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Just thought I'd say hello ...
#1
Just thought I'd say hello ...
I've not believed in god or gods for several years now, but I've been wanting to find a place to talk to other like-minded people so here I am. This was actually prompted to some extent by an article on CNN, of all things. A christian pastor gave a ridiculous explanation for how god allowed the murders in Aurora, and the responses led to a follow-up article which proclaimed that the internet is like church for atheists. Since I've missed the social aspects of organized religion, I decided to join a new type of church.

I grew up in rural Montana, where I was taught to be a good christian. Fortunately for me, I was also smart and my family encouraged me to try hard in school, so I earned a college scholarship. Most of the people I grew up with did not get this type of opportunity, and they're now continuing the cycle of ignorance with their own children. During my freshman year, my roommate (a physics major) challenged an assertion that I had made about god working in my life. He asked how it was possible for god to be all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving, and yet be active in the world while respecting our free will. My response was that god works in mysterious ways and humans are too feeble to understand, but the seed was planted. Over the next five years I asked various pastors and bible study leaders how free will could fit with the typical description of the christian god; the response was always a variation of the "mysterious ways" argument, with a warning about doubt and thinking too hard. At this point I thought the answer existed, but I just hadn't found anyone smart enough to explain it.

A conversation with a friend in grad school signaled the beginning of the end of my belief. I was arguing that it didn't make sense that someone would make up all of the stories in the Bible, or go to great efforts to create a religion if it was truly false. He said that perhaps it was just a social construct, one that evolved to fill a role in society. For some reason, I had never heard this concept before, and it hadn't occurred to me naturally. I spent a long time trying to find arguments to disprove this theory; eventually I accepted the fact that I could not, and because it made more sense than my previous religious theory, I had no choice but to accept that god is fake.

Anyway, that's enough about how I abandoned foolishness and chose the path of logic. I look forward to conversations with other logical atheists.
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#2
RE: Just thought I'd say hello ...
Hello, is it me you're looking for?



In all seriousness, allow me to be the first to welcome you warmly to the forum... thus proving my dominance over all the other inferior greetings that follow. :-)
"That is not dead which can eternal lie and with strange aeons even death may die." 
- Abdul Alhazred.
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#3
RE: Just thought I'd say hello ...
Welcome aboard, pull up a drink and help yourself to a chair. I'm sure you'll enjoy the cabaret; the lions haven't been fed yet and we've got some proven athletic religious types lined up (if not chained up).

Btw, the kudos I awarded you is for your Marx phrasing of religious opinion, among other things.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist.  This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair.  Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second.  That means there's a situation vacant.'
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#4
RE: Just thought I'd say hello ...
Heyo and welcome to AF! ^_^
When I was young, there was a god with infinite power protecting me. Is there anyone else who felt that way? And was sure about it? but the first time I fell in love, I was thrown down - or maybe I broke free - and I bade farewell to God and became human. Now I don't have God's protection, and I walk on the ground without wings, but I don't regret this hardship. I want to live as a person. -Arina Tanemura

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#5
RE: Just thought I'd say hello ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aNZ1ge7jvo
So don't you want to talk to us illogical atheists then?
Reply
#6
RE: Just thought I'd say hello ...
Howdy!
Cunt
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#7
RE: Just thought I'd say hello ...
Grab a beanbag and sit around the tv, there's bound to be something on...

Welcome Smile
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#8
RE: Just thought I'd say hello ...
Hello, Aero.


Pick a fundie and start punching away. They're used to it.
Reply
#9
RE: Just thought I'd say hello ...
Welcome, new guy.

Stimbo Wrote:I'm sure you'll enjoy the cabaret; the lions haven't been fed yet and we've got some proven athletic religious types lined up (if not chained up).

I hope the lions like the taste of crazy.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
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#10
RE: Just thought I'd say hello ...
(August 10, 2012 at 11:37 pm)AeroJ Wrote: I've not believed in god or gods for several years now, but I've been wanting to find a place to talk to other like-minded people so here I am. This was actually prompted to some extent by an article on CNN, of all things. A christian pastor gave a ridiculous explanation for how god allowed the murders in Aurora, and the responses led to a follow-up article which proclaimed that the internet is like church for atheists. Since I've missed the social aspects of organized religion, I decided to join a new type of church.

I grew up in rural Montana, where I was taught to be a good christian. Fortunately for me, I was also smart and my family encouraged me to try hard in school, so I earned a college scholarship. Most of the people I grew up with did not get this type of opportunity, and they're now continuing the cycle of ignorance with their own children. During my freshman year, my roommate (a physics major) challenged an assertion that I had made about god working in my life. He asked how it was possible for god to be all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving, and yet be active in the world while respecting our free will. My response was that god works in mysterious ways and humans are too feeble to understand, but the seed was planted. Over the next five years I asked various pastors and bible study leaders how free will could fit with the typical description of the christian god; the response was always a variation of the "mysterious ways" argument, with a warning about doubt and thinking too hard. At this point I thought the answer existed, but I just hadn't found anyone smart enough to explain it.

A conversation with a friend in grad school signaled the beginning of the end of my belief. I was arguing that it didn't make sense that someone would make up all of the stories in the Bible, or go to great efforts to create a religion if it was truly false. He said that perhaps it was just a social construct, one that evolved to fill a role in society. For some reason, I had never heard this concept before, and it hadn't occurred to me naturally. I spent a long time trying to find arguments to disprove this theory; eventually I accepted the fact that I could not, and because it made more sense than my previous religious theory, I had no choice but to accept that god is fake.

Anyway, that's enough about how I abandoned foolishness and chose the path of logic. I look forward to conversations with other logical atheists.

Welcome AeroJ
How did you get a reputation level 1 so fast?
I'm still on zero. Thinking

Internet is like church for atheists. Interesting idea.
Reply



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