mickey mouse, our very own treasured poster, not the cartoon character, thinks that religious belief is both rational and intelligent.. do you ?.
I am sure that intelligence has nothing to do with it, however I would assert that all belief in the supernatural is irrational.
By "supernatural" I would include all religious belief, magic, miracles, superstition etc.
Cofty, when it comes to 'belief in the supernatural', my position is that just because I (or science) cannot explain something, that doesn't mean it's impossibe. That doesn't mean I attribute it to fairies either.
mickey mouse, our very own treasured poster, not the cartoon character, thinks that religious belief is both rational and intelligent.. do you ?.
My comments were in this thread: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/201634/3/What-religion-does-Steven-Hassan-practices
I wonder whether somewhere on the internet, there is a forum of people who have exited political cults debating whether Steve is republican, democrat or otherwise and whether he votes. Equally irrelevant.
If Steve was a fundy I would be concerned, but he is not. By the way, I would be equally concerned if he was a fundamentalist atheist, in common with many on this forum.
and
I would use the term 'fundamentalist atheist' to describe those atheists who are intolerant of other people's religious beliefs and conclude they cannot be rational or intelligent.
I have nothing against atheists in general. Or Christians. I do have an issue with bigots.
Which is not exactly the same as saying "religious belief is both rational and intelligent". As an agnostic I don't really have a horse in this race but I think the assertion that a person with any form of religious belief is therefore irrational is rubbish. There are both rational and irrational beliefs.
I don't have a particular problem with Richard Dawkins; he does in my opinion come across as arrogant at times but that is more a question of style than anything.
I agree with what cedars wrote above.
my computer-support service has checked my computer because it's been rather "glitchy" lately, and the hard drive is failing.... so, i'll end up being cut-off from the board, for a while.... some of you have my personal phone number, if you need to get in touch.... **********************************************************************.
here's something else that's been bothering me.... we're going to fly out to see the in-laws soon - and i'm very uneasy about flying.... if something should happen to me, could you people please help find good homes for my animals???
they are all indoors animals, have been spayed/neutered, and are pretty good with dogs.... there are six cats - the seventh one, minx, will have to be "put down", as she is slowly dying of feline leukemia, and is far too "high-maintenance" for anyone else to care for.... but there's chomper - a neutered male, six-toed cat, somewhat feral but ferociously loyal to anyone who will be patient with him - and feed him wet food... he's a big, short-haired grey-and-black tabby... unfortunately, in the process of the hard-drive decay, my computer no longer recognizes my crappy printer, and so i can't load a pix of chomper... but he's a big cutie!!.
Come back soon Zid. I can't help with the cats I'm afraid (I'm allergic).
you read that right.
just finished talking to steve a half hour ago.. november 19 at 10pm est, steve hassan's interview will air on cult free radio on ustream.
i will also have a co-host that evening to discuss bite mind control and steve's interview.. https://www.facebook.com/cultfreeradio.
Mad Sweeney, I have to congratulate you on getting Steve on your show.
A couple of points Steve made that I think are worth highlighting:
The achilles heel of cults: there are thousands of other groups that think they are the only 'truth' and look down on JWs as a cult. What makes JWs different? JWs need to be able to see their organization from this perspective.
Steve also stated that whilst debating doctrine is usually not productive, discussing flip flops and discrepancies in the organization's history can be useful, depending on the individual you are trying to reach.
i helped her move out this weekend so i must be a masochist too...so on top of losing every friend in my life...i have now lost my wife...and yes i asked her to leave on more than one occasion this year...we have argued for nearly five years about wt crap...nothing i could ever say would make her question anything!!!!
it was beyond frustrating...then this spring when i somehow disassociated myself and even lost my parents i knew i would never have a normal marriage no matter what...all i wanted was a normal marriage with mutual friends...that is off the table as long as she is a jw...but why could i not accept it???
why could i not shut up???
((Oompa))
This situation puts so much pressure on a marriage. If anyone else is going through this, watch this experience of an ex mormon couple:
do you know?
i think i saw a video stating he is now jewish?
i am not certain, does anybody know?.
I would use the term 'fundamentalist atheist' to describe those atheists who are intolerant of other people's religious beliefs and conclude they cannot be rational or intelligent.
I have nothing against atheists in general. Or Christians. I do have an issue with bigots.
do you actually belive psychotherapy works or are you like the health insurance industry who belive it's not worth paying for.
where did steven hasaan get his doctorate and how many years has he worked in a mental hospital and what is his pioneering research with the brain and mind?
is he a neuroscientist-psychiatrist?
Listen to Mad Sweeney's interview with Steve here http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/18631988
...by a family member who recalled that this is one of my major apostate beefs.
the articles themselves are disgusting pieces of mis-information and require some serious mental gymnastics to actually believe.
however, they're so damn long-winded and waste so much time on pointless stuff like the 2 pages on the jw's beliefs about the 70 year period, that i am debating on whether or not to write the loyal j-dub family member back on it or not.. it shows just how brainwashed that family member is in that they know that 607 is a problem date, yet happily forward the articles as soem sort of proof while never once reading anything on the topic with an iota of thinking.. after years of having everything i've said on these topics ignored by everyone in my family that i've tried contacting over and over again, i really feel like taking the time to pick through their trash is going to be a big waste.
This is Carl Olof Jonsson's response to the articles http://kristenfrihet.se/vtsvar/vtsvar1.pdf
congregations that are disbanded?
how many times it has happened?
not counting the congregations that are disbanded due to low activity, but the ones that are disbanded because they are out of control?.
hi.
my wife and myself are active witnesses.. before i go into great depth about our past and what brings me here, i would like to make sure i am posting this in the right section.. i'm a little technologically retarded so please bear with me.. .
twisty.
Hi Twisty and welcome.
I can understand what you are going through, we've all been there. It's great that you have your wife's understanding.
Keep reading!
