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RE: Hi, my name is "withheld" and I am an atheist
October 5, 2015 at 6:14 am
Now THAT is a fuckin' intro!
Welcome to AF. I'm sorry about your brother, and for all your troubles over the years, but at least now you have had the familiar, crystallising moment where it hits you like a train wreck. I too had those mental gears suddenly slip into place a few years ago.
I wish you all the best with your new-found freedom - you are no longer a slave to the money-generating machine that is religion.
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If you have any serious concerns, are being harassed, or just need someone to talk to, feel free to contact me via PM
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RE: Hi, my name is "withheld" and I am an atheist
October 5, 2015 at 7:31 am
Welcome.
I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem.
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RE: Hi, my name is "withheld" and I am an atheist
October 5, 2015 at 7:32 am
Hello!
That's quite a story. I am deeply sorry about your brother. That is terrible. I hope you've found peace with that, if that's even possible.
I would caution you about "coming out" as it were at a large family gathering. Things can get pretty terrible pretty fast. My advice is to do it one on one, individually, to the people who need to know. Mom & Dad together, maybe, then siblings, then extended family, etc. In my experience when you have your whole hyper-religious family all in one room, everyone has a tendency to come at you with bullshit overload, and it is very difficult to defend yourself properly. Just a thought, in any case.
Seriously, I hope you stick around!
"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
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RE: Hi, my name is "withheld" and I am an atheist
October 5, 2015 at 7:39 am
If it's any help, I have collected together ideas from all over the place to help people who are "coming out", click here to see it.
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RE: Hi, my name is "withheld" and I am an atheist
October 5, 2015 at 7:46 am
Welcome amigo.
"For the only way to eternal glory is a life lived in service of our Lord, FSM; Verily it is FSM who is the perfect being the name higher than all names, king of all kings and will bestow upon us all, one day, The great reclaiming" -The Prophet Boiardi-
Conservative trigger warning.
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RE: Hi, my name is "withheld" and I am an atheist
October 5, 2015 at 8:42 am
Glad you're here, man. I hope we can offer you some comfort and the sense of community that means so much to me, when I come here.
It may seem fairly intense, emotionally, right now, but as the others have said, you have taken a step into a brave new world.
Twenty-two years since I had that particular "Sixth Sense" epiphany, and I have not looked back.
A Christian told me: if you were saved you cant lose your salvation. you're sealed with the Holy Ghost
I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.
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RE: Hi, my name is "withheld" and I am an atheist
October 5, 2015 at 10:07 am
Hi Withheld, and welcome!
You'll like most of the people here. We have some very pleasant theists, some utterly brilliant atheists, a few garden-variety newbie atheists like myself, and then the loonies drop by to preach on a regular basis. (They used to irritate me - I've had more than enough preaching - but now I'm starting to find them entertaining.) Lots of good discussions here on just about anything you can imagine.
I came from a very similar background as yours. It does sometimes feel like you had to burn down your house to escape it, doesn't it?
Jump on in, the water's fine!
"The family that prays together...is brainwashing their children."- Albert Einstein
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RE: Hi, my name is "withheld" and I am an atheist
October 5, 2015 at 11:52 am
Hello and welcome, CautiousButExcitedNewAtheist!
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
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RE: Hi, my name is "withheld" and I am an atheist
October 5, 2015 at 12:21 pm
(October 5, 2015 at 6:11 am)pocaracas Wrote: Wow... what a story!
Welcome aboard, dude.
If your meds make you believe again, then so be it.... somehow, I doubt they'll do that.
It's when I read this kind of story that I think someone should package all these "conversion" stories into a neat little volume.
It may become a rather repetitive book, but it just comes to show the standard path.
As the potential first, can I have your permission to perform such a collection?
as a cautious atheist, i would not want my story shared for now, because i don't want my family to hear about my deconversion before i've had the opportunity to guide them in following my line of thinking. however, ask me in a month or two and to be honest, i am confidant i would love to share my story with EVERYONE if it's something that can help anyone, but again, in time.
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RE: Hi, my name is "withheld" and I am an atheist
October 5, 2015 at 12:22 pm
Hey there! You have quite the story there. Also, I'm very sorry to hear about your brother. I give you my best wishes when and if you do decide to come out to your family. I agree with Steel that coming out at a large setting like that might be a bad idea.
I hope you find what you're looking for here, and hope your mental health treatment goes well 
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' -Isaac Asimov-
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