Big hello

[saturnine]

Hello all,

1st of all the website was slow to load and register, so as of now I am not the happiest atheist.

But that aside, I'm glad that I found this site as what I want is a place to discuss religion and even more so the absence of it with people of similar beliefs.

About myself: I started to have serious doubts about religion and God I think way back when i was about 7 or 8 years old. Maybe this is normal, I don't know. Despite this, I went along with the Christianity thing for a while, until admitting to myself around 10 I think that I was not a true believer. I have had phases of hating the church and religion, etc. and perhaps I had a bad introduction to religion, and this is a reason why I am who I am today.

Regardless, I HAVE lied to others and said that i was a believer, and more recently have came out about being an atheist to someone, but this only led to a great deal of confusion i think. I have not told my family about my being an atheist as I do not want to disappoint them, and they are really all I have.

Since I live in Canada there's no reason to be ashamed or anything and I am not. I realize that churches can be tremendously positive places for the right people. I just am not one of those people. I have explored the world ofn religion a little, and would like to explore it more, but I do not expect to gain faith anytime soon. Whether it's a tragedy I do not have faith remains to be seen. I seem to go between the agnostic end of the spectrum and only when I am at my most negative OR scientific/proof-based do I feel that there is no God at all.

Notice that I do Capitalize the G, because if we happen to be wrong, as most of us, I assume, think about religious people, may He help us all.

Oh, and my name is David BTW.

[bitter_sweet_symphony]

Welcome David.

Thanks for sharing your story. I think we all should explore all possibilities and options with an open and scientific mind. That's what life, to me, is about.

Hope you have a good time here.

[SteveS]

Hi David - welcome to the forum.  I certainly don't think losing faith is tragic --- for some it may have tragic consequences, which is a better reason to never acquire faith in the first place!  Better to live a reasonable life with realistic understanding, IMHO.

Anyway - feel free to post topics/ask questions - plenty of people here will be happy to discuss with you.  Glad to have you on board!

[rlrose328]

Welcome, David... you have a unique point of view, some of which we share.  And this is a great place to hang and ask questions.  I've been on dozens of non-believer forums and this is the only place I've stayed because of the acceptance and lack of arguments (with each other, anyway... stubborn believers beware).

Have fun here!

[MommaSquid]

Hey David, welcome to the forum.  

Many of us here have studied religions other than the one our parents taught us before coming out as atheists.  I never found any answers in religion and haven't felt any anger toward the god I don't believe in.  I'm content and I hope you will find contentment one day, too.  

Enjoy your time here, Saturnine.

[McQ]

Welcome, and thanks for the background information! This forum is a really nice resource for all of us, and you'll find lots to share here.

[Whitney]

Welcome to the forum....it's only slow sometimes and I think the only way to fix that is get a dedicated server since we aren't overloaded on anything.

[Simone]

Hello David.

"Woah, that was a bland welcome...."