Enjoying the Cafe

[Snausages]

Hello there, I'm Tommy, from Southern California. I've been reading this forum for a while now, and decided to join so I could interact and post if I should feel the need.

I'm atheist, I read a lot, and I'm gay. I was raised Christian, and grew out of it as a result of many things, including experiments as a child with speaking in tongues, getting "saved" repeatedly, and reading a whole lot on the history and logic of my religion.

It took a while for me to get over the majority of my anger from having been lied to, repeatedly, by people I had trusted. As I've learned even more, I've come to a better place within myself about it, and while I won't hesitate to stand up for what I believe in, I realize that being mean about the religion thing does not serve me well in most instances, and that communication over time is better than a flood of information.

I hope to learn a lot here, maybe share some things, and polish and add some depth to my ability to communicate in an effective manner. I'd also REALLY appreciate making some friends here in the Los Angeles, CA area who are active and interested in the sciences and in atheist activism and such.

*sips coffee* Ah, secularly delicious!

Tommy, aka Snausages

[Notta]

Welcome, Snausages! I'm glad you 'officially' joined after lurking!

I had a former high school friend of mine tell me almost the exact same thing as you:
It took a while for me to get over the majority of my anger from having been lied to, repeatedly, by people I had trusted. Except that after her decade of anger, she went back to her church and is now trying to tell me that I reached out to her because god was pointing me in her direction, and she wants to 'save' me.

*sigh* She was my closest friend throughout my childhood, so I'm going to let her do what she wishes as long as it makes her happy.

[Ray Moscow]

Welcome!

[munnki]

snausages... I f£$king love your username... I spat out some of the Thai curry I'm now eating (in Thailand) when I read it. Nice skillz.

I hope you're happy here...we're a rambunctious and fairly various group of secularists, atheists, closet believers and serial killers.

The anger thing gets easier - you start putting it in its place which is against the religions and ideas that made people so befuddled in the first place.... or perhaps not...

Anyway.. enjoy your journey... and watch out for that 'munnki' chap... he's a bit of a tosser....

Heh

[Snausages]

Yeah, I've worked pretty hard to disassociate my anger at ideas from my anger at people. This is a nuance that fascinates me, and I have only made halting progress on it, usually after making a category error, and being corrected. There are times when it blurs together, but for the most part, it's been very useful to keep in mind the precise nature of what it is you're opposing, and focusing only on that.

Tossers are fun, especially when one has a salad to prepare. I shall beware.

Notta- I must occasionally weather my mom telling me that I need to listen to God and that I have/had a calling, and such. I generally don't respond constructively to this until hours or days after the fact, it's still a bit of a raw nerve after all these years. Luckily I read far too many books to take such things seriously, and as I mentioned before, and shall expand upon in the future, I made many experiments as a child/teenager to check the veracity of the spiritual claims I was told to believe.

Thanks all for the kind welcome :)

[Ozymandias]

Welcome to the forums.

I think I have an anger problem too. I don't tend to get angry about religion (per se) since I didn't have a religious upbringing. But I do get angry when people tell others how to behave and what to believe. This holds for atheists as well as religious folk; liberals as well as conservatives, and makes me a little bit contrary. People, even on this forum, make statements about their opinions in a way which indicates this is what has to be your opinion too. That annoys me, makes me angry and I sometimes respond by advocating the extreme opposite view (even if I don't really believe it) - I always think the other view has to be at least considered, if only to stop us becoming complacent in our world-view. In other words, I sometimes come over as a bit of a grumpy troll.

On a different topic, what is it with all the gay members this forum has? It seems to have a way disproportionate number compared to "normal" society.

[DMB]

On a different topic, what is it with all the gay members this forum has? It seems to have a way disproportionate number compared to "normal" society.

Uhh? :confused:

Wonder where you're getting your statistics either about our membership or about what you so charmingly call "normal society".

[DMB]

Welcome Snausages! :)

[Ozymandias]

On a different topic, what is it with all the gay members this forum has? It seems to have a way disproportionate number compared to "normal" society.

Uhh? :confused:

Wonder where you're getting your statistics either about our membership or about what you so charmingly call "normal society".

It is usually about 6% but seems much higher here. Not that I am complaining or anything. It is probably correlated to the liberal attitudes of a secular forum.

[Notta]

Maybe it can be attributed to fewer gay men remaining closeted and unwilling to self-identify as gay.

I know that, growing up, I knew no one who said he or she was gay; it was a career-ending move, and resulted in social ostracism. Now that society is more tolerant, perhaps fewer people are afraid to acknowledge what used to be hidden, not that there are actually more homosexuals in the population at large.

Plus, posting on a discussion board allows a degree of anonymity that one doesn't enjoy in real life, and perhaps allows some to acknowledge a sexuality they keep hidden from their friends, relatives, and co-workers. The way I hide my atheism from practically everyone I know, because where I live almost everyone is a Christian, and a conservative one at that.

[munnki]

I'm a bit concerned... I only joined this forum for the gay sex... and based on what I'm hearing in the last few posts there are some straight people in here.

Could we get the straights identified and out as quickly as possible please - this is supposed to be a safe place?

[Politesse]

Can the breeders stay as long as they are willing to play along?

[Jobar]

Welcome, Tommy. :)

On anger- there's plenty of justification for that. Greta Christina says it loud and clear. (http://gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2007/10/atheists-and-an.html)

[Notta]

I'm a bit concerned... I only joined this forum for the gay sex... and based on what I'm hearing in the last few posts there are some straight people in here.

Could we get the straights identified and out as quickly as possible please - this is supposed to be a safe place?I suppose we can create some sort of badge to put on a user's avatar, and that would let you know whether someone is gay or straight.

Maybe a photo of an ass with a red circle around it and a slash through it?

No, that wouldn't work, because I'll bet some people enjoy anal but they're still straight.

Hmmm....let me think a bit.

Maybe this?

http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=7605821

[munnki]

I like the kind of sex when, at the end, you have to carry the chopped up corpse of the other person onto a boat, so you can dump it far out at sea.

What kind of avatar should I use?

[Snausages]

lmao sounds like you need a Snausages avatar.

@Guy, I just identified as gay because it's a contributing factor to my secular tendencies, although not nearly as important as my addiction to reading books. I haven't tried to pass myself off as straight or straight-adjacent since I lost my faith about 15 years ago. I'm not sure how many other queer buddies are here but I'm sure there are a few, and it's not too surprising from my perspective. What's a bit unusual is the ones who aren't secular, but still very religious.

[Notta]

Here ya go:

http://www.delmonte.com/uploadedImages/Delmontecom/Brands/brands2_snausages.gif

Resize it just a tad to make it fit the avatar guidelines.

[Ozymandias]

Are snausages a real life thing then? (Excuse my naïveté if that is a really stupid question.)

Never mind - I googled it. Dog biscuits apparently. You learn something every day.

[Notta]

They're a dog treat.

[munnki]

Does that snausages avatar really suggest 'I am a deviant serial-killer, who likes to hilti gun people onto teak doorways, bugger them with a selection of power tools - while Monteverdi's Vespers plays - then slice them into convenient chunks, bag them and drag them off to the docks for dumping. I also enjoy watersports, badminton and the novels of Evelyn Waugh.'

It seems a little more cute and friendly than that?

[columbus]

On a different topic, what is it with all the gay members this forum has? It seems to have a way disproportionate number compared to "normal" society. Reading Snausages post, this also occured to me.

I haven't done any statistical analysis either, but it does seem pretty apparent. :dunno:

Tom

[neilstone40]

munnki, when you say watersports...?:evil:

[Barefoot Bree]

Well, hey, guys, we have more than the usual public percentage of nonbelievers, too....

Something about being a safe place to be yourself, where others like you also hang out...

[Wizofoz]

Gotta get me a cool Avatar....

Would it be a wank to have an Avatar that was actually an Avatar from Avatar????

Welcome Snausages.

Don't get angry, get rational.....It pisses the Theists off no end!!!

[Barefoot Bree]

Wiz, shouldn't you have an avatar that's actually the Wiz of Oz?

Or does that suggestion mean I'm hopelessly square and out of date and not kewl enuf for the intertubes?

[Wizofoz]

Ya know, I've had that nick for about 10 years, inventing it on the spur of the moment to post on an Aviation site.

The fact that it alludes to the "Man behind the curtain" had pretty much been forgotten.

Great suggestion, I'll see what I can do....

[Barefoot Bree]

You could go with the wiz himself:
http://members.shaw.ca/bbogdan/OZ/Wiz_OZ_Mail.JPG

or the floating head guy:
http://www.pulledover.com/National-DWI-News-Links/uploaded_images/breath-alcohol-test-wizard-oz-786735.jpg

couldn't find a closeup, but you could mebbe crop that one

Oops, we kind of hijacked Snausage's thread. Bad mod!

[Wizofoz]

Snausage won't mind......

He knows better than to cross us....

[Snausages]

Thanks Notta <3

[Supernaut]

Welcome fellow n00b!

[columbus]

Wiz, shouldn't you have an avatar that's actually the Wiz of Oz?

Or does that suggestion mean I'm hopelessly square and out of date and not kewl enuf for the intertubes?Yes, it does mean you are hopelessly square and out of date. Oz is a now-defunct drama about life in prison. The "WizofOz" is now a piss scene, in prison, broadcast on national TV.

What a Brave New World!

Tom

[Barefoot Bree]

I'm afraid to even ask whether you're just taking the piss. I think you are, but it would be my luck that you are not. And I'm just that hopeless. *slinks back into cave*

[toker]

I bet he kids. Wouldn't bet a whole lot, though.

[munnki]

He's not kidding... That show was shown on Sky TV in England when Murdoch first established it and has a 'cult' following... The Wiz of Oz is a 'well known in certain circles' ... namely the kind of degenerate thugs, deviants and dingbats that columbus hangs around with...

JK... ;)

[Wizofoz]

The Wiz of Oz is a 'well known in certain circles' ... namely the kind of degenerate thugs, deviants and dingbats that columbus hangs around with...



SEE! PROOF OF PRE-COGNITION!

I chose a COMPLETELY appropriate name YEARS before that series even started!!!!

[Silly Sausage]

Well hi there Snausages, from a Sausage :wave:

Welcome to our motley crew, I hope you like it here :)

[Clivedurdle]

Welcome!

No mention of friends of Dorothy?

I don't know that I have ever called religion a lie, is it not more that people lie or are mistaken?

Even after seeing Derren Brown Miracles for Sale and Copeland Ministries I cannot label everyone. That xian who told the story of a teenager committing suicide after a faith healer spoke to her is an example of there are very good people out there. Their belief in god is mistaken, but who is perfect?

[Kracker]

:)Greetings and a hearty welcome.As a 'fallen way' agnostic I will politely suggest not to throw the 'baby Jesus' out with the bathwater of organized religion. I myself feel as though I'm a lesbian trapped in a mans body.I also am new to the board and though a militant follower of Jesus Christ of Nazareth I have committed far too many sins to pass judgement on another. You'll find as I there are a host of non believers (is that a belief system itself ?) as well as alternate believers who present intelligent and insightful arguments. Selah:notworthy:

[Monad]

http://lisanostalgia1.tripod.com/images/snausages.jpg