Hello everyone
Obvious that I am a follower of Christ among a forum of atheists, but let me thank you for letting me into your discussions.
Took a long time to formally introduce myself but in the mean time I have been reading a lot of your posts.
The reason that I am here is because recently I have been connected to several Christian chat rooms and forums and have found them redundant and boring. I myself have been a Christian believer all my life and have never known or understood anything beyond an intelligent Creator. I have had lots of discussions with atheists and I am very curious to know the thoughts and reasons driving the belief of an atheist. If asked I am quite happy to express my beliefs as well.
I do love to express how I feel as well as giving audience to others allowing them to express their views. I never try to tear anyone down or try to change them but be forewarned that I do like to ask questions, lots of questions.
By the way, I like paragraphs.
Also a special thanks to Shell B who has helped farmiliarize me with the proceedings allowing me to finally introduce myself.

(June 20, 2011 at 11:48 pm)liferocks Wrote: Hello everyone
Obvious that I am a follower of Christ among a forum of atheists, but let me thank you for letting me into your discussions.
Took a long time to formally introduce myself but in the mean time I have been reading a lot of your posts.
The reason that I am here is because recently I have been connected to several Christian chat rooms and forums and have found them redundant and boring. I myself have been a Christian believer all my life and have never known or understood anything beyond an intelligent Creator. I have had lots of discussions with atheists and I am very curious to know the thoughts and reasons driving the belief of an atheist. If asked I am quite happy to express my beliefs as well.
I do love to express how I feel as well as giving audience to others allowing them to express their views. I never try to tear anyone down or try to change them but be forewarned that I do like to ask questions, lots of questions.
By the way, I like paragraphs.
Also a special thanks to Shell B who has helped farmiliarize me with the proceedings allowing me to finally introduce myself.

Hey, welcome! I'll let you into the group. (Of course, it's not my group, so my permission doesn't mean a whole lot.)
There are other folk besides atheists on this forum, such as myself. They are generally a pretty welcoming bunch, and really don't care what you think as long as you don't make personal attacks or unsubstantiated statements. The general tone around here I have found is ideas are always subject to questioning, but persons are not. (That is, unless they earn it.)
James

Quote:I have been connected to several Christian chat rooms and forums and have found them redundant and boring.

Hmph....whaddaya know. I have the same problem with xtians.

(June 21, 2011 at 12:27 am)Minimalist Wrote:

Quote:I have been connected to several Christian chat rooms and forums and have found them redundant and boring.

Hmph....whaddaya know. I have the same problem with xtians.

Hey Min
Xtian. Quite the abbreviation, just googled it, never new it existed. Might save me some pen ink in the future.

I'm so old I may have invented it.

(June 21, 2011 at 12:49 am)liferocks Wrote: Xtian. Quite the abbreviation, just googled it, never new it existed. Might save me some pen ink in the future.

It has been around for a very long time. In the Wiccan community it has been around longer than I have been around (about fifty years). X=Christ as in Xmas. I don't normally use the term as neopagans tend to use it in a somewhat derogatory way, and I am not really into degradation very much.

But it is very hard to pronounce, so you don't hear it much in conversation.

(June 21, 2011 at 12:59 am)Minimalist Wrote: I'm so old I may have invented it.

You're not THAT old Min.


The religion known as 'Wicca' was largely invented in the 1950's by an eccentric British civil servant called Gerald Gardner.

He cherry picked bits from the East, the Druids and some pre-Christian fertility cults, taking care to leave out the good bits such as human sacrifice and sex.
If he was still alive Gerald would now be 127.

(June 21, 2011 at 1:56 am)padraic Wrote:

(June 21, 2011 at 12:59 am)Minimalist Wrote: I'm so old I may have invented it.

You're not THAT old Min.


The religion known as 'Wicca' was largely invented in the 1950's by an eccentric British civil servant called Gerald Gardner.

He cherry picked bits from the East, the Druids and some pre-Christian fertility cults, taking care to leave out the good bits such as human sacrifice and sex.
If he was still alive Gerald would now be 127.

Hey, I'm the Wiccan, not Min.

Garner codified several things. The practices were around longer than Gardner (Waite, Fortune, et alia). Many Wiccans today pay Gardner no mind at all.

And the human sacrifice part was applied to any cult the Christians didn't like (Mayans, Druids, Jews, Muslims, Protestants against Catholics, Catholics against Protestants, &c.) When you apply it to everyone, the claim loses somewhat in credibility. Especially when there is scant evidence besides the movie "Wicker Man."

And sex is a good bit. What's wrong with sex? You wouldn't be here without sex. Why is it that sex is always painted as a bad thing by Christianity if God created it? Oh yeah, that part in Isaiah that says that God creates evil (no Satan required). And God created sex, so it must be evil, because so many Christians think sex is not good. Geez, take one of the funnest and easiest acts God made for his creation, and call it evil.

Gardner and his friends most certainly did "not" leave out the sex. They were very big on sex. Wiccans love sex. Many incorporate it into ritual, as did Gardner and Alexander: sex is life-affirming (since you can't have life without sex).

I might be forced to post my Discordian wedding vows to the site. Fnord. (Hey wow, Fnord is in the site's spell check routine. I'm impressed.) Leave out the sex. Like Christians leaving out the Bible. Sex is crucial to Wicca.

Ummmmm..... How do you have a fertility cult without sex? Humans reproduce sexually, nearly all animals more complex than single-celled ones reproduce sexually. Heck, even plants more complex than ferns reproduce sexually!

If sex is evil in God's eyes, He sure did create a lot of it. God must like being so offended. Perhaps he should see a divine mental health professional about his neurotic need to be offended. These neuroses He has make Him far less than perfect.

(June 20, 2011 at 11:48 pm)liferocks Wrote: Hello everyone
Obvious that I am a follower of Christ among a forum of atheists, but let me thank you for letting me into your discussions.

I wasn't going to stop you... though I don't know how 'obvious' it is. For all I know: you could be lying.

Quote:Took a long time to formally introduce myself but in the mean time I have been reading a lot of your posts.

Oh good. Find anything enlightening within my psychobabble?

Quote:The reason that I am here is because recently I have been connected to several Christian chat rooms and forums and have found them redundant and boring.

Probably more than one reason then... as there was surely a reason or sixteen that you went to those chat rooms and forums in the first place?

Quote: I myself have been a Christian believer all my life and have never known or understood anything beyond an intelligent Creator.

I've known and understood many things beyond an 'intelligent Creator' (Larry wasn't actually all that bright...)

Basic mathematics, for instance

Quote:I have had lots of discussions with atheists and I am very curious to know the thoughts and reasons driving the belief of an atheist.

Which belief? I have many. More thoughts and reasons to support my beliefs than I've beliefs... but then that's how it normally is.

Quote:If asked I am quite happy to express my beliefs as well.

Happiness is good, but I'm not about to ask. I'm rather apathetic towards all things religious

Quote:I do love to express how I feel as well as giving audience to others allowing them to express their views.

I don't love to express how I feel... that's depressing. On the other hand: I love to express silliness and sometimes happiness if it makes even one person smile a little

Quote:I never try to tear anyone down or try to change them but be forewarned that I do like to ask questions, lots of questions.
By the way, I like paragraphs.

Please use those paragraphs more often

Many of us have no reservations when it comes to tearing down something stupid. Some of us see religion as stupid. I'm as ready to mock anyone and anything as I am to drink water as I am to laugh.

Quote:Also a special thanks to Shell B who has helped farmiliarize me with the proceedings allowing me to finally introduce myself.

You met Shell B and weren't turned to stone?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG63OtsKC7k