Hello! Newbie here......

[Lilbeth]

Hi! I discovered this forum yesterday, and want to say hello to all....It is nice to be here. I joined because I have never been religious, and I wanted a place to go where I could have intellectual discussions with people......and not have them get their noses out of joint, because I don't believe in what they do....LOL! I think religion is holding mankind back in many ways.....I would never want to believe in a god that has living things killing and pulling apart other living things to eat and survive.....Case in point.....the wild animal kingdom....That to me is just mean. I would never create a world like that, if I had a choice to create a world or universe.....so no thank you to believing in something I should think is omnipotent and have blind faith in, when things like that exist. I need to have things proven to me....It is not up to me to prove anything false.
I have a joke, you may have heard before...
Man asks computer...."Is there a god?"
Computer responds...."Now, there is!'
I am a free thinker, and think that all living creatures here are in the same boat, and nothing is better or worse than anything else.......I respect all forms of life........Have plenty of pets of my own.....7 cats, 2 dogs and 3 birds....and I hope I love it here, and find many new online friends here....
I am an artist and writer, and my style is pretty simple...I like a child to get what i am saying and never try to talk above anyone's head about anything......I use simple logic.....and I never try to impress anyone, really. I am a humorist, too....and I am always interested in good conversation, laughter and genuineness and fairness in all things.....
Anyway, so nice to meet you all......

[Ihateyoumike]

Welcome Lilbeth. Good to have another free thinker in the forum.  

[Whitney]

Hi, Lilbeth, welcome to the forum.

[SteveS]

Hey Lilbeth - welcome!

[G.ENIGMA]

I have a joke, you may have heard before...

Man asks computer...."Is there a god?"
Computer responds...."Now, there is!

Hi Lilbeth ...that went right over my head

[Lilbeth]

G. Enigma, nothing really to get there...just a silly joke i heard quite awhile ago......is all....These days....seems the computer knows almost everything, doesn't it? You can look just about anyone up and get info on them....pretty scary, if you ask me......I always believed in people's right to privacy, if that is what they desire for themselves....A computer can be a window intruder....That is just one example of the computer being god.....Just a silly joke.....meaning nothing really.....only what you want it to or not.....I know....computers only know what man programs them to know.....but this computer, in my joke went beyond is all.....Think of it as a cartoon.

[maestroanth]

Hi! I discovered this forum yesterday, and want to say hello to all....It is nice to be here. I joined because I have never been religious, and I wanted a place to go where I could have intellectual discussions with people......and not have them get their noses out of joint, because I don't believe in what they do....LOL! I think religion is holding mankind back in many ways.....I would never want to believe in a god that has living things killing and pulling apart other living things to eat and survive.....Case in point.....the wild animal kingdom....That to me is just mean. I would never create a world like that, if I had a choice to create a world or universe.....so no thank you to believing in something I should think is omnipotent and have blind faith in, when things like that exist. I need to have things proven to me....It is not up to me to prove anything false.
I have a joke, you may have heard before...
Man asks computer...."Is there a god?"
Computer responds...."Now, there is!'
I am a free thinker, and think that all living creatures here are in the same boat, and nothing is better or worse than anything else.......I respect all forms of life........Have plenty of pets of my own.....7 cats, 2 dogs and 3 birds....and I hope I love it here, and find many new online friends here....
I am an artist and writer, and my style is pretty simple...I like a child to get what i am saying and never try to talk above anyone's head about anything......I use simple logic.....and I never try to impress anyone, really. I am a humorist, too....and I am always interested in good conversation, laughter and genuineness and fairness in all things.....
Anyway, so nice to meet you all......

I think the word God has been tainted by religion and those who like the term to actually mean well.....this is coming from an agnostic.

[Lilbeth]

I don't really like the word god...I like the word dog better...LOL!....but I like it sometimes....like in the song Winner Takes It All by Abba, when the words say "The gods will throw their dice....blah, blah, bblah..."...Sometimes, I do get the poetic meaning and don't mind it....if not taken too seriously....

[Lilbeth]

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone......Will be back a little later today. This is a very nice forum. I like it! Thank you for having me, Whitney.

[G.ENIGMA]

These days....seems the computer knows almost everything, doesn't it? You can look just about anyone up and get info on them....pretty scary, if you ask me......I always believed in people's right to privacy, if that is what they desire for themselves....A computer can be a window intruder....That is just one example of the computer being god.....Just a silly joke.....meaning nothing really.

Got you now now lets have a look at what you have on your desk

[SallyMutant]

Wow, you seem pretty Happy--no religion background baggage or guilt or damage. I really welcome and admire folks who have served  hard time in religion, but it's nice to welcome someone who was already Happy before she got here.  

 

[Lilbeth]

Enigma, your cartoon cracked me up....LOL! Now, you really don't want to see what is on my desk....It is a mess! Nothing of interest, either......You like dust balls? LOL! Not that bad, really.......but getting there....HA!
Sally, yes, I was lucky to be born to two thinking parents.....I hand it to my mother, as she broke away from her family's thinking and did her own.....That must be a harder road, for sure......

[Kodanshi]

I am a free thinker, and think that all living creatures here are in the same boat

Noah’s Ark reference there?!

Welcome to the forum. You certainly have a lot of pets! My sister has a bunny rabbit and she considers him a bit of a handful. Props to you for taking care of and living with so many other animals.

How did you hap upon this forum?

I consider your point about animals having to kill each other to survive very pertinent when people attempt to argue for god’s existence, pointing to “so much beauty out there, like a child’s laugh, or a gorgeous little kitten”. Or, as I like to remind them, the sound of a baby seal as a killer whale tears it apart, or how quickly we can tear down rainforests that provide us with most of this planet’s oxygen supply, or how fleshâ€"eating bacteria can destroy human babies so speedily and nastily…

[Lilbeth]

Noah's Ark....Ye gads...PLEASE, NO....what a ridiculous fable, huh? LOL!

I belong to another forum about dolls....Himstedt dolls, and my hobby is photographing them and telling stories......I like to write children's stories and illustrate them...The dolls help me do that....They tell me what stories to write, so to speak.  HA! No, my imagination comes alive looking at them, and I can imagine things better, so the forum is something I use  for this off shoot of my art.....and it was the only forum I ever belonged to on the internet. ....since 2005. I was getting so bored of it, though, and wanted to find a new forum to while away my free time on the computer and maybe make some new online friends........Most of the people at the Himstedt forum are always asking for prayers for this or that....and it started to feel really lonely there......I peeked into a few art forums....but I don't want to really share my paintings, as though there are real artists with their own ideas, there are computer pirates who steal other people's ideas, too....so nay, to that idea....so a few days ago I put agnostic forum in my google search engine and VOILA....here I am, as well as another broader forum that includes all religions...I am limited over there, though. I mentioned it somewhere here yesterday and provided the link of it....People seem nice enough over there, too, though....so here I am....
How about you?

Yes, I cannot stand the slaughter of animals....i am deep into animal rights, as well....but forums are so sad about this...I know the horrors....

[Lilbeth]

Also, I never studied religion, so when people are making their thesis's on it, I have no idea what they are talking about in many threads....and I find that a bit limiting, too....i know the basics....enough to know.....I think it is ALL HOGWASH......! LOL! I may read Asimov's Guide to the Bible someday, though....but that does not even appeal to me...I don't care about the Bible....HA!.....I grew up on the laps of many of these giants. My dad was an editor in SF, when he was alive ......so because of him...I was exposed to the "light" from a very early age....My dad was one who read SF stories under the blankets with a flashlight before he barely walked.....He was pretty much of a genius.....ok, he was a genius.....I grew up always SIMPLIFYING everything.....HA!I I like to get past all of the crap in everything and just get to the bottom line, in other words....