Happy New Years Y'all

I think it's time for a little background information on myself. I posted a blog a while ago about random things to know about me, and I kind of left a hole where I talked about religion. I knew eventually I would revisit this topic, but I just wanted to think more about what I really believe (or don't believe). I kind of have to start at the beginning, so if you aren't into thinking outside of the box, and just want to read about RT then just skip this post.

I grew up in a very very very southern town about an hour north of Atlanta. Everything about my life was middle class. I had a bike, a nice neighborhood with friends, a chocolate lab named Maggie, and a loving family. The beginning of this story takes place while I was in middle school. I was 12 years old, and just trying to figure out why I was starting to like boys. I did all the normal things that my peers did, including going to FCA (fellowship christian athletes) meetings in the morning before class began.

I went to FCA because it was prime socializing in the morning, and it also meant I didn't have to wait in the gym before going to homeroom. It was basically my way of hanging out with friends. I never really put much thought into the religious songs we sang, or the talks about the bible. I just kind of did it, because everyone else was.

I didn't really go to church with my family. If I did go, it was because I had spent the night with a friend, and their parents made us go. The only thing I didn't like about going to church was that I had to wake up early, and everything else about christianity made sense to me. This all changed with two separate events.

The first thing that happened was an incident at a church. I was with my friends at a church close to my house one Sunday morning. I remembered telling my friends that I was unsure of the virgin birth, and a few other fairy-tale-sounding stories. I guess I scared my friends, because they ran off to tell the youth minister, who then had a little "chat" with me. Basically, I was put in a room with this youth minister while he told me I was going to go to hell unless I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart.

Now to a 13 yr old, the whole notion of letting Jesus save me was a confusing notion. What was he saving me from? My life that was already pretty nice? It confused me, and I pretty much stopped the FCA meetings and going to church at that point. I still considered myself a christian, but I just didn't feel the need to go to church and be berated by some metrosexual middle-aged dad in a mid life crisis.

Anyway, the next thing that happened was 7th grade biology class. I found my first love in mitosis. Me and Biology were made for each other. I really loved my teacher. She did such an amazing job of making science interesting and fun. I still remember this day; February 23rd 1998, I first heard of Charles Darwin and his amazing theory. It was like a light bulb went off in my head, and I started realizing that there was so much to learn.

As I went around learning more and more evolution, my peers started to notice. For a while I just told people I had morning kayaking practice, which is why I wasn't at FCA anymore. Eventually, someone asked me if I still believed in God, and I said no. I'm not exactly sure why I said no then, because I was still trying to decide what to believe.

Fast forward to the present tense. Im pretty much settled in my non-belief of the omnipotent, omnipresent,and omniscient God. I would consider myself to be Agnostic.

I am just not religious. It's cool if you are, but I am not.

I'll see you kids next week