Fairly new Atheist here...

[zeroday]

A little about myself. 57 born into the Catholic faith to a devote family. Never had a real connection with the church. Left the faith when I left home at 18 wandered about for a few years then was attracted to one of the biggest cults out there...**lets just say they have a nasty habit of knocking on your door to get you out of bed Saturday mornings** only took me 28 years to figure that one out a nd left...then I began pondering on my life and came to the conclusion I never really believed in god...just tried to fit in and be accepted. Got tired of the god industry and went solo 8 years ago. I was the angry Atheist for the first couple of years and just figured I'm never going to let this go if I can't let go of the concept that something that doesn't exist is still pi**ing me off...so happy Atheist here...

[hismikeness]

Welcome to the forum. Former Catholic here myself, but no cults for me.  Were you referring to the Mormons?

[zeroday]

JW's...actually...

[Tank]

Hi Zeroday

You went the long way around didn't you! It's not unusual though 

Thanks for making the effort to sign up and join in.

Welcome to HAF.

Regards
Chris

Notes for new members.
The Rules.

Users who comply with forum rules will graduate to full membership after 10 posts.
Till that time your ability to post is limited to the "Getting to Know You" section of the forum.
It is our hope that this small restriction improves the overall atmosphere of HAF.

Some threads you might find interesting.
Where did you get your username from?
10 Things About Yourself
Tell us A Bit About Where You're From
Photography
Non-religious pet peeves
Pets...what do you have?
Favorite Song, with video
How to tell your family you are an atheist.*
"Rules for Conducting a Discussion" by Dr. Mortimer J. Adler*

*You will need 10 posts before you can add a post to this thread, but you can read it at any time.

[Recusant]

Hello and welcome to HAF, zeroday. It sounds as if you've had an interesting journey on your way to losing even the pretense of belief. I'm not going to ask you about your time with the Jehovah's Witnesses, since this section of the forum is meant for light conversation, but if you're willing later, it could be a worthwhile topic.

I hope you enjoy your time reading and posting here!

[Ali]

Hi Zeroday, and welcome!  Sounds like you've had quite a trip to get to your atheism.  I'm sure that probably helps you have insight into some of the reasons that people seek out and keep to religion.    Welcome, and I hope you enjoy your time here.

[hismikeness]

JW's...actually...

It seems you have 28 years worth of birthday parties and holiday celebrations to make up for then. Again, welcome.

[zeroday]

Hello and welcome to HAF, zeroday. It sounds as if you've had an interesting journey on your way to losing even the pretense of belief. I'm not going to ask you about your time with the Jehovah's Witnesses, since this section of the forum is meant for light conversation, but if you're willing later, it could be a worthwhile topic.

I hope you enjoy your time reading and posting here!

I would love to Recusant...if someone wants to start a topic "Ask an exJW" thread I would be glad to answer any and all questions... I'm an administer at an exJW forum you would be surprised at how many exJW's are Atheist...

[Ali]

Hello and welcome to HAF, zeroday. It sounds as if you've had an interesting journey on your way to losing even the pretense of belief. I'm not going to ask you about your time with the Jehovah's Witnesses, since this section of the forum is meant for light conversation, but if you're willing later, it could be a worthwhile topic.

I hope you enjoy your time reading and posting here!

I would love to Recusant...if someone wants to start a topic "Ask an exJW" thread I would be glad to answer any and all questions... I'm an administer at an exJW forum you would be surprised at how many exJW's are Atheist...

Ooooh, that sounds interesting!  Once you get your 10 posts and get let loose on the rest of the forum, we should definitely do that.

[zeroday]

JW's...actually...

It seems you have 28 years worth of birthday parties and holiday celebrations to make up for then. Again, welcome.

That's really quite funny as I'm still not into the birthday thing. I forget all my families  birthdays and have a sister that texts me to remind me LOL...

[OldGit]

Welcome, zeroday.  You'll find a lot of folks here have similar stories.

[Tank]

Hello and welcome to HAF, zeroday. It sounds as if you've had an interesting journey on your way to losing even the pretense of belief. I'm not going to ask you about your time with the Jehovah's Witnesses, since this section of the forum is meant for light conversation, but if you're willing later, it could be a worthwhile topic.

I hope you enjoy your time reading and posting here!

I would love to Recusant...if someone wants to start a topic "Ask an exJW" thread I would be glad to answer any and all questions... I'm an administer at an exJW forum you would be surprised at how many exJW's are Atheist...

Having had experiences on a number of atheist forums I definitely think that despite the shunning issue ex-JWs are the highest proportion of a particular religion. Catholics form the majority of ex-theists simply because there are so many Catholics to start with. But the contradictions in the JW way of life drive a higher proportion of them away from their faith in the end.

[xSilverPhinx]

Welcome! I myself don't know that much about Jehova's Witnessess, so I'm interested to hear more.

[Anti-antidisestablishmentarianism]

Welcome to the forum! I have only been an atheist for going on 4 years now.  I am still kind of in the angry phase, but am trying hard to better myself.  I already learned one thing.  Theists, beer and myself do not mix very well. When I heard someone on the bus saying that gay people don't deserve rights I almost lost it completely, but managed to not even say a word to the man.  So yeah I'd say we all go through that anger part at some point.

[zeroday]

Yea I learned pretty quick beer and forum arguments do not end well...I think my anger ended when I realized I was trying to do what I hated about theists...trying to preach and convert...I realized change comes from within and not outside sources...as far as hating god I realized it wasn't god I hated but the god industry and decided to live and let live. I am more than happy to discuss with believers but they soon back themselves into and fall back on "faith" pretty hard to argue...