a survey of 32 question of religious knowledge given by the.
pew forum on the religion and public life.. get this, on average, americans got 16 of 32 right.. number one group, yes, the atheists and agnostics got.
an average of (20.9), jews (20.5), mormons(20.3), protestants(16).
32 of 32, confession...... total guess on the Great Awakening, got it right but not because I knew. The others fit into my daily reading, NYT, WJ, but most of all the discussions here.
My bet would be that if it was strictly christain and jewish it could have been far more difficult college level questions and most on this site would have aced it.
So why in the world didn't someone follow Jesus around with a little lead book taking notes! What was the big deal? Get the lead out apostles!
in the nwt it says at the back that matthew was written in 41ce.
how do they base this, as i have read books by scholars that say it had to be much later.
possibly in the 60's ce or even later.
http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/marshall_gauvin/did_jesus_really_live.html
There is not the smallest fragment of trustworthy evidence to show that any of the Gospels were in existence, in their present form, earlier than a hundred years after the time at which Christ is supposed to have died. Christian scholars, having no reliable means by which to fix the date of their composition, assign them to as early an age as their calculations and their guesses will allow; but the dates thus arrived at are far removed from the age of Christ or his apostles. We are told that Mark was written some time after the year 70, Luke about 110, Matthew about 130, and John not earlier than 140 A.D. Let me impress upon you that these dates are conjectural, and that they are made as early as possible. The first historical mention of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, was made by the Christian Father, St. Irenaeus, about the year 190 A.D. The only earlier mention of any of the Gospels was made by Theopholis of Antioch, who mentioned the Gospel of John in 180 A.D.
as many know my wife and i will be moving and starting a new business this summer.
in many ways it will bring freedom to us for no one knows us where we are moving.
being a born-in i would like to ask all of you what are some great ways we can meet new people and make friendships outside the jw cult?
Here's what we did when we moved into smallish city 8 years ago. We moved into a single family neighborhood and as soon as we were unpacked we printed up flyers that said "Meet the New Neighbors and join us for refreshments at our Open House this Saturday from 3 to 5! (phone number)". Then we went up and down the block and stuck them in every door. Forty people showed up and we were up and running with dinner invitations etc. By the end of the year we had a number of social engagements and could easily invite 8 to 10 people over for a cook out etc.
We also went out of our way to meet many of the shop owners and toured the art galleries. There was a new person's club that we didn't find out about until later but other new arrivals told us it was excellent. Wine tastings, one day trips etc.
The other thing we did was volunteer. My wife taught water aerobics at our local pool and I was asked to serve on a historic preservation board and we both developed many excellent relationships.
The key is to do what you knew how to do...as witnesses, only now the world is your new congregation. You can take an interest in people, you can demonstrate kindness and decency and more then likely you'll evolve acquaintances into friendships. Good luck.
Gio
just curious to know the steps that brought you to become an atheist.
just wanted to shared mine in a nutshell:.
1. learned that evolution had credibility.
The wisdom of the Atheist Gunslinger:
Wyatt Earp: "How are you?"
Doc Holliday: "I'm dying, how are you?"
(Morgan is fatally wounded in a gunfight) Morgan Earp: "Remember what I said about people seein' a bright light before they die? It ain't true. I can't see a damn thing."
well i am new to this, and i must admit that at first i was very opposed to this site.
i grew up being a witness and was warned about looking into apostate things, which is exactly what this site would be that they are referring to.
i always tried to live my life the best that i could under the societys control, and never really got to have any life experiance at all.
Did you know that 67% of JW born-ins leave (Pew research)?
My wife and I walked out 43 years ago. Since then nothing gets between us and our children. WE have profited on all levels, have been very happy, made new friends, have had great adventures and still continue to grow, study and read. The WTBTS is a sad little death cult. You can do much better.
for you us citizens (and those whose nations have a similar patriotic oath), how do you feel about your children saying the pledge in school if it's customary?.
my daughter is in 3rd grade and part of her school's morning routine includes the pledge.
when we stopped attending meetings a year ago, my wife and i explained to her that we don't agree with the jw "idolatry" classification so, naturally, she started joining her class in the pledge.. fast forward to the present: my wife and i are both non-theists who want to raise ethical, caring, tolerant children, but also children who aren't afraid to stand apart, especially when that stand isn't popular.
Personally I think we all have a long way to go when we leave the JW world.
After I left I was still carrying the JW belief system, or part of it, on my back. I was taught that I wasn't to be a part of this world so even up to ten year later I was a fairly worthless citizen. I did not vote, I did no community volunteer work. I didn't donate to others less fortunate. I got out of jury duty etc.
It took a while to realize that our country is just not run by the government and that the government was not able or willing to solve my every problem or my communites. That private citizens were needed to help make things work. The school boards and hospital volunteers. Charities like the free clinic and the food pantry. The little league, the Scouts. City council members etc. etc. etc.
Somewhere in all of this we have to decide if we’re a citizen of this country or not and If we care about how things are run and do we want to make it a better place.
The witnesses' seek to separate everyone from their respective countries. LOYALTY to the WTBTS is the first tenet. The pledge seeks to remind people in this melting pot of a country that just because our citizens have come from every nation and every religion we are still one nation united etc.etc. That message is the ideal but not always the reality.
As a parent I found that the only negative impact the pledge is going to have is having a third grader stand there with their arms at their side, learning early on that they are different.
here's mine :.
back in the early 90's we went to the sunday talk and wt study.. lo and behold, a friend from the 70's who was df'ed ( he had just been reinstated) was there along with his parents.
i had no idea that they would have been there.. one of my kids was getting sick, so my wife and i were up-down the entire meeting walking him around.
The worst meeting I went to was the funeral of my mother-in-law, I'd been out for decades and funerals were the only witness event my wife and I attended. Anyway, about 5 minutes was spent on my remarkable mother-in-law then the commercial started. I couldn't take it anymore and walked to the exit, both of the attendents shot me a look to see if anything was wrong I just smiled at them and mimed smoking a cigarette (I don't smoke).
i swear only a fool would believe in such a ludicrous doctrine that all three are one.
ridiculous..
Experience tells me that when a religion comes up with a wachy belief it's to seperate themselves from other religions or to try to be more appealing or explain the unexplainable.
So why was the Trinity invented? What did it accomplish? What problem or puzzel did it solve?
hey i'm wondering if anyone can give some good advice on how to step down in the safest way.. i have served as an ms for a number of years, but can't do it anymore.
i know too much i want to fade in the future when i get some family things straightened out.
i can't move right now so that's out unfortunately.. what should i tell the body?
Juan....out loud laughing and I snorted once or twice. Cyper Jesus blame it on an unnamed Elder thats great! Create a new target and doubt. Misdirection at it's finest. Lets not play poker.
A simple idea to give you time Ray, get a doctors appointment for a check up, if your blood pressure is up a little or you can get your pressure to go up (run up and down the stairs etc. before the exam) ask for a really cheap mild perscription. Tell the wife and elders you need to lower your blood pressure so your going to take some down time. Put the bottle in the bathroom and once a day flush a pill away. Refill as long as needed. You might want to tell your Doc that under no conditions let your wife know because she will worry too much.
Tell the Elders your Doctor mentioned the possibility of a STROKE if you don't cut back.........but not to mention that to your wife because she will worry too much. Now you've closed both doors. Relax and plan your fade.
P.S. Depending on your complexion bend over and tie your shoelaces before entering the KH and always when using the KM bathroom. A little rosy glow on your cheecks will help remind everone that you've got a serious condition.
