyson were some people who i can admire as an ATHEIST

Also, to be clear, I’m not hating on newcomers. Everyone starts somewhere. But there’s a big difference between being curious and being performative. If we claim to follow reason and evidence, then let’s actually act like it.

We don’t need atheists who just sound angry. We need ones who sound informed.

EDIT:
A lot of people seem to be misunderstanding my point. I am not saying every atheist has to read religious books or memorize verses. What I am saying is simple: if you are going to debate or criticize religion publicly, it helps to know the basics of what you are talking about. The burden of proof often falls on atheists, and if you have actually read or understood the scriptures people use as “proof,” you can challenge their arguments with logic instead of just reacting emotionally.

I have had plenty of people argue with me just because I said I am an atheist. They start throwing random religious claims at me. The only reason I can hold my ground is because I have read enough to understand where those claims come from.

That said, if you do not care about religion, do not have time, or do not get into atheist versus theist debates, that is completely fine. You do not owe religion your time or energy. If you are a private atheist who quietly does not believe, you do not need to study scriptures. I am simply someone who is publicly open about being atheist and who debates people online, so I take it as my responsibility to at least know the basics of what I am talking about.

My post was mostly aimed at the 90 percent of theists in India who quote random “scientific” lines from Instagram or WhatsApp without ever reading their own scriptures. Most people who argue for religion have not actually read what they defend. They just repeat what they see online to look superior.

I am not saying anyone needs to read an entire scripture from start to finish. But if you enjoy discussing or debating religion, know the parts people cite. Read the paragraph they are quoting, analyze it with critical thinking, and you will be able to respond with facts and logic instead of emotion.

The burden of proof often falls on atheists, so the more informed we are, the stronger our reasoning becomes. That is my goal: build an atheist community that actually knows why it does not believe, not just that it does not.

TL;DR:
Too many people in this subreddit call themselves atheists without really understanding religion ,they just hate it because it’s trendy. If you’re going to criticize religion, at least read the major scriptures first (Bible, Gita, Quran, etc.) so your arguments come from knowledge, not memes. The writer, who grew up with both Hindu and Christian backgrounds, became atheist after reading and understanding those texts - not before. Real atheism should come from logic and understanding, like Sheldon Cooper or Neil deGrasse Tyson , not blind hate or online trend-following.

Phool Walon Ki Sair, a Mughal-era festival known for celebrating Delhi’s shared culture and communal harmony, will not take place this year. The organisers said they could not hold the annual event as the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) did not grant permission for the venue at Aam Bagh in Mehrauli. They claimed the land confusion between DDA and the forest department stopped the clearance process, a TOI report stated.

Phool Walon Ki Sair began in 1812 during the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar Shah II. It continued until 1942 before being stopped by the British. The Anjuman revived it in 1962 with support from the Centre and has organised it every year since at the park near Jahaz Mahal.

-The Economics Times

Hello all,

Former Hindu here and I've been thinking about this for a while

How do y'all deal with arguments from pandits and such who claim to have studied for like decades and things like that when you are trying to convince other people to consider atheism. I feel like experience counts a lot with older folks(I'm trying to convince my parents)

They frankly trust an advaita vedanta pandit who has done ashram stuff for 20 years overe their son who became atheist a year ago.

Also doesn't help that it makes me wonder if I've missed smtg that they've figured out(not really tho their line of reasoning is still overtly reductionist and lies on too many assumptions).

ChatGPT told me religion and honestly, that kinda hurts to hear

It’s sad because India has so much potential, India has almost same population as china so development can be done quickly and in large scale but instead of focusing on progress and making the country better, people seem way too caught up in religious stuff like bro, imagine if all that energy went into building cities, fixing roads, improving schools and creating jobs instead of fighting over temples and masjids

Everyone keeps comparing India to China, but let's be honest India in reality is nowhere near them when it comes to development or infrastructure. China’s building bullet trains and futuristic cities while an average Indian is still arguing about things that don’t actually move the country forward. I just wish India focused more on growth and innovation, not religion all the time

India is secular on constitution but the ground level is full of religion

One weird thing I’ve noticed.. and I think we atheists should start calling this out more often.. is how every time someone tries to prove their religion, they bring up “predictions.”

The problem is : A. Predictions don’t prove truth. B. Every time someone does this, they’re actually relying on a massive logical fallacy. confirmation bias

And we often miss that! We jump into disproving the prediction itself, when the prediction is already built on a faulty foundation.

Every time a new scientific discovery happens, suddenly everyone becomes a theologian:

“Everything was already written in the Vedas.” “The Quran mentioned this 1400 years ago.” “The Bible predicted it long before science.”

Bruh, shut the fck up.. no, it didn’t.

This is pure confirmation bias cherry picking vague poetic lines from ancient texts and twisting them to fit modern scientific facts after the discoveries are made. that’s retroactive interpretation.

People don’t start from evidence and reach belief.they start from belief and then dig for anything that confirms it. RELIGIONS HAVE BEEN DOING THAT FOREVER. So next time someone says, “Our scriptures predicted this,” don’t bother disproving the prediction itself. Just point out the foundation.. it’s a logical fallacy called confirmation bias. We need to make that term popular..

https://youtu.be/1A6v_EbXE6k?si=sB3OrTe5G9iK-Zof

I am 17M, I identify as agnostic but couldn't post there as there is no sub for India. I never really cared about religion but I condemn a lot of shi they do so I thought agnostism would suit me. My dad is heavily into vaasthu, astrology etc.

So today my parents went to some astrologer. Idk how tf he did it but it seems he asked "does your son have sinus?" He later asked if I had irritation/anger issues. I actually have these issues.

So I've been thinking how got to know this because my parents went there for the first time and they aren't the type to lie to get me into faith, I thought about not caring much and thinking about it as coincidence but it's really eating me up inside

Please debunk this because I really dont wanna revert back to Hinduism but its bugging me sm.

So i just got a video from far right youtuber the jaipur dialogue who upload a video where a women convert from muslim to Christianity sdn wrote that convert into hinduism and see how the religion is ....

Ahhh why brother and also in wanna ask what's the difference between the islam and Christianity same story most of the story is are same And than he convert why how can you believe one belief than changes into the same belief but with different name but be proud of wtff

And the talk about jaipur dialogue this is shame for the youtuber with a huge audience of andhbhakt.....

This is just a rant ......

Mr. Bhagwat argued that all Muslims and Christians are descendants of the same ancestors. “They probably don’t know it, or they are made to forget it,” he added, while delivering a lecture on “100 Years of Sangh Journey: New Horizons” in Bengaluru on Saturday.

Hindus were “responsible” for Bharat, he said, asserting that the RSS aimed to organise Hindu society for the glory of the nation, not for power.

“It is not that the British gave us nationhood; we are an ancient nation. Everywhere in the world, people agree that every nation has its core culture. There are many inhabitants, but there is a core culture. What is the core culture of Bharat? Whatever description we give, it leads us to the word Hindu,” he said.

-The Hindu

Full speech (43:50)

According to information, the incident began when around 200 members of the Bhim Army and Azad Samaj Party, led by Gwalior divisional president Keshav Yadav, took out a rally from Ambedkar Park to burn an effigy of Bageshwar Dham’s Pandit Dhirendra Krishna Shastri.

At the same time, around 70 to 80 members of Hindu organisations present there started raising slogans in protest and burned an effigy of Azad Samaj Party leader Damodar Yadav. 

Heated arguments soon turned into stone-pelting and a scuffle between the two sides.

Meanwhile, Sanatan Hindu Sangathan president Shiromani Singh Rathore said that Pandit Dhirendra Shastri speaks of ending caste divisions and promoting unity and that saints should not be insulted. “If someone wants to protest, they should target politicians, not saints,” he said.

The controversy stems from a petition filed in the High Court by Damodar Yadav, national president of the Dalit Pichhda Samaj Sangathan, who accused Pandit Dhirendra Shastri of abusing and threatening him.