Posts by THE GLADIATOR

Why does the cohesiveness and awesomeness of the universe require a god. To create the universe the god would have to be more powerful and awesome than its creation.

There are forces at work throughout the universe that have been present for billions of years. The universe may be conscious of its existence, though not in the way we think of consciousness. There may well be other life in far away galaxies.

To me, this is billions of miles away from a personal god we can kneel down to, worship or talk to.

76

I used to be a JW! Shocking, I know

by NewChapter in

it's true.

i used to be a jw.

i was duped.

THE GLADIATOR

Over the years I have had some heavy debates with Christians on this forum, both as Gladiator and under my real name. Whenever I quoted bible versus that contradicted their assertions, they would state that the bible is not inerrant or reliable. At other times they would quote from the same bible as the final authority to support their beliefs.

Whenever I questioned the duplicity of this contradictory behaviour, I was told that I was stuck with a Jehovah's Witness mentality that affected my attitude towards the bible. They urged me to embrace a more elastic view of the bible and belief. A flexible, slippery, imaginative attitude that perceives the bible as a no more than a metaphor.

As it happens I see my time spent as a Jehovah's Witness as a positive experience. It has enabled me to smell bull a mile off.

13

Belief in evolution begets belief in God

by yadda yadda 2 in

jw
friends

a strange statement i know.

but consider.... if humans evolved, and humans are a relatively recent evolution, then would it not make sense to believe there might be other far more ancient intelligent beings (who would appear to humans to be like gods/a god) who began evolving long before humans?

in a sense, to believe in human evolution hardly refutes god's existence, unless you believe that us humans are the only thing in the entire universe that has evolved into a salient, intelligent, self-aware being.

THE GLADIATOR

NewChapter I don't know what you are on today - but I want some!

13

Belief in evolution begets belief in God

by yadda yadda 2 in

jw
friends

a strange statement i know.

but consider.... if humans evolved, and humans are a relatively recent evolution, then would it not make sense to believe there might be other far more ancient intelligent beings (who would appear to humans to be like gods/a god) who began evolving long before humans?

in a sense, to believe in human evolution hardly refutes god's existence, unless you believe that us humans are the only thing in the entire universe that has evolved into a salient, intelligent, self-aware being.

THE GLADIATOR

Why do humans feel a need to believe? We can take in facts, knowledge and then just say uh-hu.

I don’t believe in the sun - I see it. I don’t believe in thunders storms - I witness them, therefore I know they can occur. I have never been outside of the Solar System but I know there are other galaxies because I have seen the evidence.

I can study evolution, visit a natural history museum and see that evolution is supported by evidence. Details have yet to immerge but scientists are on the right track. No belief is required.

There is no need to refute the existence of ‘God.’ I have seen no evidence that such a concept exists. The same goes for demons, devils, imps, pixies, leprechauns and so on. Once we start to imagine what might exist, our imagination can run wild.

Sticking with the facts and adding to our knowledge as new information is presented does not require belief, just patience.

50

Being publicly religious is a lot like being a NUDIST

by Terry in

nudists let it all hang out.. "look at me!

" is their motto.. being the center of attention doesn't bother them as much as it encourages them to be all they can be...in full public view.. .

in fact, exhibitionism is at the core of this personality.

THE GLADIATOR

When it comes to nudists (they prefer to be called naturists but what the heck) I am not bothered by people with attractive bodies baring all but the ones with ugly bodies should keep it to themselves.

The same applies to religion. People that have nice beliefs and love everybody are fine. Ugly religious beliefs, like hell-fire and damnation, should be kept to oneself and not aired in public.

251

Evidence for God...

by tec in

jw
friends

life come from the living, and this is a universe of life.

his teachings are truth.

which is why i weight it against the truth of the teachings (and one other thing that i will get to).

THE GLADIATOR

passwordprotected To Christians, Christ personally contacting them is evidence to them, which as you say, makes it subjective evidence. According to the bible Christ spoke his followers in person and after his death, so this is what is expected. At the end of the day, one believes this happens or they don’t. I'm lucky if the bin man speaks to me.

10

Christians Expect Too Much of God Compared To Witnesses?

by passwordprotected in

my wife and i were chatting about this last night.

having left the jws, we quickly became heavily involved in a born-again christian church, and the culture associated with it.. i've completely jettisoned any faith in supernatural god beings, and we were chatting about how intense christians are about god and how much they expect their version of the sun god to do in their lives.. however, as witnesses, you always had a fairly low expectation of jehovah, right?

you never really expected him to "show up" and help you, did you?.

THE GLADIATOR

passwordprotected Good to see you are still around and posting.

I read your post on the Evidence for God thread which expanded on what you are saying here.

I agree with you. Nothing I can add.