Throughout my life i have been surrounded by religion in one form or another, as many many other people have. And while growing up one of my most enduring personality traits has been my inability to just accept something without first understanding. And as hard as some people have tried to make me believe in the bible and its"teachings", the more i grew convinced that something was very wrong with the whole picture. And as i learned more and more about history, science, psychology, and human behavior the more i became convinced that religion is just a very complex and old form of control and manipulation.

The following is my response to mountaineer copied from the forums verbatim. I got quite ticked by his perpetual circular argument

Well, let me sum it all up for you in a nice and not-so-mind-bending package

As human beings, we owe to ourselves to be honest with ourselves and other people. Believing in something without having a slightest justification is an equivalent of lying to yourself. Every human being has a right, I would even say a God given right to lie to themselves; however, that right stops the moment you are trying to tell a lie to another person as if it was truth. That's deception: disgusting, dishonest, and most amoral of all evil things a person can do, for deception is rooted in cowardice and fear - the innate fear that you are wrong and that all your hard effort is in vain and that in the end there is no reward and you will die just like everyone else - lucky if without suffering. Deception is the worst of all evils because it undermines mutual trust, erodes perception of reality, shuns away the truth, and people who engage in all of that typically do not have the balls to admit it.

So... where to begin?

Hmm... I know:

I remember as a young boy of nine years of age (or was it ten? It's so long ago I can't honestly remember) sitting in a pew in a church, cub scout uniform on and knees relatively unscabbed listening to some geezer declaiming from the pulpit. It was Easter Sunday and the church was pretty full - as well as our pack and a couple of others there were a few Scout troops and Girl Guide units (they didn't mix in these days - Scouts for boys, Guides for girls) plus the usual crowd of regular worshippers and a number of guilty souls who had obviously made the effort because "Well, it is Easter".

I was asked in an email why I left the church. She asked why I was apostate and how I could live with myself and my decision. She continued by asking what made me that way. We had gone to church together when I was younger and she just couldn't understand how someone who was as good as me could be that person. With the accusations of my devoutly Mormon older brother echoing in my mind ("You think you are so much better than me because you were MORMON once but your not. I know more than you will ever know. I know I'm right and I know you are wrong and any time you ever want to debate that let me know because in one hour I can smash everything you ever thought into a pulp. I know exactly how people like you think.) And my other brother telling me "when mom found out you had your records removed and left the church she told everyone and it sounded like she was telling everyone that you had had an abortion or something."

Now, this post really has nothing to do with theism, atheism, or really much more than this personal crossroads I've reached. I'm really looking for some intellegent advice on finding a entry level position in my field.

I just gradutated with a 3.1 GPA from Indiana State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design. My current residence is in Kokomo, Indiana. I've spent this past week after graduation not doing much, just recharging my batteries and this week starts the dreaded job search. Here-in lies my problem. I'm feeling sort of anxious about the job search, I've spent my last 6 years working retail and going to school (which is evident by my GPA) and I've always felt that I was more than prepared for finding work, and now I'm not feeling so sure.

I figured I would write a small thing about who I am and how I got here. I realized I have been here for about two months and have never really said much about myself.
My name is Daniel and I generally fit the stereotypical version of a computer geek sans the glasses (tho I'm sure in the not two distant future ill need them). I basically have been doing desk side and system administration for servers for years.

I am one of the lucky ones that was not indoctrinated into religion as a kid. My parents have always left it up to me to choose what it is I believe (I think part of that having to do with the fact that my Mom was forced to go to Catholic school and church so she knows how sucky that is to be forced to go). I had always never really questioned things and always considered myself an agnostic theist. "Yeah I guess God is there but whatever, I could care less." was somewhat my motto. Even when I was a kid I realized how prayer and saying grace was kind of weird to me. It wasn't until recent years that I really started questioning religion and about how stupid it was.

If all the Christians would make videos proving verse John 14:13,
they could post them at "imamoronheresmymoney.com" and put all the athiests in their place.

Adam

b. 1981
Xian until 2005, former youth pastor at 2 churches, fairly well-versed in orthodox Protestant theology and doctrine
chemistry graduate student
founder and president of freethought group at UF
happily married

Let's take a person (We'll call him A).
Now A is a good person, he's lived his life well, he's also done well with his life.

He's never heard about the bible, god, jesus etc.

Is he going to hell?

Just need to know what you guys think.

I was inspired by a thread on the forums, and started making avatars:


I'll have more coming. Right now, I need to go shower. There are things I'd like to actually accomplish today.

Oh yea, an icon I made the other day that's just funny. I used an image from a vintage lingerie ad. It's so cute!