Happy to have found this happy forum

[socheri]

70 years ago I was born into an orthodox Jewish family living in a little town in South Africa.  In 1948, after being crippled by polio which took the life of one of my sisters, I started to question the existence of any god.  After being detained by South Africa's secret police, I realized that there was no god and made the transition from agnosticism to atheism.

In 1975 my family emigrated to the United States to escape South Africa's apartheid regime. 

I'm retired and keep busy working for animal welfare causes and caring for 4 rescued cats and 2 dogs.  3 of our pets are missing limbs and, had they not been rescued, would have been euthanized.

[Buddy]

Welcome to the forum! Sounds like you've had an interesting life.

[OldGit]

Welcome, socheri!  Seems like you've seen a bit of life.
Suddenly a lot of older people are joining up.  Excellent.

[Tank]

Hi socheri

Looks like you're going to have some great stories to share and great insights to give.

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.*
"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.

[Amicale]

Socheri, a warm welcome to HAF! I'm looking forward to speaking with you! It sounds like you've lived (and are living) a very interesting life, and I'm also looking forward to your perspective on issues!

[DeterminedJuliet]

Welcome

[xSilverPhinx]

Welcome!

You've had a tough life, respect It's cool that you work with animal welfare, what breed of dogs are yours?

[chic]

Welcome socheri!

I feel funny welcoming you since I just joined yesterday; it seems a little pretentious.  But how long does one wait before expressing warmth and interest and encouragement to another human being or animal for that matter as you have done.

The members of HAF who have greeted you before now are the ones who greeted me yesterday.  I think that says something special about them.  I hope you feel free to greet others because you need to get 10 post asap and what a joyous way to do it!

[Firebird]

Welcome scheri! Look forward to hearing more about your life.
And don't worry chic, enthusiastic members are good, old and new

[Asherah]

Wow, what an interesting story. I've heard of people losing their faith in god for similar reasons....because of horrible things happening to them. It's hard to believe a loving god would allow such tragedy. Thanks for joining the forum and I look forward to hearing your insights!

[ibm]

Welcome, socheri!  Seems like you've seen a bit of life.
Suddenly a lot of older people are joining up.  Excellent.

Err, how big is the closet? Crap, I'm old! Oh well, better late than never. Welcome socheri.

[Jimmy]

Welcome!!!   I hope you like it here!

[The Magic Pudding]

I prayed to god for lots of new members and look, he has delivered socheri, rickrocks, applesauce, chic and others to us.
Praise the lord.
Go on praise him, our lord Shnook can't wait all day, he has some dusting to do.



Welcome socheri.

[socheri]

XSilversphinx,
Munchkin is a Basenji/Border Collie mix - he barks like a Border Collie and yodels like a Basenji.  We think he's about 12 years old.  When we rescued him he was skin and bone and weighed only 30lbs.  He had mange and Lyme disease.  He now weighs 55 lbs and is a very beautiful animal.  Scruffy is some type of terrier who was abandoned with a badly broken front leg which had to be amputated.  He and Munchkin are inseperable.

[Ali]

Oh my, a Border Collie mix!  Our last dog (who I still miss, almost 4 years after her passing) was a Border Collie mix.  She was wonderful.

Welcome to the forum, it sounds like you have led an extremely interesting life.  I would love to hear more of your stories and get your perspective on different current events.