Posts by simon17

44

How do we encourage the science of homosexuality?

by sabastious in

at one point in my life i chose to stop listening to my religion's advice to not research outside of their framework.

about the time i made that decision was when the gay marriage debate was going very strong; and still is to this day.

back then i felt like my state of california was leading the front on it to stop the bigotry and oppression once and for all.. it was a hot topic for me because i was questioning the bible and my faith so i started researching the science of homosexulality.

simon17

I have nothing against homosexuality but I think its clearly not "natural" in a Darwinian sense. It doesn't allow for reproduction, and therefore has no longterm surivial value (in fact it has negative survival value).

Science that there is a biological reason for it means nothing to anyone, though. A religious person against it would say, "we are in a fallen state of sin, and that is a manifestation of sin that must be conquered. Some people may well be biologically inclined to be murderers or have trouble mentally in some other way with psychosis, personality disorders, kleptomania, etc. If you're a kleptomanic christian you can't be stealing and if you're predisposed to be a gay christian you can't be gay." So science won't get beyond intolerance, sorry.

57

Has anyone left still believing it was the truth?

by FollowedMyHeart in

it seems that most xjws have left because at one point in their jw life something happened that made them start to think something wasn't right with the religion.

when i left, i still believed the jws had "the truth".

i was dying inside, trapped and unhappy (another poster's words, but describes exactly how i felt).

simon17

I have a friend who left and still believes the JW's have the truth. Its incredible. He is 100% fully indoctrinated, but knows there is no hell, does not want to live a boring JW life and has consciously decided to live a life of sin, knowing it will cost him his life at Armagheddon. Very strange mindset.

31

Nihilism

by d in

jw
friends

has anybody that left the jw's become a nihilist?

for me i do not have much faith in much of our man made institutions.since in reality all bound to fail at some point in the future.does anybody else feel this way..

simon17

In the end, everything may very well be pointless. The human species will die out one day, mostly likely many many many lifetimes from now. Will they make it to the heat-death of the sun? Will they ever get to a new planet? Will a million perils get humans before that: exponential population growth, volcanic catastrophe, nuclear winter, disease, asteroid impact, climate change, mass extinction, fight to the death over resources? Its too much to think about, and it creates the mindset you're drenched with D.

Of the people I have known and met, I would say people are generally good at heart. I can assure you there are wonderful people out there. And there are wonderful people out there, in pain, and dying for some goodness in their life (and are so deserving of it). Go out and be the special person in someone's life.

53

DISCUSSION board.......or.....COMMENT board?

by Terry in

jw
friends

the following is only my own personal analysis.. take it or leave it.

but, by all means jump in and have a say.. .

i think more and more we are losing our grasp on a wonderful venue at jw-net.. as a discussion board, i mean.. at one time, there were a great many wonderful and interesting discussions by a variety of persons with varied backgrounds having a good.

simon17

Its the price of expansion. The more members, the more discussion breaks down because you have a 100 different posts by different people and its hard to get all those people to stay on topic (or even notice one another official replies to one another). Nothing you can do about that. Same thing happened on a message board I managed that got big. The intimacy and back-and-forth was nice but it does get sacrificed a bit with a larger audience

36

Who is your favorite Greek/Roman god or goddess and why?

by poopsiecakes in

jw
friends

i'm partial to aphrodite and bacchus - who seem to go hand in hand rather well.... .

.

simon17

Always tended to root for the Gods/Goddesses on the Trojan side of the war (Ares, Aphrodite, Apollo). I dont know why I always end up rooting for the underdog knowing they'll lose, hmm

189

Does God speak to you? HOW?

by Quentin in

an answer to this question is subjective to the individual an a posteriori experiene.

however, can there be an a priori experence, one that is objective, outside the bounds of personel experiene, or does it remain subjective?

god speaks to me, through many venus, except audible.

simon17

After I left, I accompanied my ex-Mormon husband to his son's missionary send-off meeting in Provo. In that large room filled with well over 100 people, watching a film about their missionary service and brotherhood, I got that same excited feeling! So if what I experienced as a JW, was the HS on God's chosen JWs, why was I feeling the same thing "in Christendom"?

its funny but a lot of your posts seems like i was writing them. I went to a few Islamic events that were organized through my college and it was incredible the similarities to what I saw and felt as a kid growing up as a JW. The same feelings of veiled superieriority emanating from everyone. The same sexism done lovingly in the auspices of the protection and respect of women. Same exact analogies about why God must exist, and why he must care for us. Same rustling of uneasiness when the speaker before lunch was approaching (and then exceeding) his alotted minutes. Same "proof" of their view of God and the Qu'ran based on scientific evidences that couldn't have been known at the same (but that same book is quickly said to 'not be a scientific textbook' the moment you start to press. The same unquestioned belief in everything being said. It was amazing!

The more people of more religiions I talked to, its amazing how all devout people are exactly the same in so many ways (just change the beliefs a bit). Everyone is 100% sure they are right and they all use the same feelings, proofs and rationalizations to justify their inerrent belief.

189

Does God speak to you? HOW?

by Quentin in

an answer to this question is subjective to the individual an a posteriori experiene.

however, can there be an a priori experence, one that is objective, outside the bounds of personel experiene, or does it remain subjective?

god speaks to me, through many venus, except audible.

simon17

For everyone that has these experiences of God, why do you suppose he doesn't "talk" to all of us?

Answer #1: He does, you're just not listening. Well, that may be partially true, but clearly there are many athiests/agnostics who have searched and prayed as fervently as any believer ever has, and, after years, come up with nothing. So that is not sufficient.

Answer #2: Look at the wonders around you. Well, people have different reactions while appreciating the wonders of nature and humanity. Appreciating the science and natural phenomena at work is a common reaction. Subscribing them all to God is just another reaction, and one without physical evidence.

As the great Islamic thinker/writer Omar Khayyam said:

"And do you think that unto such as you;
A maggot-minded, starved, fanatic crew:
God gave the secret, and denied it me?--
Well, well, what matters it! Believe that, too."

75

Atheists believe in nonsense too.

by NomadSoul in

jw
friends

yeah i'll admit that i think people who think they talk to god or believe in a superpower is freaking nuts!.

but i'm a freaking nut too.

i seriously believe that there must be alien life out there!

simon17

Many atheists would even believe in a God if they're show reasonable, logical, proof.

Exactly true, and I would say almost all of them would. Really they're agnostics but there are very few "pure athiests" who literally deny the existence of God.

75