Christianity in brief, Part II

The concept of sacrifice – as taboo as it is – seems to be at the heart of human experience. Having children, for almost all animals, involves a high level of sacrifice – of time, energy, resources, and emotion. From a survival standpoint, raising offspring doesn’t make a whole lot of sense as they are […]

Christianity in brief, Part I

Christianity is easily and frequently misunderstood (especially by Christians). I hope to quickly demonstrate that being a Christian does not necessitate being naive, irrational, or ignorant of history. From that foundation I want to paint a portrait of what human identity can look like and show that said portrait can be accepted regardless of your belief system. But it will […]

Why in the world am I a Christian?

It’s weird that people choose to be Christian, isn’t it? To follow the teachings of a guy who lived 2,000 years ago among a marginalized, minority cultural group. To associate with a religion that has several sects that are synonymous with modern-day American zealotry. Why would anyone, myself included, drink that Kool Aid? I was […]

Who am I?

So many of us believe our identity is formed by what we love. But what do we mean by “identity?” What do we mean when we ask “Who am I?” Most of us are referring to our personalities – what we love, what we like, whether we’re introverted or extroverted. And we become passionate about […]

They’re all gonna laugh at you!

I want to talk a bit about what motivates us to think, believe, and act in the ways we do. We have discussed some of the emotional and cultural factors that can influence us, but we haven’t looked at why or how we initially form our patterns of thought and behavior. The first thing to […]

What the heart desires…

Why am I the way I am? What makes you, well, you? Why do we believe the things we believe? The short answer is, “No one knows, exactly.” The longer answer suggests there are at least some parts we can know. Genetics plays a large and mysterious part: some of us tend towards depression more […]