I'm a stickler for how things came to be. I've been keeping a rough record of this Project as follows.

[align=center]Important Dates[/align]

May 9, 2007: Set up first set of forums on Freeforums.org

July 21, 2007 09:01 PM: First crash. I can get in after approximately 24 hours downtime. I lost exactly one month's worth of hard work including major new sections on the forums, and two-thirds of registered membership.

Jul 25 2007 04:59 pm: We get the domain name fightingfundamentalism.org and it is set up on MyBB, known as the New Forums, ready to go.

Aug. 12, 2007 10:03 am: I find myself locked out of the New Forums. According to the sign, the account is overdrawn. To get in, I have to pay a huge amount of money I don't have. I post a notice on the Old Forums (Freeforums where I started) and on exChristian and contact the people for whom I have contact info. Then I dig up old stuff from my hard drive to post on the Old Forums and hope for the best.

Aug. 26, 2007: (not sure of the day; it was approximately two weeks after the cancellation of the account) Mysteriously I can get in again. Everything is intact except for the logo. A few weird question marks inside diamonds show up where apostrophes or quotation marks should be. Otherwise everything seems to be fine.

In the days just before the first crash I had been stunned to see the visitor count climb up over 70. Someone was interested in my project! That was success beyond my wildest dreams. I never even planned the project to begin with. I just had an overwhelming conviction that someone should do it but that I should do it never occurred to me. All I could think of doing was raise the issue a few times. And argue for its validity. Finally someone said, "Why don't you set up on free forums somewhere and see what happens?" So I did.

What follows are posts and reposts from various times and places--all of them posted on some version or portion of FFFR. If you read it as a sort of journal it might make sense.

P.S. I see at the bottom of this post it says how many times I edited it. I didn't know it shows. I guess all that proves is that I am a stickler for more than historical detail--I am also a stickler for perfect presentation. Some would say I'm perfectionist in the wrong things because it's still far from perfect. At some point I just stop.

July 28: WELCOME
Originally posted on the New Forums

Welcome to everyone who has stuck with it and moved along with me over to these new forums. I feel deeply grateful to all who have joined. I am nearly overwhelmed that only days after establishing these new forums we already have ten members. All I can say is Welcome! and thanks for posting.

May 28, 2007 STATS AND OBSERVATIONS

Just now I took it into my head to check which threads or topics get the most views. Here are the stats of the moment:

Announcements

-The Dream is Alive and Well: 2 posts, 16 views; 8 views for each post
-Our Webmaster: 5 posts, 18 views; more than 3 views for each post

General

-Introduction: 3 posts, 51 views; 17 views for each post
-What is Fundamentalism: 1 post, 19 views; 19 views for each post
-The Reason I Fight: 4 posts, 16 views; 4 views for each post

Anecdotes

-Critique of Christianity: 6 posts, 46 views; more than 7 views for each post

Sources

-Some Websites, Forums, Blogspots, and Books: 5 posts, 52 views; more than 10 views for each post

Conclusion

A. There are three threads with more than forty views:

-Introduction (of a site called Foundation for Fighting Fundamentalist Religion): 51
-Critique of Christianity: 46
-Some Websites, Forums, Blogspots, and Books: 52



What do these threads have in common? The first two are about fighting fundamentalist religion and the last one provides sources with which to do so.

B. There are three threads with 10 or more views per post:

-Introduction:17 views for each post
-What is Fundamentalism: 19 views for each post
-Some Websites, Forums, Blogspots, and Books: more than 10 views for each post

What do these three threads have in common? I guess it might be said that all of them are about fighting fundamentalist religion.

It's a bit early to draw any definitive conclusions. However, based on the evidence so far it looks like I am not alone in the belief that fundamentalist religion is a social threat that needs to be taken seriously.

I conclude one other thing: I was wise to use a forum that shows how many people are looking in. I've tried starting msn communities and because of the apparent lack of interest (very few written responses), I lost stamina. This forum lets me know that there are visitors even though few people leave written evidence behind. Somehow, that does something for me. Thanks, folks, for looking in and taking an interest in this project.

May 19 2007: THE DREAM IS ALIVE AND WELL

Just to let people know. This dream has not died. It's gone underground for the moment in an effort to develop a root system for itself. Not much I can report officially at this point but I can tell you this. A few of us are actively researching possibilities to make this thing go places. People have offered services, resources, and moral support--all of which is deeply appreciated. I draw encouragement from the simple fact that the number of views is rising. Not fast because there's not that much here to view, but rising all the same. That is moral support.

As clarified earlier, we don't want just another atheist website. But if things go as we are dreaming, this might grow into something far more complex than I had originally planned. These lyrics from the seventies capture the essence of my passion:

[align=center]The Impossible Dream

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong
To be better far than you are
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far

To be willing to give when there's no more to give
To be willing to die so that honour and justice might live

And I know if I'll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I lay down to rest

And the world will be better for this
That one person, scorned, covered with scars
Still strove with the last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star[/align]


Adapted from a variety of sources. For more on the lyrics go here:
http://www.reelclassics.com/Actors/O'To ... lyrics.htm

What foe in our world is more unbeatable than fundamentalist religion? Not a one. And the elimination of that foe from off the face of the earth WITHOUT a similar or worse evil taking its place--that is to sole purpose of this project. Impossible dream? You bet! We may go down fighting--scorned and battle-scarred--but we will know in our deepest heart of hearts that we go down with glory--"that honour and justice might live." Nothing daunted, others will take up where we leave off.

How to make it come true? This is what we're working on at the moment.

May 21 2007: A PLAN!

There will be a tightly integrated website, forums, and chatroom, with interactive FAQ. This will allow people to help themselves to information--library/archives, and to find a group that meets their needs. There are many online groups as well as real world groups. There are books and many websites of information. Our aim is to bring this together into one place. Will we succeed? Impossible! But we can dream and work toward our dream.

How is this going to fight fundamentalist religion? By helping people out who want out. By giving them tools to deal with fundamentalist family and friends--that will spread the word even more. By sharing what worked and what did not work. For example, I have to write an update on the Anecdote I started last week. That case is not closed and I am beginning to get some insight.

[UPDATE July 26, 2007. The dream has not yet come true but it's still in the works. There might not be a chatroom at this point.]

Posted: Jul 21 2007 09:03 pm Post subject: CRASH

I have no idea where to go from here. The server that hosts this forum was down for about 22 hours and now that it's up again I see that a month's worth of work has been lost. Over half the registrations have been lost. This forum will go on but at the moment I am not sure if the lost info can be recovered. I am checking into it.

Posted: Jul 21 2007 10:14 pm

I have now sent an email to freeforums.org asking when lost data will be restored. Nearly two-thirds of the registered memberships are lost, a month's worth of posts, and an entire section of the site. Everything that has been done on the forums from June 28 to July 27 has been lost.

I will probably have to redo stuff I just set up earlier this week. I have copies on my hard drive of some of my posts but not of everything. ExChristian survived something similar earlier this year so I guess we'll survive but not without loss. If you see that either your membership or your posts are missing, please know that it wasn't me who deleted it. Please register and post again.

I posted about this on exC because many members originally came from there. I don't know how to contact the other members. Hopefully people will see this notice.

I may wait to do anything major until I hear back from freeforums.

Posted: Jul 22 2007 11:05 am

We're working on the case. Top priority is to decide whether or not to continue using freeforums. An offer has come in for a different (hopefully better) host.

Posted: Jul 22 2007 11:50 am

We'll get at the root of the problem and get it fixed eventually. But it may take time if we have to move to another host.

Looks like these forums will be up and down today. I tried accessing them a few minutes ago and they were down. Now I can get in.

I'll keep you posted.

Posted: Jul 23 2007 02:39 pm

Not a word from freeforums yet.

Brother Jeff has generously offered to help me set up on a new website with my own domain name. This will take a bit of time. Please keep checking here for updates.

The good news is that I have backup copies on my hard drive for many of the posts that were lost and we still have the Index of Sources. I am not quite sure yet what form the new website will take. Probably pretty much like we had, since people seemed to really like it. What I had was interactive and educational and we had a lot of visitors every day. The aim is for the new site to be just as good or better. I have not yet decided for sure on a domain name and all those goodies.

Here's one of my dreams: Closely link my site with sites like Brother Jeff's Christianity Is Bullshit (CIBS), exChristian.net, and The Secular Web. To be an information hub linking all the great fight-the-fundy groups in the world has been the aim from the beginning. Many sites have links to other and similar groups. The network is growing.

What I had was more like a blog because it was mainly just me posting. However, I like having it set up as a forum. That allows for the input of others if they so wish. Two-way communication is what keeps me motivated. Visitors probably don't know how much hope and encouragement I derive from their visits. Seeing that people are still visiting even after the crash, and that new people are joining--all of this has been of immense encouragement for me through these dark days. THANK YOU!

As to what is behind this website. A major question of mine is: What makes the fundamentalist mind tick?

The answer to that question should provide some clue on what can be done regarding the world problem of fundamentalist religion. I am working on my MA thesis at the same time as I am trying to keep this forum up and running. For my thesis I am studying the roots or history of fundamentalism.

I am reading history, sociology, theology, and lots of forums and websites on secularism, humanism, atheism, and the like. I'm even reading a bit of basic science, especially astronomy, now and then. I've been asked to write a column for Canadian Freethinker. The immediate challenge is to learn how to work with yet another software system.

Between now and Thursday I have to do some research so I can tell Brother Jeff what system to set up for me. *groan* I thought I had enough on my plate. On a positive note, to make all of these ideas come to life, the new website will have web pages with information like we do now (those weren't lost), and forums for interaction. As stated in another post, I found an amateur astronomer who is willing to collaborate with me to have a section on science. And the section on sources, i.e. websites, forums, blogs, bookstores, etc.. will definitely be part of any plan. That was one of the most frequently visited sections of the entire site.

Keep watching this thread.

I'll keep you posted!

Posted: Jul 24 2007 10:08 pm

I thought I had new forums and that they were ready to go. I actually posted here that they were ready to go. But they're not so I deleted those posts. We're going to get our own domain name and that won't happen for a few days. I figured we could just change the domain name when we got it.

So much for not being a techie. I guess things don't work that way. I moved quite a few threads over there today (and locked or deleted those threads on this forum) but I guess that wasn't the right way to do things. Gotta wait till we have our own domain name.

Posted: Jul 25 2007 12:39 am

Not a word from freeforums. I guess freebies (freeloaders who don't upgrade to their paid style) don't count. But we're definitely setting up with our own domain name. "We"=me and Brother Jeff at this point. It will eventually grow into a real website with forums, webpages, the works.

Please hang around. He spent time he didn't have to secure our spot on the web. I'm not sure what all I can say at this point. I am known for my impulsive dives into new stuff I barely understand. That has gotten me places I would not have gone otherwise, but once in a while it's good to wait till you get the go-ahead from someone who knows. In this case, I think I better wait.

In the meantime we can keep our thoughts a-spinning about topics to discuss and real-world problems to solve around the issues of, or relating to, fundamentalist religion.

PostPosted: Jul 25 2007 04:59 pm

I am pleased to announce that we now have our own domain name. See Foundation for Fighting Fundamentalist Religion at url=http://www.fightingfundamentalism.org

The stuff that was on the "new forums" has now been moved there.

The plan is to move the rest of the existing content from this forum to fightingfundamentalism.org.

Eventually, this one will be closed down. I will leave a redirect notice here when that happens. Your patience has been greatly appreciated and I hope to see you over at our very own place.

Thank you!

Aug. 12, 2007. SECOND CRASH

We were on the New Forums from July 25 till Aug. 12. That's about two and a half weeks. The thread about the second crash is here. As stated above, sometime over the weekend I was able to get back into the New Forums. I don't know what happened.

And that brings this saga up to the present day.

Mystery solved! Brother Jeff made a generous donation to host the New Forums for two months so I could recover the material. I guess he sent an email at the time but it didn't go through. Here's to Brother Jeff!

Since I cannot afford to pay for hosting I have now copied everything from this site to my hard drive for backup. Just so you know, I have to do it all manually so I might not get around to copying everything that gets posted in the future. If you post something you definitely don't want to lose in the case of a crash, you might want to save it somewhere.