quote from the watchtower, simplified edition, september 2015, "how can we show that we love jehovah?".
higher education often makes them lose their love for god..
Generally speaking, the more fundamentalist, (i.e. black and white), a religion, the less educated and/or intelligent the membership. Religions that do manage to maintain an educated and intelligent base, only do so because they allow for a large amount of free thought. It is usually not too far a step from there to non-belief.
d4g
from my own observations & conversations with selected active j.w.
's, here are my conclusions:.
's are very rapidly falling into two distinct camps -.
The group Frank mentions above is the largest group, IMO. However, the trend seems to be one of polarization from this group, to one of the other two.
d4g
add to the list and let's see the weekend out on a positive note!
1. sunday mornings.
alarm not set, cuddles with the mrs, tunes in the bedroom, coffee, bacon, another lazy coffee in the garden .
Thinking for myself. All else good, (or bad), stems from this. I will take it any day before being part of "the collective". And yes, it is virtually all good.
d4g
from my own observations & conversations with selected active j.w.
's, here are my conclusions:.
's are very rapidly falling into two distinct camps -.
The second group is probably bigger than 20%. The problem is, the CD is affecting them such that, they appear to be of the first group. The zeal is their way of rationalizing away their doubts.
d4g
if crisis of conscience is one of the top watchtower doctrine killers, what is the coc of theism?.
i'd like to read a book, or other material that does the best job logically arguing for atheism.. i've not read any darwin, however it is my assumption that his focus is primarily on evolution, is this correct?
if you were to recommend one book or a few pieces of reading material, which do the best job of defending atheism, what would they be?.
Second for The God Delusion. I read it in 2006, and it provided a good primer for at least helping me understand what atheism really is. I did not declare myself as such right there and then, however.
Really, it was looking at several lines of evidence, including history, biology, physics, human psychology, etc. that convinced me no omnipotent god existed. This conclusion took about another 5 years to reach.
My point is, a single book will not do it. Those with theistic upbringings, do not easily lose those tendencies toward belief, since certain existential anxieties often need to be dealt with first. This takes time. Those with fundamentalist upbringings, (such as JW), are much more susceptible to such anxieties, as religion and belief in god tend to have addictive properties, that can be difficult to break free from.
d4g
quote from the watchtower, simplified edition, september 2015, "how can we show that we love jehovah?".
higher education often makes them lose their love for god..
Higher education teaches you how to think, not what to think. Religions teach the opposite. Once a person knows how to think, it is only a matter of time and circumstance before they wake up and exit. It took me 11 years after graduation, but it happened.
d4g
hello ya'll.
was just listening to great guitar music from some of my favorites.
who are your all time favorites?
No order to this:
1. SRV
2. Jimmy Page
3. Lindsey Buckingham
4. Jimi Hendrix
5. Terry Kaft (Way underrated early Chicago)
6. Mark Knophler
7. Eric Clapton
8. Pete Townsend
9. Rory Gallagher
10. Richie Blackmore, (yeah he is jerk, but good)
we would all agree that music whatever its form or genre, speaks to us, maybe a favorite childhood nursery rhyme, maybe dads music,etc.
a lot of us where shut down to such wordly things, some were not.
music has always helped me in hard times, that song, that artist, that let's get moving stuff, what speaks to you, its not a cure all, but what do you like?
Even as a JW, I never EVER denied myself music.This is one area of JW compliance I simply ignored, and never thought twice about it, really.
Lifelong '70s progressive rock fan, but like that genre from any decade. Punk, new wave, Celtic, lots of modern Indie stuff, reggae, '90s alternative, folk rock, the Dead, etc.
Just picked up a couple of nice vinyl repressings of Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti, and Pearl Jam's Ten.
d4g
i started posting on the ex community about five years ago since two of my children have remained under the jw spell.
back then i had little tangible hope of seeing the downfall of the org.
i now see evidence of big cracks forming in their hermetic carapace..
The borg attracts a specific kind of misfit people. The borg will be there as long as these kind of people continue to exist.
True, but it existing in some form is not really the point. At some point, this will be the only type of member the current implementation of the organization can support. Those types do not have the finances nor the intelligence to keep the organization in business. The implementation will need to change, or they will become a very minor sect, not unlike the Christadelphians. It is a question of when, not if.
d4g
in 1897, j.j. thomson discovered the electron.
this was the first constituent part of the atom which, for 2,000 years, was thought to be indivisible.
today, we know of 18 elemental particles following the recent discovery of the higgs boson, the so-called god particle.. back in 1897, most people believed in god because there weren't even any theories as to how the universe came into being.
Well people could really do what they can get away with now knowing there is no all seeing god and therefore no consequences
So that is what Christians base their morality on...now I understand.
You said it...
d4g
