Satanus, good point...but we still have free will to choose what we want to do. Maybe "absolute" is the wrong description, but I was trying to distinguish between the two levels of morality. I think the bigger issue is, if there were no inate moral guidelines that are common to society, we would end up with cultures where murder, rape, theft, etc. would be perfectly acceptable and legal. As far as I know, there are no cultures where those are universally accepted concepts. Certainly there are elements within the culture that do those things, but they would not be considered "legal" or moral. If we were to make blanket assumptions like that, we would say that every Muslim is a murderous terroist or every Hindu believes in murdering their wives rather than divorcing them...which we know is not true. Choice comes in to play, but that does not make it acceptable to the culture it occurs in.
tenyearsafter
JoinedPosts by tenyearsafter
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122
Theists - Why does Morality require the existence of God?
by cantleave in"without god in your life, you cannot have a moral compass",,,, please explain to me why you think that should be so?
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122
Theists - Why does Morality require the existence of God?
by cantleave in"without god in your life, you cannot have a moral compass",,,, please explain to me why you think that should be so?
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tenyearsafter
Relative morality doesn't require a belief in God, but absolute morality (that which would appear to be naturally present, ie: not to murder, steal, etc.) needs to stem from some source. If we soley evolved from inanimate matter, it would be as big a stretch of credibility to believe that people automatically evolved morals that are, for the most part, basic to all cultures, as is believing an intelligent designer put those morals in place.
The big mistake Theists make, is assuming that Atheists are immoral people. There are as many immoral Theists as there are Atheists...and as many moral people of both sides...the real question lies in where the absolute moral guidelines came from. We all can create relative morality to suit our needs...even serial killers can rationalize their actions, though most know what they are doing is "morally" wrong.
My parents contributed 100% of my DNA...if they were perfect citizens, it is still up to me to choose my own path of morality. I won't automatically become a stellar citizen...I could choose to be a criminal. I believe we all have that choice despite knowing what morals we were imprinted with by our parents.
I personally think the argument for absolute morals via an intelligent designer is more plausible than a chance convergence of do's and don'ts across cultures.
Don't know if that makes sense, but in my weakened state of having a cold, it's the best I could do!!
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My Letter to Brooklyn about the Parousia that got me disfellowshipped
by cofty inthis is the letter i wrote back in '96 about the parousia.
following the '95 watchtower that disconnected the "generation" from 1914 i began to look carefully at end-time prophecy and soon discovered what i knew were basic errors in what i had been taught.. i was a loyal jw at the time and was still serving as an elder.
i used only watchtower publications in my research.
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tenyearsafter
Cofty, excellent research and articulation of the subject...your approach was very Ray Franz-like. I think your comments were very non-threatening...
Too bad it is the utterances inspired by demons, spewed by mentally diseased apostates! (LOL)
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287
What about your vow to Jehovah?
by a watcher indid you get baptized without being dedicated?.
why did you allow men to come between you and jehovah?.
why were you serving jehovah at all?
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tenyearsafter
I am begining to feel we are "channeling" Reniaa/Bane/Debator through A Watcher! Same old non-responses, different name.
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287
What about your vow to Jehovah?
by a watcher indid you get baptized without being dedicated?.
why did you allow men to come between you and jehovah?.
why were you serving jehovah at all?
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tenyearsafter
A Watcher...I am disappointed that you won't answer questions directly...are you not confident in your proofs?
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95
You know you're getting old when...
by nonjwspouse in...you can remember as a kid having to stand by the tv set in a certian spot, sometimes holding the antenna to get better reception.. yes, i was an antenna sometimes.
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any more trips down memory lane for you oldies like me?.
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95
You know you're getting old when...
by nonjwspouse in...you can remember as a kid having to stand by the tv set in a certian spot, sometimes holding the antenna to get better reception.. yes, i was an antenna sometimes.
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any more trips down memory lane for you oldies like me?.
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tenyearsafter
Bag phone anyone?
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287
What about your vow to Jehovah?
by a watcher indid you get baptized without being dedicated?.
why did you allow men to come between you and jehovah?.
why were you serving jehovah at all?
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tenyearsafter
Watcher...why would you say the Abraham led to the Christians, who then led to the JW's? I thought JW's were the only true Christians? In your line of reasoning, JW's would not be worshiping like the 1st Century Christians, since early Christians gathered "annointed" while JW's gather "great crowd". Would you please provide scriptural back up for that staement?
If JW's are different from their 1st Century brethren, why do they refer to themselves as the only "true Christians"?
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Tech49...Experiences
by Tech49 inso given the amount of focus on things that we can be angry or upset about, or how we have been wronged or abused.... i thought it was time for a bit of a change.. how about sharing some fun experiences?!!
ok, i will start.
i promised, in my opening post the other day, that i would share some that have happened over the years.
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tenyearsafter
We used to have a wonderful, but crazy Elder who also was a Pioneer. When I would go out in FS, he actually made it tolerable. Our territory was high density apartments, so if someone was rude at the door, the Elder would take their doormat and fling it down the hallway! Interesting response, but it kept me entertained! LOL
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Did Jesus Use Gods Personal Name?
by Comatose inthe wt says yes.
i looked it up a few weeks ago and they said "we can be sure he used his fathers name".
for me the argument is more just interesting from a biblical and academic stand point.
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tenyearsafter
QC...I am surprised they never changed the NWT rendering of that scripture to Jehovah instead of Father.
