Speaking for myself, and borrowing from Mark's comment, I'm definitely a square peg myself. I was drawn to this site because I had been reading "Get Religion" for years. I'm still reading some of your co-authors from there, mostly on "Religion Unplugged," and the "Roys Report." I was an honors graduate from both high school and college, and some thought I would end up a professor. Unfortunately for that future, I didn't get along that well with the Big Men in the Brotherhood. Eventually I ended up working for 40 years as a remodeling contractor--old-style...doing most of the work myself, rather than running around bidding work and having others do the work. (A huge plus for being self-employed--no office politics!) I'm not an entrepreneur, but more of a craftsman and technician. Now I'm retired. I'm also what some call a "None" or what Josh Packard (author of "Church Refugees) labeled a "Done." Actually, some of us prefer the term "free-range Christian." And when you stopped writing at "Get Religion" I came here.
I think that the problem is simple. You're a Square Peg (Reference: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083482/). Like Patty and Lauren, you might want to fit among the normmies, but you're discovering (surpriise!) that it isn't going well. Yours is an unusual mind. You've survived so far, which suggests that you might have found a hive of similarly unusual minds. I'm not sure where the sweet spot is, but I've read almost all of what you've written, and appreciated what I have read. If my perspective is typical, you have the right ingredients. The trick now is to mix them in the right proportions with the right techniques, and give the loaf time to rise and bake.
What posts here interest you the most? The GR style podcast posts?
Speaking for myself, and borrowing from Mark's comment, I'm definitely a square peg myself. I was drawn to this site because I had been reading "Get Religion" for years. I'm still reading some of your co-authors from there, mostly on "Religion Unplugged," and the "Roys Report." I was an honors graduate from both high school and college, and some thought I would end up a professor. Unfortunately for that future, I didn't get along that well with the Big Men in the Brotherhood. Eventually I ended up working for 40 years as a remodeling contractor--old-style...doing most of the work myself, rather than running around bidding work and having others do the work. (A huge plus for being self-employed--no office politics!) I'm not an entrepreneur, but more of a craftsman and technician. Now I'm retired. I'm also what some call a "None" or what Josh Packard (author of "Church Refugees) labeled a "Done." Actually, some of us prefer the term "free-range Christian." And when you stopped writing at "Get Religion" I came here.
I find your mix of topics interesting.
I think that the problem is simple. You're a Square Peg (Reference: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083482/). Like Patty and Lauren, you might want to fit among the normmies, but you're discovering (surpriise!) that it isn't going well. Yours is an unusual mind. You've survived so far, which suggests that you might have found a hive of similarly unusual minds. I'm not sure where the sweet spot is, but I've read almost all of what you've written, and appreciated what I have read. If my perspective is typical, you have the right ingredients. The trick now is to mix them in the right proportions with the right techniques, and give the loaf time to rise and bake.