*sigh*
70 years is symbolic in Hebrew belief, and is usually to be interpreted as 72 years (which is a multiple of 12 and half of 144... Holy writ is loaded with astrology and numerology.)
so, you left because of a bad example(s).. why all the whining?
nothing better to do with your time?.
you at least know far more about the bible than any church-goer?.
*sigh*
70 years is symbolic in Hebrew belief, and is usually to be interpreted as 72 years (which is a multiple of 12 and half of 144... Holy writ is loaded with astrology and numerology.)
so, you left because of a bad example(s).. why all the whining?
nothing better to do with your time?.
you at least know far more about the bible than any church-goer?.
That's nice.
think of your favorite tv shows.
what do they all have in common?
the answer is they revolve around some type of problem or conflict.
There will always be conflict. A concept of perfection without conflict is wishful thinking, and it's also poisonous to art.
meant to hopefully get your mind off the craziness which we sadly refer to as the news these days,.
we'll call this one .
fun for seculars.
It puts you in the positive strong atheist claim that there is definitely no god(s), and the burden now lies on you to prove that case.
And plenty of information is available to make that case. What deism remains is left to the human imagination in response to the evidence that there is no god.
meant to hopefully get your mind off the craziness which we sadly refer to as the news these days,.
we'll call this one .
fun for seculars.
Theism
They say that God didn't create man but man created God. I feel there is motivational and political psychology at work in theism, and I sense a little bit of human narcissism. Why is God anthropomorphic, the "Grand Man of the Universe"? Is there a god for lizards and whales and chimpanzees too?
"Well there is one god and he created us in his image." Why did he create us as apes then? Why not something else entirely?
And like any other spiritualist matter, why is it that the magic spell of creation is explainable through science WITHOUT a magical anthropomorphic deity?
Deism
Okay, so the God of the Bible doesn't exist. That still leaves it open for deism, right? Perhaps there was a deity who directed evolution to some degree and then left entirely. Well, in that case, you'd have to prove that intelligent direction was really needed at any point, which it evidently wasn't. And my contention with deism is... Who should care? Why care about deism? What does this deity matter at all? Even if it were true, it would be like, "Wow, cool. Well I'm glad this deity doesn't require us to worship him, now let's move on with life."
Conclusion
I'm a 7. I'm fine with gods as psychological/political/universal metaphor, to the extent that it is understood that we aren't talking about an actual intelligent designer in the sky. The Stoics referred to nature as Zeus, Einstein referred to God, and none of them believed in an actual god or pantheon. The problem, of course, is when all the 1s and 2s confuse their expression for sincere belief.
TL;DR Prove to me that the Invisible Pink Unicorn doesn't exist and I will use your method.
we all 'exit' in our own way and at our own pace but i'm curious, why carry on stuffing yourself into that stiff suit and tie or meeting dress years after you realised the truth about 'the truth'?.
they kept you a prisoner, what's stopping you from leaving now that you have the key to your own cell?.
loved ones?
Hope the best for you, @Sorry. Sounds like you are putting together a nice support system and fade strategy.
demo talking about view of girls comeing out as lesbian.
comment was we respect lesbians.
but i was thinking some do not respect a person enough to speak to them at kh if there df wow..
@FedUpJW, all joking aside, I do wonder how the elders would approach a gay married couple. If any manipulation is used with even a hint of intent to break them up, that'll be one hell of a lawsuit.
we all 'exit' in our own way and at our own pace but i'm curious, why carry on stuffing yourself into that stiff suit and tie or meeting dress years after you realised the truth about 'the truth'?.
they kept you a prisoner, what's stopping you from leaving now that you have the key to your own cell?.
loved ones?
I'm fighting that, too, Schnell.
But I love the bros and sis- and sometimes actually LEARN something...whereas in the past, it was impossible to go and NOT learn something!
I love people in general, but find the cognitive dissonance surrounding Watchtower's handling of pedophiles quite disgusting. Many elders are well intended but intellectually naive and dishonest, as well as captive to WT dogma as you point out. Some are complete asshats. The writing is on the wall for Watchtower. Mene mene tekel parsin, indeed.
for those claiming that- how much thought or research have you done?.
objective or non-objective?.
ever read the other books claiming to be from god?
the Genesis account is the ONLY sensible explanation (going along with science) of how we got here
Oh, I think there's a better explanation than that one.
"do you believe in jesus?".
yes.. "do you believe in jehovah?".
yes.. "do you believe in the grand man of the universe?".
Much simpler than that, @David_Jay. :) A few threads have popped up in recent days about belief in God and Jesus Christ. I was in a mood last night and wrote the OP.
The fact is, I don't believe in any of them, but I still take some value from something I know to be myth.