God is a concept

by mavie 27 Replies latest jw friends

  • RAF
    RAF

    mavie :

    What? about What? I don't understand your question ... is it a question?

  • Madame Quixote
    Madame Quixote

    RAF - How would you go about establishing scientifically that "god is everything" AND that "god is love" as you seem to have stated? That is a total contradiction if hate exists, isn't it?

  • Guest with Questions
    Guest with Questions

    WTWizard: I don’t believe that God is worrying about people putting up christmas decorations, wondering if you put in enough pioneer time, or wanting more Kingdom Halls to be built. Contrary to what witnesses believe, God is not the God of witnesses only. The things you mentioned are solely what witnesses believe.

    As for rap music - I realize that not all rap is violent, and demeaning towards woman but I would think that God would not be pleased with rap that condones this message.

    As for oral sex I don’t believe it states anywhere in the Bible that we need to refrain from it. If you believe in God than you realize that God created sex. He gave us the gift of sex, to have children, to give and receive pleasure, for bonding, with our spouse. Laws are given to protect us, not to make our lives miserable. When we have sex outside of marriage there are consequences; the possibility of an unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease, AIDS. Within the confines of marriage we are protected from these tragedies. I do have to clarify that a child is never a tragedy but having to raise a child as a single parent can be very difficult, plus the added burden of financially raising them. I realize that this isn't going to sit well with a lot of people but it's what I believe.

    People are suffering starvation because of mankind to a great extent. There are many reasons: civil war, AIDS, drought, poverty, greed, indifference.

    Some info I found on the net:

    There is more than enough food to go round yet hundreds of millions of people are still underfed. Theproblem is not lack of food. It's lack of money.While some believe higher powers are behind the deadly droughts, agricultural experts and environmentalists say man himself is largely to blame because of years of neglect and mismanagement of land and other resources.

    Destruction of forests, the AIDS pandemic, pervasive poverty, lack of rural investment and bad roads are all factors that make Africa especially vulnerable to such calamities.

    During the Ethiopian famine, British citizens were shocked to learn that they were eating fruits from Ethiopia. Apparently, then, drought alone is not the only reason Africa cannot feed itself.

    Some Africans refuse to limit the size if their families. To them, having many children is viewed as a sign of wealth. Not surprisingly Africa has one of the biggest population rates in the world. Undeniably this aggravates the problem of hunger.

    These people are not pitiful, helpless and dependent on the outside world. "Be it Kenyans, Somalis or Ethiopians, these are not passive victims," he said. "They are incredibly resilient people, and they do everything they can to maintain their livelihoods, and they don't want to be dependent on relief aid."

    If God doesn’t exist, we still have the problem of people dying of starvation. Who’s fault is it then?

    If God exists, what would we want Him to do?

  • nvrgnbk
    nvrgnbk

    Can you send me some of what you're smoking, RAF?

  • Madame Quixote
    Madame Quixote

    GuestWithQuestions - Please check out the UNIFEM Gender And AIDS portal at:

    http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/60652.html

    "Within the confines of marriage" we are NOT protected from sexually transmitted diseases, including and not limited to AIDS. Many married people in Africa have suffered horribly as the result of this silly belief.

    Please do not continue to spread such nonsense ideas. Most educated adults know what you said there is complete and utter nonsense, but the young people with whom you speak on this weighty subject may not realize it. Please educate yourself on the subject before you discuss it with any other ignorant people.

    Marriage is NOT insurance against AIDS or other STDs, either inside Africa or in the USA, whether you are a Jehovah's Witness or not, because one NEVER has a true guarantee that their partner is honest and faithful. Many men in Africa are forced by poverty to work far, far from home for many months, even years at a time, and do become "unfaithful" out of loneliness and isolation, and so do a number of their wives; this also happens a great deal in the western world. These are not bad people, just humans trying to live their lives in the face of great challenges and loneliness.

    AIDS IS NOT A MORAL ISSUE. It is a serious health issue.

    "the researchers say labor migration was a major contributor to infidelity."

  • Guest with Questions
    Guest with Questions

    Madame Quixote:

    My definition of "within the confines of a marriage" is that neither partner cheats, they only have sex with each other, and have never had sex with anyone else. I realize that there is a possibility that one could get AIDS from using infected needles etc. but I was talking about a faithful marriage. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that is how it has been transmitted the most; through indiscriminate unprotected sexual intercourse. I probably should have stated that "within the confines of marriage we have a high success rate of not getting these diseases". Would that sit better with you?

    It would be pretty ignorant for anyone to think that marriage in itself would protect you. I never said such. I know that marriage doesn't protect you from sexually transmitted disease, but within a faithful marriage there is a great chance that you will never get it. Unprotected sex with anyone other than your spouse leaves you vulnerable to getting these diseases.

    Many married people in Africa have suffered horribly as the result of this silly belief.

    The problem would obviously be that they weren't faithful in their marriage. In the traditional African society many men feel it's their right to bed as many women as they want.

    I hope that's clear enough for you. I'm tired, going to bed.

  • Madame Quixote
    Madame Quixote

    "I probably should have stated that "within the confines of marriage we have a high success rate of not getting these diseases". Would that sit better with you?"

    No, it would not, because it is still an erroneous and ignorant assumption, unproven by any science or fact. It is nonsense. AIDs is a fact, regardless of marriage. The only certain way to avoid AIDs is to avoid sharing ANY bodily fluids, and that would certainly entail not getting married OR having sex, EVER.

  • Guest with Questions
    Guest with Questions

    Madame Quixote:

    I just read your edited version and had to comment.

    I never condemned anyone for having sex outside of marriage, saying they were bad people, but as a Christian I believe that God has instituted some rules to follow for our own protection. I realize that we all make bad choices but there are consequences to those choices.

    As far as not having a guarantee that your spouse won't cheat, I know many marriages where they take their vows seriously, mine included. That is the choice we have made. Could my husband, or I cheat down the road? Yes, but then we would have to deal with the ramifications of that decision. Would that make us horrible people? No. But we would be doing something immoral. I believe that God forgives us for our weaknesses if we are truly sorry.

    Cheating on a spouse is a moral issue for me. Aids is not a punishment from God, it is a consequence of a decision made. Do I feel compassion for people with AIDS? Yes

    These are my views as a Christian but I realize that as an Atheist you may a different opinion.

    This time I really am going to bed. Good night.

  • RAF
    RAF

    OY OY OY I knew I shouldn't have poste this ...

    I fell transported all of the sudden ... WTWizard's post was a kind of introduction to help to link one thing to an other ... it was like an appeal ... but my poste was too short to be understood

    You would need to link at least a few of my postes on the matter to actually get the point about what I've wrote here and you certainly haven't, won't and don't have to. but they are liste below

    Madame Quixote :

    To resume my answer as shorter as possible :There is no way to establish scientifically what is God ... but only spiritually ... also I didn't say God is love I've Said "wisdom (= Christ in the spirit of love) and maybe to be more clearI should have said Christ with the spirit of love (any spirit is related to consciousness, and consciousness of being and being able to do do something is the begining of the capacity to do something it's a FORCE that you can put in action) Also there are good spirit and bad spirit (in everything - obviously)

    maybe in justlinking those postes you'll get the point about my point of view on the matter :

    the 2 above are from the following original thread :
    http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/138505/1.ashx)

    the 2 above are from the following original thread :
    http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/140524/1.ashx

    and from this last one (even if it doesn't give real answers and details about everything) I think that you can get from what comes my whole point of view - and understand what I've meant in my 2 postes in this thread - in linking all the postes listed together.

  • diamondblue1974
    diamondblue1974
    Now what if conceptually God is everything? including human beings what are they busy doing?

    Actually I like this approach.

    Being pagan with beliefs in the interconnectedness of everything, I believe that we are divinity and divinity is in everything - that being the case we cannot blame 'God' for anything and we must all take responsibility for our own acts or ommissions and the impending results.

    One example: - We might complain about the environment and freak weather but what have we or you done personally to reduce your carbon footprint?

    Whilst we are busy blaming 'God' what are we actually doing personally to resolve the things we dislike or disagree with?

    For the record, I dont view Divinity as just being a concept - it goes much deeper than this!

    Gary

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