Aequitus

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Posts by Aequitus

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  4

  God's Socio-Economic Plan Upon his Return

  by Aequitus in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've heard a lot about how bad humans are at governing themselves and how we need god to do it for us, but not much about specifics on what life would be like under god's rule.

  so let me concede for the moment that jesus is coming back immanently.

  the wait is finally over, people are shocked (some anyway), but then they get used to life now that the planet is governed by god.

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  Aequitus

  I've heard a lot about how bad humans are at governing themselves and how we need God to do it for us, but not much about specifics on what life would be like under God's rule. So let me concede for the moment that Jesus is coming back immanently. The wait is finally over, people are shocked (some anyway), but then they get used to life now that the planet is governed by God. We still have an economic system under God, but what exactly does that look like? I'm guessing a lot of farming. Is there a free market in goods? What about technological devices? Ipods? Are there factories on God's Earth? Are they run for profit? What about local councils to arbitrate disputes? Are there any disputes? Are people immediately judged by God? Are there prisons when someone steals, etc? Is there anything that we might call democratic governance, or does God take over for that?
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  12

  God's purpose? ...Anyone?

  by Aequitus in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  after hearing various (superficial) proofs for bible tales, justifications for various bible teachings, the immediate invisibility of god and questionable evidence of his existence, the ever present 'immmanent armageddon', the past six or so thousand years of human suffering and apparent abandonment by god, i am left wondering a pretty simple question that i don't think i've actually heard anyone ask let alone try to answerwhat was god's purpose in creating 'adam and eve' anyway?

  are we like pets that are being disciplined over the previous six thousand years?

  or simply under the care of a delinquent owner?

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  Aequitus

  (Re: fullofdoubtnow) I don't believe in the biblical god, but over the past months (since some JWs came to my door) I sincerely wanted to understand why some people do. The more I look into it, the more my disbelief is substantiated. (Re: LittleToe) From what I have heard from other posts, since Adam and Eve, with people living to be hundreds of years old, I was told that mankind was steadily deviating from the genetically 'perfect' model of Adam and Eve... From a political perspective, the progress seems scattered. (Re: Matt_fs) If god didn't mean for us to suffer, it raises serious questions about why he has apparently abondoned his project for thousands of years.
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  12

  God's purpose? ...Anyone?

  by Aequitus in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  after hearing various (superficial) proofs for bible tales, justifications for various bible teachings, the immediate invisibility of god and questionable evidence of his existence, the ever present 'immmanent armageddon', the past six or so thousand years of human suffering and apparent abandonment by god, i am left wondering a pretty simple question that i don't think i've actually heard anyone ask let alone try to answerwhat was god's purpose in creating 'adam and eve' anyway?

  are we like pets that are being disciplined over the previous six thousand years?

  or simply under the care of a delinquent owner?

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  2. 
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  Aequitus

  After hearing various (superficial) proofs for bible tales, justifications for various bible teachings, the immediate invisibility of god and questionable evidence of his existence, the ever present 'immmanent armageddon', the past six or so thousand years of human suffering and apparent abandonment by god, I am left wondering a pretty simple question that I don't think I've actually heard anyone ask let alone try to answer—What was god's purpose in creating 'Adam and Eve' anyway? Are we like pets that are being disciplined over the previous six thousand years? Or simply under the care of a delinquent owner?
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  2

  God and justice

  by Aequitus in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  what is the justice in condemning humanity for the apparent sin of eve, transferring the crime of one to another, or the entirety?

  where is the justice in exterminating unbelievers (most of whom may simply be unaware of 'the truth')?

  people seem to value freedom as an implicit good--how is god's rule not authoritarian?

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  Aequitus

  What is the justice in condemning humanity for the apparent sin of Eve, transferring the crime of one to another, or the entirety? Where is the justice in exterminating unbelievers (most of whom may simply be unaware of 'the truth')? People seem to value freedom as an implicit good--how is god's rule not authoritarian?
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  3

  Questions...

  by Aequitus in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  what is the justice in condemning humanity for the apparent sin of eve, transferring the crime of one to another, or the entirety?

  where is the justice in exterminating unbelievers (most of whom may simply be unaware of 'the truth')?

  why are some born with disease, deformity, etc, and not others?

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  Aequitus

  (Re: jwfacts) That was quite an eye-opening list... (Re: Eduardo ) I will do just that. Thank you both.
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  3

  Questions...

  by Aequitus in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  what is the justice in condemning humanity for the apparent sin of eve, transferring the crime of one to another, or the entirety?

  where is the justice in exterminating unbelievers (most of whom may simply be unaware of 'the truth')?

  why are some born with disease, deformity, etc, and not others?

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  Aequitus

  What is the justice in condemning humanity for the apparent sin of Eve, transferring the crime of one to another, or the entirety? Where is the justice in exterminating unbelievers (most of whom may simply be unaware of 'the truth')? Why are some born with disease, deformity, etc, and not others? Why is that man is not to lie with man, yet there seems to be a static portion of the population that is homosexual? Does this imply that women are not to lie with women? On what basis is one testament viewed to be legitimate and not the other? People seem to value freedom as an implicit good--how is god's rule not authoritarian? Regarding the immanent armageddon, 1914 was indeed a momentous year, yet what of when the Black Plague ravaged Europe killing between one third and two thirds of the population? How was that not more significant than the First World War? (Or the entire Dark Ages for that matter.) Indeed, what of the prosperity following WWI? The decline which followed with the stock market crash and the Second World War, but the relative stability, and arguable prosperity relative to other historical ages ever since? Has anyone looked into other religious sects that predicted armageddon, but merely chose a year for that occurrance which was relatively uneventful, and the sect simply died off after that?
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  15

  Questions...

  by Aequitus in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  do jehovah's witnesses believe that the earth is 6000 years old, or 4.5 billion?

  and if adam and eve were the first people on the earth, how would the multitude of races come about from the inbreeding of adam and eve's children?

  and during this time, people became wildly dispersed across the planet and adopted various other religions.

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  Aequitus

  Why would all of the races start their own languages and adopt different religions? Why would the JWs accept that the earth is 4.5 billion years old but seem to reject proto-human remains (like 'Lucy,' found in Chad and deemed to be between 6 and 7 million years old)?
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  15

  Questions...

  by Aequitus in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  do jehovah's witnesses believe that the earth is 6000 years old, or 4.5 billion?

  and if adam and eve were the first people on the earth, how would the multitude of races come about from the inbreeding of adam and eve's children?

  and during this time, people became wildly dispersed across the planet and adopted various other religions.

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  Aequitus

  Do Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the earth is 6000 years old, or 4.5 billion? And if Adam and Eve were the first people on the earth, how would the multitude of races come about from the inbreeding of Adam and Eve's children? And during this time, people became wildly dispersed across the planet and adopted various other religions. I believe in the year 1AD there were 1 million people on the earth--if the earth is 6000 years old, how is it that one million people are produced from two people procreating in the span of 4000 years? And what was with people living to be hundreds of years old at the beginning of the bible? I heard recently that the maximum possible lifespan of humans was determined to be 140. And Eve being created from Adam's rib...what does that even mean?
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  16

  Bible Contradictions?

  by Aequitus in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was visited by jehovah's witnesses three times, and i decided to attend a meeting of theirs (which was this morning).

  i had brought a page of questions because i was expecting more of a discussion.

  this was not the case and i left after two hours.

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  Aequitus

  Alright. The second rhelm of questions I had was regarding how old the earth is, and about Adam and Eve. Do Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the earth is 6000 years old, or 4.5 billion? And if Adam and Eve were the first people on the earth, how would the multitude of races come about from the inbreeding of Adam and Eve's children? And during this time, people became wildly dispersed across the planet and adopted various other religions. I believe in the year 1AD there were 1 million people on the earth--how is it that one million people are produced from two people procreating in the span of 4000 years? And what was with people living to be hundreds of years old at the beginning of the bible? I heard recently that the maximum possible lifespan of humans was determined to be 140. And Eve being created from Adam's rib...what does that even mean?
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  16

  Bible Contradictions?

  by Aequitus in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was visited by jehovah's witnesses three times, and i decided to attend a meeting of theirs (which was this morning).

  i had brought a page of questions because i was expecting more of a discussion.

  this was not the case and i left after two hours.

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  Aequitus

  You are totally right about the dubious 'discussions' after the sermon. They seem to consist of reading portions of their Watchtower magazine, and then the guy asks questions about how these statements relate to peoples' lives. Nothing whatsoever in the way of critical analysis. I took a class called Critical Thinking a couple years back, and while the course itself was actually a pretty useless introductory course on logic, in the textbook it outlined a number of useful logical fallacies. I can't imagine that anyone there would have an understanding of these (given that everying I heard was an example of one fallacy or another). I would have felt uncomfortable questioning their beliefs, especially given that there were children there (disturbing in itself). The people there seemed very pleasant and sincere, like they were a big family. But there was also a palpable cultish quality which I found disturbing. Moreover, during the sermon the guy spent a noticeable amount of time near the end speaking about the need to always attend meetings, pray constantly, meditate about god, reassure others, etc. Otherwise they seemed to lose faith... (you think?)