many people point to the irrationality in the depiction of god by the religions and their scriptures, hence jump into the bottomless pit of atheism.
in either camp, god is not a factor because religion is only a means that misrepresents god, hence religionists themselves are atheists (literally, those who live without god).
it is like saying there exists no earth because you found out your friend who taught earth is flat is wrong; or it is like saying mathematics itself is wrong because you found out your mathematics teacher made a mistake.
Then I lay there in the gutter and my heart was all a-flutter,
Till a lady, passing by, did chance to say:
"You can tell a man that boozes by the company he chooses,"
Then the pig got up and slowly walked away.
- The Famous Pig Song
I'm sorry, but like the pig, I'm going to walk away from this thread.
first post here and looking for advice and help.
sorry in advance for it being so long :(.
i'm a happily married woman (no kids) who is a non-jw, presbyterian to be precise.
Hi Spacegirl, oh boy you are in a pickle!
All you need to know at the moment is that your husband's religion is crazy. Keep the discussion really simple, which will be hard because he will try and drag it all over the place. Your points could be something like:
You do not have the same religious beliefs.
A house is a shared space where both partners should feel equally at home.
you're not prepared to compromise on the Christmas tree and he needs to accept that if you are to feel that where you live is your home.
You have given up birthdays, Easter, having children(!!) for him. Is he prepared to give this up for you?
Stick to your few points, don't get distracted by arguments about pagan origins, don't get sidetracked down waffle alley and don't give in!
Once you get through this I'm afraid it's not going to get easier. The organisation will always be interfering. There will always be some issue unless you roll over and become a JW (and give up your free will and thinking ability). DON'T DO THAT!!!
many people point to the irrationality in the depiction of god by the religions and their scriptures, hence jump into the bottomless pit of atheism.
in either camp, god is not a factor because religion is only a means that misrepresents god, hence religionists themselves are atheists (literally, those who live without god).
it is like saying there exists no earth because you found out your friend who taught earth is flat is wrong; or it is like saying mathematics itself is wrong because you found out your mathematics teacher made a mistake.
Conscious energy is an invention of yourself, or your teacher, backed up by no facts at all.
Evolution is a theory backed up by facts.
The gaps in the fossil record are because fossilisation rarely happens, not because transitional species are missing. ALL species are transitional, including Homo Sapiens.
The Elephant shrew is considered an insectivore... because it eats insects.
so this is just a general question.
call it curiosity.. what sort of phobias do we have?
heights?
You'd get on well with my dog Phoebe. She has very firm ideas about postmen and how they should be barked off the planet if at all possible!
I thought I had arachnophobia, but as an expert at Exmoor zoo pointed out, if I really did have arachnophobia I would not have stayed in the same room as him and the tarantula that he was holding. I guess that what I have is just a strong aversion therefore.
many people point to the irrationality in the depiction of god by the religions and their scriptures, hence jump into the bottomless pit of atheism.
in either camp, god is not a factor because religion is only a means that misrepresents god, hence religionists themselves are atheists (literally, those who live without god).
it is like saying there exists no earth because you found out your friend who taught earth is flat is wrong; or it is like saying mathematics itself is wrong because you found out your mathematics teacher made a mistake.
The Big Bang theory makes no claims to be the ultimate theory. It is the current attempt to explain the way things are.
Energy and Conscious Energy are two completely different things. One exists and one doesn't. You see you're trying to define a god by taking something that exists (energy) and then adding stuff to it that there is no evidence for.
What you're presenting is the irreducible complexity argument and that applies to your "Conscious Energy" as well, so the question remains: who created the conscious energy?
just spent 8 hours in a 1 day elders school last weekend.
clarification given: "moving forward any elder, ms, or pioneer who themselves or someone under their roof enrolls in higher education, may no longer qualify for privileges in the congregation.
their qualifications will have to be reviewed by their boe.".
"Greater love hath no man than he who will drive his stationwagon at 5mph away from the Org for the sake of his family." - Brian chapter 1, verse 5.
many people point to the irrationality in the depiction of god by the religions and their scriptures, hence jump into the bottomless pit of atheism.
in either camp, god is not a factor because religion is only a means that misrepresents god, hence religionists themselves are atheists (literally, those who live without god).
it is like saying there exists no earth because you found out your friend who taught earth is flat is wrong; or it is like saying mathematics itself is wrong because you found out your mathematics teacher made a mistake.
You infer from the "simple" universe of the human body, the complex greater universe because the conscious energy that creates one must infer a greater conscious energy creating the other?
Ignoring for a moment the complete lack of evidence for this inference, this line of reasoning relies on the decreasing complexity of creation. So, something like this:
God > Human > Wristwatch
Whereas science suggests increasing complexity:
Big Bang > Energy > Matter > Universe > Life > intelligent life > A.I. Robots
The problem, which you have tried to sidestep but failed, of "who designed the designer" is still very much a problem for you then, because you need something MORE complex than god to design god.
hi all,i have been studying with the witnesses for more than 6 months and regularly attend both midweek & weekend meetings, and i am nearly at the end of the "bible teach" book.
my boss is adamant i attend team christmas functions.
she knows about my studying and potential baptism next year, and has suggested that i attend and just not participate in activities like kris kringle.
Wow Anders, that's the scary power of the internet right there! The internet knows all, the internet remembers all.
for what it's worth, I also got the vibe that they were already a JW. It was something about their turn of phrase and lack of addressing arguments. Either way, bring on the next defender of the JDubs!
thumbs-up gesture doesn’t covey much if we see only four fingers closed and thumb standing upward.
but if we look for the implied meaning, then it is a positive, informal signal indicating a job well done, and saying ‘keep it up.’.
similarly, biblical accounts don’t convey much if we see them as mere accounts.
The implications drawn from any account are based on the thinking of the person drawing the implications and so if you do that, the account itself is largely irrelevant. A person can draw positive lessons from bible accounts, or from Grimm's fairy tales, or even from a supermarket shopping receipt found on the floor.
religion is declining in many countries around the world and hardly exists in some countries.. it would fair to say that scientifically acquired knowledge has taken a bite of religious practice over the years.
the premising suggestion that there is a god looking at everything mankind does or should do is vanishing out the human consciousness.. should we emulate the social directives written in ancient manuscripts established by those ancients for their civilization ?
is it possible that mankind can control and guide itself now with all the acquired knowledge we have attained, toward the ending betterment of humanity ?
Remember that it was religion that flew the planes into the twin towers. I think it's obvious that you can be a better person without religion. I'm not sure about spirituality, it's such a nebulous term, but I still think that if you use the purely human attributes of compassion and empathy then you can be a socially responsible person without relying on any outside influence.
