Do mimsy atheists gyre and gimble in the wabe?

[Ryft]

Welcome. As you are a Christian, I will ask—if you do not mind—in which denomination do you belong? What are your specific theological beliefs? And why did you become a Christian?

It's not that I mind. I don't, really. But I do think it's fundamentally irrelevant in an arena such as this. On a Christian message board it is often relevant (e.g., Roman Catholic versus Southern Baptist), but here the juxtaposition is not so finely sliced, being rather Atheism versus Theism. So I identified which 'theism' I am coming from. It is enough that I am representing a perspective from "orthodox Christianity" without getting into the complications of theological distinctives. Not only that, it would also invite the temptation of pigeon-holing me even further ("Oh he's X, so he must believe A, B, and C"), which would detract from otherwise rewarding conversation. I hope this can be seen as a legitimate and fair response.

As for why I became Christian? That is a deeply involved and entirely biographical issue. I suspect it would take an inordinate amount of space to adequately explain. It began with an introduction to logic, which led to critical thinking skills, which I then turned on my own atheistic worldview in a ruthless self-examination. It failed the test, in a humiliating number of areas. The more I repaired it for logical coherence and consistency, the closer I drew to Nihilism—which was abhorent to me, since that is a black hole with an event horizon at which reason, knowledge, science, etc., ceases to have any meaning. So I tossed everything and started from scratch, as it were. I went worldview shopping, looking for one that was coherent, consistent, and within which reason, knowledge, science, etc., can be legitimate, intelligible and have meaning. I know that this immediately raises a hundred different questions and objections for quite a few people here...

...which is why I said it would take an inordinate amount of space to adequately explain.

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Your step-mother was a lesbian...yet she married your father, who I assume was a heterosexual male? Sorry, I just don't get that relationship!

Anyway, welcome to the forums. We also love debate!

Yeah, it wasn't until after 13 years of marriage that she was finally able to admit to herself that she was lesbian. It was a struggle for her, if you can imagine, but she eventually had to be honest with herself—and then with my dad, who was emotionally torn but tried hard to be supportive. My sister followed a somewhat similar route but more condensed: from about 15 to 18 years of age, she lived as a heterosexual female; then she was bi-sexual for a couple of years; finally she, too, had to admit she was lesbian.

I've been heterosexual all the way through. Still am to this day. Heheheh.