Be easy on me!

[Double D]

Hello all, my name is Denny and I am a proud to call Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior.  I know I'm quite outnumbered on this site, but what should I expect from posting on a site named, "Happy Atheist Forum"?  

A little about me:

I'm 34 years old
I'm married
My wife and I have two precious, beautiful daughters
I reside in northern Indiana
I am an account rep for a software company
Hobbies include flying (I'm a private pilot), motorcycling, mountain biking (in Indiana?  More like small hill biking), hiking, kayaking

My conversion story:
While I was raised in a Christian home, I did not truly become a Christian until two months before my 30th birthday.  Before coming to Christ, I was more of a theist leaning Agnostic (if that makes sense) in which I believed that there probably was a god, but that he/she didn't identify him/herself with any one religion.  One of my close friends is a Christian, and he was always glad to answer any questions I had, such as why he believed that Jesus Christ was real, why he believed that the Bible was accurate, and so on.  I later found myself wanting to believe, but my biggest obstacle in doing so was trying to harmonize the biblical account of creation with science's account of origins.  It seemed to help when my friend explained, while there truly is no harmonizing the two, both do rely on looking at the same pieces of evidence, but with two different pre-suppositions.  That helped immensely, but I still wasn't converted there and then.  Some time later, in what I can only explain subjectively as the work of the Holy Spirit, everything clicked for me.  My understanding of God's Word, including my status as a sinner, my need for redemption, the truth of human nature in the Bible, the research I did into biblical prophecy, etc...

The reason why I'm here.  For some reason, and I'm not sure if this is from God or not, I have an interest in Atheists and Agnostics.  I'm always up to a good conversation about religion and politics (though lately, a little less of the latter as though I'm a conservative, I'm feeling a little disenfranchised with the whole conservative/tea party movement).  If I don't know an answer, I'll tell you so.  I'm not afraid to admit when I'm wrong.  I try and respect rules, as long as they are reasonable.  I try and understand the atheist/agnostic point of view and will try to respond accordingly.  For instance, you usually won't see me respond with, "Why don't you just understand or believe!".

So anyway, that's me in a nutshell.  I look forward to eventually chatting with most of you.  Take care!

Denny

[pinkocommie]

Welcome to the forum!  Thanks for the thoughtful hello.  Religion and politics are both very intense subjects for most people, but I think people here do a pretty good job of staying civil.  I hope you enjoy it here!   :bananacolor:  

[Thumpalumpacus]

Welcome here, D.

While I disagree with the idea that the "evidence" for god is essentially the same as the "evidence" for atheism, I respect anyone who can change their religious outlook inherited from upbringing; I know myself how hard that can be.

[Tank]

Thank you for the insightful introduction. I frequent forums because I like to see the world through other peoples eyes. The people whom I would most like to have had the life experiences of would be David Attenborough or Michael Palin. David because of his unrivalled experiences of the natural world and Michael for his experiences of the human world. I'm looking forward to seeing the world through your eyes, I hope you'll get the same pleasure from my world view.

[karadan]

Welcome.

Not to worry, we are all really easy on people here. This is certainly the place to be if you like cordial debate without any of the flaming nonsense.

[Whitney]

Hi DoubleD, welcome to HAF.  It's nice to have a civil christian join...we've unfortunately had way too many lately that can't seem to find it in them to respect a lot of members here; I know they aren't representative of the whole but when they become a trend it can make people forget that there are nice and thoughtful Christians out there too.  So, if someone gets snippy with out of the blue, let me know.

While I disagree with the idea that the "evidence" for god is essentially the same as the "evidence" for atheism, I respect anyone who can change their religious outlook inherited from upbringing; I know myself how hard that can be.

I would disagree that a scientific view of how life started/evolved and a spritual belief in a creative god are necessarily at odds with each other.

[Businessocks]

Welcome.  I hope you're enjoying reading around this place.  I find it fun and insightful.

[The Magic Pudding]

Welcome Denny.

mountain biking (in Indiana? More like small hill biking), hiking, kayaking

Small hills often look mountainous to me when viewed from a bike.
There are a few paddlers around here.

[Double D]

Thanks for the welcome, I appreciate it.  My goal is to try and log on fairly regularly (3 or so times/week) and reply to what I can.  Thanks!