Hello from Alaska
Posted on: October 5, 2010 - 3:05am
Offline
Hello from Alaska
My name is Mark, I live in Wasilla, Alaska where I have resided for the past 42 years. I am a fairly new Atheist. I was raised as a non-denominational christian from childhood, forced to go to church, christian schools, and much more. I was searching the internet for like-minded, free-willed people and came across your great site! I am very happy I did, I really enjoy reading all your posts and I hope to have more time soon to join in the conversation. My interests outside of Atheism are Corvettes and Music, mainly Metal. Anyways, I just wanted introduce myself and to say HELLO TO ALL!!
~~Be Real~~
- Login to post comments
I live near Toronto Myself, post often new comers are always welcome. Isn't Wasilla where 'public embarrasment Palin' comes from. btw I drive a GMC Acadia.
"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?
Don't mind a V8 myself. I had a similar upbringing to you. What fun, eh?
How "fairly" is "fairly new" as far as when you realized that you didn't buy claims of disembodied magical super brains with super powers? Was it slow slipping away, like it was for most of us here? It took me several years to go from "I believe" to "I don't know" to "this is all crap".
And say hi to Caribou Barbie, she loves godless heathens like you.
"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
Welcome.
You will be envious. I once lived in a very small town in central Washington state. There was, wonder of wonders, a Chevy dealer who had been in the business since Chevies were Chevies. The current owner - a grandson of the first owner - had his own car frequently on display in the show room. When he got his first license, his dad bought him a brandy new '60 Vette in blue. I was so jealous I could have spit. That is the year and color I always wanted.
Anyway, welcome and have fun with us.
-- 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.
Welcome to the forums Mark. Do any hunting or fishing up there?
If, if a white man puts his arm around me voluntarily, that's brotherhood. But if you - if you hold a gun on him and make him embrace me and pretend to be friendly or brotherly toward me, then that's not brotherhood, that's hypocrisy.- Malcolm X
Unfortunately it is, I had the displeasure of growing up with Sarah.
~~Be Real~~
Yea, more like torture!
~~Be Real~~
or were you a good little chap when a kid? Man, I was converting on a daily basis when I was a kid - anything to escape being left behind in the rapture with all those monstrous atheists...
"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck
It has taken me several years to get to "this is all crap". I had a really bad experience about a year ago in this church my mother begged me to go to with her "just 1 time for her" since I had not been to church in many many years. What I saw there was over the top for me and is what pushed me over the edge. I wont go into it right now, later in another forum. AND it happens to be Caribou Barbies local Church too.
~~Be Real~~
Oh me too, I was so brain washed as a child I would cry myself to sleep each night thinking I did something bad enough that day that I was going to hell!
~~Be Real~~
The way they preached the rapture back then I believed it was going to happen any day, man I was worried all the time.
~~Be Real~~
That is really a sweet car!! Thank you!
~~Be Real~~
I do not hunt but I do go fishing when I can. I used to fish a lot more than I do these days because of work takes up most of my time.
~~Be Real~~
My mum had a habit of hanging her cardy off the back of her chair and leaving her shoes under it and I'd come home from school on my pushbike and go crying through the house thinking she'd been taken up.
There was that movie - A Thief in the Night - my whole family went to see that at the Brethren Temple. After I was overcome with sobbing in the knowledge of my great evil (I'd swiped a Tim Tam earlier that day)
the minister took me out back to pray as it was obvious I knew I had done wrong. I was about seven. Funny how much time you give up to self blame for child abuse. My old man was a minister, mum a missionary.
We were living a metaversal episode of V that never ended and there was no respite from the weirdness, I assure you.
"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck
I warn everyone though that "experience", although may play a part in accepting or rejecting a claim(ON ANY SUBJECT) is not the most solid or core principle. EVIDENCE that can be replicated and falsified and independently verified, is the ONLY core and most solid reason for accepting or rejecting a claim.
As far as religion I have heard from people, even people who switched from one religion to another,
"I hated how hypocritical they were"
That still has nothing to do with their god existing or not, all that means is you don't like the behavior of those particular people.
FOR EXAMPLE ONLY:
I could be a complete dick, but if I stated a fact "The moon is not made of cheese" rejecting that fact because someone might think am a dick, would not make me wrong and it would be a stupid reason to reject that fact.
I always separate the person from what the person claims. I reject all god claims regardless of the believer being nice or being a dick. I reject all god claims for one reason and one reason only, lack of evidence.
"Experience" with a group of people or seeing hypocrisy only means you don't like those people. Like I said, the solid and core reason to reject ANY CLAIM is lack of evidence. I reject claims of Allah, Vishnu, Thor, and Jesus, regardless if I like that individual or not. I reject all those claims because the idea of a non-material brain with no brain and magical super powers is absurd.
"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
I fully understand your point and respect your opinion, but I have had 45 years of serious religious "experiences" , um lets see, Sunday school, baptism, church, christian schools, being saved, watching people speak in tongues, watching people raise their hands to "direct the power of god", and much more! I have "experienced" first hand how religion destroys a family and latches onto the weak minded in your family. I have personally suffered as a so called christian for over 40 years and never once have I been happy like these christians claim they are. I have always worried about living up to the standards of a god that I know now absolutely in my mind does NOT exist and never has, due in part to a complete lack of evidence but also to the myriad of mind f**king "experiences" that can absolutely not be true to any intelligent human being. And what clouded my intelligence all this time you ask? I have been asking the same question, maybe it has to do with family?
~~Be Real~~
When i was a kid, i think 4th grade, we were taught Jihad ( i mean theory, the word itself ... it was officially part of our curriculum ) So i asked the teacher "if we really get all that profit for becoming a martyr, why don't we all start Jihad?" The pulled my ear and told me not to think about it, he gave me an assignment of drawing that day. Many years later i came to know that guy was not a believer himself but had to teach all that so that he earns something! In Muslim world, you always get brainwashed!!
Religion makes me suffer everyday!