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gerg
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Hi everyone!  I'm very glad I found this place.  Anyways, a little about me and why I joined:

My name is Greg, from the US.  For those interested, specifically Wisconsin.  Education is in chemistry, but a web developer by trade (not quite sure how that crossover happened, but it did).

My "belief" background:  Raised as a Christian, but fortunately not overly religious -- attended church service once a week, though no real family pressure forcing me to do so (but at the time, I was certainly willing).  After moving out and starting to really think about things, I've pretty much settled on being agnostic...which I'm not entirely comfortable with.  Especially after reading the Agnostic or Atheist article!

I won't get into it here, but a big part of why I decided to register is I think I can probably get some insight here into some of my current thoughts, and whether they're entirely based in logic (my goal), or if some of my thought processes are still being affected by a lingering thread of hope that there really is a guy in the sky with a huge chocolate pie for me when I'm dead (my fear).

Also, I think I can likely contribute to some of the conversations I've seen.  I love debate, but far too often during them people tend to go back and forth about things that, in the end, won't help to create a positive resolution of the topic.  A simple example of this is debating the meaning of any bible verse with a thiest.  There are so many fallacies (was the verse meant to be taken literally or figuratively, was it translated correctly and/or are their multiple versions of the verse, the verse itself was originally scribed by a human, thereby making it subject to any number of imperfections, etc.), that even humoring such a conversation is a huge waste of time, IMHO.  I tend to look at these topics from a much higher level.  To borrow from the above point, trying to prove the bible right or wrong, or showing that it is contraindicative is useless, for both parties.  If god actually exists, I highly doubt disproving a crappily written book written by humans is going to cause him to no longer exist.  At the same time, a poetic masterpiece of a bible that is completely sound in its prose has no way of proving god exists either.  If it did, I'd also have to believe in Moby Dick.

Based on some of the posts I've read here, I'm confident that there are plenty of level-headed individuals here that I can swap ideas with in a sensible fashion, and with the topic at hand that is normally a very difficult thing to do.

Thanks.

Greg


Atheistextremist
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Welcome gerg

 

 

you sound a likely sort. Am sure you'll have fun here. There are plenty of folk with similar backgrounds to yours and we're always keen to hear new angles. Hope to see you around the place. 

"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck


Ktulu
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Welcome, I think you will

Welcome, I think you will enjoy it here.  To expand on your OP, pretty much any argument with your average theist will be a variation of arguments from complexity, well sprinkled with logical fallacies and intellectually dishonest slippery slopes.  I still enjoy the mental gymnastics, I love me a good debate Smiling  

I would venture to call you an agnostic atheist, much like the vast majority here.  Unless you are a theist and failed to mention it in your opening post.

 

"Don't seek these laws to understand. Only the mad can comprehend..." -- George Cosbuc


butterbattle
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Welcome to the forum.

Welcome to the forum.

Our revels now are ended. These our actors, | As I foretold you, were all spirits, and | Are melted into air, into thin air; | And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, | The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, | The solemn temples, the great globe itself, - Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, | And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, | Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff | As dreams are made on, and our little life | Is rounded with a sleep. - Shakespeare


Brian37
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Quote: I'm confident that

Quote:
I'm confident that there are plenty of level-headed individuals here that I can swap ideas with in a sensible fashion,

Don't include me in that assessment, I am a Redskins fan. Nothing "level headed" about that.

How bout them Packers? Ooops. Don't feel bad, we have a Jewish Saints fan here too who is still smarting. At least they made the playoffs. The Redskins have a severe allergy to winning.

Anywho,  welcome.

"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog


Jeffrick
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Welcome

 

 

                Don't let Brian37 scare you, he's had his shots.  I am more easy going about the NFL since I'm a Patriots fan and St.Thomas of Brady just makes life easier for Pat's fans.

"Very funny Scotty; now beam down our clothes."

VEGETARIAN: Ancient Hindu word for "lousy hunter"

If man was formed from dirt, why is there still dirt?


Brian37
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Jeffrick

Jeffrick wrote:

 

 

                Don't let Brian37 scare you, he's had his shots.  I am more easy going about the NFL since I'm a Patriots fan and St.Thomas of Brady just makes life easier for Pat's fans.

I am rabid dude, and a legend in my own mind.

"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog