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Who is Brother Richard?

Many people have suggested we start an introductions section to our forum. Here it is, and I will start things off.

My name is Richard Haynes (AKA: Brother Richard). I am a writer and public speaker who happens to lives in the buckle of the Bible belt: Atlanta, Georgia.

I was raised in a nonreligious home, but as a teenage runaway, I had a very real "born again" experience. Almost immediately I became an evangelist and personally led hundreds of individuals to Christ.

I went on to receive a Bachelor of Science in Biblical Studies, and became an associate minister in a 12,000 member mega-church.

In 1993, a couple of months after the birth of our eldest daughter, my wife (Angela) and I made the agonizing decision to leave our church which was engulfed in scandal. Terrified and unemployed, we began our long and arduous journey to rationality and nontheism.

I am now secularly ordained and have dedicated myself to encouraging and inspiring others to "come out" of the religious closet. I am also devoted to building the atheist community.
I maintain a blog called: Life Without Faith, and I am the executive director of this wonderful site. (Which by the way is one of the world's largest atheist social networking sites).

If you would like to invite me to speak to your local group or at your convention, please feel free to contact me.

If you have any questions you would like to ask me, post them here. I will answer them all.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Krystal on September 10, 2009 at 10:08am

And why do people think that because I am intelligent I can control my brain better than anyone else with a brain disorder ? I used to think people could control their impulses and thoughts regardless of what they were. I found that i was very very mistaken. Until it happens to you though, it difficult to comprehend so I try not to hold the judgments people make about me against them. I was once of that opinion as well. Anyway, I hope at some point my post can be seen in the spirit it was intended and I hope it helps.

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Permalink Reply by Krystal on September 10, 2009 at 10:31am

Oh..I just thought of another way that might help better describe my intentions with that post. One of the reasons we are banding together is so we can have some political pull, a voice in society when the moral majority raises it's ugly head. Part of what I was thinking about while I wrote that is, these people will stop at nothing to discredit their opponants. I was thinking that if Brother Richard saw what might be thrown at him, he could prepare for the possible event more efficiently. I guess I did'nt post it that way because I assumed others would be able to extrapolate. Assumption is a bad thing. I apologise.

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Permalink Reply by Nate on September 10, 2009 at 10:36am

Part of what I was thinking about while I wrote that is, these people will stop at nothing to discredit their opponants.

Exactly. For that reason, it does no good to be overly concerned with what may potentially offend them or how they may perceive the motives of individual atheists. What they can't find, they make up.

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Permalink Reply by Peter LeSavage on September 12, 2009 at 8:46am

Skepticism is a great and powerful tool when used properly. But when you throw the baby out with the bathwarter we get a result like the one we have here. From kudos and thanks, to a tit for tat back and forth, to a self analitic apology. But that's what makes skepticism, and this site great. To push boundry's and get to the core eventually deciding where thoes boundry's get founded.
Personally, I think that having someone like Brother Richard at the helm is a great advantage. He's been there, done that. He's walked in THERE shoes. We have a forum where we all can push our boundry's and be ourselves, ( for some of us this is one of thoes few places ). The positives outweigh the negatives and does anyone not think we ALL have something in our pasts that can be questioned??

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Permalink Reply by Dre Smith on September 12, 2009 at 9:25am

I never could understand the point of prayer. I would be greatful if you could explain it to me. My logical thinking on this has always been that if what you want is already in god's plan then you were going to get it without praying in the first place, and if you weren't then it wasn't in the plans to begin with and there was nothing you could do to alter the plan in the first place....so I ask then what is the point of prayer??

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Permalink Reply by Laura Largent on September 16, 2009 at 11:23am

Thank you! Thank you for this refuge of sanity and reason, thank you.

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Permalink Reply by Sonny Mobley on September 16, 2009 at 11:35am

Ye're a good man, Brother Richard!

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Stilwell on April 27, 2014 at 4:31pm

Brother Richard, Your story is compelling, and the direction you're taking your life now is just great. As you well know, coming out of the religious closet means changing just about everything in your life - a daunting task indeed.

I've just completed a book, an illustrated work, I hope will help those wishing to come out of the religious closet. Here's our blurb about it:

Internationally enjoyed illustrator Jeff Stilwell's new work, Here and Now, a whimsical take on God, stars Stilwell's freethinking alter ego Thrashin' Jack in over one hundred charming illustrations. Here and Now will be available on Amazon Kindle June 1, 2014.

Here and Now is just over 100 pages in length. The finished work will be available for review on May 1.

Here and Now faces the question of God head on, and offers an alternative to non-existent heaven. Knowing we have an expiration date, how do we live in the here and now? The illustrations help readers absorb the challenging content.

May I send you the first 25 pages? You could take a look and let us know if you'd like to review the book in full.

Thank you for your consideration!

Jeff Stilwell

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Permalink Reply by Michael Penn on April 27, 2014 at 5:14pm

Thanks for your story, Richard. I agree with Daniel, your story would make a book. I'll keep reading this interesting blog and I've learned a lot already hearing it from you personally.