New User Introduction for ElCodeMonkey

[ElCodeMonkey]

Hey everyone. I'm obviously new to this forum and there's a LOT of stuff here. I couldn't begin to know where to start or to even contribute. I plan to raise a TON of things that could be discussed in just this little introduction.

A little about me... I used to be a completely obsessed-with-God Jesus Freak. I took the term "Jesus Freak" quite dearly and embraced it. I was leader of a praise band in Campus Crusade for Christ, leader of many different Bible Studies, and truly believed everything without the shadow of a doubt. There's obviously no way to "convince" anyone that I was "truly" Christian, but for arguments sake, let's just assume I was . I actually quit college in my Junior year to be a missionary. Things didn't work out and I went back to school a year and a half later and finished my degree in Computer Science.

I don't believe in God for many different reasons though I would absolutely love to believe in Him again. I remember the times being quite filled with joy, purpose, belonging, etc. The only problem now, is I'm far too convinced that everything you "feel" is not enough reason to believe. That was always the problem I had with other denominations (such as Mormonism). I would point out a glaring contradiction in the book of Mormon and their response was always, "Huh... I don't know... But I FEEL......" I'm not interested in feelings, I'm interested in facts. Feelings can be faked and you can even be fooled by yourself and your own feelings.

The logic of an all-loving God and an all-powerful God doesn't work in my mind. This is just one issue of many. I have a son. I love him. I would prevent a bully from poking his eyes out because I love him. If he had to say, "Daddy's a phony" to get out of it 'cause I wasn't there or something, I wouldn't hold it against him. But certainly if I'm all-knowing and all-powerful, I would prevent it from happening and I would feel no joy at all from him "sticking to his guns" and not denouncing me if it meant poking his eyes out.

I don't want to bore people so I'll stop there and anyone can comment on anything. Keep in mind that I am insanely open to anything so long as logical facts can make me believe. I am very learned in this area as I used to be huge into apologetics. So don't think for a second that it might be easy . I hope to have a good time discussing stuff without having a zealot know-it-all telling me that I'm an idiot, etc. Don't tell me how I think and feel. Only I know that. Thanks!

[otseng]

Are you a Code Monkey as well then?

Started off with C/Assembly. Dabbled a little with C++. Moved on to Java. Now I'm into PHP. As you can tell, I like languages that use the C syntax.

C# is very close to C++.

To me, it looks like mix C++ with Java and you get C#.

[McCulloch]

Mai Je ne'parle pas francais.

Neither do I. Like many Canadians, I am sesquilingual.

[Confused]

Notably, I was joking about the rules thing . Kinda.... Heh heh

Have you ever had to work on multilingual web applications?

Nope. Never actually worked on any web applications other than my own personal webpage made soly of HTML and JavaScript . Yo hablo espanol. Mai Je ne'parle pas francais.

Ok, the french I can understand, as well as the spanish. But the rest of it, my IQ just dropped at least 20 points .

Welcome to the forum. Your story is very interesting. I look forward to your contributions here, provided I can understand them. From Jesus freak to Computer freak . Is that an improvement? (attempt at humor)

[ElCodeMonkey]

From Jesus freak to Computer freak . Is that an improvement? (attempt at humor)

Your attempt at humor has succeeded in ommiting a chuckle from me . In many ways, I would quite believe that the transformation is indeed a positive one. I no longer look for the evil residing in everything. I can watch a movie without feeling condemnation breathing down the back of my neck, etc. It's a rather nice feeling

[Goat]

From Jesus freak to Computer freak . Is that an improvement? (attempt at humor)

Your attempt at humor has succeeded in ommiting a chuckle from me . In many ways, I would quite believe that the transformation is indeed a positive one. I no longer look for the evil residing in everything. I can watch a movie without feeling condemnation breathing down the back of my neck, etc. It's a rather nice feeling

Now, the question is, can you listen to 'What if God were one of us' without freaking out?

[Fallibleone]

Can anyone?

[ElCodeMonkey]

Can anyone?

Whoa, be careful! Don't bring up such sensitive topics! You might hurt someone's feelings .

Now, the question is, can you listen to 'What if God were one of us' without freaking out?

Huh... Good question... I hated it when I was Christian because it was a secular song, but now that I'm no longer a Christian, it may be too much reference to God . Nah, I can pretty much listen to anything now. Even if I were to believe in God again, I would still hold my belief that it's not evil to listen to or watch things that are secular.

I used to use the phrase, "If a browny had a little bit of crap in it, would you eat it? So why watch a movie if it has 'just a little' bit of crap in it?" That really limited what I was able to watch... I didn't even like the movie "Robots" 'cause of the Britney Spears music! Just a little crap!

Now, I find it rather difficult to join in society sometimes. I don't know a LOT of the common stuff from just 5 years ago. I quite often hear, "What?! You've never heard of [insert topic]?! Were you living under a rock?!" Well... yes

[Goat]

Can anyone?

Whoa, be careful! Don't bring up such sensitive topics! You might hurt someone's feelings .

Now, the question is, can you listen to 'What if God were one of us' without freaking out?

Huh... Good question... I hated it when I was Christian because it was a secular song, but now that I'm no longer a Christian, it may be too much reference to God . Nah, I can pretty much listen to anything now. Even if I were to believe in God again, I would still hold my belief that it's not evil to listen to or watch things that are secular.

I used to use the phrase, "If a browny had a little bit of crap in it, would you eat it? So why watch a movie if it has 'just a little' bit of crap in it?" That really limited what I was able to watch... I didn't even like the movie "Robots" 'cause of the Britney Spears music! Just a little crap!

Now, I find it rather difficult to join in society sometimes. I don't know a LOT of the common stuff from just 5 years ago. I quite often hear, "What?! You've never heard of [insert topic]?! Were you living under a rock?!" Well... yes

Is there any specific thing that started your traznsformation from being under a rock to apostate?

[ElCodeMonkey]

Is there any specific thing that started your traznsformation from being under a rock to apostate?

(looks up the word apostate)
1. one who commits apostasy
(looks up the word apostasy)
1. renunciation of a religious faith

Ah! It all makes sense. Kinda... so long as "under a rock" is now meaning "Christian" . Then again... my introduction explains that... Yeah, I don't really understand what your asking

[Goat]

Is there any specific thing that started your traznsformation from being under a rock to apostate?

(looks up the word apostate)
1. one who commits apostasy
(looks up the word apostasy)
1. renunciation of a religious faith

Ah! It all makes sense. Kinda... so long as "under a rock" is now meaning "Christian" . Then again... my introduction explains that... Yeah, I don't really understand what your asking

Is there any one thing that started you to lose your faith? Or, was it a gradual change ?