see https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2021/06/16/poll-atheists-overwhelmingly-oppose-the-death-penalty-most-christians-favor-it/ .
i am an atheist and i disapprove of the death penalty.
i remember michael dukakis, when he was a usa presidential candidate, saying i he was opposed to the death penalty - even for rapists and murderers.
I consider myself an atheist and have no problem with the death penalty when it is proven beyond any reasonable doubt about the guilt of the person charged with the crime.
I feel that way to. The problem is that I have seen 12 jury all agree that someone deserved the death sentence with nothing more than circumstantial evidence.
see https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2021/06/16/poll-atheists-overwhelmingly-oppose-the-death-penalty-most-christians-favor-it/ .
i am an atheist and i disapprove of the death penalty.
i remember michael dukakis, when he was a usa presidential candidate, saying i he was opposed to the death penalty - even for rapists and murderers.
Their is a myth going around that prison sentences are to rehabilitate the criminal. [...] Some people who commit very serious crimes are beyond rehabilitation
To me, if someone committed a crime that would have been deserving of death, than, they should be considered un-redeemable and spend the rest of their lives in jail. However, the moment you know you plan to free someone from Jail in 2, 5 or 10 years, you need to seriously consider a rehabilitation plan for them, otherwise, they'll make more victims until they get caught again.
see https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2021/06/16/poll-atheists-overwhelmingly-oppose-the-death-penalty-most-christians-favor-it/ .
i am an atheist and i disapprove of the death penalty.
i remember michael dukakis, when he was a usa presidential candidate, saying i he was opposed to the death penalty - even for rapists and murderers.
I do not understand the high tolerance for crime among atheists
Being willing to pay for 100's of killers and serial rapists to stay in jail for the rest of their natural life so that absolutely no innocent is killed by a government that represents me, I don't see how that shows tolerance for crime. Its no tolerance for injustice.
see https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2021/06/16/poll-atheists-overwhelmingly-oppose-the-death-penalty-most-christians-favor-it/ .
i am an atheist and i disapprove of the death penalty.
i remember michael dukakis, when he was a usa presidential candidate, saying i he was opposed to the death penalty - even for rapists and murderers.
I used to be against it, because I thought most people can be redeemed.
While I certainly believe that a lot of people are not redeemable, the concept of executing a 50 year old man for something he did when he was 18 is none sense to me.
I don't believe that any of us can claim to be the same we were 30 years ago. I don't believe that executing someone after so many years is justice.
The idea, the concept of execution makes sense to me. The implementation does not.
see https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2021/06/16/poll-atheists-overwhelmingly-oppose-the-death-penalty-most-christians-favor-it/ .
i am an atheist and i disapprove of the death penalty.
i remember michael dukakis, when he was a usa presidential candidate, saying i he was opposed to the death penalty - even for rapists and murderers.
The only reason I'm against the death penalty is in how it is applied. It tends to be more expensive than keeping someone locked up for life and there are times where innocents have been executed. The thought of a country executing an innocent person is absolutely repulsive to me.
three years ago, on september 1 - 4, 2018, watch tower society of quebec (la tour de garde, société de bibles et de traités du québec), finalised its merger ("voluntary amlgamation") with "123 incorporated congregations of jehovah's witnesses in quebec," with kingdom halls owned by these incorporated congregations (total book value - ca$114,390,856, or 92 million usd) becoming assets of the society.
quebec congregations continue to exist as unincorporated associations and registered charities, while wt quebec only "manages, maintains and constructs" khs ("in cooperation with" wt canada and jw congregation support (formerly regional building committee)) and appoints certain elders to officiate marriages in the province.. sources: .
https://apps.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/hacc/srch/pub/dsplybscsrch .
I don't understand this move. I really don't. Now, if they are sued for something, kingdom halls and assembly halls could be seized. I don't get it.
under constant watch of other jw.
being told how your life is run.
everything you do under a microscope.
Its actually a pretty good delusional life if you agree with everything. I would suspect that the highest source of concern would be the regular reminders that you could do more for Jehovah. Sure, plenty of JWs are perfectly happy with their “service”, aka: performance, however, dissatisfaction is more likely due to these constant reminders, especially when they read the “good-for-nothing slaves; we've only done [y]our duty” comment from Jesus (Luke 17:10).
And than, things get worst when you start to disagree with key teachings. You start to notice that the following constant reminder now applies to you: Don’t be prideful, don’t trust in your own judgment, let it go, wait upon Jehovah and put your trust in him.
If you don’t believe to be prideful, then, that’s one more teaching you don’t accept. This creates a disconnect between you and the religious group. You may try to rationalize things (like my mom), but this isn’t the best life either. You’ll be forced to pretend that all is fine when these teachings are covered at the meetings or in field service. This will make you a “phony” with those you love, your friends and family. You will also become paranoid at what could happen if “they found out”.
The very fact of being paranoid and phony with people you should trust and love is no way to live. You cannot be happy this way. Even if you try to take “the best” out of that religion, you will not be happy. Some may continue to live that way for a long time, and many more will leave the group.
i realized that teenagers and young witness adults were getting away with murder per my daughter.
she told me that all these exemplary young people featured at assemblies and conventions were not real good examples.
after she got married years ago to a “ worldly “ man, she told me about all the kids who were fornicating and getting drunk and high, including elder’s kids.
In my early 20s, "I was straight as an arrow". I once attended a party organized by JWs in Montreal and it was similar to a rave where there was loud techno music and people were dancing real close. I was the one driving my friends, so I ended up going to my car and waited for everyone there. I prepared my meetings, read WT magazines and books that were in my car. Never told on anyone.
At the time, I felt super spiritual and judged others, but looking back, I realize I was the one who lacked control. A lot of these kids were happy to simply flirt and dance and stop there. In my case, I would have wanted more, so I had to step out of there entirely. Like an alcoholic that doesn't even take a slip of alcohol.
Now that I'm raising my kids, I realize that all the consequences that comes along with "sinning" are enough: dramas (crazy girlfriends, heartaches, crazy Ex's, gossip, etc), STDs and pregnancies. No need for the congregations to add more. Religions should instead help these kids navigate through this difficult time rather than making their lives even more difficult than it already is.
i realized that teenagers and young witness adults were getting away with murder per my daughter.
she told me that all these exemplary young people featured at assemblies and conventions were not real good examples.
after she got married years ago to a “ worldly “ man, she told me about all the kids who were fornicating and getting drunk and high, including elder’s kids.
I think this really changes from congregation to congregation. I have seen kids "get away" with fornication as they denied everything and were protected by the two witness rule. As to know if the parents were behind this... I don't know.
What I can share though is that there was an elder in one of my congregation that was reproved and lost his privileges. Turns out he had been aware of bad things his son was doing and didn't turn him in. The other elders, who also had kids, didn't let that slide and everyone knew about it. About that elder: he was loved by everyone and even after he lost his privileges, he was still loved by everyone. It seems like the general feeling at the time was that no one actually judged him for it, but "the law is the law" and he was removed. I believe that he got back to be an elder roughly a decade later.
Point is, it depends on the congregations.
i was raised as a jw and left the group as many of the teachings don’t align with my core values.
now, forward almost 10 years, my wife and i are raising our kids through puberty and i have to admit, this challenge is not easy and seems to be even more difficult in that my own upbringing was very different.
i find it hard to compare how i was raised with what i now must do for my own kids.
stephan, you still have to have a list of principles from your distant Past
I agree! I explained to my kids that though we don't believe in religion anymore we still need to consider well known principles and values found within religious communities. A great many of these are well founded and beneficial while some others are down right harmful. We need to use better judgement and carefully weight to consequences of each actions.
