Hello

[Melmoth]

I've had a bit of a lurk, as y'do. I like it here.

Just to give you a quick idea of who I am, where I stand etc. I am an 'atheist,' in the crudest possible sense, obtained only by separating the prefix and suffix, translating them, sticking the results back together again, then blithely stating that this is the meaning of the word. I am without belief in God. I am also opposed to religion and (to use Christopher Hitchens's expression) anti-theistic, ie. glad that none of it is true. However, I don't see myself as belonging to the 'new atheist' or 'freethought' movements, and I have a more-or-less equal distrust for the kind of wishy-washy, watered down secular humanism that the word 'atheist' has come to imply as I do for religion itself. Of the 'four horsemen' largely responsible for this association, I have read Dawkins, Hitchens and Dennet, and Dennet is the one I can relate to the most, if only because of his easy-going tone, controlled writing style and relative lack of obtuse dramatisation.

I'm here because I enjoy having my beliefs and opinions challanged by intelligent people. My overall ambition is to have none left! Which is perhaps setting my sights a little high, but then again, I don't want you to feel underestimated. I look forward to many an interesting discussion with you all.

[Cecilie]

Hello Melmoth. Welcome to HAF.

[Tank]

Hello Melmoth

Welcome to HAF, I hope you settle in and enjoy yourself.

Regards
Chris

[Melmoth]

Thanks guys.

[xSilverPhinx]

I am an 'atheist,' in the crudest possible sense, obtained only by separating the prefix and suffix, translating them, sticking the results back together again, then blithely stating that this is the meaning of the word. I am without belief in God.

Are you sure you're not an immoral evil satanist? Stalin -follower? Angry at god? Just want to be able to sin freely without being held accountable? Souless?

Welcome!

[Melmoth]

That pesky God is always foiling the Master's greatest schemes. *limps off, giggling insanely, to make sacrificial fire*

[terranus]

Yeah I'm not so much a fan of that wishy-washy humanism crap myself either.

Bonvenon al la Forumo!
[spoiler:14d80v4h]Welcome to the Forum![/spoiler:14d80v4h]

[Melmoth]

Yeah I'm not so much a fan of that wishy-washy humanism crap myself either.

I don't dislike humanism in itself, as such, just to make sure no one gets the wrong idea. What bothers me about Dawkins, in particular, is the way he presents a fairly vague and badly drawn impression of it as THE alternative to religion. The attitude often seems to be, "You don't need religion anymore because the same void can be filled with this instead."

I don't believe in the void. I am voidless. I have no wounds that need soothing with snake oil, atheistic, theistic or otherwise. I don't need (or want) to have to justify my own existence and happiness; an effort which I consider both futile and unnecessary. I'm antagonistic towards the idea that there's some black hole in the human heart that needs filling, or some primal inadequacy that we must escape from or rise above somehow, which is why I distrust religion. It's also why I distrust the superficial, exaggerated sentiment that often gets expressed by popular atheists, towards things like humanism, nature, science, rationality etc.