AndDontCallMeShirley Your quote is from The God Delusion. I am reading that book at this very time. Dawkins shines a refreshingly bright beam of light on the antics of religious believers and their duplicity.
THE GLADIATOR
JoinedPosts by THE GLADIATOR
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the god of bible is a god of love?
by trackregister99 ini readthe bibleentirely and i study in the past with jw, but i have many questions and doubts about god.
(sorry for my english).
is god a god of love?
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Wouldn't it just makes sense for GOD to...
by confusedandalone injust one day perform some form of miracle in front of the entire earth in which he proves he exists???.
wouldn't this be the most loving and sensible thing to do?
for instance, this coming thursday god repeatedly strikes mount kilamanjaro to the point that it reads in hebrew, "god exists, i just did this.
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THE GLADIATOR
What does the fact that so many posts are devoted to asking why God has not done this or that, tell us? Why God won’t make an appearance, or show some interest in the misery that exists on planet earth for many people?
Silence speaks louder than words, and by now it is patently clear that the idea of God is a failed concept. The idea that an invisible being that controls the universe, and is responsible for its existence and well being, is absurd. The same can be said of a Devil.
Who of us spend hours each week discussing whether President Obhama really exists? Or whether the Queen of England is real, or elephants exist?
If God existed we would not be having this conversation.
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In 12 Lines or Less: GIVE US YOUR AUTOBIOGRAPHY POETICALLY
by Terry inautobiography.
forever began at the day of my birth, but, it turns out that it was a lie,.
i am who i am when nobody's watching, then nothing is there to deny.. .
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THE GLADIATOR
Letting Go
I reach but cannot grasp, my hand is weak at last; falling I look up towards an empty sky
Look an empty cup, half full before, I could reach out but why?
I understand now I am older, so much I was not told; that cunning façade, neatly labelled life
Illusion thinly dressed as valued gold; the thin veneer has worn away, to uncover nothing that is real
Reality was carefully hidden underneath the trampled boards, beneath the playhouse stage
Away from actors playing out their passion and their rage.
Neither a player nor a patron, unconvinced and un-amused, I shake my weary head and refuse
Just a drifter passing through, I leave no trace behind. Invisible before I’m gone, I’m in a place called truth. H ere there is no night or day
No judgment, wrong or right; no battles left to fight; no need to be afraid, my dues have all been paid. I did not slip or fall
I just refused to hold. I was not struck blind, I simply closed my mind
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When "The Persecution" Comes - What a Let Down that turned out to be!
by cofty inwhen i was young there was endless speculation about "the persecution".
i have very clear memories as a child sitting in the old kingdom hall in coatbridge hearing it talked about from the platform.
it was a frequent topic at home.. sometimes there was lurid detail about what sort of torture "they" might use against us to make us betray others.
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THE GLADIATOR
From my memoirs:
Now brother Game was on the platform demonstrating how to use a reversible jacket. This was one of several things we could use to disguise ourselves and escape our pursuers when ‘under persecution.’ Apparently we were on the brink of the great tribulation, which would lead to the battle of Armageddon. Satan and his demons, knowing they were about to be taken prisoner by our God Jehovah, would cause terrible things to happen on earth. They would cause jealous people on earth to persecute us - the chosen ones.
Now brother Game had produced a pair of glasses and a false beard. The audience was laughing, bemused by the entertainment, which was an improvement on the normal repetitious lectures. Despite the humour, I was concerned about the coming tribulation and needed to know more about what was going to happen. I decided to question father about it when we got home.
As I drank tea, I asked. ‘At the Hall this evening, brother Game said we were soon going to be persecuted for our religion. What will Satan’s people do to us?’
Father looked at me gravely and went on to explain. ‘You must be prepared for the worst. Many of us will be tortured and some killed. If you are captured and break down under torture, you might be tempted to give away the whereabouts of our brothers and sisters. You must be prepared to endure pain. Getting cold and tired going from door-to-door will help you to develop endurance, which will put you in good stead for the great tribulation . Holding out under torture will please Jehovah. If you pray hard enough and do as we tell you, he will protect you.’
Scary stuff! It was all a bit like The French Resistance but we were to be fighting invisible forces.
‘But what if I do break down under torture?’ I asked fearfully.
Father opened his Bible and read to me from two different passages. ‘You will not be tested beyond what you can bear.’ and ‘He that endures to the end is the one that will be saved.’ He showed me other verses confirming that the great tribulation was definitely on its way. It was all in the Bible so it must be true. I felt disturbed and fearful about what lay ahead. I was worried about my brothers and sister and my parents. The idea of them being tortured upset me and I was frightened myself. We had been waiting for some time for the great tribulation and Armageddon, when we were to be saved, but it was always a day away and we were beginning to wonder how long we would have to wait.
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When "The Persecution" Comes - What a Let Down that turned out to be!
by cofty inwhen i was young there was endless speculation about "the persecution".
i have very clear memories as a child sitting in the old kingdom hall in coatbridge hearing it talked about from the platform.
it was a frequent topic at home.. sometimes there was lurid detail about what sort of torture "they" might use against us to make us betray others.
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Atheism and the delusion of meaning
by Laika inin the movie annie hall, written by woody allen, as a young boy, alvy's mother, takes him to see a doctor as he appears to be dealing with some kind of depression.
when the doctor asks alvy what's up, alvy explains that he just found out the universe is expanding, everything will spread out and go cold and die, therefore nothing he does matters, so he is not going to do anything anymore.
most people might see this as a joke, but i think woody is trying to make a serious point.. the point here is about meaning.
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THE GLADIATOR
Laika For most of human history, humans have been too busy surviving to analyze the purpose of the universe. The problem began when humans developed an ego that could not accept its own demise and was unable to accept that life is not all about ourself.
Life is the present moment. The present moment is all there is and all there ever will be until the end of time in this universe. Perhaps there are other universes that are just starting. We enjoy our moment in the sun along with some suffering and then we die of old age, like every other living thing in the world. Eventually even the stars will burn out.
Accept what IS and cherish the fact that, at almost impossible odds, you made it on to planet earth, if only for a brief moment. In truth, who really wants to live forever?
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Evolution is Crap, there I said it!
by Crazyguy inok i started another thread and every one jumped on me because i was trying to take the theory of evolution out of the mix and most here seem to believe in it so i will just say it.
the theory of major evolution is crap!
the theory is falling apart.
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THE GLADIATOR
For a basic, non-pretentious explanation of how evolution works, you won’t do better than Richard Dawkins - The Magic of Reality. It contains is an uplifting an entertaining look at the natural world and shows how mankind has been influenced by endless myths and magical thinking while missing the beauty and wonder of reality.
The bad news is that we do not individually live forever but return to dust. To live with the hope of eternity you will need to find a religion or become a gladiator.
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What is faith?
by Seraphim23 in[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng /> </o:officedocumentsettings> </xml><![endif].
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[endif][if gte mso 10]> <mce:style><!
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THE GLADIATOR
Faith usually starts out as excited expectation. People tend to have faith in things they want to happen or be. They want and need until their desire becomes expectation and then they have ‘something,’ an abstract noun called faith.
In time faith becomes belief, ‘something’ to value. What we value we attach emotion to and protect with all our heart. We then love our faith and others that share it. Now our faith is our reality, purpose in life and reason for living. We become suspicious of those that do not see or hear what we do. They are not our brothers and sisters, comrades, fellow believers.
Ah the great divide!
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When the Anointed Die which part of them goes to heaven?
by WildeLover inaccording to the wt the 144000 have to die to obtain their heavenly reward?
but which part of them goes to heaven?.
their body can't and doesn't.
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THE GLADIATOR
Back at home father was questioning me closely. He was concerned about my ‘spirituality.’ I gave him the answers he needed to hear and he relaxed a little. I had been thinking about death a lot recently and there was one thing on my mind at the time that bothered me. As father was an Elder, I felt I could confide in him and clarify the situation. He was sitting with mother when I broached the subject.
‘I am having difficulty with something you may be able to help me with. According to the Society our body is our soul. We don’t have a soul that can be separated from our body at death. Therefore, when we die nothing of us is left. If we die under persecution, we will be dead until we are resurrected into the new world. But if there is nothing of us left to resurrect, how can we be resurrected from the dead?’
‘Jehovah keeps a memory of us, and he can recreate us just as we were but as perfect humans,’ he explained.
‘But if nothing original remains, that would not be us. We would just be a replica of who we were. That is not really what resurrection means.’
Father went off and found a suitable Watchtower publication and read out a passage that confirmed what he had said. I took a Bible and read passages that claimed souls do survive death; that resurrection involves raising up souls that have been asleep in death. Father read more passages from the publication.
‘I know that is what the Society books say but don’t you see the problem? It contradicts what the Bible says!’
Now father was getting peeved. ‘This is how the Society has explained it and this is what we believe. I don’t want to hear any more of your strange ideas.’
‘These strange ideas are not mine. All I have done is read to you from the Bible, something you have made me spend my whole life doing. Now you are saying that what is written in the Watchtower Society’s books is more important than what the Bible plainly states,’ I said defensively.
Father’s eyes were now watering and I realised we were not going to resolve the matter. So, I decided to try to calm things down.
‘Look, I am not trying to be awkward or argue with you. I just need to be clear in my mind what will happen to us if we die before we get into the new world. You believe that when the ‘anointed class’ with a heavenly hope die; they will immediately be changed into spirit beings’
‘The Bible makes it clear that they will be,’ he confirmed.
‘If their body is their soul, what is it of them that is changed into a spirit?’
Father looked angry. ‘You ask too many questions, you always have. Why don’t you just accept what the Society says? We have ‘the truth’ and we can leave the details to them.’
‘You have told me that you joined our religion all those years ago because you were impressed by the way the brothers that called on you took the time to sit down and answer all your questions from the Bible. Now when I ask you to be as reasonable with me as they were with you, you tell me not to ask questions. It is by questioning that we get to ‘the truth.’ I can’t believe something until I am clear in my mind what it is I actually believe.’
Father had heard enough. He stood up. ‘You can believe whatever you like, but if you want to stay in ‘the truth’, you had better stop asking so many questions.’ He disappeared into his bedroom.
I turned to mother. ‘What do you make of all this?’ I asked.
I just believe whatever the latest publications say,’ she answered.
‘Even if it contradicts the Bible?’ I asked.
‘There are things we are not meant to fully understand yet.’
‘But doesn’t it trouble you to not know what would happen to you if you were to die?
‘I can’t discuss this with you,’ she said firmly.
Taken from: There's Something Wrong With THAT BOY! By Trevor Willis
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He Is Risen, the axial component of christianity
by designs insunday hundreds of millions and possibly up to two billion people will join in some service in observance of the resurrection of jesus.
it is the central issue which takes the teachings of jesus from the philosophy of doing good to others to the ultimate truth which it claims.
it was the axial argument of the apostle paul in 1 cor.
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THE GLADIATOR
Rattigan350 As I understand it, Christians are refering to Christ in the present tense.
His is risen in as much as - he is here.