Posts by cofty

posted

30
Helping my husband wake up, need advice.
by Whynot in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
my husband is dfed but he is a prime example of someone who was a puppet for the watchtower.

i was able to wake him a little with the sex abuse scandal.

he was an elder and is very familiar with those rules.
cofty

I want to use the Bible to help him realize that there's no such thing as a "representative of Jehovah" here on earth.
Perhaps you can get him to reflect on the inconsistency of the claims being made by the F&DS.
On the one hand they claim that they are not inspired but are being 'led' by the holy spirit and that they are imperfect and make mistakes.
On the other hand anybody who sincerely disagrees with them on a matter of substance will be accused of apostasy and DFd.
One minute submission to their teachings is a matter of life and death and the next they throw away teachings they have held for many years.
Would it be reasonable to think that if god was using a 'channel' to spread truth on the earth that they would be guilty of major errors?
'As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.' - 1 John 2:27
169
Universal sovereignty on trial
by Factfulness in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
i just had a thought of clarity regarding the jw explanation for this doctrine.

they explain that satan challenged god regarding his right to rule.

god failed to prove his right to rule.
cofty

What shepherdless said ^^^^
Consciousness has become another convenient 'gap' in which to hide vague notions of god.
There is no reason to suppose that consciousness is anything other than an emergent property of the brain. Consciousness cannot survive anaesthesia so how does it magically exist outwith our brains?
169
Universal sovereignty on trial
by Factfulness in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
i just had a thought of clarity regarding the jw explanation for this doctrine.

they explain that satan challenged god regarding his right to rule.

god failed to prove his right to rule.
cofty

The crashing tree makes vibrations it does not make sound
But absolutely nothing different happens whether a conscious creature was there or not - which is what you were trying to imply.
169
Universal sovereignty on trial
by Factfulness in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
i just had a thought of clarity regarding the jw explanation for this doctrine.

they explain that satan challenged god regarding his right to rule.

god failed to prove his right to rule.
cofty

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it does it make a sound?

Yes of course it does.

Consciousness is said to be the ground being.

What does that even mean?

I think to 2 slit experiment and wave collapse function when making an observation, and other such experiments that prove this point to consciousness being everything.

There is no such connection You have just gone full Deepak. Never go full Deepak.
You forgot to throw in the 'q' word.
169
Universal sovereignty on trial
by Factfulness in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
i just had a thought of clarity regarding the jw explanation for this doctrine.

they explain that satan challenged god regarding his right to rule.

god failed to prove his right to rule.
cofty

the universe exists in such as way that makes it inevitable in the first place
How so?
169
Universal sovereignty on trial
by Factfulness in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
i just had a thought of clarity regarding the jw explanation for this doctrine.

they explain that satan challenged god regarding his right to rule.

god failed to prove his right to rule.
cofty

Yet this first causer had no problem popping into existence without an initial first causer causing this secondary first causer to pop into existence...
SBF gets around this blatant contradiction by simply defining god as needing no beginning. Voila!
It is pure sophistry.
169
Universal sovereignty on trial
by Factfulness in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
i just had a thought of clarity regarding the jw explanation for this doctrine.

they explain that satan challenged god regarding his right to rule.

god failed to prove his right to rule.
cofty

There are many scientists who are suggesting that increased complexity, life and even consciousness are inevitable. Physicist Jeremy England is one good example.
The thing they all have in common is a desire to explain complexity in terms of simplicity. Nagel goes too far by positing some mystical teleology. In other words it may well be that the path of evolution has a general direction of travel but it does NOT have a predetermined destination. That is theology dressed up as science. It is worthy of that charlatan Deepak Chopra.
169
Universal sovereignty on trial
by Factfulness in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
i just had a thought of clarity regarding the jw explanation for this doctrine.

they explain that satan challenged god regarding his right to rule.

god failed to prove his right to rule.
cofty

Like the author of Hebrews says, it’s like saying a house is no reason to believe in a builder or intended habitation.
Oh for crying out loud. I am still embarrassed 20 years later that I thought that was a sensible argument.
20 years later you are still using it!
Just go back to the cult and get it over with.
169
Universal sovereignty on trial
by Factfulness in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
i just had a thought of clarity regarding the jw explanation for this doctrine.

they explain that satan challenged god regarding his right to rule.

god failed to prove his right to rule.
cofty

if the whole thing was started by a consciousness, then it sounds like what many people mean by God
No it doesn't.
What most people mean by god is an immanent being who is actively engaged in the word he created.
There is no connection between the ultimate cause that you are talking about and what most people mean by god.
You are knowingly engaging in equivocation.
If suffering in the world is supposed to indicate no God, or a bad God, then what does the existence of pleasure in the world indicate?
That the world is EXACTLY as we would expect if there was no designer ano purpose.

the idea of biblical God becomes more credible.

The god of the bible does not exist. If he did exist he would be a moral monster.
169
Universal sovereignty on trial
by Factfulness in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
i just had a thought of clarity regarding the jw explanation for this doctrine.

they explain that satan challenged god regarding his right to rule.

god failed to prove his right to rule.
cofty

The idea that the universe exists without God is every bit as much a hypothesis as is the idea that God created the universe
The word God is poisoned with so many superstitious connotations that it is counter-productive in a conversation like this.
You are not talking about god so drop the pretence.