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
Make us preferred on Google

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

Barack & Michelle Obama
@michelleobama/Instagram

Barack And Michelle Obama Explain Why His Presidential Library Is A 'Sexy' Place For A Date In Steamy Video—And We're Fanning Ourselves

If you want your date to turn out as hot as possible, you couldn't pick a better location than a presidential library, right? Those places are positively oozing with sex!

Okay, maybe not. But the Obama Presidential Center isn't your average presidential library, and the Obamas aren't your ordinary presidential couple.

Keep ReadingShow less
screenshot of Trey Gowdy and Doug Burgum
Fox News

Trump Official Ripped After Sharing Bonkers Advice To Americans Traveling For The 4th Of July

MAGA Republican President Donald Trump's Interior Secretary, Doug Burgum, appeared on Fox News' Sunday Night in America to tout so-called renovations done at national parks and monuments by the Trump administration, such as at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

After Burgum repeated the POTUS's lie about vandalism, and not subpar work by a no-bid crony contractor, causing algae and peeling paint throughout the pool, former Republican Representative for South Carolina turned Fox News host Trey Gowdy pivoted Burgum to "good news."

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Trump Blasted After Warning Gas Stations To Drop Prices 'Immediately' In Threatening Social Media Rant

President Donald Trump was criticized after telling gas retailers that they need to lower their prices to $2.50 per gallon "immediately" or face "big problems," prompting many critics to suggest he is panicking as discontent toward his administration grows amid fallout over the Iran war and a nationwide affordability crisis.

A recent Gallup poll found that 55 percent of respondents felt their finances were worsening, a level of pessimism exceeding that seen during both the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2008 financial crisis. This comes as the highly unpopular war in Iran continues to rage, sending gas prices surging. Americans have spent an additional $59 billion on fuel since Trump launched the war.

Keep ReadingShow less
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; Donald Trump
Andres Kudacki/Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

AOC Delivers Hilariously Brutal Zinger About Why Nobody's Showing Up To Trump's 250th Anniversary Festivities

New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had people laughing with her explanation for why so few have showed up to President Donald Trump's festivities celebrating America's 250th anniversary.

The Trump administration projected as many as 45,000 people would attend the opening day of the Great American State Fair, which is set to take place on the National Mall from June 25-July 10, serving as the centerpiece of the Trump administration's Freedom250 celebrations to honor the United States' semiquincentennial.

Keep ReadingShow less
Blaze Manoukian showcases Pixar's new curly-hair animation technology in Toy Story 5.
Courtesy of Disney/Pixar

MAGA Is Having A 'DEI' Meltdown Over A Mixed Race Character In 'Toy Story 5'—And Fans Are Having None Of It

For a franchise about a toy cowboy, a delusional space ranger, and a potato with removable facial features, Toy Story has never been particularly concerned with strict realism. Yet somehow, a mixed-race child with curly hair in Toy Story 5 is what sent parts of MAGA into full meltdown mode.

In the latest installment of Pixar's beloved franchise, audiences are introduced to Blaze Manoukian, a young girl who lives on a farm, loves animals, and becomes an important part of Bonnie's story. Blaze is also Disney's first half-Black, half-Armenian character.

Keep ReadingShow less