Original Post
Hello everybody.
I haven't posted here in some time but I spent a number of years on this site as a teen and twenty something. This Lounge taught me how to debate, and introduced me to a lot of ideas that I frankly needed to be exposed to. At various points along the way, I held onto my convictions but I expressed to some people that I identified a lot with atheists more than I did people who called themselves Christians.
I haven't touched a line of code in a while, though I do some scripting when I need a new tool or something. I haven't read anything on game design in a long time. But, I've expressed some views on this forum that were informed by my religious upbringing. I'm writing now to retract those views.
Video game violence? I now defer to the psychologists who would tell you that kids *need* some violence and viscerality to help them overcome certain obstacles, and that people in general can, do, and should understand the difference between fantasy and reality. I don't care what any church group says and I retract any funky-ass views I once expressed on this site that do not comply with this statement.
But mostly I just want to come out as an atheist and an ex-JW. I was born and raised with the grammatically horrifying affiliation of Jehovah's Witnesses. What does this mean? Well, for starters, it means much of my family will cut ties and shun me once I'm announced at one of their meetings as "no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses." Some friends and family already have, though a few are a little more understanding. (They will risk the same treatment for doing so.) Quite frankly, there are a few people in the cult I wouldn't mind telling to get lost anyway. There are a few that I already have.
This is a religion that is known to exercise undue influence over its members, who are not encouraged to look at the organization's history through anything other than their own literature. Most do not know the facts about it. Why not?
Given the nature of this site, I won't get too much more into that, because it would involve attacking a specific religion on this forum and that's maybe not so great to do. I'll leave that to people like John Cedars and TedTheAtheist on YouTube, and jwfacts.org. (Or just leave it to Dawkins/Hitchens/Harris/Dennett, AronRa or Dillahunty...) Suffice it to say, I've left, and I had good reason to leave.
I know you guys come from all backgrounds, and many are atheists. Thank you again for the years of topics here that I may never have considered otherwise at such a young age if I hadn't come here. Thank you.
Respectfully submitted,
Ben
I haven't posted here in some time but I spent a number of years on this site as a teen and twenty something. This Lounge taught me how to debate, and introduced me to a lot of ideas that I frankly needed to be exposed to. At various points along the way, I held onto my convictions but I expressed to some people that I identified a lot with atheists more than I did people who called themselves Christians.
I haven't touched a line of code in a while, though I do some scripting when I need a new tool or something. I haven't read anything on game design in a long time. But, I've expressed some views on this forum that were informed by my religious upbringing. I'm writing now to retract those views.
Video game violence? I now defer to the psychologists who would tell you that kids *need* some violence and viscerality to help them overcome certain obstacles, and that people in general can, do, and should understand the difference between fantasy and reality. I don't care what any church group says and I retract any funky-ass views I once expressed on this site that do not comply with this statement.
But mostly I just want to come out as an atheist and an ex-JW. I was born and raised with the grammatically horrifying affiliation of Jehovah's Witnesses. What does this mean? Well, for starters, it means much of my family will cut ties and shun me once I'm announced at one of their meetings as "no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses." Some friends and family already have, though a few are a little more understanding. (They will risk the same treatment for doing so.) Quite frankly, there are a few people in the cult I wouldn't mind telling to get lost anyway. There are a few that I already have.
This is a religion that is known to exercise undue influence over its members, who are not encouraged to look at the organization's history through anything other than their own literature. Most do not know the facts about it. Why not?
Given the nature of this site, I won't get too much more into that, because it would involve attacking a specific religion on this forum and that's maybe not so great to do. I'll leave that to people like John Cedars and TedTheAtheist on YouTube, and jwfacts.org. (Or just leave it to Dawkins/Hitchens/Harris/Dennett, AronRa or Dillahunty...) Suffice it to say, I've left, and I had good reason to leave.
I know you guys come from all backgrounds, and many are atheists. Thank you again for the years of topics here that I may never have considered otherwise at such a young age if I hadn't come here. Thank you.
Respectfully submitted,
Ben
