Obligatory Intro :)

[Jac3510]

Hey all,

Introductions are always good places to start, so here's a quick "About me."

My name is Chris. I'm 28, married to the love of my life, and have a beautiful 9 month old daughter. The SN is incredibly old - goes back to when I was a young teen on AOL. It was a family SN. I just sort of kept it when everybody else moved on. I've got more years than I care to count under my belt on discussion boards than I care to admit. I've kind of been forum hopping a bit lately. If anybody here has ever been to G&S or (I assume the now defunct) Ethical Atheist you may recognize me.

I'm a Christian. I won't try to differentiate myself from other Christians with an "I'm different because . . ." speech (hmm . . . does that qualify as an "I'm different because . . ." speech?!?). Everyone is their own person.

Philosophically, I'm a Thomist (which puts me in the Aristotelian tradition). Theologically, I'm a dispensationalist. Ethically, I'm a virtue theorist. Politically, I'm an independent conservative.

I will keep my educational credentials to myself. We put too much emphasis on credentials and not enough on arguments themselves. I'm not a fan of positions or titles. I believe that all men are created equal, and the constant desire people have to create orders of superiority saddens me. I've seen enough of that in religious, academic, governmental, and professional institutions to know that I don't want any part of it.

Lastly, I have no particular motives or reason for joining. I like forums and I like to talk to people about philosophical and theological issues. There aren't too many positions I haven't been exposed to, but I do like to stay abreast of what people are saying. To that, I look forward to getting to know the posters here. I've done a good bit of lurking, but I'll probably do some more before I jump into any discussions.

Thanks much!

[skwurll]

Welcome to the forum!
I'm sure you'll love it here.

[The Magic Pudding]

Welcome Chris.
Enjoy your daughter as much as you can, they really do grow too fast.

[Tank]

Morning

The Magic Pudding offers wise words. It only seems a blink of an eye since my eldest daughter was born yet she is expecting my first grand child in December.

Welcome aboard!

Regards
Chris

Useful links for new members
Mission Statement Why this place is here.
Forum Rules More of a set of guidelines really, upset Whitney (She who must be obeyed) and you'll find the exit door very quickly!
How do I use the quote feature? If you are new to forums this is an important feature to understand. The maximum number of nested quotes is 3.
Help desk. Any problems this is where to ask them.
What's on your mind today? The general chit chat thread.
Somewhere to discuss the fear of dying. Many ex-theists have to come to terms with death, this is a place to discuss this issue.
How to tell your family you are an atheist. Some suggestions about how to deal with this thorny issue.
Parenting Beyond Belief. The forum for discussing how to raise your children 'Faith Free'.
Just a little advice for new Atheists Some thoughts for those new to reality.
.

[Jac3510]

Y'all (uh-oh, just gave away I'm in the US South!) could not be more right about how fast they grow up. Nine months is no time, I know, but she start standing up in her crib yesterday. Unreal. It was only a few weeks ago should wasn't even strong enough to lift her head . . .

Anyway, thanks for the welcome, and congratz on the grand-baby, Chris. If we had known each other long enough, I'd have to tease you a bit by calling you Gramps! How's that for time flying. Sheesh.

[Tank]

Well sprog is due on the 3rd and my 51st is the 1st so I could get a really good present  

[Ned]

Welcome Jac3510

[McQ]

Chris, welcome to HAF. Thanks for the intro, too. It's very nice to have folks come in and give us a little background and some insight as to what they are looking for here as well. You'll have plenty of opportunities to talk about a wide range of subjects with people of hugely different beliefs here.

I hope you jump right in.

[Martin TK]

Welcome, Nice intro....

I agree and disagree with the whole educational credentials thoughts, however.  As a PhD, myself, I've worked hard to earn that title, while I don't try to shove it down anyone's throat, mainly because I'm not as smart as most of the others on here.  My area of expertise is NOT science or logic, so I tend to fail in those areas.  I do NOT equate intelligence with education in any way, I've met many "educated" people who were just stupid, and many of the most intelligent people I know never sat a single day in a college classroom.  My best friend calls himself "functionally illiterate" and yet he's worth millions and in a debate makes me look like a child.  We have a great realtionship not because of the differences we have, but in spite of them.  He's a great fishing buddy, and someone you want on your side in a bar fight for sure; but he also has a business sense like none I've ever seen before.  He started out buying cars, cheap, then fixing them up and selling them for a profit; then he went to homes, and eventually businesses.  Now, he owns and runs one of the most successful quail farms in the Southern US, and makes a bundle.  Go figure.

Anyway, welcome and jump right in....

Martin

[Jac3510]

Thanks again for all the warm welcome.

Martin, congratulations on the degree. I know you weren't telling me for that or any other self-gratifying reason, but congratulations nonetheless. The work that goes into it proves, if nothing else, a perseverance of character that most would do well to learn. I have the utmost respect for higher education. I'm also glad you agree that education doesn't equal intelligence. My point is just that there is a place for brandishing credentials. The classroom might be one of them. If I am going to pay a significant amount of money to learn a subject from an institution, then the people guiding my studies had better be prepared to offer me some basic proof that what they are telling me passes muster. After all, theoretically, I don't even know in that situation what I don't know yet.

So hang your diplomas from the office wall and put your letters after your name on your resume. It's appropriate. But in a discussion forum where everyone uses SNs rather than real names . . . well . . . I take it the atmosphere is a bit different, don't you? Any person of intelligence will know after reading a few posts of mine whether or not I'm a raving idiot or not. As you said, education doesn't determine that, and announcing my credentials (or lack-thereof) only opens the way for my ideas to be critiqued with reference to their origin rather than their own value. No one wants that.

And now I'm off to feed my baby girl. She just woke up from her nap. I love that little thing so terribly much!

[Cecilie]

Welcome Chris.

[Davin]

Obligatory welcome.

[pinkocommie]

Hello!  Welcome to the forum.  

[parrotpirate]

Welcome to the HAF!

And congrats to Tank! My girls are 20 and 12, and the grand-daughter is 9 months. I still don't know where all that time went!

The Magic Pudding offers wise words. It only seems a blink of an eye since my eldest daughter was born yet she is expecting my first grand child in December