Posts by cofty

91

Proof of God

by MrDantastic in

i'm an atheist as i do not see any evidence for the existance of a god.

i encourage critical thinking in everyone and am ready to debate anyone on whether or not there is a god and what that god might be like.

hmu..

Are you an exJW? Almost everybody here were JWs, some are still connected to the cult through family ties. Many exJWs are now atheists, others still believe in a 'god' of some sort. A few are bible-believing fundamentalists. Personally I was a xtian for about a decade after I left the cult. I am now convinced there is no supernatural realm.

We debate these topics frequently on this forum.

I'm curious about your position. In a short sentence or two, what are your top two or three reasons for rejecting theism and what would it take to change your mind?

15

The Forgery of an Antique God

by TerryWalstrom in

in the world of antiquities, especially that of bronze art, specifically heads, would you be surprised or alarmed to discover that experts estimate about half of all the art sold at auction and donated to museums around the world.... consists of forgeries?while you're digesting the news of corrupt practice, let me raise a rather vexatious collateral issue for your consideration:.

auction houses keep silent about this fraud.in fact, it has been asserted by investigators specializing in such fraud, it is largely the auction houses submitting these works at auction under fake identities so they cannot be directly held liable for illicit transactions.

proving they've knowingly done so is too problematic to pass muster.one expert who exposed such a fraud was sued by the auction house and forced toward financial settlement out of court under the libel laws.now why mention all the above in the first place?for one reason only, the same thing occurs in the religious transactions of jehovah's witnesses.the auction house (watchtower corporation) represents its salvific theology as authentic and transacts with potential converts so's they pay for such art (ful fraud) by giving their lives, honor, and sacred service in exchange.when flaws are found, instead of owning up to the illicit enterprise, they seek legal redress or prosecute the accuser through coercive threats of disfellowship.now here is another insidious parallel.

cofty

Russell taught that all humans can be saved and that scientific progress is evidence that humans are heading toward paradise.

He was a buffoon.

Even some atheists now believe the earth will be made a paradise.

Who are these simpletons?

15

The Forgery of an Antique God

by TerryWalstrom in

in the world of antiquities, especially that of bronze art, specifically heads, would you be surprised or alarmed to discover that experts estimate about half of all the art sold at auction and donated to museums around the world.... consists of forgeries?while you're digesting the news of corrupt practice, let me raise a rather vexatious collateral issue for your consideration:.

auction houses keep silent about this fraud.in fact, it has been asserted by investigators specializing in such fraud, it is largely the auction houses submitting these works at auction under fake identities so they cannot be directly held liable for illicit transactions.

proving they've knowingly done so is too problematic to pass muster.one expert who exposed such a fraud was sued by the auction house and forced toward financial settlement out of court under the libel laws.now why mention all the above in the first place?for one reason only, the same thing occurs in the religious transactions of jehovah's witnesses.the auction house (watchtower corporation) represents its salvific theology as authentic and transacts with potential converts so's they pay for such art (ful fraud) by giving their lives, honor, and sacred service in exchange.when flaws are found, instead of owning up to the illicit enterprise, they seek legal redress or prosecute the accuser through coercive threats of disfellowship.now here is another insidious parallel.

cofty

Do you deny that the earth can be a paradise in the future?

Yes.

It is this utopian fantasy that is singularly responsible for all of the harm done by the cult.

Belief in 'paradise' - whatever that means - is what justifies all the sacrifice of education and careers. It divides the world into 'us v them'. It is what makes shunning and the destruction of family relationships acceptable

You are either a troll or an idiot.

15

The Forgery of an Antique God

by TerryWalstrom in

in the world of antiquities, especially that of bronze art, specifically heads, would you be surprised or alarmed to discover that experts estimate about half of all the art sold at auction and donated to museums around the world.... consists of forgeries?while you're digesting the news of corrupt practice, let me raise a rather vexatious collateral issue for your consideration:.

auction houses keep silent about this fraud.in fact, it has been asserted by investigators specializing in such fraud, it is largely the auction houses submitting these works at auction under fake identities so they cannot be directly held liable for illicit transactions.

proving they've knowingly done so is too problematic to pass muster.one expert who exposed such a fraud was sued by the auction house and forced toward financial settlement out of court under the libel laws.now why mention all the above in the first place?for one reason only, the same thing occurs in the religious transactions of jehovah's witnesses.the auction house (watchtower corporation) represents its salvific theology as authentic and transacts with potential converts so's they pay for such art (ful fraud) by giving their lives, honor, and sacred service in exchange.when flaws are found, instead of owning up to the illicit enterprise, they seek legal redress or prosecute the accuser through coercive threats of disfellowship.now here is another insidious parallel.

cofty

JWs have promoted truths from the Bible: future paradise ... All these things are genuine truths - SBF

A dystopian fantasy that has destroyed the lives of millions. You are a useful idiot.

10

New Hypothesis on Why Fish Evolved Legs

by cofty in

.

cofty

34

Banners for London Protest

by Farmer Jim1 in

jw
friends

hi folks, i’m attending the london protest at the excel convention in august and am making some banners.

i’m aiming for short but memorable sentences that will stick in jws minds and also make them laugh a little at their own organisation.. my best so far is ‘this is not a protest, it’s an overlapping protest’.

has anyone got any ideas for more?.

cofty

^^^^^^ This ^^^^^^^

22

Everything Happens For A Reason

by Charles Gillette in

jw
friends

does everything happen for a reason?

i hear this from so many people without any explanation as how this is so.

what do you think about this belief?

cofty

Everything happens for a reason. Physics is the study of those reasons

You are equivocating about the word 'reason'.

If you are implying agency then that has nothing to do with physics.

114

The biggest news of the year for Mr. and Mrs. Totally ADD

by Still Totally ADD in

jw
friends

this is bigger than christmas and birthdays wrap into one.

thanks to the australian royal commission our youngest son has woke up.

we received a e-mail from him tonight where he apologized to us for shunning us all these years, how bad he felt for doing this.

cofty

That is brilliant news. I'm delighted for you all.

22

Everything Happens For A Reason

by Charles Gillette in

jw
friends

does everything happen for a reason?

i hear this from so many people without any explanation as how this is so.

what do you think about this belief?

cofty

Shit happens

19

On leaving JW's and hating religion...

by Jehalapeno in

jw
friends

it's been nearly 4 years now since i completely woke up to the watchtower lies.. thinking back on my jw life, during the time i believed, the organization truly did teach us to hate all beliefs that were contrary to the watchtower's.. i hated "false" religion.. so, when i finally woke up and applied critical thinking to my beliefs, i just went on hating religion in general...only this time i added jw's to that list.. a few months of waking up, i decided to base my beliefs on evidence.

i didn't want to have a set of beliefs unless there was some logic or evidence behind it.

so, now i consider myself an atheist.. and i kept on hating religion.. within the last six months or so, something has changed.

cofty

I have sympathy with your position with a few provisos.

I feel no need to back off in challenging factual claims made by religion. If somebody wants to argue that religion might be/has been useful even though it is not objectively true I can live with that. When fundies want to argue that the bible is inspired or that god heals the sick or that creationism is scientifically credible then I am your opponent.

I still have no tolerance of Islam. It is the slow kid in the class. If it ever catches up in terms of personal freedoms then and only then will I give it a break.

Having said all that, I still have concerns that religion was a force for intra-group and national cohesion and its demise is not an unmitigated good.

Many liberal xtians and reformed Jews have found a way to hold on to religion as a social influence while avoiding inter-group animosity and without lying to themselves about what is true. Maybe there is something to be said for that.