A Curious Canuck

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Canuck

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May 15, 2011
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Hello everybody!

I am new here and apparently I cannot post on the Welcome Forum, so I'll do it here. I am an agnostic atheist from B.C., Canada, though I'm currently living in Alberta. I was raised in a fairly secular home, so I did not have much exposure to religion growing up besides the odd time an aunt would take me to church. (All I can remember from this is that we sang and got lunch afterward :p) Growing up, I was interested in Graeco-Roman mythology, Buddhism, and Shintoism, but the monotheism religions did not appeal to much to me, probably because their god(s) didn't seem as interesting to a teenage mind as a female warrior god whose chief attribute is wisdom (Athena :p). Anyways, to get to my point, I moved to Alberta to go to university, where I met quite a few Mormons (there is a large population in southern Alberta). Needless to say, this was a bit of a culture shock ^.^ I had no idea that young people my age went to church, and at their own free will at that! :p When I started to learn about what Mormons believe, I was a little (okay, a lot) surprised. Much of what they believe is in blatant contradiction with history and science (such as the belief that Natives were once Caucasian and not of Asian descent). So, yes, Mormonism was my first real brush with religion. However, that experience has prompted me to learn more about other monotheistic religions because they are actually a lot more interesting than I first thought. I began to learn a little bit about Christianity in various Art History and English Literature classes (you cannot fully understand Shakespeare without knowing a little bit about the Bible :p). So, partly out of curiosity and partly out of a need to better understand literature and history, I began to read the Bible. However, it is taking me a while to get through, especially with the amount of reading that I usually need to do for school. So, I will refrain from asking biblical questions on this forum until I have read and understood more of the Bible.

My goal in joining this forum is to learn from Christians. I am not here to debate or start arguments, though I apologise in advance if any of my questions are offensive to anybody. Trust me, I do not intent them to be so. I am the kind of person who wants to know anything and everything about everything :p I am genuinely curious as to why people choose to believe what they believe (or don't believe). I have a layperson's interest in psychology and neuroscience and so people's minds and what goes on inside their minds fascinates me ^.^ Additionally, I want to be sure that I have explored all the options out there so that I know I am not missing some crucial piece of evidence or information.

Thank you for having me here; I look forward to learning from you all ^.^
 

Angelina

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Hi Canuck!

welcomecat.gif


May the Lord our God bless you mightily in your endeavor to search for the truth which is in Christ Jesus our Lord and savior. :)


Be Blessed!!!
 

aspen

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Hey there.....

I am also a student of religion. I am glad you stopped by. I am Roman Catholic so if you have any questions about Catholicism, please ask. FYI, many Christians here do not believe the Catholic Church is a Christian church so to avoid too many arguments we may have to talk in PM or email.

BTW, I have read the Book of Mormon, The Pearl of Great Price, and most of Doctrines and Covenants - plus all of Joseph Smith's history - I've always been interested in LDS doctrine and faith from an academic point of view.

blessings
 

goodshepard55

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Welcome darling, hope you have a fruitful experience as you gather your information....Let me start by answering one of the questions I perceived in your op...I love Jesus and believe on Him totally...I do believe His Word the Bible from the first page to the last....but aside from that...I do not believe that when we die we just cease.....what would have been our purpose....just to cease....I do believe there is something after we die...now if someone believes something is out there after we cease here on earth...I would rather believe on someone who loves me and wants me to live a better life and treat people with respect, honor, love and loyalty..and maybe get to meet them after life, than to believe I just cease.....so if I believe that...then I also would like to believe...I can have heaven instead of hell....but the kicker is this......If I am right...I get to see the Glory of God and sit at His feet in Heaven....If I am wrong and we just cease.....I will never know that....and have hurt no one in my belief in a better life...

So in the long run...if someone believes in God and truly wants to follow Him...we change each day in our walk with Him...we develop a relationship with Him, we try to be like Him...He was and is Pure LOVE...so when we are just loving ALL...we make the world a better place...that is what stop the murder, the rapes.....and all other evil things....If all religions operated out of love....we would have a peaceful world
 

Comm.Arnold

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Well you are a rare breed of agnostic atheist, that is one who does not want to argue, Welcome to the forum.
 

aspen

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Welcome darling, hope you have a fruitful experience as you gather your information....Let me start by answering one of the questions I perceived in your op...I love Jesus and believe on Him totally...I do believe His Word the Bible from the first page to the last....but aside from that...I do not believe that when we die we just cease.....what would have been our purpose....just to cease....I do believe there is something after we die...now if someone believes something is out there after we cease here on earth...I would rather believe on someone who loves me and wants me to live a better life and treat people with respect, honor, love and loyalty..and maybe get to meet them after life, than to believe I just cease.....so if I believe that...then I also would like to believe...I can have heaven instead of hell....but the kicker is this......If I am right...I get to see the Glory of God and sit at His feet in Heaven....If I am wrong and we just cease.....I will never know that....and have hurt no one in my belief in a better life...

So in the long run...if someone believes in God and truly wants to follow Him...we change each day in our walk with Him...we develop a relationship with Him, we try to be like Him...He was and is Pure LOVE...so when we are just loving ALL...we make the world a better place...that is what stop the murder, the rapes.....and all other evil things....If all religions operated out of love....we would have a peaceful world

Pascal's wager has never been very satisfying for me, but I do agree that love is the best way to live - God or no God. I once heard a Christian say that the ultimate rebellion against a cold, cruel, Godless universe is to love passionately and deeply.
 

goodshepard55

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Hey there.....

I am also a student of religion. I am glad you stopped by. I am Roman Catholic so if you have any questions about Catholicism, please ask. FYI, many Christians here do not believe the Catholic Church is a Christian church so to avoid too many arguments we may have to talk in PM or email.

BTW, I have read the Book of Mormon, The Pearl of Great Price, and most of Doctrines and Covenants - plus all of Joseph Smith's history - I've always been interested in LDS doctrine and faith from an academic point of view.

blessings

Aspen...why do some believe that? ......Mercy if you follow the teachings of Christ and do as He ask are we not christian....I do not believe in some of the DOCTRINE...but I do believe the Catholic Church is Christian...Love you Aspen
 

aspen

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Aspen...why do some believe that? ......Mercy if you follow the teachings of Christ and do as He ask are we not christian....I do not believe in some of the DOCTRINE...but I do believe the Catholic Church is Christian...Love you Aspen

Thanks Shep! I love you too!

I used to believe the same thing about Catholicism before I joined the church. I didn't understand the doctrine. Then I met an educated Catholic and discovered I had been taught to reject what I didn't understand.

blessings
 

goodshepard55

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I still don't understand the doctrine and am married into a catholic family...my self.....I follow no denomination...just Jesus...was raised baptist...just easier to go by the Word than man made rules in my opinion...but the catholic churches I have attended are Spirit filled and on fire for Jesus...
 

HammerStone

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Welcome to the community, Canuck!

You mentioned one of my loves and that is literature. I wouldn't classify myself as the proto-typical academic at all, but I have the degree (in English) and I spent my undergraduate career seemingly focusing on the relationship of religion to great works of literature. Shakespeare is an interesting man indeed and he was obviously quite familiar with the Geneva Bible of the day, possibly in an interesting way. Your post made me recall a paper I did about four years ago on his play, Pericles. The professor I had during that time reminded me of an older Johnny Cash in more than his dress - and it was really a fun course because he enabled us to be autonomous in our writing and pick a topic we thoroughly enjoyed when it came to writing papers. He would, of course, approve the topics, but it was always an enjoyment to have something as broad as "Pick a work of Shakespeare and your choice of topic to write on." I surprised both my professor and myself with the amount of allusions that Shakespeare embedded in his work.

Later, philosophy kindled an interested in epistemology. I'm less on the neuroscience side of things, but I would say how our minds work intrigues me on multiple levels. I do believe things do not happen without reasons, and I find made in the image of God to really be a fascinating thought when it comes to how things work.

Believe it or not, but there is a steady rekindling of the younger generations and their love for Jesus. My wife and I are 23, and we are actively involved in a local church in many ways. We just added a 19 year old worship leader who is excited for God and have been blessed with some really awesome young families visiting us in their 20s. After I spent a lot of time in a local church, I grew to be a recluse Christian in my college years with the exception of some friends through a campus ministry. However, I've witnessed some great stuff from this generation.

But this post is sounding like it's way too much about me already. I sense a genuineness in your post that is, at worst, refreshing. I feel like a lot of the animosity between Christians and those who don't have faith is a result of actions and attitudes on both sides. Rather honestly, you're not going to offend me and most of the people here, within reason. There are difficult questions, but there are answers to those questions if maybe not obvious at first.

I'll admit that I hold beliefs that clash with science, not necessarily of the typical evolutionary variety, but I do believe science can be manipulated just as religion depending upon what is at stake and who may be involved. At the end of the day, the Earth is old, I may not agree word by word with the scientific perspective, but I also don't believe God will deny someone because of what they thought about how he created the Earth.

The Bible is an absolutely amazing piece of literature and it really does blueprint a faith that is unlike the world's other great religions upon closer inspection. Hope to see you stick around.