"Christ" said:
But what if God and Christ make personal appearances to a few select individuals?
My reply is:
What if God and Christ make personal appearances to a few select individuals?
(That's a big "What if".)
Posts by Gopher
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33RELIGULOUS...Please watch it.
by Fed-up ini know it's been commented on before here.
if you haven't seen it (i'm sure it's on netflix) please take a look.
it's the other side of the coin, presented in a funny way that really makes you think about religion and worship.
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Gopher
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33
RELIGULOUS...Please watch it.
by Fed-up ini know it's been commented on before here.
if you haven't seen it (i'm sure it's on netflix) please take a look.
it's the other side of the coin, presented in a funny way that really makes you think about religion and worship.
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Gopher
Me: Actually atheists are in the minority, and religionists perpetually go "out of their way" to mock them.
Agnophos: Hmm, is this alleged mocking taking place anywhere on this forum? I only seem to see atheists mocking the religious, but maybe that's just me.
In the context of the title of this thread, I was talking about society at large. At least where I'm from, we non-believers are a small subset of society and are indeed mocked. They put "under God" in the USA pledge of allegiance and "In God We Trust" on our currency as a slap at people like us. (You know, during the big communist scare of the 1950's which somehow meant atheists couldn't be patriotic.)
What I think about this forum: It is somewhat different from society at large. Many came here very weary of religion and people preaching their beliefs. So any further preaching on a place often proves irritating to many who don't want to be preached at any more. I think there's give and take here - both sides have their say. There are Christian ex-JW sites people can go to if they want to talk about the wonders of God and the Bible without being doubted. -
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RELIGULOUS...Please watch it.
by Fed-up ini know it's been commented on before here.
if you haven't seen it (i'm sure it's on netflix) please take a look.
it's the other side of the coin, presented in a funny way that really makes you think about religion and worship.
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Gopher
Atheists and others think that just because God doesn't appear to the general public or to them that he does not appear to other individuals.
I should know better than to reply to Lars, but here goes:
Who are these "others" that you refer to? Are they believers who have the opinion that people like you who claim to have mystical visions of some sort are deluded?
Aren't people who think that these "God visions" are phony entitled to say so? Let's say for the sake of argument such appearances actually did happen. Then the questions are, who does God choose to give these visions to? And why is he so damn secretive? Why can't he just be like a normal "father" and be real to everyone, instead of mysteriously appearing to a very small number and even then saying different things to different people?Did God really appear to Oral Roberts in the 1980's and tell him that if he didn't raise a certain number of millions of dollars, that God would call him to heaven?
It seems to me that most of the time, when people make claims of such divine appearances, that they can make their God say whatever they want him to say. And that's why I'm very very skeptical. -
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RELIGULOUS...Please watch it.
by Fed-up ini know it's been commented on before here.
if you haven't seen it (i'm sure it's on netflix) please take a look.
it's the other side of the coin, presented in a funny way that really makes you think about religion and worship.
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Gopher
Agnophos said:
I'm never really impressed by someone going out of their way to mock someone else's beliefs. As Larsinger said, it's always the view of an outsider who just wants to make fun of people that he thinks he's entitled to look down upon. I haven't seen this movie, just clips from it, but I know I wouldn't like it
Actually atheists are in the minority, and religionists perpetually go "out of their way" to mock them.
Oh you haven't actually seen the movie? Never mind then.
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30 is the NEW 70,s..(age) What about Noah,s day-500 is the New 900
by jam innoah died in 1918 b.c.e (950 yrs.
abraham died 1801 b.c.e only 97 years after noah.. gen. 25;8 states he died in a good old age, an old man.
and full of years.
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Gopher
It's an exercise in vanity to try to make logical sense out of ancient Middle Eastern mythology.
The explanation I heard when I was young and in the JW's was this: Before Noah's flood, the great water canopy protected humankind from those nasty ultraviolet rays, and so people were exposed to less harmful radiation and lived longer.
Yeah, that's scientific!
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What is so big about 400 languages?
by Roberta804 inin order to ease into the internet world it seems the printing company is capitolizing on being able to provide their message in 400 languages.
i do not see what the big deal is all about.
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Gopher
The importance of the "400 language" deal depends on what percentage of the world's population could potentially be reached with translations into their languages. I think the percentage is high. This coverage creates the illusion that they could reach almost all people with their (ahem, cough, cough) lifesaving message - maybe simultaneously sound some warning (You're going to die!!!) right before the end. That illusion may be important to their followers.
I think it's reasonable to admit translating every magazine pretty quickly into 400 languages is a pretty good accomplishment. However I'm not really high on the quality of the content that they're translating.
One can always hope that some of their translators manage to "lose a little" of the B.S. in translation.
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23
First [brief] conversation w/elder for years
by AK - Jeff inin my area, i am labeled an 'active apostate', among other things i am sure.
i live in a very small town, and bump into elders who hate me beyond words.
if they could, i am sure they would gladly stone me before the entire villiage while chanting 'apostate, apostate.'.
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Gopher
On a different thread, somebody made a very insightful remark: Growing up as a JW tends to infantalize people.
Those who stay JW in their older age stay as "infants", in that they often do not have social or coping skills so as to interact on par with other adults.
This "are you coming back" thing seems to indicate that YOUR opinion of their religion matters too much to them. If you are inclined to come back, that means you approve of them and they are happy. If you are not inclined to come back, you disapprove and this makes them insecure.
Mature adults can actually tolerate people who have different views of religion, politics, etc. and still function with them on other levels. Jehovah's Witnesses who go along with the organization and shun people with different views, are behaving like insecure infants IMHO.
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First [brief] conversation w/elder for years
by AK - Jeff inin my area, i am labeled an 'active apostate', among other things i am sure.
i live in a very small town, and bump into elders who hate me beyond words.
if they could, i am sure they would gladly stone me before the entire villiage while chanting 'apostate, apostate.'.
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Gopher
Jeff, I just wanted to ask you if you are planning on ever coming back?
Yes I'll be coming back to this store, I need food for the house.
Jeff, I just wanted to ask you if you are planning on ever coming back?
I might, if you leave.
Jeff, I just wanted to ask you if you are planning on ever coming back?
I might have if you first said hello and treated me like a human.
Jeff, I just wanted to ask you if you are planning on ever coming back?
I'll come back for one Sunday if you let me speak to the whole congregation for 30 minutes without interruption about a topic of my choice.
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Has anybody ever urged the GB to e-x-p-l-a-i-n...?
by Terry inokay, gb big boys, splain yerselves!.
exactly how does jehovah g-u-i-d-e the writing of the watchtower?.
you've stated you are not inspired.
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Gopher
Okay, GB big boys, splain yerselves!
Exactly HOW does Jehovah g-u-i-d-e the writing of the Watchtower?The way I understood their explanation, he guides it by holy spirit because the Governing Body reads the Bible and the holy spirit practically floats out of the book and guides their minds. They cited Acts 28:25 where the holy spirit "Spoke" to the early elders... through Isaiah. Apparently they read Isaiah and it just spoke to them!!
It's kind of like how some people get inspired when they read books by Wayne Dyer or Deepak Chopra. The words simply speak to them!
Of course, anyone could get guided by the Bible in their own way. In fact all self-proclaimed Christian leaders do. Funny thing, they all make the Bible say what they want it to say. And people believe whatever comes out of their mouths is divine wisdom.
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Anyone watching "The Americans" on FX
by Tater-T ini love it!
relive the 80's my heyday... i love the human elements the kgb agents love story.
the dated technology is a trip.. keri russell is so beautiful and a stone cold killer... .
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Gopher
I've been watching AND enjoying this excellent series. Graham Yost is listed as a producer, and he's the same guy behind "Justified" which HAS to be the best drama on basic cable TV these days.
This series took an excellent turn last week with the episode surrounding the Reagan shooting, and the declaration by Secretary of State Alexander Haig that he was in control here (because Vice President Bush was on a plane heading towards the White House). What Haig set off notions of a possible military coup in the minds of the KGB spies here in America (according to the story), because they were accustomed to military coups. Of course no such thing was happening, and Philip understood that while Elizabeth did not - and his better sense prevailed (and possibly prevented a nuclear conflict between the USA and USSR in this fictional world).
