this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2023
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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.

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[–] Iraglassceiling@hexbear.net 5 points 1 year ago

What an interesting question!

I was raised Protestant by an exmo and a lapsed catholic. I still like some of the music, and I think a lot of Christian mythology is really interesting. Jesus occupies a “cool dude” role in my belief system, but he’s not the main focus.

I was a pretty devout practicing pagan for a while after leaving Christianity.

Now I just kinda do my own thing, loosely cribbed from the parts of Christianity that I like and some chaos magic stuff and some kemeticism and whatever else seems cool. I kinda focus on nonduality and go from there.

I really enjoy the idea of ritualistic worship, but that attraction feels like the kind of chemical attraction in my brain that would have taken place whether I was raised in a church or not.

[–] Cloudygrey@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Fellow Indian here. I'm agnostic. I wasn't raised very religious either. I am ok with eating beef and have tried it a few times. My main thing is that I sometimes do a token prayer when I pass a temple. I also feel icky if my feet touch books.

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[–] the_lone_wolf@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago

I was born in a Hindu family, i don't believe in God but i really like and keep deities statues and pictures as Art. I also read religious text bcz i found there are lots of good things which can be learned from it and i am also fascinated about how old these scriptures are and still tells about lots of good things about human mind, life and society.

[–] AceFuzzLord@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Not 100% sure this answers the question, but here goes.

Closest I can say that stuck with me, as someone born in a Christian household would be the original Veggietales and how some of the messages have stuck with me. You take away the Christian aspect from some of the messages and you get messages that I think could still apply to a general audience.

  • Small people can do big things (Dave and the Giant Pickle)

  • Despite your differences, you can still be friendly with others (Are You My Neighbor)

  • You should forgive others (God Wants Me To Forgive Them!?!)

I may not follow them to a tee but I am at least somewhat trying.

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[–] kristina@hexbear.net 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

i like hanging the bit about jesus telling people to respect gender divergence over people's heads

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[–] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago

I like a lot of religious art (architecture, paintings, music...). Some of it is certainly the result of historical patronage, but plenty is the result of genuine religious inspiration and even ecstasy. I often think that art is the only real redeeming quality of religion!

[–] sculd@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Buddhism's concept about Karma seems pretty cool and I still view it as the most reasonable religion out of the ones I know of.

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[–] Big_Bob@hexbear.net 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I call myself an atheist simply because I don't believe that any current religious institution has the correct answer.

I've had mystical experiences and my own reasoning tells me that there is far more to the world than we are able to experience or even imagine.

But none of it corresponds to any religions I know of. The closest is maybe Buddhism, but I don't think it's the right choice for me.

And I'm not even sure if there are any Buddhist organisations out here in the norwegian countryside.

Guess I'll just have to go through my existential crisis on my own. shrug-outta-hecks

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[–] SecretPancake@feddit.de 4 points 1 year ago

Still love me some good Gospel music.

[–] Zuzak@hexbear.net 4 points 1 year ago

I was raised Catholic and left it at a young age and spent a lot of time uprooting the brainworms so I don't think there's much left. However, whenever I can't find something I really need and start getting stressed, I'll still recite, "Dear St. Anthony, please come around, my X has been lost and cannot be found." It's a useful way to calm down and focus instead of freaking out and panicking.

Other than that, I still retain a lot of the theology I learned in high school, and I can still sometimes get a little opinionated about various things even though I have no dog in the fight.

[–] RTRedreovic@feddit.ch 4 points 1 year ago

Greetings from an Ex-Hindu Atheist. I was never really into Religious Banter that much even as a small kid. But I would say the major propelling force that made me become an Atheist would be my curiosity and eagerness to study science. Science answered all those questions Religion could not and my treatment by my super religious parents helped me not to retain any religious superstitions. Their berating only gave me more strength to continue my study of science and legitimized my standings.

[–] ulkesh@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Honestly…I actively avoid all things religious, especially dogmatic religion. Of course there are religious influences all over the place and I cannot say with certainty that I don’t get affected by it, but given that the most popular religions currently (Abrahamic) were essentially engineered to control the masses, I consciously try to avoid them and their influences.

Sadly, where I live, I can’t throw a rock without hitting a church so without moving to an uninhabited island, it’s stuck in my life in one way or another.

And before someone says something about morals, morality both predates religion and doesn’t require being a human to have any. In other words, one can have morals without ever being exposed to religion.

I get this goes against the grain here, and doesn’t exactly answer the question, but it’s an honest answer.

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