I'm not sure if I could ever embrace religion again, period. Can you unlearn something you've learned? It's like asking if you could go back to being a child again. Some would if they COULD. But you can't, so it's all just an intellectual exercise at this point. Maybe that's the answer. I would. IF I COULD, but I can't. So I won't.
dandingus
JoinedPosts by dandingus
-
-
-
-
16
Birthday Beer
by zoiks inso i have never celebrated a birthday before, but the nice folks at my office are putting on a little party for me today.
treats and beer!
i wouldn't make a big deal, but...birthday beer!
-
-
dandingus
Go for it zoiks!
My birthday is today as a matter of fact. And I'll be having a few birthday beers myself!
That's a twelve pack above. Care to split it with me?
-
42
Toilet quandries: The seat: Up/Down and Toilet paper direction
by Terry inthose who have lived with the opposite sex know of the frustration of being lectured about some triviality.. the toilet seat/paper controversy is among the most inflammatory.. men who forget to put the toilet seat back down inspire anger, rage, resentment and the stern lecture.. the easiest solution is to train the man to always sit down when he goes.. .
others argue over the direction of the toilet paper: forward overlap or backward underlap.. .
how do you deal with these issues and how violent do you become?.
-
-
dandingus
We always keep the lid closed when not in use so our cats don't play in the water. Problem solved!
-
28
TWO QUESTIONS
by snowbird in1. are your validation words getting weirder?
e.g., what is a jamstratt?.
2. when you are on a thread where posters are fighting and trading insults, how do you feel?.
-
-
dandingus
I just got a really strange validation word today. It required a character with a grave accent! I didn't have an easy way to create one (US keyboard layout), so I just refreshed to get a new word.
I guess I could have switched language layouts or looked up and pressed the Alt+whatever combination to get to the right unicode character, but I'm lazy.
I wonder if it would have taken the input if I just gave it the 'normal' vowel without the accent? Technically it's not the same Unicode character, so I would think string comparison would fail. Sorry for the tangent, I'm a programmer.
-
21
How would the diehard witnesses view this ?
by man in black inthis video was sent to me earlier today, and it really hit a nerve with me,,,,, i just couldn't stop applying it to the witness belief of df and da.. i've known quite a few witness parents over the years who just left their kids "on the roadside" because they no longer.
wanted to be a part of this religion.. why is it that genuine human reaction/emotion is dropped when children no longer want to be a jw ?.
this father seems to be quite a guy, notice how he yells at the security/medical person near the end no doubt to leave his son alone !.
-
-
dandingus
wow - I'm not a sap, but that was intense.
x3.
Beautiful video, man in black.
-
7
7 million Jehovah's Witneses . . . .
by nicolaou in.
.
this junk mail fell through my letterbox this morning - made me smile .
-
-
dandingus
Nice.
I always hate those "x number of people can't be wrong" statements. Every time I hear one of those, I think to myself "oh yes they can be"!
Think about it, at one time everyone thought the world was flat... And they were ALL wrong. Just because many people think something doesn't make it true.
-
74
When Was The Last Time You Went To A Meeting?
by minimus ini think it's been around 7 years for me.
and i never ever missed going or being with the "friends"..
-
-
dandingus
2009 District Convention. I went for Sunday morning only.
The last time I went to a normal meeting was November 2004. But I'm thinking of checking out the new format one day out of curiosity.
-
98
Would the world be a better place without Atheism/Religious-ism?
by AK - Jeff inmy thread here: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/197200/5/atheists-do-you-ever-talk-to-god has taken a decidedly new twist.
one that has made me think it prudent to discuss a related matter.. would the world be a better place if all atheism was gone?
would it be a better place if all religion were gone?
-
-
dandingus
The world would be a better place without superstition, ignorance, and fear.
-
94
Atheists - Do you ever talk to God?
by AK - Jeff ini scream out sometimes.
am i angry at a 'being' that i don't think exists?
or the embedded concept?.
-
-
dandingus
Well I'm not exactly an 'Atheist', more like agnostic. But this is a great thread. AK-Jeff
I did go through a gigantic angry phase a couple of years ago. And I mean ANGRY. At the worst point, I actually did my own Lieutenant Dan. I found myself walking for more than 10 miles down a deserted road between 2:00 and 5:00 AM, drunk and screaming at the sky for hours until I lost my voice altogether. I couldn't fathom the injustice of being the insignificant pawns of a twisted megalomaniac supreme being, consigned to toil in a short and inconsequential life without purpose, destined only to suffer an ignominious end and fade into obscurity. I couldn't fathom the prospect of having the power to end suffering with the snap of a proverbial finger and yet sitting by idly watching the cruelty, injustice go on century after century. It seemed to me that if there is a god, he doesn't care. And that brought out the monster. That day I cried as I watched the sun come up. It was really, really rough.
This was followed by many bouts with depression as the implications of it slowly sunk in. Now I'm on to acceptance. Sort of. (Never really went through Bargaining, and if I was in Denial it was so brief I missed it). It still cycles sometimes, but the roller coaster ride is a little more tame than the first time.
Like you, I absolutely loved that scene in Forest Gump. I thought the writers hit in that one moment, the most honest and touching example of the inner struggle with the 'god' question I have ever seen.
Your question though was "Do you ever talk to God?" (present tense). The answer for me is "sort of, sometimes". I don't actively try to have conversations, and definitely not often. But every now and then I get the urge to "say something", even if it's not heard. I think I feel like if I say it, that it's out there. That somehow I did my part and got it off my chest. But maybe that's because I don't consider myself a complete atheist. I've said it before, but my thought on the matter is "I cannot prove that God exists, but neither can I prove He does not exist". So if He's out there somewhere, there are some things that occasionally I would like to say to him/her/it. I am under no delusion however that my 'prayer' (if you can call it that) is actually received. So most of the time I have nothing to say, because it seems rather pointless. But every now and then I just can't help myself.
But you are certainly not alone in feeling this way. It's nice to know that I'm not either. Thanks for sharing.
-
46
My First Post.Thanks To ALL
by southern.finesse ini would like to start my 1st post by saying thank you.
to the site itself and to all the posters.
my story begins with me meeting the woman of my dreams 4 years ago.
-
-
dandingus
Before this thread gets completely hijacked by debates on the finer points of religious dogma, let me add my personal "welcome" to southern.finesse!
A court room style discussion with your wife is actually a really neat idea, and I'm sure it will prove to be quite revealing.
When I was younger and just starting to make my own decisions about things my family did something similar where my mother would require me to debate the pros and cons of the idea with her. I was then allowed to make my own decision in most cases, but only after discussing both sides of the issue. It led to some interesting conversations! I personlly think this is a good idea not only for kids, but adults too who are trying to get the best possible information. Everyone needs a sounding board from time to time, and people who don't think the way we do or are coming from a different perspective only cause us to re-evaluate our thoughts from new angles. Done well, this can be highly constructive.
Hopefully your dinnertime discussions won't devolve into adversarial positions (not that ours did), but remain open. It sounds like this is what you're going for, so I wish you the very best!