..ant Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Hello and Happy New Year to you all! My name is Anthony (friends call me 'ant') and I found this board a few days ago. I plan to roam around and comment as I find time. Already I very much appreciate the open-mindedness I've seen on this board, and the well-moderated nature of the board that shows an effort to keep it that way. The direction I'm coming from to this board is that of a self-defined secular Christian, which I came to by way of a Roman Catholic upbringing, a brief and unsatisfying flirtation with fundamentalism in my early teens, and then a long re-thinking of everything I believed about God, Jesus, church, religion, morality, etc. At the heart of it, for me, it's really about attaching a few admittedly insufficient words to the meaning and purpose we find within ourselves, each other, and the universe. There are as many valid paths to expressing our meaningfulness as there are people. My starting points are two. First, I have a secular worldview, by which I mean that I embrace skepticism, scientific investigation, and I reject all belief in supernatural forces and causes. Second, the story of Christ is the story that resonates most deeply within me and goes far beyond my seeing him as a wise teacher or moral guidepost, but truly as the story of a person who was one with God. For me, God is love and everyone that loves is born of God and knows God. I see that as going to the heart of Jesus' teachings and example and to the larger story of Christ. Everything else, I believe, are symbols and mythology that we have built up around our search for meaning and purpose. Thus, while I embrace symbols and mythology as a way to "get our heads around" the mystery of the meaning of our lives, I also reject all of the fundamentalism, superstition, orthodoxy and dogma that separates people of good will. I look forward to spending time on this board, sharing a few thoughts, and most importantly, to learn from and to be challenged by others to help me grow outside my limited perspective. ..ant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillM Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Welcome, Ant! Glad you found us! I think many of us can resonate somewhat with your journey, but you'll also find a wide variety of views and experiences here which make this, imo, one of the best Christian forums on the net. So jump in, share when you can, and have fun! ws Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glintofpewter Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Hey, Any, Welcome aboard. Well drafted introduction; I wish I had said that and will keep part of it with me. I am glad you are here. Do the dot and dot before "ant" represent ant tracks or all the words that might end in "..ant"? Dutch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soma Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Ant welcome and look forward to your post. Happy New Year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulS Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Welcome, Ant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..ant Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Thank you all for your welcome. ..ant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.