[Enter witty title here]

[Nomarga]

o/

I made an introduction post in the "official" section a while back, but since this seems to be the particular section I frequent most, I figure a proper introduction is in order for you guys! From the original thread:

Hello former brethren!

I figure before I post on a thread, it's always good to have a reference point for who you're talking to (and it's just polite to say hi!). So here's a quick rundown of me:

I was a regular baptist for most of my life (saved when I was 8, baptized at 10) and felt "called" to the ministry, so after high school I went to bible college to train to be a pastor. After 2 years, things didn't quite work out (long story... sort of) and I parted ways. Fast forward a few uninteresting years...

I ended up moving to a new town and attending a new church. At this church, I met a pastor who had an almost identical religious background to mine, (we grew up in sister churches and had identical concerns about our denomination's doctrines) except that he had a few years in front of me and had reconciled his doctrinal issues and went ahead with becoming a minister.

Skipping some unimportant bits, we ended up having meetings and as a result of our conversations I decided I needed to re-examine my faith from the bottom up, as I realized that I had never really took a serious, skeptical look at it... I just always assumed it was based on solid ground. After a year of study (ending just this past March) I ended up coming out (unexpectedly) an atheist, as I could find no good evidence to believe in a theistic deity (let alone the Christian version).

So that's my religious history in a nutshell! My joining here isn't based on some desire to re-convert or anything like that, it's mostly just to browse the threads and maybe throw some ideas around if I feel so inclined. Thanks for reading!

Questions? Comments? Candy? Money?

 

[LadyOfMystery]

*Gives you some candy* Even though you're not suppose to take candy from strangers, I guess giving it out is okay.

Whats your favorite color?

Do you have any pets?

Do you like the forums?

Even though you said you have no desire to re-convert have you read anything that has made you go "Hmmm." Not trying to re-convert you, but I sometimes see things that make me think about it further, or research it.

And lastly... How are you?

 

[Nomarga]

*Gives you some candy* Even though you're not suppose to take candy from strangers, I guess giving it out is okay.

Eating candy from strangers is so exciting though! It's like a game of sugary Russian Roulette!

Whats your favorite color?

I'm actually not sure. If I had to go by my wardrobe (not counting sports clothes), it'd be various shades of blue or black.

Do you have any pets?

Not of my own, but I've lived with various dogs over the years. ♥ dogs, not so much cats.

Do you like the forums?

This place seems to be alright. I usually enjoy talking about and refining my religious ideas and this is probably one of the better places to do it!

I wish I could be "freer" with my speech and topics (example: removed "Pornography" thread), but I understand that the mods are trying to keep a strictly "Christian" environment that doesn't offend the consciences of the various believers.

It's much like the environment at the bible college I went to (who's environment I hated ). The difference is that I can click away from the forums at any time, instead of having to live under the forums' rules 24/7!

Even though you said you have no desire to re-convert have you read anything that has made you go "Hmmm." Not trying to re-convert you, but I sometimes see things that make me think about it further, or research it.

Surprisingly not. As I alluded to in the intro, I had no intentions of leaving the church, but after some time of reflection and study, atheism became the only intellectually honest position I could hold. Since I'm sort of an "unwitting" atheist, I would think that I'd be more susceptible to re-conversion, but practically all of the arguments I've read for Christianity (or religion in general) thus far depend on unprovable assumptions and so are pretty easily dismantled.

The biggest "road block," if you will, that holds me back from being a believer is faith. I just can't bring myself to believe in things for which there isn't a tangible thread of evidence (or sometimes believing things in spite of evidence) without serious cognitive dissonance. Unless some solid evidence shows up for the existence of a deity (and even then we have to establish what the deity is, or if it's theistic) I will have to continue to reject the theistic arguments presented by my believing friends.

And lastly... How are you?

Good! Finals are about here and next semester I get to start taking classes I'm interested in (Genetics, Cancer and Emerging Infectious Diseases... the fun stuff!) so my outlook for the near future is pretty bright! Thanks for asking!

 

[chinchillin]

Do you have any irrational fears?