Merry Christmas!

[Thunder Road]

There really must be something ironic about joining an atheist message board on Christmas Eve, right?

Anyway, hello.  I'm Ryan, 18, and a meteorology major at Valparaiso University in Indiana, although I live and was raised near Philadelphia, PA.  I added the Indiana location to the map but not the PA one...should I do both?

I also really like classic rock, hence my username, and have a humorous outlook on life that is definitely excessive to a fault sometimes.

My story in 3 sentences or less is that I was raised Catholic, distanced myself from the church throughout high school (a Catholic prep school, nonetheless) and finally declared myself an agnostic atheist (about a 5.72 on Dawkins scale, give or take 0.01) during my freshman year of college this year.  I inadvertently "came out" to my parents in October this year when my mom got the e-mail saying "Your order, The God Delusion, has been shipped."  Oops.

I don't know how much to put in an introduction, so I hope this is enough.

I won't be practically living on this forum, weather forums are my home.  But that doesn't mean I won't visit.

Ok well, that's all.

[Tank]

Hi Ryan

You can add yourself to the map wherever you feel appropriate. How did your parents/siblings take to you coming out? I'd love to know what you find fascinating about the weather!

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.*

*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, Thunder Road. I think one point on the map should be sufficient, but as Tank implied, 'do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law' as far as that map's concerned.

Is it possible that you were subconsciously willing yourself to come out when you ordered Dawkins' book using the method that you did? Even if not, I imagine it was a little less traumatic for all involved than some sort of confrontation without any prior indications; "Oh, by the way, I know you just finished paying to send me to a Catholic school, but I reject God and all his works."  I personally welcome a humorous outlook, especially if it's well done.

I hope you enjoy your time reading and posting here!

. . .And a Merry Christmas to you!

[The Magic Pudding]

Hello Ryan, I'm of a very serious nature myself but it takes all sorts I suppose. 

Welcome.

[OldGit]

Greetings and welcome, Ryan!  If you follow the Pharyngula / Venganza fashion of referring to Christmas as 'Monkey', it wont seem ironic that you join on Monkey Eve.
Happy Monkey!

[Traveler]

Hello and welcome!!!

Personally, I love weather!!! I took only one meteorology course in school, but it was fascinating. I still have a thing for clouds. I can't remember most of what I learned about them, but as an artist I find them one of the most beautiful things in nature. Actually, I suppose I find all of nature beautiful, but hey, clouds are there most of the time, and out here in the eastern US we get some stunning ones.

Good luck at school, and I hope you enjoy your time here.

[xSilverPhinx]

Welcome!

[Chronos]

Another youthful atheist!  Let's keep this trend going up!

[Thunder Road]

Hi Ryan

You can add yourself to the map wherever you feel appropriate. How did your parents/siblings take to you coming out? I'd love to know what you find fascinating about the weather!

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

Welcome to HAF.

Regards
Chris

I will add myself to PA too then.

My mom asked me what TGD was.  When I told her, she didn't say much.  The general vibe was "I still love you even though you're wrong."  My debated it a bit via email the following week as I was back at school.  What were just talking points for me were all new ideas to her.  Apparently she called my sister at some point and was pretty upset.  We're on good terms now, but she keeps using this annoying phrase "consider ALL vewpoints," so she wants me to read a book supporting ID.  I agreed, but I don't know if I'll read the whole thing.

As for what I love about weather....wow, that's a lot harder to put in words.  I mean what compels a person to stay up until 2am waiting for a model run, and then get up at 6 to start all over again?  Maybe it's the unpredictability of it all?  If it was though, then why would we all strive to predict it?  If I think of a better answer I'll get back to you.

[Thunder Road]

Is it possible that you were subconsciously willing yourself to come out when you ordered Dawkins' book using the method that you did? Even if not, I imagine it was a little less traumatic for all involved than some sort of confrontation without any prior indications; "Oh, by the way, I know you just finished paying to send me to a Catholic school, but I reject God and all his works."  I personally welcome a humorous outlook, especially if it's well done.

I hope you enjoy your time reading and posting here!

. . .And a Merry Christmas to you!

No, but in hindsight, I think that was a relatively painless way for it to happen.

And don't get me wrong, I loved my high school, even though it was Catholic.  They were pretty laid back.  I didn't have to go to communion (and many other friends of mine didn't either) and it was actually my "The Question of God in Modern Life" class that made me realize I was an atheist.  Even on retreat it wasn't a big deal.  We did a mass where in the middle we stopped and talked for about 3 hours and cursing and other whatnot in front of the priest was ok.  That was actually pretty cool.

[Tank]

Hi Ryan

You can add yourself to the map wherever you feel appropriate. How did your parents/siblings take to you coming out? I'd love to know what you find fascinating about the weather!

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

Welcome to HAF.

Regards
Chris

I will add myself to PA too then.

My mom asked me what TGD was.  When I told her, she didn't say much.  The general vibe was "I still love you even though you're wrong."  My debated it a bit via email the following week as I was back at school.  What were just talking points for me were all new ideas to her.  Apparently she called my sister at some point and was pretty upset.  We're on good terms now, but she keeps using this annoying phrase "consider ALL vewpoints," so she wants me to read a book supporting ID.  I agreed, but I don't know if I'll read the whole thing.

As for what I love about weather....wow, that's a lot harder to put in words.  I mean what compels a person to stay up until 2am waiting for a model run, and then get up at 6 to start all over again?  Maybe it's the unpredictability of it all?  If it was though, then why would we all strive to predict it?  If I think of a better answer I'll get back to you.

Well if you have to read a book on ID your Mum has to read TGD, that's the way it works  

[geek]I do have a deeply geeky/nerdy side when it comes to data modeling, although in my case it's business/customer behaviour. I will voluntarily spend hours/days/weeks sifting through invoice, product and customer data looking for those key products/behaviours that drive a business and its great fun. I love the 'eureka' moment when one finds a repeatable pattern that creates a linkage between some elements of the business/customer interaction. [/geek]

[Tank]

Is it possible that you were subconsciously willing yourself to come out when you ordered Dawkins' book using the method that you did? Even if not, I imagine it was a little less traumatic for all involved than some sort of confrontation without any prior indications; "Oh, by the way, I know you just finished paying to send me to a Catholic school, but I reject God and all his works."  I personally welcome a humorous outlook, especially if it's well done.

I hope you enjoy your time reading and posting here!

. . .And a Merry Christmas to you!

No, but in hindsight, I think that was a relatively painless way for it to happen.

And don't get me wrong, I loved my high school, even though it was Catholic.  They were pretty laid back.  I didn't have to go to communion (and many other friends of mine didn't either) and it was actually my "The Question of God in Modern Life" class that made me realize I was an atheist.  Even on retreat it wasn't a big deal.  We did a mass where in the middle we stopped and talked for about 3 hours and cursing and other whatnot in front of the priest was ok.  That was actually pretty cool.

That's all pretty cool. However in the 12th century retreat there would be a ceramony to burn the atheists at the end 

[The Magic Pudding]

As for what I love about weather....wow, that's a lot harder to put in words.  I mean what compels a person to stay up until 2am waiting for a model run, and then get up at 6 to start all over again?  Maybe it's the unpredictability of it all?  If it was though, then why would we all strive to predict it?  If I think of a better answer I'll get back to you.

You could start a thread/s about this, I know Fester and Traveler have a particular interest and most would have some.

Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico seem to effect areas of higher latitude than cyclones do in the Coral Sea/Pacific.  I'm not sure why, is it that the water is shallower and warmer?

[Thunder Road]

As for what I love about weather....wow, that's a lot harder to put in words.  I mean what compels a person to stay up until 2am waiting for a model run, and then get up at 6 to start all over again?  Maybe it's the unpredictability of it all?  If it was though, then why would we all strive to predict it?  If I think of a better answer I'll get back to you.

You could start a thread/s about this, I know Fester and Traveler have a particular interest and most would have some.

Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico seem to effect areas of higher latitude than cyclones do in the Coral Sea/Pacific.  I'm not sure why, is it that the water is shallower and warmer?

I'm far from a Pacific expert, but is indeed a fact that the Gulf is very warm and very shallow.  Makes sense too, since it was almost "artificially made" unlike the rest of the world's oceans.

[Thunder Road]

That's all pretty cool. However in the 12th century retreat there would be a ceramony to burn the atheists at the end 

Jeez, talk about getting burned on that deal.