new to forum

[jfoldbar]

i am new to this forum and not really sure if i want to be here or not but still have to try.

something is stewing in my head recently and perhaps i want to discuss it. a short bit about me and the situation is:

im 40.y.o male. married for 10 years with 2 kids. normal guy. i was born and raised a jehovahs witness, but left in my early 20s and never gave religion a second though untill recently when one of my employees (im a trademans) suddenly read and became addicted to the bible. so i recently find myself having bible discussion/debate with him and as any christian he thinks hes right.
so i was thinking to discuss various issues with a stranger and thought this may be a good way to do it.
the problem i noticed when googling various questions is so many websites answers' are biased. if the answerer is a christian then his answer will have a religious based theme, and then another will have opposite.
i guess then i wonder if this forum has a bias either way? or just the people in it?

because i was bought up as a jehovah, i have a reasonable bible understanding. but i was always denied the chance to learn the other side. when i was old enough to leave home ect and find my own way in life, i was free to see things from other aspects.

i now have no belief at all. i dont believe in god, or i dont disbelieve in him. because i consider every argument to be inconclusive. so therefore remain on the fence. i am the type of person that needs absolute proof to believe something. any question mark at all is not good enough for me. and i realise herein lies my problem.

if i debate with someone, and they cant provide with total proof of their reasoning then i will conclude that perhaps they may not be completely right. this goes for both sides of argument.
while i consider myself perhaps biased towards science, this is only the case of science that has absolute proof. for example i do not believe in creation, but i also do not believe in evolution.


so i hope this makes sense to all. have i come to the right place for a discussion?
can someone steer me in the right direction within this forum.

[Divine Insight]

I think you'll find that on this forum you will find a wide variety of views and opinions.

I would even hesitate to say, "on both sides of the issue" because actually there are far more than two sides.

As far as pointing you where to go, I would suggest reading threads in "Christianity and Apologetics" and either responding there or creating a new thread that addresses the particular topic you might be interested in discussing.

Just for information, if you are interested I can give you my views basically in a nutshell.

1. I was born and raised into Free Methodist Christianity.
2. I was actually considering teaching the religion but first felt that I would need to read and understand the Bible myself.
3. When I studied the Bible for myself I came to the realization that it cannot possibly be true as written.
4. I currently feel 100% confident that the Bible cannot be true as written. And I'm confident about the 100%. As far as I'm concerned there simply isn't any room for doubt that it could be true as written.
5. I also hold that if something else is true (not as written in the Bible) then that would clearly be something different from Christianity, or any of the Abrahamic religions.

6. I consider myself to be agnostic in terms of the question of the true nature of reality. In other words, I am open to the possibility of some type of "god or higher being(s)" existing. There may even be some other type of spiritual or mystical essence to reality. I personally feel that if there does exist some sort of mystical or spiritual essence to reality it's probably far more along the lines of various Eastern Mystical religions, or Buddhism and nothing at all like the Abrahamic religions claim with their highly personified "Zeus-like" God figure.

7. I'm also highly educated in the science and I'm totally convinced that evolution is indeed a fact of reality. So I have no doubt about this either. However, I hold that this does not rule out the possibility of some sort of mystical or spiritual essence to reality. As I just mentioned above, Buddhism could be true and evolution would still be true. There's no conflict there. Evolution does not imply "atheism" or "Pure Secular Materialism".

8. Finally, while I keep a mind open that our reality could somehow be "Pure Secular Materialism" I find that particular scenario to be every bit as suspicious as a mystical reality. So for me personally, Pure Secular Materialism, is not an answer. It may be true, but it's certainly not an explanation for anything. But then again, neither is mysticism. After all, how could a mystery be an explanation?

Hypothesizing the existence of a "God" does absolutely nothing in terms of explaining anything.

But yeah, when it comes to the Hebrew Bible, or Christianity, etc. you could say I'm "biased" (I prefer to say that I'm simply well-versed on the topic). I am 100% certain that the Bible cannot be true as written. (or even close to that)

Sorry for the long-winded reply, but now you know that when you see "Divine Insight" post you'll know where I'm coming from.

Hope you enjoy the forums and that they serve your purpose well.

[Zzyzx]

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[Replying to post 1 by jfoldbar]

Hi JFB (we're big on ID shortcuts around here)

Welcome to the Forum. You will likely find a LOT of biases -- approximately one for every member. We all have our personal biases. However, the Forum itself is a 'level playing field'; meaning that no viewpoint, philosophy, religion, literature is given preferential treatment (except in specialized sub-forums).

The Forum is owned by a devout Christian who is extremely even-handed with all members. The Moderating Team is evenly divided between Theists and Non-Theists.

The watchword is 'civility'. We differ with one another but do so as gentlemen / gentlewomen. It is prudent to carefully review Forum Rules and Guidelines for each sub-forum.

I trust that you will find kindred spirits in these threads.


Z

[benchwarmer]

[Replying to post 1 by jfoldbar]

Welcome jfoldbar! As has already been mentioned, you will find all kinds of bias and opinions here. However, I think the advantage to this site is precisely that. You will get a number of views on any given topic and you will not just get one side of the story so to speak.

I would suggest a quick read of the forum rules and poke around in each subforum to see what they are about and what might interest you. If you don't want to start your own topic right away you can always just jump in where ever you like and respond to others. I personally find the "Christianity and Apologetics" and the "Science and Religion" subforums to be the most interesting as far as debate goes.

Do your best to remain polite and civil and you will be just fine.

[gordsd]

[Replying to post 1 by jfoldbar]

Welcome jfoldbor, I was brought up simply secular, but was always curious about my grandparents faith, and became a devout Christian at eighteen, taught Sunday School for several years, felt/believed I was called to be a minister, graduated from Bible college and seminary, pastored for ten years, then, gradually, became an atheist, now, after some time, I think there is something out there, but not the traditional Christian God of the Bible. I do not believe the Bible is the word of God either; however, I think the message of unconditional love, in parts of it, can give "real" meaning to our lives as people respond to such love.

Anyway, I have not been here very long, but, it seems to me, that there is a wide range of thought and persuasion represented here. Along with the other warnings, I got in trouble once for using cuss words in a response, so remember to watch that sort of thing.

Again, welcome, gordsd

[McCulloch]

[Replying to post 1 by jfoldbar]

I think that you have come to the right place. There are many points-of-view represented here and many who are willing to explain what they believe and why.

I am myself ignostic. That is not only do I not believe in God, but I don't know what it means when people use the word God. The God concept to me is incoherent and incomprehensible. You will learn more by questioning and challenging others' beliefs than by arguing your own.

[brainfruit]

[Replying to post 1 by jfoldbar]

I just joined for similar reasons. I have to ask, which of your co-workers points has made you think the most?

[jfoldbar]

[Replying to post 7 by brainfruit]

none of them made me 'think'.
everything he says ive heard it all before. 'end of the world, jesus coming, burn in hell bla bla bla'

i'd like to help him come to his senses. cause if he doesnt i gotta sack him cause its taken over his whole life and mind.

[marco]

i'd like to help him come to his senses. cause if he doesnt i gotta sack him cause its taken over his whole life and mind.

Then tell him that a good tree does not bear bad fruit; and getting the sack and turning folk against him seems to be a pretty bad product. Understanding wins more than does irritation. If God is nice to him and people are not, what does he do?

He's a small boy with a new bicycle; obsessed with his discovery. Remind him that people in the Holocaust believed more powerfully than he; and no one came to help when they prayed. There's a fine old Latin saying: laborare est orare - to work is to pray. That should help him keep his job.

[OnceConvinced]

Welcome! The great thing about this site is that no bias is given preferential treatment. Everybody can have a say and debate to their heart's content. There is no one here who gets to dictate what you should believe and who is right and who is wrong. (even though there are some here who try to do that)

You'll get arguments from all quarters.