basicsreadingjourneysyouthbridges-acrossfaithsciencepolicyaction

A Minority Within a Minority  
June, 1997 A Minority Within A Minority

I am 27 years old and am living in Regina, Saskatchewan Canada. I always include the Canada - since a rather depressing number have no idea where Saskatchewan is - let alone Regina. I have a BSc degree with majors in chemistry and mathematics. At one time I had illusions of going on to do gradute work in chemistry - but I don't think that is what I want afterall. I am currently employed as a lab tech in a provincial government laboratory. 

I am gay - and on the side-A side of things (the pro-gay side). I guess I am a minority within a minority since I am also an atheist. I grew up in a relatively conservative Roman Catholic family - though my immediate family is less so than extended family. I suppose if one wanted to be picky about it I am still technically a Roman Catholic since I was baptised as one and have not been excommunicated. But I choose to identify myself as an atheist. I would be what is sometimes referred to as a weak atheist - the weak here is not prejorative. Weak refers to the state of not having a belief in God - whereas strong atheism is the belief that God does not exist. Weak atheism is much like some concepts of agnosticism - though it isn't tainted by so many misunderstandings that inflict agnosticism. 

I came out to my immediate family when I was a month away from being 25. I don't actually remember the date - though it wasn't the same day for all my family members. I am not what anyone would consider a gay activist - but I do like a good debate and have gotten into a few on the various usenet groups and mailing lists I have been on. I was a gay apologist of sorts I suppose. I rarely spend my time doing the debating thing anymore however. 

I spend my time on a lot of things. I spend far too much time on the internet - and with this high speed cable modem connection it has gotten worse :) I am subscribed to a number of different mailing list discussions - most of which have some connection to religion and gay issues. One of my favourite mailing lists is the Different Christians email list. It is a mixture of very liberal to very conservative Christian denominations - and the conversation manages to yet remain quite civil. They don't seem to have any problems with an atheist in their midst - though proselytizing (from any viewpoint) is off-limits. 

I am also quite a philosophy buff and I think if I had huge sums of money that I didn't have to worry about the practicality of finding work - I would presue a degree in philosophy. Though perhaps it is better to keep it a hobby/interest. The two areas of philosophy which interest me the most - and which I do most of my reading in are the philosophy of religion (which demands dabbling in all areas of philosophy) and moral philosophy. A few of the mailing lists I am on are geared towards my philosophy interests.


text © 1997 Patrick Rogoschewsky
http://www.bridges-across.org/ba/intros/rogoschewsky_patrick.htm

Do not quote from this document, or excerpt passages, in print media.
Web pages may quote excerpts if there is an accompanying hypertext link to the original document on this site.