Hello everyone, my name is Alex, nice to meet you!
A bit about myself: First and foremost, I'd like to say that I am an atheist, but I respect 100% the people's right to beliefs, and will not try to preach, (de)convert, argue, debate, or any of that.
I am here simply because I wish to understand. Here's why.
I was raised in a catholic family in Ontario, Canada. My mother was religious in that we went to church two to three times a month. We would say a prayer before supper, but other than that, religion was never a huge influence in my family life.
I went in catholic schools, from grade 4 'till grade 12. We would sing the national anthem, and being a catholic school board, there would be a prayer every morning. We had religious activities around Easter, Christmas and all that, and since the school was literally right next to the church, that's were most of these activities happened. We even ended up going a few extra times during the year to celebrate the spirit of Christ (I suppose, I never really knew why we went).
Now for me, most of this stuff was just something I had to do, I would go along with it. To me going to church was just the same as answering when someone said good morning to you, or that you had to shake a stranger's hand when you met him. It was simply the way things were.
I never truly believed. To me, it was just some sort of big complicated story for adults, and I frankly didn't see the point in it. But I went along with it, because that's what was expected. I had been baptized, I had my first communion, my confirmation, etc, mostly just because everyone else was doing it.
And then I was in university. I am currently in my second year now, and last year while wandering on the internet (don't listen to what they tell you by the way, a student's main occupation is not studying, it's procrastinating!
) I found out two special things.
There were other people out there who didn't believe. There was a name for them. They were atheists. And I read up on atheism, what it was, and was surprised to find out I had been an atheist all along and had never known it!
Now this might not have had much impact on my life at all if I hadn't also found out something else. Those big complicated stories for grown-ups, the tales and the Gospels and the Psalms I had never understood, people really and truly believed that! And that astounded me! I had never ever thought people could seriously believe in it and devote so much of their time to their religion.
And from then on it has sparked my interest to meet different people, people of different faiths, to discus with them. I have had some luck with some christian chat rooms, but the chatroom wasn't very well structured for debates or serious discussions. I recently talked with an Ahmadiyya Muslim man, and our discussion was very interesting. Notice I did not debate him.
And so, in my quest for understanding faith and all its different beliefs, I have now found myself here. I figured that if I wanted to ask questions about why people believed and how it affected their lives, the best I could do would go directly to the source!
I do not know if this section is the appropriate one for discussions or if it is strictly used to meet and greet new users, but I will probably start another thread elsewhere for my questions.
I will however state my goals.
-I do not wish to argue. I find it rude of people who tell others 'You're wrong' just because they have differing opinions. I have my opinion, you have yours.
-However, I will correct you if I think you are mistaken about a certain subject such as evolution or atheism. I do not mean to be rude, simply to dispel misconceptions.
-This does not mean I will be rude in doing so. People are people are people. Be they religious or not, there will be smart and less smart individuals on both sides of the fence. I realize this and will not be prejudiced, by not posting comments of the kind 'Duh, the stopid theists got evolution wrong again hurr durr'. I respect each and every person I meet, unless that person proves to me he or she is not worthy of respect.
-I want to promote open debate as much as possible. Feel free to ask me anything you would like, and do not feel obliged in the slightest to answer all my questions. I understand to some religious beliefs are an intensely private matter, and I respect that.
-Feel free to tell me where I am wrong and why. I do not want to do mistakes, I want to learn from them to avoid doing them again. I do not want to spread misinformation, but to learn from real data.
In the end, the reason why I am here is to ask a few questions, such as:
-Why do you believe?
-What do your beliefs do for you?
-How did you come to believe?
-How/why did you accept Christianity (or denomination)?
I have never believed myself, and I am here as a humble student wishing to learn from the experiences of others, experiences I may never experience myself.
Thank you, that is all.
Live long and prosper!
A bit about myself: First and foremost, I'd like to say that I am an atheist, but I respect 100% the people's right to beliefs, and will not try to preach, (de)convert, argue, debate, or any of that.
I am here simply because I wish to understand. Here's why.
I was raised in a catholic family in Ontario, Canada. My mother was religious in that we went to church two to three times a month. We would say a prayer before supper, but other than that, religion was never a huge influence in my family life.
I went in catholic schools, from grade 4 'till grade 12. We would sing the national anthem, and being a catholic school board, there would be a prayer every morning. We had religious activities around Easter, Christmas and all that, and since the school was literally right next to the church, that's were most of these activities happened. We even ended up going a few extra times during the year to celebrate the spirit of Christ (I suppose, I never really knew why we went).
Now for me, most of this stuff was just something I had to do, I would go along with it. To me going to church was just the same as answering when someone said good morning to you, or that you had to shake a stranger's hand when you met him. It was simply the way things were.
I never truly believed. To me, it was just some sort of big complicated story for adults, and I frankly didn't see the point in it. But I went along with it, because that's what was expected. I had been baptized, I had my first communion, my confirmation, etc, mostly just because everyone else was doing it.
And then I was in university. I am currently in my second year now, and last year while wandering on the internet (don't listen to what they tell you by the way, a student's main occupation is not studying, it's procrastinating!
) I found out two special things.There were other people out there who didn't believe. There was a name for them. They were atheists. And I read up on atheism, what it was, and was surprised to find out I had been an atheist all along and had never known it!
Now this might not have had much impact on my life at all if I hadn't also found out something else. Those big complicated stories for grown-ups, the tales and the Gospels and the Psalms I had never understood, people really and truly believed that! And that astounded me! I had never ever thought people could seriously believe in it and devote so much of their time to their religion.
And from then on it has sparked my interest to meet different people, people of different faiths, to discus with them. I have had some luck with some christian chat rooms, but the chatroom wasn't very well structured for debates or serious discussions. I recently talked with an Ahmadiyya Muslim man, and our discussion was very interesting. Notice I did not debate him.
And so, in my quest for understanding faith and all its different beliefs, I have now found myself here. I figured that if I wanted to ask questions about why people believed and how it affected their lives, the best I could do would go directly to the source!
I do not know if this section is the appropriate one for discussions or if it is strictly used to meet and greet new users, but I will probably start another thread elsewhere for my questions.
I will however state my goals.
-I do not wish to argue. I find it rude of people who tell others 'You're wrong' just because they have differing opinions. I have my opinion, you have yours.
-However, I will correct you if I think you are mistaken about a certain subject such as evolution or atheism. I do not mean to be rude, simply to dispel misconceptions.
-This does not mean I will be rude in doing so. People are people are people. Be they religious or not, there will be smart and less smart individuals on both sides of the fence. I realize this and will not be prejudiced, by not posting comments of the kind 'Duh, the stopid theists got evolution wrong again hurr durr'. I respect each and every person I meet, unless that person proves to me he or she is not worthy of respect.
-I want to promote open debate as much as possible. Feel free to ask me anything you would like, and do not feel obliged in the slightest to answer all my questions. I understand to some religious beliefs are an intensely private matter, and I respect that.
-Feel free to tell me where I am wrong and why. I do not want to do mistakes, I want to learn from them to avoid doing them again. I do not want to spread misinformation, but to learn from real data.
In the end, the reason why I am here is to ask a few questions, such as:
-Why do you believe?
-What do your beliefs do for you?
-How did you come to believe?
-How/why did you accept Christianity (or denomination)?
I have never believed myself, and I am here as a humble student wishing to learn from the experiences of others, experiences I may never experience myself.
Thank you, that is all.
Live long and prosper!
