Posts by caliber

2596

The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday

by cofty in

yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.

we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.

they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.

caliber

To be clear the question that has to be addressed is "does the promise of eternal life make suffering morally right ~~cofty

which begs the follow up question .. Are we in a postiion to require justification of God's actions or non - actions ?

theodicy (plural theodicies)

" A justification of a deity, or the attributes of a deity, especially in regard to the existence of evil and suffering in the world; a work or discourse justifying the ways of God. "

Do we know enough about the inner workings of the universe to make any sort of grand claims

yet the universe runs .....".numbers are real (it doesn't matter that you can't "see" them)~~ Plato

number must in turn have a source... does not all harmony require some thoughtful purpose ?

2596

The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday

by cofty in

yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.

we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.

they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.

caliber

God SHOULD have prevented the tsunami because the Bible claims that God is a loving God and a loving God would not allow people to die.

Timing sometimes means everything

example in ice hockey...

An extra attacker in ice hockey is a forward or, less commonly, a defenceman who has been substituted in place of the goaltender. The purpose of this substitution is to gain an offensive advantage to score a goal. The removal of the goaltender for an extra attacker is colloquially called pulling the goalie, resulting in an empty net.

The extra attacker

Near the end of the game — typically the last 60 to 90 seconds — when a team is losing by one or two goals. In this case, the team risks a goal being scored on its empty net. In "do-or-die" situations, such as playoff elimination games, teams may pull the goalie for an extra attacker earlier in the game and/or when they are down by more goals.

Likewise God will act at a time most benefical from his vantage point. You don't pull your goaltender in the second period

2596

The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday

by cofty in

yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.

we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.

they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.

caliber

My guess would be that you are going for the presuppositional defense combined with the cannard that atheists have no basis to judge anything as good or bad.

I am curious about your thought on this Cofty..

So defining good and bad just "evolved "over time by trial and error then , until at last all of us humans arrived at some sort of general consenus ?

2596

The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday

by cofty in

yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.

we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.

they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.

caliber

maybe the whole issue went over his head, now god is sitting in a corner crying his eyes out

So again it always turns into a moral issue... where we presume to know what is best for the long term outcome for things

Natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, windstorms, tsunamis show us our powerlessness. Man has to accept his limits.

"The tragic consequences of the great catastrophes should also make us think of other disasters like abortion which is a daily tragedy. On average, natural catastrophes occuring across the globe cause the death of around 100,000 people each year. On the other hand, approximately 43,800,000 children have to die each year through abortions worldwide; that means 120,000 per day"...

Who will shed a tear for these ones ?

Should not morality apply to us humans too ?

2596

The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday

by cofty in

yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.

we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.

they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.

caliber

And while happily blaming God for the hundreds of thousands that have died in the tsunami disaster we need to remind ourselves of the hundreds of

millions that have died over the last century not from natural causes, but from man’s inhumanity to one another (40 million alone died in the Soviet Union during WW2 )

Christians explain natural disasters like the Tsunami like scientist, the tectonic plates get stuck and pressure builds until it suddenly gets unjar causing earthquakes and Tsunami.

Do we want God selectively to control us and protect us from harmful things yet otherwise have absolute freedom ?

Is not simple cause and effect taking place in "natural disaster "?

Wouldn't it be wise, to think more deeply and to see events like these in a larger context. ?

147

Psychoanalyzing the Governing Body as a Collective Body by what they cause to be written in literature and private letters:

by frankiespeakin in

now would any "psychologist" on the board and i use the term loosely as i am not one professionally , and have a very rudimentary hazy knowledge of analysis.. but one of the things jung had to do with the subject is the shadow to be properly analyzed one needs to recognize the shadow we all have we all have one.

and what happens when we repress a lot of things and stuff them into ones personal shadow, they get stronger and cause projection on the outside world that make one respond certain ways that might be termed as phobias or neurosis and even psychosis.. im sure we can spot a lot of denial and repression surfacing in what they cause to be published either publicly and in private correspondence.

perhaps even some phobias or out right neurosis.. i bett you a really skilled psychologist could have a fruit picking holiday with the stuff they find on the net already published far and wide for all to see.

caliber

A mental state caused by psychiatric or organic illness, characterized by a loss of contact with reality and an inability to think rationally. A psychotic person often behaves inappropriately and is incapable of normal social functioning.

Take the test:

http://www.helloquizzy.com/tests/the-are-you-clinically-psychotic-test

my results...

"You were 3% Psychotic. You are entrenched in reality, with almost no psychotic tendencies at all! You have a firm grasp of reality, and have almost none of the normal psychotic tendencies that everyone possesses. Indeed, your level-headedness and rationalization results from this test suggest an almost inhuman level of rationality"

106

No more doubts for me! Good-bye JWN! We have THE TRUTH!

by DATA-DOG in

i could go on and on about my personal journey over the last 2 years or so, but i don't need to.

everything i needed to hear to finally lay my doubts to rest happened on one meeting night.

it could only be divine providence.

caliber

That is one thing we get in the UK, irony. I think some of you need a sense of humour transplant.

How do the UK women feel about this irony ?

106

No more doubts for me! Good-bye JWN! We have THE TRUTH!

by DATA-DOG in

i could go on and on about my personal journey over the last 2 years or so, but i don't need to.

everything i needed to hear to finally lay my doubts to rest happened on one meeting night.

it could only be divine providence.

caliber

the Multilanguage Electronic Phototypesetting System.

The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has printed Bible literature in various languages. Before MEPS there was no system available for printing in all languages, due largely to the economies of many countries where production of literature in their languages was not financially viable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multilanguage_Electronic_Phototypesetting_System

106

No more doubts for me! Good-bye JWN! We have THE TRUTH!

by DATA-DOG in

i could go on and on about my personal journey over the last 2 years or so, but i don't need to.

everything i needed to hear to finally lay my doubts to rest happened on one meeting night.

it could only be divine providence.

caliber

M.E.P.S mana from heaven .. feeding the many from one orginal "loaf of bread'

17

Do you Remember 2nd & 4th Saturday Magazine Day?

by cofty in

i think it may have been in the mid '80s a new arrangement was started for the 2nd and 4th saturday of every calendar month.

they were designated "magazine days" and the idea was to place as many as possible with 30-60 second presentations.

personally i hated feeling like a magazine seller, i wanted to talk to people.. i think this, and the release of the "reasoning book" was the beginning of the end of jehovah's witnesses as evangelists..

caliber

I think this, and the release of the "Reasoning Book" was the beginning of the end of Jehovah's Witnesses as evangelists

How so Cofty ? just curious I have no opinion so far , as I have not thought about it

You think that it layed out beliefs that were otherwise hidden or unknown to the public or what ?

"magazine days" and the idea was to place as many as possible with 30-60 second presentations.

The reasoning book could lead to longer more controversial discussion ?

Discussion would slow magazine blitz ?