Greetings, a word of thanks and a reintroduction of sorts.
Offline Hey all!
My name is Jeff and I am a man who is coming to RRS to thank you. You see, a few years back I joined these forums after seeing a Google banner on a religious forum I visited. At the time I was pretty crazy and especially self-righteous. I'd argue that most everyone is too much of the latter, but if you're a theist and you go to an atheist discussion website in an attempt to draw people back to God, you've got issues! 
I'm glad I can laugh about it now, but I will be honest and say I'm still extremely embarrassed.
I hope I haven't raised any red flags so far. I was never banned, and while this is my second account and I assume that is against forum rules I was hoping nobody would mind. My embarrassment is pretty extreme while thinking about some of the ridiculous things that swam through my mind at the time... I would also like to say that I was (and still am, to a much smaller degree) suffering from schizo-affective disorder. So I hope you guys will allow me to stay, seeing all of that and I promise I'm a much different person. I would provide my forum username too but it was an obscure one I don't usually use so I've forgotten it but if you so wish I can lurk the old stuff and find it. I'd like to avoid doing this though because I don't want to even think of the things that used to swim through my head at this point in time. I'd also be embarrassed as well I'm sure... Sheesh!
Anyway, now for the appreciation part of my post... You guys honestly helped free me from my shackles. I was a real fool. I'd especially like to thank Bob Spence, I remember at least twice where his keen intellect really jabbed through the ignorant shield I used to *cough* "protect" my mind. I noticed you have your own show now, that is wonderful! I will most certainly have to tune in for that soon.
RRS, DON'T STOP DOING WHAT YOU ARE DOING! You helped free at least one mind and I'm sure you can free more. You have my deepest thanks.
If you're wondering why I'm back here, I was literally just a few minutes ago on a hookah forum I frequent and someone mentioned RRS and I was like... My goodness! I have people to thank! Hehe.
Full disclosure though: I don't consider myself anything. Not atheist or agnostic (yet anyway) and I would say I'm something I can't describe. People like to toss around the word "spiritual" so I usually tell people I'm that, though it's total bullshit. I do really enjoy some of the lessons that can be taught in religious texts to be honest. But don't be offended! They're just things that any ethics philosopher would appreciate, I swear! Haha.
If you have any questions, definitely feel free to ask.
Thanks again all (especially Bob!) and I already know I will have a lot of growth by being here. Best wishes.
I never thought there were corners in my mind until I was told to stand in one.
I have learned so much, thanks for keeping it real RRS.
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Thanks for taking the time to thank us. Thank you for doing so, thanks for giving us another reason to go on. It's hard to admit being wrong about god. Many of the people we affect aren't ever able to say thanks to us, as much as they'd want to. Saying thanks is like saying "I was wrong." Some people have too much pride. Well I'm proud of you for the steps in a positive direction you've seem to have taken since we last crossed paths. I hope you continue to grow in a positive direction.
Don't worry about your past account.
- Brian Sapient
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Hi, and welcome.
Thanks for the kind words, I do try to straighten out people on the more glaring misunderstandings...
Regarding the show you mentioned, is that the one referred to in the forum listings, "BJ's & BS (Bob Spence, Jon-HBA & Brian, SilkyShrew)"?
Sorry to say, that hasn't run for quite a while, although Brian37 in particular would dearly like to get something going again, and I would almost certainly be involved.
Favorite oxymorons: Gospel Truth, Rational Supernaturalist, Business Ethics, Christian Morality
"Theology is now little more than a branch of human ignorance. Indeed, it is ignorance with wings." - Sam Harris
The path to Truth lies via careful study of reality, not the dreams of our fallible minds - me
From the sublime to the ridiculous: Science -> Philosophy -> Theology
Thank you for the kind words pal. I am hoping I can give back something to your cause. That said, before I comment too much on the different topics I have forum reading to catch up on, that's for sure!
I'll share some more about myself. I am all about the social issues now! I am going to study everything and anything related to social issues and hope to be an author one day. I'm not sure where my real calling is quite yet though, I have a strong desire to be a social worker and will certainly do related work, but I also really would love to be a sociologist and ethics philosopher.
Interestingly enough I can in part thank the Catholic high school I went to for this, they required a number of community service hours every year. This said, I really think I would still be someone who wants to work against social injustice. (For example I was also a member of the Key Club, which requires even more hours than the high school did.)
What else... I'm a Libertarian now but I don't know exactly what type I'd classify myself as. I'm sure this community can help me with that as well.
I will share that I absolutely must read a book by Richard Dawkins. Everything I've seen from him has been very eye opening.
Hmm, not sure what else to share but definitely ask if you're curious.
Thanks again guys you really earn a big kudos, I hope my story has inspired you to keep going on with your mission. And thanks for letting me slide about this being another account, I'm sure one day I'll want to read what I said here but I'm still working through some trauma issues and am not quite ready (or at least confident) to do that yet.
I never thought there were corners in my mind until I was told to stand in one.
I have learned so much, thanks for keeping it real RRS.
Hey pal! And I for one am glad you do try!
I indeed noticed the forum so I thought I'd say something. I'd love to hear any old shows you have. I'll be browsing the forums heavily tonight so I'll see if I can find any.
You're the man. Thanks a million brother.
I never thought there were corners in my mind until I was told to stand in one.
I have learned so much, thanks for keeping it real RRS.
Welcome back.
I'm glad the RRS could help you.
Hope to see you round the forums
Thanks ronin, and I'm sure you will definitely see me around! In fact you should see me make another thread soon about a question I have developed if I don't find anything on here and Google that can point me in the right direction.
I've been reading the forums quite a bit since I rejoined and the science that has been discussed is just excellent, I'm so glad that I was reminded of this place. I hope I can "hang with the big dogs" in the discussions asap.
I never thought there were corners in my mind until I was told to stand in one.
I have learned so much, thanks for keeping it real RRS.
MrPal you were a victim of religious brainwashing just like many of us were. I remember being a Christian and having an atheist boyfriend and trying to "save" his soul and being genuinely scared for his salvation. It's good that you're embarrassed because if you weren't, you wouldn't have learned anything. But I don't feel you need to beat yourself up about it much. When you're taught from infancy that there is a god, a devil, a heaven, a hell, and a Jesus, and you're taught this by the very people that you are dependant on, you're the victim, just like they are. It's mental amway.
Liberate your mind. Fuck religion.
Welcome back, and congrats!
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
Welcome to the forum...again.
Our revels now are ended. These our actors, | As I foretold you, were all spirits, and | Are melted into air, into thin air; | And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, | The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, | The solemn temples, the great globe itself, - Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, | And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, | Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff | As dreams are made on, and our little life | Is rounded with a sleep. - Shakespeare
Thank you for the kind words of support!
I wrote a fairly long thing and when I accidentally hit the back button it deleted (doh) but I'll try to recreate it.
@GypsyWytch: I appreciate your sentiment! I can't think of a single person in my family who isn't a theist and your words really ring true. But I still feel bad about the possible implications of my shared thoughts and actions on other people, and can even think of times where I alienated a person's intellect. One man I knew who had a world class personality was Jewish and decided to be atheist, and while I didn't berate him I still disapproved. I have been told I too have a great personality, so I have my theories about how someone you care for as a friend and respect as a person can hurt you more than they should be able to.
Thank you for the congratulations as well! It is hard to break down the barriers that have been set up by my surroundings and myself but I must say - it is definitely possible! Even probable: I honestly think we are literally evolving into beings that will do this better as time goes on and we mature.
More about me: I named myself MrPal because I really want to "kill 'em with kindness" and rational thought. I will be making a thread probably today asking to be pointed in the right direction concerning something on my mind.
I gotta jet and thank you for reading.
I never thought there were corners in my mind until I was told to stand in one.
I have learned so much, thanks for keeping it real RRS.
People are going to become upset with you for being an atheist regardless of how "nice" you are about it. They'll do this because they have been taught to do it. I've been yelled at simply for pointing out that there is no proof that Jesus Christ ever existed. Hardcore theists tend to hear one thing with their ears and a whole different thing with their irrational minds. So if you say "I don't believe in god", their irrational minds will translate that to "I HATE YOUR GOD". It happens. Try not to let it get to you. Just remember that they are the one with the mind disease that is causing this illogical reaction. All you are guilty of is being real and true to yourself and everyone else.
Liberate your mind. Fuck religion.
To me, the angry reaction of offended Theists is proof of the failure of their belief to allow them to cope with some aspects of life. The way belief is frequently described would suggest to me that it should allow one to maintain a calm joy despite the worst things the mortal world can throw at you.
Yet for many, it seems to make them hypersensitive to any perceived 'threat' to their beliefs. The extreme example of this was the reaction of so many moslems to those notorious cartoons.
Surely a solid faith should allow one to ignore the futile actions of the infidels to attack their almighty God and his prophet, yet so often the reverse seems to be that case.
Just another of the many contradictions of religion that confirms for us that we made the right decision to not buy into it, or if in already, buy out of it.
Favorite oxymorons: Gospel Truth, Rational Supernaturalist, Business Ethics, Christian Morality
"Theology is now little more than a branch of human ignorance. Indeed, it is ignorance with wings." - Sam Harris
The path to Truth lies via careful study of reality, not the dreams of our fallible minds - me
From the sublime to the ridiculous: Science -> Philosophy -> Theology
I think that this is an issue not limited to religion. I find a lot of people get upset if they have any irrational beliefs threatened. Whether it be on racism, sexism, sexual preference, politics, or anything else.
When they face reality it makes them square up, and a lot of people don't like that and seem to rather live in delusion.
Theism is why we can't have nice things.
Thank you for the replies everyone. What I'm going to say is a bit unorganized (I need to work on something to fix this trend of mine!) But I think you'll understand what I'm trying to say.
The sentence I bolded is what irks my mind at the moment. Part of my schizo-affective disorder was that I used to constantly hear voices and they were all concentrated on religious babble "talking points" (I say that because I'm not sure what else to call it; I don't like to think of the things I heard as anything but my own mind but that is usually the best way to describe it.) Anyway, I really want to help people and that will require studying the thought process of the irrational and since I want to concentrate on the homeless, debilitating mental illnesses. I don't consider myself lucky for having gone through what I did, far from it, but I do consider myself lucky that nothing EVER told me to harm others.
Part of my beliefs is that altruism is the ultimate key to happiness (for many reasons) and a part of that is being true to yourself by doing what you can to help others... I really have no desire to argue with people like this exhilio person I keep reading in the forums, but I do have a strong desire to help him and others like him. (Not trying to call you out guy, just using you as an example.)
The best way to honor yourself and others is to liberate everyone from what binds them, whatever it may be. In fact the replies concerning hostility to viewpoints differing from personal ones is a great example of that; hasn't self-righteousness gotten the human race into enough trouble as it is? That's what I really meant about my remark about killing them with kindness.
It's a tiny bit of a tangent but one thing I do not like about the movement against organized theism is there seems to be a high amount of aggression by most when engaging someone who believes in it... To put it simply, you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. And I know from personal experience that a mind bombarded with the facts will change; hopefully towards liberation but there's always the opposite direction as well. And the latter is something we certainly do not want.
To wrap it up, self-righteousness is a huge part of what caused us here to step back and renounce (organized or not) theism and I think that self-righteousness in the movement against it is destructive as well, to all parties. While I agree with your sentiment on the diseases of the mind GypsyWytch, isn't it our duty to cure all diseases? By honoring every legitimate value we can we should study the best way to combat all self-righteousness. The moral high ground in this manner is inclusive, not exclusive.
I could have organized this better so I apologize for that. Thanks for reading.
I never thought there were corners in my mind until I was told to stand in one.
I have learned so much, thanks for keeping it real RRS.
Greetings!
I was feeling rather curious and confident so I looked up what my old username was. It was Religous_Rebel and I read some of what I posted and it wasn't that bad, I was still pissed at organized religion and such, and I suppose the trauma I experienced I have tied to my old beliefs to an extent. I'm still fairly embarrassed about wanting to "convert the heathens" and wish I could have been more appreciative in my past of anyone who is trying to grow ethically. However I did post that I was an atheist sympathizer in my introduction thread hehe, but I wish I was more so.
Anyway I want to thank you again for helping me grow and for being so devoted to science, etc. I'll have to make a donation eventually. (My financial situation is in the shitter, but that's another story.)
Keep it up guys, we can change the world for the better.
I never thought there were corners in my mind until I was told to stand in one.
I have learned so much, thanks for keeping it real RRS.