Posts by Sulla

24

It has been a year since I started school an update

by noni1974 in

jw
friends

well this time last year i was waiting for my first semester at college to start.

i had no idea how i would do in my classes.

my first semester was a complete surprise for me because not only did i do it, but, i did it well ending up on the dean's list with a 3.57 gpa for the semester.

How do you make a living?

by paulnotsaul in

jw
friends

since most of us believed it was right around the corner, how many of you went to any secondary schools or training?

what do you do now to survive?

are you working or unemployed?

Sulla

I went and got a master's in economics, and have worked for several big firms doing statistical/economic modeling and work for one now. When I was a JW, I washed windows. All honest work is noble.

126

A simple way to tell God probably doesn't exist

by poor places in

when's the last time you prayed to god?

did he respond?

i prayed to him for years and years and received no response.

Sulla

Thus in order to examine the strength of the evidence, we need to examine at least roughly how likely we believe it is for god (I assume we are talking about the christian God and our salvation to some extend depend on our acceptence of his existence?) to give unmistakeable signs of his existence. That is a long and difficult discussion and not one i think is terribly interesting.. personally i believe existence of certain forms of evil is a stronger argument against the christian god than hiddeness.

Well, the actual discussion would be considerably shorter, I think. The question is how likely God would be to give unmistakable signs of his existence to you. Again, I don't see why this would be a long discussion; by similar argumentation as I have made before, if God would give you an unmistakable sign, then he would certainly owe everybody an unmistakable sign. That gets us back to the whole question of who is taking orders from whom and, therefore, just who is God around here, right?

I will add this: If it was in my power to (trivially) prevent many types of evil, I can see no reason why i should do so. In fact i can give many, many cases where i would feel morally obligated to act, and where i would feel i was a terrible person if i did not act. I do not see why this should not be taken into account when posed the question if a perfectly loving god would tend to prevent trivially preventable evil or not.

I feel like you are trying to squirm out of the bind that argument is in. "Many, many" cases where you would feel obligated is not the question. Every single case is the question; because if God is good (under this line of argument) every single case of wickedness or evil or hatred must be stopped. Your feelings that you would stop some proportion of evil less than 1.0 is not germane to that argument. Again, that argument is simply one that insists a good God wouldn't have allowed us to be fallen. As I have said, I think that is a very questionable assertion.

On the other hand if i try to put myself in your shoes, i find it extremely unlikely i should get the idea to go over to some random strangers house, do a headstand and sing rock and roll. And even if i did get the idea into my head, considering there are billions of houses where i could potentially carry out the act, the chances i should do such a thing at one specific house is much much lower still.

So, you'd only do a headstand and sing "We Built This City," for a good reason? And to prove you exist to me is not a good reason? Interesting?

Or if God for instance rearranged some of the stars to spell out a message for us, or more mundanely, wrote his name on the moon, or if he talked to many different people telepatically at the same time -- there are many, many things i would consider clear evidence for Gods existence.

Still stuck on insisting God dance when you goddam tell him to dance, I see.

hmm that sound a lot like an admission. Well is there compelling evidence [proof] or not? If there is no compelling evidence, you can say i do not deserve proof. That may be right. But why should i accept a god for which there is no proof? If there is no proof for the right god, and no proof for all the thousands of wrong gods, well, i might be perfectly wlling to accept god, but chances are i am going to end up with the wrong one.

Why should you accept a god for which there is no proof? You may feel that you should not. But this thread was considering how to prove God does not exist, and you've changed the question.

16

Can Cannibals be Christian?

by startingover in

i got this from a local paper.

i say keep your religion to yourself and leave these people alone.

can cannibals be christian?

Sulla

Well, if you assume ahead of time that Christianity is false, I guess your position makes sense. On the other hand, if you think that you may not know all things then you would be more understanding of people speaking what they think is true. The people of this remote location are not babies, after all, and have shown themselves capable of rejecting the message of the missionaries with strong emphasis.

And, let's not forget, for white people, our ancient gods have been lost as well. But I doubt anybody really wants to return to the days when we strangled children and threw them into a bog. So, Christianity should at least be considered a mixed blessing.

27

A pack of ravenous Dubs ruined my Anniversary brunch with my wife

by unshackled in

jw
friends

its my wife's and i first anniversary today.

believe it or not, we are doing just fine despite being "worldly".

heck, my wife has never even been a jw and i've been a heathen for many years now.

Sulla

I'm sure dinner will be JW-free; they can't be everywhere, right?

Right???

17

Unbelievable! Two prayers and encouraging words in the last two days

by TotallyADD in

jw
friends

on friday morning i got a phone call from someone who was interested in buying a utility trailer i had for sale.

the man came over and looked at it and ended up buying it.

i invited him inside our home to fill out the paper work.

Sulla

Turns out, there are some good people out there who are not JWs. All is not bleakness and despair outside of the Oragnization. Good to hear.

26

Perfect refreshing drink for a hot day...

by Glander in

jw
friends

i love ice cold buttermilk.

you can add a little crushed ice.

i like it as is but some folks like:.

Sulla

Are all those different kinds of rum? Good soul, mythreesons, I hope you were near the hotel at the time.

90

Saw some JWs this am! Couldn't stop laughing

by Free!! in

jw
friends

this morning on my way to the office i decided to stop at the gas station to get some coffee.... as i am pulling into the parking space i see this woman w a haircut from the 80's the typical below the knee skirt and long sleeve shirt (is a 105 degrees over here in the shadow).... i immediatly knew she was a jw... she had the latest wt in her hands..... she skipped me and approached a group of young mexican laborers that were resting in the back of a truck... but... as soon as i walked out of the gas station... guess who was waiting for me???

the jw!!!

she wanted to do a presentation.. i looked at her and w/o saying a word i started laughing so hard the guys in the truck started laughing as well... she just looked at me and still kept trying to push her literatrash!!

Sulla

Well, cptkirk, I see you did not take my advice (precisely as I predicted). I certainly hope you've wiped away the flecks of spittle from the corners of your mouth since you posted your unhinged rant, people might think you're strange otherwise.

I have to admit, your last paragraph was entertaining: you see through the prism of courage, while I see through the prism of fear and cowardice; it's only if I could ever learn to look through the prism of courage that I could grasp who you really are, etc., etc. Wonderful stuff, really. But, why didn't you end it with, "DUH! WINNING!" It would have seemed appropriate.

Careful with those meth labs, old boy, they sometimes go boom.

26

Perfect refreshing drink for a hot day...

by Glander in

jw
friends

i love ice cold buttermilk.

you can add a little crushed ice.

i like it as is but some folks like:.

Sulla

The mojito is the perfect hot weather drink. Make certain to use simple syrup and not be tempted to substitute some god-awful slop like Sprite or some such. The bartender made it that way at a restaurant once. Who can drink that swill? Also, large-leaf mint is a good idea.

19

Convention talks on education?

by Quandry in

yikes...at work next week i will be spending an entire day in a room with a young jw woman.

(i work at an elementary school and we will be doing photocopying and other assorted things).

this young woman is a gung-ho witness but she is going to be going to college.

Sulla

Quendi, I don't necessrily disagree with what you are saying here in terms of the shades of the Wt stance against education. But I have two questions/comments to make.

First, a review of an elder's qualifications, while not as bad as automatic deletion, is plenty bad, it seems to me. It's on a par with a company reviewing whether it needs your position -- it isn't as bad as a layoff, but you'd put a similar level of effort into avoiding the review as you would avoiding the layoff. Nothing good can come from a review of an elder's qualifications, from the elder's perspective.

I wonder if the brain drain is explained by the much greater level of higher education among regular middle class people. By that I simply mean that, 40 years ago, it may have been relatively easy to find enough competent guys to run the shop among those with a basic education. Higher education was not considered to be for everyone with average or better intelligence. Nowadays, it seems to be the case that we want everyone who can get through high school without a catastrophe to go on to college. Opposition to college is now forcing hard choices on a larger number of people, even those with unexceptional, but solid, ability.

On the other hand, and why I question that line of reasoning, there seems to be a real drive to the blisteringly ignorant in Wt literature, procedures, etc. How hard can it posibly be to run an average congregation these days? When it comes to printing the literature, you really only need a couple dozen well-trained guys, and the writing becomes less and less sophisticated every day. From this perspective, attacking higher education seems like a net benefit -- and it isn't even close.

Your thoughts?