this is the only world that is the possible outcome of all the things that have happened on the planet.
however, we each have the power to make the world infinitesimally better or worse with each action
we take.
is this the best of all possible worlds?.
if it isn't, wouldn't that be the best possible proof that a benevolent and all-powerful deity had nothing to do with creating it?.
if a loving and benevolent creator was going to create a world--why make one with a built-in self-destruct mechanism??.
this is the only world that is the possible outcome of all the things that have happened on the planet.
however, we each have the power to make the world infinitesimally better or worse with each action
we take.
thread for nasticanasta to have at with proof that it does..
nothing exists except the natural universe.
i went to the meeting yesterday and found it to be a sad experience.
(i've been fading over the years and down to 2 meetings per month).
i looked around and found that there are no new members.just family members and friends.
i don't find it any sadder than anyone whose life is ruled by a religion of any kind
i'm not but i know some jws that have drifted but when things like 9/11 catastrophes occur, they're right back at the kingdom hall.. do you ever worry that the great tribulation might occur and you will die?.
if I ever went back it would be because of the love I have for those I left behind, not out of fear or a sense of guilt
i finally got my own copy of the new song book in english.
i notice that the lyrics in one of the songs have been changed from:.
fear not those who kill the body, but cannot destroy the soul.
its freaky, because I was just thinking of this song and that point a few days ago.
i'm not sure that i had a strong faith in anything ever.
i think as a small child i had faith in my.
parents and my brother.
I'm not sure that I had a strong faith in anything ever. I think as a small child I had faith in my
parents and my brother. My father and brother let me down pretty early in life, so that faith was
gone. I had faith in the friends at the Kingdom Hall and a few teachers and a few non-witness friends.
I can't remember ever having faith in god. I looked at things from a logical and/or rational point of
view from very early in life. But I did believe in the idealistic "New Order" where everyone would
be friends and no one would suffer. Rev. 21:3,4 had always been my favorite scripture and the one
I used for years as a pioneer to open discussions at the door. While pioneering I discovered a number
of irrationalities in what I was teaching to my Bible studies. I soon left the pioneer work. I was
at Bethel for a brief time before confessing that I was gay. What I saw at Bethel shook my faith in
the possibility of a new order because what I saw there was basically a bureacracy headed by men
who were not good leaders and generally did not show the love that I expected. To sum up,
I do not have faith. I think this has led me to being an unhappier person. Can faith and logic
exist in unison or are they mutually exclusive. I'm interested in your thoughts.
did anyone have to cancel a vacation trip because it was on co visit week?
i still don't get why the co visit was as if god himself was in town.
is it kinda like if the pope were to visit with catholics?.
I always hated CO week. Saturday night meeting. Longer Thursday night meeting. And the pressure to work with the CO and/or his wife out
in service.
dear friends!.
anthony morris is a member of the governing body.
here are some notes from a talk he gave at a special.
I could've heard the same talk when I was 5 or 10 or 15 or 20 or 25 or 30 or 35 or 40 or 45 or 50
i'm very much enjoying "the orwellian world of jehovah's witnesses", by heather and gary botting.
now, this excerpt comes very much to the point of this thread, i believe:.
page 145: "still, in 1975 the society clearly feared a continuation of the upward trend in memorial partakers, and in an article entitled "annointing to a heavenly hope - how is it manifest?
Peter baptized 3000 in one day during the preaching work of the first century. 100s of thousands of Christians went to their death in Rome due to
their faith during the early times of Christianity. and yet there were still 56,000 slots available in the early 20th century. I'm skeptical.
perhaps a hundred-thousand dead.
millions affected.. how many prayed in vain to stop the quaking, keep a loved one from dying, or for saftey?
all disregarded, all ignored.. he either doesn't care, is dead, or never was.
god is continuing to prove to mankind that not submitting to his will and supremacy
will continue to put people in harm's way.