Hello, my fellow Homo Sapiens. I salute you.

[Whateverist]

Welcome Don, very glad to have you here.   Are you Jack's older or younger brother and how many in your brood?  I'm the second of seven myself, all brothers except for my one sister who came fourth, smack dab in the middle.  I hope you treated your sister better than my lot did my sister.

Eager to learn more about you and of course any dirt on Jack you'd care to share.  Jack tells us she started out as a firm believer, you too?  Many of us here did.  On the other hand, maybe you still are - nothing wrong with that if so.  Of course there are more and less cool ways to carry yourself as a believer in the world.  Being Jack's brother you'd probably be one of the good ones.

Hi, thanks for the welcome. I'm the youngest of three. I was raised in a protestant home and was deeply religious up until I was 21 years old. Even though I am no longer a "believer", I hold my religious upbringing as something very possitive. I still read the Bible (The Spanish version Reina-Valera 1960 is a literary jewel) and am very interested in learning about the different religions of the world. Some days I like to sit down alone and drink a beer while I listen to Ella fitzgerald's spirituals. I believe that religion, dispite all of the horrendous manifistations it's had throughout history, is also something way more deep and complex than simply a set of supersticious beliefs. It's deeply embedded in the human psyche and has had a positive influence in many people. Maybe I'm just too nostalgic. LOL! Greetings.

I was right about you. The best theists don't believe outlandish things simplistically. I'm sure if you bring your full intellect and feeling to bear on the bible with an open mind you could find meaning there as easily as anywhere else, and make a good life. No one should expect more.