cofty

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Posts by cofty

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  15

  Those who want to believe in god

  by JimmyYoung in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i find it funny how many people want to broad cast their religion on fb then whine whine when others critique it.

  its like the ny times saying no one has a right to criticize its oped.

  don't put it on the world wide web if you don't want others opinion on it.

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  cofty

  DD - Pentecostals are fundamentalists. In every post I have made in this thread I have been careful to make a distinction. Fundies reject science and the results of the enlightenment. We need to oppose the dogma of fundamentalist christianity.

  Millions of mainstream christians, such as Anglicans, Episcopalians, Congregationalists and Universalists, do not claim the the bible is infallible. They accept evolution, in fact some leading scientists are christians of this sort. They don't need to do mental gymnastics to accommodate reality.

  I'm wondering if the problem in communication here is because fundamentalist christianity is almost universal in the USA and the opposite is the case in the UK and Europe.

  I think we need to make a distinction between a Salafist Jihadi and the elderly lady shuffling off to her parish church.
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  15

  Those who want to believe in god

  by JimmyYoung in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i find it funny how many people want to broad cast their religion on fb then whine whine when others critique it.

  its like the ny times saying no one has a right to criticize its oped.

  don't put it on the world wide web if you don't want others opinion on it.

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  cofty

  Absolutely. Especially if it’s harmful and an impediment to advancement. - DD

  If you look at my first post on this thread you will that I am making a distinction between fundamentalist christianity and mainstream christians who accept the facts of science and scholarly criticism of the bible. My criticism of Jimmyyoung is that he attacks an easy target and tars all believers with the same brush.

  In what ways do you think Anglican Christianity or Universalism is an impediment to advancement?
  
  
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  11

  overpopulation

  by JimmyYoung in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am seeing a lot of videos and articles on this issue.

  that its a myth the idea of overpopulation.

  i was listening to a talk radio speaker ben shapiro i like to as i work through the day.

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  cofty

  The Roman Catholic church needs to repeal its dogmatic objection to contraception.
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  22

  What Do We Know for Certain?? Experts, Authorities, Scientists are often Dead WRONG

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  do i know anything for certain?yes!when so-called "authority" predict the future - they are wrong.and yet - we always believe them.

  examples:________.

  2912 mayan calendar apocalypse1910 : halley's cometa worldwide panic ensued, stoked by the media and such newspaper headlines as “comet may kill all earth life, says scientist.”1831 the great disappointmentwilliam miller began preaching in 1831 that the end of the world as we know it would occur with the second coming of jesus christ in 1843. he attracted as many as 100,000 followers who believed that they would be carried off to heaven when the date arrived.

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  cofty

  Are you not conflating knowing things with certainty and predicting the future?
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  15

  Those who want to believe in god

  by JimmyYoung in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i find it funny how many people want to broad cast their religion on fb then whine whine when others critique it.

  its like the ny times saying no one has a right to criticize its oped.

  don't put it on the world wide web if you don't want others opinion on it.

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  cofty

  Xian Religion definitely has utility. It’s an excellent tool for dulling the mental capacity of any given population. - DD

  I'm not sure. It definitely causes a logical blind spot in matters directly connected to their faith but there are a lot of very intelligent xtians.

  When I was a xtian for 9 years I didn't find my fellow believers to be any less intelligent than my secular friends. I don't think I was any less clever as a xtian than I am now. I'm just better informed about a lot of stuff now.

  Do you accept that religion had utility in the history of our species? Should it now be entirely consigned to the past? If so what do we replace it with? Currently society is rallying around the secular religions of environmentalism and identity politics.
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  22

  The Faithful and Discreet Slave Just "have" The Truth

  by Number 6 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  in the late 80's when i was in my late teens i used to with my then wife to be attend a monday night pre-watchtower study at a local elders house.. this guy was revered as very knowledgable and he was scholarly and interesting to listen to; so at the time it was a genuinely enjoyable monday evening spent with oftentimes discussion would veer far of the subject at hand and lasting to well after 11pm some evenings.. this particular night, the subject up for discussion was "the faithful and discreet slave" and how we should be obeying them without question.

  right in the middle of the study this elder said as a question not in the wt article; "how do we really know the current fds as lead by the governing body are the real deal.

  i mean what actual proof do we have?".

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  cofty

  Interesting post, thanks.

  I think some of the older generation were more realistic and less cultish. Perhaps they genuinely felt they had a relationship with god that was not dependent on the mediation of the organisation.
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  9

  More than 60 illegal migrants today in UK!!!

  by The Fall Guy in

  1. social
  2. current

  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-50916544.

  kent refugee action network's bridget chapman, (idiot!

  ) who works directly with asylum seekers arriving by boat, said the home office's response was "disgraceful".

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  cofty

  I really don’t want Muslims here unless they want to convert. I know personally, 3, and they became Christians.

  What?

  I know many Muslims who practice their faith and enjoy peaceful relationships with non-muslims. You need to get out more.
  
  
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  8

  I watched the movie "Two Popes" today ,Netflix.

  by smiddy3 in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  and i thouroughly enjoyed it ,i almost got to the stage of wanting to become a catholic.

  it was a joy to watch the two main actors in dialogue and banter with each other..... and i`m an atheist ?.

  pope benedict & pope francis.

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  cofty

  We watched it a couple of days ago too. It's a blatant piece of pro-Catholic propaganda but for entertainment I thoroughly recommend it.
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  15

  Those who want to believe in god

  by JimmyYoung in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i find it funny how many people want to broad cast their religion on fb then whine whine when others critique it.

  its like the ny times saying no one has a right to criticize its oped.

  don't put it on the world wide web if you don't want others opinion on it.

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  cofty

  JY - Do you accept that your OP is an attack on fundamentalist Christianity?

  Biblical literalism demands belief in impossible things and is very easy to destroy. But that ignores the millions of christians - and people of other faiths - who find utility in religion without needing to lie to themselves.

  Religion is nothing like Mein Kampf is it? National Socialism was founded on the doctrine of Aryan racial superiority. There is absolutely nothing positive that can be retrieved from that. Christianity incorporates a lot of useful memes that go beyond the dictate that 'murder is wrong'.

  Have you read Jonathan Haidt's book The Righteous Mind? There is an interesting chapter titled Religion Binds and Blinds in which he looks at the evolutionary roots of religion and the way it enabled group cohesion. I'm still not sure how we replace that in a post-faith society. So far we seem to have come up environmentalism and intersectionality. I'm not in any hurry to see the end of Anglicanism and Universalists.

  Full disclosure - There is no supernatural realm and I would rather stick pins in my eyes than attend church. I'm genuinely thinking out loud on this. Dawkins sees all religion, however benign, as a mind virus. Hitch (god rest his genius soul) said that religion belongs to the infancy of our species. Harris allows for a distinction between more and less harmful religions but fears that mainstream religion facilitates dangerous ideas. You seem to see all religion as akin to Nazi dogma or a rotting carcass.

  I'm really not convinced.
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  7

  Christ the Transvestite

  by El Nunya in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've not been on this site for awhile now.

  and i haven't posted in several years.

  at times i'll pull up jwd and read a little bit.

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  cofty

  AGuest was the lady who claimed to hear Jesus talking to her and gained a lot of followers - mostly other women who wished Jesus would talk to them too. When challenged to she turned out to be a maliciously vindictive woman.

  She started her own forum for her band of disciples called EXJWs for Christ or something like that. Outlaw left and became moderator of her forum.

  The other black transvestite was as mad as a box of frogs. Basically another attention seeker. Can't remember his name.