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  1. MarkD

    What does God mean?

    Any chance you can summarize that post? It looks as though we disagree about what it is that gives rise to God belief. I doubt if I would ever know exactly What God is no matter how long I looked into it. But I certainly don’t think it is anything like studying plumbing or medicine. There is...
  2. MarkD

    Featured Non-binary or Genderqueer?

    From the article: “While a newborn’s "intrinsic maleness" or “intrinsic femaleness” may be difficult to assess in certain more complicated intersex cases, the point remains that there is an "intrinsic" or "underlying" sexual constitution that we must do our best to recognize, respect, and act...
  3. MarkD

    Is the problem of evil enough to convince you that a God does not exist?

    It doesn’t persuade me because, while I do think there is something real and important that supports God belief in our species, I don’t think it is anything like a unified being out there somewhere with subjective experience like our own. I think that is what the vast majority of Christians...
  4. MarkD

    Featured Non-binary or Genderqueer?

    Hi Tracy. I can see what a difficult position that must have been at the homeless shelter. (I helped run one of those one winter as well.) It is obviously a practical problem but I don’t think it’s being inconvenient means other genders don’t exist or need never be accommodated. Your...
  5. MarkD

    Why are you agnostic?

    Oops. There didn’t seem to be anyway to follow what I quoted with a comment so it looks like I’ll have to make my comment on your excellent post here. I entirely agree. It is challenging to find a forum of either type where group-think and conformity isn’t rampant. What is wrong with both...
  6. MarkD

    Why are you agnostic?

  7. MarkD

    Featured Non-binary or Genderqueer?

    I am curious by what definition you think every human being is rightly classified as only female or male. The thread I created on BioLogos was only about intersex conditions where biology itself does not resolve neatly into just those two categories. Admittedly it is a small slice of the...
  8. MarkD

    Featured Non-binary or Genderqueer?

    Since I never really adopted a Christian POV I don’t need to abandon it. But I feel something for Christians perhaps because it has been such a big part of mother culture in the milieux I grew up around. Plus I admire those that choose faith without deluding themselves about ever achieving...
  9. MarkD

    Featured Non-binary or Genderqueer?

    Not long ago I started a thread titled "Male and female He Created them .. and sometimes intersex" at the Christian site BioLogos with this post which garnered more discussion than any other thread I've started there: "I knew that mix-ups in sexual expression sometimes happen but I had no idea...
  10. MarkD

    First post

    Belated thanks. My only regret is how little traffic there is on the agnostic furums I’ve tried. If that keeps the cluelessly rude away perhaps that is okay.
  11. MarkD

    What does God mean?

    It seems we agree though you seem to be making contact the focus of your practice. My recognition of something more within has happened in a number of ways but the only ways I still pursue is nature and creativity. I don’t feel an urgency for more contact. I like to say that life is like...
  12. MarkD

    What does God mean?

    I'd probably feel the same way if I'd never experienced anything of the sort. Had I been raised in a cohesive cultural institution which had disposed me to look for what that was in a particular form, I'd probably be testifying to it. Instead I'm here to say it is real and it is important but...
  13. MarkD

    What does God mean?

    I have serious doubt about that. God belief has arisen almost everywhere and as far back as we can peer, but is it necessarily the case that belief arose through interaction with an advanced being? Was that the cause? The attributes of this God remind us of its importance but in all cases...
  14. MarkD

    Re: Agnosticism FAQ

    Politics? Where does that come from? Language is more complex than most believers or nonbelievers seem to recognize. When you say atheism is a position on the existence of God you are assuming an awful lot about the nature of God. Pretty surprising if in fact you haven't any experience of...
  15. MarkD

    Are you new or a long time user of online forums?

    I've been on forums for a while but not from the earliest days. I've been on AF.org (a truly horrible atheist forum run by the scum of the earth .. in my unbiased opinion); agnosticsinternational.org (nice place but a ghost town in terms of usage); another agnostic site which was more a dating...
  16. MarkD

    Joseph Campbell

    I was a pretty simple minded atheist when Bill Moyer broadcast the Hero With A Thousand Faces program on PBS with Joseph Campbell. I remember even then being as impressed with Moyer as with Campbell. Not long ago if asked for my favorite Christian he'd have been the one I'd name. Now I know...
  17. MarkD

    Why are you agnostic?

    I guess you could loosely describe me as an ex-Christian. While I prefer to identify as an agnostic I will also cop to being an atheist with an appropriate clarification of terms. Does my experience as a former Christian contribute to that preference? I don't think so. It is probably more...
  18. MarkD

    Please get vaccinated

    I'm glad you bring this up. It is very important - literally a matter of life and death. I also agree there is no reason to treat the opposing views on this as if they were equally respectable, either morally or intellectually. This is a great exemplar for a "false equivalence". I...
  19. MarkD

    Open-minded Skepticism

    interesting. I very much agree. It is for this reason that I have so little interest in debate as a way to investigate a subject. Two people focused on what is true in their experience with appropriate epistemically humility is better than two people representing opposing views willing to go...
  20. MarkD

    What views are compatible with agnosticism?

    One often finds Christians online who want to argue that agnosticism is and must be distinct from and logically incompatible with atheism. Likewise one rarely finds Christians online who will allow that they hold their religious belief on faith but confess they could be mistaken regarding the...