Hello Scot68 and welcome to this friendly meeting place with freethinkers who recognise that all gods are fictions and that religions exist to control vulnerable superstitious people including defenceless children. How tragic and inexcusable it is that women and minorities have been oppressed these last two thousand years and longer.

Terry Meaden (another academic)
founder of the busy group "ORIGINS: Universe, Life, Earth, Humans, Religion, Evolution, Darwin..." with its 300 discussion topics.
We invite you to join us and 1750 others.
http://www.atheistnexus.org/group/originsuniverselifehumankindanddarwin