Posts by xchange

214

Soldiers of Jah

by cofty in

i would like to propose an ethical dilemma for those who believe in the divine inspiration of the bible.. in the following scenarios i am not asking you what you would have done but rather, what you hope you would have had the courage to do.. scenario 1. you are camped on the east side of the jordan waiting for orders to cross into the promised land.

moses is nearing the end of his life but he has some unfinished business to take care of before he hands over to joshua.

he announces that he has had an instruction from god to take revenge on the midianites before he dies.

xchange

Amercan politicians have frequently given their war efforts the God sanction, shall we say.

So no official sanction from a god? Just people making it up as they go.

From the American Revolution to the 2003 Iraq War God has been invoked. Remember America's Manifest Destiny?

Also from Wikipedia:

Historian William E. Weeks has noted that three key themes were usually touched upon by advocates of Manifest Destiny:

the virtue of the American people and their institutions;
the mission to spread these institutions, thereby redeeming and remaking the world in the image of the U.S.; and
the destiny under God to accomplish this work.

Again, no official sanctioning from a god.

214

Soldiers of Jah

by cofty in

i would like to propose an ethical dilemma for those who believe in the divine inspiration of the bible.. in the following scenarios i am not asking you what you would have done but rather, what you hope you would have had the courage to do.. scenario 1. you are camped on the east side of the jordan waiting for orders to cross into the promised land.

moses is nearing the end of his life but he has some unfinished business to take care of before he hands over to joshua.

he announces that he has had an instruction from god to take revenge on the midianites before he dies.

xchange

Can someone show me where god sanctioned the wars in Vietnam/Camboida, WWII and the American Civil War.

Thanks!

193

Are you afraid of the Ouija board still?

by cyberjesus in

do you think it has superpowers?

who controlls it?

satan?

xchange

I played with the Ouija board with a friend in school many times. So with about 40 observations under my belt, I can report (anecdotally of course) that there was no contact with any funky demons. Nor was I harassed by any funky demons afterwards. Maybe I wasn't cool enough to get harassed or answered. We specifically asked for Satan and his nastiest demon cohorts. Nada. When we asked for Santa Claus, the board went crazy!!

27

My mom is pleading me to attend the JC

by bottleofwater in

what should i do?.

xchange

I didn't go to mine. No regrets.

27

Take the dubbie Bible Knowledge Challenge!

by Farkel in

i believe it was jim penton who mentioned that even the more knowledgeable dubbies only know about 25 or so bible verses well enough to cite book, chapter, verse and can cite those verses verbatim.

some years ago, i started a thread on that very subject and only came up with about 25 verses i myself remembered when i was a dubbie.

i was considered quite the bible "scholar" back in the day, too!

xchange

Debator said:

I think you'll find witnesses have a vast bible knowledge compared to the general populous or anyone for that matter. It is a well-oiled lamp in our hands.

Just a small nitpick on this sentence, Debator. Witnesses only have the interpretations of a few men drilled into them. There is a huge difference between bible knowledge obtained personally and filtered bible knowledge through a group of men.

Cheers,

xchange

Oops. sorry. Tobit 3:4

12

Atheist Richard Dawkins aids Haiti

by purplesofa in

jw
friends

atheist richard dawkins aids haiti, touts god-free givinghttp://content.usatoday.com/communities/religion/post/2010/01/atheists-haiti-earthquake-doctors-without-borders-red-cross/1?csp=obinsite.

donations to faith-based aid groups are soaring and believers get a great deal of just credit for stepping up to help in haiti.

now unbelievers want the world to know they're just as caring.. .

xchange

Well xchange if you did say ya loved me,that would make me a couger since I am 83+
I dont know if your male or female ,but I love everyone ,even my enemies ,but you dont sound
like one of them

@funnyface

Hmm....cougar. Oh hell, why not. (I'm male btw)

Enemies? Nah, even the enemies that I do have don't know that they consider me an enemy in the first place.

42

Are Atheists open minded? are you?

by cyberjesus in

some people accuse atheists of not being open minded for not believing in the existence of a creator.

but is not believing a sign of close mindedness?

can you believe in god and be open minded?.

xchange

that's my whole point ... if I give the Bible definition some would say opened mindness requires us to question this thought

But at least I know WHICH definition you are using. Saves a lot of time in discussions I find.

How do we know who wrote this ? .....etc etc What does your faith , as defined by you .. do or not do for you ??

Doesn't matter to me who wrote it. We're not discussing Bible legitimacy.

If I try define your faith I will be accused of not being logical or open minded

Why not let me try to define my faith first and go from there.

Sad but true we are not all on the same page ever !!

We are all just a few degrees away from each other.

Cheers,

xchange

42

Are Atheists open minded? are you?

by cyberjesus in

some people accuse atheists of not being open minded for not believing in the existence of a creator.

but is not believing a sign of close mindedness?

can you believe in god and be open minded?.

xchange

@caliber

Could you define faith so we are all on the same page?

thx

42

Are Atheists open minded? are you?

by cyberjesus in

some people accuse atheists of not being open minded for not believing in the existence of a creator.

but is not believing a sign of close mindedness?

can you believe in god and be open minded?.

xchange

I was raised a JW. I was always taught by the org and by my father that we were being open-minded. It wasn't until my mid 20's that I realized that we were in fact NOT being open-minded.

Open-mindedness involves YOU doing the research and not some third party . It also means going way outside your comfort zone and exploring different ideas. It means not defaulting on your presuppositions.

I still entertain the idea that a supreme indifferent being might exist, but to date, there has been insufficient evidence to prove any existence on it's part. But I"m still keeping an open mind. By the way, Christian apologetics don't help, unfortunately.

The video was great too.

12

Atheist Richard Dawkins aids Haiti

by purplesofa in

jw
friends

atheist richard dawkins aids haiti, touts god-free givinghttp://content.usatoday.com/communities/religion/post/2010/01/atheists-haiti-earthquake-doctors-without-borders-red-cross/1?csp=obinsite.

donations to faith-based aid groups are soaring and believers get a great deal of just credit for stepping up to help in haiti.

now unbelievers want the world to know they're just as caring.. .

xchange

@funnyface

glad you suffered through my sarcasm..

live and let live eh?

I'd say love you too, but we just met. I don't rush into relationships that easy. Unless you are a NiN fan or previous Dead Kennedy's nutbar, then it's love at first sight ;)

Still...good on Hawkins and his ilk