Posts by Disillusioned JW

98

Better off PIMA than POMA or POMO.

by ExBethelitenowPIMA in

the situation is many of us are pima and all putting on a front, sometimes saying something we don’t fully believe.

or at least are actually agnostic about but a hope that it’s true.. but it can be useful if someone is really going through a hard time or has something they are very worried about, to say things like well let’s hope there is not much longer of this old system.. this can be useful in an awkward situation where you just don’t know what to do or say.

it’s a little bit of hope that can help when there is nothing else.. my agnosticism just means i won’t look back over decades thinking i wasted my life.

Disillusioned JW

Sea Breeze, on a great many pages of the 'Holy' Bible extreme violence, even that which is glorified and mentioned in gory detail. Do you joyfully look forwards to being part of Christ's executional forces (in heaven) during the battle of Armageddon? Do you relish the thought of killing (from heaven) millions of people during Armageddon, in service to Christ and to God? Does it give you an intense thrill to think of killing atheists, non-Christians, homosexuals, lesbians, people who engage in sex outside of marriage, and various other types of people?

Regarding your comment of "... cannot even admit that it would be morally wrong for someone to take your own life?", that is not the case in. Instead I didn't answer the question because I do not wish to let you make me veer off the points i making. I want to stay focused on my message to you.

Furthermore, when you said "Would it help if I put a gun to your head and told you that I just loved killing people?" I did not you were asking me if think it would be immoral for someone to try to murder me (or kill) me? Instead, I thought you sarcastically meant would it help me 'to decide between if all morality should be objective, relative, or subjective?'

Regarding the definition of murder, I am well aware that the dictionary definition of murder is that it is unlawful killing (and the WT also teaches such, and uses the word "murder" instead of "kill" in the 1984 NWT translation of Exodus 20:13). The laws pertaining to when killing is murder and when it is not murder, vary from state to another and from one country to another, and from one century to another. At the Nuremberg trials many Nazis were convicted of having done murders (or crimes against humanity) even though those Nazis were following orders of their government and of their nation's laws. As a result when I contemplate whether a specif killing of humans is murder of not, I don't just consider whether the local human government jurisdiction considers it murder, nor if the Bible says God considers it murder. I also also evaluate the humans laws and the purported laws of Yahweh God, to determine if they are wrong in saying a specific killing is not murder. [Compare that to the biblical account of Lot questioning Yahweh about whether he would destroy the entire city of Sodom if a certain number of people therein were righteous.]

98

Better off PIMA than POMA or POMO.

by ExBethelitenowPIMA in

the situation is many of us are pima and all putting on a front, sometimes saying something we don’t fully believe.

or at least are actually agnostic about but a hope that it’s true.. but it can be useful if someone is really going through a hard time or has something they are very worried about, to say things like well let’s hope there is not much longer of this old system.. this can be useful in an awkward situation where you just don’t know what to do or say.

it’s a little bit of hope that can help when there is nothing else.. my agnosticism just means i won’t look back over decades thinking i wasted my life.

Disillusioned JW

Sea Breeze, please consider the following. Is joining a military and killing (even under orders from one's military superiors) noncombatant civilians acts of murder? To some it is and to others it is not. to others, it depends upon the specifics of the situation. Exodus 20:13 (KJV) says "thou shalt not kill" and chapter 20 says that without any exception, but elsewhere the OT Bible commands militaristic killing of humans (especially of non-Jews) in a number of occasions. The OT Bible also commands executing humans who were guilty of breaking the Mosaic laws. Are those examples of subjective morality, of relativistic morality, or being inconsistent. Does the above help you to re-evaluate your position on the subject? When if ever, is breaking the commandment of "thou shalt not kill" justified?

If you thought Yahweh God or Jesus Christ definitely gave you an order to kill me, would attempt to obey that perceived order (such as like the OT Bible portrays Abraham as having attempted to do to his son)? Would your actions in response to such a perceived command depend upon the other circumstances at that time? Many devout theologically conserved have killed people because they thought god told them to so.

I didn't choose the JW as a result of wanting to be popular (or more popular). I didn't later conclude that atheism and naturalism are true in order to be popular (or more popular). I didn't become an and atheist and a naturalist in order to increase my degree of popularity. I became an atheist and a naturalist because I concluded that it is vastly more probable there is no god (especially a personal God) and nothing supernatural, that that there a god and supernatural. I became and atheist and a naturalist because I followed the evidence to where it leads and because I very highly value truth., including knowing the truth and accepting the truth.

But there are vastly more atheists worldwide than JWs and thus far more people worldwide are attracted to becoming atheists than to becoming JWs. [Furthermore, polls of the USA population say that the percentage of people who claim to be atheist is rising (likewise for those claiming to be nonreligious). In contrast polls of people in the USA who claim to be Christians in rapidly falling (likewise for those claiming to believe in God).] I have told many of my co-workers that I am an atheist who is a former JW and they are fine with that. They act very friendly to me. They also see that I am a good person and a number of them have specifically told me I am a good person (without me asking if they think I am a good person).

Is your sense of morality truly consistent?

98

Better off PIMA than POMA or POMO.

by ExBethelitenowPIMA in

the situation is many of us are pima and all putting on a front, sometimes saying something we don’t fully believe.

or at least are actually agnostic about but a hope that it’s true.. but it can be useful if someone is really going through a hard time or has something they are very worried about, to say things like well let’s hope there is not much longer of this old system.. this can be useful in an awkward situation where you just don’t know what to do or say.

it’s a little bit of hope that can help when there is nothing else.. my agnosticism just means i won’t look back over decades thinking i wasted my life.

Disillusioned JW

Regarding the topic of whether human morality is subjective or not I will say the following. Human morality is made by humans (not by a god). The morality that pertains to humans is not the exact same morality that pertains to nonhuman animals. The morality (or moralities) that chimpanzee cultures have is not the same in every respect as the morality (or moralities) of human cultures. In various human cultures the standards of morality in some of those cultures differs from that of some other cultures to some extent.

The web page at https://study.com/learn/lesson/moral-objectivism-subjectivism-relativism-overview-differences-examples.html says the following. "Subjectivism is when morality is not dependent on set rules or societal norms, but rather on the individual. An individual gets to decide what is good or bad based on their own principles, feelings, and beliefs." The web page also says the following: "Moral relativism states that morality is determined by a culture or a society, such as a religious group. Moral objectivism states that there is a set of valid rules and principles which should be adhered to by all people no matter what." At this time I prefer to not state if I think either of those three types of human morality are correct or not, since it is difficult for me to make a definite decision about such.

Determining what is moral or immoral in some specific situations is not an easy one for me to make, especially when it comes to deciding what morality to apply to people other than myself. For example, I am tolerant of people having certain lifestyles which I wish to never engage in. For example, I no longer consider it immoral (in some situations) for unmarried people to engage in sex with multiple unmarried persons, but I chose to avoiding engaging in that kind of sexual conduct. However, because I was raised to believe that such sexual conduct is always immoral (and because such a concept got deeply ingrained into me), I sometimes (such as when talking to my JW family) inadvertently refer to people engaging in such as immoral people.

98

Better off PIMA than POMA or POMO.

by ExBethelitenowPIMA in

the situation is many of us are pima and all putting on a front, sometimes saying something we don’t fully believe.

or at least are actually agnostic about but a hope that it’s true.. but it can be useful if someone is really going through a hard time or has something they are very worried about, to say things like well let’s hope there is not much longer of this old system.. this can be useful in an awkward situation where you just don’t know what to do or say.

it’s a little bit of hope that can help when there is nothing else.. my agnosticism just means i won’t look back over decades thinking i wasted my life.

Disillusioned JW

I was in a hurry in writing my prior post, and I made some major typos (including by omission of some words) as a result. The following are important corrections.

In my prior post where I wrote 'I believe, as stated by a number of atheistic scientists, that there is cosmic purpose for us and that no god gave us a purpose' I meant to write "I believe, as stated by a number of atheistic scientists, that there is no cosmic purpose (no purpose made the cosmos [as a whole]) for us and that no god gave us a purpose'.

Where I wrote "Regarding what is someone's purpose involves murder ..." I meant to write "Regarding what if someone's purpose involves murder ...".

When I wrote "Likewise working human made electronic computers make decisions ..." for clarity I should have wrote "Likewise working electronic computers (made by humans) make decisions ...".

Where I wrote "... thus murder is not acceptable (at least not me and most other people)" I meant to write "... thus murder is not acceptable (at least not to me and most other people)".

When I wrote 'To say that "atheists do in fact beleive[sic] that we are just chemicals and copying mistakes" in quite accurate' I meant to write 'To say that "atheists do in fact beleive[sic] that we are just chemicals and copying mistakes" in quite inaccurate.'

Where I wrote '... my post on page 5 of this topic thread did not was specifically "highlighting moral subjectivity as a great tenet of atheism" ' I should have wrote '... my post on page 5 of this topic thread was not specifically "highlighting moral subjectivity as a great tenet of atheism" ...".

98

Better off PIMA than POMA or POMO.

by ExBethelitenowPIMA in

the situation is many of us are pima and all putting on a front, sometimes saying something we don’t fully believe.

or at least are actually agnostic about but a hope that it’s true.. but it can be useful if someone is really going through a hard time or has something they are very worried about, to say things like well let’s hope there is not much longer of this old system.. this can be useful in an awkward situation where you just don’t know what to do or say.

it’s a little bit of hope that can help when there is nothing else.. my agnosticism just means i won’t look back over decades thinking i wasted my life.

Disillusioned JW

Sea Breeze, thanks for your followup post. I believe, as stated by a number of atheistic scientists, that there is cosmic purpose for us and that no god gave us a purpose.

Our purpose is subjective in the same sense that our preferences for certain flavors or certain colors is subjective. Regarding what is someone's purpose involves murder, it like the way our USA constitution says we have certain freedoms. The Supreme Court has ruled that the extent of some of those freedoms is limited by whether or not the acting of them by a person hinders the same freedoms of others (for example how one practices their religion or there philosophy). Humans are social beings and we are all dependent (though to varying degrees) upon other humans, unless someone is like a feral child living in the wild with no human language. As a result, especially if we live in cities, we need to get along (at least to some extent) with other humans, and thus murder is not acceptable (at least not me and most other people). There are thus natural limits on what kind of purposes people can get away with giving to themselves and carrying out.

To say that "atheists do in fact beleive[sic] that we are just chemicals and copying mistakes" in quite accurate. We are a collection of chemicals in which many of the chemicals are highly animated and grouped in such a manner that their grouping consists of living cells. Likewise the living cells in the brains are grouped in such a way that mind is produced and exists. Likewise working human made electronic computers make decisions, and such is possible because of the way the components of the computer are structured and organized, because of the data inputs to the computer, and because of the electrical power in the operating computer.

Sea Breeze, my post on page 5 of this topic thread did not was specifically "highlighting moral subjectivity as a great tenet of atheism". My comment about a great tenet of atheism was about freedom to choose one's purpose - not about morality being subjective. In this topic thread I have avoided the topic of whether morality is subjective or not, except to the extent of what I mention above in this post.

98

Better off PIMA than POMA or POMO.

by ExBethelitenowPIMA in

the situation is many of us are pima and all putting on a front, sometimes saying something we don’t fully believe.

or at least are actually agnostic about but a hope that it’s true.. but it can be useful if someone is really going through a hard time or has something they are very worried about, to say things like well let’s hope there is not much longer of this old system.. this can be useful in an awkward situation where you just don’t know what to do or say.

it’s a little bit of hope that can help when there is nothing else.. my agnosticism just means i won’t look back over decades thinking i wasted my life.

Disillusioned JW

cofty, I don't think I was not equivocating about 'proof'. Instead I was thinking about it in the strict way you mentioned regarding proof, such as in the realm of mathematics and in formal deductive logic, but even those involve starting with premises/assumptions/axioms (even if such are well supported). For all we known, that which we perceive as reality could merely be simulation on some powerful computer. A number of atheistic scientists who fully accept evolution say that is a very real possibility. I consider such ideas, and the similar idea in the science fiction movie called the Matrix, as well as the idea everything I perceive and experience might be dream I am having. There have many times in my life when I though I had woke from a horrible dream only to find I was in another dream (or perhaps a different phase of the same dream), and even to find myself later in a third dream, before I actually became awake.

Though I am highly convinced that all of the current species on Earth have descended from a common ancestral species, it has technically not been proven (in the strict sense of proof in mathematics). For example, perhaps some of the species on Earth descended from an ancestor which never existed on Earth (such as by panspermia from another world, perhaps even by a life designed and created by an unknown extraterrestrial intelligence). The idea is very well illustrated in the science fiction movie called "MIssion to Mars" (and I own a DVD of the movie). It is a very good movie.

Furthermore, as many evolutionist scientists have admitted, there is no way to prove that a god didn't create all of the types of life on Earth by a nonevolutionary process (with them being given the appearance of having descended from the same ancestor). Those scientists have said creationism (depending on how it is worded) is unfalsifiable, since the creationist can say God did it by some mysterious supernatural means.

The perspectives contribute that what I said in the earlier post about "proof'. I am philosophical. I own books specifically about philosophy.

98

Better off PIMA than POMA or POMO.

by ExBethelitenowPIMA in

the situation is many of us are pima and all putting on a front, sometimes saying something we don’t fully believe.

or at least are actually agnostic about but a hope that it’s true.. but it can be useful if someone is really going through a hard time or has something they are very worried about, to say things like well let’s hope there is not much longer of this old system.. this can be useful in an awkward situation where you just don’t know what to do or say.

it’s a little bit of hope that can help when there is nothing else.. my agnosticism just means i won’t look back over decades thinking i wasted my life.

Disillusioned JW

Sea Breeze, Nicolaou did not say (at least in the post you quoted) that people can be happy without a purpose in life. Furthermore, he did not say (at least in the post you quoted from) that his purpose is to tell people that "they can be happy without a purpose in life". Instead he said the following pertaining to his purpose. "I have plenty of hope and purpose in my life, mostly centred around the people I love. Life is good without god." Sea Breeze please stop misconstruing what atheists say regarding atheism and naturalism!

I and many other atheists have a purpose (a multi-faceted one, not just of promoting atheism and naturalism) in life, it is a purpose I have chosen myself. My life is better without belief in YHWH God (and slavery to God and to religion), Armageddon, hell fire eternal torment, the devil and demons, and many other doctrines of supernaturalism. Many people don't need some alleged deity to assign a purpose to them. People can choose their own purpose! That is part of the great uplifting message of atheist naturalism! I prefer the purpose I chose for myself to the one the WT says is my purpose (namely to worship Jehovah God and to be a farmer in the new world) and to the purpose mentioned in the book of Revelation (of being a priest in the temple of God in heaven and of being a king).

It is not atheist's ideas on topic which are irrational. It is some of your ideas about atheist's ideas of this topic which is irrational. The supernatural ideas of Christianity are what is absurd - not atheism and scientific naturalism!

There is something though that I greatly appreciate about the WT's JW religion. It is the idea that all false religion will come to a complete end. I relish that idea. I too want all false religion to end (though I don't expect it will ever happen as long as our species continues to exist, but it can greater become far less prevalent). But I want it to end without people being forced to be nonreligious. I want religious people to voluntarily cease being religion (such as a result of persuasion and of them drawing their own conclusions in the matter). I want all beliefs in the existence of the supernatural to cease! The world and human society would be so much better if such was the case (provided it was not due to coercion)!

98

Better off PIMA than POMA or POMO.

by ExBethelitenowPIMA in

the situation is many of us are pima and all putting on a front, sometimes saying something we don’t fully believe.

or at least are actually agnostic about but a hope that it’s true.. but it can be useful if someone is really going through a hard time or has something they are very worried about, to say things like well let’s hope there is not much longer of this old system.. this can be useful in an awkward situation where you just don’t know what to do or say.

it’s a little bit of hope that can help when there is nothing else.. my agnosticism just means i won’t look back over decades thinking i wasted my life.

Disillusioned JW

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3522158/ says the following.

"The wheat group has evolved through allopolyploidization, namely, through hybridization among species from the plant genera Aegilops and Triticum followed by genome doubling.

... HYBRIDIZATION and polyploidization are ubiquitous modes of evolution in plants and in other eukaryotes (reviewed by Van de Peer et al. 2009). The wheat group (genera Aegilops and Triticum) emphasizes the impact of hybridization and polyploidization on species evolution in nature and under domestication. For example, bread wheat has a complex genome consisting of three related genomes that derived from three different diploid species; it is called an allohexaploid (allo, from Greek, meaning “different”). Pasta wheat is an allotetraploid."

98

Better off PIMA than POMA or POMO.

by ExBethelitenowPIMA in

the situation is many of us are pima and all putting on a front, sometimes saying something we don’t fully believe.

or at least are actually agnostic about but a hope that it’s true.. but it can be useful if someone is really going through a hard time or has something they are very worried about, to say things like well let’s hope there is not much longer of this old system.. this can be useful in an awkward situation where you just don’t know what to do or say.

it’s a little bit of hope that can help when there is nothing else.. my agnosticism just means i won’t look back over decades thinking i wasted my life.

Disillusioned JW

Sea Breeze, based upon what you said about your age in 1976, we about the same age (though you are slightly older than me). In the year 1975 (and prior to that year) I did not put great expectation in the WT's ideas about 1975 (regarding what the WT said might happen in that year). That is because I knew of WT claims made during the few years (or several months) prior to 1975 which made disclaimers that the great tribulation, Armageddon, and the new world (in which Satan is abyssed for 1000 years) might not start by then.

Furthermore, I never did consider the WT's predictions and speculations about 1975 to be prophecies (in the biblical sense of prophecies, at least as defined by the WT, though not in the sense of the general public's idea of the word "prophecy") or examples of the WT claiming to act as a prophet. That is because I viewed them as only being expectations and speculations based upon interpretations the Bible, and not something claimed to be revelations received by the people of the WT directly from God. The WT never claimed that Jehovah God gave them a personal/direct revelation about 1975. I thus did not get stumbled by 1975 and the WT's pronouncements regarding it (that is, until much more recently when I discovered some much stronger claims the WT made about 1975 than I had known prior to the year 2015 or so), and I got baptized in the early 1980s.

Since you strike me as very conservative (theologically and politically) I am thus surprised that you ever (even at age 13) smoked marijuana. In contrast, as a child though I leaned towards being liberal in regards to my beliefs in social/human rights and political views, and though I am now theologically liberal (to the point of being an atheist) and politically very liberal/progressive, I have l never smoked marijuana nor consumed any other substance while it was ever under ban as being too dangerous a drug. That is because since early childhood I have wanted to protect my health. Now, the vast majority of the time I even avoid eating desert (even small candies), even when they are offered to me for free more than once a week, because I wish to avoid spiking my sugar levels. [Note: though I am very liberal/progressive in regards to what I believe are valid social/human rights and in regards to political policies, morally I personally live primarily by conservative Christian values.]

Did you ever go back to taking high school courses and/or did did you ever get a high school diploma or a GED? If not, that is sad.

98

Better off PIMA than POMA or POMO.

by ExBethelitenowPIMA in

the situation is many of us are pima and all putting on a front, sometimes saying something we don’t fully believe.

or at least are actually agnostic about but a hope that it’s true.. but it can be useful if someone is really going through a hard time or has something they are very worried about, to say things like well let’s hope there is not much longer of this old system.. this can be useful in an awkward situation where you just don’t know what to do or say.

it’s a little bit of hope that can help when there is nothing else.. my agnosticism just means i won’t look back over decades thinking i wasted my life.

Disillusioned JW

Update: On page 5 of this topic I said "a new genera has never been directly observed as coming into existence", but in case of plant that might be correct. Polyploidy evolution has been detected in plants and in at least one case the result (wheat) was a hybrid of three species from at least two different genera. Such might thus constitute macroevolution.