Delighted to be a member

Alex · #1 3rd August 2012, 08:12 PM

Hello all, my name is Penny and I am a 41 year old proud and (rather loud) free and critical thinking atheist.

I was raised in a very catholic household with my six sisters and atheist father, who helped to keep me sane throughout my life in my very traditional and very christian town.

Although my dear mother tried very hard to indoctrinate me I never believed and throughout my life and various careers and education this attitude has been validated.

I have worked as a nurse, police officer, university lecturer. I have a passion for ethics and justice and have done my whole life. I love to read about morality, ethics, evolutionary psychology, amoungst my favourite authors are Steven Pinker, Sam Harris and of course Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchins. Charles Darwin is my hero! I have incredible respect for all of these people and the progress they have helped the human race make, I feel it is so important we have courageous people like this to eradicate religious indoctrination.

Sadly I am aware of individuals that have been abused by clergy, all of whom have had a lifetime of turmoil and feel very deeply for the atocities the church has caused them and continues to cause them. I still struggle to comprehend the lack of justice in the Western World with issues such as these.

I have to say most of the people I really admire and respect are atheists who always take accountability for their own actions and behaviour.

AFA Admin · #2 3rd August 2012, 08:23 PM

Hi, Penny.

This is a message sent to all who find their way to these forums.

We like people, and we like facts too!

We're friendly but we're skeptical, and if somebody calls for proof, it's not an accusation. Only the strong ideas thrive here: we try to respect people. (We do not tolerate personal abuse.)

You may already have visited these other handy places:
* New Member Information
* Welcome from AFA president
* For those interested in learning, I recommend the Atheism Resource Thread maintained by Fearless.
* And a quick look at our reserved spot for belief-based discussion, Fantasy Island, includes The Great Big List, a sort-of "things we've seen before" for those of faith, and general rules of argument for the forum.

If you've got questions, please ask. Moderators have red name tags, but many of our friendly people may have the answers you need.

Enjoy the forums. We hope to see plenty from you in discussions.

Have fun.