Posts by cofty

85

Are you a Christian Who Accepts Evolution?

by cofty in

if you identify as a christian but you have accepted that the diversity of life - including humans - resulted from a process of biological evolution could you add your name please?.

just to be clear i am referring to the fact that our physical lineage could literally be traced back all the way to non-human species.. if you like maybe you could comment on why you see not conflict between evolution and your christian faith.. there is a tendency to conflate evolution with atheism.

it would be good to show that this is not the case..

cofty

Truthseeker - The following phrases show that you have a lot of very basic misconceptions about how evolution works...

I have never seen a cat give birth to a dog or a monkey to a human
You don't just grow a pair of eyes because you crawled out of a cave
It's possible that the story of Adam and Eve (being the first modern humans)
an improvement over prehistoric humans
the whole concept of evolution is an improvement over it's genetic predecessor.
And if a species wants improvement to survive
scientists should at least be able to find a mechanism in the DNA to start subtle changes

By the way the evidence for the evolution of fish to tetrapods is abundant in the fossil record.

Evolution is a Fact #11 Tiktaalik

Evolution is a Fact #18 Fish Fingers

15

North Korea viral video and JW Comparison.

by pleaseresearch in

i watched this video yesterday from this brave young north korean woman.

hearing her share her experiences living in her country and what the people go through on a day to day basis is so very similar to jws today and how we lived.. please watch and tell me your thoughts.. thank you.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85ijj3insyk.

.

cofty

The great Christopher Hitchens (rip) compared Christianity to North Korea several times

Not quite. He called an eternity of praising a deity in heaven while under total divine surveillance a "celestial North Korea".

85

Are you a Christian Who Accepts Evolution?

by cofty in

if you identify as a christian but you have accepted that the diversity of life - including humans - resulted from a process of biological evolution could you add your name please?.

just to be clear i am referring to the fact that our physical lineage could literally be traced back all the way to non-human species.. if you like maybe you could comment on why you see not conflict between evolution and your christian faith.. there is a tendency to conflate evolution with atheism.

it would be good to show that this is not the case..

cofty

Ruby - I really can't grasp your point at all. You seem to go off on tangents.

The simple point of the thread is that evolution is not necessarily in conflict with christian faith - only with a specific kind of christianity.

On this forum we constantly see posters conflating evolution with atheism. This is an error that is worth pointing out.

Ex-JWs have difficulty grasping how evolution and faith can be resolved because they have a peculiar view of the ransom that depends on a literal Adam. This is not an issue for most christians who believe Jesus' death was a vicarious punishment for their own sins not those of Adam.

85

Are you a Christian Who Accepts Evolution?

by cofty in

if you identify as a christian but you have accepted that the diversity of life - including humans - resulted from a process of biological evolution could you add your name please?.

just to be clear i am referring to the fact that our physical lineage could literally be traced back all the way to non-human species.. if you like maybe you could comment on why you see not conflict between evolution and your christian faith.. there is a tendency to conflate evolution with atheism.

it would be good to show that this is not the case..

cofty

Some specific examples would be useful Ruby

26

My Introduction

by Ray Frankz in

this is my first post and i'm feeling like i'm doing something bad big time!

i know on my mind it isn't, but the feelings are less manageable.. well, since i'm still a jw it's better not to give too much info, but i'm from brazil.. i've grown-up in the religion and practicly all my family, my closest friends and my girlfriend are loyal jws.

i used to be a regular pioneer but i still have a service privilege on my congregation.. i've had questions about the teachings of the wt since i was 10, but naturally i always pushed it away as it were "questioning the holy organization".. i started a friendship with some people in a course i took and we talked about a lot of subjects.

cofty

Welcome to the forum Ray Frankz.

94

Karl Marx Genius Of The Modern World

by Brokeback Watchtower in

he was all for getting rid of religions and their delusions for the betterment of mankind.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mydmc1wio8.

cofty

During his time in the remote north-east, Pol Pot had been influenced by the surrounding hill tribes, who were self-sufficient in their communal living, had no use for money and were "untainted" by Buddhism.

When he came to power, he and his henchmen quickly set about transforming Cambodia - now re-named Kampuchea - into what they hoped would be an agrarian utopia.

Declaring that the nation would start again at "Year Zero", Pol Pot isolated his people from the rest of the world and set about emptying the cities, abolishing money, private property and religion, and setting up rural collectives....

To see what happened to those who failed to embrace the agrarian utopia do a Google Images search for "Khmer Rouge genocide"

But Pol Pot's genocide at around 2 million souls was trivial in comparison to Mao ZeDong's toll of 45 million in "The Great Leap Forward".

94

Karl Marx Genius Of The Modern World

by Brokeback Watchtower in

he was all for getting rid of religions and their delusions for the betterment of mankind.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mydmc1wio8.

cofty

I haven't looked into Mao or Pol Pot. If those situations resulted in a minority ruling over the majority I don't think this is what Marx meant by "dictatorship of the proletariats".

No it was the dictatorship of the ignorant, jealous, grabbing majority that justified unlimited tyranny. And once the most wealthy and powerful are dead the bar gets lowered further until there is a race to the bottom; where poverty and ignorance are the greatest virtues. Where soft hands are enough to justify execution and possession of a scarf deserves hours of public humiliation.

Please do research The Khmer Rouge and nightmare of Mao tse-Tung's revolution.

94

Karl Marx Genius Of The Modern World

by Brokeback Watchtower in

he was all for getting rid of religions and their delusions for the betterment of mankind.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mydmc1wio8.

cofty

Sorry our posts overlapped i wasn't ignoring your input.

94

Karl Marx Genius Of The Modern World

by Brokeback Watchtower in

he was all for getting rid of religions and their delusions for the betterment of mankind.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mydmc1wio8.

cofty

Communism like all utopian ideologies is founded on a wrong-headed assumption about humans. We are not blank slates that can be reprogrammed to "get with the programme".

We have an innate nature with complex intuitions about fairness and autonomy.

This is why every attempt at applying Marxism in the real world requires the imposition of a police state and a system of public shaming and informants. The weakening or even dissolution of family relationships is essential so that the new comradeship can demand universal loyalty. Any degree of punishment and state murder is justified if only the last vestiges of reactionary opposition or dissent can be eradicated then utopia will prevail.

It is a failed philosophy. It is not that we just haven't tried the right sort of Marxism yet. That much ought to be clear.

94

Karl Marx Genius Of The Modern World

by Brokeback Watchtower in

he was all for getting rid of religions and their delusions for the betterment of mankind.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mydmc1wio8.

cofty

He called this idea the "dictatorship of the proletariats"

ie the nightmare of Mao's China? or is that more akin to Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge?