Introduction

MagicMarker
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Introduction

Howdy folks!

Allow me to introduce myself.

I'm MagicMarker (y'all can call me Mark) and I've been an atheist for almost 20 years. Before that I was a fundamentalist with all of the trappings.

It was a very slow migration into atheism.

Step1: abandon Dispensational Premillenialism for Amillenialism. It surprised me at how much this minor change offended the hard-core folks at my church. It seemed logical to me and I never figured out why no one would keep an open mind on the issue. Took 8 years to get here.

Step2: abandon creationism. This happened after another year.

Step3: abandon inerrancy. That didn't take long - just another few months.

Step4: chuck the whole ball of wax. Took almost a year to get here but I'm glad I finally got out.

While I was still a fundamentalist I got married and had 2 marvelous kids. (Oh... Mrs. Marker is most marvelous too. She is still a Christian but it has not hurt our marriage. I feel like our marriage is more important than the gods - I don't have a clue why she wants to stay with me, though.)

The mission of RRS is very very appealing to me. We need activism! Folks need to see us and know what we believe. I definitely want to take part - especially at the local level. One possibly I've been thinking about (pipe dream so far) is sidewalk astronomy. It seems like a natural intro to "reality" for the unsuspecting public and it's a lot of fun. I'm involved with star parties through the local astronomy club but I think it would be unethical to challenge people's beliefs while I'm representing the club. Instead, some stealth sidewalk astronomy with like-minded amateurs might be fun and possibly productive. Anyone like the idea?


MattShizzle
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Welcome to the hizzle!

Welcome to the hizzle!


BGH
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Welcome to the forums! I

Welcome to the forums!

I like the idea, I also am an astronomy buff. 


MagicMarker
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Well - if any North Texans

Well - if any North Texans want to get something started - don't hesistate to send me a note.  Anybody in  Frisco, Plano, Little Elm, Prosper, Allen, McKinney, Carrollton, Richardson ?


Jacob Cordingley
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A great big Northern

A great big Northern welcome to the RRS. What exactly do you mean by sidewalk astronomy? I'm intrigued. Of course the real word for sidewalk is pavement, but that's just me being a fussy Englishman.


MagicMarker
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Sidewalk astronomy was

Sidewalk astronomy was pioneered by John Dobson from San Francisco - the "sort of" inventor of the dobsonian telescope mount.  Dobson is constantly traveling and speaking in the US.  He came to the Dallas club meeting last month - it was a big thrill for all of us.

In SF, he founded a group that builds cheap, easy-to-use telescopes and takes them out to public events (and sometimes just to any old sidewalk) to show people what the universe is made out of.   The San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers has since changed its name to The Sidewalk Astronomers.

But, maybe that's more explanation that I needed to give.  Although I am interested in joining the Sidewalk Astronomers, the project of using astronomy as a hook for taking a little steam out of creationism is not intended to be associated with that group - only with that method. 


Susan
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Welcome, MagicMarker! We're

Welcome, MagicMarker!

We're glad to have you here and it sounds like you have some great ideas.

 

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