dgp

Joined

• started 200 topics
• posted 2,765 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by dgp

• 
  44

  Absolute knowledge vs. Relativism

  by Vidqun in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  believing in a god is a leap of faith.

  being an atheist is also a leap of faith, and that goes for the evolutionists too.

  i believe in absolute truth as found in the bible.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  dgp

  Of course.
• 
  44

  Absolute knowledge vs. Relativism

  by Vidqun in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  believing in a god is a leap of faith.

  being an atheist is also a leap of faith, and that goes for the evolutionists too.

  i believe in absolute truth as found in the bible.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  dgp

  The atheist thinkers I have read (Dawkins, Hitchens) do not claim absolute knowledge. What they say is that man has only incomplete knowledge of things, that scientists understand that so, and, therefore, their knowledge is taken to be true on the basis of available evidence. A true scientist wants truth, and, therefore, he or she will be happy to be corrected if there is evidence for that.

  Hitchens in particular claims that religion belongs to those stages of human life when we didn't know better. I believe he has a point: the Aztecs believed that a god, Tláloc, made rain by breaking clay pots with a stick. The sound of thunder was the sound of those clay pots breaking. We know better, don't we? Their mind did not conceive of pots made of anything other than clay because that was what they knew. Their mind did not conceive of rain being the result of a natural process. So they believed in appeasing the Gods so they would bring rain.

  Personally, I would agree with "relativism" as being the idea that we may not know enough and therefore we must keep an open mind and accept what evidence supports. I don't agree with "relativism" understood as ethics being entirely dependent on what people think is ethical. I think that, for example, if someone found a child walking by, and decided to kill the child, that would be unethical no matter what the laws or the customs of the land said about it.

  "Revealed wisdom" first has to prove that there was a revealer, on a basis other than "we have the Revelations to prove it".
• 
  41

  Will Good People Go to Hell?

  by leavingwt in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  will good people go to hell?

  please allow this gentleman to explain.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xnr098vbko&feature=channel_video_title.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  dgp

  PSacramento replied this way:

  It was a test of faith for Abe, so that Abe could see for himself that HE had the faith to do all that God said he would.

  When going up to the mountain Abe told his servants that THEY would return, Abe knew that somehow God would provide that they BOTH would return alive.

  God knew the outcome and knew that nothing would happen to Isaac.

  For all we know God could have decided to allow Abe to kill Isaac and then raise Isaac from the dead with no meomory of what happened.

  The story could have gone many possible ways.

  So, if Abe had decided that he wouldn't kill his own son, descendants or not, would he have received the prize? You say that "the story could have gone many possible ways". I say we don't know. We just cannot decide what God would have done under this or that situation. All we know -or, more exactly, what people who believe in the Bible claim we know- is that YHWH asked Abraham to go kill his son, and Abe did that. Because of that, he received the promise that his descendants would be countless. The rest is speculation.

  The fact that the rest is speculation, however, does not mean we cannot see that some things are not logical:

  If Abe somehow knew he would return with Isaac alive, why is there any value in his going up the hill? Abraham would have been pretending to obey, when in fact he would have known that nothing would happen. God would have been duped.

  I would assume that Abe would know the extent of his own faith. It is as if you were to ask me whether I know the extent of my own love for, say, Ms. DGP (if there were any). There should be no need for someone to test him so Abraham himself could know that. I will kindly ask you to notice that, if Abe didn't know the extent of his faith, then perhaps he can hardly be expected to "know" that Isaac would return alive. The story would have no value if it were all no more than pretending to have faith.

  If the test was meant for Abe to kno whe would do anything God would request, is there, then, value in simply following God's orders and doing things just because God wants them done?

  More generally, my question was meant to raise a point. Yes, there are religious people who would be kind and nice just for the sake of it. People who do good just because doing good is the right thing to do. But there are many others who behave religiously because they expect a reward, and not just among Jehovah's witnesses but among probably every religious group. They do what they do just because God told them to, and in being obedient (like Abraham) they expect to find a reward.

  Good people are indeed deemed to go to hell if they don't belong to the self-appointed "Jehovah's organization". We know that for a fact. It is also what many other religious denominations believe. Doing good for its own sake is not considered "as good" as doing things because the higher being (or beings) demand so.
• 
  37

  Why on earth would WT use a FEMALE lawyer to defend it in Australia case?

  by hamsterbait in

  1. social
  2. current

  how many of us here find the use of a female to conduct the defence unusual?.

  the wt religion is notoriously misogynistic.

  anybody with a penis is preferable to do a non menial job.. why the change here?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  dgp

  This woman is obviously qualified to do the job. But I think everyone agrees on that. The question is why they would choose a qualified female attorney here when they disregard the qualifications of women in congregations and want women to be in submission.

  The reasons could be several. She could be the best "person" for the job from the point of view of her qualifications only. Having a woman also offers some advantages because that makes the organization look less mysoginistic. But I wonder if that was the overriding reason.

  I think that the Watchtower makes use of women in some positions for the simple fact that they are good at what they do, and they realize they would lose a lot more if they chose to ignore such qualified sisters. Johnny Depp, in his impersonation of Jack Sparrow, would word it as "what matters is whether you can, or you can't do something". Purely practical reasons. Now, I wonder what the women in question feel. I wonder if Ms Jolene Chu, for example, is aware of to what extent her own prominent role is an anomaly. I wonder if she does, among other reasons, so that the men in charge realize just how unfounded their treatment of women is.

  Actually, I think that their using a female lawyer opens the door to some uncomfortable questioning of the way the "faithful and discreet slave" is organized. If a woman is good enough to defend the Watchtower interests' in court, how the hell is she not qualified to lead field service, for example? Or preach without a head covering?
• 
  6

  Babylon The Great Has Fallen (1963) and Finished Mistery (1969)

  by Libarian in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  who could help me with the pdf files of the following books...1963 babylon the great and 1969 finished mystery.

  i know it has been posted some time ago but they are not online any more.. thank you in advance..

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  dgp

  Bookmarked, with my deep thanks to blondie.
• 
  41

  Will Good People Go to Hell?

  by leavingwt in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  will good people go to hell?

  please allow this gentleman to explain.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xnr098vbko&feature=channel_video_title.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  dgp

  Question: Where was the value of Abraham taking Isaac to the mount and going along with killing him if YHWH so requested?

  Let us remember that, as a reward for his willingness to kill his only son, Abe got the prize of innumerable descendants. There is no question that claim is made of a reward for the action.
• 
  3

  Rent Dispute Endangers Plan For Mosque Near Ground Zero

  by Bangalore in

  1. social
  2. current

  rent dispute endangers plan for mosque near ground zero.. http://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/article/rent-dispute-endangers-plan-for-mosque-near-2221782.php.

  http://gothamist.com/2011/10/16/con_ed_to_park51_pay_12_million_in.php.

  http://www.observer.com/2011/10/lights-out-for-ground-zero-mosque-con-ed-wants-1-7-m-in-back-rent/.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  dgp

  May be none of my business, but I don't think it is a good idea to have a mosque there. it would feel like celebrating a crime.
• 
  20

  Bob Marley & the Wailers - Favorite songs from them ? You-tubes Welcome !

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpzydaotvoy&feature=relmfu.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  dgp

  You guys have already posted mine.
• 
  6

  How many?...

  by tenyearsafter in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i couldn't find if this has been discussed in the past, but do we have any idea how many former posters/apostates from this forum have actually returned to the jw's?

  i am not talking about those that were reinstated for family reasons, but rather, those that actually had a change of heart and "repented" to become active jw's again?

  i can't imagine it is many, but would be curious if anyone knows individuals that have gone back because they truly believed again?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  dgp

  I don't think there is any statistics on this, but it would be interesting to know whether someone who is fully aware of the truth would go back to the Jehovah's witnesses without needing to.
• 
  10

  CD-rom

  by Justitia Themis in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  .

  so...i'm still working on my paper for law school regarding jws and the mature minor doctrine, and i am in desperate need of the most recent (or relatively recent) cd-rom so i can document my sources.

  if anyone knows of a link or is willing to part with an anctual cd, please, please contact me.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  dgp

  Bookmarked