So, what's on your mind?

[athenken]

Got anything you wanted to ask? (within reason)

 

[Cute Tink]

To start off easily, what does your username mean?

 

[athenken]

To start off easily, what does your username mean?

It is actually an abreviation of the first letters in my first and middle names and my entire last name.

 

[Cute Tink]

And what brings you to CF?

 

[athenken]

I was looking for a forum to connect with other Christians and to find out, in some ways, why there is such a rift between some denominations. Also, to find ways to generate traffic to my blog.

What brings you, an atheist, to a forum geared toward Christians?

 

[Cute Tink]

At first I wanted to start fights and generate traffic for my forum. Now I just come here for the fun discussions.

Do you have any phobias?

 

[athenken]

At first I wanted to start fights and generate traffic for my forum. Now I just come here for the fun discussions.

Do you have any phobias?

No phobias, per se, meaning there is nothing I have an irrational fear of, that I know of; however, I do not care for spiders, centipedes, and some other insects.

Have you learned anything positive about Christianity since you started frequenting this site?

 

[Cute Tink]

I have met several rather nice people and it has tempered my opinion of some denominations of Christianity (who had initially presented themselves to me by telling me I was a terrible parent and going to hell) and then again, I have seen several people on here who are as judgmental as those people and I avoid them.

What do you think about atheists in general and has your experience on here influenced that opinion?

 

[athenken]

I have met several rather nice people and it has tempered my opinion of some denominations of Christianity (who had initially presented themselves to me by telling me I was a terrible parent and going to hell) and then again, I have seen several people on here who are as judgmental as those people and I avoid them.

What do you think about atheists in general and has your experience on here influenced that opinion?

The atheists I have met in here, and in other forums, would generally fit into one of two groups.

1) Professional trolls whose only purpose is to incite flame wars and do not bring anything really positive to a discussion

2) Intelligent people who are genuinly interested in fleshing out a topic and trying to understand other people's points of view.

I get the impression that many, but not all, atheists may have actually grown up in a church of some denomination, usually Catholic, and were disallusioned by an act or event of some kind, such as being looked down upon by some erroneously self-rightious believer trying to lord their "piety" over other people.

I may have been guilty of that to a degree in the past, but due to experience and study I have come to understand that I am in no position to judge anyone else "lest I be judged" even more harshly.

What is your background?

 

[Cute Tink]

I grew up in a house that didn't embrace religion but didn't shun it either. When I said I wanted to try going to church as a kid (my friends went), so my parents took me. It didn't last long, but I still told people that I believed in God. In middle school, I started to think about whether I did or not. In high school, I tried going to church on my own. It didn't take again and I really started to doubt to the point where I realized that I just didn't believe. I have since read much of the Bible and I have never felt compelled to start believing again.

Have you always been Christian? What denominations have you been a part of?

 

[athenken]

I grew up in a house that didn't embrace religion but didn't shun it either. When I said I wanted to try going to church as a kid (my friends went), so my parents took me. It didn't last long, but I still told people that I believed in God. In middle school, I started to think about whether I did or not. In high school, I tried going to church on my own. It didn't take again and I really started to doubt to the point where I realized that I just didn't believe. I have since read much of the Bible and I have never felt compelled to start believing again.

Have you always been Christian? What denominations have you been a part of?

It sounds like you have experienced what many kids experience in many churches, a real investment by the leadership of the church in the kids of the congregation. I also experienced that, yet kept my faith.

I grew up in a Christian Reformed church, moved out when I was 23, attended a non-Denominational church (mega-church), then got married and started attending an Assembly of God (AG) church. While attending that church we would visit my wife's brother, who lived in the San Diego area, who attended a Presbyterian church (PCA, used to be OPC). While visiting them from time to time we would attend church with them. This reintroduced me, and introduced my wife to a number of Calvinistic Reformed doctrines such as Covenant succession. My wife grew up in AG and Baptist churches and was never exposed to these teachings. So when she started discovering Reformed theology she felt like it she was becoming a Christian all over again.

This is really the problem with many of the mega-churches, and specifically the more liberal churches. In efforts not to "offend" anyone they do not dive into much theology or doctrines and replace it with rock concerts and catch-phrases. That is the problem with the AG church we attended. The services were fun and "inpirational" but they always left you feeling like there was something you were missing.

Eventually, due to needing to find work we moved around an eventually found an OPC church with a tremendously encouraging church-family and an extremely blessed pastor who routinely delivers sermons that are rich in theology and sound biblical doctrine.

What denomination(s) have you attended?

 

[Cute Tink]

I know I have been to a non-demoninational church, but I'm not sure what other church I attended as a kid. I have also been to a service or two at a Catholic church (funeral) and a Bar Mitzvah and I'm pretty sure I went to a couple other Jewish services too. I haven't done a lot of regular attending outside of that.

Do you have conversations with door-to-door religious visitors?

 

[athenken]

I know I have been to a non-demoninational church, but I'm not sure what other church I attended as a kid. I have also been to a service or two at a Catholic church (funeral) and a Bar Mitzvah and I'm pretty sure I went to a couple other Jewish services too. I haven't done a lot of regular attending outside of that.

Do you have conversations with door-to-door religious visitors?

I have in the past. Gotten into an argument with a couple of Mormons, but otherwise I haven't really spoken to too many. Some Jehovah's Witnesses were canvasing our neighborhood recently, but I wasn't home. The spoke to my wife, but she didn't have time to get into any kind of conversation with them.

You have to give them credit for their passion for evangelism, even though there are a great many holes in their theology.

 

[Cute Tink]

Those are actually 2 groups that have always been very polite to me, even when I was rude (something I've moved beyond now).

If you had the opportunity, which planet would you like to visit?

 

[athenken]

Those are actually 2 groups that have always been very polite to me, even when I was rude (something I've moved beyond now).

If you had the opportunity, which planet would you like to visit?

Real or imagined?

 

[SparkyMaddie]

Are you a native to California?>

 

[athenken]

Are you a native to California?>

Nope, grew up in Wisconsin. Moved to California in '97.

A little bit of useless trivia for ya, but what famous person passed away the weekend of Labor day that year?

 

[ForeverHarmony]

What's your profile pic a picture of?

 

[athenken]

What's your profile pic a picture of?

It is of a print called "The Accolade". I am not completely sure about the history behind it, but I think it is a depiction of King Arthur's wife bestowing some blessing on one of the knights of the round table.