Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Atheists Confess What Would Actually Change Their Minds About Religion

Atheists Confess What Would Actually Change Their Minds About Religion
@yomommasofat3/Reddit

When it comes to religion, a person either believes in a god or doesn't believe that a higher power exists.

But people are more complex than that. As we evolve throughout our respective journeys in life, we are known to vacillate between conforming to some ideas while dismissing others.

What we used to believe in no longer applies based on our negative experiences and vice versa.

Does it work the same way with faith and believing in God?


Curious to hear from non-religious people online, Redditor Graysie-Redux asked:

"Atheists of Reddit: What could change your mind?"

The proof is in the pudding.

Proper Comeuppance

"Every single paedophile/rapist in religious positions of power being simultaneously struck by lightning."

– serharridan

Evidence

"Any actual evidence. Also change my mind about which god(s)? Yahweh, Zeus, Osiris, Amaterasu?"

"I'm always amused by people not understanding what athiesm is. It's not a belief. Its a rejection of a claim and that's it. It's not what evidence would convince me otherwise, it's what evidence do you have. I observe said evidence and say that's not sufficient evidence because..."

– Rdr198829

Deeper Persuasion Required

"Nothing could suddenly change my mind into believing in the Christian (all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving) God. Proof of an entity with reality-changing powers would certainly change my world-view, but only to the point where I recognize that such a thing exists in the known universe. Ability does not imply divinity (or altruism)"

– Piercewise1

A Father's Experience After A Heart Attack

"My dad is an atheist, and had a major heart attack last year which came extremely close to killing him many times. He was in a coma for more than a month."

"During that time, several Christian family members wondered if he was having a religious experience, had seen/spoken to god or maybe his late daughter as an angel, and would awake as a religious man now."

"I said there was zero chance. Even if he did actually have these experiences and then come out of the coma and tell us about them, he would never say 'I talked to god while I was in a coma.' He would say 'The chemicals in my brain did an interesting thing while I was in a coma.'”

"As it happened, he did live and was able to tell us about his experience. None of it was remotely religious. It was mostly memories of thinking the hospital staff were torturing him."

"The closest thing he had during the coma was a dream where he saw my wife telling him that my dead sister and my wife’s dead sister were talking in heaven."

– PRGuyHere

These atheists believe in heavy sarcasm.

The Mythic Creature

"As a former atheist, what changed my mind was that, i learned the flying spaghetti monster existed."

– ThundaCrossSplitAtak

Egyptian Deity

"Christians, what would convince you to worship the Egyptian god Ra?"

– RedofPaw

"Whichever one, Christ or Ra, shows up in front of me first and bitch slaps me."

"Edit: if one of you offering to slap me are a God please teleport to my location to prove it you coward."

– RikenVorkovin

Money Talks

"I don't even need proof. I'll believe in him for €10m. I accept cash."

– ShadyShamaster

"Now that's a conversion method I could get into."

– yomommasofat3

The jury is still out for these Redditors.

Time To See Someone

"Don't know if there's anything. If some god appeared I'd still wonder if this was some hallucination and make an appointment with a psychologist."

– Destriant_of_Perish

Seeing Is Believing

"I think for me god would have to appear on a societal level in addition to seeing them myself. If my friends and relatives (who are also mostly atheist or agnostic) testified to also seeing god, as well as the general public and it became a known thing that god was real and making appearances I would probably believe it too."

– Feral_doves

Hearing It From The Source

"A god showing me they're real."

"Not a person telling me why their god is real. That's evidence of nothing."

"Gods shouldn't need middlemen."

– Vic_Hedges

There is not enough convincing that can persuade atheists to believe in an all-powerful, omniscient entity.

Many of them would attest to a higher power if they could be presented with tangible evidence of its existence.

Yet, I'm pretty sure most people who claim to have faith have not witnessed any appearances by God.

So this is an interesting conversation about what leads people to believe or completely dismiss the possibility that there might be something greater out there than any of us can ever imagine.

What do you think?

Want to "know" more?

Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Spencer Pratt
Fox News

Spencer Pratt Spouts Bizarre Religious Prophecy About His Run For LA Mayor—And The Side-Eye Is Real

Former MTV reality show The Hills villain Spencer Pratt took his Los Angeles mayoral campaign to Fox & Friends on Thursday with a bold pronouncement about who supports his campaign just days before Tuesday's primary vote.

Speaking to hosts Ainsley Earhardt, Brian Kilmeade, and Lawrence Jones, Pratt declared:

Keep ReadingShow less
Lindsey Graham
Heather Diehl/Getty Images

Lindsey Graham Just Shared His Mind-Numbing Idea For Renaming The Nobel Peace Prize After Trump—And The Delusion Is Off The Charts

South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham was criticized for offering fawning praise for President Donald Trump during a Fox News appearance in which he suggested the Nobel Peace Prize should be renamed the "Trump Prize" in the president's honor.

Graham made the comment while discussing Trump’s push for additional Middle Eastern countries to join the Abraham Accords as part of broader efforts to end the war with Iran. Graham argued that, if Trump succeeds in expanding the accords and securing a wider regional peace deal, the Nobel Peace Prize should effectively become the “Trump Prize.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Jesse Watters discussing James Talarico
Fox News

YouTuber Goes Viral With Pointed Reminder For Dems After Jesse Watters Mocks James Talarico For Looking 'Prepubescent'

YouTuber and atheist influencer Hemant Mehta shared a powerful reminder for Democrats who fear a minority candidate can't be elected president after Fox News host Jesse Watters mocked Texas Senate nominee James Talarico, referring to him as "prepubescent" and questioning his masculinity on the air.

President Donald Trump has described Talarico as “a weird—a weird—candidate,” a line that was quickly incorporated into an advertisement from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who argued that that Talarico is unfit to represent Texans partly because of his supposed veganism.

Keep ReadingShow less
Marlon Wayans on a red carpet; Dave Chappelle accepting an award.
Derek White / Stringer/Getty images; Kevin Winter / Staff/Getty Images

Marlon Wayans Sparks Debate After Defending His Friendship With Dave Chappelle Despite Having A Trans Son

After an absence of 13 years, the Scary Movie franchise is making a return to the big screens with Scary Movie 6.

Scary Movie 6 is also notable for marking the return of Marlon Wayans to the franchise, after he and his brothers Shawn Wayans and Keenan Ivory Wayans were pushed out of the franchise amid some ill will from disgraced Miramax CEO Harvey Weinstein.

Keep ReadingShow less

Gwyneth Paltrow's Bizarre Food Substitute For Parmesan Cheese Has People Saying 'WHAT??'

Now that’s a spicy… non-Parmesan way to make meatballs?

At least that’s what Gwyneth Paltrow claims. The Academy Award-winning actor appeared on Wednesday for a cooking segment on Today to promote her gluten-free, dairy-free turkey meatballs. And even though the Goop Kitchen recipe called for a cup of Parmesan, Paltrow introduced a controversial alternative: arugula.

Keep ReadingShow less