FORUM COMMUNITY OMNIBUS AMA THREAD

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Against my better judgment, I *gulp* decided to make an "ask me" thread.

Ask me pretty much anything as long as it doesn't have to do with

a) Particular religious views (some broad questions might be okay, though)
b) My possible ordination path (which, I would like to reiterate, I have not committed myself to)
c) I think that's it.

Oh yeah, and I reserve the right to ignore questions for what ever reason.

This is, for all intents and purposes, more of a "what would you ask me in an 'ask me' thread" thread.

In other words, this will probably be deleted by morning.

Fire away.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Where's the most interesting place you've peed? Reply with images.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Would you call yourself an adult?

This is definitely an odd one.

How well has your community recovered from the Sandy Hook tragedy? Did it change people's views about gun ownership or make them, in some way, more religious or politically or socially active? How did coping with that great loss affect your neighbors and their relationships with one another?

This one's a little better.

I think that, to an extent, it did change people's views about gun ownership if not simply motivate progressive-minded folks in my town to speak up.  Newtown is a relatively small, wealthy, Catholic, conservative pocket of the state that votes Democrat in the right conditions.  Now we have Sandy Hook Promise and other pro-gun control groups that started in or were partly inspired by Newtown.  Like all groups, they have their share of outside influence and whatnot, but the support the town got from other states and countries was insurmountable.  Folks were literally giving away stuffed animals and blankets because there were too many for the town to store and almost every shop in town was covered in letters and drawings from children over the two months following the incident.  It's quite a surreal feeling and not many people get to experience it.

A year and a half later, things are more or less the way things used to be, although there is of course an underlying feel of solidarity that lives to this day.  (The atmosphere is more or less the same in neighboring Monroe which looks completely like Newtown.)  The town was basically just a mark on the map until the shooting happened, so we've taken it to heart.  There's a memorial underway and I think the new elementary school was completed (I don't keep up on local stuff as much as I should), but those things tend to mean more to the people who actually experienced the tragedy than anyone else.  Newtown is not a tourist site nor does anybody want it to be.

Did you survive the Avada Kedavra curse? Because you're drop dead gorgeous

I'm flattered.

Why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near?

Funny you should mention that.  The turkeys have been out almost daily in the last month, though that's mostly thanks to my neighbors (mostly the wife) who've taken up a hobby to feed them.  Definitely one of the things I'm going to miss when I leave in a few weeks.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

What are your particular religious views

I'll answer this one just 'cause.

UCC Congregationalist with Wesleyan traditions.  I'm officially UCC but I consider myself a Methodist just as much in spite of never being baptized one... or stepping foot into a UMC service.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Does your signature intentionally read as though it were written by a third-grader?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Do you believe in God?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

How do you find your soulmate?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Why did you major in anthropology?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

You've said in other threads that you're a Christian.  Which denomination are you affiliated with?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

How would you summarize your ideology?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

How are race relations where you live?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

How are race relations where you live?

Very swell if I do say so myself. 

Mississippi is very well integrated along racial and socioeconomic lines, and I am particularly grateful for that.  Growing up going to Mississippi public schools in a college town made my childhood extremely diverse, and that's actually something that I think I would have been cheated-out of if I had grown up in suburban Chicago or Denver.

Moreover, I now go to Mississippi State University which has the highest percentage of African-American students of any SEC school, and we have historically and consistently led the way in awarding Blacks ag and engineering degrees. 

So in other words, race relations are better in Mississippi than in Colorado or Illinois?  That's something I'd definitely have to see for myself...