campos: the atheist's dilemmaby paul camposwhy is stanley fish so much smarter than richard dawkins?
that question occurred to me last week, while attending a lecture at which fish, the well-known literary and legal theorist, did the thing he always does, which is to make the following point over and over again:.
"no believer will find his faith shaken by evidence that is evidence only in the light of assumptions he does not share and considers flatly wrong.".
I read the article hoping for something like a dilemma. All I saw was Dawkins bashing- no evidence, no nothing.
I'm really hoping for an anti-athiest argument that makes some sense. At least then there can be a discussion. Right now, its like watching a Superbowl between "any other team" and the Buffalo Bills.
someone (a born-again exjw) on youtube asked me why i was an atheist... i crafted a brief response... it follows:.
1. religious reason: there is no proof for god outside of the bible.
once i dropped my belief in the bible, the judeo-christian concept of god fell apart like a house of cards.
I like reason 2G the best. (from page 1 of this post)
2 kids are talking about what the earth sits on. One says confidently- "It sits on the backs of 2 elephants" "So, what are those elephants standing on?" asks the other kid. The first kid thinks and says "2 more elephants" "So what are they standing on?" Frustrated, the kid with the elephant theory says, "Its just elephants, all the way down."
Thats the problem with God, doesn't really solve anything- just sets up the next question- where'd he come from.....
But my real problem with religion is, their logic goes something like this: life is complex, therefore it was designed by a creator....Life was created, therefore the judeo-christian version is true...the judeo-christian version is true, therefore JWs have the truth.
The first statement requires a leap of faith. The other two require dishonesty.
I guess it depends on where you live. Here, the Y has signs all over that say that the YMCA is a completely equal opportunity organization and that membership is open to anyone regardless of religious faith. Signing up is a matter of paying the bill. They take a picure for an ID so that they can enforce the "pay the bill" thing.
This link is what I am familiar with- a community support organization.
http://www.ymca.net/about_the_ymca/
PS- Do you suppose its also "religious harlotry" to join the JCC (Jewish Community Center)- also a non-religious, great place to swim and work out.
the subject of sin is one that is at the core of judeo/christian thought.
jw's and ex jw's alike deal with many levels of guilt that is associated with believing that certain actions and thoughts are "sinful" or offensive to god.. jw's define sin as "a missing of the mark...... god himself sets the mark..... missing that mark is sin.
sin is anything not in harmony with god's personality, standards, ways and will.
Sin is an attempt to make people feel inadequate and off balance. Therfore, if you walk into a church or Kingdom Hall feeling pretty good about yourself, the sermon and associated ritual will knock you off balance. You are sinful. You may not even know why or how, but repent. It throws you off and makes anyone who buys it easy to control. I agree with whats been said, its a tool of the powerful.
in the feb 2009 km there is a 10 minute part entitled "answering questions about blood transfusions".
notice the part i've highlighted in red.
exacty what transfusions do jws allow their children to have?
This is more evidence that the clever fellas in Writing have taken over the Kingdom Ministry. Service department response to such a question- Shut the F. up- you have no faith. Writing department response- well of course we accept transfusions- just not the dangerous kind.
1. bethel in ny suspect high level apostate, cant identify it but know its there.
2. major organizational changes about to start rolling out, one is changes to the "service committee" and titles, po to be done away with, thats all i know for now.
was told that if you are the sort of person that cant handle changes, you wont stay in the org for long.
Jeff,
The thing with the Gilead instructructors happened some time back. From what I understand, Liverance is an elder in a congo in NJ and Bowen is an elder in Arizona (like they really got let go!!) I didn't hear about Noumair.
My first thought was- wow- this sounds like Dunlap- a Gilead instructor does a little too much research. Another theory I have heard is that Bowen- being anointed now- is being groomed (with some good "field" experience) to become a member of the GB.
Lrkr
i still get copies of all the kms and mags - just for a giggle really.
oh and to look out for noo light of course!.
i was browsing thru the march 15 2009 yesterday and came across something that was noo to me.
This is the Society trying to get in front of this one. Someone now realizes that the history of the Society's beliefs on 1914 is out there for anyone to find. By publishing it themselves- they can blunt the impact. Similar to publishing pictures Bethel's Christmas party in the Proclaimers book so that when someone saw them in Crisis of Conscience there would not be as much impact
i recently received the following email.
i don't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for the sender.
it looks like i'm not the first person on this board to receive this email (see http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/166981/1.ashx).
After stating a series of facts and statistics, he explained that there is one group that will never be found in that category - Jehovah's Witnesses - and then went on to show why that was the case. He spoke at length of the sovereignty of God's kingdom and how that kingdom will unite the planet.
To which the member of the UN committee said, "Wow- you JWs really are a cult. We thought you were just another religion until you started talking like that."
in order express my current wishes i am preparing a new dpa and medical directive to replace what i have signed from the organization in the past.
however, if family have an issue with my stand should i be incapacitated, i am including a preamble with the dpa so that the reasons for my wishes are clear.
i welcome comments, adjustments, or ideas.
I feel that carrying a blood donor card should clear up any misconceptions about my current beliefs.
with the new 3-fold meeting schedule, the faithless dictators will announce shortly in the km the following:.
any appointed brother (including microphone holders) will be required to produce a doctor's note if 2 days' sets of meetings are missed back-to-back.
if a note is not provided, then the brother will have his privileges yanked.. forged notes will result in a jc.. so much for the "freedom of the sons of god.".
The PNP will have received 33 credits of course work designed for the Nurse Practitioner. Prior Masters level courses in required content areas may be evaluated for transfer credit.
But college makes a person unspiritual and weak. Can they really trust someone who went to so much college??
