About Me

Last updated on: August 12, 2024 at 6:59 pm by Guest Contributor

About Me 2024-08-12T18:59:54+00:00 Guest Contributor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Before I start writing for Patheos, especially for Peculiar People, I thought that it would be appropriate to introduce my readers to myself; especially who I am and why I do what I do.

I was born on June 16th 1991 in Washington D.C. My parents were in the military, so we moved quite a bit, but settled in Riverside, California in 1995. I spent most of my life in Riverside, and will always consider it home, regardless of where I currently happen to live at the time.

I was raised as a protestant Christian, in a tradition that was very myopic considering that most in my church were African-Americans (a term I despise), and also a tradition that did not think about religion from an empirical and rational perspective. The argument went: 1. The Bible is the Word of God 2. We know how to interpret it correctly 3. Listen to the pastor and you will prosper, which is truly not an argument at all. I was also concerned from a young age that most of the focus seemed to be on prosperity rather than on the fundamentals of orthodox Christianity ie the nature of God, the nature of the church, our relationship to God, etc.

While I was raised in the protestant tradition, I have never truthfully been an orthodox Christian (I use the term orthodox to mean the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions). One memory I often reflect on was when I was 5 years old that story of Adam and Eve was told in our bible study class and it was presented in a way that made it seem that Adam and Eve had committed a grave sin in eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. I often thought it was rather odd that God would basically tempt people who were not sophisticated enough to know what god and evil truly were.

While I continued in the Christian tradition for all of my adolescent years, I was very much a skeptic. I did not believe int the idea of the trinity, the inerrancy of the Bible, the traditional idea of hell, and the idea that marriage was for life only. I was not a skeptic so much in that I doubted that God exists; like Aquinas I believed that to be self-evident. However the idea of Christianity was becoming more and more absurd as I got older.

From a young age I was interested in science also, especially in Darwinian evolution and cosmology. I often looked into the doctrine of ex nihilo creation (creation out of nothing), and found it very unconvincing. It seemed that if there were a God, then he/she would have to have come into being since the evidence pointed to the fact that the cosmos was eternal rather than coming into being.

When I was 16 I ran into a Mormon in my choir class. I had read about Mormonism in an encyclopedia, but had never personally known any Mormons. I read the Book of Mormon as well as many of Joseph Smith’s teachings, and found it to be what I had been searching for. I was baptized on August 30, 2009 and confirmed September 6th, 2009.

I served a mission to Alabama from November 2010 to November 2012. I did my general studies at LDS Business College from 2013 to 2015, and I am currently a philosophy major at Utah Valley University. After graduation I plan to receive both a Juris Doctorate and a PhD in Philosophy, hopefully at either NYU, Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, Michigan, or Stanford.

You can follow me on Twitter @HumeDisciple, and I also blog privately a here

I look forward to blogging here as a continued part of my journey, and if I am of help to others along the way, so much the better.

Mormonism, politics, Romney

Previous Post

August 28, 2015

"It seems as if the whole world has gone crazy": Seeking peace in the midst of turmoil

Next Post

August 31, 2015 Remembering Wes Craven

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category American society Art baptism Blogging Book of Mormon Book review Brigham Young Brigham Young University Bundy Catholicism Christianity Communalism Community of Christ conferences conversion correlation Culture denominations Digital History Discipline Councils diversity Doctrine Donald Trump education Emma Smith ethics family feminism fiction Film review food French Polynesia Fundamentalism Gay rights Gender global Gun politics Halloween health History Honor Code hymns Joseph Smith Kirtland Temple law of consecration massacre site military Ministering missionary moderate Mormon feminism Modern Mormonism Mormon origins Mormon War Mormonism Mormonism, politics, Romney Obama Peace politics Polygamy Pope Francis Poverty Prayer Priesthood Protestantism Race Religious freedom Revelation Reviews sacred sites Scientology Scripture Secularization See Stones sexual assault Star Wars television temples Tithing Utah violence war women's ordination

Select a Month October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 October 2017 September 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 November 2016 October 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the teaching about honoring parents?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Ignore advice Leave home early Disobey Honor your father and mother