Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Introduction

This blog has been a long time in coming, which is why those of you who read my personal blog will find the address familiar. I originally reserved the address for a blog very similar to what this shall hopefully become, but was waylaid by everything. This is meant to become a thoughtful discussion of western religious issues and history, more or less as follows:

  • Current Events -- this is mostly going to be discussions of eschatology (end of the world stuff) since that is generally how religion is brought up in the context to current events. There will also be the gays and reproductive issues vis a vis the various western religions.

  • Definitions/Explanations of various dogmas -- this is fairly self-explanatory; discussions of the origins of religious traditions, dogmas, laws, and canon.

  • Book Reviews -- eventually bimonthly, hopefully. These will be reviews of academic studies on various aspects of religions.

  • Discussions of particular scriptural texts -- this will include canonical and extracanonical texts from the various Western religions.

  • Historys.

  • I may occasionally diverge into my personal beliefs, but these posts will be well-marked, and will serve only to provide perspective to the reader on my point of view (that is to say, full disclosure).

It is important that everyone who reads this fully understands that this is not a theological blog. I am not here to promote any one religion; I am rather here to provide explanations about aspects of the several Western religions and to clear up misconceptions, and hopefully to provide a space for dialogue to promote understanding between people of faith and those who choose to remain unaffiliated, and between the different faiths. I am not a pastor, nor do I intend to become one.

It is also important that I fully disclose my personal affiliations. I am a lifelong member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), a synod of the Lutheran denomination of Christianity. I was baptised when I was six months old in 1984, and I do not take kindly to those who inform me I should be baptised once more, for reasons I may disclose in a later post. I was confirmed in 1998 and became a religious studies minor in college. I plan to continue work in this field in graduate school. I am also pro-gay marriage, which is probably good since I am going to be gay married in the spring.

[Edit] Also, it is very likely that there will be occasional profanity and/or irreverence involved in this blog.[/Edit]

Finally, all readers should internalise the Blog Laws; violators will be dealt with most harshly.

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