Hello from Washington state!

[Chemistry08]

Hello all,
My name is Jeremy. I recently stumbled across this site and I must say it is a breath of fresh air. I have looked at other atheist sites and have been appalled by some of the posts. On other sites it seems nobody puts forth a rational argument for their beliefs they just assume call the theist posters "idiots".

A little about myself:

I have questioned the existence of god my entire life but was brought up in a semi-religious family. My mother was raised Catholic and attend Catholic school her entire life. My father, on the other hand, was raised Christian. My mother instilled belief in god in her children but never pushed a certain belief for she lost faith in the Catholic church when they would not baptize my siblings and I because of my fathers Christian beliefs. As sickening as that is, I thank "god" for it, HAHA!

Anyways, as I said I always questioned god but I tended to believe out of fear and superstition. I would pray every night because I believed that if I didn't bad things would come to my family and the ones that I love. I tended to pray for the safety and prosperity of others but soon realized that praying based on fear was the most superstitions and RIDICULOUS thing I have ever done. I'm 21 years old and attend Washington State University studying chemistry and environmental science. I hope to be on the forefront of the quest to develop renewable energy resources. My scientific background, as small as it is to date, has really solidified my atheistic views and helped me to see the true beauty of this world and universe.

My favorite argument for a theist who denies evolution: You rely on our understanding of science in so many aspects of you life. When you have cancer what do you want, medicine, developed by a scientist. When you get your flu shot every year you rely on an evolutionary biologist that has predicted the evolution of this years flu virus strand based on our understanding of evolution (this could go on forever for science plays such an important role in our lives). But as soon as science and our understanding of it rivals your faith in the almighty god it is all of the sudden FLAWED!?!?!?

Thank you all for making this forum possible, I'm delighted to be a part of it!

[Tom62]

Welcome to the forum, Jeremy. I loved your introduction.

[Kyuuketsuki]

My name is Jeremy. I recently stumbled across this site and I must say it is a breath of fresh air. I have looked at other atheist sites and have been appalled by some of the posts. On other sites it seems nobody puts forth a rational argument for their beliefs they just assume call the theist posters "idiots".

Idiots no, not always but some most certainly are ... the problem (for me) is that any discussion with almost any theist will progress from claims they make, via a series of counter-arguments and so on to a point of frustration where the natural tendency is to say something dismissive and frequently insulting. Sometimes it's all to tempting to cut out the middle man (the debate) and just drop straight into insult mode because you know you won't have shifted the theist one iota ... I look at my debate with Titan and it is obvious that whilst I have scored several good "hits" I haven't changed his view at all and he's one of the more rational ones.

My favorite argument for a theist who denies evolution: You rely on our understanding of science in so many aspects of you life. When you have cancer what do you want, medicine, developed by a scientist. When you get your flu shot every year you rely on an evolutionary biologist that has predicted the evolution of this years flu virus strand based on our understanding of evolution (this could go on forever for science plays such an important role in our lives). But as soon as science and our understanding of it rivals your faith in the almighty god it is all of the sudden FLAWED!?!?!?

I use a similar one based on a newspaper (got it from a downloaded lecture) ... try this with any theist, get a newspaper and look at the articles one by one, decide what part of your science education comes into play to assess the articles. Sports for instance takes a basic understanding of physics (trajectories, velocities, levers and so on) and physiology (human tolerances, capabilities and so on). Weather reports & articles on pollution take what ... environmental? Earth science? Geology? Biology? Reports on car technology take physics again, an appreciation of human physiology and tolerance for the safety of drivers and passengers. Reports of foreign famines and appreciation of physiology and food biology I suppose?

Thank you all for making this forum possible, I'm delighted to be a part of it!

And we are delighted to have you here

Kyu

[curiosityandthecat]

Welcome! I've always wanted to live in Washington, but between central Ohio, the SF Bay area and Taipei, I think I may be stretching myself a bit thin.  

Glad to have you here!

[Chimera]

OMG!!! Another Spokanite? Is it possible??? Welcome to the forum!