About me

I figured I would do an “about me” bit in relation to this blog to establish some type of credibility.

It is true that I do not have a Ph.D. This is often the first thing I am criticized for and I will respond to that by pointing out a few things. First, to all the atheists, Hitchens does not have a Ph.D., or even A degree. My education crushes his, yet many consider him a “legit” source of knowledge. Second, I am not talking about anything that requires the knowledge of a Ph.D. The stuff I am talking about is mostly introductory and survey level stuff, with the exception of my more advanced classes (which are still mostly undergrad courses.) Third, my education is broad, but also focuses specifically on the issues at hand.

Before I get into my education, I will talk about my personal life…

I am married and have 2 children, two boys.  My wife is a nurse (RN.) She has her R.N. and received her BS in Nursing from St. Catherine’s University with a minor in Theology. She started in Med Surge but currently works in OB. She plans on getting her Doctorates from Georgetown University.

We were both raised Christian (Protestant: Lutheran) but now consider ourselves agnostic, though we plan to raise the kids Christian. Both of our boys have been baptized and will be raised in the Christian tradition because it is important to our families.

We are both agnostics, but our opinions differ. Our conclusions are “we cannot know” with our current science and technology. Our opinion, if forced to make a guess, is atheism for me, and deism/theism for her, though neither of us claim that this view is correct or scientifically supported, simple an opinion based on either personal experience or evidence available.

I joined the US Air Force (active duty) straight out of high school, and was active duty for four years. I was stationed at Ramstein AFB, in Germany, for two years and Langley AB, in Virginia, for two years. After my four years of active duty, I transitioned to the Air National Guard, and have been doing that for about six years. During that time, I deployed to Kyrgyzstan and the United Arab Emirates. At both bases we worked with the nationals and took trips off base, allowing us to interact with the population.

Education…

I do have an AA in Hotel, Fitness, and Restaurant Management from Air University (commonly called the CCAF degree,) but that does not offer anything to this blog.

I majored in both History and Religious Studies, with a minor in Jewish Studies. I did have majors in Ancient Mediterranean Studies and Education.

Before I get into the specifics, I will explain my path.

My first declared major was Religious Studies. Because I was able to “double dip,” I declared in Ancient Mediterranean Studies because most of the classes could overlap. I also selected a minor in Jewish Studies. I decided that after graduation I wanted to go into teaching. Because of this, I picked up an education major to ensure I had all of the requirements for the program. The problem with the education major (for social sciences) was that it required me take a number of unrelated history courses including How to do History AND a Sr. paper in the area of history. Because of this, I dropped AMS major about 3/4s of the way though and picked up a major in History. I could also have another major formulated based on my studies, but I will explain that at the end. As you can see, my educational experience took many twists and turns. Because of that, it makes my Area of concentration (AoC) every complicated. Here is the break down…

For my Religious Studies major I need to have an Area of Concentration (AoC) that is linked together geographically, chronologically, thematically, or methodologically. This is defined by 4 courses in an area. Based on this definition, it gets real messy…

I could technically have AoC in:

Judaism/Jewish Studies (my minor)

Christianity

The Abrahamic Tradition (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)

 Ancient Mediterranean Religions (Judaism, Greek/Roman mythology, Near Eastern religions, Egyptian religion, Persian religions, and could be early Christianity and even Islam)

Religion in America

The Evolution-Creationism controversy

(I have also have studied in American Indian religion/tradition/philosophy and African religions. My area of most ignorance would be Eastern religions.)

 The second major was Ancient Mediterranean Studies. AMS was defined by having 3 classes each in Rome, Greece, Near East (Middle East and Egypt,) as well as an additional 4 classes in any of those categories.

As far as my Education major goes, it is essentially the requirements to get a teaching licensure in the Social Studies area with a focus in History. This is what requires me to do my senior paper in the history field. I need to take “How to do History” in conjunction with my senior paper. The requirements here make sure I have a broad education and really a class in every area. There is not much wiggle room here. My requirements go as follows…

U.S. History to the Civil War
U.S. History since the Civil War
Western Civilization to 1500
Western Civilization 1500 to present
A class in Non-Western History
American Government and Politics
Anthropology 1003
Economics 1101
Human Geography (Geog 1301)
Psychology 1001
Sociology 1001
A class in American Indian Studies

After the Education requirements, I was literally only 2 classes away from a major in History. I decided not to finish my Ancient Mediterranean Studies major and instead focus on the History major. Like my RS major, I could technically have an AoC in a few different areas. My main AoC is Ancient history (due to my Ancient Mediterranean studies major.) I could also have AoC in Middle Eastern History, Western/U.S. History, and Modern History.

With an interest in religion and education I became especially interested in the Evolution/Creationism Controversy. I started with a class called Understanding the Evolution-Creationism Controversy. This opened up two different paths of study. It opened up the path American history and understanding the court cases related to the topic. It also led to a study of the Constitution and the Free Exercise and Establishment clauses. This led to a study of the Founding Fathers and Enlightenment Philosophy. The second path it opened was the study of the history and philosophy of science.

The history and philosophy of science is more important, in my opinion, than a degree in science. Most biologists have not even read Darwin’s works. Without an understanding of the origins of the things they study, how can they know what they are studying?

I have taken so many courses on the Evolution-Creationism controversy in conjunction with the history and philosophy of science, including the design arguments, to major in it.

I have taken classes ON THOSE TOPICS in the following departments: Religious Studies, Education, Biology, History of Science, History, and Philosophy. I have had a number of courses with Alan Love. Alan has a Ph.D. in the History and Philosophy of science and a Masters in Biology.

Here is an example of some of the classes:

Religion and Ethics in Educational Policy (EDU)

Understanding the Evolution-Creationism Controversy (BIOL)

The Evolution and Biology of Sex (BIOL)

Scientific Thought (PHIL)

Philosophy of Biology (graduate level) (PHIL)

Philosophy of Religion (this was actually just design arguments) (PHIL)

Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion (RELS)

The Darwinian Revolution (HSCI)

Religion and US Founding (HIST)

Life on Earth: Perspectives of Biology (HSCI)

Science, Technology, and Society: Darwin and Design (PHIL)

The first topic for my Sr. Paper was the rise of the New Atheist movement but I changed topics because it was more of a journalistic piece, than a history piece. My topic changed to Darwin and how his religious beliefs influenced the different editions of Origins.

 

So yes, I do not have a Ph.D., but I hope you at least recognize that I am fairly qualified to explain introductory level stuff on atheism and theism.