KitKatMatt's AMA

[KitKatMatt]

Let's give this thing a whirl

 

[Jack of Spades]

So, what's the story behind "Agnostic" faith icon? I remember you saying something about God somewhere, but you seem to have an agnostic label, that's why I'm asking about it.

 

[KitKatMatt]

So, what's the story behind "Agnostic" faith icon? I remember you saying something about God somewhere, but you seem to have an agnostic label, that's why I'm asking about it.

Several years ago, I switched from calling myself a Christian to calling myself an atheist. This was because I was just opening my eyes to how my church screwed me up. Those people really did a lot of emotional damage on me that took a long time to correct (some of it still remains to this day, and probably will always remain).

Then I found this website, and some Christians here were so different from the people I grew up with. They were so much more open and accepting, and I still had the desire in me to be part of the religion. I felt safer to do that, so I came back to Christianity again.

However, CF was also a bad influence. Several users began talking down to me in threads. I remember a couple very vividly, they acted nice but when I commented on a thread where someone asks a Christian opinion, they would scoff at me and say "this thread is for serious believers" and call me "lukewarm". This was obviously because I believed in a different way than they did, but it was an awful way to be treated. One would constantly berate me with pet names, like they were talking to a child, and follow them up with "explaining" obvious things in a very belittling manner.

Looking at the options for beliefs given by CF, I cannot find one that fits me any longer. I refuse to call myself a Christian any more, because I refuse to be part of the same label that those people are a part of. My beliefs are still the same, but the closest label I could land on was "agnostic". I would have called myself an agnostic Christian before that stuff happened anyways, so it's not a giant leap.

Now I have to deal with people assuming they know exactly what I believe all the time because of this label, but that is unavoidable I guess. I didn't want people to assume I am the same as those people who chased me from the Christian label, so I must take up another label open to assumption.

 

[Jack of Spades]

Thanks, makes sense. I think there is a demand for more labels for people who are somewhere close to Christianity, but not quite in the flock. I've been trying to invent such labels, but haven't done very well at it so far.

 

[KitKatMatt]

Thanks, makes sense. I think there is a demand for more labels for people who are somewhere close to Christianity, but not quite in the flock. I've been trying to invent such labels, but haven't done very well at it so far.

I'd be interested in what labels you have come up with

I personally think labels serve a very good purpose. I have finally been able to define myself with what I have learned these past few years on the internet, whereas before I only could call myself "weird" and "broken" because I did not fit in at all with the environment I was raised in. So this stuff is really important to me

 

[Jack of Spades]

I'd be interested in what labels you have come up with

Well, technically this is your AMA but I answer in here anyways since you asked.

These are my best attempts for myself, no quarantee how well they would work for you:
Theistic mystic
Eclectic mystic
Christianity-influenced theist
Christianity-inspired theist
Religious parasite (it's ironic one, I use the Christian religion as my "host" and feed on it's tradition for inspiration)

But none of those is totally satisfying for me. Best phrase I've came up to describe myself with so far is "Too Christian to be anything else, but not Christian enough to be Christian"

I personally think labels serve a very good purpose.

I agree, many people say they hate labels but I love them. I think it's nice to find something descriptive with what to call myself. I used to aswell think that there is something profoundly wrong with me, but finding new labels helps alot even if they don't solve the problem totally.

 

[KitKatMatt]

Well, technically this is your AMA but I answer in here anyways since you asked.

These are my best attempts for myself, no quarantee how well they would work for you:
Theistic mystic
Eclectic mystic
Christianity-influenced theist
Christianity-inspired theist
Religious parasite (it's ironic one, I use the Christian tradition as my "host" and feed on it's tradition for inspiration)

But none of those is totally satisfying for me. Best phrase I've came up to describe myself with so far is "Too Christian to be anything else, but not Christian enough to be Christian"





I agree, many people say they hate labels but I love them. I think it's nice to find something descriptive with what to call myself. I used to aswell think that there is something profoundly wrong with me, but finding new labels helps alot even if they don't solve the problem totally.

I really like "Christianity-influenced theist" and "Christianity-inspired theist"!

It makes me happy to see that someone else feels the same way about labels.

 

[Jack of Spades]

Let's assume I some day travel to Texas, what's your list on following things:

1.) What three sights foreigner should go and see in Texas?
2.) What three foods foreigner should eat in Texas?
3.) What three activities foreigner should participate in, in Texas?
4.) What are the three most important things foreigner must know about Texas?

 

[KitKatMatt]

Let's assume I some day travel to Texas, what's your list on following things:

1.) What three sights foreigner should go and see in Texas?
2.) What three foods foreigner should eat in Texas?
3.) What three activities foreigner should participate in, in Texas?
4.) What are the three most important things foreigner must know about Texas?

Haha, to be honest I might not answer this in the best way because I really dislike my home state.

1. Don't know anything interesting on this one, personally. A lot of people like seeing historical landmarks, but all the ones around where I live are extremely boring. The Alamo and the Riverwalk are popular, but I dislike both of them (only a bit of the Alamo is left, and the water in the Riverwalk is filthy and full of garbage).

2. I like food so this one is all me! Biscuits and gravy, chicken fried steak, and honestly anything you've ever eaten before but this time deep fried.

3. Drive for 4 hours and see absolutely nothing the whole time. I honestly find that humbling and relaxing (even though it's a huge waste of gas). There's nothing else really interesting to do here that screams "Texas" that I'm interested in.

4. "Bless your heart" is a backhanded remark, always keep your gas tank full (see #3), keep to the big cities because the rural areas go from sad to terrifying.

 

[Jack of Spades]

Haha, to be honest I might not answer this in the best way because I really dislike my home state.

Haha, you're not really doing a good job at promoting the tourism there! Have you ever considered moving some place else then if you don't like it there?

2. I like food so this one is all me! Biscuits and gravy, chicken fried steak, and honestly anything you've ever eaten before but this time deep fried.

I like everything that's pan fried so I'm pretty sure I would love the deep fried food there!

btw. I got hungry after googling all those food pictures...

3. Drive for 4 hours and see absolutely nothing the whole time. I honestly find that humbling and relaxing (even though it's a huge waste of gas). There's nothing else really interesting to do here that screams "Texas" that I'm interested in.

That actually sounds like my type of activity, cause I'm a pretty contemplative person. How's the landscape like? Link some pictures?

I have to ask, do you own a cowboy hat? I have this picture of Texans in my head that everybody there wears one, I know it's a stereotype but I just have to ask

 

[KitKatMatt]

Haha, you're not really doing a good job at promoting the tourism there! Have you ever considered moving some place else then if you don't like it there?

I would love to move, yes. Unfortunately I don't have the money to do so at the moment, and I'm also disabled and can't live alone. So the only way I could move is if I moved in with some friends who were out of state (actually planning on doing this in the future). There's even a little talk about moving out of the country, but I won't think about that seriously until I know I can live alright out of state.

I like everything that's pan fried so I'm pretty sure I would love the deep fried food there!

btw. I got hungry after googling all those food pictures...

The food is so horribly unhealthy, but I would love to eat it every day! Man I love food D:

That actually sounds like my type of activity, cause I'm a pretty contemplative person. How's the landscape like? Link some pictures?

The landscape goes from extremely flat (where I live), to what other people call "hills" but I call mountains (growing up in total flatness has that effect on you lol).

Here's a picture from my last trip to Dallas:

I was absolutely ecstatic to see land like that. I've taken trips to hilly places before but it is usually several years between them, so I'm amazed every time I see them again. Flat places like where I live look like this (not my pic):

If Google is telling the truth, that's from around where I live (it looks exactly like it so I am inclined to believe it).

I have to ask, do you own a cowboy hat? I have this picture of Texans in my head that everybody there wears one, I know it's a stereotype but I just have to ask

I don't own a cowboy hat (or things like cowboy boots), but your picture is actually really accurate. I also live in a rural area, so that might be part of it, but tons of people wear cowboy hats/boots/general cowboy getup around here. I saw someone slowly riding their horse down the main highway one day done up in full cowboy gear, lol.

The few times I've been in big cities in Texas, there are always tons of people in cowboy hats!

I'm just not a real big fan of "cowboy culture" or even southern culture (except the food, the food I love), so I don't really feel like I belong here, haha.

 

[Jack of Spades]

Okay, so the "cowboy state" image was not just my imagination. Now I'm sure that if I make my trip to Texas I'm definetly going to wear a cowboy hat!

That hilly road picture is cool. The impression is surprisingly similar to Finland, if I had looked at it quickly I could have thought it's from here. It's more hilly, but in most roads here, all you're going to see is endless forests.

 

[KitKatMatt]

If you want some good quality cowboy gear, make sure to Google the location of wherever you're going and I'm sure you'll find something cool!

Most of the drive is either flat plains, or forests. Or flat plains that line the road with tons of woods to keep the plains private, lol.

 

[Jack of Spades]

If you decided to move out of the country, where would you go?

I think it's a bit unfair that english-speakers have so many places to choose from in the world without having to learn new languages. In Europe, if you want to move just couple hundred miles, it means having to speak another language. That's one huge bonus for americans for having a large country with single language.


The fiction questions:

- What do you like better, archetypical heros/heroines/villains or more complex/gray characters?

- Should the damsel save the knight in fairytales? (the feminist-question!)

- What's better, allegorical story about real life, or story that's pure made-up fiction?

 

[KitKatMatt]

If you decided to move out of the country, where would you go?

I think it's a bit unfair that english-speakers have so many places to choose from in the world without having to learn new languages. In Europe, if you want to move just couple hundred miles, it means having to speak another language. That's one huge bonus for americans for having a large country with single language.


The fiction questions:

- What do you like better, archetypical heros/heroines/villains or more complex/gray characters?

- Should the damsel save the knight in fairytales? (the feminist-question!)

- What's better, allegorical story about real life, or story that's pure made-up fiction?

I really like the idea of Canada, or Sweden. I'd need to learn Swedish if I went to Sweden, and I'm willing to take up that challenge. I might try to learn as much French as possible if I moved to Canada (looking on the Atlantic side).

I like more complex characters.

I'd like to see that happen much more often, for sure. It doesn't need to happen all the time, or happen as a rule, but mix it up a little! Even though the characters don't even have actual genders, I really like Wall-E because of the way they shake up how the main characters act in relation to the clearly assigned artificial genders.

I honestly like both!

 

[Jack of Spades]

Hmm, interesting. I don't know really anything about Canada, but moving from US South to Sweden could likely make for bit of a culture shock. About what you said fitting in with Christians in your place, I think it's a safe bet that you wouldn't have those problems with Swedish ones. I believe Swedish Christians are probably the most liberal ones on Earth. Scandinavian standards go like: If you believe that there is a God = you're conservative Christian

Swedish is very close to English imo, I believe it's not huge obstacle for American. In our Swedish classes at school, teacher used to get pretty frustrated cause everyone in the class had a habit of trying to patch up sentences with English words if we didn't know the Swedish ones. We thought it works just fine cause they're so similar, but she didn't agree...

Welcome to the cold and godless Scandinavia if you end up there one day!

 

[KitKatMatt]

I have learned a bit about the culture from my aunt, who moved there many years ago. She picked up Swedish very fast, I hope I could learn that quickly (she's already expanded to many other languages that are closely related to Swedish). From what I know (which honestly isn't a lot but still), I'd love to at least visit

After living my whole life in Texas, I'm more than ready for the cold! And the dark, lol.

 

[Jack of Spades]

All those "Viking countries", Sweden, Norway and Denmark speak languages that are so close to one another that I'm not sure is it more like a strong dialect of the same language, or actually different language. Bless their hearts! (was that proper usage?)

Oh well, I guess I've done my share of chatting for a while in your AMA. I should probably take a break and give other people a chance to interview you too!

Lycka till med imlärning svenska!

 

[KitKatMatt]

Thanks for all of your questions!

 

[Ubuntu]

Okay, I'm not sure how you feel about the stories in the Bible, but if you had the chance to speak with one Biblical person (except Jesus), who would it be and why?