Monday, March 30, 2009

Masks

With regards to theological posts.

I'm in the middle of writing my first serious business post (it's on why the death of Christ was necessary for salvation), and it occurs to me that I look something like a rabid Christian. And so I realize that I need to make a point very clear.

That point is this: I do not know exactly what I believe. I'm somewhere between agnosticism and an incredibly heretical brand of quasi-Christian Universalism (more on this on another post). The liturgy of the Episcopalian church works for me, so I operate through that. I don't think it's the only right tradition. Often times I wonder if it's the right tradition at all. But I'm not going to make any theological progress if I don't make some basic assumptions. So for most of my posts, just assume that I have posited the existence of God, and please understand that while I may have put on a mask of devout faith so that I can explore Christianity and religion, in reality I am likely far more confused than you.

TL;DR NOT A FUNDIE.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

First posts, as a rule, should be auspicious.

This one will not follow that rule. Instead, I'm going to be honest about a few things. The first thing is why in the world I would want to have a blog. The second is what I intend to do with this blog. The third is completely imaginary and does not, in fact, exist.

So. Why in the world would I want to have a blog?

Two reasons. I have heard from various respectable sources that keeping a journal greatly helps focus one's mind. And the second--there was a (not very) remarkable coincidence today. Earlier in the evening, I idly considered having a blog. And then a certain friend of mine, who for the sake of privacy I will simply call "James M. Kane," asked me--and I shall quote verbatim--"do you have a blog? i feel like that would be worth reading, haha."

In short? Blame him.

And what do I plan to do with this blog?

Any damned thing I please. An excellent sentence to end this first post with, if I wanted to be snarky and cool and just like I am in real life (by which I mean fully awesome and/or totally hardcore). That's actually fairly vague, though, so I'll try to clarify.

What you shouldn't expect a lot of in this blog:
  • Internet humor (I am totally lying. There is no way I can keep this promise).
  • Politics
  • The sort of writing style that characterizes this post. Just writing this has shown me the extent to which silliness pervades my writing, and I need to stamp that out (not completely. Just to within the limits of manageability).
  • Any more of these bullet things (once more in this post, and that's it).
  • moping, whiny, emo nonsense.
What you should expect a fair amount of in this blog:
  • my thoughts on religion, especially Anglicanism/Episcopalianism
  • the classics
  • writing, sans moping, whiny, emo nonsense.
At the very least, I will have a notepad for my thoughts. And if someone gets something out of this, I will have surpassed my goal.