curiousmind
New Member
Hi, my name's James irl, I'm 19 and I'm reading Chemistry at Oxford University. I live in Dorset (South-West England), which is ace.
I have posted around before, but I realised I'd never introduced myself.
Had a brief phase of sincerely believing in God yrs 9 to 11 of secondary school, based around the assumption that everyone knew what they were talking about (I had unthinkingly silently believed for years). Thus I decided to dedicate my life to praising God, which seems only fair, as he did save my eternal soul...
This praise of God did of course involve talking to atheists (irl and on Youtube) (politely and respectfully, I might add), and, clichéd as it may be, reading the 'God Delusion'. I felt I needed to show them exactly why they were wrong. But intellectual integrity was (and is) important to me, and I was determined not to lie to myself or others.
I found no logically acceptable answers to many of the questions raised, and so I began to ask people who clearly knew more than me.
I was shocked when I realised that everyone on my side seemed happy to recite circular arguments, and were shocked and slightly offended when I told them that their arguments didn't add up. It was as if they weren't interested in the truth.
That was when it dawned on me that they weren't. I felt foolish, both betrayed and a traitor.
A few weeks later I debated against the existence of God. I won hands down, to the chaplain's horror. He looked on me with a mixture of fear and pity.
Now I am dedicated to fighting on the side of reason, without bias, and above all, am interested in reaching some sort of truth.
That's me.
I have posted around before, but I realised I'd never introduced myself.
Had a brief phase of sincerely believing in God yrs 9 to 11 of secondary school, based around the assumption that everyone knew what they were talking about (I had unthinkingly silently believed for years). Thus I decided to dedicate my life to praising God, which seems only fair, as he did save my eternal soul...
This praise of God did of course involve talking to atheists (irl and on Youtube) (politely and respectfully, I might add), and, clichéd as it may be, reading the 'God Delusion'. I felt I needed to show them exactly why they were wrong. But intellectual integrity was (and is) important to me, and I was determined not to lie to myself or others.
I found no logically acceptable answers to many of the questions raised, and so I began to ask people who clearly knew more than me.
I was shocked when I realised that everyone on my side seemed happy to recite circular arguments, and were shocked and slightly offended when I told them that their arguments didn't add up. It was as if they weren't interested in the truth.
That was when it dawned on me that they weren't. I felt foolish, both betrayed and a traitor.
A few weeks later I debated against the existence of God. I won hands down, to the chaplain's horror. He looked on me with a mixture of fear and pity.
Now I am dedicated to fighting on the side of reason, without bias, and above all, am interested in reaching some sort of truth.
That's me.
