CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

Name:
Ingemar. Surname withheld for security reasons.

DOB:
July 24 (withheld). Let's just say I'm the proper drinking age for Ontario.

Place of Birth:
Pickering, Ontario, Canada

Area of Residence:
USA. Currently, I'm a triple citizen. My "primary" citizenship is US. Canada allows dual citizenship, and the Philippines uses sanguinus jus, that is, the child of two Filipino citizens is considered a Filipino citizen, regardless of birthplace. So I am a Filipino-Canadian-American, but that does not nearly reach the level wierdness of a missionary I know who is a Welsh-American-Mexican.

Current Occupation:
2nd year Biochemistry/Cell Biology in [REDACTED, somewhere in the Southwest]. It is well known for its Nobel Prize-winning faculty and its biology department. This was the last place Francis Crick worked before his death (BTW, his license plate reads "ATCG"). However, I'm considering changing my major to Biochemistry/Chemistry. This is because too many people make fun of Biologists as people who simply regurgitate information.

Of course, study is a money-draining occupation. What I do to *make* a little bit of money is work in the school's cafeteria. Then again, I still live with my folks so the money is mostly for trivial expenses.

Hobbies:
Going to CAA ^^. The past summer, I took up a Wing Chun Kuen. Quit because of schedule problems. When school began, I took up Kendo. It's fun and time-consuming, but I don't think I'll pursue it far enough to compete. The bogu (armor) is quite expensive, and I'm already struggling to buy the uniform. Plus, I have no means of practice outside of the scheduled meeting times. Not that I have no time, but the conditions around me are not favourable. To stay true to the environment, I would have to go barefoot, and the only "free" places I know are grassy or paved, not the smooth basketball court that is my dojo. Plus, I don't think the cops would like me waving my shinai too much.

Speaking of CAA, I've written one play in the Goof Off forvm. Ashley can tell you all about it. Currently, I am working on another one called "The 2nd Annual CAA Tournament." I don't want to sound boastful, but I don't know if there is any way I can say this without sounding that way. Days in the Life of CAA has inspired other works like Days in the Life of GRG by Zilch and the Island of CAA by Ronin of Kirai.

Goals (in no particular order):
-To finish college
-Perhaps pursue med/dental school.
-Obtain first-name basis popularity (ie Napoleon, Madonna, Dante, Liberaci)
-To beat Bill Gates in hand-to-hand combat.
-To have a virgin for a wife (and never divorce). This is becomming less and less feasible in the Western world.
-Something else, can't think right now.


More will come as I think of it. And oh yeah, feel free to ask anything.

I like your goals. You aren't that guy that hit Bill Gates with the pie, are you? Because that doesn't count. And if it's any comfort, you already have first-name basis popularity here on CAA. Granted, it's because you only have one name on CAA, but hey, it's a start!

I feel you about the virgin wife thing. I'm one of two virgins I know in real life and the only voluntary one. It's frustrating that most people and even so many Christians don't take marriage seriously.

Do you get a lot of flak about your faith in your area of study? I don't know a lot of people in that field but the ones I do know have a pretty serious ax to grind with my religion.

If this is about Evolution, that has never come up. Personally, I am YEC (*dodges projectiles), though I am somewhat flexible. I do find the study of Evolution quite interesting, just as I find the Star Wars trilogy very interesting too (note the analogy). As far as Evo is concerned, I am interested in it not because of origins, but because the biological evolutionary model also has applications outside of bio (culture, for instance).

Yes, it is frustrating that many Christians don't take marriage seriously. Although I am not Catholic, I admire the Catholic doctrine against divorce. I think it serves as a caveat, to let the parties involved know that marriage is not something to be approached flippantly.

As for axes to grind with religion, you can find those in any department in the University, not just Biology. Whenever I see a bumper sticker giving a trite quote on how all religions are the same, I mentally add in my head "Therefore, ignore the Christians." I blame the media and the sixties for the current state of affairs.

I figured it might be particularly hard in biology where the core doctrine of the field is an idea that many Christians see as a direct assault on their beliefs. Indeed I've met with many an outspoken envoy from that department. But it's definitely true that you can find them anywhere. The most aggressive critic of Christianity that I ran into during my college career was actually from the political science department. Within the first fifteen minutes of the first class he presented logical proofs against the existence of God and the resurrection of Jesus, and even went so far as to insult the rationality of any person that believed in a higher power.

It's good that nobody is giving you too much trouble. It's also good that you're studying evolution. No matter what your stance on the issue, no educated individual in any field should be ignorant on the topic. I need to study it more, though - I had to look up "YEC" even though I find out now that this term accurately describes my beliefs. Whoops...

---

On a less serious note, where did "FOOLSIE MANFOOL!!!" come from?

It arose while playing Thief: The Dark Project.

Hey Ingemar,

Firstly, what is ROFL, IMHO and YEC? (Im sick of trying to figure out all these random acronymes, so maybe you can help me

Are you from a Christian household, (a real christian household not just a cultural one)? And if not then how where you saved by Christ?

And having studyed Bio at Uni level and in High School myself I know where you two are coming from. And you are right Ingemar, the University itself is totally anti-Christ and spirituality in general, but particularly "Christians" due to our history and the changing of other people culture, colonisation etc.
You just have to point them back to Jesus and the Resurrection, and forget about past events. Its good to have you on board.

Zane wrote:Hey Ingemar,

Firstly, what is ROFL, IMHO and YEC? (Im sick of trying to figure out all these random acronymes, so maybe you can help me

ROFL--rolling on the floor laughing
IMHO--in my humble opinion (there's also IMO, and IMNSHO, NS meaning "not so")
YEC--young earth creationist[/quote]

Zane wrote:Are you from a Christian household, (a real christian household not just a cultural one)? And if not then how where you saved by Christ?

In between. My mom is a devout Christian, having been raised by very wonderful missionaries in the Philippines. And while my dad appears a devout Catholic, it seems like little little more than a veneer.

Zane wrote:And having studyed Bio at Uni level and in High School myself I know where you two are coming from. And you are right Ingemar, the University itself is totally anti-Christ and spirituality in general, but particularly "Christians" due to our history and the changing of other people culture, colonisation etc.
You just have to point them back to Jesus and the Resurrection, and forget about past events. Its good to have you on board.

I find that this is a gross double-standard, as atheistic ideologies are also very prone to democide and intolerance. At least politicized Christianity is contrary to the teachings and person of Jesus Christ; the bloody, godless revolutionaries acted in lock-step with their own ideologies.

Nevertheless, there is this reflexive tendency for scholars and the media in the West to paint Christians, especially evangelical Protestants, and even the most sincere ones, with a broad brush as stupid at best, or evil at worst (but I digress. There is also a pervasive anti-Catholicism especially in non-Latino countries, as the recent sex scandals in America have shown).

Also, it doesn't help to point to Jesus and the Resurrection when you have an entire caste of people who simply tell themselves that the Resurrection could not possibly have happened. Even some Christians subscribe to this defeatist belief (not me).

Nice to read up on you, Ingemar.

What does your username mean?

I go to a christian univ., so I don't have faculty challenges like you guys deal with. My BIO prof. was one of the best I've ever had, and he was a strong Christian. His example is one I aspire to, and it's good to know that there are Christians in these fields who are standing for their beliefs. I guess that was a random rant. Oh well - later.

You know, I'd find it surprising if the profs did spend any sort of class time on creationism. Most people in science and engineering would simply teach the science, and leave political issues to other courses.

Very nice to read your profile, Ingemar. Now I understand more of the man behind the pen...er...keyboard...

One question: If you decide to go to medical school, which field would you be interested in (e.g. orthopedics, pediatrics)? Would you just be a doctor or dentist, or would you also do medical / dental research?

And don't get discouraged about the virgin-wife thing. The numbers of fair maidens are lower in this day and age, but there are more of them out there than you think.

Kokhiri Sojourn wrote:What does your username mean?

Err... it's my first name.

SMan wrote:One question: If you decide to go to medical school, which field would you be interested in (e.g. orthopedics, pediatrics)? Would you just be a doctor or dentist, or would you also do medical / dental research?

I'd probably NOT do reasearch. Field? Anaesthesiology sounds nice.

I had a discussion with Prof. Longnecker over whether it is better to be a physician or a dentist. Money is not an object here. The common gripe with dentistry is that "you have to spend your entire career looking at people's mouths, and that's disgusting." My rebuttal is, "it may be disgusting, but MD's look at more disgusting things than DDS's do, including but not limited to dissected human cadavers."

same guy wrote:And don't get discouraged about the virgin-wife thing. The numbers of fair maidens are lower in this day and age, but there are more of them out there than you think.

I won't get my hopes up in the Culture of Cheap Sex.

Cheers for that.
And to clarify I meant in terms of saving them by telling them the Gospel so that God opens their hearts, because often they are sidetracked by other issues etc.

So in terms of how Jesus saved you; did it just click on a Sunday School day or were you in a bad place and a friend shared the gospel with you? I'll be specific: When did you become a follower of Christ?

Ingemar wrote:Err... it's my first name.

I'm sure that it still has a meaning - or maybe not. I've just never heard it before, that's why I asked. It's a cool name, no doubt.

[quote="Zane"]Cheers for that.
And to clarify I meant in terms of saving them by telling them the Gospel so that God opens their hearts, because often they are sidetracked by other issues etc.

So in terms of how Jesus saved you]
It would have to be when I was in Junior High. I went to a Christian school, and the message just "clicked."

Sometimes we all have doubts, and that's normal. But when we meditate on the message and meaning of the cross, it lets us realize how precious salvation is.

Attire:
Just a T-shirt (usually white) with jeans (usually black) and my trademark leather jacket, which I consider my crowning glory. Monday, Friday and Saturday nights, I don my black T-shirt uniform for work, and wear the white or black aprons they have available. Tuesday and Thursday nights, I wear a white lab coat over what I normally wear (see above). Saturday mornings, I wear an indigo gi with a hakama (split skirt). This is for Kendo. Once, I slept in my gi.

Completely irrational desire that will most likely never come to fruition:
To have ten wives and ten children per wife. Yes, that does sound wierd. But I haven't found a single verse in the Bible (both testaments) explicitly forbidding polygamy. Paul says something about one wife, but that's only with regard to deacons and elders. Furthermore, Jacob had two wives (four if you count their handmaidens), and God didn't punish him for it (though Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin).

Also, Catholic missionaries in Africa did not forbid polygamy, because it was their culture and it was better than them shacking up with whoever they saw fit.

Why one hundred children? I've always liked the idea of being a patriarch. Plus, it would make up for my father only having one son (and his brother only having two).

Raising a hundred children is certainly not an easy task. This is where the "old days" have to kick in (that is, wife staying at home). Since 1). Polygamy is illegal here 2). Western society generally disdains traditional roles and values, this goal is certainly irrational. But I am fond of tradition. It gives a sense of continuity with people long past, so that those before us are still with us, even though they have left us. That's why even though I'm not a Catholic, I like the idea of a universal language for the universal Church (Latin). Also, the fact that Latin usage and grammar (as I am told) has remained the same for centuries is advantageous so that one can read countless documents from Virgil to John Paul II with the same language, while someone who learns modern English can only read Shakespeare with footnotes (if one is not familiar with Shakespeare) and would practically have to learn a different language to read Chaucer and Beowulf.

For the otherwise amused: I hope you understood that the polygamy part was strictly tongue in cheek.

There's a slight update. I just quit my job. I definitely will not choose a career in foodservice, barring some weird disaster.

glad to hear you didn't mean it

[quote="Ingemar"]
Area of Residence:
USA. Currently, I'm a triple citizen. My "primary" citizenship is US. Canada allows dual citizenship, and the Philippines uses sanguinus jus, that is, the child of two Filipino citizens is considered a Filipino citizen, regardless of birthplace. So I am a Filipino-Canadian-American, but that does not nearly reach the level wierdness of a missionary I know who is a Welsh-American-Mexican.
QUOTE]

Filipino! w00t! *holds standard Filipino every-single-relative-both-close-and-obscure-smogasbord-extravaganza*

So what's your favorite Filipino dish?

Ah, don't forget, those smorgasbords are also for people who may or may not be relatives, but whom you treat/consider as relatives.

Filipino food? Uh, this is where my parents are somewhat ashamed of me. I don't really like any Pinoy food that much. Certainly not diniguan (Biblical reasons). I do like mongo and I can tolerate sinigang and maybe nilagang baka. Lumpia doesn't count because it's almost whiteboy/Mexican food.

Is diniguan that "chocolate stew" stuff (cooked blood)?

Yes, it is.

oh, *bleaugh*

have you ever tried the stereotypical Filipino version of spaghetti? With hot dogs and ketchup instead of ground beef and tomato sauce?
What's your favorite genre of music?

SirThinks2Much wrote:oh, *bleaugh*

have you ever tried the stereotypical Filipino version of spaghetti? With hot dogs and ketchup instead of ground beef and tomato sauce?

Yes, I have. You forgot to mention that their spaghetti also contains sugar. Some people I know consider it a dessert dish rather than dinner. I know about the hot dogs, but what I am told is that they use ground pork with carrots instead of ground beef. The pork is cheaper, and the carrots provide roughage. As for ketchup, my mom only did that once and we decided never to do that again.

SirThinks2Much wrote:What's your favorite genre of music?

Probably Rock.

Ingemar wrote:Yes, I have. You forgot to mention that their spaghetti also contains sugar. Some people I know consider it a dessert dish rather than dinner. I know about the hot dogs, but what I am told is that they use ground pork with carrots instead of ground beef. The pork is cheaper, and the carrots provide roughage. As for ketchup, my mom only did that once and we decided never to do that again.

oh yeah, you're right! and the carrots too. My mom tried that once. She forgot to buy beef or something....boy did that sauce taste sour :-*

heh heh rock on man.

Rock rock on!

buy all our playsets and toys...!