Jeff Bradt, user since 2013, becoming active

[Seraphina]

Hi!
I'm living in Buffalo, NY; I've been in the area for a couple decades now. I'm 47.
At age 12, I walked into the kitchen and, after some hesitation, said, "Mom, there is no god. I'm an atheist."
She was surprisingly accepting, especially considering she had convinced her husband to convert and raise us all Catholic. My family has never given me a problem about my atheism. I realize that this is often not the case, and to those of you who had/have struggles with non-accommodating people my heart goes out.
Anyway, I considered myself an atheist until at age 26 I decided to use Christianity (non-denominational) as a crutch. For 12 years I did so, in a cultish church here in the Buffalo area. Then I left and, after going to another non-denominational church while calling myself an agnostic for a while, I finally left the last church of which I will ever be a member (unless I discover a good atheist church).

In April 2015, I had sent a letter to the bishop of the parish in which I had been baptized as an infant and on the 28th I received a formal letter of defection. This was the single best move I have made in my entire life to date. (Getting married will be the only better move; I haven't quite gotten to that yet. Wish my girlfriend and me luck! So far the chance looks excellent.)

In the meantime, I have been participating increasingly in on- and offline atheist groups. Atheist advocacy has become a passion of mine. I am not the most active activist, but I have progressed at least slightly beyond slacktivism.

I look forward each day to learning more about the real world and dismissing all the falsities I may have.

Cheers for now!
~Jeff

Hey, I'm in Albany, NY!  We're neighbors!  Sort of...😁

Wut?? Another upstate New Yorker?? Yay!

-Teresa

[JP Bradt]

Hey, I'm in Albany, NY!  We're neighbors!  Sort of...😁

I'm one town closer to you now: I moved to Batavia to live with my fiancee!

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Hey, I'm in Albany, NY!  We're neighbors!  Sort of...😁

Wut?? Another upstate New Yorker?? Yay!

-Teresa

So Teresa, you're from where?

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Welcome Jeff

Thanks!

[brewer]

Hi Jeff.

Post more often and I my let you sit with me at the weirdo/creepy table. Might even share my pudding skin. Only half, don't be greedy.

[JP Bradt]

Hey Jeff, Woof. 

Talk more about a "formal letter of defection" please. Was this Catholic?

Hi mh,
Yes, this was Catholic. I was baptized as an infant by my parents. My dad had become Catholic because Mom required it for him to marry her. Then they baptized all their kids into the Catholic church. To my knowledge, I am the only one who has formally defected as yet. A few of us are atheists; I guess it's not very important to the others not to be a member of a church while professing atheism. It's important to me.

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Hiyas, it's about time you joined the party.  

Thanks for the welcome!

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Hey Jeff, Woof. 

Talk more about a "formal letter of defection" please. Was this Catholic?

You send the pope a certified letter that says "I quit" in Latin.

Welcome, Jeff.

Funny, and pretty close to the truth. I sent my bishop a formal letter that demanded to be excommunicated. (I didn't know I was writing a demand for defection, not excommunication. I didn't care what it was called.) In the letter, I lambasted the Catholic church for all it had done and all it was still doing to the detriment of the world, including promoting AIDS by advocating non-use of condoms, the Inquisition, etc. Then I told him I was going to the Center for Inquiry rather than a church, so that the church would know I had somewhere to go and wouldn't be 'concerned' about me. I said I did not believe in... and then listed a bunch of things like transubstantiation, the virgin birth, walking on water, etc. Finally, I said I was of sound mind and demanded to be excused from the church. Then I signed it and sent it to Rochester where my bishop resides.

I know that all I had to do was to explain how I didn't believe and I had somewhere else to go. That would probably have been enough, but it was a lot of fun blasting them.

He got right back to me!

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Hello!

Welcome...back?

Thanks!

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"Jeff Bradt, user since 2013, becoming active"

Are there people out there who are just watching this!

Plumb turns head to look behind him.

At any one time there are several times more people lurking than posting. Kind of cool. I can't remember if members can see the online list but it's usually 6 or so pages long with lurkers.

Anyway, welcome Jeff, glad you made the jump from lurker (if you did) to posting. Hope you find what you're after.

Thanks!

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Greetings! The RCC claims that, once baptized, one is a Catholic forever. Sounds like more horse shit, to me. If I'm out, I'm out of the belief. Anything they claim to be so, ain't necessarily so, IRL.

A lot of things they claim are not so. It figures. Didn't Mark Twain say, "Faith is believin' what you know ain't so?" Well, they believe horseshit and they speak it too.

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"Jeff Bradt, user since 2013, becoming active"

That title sounds eerily like a warning announcement!
Are we certain that he's not a model T1000 and that SKYNET hasn't just activated him?

SKYNET, if you're watching this..

   

WE HAVE ASSUMED CONTROL.
WE HAVE ASSUMED CONTROL.
WE HAVE ASSUMED CONTROL.

Oh wait, that was Rush. Never mind.  

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Quite the story! Welcome to this band of heathens.
Good luck in trying to tie the knot!

Hey, man, we're going to do a lot more than try!

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Hi Jeff, from the UK!

Glad to see you're getting more involved. I spent a couple of years lurking before I started posting so I can tell you it's much more fun

Would you like a cup of tea?

Why, thank you, that is most civilized of you!

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Welcome to the forums Jeff.  Glad to have ya, and also glad you decided to become more active in the secular community.  I was once active myself in a local freethought group back in the early 2000's until I became disabled.  Maybe I will tell you about my participation in a couple of protests soon.  Cheers!  

I'd love to hear about it.

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Hey Jeff, welcome!
I didn't see your original post back in June - I'm from your neck of the woods (Olean, actually). Went to UB in the 90s. I was back there to visit in July and stayed in a very nice airbnb in north Buffalo. Hope ya stick around this time!

-Teresa

Olean! Yeah, that's not far.

Thanks for the welcome! I appreciate the warmth everyone is showing here. And to meet a UB alumnus is so cool! What was your major? Mine's physics.

[Fireball]

Another physics major! We seem to be heavily represented in atheist forums, wherever I go. Though I've job titles of electrical and mechanical engineer, I never had the job title "Physicist".

[JP Bradt]

UPDATE, FIVE YEARS LATER:

My then-girlfriend and I got married and bought a house together, still in Upstate New York. Her son, our friend, she and I live together happily. We love our big house and our excellent relationship! All of us suffered abuse in our pasts, so to be free of all that is huge. 

I appreciate everyone's support!

[Angrboda]

Old member decloaking off the starboard bow.

[The Grand Nudger]

Congrats JP, also, welcome back.

[JP Bradt]

Congrats JP, also, welcome back.

Thanks! I am not promising to stay active, but I can at least lurk once in awhile, rather than disappearing entirely for 5 years! 

[arewethereyet]

Congrats JP, also, welcome back.

Thanks! I am not promising to stay active, but I can at least lurk once in awhile, rather than disappearing entirely for 5 years! 

I just assume anyone who disappears for a long period of time has been in prison.  

*welcome back