Posts by brotherdan

68

Are ALL religious ideas TRUE?

by brotherdan in

there was once a christian that was attending seminary that felt unusually bold one sunday morning.

he decided to go to a random church that he had never attended before.

he went to the service and sat in one of the pews.

brotherdan

Agreed. But if it is "TRUTH" then truth is truth. If Mohamad is "truth" then Christ cannot be the "only" Truth. You know?

68

Are ALL religious ideas TRUE?

by brotherdan in

there was once a christian that was attending seminary that felt unusually bold one sunday morning.

he decided to go to a random church that he had never attended before.

he went to the service and sat in one of the pews.

There was once a Christian that was attending seminary that felt unusually bold one Sunday morning. He decided to go to a random church that he had never attended before. He went to the service and sat in one of the pews. Upon sitting the pastor got up and began his sermon. From the first sentence the seminary student knew that he had made a mistake.

The pastor began his sermon, "It does not matter what your religous belief is...you are all true! You will find no judgement here!"

He went through his entire sermon explaining why all religions are "true".

Following the sermon, the seminary student wanted to make a quick exit from the church. But alas...the pastor was standing at the exit, bear hugging all of the members of the church as they left.

As this man tried to leave the pastor stopped him.

"Well, my son, where are you from?"

"I am on vacation from seminary"

"Very good!", said the pastor. "What did you think about the sermon today?"

"Well I would prefer not to say for fear that I may offend you", said the man.

"Don't worry, my son! You will not offend me. Whatever your religous beliefs, they are welcome here!"

"Ok" said the man. "After hearing your sermon....well pastor...I believe you are going to hell."

After hmmm/hawwing the pastor acknowledged that maybe all religious views were NOT all true. He could not acknowledge that he was going to hell, after all!!!

The moral of the story is that there CANNOT be an ABSOLUTE religious belief that includes all people. Truth is truth. By definition, truth can only be one or the other. Either 2+2=4 is TRUE for all people at all times, or it is not TRUE.

By definition, truth cannot be 2 or more different ideas. If someone was to say, "There is NO absolute truth"...well that is a self defeating statement. You can ask, "Are you absolutely sure that is true?"

There MUST be 1 truth in all areas.

24

Inside the Patterson Commissary - PHOTO

by VM44 in

jw
friends

in the patterson commissary.. .

can one pick what one wants?

does one have to pay for items?

brotherdan

As far as I can remember, the prices were NORMALLY fair. It was hard though, because a bethelites wages are so little. I remember getting a frozen pack of "cordan bleu" and it was $2.50. While that may seem cheap, when you are only making $50 bucks a month (at least that is what I was making in 2001), and you have to pay $3.00 per meeting for your car ride plus toothpaste, deoderant, shaving cream, etc..., $2.50 is pretty expensive.

236

What is your definition of a "Fundi" or a Fundamentalist?

by brotherdan in

i've been called a "fundi" many times in my discussions with people on the board, and i'd like to know what your definition is of a "fundi".

don't google it.

i just want to hear your personal definition.. i find it interesting because i don't go to any church.

brotherdan

When it comes down to it we all pretend to be experts in things that it is impossible to completely know.

236

What is your definition of a "Fundi" or a Fundamentalist?

by brotherdan in

i've been called a "fundi" many times in my discussions with people on the board, and i'd like to know what your definition is of a "fundi".

don't google it.

i just want to hear your personal definition.. i find it interesting because i don't go to any church.

brotherdan

I've read "In the beginning was information" by Gitt and if you have, even if you are an evolutionist, you HAVE to acknowledge the compelling points. Am I an expert in genetic information systems? No, but you don't have to be an expert in a field to recognize valid arguments.

236

What is your definition of a "Fundi" or a Fundamentalist?

by brotherdan in

i've been called a "fundi" many times in my discussions with people on the board, and i'd like to know what your definition is of a "fundi".

don't google it.

i just want to hear your personal definition.. i find it interesting because i don't go to any church.

brotherdan

That included not rushing to seek succor from AIG etc to find easy but shallow rebuttals.

They do have some good points sometimes though...I know i'm in the minority when I say that. I don't like a lot of the approaches Ken Ham makes, but I like Gitts arguments.

26

funny times growing up a witness

by strymeckirules in

i was raised from the age two as a witness by my new recruit parents in 1981. i was born in 79.. i didn't like being jw, and that didn't mean i was a saint.. and my parents were fanatical and still are.. i have an an older sister and a younger brother and we are all 2 years apart.. my brother and i were a riot.

mischeivious, rambuctious, hyperactive and not afraid of nothing.. we had games over the years.. like singing in british accents during the songs(and during bible reading at family study) and screwing with the word just loud enough for each other to hear.. we used to have armrest battles when we sat beside eachother.

pushing elbows until the other slipped and got in trouble.

brotherdan

I wish I knew you mamalove!

My british accent comes across VERY cockney! So it was pretty obviously false.

But I did have a pretty killer aussie accent. My go to character was " 'Ello mate! My name is Hezekiah and this is my partner Dill, and I have a beut of a message to give you this morning."

236

What is your definition of a "Fundi" or a Fundamentalist?

by brotherdan in

i've been called a "fundi" many times in my discussions with people on the board, and i'd like to know what your definition is of a "fundi".

don't google it.

i just want to hear your personal definition.. i find it interesting because i don't go to any church.

brotherdan

I meant that believing that only JESUS is the truth. If that is what makes you a fundamentalist then you have to include all Christians.

I don't think ANY group or person has all the truth. I think there are Christians in MANY groups and denominations. Does that disqualify me from fundamentalism?

236

What is your definition of a "Fundi" or a Fundamentalist?

by brotherdan in

i've been called a "fundi" many times in my discussions with people on the board, and i'd like to know what your definition is of a "fundi".

don't google it.

i just want to hear your personal definition.. i find it interesting because i don't go to any church.

brotherdan

I mean, if you don't believe in a literal six day creation... but that that story was a simple way of explaining the depth of creation/progression/evolution... then perhaps some of these others stories are as in depth as that, yet relayed in simpler terms.

But isn't that a slippery slope? When you say, "Well the Bible DID say that, but I don't think it REALLY means what it says. Yeah it says that the Stars were created AFTER light, but it really doesn't mean that."

Or

"The Bible says that all flesh was destroyed by God during the flood...but it doesn't mean ALL flesh. It just means the men in the local area."

Can you see how slippery that is? You then have cause to put your own interpretation on to any story in the Bible that you want. Kaballah does much of that. They take the Torah and apply a mystic symbolism to every part of it so that NONE of it means what it actually says.

236

What is your definition of a "Fundi" or a Fundamentalist?

by brotherdan in

i've been called a "fundi" many times in my discussions with people on the board, and i'd like to know what your definition is of a "fundi".

don't google it.

i just want to hear your personal definition.. i find it interesting because i don't go to any church.

brotherdan

When that happens will you follow it all the way to its logical conclusion as I did or will you find a middle ground?

Like I said before, I can't find a middle ground in this. I don't know if that's good or bad. But either God is in control of His own Word and what we have IS His Word...or it's not. There's no middle ground IMO.

I REALLY try to read things objectively. I know I don't come across that way. But I HAVE had crisis's of faith. But I have also read compelling creationist arguments about the flood for example that seem reasonable to me. Do I have all the info? No. But it fits in with what I currently believe. And when I read the opposite side of things, I find myself disagreeing with much of it.

Like I've said atheism makes absolutely NO sense to me. Intelligent design makes the most sense according to what I view as logic. If I accept intelligent design, then did that designer reveal Himself? I feel that He did. And there are many reasons for coming to that conclusion.