old dawkins is on the rampage again.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/5372458.stm.
The thing is this, something I noticed about him, is that he really has a contempt for the belief in god.
I wouldn't call it contempt. What he does have is a very enthusiastic take on what he does believe. I read The Blind Watchmaker a short time ago, and liked his approach very much. He has a way of "selling" evolution that most dry science text books just don't have. I just received my copy of The God Delusion today. So far, it's a good read.
j
the anti sex beatings from the wtbts go on and on!.
november 1st 2006 'awake'.
this particular mag has an article on 'does romantic love justify premrital sex?'.
In my experience, the whole no premarital sex thing the WT advocates CAUSES more problems in a marriage than it solves.
j
the wts is a member of cesnur an organisation that seeks to promote new religions and to oppose anti cult actions by governments on the grounds that these are attacks on personal and religious freedom.
surprise surprise the other members of this organisation make up a strange brood: mormons, scientologists, new agers, ramtha's school of ancient wisdom, etc.
clearly the wts that criticises mainstream christianity so much chooses to join forces with such dubious religions in cesnur.
While I certainly can understand the society's attempts to maintain basic human rights for thier position, and while I don't neccesarily view this as "fornication", the double standard here is another example of what is considered OK for the org, but not for the r&f, as individuals. It would be frowned upon, at best, to join a "human rights" organization of sorts by the r&f witness. At worst, one COULD be df'd for what really would be defined as involvement with an interfaith movement. The same standards should apply to the organization. But sadly, they don't.
j
i can see how someone could be agnostic in their view.
who knows, who cares?
thinking that perhaps "god" is just a spiritual santa claus for people who are afraid of death, etc..... but atheism?
This argument largely depends on semantics, and how one defines the terms "atheist" and "agnostic". If traditional definitions are applied, that is, Atheist: One who does not believe in a god, (gods), as for the lack of emperical evidence to prove a god's existence; and Agnostic: One who doesn't know if a god exists or not, or doesn't care; then I would consider myself an atheist. However, most people don't adhere to the "traditional" definitions of these terms.
To most people, agnostic simply means to not know if THEY believe in a god or not. The concept of god cannot be proven or disproven. Emperical evidence cannot "prove" any such thing either way. A person who calls himself "agnostic", often consdiers other factors than simple emperical lines of evidence. These are usually not very well defined, and vary from person to person. If I were to use this line of reasoning, I would call myself an agnostic, if, for no other reason, it leaves the door somewhat ajar to other possibilities that science alone has not yet considered.
j
im interested in hearing what your personal reaction would be if (i say if because probably 99.9% here believe this will never happen) all the religions of the world were to be suddenly banned/shut down/decommissioned/liquidated/dismembered/etc.. by the political powers of the world.
what would your first post here say?
would it change your view of jehovah...of the "org"?
I would lmao because such a thing would never fly if it were not the will of the people. If some sort of global dictator tried to ban all religion it would create a massive international insurgency like nothing the world has seen before.
If the population as a whole gradually became more atheistic and decided to abandon their deities and religions on their own, then there would be no major reaction from anyone. Everyone would just shrug and go about their business.
Precisely, Elsewhere. No organization, UN or otherwise, would attempt to outlaw religion for fear of the backlash it would cause worldwide. We would truly be living in a scary place. If, OTOH people did gradually become more atheistic, to the point to where such a thing COULD be acceptable, there would be NO NEED to outlaw religion.
I, (for the most part), am atheist, but believe very strongly, that people are entitled to their beliefs. The worst possible "religious" scenario would be a religion of "outlawed religion".
j
i am new to the site, although i have been a lurker for quite some time.
i was very nervous to create an account.
all of the people i work for and with are jw's and we are all family.
Welcome I.Wonder!
I wouldn't worry too much about drawing suspicion for not turning in time. It's actually a good subtle way to begin the "process" of getting out. The first thing I did was stop service and reporting time. I continued to go to meetings for a few months, then one day, just stopped. Nobody noticed.
j
<!-- .style1 { font-family: verdana; color: #0175cb; } .style2 { font-size: 14px; font-family: verdana; } .style3 {font-size: 14px; font-family: verdana; font-style: italic; } body { background-color: #ffffcc; } .style4 {font-size: 14px; font-family: verdana; font-weight: bold; } .style6 {font-size: 16} --> the morals taught by the watchtower society there are two sides to this story and once again it will spark a .
heated controversy.
and once again, i make no apologies for .
The child molestation cases only indicate the failure of the WTS's coerced version of morality. As stated by Auld Soul, morality cannot be forced or coerced on someone, although it can be taught. The only way to force "morality" is through use of fear. FEAR of being df'd. FEAR of dying at the big A, FEAR of shame in front of the congregation, etc. What happens is, this concept backfires on the society in cases such as child molestation. It is far too shameful, ON THE ORGANIZATION, so it is brushed under the table. This could just as easily apply to anything the average person would consider extremely repugnant. If the immoral act is TOO bad, (as to make the organization itself look bad), the easiest thing for elders to do, is "make the problem go away". No public reproof, no DF'ing, because they know that the congregation, (and in this case, those OUTSIDE the congregation), would eventually find out why.
j
who is the biggest villain in watchtower history?
let's have a poll.
here are the candidates with a few possible reasons for voting for each:.
As far as villians go, well, it's pretty much a matter of the blind leading the blind here, so by default I have to go with Russell.
j
who is the biggest villain in watchtower history?
let's have a poll.
here are the candidates with a few possible reasons for voting for each:.
He did not stick up for Jonnson when he had the chance
That MAY be true. But nevertheless, a bit misleading. Ray Franz actually HELPED Jonnson publish "The Gentile Times Reconsidered", by assisting him with English, grammar, and other things to make the work more "marketable".
j
lately i`ve been in conflict with jw-apologists on wikipedia in my country.
the most annoying thing is when the jws are trying to rewrite doctrine to make it sound more humane than it really is.
everyone on this board, everyone who ever was a jw or were raised as a jw,knows what the real doctrine is on this issue.
This is a topic most JWs, (even when I was one), will sidestep, simply because most jws don't really agree, (in their hearts), with what the WTS teaches regarding this issue. Yes, they may KNOW that the articles teach that, (mainly), only jws will survive the big A, but most won't say this at the door, or even in converstion with others informally, because THEY don't really believe it. I know I didn't, and I simply couldn't bring myself to teach it.
Bottom line, there is no way to sugar coat what the SOCIETY really believes regarding who will survive Armegeddon. The borg attributes that blessing only to themselves, AND BY SOME POSSIBILTY, maybe to some other persons, who have not "heard the Good News", (aka jw ministry), and who "have a good heart condition".
j
