[jb]

Hello. I'm "jb" (if you coldn't figure that out from the posting header. ).

I occasionally post comments at Uncommon Descent and a few other places here and there around the blogosphere. I probably don't always know what I'm talking about, but that doesn't deter me from opening my mouth and letting whatever is on my mind dribble out. (Or "drivel" out, I guess you could say).

I became interested in ID during the last year when I was forced to really think through some tough questions related to my Christian beliefs. I had had a mild interest in Creationism at times past, but hadn't turned it into anythink like a passionate interest. Ken Ham and AiG was about the only Creationist organization I'd really even heard of. I had practically not even heard of ID until I picked up a copy of Lee Strobel's Case for a Creator sometime within the last year and read his interviews with people like Jonathan Wells, Guilliermo Gonzales, etc. I had become somewhat disillusioned with YEC, and it was with a little bit of surprise and wonder to read in Strobel's book of born again Christians who didn't necessarily accept a young-earth view (yes, I know Jonathan Wells is not exactly a born again Christian, but I think Gonzales is, and many of the other folks Strobel interviewed are, whose names I can't recall at the moment). I somehow found William Dembski's Uncommon Descent blog and began chiming in in the comments section. That was where I became acquainted with Salvador. Then I discovered that he was starting an ID-leaning YEC web site and took interest. It was with some surprise that he took me up on an offer to help him get the site off the ground, so here I am.

I'm not a scientist or an engineer or anything like that. Just a regular guy. But I'm a Christian who had many doubts and questions and became interested in ID, and now also have a re-ignited interest in Creationism, primarily to help answer many of the "questions" that have come up in my mind. Academically, I think I'm something of an underachiever. I could have probably achieved so much more, but what has held me back has been a general lack of direction and purpose (until now--things have changed in that way lately). I've always grappled with the idea of the meaning of life; this even though I'd been raised in a fundamentalist environment and had been told that the meaning and purpose of life is to serve God. But I didn't really take my Christianity seriously until probably the last year (2006 - 2007). I think probably that a lot of the answers I got to a lot of deeper questions were shallow answers that just weren't very satisfactory. I'm resisting here the urge to go deeper into all that (that would turn this into a book-length post), but I'll cut that short just by saying that around 2004-05, I had pretty much despaired of discovering meaning and purpose and decided to just pursue a quiet life and keep to myself and my family.

So I sought to drop out of modern life and was planning to take my family out in the country and "homestead"--this is the current version of the "living off the land" type idea (no, it didn't end in the 1960's--there are still people attempting to do it). So I started to hang out at places like the forums at Mother Earth News and Homesteading Today, etc. trying to learn as much as I could about that type of lifestyle. I took up organic gardening in my back yard and my wife learned how to do canning, and I began to learn more about that sort of thing. In the process I became much more sympathetic to some ideas in the environmental movement. I still don't buy into the global warming thing, but I do see now that there are important environmental concerns that often get sidelined by conservatives and shouldn't (concerns, that is, that don't have anything to do with global warming, like pollution, etc.).

But then came the time of questioning of my faith, and it changed my whole outlook on everything. I have pretty much regained my footing, but its really changed my perspective in many ways, not the least of which is that issues of faith and service to God are now central to my thinking all the time. Again, there's too much there to go into in a concise way, but in short, it refocused my attention. I'm still interested in the rural-living thing and am still keeping my eye out for job opportunities that would give me an opportunity to move further from the big city, but it is no longer an "idol" in my life occupying all my time, energy and attention. I now fully comprehend what it means to live life for God (well, "fully" might be pushing it--there are still a lot of things I don't understand--but what I mean to say is that I now grasp some fundamental things I never did before).

As for my personal stats and more mundane features of my life: I'm married, in my late 30's and have three very young daughters, aged 7 yrs, 4 yrs, and 8 months. I live in Michigan (Detroit metro area). I have an undergrad degree in Information Systems Technology (minor in English) from the fundamentalist university, Bob Jones University in South Carolina. I grew up in a fundamentalist Baptist home, and attended a Christian school from K-12. There were many advantages in this, but one down-side is that I was pretty much in a hermetically-sealed cultural "bubble" in which I could just lazily go along with the flow talking the talk and doing the "right" things, giving little thought to whether or not I really was committed to or even believed all I said I believed. I guess you could say that what has happened in the last year is that I made the faith "my own" instead of just an inherited "faith" (albeit, a couple decades later in life than it typically happens to other people). I currently attend a Baptist church.

Professionally, I'm the manager of an I.T. department for a local government here in the area. I direct a staff of about 7 other professionals to support the computer needs of the Police, Fire, Town Hall, Public Works, Public Library, etc. for that community (which isn't the community I live in, BTW--most of the employees are "hired guns" who live elsewhere).

My interests include vegetable gardening and reading. My reading interests right now include philosophy, Bible study, aplogetics, and ID / Creationism. I also am trying to brush up my basic science knowledge in order to understand the ID / Creationism subjects (also some biological knowledge is of practical benefit in the garden as well). I also like to travel (within the US), being fond of the middle-southern states such as Kentucky, Tennessee, the Carolinas, etc. (my mom is from Kentucky and permanently ingrained in me a love for that state with its rolling hills and bucolic rural beauty). I also am a music lover. Early in my life I had ambitions of becoming a musician, but none of that panned out. Now I'm just an avid fan and listener, and I mess around with every sort of recording from the old shellac 78 rpm records up to CD's and mp3 files. My music interests are mostly in classical, world music, and old-time American folk / bluegrass / old-time string bands (even a little bit of very early Country).

Anyway, that's me.

[Rick]

I read your intro last Saturday morning, Jared, and was inclined to respond; however, time was limited.

First, I compliment you on your writing ability. I appreciate you style and vocabulary. It's a treat to encounter someone who expresses himself so well in writing and uses an occasional non-technical word that's a bit off the beaten path.

It struck me as I was reading how much you appear to have in common with me, in terms of personality and interests.

I've appreciated all the work you've been doing to get the forum and blog set up. In most Web projects in which I've volunteered, there hasn't been anyone else with technical skills. It's good to know that, in this case, if I don't get around to something, it's not just going to sit there in limbo.

--Rick

[jb]

Thanks for your kind words, Rick. Sorry I haven't had a chance to respond until now--things are always rather hectic for me. It's certainly been a pleasure working with you and Salvador on this so far. It's a privelege to help out here, and I hope things continue to go well for the site. I look forward to continuing with these efforts and getting to know you and Salvador better.

[scordova]

jb,

My sincerest thanks to you for helping.

God bless you,
Salvador