AtheistNexus.org article on Liam Neeson and Quest For Meaning's story

New to Atheist Nexus
Posted by Quest of Knowledge on April 10, 2012 at 9:04pm in Introductions
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Hello,

I was born Catholic, and had to convert to Jehovah's Witness at age 8 because my mother decided it.

My father has always been an atheist, but he never shared his views while I was growing up. He simply had nothing to do with the religion while not interfering with my mother's indoctrination of us.

My father helped me escape of the theological tyranny of my mother by signing permission for me to work as a deckhand in a freighter at age 15 (this is decades ago when people grew up quickly).  On my return after six months, I saw the religious leaders and their families for what they were, a bunch of hypocritical manipulating predators.

I was still a minor at sixteen and my mother was the boss around children related issues, so I needed to escape again.  This time, my father signed my papers for me to attend Naval school, and I was free for ever at age 17.

I was certain that neither the Catholics nor the Jehovah's Witnesses would be saved by their own criteria if there was a god.  Within a few weeks in the Navy's boot camp, I knew there was no god.

I have been an atheist ever since, but felt that I was the only one in the world because I still didn't know that my father and his father had always been atheists.  Perhaps it is genetic:)

I found a European Atheist web based community and have been a member there for a couple of years.  Finally, I found this atheist community, which is closer to home. Home for me is Ontario, Canada.






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 Permalink Reply by Quest of Knowledge on April 13, 2012 at 5:24pm

Thank you booklover.  My family and friends know that I am a freethinker, but I am careful not to mention it to my clients, or acquaintances, because they are all religious and scared of non believers.

I don't want to lose clients over religion. They need to believe, so let them. I need their business:)
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 Permalink Reply by John J Kelly on April 13, 2012 at 4:08pm

How is the non-religious community in Ontario?  I know all about Ontario: I lived in a town that had ferry service to Canada and from where I could see the Canadian Customs office with the Canadian flag flying (with apologies to Sarah Palin for purloining the basis of her knowledge of Russia).
My experience in basic training in the USAF coincides with yours in Navy boot camp.  Going from a small town with a strong Catholic community to the Babel of all of the religions I had contact with opened my mind and also prompted me to ask: What the hey? Five of the six masses that I attended in the Air Force were at Lackland AFB in Texas because they were mandatory.

My father was a "good" Catholic while my mother used almost any excuse to not attend Sunday mass.  Looking back I think she was at least non-religious.

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 Permalink Reply by Quest of Knowledge on April 13, 2012 at 5:17pm

Kelly! that's a good Irish name.  I had a friend with that name.

I am not sure about freethinkers in Ontario.  We have a large influx of immigration here and a large number of immigrants come from countries with near theocracies.  I have acquaintances from every religion, but it is difficult for me to be myself because the moment I question any religious absurdity, my acquaintances go into endless preaching of nonsense.

I would like to meet a Canadian forum of freethinkers, but haven't yet.  Please let me know if you know of one.
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http://www.atheistnexus.org/forum/topics/new-to-atheist-nexus-1?id=2182797%3ATopic%3A1922099&page=2#comments
























New to Atheist Nexus
Posted by Quest of Knowledge on April 10, 2012 at 9:04pm in Introductions
View Discussions
.



Hello,

I was born Catholic, and had to convert to Jehovah's Witness at age 8 because my mother decided it.

My father has always been an atheist, but he never shared his views while I was growing up. He simply had nothing to do with the religion while not interfering with my mother's indoctrination of us.

My father helped me escape of the theological tyranny of my mother by signing permission for me to work as a deckhand in a freighter at age 15 (this is decades ago when people grew up quickly).  On my return after six months, I saw the religious leaders and their families for what they were, a bunch of hypocritical manipulating predators.

I was still a minor at sixteen and my mother was the boss around children related issues, so I needed to escape again.  This time, my father signed my papers for me to attend Naval school, and I was free for ever at age 17.

I was certain that neither the Catholics nor the Jehovah's Witnesses would be saved by their own criteria if there was a god.  Within a few weeks in the Navy's boot camp, I knew there was no god.

I have been an atheist ever since, but felt that I was the only one in the world because I still didn't know that my father and his father had always been atheists.  Perhaps it is genetic:)

I found a European Atheist web based community and have been a member there for a couple of years.  Finally, I found this atheist community, which is closer to home. Home for me is Ontario, Canada.






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 Permalink Reply by Sarah Walton on April 10, 2012 at 9:14pm

Welcome to AN, Quest of Knowledge. It sounds like you'll add an interesting  perspectives to our conversations here. Glad to have you!
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 Permalink Reply by Ted E Bear on April 10, 2012 at 9:23pm

I look forward to seeing you at the traditional atheist hazing ceremony. Don't worry, the padding on the chicken suit helps protect you a lot when it comes to making it through the paddling portion of the ceremony.
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 Permalink Reply by matthew greenberg on April 11, 2012 at 8:37am

or getting de-baptized by a hair dryer.  that worked for me.
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 Permalink Reply by Ted E Bear on April 11, 2012 at 5:19pm
Hair dryer? That's just too silly. You need to realize atheist salvation can only be found with the doning of bird costumes.
 My version of atheism is real, yours is heresy and I condemn you to atheist hell. Better known as Arby's on a Sunday afternoon. :)
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 Permalink Reply by matthew greenberg on April 11, 2012 at 5:24pm
The god I don't believe in can beat up the god you don't believe in!
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 Permalink Reply by Richard ∑wald on April 11, 2012 at 5:40pm

Ooooh… this could be an excellent debate!


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 Permalink Reply by Quest of Knowledge on April 13, 2012 at 5:19pm

I'll probably eat the suit if it is made of chicken:)
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 Permalink Reply by Richard ∑wald on April 11, 2012 at 2:19pm


"Home for me is Ontario, Canada."
Welcome, consider this a "second" home...

I'm from Ontario originally, now fighting the good fight for secularism down below the Mason-Dixon line.
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 Permalink Reply by Quest of Knowledge on April 13, 2012 at 5:17pm

Thank you Richard.
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 Permalink Reply by John Aultman on April 11, 2012 at 6:39pm

Welcome Q Of K
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 Permalink Reply by Quest of Knowledge on April 13, 2012 at 5:20pm

Thanks John.
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 Permalink Reply by booklover on April 11, 2012 at 8:27pm

Welcome!  Glad you've found places like this community and people you can be the real you with.  I have a friend whose husband is an Atheist, but never said a word while his kids grew up, just let my friend (not super-religious, but still..) take them to church, etc.  I feel she just turns a blind-eye to her husbands Atheism and pretends he doesn't really feel that way.  He and I have had conversations.  She knows I'm an Atheist.  Anyway, I was always disappointed that he never told his kids about his non-beliefs.  I felt he should, but it wasn't my business.
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Aslan thinking about converting from Christianity to either Islam or atheism
Posted by Jedi Wanderer on January 28, 2012 at 8:52pm in Water Cooler
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http: //         www .          huffingtonpost     .       co        .        uk                    /          2012                /                01         /          25                 /liam-neeson-catholic-fai...

Yes, Liam Neeson, the actor who lends his voice talents to the movies based on C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series, is considering leaving the religion of his Irish Catholic upbringing and switching allegiances. According to the article, Liam "was recently filming in Turkish city Istanbul and became fascinated with the Muslim faith during his stay. Speaking to The Sun, he said: 'The Call to Prayer happens five times a day and for the first week it drives you crazy, and then it just gets into your spirit and it's the most beautiful, beautiful thing".

Well, speaking as someone who has lived in Istanbul for a couple of months and who has lived in Saudi Arabia for a couple of years, the "azan", or call to prayer, sounds different in different places. He is correct that it is difficult to get used to, and quite startling at first. He is also correct that the azan can sound quite beautiful in Istanbul. It starts is from mosques far out in the distance, then washes over the entire city like a wave, and, especially during the evening prayer, has a haunting kind of sound to it which literally sounded to me like the moaning of ghosts in a lamentable sort of wail. It wasn't something I found particularly stirring, it was more of a bother than anything else, and a reminder of the hold fantasy has over the minds of much of the world's people, and knowing what it means (Allahu akbar x4 for starters, god is great, god is great, god is great, god is great... nauseating!) didn't do it any favors either, but I can definitely understand why Liam would be moved by it.

In KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) the story is quite different. The speakers blare out from every corner, the guys doing the calling seem intent on making the call as ugly as possible, and there is no haunting beauty to Riyadh. Istanbul is a gorgeous city of multi-colored apartments everywhere you look overlooking a sparkling sea, whereas Riyadh is a deathly-dry, stiflingly-dusty, boilingly-hot desert almost completely devoid of life. If Liam had happened to be doing filming for his movie there instead of Istanbul, he might not have considered Islam as an alternative to Catholicism.

But there is hope! Liam says "I was reared a Catholic but I think every day we ask ourselves, not consciously, what are we doing on this planet? What's it all about? I'm constantly reading books on God or the absence of God and atheism."

So he has been thinking about the deeper issues for some time now, and is looking for something to give him the answers his Catholicism failed to provide. I have been thinking, perhaps I should write him a letter expressing why I think atheism is the right choice, and why choosing Islam would be a mistake. Anyone else feel like having Aslan on our side? We could send him a letter signed by many A|N members. I just can't wait to hear what the Narnia people have to say about this. Will they protest giving the voice of their precious Jesus figure in Lewis' fantasies, a barely-concealed attempt at providing the Christian myths to younger readers, to someone who converts to either Islam or atheism (or de-converts, whatever)? Narnia will never be the same.






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 Permalink Reply by AgeOfAtheists14 on January 29, 2012 at 5:44pm

But there is hope! Liam says "I was reared a Catholic but I think every day we ask ourselves, not consciously, what are we doing on this planet? What's it all about? I'm constantly reading books on God or the absence of God and atheism."
LOL; hugh!?
think to hard even yer minds' language has limits
that's where being turned on by science comes in... yet indeed the waves of ignorance or sadists that hold on to their chumpy/culty ways are a pain in the modern era ass!
i digress... there's no such thing as 'converting' to atheism
it's not a religion in the sense of something to worship
people/societies do not worship science; they use it to survive and adapt to the world
find understanding of how the hell a parasitic fly invades bee hives to mess things up? follow that?
as for the mass media; don't let that fool ya either. the blogs/forums and reading book are the new-old genius in majority of lives that look to the internet for brain food
sigh; the god thing is so played out it makes ya wonder who's pushing this old-school crap
the only old school i like is eating in silence (ok w/newspaper
peace!
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 Permalink Reply by AgeOfAtheists14 on January 29, 2012 at 5:47pm

oh and perhaps value more nature walks or... nuff said; it's just another age of knowledge upon the world; why go back? so what if the label 'atheist' is used
if it keeps asshole child molesters at bay so be it; if it grants families more room to exist in the world; hey
Dawkins's right then. no?
perhaps more tending to the heard and less denying those w/o a voice.
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 Permalink Reply by AgeOfAtheists14 on January 29, 2012 at 5:48pm

and humans invented the macro lens; not some mythological explanation of nature
peace!
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 Permalink Reply by Strangebrew on February 1, 2012 at 6:43am

Bit of a difference b'twixt'n'b'tween Islam and Atheism methinks!
You can convert to Islam but you can only come to Atheism when religion is revealed to be all sham and juvenile threat...all major religions seem to like their carrot and stick approach...makes one wonder why?
Depends on how woo adled a person is...
No idea about Liam...maybe he is just not convinced by a patriarchal scam like RCC but it has taken him a while...but hopping over to another patriarchal scam will not solve the feeling of 'looking for answers'...even if it is a green agenda, female rights and teh ghey issue or just plain fairness amongst denizens of planet Earth, that is the niggly counterpoint to a life on your knees.
Maybe his press officer thought it good column inches to appear spiritually curious or inquisitive about another world view...in the end I doubt Atheism would be a first choice in an American industry where any religion, even Islam,  is better then none!
Not saying forget the letter...but there is not much evidence that Atheism would be  a relevant consideration for Liam.
But in for a penny in for a pound...why not?
Paganism actually offers more in the direction of unity of mankind...but methinks after a lifetime of jeebus Mary & Joseph that is also a leap on the far side of probable....
Atheism is at least a known position held by many folks the world over.
It all depends on what exactly Liam is looking for in his life...we are all different after all and some folks can only function if they think a sky daddy is spying on them.

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 Permalink Reply by booklover on February 1, 2012 at 9:35am

Doesn't Liam wonder why 'god' let his wife, Vanessa Redgrave, hit her head while skiing and die of an undetected brain-bleed leaving him to raise their young sons?  Some god!
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 Permalink Reply by George on February 1, 2012 at 12:35pm

Natasha Richardson.  Vanessa Redgrave is still alive.
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 Permalink Reply by Jedi Wanderer on February 1, 2012 at 1:49pm

Oh yeah, I had forgotten about that. If I do get around to writing this letter, I'll be sure to mention that a fellow atheist had risen this painful point. Perhaps this is what got him contemplating these issues? Thanks booklover and George.
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 Permalink Reply by booklover on February 1, 2012 at 3:51pm

Oops!  My bad, you're right!  I am SO bad with names.  Natasha was Vanessas daughter, right?
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 Permalink Reply by George on February 1, 2012 at 7:13pm

Yes, that's correct.
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 Permalink Reply by david on February 2, 2012 at 4:28am

Well after the tragic death of his daughter and not ever bothering to understand his upbringing of (I don't know his exact age) I'll say 50 yrs. I'm not surprised a "cool" sounding foreign noise made him contemplate Islam. I love culture and I too (via YouTube) love the sound *I guess in Istanbul* of the sound But from an artistic point of view. I also like some Eastern Orthodox choirs.
What needs to be understood though, is the difference of appreciating something and worshiping something.
just my two cents anyway ....
-cheers
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 Permalink Reply by david on February 2, 2012 at 5:44am

true, but disavoying one god for another is a mental leap I'll never get lol...I only did the one leap to nontheism) but yes that's one of the major hooks religeon has is human emotion. I want to be a bloody Vulcan and purge emotion. :)
**also I've been trying to place that voice in Fallout 3 lol...it's the lord of the rings guy...lol;)
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 Permalink Reply by Jedi Wanderer on February 2, 2012 at 6:05am

A very good point Dan. But of course I've also heard people say that atheism doesn't provide any satisfying answers either. Not that I agree, but if satisfaction is all you are looking for (as opposed to, oh I don't know, truth?), then you might want to choose the most ludicrous set of beliefs.
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http://www.atheistnexus.org/forum/topics/aslan-thinking-about-converting-from-christianity-to-either-islam























Aslan thinking about converting from Christianity to either Islam or atheism
Posted by Jedi Wanderer on January 28, 2012 at 8:52pm in Water Cooler
View Discussions
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http:    //             www     .           huffingtonpost     .         co          .       uk           /   2012 /  01 /            25 /              liam-neeson-catholic-fai...

Yes, Liam Neeson, the actor who lends his voice talents to the movies based on C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series, is considering leaving the religion of his Irish Catholic upbringing and switching allegiances. According to the article, Liam "was recently filming in Turkish city Istanbul and became fascinated with the Muslim faith during his stay. Speaking to The Sun, he said: 'The Call to Prayer happens five times a day and for the first week it drives you crazy, and then it just gets into your spirit and it's the most beautiful, beautiful thing".

Well, speaking as someone who has lived in Istanbul for a couple of months and who has lived in Saudi Arabia for a couple of years, the "azan", or call to prayer, sounds different in different places. He is correct that it is difficult to get used to, and quite startling at first. He is also correct that the azan can sound quite beautiful in Istanbul. It starts is from mosques far out in the distance, then washes over the entire city like a wave, and, especially during the evening prayer, has a haunting kind of sound to it which literally sounded to me like the moaning of ghosts in a lamentable sort of wail. It wasn't something I found particularly stirring, it was more of a bother than anything else, and a reminder of the hold fantasy has over the minds of much of the world's people, and knowing what it means (Allahu akbar x4 for starters, god is great, god is great, god is great, god is great... nauseating!) didn't do it any favors either, but I can definitely understand why Liam would be moved by it.

In KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) the story is quite different. The speakers blare out from every corner, the guys doing the calling seem intent on making the call as ugly as possible, and there is no haunting beauty to Riyadh. Istanbul is a gorgeous city of multi-colored apartments everywhere you look overlooking a sparkling sea, whereas Riyadh is a deathly-dry, stiflingly-dusty, boilingly-hot desert almost completely devoid of life. If Liam had happened to be doing filming for his movie there instead of Istanbul, he might not have considered Islam as an alternative to Catholicism.

But there is hope! Liam says "I was reared a Catholic but I think every day we ask ourselves, not consciously, what are we doing on this planet? What's it all about? I'm constantly reading books on God or the absence of God and atheism."

So he has been thinking about the deeper issues for some time now, and is looking for something to give him the answers his Catholicism failed to provide. I have been thinking, perhaps I should write him a letter expressing why I think atheism is the right choice, and why choosing Islam would be a mistake. Anyone else feel like having Aslan on our side? We could send him a letter signed by many A|N members. I just can't wait to hear what the Narnia people have to say about this. Will they protest giving the voice of their precious Jesus figure in Lewis' fantasies, a barely-concealed attempt at providing the Christian myths to younger readers, to someone who converts to either Islam or atheism (or de-converts, whatever)? Narnia will never be the same.






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 Permalink Reply by VeganApess on February 5, 2012 at 6:39am

i loved fallout and new vegas....  GOD I LOVE GAMES.
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 Permalink Reply by Jedi Wanderer on February 2, 2012 at 6:09am

David, I agree with you there. I also like Christian choirs, and some gospel music, and Indian sitar (no idea how related that is to Hinduism, I'm just saying!), and a whole lot of other crap, but I like it for its aesthetic appeal, not because I think it somehow points the way towards a deeper truth that can only be realized through some sort of aesthetic appeal. Its hard even to turn that into a reasonable argument.
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 Permalink Reply by Madhukar Kulkarni on February 2, 2012 at 9:12am

It is a terrible thought that in these terrorism infested days anyone wants to be a Muslim for superficial reasons. Sometime back, one well known hollywood actress adopted Hinduism along with her children and named them after Hindu gods. It is pertrubing why some westerners are attracted to other religions. There are many westerners who studied Hinduism deeply, like Max Muller for example, and loved it but did not convert to Hinduism.  Converting to another religion without having full knowledge about what it means, indicates intellectual incapacity.
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