Posts by norm67

2

to dunsscot

by norm67 in

jw
friends

i've read your comments on the freedom of thought and keirkegaard threads...not that i understand much of it, but it looks you are a person with lots of knowledge in philosophy/theology.

i'm not very well versed in these fields but one question that i have been wondering about is what i is called theodicee(sp??).

as you know, it basically goes like this if i understand it correctly,.

norm67

hello dunsscot/dan (and everyone else of course too),

i've read your comments on the freedom of thought and keirkegaard threads...not that i understand much of it, but it looks you are a person with lots of knowledge in philosophy/theology. i'm not very well versed in these fields but one question that i have been wondering about is what i is called theodicee(sp??). as you know, it basically goes like this if i understand it correctly,

- either god wants to do away with evil (or suffering) and he is unable to do so: that would mean he is a weak god, and according to the bible he is the almighty sovereign ruler of the universe
- or he is able, but unwilling to remove evil: that would mean he is not benevolent and wants evil to exist, which is also in conflict with the scriptures (if he created everything, why did he create evil in the first place?)
- or he is able and willing to do so: why does evil still exist then?

this seems to be a fundamental question of theology to me, one that is hard if not impossible to solve. i'm sure that many religious people / philosophers must have thought about this. what did the great thinkers say? what's your take on this? i'd really like to hear your thoughts. please keep it simple for me, and take into account i don't have a lot of philosophy books available

thanks

norm

ps. i, for one, think it's great your on this board, dan, but please try to be gentler to people. it's easy to make fun of everyone when you're anonymus. anyway, keep it up!

// if you find any spelling mistakes, please keep them :-)

10

hi!

by norm67 in

jw
friends

a friend told me about this board some months ago, i've been lurking here ever since and really enjoyed it.

so i thought i might as well register *g*.

about me: baptized in the 80s, pioneer, ms, the usual stuff...inactive for 3+ yrs now.

norm67

thanks for your kind words, people!

ozzie: well, i'm not a good writer at all and i'm still a little paranoid about giving away too much information.

it's a long story, but basically, i spent all my jw life 'on the run'. many jws are on guilt trips, but mine was the worst you could imagine. in my first 2 congregations i was marked for 'wrongdoing' that was NOTHING compared to the things other 'brothers' did. but i was naive enough to report it dutifully to the elders each and every time. you can't believe just HOW guiltridden my existence was. whenever i felt some brothers weren't acting like true christians, i quickly pushed the thought aside and blamed myself for being judgmental. everything, absolutely everything was my very own fault, and it seemed to be impossible to live up to the standards. of course, i tried (quite sucessfully) to keep a happy facade and told everyone how great living in the truth is. i think i did that to persuade myself that is really is the truth, and that i _should_ be happy. i moved from congregation to congregation (with all sorts of excuses like finding a better job there, but in reality it was about the congregations), but things didn't become better. i always had the feeling of being a 'black sheep', even if it was just for the reason that i didn't feel as happy as i should! the pressure was unbelievable. with time, i learned that i'm not the only one feeling that way...and then came the internet...and then the dam broke. it was a painful experience but once i had broken free from the org, i felt GREAT. still do. it's as if someone took a huge sack full of stones from my back. unfortunately i have to keep a low profile because, as i said before, some of my family are still in. but that's just a minor inconvenience compared to my active jw days.

norm

10

hi!

by norm67 in

jw
friends

a friend told me about this board some months ago, i've been lurking here ever since and really enjoyed it.

so i thought i might as well register *g*.

about me: baptized in the 80s, pioneer, ms, the usual stuff...inactive for 3+ yrs now.

norm67

hi!

a friend told me about this board some months ago, i've been lurking here ever since and really enjoyed it. so i thought i might as well register *g*. about me: baptized in the 80s, pioneer, ms, the usual stuff...inactive for 3+ yrs now. i don't want to give too many details about myself as some of my family are still in. but there's hope, maybe it's wishful thinking but i've noticed they are having some nagging doubts as well.

well, that's it for the moment! thanks for reading, sorry it wasn't very interesting

norm (no, i'm NOT the norwegion guy...or maybe i AM from norway? who knows? *bg*)