RE: Jeff Bradt, user since 2013, becoming active
October 11, 2017 at 1:25 pm
(This post was last modified: October 11, 2017 at 1:50 pm by JP Bradt.)
(June 2, 2017 at 12:16 pm)mh.brewer Wrote: 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.
(June 2, 2017 at 1:28 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: Hiyas, it's about time you joined the party.
Thanks for the welcome!
(June 2, 2017 at 1:32 pm)Minimalist Wrote:(June 2, 2017 at 12:16 pm)mh.brewer Wrote: 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!
(June 2, 2017 at 1:56 pm)SteelCurtain Wrote: Hello!
Welcome...back?
Thanks!
(June 2, 2017 at 8:11 pm)Pandæmonium Wrote:(June 2, 2017 at 1:37 pm)downbeatplumb Wrote: "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!
(June 2, 2017 at 8:55 pm)Fireball Wrote: 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.
(June 7, 2017 at 3:10 am)ignoramus Wrote:(June 2, 2017 at 1:37 pm)downbeatplumb Wrote: "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.
(June 7, 2017 at 4:40 am)Mr.Obvious Wrote: 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!
(June 7, 2017 at 7:38 am)Ben Davis Wrote: 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?
![[Image: Tea-Biscuits.jpg]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=cookdiary.net%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2FTea-Biscuits.jpg)
Why, thank you, that is most civilized of you!
(June 13, 2017 at 3:18 pm)Secular Elf Wrote: 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.
(October 8, 2017 at 9:15 pm)Tres Leches Wrote: 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.
I do not ask that you respect religion, but we need to respect the religious, because they are rational humans just like us atheists. I was rational when I was a Christian. I believed because of indoctrination, not lack of intelligence.
