Polite Introduction

[John Ryan]

Dear members of PhatMass. I am not sure if this is the proper place for an introduction, but it seemed the best considering the options available. Forgive me boorishness if I have erred. I was recommended to join this forum by a friend on another forum who has heard good things about PhatMass through a third-party friend. So far, from surveying the boards, it seems like a pretty enjoyable place. 

 

I come in search of a new forum, since I have become increasingly disillusioned with another Christian Forum I used to haunt. I have become alienated in my discussions with Protestants for the most part, and I am seeking a place to fellowship with likeminded Roman Catholics. So for example, it appears commonplace in my previous discussions to find hostile attitudes towards non-Christian religion. Exclusivist attitudes — all non-Christians are damned — reign and are the norm, and it has become a stumbling block in my relationship with God. 

 

On a little more personal note, I am a 24-year-old political philosophy grad student studying radical political traditions, primarily Marxian and Hegelian philosophies. Considering my interest in philosophy, I have a profound interest in theology, even though I do not have enough time to read as much as I want to.  I was raised as a mixture of Roman Catholicism and Christian Fundamentalism — the theology was mostly evangelical and the ritual Catholic. Disillusioned, at sixteen I rejected all religion and became an metaphysical naturalist, drawing inspiration from Richard Dawkins, Richard Carrier and Christopher Hitchens. Yet, once I began to study philosophy more and had a deeply spiritual experience, I reinvestigated religious belief and within a few months re-converted to Roman Catholicism. 

 

So that is me. It is nice to meet all of you. 

[Ice_nine]

get off my lawn

[Oremoose]

Welcome I hope you enjoy it here...  :cheeese:

 

Edited September 7, 2013 by Oremoose

[Lil Red]

welcome to phatmass. :) 

[Selah]

Dear members of PhatMass. I am not sure if this is the proper place for an introduction, but it seemed the best considering the options available. Forgive me boorishness if I have erred. I was recommended to join this forum by a friend on another forum who has heard good things about PhatMass through a third-party friend. So far, from surveying the boards, it seems like a pretty enjoyable place. 

 

I come in search of a new forum, since I have become increasingly disillusioned with another Christian Forum I used to haunt. I have become alienated in my discussions with Protestants for the most part, and I am seeking a place to fellowship with likeminded Roman Catholics. So for example, it appears commonplace in my previous discussions to find hostile attitudes towards non-Christian religion. Exclusivist attitudes — all non-Christians are damned — reign and are the norm, and it has become a stumbling block in my relationship with God. 

 

On a little more personal note, I am a 24-year-old political philosophy grad student studying radical political traditions, primarily Marxian and Hegelian philosophies. Considering my interest in philosophy, I have a profound interest in theology, even though I do not have enough time to read as much as I want to.  I was raised as a mixture of Roman Catholicism and Christian Fundamentalism — the theology was mostly evangelical and the ritual Catholic. Disillusioned, at sixteen I rejected all religion and became an metaphysical naturalist, drawing inspiration from Richard Dawkins, Richard Carrier and Christopher Hitchens. Yet, once I began to study philosophy more and had a deeply spiritual experience, I reinvestigated religious belief and within a few months re-converted to Roman Catholicism. 

 

So that is me. It is nice to meet all of you. 

 

Wesker?

 

Howdy. We tend to be a little more lighthearted around here. what up.

[ToJesusMyHeart]

:wave: Welcome!

[arfink]

From one philosophy buff to another, welcome aboard. :)

[4588686]

This was a very rude introduction, ironically.

[Aya Sophia]

Did Hegel's teeth show when he smiled?  And could you actually hear Marx when he laughed?  That's what I'd want to know, before committing any of the precious little time I have left to these dudes. Personally, I have a weakness for Kierkegaard.  Now there's joviality for you.  Witness the following: 

"Of all ridiculous things the most ridiculous seems to me, to be busy — to be a man who is brisk about his food and his work. Therefore, whenever I see a fly settling, in the decisive moment, on the nose of such a person of affairs; or if he is spattered with mud from a carriage which drives past him in still greater haste; or the drawbridge opens up before him; or a tile falls down and knocks him dead, then I laugh heartily."

 

Welcome aboard!   Have phun.

 

 

Edit:  Sorry, the foregoing was lame.  Forgot where I was.  Welcome truly and hope you don't get phed up too easily!  :troll:   

Edited September 7, 2013 by Aya Sophia

[Nihil Obstat]

.

Edited September 7, 2013 by Nihil Obstat

[Nihil Obstat]

I think Hegel was just stoned all the time.

[John Ryan]

Wesker?

 

Howdy. We tend to be a little more lighthearted around here. what up.

 

Selah! Oh my, this has to be the work of God, that I should end up finding you here.

 

From one philosophy buff to another, welcome aboard. :)

 

Which philosophers do you enjoy reading?

 

Did Hegel's teeth show when he smiled?  And could you actually hear Marx when he laughed?  That's what I'd want to know, before committing any of the precious little time I have left to these dudes. Personally, I have a weakness for Kierkegaard.  Now there's joviality for you.  Witness the following: 

"Of all ridiculous things the most ridiculous seems to me, to be busy — to be a man who is brisk about his food and his work. Therefore, whenever I see a fly settling, in the decisive moment, on the nose of such a person of affairs; or if he is spattered with mud from a carriage which drives past him in still greater haste; or the drawbridge opens up before him; or a tile falls down and knocks him dead, then I laugh heartily."

 

Welcome aboard!   Have phun.

 

 

Edit:  Sorry, the foregoing was lame.  Forgot where I was.  Welcome truly and hope you don't get phed up too easily!  :troll:   

 

Heh... I found it to be quite amusing. While my grad studies are focused on Marx and Hegel, in my personal time I do adore the philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard. His Purity of Heart is a delight. It greatly influenced by own theology/philosophy and my return to the Christian faith. Without Kierkegaard, I may have still been a non-believer.

 

This was a very rude introduction, ironically.

 

How was it rude?

[John Ryan]

I think Hegel was just stoned all the time.

 

Hegelian dialectics takes patience. You do not read G.W.F. Hegel, you struggle and wrestle with him. Hegel writes in a very peculiar language that does not make a lot of sense until you figure out his grand project and then gaze back upon the logical development of his ideas. Also, his language is taken from ancient Greek philosophy. He takes for granted knowledge of the Platonic dialogues. So, for example, his concept of negation has its ancestry in Plato's Parmenides.

[arfink]

FYI, learn to ignore Hasan and you'll do very well here. :)

[Lil Red]

 

How was it rude?

 

pro-tip: don't take Hasan or Winchester seriously. ;)