Loviatar
Red Tory/SpongeBob Conservative
Where to begin... I'm Eija (ey-ya), a college student from Finland originally, though I've lived in Upstate NY for several years now. Religion has long been a fascination of mine, just reading up on different beliefs about what's right and what lies beyond our sensory experience. This board seemed friendly, diverse, and like it had a lot of in-depth discussion, so I thought I'd sign up and participate.
I come from a Lutheran background originally, and I have a deep and abiding love for the Judeo-Christian tradition, especially the Gospels. But, my personal search for meaning has led me in a more Eastern direction, since I see the "problem of evil" as a convincing argument against the Abrahamic conception of divinity. I have a lot of sympathy for the outlook of Taoism and Zen, as someone who struggles with chronic anxiety and sees their critique of forced action firsthand. Mindfulness really does help, for me.
Outside of religious discussions, I'm very interested in philosophy more broadly, politics (I'm a right-wing social democrat; "Christian Democrat"/"Red Tory" in European terms, conservative Democrat in current US ones), music, and cooking.
I should also explain my username too: Loviatar is a villainous goddess in Finnish mythology, an ice-cold witch from the far north. It's a handle that teenage-me picked out in an edgelordy mood, I've used it online for years and decided I'd create continuity by doing so here too. I actually only realized after registering that, since this is a religious forum, it could give the wrong impression.
Aaaanyway, this is getting long, so I'll just end with: it's a pleasure to be here, and I look forward to chatting.
I come from a Lutheran background originally, and I have a deep and abiding love for the Judeo-Christian tradition, especially the Gospels. But, my personal search for meaning has led me in a more Eastern direction, since I see the "problem of evil" as a convincing argument against the Abrahamic conception of divinity. I have a lot of sympathy for the outlook of Taoism and Zen, as someone who struggles with chronic anxiety and sees their critique of forced action firsthand. Mindfulness really does help, for me.
Outside of religious discussions, I'm very interested in philosophy more broadly, politics (I'm a right-wing social democrat; "Christian Democrat"/"Red Tory" in European terms, conservative Democrat in current US ones), music, and cooking.
I should also explain my username too: Loviatar is a villainous goddess in Finnish mythology, an ice-cold witch from the far north. It's a handle that teenage-me picked out in an edgelordy mood, I've used it online for years and decided I'd create continuity by doing so here too. I actually only realized after registering that, since this is a religious forum, it could give the wrong impression.
Aaaanyway, this is getting long, so I'll just end with: it's a pleasure to be here, and I look forward to chatting.