Hello Everyone!

[Happy_Is_Good]

Hello,

I've been reading this board for quite awhile, and I am impressed - so I decided to join.  I am almost 50, so I think I may be one of the oldest guys here, and so I feel a bit nervous about conversing with you younger people because of what I am.

See...I am an Atheist and have been for over 30 years (since about 1980), but I have recently morphed into an "Anti-Theist": an Atheist who is against religion.  As a younger man, I never believed I would become an "Anti-Theist".  I mean, I just wanted to "live and let live" attitude with religion so-to-speak.  I was perfectly happy to keep my mouth shut and live in a religious society, but I found that my attitude was not going to work as I saw the "Evangelical Christians" lust for political power in the early 1980's and then become ascendant during the 1990's.

Then...9/11 happened, and it made me rethink everything I had thought of religion.  I saw a President who couldn't wait even two weeks after 9/11 to kick off his shoes, put on a cap and go pray at a mosque and declare "Islam is a Religion of Peace" - even though he knew nothing about Islam.  I saw a nation that would not post the so-called "Muhammed Cartoons" in the news papers because they "offended" Islam - but they were really afraid that the Muslims would physically hurt them.  All the while, these same "Evangelicals" claimed Atheists to be the worst people on earth - even lower than those who had declared war on Western Culture (and all the while Atheists like Pat Tillman were fighting for them!)

By this time, I had witnessed more than I could take: I decided that religion needed to be totally discredited - FOREVER!  But...that's another story.   Just wanted to let you know about me.

Meanwhile, there are a lot of young atheists that have been harassed in a major way and are posting on this board hoping for some help.  I hope I can help relieve your suffering in any small way that I can.  I just want to let you know that you are not alone...and you are RIGHT!

There is a quote I heard recently from a movie called "Inherit the Wind", and I like to share it with you:

"It's the loneliest feeling in the world to find yourself standing up when everyone else is sitting down. To have everybody look at you and say, "What's the matter with her?" I know what it feels like. Walking down an empty street, listening to the sound of your own footsteps. Shutters closed, blinds drawn, doors locked against you. And you aren't sure whether you're walking toward something, or if you're just walking away.

...But all you have to do is knock on any door and say, "If you let me in, I'll live the way you want me to live, and I'll think the way you want me to think," and all the blinds'll go up and all the windows will open, and you'll never be lonely, ever again. "

Don't give up guys!  You are not alone!  You are RIGHT!

[The Magic Pudding]

Hello
There's quite an age range here, from teenagers to old gits who have lost count.

[MadBomr101]

Praise the Lord!!!

Ooops, sorry Happy, I jot a little overexcited there.  Great post. 

[Happy_Is_Good]

Praise the Lord!!!

Ooops, sorry Happy, I jot a little overexcited there.  Great post.  

Jim...is that you?

How's Tammy?

LOL!!!!!!!!! (Remember that poor ol' Jim Baker from the "Praise the Lord Club" on TV?)

[xSilverPhinx]

Welcome!

[Tank]

Hi Happy is Good

Great intro', you're totally on-topic and could well fit in here very well.

We have quite a few 'old farts' here, I'm 52, but we have some cracking youngsters here as well. The thing about forums is that age, race, gender etc are invisible unless a person chooses to reveal those details, thus a person is the sum of their thoughts/writing in a way you won't find in real life. The major problem with forums is the reduced communication bandwidth. If one takes face-to-face verbal communication as 100% bandwidth the written word bandwidth is 7% of that (as far as I recall). And the bit you lose is all the subtle emotional cues of body language and voice inflection. It is very easy to miss-read what other people mean. So read carefully and assume little and you won't end up arguing with a strawman of your own construction.

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?
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.

[Too Few Lions]

great first post and welcome to the forum. Happy is by far the best form of good in my books.

[OldGit]

Welcome, Happy_Is_Good!  You seem like our kind of person.
It's true there are a few old farts here; there's also me. 

[Asmodean]

Hi! I'm The Asmo. Was 666 years old, last I checked, and that was about 666 years ago, give or take 666 days.  

I can relate to morphing into an anti-theist, as I have pretty much done so myself over the past few years. A bit strange, that, since from what I hear, one is supposed to become more tolerant with age... But then again, there is only so much one can tolerate and the glass does, inevitably, overfill... I think that's what happened in my case.

Welcome to HAF!

[Buddy]

Hello thar! Welcome to the forum. Just watch out, some of these older gits may bite. 

[OldGit]

I'll bite you if you get cheeky, young lady.  I dunno, these young people these days ... no respect ... elders and betters ... in my day ... good clip round the ear ... zzzzzz ... nnnnng. (Falls asleep, swallows false teeth.)

[Buddy]

Oh dear, you're not choking are you?

And don't worry, I learned my lesson about respect after getting a bucket of water thrown on me after calling my grandmom old when I was little.

[Asmodean]

I'll bite you if you get cheeky, young lady.  I dunno, these young people these days ... no respect ... elders and betters ... in my day ... good clip round the ear ... zzzzzz ... nnnnng. (Falls asleep, swallows false teeth.)

Aint that the truth! They dresh inappropreately (Oh, in MY daysh, why, we had the belt line at the waisht, not below the knee!  Oh, what a glorioush time it wash), they ignore their education, don't know the meaning of hard and honesht work, lishten to... To...

Eh... Anybody remember what I wash talking about? And WHO schtole me walker?!  ???

[xSilverPhinx]

I'll bite you if you get cheeky, young lady.  I dunno, these young people these days ... no respect ... elders and betters ... in my day ... good clip round the ear ... zzzzzz ... nnnnng. (Falls asleep, swallows false teeth.)

I know what you mean...these youngsters...tisk, tisk...tisk.