A Journey from Judaism to Atheism to Christianity

Dr. Larry Kramer, PhD.
If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that I collect stories of atheists who became Christians. This one is very interesting to me for two reasons. First, I know Dr. Kramer personally. He and I met several years ago at a conference that we both attend regularly. He was familiar with my books, so he introduced himself to me. I got to know both him and his wife, and we became friends. I always look forward to seeing them at the conference. Second, as the title indicates, atheism was more of a “transition point” on his journey. I have encouraged him to write about this for some time, and I am thrilled that he has. I hope you enjoy reading it:

My Journey from Judaism to Atheism to Faith

2 thoughts on “A Journey from Judaism to Atheism to Christianity”

  1. Dear Dr. Wile,
    My name is Abigail, a homeschool student. My family has been using your science curriculum for my entire school career (this year we’re doing physics,and it’s not too bad so far). I’ve been wanting to ask you a question about Punnett squares for a while now. Two years ago, we were doing biology and reached the module on genetics. I was so interested by the concept of Punnett squares that I decided to try to figure out my mom’s geneology. You see, she has MS, and the interesting thing is that she is (at least) the fourth or fifth person to have it in her family. And all of those people are female! No male relatives have it! I wondered whether MS is a genetic disease and developed a Punnett square that I thought was correct.
    (Here comes the tricky part…)
    My mom has a sister and a half-brother. This year, as I discussed possible ways of researching a cure for MS with my mom, I realized that I had written my Punnett square as if she has a BROTHER and a sister, instead of a half-brother and a sister. My mother’s parents only had two daughters (she and my aunt) but no sons.
    To wrap this all up, is it possible to develop a Punnett square that accounts for a potentially all-female genetic trait, even if you don’t know if a male can have said trait or carries a recessive gene?
    I know this is really confusing, and I understand if I lost you, but I would really appreciate your opinion on this.
    Cordially (big fan of your biology textbook, by the way)
    Abigail
    P.S: I know this is a little weird and slightly nerdy, but my adoptive grandfather looks kind of like you and Plutarch Heavensbee from the Hunger Games.
    P.P.S: If you like food, you HAVE to check out my mom’s blog! It’s called Sense and Edibility. Trust me, you will NOT be disappointed!

    1. Hi Abigail,

      Thanks for your kind words, and I am really glad you got interested in genetics. However, according to current studies, MS depends only a bit on genetics. Identical twins, for example, both have MS only 25% of the time. Thus, there is a strong environmental influence on whether or not you have MS. Thus, a Punnett square is not possible.

      For all-female traits, you still have to know at least the father, grandfather, etc., since they will contribute an X chromosome to any daughter.

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