Hello,
You can call me JoJo. I am new here and new to the whole athiest life. I would not call myself a whole hearted athiest, but probably on the brinks. I am searching for answers. I grew up with a very very religious backround specifically in the charasmatic denomination. There are a number of reasons why I have gotten to a place of questioning. One, because of an even that happened long ago as a child that I happened to recall recently. It has stripped all that believed in. yet, in reading some posts here I realized some simalarities in my experience thus far. The last ten years I "walked away from God" I actually felt more rest and peace not being confined in this box. Being around people who believed in prophecy has been an unerving experience for me as well. Anyways, back to my point. So lately, I have youtubed the truth behind religion or christianity and have been utterly shocked to my findings of the parallelism with other previous religions and the pagans. So here I am looking for more answers, and hopefully meet some friends to help me along the way. . . any suggestions of references, articles, books, videos to help me out would be of much appreciation. I look forward to learning and meeting new people. Thanks,
JoJo :)
Welcome!
I can't recommend any books, since the only one I've read was the God Delusion (which could've been better than it was ;) ) but there are plenty of good Youtube atheists and videos discussing atheism...
Hello Jojo
I'm sure you will find plenty of people here who can appretiate the situation you find yourself in and advise how they moved on. Tristan Jay is currently struggling to come to terms with his past and present world view in what appears to be a similar fashion.
As we are all unique rather than guess where you seek infrmation/help it would be helpful if you can explain what you would like to understand from joining here.
Welcome to HAF ;D
Regards
Chris
Notes for new members.
The Rules. (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=1522.0)
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" (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php#2) 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? (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=5133.0)
10 Things About Yourself (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=4940.0)
Tell us A Bit About Where You're From (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=8215.0)
Photography (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=7607.0)
Non-religious pet peeves (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=6917.0)
How to tell your family you are an atheist. (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=5111.0)*
*You will need 10 posts before you can add a post to this thread, but you can read it at any time.
Welcome, Jojo! You have come a long way on your journey and you will find a lot of support here. I could name some books, but you'll get the same ideas soon enough by following the discussions here.
Hi there,
I was raised Catholic and becoming atheist was a pretty slow process for me (though, it was the best thing I've ever done). Everyone has to find their own way, so to speak, but I hope you find this a helpful place.
Take care!
Quote from: Tank
As we are all unique rather than guess where you seek infrmation/help it would be helpful if you can explain what you would like to understand from joining
In response to your question Tank, what I would like to understand more about is, evolution. Although, as someone else stated, I am sure just being here and reading posts, I will gain a whole wealth of knowledge. Thanks for your response.
Quote from: Jojo77 on November 09, 2011, 06:36:31 PM
Quote from: Tank
As we are all unique rather than guess where you seek infrmation/help it would be helpful if you can explain what you would like to understand from joining
In response to your question Tank, what I would like to understand more about is, evolution. Although, as someone else stated, I am sure just being here and reading posts, I will gain a whole wealth of knowledge. Thanks for your response.
You're welcome. I'm a bit of an evolutionist myself :)
I assume you've found the Evolution Resources (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=7486.0) in the Science section, if not it's a good place to start.
Many of Richard Dawkins' books are excellent on evolution. The Blind Watchmaker is worth reading; you can download the whole book from here (http://uath.org/download/literature/Richard.Dawkins.The.Blind.Watchmaker.pdf), free.
Hi JoJo-
I'm a fairly new atheist, and like DeterminedJuliet, I was raised Catholic and came to the [real] light slowly. But now I am certain and happy to be here.
Anyway, I've been reading The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever. It is a collection of essays and readings edited by Christopher Hitchens and thoroughly enjoyable. I strongly feel that anybody who is on the fence would have trouble not jumping over to the atheist side after reading this. The readings range from scientific evidence to moral justification for atheism, and it's been very validating. Anyway, thought I'd pass it on.
Welcome!
Quote from: OldGit on November 09, 2011, 07:21:10 PM
Many of Richard Dawkins' books are excellent on evolution. The Blind Watchmaker is worth reading; you can download the whole book from here (http://uath.org/download/literature/Richard.Dawkins.The.Blind.Watchmaker.pdf), free.
Thanks !!!! ;D
Quote from: DeterminedJuliet on November 09, 2011, 01:34:33 PM
Hi there,
I was raised Catholic and becoming atheist was a pretty slow process for me (though, it was the best thing I've ever done). Everyone has to find their own way, so to speak, but I hope you find this a helpful place.
Take care!
Thanks so much!!! Finding our own way is what makes us unique and strong ; )
Quote from: Good and Godless on November 09, 2011, 10:35:24 PM
Hi JoJo-
I'm a fairly new atheist, and like DeterminedJuliet, I was raised Catholic and came to the [real] light slowly. But now I am certain and happy to be here.
Anyway, I've been reading The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever. It is a collection of essays and readings edited by Christopher Hitchens and thoroughly enjoyable. I strongly feel that anybody who is on the fence would have trouble not jumping over to the atheist side after reading this. The readings range from scientific evidence to moral justification for atheism, and it's been very validating.
Anyway, thought I'd pass it on.
Welcome!
Hi good and godless,
Thanks for your response and suggestions. I will definately take a look. Now there is already so much to read...i should not be bored for awhile. Lol
Thinking about it, a better start to evolution would be Dawkins' The Selfish Gene. You can download it free from here (http://macroevolution.narod.ru/gene/gene30.htm).
(You have to right-click and save it.)
Quote from: Jojo77 on November 09, 2011, 04:36:17 AM
So lately, I have youtubed the truth behind religion or christianity and have been utterly shocked to my findings of the parallelism with other previous religions and the pagans. So here I am looking for more answers, and hopefully meet some friends to help me along the way. . .
hi JoJo, welcome aboard. Christianity's just rehashed ideas from earlier religions and philosophies, but they don't ever tell you that in church!
Quote from: Too Few Lions on November 10, 2011, 06:00:50 PM
Quote from: Jojo77 on November 09, 2011, 04:36:17 AM
So lately, I have youtubed the truth behind religion or christianity and have been utterly shocked to my findings of the parallelism with other previous religions and the pagans. So here I am looking for more answers, and hopefully meet some friends to help me along the way. . .
hi JoJo, welcome aboard. Christianity's just rehashed ideas from earlier religions and philosophies, but they don't ever tell you that in church!
Hi JoJo.
So right now my current relationship with christianity is to view it as an affliction or disease. I feel the most effective treatment for this sickness, at least for me, is a study on the origin and evolution of this religion through history. More damning then books about the evolution of life or the origin of the universe, the actual history of the bible and its believers has got to be the most effective path to atheist enlightenment. But like you, I have only gotten to this information through youtube videos and following threads on forums. I think anyone who has a strong religious background is in desperate need of an authoritative compendium of all things considered about how christianity really happened.
Quote from: xm1 on November 10, 2011, 10:04:28 PM
Quote from: Too Few Lions on November 10, 2011, 06:00:50 PM
Quote from: Jojo77 on November 09, 2011, 04:36:17 AM
So lately, I have youtubed the truth behind religion or christianity and have been utterly shocked to my findings of the parallelism with other previous religions and the pagans. So here I am looking for more answers, and hopefully meet some friends to help me along the way. . .
hi JoJo, welcome aboard. Christianity's just rehashed ideas from earlier religions and philosophies, but they don't ever tell you that in church!
Hi JoJo.
So right now my current relationship with christianity is to view it as an affliction or disease. I feel the most effective treatment for this sickness, at least for me, is a study on the origin and evolution of this religion through history. More damning then books about the evolution of life or the origin of the universe, the actual history of the bible and its believers has got to be the most effective path to atheist enlightenment. But like you, I have only gotten to this information through youtube videos and following threads on forums. I think anyone who has a strong religious background is in desperate need of an authoritative compendium of all things considered about how christianity really happened.
That is an interesting point. What is sad, is i feel kinda hypocritical. Cause i still been going to church and Such. Does that make me a hypocrite or is it just me searching for the answers? Is it normal?
EDIT: Sorted out post. Jojo you inadvertantly dropped your reply into the body of xm1's post rather than afther the last [/
quote] tag. happens to the best of us ;) - Tank
Quote from: Jojo77 on November 11, 2011, 01:46:36 AM
Quote from: xm1 on November 10, 2011, 10:04:28 PM
Quote from: Too Few Lions on November 10, 2011, 06:00:50 PM
Quote from: Jojo77 on November 09, 2011, 04:36:17 AM
So lately, I have youtubed the truth behind religion or christianity and have been utterly shocked to my findings of the parallelism with other previous religions and the pagans. So here I am looking for more answers, and hopefully meet some friends to help me along the way. . .
hi JoJo, welcome aboard. Christianity's just rehashed ideas from earlier religions and philosophies, but they don't ever tell you that in church!
Hi JoJo.
So right now my current relationship with christianity is to view it as an affliction or disease. I feel the most effective treatment for this sickness, at least for me, is a study on the origin and evolution of this religion through history. More damning then books about the evolution of life or the origin of the universe, the actual history of the bible and its believers has got to be the most effective path to atheist enlightenment. But like you, I have only gotten to this information through youtube videos and following threads on forums. I think anyone who has a strong religious background is in desperate need of an authoritative compendium of all things considered about how christianity really happened.
That is an interesting point. What is sad, is i feel kinda hypocritical. Cause i still been going to church and Such. Does that make me a hypocrite or is it just me searching for the answers? Is it normal?
Well, you are not barring others from going to church or chastising people who go currently so you have not met the definition of hypocrite. If you still feel reasons to go to church you should keep going, and when you don't feel the need to go anymore you shouldn't bother going. That should be entirely about how you want to direct your life.
Quote
Is it normal?
Is normal relevant?
Quote from: xm1 on November 10, 2011, 10:04:28 PM
I think anyone who has a strong religious background is in desperate need of an authoritative compendium of all things considered about how christianity really happened.
Unfortunately, I think it'll be a long time before that actually happens. It's surprising how little we really know about early Christianity, the earliest archaeological evidence currently dates to the third century, and even that's fairly sketchy and minimal. The same goes for Christian writings, the earliest radiocarbon dated copies we have are from that period, and there's just a bit of an assumption that the New Testament texts originally date to the first century. Part of the trouble is that pretty much everyone involved in biblical study is a Christian, who else would bother to devote their life to studying a book of myths?
On top of that, the Christian authorities in the fourth century did a good job of banning and destroying all Christian works they deemed 'heretical' and pretty much all 'pagan' religious and philosophical writings they could lay their hands on. The early Christians also had a habit of adding things to older works when they copied them to promote what they deemed orthodox belief, and creating new scripture under the name of apostles and earlier famous Christians in order to try and give these new teachings some sort of authority.
The vast majority of the evidence we have of early Christianity dates from the fourth century or later. Quite what it was like in the mid first century (or even if it actually existed back then) is pure speculation IMHO until we actually find some hard evidence.