Hi, just joined, although I’ve been following Atheist Republic for a while on Twitter.
I’m Tom, I’m from Newcastle, in the North East of England.
I can’t say that I’ve ever been religious and I’ve only ever been to church on rare occasions- funerals, christenings etc.
Neither of my parents are in any way remotely religious - my dad’s side are a mixture of lapsed Catholics and Methodists for several generations (apparently my Grandad told the Catholic Priest to ‘f**k off’ on his deathbed). My Grandparents on my Mam’s side were very religious - she’s one of 7. Her and 5 of her siblings turned out to be atheists/non religious, and even my aunt who is a church goer is quietly so, and doesn’t really talk about religion.
Growing up, religion was never really talked about in our house.
The U.K. is weird. You’ve probably realised that with stuff that’s going on here right now, but in religious terms where we have an official state religion in which the monarch is also the head of the Anglican Church (it’d be interesting if we had a monarch who came out and stated they were an atheist). We have Bishops who sit in the House of Lords - the Upper Chamber of our Parliament. And yet, in all of my lifetime, being non religious, not attending worship on a regular basis is the normality, whilst being religious and worshiping regularly is seen increasingly as being a bit weird.
However, as religions go, the Anglicans are fairly benign, and aren’t creationists or Bible literalists etc.
I can’t remember when I actually decided there wasn’t a God. It was a gradual thing. I remember in Primary School when you’d hear various Bible stories, they just didn’t, even at that young age, seem particularly believable, and I can remember asking my Mam if God was real, and she was trying to tread this line where she didn’t want to force her views on me, but she certainly didn’t want to say yes either. Certainly by my teens I definitely didn’t believe in God at all.
For a lot of years, I have it no further thought, but in recent years, I’ve become more of a hardened atheist and interested in atheism - partly through science, which I’ve always had a casual interest in. I like that I’ve had a non religious upbringing in an increasingly non religious country, but if there is a disadvantage, it’s that, because that’s the norm people don’t really think or talk about atheism much.
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Hi Tom and welcome,
Jump right in! This is a fun house with serious debates where possible.."some people" (I'm looking at you Tin Man) have a weird sense of "humor" , but we humor him (see what I did there?) until he gets over it...
We may seem tough and abrasive but then we have an endless procession of theists marching in giving us the same tired arguments for their particular interpretation of their deity of choice.
Look forward to seeing you dismantle them in your own way!
Howdy, Tom! Welcome to our tiny patch of godless paradise! Come on in and make yourself at home. Hope you brought some hip-waders with you, because some of the theists we have come through can sometimes really flood the place with poo. Although, when that happens, I usually just hop onto Old Man's shoulders and let him do all the work peddling us out of it. We recently outfitted his trike tires with some poo-chains, so that has made it a bit easier for him, at least. Even so, I still have to keep my riding crop handy to smack him on the ass when he starts slowing down. Anyway, much to see and do here. If it is atheism talk you want, head on over to the Debate Room, pick a thread, and start having some fun. See you out on the field.
Welcome to the site Tom. This is a great place to expand your understanding of Atheism by asking the hard questions and to try out your wings with things you know. Look forward to seeing you in the debate room soon. Don't touch the Tin Guy in the funny hat our you will have oil stains all over yourself and if you see an old man pushing himself on a trike stay clear less you get run over. His eye site is not what it used to be. Welcome again, see you soon.
@ Cog
I resemble that remark...my eye site has not moved since my last plastic surgery when I had all references to Michael Jackson expunged from my right nostril.
My eye sight on the other hand is improving (WTF?) since I retired but is still, in colloquial parlance ...fucked.
And do not use the bathroom with a banana skin on the handle Tom...baad things happen.
@ Old man shouts ... "WAIT A MINUTE!!!!: RIGHT NOSTRIL? REFERENCE TO MICHAEL JACKSON..... You bastard, you are the one who stole my pig nose. You blind, noiseless, yellow shirted, trike riding bastard...... Give me back my nose!
@Old Man
Noooooo...!!! Don't you DARE give that pig nose back to Cog! I only recently finished with therapy due to that last incident.
@ TM
Chill dude, I gave the pig nose back to the pig. He's having it re attached at the Mayo Clinic. Fortunately he has top insurance, something to do with a big payout from the dude that promised him it would be an innocent night of fun and pleasure. Next thing he remembers was when he woke up in Tahiti with a gerbil as a bedmate and his own series on pornhub, but, missing the end of his nose.
You got lucky TM...
Old man shouts ...
DAMN! Do you have any idea how hard those are to get? I had to bury a frog on a full moon night, cut the head off a chicken, and spend 30 days waiting for a pig to stand in the middle of the crossroads. It took me years to get that damn nose. Damn pig's lucky to get it back.. I will find another.
@ Cog,
Why not try for something different? I dunno, but swine seem so, well, boaring.....
@Old Man Shouts.... "Something different..... Hmmmm? I wonder how easily that tin nose would slip off of tin man? I have a can opener."
@Old man shouts ... GOT IT!!!
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Old man shouts ....;. HOW DO I LOOK?
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@Old Man Shouts....
This damn thing makes everything smell like oil, graphite, and aluminum arm pit hairs. I'm going to put it back before ole Tin wakes up and notices it is missing. This just will not do as a replacement.
@ Cog
Ok Ok, you have just offended Captain Cat again by making me laugh uncontrollably. I shall have bite marks later as punishment. Twice in two days is getting to be a habit......
Oh and those odours in Tin Man's appendages...you don;'t know the half of it, and, you don't want to know even a quarter of it. Suffice to say, if Arakish caught a dose of Squirrels from an unshaved bush...you should go and get some serious antibiotics...just sayin'.
@Old Man and Cog
...*slowly waking up*... *bleary eyed*... *holding sides of head*.... *talking in high-pitched nasal voice*... Oh, dang... Why do I have such a headache?.... *confused look on face*... And something doesn't feel right... *sniff-sniff..... sniff*... Hey, why am I able to smell my eyebrows?.... *feeling face with hands*.... What the-...???.... *reading previous posts*.... Awwww, son... of... a...! COG!!! You asshole!!! You put my nose back on upside down, you imbecile!!!... *looking out the window*... Shit! It's raining! I'll drown if I go out there!... *storming out of room into hallway*.... COG!!!...
@Tin Man:
OOPS! It was dark, Wanna borrow my can opener?
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@Cog Maybe that's how Voldemort lost his nose.
Welcome to our corner of the WWW Sane Asylum. The temperature is a steamy 15,594°C. Just ask any theist.
The kitchen is the first door on the right. Just make sure to mark what is yours before putting it in the fridge and/or cabinets. There are certain somebody's who will take anything that is unmarked.
Do not drink any of those drink-looking bottles on bottom door shelf. Those are specifically formulated for me and my Huorns.
The oil can belongs to Tin-Man. You don't want to mess with that.
The bathroom is that last door on the left. If there is a banana peel on the knob, don't go inside. Long story, don't ask.
If you happen to find a pig-nose mask, please hide it as quickly as possible. Even if you have to stuff it in your pocket.
The back deck is in a small yard with a thick forest beyond it. If you see a tree moving in the forest, don't worry, that is just me tending my forest-garden.
So come right on in and set a spell.
rmfr
@arakish
Lemme guess... something involving Cognostic?
Welcome to our forum, brother! Feel free to join our family. Goatspeed!
Welcome Tom.
Like you I'm a Brit, originally from Yorkshire, but I've spent most of my life in another Anglican stronghold, New Zealand.
official state religion in which the monarch is also the head of the Anglican Church
A large number of Anglican priests are atheists or at least agnostic. Even the Archprick of Canterbury has admitted to having doubts (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/sep/18/archbishop-canterbury-do...).
Do you recall the scene in "Yes Prime Minister" when Humphrey expressed outrage that a bishop was trying to change the Church of England into a religious movement?
That was a fantastic episode. The bit where Humphrey was talking about the difference between traditionalists and modernists and Humphrey says traditionalists are the ones who believe in god but with the modernists god was considered an 'optional extra'. :)
Welcome Tom,
Since you have been following the site you know that you shouldn't be shy about expressing your opinions.
Welcome Tom. Always nice to see new atheists come on board, especially another Brit. I'm from s'arf London.
@MarylinC: Huh? London? Who would have known? You don't type with an accent. Can you spell the word "COLOR" correctly? :-)
Damn... I don't know how the erase button works.... I may get my face altered again.
@Cog Just imagine what it would look like if we all typed with our accents...
I already kind of do type with accent. Where I grew up, us SENClanders were fond of our double negatives such as "You ain't getting none." For us, it was a form of emphasis instead of that Yankee rule of negation. The way I type is the way I speak. Now if this were a rigorously formal site, I'd definitely be editing the hell out of what I type.
Furthermore, when Queen Elizabeth (the one I think is still alive) toured America way back in the 50s or early 60s, she named the Southern Dialect of American English the Official Queen's American English. There was even a book published by the same title. And it was not because of accent. It was because of the similarity in term usage.
When I was growing up, we always referred to the front glass of a car as a windscreen instead of windshield. I still do to this sometimes call it a windscreen. This is the only one I can remember; well, that is wrong. I am always sometimes typing me mom, me dad, mine own, etc. When I pronounce the word schedule, I pronounce it shejule instead of skejule. There may be others I cannot think of right now.
And there you go Tin-Man. You and I are in high esteem in American English. The rest of yuh: ;-P PHfffft.
rmfr
Hey! If'n youalls wanna heer-uh for-troo Suhthurn aksent frum me, well now, jeest plop yer tailfethers daown rite-chear in this heer chaeer an havva lissen. An yuhs gotta pae reeeee-uhl close uhtenchuhn tuh aul them suhttle nue-onsses, else'n I ain't nevuh gonna tawk-ta yewuhns no moe.
Yep. That about sounds like me when I am speaking. The many years of having to write concise and uber correct papers kind of prevents me typing like that. But is how I speak.
Thanks Tin-Man
Now y'awl jus kum and set a spell.
rmfr
And this is mai aksunt that is a combinatiun auf en Indīyan aksunt and an amerricun aksunt. (I don't know exactly how to do the pronunciation in typing, but I think this is how I can best describe what it sounds like.)
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