Posts by My Struggle

2

Speaking of Faith

by bavman in

in case anyone here is interested in listening to a public radio show on religion and science here's a link to one of my favorite:.

http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/index.shtml.

you can also go through the archives to hear past discussions..

What makes a 'true' christian?

by Caedes in

there are some very sensible christians on this board and some that are not so sensible, what i dont understand is why there isn't more protest when the likes of real one and hibiscusfire claim to know what makes a 'real' christian.

it annoys me and i'm not even a theist, a recent thread on a bible topic had a christian claiming that the bible was worthless unless you believe it to be infallible.

apart from insulting the study of the bible as an important part literary history it also undermines the perfectly valid faith of a majority of christians whose view of the bible isn't so blinkered.. i suppose it is not much different from people claiming that they know what my morals are because i'm an atheist.. what does everyone else think of this kind of fundamentalist thinking.

My Struggle

Mister Christian
Ingredients:
1 1/2 oz Light rum
1/2 oz Brandy
1 oz Orange juice
1/2 oz Lemon juice
1/2 oz Lime juice
1 tsp Grenadine

Sounds a bit stout, but good. I think I will make one.

33

What makes a 'true' christian?

by Caedes in

there are some very sensible christians on this board and some that are not so sensible, what i dont understand is why there isn't more protest when the likes of real one and hibiscusfire claim to know what makes a 'real' christian.

it annoys me and i'm not even a theist, a recent thread on a bible topic had a christian claiming that the bible was worthless unless you believe it to be infallible.

apart from insulting the study of the bible as an important part literary history it also undermines the perfectly valid faith of a majority of christians whose view of the bible isn't so blinkered.. i suppose it is not much different from people claiming that they know what my morals are because i'm an atheist.. what does everyone else think of this kind of fundamentalist thinking.

My Struggle

The funny thing is if you don't live by the words and help your self out you and your friend without just giving your life up everybody lives quite happy.

I didn't say that following that command is the only way to happiness, which you are implying that I implied by saying you can live contrary to Jesus command and be happy (did I make myself clear as mud). I know you can live a quite happy life completely without Jesus or His command, many atheist and people of other religions do. It is quite absurd to assert otherwise.

Also bravery isn't stupidly taking needless risks to help others doesn't help anyone. Which is what a lot of people following the words of god do. It might seem cold but one most step back and think things out before just giving ones life to help others. Two lives for one isn't a good pay off in the end it also shows a careless attitude toward the supposed sanctity of life.

Very astute observation, and like you said not one that many get. Which is sad.

Agreed 100%.

What you are saying also sounds much like act-utilitarianism. It has its logical loopholes, but many Christians would agree with not only act-utilitarianism but also utilitarianism as a whole. You might find it interesting that utilitarianism gets bashed in many philosophy realms as being simply a fleshed out Christian moral philosophy.

You are asserting a moral structure that, as a fact, is seen as Christian in nature.

So, it seems like we agree.

33

What makes a 'true' christian?

by Caedes in

there are some very sensible christians on this board and some that are not so sensible, what i dont understand is why there isn't more protest when the likes of real one and hibiscusfire claim to know what makes a 'real' christian.

it annoys me and i'm not even a theist, a recent thread on a bible topic had a christian claiming that the bible was worthless unless you believe it to be infallible.

apart from insulting the study of the bible as an important part literary history it also undermines the perfectly valid faith of a majority of christians whose view of the bible isn't so blinkered.. i suppose it is not much different from people claiming that they know what my morals are because i'm an atheist.. what does everyone else think of this kind of fundamentalist thinking.

My Struggle

Believing in Christ and following Him is what makes a Christian.

To me believing in Christ is...He came to die for our sins, defeated death by proving that it has no power over Him, all which allows us the way into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Following Him means...To love one another like we love ourselves and like Christ loved us. He loved us, so he laid His life down...we should have that same sort of love for all...gay, murders, liars, unfaithful spouses, Jehovah's Witnesses (the people not the organization), atheist, agnostics, on-and-on. This was the second commandment of Jesus. The first command is to love God. If we are to love people so much, then we must love God more than the love that we should have for others. Then if we are to love others so much that we should be willing to lay down our life, the only way to love God more is to give our life to him, not in the sense of laying it down (we should do that for everyone) but in the sense of living every aspect of it for Him. All of Jesus other commands will fall into place if we follow these two things. Not many Christians live like this.

8

A Message for All

by LoveExtravegantly in

i couldn't get my post to align properly... it ran all the paragraphs together.

:/

My Struggle

Am I totally lost.......I see nothing in the three post.

118

Losch reveals newer new light at Australia Zone Visit

by Billy the Ex-Bethelite in

okay everybody, grab your barf bag because i just got a steaming shovel full of craptastic notes from gerrit's zone visit to the land down under !!.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ read at your own risk ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~puke.

zone overseer was losch and his side kick was a big black guy, quite a scolar, cant remember his name though.

My Struggle

Wow, so exciting I have goosebumps... oh, no, it's an allergic rash. I've develped an acute allergy to false prophecy. Excuse my while I put some lotion on.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!

38

I finally Left!

by The Doc 58 in

i would like to give the full details of my leaving the jw's, but i don't have a lot of time at this moment.

basically i was raised in the organization and it drove me pretty insane bacause my father was an elder, mother a pioneer, sister a bethelite, etc.

so, i did the whole thing for a long time.

My Struggle

Wow, that was some series of events! We are all glad that you made your way out and can begin to heal form the damages.

Just curious, you said that you became interested in atheism. So, are you an atheist now?

I think that you will find a good mix of people here; atheist, Christian, agnostic, and various mixed beliefs. That is one thing that I really like about the board, there is a great mix of ideas. However the greatest thing of all is the common bond of shared experiences.

24

To Cross Or Not to Cross you be the judge!

by Hope4Others in

as a solar-phallic symbol, i have no problems with it at all.

it symbolizes generation and regeneration... birth, life, death, rebirth... .

i have observed that many people wear crosses that have no religious identity.

My Struggle

My Struggle---- I don't have a cross.

I didn't take it that you did, and I respect that.

21

Jehovahs witnesses so called translation of the Greek Scriptures

by youngdemar in

do you jehovahs witnesses know that none of your so called scholars who translated your bible had no hebrew or greek training whats so ever?

they didnt even have any university training whatsoever.

only fredrick franz went to college and left after 2 years without even an undergraduate degree.

My Struggle

NOT TURE NOT TRUE, LALALALA................................................

WTF?!?!?!?!.....WHY would they?!?!.........................................................

But the WTBTS has proven that it tries to better itself....I promise they are better NOW.......

Oh well...they may be wrong after all...life sucks......

I realize now It is not the truth .....I'm FREE I'm Free....yippee

WOW that was a roller-coaster. Thanks for helping me realize.

24

To Cross Or Not to Cross you be the judge!

by Hope4Others in

as a solar-phallic symbol, i have no problems with it at all.

it symbolizes generation and regeneration... birth, life, death, rebirth... .

i have observed that many people wear crosses that have no religious identity.

My Struggle

Here is what I got from someone when I was a JW......

I often have a cross around my neck. Mine is a reminder of what Jesus came to do for man. I do not have one because I think that it is nice to look at, though I do not think that it is wrong. The cross is both the most beautiful and ugliest thing. So it is something to be abhorred and adorned.

If you have one just to let people know that you are religious then I have a problem with that. That smacks of the people that would pray in open so that others could observe them. They got their reward, which was no more than other people looking at them. I feel similarly about people that have a cross to show that they are religious; they have missed the point entirely.

I do not worship the cross or think that it is something special in and of itself, rather it is a reminder of Christ.

I think that the point of it being a reminder of Christ is shown in various 'styles' of crosses. For example the Celtic Catholic cross. It has never ending circles/patterns which represents the eternal nature of God. The Maltese cross that is the firefighter symbol was originally a literal shield that was used in battle. They shaped the cross to be as wide a covering as possible , so it would be a better shield. Now that cross, as a symbol for the firefighters, serves a symbolism for the protective power of Christ. Very appropriate for firefighters........

This sort of thing when on for a while, at which time I realized that prople dont really worship the cross, that it is just a reminder.