Hello,

I've been skeptical of religion my entire life. I had the fortune of being surrounded with books at a young age and learned to read at an early age, and my favorite topic was science. So, since my family is also Christian, when I went to Sunday School and began to be able to understand what the Sunday school teachers were really saying, I was skeptical because it went against what I already learned. Fast forward several years, and I start taking a more mature interest in faith matters around my junior year, though my investigations began in my freshman year when I looked into other religions, before deciding that religion wasn't really for me, and I didn't even know if I believed in god. In my junior year, I studied the different forms of Christianity, briefly considered myself a Christian ( however, I wanted to be Catholic, and my parents were Baptist) , and also became very interested in paranormal phenomenon. After a while, thanks to the DaVinci Code movie ( as silly as that may seem ), I became interested in the history of Christianity and while the way the novel portrayed it wasn't right, I did find out a lot. That and my renewed skepticism of the paranormal brought me around to being a non-believer. After I graduated high school, I started studying philosophy, particularly Friedrich Nietzsche ( though nowadays, other than his atheism, I don't really agree with much of what he says). Ever since then, i've read tons of books on philosophy, science, and the history of Christianity. Now my bookshelf is overflowing with books by the likes of Carl Sagan, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Gould, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Greg Graffin, Stephen Hawking, Albert Einstein, Nietzsche, Hume, and many other writers on philosophy and science. I also write my own work and am considering publishing. I'm on my way to being a Philosophy professor. Other than that, i'm interested in lingustics, particuarly the Germanic language family. I've studied the German language for a few years as well.

That's a brief history of my spiritual development.

Welcome to the forums, the one they call Brandon.

Was the Da'Vinci Code movie any good?

(October 30, 2010 at 10:39 pm)Saerules Wrote: Welcome to the forums, the one they call Brandon.

Was the Da'Vinci Code movie any good?

If you liked the book, it was basically the same thing with a few scenes taken out. Take that as you will. I saw the movie before I read any of Brown's books. I know he's not the best fiction writer but it's a quick read. I read mostly non-fiction and philosophy so when I read fiction it's usually to relax my brain with some pop-fiction. Even then, I tend to like comedy books..

By the way, Lewis Black's books are great. I think the people here especially could appreciate Me of Little Faith.

Well I did enjoy the book, so maybe I will add the movie to my collection next time I see it in a store.

I've no experience with Lewis Black, but the title is amusing

(October 30, 2010 at 10:51 pm)Saerules Wrote: Well I did enjoy the book, so maybe I will add the movie to my collection next time I see it in a store.

I've no experience with Lewis Black, but the title is amusing

Lewis Black is a pretty funny comedian. He's my favorite stand up act. He's a grumpy old guy from a Jewish background. His stand up acts consist of rants on various topics, usually politics ( he hates politics, so he's not partisan in any way. To describe what he says about the Democrat/Republican two party system, he calls it a bowl of shit starting at itself in the mirror ). He also rants about religion. Here's a clip from Red, White, and Screwed on evolution. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpqcBu3tpsk

I thought the book was crap. It was written like a movie. And the movie wasn't great either.

If you want good comedy fiction try Terry Pratchett, Friggin' brilliant!

P.s hi.....

Welcome! I'm the one that counts!

(October 30, 2010 at 11:01 pm)Zen Badger Wrote: I thought the book was crap. It was written like a movie. And the movie wasn't great either.

If you want good comedy fiction try Terry Pratchett, Friggin' brilliant!

P.s hi.....

I couldn't help notice a similarity to National Treasure. I liked the book because of that. I know it was written poorly, but it was written in a way that was a quick read. Like I said, i'm not a big fan of fiction. I do enjoy Franz Kafka though. He's a fantastic writer, especially if you are fortunate enough to understand the original German There's an almost Schopenhauer-ian element to the stories. For anyone that likes Edgar Allan Poe, you would enjoy Kafka and you can find English translations fairly cheap.

(October 30, 2010 at 11:12 pm)chasm Wrote: Welcome! I'm the one that counts!

So this is you then?

   

You'll be all set for Halloween then

Welcome to the forum, Brandon! While I am not fortunate to know German, I do read literature from German authors on occasion (mainly Nietzsche at the moment). Do you have any good suggestions for German literature?