if spirits really exist, and really communicate with some people, then why don't the people ever ask anything that anyone cares about?!?!.
"when did you die?".
"did you own any pets?".
Almostatheist
You're right. It also reminds me of fortune tellers or clairvoyants who mostly discuss what happened in the past, stuff you already know. But they too never address the important questions or issues concerning your future.
Actually, I've worked out how they do it and find it quite easy. Like you, I'm not one for magical thinking!
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with the continuing thiest-athiest debates that go one here, i have a question, mainly for believers.. as a believer in god, how does it make you feel when you hear about athiest michael newdow's efforts to have "in god we trust" removed from us currency?
i guess this question could include the 10 commandments being displayed on public building issue, or removing reference to god from the pledge of allegiance.
I can't understand why a theist or Christian would give two hoots about any of this, one way or the other. Its not important.
In my opinion its the non believers who want this sort of thing on the agenda, for some reason.
i was raised to be pentacostal.
i hated that religion and their holier than thou attitudes.
so, i went against my mother and listened to the dubs.
I'm not keen on putting people into 'classes' whether these classes be 'holier than thou types' 'pentecostals' Christians' athiests, etc etc.
In reality the world is just full of individuals with no two in the same 'class' even if they have joined the same religion. Its tough when we've been subconsciously taught to generalise and classify everyone, and put them in tidy boxes with labels on them. My JW friend just can't help himself. When we discuss someone, he desperately needs to try to categorise them in some way, perhaps to keep his mind tidy.
From he of the scrap all boxes and labels class
when i first came here a while back there was plenty of discussion around and about jw topics and general chit chat but of late i've felt quite a sharp increase in posts that are: .
1/ preaching aethism (as opposed to putting it forward in a respectful way as an alternate viewpoint.
2/ vitriolic attacks on those who dare have another view ('damn those stupid heretical believers') .
I think nearly all of us are quite measured and reasonable most of the time, but I welcome this thread as a healthy opportunity for us to reflect.
This can be a tough place, even for me, and I don't consider myself the sensitive type. But some folks have been through far more difficult experiences than me. I am a little surprised that a few posters remain as dogmatic as I imagine they were as JWs, and just as sure they are right. This applies to believers and non believers alike. I sometimes think to myself...there's that old JW certainty and superiority surfacing again. This applies to me too, although never a JW, I was once something very similar.
Personally, I am not very pleased with some of what I have posted through the months. It is so easy to get into arguments and post things I later regret. My recent solution is to post much less, do more listening and less talking.
I have winced of late at the hurt some may have unintentially and unwittingly inflicted on others. Some would say "if you can't stand the heat........" but some folks have wandered into our kitchen for some form of refuge, and may be at a crossroads or on a journey between belief systems.
IMHO anyone who is sure they are in "the truth" whatever version of religion or atheism that might be, are very similar to JWs. Its all dogmatism, arrogance and superiority.
ok, i got a call tonight from an old friend i knew years ago when i lived in another city.
i haven't seen him for 18 years although we have had occassional contact.
he's coming in to toronto next week and wants to know if we can get together to catch up.
Go for it...he's the one with a problem if he's still a JW. Let him see first hand how good it is for you to be in the truth after many years as a JW!
like when you hear someone say they are christian and talk about jesus lot do you relate them to being like jehovahs witnesses on instinct?
When I say, hear or think "Christian", I truly think of the opposite of JW.
I believe the Biblical antiChrist to be represented by all forms of fundamentalist religion, including JWs and many many others.
that's the overall impression i get from reading the posts.
i'm very new here, so i could be mistaken.
if i am, my apologies.
Nate merit,
These days I describe myself as Christian, but my 'worldview' is far closer to yours than to fundamentalist Christians. I have faith and I have doubts, and I keep adjusting my beliefs as I seek and learn. As I get older I hope I get wiser and find the stuff I intuitively believed in as a young man increasingly confirmed by science, and by the most scholarly interpretations of scriptures.
If God were the Jehovah described by JWs or even the God so called Bible-based Christians portray, then I would reject God with my whole being. I would sooner be athiest than believe in such a God. The God I believe in is the one I recognise, through Christ, revealed through proper understanding of the Bible. A million miles from JW teaching.
I love science and recognise its wonderful strengths but also its limitations. Neither science nor religion can ever answer all human questions. I learned this truth from science and from the Bible. Often I find religious and scientific teachings very compatible (that is if I exclude the modern fundie religions like JWs).
I believe in a Christianity that has more in common with science and some other world religions than it does with JWs & other fundamentalists, whom I believe have completely misunderstood nearly all of scripture. I used to put most of my faith in agnosticim or even atheism, but my faith in these things has diminished recently as I see the incredible harmony between several world religions, Biblical enlightenment, and scientific progress.
i am new here and i have a special gift for you that i have been developing through heated debated with atheist/agnostics in a number of forums of this nature.
i feel i am supposed to share this special gift primarily with jehovahs witnesses for, through my prayers, i have been extremely inspired by you.. before i enter the post i would like to experiment and get to know how this forum works.
special edit: okay, i'm getting the hang of this very different format than i am used to.
You atheists do not believe in God, but believe that all life evolved from single-celled organisms. You cannot prove this as fact with your scientific methodology thus you are accepting the premise on FAITH.
Jason
You seem keen to put everyone into a tidy box. Are you truly unaware that most theists including most Christians do indeed believe that all life evolved from single-celled organisms.
Seems you've led a sheltered life and only been exposed to the modern Americal style of fundamentalist religion!? Just my two-penneth.
..that the mention of a faithful servant in a parable referred to the appointment, 2,000 years later, of a human organisation.
..and that for some reason the appointment was made to the only religion on earth with a 100% prediction failure rate, and which has gradually abandoned every last scrap of the "spiritual food" which they say earned them the appointment in the first place.
hi folks, got back from hols at the weekend - you were the only thing i missed while away.
i needed the break and chilled out.
just wish i had got online while in florida, to say hello.. will catch up with the news when jetlag weares off, and when i get back from a business trip this week.
Cheers LT
