AJ

This site that is, I'd like to start off with my story, as it seems that is what people do in forum they have just joined.

I was raised as a Methodist, was pretty much forced to go to church for 17 years, every week it was Sunday School and Church and pretty much every other activity the church offered. I was the kid in Sunday school that would always ask "why". When I was about 15, I realized the real reason I was going to church, social status. My mother was the catalyst for making us all go, to look good to the other families in a small community. She only has faith because thats what her Dad passed onto her. My father is a closet Agnostic, and my younger brothers are following down that path.

Fast forward 10 years and I haven't stepped inside a church for a regular service since I left home for college, it's not that I flat out deny there is a God (or at least something), I just think there is a one in 10 trillion chance the real truth is anything like any organized religion says it is. I also realize there may be nothing beyond this life, and that we had better make the best of it while we are here.

I'm glad I found this forum, I am frustrated that it's hard, especially where I live to find people to discuss the "what if's" and the "why not's". I'm sick of religion being in politics. I'm sick of having to explain that Agnostic does not mean Athiest to the people that I reveal my true thoughts to. I'm sick of having to hide the fact that I am not a christian in the corporate world.

That's it, I look forward to being here.

AJ

duck

And welcome.

Here's hoping the growth and knowledge that you are seeking is here for you to find and that you will contribute to our little community.

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Religion: The ultimate definition of verisimilitude

Requiem

Welcome to the forums, it sounds just like the right place for you.

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"He who has a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

"I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter."
- Sir Winston Churchill

romansh

Welcome AJ ...have fun and welcome

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There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened. ........... Douglas Adams

Astreja

Welcome to the forums, AJ!

LovingAnabelle

It's nice to have you be a part of this. It seems like a good place for you. Hope you enjoy.

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The difference between myself and everyone else is, I'm not everyone else.

neverforever

Welcome and have fun

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If i talk to god i don't know if he is listening ...
I'm talking to myself because no one else is listening..

Skepticologist

All I can say is I wish I'd already had the realizations you have when I was 25. Instead, I hung in there with christianity until I finally opened my eyes at about age 45.

I'm especially impressed with your disillusionment regarding the confluence of religion and politics in this country. To my mind, politics represents the foremost arena where religion can do the most harm. Just take a look at Iran and Saudi Arabia as examples of how mixing politics and religion create disasters of nations.

And the only difference between them and us if the flavor of the particular religion and the extent to which it's allowed to pervade the workings of government.

I don't know about you, but the fact that an ordained baptist minister is leading in the polls among republicans in Iowa and New Hampshire is a very scary situation that makes the fine points of nominating one of the democratic candidates seem a lot less important.

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"I am an agnostic; I do not pretend to know what many ignorant men are sure of."

Clarence Darrow

hahaha

sounds just like me, so I won't bother with the intro, I could not summarize better.

I was looking for a place to talk. It is hard for most people to talk about differences in religion or belief without some one being offended.

I looked at the atheist websites (more power to 'em). I had a revelation. They are forming belief based organizations. The like to get together and talk about how stupid people with different beliefs are. Seems ironic. Oh well.

I try to be a student of life. I know that religion, particularly organized has caused a great deal of harm (but hey, look at Stalin). It would be a pretty boring world if I could not read about all the strange things people believe.

romansh

welcome hahaha

__________________
There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened. ........... Douglas Adams