however, i haven't found any evidence to support that belief.. have you?
if so please, show me the evidence that god exists, and i will believe along with you.. criteria:.
(1) you must specify which god you are talking about;.
Hi there juandefiero,
I'd like to take the category: An impersonal God that set the universe in motion, for $500 please Juan.
The argument takes the form of a logical syllogism:
A->B
C->A
C->B
Whatever begins to exist has a cause.
The universe began to exist.
Therefore: The universe has a first cause.
have you ever been to a circus and seen a "clown car"?.
the little "bug" volkswagon drives out and clowns get out.
lots and lots and lots and lots of clowns!.
Hi Terry,
I like the clown car analogy. I never thought that demonic possession could be funny but there you go.
I wonder if L Ron Hubbard's Scientology doctrine of Body Thetans has its origins in the Biblical account? Supposedly you can have thousands of infestations at once.
It certainly is something that Horror films have used on many occasions. When the devout exorcist asks the person possessed what the name is of the demon possessing them, I have heard the response on more than one film or tv show: "We are legion." I think its sort of a cool horror idea.
Practically though how do the demons work together? Do they cooperate like a hive mind or does one demon get the left ear, another the right foot and yet another the pancreas and so on?
Deep matters to consider.
i never thought i would admit it, but i don't.
i might superstitiously have some kind of doubt but digging a bit deeper in my heart i really don't believe in god.
as a human i could never just sit and watch people be tortured, live years of abuse, suffer from illness and disabilities and all the other awful things people have to endure day after day without doing something about it.
Hi Acts5v29 you wrote: ""Man cannot survive without God's help"
Aren't humans clocking over 7 billion and climbing?
At this point that's the one thing we seem to be good at.
Besides that, were he to intervene, then one religion / race / nation / side would claim they had received his blessing, and other sides would only fight to avoid looking small.
Wait a minute. Didn't He do that already with the Israelites? So He has no problem with the idea.
More importantly... if God were to intervene, then the adversary could claim legitimately that God broke the rules in order to win, and taint Him as ruling by cheating.
But according to the Bible he had not problem intervening when it suited him. That's until modern recording equipment was invented and then he totally disappeared. Seems He's a bit camera shy.
i never thought i would admit it, but i don't.
i might superstitiously have some kind of doubt but digging a bit deeper in my heart i really don't believe in god.
as a human i could never just sit and watch people be tortured, live years of abuse, suffer from illness and disabilities and all the other awful things people have to endure day after day without doing something about it.
2+2=5 you wrote: I've currently no faith, so let's start with God. What's his name, where does he live, and how can I contact him?
Joe Pesci. Hollywood California. Via his Facebook fan club page. He might not answer though, he's usually busy
i never thought i would admit it, but i don't.
i might superstitiously have some kind of doubt but digging a bit deeper in my heart i really don't believe in god.
as a human i could never just sit and watch people be tortured, live years of abuse, suffer from illness and disabilities and all the other awful things people have to endure day after day without doing something about it.
Hi FormerlySandL,
Its a huge thing in ones life - letting go of a personal God. For myself I was pretty bewildered at first. I then experienced all the stages one would expect during the process: Anger, sadness, depression and later finally acceptance.
Then the fun started: I got to try to figure out my purpose in life and what its meaning is. It was the first time I could really start to seriously poke at the big questions and I was allowed to come to my own conclusions. I have never looked back.
In reflection there is still one Biblical saying that I give serious consideration to: The truth WILL set you free.
Only this time I get to decide what truth it is and what it means to me.
with all the recent changes to this religion, what really is the purpose of being a jw?
especially for those who have been in and witnessed all the changes and still no sight of the end.
for these ones in particular (35-55 year olds) they must be in a state of confusion.
jookbeard you wrote: "...how many eccentric, neurotic,narcissistic types have we seen over the years in our jw life"
Well I'm still eccentric - check. I'm still neurotic - check. And I'm still a narcissist - check. This is all very troubling. I'm going to have to do some self re-evaluation.
What's the purpose of being a JW now?
Counting hours? Perhaps getting some new gear like an iPad?
I think the old answer is still the best answer: universal afterlife insurance.
just wondering, as i will be visiting active jw family in ohio in a few weeks, do you think it will be worthwhile dropping it into a conversation, about the wtbts pyramid near his grave, or try some other topic to try and wake them up.
i was never baptized and don't really care if they get upset or not, but it is only a day trip from ohio to pittsburgh, and thought it would be fun if they denied it, and then drove their to see it for ourselves.
When I was a JW I hadn't even heard about the Pyramid in connection with the 'Divine Plan of the Ages' or the Russell grave site pyramid. If I had known about it then I certainly would have raised an eyebrow especially considering it was still believed when Jesus did his supposed survey of the earth in 1918 to choose his faithful slave.
olongapo joe you wrote: "...and then drove their to see it for ourselves."
Take some pictures and post them on JWN or it didn't happen :)
Hey punkofnice you wrote: "...Anything he did was just seen as an imperfect man 'doing his best(tm)'".
My answer to JWs in this regard is: So does the Pope. And don't give me that he's infallible shtick because that only counts when he's making a Papal decree. Its like when the governing body meets they transform into (G)uardians (O)f (D)octrine. Power rangers assemble!
i read on here that the society teaches that the seven trumpets of revelation are representative of seven conventions held in america in the 1920. is this actually true?
is it old light?
i asked some witnesses but they all gave me a look like i was weird and said it couldn't be right, and i can't check the watchtower library as i can't get it on my computer (apparently the society doesn't think mac users are worthy of the 'good news') i mean... it would be a bit...odd, wouldn't it?
As an old post suggested: That second trumpet blast was pretty much off key.
"Millions now living will never die etc. etc."
I would categorize it as the greatest Brown note in the history of earth.
this seems to be a question that even scientifically is still in the air.
right now your consciousness, is it the physical part of the brain?
the electrical signals in the brain?
I read about Stephen Hawkings discussing copying our brain and into a robot to live forever. But lets say that happened right now, your brain was copied and put into a robot...Your consciousness would be dead.
And to which Village Idiot added:
Your original you is disassembled into atoms that get transported to another location with an identical, but not original you. The act of disassembling your body is tantamount to death.
From which the following conclusion can be drawn:
Stephen Hawking does not posses consciousness.
i've never found dualism - the idea that the mind and the brain are two different substances with the mind being "immaterial" or "non-material" - a valid manner in which to address consciousness or any mysteries relating to it.
to show the reasons why i think it's bad metaphysics i'll use analogous reasoning to make a case for my newly made up "mystic essence".. for hundreds of years scientists have studied plants and animals all across the world.
but they still can't explain where ecosystems come from.
I have a possible answer to consiousness:
Self awareness and consciousness requires at least two computational systems in feedback with each other. The awareness is not generated by each separate computational system but rather by the feedback loop between the two that is actually a measurable value but which is the product of a time differential. The feedback loop IS the awareness but is dependent on the existence of the two computational systems. Self awareness is thus dependent on anatomy but is actually also effectively ethereal.
Just a thought.
