Hi all,
This is a 'hello' from a newbie. I have been browsing for a couple of weeks and thought I would join.
I have been an atheist all my life, although I only realised it consciously when I was about 14. I had been at private schools before that, where religious assemblies each morning were the norm. We had (Christian) "religious studies" at school (a good opportunity to mess about) and the obligatory hymn singing (I can still remember many of the lyrics and hymn numbers) and Christmas / Easter services at church. We chanted the Lord's Prayer every day and thanked God before school dinners (He didn't get much thanks for that..!).
My parents said they were Cath
olic, but they didn't ever do or say anything openly religious. How lucky I was!
One day, when we were all supposed to bow our heads and pray, it suddenly dawned on me that what we were doing was totally ridiculous. I talked about it with a friend at school and decided there was no reason to be doing any of this stuff. So we agreed that we would no longer get on our knees in church, would no longer bow our heads during 'prayer' and would no longer pray before meals. We were soon spotted and hauled up before the Principal for being disrespectful.
Since then I have read and read and read, and spent days watching YouTube debates on the existence of God (or god(s)). I am now 41, and happy that I am not beholden to a fictitious being. I have enjoyed Hitchens and occasionally Harris, Dawkins et al. Most recently I began thinking and reading about evolution, to see if there really was any substance to the theists' arguments about 'missing links' and 'macro-evolution'. I realised I actually didn't know much about evolution. Dawkins helped me with his Greatest Show On Earth.
I am happy to say "I do not know!" in the face of difficult questions. I do not understand what "supernatural' is supposed to be. I have nothing missing in my life that God could replace - and any reliance on such a God would no doubt diminish me as a person.
I am quite secure in my sense that there is neither a logical proof that God (god) exists, nor is there (or can be) any physical evidence. If I am wrong, then so be it.
I will enjoy participating on this forum
AND HELLO FROM NEW ZEALAND
This is a 'hello' from a newbie. I have been browsing for a couple of weeks and thought I would join.
I have been an atheist all my life, although I only realised it consciously when I was about 14. I had been at private schools before that, where religious assemblies each morning were the norm. We had (Christian) "religious studies" at school (a good opportunity to mess about) and the obligatory hymn singing (I can still remember many of the lyrics and hymn numbers) and Christmas / Easter services at church. We chanted the Lord's Prayer every day and thanked God before school dinners (He didn't get much thanks for that..!).
My parents said they were Cath
olic, but they didn't ever do or say anything openly religious. How lucky I was!One day, when we were all supposed to bow our heads and pray, it suddenly dawned on me that what we were doing was totally ridiculous. I talked about it with a friend at school and decided there was no reason to be doing any of this stuff. So we agreed that we would no longer get on our knees in church, would no longer bow our heads during 'prayer' and would no longer pray before meals. We were soon spotted and hauled up before the Principal for being disrespectful.
Since then I have read and read and read, and spent days watching YouTube debates on the existence of God (or god(s)). I am now 41, and happy that I am not beholden to a fictitious being. I have enjoyed Hitchens and occasionally Harris, Dawkins et al. Most recently I began thinking and reading about evolution, to see if there really was any substance to the theists' arguments about 'missing links' and 'macro-evolution'. I realised I actually didn't know much about evolution. Dawkins helped me with his Greatest Show On Earth.
I am happy to say "I do not know!" in the face of difficult questions. I do not understand what "supernatural' is supposed to be. I have nothing missing in my life that God could replace - and any reliance on such a God would no doubt diminish me as a person.
I am quite secure in my sense that there is neither a logical proof that God (god) exists, nor is there (or can be) any physical evidence. If I am wrong, then so be it.
I will enjoy participating on this forum
AND HELLO FROM NEW ZEALAND
