gotcha

Joined

• started 41 topics
• posted 208 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by gotcha

• 
  126

  adam & eve

  by gotcha in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  does anyone here take the creation story literally?

  if yes, did u do ample research and think carefully but still believe in it?

  if u don't think that the story should be taken as literal, what is your reading of it and do u still believe in the bible as the inspired word of god?...thanks in advance..

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  gotcha

  i'm sorry i was just able to read some parts coz i find it too long but i just wanted to put my opinion regarding free will....i think that freedom is most achieved when we do the good because that is our orientation..it is when we do the good that we realize our true selves..it is where our hearts find peace..in doing good..and another thing...BAD is not created...because God made everything good..it is when someone/something does not live up to its expectation of its being good that it is called bad...let me put a part of the article i found good regarding evil...
  "First of all, I suppose you will agree that there is no such thing as (sic) badness just as there is no such thing as redness. There are just bad things, as there are red things. You never get badness unless there is first of all something that exists that is bad, just as you never get redness unless there is first of all something to be red.
  Now what exactly are we saying when we say that a thing is bad? Here we come immediately to a difference between badness and redness. For all red things share a property in common, the property of being red. If you know what it is like for an apple to be red then you more or less know what it is like for a pencil or a nose to be red.
  But this won’t work with badness; if you know what it is like for a deckchair to be a deckchair you do not for that reason know what it is like for a grape to be a bad grape. A bad deckchair collapses when you sit down, but the fact that a grape collapses when you sit on it is not what would show it to be a bad grape.
  We call something a bad deckchair when it doesn’t come up to our expectations for deckchairs, and we call something a bad grape when it doesn’t come up to our expectations for grapes. But they are different expectations. And similarly when we say that a thing is a good grape or a good deckchair we mean that they do come up to our respective expectations for grapes and deckchairs. Goodness, like badness, is different from redness in what it is like for one thing to be good isn’t the same as what it is like for another. The fact that wine can be made from good grapes has no tendency at all to suggest that wine can be made from good deckchairs."

  another long post.
• 
  1

  evil - mccabe

  by gotcha in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  at least in the western tradition nothing so affects our attitude to god as our recognition of evil and suffering.

  the important factor in the modern bourgeois indifference to god has been cultivated exclusion of evil from our consciousness.

  it is not long since english moral philosophers searching for an example of moral evil could only come up with promise-breaking; the liberal imagination shield away from real sin, just as a commercial advertising shies away from suffering.

  1. 
• 

  gotcha

  if anyone wants to have a copy of the article just email me at and i'll email u a copy...
• 
  1

  evil - mccabe

  by gotcha in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  at least in the western tradition nothing so affects our attitude to god as our recognition of evil and suffering.

  the important factor in the modern bourgeois indifference to god has been cultivated exclusion of evil from our consciousness.

  it is not long since english moral philosophers searching for an example of moral evil could only come up with promise-breaking; the liberal imagination shield away from real sin, just as a commercial advertising shies away from suffering.

  1. 
• 

  gotcha

  At least in the Western tradition nothing so affects our attitude to God as our recognition of evil and suffering. The important factor in the modern bourgeois indifference to God has been cultivated exclusion of evil from our consciousness. It is not long since English moral philosophers searching for an example of moral evil could only come up with promise-breaking; the liberal imagination shield away from real sin, just as a commercial advertising shies away from suffering. It is a commonplace that prisons and hospitals are not only institutions for dealing with crime and sickness but also for hiding them.
  If we break out this cosy world and face the real state of affairs we are liable to two apparently contrasting reactions. We may reject God as infantile, as unable to comprehend or have compassion on those who suffer and are made to suffer in his world On the other hand we may find, as Jon did, that it was our own view of God that was infantile, we may in fact come to a deeper understanding of the mystery of God. The first ‘atheist’ reaction may indeed be a part of the second.
  It is not my purpose here to offer positive suggestions about the transition from an inadequate view of God, through, ‘atheism’, to a deeper understanding. I have set myself the minor task of removing one impediment on the way. We will not pass through this transition successfully if we let ourselves be trapped in the philosopher’s problem of evil.
  As it seems to me there is the problem or mystery of evil which is a dark entry into mystery of God. Not to be aware of this, not to be confounded and overthrown by it is not yet to have recognized God’s love. But there is also a philosophical muddle about God and evil, and there is no reason at all to be confounded or overthrown by this.
  This paper is not, then, intended as some kind of anodyne for those who are facing the mystery of evil – whether they express their understanding in the form of ‘atheism’ or of a deeper awareness of mystery. It is a philosophical reply to philosophers who seek to show that the reality of evil proves that the ultimate source of meaning of the universe cannot be unconditional compassion and love.
  ** *
  I appear then as though in a lawcourt as counsel for the defence of God against his philosophical accusers. I seek to do no more than to answer their arguments.
  The prisoner stands accused of wreaking all kinds of murder and mayhem, of running a world full of misery and malice. Evidence for the crimes lies all around us, and the question is whether God is really responsible, whether he should be judged guilty and perhaps whether he should get off on a plea of diminished responsibility due to unsound mind or natural ignorance.
  May I say at once that I shall be falling back on that sound principle of English law that God is innocent until he is proved guilty. It is not my job to prove that God is innocent; I am not going to explain how and why his activities have been good. I am simply going to refute the charges brought against him. I shall be dealing, in fact, with what his accusers have said about him.
  At the end of this hearing I hope you will agree that God has not been proved guilty, but I expect you will be as puzzled as I am about his innocence. In other words I hope it will remain a mystery to you why God has done what he has done; but you will at least agree that what he has done does not prove his guilt.
  First of all, what is the charge? The world is full of suffering and sin; God committed this world; he openly admits to having done so. Nobody else interfered, there is no one else to take the blame from him. You might imagine a defence on the lines that the poor fellow couldn’t help it, he’s only a God after all. But this cannot be my defence for I hold that he is omnipotent and can do anything he likes that you could mention. (The only reason why you would have to say that he can’t make square circles is that you can’t mention them; the words cancel each other out so that you haven’t named anything.)
• 
  7

  to parents...

  by gotcha in

  1. social
  2. family

  what could your kids do that would most hurt you?...

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  gotcha

  yah something like hurting themselves?..

  thanks
• 
  7

  to parents...

  by gotcha in

  1. social
  2. family

  what could your kids do that would most hurt you?...

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  gotcha

  what could your kids do that would most hurt you?...
• 
  255

  Going out with a bang

  by LittleToe in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after much deliberation, i decided to go "out" at the end of a public talk.

  it didn't go down too well, but at least i was able to give some of my reasons for leaving.. i've put some of the details on my homepage.

  i'll update it more when i get the time and the strength.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  gotcha

  hey lt! it's been a long time.....i so very much admire your courage!!..anyways..have a good life ahead..wish u d best.
• 
  34

  I am a daddy!

  by dedalus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my daughter was born at 9:05am tuesday morning.

  she's a skinny little thing, 7 pounds 5 ounces, with a shock of black hair, her father's chin, her mother's eyes, and a fetish for sucking on fingertips that neither of us recognize in ourselves.

  i'll post pictures when i have them up somewhere ... meanwhile, foxy and i are trying to catch as much sleep as possible, which is precious little sleep at all.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  gotcha

  hey congratulations!!!
• 
  45

  A story of brotherly love.....

  by Tatiana in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  since i've been here, from around july, 2001, i haven't really shared any personal experiences of why i left the society, except for the story about my sister who committed suicide.

  this is kind of long, so i will tell it in parts.

  if this is god's organization, i will gladly be a devil worshiper.. here goes....... when i was about 27 years old, (around 1984) after my divorce, i'd moved from laurens, south carolina back to andrews, sc, and rented the house beside my grandmother.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  gotcha

  such a sad story but thanks so much for sharing it.....i can't believe how those ppl could just bear doing what they did to your aunt but thank God for an angel like u...
• 
  34

  Blood cards - before screaming too loudly,

  by TheOldHippie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  keep in mind that the blood cards are produced and circulated in all other countries worldwide.

  if they are not so in the us, please do not scream too loudly that major changes are occuring etc., because this has got to be some local us thing, if it is true what you say that they are not renewed in the us.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  gotcha

  they gave out cards again here but the old version and i read it in the km that it was supposed to be filled up only but signed in the presence of the cbs conductor something like that..(philippines)
• 
  17

  Aussie BBQ - Feb 17

  by Prisca in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi to all our aussie friends,.

  it's that time again - another aussie apostate bbq bash is almost upon us!.

  anyone who wishes to meet up and cook up a steak, drink some of ozziepost's fine red wine, or just to have a chin-wag, is welcome.. anonymity is highly important for those who may be currently still in the org, or those who are inactive but not da'd nor df'd.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  gotcha

  will u have one next yr? hehe....

  im so farrrrrrr awayyyyyyyyyyyy