@Sab, yes, all religions being false doesn't necesarily mean God doesn't exist, but, on the other hand, we get the idea of God from religion in the first place. And if all religions are wrong, what is the true god like? Is he nothing like what people believe?
How the WTBTS creates atheists
by Nickolas 103 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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sabastious
Pikachu, Nick:
no buts!
-Sab
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Pika_Chu
@sab: what do you mean, no buts? I understand what you are saying. HOWEVER (I did not say "but" this time), if not for the ancients inventing belief systems in gods, no one today would believe in any gods. Without religion, there is no one to say there IS a god.
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tec
@Sab, yes, all religions being false doesn't necesarily mean God doesn't exist, but, on the other hand, we get the idea of God from religion in the first place.
But where did religion get the idea of God from?
Tammy
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Nickolas
But where did religion get the idea of God from?
That is a great question, Tammy. At least some of those who have studied the earliest human societies have speculated that humans created gods to explain the natural phenomenon they could not understand and that ritual practices to please those gods soon came about, followed by the creation of laws written in stone and at this point mankind had created religion. The idea of god came first.
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ziddina
"I can't really argue against any of your sentiments. ..."
Ah... How the heck does recognizing a primitive, superstitious account of a volcanic eruption in the biblical account at Exodus 19: 16-19, constitute a "sentiment"??????
Zid
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Nickolas
Human progress is slow, Tammy, in spite of how quickly it has advanced over the past 50 years (which, if you've been around to see it personally seems remarkable). As much as we are pushing ourselves toward the razor's edge of sustaining ourselves as a species we've advanced a great deal in all areas, including science and philosophy. A hundred years ago life was tougher. A hundred years before that it was tougher still. I can't imagine life back in the times the Bible was written, but if you consider the words in the Bible itself you already know that they were very difficult. But it is just where we were as a species, undoubtedly the very best place we could have been considering the times, but realities have nevertheless changed. The deeper down we go in our ancestry the darker our reality was. We created God because we could not understand life and reality. As we have progressively come to understand life and reality we have progressively come to deconstruct God. Not too long ago in our history we worshipped hundreds of different gods. In 2011, how many active gods are left? There's Yahweh, for sure. Brahma, Allah (who many think is really Yahweh in disguise), Vishnu ... I don't know how many, but there are still a few around. More than one. Atheists see a much different future from what theists see. Atheists see what's happening in places like Norway (where more than 3/4 of the population now professes agnosticism or atheism) happening throughout the world. Belief in god is very slowly becoming synonymous with belief in magic, and I do not know any adult who will profess to believe in magic.
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The Oracle
It is ironic isn't it?
The WTBS does indeed do a good job at exposing the ridiculous religious beliefs of many people around the world.
I find it so ironic that when a thinking person discovers the facts about the JW religion; the origin of its teachings, the history of its changing doctrines and false predicitions, and its harmful policies and practices - and then applies the same critical thinking we were taught to use when examining other religions...that they come to same conclusions concering the WTBS as they did concerning all other religions!!
It's fascinating. Life is an interesting journey.
the oracle
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Nickolas
Ah... How the heck does recognizing a primitive, superstitious account of a volcanic eruption in the biblical account at Exodus 19: 16-19, constitute a "sentiment"??????
actually, I was referring to your sentiment that the Watchtower hadn't influenced you becoming atheist, zid. My take is that it influenced me.
It's fascinating. Life is an interesting journey.
Indeed it is, Oracle.
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ziddina
"...and I do not know any adult who will profess to believe in magic. ..." Nickolas
If you check certain areas of Africa, India, the Middle East, and the Indonesian areas of the Pacific Rim, I suspect that you'll find a number of adults who still believe in magic, witches, demons, etc...
Which is why the Watchtower Society is focusing more of their attention on those areas...
Zid