Posts by superpunk

It's an interesting question that I don't believe there is any satisfying answer to. I don't even believe any Christian has an answer that he can satisfy himself with, as to a reason why God paid the ransom 2,000 years ago and has done nothing since then. The only step that can be taken is to believe God exists, and cares about the world, and then rely on the scriptures suggesting that God is not slow respecting his promises for comfort.

One thing is certain to me - I see no biblical precedent for God's servants being kept in such uncertainty for such a long period of time. If the Israelites were in some sort of bondage, their deliverance was either a predetermined period of time, or it was a short period of time (save for the slavery in Egypt, but I'm not sure that happened the way the Israelites tell it).

I guess you could assert that heaven is open now. Christ's followers are headed there when they die, and I guess they have this direct relationship with God after he busted up the Temple and allowed them direct access. I don't buy it, but there it is.

111

The Watchtower Didn't Make Me An Atheist

by B_Deserter in

ive posted on this before, but i figured i should lay my thoughts out again on the subject.

there are some in the ex-jw community who are saddened because the watchtower organization has turned me and others like me off to god.

the watchtower attacks and debunks other religions on a regular basis, often giving us the sense that if the watchtower is wrong, then there cant be a god.

superpunk

Why? I don't see the difficulty. I don't see the need to prove God exists, He's done a perfect job of that Himself.

Amen, Brother!

SURAH 112:

1 Say: He is Allah, the One!
2 Allah, the eternally Besought of all!
3 He begetteth not nor was begotten.
4 And there is none comparable unto Him.

4

PBS agrees to ban new religious TV shows

by purplesofa in

jw
friends

pbs agrees to ban new religious tv showscompromise ends threat to stations that already broadcast church servicesupdated 5:14 a.m. et, wed., june 17, 2009the public broadcasting service agreed yesterday to ban its member stations from airing new religious tv programs, but permitted the handful of stations that already carry "sectarian" shows to continue doing so.. the vote by pbs's board was a compromise from a proposed ban on all religious programming.

such a ban would have forced a few stations around the country to give up their pbs affiliation if they continued to broadcast local church services and religious lectures.. until now, pbs stations have been required to present programming that is noncommercial, nonpartisan and nonsectarian.

but the definition of "nonsectarian" programming was always loosely interpreted, and the rule had never been strictly enforced.

superpunk

They're obviously turning on false religion.

PBS just tipped off the Great Tribulation. Any day now....

111

The Watchtower Didn't Make Me An Atheist

by B_Deserter in

ive posted on this before, but i figured i should lay my thoughts out again on the subject.

there are some in the ex-jw community who are saddened because the watchtower organization has turned me and others like me off to god.

the watchtower attacks and debunks other religions on a regular basis, often giving us the sense that if the watchtower is wrong, then there cant be a god.

superpunk

Uhm we both know the answer to that one. I will take the idea of someone that is more powerful than humans any day of the week over the idea that all of it came from no guidence whatsoever.

That guidance does not have to be a mystical manipulator of space and time, however. It could be natural selection, which may not be "guided" in the sense you mean it by an almighty puppet-master, but it certainly has a specific, purposeful direction.

This is why I find that it is pointless to have a debate with people like you. You tell me that Christians are delusional and then imagine away that there is any intelligence in the experiment to come to the conclusion that it proves that you can make a cell without intelligence. Bring me a lab that came into existence in its current form on its own and a cell came out of it by itself and we will talk. You call this absurd but that is what you are saying to every person who believes in God.

I don't think there's a scientist or evolutionist in the universe who believes this is absurd. The problem is the time constraints involved. Scientists don't have time to sit around and wait for a laboratory to come into existence - and why should they? Billions of years of evolution have already brought us to that point.

This thread has gone from awesome to silly. I hope you take the time to come to a more reasonable understanding of evolution, because every post you make makes it clear that you do not currently possess such an understanding. Maybe once you obtain that understanding, you will still be a Creationist - but at least you will be able to discuss evolution intelligently and from an informed perspective at that point.

111

The Watchtower Didn't Make Me An Atheist

by B_Deserter in

ive posted on this before, but i figured i should lay my thoughts out again on the subject.

there are some in the ex-jw community who are saddened because the watchtower organization has turned me and others like me off to god.

the watchtower attacks and debunks other religions on a regular basis, often giving us the sense that if the watchtower is wrong, then there cant be a god.

superpunk

Thanks LWT. This site give me problems with formatting and such, lol. I understand how to insert clickable links, but I'm also lazy. :)

111

The Watchtower Didn't Make Me An Atheist

by B_Deserter in

ive posted on this before, but i figured i should lay my thoughts out again on the subject.

there are some in the ex-jw community who are saddened because the watchtower organization has turned me and others like me off to god.

the watchtower attacks and debunks other religions on a regular basis, often giving us the sense that if the watchtower is wrong, then there cant be a god.

superpunk

A couple of thoughts. As an Evangelical, I define an atheists as a person who has proof that God does not exist. Is this accurate and if yes, what proof was the clincher for you?

Here's an interesting summary of the problem with your idea here.

http://www.graveyardofthegods.net/articles/cantprovenegative.html

27

[Allow for response]. Then ignore.

by AlphaOmega in

i haven't read any jw stuff for some time now, but this morning i found an electronic copy of the current "our kingdom ministry" in my e-mail.

i had a quick flick through and realised how rude the "doorstep suggestions" are.

quote:what to say about the magazines .

superpunk

They left out the part where your partner pulls the string in your back to make you talk.

111

The Watchtower Didn't Make Me An Atheist

by B_Deserter in

ive posted on this before, but i figured i should lay my thoughts out again on the subject.

there are some in the ex-jw community who are saddened because the watchtower organization has turned me and others like me off to god.

the watchtower attacks and debunks other religions on a regular basis, often giving us the sense that if the watchtower is wrong, then there cant be a god.

superpunk

Elemental: However, I have yet to see someone give me a valid argument as to why in the case with the Gospels the stories are false because of them. Exactly what in the Gospels is so contradictive that they are impossible to be true? Indeed I would expect if writers were truly writing independent of each other that there would be some differences.

I was not arguing that they were false. I was simply trying to point out the error in your assumption that such discrepancies proves they are true.

If you are working in conjunction with other authors to try and write several allegedly "eye-witness" accounts, no doubt the best way to convince people that you weren't working together would be to intentionally insert minor differences in the story, so they don't look like exact replicas - much like the student who plagiarized an essay from the internet.

I am not arguing that is what was done. What I am saying is that you are arguing from assumption - and if you do that you have to allow for assumptions BOTH ways, not just in the direction that coincides with your preconcieved idea.

347

Are You Paul or are you Saul?

by reniaa in

jw
friends

this was the same man at different times in his life yet he changed his name because he completely changed his ideals and goals too.

both were extremely zealous, both thought they were doing gods work, both thought they were working for the greater good.. acts 8:3 (new international version)3but saul began to destroy the church.

going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.. soul thought gods work was to destroy the christians but paul.... acts 20: 19i served the lord with great humility and with tears, although i was severely tested by the plots of the jews.

superpunk

I think there are alot of similarities between the Watchtower Society and Paul. Paul, symbolically, represents almost all organized religion if you think about it.

Saul was someone who seemed opposed to the God the Christians worshipped. Then he became Paul. He told all the Christians that Jesus and him had a talk, and Jesus wanted him to minister to the congregations. Didn't really matter that there was no proof of this. Pretend to be blind for a few days, and suddenly regain sight, gullible people will believe whatever you want them to. After that, you can set up all sorts of rules and degrade the status of women in the congregation, all of which seems to go against what the revolutionary Jesus was all about. But, since Paul had them convinced that he had a direct line to Jesus, they went along with it.