Hi All,

Long-time Skeptic, but new forum member. I thought I'd start by dropping by here and saying hello!

My name is Chris, I'm British but have lived in Egypt for the past 8 years. Living in Egypt has many skeptical challenges (which I'm sure will come up from time to time in my forum posts), but at least since last year being an atheist is no longer technically illegal!

Before moving to Egypt to work in the scuba diving industry I worked in financial services in London, but my background is a physics degree (so I am a bit of a nerd).

I would describe myself as an agnostic atheist who is passionate about evidence, reason and the scientific method.

Looking forward to becoming part of an online skeptic community as that is an impossibility for me in real life! I hope I can provide a bit of an insight into the islamic/anti-skeptic world!

Look forward to meeting everyone!

C

Welcome to the lifeboat cg399. Does your member name have any hidden meaning(s)?

RS

Hello theropod,

Sorry to disappoint it is username I've used since university - when I was the third person with initials cg to start in 1999!!


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Well, there WERE hidden meanings.

Enjoy the forum. One of the mods will be along shortly with a welcome pack for new members.

Can't say I'd be courageous enough to live in the middle east these days. Hell, I'm not sure I'd go anywhere near the region if someone gave me a all expenses paid vacation there, except, maybe, if it involved getting to go dig up fossils. Yep, I'm an absolute geek about the fossil record, and I know Egypt has some astounding fossil sites.

RS

cg399 wrote:Sorry to disappoint it is username I've used since university - when I was the third person with initials cg to start in 1999!!

That is oddly interesting. Or maybe it's odd that I find it interesting. Nevertheless, welcome to the fora!

kiore wrote:Hi from just a bit down the Nile from you.

Wow - looks like an amazingly diverse array of people here!!


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theropod wrote:Well, there WERE hidden meanings.

Enjoy the forum. One of the mods will be along shortly with a welcome pack for new members.

Can't say I'd be courageous enough to live in the middle east these days. Hell, I'm not sure I'd go anywhere near the region if someone gave me a all expenses paid vacation there, except, maybe, if it involved getting to go dig up fossils. Yep, I'm an absolute geek about the fossil record, and I know Egypt has some astounding fossil sites.

RS

I don't think it isn't dangerous in Egypt at all (a lot of press sensationalism in my opinion) and definitely worth a visit to the "Valley of the Whales" in Fayoum (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadi_Al-Hitan) for fossils. Unfortunately I can't offer you the all expenses paid vacation there!

Yeah, I've seen videos of that site, and yes, I'd approach Nirvana if I visited in person. Since I'm a vertpaleo guy that sort of thing is right up my alley.

When they sentence hundreds of folks to death for holding a political view I call it pretty dangerous place.

RS

Hi

I think there's still cause to worry about being an atheist in Egypt.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/ ... -in-egypt/

Hopefully no negative consequences for you, and welcome to the fora!

Hello, and welcome into the lifeboat ! This is our greeting for all new members and contains some useful stuff for you.

If you haven't seen it already, you may want to take a look at our New Members' Welcome Pack which will give you some helpful resources such as how to modify your membership display settings, how to navigate around the forum, point you to some threads which address commonly asked questions from newbies, and gives you some handy links to other sites which will help you develop your skepticism. It also contains our forum rules, which we ask that you abide by at all times.

If you're new to this type of phpBB software on forums, you might like to take a look at our Handy Hints for Posting On The Forum, which will show you how to change your text, insert images & youtube clips, and do some other cool stuff.

And finally, as a house warming present for you, here's a few laughs for your entertainment.

Hi!

Gidday Chris.

Welcome Chris!

Bacon or cheese?

Weaver wrote:I think there's still cause to worry about being an atheist in Egypt.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/ ... -in-egypt/

Hopefully no negative consequences for you, and welcome to the fora!

I understand and agree with you sentiment (although it is the population and not the state that should be of concern). I wouldn't read much into what is written in Al Ahram (this is the newspaper that first reported the "miracle" C-fast machine!)

Undoubtedly being an atheist here is risky, although there is an reasonable proportion of people (maybe 20%) who are ambivalent to religion (and I have one Egyptian friend who is an atheist). The vast majority of my expat friends from Europe are privately atheist and most of my Egyptian friends are aware of it, but choose to ignore it (and it is of course never spoken of). Egypt also has a large coptic community (around 10% of the population and close to 30% of the town where I live) so there is a history of tolerance (albeit broken by extremists from time to time - especially in the terrible times after Morsi was deposed)

However these things are of no concern to tourists and visitors to Egypt - tourists are welcomed regards less of their religion.

Anyway, enough about that - I'm supposed to be saying hello, not debating the safety of Egypt!

scott1328 wrote::wave:

Bacon or cheese?

Bacon - that's a super luxury here!!!

(possibly could be missing the point though)

Ironclad wrote::wave:

Hello, and welcome into the lifeboat ! This is our greeting for all new members and contains some useful stuff for you.

If you haven't seen it already, you may want to take a look at our New Members' Welcome Pack which will give you some helpful resources such as how to modify your membership display settings, how to navigate around the forum, point you to some threads which address commonly asked questions from newbies, and gives you some handy links to other sites which will help you develop your skepticism. It also contains our forum rules, which we ask that you abide by at all times.

If you're new to this type of phpBB software on forums, you might like to take a look at our Handy Hints for Posting On The Forum, which will show you how to change your text, insert images & youtube clips, and do some other cool stuff.

And finally, as a house warming present for you, here's a few laughs for your entertainment.

Thanks!! Had a look at the welcome pack and now off to make my first posts...

cg399 wrote:

scott1328 wrote::wave:

Bacon or cheese?

Bacon - that's a super luxury here!!!

(possibly could be missing the point though)

Correct

I would have also accepted cheese covered bacon, or cheese with bacon