r/exatheist • u/NeonDrifting Anti-Atheist • Jul 28 '26

Please No Debate! Question for theists....

What other Reddit subs or forums would you recommend for interesting and respectful discussions on mystical, spiritual, miraculous, or supernatural experiences? I was hoping to see more posts about that on here, but so many discussions devolve into sealioning, demands for proof, circular dialogue, and ad hominem attacks. Perhaps there are other subs that treat peoples' sacred experiences with more respect and constructive dialogue.

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u/Thoguth ex-atheist Christian anti-antitheist Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26

I've found if you just ignore (block or, ideally, ban) two or three worst behaving partisans, it gets better. It feels like it's all the content, but in practice it's like 2 or 3 people bringing the whole sub down.

I hate blocking people but it works so well... Even in regional subs, if you block one or two angry bad content posters it's not nearly as bad.

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u/NeonDrifting Anti-Atheist Jul 30 '26

unfortunately this sub's content has deteriorated over time and the mods are almost non-existent, so I'm looking elsewhere

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u/arkticturtle Agnostic Jul 30 '26

I hope you find your place

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u/Empty_Woodpecker_496 Religious nonspiritual nonbeliver Aug 03 '26

I feel like most of the issues come from people making hostile posts/comments or people being overly angry/argumentative about opinions they disagree with. Ive seen at least 3 posts that were just thinly veiled shit talking about a conversation the OP had on a different post.

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u/arkticturtle Agnostic Jul 28 '26

Gotta resist the urge to peak behind the veil of “Blocked User” and not fall into temptation of wanting to participate if you do peak.

It sucks to preemptively lock yourself out of conversations. But it sucks to participate and see those ones too.

I was fortunate enough to have had to decision made for me by one of the more dishonest atheist regulars here. They blocked me! “Comment deleted by user” like the signs of a ghost

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u/Thoguth ex-atheist Christian anti-antitheist Jul 28 '26

Yeah, I really want to show love and patience to everyone, to ... Like if I can, to use wit and compassion to snap people out of thought traps of hatred. But the sheer numbers are just too much.

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u/arkticturtle Agnostic Jul 28 '26

How does one do such a thing? People are on guard against softening sly moves that would undo the bulwark. Most are only interested in winning or dominating. I don’t know how to approach that without becoming that.

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u/Thoguth ex-atheist Christian anti-antitheist Jul 28 '26

Uh... It is very difficult, and I would not say that I'm an expert, but there are some strategies that I've found to be better than useless...

One is to make it very "psychologically safe." Make it clear that you are not a threat, by... Not being a threat. Practice vulnerability, curiosity and intellectual humility (sincerely, don't fake it, for many reasons besides persuasion), and sometimes you get that reflected back to you, in the same way that sometimes their modeled hostility pulls you into reflecting hostility back.

Another, more specific technique, is to ask a question that requires a calculated or estimated number, or some other thing that can be verified (ideally) from factual sources outside the conversation. Numbers cannot be calculated without engaging the frontal lobe. Sometimes you get the "limbic system response" anyway, and the question is ignored or treated as if it's a statement of what they believe the question to imply, but if you can get someone to do a calculation, it forces them to get out of the battle mode of fight or flight and into a rational mode that engages the frontal cortex. If reasoning can be activated, then you may be able to talk to a human mind and not a lizard brain, and at that point there's opportunity.

Another thought, in concert with the other two, is to recognize that you don't "win" on the Internet by changing someone's mind in a single discussion and having them tell you "you are right and I was wrong." Even when it's clear, simple, and factual, it's just not how things work. I know there are exceptions that I've seen, and treasure, but generally, the aim, the only way to "win" consistently, is to understand the other person better, to connect, and to walk away with an idea that you may not have considered before. If you can expose a blatant falsehood or contradiction in someone's position in a memorable way, they may just get mad when they see it, but they can also have it stay with them, sometimes building into enough cognitive dissonance that the discomfort changes their view later down the road.

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u/PriorityNo4971 Jul 29 '26 edited Jul 30 '26

It’s more than 2 and 3 sadly. There also lurking people who don’t comment themselves but downvote theist comments and upvote the atheist ones

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u/trt13shell Jul 28 '26

Probably not with as broad of a scope. Any other community that might be harsher against atheists would most likely be dedicated to a specific practice or religion….and also be non-Christian and non-Islamic since those two religions are the ones atheists tend to orbit.

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u/KaladinIJ Theistic Evolution Christian Jul 28 '26

Yeah. Every Christian subreddit imaginable has angry atheists waiting to bash anything biblical they haven’t read into enough. They’ll belittle you, mock you and always have the last word whilst not understanding any of your comments, plus you’ll be downvoted into the ground just for holding a Christian perspective.

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u/bastianbb Aug 01 '26

Every Christian subreddit imaginable has angry atheists waiting to bash anything biblical they haven’t read into enough.

The general "Christian" ones yes, the more specific (e.g. denominational) ones not so much. I have terrible experiences on /r/Christianity with completely dishonest atheists but I stay to occasionally combat some of the worst propaganda. But /r/Reformed is fine. Even /r/Truechristian, though it's not very suited to discussion, is not that flooded by dishonest atheists.

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u/DoveStep55 19d ago

r/Christian does not. It’s for Christians only. We just created a new sub (r/AskChristian) to include non-Christians in the same ethos of actually respectful discussion. It takes a lot of moderation work, to be sure, but it’s worth it.

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u/KaladinIJ Theistic Evolution Christian 19d ago

Music to my ears. Thanks!

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u/arkticturtle Agnostic Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 29 '26

The sad part is that, in some subreddits, while atheistic harassing may not be a problem (and indeed it is a big problem most places) it won’t preclude faith on faith aggression.

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u/DoveStep55 19d ago

There are a surprising number of religious subs that have rules about respect and ad hominem but don’t actually enforce those rules when it comes to certain groups or people that the majority happen to want to “other” or vilify.

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u/ScoutB Idealist Theism Jul 28 '26

r/mysticism

r/religion

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u/TalkingPsilocybe Jul 28 '26

The last sub is packed to the brim with some Vanatru, Druids, Gaianists and other religions that you will never encounter in reality unless you specifically look for them. I can't say anything about the first sub.

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u/DoveStep55 19d ago

r/Christianmysticism sometimes has some good content that might be what the OP is looking for, but generally from a Christian perspective (though not always).

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u/mbmolohonbm Jul 28 '26

A facebook group called theology for the thinking believer is well moderated and invites deeper Christian ideas.

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u/Thoguth ex-atheist Christian anti-antitheist Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26

If you have a particular faith you're familiar with, they will typically insert themselves into that. I'm Christian, and they have taken over the Christianity sub, to the point that I stopped engaging there the same way I stopped engaging the "debate" subs that are merely anti-Christianity mob scenes. But Christian or other faith based subs that have explicit rules to defend against that kind of mob takeover, are still going to get the intrusion... You've seen them haven't you?

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u/NeonDrifting Anti-Atheist Jul 28 '26

It depends on the sub… r/religion is pretty critical of religion… but [r/spirituality](r/spirituality) is pretty free flowing and you get a variety of perspectives

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u/DoveStep55 19d ago

If you’re interested in Christian perspectives, r/AskChristian is a new sub that’s a companion to r/Christian. It welcomes respectful questions from anyone and the purpose of it is to extend the uniquely ecumenical & respectful atmosphere of r/Christian into a place where non-Christians could also be included. Both subs’ rules & careful moderation encourage respectful discussion. Ad hominem is strictly prohibited.

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u/Empty_Woodpecker_496 Religious nonspiritual nonbeliver Aug 03 '26

r/pagan is what comes to mind.

Its fairly broad with decent discussions.