Why did you stop believing in God? (page 11)

Deputy Dog

cofty

I cope by facing up uncompromisingly to the fact that there is no purpose.

And you find comfort in that?

250 000 men, women and children wiped out in the Asian tsunami had a purpose did it? Please tell us what that purpose was.
A person who is diagnosed with Huntingtons Chorea who can know from a genetic test at what age they will mercifully pass away after 20 years of suffering with no hope of a cure. Please tell us what your god's purpose is in that. Maybe next time I go to the cancer unit at Newcastle you would like to come with me to meet some of the children and their parents and tell them what the purpose is of their disease.

First of all, don't misunderstand, I never said 'I KNOW what the purpose is' for anyone's suffering, I'm not God.

I would be glad to go with you and meet those children and their parents. As one who finds himself working with people in many painful situations, and dealing the suffering of others, I find most people are able to better deal with those things even when they don't understand what the purpose is, as long as they can trust that it's for a cause greater than the situation they find themselves in. If you have a better message I'd like to hear about it. Maybe you have something that would better comfort my wife, who has Muscular Dystrophy and who's lost both her mother and brother to the same disease, or my sister who lost her 19 year old son in a freak auto accident or maybe you would like to comfort the loved ones of the missing persons I'm called on to search for with my dog. I never claim to have all the answers, I can only share what works for me and others when someone asks how I handle the pains of life.

There may be people on this board who feel they have suffered far more than either/both of us. If they ask about me, I can only share the Gospel of Christ. I'm no better than you or anyone else, and I don't believe I deserve any of the blessings I recieve.

Yes I am certain you are delusional.

Well now, there you go. I guess the reason I reacted the way I did to your post, was that you could see the need for someone else to learn from you, but, it seemed that you think you know ALL bout what christians believe and you seem to think you are qualified to to speak for all of us. Did you ever stop to think you could learn something from christians? I'll be glad to take your advice and listen to you, if you can do the same. Because having authentic conversations with people who do not share my worldview and trying to understand them is one of the main reasons I'm here. So if we don't have YOUR worldview does it seem fair to say we're "delusional"? Do you really think you're in a (superior) position to tell christains that they all have a mental disorder?

Just asking.

prologos

mp: did Einstein stop believing in God? did he ever believe in a creator, a ( natural) law giver?

try the book "Einstein in Berlin" a whole chapter "where is Jehovah?"

quotes: "if this (my) equation is wrong, I feel sorry for the Lord" "the lord does not play dice" "Der Alte---"

He might not have believed in the WT god, but believed in an intelligent and powerful creator, as did the others that the "girl from the global village" mentioned.

I would second Einstein at least on the above thoughts, particularly after what happened in Berlin after he left.

cofty

villagegirl - What on earth has the fact that my son is in the military got to do with this discussion? Do you ever have conversations or do you just rant?

Deputy Dog - Are we talking about truth or comfort? I can think of lots of things we could say to people to make them feel better but is that preferable to reality?

Did you ever stop to think you could learn something from christians?

I was a "born-again"christian for 9 years after I left the Watchtower. I know exactly what it is that I reject.

I never said christains had a mental illness - don't put words in my mouth. Belief in an after-life where all the wrongs of this world will be put right is a delusion. Live this life as well as you can - its the only one we are going to have.

The Quiet One

In coftys defense.. Delusion can simply mean "a belief held in the face of evidence to the contrary, that is resistant to all reason"..Not necessarily involving mental illness. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/_/dict.aspx?rd=1&word=delusion

Xanthippe

The Quiet One, thanks for this thread. It is really useful for people who have left the JWs to hear how other people have continued on their way after leaving, growing and changing. I would love to hear some more stories of people's thought processes after they left and how they, like myself moved from Jw to Christian, to agnostic, to atheist. It is a long and sometimes painful process and we can really be supportive on a thread like this.

I just hope it isn't going to become another atheist versus believer thread because we have had so many of those and they are so very boring.

Deputy Dog

cofty

Deputy Dog - Are we talking about truth or comfort?

That was the question I was hoping to ask YOU, and I was trying to understand the role suffering (like the Tsunami) played in your decision to 'stop believing in God'.

I was a "born-again"christian for 9 years after I left the Watchtower.

What that term means today, is up for debate, I guess, so many people try to define it to suit themselves.

I know exactly what it is that I reject.

OK, help me out then, because this is confusing, exactly which gospel did you reject? Was it "an after-life where all the wrongs of this world will be put right"?

I never said christains had a mental illness - don't put words in my mouth.

I never used the word "illness" either, I used the word disorder. Illness implies disfunction and I didn't want to imply you meant that, but, how else would one interpret "delusional"?

The Quiet One

'I just hope it isn't going to become another atheist versus believer thread' -- I hope that it's clear that was not my intention, but I can't stop people from arguing.. I also hope it was clear that I wasn't calling believers fools, in fact I'm still feeling slightly guilty about what I said to Villagegirl. I look forward to when she returns to the thread, though preferably without silly generalizations about atheists.. Please keep the experiences coming, guys and gals :)

The Quiet One

Perhaps cofty+Deputydog could even take their dispute to another topic, if some would prefer it to remain free of debate and focused on experiences?

Tater-T

Bill Maher was a big influence on me too .. when he would say things like ..

" He can hear the murrmerings of 7 billion people simultaneously... but can only talk to one person!!! "

Wow thats some all powerful GOD..... !

Why did you stop believing in God?

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