Topics Started by Saethydd

2
Living as Christians: Help your Children Develop an Unhealthy Confirmation Bias Against Science
by Saethydd in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
creation declares jehovah's glory.

however, the devil's world promotes god-dishonoring theories about the origin of life.. .

wow, how did i once not see how crazy this crap sounds?.
5
Divine Punishment???
by Saethydd in
1. watchtower
2. bible
i was recently at a sunday watchtower, reading one of the novels i have on my ipad to help me get through the dreadfully boring event.

every once in awhile though i'll glance at the article just in case anyone is peeking at my screen, and in the article, i noticed these paragraphs.. 3. how did exile in babylon differ from the slavery the israelites had experienced in egypt?.

3 what the prophets had foretold came to pass.
19
Conditional Love
by Saethydd in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
i've noticed several posts recently claiming that jw friends and family members give out conditional love.

well, i'm not so sure that is entirely accurate, in fact, i would say they tend to be very steadfast in their love.

the issue is this, they have been taught a poor form of love.
22
Looking for a Book on Evolution
by Saethydd in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
i am wondering if anyone is aware of a book or series of videos designed to explain evolution to creationists, (specifically the jw strain of creationism if possible) without being patronizing or overly confrontational.

i would like to have something to recommend to people who challenge evolution, but i know that the sources which convinced me would turn most of them off because of the confrontational and at times condescending tone in which it's presented.. some examples of what i'm looking for would be someone who doesn't claim evolution is a fact until after they have presented all of the evidence that makes it a fact and also have addressed as many counter-arguments as possible..
29
A Mathematic Perspective on Evolution
by Saethydd in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
i would like to apologize in advance if any of my information on the biology side of this discussion is incorrect, because unfortunately it is not my strongest scientific subject on account of my being subtly encouraged to view it with distrust.. i've recently debated the of subject of evolution with my father, i made the argument that when viewed over several million years random mutation provides a more than adequate explanation for humans having evolved from a common ancestor with chimpanzees.

then he got this derisive look on his face a waved his hand saying "evolution's explanation for everything is the amount of time involved.".

so i decided i would examine this mathematically.
3
The Cheerleader Effect
by Saethydd in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
the cheerleader effect is a cognitive bias that causes people to appear more attractive in a group.

i'm no expert on psychology, but i have a theory that a similar phenomenon exists for beliefs.

by compiling a list of beliefs you make them appear more reasonable, however, if you actually break one away from the herd and really break it down you can easily discover what an illogical mess it truly is.. i first noticed this when i debated with my father on the subject of the bible, oftentimes when i would make a valid argument against the bible he would say something along the lines of, "and that is enough to make you forget about such and such" (usually the "accuracy" of bible "prophecy" or the good effect the bible has on people's lives).
26
Feb. 2017 "Who is Leading God's People Today?"
by Saethydd in
1. watchtower
2. bible
i know that i am not by any means the first person to take note of this article, but today i finally got around to reading it.

i quickly found the now infamous line "the governing body is neither inspired nor infallible.

" in the interest of fairness, however, i decided to finish the paragraph, which led me to finish the lesson.
19
My Thoughts on the Subject of Faith
by Saethydd in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
i've had several discussion about the basis for faith in an all powerful creator for the universe, and it seems as if the conversation often comes back to, "well, either way, you have to have faith either in a creator or in the process of evolution because you can't observe that either.

" setting aside the issue of creation and evolution (where i currently sit at undecided), i was also troubled by the tendency to treat faith as a static or absolute concept when in reality it is far more complex.. to begin with, faith isn't just about belief, it combines the concepts of belief and trust.

for the purposes of this discussion, i will be focusing primarily on the second attribute.
26
Questions for the Biblical God
by Saethydd in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
i consider myself an agnostic, i feel no sense of certainty that there is a single all-powerful creator who made the entire universe, and yet i must acknowledge that the universe is a large place that is filled with much beauty so the possibility of an intelligent mind being behind it is certainly there.

lately, however, i do have more and more doubts about the god of the bible being a candidate for that all-powerful creator should such a being even exist at all.. these doubts are founded upon a number of questions for which i have never found any satisfying biblical or logical answer.

instead, i was simply chided with the remark that "god's actions aren't always meant to be understood by humans," which i found to be a very unsatisfying answer.
28
Fading or Disassociating
by Saethydd in
1. jw
2. experiences
hello, i'm new here.. i'm a college student who has been raised in the "truth" for my entire life.

i was baptized at 10 years old, and looking back now i know i didn't fully grasp everything involved, for one thing i don't even recall ever going to jehovah in a special prayer to dedicate myself to him, but anyway that's the past and my focus is really on the present.

i'm currently pursuing an associates degree, but i find myself desiring to pursue a bachelors in my chosen field so that i may have a somewhat more secure future.