New Atheist in Salem/Keizer Oregon
Offline Greetings,
My name is James "Jimi" Spier and I have recently dropped the imaginary friend for science. I am a former right wing conservative church musician. Due to the size of the church, I was even called, "An answer to a prayer" because I was their first electric guitarist. After living in California for a year I moved back to Oregon (temporarily) and really needed some guidance from my "brothers in the lord" and I guess they inferred from my request that I would be asking for money. So, they never contacted my (not for a lack of trying on my part, I tried over 4 times). Naturally I got angry and then thats when everything made sense to me.. If god was real then my prayers would have been answered.. My mind went wild with all the other things god could be doing with that great power that he/she/it has.. He could end war, end poverty, end sickness, etc.. Come to find out that many of these horrible things are actually because there are people believing in god.. That is the day I renounced my belief and condo in "heaven".. I am tired of feeling guilty for being human, tired of being a robot for the imaginary friend's army and tired of watching the country that I fought for slip back into the dark ages just because believers lack the mental capacity to think for themselves..
I know this may not be the normal "howdy" that most give here but I am just happy to find a community of like minded people.. By the way I found out about this place from "Greydon Square"..
Anyway, if any of you are on facebook you can find me at facebook.com/jimispier
Thanks!
Jimi Spier
www.facebook.com/jimispier
"Christians: Prey for Atheists" -Jimi Spier (unless someone else wrote it first)
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Welcome to the Rational Response Squad.
That's a pretty good reason.
Was it really that simple though? Didn't you try anything like, "maybe the Lord works in mysterious ways?"
Oh, this kind of introduction is a lot more common than you think.
In fact, some people, when they arrive, write essentially an entire essay on how they abandoned religion and how glad they are to be free. Some people live in very religious areas and/or have almost no like-minded people they can talk to, so sometimes, it's like they've been carrying all these heavy, bottled-up thoughts and emotions and finally found a place to let it out. It's really nice to see.
Again, welcome.
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
"maybe the Lord works in mysterious ways?"
At that point in my life, I only thought of god as a sadistic, malevolent bully and praying (aka, catering to his enormous ego) would be the only way to appeal to him..
The sense of freedom I felt when I let go of all the crap that had been pounded into my head was literally awesome. I could be free to take in ideas that were otherwise taboo and do so without feeling like some galactic stalker was watching me or reading my thoughts (sounds like a mental illness in hindsight).
After I freed myself from the hold of religion I started collecting data about the various ideas out there (my wife calls me obsessed, she is still a somewhat believer) to understand the nature of things contrary to what I have been forced to learn. So far I have racked up a collection of videos from Dawkins (my personal favorite), Dennet, Hitchens, and Harris.. I've read The God Delusion and have tried to immerse myself in everything I can get my hand on. So, if anyone knows any free videos or literature on this subject or know of any other good people to listen to or read please let me know..
Jimi Spier
www.facebook.com/jimispier
"Christians: Prey for Atheists" -Jimi Spier (unless someone else wrote it first)
Absolutely! Thats how I got the nickname..
Jimi Spier
www.facebook.com/jimispier
"Christians: Prey for Atheists" -Jimi Spier (unless someone else wrote it first)
Having read your story, I warn you not to pin your rightful rejection of god/s on an emotional reaction . Although the arbitrary "prayer" thing does address the inconsistency of such a claim, the core reason for rejecting a god as a concept is that there is no such thing as a brain with no brain with super powers that is everywhere and nowhere at the same time who cares about us.
Good things happen in life and bad things happen in life. If our species can survive without believing in Horus or Thor, it most certainly can live without the god of Jesus or Allah or Yahweh.
Welcome.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
Hi...
That general sort of 'path' to Atheism is fairly common.
Something about the doctrine or dogma seems to to not quite fit, or things don't happen as the scripture has lead you to expect, so you look into it to find out what you misunderstood, what error you must have made in your ideas about God.
Then, if you are someone with a more rational leaning, you find more and more inconsistencies, until you finally realize the most obvious answer is that it is all 'made up'.
I am actually basing this on what many people have said on this site and others, since I myself never bought into religion at all seriously, and only progressively continued to lose respect for God belief as I got older.
I probably have a fairly sceptical father to thank for my never having fallen for it.
Anyway, welcome.
I hope you find some interesting discussions here.
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
All right!! He was awesome, wasn't he?
Hi, and welcome. I'm in Portland, OR, and like my avatar, an old lady fart. Yeah, I was about 19 when Hendrix was at the top.
I know exactly how you feel. I, too, felt enormous relief to just give religion up. I was always into science and it seemed as if I always had to reconcile what the bible said with what I knew to be true. I never could get into the "bible is an allegory so just believe the message" attitude. There was too much that was inconsistent and just plain wrong. So not believing set me free.
I'm not into philosophy (so you probably won't see much of my thoughts on those topics on this forum). Robert T. Pennock wrote, Tower of Babel: The evidence against the new Creationism and even though he is a philosopher of science, I enjoyed this book. I have always enjoyed reading about evolution, even when I was attending church. Dawkins, Stephen Jay Gould, Douglas J. Futuyma, Spencer Wells, Donald R. Protheroe, and oh, so many others. Feathered Dinosaurs: the origin of birds by John A. Long has some beautiful pictures of fossils and artistic renditions that show the evolution of feathers.
My day job is IT, when I'm employed. Been looking for over a year now and have too little to do during the day, so I spend too much time here.
-- I feel so much better since I stopped trying to believe.
"We are entitled to our own opinions. We're not entitled to our own facts"- Al Franken
"If death isn't sweet oblivion, I will be severely disappointed" - Ruth M.
Its nice to see another Atheist here in the northwest.. I know of a one or two in my area.. Its unfortunate that we only make up about 3-9% of the population.
I was in IT for years and recently changed over to medicine (Medical Assistant pursing my LPN so I can move back to California) because I wanted a way to help people on a larger scale.
Jimi Spier
www.facebook.com/jimispier
"Christians: Prey for Atheists" -Jimi Spier (unless someone else wrote it first)
When it comes to religion,I think about all of the lies that we are told , But when it comes to Hendrix,I think about the truth , you can hear it in his songs,and there one that I always think about -"Pass it on" he sings
' We got to tell the children the truth,they don't need a whole lot of lies,cause one of these days they'll be running things,so when you give them love ,you better give it right,Woman,child,Man and,Wife the best kind of love,is the love of Life! Pass It On . 
Signature ? How ?
Awesome..
Jimi Spier
www.facebook.com/jimispier
"Christians: Prey for Atheists" -Jimi Spier (unless someone else wrote it first)
Always nice to see a new member. I'm from the Toronto area of Canada myself. Welcome to rationality.
"Very funny Scotty; now beam down our clothes."
VEGETARIAN: Ancient Hindu word for "lousy hunter"
If man was formed from dirt, why is there still dirt?
Welcome! I spent a few years as a kid outside McMinnville. My daughter currently lives in Newberg. I do miss Oregon sometimes.
As for the rest: I hope you enjoy your stay here. Oh, and your local library should have quite a few videos and whatnot. I highly recommend "Jesus Camp," if you have a strong constitution. Of course, it might cause PTS-induced flashbacks, as well.
"Yes, I seriously believe that consciousness is a product of a natural process. I find that the neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers who proceed from that premise are the ones who are actually making useful contributions to our understanding of the mind." - PZ Myers
By the way.. Here is the last song I ever wrote and performed for church.. I am thinking about rededicating and/or rewriting it.. If religion was removed from it, what would you think about it?
Jimi Spier
www.facebook.com/jimispier
"Christians: Prey for Atheists" -Jimi Spier (unless someone else wrote it first)
Signature ? How ?
That is a good title.. I'll have to kick that one a around a bit.. Thanks Ken!
Jimi Spier
www.facebook.com/jimispier
"Christians: Prey for Atheists" -Jimi Spier (unless someone else wrote it first)
I just watched the movie after you suggested it.. Is this one filed under "Horror" in the video store? I have never seen brainwashing to this scale and I was in the military..
Jimi Spier
www.facebook.com/jimispier
"Christians: Prey for Atheists" -Jimi Spier (unless someone else wrote it first)
Yeah. It rather reminded me of the Army as well.
I hope it didn't scar you for life.
"Yes, I seriously believe that consciousness is a product of a natural process. I find that the neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers who proceed from that premise are the ones who are actually making useful contributions to our understanding of the mind." - PZ Myers
My wife watched it with me.. She told me that she basically just watched her childhood in that film..
I could easily tell she was as shocked and horrified as I was. I think she is starting to doubt the "truth" of god..
I helped it along with using amway and quixtar as analogies to how religion spreads and puts their nose in everyone's business..
Of course amway and quixtar is not as pushy as religion but its pushy enough to be a somewhat decent analogy.
Jimi Spier
www.facebook.com/jimispier
"Christians: Prey for Atheists" -Jimi Spier (unless someone else wrote it first)
" By the way I found out about this place from "Greydon Square".."
After doing a search for Greydon Square on this site, I would like to apologize for my ignorance in that I did not know what took place between Mr. Sapient and Greydon.
I am bipolar as well (Bipolar 2 actually) and it does mess up my creativity a bit but being able to go out in public or relate to my family is more important than being creative.
Losing the respect of fans and a community that supports you just because you want to be creative is absurd.
The man had the tools to keep himself and others safe but chose not to.
Disgraceful in my opinion and far from rational..
Jimi Spier
www.facebook.com/jimispier
"Christians: Prey for Atheists" -Jimi Spier (unless someone else wrote it first)
Welcome jimi ( ....coincidentally, I was just listening to Frank Marino's 1978 rendition of "Purple Haze" on the Mahogany Rush Live cd. )
Again, welcome to the forum.
Signature ? How ?
That guy is amazing.. Are you sure he isn't a clone?
Good to meet you. You'll find plenty of shared experience, like minds and thoughtful advice here.
"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck
I feel your new freedom Jimi. I was raised in east texas with a fairly religious family that constantly tried to cram religion down my throat all of my life! I stopped believeing in their god about the same time I found out there was no santa claus, easter bunny, tooth fairy & that superman doesn't really fly!
I've always been a good person & have made & kept a lot of good friends. The sad part is that many members of my family have began to discriminate against me simply because I'm not religious. Now in my later years it seems that the more people try to push religion on me the more I get annoyed! Religion is for weak minded people that need a crutch. They can't handle the fact that when they die...they just simply cease to exist...just like every other form of life on this planet has for billions of years! So they created all this religious bullshit that there will be another life after death! What a crock of crap! People are getting smarter these days & we have a lot better science! The last I heard...46% of the humans on this planet are Non-Believers in a god of any kind. We're gaining on them! They can't keep this myth up & running much longer because they can't prove ANY of what they preach! On the other hand science has more than proved that no such god has ever existed!
So Welcome to Rational Thinking! It all makes sense! Also on another note...I knew a lot of "Spier's" in the east & north Texas areas. I went to school with & mostly grew up with them. Are you or any of your family from Texas?
Thanks for the welcome and nope.. Not as far as I know.. I'm one of the only Spier's I know of..
Jimi Spier
www.facebook.com/jimispier
"Christians: Prey for Atheists" -Jimi Spier (unless someone else wrote it first)
Stay fixated on not getting fixated.
Welcome.
Hello and wellcome to the forum. I find it allways a bit sad when somebody looses his belief, especially if its because of some stupid people. They have shown to be really bad christians, if they are really christians at all. What happened to help your next ? Especially since it was someone who had done a lot for the church ? People like that really piss me of. They should be ashamed of themselves. I would write them a letter, in which you write everything you wrote in the Op, perhaps even a bit more extensive. That should make them hopefully start thinking, so the next guy ets help when needed.
I hope that one day you will met people who really belief and live their belief so you can perhaps find your belief again. But even if not. i believe god cares a lot more on how we live our lifes than how often we attend church and how often we pray.
Be patient: English is not my first language.
Hello and wellcome to the forum. I find it allways a bit sad when somebody looses his belief, especially if its because of some stupid people. They have shown to be really bad christians, if they are really christians at all. What happened to help your next ? Especially since it was someone who had done a lot for the church ? People like that really piss me of. They should be ashamed of themselves. I would write them a letter, in which you write everything you wrote in the Op, perhaps even a bit more extensive. That should make them hopefully start thinking, so the next guy ets help when needed.
I hope that one day you will met people who really belief and live their belief so you can perhaps find your belief again. But even if not. i believe god cares a lot more on how we live our lifes than how often we attend church and how often we pray.I hope in this forum you will find the answers you seek, even if that means that you stay atheist. Better happy as an atheist than unhappy as an theist
Be patient: English is not my first language.
" Bullet in the sunset" seeing as how those people kinda killed your faith. Anyway, nice to meet ya.
If all the Christians who have called other Christians " not really a Christian " were to vanish, there'd be no Christians left.