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Hello

Started by Adey67, March 20, 2024, 04:09:29 PM

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Adey67

Hello everyone my name is Adrian and I'm from the UK.

I've been officially a non-believer for ten years but started to have doubts way before then.

If I'm honest I don't think I was ever really a true believer, even as a kid in Sunday school I never bought any of the usual tropes paraded around in Sunday school environments especially the Noah's ark story which lets face it, you'd need to be pretty much brain dead to actually genuinely believe.

I do still go to church but that's only to assist and care for my 86 year old mother.

I look forward to getting to know you as a new group of people as my previous atheist forum of choice is sadly no longer a good fit for me.

Dark Lightning

Welcome!  :wave hi:  I think you will like it here.

Adey is good people. I've known him on the internet for years.

billy rubin



set the function, not the mechanism.

Tom62

The universe never did make sense; I suspect it was built on government contract.
Robert A. Heinlein

Recusant

Hello and welcome to HAF, Adey67.  Good on you for helping your mother. I'm in a similar place these days and would be in church every Sunday, but ever since COVID my mother no longer attends in person. She watches mass on television on Sundays--much easier to cope with!

I was lucky enough to travel to the UK and spend a fair bit of time in Guildford and environs these past 15 years or so, but sadly am unlikely to return.

I hope that you enjoy your time reading and posting here.  :thumb:

:spagwelcome:

"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration — courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of the truth."
— H. L. Mencken


Asmodean

#5
The Asmo. Pleasantries.  8)

I am a fellow life-long non-believer, though I suppose the sum of a person's fingers and toes is in general greater than the number of times I've been inside a church, which rounds out at about semi-yearly, which is not far from ye-average wedding and funeral schedule, with an occasional Christmas thrown in for good measure by that one religious aunt we "all" seem to have. You, at least, have a valid reason for hanging around churches. ;)

Just because I cannot resist, and please do not feel compelled to answer, but your exit from that other forum you've mentioned. Juicy drama? Stale drama? Non-drama drama? :popcorn:
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on July 25, 2013, 08:18:52 PM
In Asmo's grey lump,
wrath and dark clouds gather force.
Luxembourg trembles.

Adey67

Quote from: Recusant on March 21, 2024, 02:57:30 AMHello and welcome to HAF, Adey67.  Good on you for helping your mother. I'm in a similar place these days and would be in church every Sunday, but ever since COVID my mother no longer attends in person. She watches mass on television on Sundays--much easier to cope with!

I was lucky enough to travel to the UK and spend a fair bit of time in Guildford and environs these past 15 years or so, but sadly am unlikely to return.

I hope that you enjoy your time reading and posting here.  :thumb:

:spagwelcome:


I lived in Guildford for a number of years it's a lovely old town. Thanks for the kind welcome.

Adey67

#7
Quote from: Asmodean on March 21, 2024, 07:26:20 AMThe Asmo. Pleasantries.  8)

I am a fellow life-long non-believer, though I suppose the sum of a person's fingers and toes is in general greater than the number of times I've been inside a church, which rounds out at about semi-yearly, which is not far from ye-average wedding and funeral schedule, with an occasional Christmas thrown in for good measure by that one religious aunt we "all" seem to have. You, at least, have a valid reason for hanging around churches. ;)

Just because I cannot resist, and please do not feel compelled to answer, but your exit from that other forum you've mentioned. Juicy drama? Stale drama? Non-drama drama? :popcorn:
Thanks for your kind welcome. To be fair I share at least some responsibility for it happening. The forum I came from allows personal attacks and ad-hominems...(important for context). Basically what happened was I disagreed with someone who said all from the far right should be deplatformed and censored, NOT because I'm supportive of the far right but because I'm a centrist who believes in free speech (but not hate speech) my reasoning is that deplatforming and censorship I believe is much more likely to entrench people in their obnoxious beliefs, drive them underground (perhaps to the dark web even) and make them even more bitter, twisted and dangerous,at which point he completely lost his shit (are we allowed to swear? And sorry if we're not) and called me a clown and other disparaging epithets then some of the others including some I considered friends joined in with the dogpiling. I'm massively over sensitive so it was an issue and I kind of just left. I'm currently still lurking but I don't post there as it's sadly and clearly not at all good for my mental health. So it's a combination of the forum becoming more and more like an echo chamber and intolerant of any other views and my extreme over sensitivity which I've been trying to control without success for 52 years (ever since I was 5). So it was kind of "six of one and half a dozen of the other". Maybe I'll go back in time but for now because of my issues it's not good for me to be there. Hopefully I'm not coming off as some nutbar nazi because that's really not who I am I just need a place to be ATM that's not so confrontational and where I can disagree with someone without being disagreeable so when my friend Dark Lightning recommended this forum I thought I'd check it out. Personally I don't think the other forum will last that much longer it's not only shrinking in numbers and internet traffic but fraught with internal divisions and for me thats not a healthy environment.

Adey67


Asmodean

Quote from: Adey67 on March 21, 2024, 10:49:41 AMThanks for your kind welcome. To be fair I share at least some responsibility for it happening.
I can relate. Unless I go on whatever they call Twitter these days or some such, I "never" set out to stir up drama, but being rather partial to the more "volatile" topics of discussion (That being what I usually seek - an exchange of ideas. to have my points challenged and to challenge yours) and working from the assumption that an emotional argument is a poor tool in rational discourse... Well... To put it this way, I've been called far worse than "far right" far too often.

QuoteBasically what happened was I disagreed with someone who said all from the far right should be deplatformed and censored NOT because I'm supportive of the far right but because I'm a centrist who believes in free speech (but not hate speech) my reasoning is that deplatforming and censorship I believe is much more likely to entrench people in their obnoxious beliefs drive them underground
I agree completely. I've been raising that point again and again. Even if I can't convince the malicious and the hateful that they are wrong, I'd much rather be uncomfortable in the knowledge that there is a pack of hungry hyenas in them bushes over there, than graze obliviously until one has its teeth three inches into my jugular.

Quoteare we allowed to swear?
Yes. Our forum etiquette dictates that we do not go after people, so as long as you are not swearing at another forum member, it's fine. Strictly personally speaking... Profanity is a part of language. Language is a powerful tool in the right hands. Why would you not have all of it in your toolbox?

QuoteSo it's a combination of the forum becoming more and more like an echo chamber and intolerant of any other views and my extreme over sensitivity which I've been trying to control without success for 52 years (ever since I was 5).
Thank you for sharing. It is a very relatable story to me as although I'm adept at absorbing an occasional nuke to my sensibilities, I do find myself rather disgusted with the far-too-prevalent attitude that certain views must not be expressed - especially when it comes to otherwise mainstream politics. In American terms, I'm probably something of a "red Democrat" or a very blue Republican. In general, I'm highly individualistic, and so my polar opposite are the staunch Collectivists. Still, I want to hear from the Communist and the Nazist and even the Intersectionalist. I want to dive beyond the buzzwords and the tired talking points to see what is there and find out how it ticks. And, of course, I'm very open to "showing you mine" in my quest for "being shown yours."

While I have been known to upset those more sensitive to certain forms of expression - even on this very platform - if you consider intellectual baggage "fair game," I think we'll get along swimmingly.

QuotePersonally I don't think the other forum will last that much longer it's not only shrinking in numbers and internet traffic but fraught with internal divisions and for me thats not a healthy environment.
:sadnod: An occurrence most common these days. I like to blame "Atheism plus" for "starting" the "fall" by trying to be prescriptive rather than descriptive in their approach to what it means to be Atheist, but I suppose it too was a symptom of a larger... I'm not even sure what. Diseased social cohesion, somehow. An inability to hold more than a single thought in focus, perhaps? Painting everything with the same brush, resulting in everything looking diarrhoea-brown?
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on July 25, 2013, 08:18:52 PM
In Asmo's grey lump,
wrath and dark clouds gather force.
Luxembourg trembles.

hermes2015

Welcome, Adey67. You will find this a pleasant and supportive community.
"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

Adey67

Quote from: hermes2015 on March 21, 2024, 12:29:22 PMWelcome, Adey67. You will find this a pleasant and supportive community.
Thanks mate that's much appreciated.

Tank

Hello Adey67

Welcome to HAF it's good to have you here.

Regards
Chris
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Adey67

Quote from: Tank on March 21, 2024, 06:46:36 PMHello Adey67

Welcome to HAF it's good to have you here.

Regards
Chris
Thanks for the welcome Chris it's appreciated.