Hello all,
My name is Lew (hence the hilarious play-on-words used in my username), and I have been a long time reader of these forums, but never thought to register for some reason...
Anyway, I've just signed up and I look forward to joining in the debate.
I am far from being as intelligent as some of the posters on here, but I will always give my honest opinion and will try to add to the discussion!
As far as my 'story' goes, it's nothing exciting I'm afraid.
I was raised in a fairly non-religous family.
My Dad doesn't really care about it all. I'm almost certain that he doesn't believe from the few chats we've had about it. I don't think he wastes much of his time thinking/talking about religion, and I don't really blame him for that (I'd also put my brother in the exact same boat as my dad).
After all, I wouldn't expect him to spend hours on end thinking about the possibility of leprechauns existing.
My Mum seems to be one of those 'on-the-fence' believers. Doesn't go to church, doesn't seem religious in day-to-day life, but I think she just likes the idea of there being 'something after death' and hopes that it's true.
She certainly isn't some religious fanatic who forced her views on her children, or anyone else.
I wouldn't even describe them as views. She's no devout Christian, it's almost definitely just 'hoping for something better when we die'.
They never forced me to believe in anything, and I appreciate that. I've been allowed to think for myself from day one. Yes they sent me to religious schools (read below), but that was to do with the schools' performance levels (results success history) and was nothing to do with the religion aspect.
I did come out with pretty good results too, so it worked out well.
I went to a Church of England primary AND high school where I took part in weekly indoctrination (sorry, 'Religous Education') lessons. I also went to a Sunday School during my primary school days which basically just tried to peddle the myth a bit more.
However, I never really bought in to it all.
As I grew older, I began to question everything and it didn't take me long to completely write off the notion/idea of there being a 'god' (be it the Christian god, or any other).
I have the internet to thank for pretty much everything. I used to (and still do) spend HOURS just reading. Not just about religion, but everything.
As my knowledge of the world around me grew, the idea of a god just became more and more ridiculous.
I then discovered the likes of Hitchens, Dawkins and Harris, and that's when my fascination with the whole 'Religion v Atheism' debate started.
I do love watching/reading a big old debate on this issue, and still find it amazing how most believers can be so stubborn and stuck in their ways, even when they're being hit by waves & waves of facts/evidence that basically debunk all the myths that they take as 'fact'.
I've realised that it's a near-impossible task to try and make a theist see sense, but ah well... I'll join in anyway!
Oh, I should just point out that my family, and everyone else I know, are aware of the fact that I'm an 'atheist' (if you want to call it that).
I'm very open about the fact that I don't believe in ANY of the thousands of gods that have been created by mankind, and I'm happy to discuss it with anyone.
Anyway, I think you all have an idea of my back-story there.
Don't wanna ramble on for too long!
I look forward to getting stuck in to some debates very soon
Cheers,
Lew
My name is Lew (hence the hilarious play-on-words used in my username), and I have been a long time reader of these forums, but never thought to register for some reason...
Anyway, I've just signed up and I look forward to joining in the debate.
I am far from being as intelligent as some of the posters on here, but I will always give my honest opinion and will try to add to the discussion!
As far as my 'story' goes, it's nothing exciting I'm afraid.
I was raised in a fairly non-religous family.
My Dad doesn't really care about it all. I'm almost certain that he doesn't believe from the few chats we've had about it. I don't think he wastes much of his time thinking/talking about religion, and I don't really blame him for that (I'd also put my brother in the exact same boat as my dad).
After all, I wouldn't expect him to spend hours on end thinking about the possibility of leprechauns existing.
My Mum seems to be one of those 'on-the-fence' believers. Doesn't go to church, doesn't seem religious in day-to-day life, but I think she just likes the idea of there being 'something after death' and hopes that it's true.
She certainly isn't some religious fanatic who forced her views on her children, or anyone else.
I wouldn't even describe them as views. She's no devout Christian, it's almost definitely just 'hoping for something better when we die'.
They never forced me to believe in anything, and I appreciate that. I've been allowed to think for myself from day one. Yes they sent me to religious schools (read below), but that was to do with the schools' performance levels (results success history) and was nothing to do with the religion aspect.
I did come out with pretty good results too, so it worked out well.
I went to a Church of England primary AND high school where I took part in weekly indoctrination (sorry, 'Religous Education') lessons. I also went to a Sunday School during my primary school days which basically just tried to peddle the myth a bit more.
However, I never really bought in to it all.
As I grew older, I began to question everything and it didn't take me long to completely write off the notion/idea of there being a 'god' (be it the Christian god, or any other).
I have the internet to thank for pretty much everything. I used to (and still do) spend HOURS just reading. Not just about religion, but everything.
As my knowledge of the world around me grew, the idea of a god just became more and more ridiculous.
I then discovered the likes of Hitchens, Dawkins and Harris, and that's when my fascination with the whole 'Religion v Atheism' debate started.
I do love watching/reading a big old debate on this issue, and still find it amazing how most believers can be so stubborn and stuck in their ways, even when they're being hit by waves & waves of facts/evidence that basically debunk all the myths that they take as 'fact'.
I've realised that it's a near-impossible task to try and make a theist see sense, but ah well... I'll join in anyway!
Oh, I should just point out that my family, and everyone else I know, are aware of the fact that I'm an 'atheist' (if you want to call it that).
I'm very open about the fact that I don't believe in ANY of the thousands of gods that have been created by mankind, and I'm happy to discuss it with anyone.
Anyway, I think you all have an idea of my back-story there.
Don't wanna ramble on for too long!
I look forward to getting stuck in to some debates very soon
Cheers,
Lew
![[Image: 146748944129044_zpsomrzyn3d.gif]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=i629.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fuu13%2FRXM843%2F146748944129044_zpsomrzyn3d.gif)
![[Image: 9httx.jpg]](https://i.imgflip.com/9httx.jpg)
from Western Australia
