Happy, one 2nd thought, maybe its not a bad idea to stay with the witnesses and use their mind-control, peer-pressure, and other tactics to give up your addiction to smoking. Then quit. If there is one thing the JW's, like any hard-core religion, are good at is getting people to break off destructive, life-altering habits. Sometimes you need the "fear of God" to stop something like that.
simon17
JoinedPosts by simon17
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87
Is everyone on here disassociated??
by happi2b inso i don't understand it seems to me from the posts that i have read just about everyone is disassociated.. just wondering if that's true or if i am not the only one on here still within the organization..
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Reasons for disbelief: The top ten reasons I am an atheist
by whereami inmany people ask why someone like me, who came from a christian home, went to a christian high school and then went on to spend five years in seminary and become a pastor, a missionary, and an evangelist, would turn his back on the god he spent a lifetime worshiping and serving and give up all faith in the supernatural.
the answer is very simple, and im about to give it.
first, however, let me tell you what the reason is not.. most people, upon hearing my story, all unanimously decide regardless of their own spiritual beliefs or religious affiliations that i must be mad at god.
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simon17
About persecution, I think we would all agree that the EARLY christians were incredibly persecuted. There's no denying the horror of all those that died in the Colliseum, getting ripped apart limb from limb by lions and wild beasts.
Today, especially in the modernized countries I think its silly to say that Christians are persecuted. Its even silly to say athiests are persecuted. There might be slight bias in some situations one way or the other. Every person alive will get teased about a thousand things during their life and their religion (or lack thereof) is just one of those things. We've all got to get down off our high horse and stop saying we're PERSECUTED. Please. The Jews in the Holocaust were persecuted. I'm not claiming foul until my situation gets to be 1 / 100th as sersious as that!
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87
Is everyone on here disassociated??
by happi2b inso i don't understand it seems to me from the posts that i have read just about everyone is disassociated.. just wondering if that's true or if i am not the only one on here still within the organization..
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When do you begin counting time?
by pubtruth infor those who were in or still are.. when do/did you begin counting time?
as you left for the house group, or after the meeting was over?
did you count the car trip to and from?
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simon17
I used to start when I submitted my first post but now I just go from when I log in...
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148
Have you ever had a prayer answered?
by nicolaou inprayer topics seem to be the bandwagon of the moment so i'm jumping on!
seriously, has anyone here asked for something specific in prayer and actually gotten what they asked for?
what convinces you that you wouldn't have got it in any case?
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simon17
Some were also miraculous. Like the baby who got swept out of her parents arms by the wave, and was taken away in all of that disaster on her own, and then later found under some wreckage, alive. That was a miracle.
See this just shows the nature of people devout in prayer: If you want something to be true, then at all costs you will find some justification of why it is true.
You want prayer to be true so bad that you will dismiss a hundred babies that were swept away to their deaths and not for once associate that with God or question God. But as soon as ONE baby happens to get saved, then, hallalujah, its a miracle! And God has shown has power and love and ability to answer prayers.
Do you see how it is impossible to every get you to feel differently? You will ALWAYS seek out something, some pebble of hope, that will keep your view of reality true, no matter how much evidence against it assembles.
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148
Have you ever had a prayer answered?
by nicolaou inprayer topics seem to be the bandwagon of the moment so i'm jumping on!
seriously, has anyone here asked for something specific in prayer and actually gotten what they asked for?
what convinces you that you wouldn't have got it in any case?
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simon17
Would you say that to the alcoholic, that drinks to escape his problems? Would you say that to someone suffering any addiction to "help" ease the pain or give them comfort? Or would you think it better to help them see the real problem?
But drinking is not ultimately profitable. Overcoming the need to pray may very well not get a believer anywhere further than where they would have been: they're dying either way. And dying with the knowledge that it is 'the end' may be much more traumatic than dying otherwise.
Incidentally, I'm kind of half playing devil's advocate here...
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148
Have you ever had a prayer answered?
by nicolaou inprayer topics seem to be the bandwagon of the moment so i'm jumping on!
seriously, has anyone here asked for something specific in prayer and actually gotten what they asked for?
what convinces you that you wouldn't have got it in any case?
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simon17
But for some it's just to painful to except otherwise. When we believe there's a daddy up in the sky watching our every move, thought, ect, we "feel" safe, protected.
Well and there's nothing wrong with that. In the words of William James "An idea is 'true' so long as to believe it is profitable to our lives." If people can't think or calm down to escape anxiety or escape trauma or despair without having God to pray to, then God is real because he needs to be.
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148
Have you ever had a prayer answered?
by nicolaou inprayer topics seem to be the bandwagon of the moment so i'm jumping on!
seriously, has anyone here asked for something specific in prayer and actually gotten what they asked for?
what convinces you that you wouldn't have got it in any case?
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simon17
I have to be honest, I don't believe in the power of prayer
I think its important to note a major distinction here. I belive what was intended was "I dont belive god answers prayers", but that is distinctly different than disavowing the POWER of prayers. It is calming. It is reassuring. It is hopeful and strengthening. It is often mind-clarifying. Prayer can be a very powerful and helpful last resort for people under trial or people who need support.
You might think these people weak, but thats not the point. Billions of people across the globe are not doing this for fun. There is obviously some perceived benefit for all these religious folks, and we shouldn't say that we don't believe they feel that. A large portion of the world could not handle being an athiest (and maybe most athiest can't handle it when the going gets extremely tough, i.e, "there's no athiest in a foxhole")
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To the theists: Your reaction if God hypothetically changed the standards of right and wrong
by simon17 ini have more to say on this and its implications, but i'll keep this short to get some initial discussion.
to those that believe in god, suppose he were to hypothetically change various standards of right and wrong, suppose with the new scrolls to be opened.
things such as rape, theft and immorality are now perfectly fine and acceptable.
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simon17
No trick villabolo, just interested in what people will say. Arguing events in the Bible is like trying to paddle against a tsunami, so that probably wasn't my intention. I'm more interested in the concept of where morality comes from. Is it absolute above god, such that he is bound to have his standards of right and wrong align with what is good? Or does god define morality (hence my question).
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To the theists: Your reaction if God hypothetically changed the standards of right and wrong
by simon17 ini have more to say on this and its implications, but i'll keep this short to get some initial discussion.
to those that believe in god, suppose he were to hypothetically change various standards of right and wrong, suppose with the new scrolls to be opened.
things such as rape, theft and immorality are now perfectly fine and acceptable.
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simon17
Fair enough...
Peace