Posts by BurnTheShips

100

Staying a Christian Upon Leaving

by serotonin_wraith in

so you found out the jehovah's witness religion/cult was bogus.

congratulations, it's a step in the right direction.

now all you have to do is escape the cult of christianity.. while other christian groups are (perhaps arguably) less controlling (on the whole), the foundation christianity rests on is bogus too.

BurnTheShips

Dude, can you please stop spamming this board with these massive cut and paste posts?

Geez!

100

Staying a Christian Upon Leaving

by serotonin_wraith in

so you found out the jehovah's witness religion/cult was bogus.

congratulations, it's a step in the right direction.

now all you have to do is escape the cult of christianity.. while other christian groups are (perhaps arguably) less controlling (on the whole), the foundation christianity rests on is bogus too.

Sorry, I don't answer cut and paste :-).

I asked you, on what should morality be based?

Atheism is not a belief.
Strong Atheism IS a belief. Apparently you are are like that, since belief elicits such hatred in you as you have posted upthread.

Does not believing in Thor make you do bad things?
I don't know, ask Thor. :-) Not believing in God would make me do bad things, yes. Especially since there would not be an objective definition (to me) for "bad". It's OK to be an atheist, but don't claim the privileges of having rights and inherent value as a human being when your worldview is not capable of bestowing those rights and that inherent value. You're in a relativistic swamp. Just be honest.

If it wasn't for a belief in Allah's heaven with 72 virgins for all who kill in the name of Allah, young muslims wouldn't be blowing themselves up in crowded areas. Looks bad to me.
There's some bad mushrooms behind my house. If I eat them they will kill me. Does this mean that all mushrooms are bad?

Well your Christian president (oh, don't tell me, he's not a TRUE Christian!)
I can't speak for another.

is making little effort to reduce the carbon emissions coming from your country while other (less religious) countries are trying to do their part. If you're not doing so already, can you please join us in trying to get him to see sense?
I don't know...seems a lot of smart people don't see your "sense". I live in a hurricane zone and just yesterday our top U.S. hurricane meteorologist, William Gray, expressed a good deal of skepticism on the matter of carbon emissions/glowball worming. Not saying it isn't true, but it is not settled science. It would kind of suck to scrap our economy over a fairy tale.

Slavery was a Christian movement.
LOL. Study your history. Slavery had always existed up to that point. The Hebrews were slaves once. The early Christians were often slaves. If it was "Christian" how come it was universal and predated Christianity? As for the whole Cain issue and institutionalized racism, some people will look in Scripture and try to find a justification for whatever they want to believe.

Bad generalizing on my part, sorry. You're keeping a system alive in which other Christians are trying to get rules passed, if you're not actively trying to do anything yourself.

#1 Christians (even in name only) are citizens of their respective countries.
#2 Christians vote, it is their god-given right.
#3 Like other people, Christians vote their consciences.
#4 They outnumber people like you (here in the US) 10 to 1.
#5 Convince them or get used to it. (And you are not very convincing)

Are you pushing back against those who want creationism taught in schools with us too?
Nice try to bait me.Creationism is not science because it is not empirically falsifiable. Ergo it should not be taught in a science class, but in a theology/philosophy/religion class. Simple.

Faith is closed minded. People don't use faith in other parts of their lives (like science), only for God. Are you open to the possibility you could be wrong? How could someone show you you were wrong, when you don't listen to reason? Looks closed minded to me.
Your argument was that belief stifles science. I have demonstrated with that list that it does not. I wager that a lot of the brilliant people on that list would not agree with you regarding faith not being a part of their entire lives.

I will admit there is a moral grey area when you admit there is a moral grey area regarding the millions of sperm that don't make it to the egg but die, and every woman's period. Look at all the 'life' killed there!
Neither a sperm nor an egg ever becomes human.
Tertullian: "homo est qui venturus est." [trans: he who will become man is man]

The ancient ancient fossils of homo sapiens and other hominids in no way detract from my belief in God. The fossil record shows a lot of support for the theory of evolution and I do not contest that.

I'm open to the idea God exists.
No you are not, you lie and I quote you on this very thread:
There is a river of hate held for Christian teachings veiled very thinly

YOU----> I don't try to hide it.

You are just another bitter angry atheist. And reason alone does not engender those illogical emotions, to channel Spock. Must be an illogical belief system

Cheers.

Burn

100

Staying a Christian Upon Leaving

by serotonin_wraith in

so you found out the jehovah's witness religion/cult was bogus.

congratulations, it's a step in the right direction.

now all you have to do is escape the cult of christianity.. while other christian groups are (perhaps arguably) less controlling (on the whole), the foundation christianity rests on is bogus too.

BurnTheShips

Again, fetal stem cells are a moral gray area, we have not worked out the ethics of this type of research. Let me add that adult stem cells show tremendous promise, and we may be able to get all the benefits without doing something that may be unethical. In fact, there are already adult stem cell treatments available, unlike fetal cells, which are still pie in the sky.

100

Staying a Christian Upon Leaving

by serotonin_wraith in

so you found out the jehovah's witness religion/cult was bogus.

congratulations, it's a step in the right direction.

now all you have to do is escape the cult of christianity.. while other christian groups are (perhaps arguably) less controlling (on the whole), the foundation christianity rests on is bogus too.

BurnTheShips

Funny, is it terrible to do good because I love another person?Nope. I said supernatural entity.
Is it terrible for a son to do good because he loves his father? Is it terrible for a father to do good because he loves his son?
Is it terrible for a child to do good to his brother only because he loves his father? Yes. That's no way to teach morals to our children.You are the one interjecting the “ONLY” not I. I never made that argument. If I understand you correctly, you believe there is such a thing as morals, morality. So let me ask you a question, SW: on what should that morality be based? When you are arguing against God you are arguing against the very power that makes you able to argue at all.

Have you considered that some believers have a relationship with the "invisible sky dude" that you deprecate as a poison and that their appreciation for what they discern about him informs their actions?I am very much aware of this. It's always good to stick in the classic Stephen Weinberg quote at these times."With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."I could say the same about atheism - there is plenty of evidence to back that one up. The fact of the matter is that neither religious membership nor atheism makes people good or bad. And sometimes basically good people of either suasion do bad things out of error.

the knowledge that life does not end after a few decades creates a long term view
Are you KIDDING me?! Who's going to care about the future of our planet when they don't think God would let things get too bad? No it means the precise opposite; it means that God has granted us stewardship of the planet and that He cares what we do with it. Our world is a gift from Him, and that if we love the Creator we will treat that gift with reverence. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this one.

Do Christians take into account the long term views of the rights of all people, including homosexuals, or do they try to suppress them and keep us living in the Dark Ages? The human rights movement started as a Christian action. In our own country during the slave times abolitionism was a Christian movement, ditto for civil rights for Afro-Americans. You might recall the name of that most famous civil rights leader: Reverend Martin Luther King. Look him up some time. As for homosexuals, you will need to be more specific as to what rights you refer to. They are entitled under the law to all the rights that heterosexuals have. But that is for another discussion.

Do they try to find cures to diseases, or do they halt research on Biblical grounds? Hmmm.
Do you really want me to work on a list of diseases that have been cured, ameliorated or treated by Christians? Really? As for the research thing, I can only think that you are referring to the issue with fetal research. From your comment above you seem to believe in morality. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, would you at least be able to admit that there is a moral gray area involved here as to what the status of the unborn is?

If life does only last a few decades, then it means more because it's all we get. One thing I've found it hard to understand is if you think there is a glorious eternal afterlife, why are you trying to get your backwards rules passed in this one? What difference will make it make to you whether gays marry or not when you're off enjoying heaven? (That's if you believe it is a sin- who knows, that part may be a metaphor too!)I am not trying to get any backwards rules passed in this world. I do not know what “backward” rules you are talking about. Care to explain?

open minded faith
Oxymoron.

Really? Lots of closed minded individuals here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_thinkers_in_science

It seems to me that you are the closed minded one. Other members of this board have respectfully given your belief consideration while you close-mindedly attack theirs.

That Big Bang theory, the one that best explains the current state of the Universe, you know, the one that you think believers don't want to investigate, was invented by a person that believed in God.....a Catholic Priest!! LOL
And algebra was invented by Muslims, but that's no reason to believe in Islam! Religious people have made scientific discoveries throughout history. Doesn't mean their religion is right. Did this particular finding support the Bible? Checking... checking... oh, it says here stars were made after the Earth. WHOOPS! It says stars are SET in the expanse of the sky/heaven, but they obviously move if the Big Bang theory is correct. Hmm, well no wonder so many Christians don't believe in the Big Bang. It goes against their book!
My comment regarding Lemaitre and the Big Bang is not an endorsement of Catholicism in general, but it is to disprove your statement that believers are not interested in scientific investigation and, as my comment shows, your statement is demonstrably false. The very concept you deride believers as being unwilling to investigate is one that was discovered by a believer. Oxymoronic, I know.

I am interested in further scientific investigation, especially with cool fascinating stuff like the early origins of the Universe. And if it's found the Big Bang had a natural beginning, how much further back will your god have to be pushed?
Sure, find me the natural beginning, and then we can talk about it. For the time being you are dealing in hypotheticals.

Cheers,

save mankind from religion is a world of unreality for people that have based their whole life on doing good for other because they love God.

What a terrible reason to do good! For a reward, or to avoid punishment. Is belief in God the only thing that makes you want to help people? If you'd turn to a life of crime if you stopped believing in God, then please carry on believing.

If you would listen instead of writing it off as a foregone conclusion you would see he is not talking about fear of punishment but love of God as a motivation for good. Not fear, love. Not fear, love. Get it??

Contrary to what you think it isn't all "settled". Once you think you have all the answers you stop growing.

138

In (partial ) support of Danny Hazard

by stillajwexelder in

jw
friends

danny you have been fearless in your exposing jws for the cult they are and the harm they have done and are doing.

keep up the good work.

but please be careful in what you do as this board and recovering xjws need people like you who are fearless in exposing the wt.

BurnTheShips

I've lurked for years and I now post sometimes. I've been following Danny Haszard online for years, since he is one of the highest-profile X-Jw's he is kind of hard to avoid :-).

That said, I have never been able to escape the impression that he is a very bitter man consumed with anger and hate. I hope I am wrong but the whole pepper spray affair only confirms this to me.

To Danny I can only say this:
Let it go! Let them go Danny. You still have a lot of life left to live. The Tower will unravel without you, lies always do. Go be happy Danny. You profess to be a Christian, pray to God so he can heal your heart.