Finally joined up after 10 years of lurking

Greetings to all my brethren and sistren.

I am finally joining ATS after being a lurker since 2006-2007 days.
I used to have an account but forgot the details so i decided to start again.
I have a lot of questions and are willing to offer my service and assistance to help anyone where possible.
Most of my topics of interest will be philosophy, religion, aliens and UFO's, space exploration and the grey area.
A little background about me;

Born a devout christian, on the fathers side, fathers father was a pastor, father is a pastor (was) and uncle is a pastor.
On my mothers side i have extreme islam running in my mothers side her grandfather a muslim, her mother was a muslim.

to cut the story short (which i will get into detail eventually in a thread) i am now a self professed agnostic after spending many years committed to the cause of being an evangelist and a missionary, even after seeing miracles and wondrous spiritual encounters with the divine. I used to be hungry and seeking gods heart until one day i came to a revelation and realisation of everything which led me to question my own belief and the beliefs of others which had been programmed into my life(unwillingly). This has been happening for almost two years now and i hope i can speak comfort to anyone who is being or has been deprogrammed from religion and are learning to get over the hurdles of being alone or having no comfort in a god who does not exist (at least not in the sense which we give form.) There are a lot of things i could share on many threads i could start but all in due time as i don't want to overdo my introduction

I wish to share my journey from faith to fact aswell as my fathers journey (He was a charismatic Pentecostal minister for 30 years) and now is an agnostic as well, well he is more pantheist.

We have lost ALOT! of money, relationships and respect for turning our backs on our faith and pursuing a path of knowledge, logic and reasoning.
So with this short post of mine i hope i am able to assist anyone who has hard questions, is going through a rough time or just wants to be free from a religious clasp and start living and thinking things out for themselves rather than waiting on a god to do everything for them blindly.

Feel free to ask me any questions about what i believe, why i believe what i do now and whether i still have the fear of god or his morals still.

Also i'm very honoured to be a part of the community after so long.
I hope this feels like home.

- Spacemonk

Welcome aboard. See you around on the boards. Hope you enjoy yourself - just a heads up, we agnostics are not ubiquitous around here. But we are here.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

It's safest to not know everything and also puts us in a place to be of sound logic to others. We rationally and logically seek truth.

10 years....

Well you have seen the changes. Hope you have a thick skin...you'll need it!!

a reply to: olaru12

I know better than to post without any source and links to back my claims up.
Possibly the most threatening cause on here is being rejected for failing to do research.

Oh and btw my skin is thick, tough like the hide of a bear.

originally posted by: spacemonk
a reply to: BuzzyWigs

It's safest to not know everything and also puts us in a place to be of sound logic to others. We rationally and logically seek truth.

Yep. We do.

Some don't. And they hang out here. So far so good, though *waves to olaru*.

originally posted by: spacemonk
even after seeing miracles and wondrous spiritual encounters with the divine.

I think this is fine. Lots of people, when seeking answers, pick up a religion as a shortcut to thinking. I guess its like detecting life on a different planet (experience) therefore demanding what government structure and culture these potential life forms have (religion). Just because there are people doesn't mean there must be an emperor.

Happy hunting.

Fresh meat! Fire up the BBQ!

a reply to: spacemonk

Welcome. Been around for about 7 years, lurked for a while too. Why now? This forum seems to be going to # lately.

a reply to: spacemonk

I remember a "Spacemonk" from way back. I don't know if you're the same one, but judging by your post, I presume that you are. Anyway, welcome back.

a reply to: spacemonk

Hi! I just made an account here as well after mainly being a lurker(although I did use to have an account, but only very briefly). I was raised catholic so I can relate a bit. After being raised catholic, once I developed my own set of beliefs I became an atheist. Then let's just say I had my mind opened, and I then became more of a agnostic with a strong belief in spirituality being science we don't understand. My personal favorite concept of God is among some Hindu sects that belive in a concept known as Brahman. From my understanding it is a sea of infinite potential from which everything else emerges. I remain agnostic however because I'm not quite sure if the sea of infinite potential is conscious in some way or not. Part of me wants God to exist though in some sense, because I feel like without him/her we would have to exist beyond time in the sense of sequences of events, and I find time to be very comfortable. I like the idea of having a beginning and no end and I'm not quite sure if that's possible with or without some sort of God yet.

So now that I've told you my beliefs about the possibility of God, I am curious as to what yours are?

Welcome on the active side ! Being a lurker is fun but being able to share and communicate with other about your experiences is great!

a reply to: spacemonk

Congrats for joining. I joined today after lurking for about 9 months. I'm a big fan of Nimoy's "In Search Of," the X-Files, Stranger Things, and the book "Strange But True," as well as world history, religion, and the evolution of culture in general. On ATS, I particularly enjoy the theories and stories on aliens, UFOs, and angels.
As a husband and father of 2 young kids, I usually don't have much time to post.
But I promise to always keep it positive and to encourage you to post interesting topics when you can!

a reply to: spacemonk

Wow! Here I am thinking I'm all billy bad a** after lurking for the past 2 years! I like your story and I identify with it. Good to know I am not treading unfamiliar territory all alone...

I realise since this post I have lurked for another 2 years

SO THAT IS NOW 12 years a lurker HAHHA!


A

So as for my personal beliefs. It is interesting as I have been through alot and will post a new thread hopefully detailing my experiences in the bizzare!