Hello!

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- mchawking
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Hello!
OP - October 21, 2010, 09:27 AM

I thought I'd introduce myself to the forum. I'm an ex-muslim who has joined the forum yesterday but I should've joined it when I heard about CEMB. My name is Irtaza, I'm 19 and an atheist. I had left Islam a few months ago because of its inability to justify the restrictions it imposes on me. I had a lot of trouble trying to make sense of what my parents had enforced upon me and I had quite a lot of difficulty trying to find out why it would be a good thing to call myself a Muslim, something which my parents had taken a lot of pride in. Surprisingly enough, I took quite a lot of time to make such a decision and it was my unwillingess to listen to any kind of criticism that was related to religion. I was fearful of what I had been told during my childhood but after my parents had moved to the U.K, they took religion a lot less seriously. After knowing the elements which contributed most to society, I realized how to justify my beliefs but I what I couldn't do was build a bridge between them and slowly I exposed myself to the criticism. I started to realize that during Islamic studies class, I had things which I couldn't accept like for example the Prophet's marriage to a 9 year old girl and how he behaved when he first recieved his "revelation".

I am quite glad to be an atheist now because the burden of religion is not on my shoulders any more. I also did feel that I didnt' write such a good account on my journey to becoming an ex-Muslim maybe because I felt like that there are people here who have a lot of strong conviction because of the research that they have done and I feel that I'm a layman compared to them.

"I measured the skies, now the shadows I measure,
Sky-bound was the mind, earth-bound the body rests."
[Kepler's epitaph]
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Re: Hello!
Reply #1 - October 21, 2010, 09:59 AM

Another 19 yr old.

Hiya and welcome.
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Re: Hello!
Reply #2 - October 21, 2010, 10:03 AM

Have you told anyone about your apostacy - how did they take it? Have you come across any exmuslims before?

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- mchawking
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Re: Hello!
Reply #3 - October 21, 2010, 01:26 PM

I'm also a part of PA&A, IsLame. I did tell my dad about my apostasy, which he didn't take that greatly at start and just affirmed my disbelief. He threatened to disown me when I become a resident of this country and now it just changed to "Let's just try to live together". The only ex-Muslim I came across was a friend I met in another city. She's of Egyptian origin but she has some views about Israel that I don't agree with.

"I measured the skies, now the shadows I measure,
Sky-bound was the mind, earth-bound the body rests."
[Kepler's epitaph]
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Re: Hello!
Reply #4 - October 21, 2010, 01:30 PM

Quote from: mchawking on October 21, 2010, 01:26 PM
I'm also a part of PA&A

wazzat?

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Re: Hello!
Reply #5 - October 21, 2010, 01:48 PM

Hi Irtaza. Welcome.

"He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn't an afterlife."
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Re: Hello!
Reply #6 - October 21, 2010, 02:32 PM

Hi Irtaza, It's happening to more and more people with more than one brain cell. Welcome to the forum.

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Re: Hello!
Reply #7 - October 21, 2010, 02:39 PM

19-year-olds are always welcome!

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Re: Hello!
Reply #8 - October 21, 2010, 03:23 PM

Welcome! Glad to have another ex-Muslim join us

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Re: Hello!
Reply #9 - October 21, 2010, 06:35 PM

Welcome to the forum, mchawking. Cool username, btw.

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Re: Hello!
Reply #10 - October 22, 2010, 01:24 AM

Welcome and enjoy
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Re: Hello!
Reply #11 - October 22, 2010, 11:54 PM

Welcome Dear Irtaza

Welcome to the forum and make yourself comfortable. I would advise you to be prepared for a lot of straight shooting and some sarcasm too. It is in the very nature of free speech.

If I were you, I would take my time deciding about the atheist part. What the heck! You are young at 19 years. You have a whole life ahead of you. So my advice would be to take time and a lot of time before you fix yourself in any kind of stated position.

Who knows what will happen in a decade or two when you will have kids of your own and you will have to be ready with a hell of a lot of answers for questions they are going to be asking.

Welcome again! BTW I am an ex Hindu.
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Re: Hello!
Reply #12 - October 23, 2010, 12:51 PM

I don't quite see what I've missed out on but it is true that I'm not fervent about my new conviction considering I haven't spent a lot of time studying theology, religion and history. Though I would like to hear why you say I shouldn't make my decision too quickly on becoming a non-theist, car313.

"I measured the skies, now the shadows I measure,
Sky-bound was the mind, earth-bound the body rests."
[Kepler's epitaph]
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Re: Hello!
Reply #13 - October 24, 2010, 01:51 AM

Dear Irtaza

It is not that you have missed out on anything about this forum, but generally people who question the religion into which they are indoctrinated from childhood already have crossed a certain line. Meaning they have demonstrated the ability to think beyond what has been given.

So they are a more likely to pose questions that might be deemed to be irreverent, blasphemous or outrageous. In many cases it also produces a certain amount of sarcasm and blunt honesty. Both these are capable of producing distress among believers as well as non believers. For non believers or doubters, sensitivity to religion and political correctness are not virtues. They are felt more to be shackles for free thinking.

That is why I said you should prepared for some straight shooting; nothing more.

As for my warning/advice about not taking up a definite opinion about theism/atheism. There are very strong arguments for and against both positions. Also this bit of advice was more on account of your being young (not that it is some kind of a disqualification). As we go through life we are many times forced to think, rethink and revise/alter our beliefs and conviction. That is all. It is also that one ought to keep ones options open and the essence of an open mind is the capacity to defer conclusions as nothing is static.

In other words, an open mind requires that if you are an atheist, you should also be ready to change this opinion if ever a scientific proof for the existence of god becomes available. In the same manner, if you are a theist, you should also be prepared to change this if ever a scientific proof for the absence of god was discovered. Like someone said, it is only the most foolish of men or the wisest of men that never change. All others do.

Nothing more! I hope I did not manage to make you uncomfortable; but if ever I did, it was inadvertent and please accept my sincere apologies.

Regards
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Re: Hello!
Reply #14 - October 24, 2010, 09:55 AM

Welcome mchawking! Was good speaking to you on the chatroom the other day.

It was Muhammad's marriage to Ayesha which started the landslide of doubt for me also, and I too was very wary of "anti-Islam (i.e. any website criticising Islam)" websites.

That's interesting how your dad is dealing with this right now, sounds a lot like mine. A kind of agreement to disagree. I think that's the most we can ask from Muslim parents. Did he put any T & C's on it, such as visiting sheikhs, etc?

I think what car313 is saying is that people here don't mince words on Islam, we call a spade a spade. Also, don't worry that you haven't studied religious philosophy or whatever. You are young, you have time. I myself an agnostic, though I know I will never return to Islam. There are many types of atheists too.

Enjoy your stay!
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Re: Hello!
Reply #15 - November 01, 2010, 04:48 PM

@Elipha, I'm not sure about any terms and conditions as of yet but he would mind if I ate pork and drank some alcohol.

"I measured the skies, now the shadows I measure,
Sky-bound was the mind, earth-bound the body rests."
[Kepler's epitaph]
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Re: Hello!
Reply #16 - November 02, 2010, 08:08 AM

Hello mate, welcome

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