Hello :)

[andrea26]

Hello Happy Atheists,
             This is my first time on the Happy Atheists Forum. I have found myself here for two reasons. First, the reason that drove me to search "atheist forum" in the first place... I don't know many atheists beyond myself and my husband. That being the case I do have a LOT of friends and family who are religious, or at least believers who don't ever go to church. I find it difficult to deal with them sometimes and I feel like I could use a little wisdom from some fellow atheists now and again on dealing with some of the difficult situations that come up. I live in Texas and people around here can be pretty rabidly religious. For a long time my husband and I were pretty much silent to the point of hiding, (I felt) about our lack of belief. We recently decided that this couldn't and shouldn't go on. Of course there are a few who REALLY don't like it. They seem to feel that somehow our not believing is either a threat to their belief or if we say anything that sounds "pro" atheist that we are being rude and it's unnecessary for us to have said anything. All the while they gush about their love of God and the Bible. Most people just don't talk to us about religious issues or mention anything at all and a very small group of people have expressed their support of us believing something different than they do. Like evidence

        My second reason is a thirst for knowledge. I find when you come into a forum based around any topic you are bound to learn not only something about it but some very compelling ways to argue the different points of the topic as well as the evidence to back them up when they do come up in conversation. I think it's always important to continue your quest for knowledge. After all that is what led me to atheism in the first place. I think people should have strong opinions and I think strong well reasoned opinions can only come from a lot of study of what ever it is you are forming an opinion about. I see so many people who tell me they believe a thing but can't tell me why or give me anything to back up this belief. I also think that although you should have strong opinions you can always still be open to the possibility of new evidence that could radically change the way you think about things. From what little I have seen so far this is a great place to gain new knowledge, encounter new perspectives ect. So I am glad to be a part of this forum. I hope to learn a lot and share what knowledge I have while I am here

[En_Route]

Hello Happy Atheists,
             This is my first time on the Happy Atheists Forum. I have found myself here for two reasons. First, the reason that drove me to search "atheist forum" in the first place... I don't know many atheists beyond myself and my husband. That being the case I do have a LOT of friends and family who are religious, or at least believers who don't ever go to church. I find it difficult to deal with them sometimes and I feel like I could use a little wisdom from some fellow atheists now and again on dealing with some of the difficult situations that come up. I live in Texas and people around here can be pretty rabidly religious. For a long time my husband and I were pretty much silent to the point of hiding, (I felt) about our lack of belief. We recently decided that this couldn't and shouldn't go on. Of course there are a few who REALLY don't like it. They seem to feel that somehow our not believing is either a threat to their belief or if we say anything that sounds "pro" atheist that we are being rude and it's unnecessary for us to have said anything. All the while they gush about their love of God and the Bible. Most people just don't talk to us about religious issues or mention anything at all and a very small group of people have expressed their support of us believing something different than they do. Like evidence

        My second reason is a thirst for knowledge. I find when you come into a forum based around any topic you are bound to learn not only something about it but some very compelling ways to argue the different points of the topic as well as the evidence to back them up when they do come up in conversation. I think it's always important to continue your quest for knowledge. After all that is what led me to atheism in the first place. I think people should have strong opinions and I think strong well reasoned opinions can only come from a lot of study of what ever it is you are forming an opinion about. I see so many people who tell me they believe a thing but can't tell me why or give me anything to back up this belief. I also think that although you should have strong opinions you can always still be open to the possibility of new evidence that could radically change the way you think about things. From what little I have seen so far this is a great place to gain new knowledge, encounter new perspectives ect. So I am glad to be a part of this forum. I hope to learn a lot and share what knowledge I have while I am here

I think your approach , grounded on intellectual curiosity and openness to the possibility of new ideas, will make you a stimulating addition to this hotbed of subversion and iconoclasm.  A warm welcome.

[Recusant]

Hello and welcome to HAF, andrea26. The owner of this forum is from Texas, and some of our members are as well, so in that, you're not alone. Over the years, we've had some interesting discussions, many of which I found to be very informative. I'm sure that if you use the search function of this site to investigate topics of particular interest, you'll find some worthwhile threads. Also, once you've graduated from the "Getting to Know You" section, you're welcome to create topics on anything you'd like to discuss.

In the mean time, here are the--

Notes for new members from Tank:

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?
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.

I hope you enjoy your time reading and posting here!

[markmcdaniel]

Welcome and please keep on feeding our egos.

[Tank]

Hello Andrea

Welcome to HAF 

Just a note on a potential problem. If hubby wants to get involved on the forum, he'll need his own account so everybody knows who they are talking. Also you will have to tell us what his account user name is, either in a thread or via a Private Mail as your posts will share an IP address and we (the staff) just need to know that so we don't end up banning the accounts as spammers.

I hope you find what you are looking for here.

Thank you for taking the time to sign up and join in.

Regards
Chris

[En_Route]

Welcome and please keep on feeding our egos.

Not mine please; it might burst.

[The Magic Pudding]

Hello andrea26.

[Tank]

Welcome and please keep on feeding our egos.

Not mine please; it might burst.

What do you mean might burst! 

[OldGit]

Greetings, Andrea.  This is an ideal place for people like you and your husband, you can talk about a lot of serious matters and have a good laugh as well.

[En_Route]

Welcome and please keep on feeding our egos.

Not mine please; it might burst.

What do you mean might burst! 

I was hoping nobody would notice.

[xSilverPhinx]

Welcome!

[OldGit]

Andrea, don't worry about people bursting - dive in and talk to us!