Hi, everyone! I'm Kevin. I'm 34 from NH in the USA.
I guess I might give a quick breakdown of how I became an atheist since, well, I don't want to just say 'hi' and run off to a different thread. There were several factors:
One of the biggest is that I was born with a permanent physical disability, Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita. AFAIK, it's a non-genetic form of MD, and it's non-fatal. All of the problems happened in utero. Essentially, I have minor structural deformities, and missing muscles/muscle groups. I was a figurative pretzel when removed from my mom via cesarean. My legs were twisted around each other, the same with my arms, which were also pinned behind my back. I've had somewhere near 43 surgeries to give me what motor function I have. I used to walk, but severe scoliosis and the resulting back surgery kind of killed that, so I'm a permanent electric wheelchair driver now. It's not all bad, since walking's for suckers anyway.
But, yeah, growing up in a believing but loosely practicing Catholic family, I was always told that "God has a plan for me" and other such nonsense that always rang hollow even as a child. Those kind of platitudes never made much sense. What kind of plan involves not being able to even sniff at a normal life? What kind of plan involves harming a child? It always seemed like something they'd say to make them feel better, because it wasn't much of an explanation.
Beyond that, I just never really bought into the god story. I distinctly remember, as a young child (probably 5-8 years old) crying when I was told by my two older brothers that I was baptized. I was furious that it was done without my consent. I hated church because Catholic church is friggin' scary to a child - dark, gothic, with adults droning on and kneeling/standing/sitting in unison - and I didn't want to be tied to that. I also felt like it should've been my choice since I knew there were other religions out there, and what if I found one more to my liking?
So, I more or less went through the motions for years, kind of believing in some higher power but also feeling incredibly uncomfortable around those who took it really seriously. When I went to UNH, I went through a generalized agnostic theist phase before finally doing real self-examination and realizing I never truly believed in god. I just don't have that leap of faith bone in my body. I can't believe in something I can't be sure exists.
That realization came, interestingly, right around 9-11. I don't think it was that event in particular that triggered my realization, but it was the end of a culmination of events that really helped crystallize who I was and what I believed or didn't believe in.
So, I've been an atheist for 13+ years now. And to anyone reading this that may be conflicted with themselves, let me say that it's incredibly freeing. Morality doesn't come from a supposedly all-loving being that punishes people to eternal torment for finite crimes. Morality doesn't come from something that demands you believe in it, despite never offering concrete evidence to its existence, and it doesn't come from something that will consider any good works you do forfeit unless you do believe in it. Dogma and obedience-else-punishment isn't love. It's abuse.
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All that aside, I'm a pretty nerdy fellow. I'm pretty big into video games. I <3 the Mass Effect series, Star Child ending notwithstanding. I do what web programming (PHP w/ Symfony 2, mostly) work I can without screwing up my state/federal benefits. And, uh, yeah... hi.
I guess I might give a quick breakdown of how I became an atheist since, well, I don't want to just say 'hi' and run off to a different thread. There were several factors:
One of the biggest is that I was born with a permanent physical disability, Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita. AFAIK, it's a non-genetic form of MD, and it's non-fatal. All of the problems happened in utero. Essentially, I have minor structural deformities, and missing muscles/muscle groups. I was a figurative pretzel when removed from my mom via cesarean. My legs were twisted around each other, the same with my arms, which were also pinned behind my back. I've had somewhere near 43 surgeries to give me what motor function I have. I used to walk, but severe scoliosis and the resulting back surgery kind of killed that, so I'm a permanent electric wheelchair driver now. It's not all bad, since walking's for suckers anyway.
But, yeah, growing up in a believing but loosely practicing Catholic family, I was always told that "God has a plan for me" and other such nonsense that always rang hollow even as a child. Those kind of platitudes never made much sense. What kind of plan involves not being able to even sniff at a normal life? What kind of plan involves harming a child? It always seemed like something they'd say to make them feel better, because it wasn't much of an explanation.
Beyond that, I just never really bought into the god story. I distinctly remember, as a young child (probably 5-8 years old) crying when I was told by my two older brothers that I was baptized. I was furious that it was done without my consent. I hated church because Catholic church is friggin' scary to a child - dark, gothic, with adults droning on and kneeling/standing/sitting in unison - and I didn't want to be tied to that. I also felt like it should've been my choice since I knew there were other religions out there, and what if I found one more to my liking?
So, I more or less went through the motions for years, kind of believing in some higher power but also feeling incredibly uncomfortable around those who took it really seriously. When I went to UNH, I went through a generalized agnostic theist phase before finally doing real self-examination and realizing I never truly believed in god. I just don't have that leap of faith bone in my body. I can't believe in something I can't be sure exists.
That realization came, interestingly, right around 9-11. I don't think it was that event in particular that triggered my realization, but it was the end of a culmination of events that really helped crystallize who I was and what I believed or didn't believe in.
So, I've been an atheist for 13+ years now. And to anyone reading this that may be conflicted with themselves, let me say that it's incredibly freeing. Morality doesn't come from a supposedly all-loving being that punishes people to eternal torment for finite crimes. Morality doesn't come from something that demands you believe in it, despite never offering concrete evidence to its existence, and it doesn't come from something that will consider any good works you do forfeit unless you do believe in it. Dogma and obedience-else-punishment isn't love. It's abuse.
---
All that aside, I'm a pretty nerdy fellow. I'm pretty big into video games. I <3 the Mass Effect series, Star Child ending notwithstanding. I do what web programming (PHP w/ Symfony 2, mostly) work I can without screwing up my state/federal benefits. And, uh, yeah... hi.
"I was thirsty for everything, but blood wasn't my style" - Live, "Voodoo Lady"
From Portugal. Enjoy the forums.
