Welcome!

[His Name Is John]

It seems to me, that new members rarely post a introduction thread anymore. As such I am making this thread as a way that new members can say hi, and get to know a couple of people on the forums.

So to all the new members:

First of all, hello!

Second, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?

[kimberlygretchen]

I'm Kimberly-Gretchen from central VA.

Retired from just about everything!

A guy that I greatly admire, Bishop John Shelby Spong, would describe me as a believer in exile.

I come here to learn and to share, and heck… maybe even have a bit of fun!

k-g

[JonDarbyXIII]

[Replying to post 1 by His Name Is John]

Greetings All -

My name is Jon, and I am an atheist interested in civil, open discourse on all things religious. I have been thoroughly studying world religions in general and Christianity in particular for about ten years, and I've recently completed a book on the problems I see in the Bible and my journey to atheism.

I have a beautiful daughter who is my entire world, and I spend as much time as possible serving as a human jungle gym.

In what little time that is left over, I relax in my love for blues guitar.

[kimberlygretchen]

[Replying to post 239 by JonDarbyXIII]

Welcome aboard, JonDarbyXIII!

k-g

[WisdomCalls]

Hi everyone,

I live in western Canada. When it is not winter and dark outside, I enjoy swimming in the lakes, camping, and hiking up the various mountains in the area.

I was born and raised in a Christian home, but during my teens I had a bit of an existential crisis and started to dig into the reasons for belief in God. Authors such as Timothy Keller, C.S Lewis, A.W Tozer, Francis Schaeffer, and even St. Augustine have had a huge impact on me by giving me a richer, more fuller understanding of both the underlying reasons for faith and what it means to walk with God through life.

I work as an accountant, but I also have a B.Sc in Chemistry. I enjoy the sciences, but found it did not have the same kind of employment opportunities as the business world.

[pizzanui]

[Replying to post 1 by His Name Is John]

Hello everyone ^_^. I couldn't figure out how to post an introduction topic, but I'll get that figured out eventually. I'm so glad to be a part of this community!

Religiously, I'm an atheist (somewhat vacillating between nostic atheist and agnostic atheist). I say this because I am very firm in my (lack of) belief, and admittedly fairly biased against religion as a result. However, since I am a very firm believer in the scientific method, I am not beyond convincing. If met with overwhelming evidence, I am willing to convert, however the problem is not so much as lack of overwhelming evidence thus far as much as a lack of any valid evidence to support any religions at all. I am very prone to debate religion furiously, but I'm sure I can keep it civil for this forum, if others do the same .

Politically, I'm very left-leaning. I took the political quiz on isidewith.com and it said that I agree 92% with the Green Party (though I'm actually not very environmentalist XD) and 89% with the Democratic Party, so that's about where I stand. However, I maintain that I am not aligned with any particular party, and am actually very strongly against political parties in general (but that's another topic for another day xP). I am much more prone to discussion as far as politics goes, because I know that most political issues are not black and white or right and wrong. Except morality and religious issues involving politics. Those I will debate furiously as well, because I am strongly against religion or other things infringing on the rights of my fellow humans.

So that's about where I stand on most things. A few other things worth mentioning are that I live in Southern California, US, and am a self-proclaimed nerd. I am also currently in High School, so I may not be entirely informed on some matters, so my stance on a few issues, esp. Politics, may be due to misinformation or lack thereof.

I hope this was helpful, and I can't wait to see some of you in a debate soon ^_^!

[McCulloch]

Hello everyone ^_^. I couldn't figure out how to post an introduction topic, but I'll get that figured out eventually. I'm so glad to be a part of this community!

Welcome

… I am very prone to debate religion furiously, but I'm sure I can keep it civil for this forum, if others do the same .

It should not be conditional on others being civil. We should be able to remain civil when others are not. Think of is like I do; becoming uncivil is an admission that you have run out of civil replies and have lost the debate.

Politically, I'm very left-leaning.

Left leaning, in the context of American politics is centerist in the rest of the world.

[pizzanui]

[Replying to post 243 by McCulloch]

Thanks for the warm welcome! I see that I misspoke, maybe I should have said "as long as" instead of "if". Regardless, my civility is not contingent on the civility of others, I didn't mean to imply that, I just meant that as long as this site remains a place for civil debate (which it seems to be) then I will only debate in a civil manner, to the best of my ability. Sorry for the misunderstanding ^_^;

And I liked your comment about American politics XD. Sad, but true. I'm not sure how I would look on a European/Canadian/everywhere else scale, though I may still be somewhat leftist. I don't know, I'm far too busy engaging those over here who would teach creationism in schools (which is sadly legal in three states) to involve myself in the politics of the rest of the world xP.

Thanks again for the warm welcome. I hope to see you in a future discussion ^_^

[McCulloch]

Sorry for the misunderstanding ^_^;

Not a problem.

I am a nostic atheist. This means that I do not believe in any God or Gods (atheist) and that I know that my atheistic perspective is correct (nostic). However, if you think that you can convert me, go for it ^_^. I crave intelligent discussion. I am also looking for someone to debate one-on-one. Have a nice day!

I suspect that you mean gnostic not nostic (which autocorrects to nonstick).
I, myself am ignostic, I don't believe that the word god has a coherent self-consistent meaning. Read more Wikipedia.
Don't be in a great hurry for a one-to-one debate. Prove yourself first in the general debates.

[pizzanui]

[Replying to post 245 by McCulloch]

Ha! Oh, autocorrect... No, I did mean nostic, though I'm not really sure if that's a thing. I certainly am not gnostic XD. I figured that if AGnostic was not having a sure knowledge, then nostic must be having sure knowledge (nos = knowledge? It's pure speculation, and may be a false label).

To clarify, Theism or Atheism is a claim to belief or lack thereof, and agnosticism or nosticism is a claim to knowledge. So one could not know for sure, and then choose to not believe based on that(Agnostic Atheist), or one could believe and know for sure (Nostic Theist), or, in my case, not believe because one knows that no God exists (Nostic Atheist). At least, that is what I've come to understand.

I partially agree with some views of ignosticism, though don't identify as one

And for your debating comment, sure thing! I 'm in no rush ^_^

I'll see you in the forums

[McCulloch]

No, I did mean nostic, though I'm not really sure if that's a thing. I certainly am not gnostic XD. I figured that if AGnostic was not having a sure knowledge, then nostic must be having sure knowledge (nos = knowledge? It's pure speculation, and may be a false label).

Agnostic (from Ancient Greek [font=Georgia]ἀ[/font]- (a-), meaning "without", and [font=Georgia]γνῶσις[/font] (gn�sis), meaning "knowledge") was used by Thomas Henry Huxley in a speech at a meeting of the Metaphysical Society in 1869 to describe his philosophy, which rejects all claims of spiritual or mystical knowledge. Nostic is not really a thing.