Posted by Helen on: 06.13.2006 /
isaone has kindly agreed to be our first online interview candidate!
The purpose of this interview is to give you the opportunity to listen to isaone as he shares his thoughts and opinions with you.
If you want to discuss whether isaone’s views are correct, we invite you to do that here on the discussion board. Isaone is welcome to participate in discussions there about his views if he wants to. If he doesn’t have the time or inclination that’s fine with us - we don’t consider doing so ‘part of the interview’.
I’d like to post more online interviews. If you’d like to send one in, you can find the instructions and questions here.
What screen name do you post under — so we know you when we see you? I post as isaone a growth of my original AOL name isa1 which stands for the Institute for Self Actualization and the Oneness of the universe.
Would you like to share any of the following so we can know you better: your age range, whether you’re married or single, have children, what kind of work you do, what area of the U.S. (or other country) you live in? I am married and 54 years old with 2 children An 18 year old son who just finished s disastrous first year at college and is coming back home for an undefined period of time and a daughter who is 15 going on 21. I live in Nashville TN where I work as a manager of MIS departments generally in manufacturing companies.
What do you like to do when you have some time to yourself? While traditionally I have read, played racquetball and done some informal music, nowadays my Brightly Speaking blog/radio show/podcast and OTM dominate my non work/family life.
Please share with us something you really enjoy about your life. Being with people and being of service to them.
If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about you or your life, what would it be? I would eliminate the poor job I did getting through a period of non and under employment I have just now survived.
How did you find Conversation at the Edge (or, the eBay atheist blog) and what drew you to post in the comments section? I heard Jim on the radio taking about purchasing an Atheist’s soul. Once here I have stayed due to the high quality of the posts and the caring attitude of the posters.
Is this the first time you’ve participated in any online discussions on the internet? If not, could you share with us what other sorts of online discussions you like to participate in? I have spent time posting on the boards at my city newspaper The Tennessean and Beliefnet in the past.
Has posting on Conversation at the Edge (or the eBay atheist blog) changed you in any way? I do not think so as of yet but I am still pretty new to the community.
Were you raised going to church and are you currently a church attender? I was raised as a Methodist. We went to church pretty regularly and I was in the youth group but my parents were always laid back about the whole thing and when I decided I did not want to go anymore at about 15 they were OK with the idea. I currently attend the Universalist Unitarian church in Nashville where I have sung in the choir for the last 17 years.
What is your main reason for choosing to be a church attender/not to be a church attender at present? I attend at least partially because I love to sing. In addition my church provides me with a community of support (when I am willing to use it).
Apart from church are there any groups you participate in regularly for faith-based, social and/or self-improvement reasons? No although I was seriously involved with ISA (see above) in the past.
Is there anything else (outside work and family) which you devote significant time to? Or used to, or hope to in the future? (We understand that for some of you, work and family takes up almost all your time at present) As I mentioned my Blog/Podcast/Radio Show is perfectly happy to consume 100% of my time if I let it.
Has anyone ever called you “lost”? Have you heard or read anything which tells you that some people talk about you like that behind your back? I have no direct knowledge that anyone has done other than when I discussed it with Jim. He agreed with me that I am very lost by the standard use of the term.
How would you/do you feel about being called “lost”? I find it a little insulting but mostly just such a meaningless statement that it is amusing. I am very firm in my beliefs and by no means confused in any manner. I actually believe that the people who have lost their way are those who cast aside reason in order to believe in fairy tales and myths
Do you feel “lost” in any way — is there anything you’re trying to find, or is anyone trying to find you, as best you can tell? I am trying to understand why anyone actually believes in the stories that make up the bulk of the planet’s religions. To me they’re myths and fairy tales.
Are you aware of any assumptions people make about “the lost” which don’t apply to you? Many, I am not unsure of myself, not in pain from my separation from Christ, not immoral due to a lack of fear of God, not cynical, and not cruel and manipulative to other people.
How do you like to describe yourself regarding what you believe or have no belief in? I am a Bright. I believe that everything is the result of natural causes.
What (else) would you like to tell the people who call you “lost” if you thought they were listening? You guys should stop worrying so much about the state of everyone else’s souls. Spend all of your time becoming an amazing human yourself. If others see what a great person you are they will be more willing to ask you about what you do then if you tell them they are “wrong’.
Do you own a Bible? Do you ever read the Bible or look anything up in it? If so, what is your main reason for doing so?I have owned several Bibles although now I use the internet more than any printed copy. I have read large portions of the Bible but not all. I read it in my college years to see what was there. Now I generally look up specific issues as part of discussions such as the ones at Conversation at the Edge.
As best you know, has anything in the Bible influenced you in a good way (directly or indirectly)? No
As best you know, has anything in the Bible influenced you in a negative way (directly or indirectly)? Yes It has lowered my opinion of humanity considerably. I find the Bible to be so full of contradictions, bad ideas and just plain nonsense that it is difficult for me to have any respect for people who claim it to be the greatest book ever written and inerrant.
Has anyone expressed disapproval to you about your own personal opinion, or use, of the Bible? What would you like them to understand better about you and the Bible, were it possible? Certainly they have. I have been damned to hell more than once in discussion groups for my position that the Bible is “just a book Y’know’ I would like them to know that their obsession with a book that was written by people who had virtually no knowledge of the world around them is inhibiting their ability to use their human gifts to the fullest.
Is there anything I forgot to ask that you’d like to tell us?
Looking at the state of religious freedom in our country I am very concerned. Growing up in the 60’s I thought that the movement toward freedom of expression and opening up of human potential to be unstoppable. For the last 30 years I have seen that flowering poisoned from both within (those who purported to support the concept but apparently did not) and without (the mass of people who never believed in the freedoms and ideas that I hold dear).
Now with the power of the fundamentalists so strong that John McCain (visiting Liberty College) and Hilary Clinton seem to be fighting to see who can out religion the other and people in charge of our country who believe the rapture will occur on our lifetimes, it is difficult for me not to consider moving to Europe or Canada where they seem to be willing to tolerate a wide range of beliefs in a much more healthy manner.
Comment by: Julie Marie
1 06/13/06 3:52 AM | Comment Link |thanks for doing the interview, Isaone. Its nice to know you a bit better. We were talking earlier about our “mental pictures” of each other - you were not 54 in my mental picture! Funny how I picture people I like as my age…maybe I am a bit self absorbed after all :)
Comment by: Julie Marie
2 06/13/06 6:39 AM | Comment Link |in re: your concern about fundamentalism:
I am thinking right now that the spotlight brought to fundamentalism by its current prominence might just be what pushes it past the tipping point. The rhetoric is becoming increasingly strident and objectionable; the, imo, raw desire for power and control is being exposed. I don’t think Americans are too apathetic to notice; I think many of us are just so busy being productive that something has to really “pop” to make it onto our personal agendas.
I think fundamentalism is “popping” now.
Comment by: Keith
3 06/13/06 7:24 AM | Comment Link |Thanks for doing the interview, isaone … always appreciate your posts