r/religion

Why is this bullshit still continuing here in the age of 2026

Literally nobody would say female genital mutiliation in Africa is a ‘cultural’ thing but this is a serious issue overlooked and even glorified in social media !

For the Sri Lankan situation, Simply imagine an 7 year old being head shaved infront of everyone and robed and taken to a temple (which are usually of very low living conditions) and abstained from all the normal childhood activities and being forced to learn religious texts

(This happens either with parents letting go of their child (due to poverty and religious reasons )

Or due to child saying so that he/she wants this )

They are subjected to numerous other physical,sexual abuse as well

We don’t even know what female kids have to go through as there are even more rules and females are even believed to be sinful (that’s believed to be the reason why they are born female !)

There is nothing to be done internally as the legal and constitutional priority is ‘protecting Buddhism) and monks have a huge authority over politics Which is why I believe the only way is the involvement of international organizations

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Two cited reports (you’d easily see how most of cases wouldn’t get reported)

Do you beleive in many Gods? Maybe you think God isn't all powerful or knowing?

I think religions vergion of God is not accurate. I think God isn't all powerful and has limitations such as not being able to interact with us on Earth. Maybe God isn't all powerful. Let me know what qualities you think God does and doesn't have?

Salam

I am a Twelver Shi'a Muslim woman. Ask me anything about theology, law, ethics, or more

1 John 2:23

Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.

I’ve been living in a same sex relationship for a number of years. Unfortunately in the last 6-12 months it’s gone really badly and I’m starting to think back to my school years where I was told that being in a same sex relationship - living against Gods will - will have repercussions.

Could this be punishment for living like this? For being in this arrangement?

There are a lot of things going on so bear with me.

Growing up, I've always told people that I'm a muslim. Growing up in a community where the dominant religion is Catholic and Christianity, people have always wondered why I never wore a hijab. Why I don't "look" like one or act like one, and why my name is not like the other Muslims.

I've never wore a hijab before, I never prayed, I never went to a Mosque, I'm pactically clueless. But still, I don't eat pork and pork blood and etc. I was never really taught and I never really asked. But I still tell people that I'm a Muslim.

Here's a little backstory, my Mom is a Muslim, and as far as I know, my Dad converted too. Something to happened to both of my parents that is very personal but it includes family. Years later, my Mom stopped going to Mosque, and even wearing a hijab. I've never seen it in my entire existence. She would always tell me these stories back when she was a child and stories of her being a Muslim. But even though she stopped, she never fully stopped because I can still see her faith still there, just silently praying, silently.

I still do other things like joining pageants, drawing, and etc. I also feel like my parents are just letting me choose for myself. (I'm still young).

That is why I asked Are muslims allowed to convert to another religion? And what if I always say to people that I'm a muslim but I don't act like one?

I'm just afraid of being judged even though I have a lovely family and people surrounding me. I also want to convert into another religion in the future if I make up my mind properly. I'm still young so.

People often have doubts and/or misconceptions about the Catholic Church, and I'm willing to have an honest conversation about those.

Other than that, some might be interested in knowing more about the routine in seminary, formation, vocation and all of that.

Feel free!

P. S.: I won't answer questions that might make it easy for someone to identify who I am.

A core teaching is that attachment leads to suffering, my question is if attachment causes us to suffer then why care about anything at all? why value life if my loved ones dying will lead me to suffer? Sorry if this is a dumb question.

I know many people say that they do not believe in God or that they do not know if there is God but if or when they find out there is God then what? Would they accept God or reject God ?

I myself accept.

What about you?

To clarify: all the content I've seen on the Samaritans is in either in contrast to Judaism or in relation to Christianity. I understand that it's a fairly small religion, and both of these relationships are correct, but I want to learn more about them on their own terms. Does anyone have any suggestions for that?

Is it better to punish an innocent or let a guilty run free? According to your religion

Islam is the only religion that doesn’t light candles. There’s no candle lighting inside masjids. And by only religion, I mean the only religion with a significant impact in the world.

Edit: there are no flames in a masjid.

Muslims? Christians? Any others..

I want to share a contradiction I've been sitting with for a while. This isn't an attack on anyone's faith, it's a question I think deserves an honest conversation.

Let's start with extremists. Take the Taliban as an example — and before anyone jumps in, I want to be clear that I actually understand their logic perfectly. If you have genuine, unshakeable conviction that a text is the literal word of God, then following it completely, without compromise, without filtering it through your own moral preferences, is the only rational thing to do. You don't negotiate with God. Anyone with that level of certainty would do exactly what they do. So my issue was never with the people. My issue is with what happens when you apply the text faithfully and the result is what we see: women treated as property, brutal punishments, the erasure of basic human rights. If that's the outcome of sincere, literal application, then the question shifts from "are these people wrong?" to "is the source they're following perfect?" Because if it was truly the word of an omniscient, perfectly just God, faithful application shouldn't produce injustice.

Now the other side. Many Muslims today reinterpret the difficult parts of the Quran — they contextualize the verses on slavery, find nuance in the inheritance rules that disadvantage women, argue that certain things were products of their historical moment. And honestly, I understand that too. The alternative is defending things that are morally indefensible by any reasonable standard.

But here's where it falls apart. The Quran isn't presented as a historical document written by a wise man doing his best. It's presented as the direct, perfect, unchanged word of Allah — a God who is omniscient, omnipotent, outside of time, and incapable of error. That God already knew, in the 7th century, everything humanity would ever come to understand about slavery, about women, about children. He didn't need moral progress to catch up. A single clear sentence would have been enough to establish a principle for all of humanity across all of time.

Instead we have a text that, read as written, permitted slavery, institutionalized gender inequality, and allowed child marriage. And today believers have to work to reinterpret these passages to make them compatible with basic ethics. The question that raises is simple: if a perfect and timeless divine message needs continuous human correction to remain morally acceptable, was it actually perfect and timeless?

So here's the contradiction I can't get past. If the extremists are right and the text should be taken literally, the outcomes contradict the idea of a perfectly just and merciful God. If the progressives are right and the text needs reinterpretation, then God's message was incomplete or unclear, which contradicts the idea of an omniscient God and a perfect final revelation. Both conclusions put serious pressure on the same claim: that the Quran is the flawless word of an all-knowing, all-powerful, perfectly just God.

The question I'm left with isn't which camp is practicing Islam correctly. It's whether a text that produces this fundamental split. where literal application leads to the Taliban, and moral acceptability requires reinterpretation ? can genuinely be what it claims to be.

What do you think?

My boyfriend of 8 years is Catholic, I am Hindu. for several years we talked about interfaith marriage but I guess we did not get into the details of interfaith children. we were both not very religious until recently. he started going to mass in the last few months. I‘m Hindu but I actually go to a nondenominational church with friends, have a bible I take notes in, and at most go to temple once or twice a year. while I am very accepting of Christianity- I went to an Episcopalian school for 12 years with weekly chapel and feel that I know more about Christianity than hinduism. he is saying raising children both catholic and hindu can not happen. I am begging him to talk to his priest to clear up the possibility of interfaith children and he said yes to it. but keeps delaying making an appointment with his priest. is it possible to have an interfaith household with Catholicism? I grew up with a friend who is half Catholic, half Jewish so I feel very heartbroken and confused. thank you for any honest advice and help.

Look at how the universe works together — from the smallest things to the largest.
The sun, the moon, the clouds, the human body, the eyes, the hands, insects, plants, and animals… all connected within one system, all drinking from the same water.
Does this look like chaos without purpose… or the design of one Creator?

I’d like to better understand the difference between Catholicism and the Orthodox Church. The difference between Catholicism and Protestantism/Evangelical Christianity seems much clearer to me, but when it comes to Catholicism vs. Russian Orthodoxy, I’m less sure.

From what I understand, the fundamental difference is that Catholicism recognizes the Pope and the Vatican as the supreme authority and successors of Saint Peter (apostolic succession), while the Orthodox Church does not and instead has a more synodal structure. I’ve also heard there are differences regarding the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit, but I’m not exactly sure what they are.

So what is the big difference between them, the deeper theological or spiritual divide?

I’m asking because while reading Fyodor Dostoevsky, I noticed he was a deeply Orthodox Christian who nevertheless criticized Catholicism very harshly (for example in The Brothers Karamazov, especially the chapter “The Grand Inquisitor”). The same seems true of Leo Tolstoy. I’d really like to understand the deeper differences that led to these kinds of criticisms.

Thanks a lot!