Has anyone ever jumped the fence, baby?

strobe

So I'm not sure how long there has been an R&S section of boards and by extension of that an A&A or a Christian or an Islam forum. But there seems to be a fair bit of cross over posting that goes on. I was just wondering has there ever been a regular poster, or even a casual poster on any of the R&S forums that have gone over to the dark/light side?

I presume someone must have been here from the beginning that would know. Or maybe you (whoever you are that is reading this) have "swapped sides".

Or maybe you were just an atheist lurker that started viewing the Christianity thread and converted? Or visa versa?

leinsterrugby

viewed this forum since i was like 15 and even though i think theres a lot of nerds/weirdos/losers who post here they like made me realise that whole idea of religion is like bull****

finbarrk

Most of ye sound like kids anyway.
Are ye gone bored with Bebo/Facebook stuff?

strobe

leinsterrugby wrote: »

viewed this forum since i was like 15 and even though i think theres a lot of nerds/weirdos/losers who post here they like made me realise that whole idea of religion is like bull****

How are you still posting on this website? Kinda flies in the face of the people that complain about it being too heavily moderated.

leinsterrugby

there seems to be a selection of absolute losers who seem to be following all my activity on this site. stop trying to live my life and find your own.

Pushtrak

leinsterrugby wrote: »

there seems to be a selection of absolute losers who seem to be following all my activity on this site. stop trying to live my life and find your own.

I have now seen two of your posts, and honestly, I don't even know why you are here with that kind of attitude. Maybe that's just your shtick, so I'll know not to take you seriously if I see you post elsewhere.

Anyway, I've been registered here a long time, but I mostly lurked, and the here I mention is the boards forums. Haven't done nearly as much lurking here as in After Hours.

Edit: Forgot to include the point I was going to raise. Seeing as I'm not in these sections much, I haven't seen anyone go to the other side. And I myself haven't gone to the other side. Only change I've had is going from a more agnostic position to atheist.

MagicMarker

leinsterrugby wrote: »

viewed this forum since i was like 15 and even though i think theres a lot of nerds/weirdos/losers who post here they like made me realise that whole idea of religion is like bull****

Totally. Like.

robindch

leinsterrugby wrote: »

theres a lot of nerds/weirdos/losers who post here

Which one are you?

OK, so it's two in the morning and I'm going to assume that you're just back from somewhere and your fingers started writing checks your head can't cash. Your next intemperate post, while plastered or not, will earn you a reddish-colored brownie point.

PDN

I've sometimes wondered about the OP who started the crazy Creationism megathread but, while still posting elsewhere on boards.ie, hasn't been seen in the Christianity forum for many moons.

Was he a troll or a wum who lit the blue touch paper and retired? Or can you guys chalk him up as one in the win column?

Edit: Or maybe he just didn't like the moderators.

Dades

I don't know of anyone who found/lost religion and came out about it. We've had plenty of people who realised they were atheist/agnostic having spent a short bit of time here.

finbarrk wrote: »

Most of ye sound like kids anyway.
Are ye gone bored with Bebo/Facebook stuff?

You sound like someone who's a bit insecure about their spirituality. Want to talk about it?

seamus

I would suspect that the leap from Atheist to Theist requires a lot more effort than the leap from theist to atheist. Largely because if you've accepted that there is no God, then you will have to come across some strong evidence to make you think that there is one. Moving away from theism on the other hand simply requires an objective analysis of evidence which already exists.

We've seen plenty of people come on here claiming that they have vaguely theistic notions - hangovers from a Catholic upbringing - and later moved into full-fledged atheism. I don't recall anyone who had doubts about atheism and moved entirely into religiousness though.

That said, we have had people from both sides of the fence claim that they switched to atheism/theism before they posted here.

Dades

The switch to theism, from what I gather from people's stories, usually requires a strong catalyst. A sudden death or deaths, or a fall into hard times. I suspect people rarely sit online drinking Earl Gray listening to Bach and suddenly decide the evidence for God is overwhelming.

Given this (large) assumption it's unlikely we'll ever see a conversion played out over Boards, given that the convertee is likely to have more pressing issues in their life to attend to.

Mmm Bach and Earl Grey

robindch

Mine's a Lapsang Souchong if anybody's heading over to the kettle.

liamw

leinsterrugby wrote: »

there seems to be a selection of absolute losers who seem to be following all my activity on this site. stop trying to live my life and find your own.

Shouldn't you be busy selecting your Ralph Lauren sweater from the money that daddy gave you from passing your leaving cert?

Beruthiel

I've gone from Agnostic to Atheist since the conception of this forum.
That's hardly a big leap though. That's just me clarifying things in my head.

liamw

Beruthiel wrote: »

I've gone from Agnostic to Atheist since the conception of this forum.
That's hardly a big leap though. That's just me clarifying things in my head.

I would have always classified myself as agnostic before I read The God Delusion. This forum made me realise the agnostic atheist position.

However, I'd look at it as a scale of agnosticism. I went from 1% chance of god existing, to 0.0000000000000001% chance of god existing (deity as described by most religions), to an infinitely small chance of god existing (i.e. ANYTHING you can possibly concieve has the same chance of existing as yahweh)

Beruthiel

liamw wrote: »

I would have always classified myself as agnostic before I read The God Delusion. This forum made me realise the agnostic atheist position

Yup.
Think he had a list of about 10 reasons and after I read them, I knew for sure.

MagicMarker

Beruthiel wrote: »

I've gone from Agnostic to Atheist since the conception of this forum.
That's hardly a big leap though. That's just me clarifying things in my head.

I never really gave religion a second thought until I saw a book recommendation thread on this forum a year or two ago. The God Delusion was mentioned and I thought ''Hmm, sounds interesting!'', and here I am now in all my atheistic glory.

Beruthiel

Richard would be proud.

robindch

MagicMarker wrote: »

here I am now in all my atheistic glory.

A virtual beer on the house then!

seamus

I think what this forum is best for is that rather than being mutely unable to defend yourself in real life, you see the same arguments played out here and so gain a small but powerful box of tricks to get people to STFU.

That is, I can remember the discussion being had when I was younger;
"No, I'm not Catholic"
"So what are you then?"
"Agnostic"
"WTF? Well what about X, and Y and what about the bible and divine visions and the beauty of nature".
"Um, I dunno <Just feck off and stop trying to convert me>"

To contrast, a few weeks back I had to keep telling a quite staunch Catholic that I didn't want to continue talking in case I offended him, but he invited me to keep going (he's privately having a crisis of faith). Now, I was quite drunk, but I felt that I talked quite lucidly and authoritatively, and his only input to the discussion was that Jesus had a good message and nature is awesome. I didn't disagree on either point.

Beruthiel

seamus wrote: »

you see the same arguments played out here and so gain a small but powerful box of tricks to get people to STFU.

Yup. That's it in a nutshell.

Ush1

liamw wrote: »

I would have always classified myself as agnostic before I read The God Delusion. This forum made me realise the agnostic atheist position.

However, I'd look at it as a scale of agnosticism. I went from 1% chance of god existing, to 0.0000000000000001% chance of god existing (deity as described by most religions), to an infinitely small chance of god existing (i.e. ANYTHING you can possibly concieve has the same chance of existing as yahweh)

Yep, God Delusion set me on the path and everything else I wasn't sure about I looked up.

PDN

seamus wrote: »

I was quite drunk, but I felt that I talked quite lucidly and authoritatively,

Drunks usually do feel that they're speaking lucidly and authoritatively. The key issue is whether anyone else feels the same.

seamus

I did have his attention, so that's something. He was drunk too though, so maybe he was talking about pickles, and I didn't notice.

mikhail

Dades wrote: »

... I suspect people rarely sit online drinking Earl Gray listening to Bach and suddenly decide the evidence for God is overwhelming...

Listening to Bach is as close as I come to theism.

Zillah

bluewolf wrote: »

Mmm Bach and Earl Grey

Jameson and biscuits for me.

ShooterSF

Zillah wrote: »

Jameson and biscuits for me.

Hot whiskey and rich teas for dipping?

Tim Robbins

I started more agnostic; then more atheist but I think I'll convert to freethinker to avoid associations to Atheist Ireland.

ColmDawson

bluewolf wrote: »

Mmm Bach and Earl Grey

I was trying to decide how I'd spend the rest of the evening. Now I know.

KidKeith89

I just finished my third year of college, and I think it was around the end of my first year there that I realized I didn't believe in that god chap anymore - Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy, age six or seven; Santa, age nine; God, age 17 or 18. :rolleyes:

After studying anthropology and sociology - especially anthropology where we learned about the world's different religions and culture, and also the psychology (Hey I spelled it correct! ) of religion and supernatural beliefs - I started thinking about the whole god thing and started to have doubts. Then after studying more, and thinking and reading about it, I realized I was actually an atheist. :eek:

It didn't take a lot to realize I was an agnostic/atheist (agnostic at the time, atheist now). Actually all it took was a bit of education and some COMMON SENSE. So it would be very hard to go back over 'to the dark side.' It would probably take God him/her/itself to appear before me, in physical form, and have an aul chat about why he's/she's/it's important to have faith. But then I'd think to myself, "Man, I have to stop doing LSD."


N.B. - Sorry. I skimmed through the first post and thought the thread was about converting back to theism; didn't know it was about veteran posters 'crossing over.' Apologies

sonicthebadger*

I think I jumped the shark a couple of times on here, does that count?

Zillah

Ok, I'm coming out:


I don't like Earl Grey. There, I said it. It is not a nice tea.

The Mad Hatter

Zillah wrote: »

Ok, I'm coming out:


I don't like Earl Grey. There, I said it. It is not a nice tea.

Kill the heretic!

amacachi

Zillah wrote: »

Ok, I'm coming out:


I don't like Earl Grey. There, I said it. It is not a nice tea.

Source?

robindch

bluewolf wrote: »

Bach

Gotta be the Fantasia and Fugue in C Minor BWV 537(*) or the Fugue in A Minor from BWV 543 -- those fugues could send shivers up the spine of a corpse.


Or here, or here, or here, or here, or here. And here. Etc.

Plowman

This post has been deleted.

ColmDawson

Perhaps ironically, my favourite is part of the Credo from the B minor mass. The figure from 0:20 to 0:28 is one of the most beautiful balanced melodies I've ever heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEqOyXYoO10

PDN

Zillah wrote: »

Ok, I'm coming out:


I don't like Earl Grey. There, I said it. It is not a nice tea.

If you put milk in it Earl Gray tastes manky. But it's rather nice if you drink it black.

Zillah

PDN wrote: »

If you put milk in it Earl Gray tastes manky. But it's rather nice if you drink it black.

You religious people and your erroneous assumptions! I have had it black. It is still not good tea.

MagicMarker

I prefer a nice glass of milk myself. :cool:

strobe

ColmDawson wrote: »

I was trying to decide how I'd spend the rest of the evening. Now I know.

Whiskey and Guns n Roses?

panda100

I used to write on the Christian forum about 4 years ago when I still a Catholic.I vaguely remebering infuriating some of the atheist posters on here with my blind ignorance when it came to religion, though that was kinda fun :pac:
I started having doubts, and began reading this forum more and more. The posters made a lot more sense,their outlook on the world and life seemed to be a lot more similar to mine than the prayer request forum.

I knew I was fully atheist when for the first time I could have a good laugh at the 'funny side of religion' thread without that sacrilegous fear.

midlandsmissus

I made the switch from atheist to theist, pre boards though. It's quite a hard decision to defend/explain, so I'm sure long term posters wouldn't announce it ie they had changed beliefs.

Calibos

Am I remembering correctly midlandmissus, was it some kind of vision that converted you?

If that was the case, then I think there is probably a simple difference between you and I and that is propensity to jump to conclusions.

One night about 2 years ago (I'm Atheist for 20) I walked into the kitchen and glanced in the direction of the glass patio door and into the dim yard beyond. I saw a bona fide vision of Jesus standing at the end of the yard. Longish curly hair, beard, robes the whole shebang. I stopped dead in my tracks and uttered WTF!?!? He disappeared.

Now because I was not a default atheist because of atheist parents who just accepted what their parents said like any child or a religious child are genetically programmed to do, but arrived at my atheism through research and deep thought, well I had come across lots of literature and documentaries about neurology and brain chemistry and the nature of conciousness as well.

I knew that the brain is a powerful computer that subconciously builds a picture of the outside world. It guesses a lot when building that picture from the imperfect information coming from the senses. Most of the time it guesses correctly. Sometimes it guesses wrong.

Instead of imediately sitting down with a stiff drink and a cigarette to settle my nerves uttering, OMFG! what did I just see!!??, I actually just stopped dead in my tracks and kept staring at the same spot where the vision had been, examining the scene, adjusting my focus around the area. BINGO!! Jesus appeared again. It was the reflection in the patio door of a towel on a chair inside the kitchen superimposed over a hanging basket of flowers in shadow at the end of the yard. I could make the vision of Jesus appear and disappear at will just like that optical illusion with the candlestick and the human faces.

The human brain is an amazing thing but it is not infallible nor unfoolable

ColmDawson

You are mistaken, friend. The Lord Jesus was appearing to you in one of His myriad forms.

The towel represents His gracious absorption of sin, while the healthy flourishing of the Christian soul is signified by the flowers. As you know, Jesus is also seated in a kitchen chair at the right hand of the Father. The patio door? Why, it is the clear portal to His forgiveness.

Zillah

Calibos wrote: »

Instead of imediately sitting down with a stiff drink and a cigarette to settle my nerves uttering, OMFG! what did I just see!!??, I actually just stopped dead in my tracks and kept staring at the same spot where the vision had been, examining the scene, adjusting my focus around the area.

I do the exact same thing. If I see a shadow appear to dart across my peripheral vision, instead of jumping back in horror or calling for help, I freeze and try to recreate the exact movements I had just made. And sure enough it was usually a reflection in my glasses or my own shadow or something purely innocuous like that. There was a creepy old man groaning in my kitchen one night. Took about forty seconds of wandering around to confirm that there was some sporadic mechanism in the fridge that made an odd gurgling sound.

Dave!

Hah something similar happened to me when I was on holidays in Spain a couple of years ago. Was staying in my aunt's house, in a spare room, and one night I looked into one of the corners and saw what looked like some scary old lady. It was terrifying! My heart was racing, I began sweating, I was fully awake because of the adrenaline, etc. I kept staring at this old lady, and then eventually had to get up and switch on the light to see what it was. Turns out it was a dress or cardigan of some sort, hanging from something, but whatever shape it took was pretty scary! Anyways end of story right, you go back to sleep? Nope, I switched off the light and lay there, and every time I looked over into the corner it looked like an old lady again, and my heart was still thumping! :eek: So in the end I had to get up and move the article into a different arrangement, and then I was able to go back to sleep

The human mind, ladies and gentlemen!

PDN

Dave! wrote: »

Hah something similar happened to me when I was on holidays in Spain a couple of years ago. Was staying in my aunt's house, in a spare room, and one night I looked into one of the corners and saw what looked like some scary old lady. It was terrifying! My heart was racing, I began sweating, I was fully awake because of the adrenaline, etc. I kept staring at this old lady, and then eventually had to get up and switch on the light to see what it was. Turns out it was a dress or cardigan of some sort, hanging from something, but whatever shape it took was pretty scary! Anyways end of story right, you go back to sleep? Nope, I switched off the light and lay there, and every time I looked over into the corner it looked like an old lady again, and my heart was still thumping! :eek: So in the end I had to get up and move the article into a different arrangement, and then I was able to go back to sleep

The human mind, ladies and gentlemen!

Er, your mind, Dave!

I've seen a number of these posts where they people recount how they thought they saw a scary old woman, or aeroplanes flying out of their wardrobe and other such stuff.

I know these posts are meant to convey some universal truth about the human mind, but they actually just make me ask myself, "Why am I conversing on a message board with people who suffer from hallucinations?"

robindch

PDN wrote: »

Why am I conversing on a message board with people who suffer from hallucinations?

Well, you moderate that board -- why not ask there?