i popped into town this morning to buy an anniversary card for mrs cofty.
it is market day on a saturday and it's tourist season so the town was very busy.
here is a picture of the scene from a year ago... two cult carts were in their favourite place being guarded by none other than one of the elders who was on my judicial committee, his wife and another jw woman in her electric disability buggy.
Brian - Silence but blink-rate rising rapidly.
I started to smile.
...while Faye almost pulls a wheelie in her scooter and heads off down the High Street through a crowd of startled tourists.
I started to chuckle.
..."One thing about apostates, they are really good liars"
..."Don't believe me Brian take a look at the official government website."
and that's why Jehovah warned us about the evil internets.
some circuit overseer gave a talk and made this statement - "jehovah will very soon resurrect millions of people.....".
"soon" is so old hat now - "very soon" will become the new buzz words in j.w.-land..
i was very hooked on the rc videos, really interesting to watch.
i started questioning stuff a couple of months ago.. however there is still a scenario that makes me wonder.
considering the israelites as god's chosen people and the kings as anointed, the bible shows many bad decisions the people made, including the rulers that were anointed.
Hi there NoIdeaWhatToBelieve,
the Bible shows many bad decisions the people made...but they remained chosen for a long time...Can this be the case now? [With regards to the RC hearings]
This could conceivably be the case. However the organization has a history of mistakes and even willful deception spanning over 100 years. These errors, omissions and deceptions stack up over the decades and eventually one has to wonder on what conceivable basis God could have chosen the Watchtower organization.
Now as you mentioned the book 'Crisis of Conscience' would be a good place to start.
For the 607 BCE controversy 'The Gentile Times reconsidered' is a good read if you're into ancient archaeology and Watchtower biblical chronology.
For how the Watchtower organization derived its authority from the year 1918, 'Captives of a concept' is a good book. It goes into what the organization actually believed in 1918 and how Jesus could not have chosen the Watchtower organization at that time.
i have always said that if a god showed itself i would follow the evidence and renounce my atheism.
i have now seen enough to start believing again, i am so happy, i feel a inner contentment, when he connected with me i really knew it was him.
if you are not a believer you will not understand this, but trust me, look at the evidence, open your heart to him, let him in and your life will change for the better.
Matthew 24:15 "So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel--let the reader understand--"
i have not meet all atheists, and it would be foolish for me to assume that all atheists, share the same prototypical view points.
i am inclined to feel that this classifies the views of a large percentage of atheists.
"atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities.
I agree! I would argue that Agnosticism is the default position since we are born that way.
Dawkins is probably the biggest atheist out there, but according to his own atheist scale, he doesn't even rate himself as a 7. In God delusion he rates himself a 6 because as a scientist he still has to remain open to the possibility of a God (beardy man). Agnosticism is part of atheism, to a lesser or greater extent, depending on the individual.
His scale:
1. Strong theist. 100 per cent probability of God. In the words of C.G. Jung: "I do not believe, I know."
2. De facto theist. Very high probability but short of 100 per cent. "I don't know for certain, but I strongly believe in God and live my life on the assumption that he is there."
3. Leaning towards theism. Higher than 50 per cent but not very high. "I am very uncertain, but I am inclined to believe in God."
4. Completely impartial. Exactly 50 per cent. "God's existence and non-existence are exactly equiprobable."
5. Leaning towards atheism. Lower than 50 per cent but not very low. "I do not know whether God exists but I'm inclined to be skeptical."
6. De facto atheist. Very low probability, but short of zero. "I don't know for certain but I think God is very improbable, and I live my life on the assumption that he is not there."
7. Strong atheist. "I know there is no God, with the same conviction as Jung knows there is one."
i have not meet all atheists, and it would be foolish for me to assume that all atheists, share the same prototypical view points.
i am inclined to feel that this classifies the views of a large percentage of atheists.
"atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities.
Carl Sagan had this to say about that:
i have not meet all atheists, and it would be foolish for me to assume that all atheists, share the same prototypical view points.
i am inclined to feel that this classifies the views of a large percentage of atheists.
"atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities.
i have not meet all atheists, and it would be foolish for me to assume that all atheists, share the same prototypical view points.
i am inclined to feel that this classifies the views of a large percentage of atheists.
"atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities.
BOC,
POTATO2015.RE.INCROYABLE.KARLMARX.BANANA.UNCLEFESTER
I believe this IS crazy enough to be potato :)
Village Idiot
I have never read 'The coming of the fairies', but now that I know about it I will have to.
i have not meet all atheists, and it would be foolish for me to assume that all atheists, share the same prototypical view points.
i am inclined to feel that this classifies the views of a large percentage of atheists.
"atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities.
freemindfade,
We used to look up and see a comet and say the gods were riding by and bringing some natural disasters... the people who didn't believe were persecuted for heresy.
I use fairies specifically because there are old books, folklore and tales that abound with them.
Just as tales, old books and folklore abound about god.
They both claim extraordinary powers and both have influenced human thinking to some extent.
As you point out sometimes things just don't make sense. (like the existence of fairies)
This is the result of humanity becoming more rational and less superstitious.
