Maybe I should go ahead and introduce myself here. I don't think I exactly deserve a thread to myself, but if it's the courteous thing to do I want to say hello to everyone.
My passport says I'm American, but I've lived most of my life in Japan. I feel less and less American anymore, especially given the recent politics.
Since I was raised without any religion, and don't feel threatened by fundamentalists where I live, I don't feel emotional about other people's beliefs. I'm not reacting against anything. According to the standard definition used on forums like this one, I lack belief in a god, therefore I'm an atheist. But I don't think of that as part of my self-definition, particularly. It's not like something I either worry about or hide from people.
My degrees are in painting and the philosophy of art. I came to Christian theology via its best exemplars -- The Divine Comedy, Renaissance Neoplatonism, the antinomian eccentricity of the Romantic poets. This means that I've never had to deal with the more rank-and-file Christianity of the local American church on the corner, and I am not interested in whatever the mainstream views are in red states.
So as we say in my neighborhood, よろしくお願いします、which I think translates to things like "please remember me," "please help me," "I look forward to working with you," and "please treat me well!"
My passport says I'm American, but I've lived most of my life in Japan. I feel less and less American anymore, especially given the recent politics.
Since I was raised without any religion, and don't feel threatened by fundamentalists where I live, I don't feel emotional about other people's beliefs. I'm not reacting against anything. According to the standard definition used on forums like this one, I lack belief in a god, therefore I'm an atheist. But I don't think of that as part of my self-definition, particularly. It's not like something I either worry about or hide from people.
My degrees are in painting and the philosophy of art. I came to Christian theology via its best exemplars -- The Divine Comedy, Renaissance Neoplatonism, the antinomian eccentricity of the Romantic poets. This means that I've never had to deal with the more rank-and-file Christianity of the local American church on the corner, and I am not interested in whatever the mainstream views are in red states.
So as we say in my neighborhood, よろしくお願いします、which I think translates to things like "please remember me," "please help me," "I look forward to working with you," and "please treat me well!"
