Jeremy Colton, invited by Chris O'Connor

[Jeremy1952]

Also known as "Allulae" . . . I'm not sure what goes differently here than what is on my profile so I'm posting that bio for now. I am un-bashful to the point of exhibitionism, so questions are always welcome! (Don't we all love to talk about ourselves, one way or another?)In the late '70's, "Roots" had everyone talking and asking about ethnic background. I would answer "Jewish", because that is my heritage; but I hardly knew a thing about Judaism beyond that. Research led to a decade-long honest attempt to "be" a Jew. I finally had to admit that all the praying and god-talk didn't ring true. I was acting out a belief in things that I knew inside were imaginary. Honesty forced me to abandon my pretend religiosity, although by that time I had a Jewish wife and son.My restless mind returned to my first intellectual love, biology. Beginning with the basics

[logansrun]

Jeremy,I am brand new here as well, but I will offer a welcome nontheless. Currently I'm taking a zoology class in college and, although it's not my major, I love it. Right now we are studying the mullusks -- last week I dissected a squid -- yummy, yummy. I am quite fascinated by the world of biology, especially after leaving a "creationist" upbringing. I finally understand what scientists mean when they say that evolution is "the unifying concept in all of biology." Hope to get to know you better.Bradley

[Johnny Neuron]

edited

[NaddiaAoC]

Jeremy,Welcome to the board! I come from a background similar to Brad. I was raised with an understanding of evolution from the creationist standpoint, which is actually a complete lack of understanding of the subject. I took a few human anatomy and physiology and microbiology courses in college and fell in love with biology, at as it pertains to the medical field. I've read The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins and I've read a good deal of information on the talkorigins website, but I'm still pretty ignorant on the subject of biological evolution. It's one area that I'm fascinated with and want to learn more about. So your knowledge will be appreciated and I'm sure you'll be able to recommend some good books on the subject in upcoming months. It's great to have you here. Again, welcome to BookTalk!Cheryl

[Chris OConnor]

Jeremy1952:Welcome to BookTalk! The difference between this forum and your profile is that this forum is interactive. You can tell us about yourself and we can ask you questions and get to know you better.Your story is fascinating and uncommon. How many Jewish people ever have such an awakening? Judaism is so much more than simply a religion. It's a lifestyle and code of law. A few months ago I read, "Judaism for Dummies," and enjoyed it immensely. Back in high school I read Chaim Potak's "The Chosen" and got an inside glimpse at the differences between Hasidic and Orthodox Jews. And a few years back I had the pleasure of sitting next to Sid Roth on an airplane. He is a famous Messianic Jew author, and our conversations were very deep memorable...until I was forced to put him in a headlock. But thats another story. I would love to hear more about your path towards reason. Most believers appear beyond reason in my opinion. Once they are fully indoctrinated in a particular faith they are stuck for life. So how did you drift away? Did reading about science come before or after you started to lose the faith? For me it was a combination. I'd love more information, and this thread is a great place for it. Or you are welcome to start any type of related thread in the General Discussions forum, which might get a bit more visibility. We all love visibility, eh?And how have you reconciled your differences with your wife? With your son? Are they still active in the faith? How do you guys handle the Jewish holidays? Any conflicts?You and I were talking in the Religion I chat room on Yahoo the other day, and you corrected me on a statement I made. Without giving it much thought I posited that the underlying motive for any organism is survival, to which you responded that it is the passing along of genetic code. You presented a few examples and it made more sense than my argument. I think this subject would be fantastic in the General Discussion forum, and I'm sure it would get plenty of activity. We have quite a few members with a background in the sciences, namely Zach who is currently studying evolution.I too love Dawkins and I need to edit my profile to reflect my admiration for him. Gould and Sagan are the names that popped into my head first, but Dawkins is a master of communicating the beauty of science and he should have been on my list of idols.I love your differentiating between what you do believe in from what you do not believe in. Secular Humanism is my belief, but after reading your self description of Stochastic Newtonian Godless Jew, perhaps I need to come up with something much cooler and more lofty sounding! Chris "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." -- Albert Einstein"If you're not a born-again Christian, you're a failure as a human being." - Jerry Falwell"I don't see any god up here." - Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (the first man in space), speaking from orbit, 1961.Edited by: Chris OConnor  at: 10/29/02 1:34:45 pm

[AvatarofPower]

Welcome, Jeremy!!Good to see new faces on the board! --Avatar"The computer is the most extraordinary part of Man's technological clothing: it is an extension of our central nervous system. Beside it the wheel is a mere hula-hoop." -- Marshall McLuhan

[Jeremy1952]

I started in the middle of my history to offer a concise flavor of where I am. In fact, I was raised atheist. The closest thing we had to a religion was the labor movement! So "spiritual searching" was the rebellion for me, scientific thought return to my origins.I've divorced and remarried. Dunno where my ex-wife stands on her own religiousity... not, I think... but she sends our son to a Jewish parochial school. He talks a good theistic game, but I always get the sense that his religiosity is very shallow; stories told by authority figures which he doesn't care enough about to sort out. Time will tell. Meanwhile, although he knows I think its all golbledygook, we rarely argue religion. Instead I try to teach as much science and critical thinking as I can (and safe sex, of course).My current wife of twelve years is thoroughly atheist. In fact i sometimes worry her by participating in "religion" chats; I think she is afraid I will get seduced. Fat chance. She's also a Freudian, and with my biological perspective, we have some wonderful intellectual disputes. Because she's briliant and open-minded, we learn from each other and clarify ideas rather than throwing stale arguments back and forth.

[ZachSylvanus]

Welcome aboard!I'm glad so many other people seem to be as interested in biology as I am. Please, leap into discussions. NOW

[Drunkenblade of Kay]

Welcome Jeremy!Glad to have you. I must admit that I've neglected biological studies for my love of philosophy and mathematics, although oddly enough my worldview is soundly empirical. I'm looking forward to engaging you in discussion and learning.Tim

[Jeremy1952]

Hi y'all. Ok, I'm crawling back out of the woodwork - next stop, "Why We Beleive", and the UK chat.I've talked to Chris a couple of times since my hiatus. My marriage is in deep trouble, and so I've been devoting time to my wife and my serious thinking time to assignments from my therapist. For some reason EZBoard doesn't send me email alerts anymore, which is a tad disconcerting. When there is a lot of activity here the alerts give the sense of a thread, a conversation, which is lost without them. But - really its only a computer glitch, which can be worked around with a little effort. If you make yourself really small, you can externalize virtually everything. Daniel Dennett, 1984