Posts by stuffwotifink

447

Does Anyone Still Believe in God?

by LaurenM in

do any of you ex-jw's still believe in god?

even with the new rebranding/softening of this religion, i still don't see how people can believe in him.

the god of the old testimate is an angry murderer who approved rapes and slavery and killed thousands of men, women and children.

stuffwotifink

I don't doubt that you have good reasons for - and justifications of - those beliefs.

I share them with you.

447

Does Anyone Still Believe in God?

by LaurenM in

do any of you ex-jw's still believe in god?

even with the new rebranding/softening of this religion, i still don't see how people can believe in him.

the god of the old testimate is an angry murderer who approved rapes and slavery and killed thousands of men, women and children.

All knowledge is belief - justified or no. Call it whatever you like. There is only what seems to be true to you.

Claiming anything beyong that is daft. Perhaps not arrogant, that'd speak to a person's motivations, but over reaching imo.
Induction is hardly reliable [hence, the Problem of], there may be no facts not relative to something outside of our experience as a collective.

Hard Agnosticism is hardly "intellectually lazy", dismissing the position as such however, is.

447

Does Anyone Still Believe in God?

by LaurenM in

do any of you ex-jw's still believe in god?

even with the new rebranding/softening of this religion, i still don't see how people can believe in him.

the god of the old testimate is an angry murderer who approved rapes and slavery and killed thousands of men, women and children.

stuffwotifink

From your OP it's clear you mean the god of the bible. No, not even a remote chance, imo. Not a fart in a hurricane.

I don't know enough about any other gods postulated to come to a firm conclusion, though I doubt their existence. Silence can be deafening.

As for the source of the material universe being an immaterial mind...
Fuq if I know. I can imagine less likely things. Eat some shrooms and the idea of a god is banal and unimaginative, at best.

23

Elusive happiness teaches a hidden truth!

by iconoclastic in

many seek happiness externally and many a time assign others the possession of their happiness.

when they derive a sort of happiness from external sources, they dont feel satisfied, hence jump to the next and then to the next .... in contrast, jesus said gods kingdom (or real happiness) is within (entos) you.

this cannot be misinterpreted as jesus being the king of the kingdom was amidst them as jws do.

stuffwotifink

One can easily prove kingdom of God is within himself/herself.

Sweet.
Go right ahead...

75

Lurker trying to gain clarity

by questioningmyfaith in

jw
friends

hello all, i would like to first say that i am basically questioning my faith in god.

i am not negative towards the wt at all.

so honestly i am to concerned with more ad hominem attacks towards the wt because i still love the organization and the people in it.

stuffwotifink

In your OP you said

I only mention this because I don't plan on engaging with anyone that just wants to talk bad about the people

and

I have already accepted that the WT is wrong about a lot of stuff. It doesn't bother me too much to be honest. I am more concerned with whether or not I believe in god.

But then you only respond about the WT and you ignore any of the numerous people who actually engaged with your 2 queries.

I'm not saying that this makes you a dishonest and snake tongued WT apologist.
It just makes you look like one.

79

Death is not something to be feared!

by iconoclastic in

science can explain how of things, but it cannot explain why of certain things (for example, why did life arise from non-life and evolved from simpler creatures to more complex life forms only to die and disappear?

) so are the conflicted religions whose chief concern is in safeguarding each ones separate identity..

next option is to look for pearls among the stonesusing power of our own reason.

stuffwotifink

When used skilfully, however, it's really handy for getting morons to STFU.

Sure, that'll do it. I just agree with whatever the hell they are saying, straight faced, in the most oily way I can. Works a treat for ending the interaction.

79

Death is not something to be feared!

by iconoclastic in

science can explain how of things, but it cannot explain why of certain things (for example, why did life arise from non-life and evolved from simpler creatures to more complex life forms only to die and disappear?

) so are the conflicted religions whose chief concern is in safeguarding each ones separate identity..

next option is to look for pearls among the stonesusing power of our own reason.

stuffwotifink

There may not be a "Why" in the sense that you are using the word OP.
Mankind does not know.
Nobody claiming that there is a "Why", has ever been able to elucidate to the rest of the world a "Why" that's sufficient, never mind come up with one that's also necessary.

Unless you can show a good reason for believing there even is a "Why" to be puzzled over - what is the purpose in doing so? It may well be akin to asking how many corners a circle has.

I've never understood why people are impressed when asked a question they can't answer. It is hardly a mark of the question's merit...

"What has it got in its nasty little pocketses?"

12

Parrots Turn Carnivores.....Media Article ..Sure to get J.W.`s all excited .

by smiddy in

the first part was a heading in the herald sun newspaper tues.sep.15 ,2015 melbourne victoria .. , lorikeets and other parrots are becoming meat eaters---and researchers want to know why.. griffith university professor darryl jones has heard the herbivorous bird was eating mince left out by bird feeders in brisbane (australia ) "in two weeks i had about 500 emails from across the country all saying lorikeets were eating meat" he said.. that will surely get the faithful thinking the big "a" is almost upon us.. in the 1960`s i was told that buzzards and other carnivorous birds were laying twice as many eggs than was normal proving the big "a' was almost here.. here we go again.

smiddy.

stuffwotifink

You just reminded me of a number of "seriousface" conversations I had with dubz about how the seagulls that come into cities because of the dumps - are a bird which will eat carrion! "GASP!" And that totally counts and stuff... right?

The stupidity of it would make me blush if I had any shame left.
"Look, a seagull, that must mean it's The Truth."
Grasping after straws.

9

Knowing good and bad and being judged for it...

by purrpurr in

the belief is that god created the tree of the knowledge of good and bad right?

but then forbid adam and eve to eat from it because if they did they would understand good and bad.... the belief also is that either at death or armageddon we will be judged as to whether we have been good or bad.... so it seems that god did not want humans to have the knowledge of how to be good or bad in the first place but still wants to judge them on it?!?.

i always thought when reading that part of the bible " what would have been so wrong for humans to have that knowledge in the beginning?

stuffwotifink

Never made sense to me.
If we accept that we deserve whatever god does to us because we know good and bad... Wouldn't that also mean that Adam and Eve don't deserve punishment because they didn't know good and bad when they ate the fruit, only after?
Never mind the fact that he then judged the whole of mankind on the moral choices of a creature he made amoral.

Seems like Yahweh holds people to the letter of the law, not its spirit. And was doing so even before he gave the law! I guess Yahweh never read Romans 2...

79

Death is not something to be feared!

by iconoclastic in

science can explain how of things, but it cannot explain why of certain things (for example, why did life arise from non-life and evolved from simpler creatures to more complex life forms only to die and disappear?

) so are the conflicted religions whose chief concern is in safeguarding each ones separate identity..

next option is to look for pearls among the stonesusing power of our own reason.

stuffwotifink

"Well, you were wrong."

Sweet, I can live with that.

"I dunno, by correcting your mistaken belief, I guess."

When I'm being a smart arse I guess I should be more pointed, I meant in regard to the comment I'd already made, I could hardly have done so retroactively, after all. Seems pithy wit is not my forté, dagnabbit.

"I never made any claim about the existence of teleological answers. That's where you're going off the rails."

I never claimed you made a claim. I simply asked if the claim was not implicit.

I am quite happy to accept your word on the matter. It seems my attempt at specificity has come across as argumentative or picky... Or something the like.
I still think that my misunderstanding is understandable - given the context of the statement - But am happy to stand, as I said, thoroughly (I always want to spell that "thouroughly") corrected as to your intended meaning.

Hmm, in case that sounds a little mealy mouthed to you (a la JW.borg), which it does to me: I accept your correction, you know what you meant far better than I.