im not an atheist, makes no mathematical sense, nor does the buy(more) bull(shit) god make any logical sense... maybe a deist on my best day, in the end you cannot get something from nothing, paradox if you ask me... but in reality i just dont care.
while in, and moving out of the cult, its like a roller coaster, emotionally, yet, for me, over time, i just take it one day at a time, and if appeasing some special deity is required, well i guess i failed.
lol.
It was merciful to kill all of those children, because some of them would have been abused otherwise? That's... morbid.
Wouldn't a better solution be to not kill them, and also to protect them from sexual predators and terrible people? I mean, I'm not as inscrutable as God, but that strikes me as a legitimate option.
article from the last days newsletter (june 5-11, 2023).
it has been said that by reading the watchtower and awake!
magazines, along with other publications of jehovah’s witnesses, a person will receive, over a period of years, a considerable and broad education.. …would you like to grow in knowledge, obtaining an education of even much greater value than can be received in any college?
I remember that they used to disparage critical thinking. I think they referred to it as "high criticism" at one time, and they taught that it was a dangerous approach, as it might stumble those who do not reject it.
So it's nothing new, they know how to word things so as to mislead the rank and file. Note how that recent announcement states that they "are pleased to inform you" that they have "decided" to produce only one new issue of each of the magazines. They used to produce one of each every two weeks! They want the rank and file to see this massively-reduced output as a blessing of some kind.
im not an atheist, makes no mathematical sense, nor does the buy(more) bull(shit) god make any logical sense... maybe a deist on my best day, in the end you cannot get something from nothing, paradox if you ask me... but in reality i just dont care.
while in, and moving out of the cult, its like a roller coaster, emotionally, yet, for me, over time, i just take it one day at a time, and if appeasing some special deity is required, well i guess i failed.
lol.
One point about the story of Job, that disturbs me: Job is described as a righteous person, someone who God is so impressed with that He boasts to the Devil about him. The Devil makes a very poor argument in order to get permission to destroy Job's life, and God is okay with this. Job, in the face of massive loss and overwhelming grief, stays loyal to God. This loyalty is rewarded by God agreeing to let the Devil ravage his body with disease and his mind with the lies and accusations of three "friends."
Job remains loyal, and insists that he will wait on God to explain his plight. Finally, God shows up and... brutally excoriates Job for having the temerity to expect an explanation from Him. He makes a long speech that is basically a "who do you think you are" rant, finally forcing Job --who has gone through all of this because God decided that it was okay-- to apologize for expecting an answer from this being that he had shown unwavering loyalty to.
We are to understand that this callous insensitivity was forgotten by Job after God returned him to his prior life, although his first ten children and numerous servants presumably remained dead. And I guess his wife paid for her wavering, having to birth another ten children. And note that I did not say Job forgave God. If he'd even thought of expressing forgiveness, God might have become so indignant as to vaporize the poor fellow.
The God of the Bible can turn your life completely upside-down on a whim, and you have no right to expect an explanation. And, if the book of Job describes real events, that is just what He did. I can't imagine spending an eternity around someone who has shown a propensity to do things like that. How long would it take to eventually empty the heavens?
im not an atheist, makes no mathematical sense, nor does the buy(more) bull(shit) god make any logical sense... maybe a deist on my best day, in the end you cannot get something from nothing, paradox if you ask me... but in reality i just dont care.
while in, and moving out of the cult, its like a roller coaster, emotionally, yet, for me, over time, i just take it one day at a time, and if appeasing some special deity is required, well i guess i failed.
lol.
Iriddle80: The God of the bible is far more complex than you or I can imagine is what it tells me. His ways are not our ways.
Iriddle80: God will destroy people as he sees fit. He made us, it's his prerogative.
You have described a being who has the right --and the power-- to destroy people, and who is also too complex to understand. A being whose "ways are not our ways." We cannot trust this being to have the same sense of justice, mercy, or kindness that we know and expect of one another. The god you describe has taken extreme actions in the past, striking down people for minor actions and even wiping out nearly all life on the planet.
So, what do we have? A being of incalculable power, against whom we are defenseless, and who we aren't really sure we understand. A being whose every action --regardless of how we would judge it if it was done by another human-- is by definition good. Who could, if he so wished, visit torture and death on every living being in existence and still be in the right. Who can do the most seemingly evil things, yet not be evil.
What you describe is the scariest possible thing one can imagine. A terrifying being.
original reddit post (removed).
It's amusing to see him getting such vociferous support from someone calling herself "chastity queen."
"brother mcmillan wrote "faith on the march" about his wonderful life at bethel.
he wrote of an incident in 1943 where a group of witnesses in jail for refusing military service were against getting vaccinated and he came to the rescue visiting them and telling them it was ok. the reason for this was "the golden age" magazine in the 1920's describes vaccines as puss filled poison...so they were following their watchtower training..
They once regarded organ transplants as the equivalent of cannibalism. And they still expect the rank and file to reject blood transfusions. They're not exactly the place where you'd go for reliable health info.
original reddit post (removed).
Arnie sounds like a jerk. I think the biggest difference is that Schwarzeneggar waited until after he'd become famous and wealthy before nuking his marriage by failing to master his penis, and before making dumb and inflammatory public comments.
im not an atheist, makes no mathematical sense, nor does the buy(more) bull(shit) god make any logical sense... maybe a deist on my best day, in the end you cannot get something from nothing, paradox if you ask me... but in reality i just dont care.
while in, and moving out of the cult, its like a roller coaster, emotionally, yet, for me, over time, i just take it one day at a time, and if appeasing some special deity is required, well i guess i failed.
lol.
Maybe he bit off more than he could chew.
canada has universal healthcare.
the consensus is that america never will.
can anyone explain why, please?
Diogenesister: That wouldn't work because everyone would move to the state that has healthcare free at the point of access.
Well... kinda. Lots of big cities here offer a number of subsidized services for the poor, and that does indeed draw in more poor families, and sometimes pushes away the wealthy. While the budgets of many of these states are stretched thin by the demand, this hasn't really led to a mass exodus or a raft of bankrupt states (though the quality of life does suffer).
On the other hand, I do think we're seeing the effects of years of slow and steady migration of wealthy individuals and businesses towards states that cater to them. I think we're in the midst of a big experiment. The USA is so large and prosperous that we effectively have many different regions, with their own economies and rules and options. Who/what wins out is anyone's guess, and I think it will be decades before we understand the results.
Phizzy: Big Pharma would have to deal with a National buying Agency
This is where we run into a big problem with how things are done here: big Pharma --like any other large business/industry-- has an army of lobbyists who will use targeted pressure (and lots of money) to influence how things are done. I think they have an unhealthy level of influence and input into laws and regulations. The attempts to use social awareness to counter them has, IMO, been highjacked by the more extreme political elements, who have discovered that political power is even more intoxicating than money.
from an article appearing in this week's edition of the last days newsletter:.
licking at an ice cream cone during our spiritual feasts - the watchtower magazine, june 1, 1953. .
have you ever heard of ‘a self-licking ice cream cone’?.
Have you ever heard of a 'self-fellating governing body'?
