Just a line to introduce myself.

[westic]

Hi,
I am a lifelong, since I could decide, atheist.
My interests are in cosmology, genetics, evolution and science in general as a tool to debunk "creationist anti-science."
I have nothing against the religiously inclined but reserve the right to a life unimpeded by them, their leaders or their beliefs.

Cheers.:)

[davo]

hello hello hello :)

good to meet you, hope you have fun on the boards :)

[Vonnie]

Welcome, westic. (Even if it appears, by your avatar, that you're one of those bloody foozball fans...)

Vonnie

[westic]

Thanks for the welcome.

As an atheist I would put myself at a 10, on a scale of 1-10, and probably would call myself a rampant atheist.
I do not however begrudge others views, only their interference in mine and my families.
I don't go out of my way to try and "turn" or convince anyone, but if they ask, I am well read in most of the sciences and will gladly offer my opinions and "proofs".
My specific reason for joining was to let others know they are actually part of the majority, many of whom are religiously identifiable solely when filling in the census or Government forms.
Those who profess religious belief simply to satisfy family and peers whose religious beliefs hark from tradition more than a true faith.

I am sceptic of many things not just God.

[davo]

and from your profile, you like fishing :) so best of everything mate :)

Love going for the aussie natives myself :)

[youngmoigle]

Thanks for the welcome.

As an atheist I would put myself at a 10, on a scale of 1-10, and probably would call myself a rampant atheist.
I do not however begrudge others views, only their interference in mine and my families.
I don't go out of my way to try and "turn" or convince anyone, but if they ask, I am well read in most of the sciences and will gladly offer my opinions and "proofs".
My specific reason for joining was to let others know they are actually part of the majority, many of whom are religiously identifiable solely when filling in the census or Government forms.
Those who profess religious belief simply to satisfy family and peers whose religious beliefs hark from tradition more than a true faith.

I am sceptic of many things not just God.

Hi there westic,
I reckon I'm a ten as well - and like you, skeptical of many things. One of my throw-away lines is "Believe nothing you hear and only half what you see."

One big difference though: I know practically nothing about evolution. I'd be hard pushed to write two paragraphs on the subject, but hey, we don't have to know everything, do we?

[davo]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3566/3482502121_fa4b86c861_o.jpg

[Peanuts]

Hiya all! It's so great to have this forum!

In a nut-shell, I've always been a non-practicing atheist. However, it's only in the last 15 years or so I've consciously "come out of the closet" to myself.

Then, after the death of my nephew 10 years ago everything changed significantly! Like a light bulb had gone off in my head. I found it harder to 'bite my tongue' around faith heads....sorry the 'faithful'.

It was impossible for me to stay quiet while people said the most inane things about the after-life/heaven, or karma, or comfort that god/religion brings, or without the bible/religion we'd have no morals etc.

Needless to say, I've offended many people. So, hopefully I've come to the right place and I won't have to apologize too often!

However, just in case.....apologies in advance and kind regards
Lizzy

[Kid]

Hi Lizzy and Westic...great to see new faces...

I'm like you Lizzy, in that I'm finding it harder and harder to be nice and polite and quiet around the endless religious drivel that's coming from everywhere it seems these days.

I like to remind atheists too that we are the ones more often offended by them, than they do by us. Most atheists are quite happy to let people have their faith; all we ask is to keep it to themselves and out of public life, but this doesn't happen. There is, to me, this sometimes unspoken sense of being patronized by the religious when they talk to non-believers; that they are talking to people below them, or inferior to them, that sense of smug self righteousness. I find that offensive. So, when it comes to offending god-botherers, too bloody bad. Learn to deal with it!

[TÐöer]

I like to remind atheists too that we are the ones more often offended by them, than they do by us. Most atheists are quite happy to let people have their faith; all we ask is to keep it to themselves and out of public life, but this doesn't happen. There is, to me, this sometimes unspoken sense of being patronized by the religious when they talk to non-believers; that they are talking to people below them, or inferior to them, that sense of smug self righteousness. I find that offensive. So, when it comes to offending god-botherers, too bloody bad. Learn to deal with it!

Aye, agreed.

Welcome Lizzy and Westic.

[SinisterDexter]

Helloooo to both of you.

Oh, and Lizzie - never apologise in advance.

[Peanuts]

Hello SinisterDexter and thank you for your comment!

I was being glib I'm afraid which is often in the company of sarcasm in my communication! My only idiosyncrasies I promise! :cool:

But you're right of course...as a newby here I don't want to misrepresent myself! Especially as an apologist!

So, any advanced apologies are being retracted as we speak!

regards
Lizzy

[davo]

hello hello Lizzy and Westic, great to have you here, sure you will have fun and looking forwards to your contributions to the cat herd ;)

[westic]

Thanks for the welcome to all.
I've been away on business for a while so have not logged on for a bit.

The biggest "bug up my ***" regarding religion is the rise of the "fundamentalists", particularly the "Creationists" who attempt to infiltrate schools to abuse the minds of children. To me this is no less disgusting than any other form of child abuse.
Attempting to "weasel" their lies, half truths and faith (read ignorance and denial of evident truth) into the education system under the guise of "providing the alternative" really gets me out of my chair.

Education will eventually be the death of the monotheist religions, but in the meantime I want my children to grow up as sceptical, critical thinkers who seek truth not consolation.

[trilobitologist]

Westic and Peanuts,

I don't really know whether I have been in this game long enough to welcome you, as like you I am a neophyte. Welcome anyway!

I would classify myself as a devout atheist (this phrasing gives the gullible suckers the heebie-jeebies) and on a scale of 1-10, I'd definitely be a 10. However, it has the drawback of making atheism sound like a religion, which some of the religious argue is, in fact, the case. Of course we all know this is not so.

Being a palaeontologist, I bump into creationists on a regular basis, even in the scientific organisation in which I work, and have developed a fairly extensive repertoire of answers to their incoherent drivel. In addition, I often meet people who are, like you westic, not familiar with evolution, and I have to explain it to them, which I enjoy. But rather than clog up these fora with the fairly long an involved explanations of the process, my I suggest you go to the TalkOrigins site or Pharyngula. They have bucket-loads of stuff on evolution from the simplest to the most complex. They are both well worth a look.