Hello from beautiful Southern California!

[NaturaLCalamity]

Hello everyone. I came across this site randomly one day and so I started to read some of the posts, which were very interesting. I hope to chat with some of the intelligent people here because religious people are literally driving me nuts, which I'll hopefully get into later.

Now a little about me. I'm 20 years old. I've grown up in a Chinese traditional home in Long Beach, California all my life. I believe my parents are Buddhist, and I say believe because they're not religious at all, but I remember them going to temples a couple of times. For the past 20 years, they have never forced me to take part in any religious acts that has to do with the Buddhist community, and that is why I love my parents. However, growing up, I have many friends who are Christians and Catholics and even Muslim. I attended Church for about a year or so with a good friend of mine because I was "curious" about the Bible and the religion itself. Now I'm a man of science. I don't believe in superstitions and things that an escape our realm of "reality," many of which the Bible has fallen into. I didn't buy any of that nonsense but I loved hearing the stories and whatnot, that is why I stayed at the church for over a year. I didn't attend every Sunday FYI, mainly about 2 times a month. Trust me, there are way better things to be doing on a Sunday morning than church! So, for the past 3 years, I've told everyone that I'm an Atheist, and no one had a problem with that. My best friend, who is a Christian, doesn't mind that at all. My girlfriend for a year and a half is also a Christian, but she's trying to escape it, and I had no influence at all. Right now I attend LBSU and I have recently been taking biology and geology classes, which is another reason why I'm a member of this site now.

Sorry for the long and boring posts. Anyways, hello to everyone again and I hope you all have a good 09 year!!!  

[SallyMutant]

Boring? Never! Great to hear the background of anyone new. Glad to hear you were not afflicted with crazy religion as a kid and it's' interesting to hear that you were exposed to a belief that many sane people are quite OK with.  I'm looking forward to an interesting perspective from you.

[curiosityandthecat]

I love Cali. My fiance (who is from Taiwan, so a bit of traditional Chinese there, too) and I spent a week in San Francisco last year and I would definitely consider moving there permanently. Welcome aboard!  

[Cemetery]

Welcome to the site! My husband is interested in Buddhism & he was born in Del Mar, CA... near San Diego.  Too bad he didn't grow up there b/c I've heard it is lovely.  We're in North Carolina now & I would miss my seasons (I LOVE cold weather) if we moved to Cali, but maybe we'll go for a visit!  

What is your major, N.C.?

~C

[Ihateyoumike]

Trust me, there are way better things to be doing on a Sunday morning than church!

Well said, and I am doing one of those better things to be doing on a Sunday morning right now, reading this forum.  :banna:

[NaturaLCalamity]

I'm majoring in Business. And yes, California is a very lovely place to live. It gets pretty warm over the summer, sometimes over 100 degrees but right now it is raining, which is nice for a change. It hasn't rain much in SoCal last year, so I'm enjoying this moment. I love the sound of rain!