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Hello from south florida! My coming out story...
May 7, 2023 at 5:14 pm
I didn't know where to begin here, so I figure I shall start with my coming out to my parents story. I was born in south florida in 1989. I was raised catholic, sent to sunday school every sunday of my life until I was a teenager. We mindlessly chanted all the songs and prayers week after week. I went along with it until I was exposed to alternate ways of thinking by my first real girlfriend in highschool. I must admit, even as a child, I was never fully convinced that the religious stories were true. I agreed because I felt the societal pressure, but I had a lingering feeling something was off. Then I met Cristina. She was openly anti-theist, and I never knew such a thing existed. Then the floodgates opened. I researched evolution, read Dawkin's the selfish gene, and that was it. For about a decade after that, I was dedicated, indeed obsessed, with uncovering the truth. Sam Harris' The End of Faith, Dawkins' "The God Delusion", and Hitchens' "God is Not Great", followed by Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot" all made it so incredibly clear to me.. On top of a basic study of evoluton...it all became so clear. I emailed my father a long essay of why I thought myself to be an "agnostic atheist". He replied with an essay of his own. His exposition was so very embarrassing.. he replied with quotes of Darwin speaking of "the impossibility of the human eye" and such, totally taken our of context. He said things like "why would randomness create such beauty as the hundreds of species of butterfly..." I didn't have the energy and time to combat it...simple as it could have been...(Leucochloridium)...
That was many years ago. I can no longer be honest with my friends, because not only are they religious ,they seriously think crystals have auras that can effect the natural world.
At this point, I am older. I feel....
I am surrounded by gullible morons.
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RE: Hello from south florida! My coming out story...
May 7, 2023 at 5:35 pm
Welcome...you will find other used to be Catholics here. Myself included. Never bought into it and eventually drifted away for good.
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RE: Hello from south florida! My coming out story...
May 7, 2023 at 6:57 pm
Welcome to the forum!
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‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson
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RE: Hello from south florida! My coming out story...
May 7, 2023 at 9:04 pm
Welcome Woof.
Interesting story. I could have connected more if you were evangelistic lutherans. In the community we're considered catholic lite.
I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem.
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RE: Hello from south florida! My coming out story...
May 7, 2023 at 9:29 pm
(This post was last modified: May 7, 2023 at 9:30 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
Welcome aboard. You know, you'd feel that way even if they weren't afflicted with religion. They're still floridians.
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RE: Hello from south florida! My coming out story...
May 8, 2023 at 12:42 pm
Welcome! The Selfish Gene was a part of my journey too.
I'm not anti-Christian. I'm anti-stupid.
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RE: Hello from south florida! My coming out story...
May 9, 2023 at 12:48 pm
(May 7, 2023 at 5:14 pm)FollowingFeynman89 Wrote: I didn't know where to begin here, so I figure I shall start with my coming out to my parents story. I was born in south florida in 1989. I was raised catholic, sent to sunday school every sunday of my life until I was a teenager. We mindlessly chanted all the songs and prayers week after week. I went along with it until I was exposed to alternate ways of thinking by my first real girlfriend in highschool. I must admit, even as a child, I was never fully convinced that the religious stories were true. I agreed because I felt the societal pressure, but I had a lingering feeling something was off. Then I met Cristina. She was openly anti-theist, and I never knew such a thing existed. Then the floodgates opened. I researched evolution, read Dawkin's the selfish gene, and that was it. For about a decade after that, I was dedicated, indeed obsessed, with uncovering the truth. Sam Harris' The End of Faith, Dawkins' "The God Delusion", and Hitchens' "God is Not Great", followed by Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot" all made it so incredibly clear to me.. On top of a basic study of evoluton...it all became so clear. I emailed my father a long essay of why I thought myself to be an "agnostic atheist". He replied with an essay of his own. His exposition was so very embarrassing.. he replied with quotes of Darwin speaking of "the impossibility of the human eye" and such, totally taken our of context. He said things like "why would randomness create such beauty as the hundreds of species of butterfly..." I didn't have the energy and time to combat it...simple as it could have been...(Leucochloridium)...
That was many years ago. I can no longer be honest with my friends, because not only are they religious ,they seriously think crystals have auras that can effect the natural world.
At this point, I am older. I feel....
I am surrounded by gullible morons.
Welcome, welcome! Amazing how creationists never quote the second part of Darwins passage on an evolution for the eye from Origins, which actually turned out to be quite good. The bit where he pointed out that gradual improvements in light sensitive skin can over generations evolve an eye, through compeditive advantage.
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RE: Hello from south florida! My coming out story...
May 15, 2023 at 2:04 pm
(May 7, 2023 at 5:14 pm)FollowingFeynman89 Wrote: I didn't know where to begin here, so I figure I shall start with my coming out to my parents story. I was born in south florida in 1989. I was raised catholic, sent to sunday school every sunday of my life until I was a teenager. We mindlessly chanted all the songs and prayers week after week. I went along with it until I was exposed to alternate ways of thinking by my first real girlfriend in highschool. I must admit, even as a child, I was never fully convinced that the religious stories were true. I agreed because I felt the societal pressure, but I had a lingering feeling something was off. Then I met Cristina. She was openly anti-theist, and I never knew such a thing existed. Then the floodgates opened. I researched evolution, read Dawkin's the selfish gene, and that was it. For about a decade after that, I was dedicated, indeed obsessed, with uncovering the truth. Sam Harris' The End of Faith, Dawkins' "The God Delusion", and Hitchens' "God is Not Great", followed by Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot" all made it so incredibly clear to me.. On top of a basic study of evoluton...it all became so clear. I emailed my father a long essay of why I thought myself to be an "agnostic atheist". He replied with an essay of his own. His exposition was so very embarrassing.. he replied with quotes of Darwin speaking of "the impossibility of the human eye" and such, totally taken our of context. He said things like "why would randomness create such beauty as the hundreds of species of butterfly..." I didn't have the energy and time to combat it...simple as it could have been...(Leucochloridium)...
That was many years ago. I can no longer be honest with my friends, because not only are they religious ,they seriously think crystals have auras that can effect the natural world.
At this point, I am older. I feel....
I am surrounded by gullible morons.
Welcome!
We are not made happy by what we acquire but by what we appreciate.
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