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Hello from Bill

Started by billyportne, February 04, 2022, 10:20:24 PM

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billyportne

Hello to Everyone on the Forum,

I stopped believing in God when I was 12. Every Saturday morning, I'd join the kids in my neighborhood to play Spin the Bottle. Penny had bright-red hair, freckles on her nose and sparkling blue-green eyes. When it was my turn, I'd ask God to stop the bottle when it pointed at her. When it was her turn, I asked God to stop the bottle when it pointed at me. But the bottle always stopped with the neck pointed at somebody other than her or me. I eventually decided that God's answer wasn't "No!" because it was God who wasn't. So, I decided to change the way things were myself. One morning, as the bottle was spinning, I reached out and stopped it, then turned the neck so it pointed at Penny. She smiled, leaned forward and gave me my first kiss. Did I think God had finally said "Yes!" No, but I knew what it was like to spin!

My father didn't stop driving me to church, of course, but despite his efforts to get me saved, I moved into adult life without God. Years later, however, the death of my only son drove me back to church thinking perhaps I'd been wrong about God, that maybe He wasn't just a word in a book called the Bible but was a force in the world where something besides words are needed to stop bad things from happening to good people. I tried to resolve the disconnect between religion and reality, but my failure to do so made me think that maybe God had predetermined that I be a vessel of wrath, unable to see that faith is the bridge that spans the unfathomable abyss between the natural, cause-and-effect reality of this world and the supernatural, non-sensory existence of a world beyond this one.

Despite these possibilities, I'm a happy atheist, and not just because I no longer care whether God exists or not, but because I'm happier living in the here and now than I was when I lived in fear of, and hope for, a hereafter. Happier being for the here and now than being against the hereafter.

Cheers, everyone!
Happiness is like moonshine. Make your own and you'll never run out. But keep in mind that life is not a playground. It's a classroom where you get the test first and the lesson after.

Dark Lightning


Bluenose

Welcome aboard Bill.  You're in a safe haven here
+++ Divide by cucumber error: please reinstall universe and reboot.  +++

GNU Terry Pratchett


No one

Return hello, from not Bill.

No one

Also, where are the tacos?

hermes2015

Welcome! I'm sure you will enjoy this forum.
"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

Recusant

Cheers, billyportne;)

Hello and welcome to HAF. A game of spin the bottle is a fine place to shed one's faith in deities. Well done sir. I hope you will enjoy your time reading and posting here.

: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


Tom62

Welcome to the club of happy atheists.
The universe never did make sense; I suspect it was built on government contract.
Robert A. Heinlein

Tank

Hello Bill

Sorry to hear about your son. So did you end up marrying Penny in due course?

Welcome to HAF and thanks for checking the rules, I doubt many people do, I don't. I just wait till somebody kicks me.

The particular rule you commented on was introduced when it was common for theists to make one 'shit and run' post. We haven't had one of those for a long time.

My son lives in San Francisco. He and his American wife walk their dog on a beach under the Golden Gate bridge.

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.

hackenslash

There is no more formidable or insuperable barrier to knowledge than the certainty you already possess it.

Tank

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.

hackenslash

Indeed. It was a bit touch and go at times, but still trundling on. Trying to find my mojo and get back to writing.
There is no more formidable or insuperable barrier to knowledge than the certainty you already possess it.

Tank

Quote from: hackenslash on February 05, 2022, 11:11:39 AM
Indeed. It was a bit touch and go at times, but still trundling on. Trying to find my mojo and get back to writing.

You are more than welcome to get back on your feet here :D
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.

hackenslash

Nice to see a few familiar faces still here. The forumsphere has suffered.
There is no more formidable or insuperable barrier to knowledge than the certainty you already possess it.

TheFightSong

We need more Bills in this forum.  :snicker1: That way billy rubin won't be lonely here.  ;D