Hello, everyone! New poster here...

[keithwdowd]

Hi, everyone! Many warm greetings to you all!

My name is Keith, and I’m a secular humanist presently living in the hot n’ humid city/state of Raleigh, North Carolina. Most of my childhood was spent as a Christian of the Southern Baptist variety, however, and included making weekly pilgrimages to church every Sunday morning, participating in youth groups on Wednesday nights, and generally surrounding myself and being surrounded by a proto-Christian mentality and worldview. Towards the latter days of my high school years (I’m 25 years old now-I know, a quarter of a century-gasp!) I found that I had many more questions than the Bible or its humble servants could offer me answers and upon entering university (and gaining access to a massive and wonderfully stocked library a small walk from my own dormitory) began seeking out answers and insights from humanity’s greatest thinkers â€" Thomas Jefferson, Friedrich Nietzsche, Socrates/Plato, to just name a few. In these texts I found the musings of men (and women) who had come before and wrestled with the very same difficult questions that I too was eagerly seeking answers for, like a parched man stranded in a sandy desert.

As I read (and read, and read) some of their thoughts resonated powerfully with me while others were more discordant and not amiable to my own thought processes, but in all cases I was comforted in knowing that these were the words of people-flesh and blood human beings-who refused to simply lie down and accept the doctrine and dogma shoveled to them since birth. Regardless of whether they ultimately accepted the existence of a divine Creator or rejected the notion outright, these individuals put to work their capacity for logical, rational, and creative thought in order to think beyond the veil and past the confines of the teachings instilled within them by their parents, society, and culture. These men and women were freethinking pioneers that chose to decide what they wanted to believe rather than being told what to believe, who derived their conclusions from their ability to think, ask questions, and critically evaluate the world around them. It was from these authors-more like mentors and friends-that I gained the courage and confidence to shrug off my old religion like a torn and tattered coat and put own a new skin, the person I choose rather than the person dictated.

To put an end to what could be a very long and perhaps mundane story, I tend to label myself a secular humanist, freethinker, or atheist, even though these terms are not necessarily interchangeable (e.g., you can be a freethinker and religious) because each of them describes one or more aspect of my greater Self. Unfortunately, I find myself not privy to many likeminded friends or community engagement and it is mainly for this reason that I have decided to join your Internet community. I look forward to both reading and discussing your posts and hopefully contributing a few meaningful ones myself.

[pinkocommie]

Welcome!  I hope you find a home here.  

[Tank]

Welcome Keith

Looks like you were made for this place.

[The Black Jester]

Very glad to meet you.  May you continue to find what you seek.

[thelittlefinch]

Hi Kieth I found enlightenment in college as well and share a very similar story. I hope you like it here!