Posts by Nickolas

35

New watchtower

by bohm in

jw
friends

the new watchtower is out (woooo) http://www.jw.org/ , and there is an article about "prophecies which has come true".

the most funny one is the one about earthquakes since, well, there just isnt an increase in earthquakes:.

what do the facts show?

Nickolas

Anybody wanna start countin' the bad calls made by the WTS ???

I think it would be like trying to count how many times February 2 repeated itself during the movie "Groundhog Day". After awhile, with so many changes to earlier bad calls and then changing the changes back, forward or sideways only to hedge what they said they said with weasle words to the effect that they never really said what they said and it was only the rank and file who said what they said they said, you might just throw up your hands in surrender.

35

New watchtower

by bohm in

jw
friends

the new watchtower is out (woooo) http://www.jw.org/ , and there is an article about "prophecies which has come true".

the most funny one is the one about earthquakes since, well, there just isnt an increase in earthquakes:.

what do the facts show?

Nickolas

Not everything put forward by the WTBTS rings false. Indeed, my own personal values and principles align to a large measure. However, there are some things that are odious to my sensibilities, and this thing about earthquakes is one of them. My spine stiffens when I detect that particular hint of excitement in the voice of a Jehovah's Witness remarking on the latest seismic disaster, taken as it is as a sign that Watchtower prophesy is unfolding. It is in much the same vein as those who took some perverse sense of delight in the September 11 atrocities as a sign from God that He was about to unleash the four horsemen and the Rapture was around the corner. Ditto the kooks who regard the drama unfolding in the Middle East as some kind sign of things to come and who would be obscenely delighted to see a mushroom cloud or two as some confirmation of Revelation. It is saddening and offensive when something for which there is no redeeming quality is allowed an optimistic spin. Seismic activity, while still significant and inevitable, is a sign of nothing more than the fact that we live on a slowly cooling planet with a molten core and sometimes people tragically die as a consequence.

82

"Religion...is the Opium of the People" - What did Marx Mean?

by cofty in

when read in context karl marx was not directly attacking religion when he wrote those famous words.. .

religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress.

religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation.

Nickolas

I've spent quite a bit of time in this thread and come away (feeling) considerably more enlightened. Thank you in particular for those reviews, glenster. I very much enjoyed Hitchens' God is not Great treatise, to the extent that I listened to it three times (the audiobook is narrated by Hitchens himself, which adds an insightful dimension of vocal inflection to the words.) I must confess that I took much of what Hitchens is saying on face value - that he would not be so unwise as to expose himself to unsubstantiated statements - and I am now just a little disillusioned after reading Peterson's critical review. I would be interested to see Hitchens' rebuttal, if one indeed exists.

Like so many things, it is a necessary challenge within the pursuit of truth to separate out bald fact from the words in which it is spun. In that sense, everything we read needs to be treated with at least some small measure of scepticism, including the contributions of the reviewers of Hitchens', Dawkins' and Harris' books.

363

So me, of all people, had a religious experience

by sabastious in

jw
friends

i was sitting in my garage, as i often do, to chill out and i actually ended up becoming angry.. so here i am, in my garage, kicking it on the stool for the drum set that is in there (i am a pianist/composer, not a drummer).

i start to think about all the crazy stuff that transpires on this planet.

we have all seen shows and heard stories or maybe even witnessed events that don't add up.

Nickolas

82

"Religion...is the Opium of the People" - What did Marx Mean?

by cofty in

when read in context karl marx was not directly attacking religion when he wrote those famous words.. .

religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress.

religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation.

Nickolas

Can you provide a specific example of where Hitchens was in error in "God is not Great", slimboyfat?

82

"Religion...is the Opium of the People" - What did Marx Mean?

by cofty in

when read in context karl marx was not directly attacking religion when he wrote those famous words.. .

religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress.

religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation.

Nickolas

Mother Teresa, like other Roman Catholic notables, campaigned hard and successfully against the use of condoms, citing them as the moral equivalent of abortion. There are those who consider her among those in the RC church who are responsible for the deaths of thousands to AIDS, all because she was convinced that hers was the only real truth. Yes, she did a lot of selfless work, too, but she was one of those people you alluded to earlier, whose agenda puts God and Faith (her God and her faith) first and foremost, even to the physical detriment of others.

82

"Religion...is the Opium of the People" - What did Marx Mean?

by cofty in

when read in context karl marx was not directly attacking religion when he wrote those famous words.. .

religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress.

religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation.

Nickolas

There are many that their main focus is that, this is true, but to be honest it is because "saving the soul" is as important as saving the life for Christians so it is very hard to do one without trying to do the other and in that, they are "guilty as charged".

This is, of course, my point. It is why Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses go door to door, in an attempt to convince people to think as they do. Mormons will maintain that all the other Christian sects have it wrong and if you don't want to burn in hell you'd better wake up to their version of truth. Jehovah's Witnesses do the same thing, as do the Roman Catholics and Baptists etc. etc. If you are not one of them, you are inferior and you will be destroyed because of it. Saving your soul is synonymous with surrendering your mind to one particular flavour of belief. That someone is absolutely convinced that his particular flavour of belief is the only true one only puts him into the company of billions saying a thousand different versions of the same thing. There's no way they're all right, so the only logical position to take is none of them are.

49

"We are all atheists ...

by Nickolas in

... about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in.

some of us just go one god further.".

dawkins raises a point which some, if not many, theists will dismiss as irrelevant, but i am not exactly sure why.

Nickolas

Yes, it was his chapter on Bhuddism that alienated the hardcore atheists. But he doesn't think Bhuddism is a relgion. He thinks it's a philosophy. I didn't get much out of that final chapter, either, but it didn't take away from the central treatise for me.

I didn't get the impression that Harris is saying that religion is the root of all evil. Hitchens, who you admire, is more strident in that regard. I think Harris is saying systemic religeous intolerance a major component of the root of all evil and that by its very nature it is irreconcilable with peace in the world.

I'll see about getting those other books you mention. Thanks.

82

"Religion...is the Opium of the People" - What did Marx Mean?

by cofty in

when read in context karl marx was not directly attacking religion when he wrote those famous words.. .

religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress.

religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation.

Nickolas

Just want to say I admire your avatar, slimboyfat. Both Karsh and Grey Owl are high on my list of respected men in history and your avatar speaks to the personality you wish to convey.

82

"Religion...is the Opium of the People" - What did Marx Mean?

by cofty in

when read in context karl marx was not directly attacking religion when he wrote those famous words.. .

religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress.

religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation.

Nickolas

Look at all the Christian organizations that work to help make THIS world a better place.

Yes, but making this world a better place is not at the top of their agenda, PSac. I donate often to secular charities but steadfastly refuse to support Christian organisations because I know my dollars will be used to keep some kid from starving or to cure a miserable leper and then the real purpose of the charitable work takes place, conversion of those made to feel obliged to whatever flavour of Christianity accompanies the food or the medicines. For those who take offense, consider how much you contribute to Muslim organisations.

What would really make this world a better place is the dawning of worldwide secularism. But I'm not holding my breath.