Posts by The1975Blues

12

There is no God.

by nicolaou in

it had been raining and i could smell the pine trees nearby.

god wasn't necessary.

the clouds cleared and the sunlight blazing from above paid out a bonus in the puddles at my feet.

What do you think was the biggest driver pushing you towards of the belief there no God? I talk with my ex about this all the time, our break-up was very amicable and did not need any real lawyers because we shared everything 50-50, we both were not greedy and still can talk without throwing daggers and darts each way.

She said she read Cedar's Blog about the young computer programmer who changed his view from a theist to atheist, since she's a engineer it's hard for her to walk away from God but she's changed her views about the Organization and suffers sleepless nights because of the "Problem of Evil".

What pushed you away from belief in God, was it evil or crummy people?

4

"Davey and Goliath" contrasted with "Sophie and Caleb's" indoctrination. 1950s and 1960s Sunday Christian TV vs the Cult.

by The1975Blues in

"i do not mean by a christian any person who tries to live decently according to his lights.

i think that you must have a certain amount of definite belief before you have a right to call yourself a christian.

the word does not have quite such a full-blooded meaning now as it had in the times of st. augustine and st. thomas aquinas.

The1975Blues

"I do not mean by a Christian any person who tries to live decently according to his lights. I think that you must have a certain amount of definite belief before you have a right to call yourself a Christian. The word does not have quite such a full-blooded meaning now as it had in the times of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. In those days, if a man said that he was a Christian it was known what he meant. You accepted a whole collection of creeds which were set out with great precision, and every single syllable of those creeds you believed with the whole strength of your convictions. "

Bertrand Russell "What I am not a Christian"

Image result for Davey and Goliath

6

An amazing interview by Sam Harris

by The_Doctor10 in

sam harris did this interview with megan phelps formerly of the infamous westboro baptist church, and i got to say holy $#!

@ the parallels to jw indoctrination/beliefs is actually pretty astonishing.. http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/leaving-the-church.

highly recommend everyone listen to this interview, especially if you're on the fence about continuing as a jw or in any other overbearing cult/religion..

The1975Blues

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibYFQOb0Q24

://thedailybanter.com/2015/04/sam-harris-hits-back-at-cenk-uygur-says-he-systematically-acts-in-bad-faith/

15

Kingdom Hall Assistance Arrangement refusing to pay out

by KHA in

i wanted to start a discussion about known instances where the wt society has refused to pay out on insurance claims to congregations who have their kingdom hall insured through the in-house insurance scheme known as the kingdom hall assistance arrangement.. i know of two recent cases in the uk where kingdom halls have been badly damaged by water.

one happened 6 months ago, the other a few years ago.

the congregations have been told to share halls with a neighbouring congregation whilst the wt society asked for report after report on the condition of the building and estimates for repair/demolition.

The1975Blues

What happened on this story where the Watchtower was accused of not paying out on the policy?

18

Is the Org Putting Elders in the Firing Line?

by The Searcher in

in view of the conti verdict of negligence by the org, are elders who are selected by the c.o.

now in a precarious position?

"charity trustees face potential liabilities in a number of ways.

The1975Blues

Was this story ever validated because the Watchtower might offer to purchase more insurance liability coverage and refuse to pay once the elders admit they screwed up. Companies had people go through three hours of "Sexual harassment education" and once you signed this paperwork all liability fell in your lap!

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/211334/kingdom-hall-assistance-arrangement-refusing-pay-out?page=1&size=5

7

Homeless Man Plays Piano Beautifully (Sarasota, FL) (ORIGINAL)" Is it wrong to donate money to him? Would the Watchtower help out?

by The1975Blues in

mitch jensen 13 minutes ago.

jehovah's witnesses have learned by the mistakes of all the christian churches who wasted valuable money by spending it on "food banks", "woman's shelters", "orphanages" and "homeless shelters feeding the poor and hungry kids".

the current may 2015 "awake" magazine deals with the only way to help the homeless people.

The1975Blues

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/105698/wts-view-red-cross-etc?page=1

7

Homeless Man Plays Piano Beautifully (Sarasota, FL) (ORIGINAL)" Is it wrong to donate money to him? Would the Watchtower help out?

by The1975Blues in

mitch jensen 13 minutes ago.

jehovah's witnesses have learned by the mistakes of all the christian churches who wasted valuable money by spending it on "food banks", "woman's shelters", "orphanages" and "homeless shelters feeding the poor and hungry kids".

the current may 2015 "awake" magazine deals with the only way to help the homeless people.

The1975Blues

Does the Watchtower help people in need, can anyone remember the Kingdom Hall coming to the aid or rescue of homeless and hungry, the depressed souls looking for help? What is the official position regarding helping people in need that don't take literature or show any signs of becoming a new member? I was thinking back over my life and don't know of anyone helping them, what about you? Did your congregation help by providing relief like many Christian churches do? What is their logic allowing them to turn a blind eye and not help people desperately in need? I know for a fact they take advantage of the Red Cross and other camps in Africa, the Jehovah's Witness religion uses agencies run by churches to meet up with their members so they can share religious literature while the Christian churches are feeding the Watchtower members inside the Refuge camp.

7

Homeless Man Plays Piano Beautifully (Sarasota, FL) (ORIGINAL)" Is it wrong to donate money to him? Would the Watchtower help out?

by The1975Blues in

mitch jensen 13 minutes ago.

jehovah's witnesses have learned by the mistakes of all the christian churches who wasted valuable money by spending it on "food banks", "woman's shelters", "orphanages" and "homeless shelters feeding the poor and hungry kids".

the current may 2015 "awake" magazine deals with the only way to help the homeless people.

The1975Blues

Mitch Jensen 13 minutes ago

Jehovah's Witnesses have learned by the mistakes of all the Christian churches who wasted valuable money by spending it on "Food Banks", "Woman's Shelters", "Orphanages" and "Homeless Shelters feeding the poor and hungry kids". The current May 2015 "Awake" Magazine deals with the only way to help the homeless people. Every story you will find out deals with people who did not want to work, most were using all their money on drugs or alcoholic drinks. As a Jehovah's Witness of 50 years we have never succumbed to the sneaky tactics employed by these street-urchins who take money from people who can handle reality. It's said "Drugs are for people who can't handle Reality", as a Jehovah's Witness who deals with Reality on a daily basis, I can't handle drugs my friends! Avoid making eye contact with any homeless person or they will follow you home like a stray dog! Please don't feed or give anyone handouts, that's what Christian churches do or some Government Program! Stop the spread of homeless and get them copies of the Awake magazine that will inform you of their sinister plot of stealing your hard earned money, that's why Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watchtower Organization refuse to provide any support to all these homeless Trolls!" http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/g201505/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCguq3hTC2M

18

Is the Org Putting Elders in the Firing Line?

by The Searcher in

in view of the conti verdict of negligence by the org, are elders who are selected by the c.o.

now in a precarious position?

"charity trustees face potential liabilities in a number of ways.

The1975Blues

Searcher, we had an elder who was a lawyer back from 1990 to 2005 until he decided to leave the Truth. Brother AA (applicant attorney) said this was happening back before this organization was trying to protect itself and shift all the burdens of liability onto the local Kingdom Halls. Rightly he predicted they would use methods to even protect the local congregation's monetary assets and make the local elders responsible for all negligence, guess he was correct because everything he said came forward in the Conti trial. The Watchtower's defense attorneys did their best to show the Parent Corporation was free of negligence and if anyone was responsible, it was local Rogues not obeying their instruction.

Now in reality are the Elders allowed to make decisions on their own or must they follow the Watchtower's way or go the Highway when they disobey the Organization. If I was a juror, I would hope the Plaintiff could argue and prove this key point, we (as elders) were never allow autonomy yet the Watchtower is trying to claim we have our own set of rules locally and are are allowed to follow our own guidance when issues involving uncommon problems.

Adding this, we had money set aside to fix a parking-lot, martial cost is $70,000 and the stupid elders sent that cash to the Watchtower Society thinking we could use some patch materials instead of repairing the asphalt driveway correctly. The funds we had were there and now after two years of sending in requests the same replies come back "Dear Brothers, have you carefully prayed to Jehovah and asked your Hall to take up a collection to cover the expenses your requesting?" They took our bank accounts and now they want us to ask the Friends who already donated funds for the project again, we can't get that money back and all we get are games when asked for those funds. The stupid zealous brain dead Elders did not think this through, the publishers with sway, they are not going to donate because they feel the elders betrayed them by sending the Watchtower all the funds set aside for our own Kingdom Hall!

91

Proof - of what?

by Doltologist in

a few weeks ago, these two jovies turned up on my doorstep.

being in a good mood that particular day, i told them that if they could prove that god existed, i'd become a jovie - and i meant every word.. they gave me two documents which they asked me read and told me that they'd be back in a week.

the first was called "was life created?

The1975Blues

Dawkins has stated at what percentage he is an agnostic, watch his videos showing he admits he can't prove God does not exist and uses "Russell's Teapot" analogy of being highly unlikely but you can't prove it does not exist". He give himself a 6.5 out 7.00 certainty level he does not think God does not exist but can't get completely there because he confesses that would "require you to know all the information in the Universe and our friends in the Philosophy Schools would hammer me for saying I had reached this level of awareness."

Why is it we are like JWs in that we welcome all the negative stories about the JWs when they do thing wrong but when you think one of the people you hold dear to you says something you don't agree with, the "newspaper is not a good source"? There are different videos with Richard expounding on this topic, at first he was short and sweet back in 2012, his answers to this question in 2015 are adding the "We can't know all the information in the Universe" answer with a more mellow touch than his original "Russells Teapot analogy.