Real name: Brad Reddekopp, living in Hazelton, British Columbia.  I like going by NoDeity online but I don't mean to hide behind the name.  

I've been accused of being arrogant -- my response is generally something like this: "You say that like it's a bad thing!"

I grew up in a nice Christian home, adopted the beliefs of my parents at an early age and persisted in faith well into my adulthood.  Worse yet, I was a teenage creationist -- dramatic chord -- (I got better).

I'm a strong atheist.  There are no plausible means by which gods might exist.  There is no testable evidence that should lead one to think that any god does exist.  There is nothing in reality that requires the existence of any god.  The evolution of god concepts within human cultures is quite obvious.  Conclusion:  God?  We made it up.  There ain't no such critter!

Politically, I'm an apatheticist.  I consider apathy the best approach to political theorizing/involvement/activism.  If I had to identify myself with any mainstream political movement, I'd have to decline and opt for anarchism.  Anarchism is to mainstream politics what atheism is to theology; I regard belief in the necessity or goodness of government as analogous to belief in the existence of God.  Lies that people need to get over: Jesus loves you; God has a plan for your life; the leader of your favourite political party gives a shit about people like you (unless you're rich); your vote matters.  

I'm an admirer of Ayn Rand but I've never been an Objectivist.  One of Rand's biggest mistakes was to assert that government (minimal government, but still government) is necessary for the protection of individual rights.  The reality is that government inevitably becomes the greatest violator of human rights.

Hobbies: 

1. I like both kinds of music: rock and roll (another of Rand's errors was to reject rock music).  I have a band called Axes of Ego: abasement banned.  We usually just go by Axes of Ego.  The second part of the name refers to the fact that we practice in a basement.  We do local bars and dances and such.  I'm a quiet, shy kind of guy but when we do a show I get to pretend to be outgoing, gregarious, and macho.  The band web site is www.AxesofEgo.com (in the blog there are links to some live MP3s and videos) and my old band's web site is www.BRBonline.com (I've got some of my old MP3s available for download on there).

My favourite band is Rush.

2. Cooking.  I love to get some good ingredients and let them inspire the outcome instead of simply following a recipe.  I have no formal culinary training.  I watch the Food Network to learn techniques and tricks.  This past year, I started baking bread for the first time and it's going great, if my family's reaction is a good indicator (it is -- they don't hesitate to call bullshit if it doesn't taste right).  I can almost tolerate vegetarians but I have no patience for vegans.  I eat meat, I love meat, and anyone who doesn't like it can just fuck off.  PeTA is evil.  (Please ignore the fact that I know how to cook some kick-ass vegan food.)

3. Gardening, especially when it relates to #2.  My favourite flowers to grow are nasturtiums because they're so delicious.  They have a bright, peppery flavour.  If you've never eaten one, you should.  In my garden I have three grape vines, two apple trees, black berry bushes, wild raspberries, wild saskatoon berries, soap berries, strawberries (both wild and domesticated), and probably some wild edible stuff I haven't figured out yet.

4. Webmastering.  Nothing fancy.  I try to keep it lean and mean.  I host and maintain web sites for the local minor hockey teams in our town -- www.hazeltonminorhockey.ca --, the local news-advertiser -- www.bulkleybrowser.ca (I designed the site in such a way that it's easy for the owner, a person with only basic computer skills, can easily update it weekly) --, my various personal project web sites -- eg. www.gulligo.com --, and the Graveyard of the Gods forum at www.graveyardofthegods.com/forum/ (repeatedly posting that link inspired Jake to ban me from the old Atheist Network forum -- fuck you, Jake! -- one consequence of that experience is that we never permanently ban anyone at GOTG; our prime directive is anti-censorship).

Offering people a lack of administrative intervention doesn't seem to be very popular so GOTG isn't a very busy forum.  Most people seem to like to have someone taking care of them.  Maybe anarchism is, for the most part, doomed to failure due to most people not wanting to assume full responsibility for themselves without some kind of big brother looking out for them.  Did I mention that people suck?

5. Dogmastering.  I have a pug.  He's a very willful little dog who is inclined by nature to be dominant but who has learned to accept me as his calm/assertive pack leader (thank you Cesar Millan).  My dog is a theist and I am his god.  (It helps that he's nine years old now.  Dogs tend to mellow a bit as they age -- even pugs.)

(If any part of this post is not acceptable on this site, you should just delete my account or ban me right now.  Seriously.  Now.)