Cofty is right. - James Brown
Thank you. It has taken you years to work that out.
John_Mann - I'm not sure I really understand the question. I don't mean to be flippant when I say that my personal philosophy can be summed up as "shit happens".
while reading the magazines the other day it occurred to me that jws never really had a very good answer to that question.
because it was aimed at young people and it said something along the lines, "if you believe in god you have a purpose, but if you don't believe in god your life has no purpose or meaning".
i think that is a faulty analysis of the situation.
Cofty is right. - James Brown
Thank you. It has taken you years to work that out.
John_Mann - I'm not sure I really understand the question. I don't mean to be flippant when I say that my personal philosophy can be summed up as "shit happens".
while reading the magazines the other day it occurred to me that jws never really had a very good answer to that question.
because it was aimed at young people and it said something along the lines, "if you believe in god you have a purpose, but if you don't believe in god your life has no purpose or meaning".
i think that is a faulty analysis of the situation.
can all indoctrination leave a person , or does it linger in background till death..
Some 'hang-ups' from being in a cult can be very useful. Ex JWs tend to be very sharp when it comes to critical thinking. They also tend to have a very good ability to debate logically and rationally. So I would say yes, it is possible to completely move on from being a JW. - Giles Grey
I agree, ex-JWs are almost unique (some ex-JWs) in that they have actually had to examine their worldview.
while reading the magazines the other day it occurred to me that jws never really had a very good answer to that question.
because it was aimed at young people and it said something along the lines, "if you believe in god you have a purpose, but if you don't believe in god your life has no purpose or meaning".
i think that is a faulty analysis of the situation.
Do you agree only a conscious mind can conceive/perceive evil?
I couldn't answer that until you tell me how you are defining evil.
while reading the magazines the other day it occurred to me that jws never really had a very good answer to that question.
because it was aimed at young people and it said something along the lines, "if you believe in god you have a purpose, but if you don't believe in god your life has no purpose or meaning".
i think that is a faulty analysis of the situation.
But I can say causation and permission are two different things.
Not if you omniscient and omnipotent it isn't.
God designed the world to kill millions of it's inhabitants. This cannot be reconciled with other things Jesus taught about his god and father. Jesus is god. He cannot lie. Therefore god cannot exist.
while reading the magazines the other day it occurred to me that jws never really had a very good answer to that question.
because it was aimed at young people and it said something along the lines, "if you believe in god you have a purpose, but if you don't believe in god your life has no purpose or meaning".
i think that is a faulty analysis of the situation.
John_Mann - Bishop Barron is either stupid or dishonest.
You already know why his waffle does not even begin to answer the challenge. He lyingly pretends god did not cause the tsunami he only permitted it. Even if that were true - and it isn't - that still makes god a moral monster.
The god of Jesus created the world complete with moving and sticking tectonic plates. We know that continents have been on the move for millions of years. The omniscient god of Jesus knew about the growing pressures under the Indian Ocean during the centuries prior to the disaster. On the morning of the event he observed the Indo-Australian break free and begin to rebound. The omnipotent god of Jesus could have effortlessly dampened the rebound - he chose not to. He watched the wave of less than a metre rise to the surface. The god of Jesus who calmed the storm on Galilee could have quelled the wave and nobody would have known anything about it. No free will would have been infringed in any way. He failed to do so.
The god of Jesus knew that the wave would kill a quarter of a million people and cause suffering and harm millions more. He did nothing.
The god of Jesus did not permit the suffering of the Asian Tsunami - he caused it. He murdered them wilfully, deliberately and with malice aforethought. He made a world that was perfectly designed to kill its inhabitants and passively observed the consequences.
If a man lays landmines around a village and watches children walk across the minefield he is guilty not only of a crime of omission for failing to call a warning but of a deliberate crime of commission.
Also see number 2 in the summary here...
while reading the magazines the other day it occurred to me that jws never really had a very good answer to that question.
because it was aimed at young people and it said something along the lines, "if you believe in god you have a purpose, but if you don't believe in god your life has no purpose or meaning".
i think that is a faulty analysis of the situation.
John_Mann I just wanted to say thanks for the conversation.
I would like to pick it up again later.
while reading the magazines the other day it occurred to me that jws never really had a very good answer to that question.
because it was aimed at young people and it said something along the lines, "if you believe in god you have a purpose, but if you don't believe in god your life has no purpose or meaning".
i think that is a faulty analysis of the situation.
If you wish to appeal I am open to hearing fresh evidence.....
while reading the magazines the other day it occurred to me that jws never really had a very good answer to that question.
because it was aimed at young people and it said something along the lines, "if you believe in god you have a purpose, but if you don't believe in god your life has no purpose or meaning".
i think that is a faulty analysis of the situation.
"mystery" just will not do.
It is a lame cop-out.
Imagine being in court being asked to account for a deluge of damning evidence that you were a mass murderer and the best you could come up with is "it's a total mystery".
The god of Jesus does not exist. Case closed.
while reading the magazines the other day it occurred to me that jws never really had a very good answer to that question.
because it was aimed at young people and it said something along the lines, "if you believe in god you have a purpose, but if you don't believe in god your life has no purpose or meaning".
i think that is a faulty analysis of the situation.
Not one single word you have just typed addresses my question about the hiddenness of god.