Welcome!
Good to see a new face here. You seem like a friendly enough bloke, so hopefully you enjoy your stay here. Folks don't always pull their punches and I generally would recommend have thick skin and aren't offended by people attempting to rip apart your personal beliefs, it's how folks tend to operate, but rarely is it meant as anything personal, some may choose to use sarcasm, but people generally find insults to be unacceptable on both sides of the coin. But it is a good community and we've managed to get magicmiles addicted
. The number of atheists does outweigh the theists, so if something's getting too much (like the number of questions/rebuttals thrown your way) you're welcome to request a bit of a slow down to catch up. People are usually happy to oblige. But everybody's different in how they approach the discussion, so are more firm and direct, whilst others are more laid back. There's also 'The Shelter', which is a good place for light discussion and there's less pressure. Don't forget to visit 'Chatter', it's a bit more social and is no doubt a good place to cool down as some discussions can get rather heated. Some theists don't seem to come join us in chatter, but it's a good place to discuss content unrelated to religion, perhaps reflect some of your other tastes...perhaps Hockey and Beer (I think there was a beer thread a lil while ago), I'm not a beer drinker, but my brother plays hockey (and supports Canadian teams).
Generally preaching and people who don't listen aren't particularly favoured, we like people who are able to back what they say and aren't here with the goal to change us, but here to bring substance to their arguments, have something to bring to them and walk out feeling having learned something and perhaps having taught something. I would say it's highly unlikely for either side to convert the other, but it has happened. For some this is a great support site, for others it's a hotbed for debate.
With making references, I've made references to specific books myself before now, so I don't see a problem with it personally. Normally I'll provide a link to the book on Amazon or anywhere else.
