Posts by Big Dog

28

10 Reasons Why Gay Marriage is Wrong

by avishai in

jw
friends

10 reasons why gay marriage is wrong.

01) being gay is not natural.

real americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.. .

Big Dog

Old Soul, I am going to be opening offices in San Francisco and Salt Lake City.

64

How many mistresses can a JW elder have?

by Gill in

jw
friends

since finding out more about the wtbts over the last year, it has come as no surprise to me anymore that the deceptive actions of the mother (wtbts) are seen in some of her children.

the need for double thinking, self deluding beliefs and sneaky, twisted belief and thought patterns that i have noticed over the years in so many jws suddenly makes sense and is no longer scandalising or suprising.. so when i was told of the behaviour of a 'fine, upstanding, pillar of the community, brother' i simply shrugged.

however, the results of his behaviour are not something to simply shrug your shoulders over.. it turned out for the last thirty years of his being married he has conducted affairs with another two 'sisters' in the congregation.

Big Dog

People are people, Catholic Priest, JW Elder, President of the United States. People are people and they will do seedy, immoral, whacked out stuff, it doesn't matter what they profess to be or what their station is in life. Cops are thieves, 10% of the physicians in the US are addicts, teachers molest students, the list just goes on and on. Many human beings are weak, slimy, and just plain no good.

28

10 Reasons Why Gay Marriage is Wrong

by avishai in

jw
friends

10 reasons why gay marriage is wrong.

01) being gay is not natural.

real americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.. .

Big Dog

Old Soul, you've really got me thinking, I'm going to get political and see what I can do to push this gay marriage thing through. I am thinking of all the benefits to yours truly here:

Its my understanding that gay relationships tend to be shorter lived, great more work for me.

Gays tend to be more affluent than straight folks, excellent news, less hassle about getting paid up front to do the divorce.

With heteros, a fair amount of the property issues are fairly easy to settle, she gets the jewelry, he gets the tools, she wants the Escalade, he wants the Porsche, but with a gay couple, and imagine this a gay couple that are roughly the same size, my God we could be fighting over every pair of shoes in the closet, the Prada hand bags, the suits, it boggles the mind.

So the dream case would be an affluent gay couple that can wear the same clothes and have the same interests, ie. they both golf, etc. and both want the equipment.

I've got to write my state legislature, there is a whole huge economic windfall to be had here.

p.s. Old Soul, Pro Bono? Are you kidding me?

105

How do you defend your god's inaction?

by AlmostAtheist in

jw
friends

this is a question for those that believe in a god or gods, particularly those described as "all knowing" or "almighty".. how do you defend to yourself that your god has not in any modern situation saved his people from anything?.

people of all faiths are regularly killed by various natural elements.

of course, if you knew such a thing was going to befall a person and you could do something to protect them, you would.

Big Dog

If there is a God I blieve this about him/her/it:

"According to the scriptures, God is … and that’s about all we can really say. God is unknowable. God’s ways are not our ways - God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. We think God should stop storms and prevent suffering, but that’s not on God’s agenda. That’s the human agenda and we are so quick to blame God when things don’t go our way. We stamp our feet like scorned children and tell God to go to hell."

People just keep trying to reduce God to human levels, to human motivations, human reactions, which just makes me shake my head, if there is a God, he/she/it isn't human, so all these little analogies and examples are pretty much pointless in my opinion, you are trying to frame God using human terms and situations which is just not going to work.

So all this calling God to task in my opinion is a waste of time. If there is a God, and he is actually the creator of this universe, or hell, just of this planet, we are so insignificant compared to that, that us down here yelling, screaming, ranting at him/her/it and demanding an explination as to God's actions is just really funny if you think about it. I'm rusty, but wasn't it in Job where the whirlwind asks, where were you when I did all of this, oh, you weren't around, then go take a flying leap with all your demands and questions.

believe the hype that God is this super-human in the sky who controls the weather, who controls people who fly planes into building and who controls who lives and who dies.
God doesn’t work that way.

For the same reason I think its goofy for people to claim God saved them in the event of a hurricane, or earthquake or whatever, I think its equally goofy to blame God for natural disasters.

God is not a vending machine - spitting out miracles if we put in the right kind or amount of prayer. God is not a super-human being in the sky, bigger and stronger than we are and all knowing. God is not an evil overlord in the sky, waiting with glee for just the right moment to smite the sinners and bless the saints. God is not even a benevolent, kind papa in the sky, sending waves of “lurve” to us if we’ll just meditate and think good thoughts.

I have always liked the vending machine analysis, that's how most view God, put in worship and love and recieve blessing in return, like a giant Coke machine. You can believe in God or not, worship him/her/it or not, your choice, no one is forcing you to church, or to this forum, or to read the bible.

28

10 Reasons Why Gay Marriage is Wrong

by avishai in

jw
friends

10 reasons why gay marriage is wrong.

01) being gay is not natural.

real americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.. .

Big Dog

Old Soul, can't you see it, a whole new sub-specialty, gay divorce specialist. Get in on the ground floor and make a killing.

28

10 Reasons Why Gay Marriage is Wrong

by avishai in

jw
friends

10 reasons why gay marriage is wrong.

01) being gay is not natural.

real americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.. .

Big Dog

Nope, I'm all for it, why should we straight folks have a lock on divorce, custody battles, property settlement disputes, etc. For the gay folks, be careful what you wish for...

105

How do you defend your god's inaction?

by AlmostAtheist in

jw
friends

this is a question for those that believe in a god or gods, particularly those described as "all knowing" or "almighty".. how do you defend to yourself that your god has not in any modern situation saved his people from anything?.

people of all faiths are regularly killed by various natural elements.

of course, if you knew such a thing was going to befall a person and you could do something to protect them, you would.

Big Dog

I rather liked this explination.

Where is God?

This is always the question that is asked when disaster strikes.

Where is God? Why didn’t God stop this? Why hasn’t God delivered these poor, suffering people? God must not be that “almighty” if “he” can’t stop all this suffering.

God, in my opinion, is not living up to his advertising. In a year that has witnessed the aftermath of the south Asian tsunami (approximately 225,000 deaths), Katrina (118 confirmed dead and rising), and Wednesday’s Baghdad bridge stampede (some 953 Shiite religious pilgrims dead), it has become impossible to reconcile current events with the notion of an omnipotent, omniscient, magnanimous deity. “The Almighty” appears to be either an unaware, powerless, and/or misanthropic absentee landlord — or no one whatsoever.

This view shows just how pervasive the right-wing view of the vending machine God has taken hold in our country. It’s a perversion of God’s nature.

The right wing, with its black and white answers to every question, and the ever-pervasive “prosperity gospel” that teaches people that if they do the right things (namely contributing to the purveyor of the prosperity message) God will make them rich in return, has led people to misunderstand God when disaster strikes. They believe the hype that God is this super-human in the sky who controls the weather, who controls people who fly planes into building and who controls who lives and who dies.

God doesn’t work that way.

God is not a vending machine - spitting out miracles if we put in the right kind or amount of prayer. God is not a super-human being in the sky, bigger and stronger than we are and all knowing. God is not an evil overlord in the sky, waiting with glee for just the right moment to smite the sinners and bless the saints. God is not even a benevolent, kind papa in the sky, sending waves of “lurve” to us if we’ll just meditate and think good thoughts.

According to the scriptures, God is … and that’s about all we can really say. God is unknowable. God’s ways are not our ways - God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. We think God should stop storms and prevent suffering, but that’s not on God’s agenda. That’s the human agenda and we are so quick to blame God when things don’t go our way. We stamp our feet like scorned children and tell God to go to hell.

God is not a human. True we are made in God’s image - possessing that spark of the divine that creates our better nature - but God is not us and we make a mistake when we expect God to act or think like us.

God is God - and the scriptures tell us that God is ever with us, working in and through us if we seek God’s will for our lives. When we search for God we should not search for God in the wind, the thunder or the hurricane. We only find God in that still, small voice - that voice that comforts us, that voice that guides us, that voice that assures us that no matter how tough things get or how bad things seem, there is always hope.

God has never promised us a trouble free life. Believing in God does not get one a pass on tragedy. Believing in God does not mean that we’ll be rich, thin and good looking. Believing in God simply means that against all odds, we will have hope. Believing in God means that against all odds, we will believe that things can get better. Believing in God means that we will be motivated to survive, to grow, to change things for the better - because we understand that justice - real distributive justice - only comes about when those who believe in the eternal goodness and hope of God act on our convictions and work for the betterment of every single person on the face of this earth.

Read the Psalms and understand. When people search for God they find God in the suffering. They find God in the face of hopeless situations. They find God in the depth of their hearts where their strength lies. They find God in the depth of their hearts where their hope lives. They find God in the depth of their hearts where despair is finally defeated.

If this current disaster teaches us anything it’s that we’ve forgotten where God is and how God works in our world. God works through us. God lives within each of us and if we neglect that divine spark in ourselves or anyone else, chaos follows.

Deroy Murdock concludes his article stating that “we are on our own.” It’s that kind of attitude that has brought us here. Only when we realize that we are all in it together will we understand the true nature of God. We are woven together on this earth as a fine fabric and when we truly believe that we are on our own and we don’t need each other then we destroy the fabric of life - the fabric of God. We can only understand God when we understand that we are woven together on this earth - completely dependent on one another. How we live affects one another and until we understand that interconnectedness - that utter dependence upon one another - we will forever feel angry with and forsaken by God.

If you want to rage at something, rage at the selfishness and vanity that humanity (especially Western humanity) has embraced. Rage at our insensitivity to one another. Rage at our inability to rise above our tribalism. Rage at what the human race has become by our own choices and decisions. God hasn’t put us here - we have.

God is with us. God is in the despair, in the struggle and in the suffering. God is within us all, and only when we realize that divine spark of every human being and how powerful we are when we realize and act upon our connection to everyone - only then will we truly understand the power and nature of God.

10

What does the WTS have to gain?

by Low-Key Lysmith in

the one question that still burns in my mind is what does the wts possibly have to gain by keeping so many people deluded and brainwashed?

does the gb really think they are doing god's work knowing full well that they are nothing but a bunch of liars?

how can they, in good conscience, encourage people who will die without blood transfusions do so knowing full well that it's a farce?

Big Dog

I think Poppers nailed it, once an institution reaches a certain level it takes on a life of its own, has sort of an inertia about it that is hard to stop. Also Lady Lees point about digging themselves in a hole, after all the finger pointing at other religions and circular reasoning, there simply is no going back.

16