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Current time: December 14, 2024, 3:32 am

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Hi there!
#1
Hi there!
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. Tongue

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. Smile
"I was thirsty for everything, but blood wasn't my style" - Live, "Voodoo Lady"
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#2
RE: Hi there!
Hi and welcome from an Aussie in NZ.

Playing Cluedo with my mum while I was at Uni:

"You did WHAT?  With WHO?  WHERE???"
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#3
RE: Hi there!
Welcome From Portugal. Enjoy the forums.
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#4
RE: Hi there!
Welcome! Awesome story, I also went through the whole "Vaguely catholic family" thing, though obviously circumstances different from your own. Good to have you.

Welcome
In every country and every age, the priest had been hostile to Liberty.
- Thomas Jefferson
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#5
RE: Hi there!
Welcome, Kevin. Thanks for sharing your story Smile
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#6
RE: Hi there!
Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone Smile It's nice to find a place where I don't have to constantly bite my tongue
"I was thirsty for everything, but blood wasn't my style" - Live, "Voodoo Lady"
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#7
RE: Hi there!
Welcome
"The Universe is run by the complex interweaving of three elements: energy, matter, and enlightened self-interest." G'Kar-B5
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#8
RE: Hi there!
Welcome
For Religion & Health see:[/b][/size] Williams & Sternthal. (2007). Spirituality, religion and health: Evidence and research directions. Med. J. Aust., 186(10), S47-S50. -LINK

The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK


"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
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#9
RE: Hi there!
Welcome from TN!

Thanks for telling your story, and I hope you join in!
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great

PM me your email address to join the Slack chat! I'll give you a taco(or five) if you join! --->There's an app and everything!<---
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#10
RE: Hi there!
Welcome aboard.
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