Slim - just come back to this but others have pretty much covered it.
If we look to sky fairies to explain what we don't understand then we will never try to explain it for ourselves. And that is a bad thing.
science.. landed a probe on a comet, found liquid water on mars and successfully completed a ten year mission to pluto.. developed the first successful vaccine against ebola, discovered another human species in homo naledi, developed cancer killing molecules and high intensity ultrasound therapies which avoid surgery and leave healthy cells alone.
successfully mapped the human epigenome and developed the gene editing tool crispr, it's potential for medical and agricultural advance is staggering!.
found a way to produce graphene for a 1000th of the previous cost, developed cheap and sustainable methods to supply clean drinking water where water borne infections have been killing thousands, scaled up production of clean, renewable energy.. there's loads more, please feel free to add to the list.. .
Slim - just come back to this but others have pretty much covered it.
If we look to sky fairies to explain what we don't understand then we will never try to explain it for ourselves. And that is a bad thing.
to all congregations.
re: new songs for memorial.
dear brothers:.
i don't know if i can put my musings clearly into words , but i' ll try to be coherant !
on a couple of other threads lately folk have said that they have no wish to disenchant jws who are happy in the org .
those who have no personal problems and are content to stay in , thinking that it is good way to live and the nearest thing to the truth .
You are correct with this statement BUT, the Governing Body). These are the ones chosen by Jehovahs Holy spirit, correct? Jehovah chooses these ones to direct the sheep but some are living a double life
Yep, there is an elder in our old cong that's just been done for some seriously nasty stuff on his pc. Googling his name led me here fwiw.
Strangely enough, none of my 'worldly' mates have ever been done for that. Quelle surprise.
john 8.58 is one of those scriptures which translators often mis-translate.. i am aware this text is defended with passion either way by its advocates.
many insist the "i am" rendering found in many versions is correct.
others defend the "i have been" or "i was" readings of other versions.
Wonderment - you either have far too much time on your hands or you need to get a life.
There's a big world out there. Go see some of it.
soooo... i think the main strength of this group is having the finances to keep this con game going.
i'm hoping that the pedophilia cases are draining them dry so we can be rid of this stumbling block from an organizational stand point.
how is the constant surge of bad news getting out on them effecting the everyday person in this organization?
jw girl non-jw guy.
tenuous boyfriend-girlfriend relationship.
what is more likely to strengthen a relationship?.
From memory most JW girls were pretty game so you should be ok.
But if she hasn't put out after the third date call it quits :)
(Before I get jumped on my tongue is firmly in my cheek)
despite claims to the contrary, there's no guarantee the watchtower will be around in a few decades time.
and it seems to me there's ever mounting evidence that the opposite may well be true.
but it's not just that recruitment is down and their defectors are up.
That last one is brilliant. Who is it?
His eyebrows are truly special, up and down, up and down.
And the way he looks at the camera suggests he's getting a prostate exam.
Surely they could have picked a better public speaker!
i remember going out with other jws after the memorial.. small gatherings.. picnics at some local landmark.. the feeling of closeness, camaraderie, friendship with like minded people you could trust.. haven't experienced it since i left.. really miss that..
What Simon has just said.
Motorcycle groups
Women's institute
etc, etc.
will all give a sense of 'belonging' if that's your thing.
science.. landed a probe on a comet, found liquid water on mars and successfully completed a ten year mission to pluto.. developed the first successful vaccine against ebola, discovered another human species in homo naledi, developed cancer killing molecules and high intensity ultrasound therapies which avoid surgery and leave healthy cells alone.
successfully mapped the human epigenome and developed the gene editing tool crispr, it's potential for medical and agricultural advance is staggering!.
found a way to produce graphene for a 1000th of the previous cost, developed cheap and sustainable methods to supply clean drinking water where water borne infections have been killing thousands, scaled up production of clean, renewable energy.. there's loads more, please feel free to add to the list.. .
Religion hasn't made a positive contribution to anything. Ever.
It's been nothing but a hinderance to mankind's advancement.
if you were a jw and are now an atheist or agnostic, what was the tipping point that made you turn to it?.
the reason i ask is i have noticed that many who leave the jw's seem to turn to atheism, versus still having some form of a faith.
have many of you given up on god first or have you had atheistic views first and then found atheism to be true.
I'm fond of, and in complete agreement with, Carl Sagan's assessment of the situation:-
- The idea that God is an oversized white male with a flowing beard who sits in the sky and tallies the fall of every sparrow is ludicrous. But if by God one means the set of physical laws that govern the universe, then clearly there is such a God. This God is emotionally unsatisfying ... it does not make much sense to pray to the law of gravity.
This does not, however, make me an atheist. As far as I'm concerned, claiming that there is no God is almost as irrational as claiming there is one. Again, I'll share a succinct comment from Sagan on that point as well:
- An atheist is someone who is certain that God does not exist, someone who has compelling evidence against the existence of God. I know of no such compelling evidence. Because God can be relegated to remote times and places and to ultimate causes, we would have to know a great deal more about the universe than we do to be sure that no such God exists. To be certain of the existence of God and to be certain of the nonexistence of God seem to me to be the confident extremes in a subject so riddled with doubt and uncertainty as to inspire very little confidence indeed. - Conversations with Carl Sagan (2006), edited by Tom Head, p. 70
So in one statement sagan says a belief in a theist god is ludicrous then the next one goes on to say 'well, we can't prove it's not there'??
Well, it's impossible to prove a negative. It's up to the believers to demonstrate the existence of something by producing evidence. It's not up to the skeptic to disprove it.
This is an age old example but it serves a purpose: I believe there's a huge teapot orbiting the sun between earth and mars. Prove to me there isn't.