Center for Inquiry | Michigan Forums

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2008-05-06T11:44:04Z

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New Guy in Rockford

2008-03-17T12:35:44Z

Hi all, FNG here.

My background is I was raised Catholic and really started doubting religion when I started college in philosophy courses. I started reading Free Inquiry online a couple of years ago and most of it is logical to me.

Personally, I’m getting married in July to a wonderful woman who is a nurse. I’m back in school (again) working on my nursing degree. I have a BS in History from CMU and a BS in Healthcare Administration from Southern Illinois University. I was in the Navy for five years as a corpsman (medic) and was stationed in Italy and Memphis, TN during my service. I moved to west MI almost six years ago after getting discharged (thankfully), before all this Iraq business started.

Hi from Ann Arbor / Belleville

2008-03-01T17:07:58Z

Just wanted to say “hi.”
I live in Belleville and work in ann Arbor. I have three kids at all the school-age levels (grade school, middle school, high school) so educational issues are important to me. I consider myself an agnostic only because I think absolute statements about how and why the universe works flies against my rationalist approach. But I live my life basically as an athiest because William of Ockham talked me into it.
I’m currently trying to develop a Michigan centered futurist website. It’s currently just a blog until I can find enough contributers to grow it into something else.
I have a MySpace page centered mainly around my art addiction.
http://www.myspace.com/doctorkoan

I often let copyediting slide in forum posts even though I do quite a bit of it in my day job.
Other than that, here’s the cut and paste from my profile here…

Seven years as a newspaper technology consultant - over 90 newsrooms in 47 states.
Five years running and writing for the science fiction news site http://www.MarsDust.com
On-and-off stints as a graphic designer and illustrator
Currently a Pagination Crew Chief at the Ann Arbor News, running the Future Michigan Blog and writing a science fiction / bioethics thriller about Detroit called Combustion City Folklore. I also fancy myself an amateur futurist. I sometimes speak on science fiction convention panels about science fiction fantasies emerging in real-world headlines. Below is a link to a panel I was on with Canadian novelist and futurist Karl Schroeder, game designer Ron Hale-Evans and the Foresight Institute’s Christine Peterson. We talk a lot about nanotechnology, human biological modification and the ethics of it all.

http://www.archive.org/details/PosthumanALousyMarketingConcept

Derick here

2008-02-29T00:02:51Z

Hey everyone. I’m Derick.

I supposed I’ve been a skeptical freethinker my whole life. Strangely enough, I found skepticism and freethought through Oprah.

I was reading the Wikipedia entry on Oprah and I came to a link through the James Randi Educational Foundation, where I found The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe podcast. I suppose this was the affirmation I needed. I found my label!

Having spent the last couple years living in Denver and Seattle, I’m finally back in West Michigan. I’ll be returning to school soon for biology. I’d like to take that and study some field of paleobiology.

I’m excited to see what the CFI has to offer. This is the first group I’ll be taking part in with real people. Until now it’s been mostly cyberworld stuff.

Peace, Love & Reason,

Derick

Hello, I’m 27 in SE Michigan

2008-02-05T14:36:29Z

I caught a lecture by Ed Tabash on Public TV, had a link here, thought it would be a good place to be a member.

I grew up in a weak general Christian household, we’d go to church sometimes, and it was always understood that the Bible and the spin of each religion was just what groups of people today think could have happened in the past, mostly used as allegory, to teach you right from wrong and more general life lessons.

As I passed through middle school, I was always pushing “god” back - as I learned more biology, astrophysics, and history, I realized that any god would have to be only a Creator with little action in shaping the fates of today.

I actively engaged the Evolution/creation debate, with my best friend and father being strict Creationists. While my friend, who was taking the same biology classes I was, had “faith” that God made the environment that produced the Grand Canyon, layering up and carving down, in 3000 years, I decided that if there were a god as creator, then ‘he’ could use natural processes to achieve today from setting up whatever initial energy/mass distribution there was “at the beginning.”

Now, while I accept that I don’t know the answer, I have faith that there are no gods except the ones we create.

Recovering Cathoholic Atheist

2008-01-29T23:35:08Z

Just a quick hello to all! I’m from England, moved here when I was 19.....now I’m....37. S#*t !! that flew by!

Anyway, I’m a de facto atheist, and I like TOTALLY dig technology, philosophy, science, and.....oh hell the list is too long!

Hope things pick up around here. I’ll be dragging in as many friends as I can.

Your average free-thinking guy!

2007-08-16T21:29:14Z

I’m pleased to find a site in West Michigan of like minded people. I’m a divorced Father of two, a Supervisor, an Ex-Senior Drill Instructor that took an early retirement from the Marine Corps, an ex-Night Club Disc Jockey, I’m actually listed in the Disco DJ Hall of Fame, I know it sounds corny but it was hip back then, so stop laughing. I’m also listed in the Hustle Dancers Hall of Fame, not the line dance Hustle, it’s more a Ballroom dance, like Salsa on steriods, some people call it Latin Hustle, it’s an East Coast thing, you probably wouldn’t understand. I lean more liberal in my political views so therefore I tend to vote Democratic. I believe in evolution because I find it logical, observable and measurable while religious people insist you just need to have faith in what someone wrote in their Holy book many years ago. I believe all life on earth, and the entire universe for that matter, is connected. I don’t believe some spiritual being has created an intelligent design for life on this planet or an all knowing God, who coincidentally looks exactly like us, has predetermined every second of our destiny. I believe man is in control of his own destiny, that we need to work together to save our planet for the generations to come and that all living things should be considered equally important. I believe differing religious ideologies drive humans to war against their fellow man and to destroy our environment without much concern because they’re taught that their lives on this planet are only temporary. Their true home, their everlasting life, their 72 Virgins, will be rewarded else where, so if they trash this planet, why should they care. I believe this one life and this little blue marble we all share is all that we’ll ever have so we need to work together to preserve it.

arvind, global gypsy

2007-11-25T22:10:06Z

hey, i landed in gr late last year, and sadly haven’t met too many interesting people since.. looking forward to crossing borders and sharing perspectives with folks here

like some others, i grew up catholic

2007-08-03T23:08:34Z

hello folks. like some others, i grew up catholic, but never felt right learning that stuff. went off to college and promptly labeled myself ‘agnostic’ until about 5 years ago when i decided that i was actually atheist. the term just had negative connotations that i wasn’t ready to accept and agnostic seemed safe. in any regard, my whole family promptly followed along. this is a hard role to accept in west Michigan as many of you know. for example, my 5 year old son was at his little day camp the other day and another kid mentioned god. my son told the kid that there is no god. the other kid said that there is a god and then my son laughed at the kid for being funny (this is how the story was told to me). my kids are going to get me into trouble. heh. but i do tell them to just not talk about religion with other people and to tell folks that their faith is private. unfortunately, 5 year old kids are probably too young to be that responsible. ah well.

i teach at GVSU and am starting my 8th year here. i believe i had Rick Barnes in class previously if it’s the same Rick Barnes (he posted above in July). hey Rick. i won’t be able to make Wednesday night functions for a while as i have a tennis league on Wed. evenings this summer. perhaps in the fall. but, i do plan to try and make a Tuesday morning coffee chat, so i hope to see some of you there. cheers!

Hi kids! If you hang-out on GLHS talk…

2007-02-14T14:38:26Z

Hi kids! If you hang-out on GLHS talk, or the MHF chat list, then you’re no doubt acquainted with my ravings and rants. I’m the gun-toting, pro-choice, libertarian leaning atheist guy who is an armchair scientist, part-time writer and full-time mobile DJ. Above all, I love to learn new stuff! I look forward to learning some of it here!!!