Arguments are welcome and a key function on this forum. There is no fault by you whatsoever. In fact, it was a great OP. Never be afraid to say what is on your mind and keep asking questions. :)
the girl next door
JoinedPosts by the girl next door
-
50
Belief in God
by jdash inwhen did you guys start to doubt your faith in god?'.
what made you doubt your faith in god?.
thanks !.
-
-
-
50
Belief in God
by jdash inwhen did you guys start to doubt your faith in god?'.
what made you doubt your faith in god?.
thanks !.
-
-
the girl next door
From my favorite
Bart Ehrman:
QUESTION:
If you don’t think God exists, why do you refer to yourself as an agnostic? If this is your perspective, why not refer to yourself as an atheist? Could it be that you don’t believe the Christian God exists, but are open to the possibility that some kind of higher power exists (this is my perspective) and this is why you call yourself agnostic?
ANSWER:
The first thing to say is that I had no idea how militant both atheists and agnostics could be about their labels, until I became an agnostic myself!
Before that, when I was a believer, I pretty much thought atheism and agnosticism were two amicably related positions, one saying that there is no God and the other saying that s/he doesn’t know if there is a God. But when I became an agnostic, I started getting some very spirited emails from atheists who were incensed that I called myself an agnostic, as if I were being intellectually dishonest (that’s not the case with the person who asks the question above – he is good spirited about it and just curious).
What I came to see is that many agnostics and many atheists think they have a corner on the truth. And they think the other side just won’t come clean. In short, many atheists seem to think that agnostics are just wimpy atheists; and many agnostics seem to think that atheists are just arrogant agnostics. That is to say: atheists think that agnostics are afraid to follow the truth of their convictions; and agnostics think that atheists claim to know far more than they could possibly know.
I’m not sure that’s the best way to think about the terms. For years I thought that an atheist was someone who said there was no God, and an agnostic was someone who said they didn’t know. I’ve changed my mind about that in the past year or two. Now I think that “atheism” is a statement about faith and “agnosticism” is a statement about epistemology (the “science of knowledge”).
If someone has a better way of explaining the terms, I’m open to it. But for now, for me, the way it works like this. An “atheist” is literally one who does not believe in a divine being. That is, s/he does not believe in God and so is “without God” (the literal meaning of the term).. An “agnostic” is one who says s/he does “not know” if there is a God (the literal meaning of that term; it’s about knowledge, not faith). And so they are dealing with two incommensurate entities: faith (atheism) and knowledge (agnosticism).
When it comes to faith, I am an atheist. I don’t believe in the traditional Judeo-Christian God (or in Zeus, Aphrodite, Hermes, Apollo, etc) (I sometimes believe in Dionysus/Bacchus, but that’s another story…). But as to whether there is some greater spiritual power/intelligence in the universe, I’m agnostic. I don’t know if any such being exists. And in my opinion, either does anyone else!
That means that I’m not sure what to call myself. I suppose I lean toward “agnostic” rather than “atheist” simply because as a scholar and professional thinker I am, at the end of the day, more interested in “knowledge” than “faith.” Moreover, the term does seem to me to convey a greater sense of humility in the face of an incredibly awesome universe, about which I know so little. I happen to think that humility is a good thing in these circumstances. At the same time, I can understand why others may want to emphasize what they do not believe rather than what they do not know, and so call themselves atheist. (Why they are so incensed that I don’t follow suit, however, continues to be a mystery to me.)
-
50
Belief in God
by jdash inwhen did you guys start to doubt your faith in god?'.
what made you doubt your faith in god?.
thanks !.
-
-
the girl next door
Why not be a good person and do well for others while we have life of our own accord instead of for some reward from a sky daddy or out of fear of being destroyed by a sky daddy?
A billion sperm and each of us won the lottery by reaching the egg. Can’t that be your heaven and reward?
Why so narcissistic to believe we deserve more like “everlasting life” or “heaven”?
Why can’t death be a natural progression after a life well lived?
-
50
Belief in God
by jdash inwhen did you guys start to doubt your faith in god?'.
what made you doubt your faith in god?.
thanks !.
-
-
the girl next door
Huh, I guess I’m Gnostic Atheist, (Partially) Closeted Atheist, Indifferent Atheist, etc.
Nah. Just keep it simple.
-
50
Belief in God
by jdash inwhen did you guys start to doubt your faith in god?'.
what made you doubt your faith in god?.
thanks !.
-
-
the girl next door
At 7 when my Catholic mother became a JW and ruined a childhood that was going well.
Reading Bart Ehrman’s books.
Reading Cofty’s posts.
Atheist
I dropped the agnostic because I used to think I can’t know god doesn’t exist.
-
17
Sears has finally filed for bankruptcy
by _Morpheus inand que the flawed comparisons to the wt in 3...2....
-
-
the girl next door
Sears sold Craftsman to B&D last year. B&D now supplies Lowes stores with Craftsman tools and has eaten up a lot of sales that previously went to Sears. Sears brought in a billion a year on Craftsman tools.
-
21
King of The North: circular news top?
by Gorbatchov infriends,.
with the circular speading of my satire tread about the annual meeting on many different ways, even informal across the jw organization, i'm pretty sure that the news about russia (new king of the north) is not real.. there was a moment i thought that it was a coïncidence that incoming messages mentioned it also.. now i suppose it started all with my op, went trending through the organization (even through bethel belgium) and became a story on it's own.. this is not realy my style and i'm not proud of it.. g..
-
-
the girl next door
Check this thread:
https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6482979355361280/what-watchtowers-position-on-identity-king-north
Consensus seems to be that Russia is not named in the new publication.
-
4
Plastic Surgery
by stan livedeath ina sexually active woman tells her plastic surgeon that she wanted her ******l lips reduced in size because they were too loose and floppy.
out of embarrassment she insisted that the surgery be kept a secret and the surgeon agreed.
awakening from the anaesthesia after the surgery she found 3 roses carefully placed beside her on the bed.
-
-
the girl next door
When the chap wears a beanie, will he have double camel toe?
-
67
John Ceder used my satire about annual meeting for real
by Gorbatchov insorry guys,.
the gorby satire fake report of the annual meeting with the coincidence about russia, is used for real in john cedars yt channel.. please concider it for well prepared satire.. and not much more.. g..
-
-
the girl next door
Oh I’m sorry it was all in the Senate hearings thread. You must have been reading the Cliff’s notes. Bad joke anyway. And yeah Becky is an idiot.
-
67
John Ceder used my satire about annual meeting for real
by Gorbatchov insorry guys,.
the gorby satire fake report of the annual meeting with the coincidence about russia, is used for real in john cedars yt channel.. please concider it for well prepared satire.. and not much more.. g..
-
-
the girl next door
Because Becky retroactively claimed overlapping consent rules and James spent $16,000 proving his innocence. James is going to tell all prospective suitors to run like hell.