I am a liberal who owns guns.
I'm for measures to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, like background checks and closing the loop on gun shows, but law abiding citizens ought to have the right to responsible gun ownership.
Looking back on my own experience, my belief in religion had a few prominent pillars I built on.
First, the pillar of culture. In America, Christianity is part and parcel of the cultural umwelt. I went to church as a child, went to Catholic school, and attended various functions put on by local...
Someone I have found fascinating in connection to illusions and the power of suggestion and confirmation bias is Derren Brown.
He provides good examples of how we can fall for tricks and be led to accept things that are not based on reality.
I can't post links yet, but one great example is his...
I think my general even keel has to do with internalizing the Buddhist idea that grasping = suffering.
When I am mindful of this, I am usually happy. When I forget that the world does not exist to make me happy, that is when I have problems.
I came from an nominally Catholic home and attended Catholic school from first to third grades but never really thought of myself as a Christian until I had a "born again" experience in my early twenties.
The process of de-converting from fundamentalist Christianity led to a gradual shift from...
Hey, I found my way here when Storm came by the FRDB boards at Internet Infidels and extended an invitation to visit.
I thought it would be interesting to come by and see what kind of discussions are going on here and maybe jump in a few.
I like to discuss all kinds of topics, but religion is...