I hate intros

[Kimberly]

Hi, I'm Kimberly. Some of you may know me and some of you may not. I've not been active on wwgha for many years. Anyways I'm looking for a fresh start but want the luxury of seeing a few familiar faces! So here I am ...

For those of you who don't know me I once came to wwgha to stop my boyfriend from becoming an atheist. I debated my pretty little heart out but one day conceded to the darkside. My religious background is Southern Baptist. When that failed I tried the non denominational variety. At some point I found God in AA. And eventually created my own God. It took a year or so to pass through agnosticism before reaching atheism. Today I really prefer no labels but will accept ignostic with a dash of nihilism. (While I can't adhere to full nihilism it best describes my philosophical dilemmas.)

I'm not really in to debating theist, it's never really been my cup of tea. I'm here because I enjoy having like minded conversations and lack it in my day to day life. I currently spend the majority of my free time trying to translate the ramblings of my six month old daughter and doing my best to help my seven year old daughter stay on the right path.

Well that should sum it all up. If I didn't mention something feel free to ask.

[HAL]

Welcome back! It's been a long time (we're old friends shall I say   )

[Kimberly]

Only one of the most missed ! 

[Tinyal]

Welcome back Kimberly!!  I know just what you mean about AA god....sometime I'll put up my story about working-from-within in AA over a 20+ year period.  That's another post, however.

For now, am glad you're back!!

[Seppuku]

Welcome back. You'll be pleasantly surprised that everybody on WWGHA has converted to Scientology, so hail Xenu!


I kid. Well, I'm sure you'll find yourself nice and comfortable without roundhouse kicking Christians in the face.

[Chronos]

Great to see you here!

[rev45]

A fellow ex-non-denominational.  I also am not much into debating anymore.  Did it for a while, but found myself getting splinters in my forehead from pounding it into my table due to the craziness I was debating.

[Historicity]

Welcome back. You'll be pleasantly surprised that everybody on WWGHA has converted to Scientology, so hail Xenu!

You got that backwards.  Xenu is the devil or less broadly speaking the Gnostic's demiurge who wants to keep our souls trapped here.

There is no Prophet but L. Ron Hubbard and David Miscavige is his vicar upon Earth!!!

[Kimberly]

Welcome back Kimberly!!  I know just what you mean about AA god....sometime I'll put up my story about working-from-within in AA over a 20+ year period.  That's another post, however.

For now, am glad you're back!!

I would very much enjoy listening to your story. Alcoholism is a mini passion of mine. Well maybe not mini but one of my primary passions. Please PM when you post it so I don't miss it.

[kaziglu bey]

Welcome back! I am reasonably new here, so I don't think we would know one another, but it's nice to see a returning alumnus!

[Kimberly]

A fellow ex-non-denominational.  I also am not much into debating anymore.  Did it for a while, but found myself getting splinters in my forehead from pounding it into my table due to the craziness I was debating.

I prefer civil convos with theist, I befriended a few through the forums. I find that people are more likely to listen to one another when there's an agreed upon set out boundaries. I really like the new section here for theist. Hopefully once I'm around longer I will get to step in to one of those convos.

[Seppuku]

I really like the new section here for theist. Hopefully once I'm around longer I will get to step in to one of those convos.

It's an interesting way of doing things, a definite contrast from the rest of the forum, I hope it works out to the desired effect. Obviously the way we do discussion & debate here is pretty vigorous and I can see how it can be discouraging, but having been on the receiving end of the same level of scrutiny we give theists I actually find it's a brilliant way to find your own weaknesses, but obviously, it may not be the way everybody likes it - or least, they may not like it all the time and having post after post is no doubt daunting.

Hopefully we do catch you in there one day, I think it'll be interesting to see your perspective as somebody who originally joined as a theist - plus I'm sure there will be things you can relate better than somebody like me who stopped believing not that much long after I stopped believing in Santa.

You got that backwards.  Xenu is the devil or less broadly speaking the Gnostic's demiurge who wants to keep our souls trapped here.

There is no Prophet but L. Ron Hubbard and David Miscavige is his vicar upon Earth!!!

You are quite right, silly me. It'd be like a Christian saying 'hail Satan', ah well I'll become a Xenuologist.

[ParkingPlaces]

Welcome back Kimberly. I hope you find some good reasons to stick around.

[Kimberly]

Lol Seppuku. I've been beaten and bruised in a few atheist on atheist debates. I actually prefer those. Especially if the person debating me is more educated on the subject. I'm stubborn and passionate about my beliefs so occasionally I ruffle feathers. But my brain is constantly seeking new ideas and information and sometimes it takes friendly fire for me to see the error in my ways.

I took a hiatus from forums when ATT retired. It coincided with the birth of my daughter so I needed a break. But I do miss having a place to discuss and challenge my world views. I choose to keep my lack of religion unknown to most people IRL so I feel pretty stagnant philosophically and culturally. 

I hope to meet those needs here. 

Ps my Kindle is really hard to use on here so if I say a random weird word it was prob my stupid auto correct.

[jeremy0]

Hi, Kimberly.  I'm practicing on debates, I find my self rude, seldomly intellectual, and apparently dodgeable when referring to references and facts..

Actually, I came to this site as a Catholic desperately looking for a good excuse to hold onto my beliefs in JHC, only to see by the author of the site that he was right-on.  I was always looking around at other Christians, Mormons, Muslims, etc. saying - damn, that's some crazy shit they believe in.  But then I would think my own world of beliefs was correct; that I had the correct 'interpretation' of the bible, and was happy with that...

Until I read what the author of this site had to say.  At that point, I looked at Catholicism, and said, damn, I too am in a cult.  I didn't entirely agree with Catholics anyway (no belief in OT, already knew the stories in the gospels were written well after the life of christ, etc.)  and so I had my own belief system revolving around what was good about jesus - and only what was good - I had to ignore the rest for it to make any sense at all.

Then I put together the entire pieces again, and it was in contradiction.  That told me right away jesus was just a man, if he even really existed at all.  So I once again dug for information.  What I found was mounds of evidence and sanity about the argument against the possibility of god, supernatural, spirits, etc.; and found mounds of circular reasoning, self-rationalization, and mere coincidences as 'proof' for the existence of said god..

To get to why I am here blasting theists now, is because I am now in agreement with a book-club professor that I used to talk to who had taught theology in universities, and was of the opinion that religion does much more harm than it has done good.  Looking through history I can see that, and looking at the time wasted on the imaginary problems religious people are putting out there vs. real problems they are completely ignoring, plus current foreign issues with religion, I am prepping a fight against all religions. 

At the same time, I'm programming my own stuff, trying to make it through what I expect to be the most massive recession we have ever experienced, combating the global warming dilemma, and trying to find answers to real-life problems.  It's a lot of work, but if we all sit around praying that things either don't happen or do happen, we're all screwed.  I'll leave the explanation at that..

Thanks for getting back on here - I've enjoyed your posts so far..

[Ambassador Pony]

I like Sierra Leon.

[Kimberly]

Hi, Kimberly.  I'm practicing on debates, I find my self rude, seldomly intellectual, and apparently dodgeable when referring to references and facts..

I can't tell if you're being honest or sarcastic. Judging from the rest of the mood in your post you seem genuinely open and honest so I'm going to assume you really feel that way about yourself. I wonder though if this is really your perception of yourself of the projection of how others view you. Either way thanks for sharing! I've been told I'm often rude, lack a certain amount of knowledge needed to be on these forums, and that I ignore information that should be widely believed to be proof. My honesty is also found to be annoying and childish, or so "they" say. But such is life, I can't be perfect, make everyone happy, or be someone I'm not capable of being.

Actually, I came to this site as a Catholic desperately looking for a good excuse to hold onto my beliefs in JHC, only to see by the author of the site that he was right-on.  I was always looking around at other Christians, Mormons, Muslims, etc. saying - damn, that's some crazy shit they believe in.  But then I would think my own world of beliefs was correct; that I had the correct 'interpretation' of the bible, and was happy with that...

I too always looked at other religions and thought they were insane. But I had cleverly formulated a response that made them all "right". Oh yes, I determined without a doubt that god spoke to all religions in a way they could understand. Making them all the "right" religion. I was perfectly fine with this idea until my boyfriend asked me a question. "Why would one god tell A religion it was okay to kill the members of B religion." SOB! So, I had no base to argue from after realizing the error in my idea of god. I kinda sided with deism for awhile after that but it honestly never made much sense either. It was just an easier stepping stone to go to before agnosticism.

To get to why I am here blasting theists now, is because I am now in agreement with a book-club professor that I used to talk to who had taught theology in universities, and was of the opinion that religion does much more harm than it has done good.  Looking through history I can see that, and looking at the time wasted on the imaginary problems religious people are putting out there vs. real problems they are completely ignoring, plus current foreign issues with religion, I am prepping a fight against all religions. 

I can't say with any certainty that religion has done more harm than good. There are a lot of numbers to crunch and it could be argued both ways. I can say religion has done more bad than should be tolerated. I can also say that a lot of good is still being done by religious people. I'd rather fight the battle against people who are directly causing harm to others than stop the ones doing good.

Example; I'm a huge Tim Tebow fan, and he's about as fundy as they come. Aside from ascetic and football reasons for loving the guy, his charity does a lot of work helping people. If I crusaded against his cause it would mean all the good he is capable of doing would be stopped. All the people that benefit from his kindness would have to look elsewhere for help. I don't personally have the means to help they way he is capable of helping so I ignore the fact that he's biblically insane.

It's kinda why I don't like to debate theist on these sites. (I do make a few exceptions.) If their direct contact with other people is not causing any harm to others than why do I care if they wanna believe in the imaginary? I really don't care. If they however are generally intrigued by atheism and want to learn more, or are on the fence and need help, guidance, and direction, I will be there to discuss it with them.

But bashing my head in to a wall and trying to change a theist or make him see my way isn't going to do anything. It's like reverse preaching, they aren't receptive to it and all it does it piss off both sides. It's wasted air that could be used actually doing something good. But that's my soapbox.... I by no means imply that others should stop the uphill battle of attempting to debate theists.

At the same time, I'm programming my own stuff, trying to make it through what I expect to be the most massive recession we have ever experienced, combating the global warming dilemma, and trying to find answers to real-life problems. It's a lot of work, but if we all sit around praying that things either don't happen or do happen, we're all screwed.  I'll leave the explanation at that..

You just hit the nail on the head! Life after deconversion is tricky. We are wired to respond to life's challenges in ways that are counter productive. We have to redefine our entire world review. It takes a long time, a lot of research, and discussion with others. Sounds like you are on the right path.

Thanks for getting back on here - I've enjoyed your posts so far..

Thanks!

[LadyLucy]

Hi there, Kimberly! Definitely know you. Enjoy your fresh start! I'll be posting every once in a while (hopefully not a long while!).

[Kimberly]

 
HEY! I wasn't sure you were still on here. Glad to see another familiar face.

[dono061]

   This my first post:  Thank You for a fine example.UADWNX

[Emergence]

Hi Kimberly! I know i am quite late for the party, but due to my lack of active participation i only just found out about your (relatively) recent  - ... drum roll ... - re-emergence here on WWGHA and do not want to miss the opportunity to wave frantically and say "Hello!" to you.


I wouldn't dream of admitting it publicly, but i do miss the old ATT "crowd" dearly (uh-oh, did i type that out loud???  ).


--

Oh - and in case it isn't obvious from my "golden oldie" avatar: Peter B. here. 

[Kimberly]

Hello Emergence ,

At first I didn't recognize you! 

I too miss several people from the "Good Old Days". I'm glad you popped in long enough to say hello and I hope life is going well your way. We will have to catch up in the near future!

Take care.