Posts by AndDontCallMeShirley

92

How could you justify that God killed all firstborn children in Egypt?

by Mr Fool in

was it necessary for god to kill all innocent firstborn children?

no other way out for the almighty god?.

AndDontCallMeShirley

Morality is the attribute, or quality, of honesty, virtue, honor, loyalty, righteousness and steadfastness that exists in the confines of that which is given us by God

You mean the same god that ordered the genocide of people who had the audacity to live on their own land first, which genocide included the slaughter of infants, old people and animals? The same god that not only approved of slavery but codified it? The same god that was just as happy to slaughter his own people as he was in slaughtering "pagan" people?

If that's what a theist's definition of morality is, I'll stay with the human version. It's much better.

BTW- I know atheists who have all of the moral characteristics you listed above. Does your god still hate them anyway?

---

St. Teresa of Avila once told god, "If this is the way you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few."

.

"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death." -Albert Einstein

18

The inactive God

by Rattigan350 in

in the creation vs evolution argument:.

the often used illustration of a watch found in the desert.

someone had to make it.. with creation also someone had to make it.

AndDontCallMeShirley

"If you want to save your child from polio, you can pray or you can inoculate. ... Choose science."

"It is morally as bad not to care whether a thing is true or not, so long as it makes you feel good, as it is not to care how you got your money as long as you have got it." --Carl Sagan, from "A Demon Haunted World"

18

The inactive God

by Rattigan350 in

in the creation vs evolution argument:.

the often used illustration of a watch found in the desert.

someone had to make it.. with creation also someone had to make it.

AndDontCallMeShirley

steve2: religion I was raised in...one that played on and catered for people's fears'.

Without the weapons of guilt and fear, what power to influence people would religion have?

92

How could you justify that God killed all firstborn children in Egypt?

by Mr Fool in

was it necessary for god to kill all innocent firstborn children?

no other way out for the almighty god?.

AndDontCallMeShirley

I'll add one further thought:

.

"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones." -- Marcus Aurelius

92

How could you justify that God killed all firstborn children in Egypt?

by Mr Fool in

was it necessary for god to kill all innocent firstborn children?

no other way out for the almighty god?.

AndDontCallMeShirley

CS: And if I were calling someone on misspelling Ferguson, I’d make darn sure I knew how to spell it.

But I get the point and you’re right. It was a cheap shot on my part. I apologize.

Even the best of spellers make mistakes. I didn't notice my typo until it was too late to fix it. If 99.9% of a person's posts are error-free, it seems rather silly to focus on the one misspelled word.

Apology accepted. Thank you.

---

To your point, CS, what difference does it make to me when people die?? My answer to that question is the same as yours: because "Life is precious". You see, the preciousness of life is not contingent on belief in any particular god, or any god at all. Atheists are no different than any other human in that regard. In fact, I contend there is little basic difference between you and me other than this one main point:

I, as an atheist, simply believe in one less god than you do. That's it.

If believing in the god of the Bible makes you feel better, even if most of it cannot be proven, and even if it means accepting without question the more insidious, caustic, indefensible aspects of said god, then I say, 'go for it'. I acknowledge your right to believe whatever you want to believe, and it is neither my job, nor my desire, to steamroll you into submission. Conversely, I have a right to believe what I choose to believe, and I don't need to justify my conclusions to anyone- conclusions I've reached through study, reflective thought, knowledge and what resonates most with my innate humanity.

And, that position does not in any way diminish my view of the wonder of life and how grateful I am to be here to experience it, now, if only for a blink in the stream of time. Surrendering my intellect to fanciful and, frankly, unprovable notions regarding any allleged existence of deitie(s) does nothing to enhance my own experience- and in fact, frees me to enjoy it even more because I can honestly face reality squarely head-on.

41

3 JWs injured whilst Cart Witnessing

by Listener in

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/25697590/three-injured-as-car-hits-park-bench/.

an elderly driver crashed into a park bench in mandurah, western australia today where 3 jws were sitting.

they had set up their jw cart and their literature was also strewn across the ground.. one of the jws was seriously injured with head injuries.. what a freak accident this is.. .

AndDontCallMeShirley

How foolish would the Society have to be in order to claim that bad things wouldn't happen to JWs while in service or traveling to assemblies? Even they're not that stupid.

You mean the same WT that came up with an "overlapping" generation, 1925, 1975, determining when when Eve's period began, and the newly re-worked FDS being the Governing Body?

You're right...WT can't possibly be THAT stupid.

I still contend that if JWs did not have the idea god protects them, then continuing to pray for his protection is stupidly futile at best.

BTW- the last time I heard a brother pray for god's protection on JWs as they travelled home was at a DC...and it was said by the visiting Bethel speaker.

92

How could you justify that God killed all firstborn children in Egypt?

by Mr Fool in

was it necessary for god to kill all innocent firstborn children?

no other way out for the almighty god?.

AndDontCallMeShirley

I concur.

No, you don't.

A truly hypocritical statement coming from someone who just argued that the death of infants, children and animals at the hand of god, for no other reason than being a firstborn, is completely acceptable. I believe the rationalization was, 'they would've died someday anyway so what does it matter?'

What you are doing, Cold_Steel, is filling in the Bible story blanks with your own commentary and editorializing....because the accounts written as-is are too indefensible, too disturbing, for any normal, rational person to accept at face value. So, you are forced to make endless excuses for god and justify his actions in order to make it work for you, which makes this statement of yours ridiculously laughable: "You’re like those protesters in Furgeson*, Missouri. They don’t care about facts."

I do care about facts...which is precisely why I reject the Bible's narrative for the hard-hearted nonsense that it is.

how can you find fault with God for the sacrifice when He stopped it?

Really????

It must be daily hell to deny your normal humanity in order to support your dickhead god.

---

* if I was referencing Feguson, I'd certainly know how to spell it.

(sound familiar?)

41

3 JWs injured whilst Cart Witnessing

by Listener in

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/25697590/three-injured-as-car-hits-park-bench/.

an elderly driver crashed into a park bench in mandurah, western australia today where 3 jws were sitting.

they had set up their jw cart and their literature was also strewn across the ground.. one of the jws was seriously injured with head injuries.. what a freak accident this is.. .

AndDontCallMeShirley

As I've said many times here: there's what's in print in WT literature, and there's the way JW's collective mindset really works.

Example:

Ask any JW this question: Did the Watchtower Society hype 1975 as the date of Armageddon? I contend most will answer, "No. JWs who believed 1975 was the End misinterpreted what WT said. It was merely personal speculation. WT never built that date up as being definite".

Yet, dozens, probably hundreds, of examples have been discussed here showing without question WT definitely DID hype 1975 as the end.

41

3 JWs injured whilst Cart Witnessing

by Listener in

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/25697590/three-injured-as-car-hits-park-bench/.

an elderly driver crashed into a park bench in mandurah, western australia today where 3 jws were sitting.

they had set up their jw cart and their literature was also strewn across the ground.. one of the jws was seriously injured with head injuries.. what a freak accident this is.. .

AndDontCallMeShirley

Look at the reports I posted on page one: all those JWs were killed while in a group, on their way to an assembly or meeting. In fact, the 27 JWs killed in the Philipines were killed in a Kingdom Hall...told to go to the meeting by the GB during a typhoon.

Can anyone tell me a JW would trek to a KH during a typhoon or cross a dangerous, flooding river with small children to get to an assembly if they truly felt Jehovah wouldn't protect them? Really?

As I've said many times here: there's what's in print in WT literature, and there's the way JW's collective mindset really works. WT may occasionally say JWs get no protection from god; but talk to most JWs and ask them if god does watch over them while in field service, attending an assembly or building a KH, and they'll most likely say "yes". At every assembly (and many meetings) I've ever gone to, the brother giving the never fails to ask Jehovah to protect the attendees as they "return to their various homes". If the JWs didn't believe this was true (that god was protecting them) the prayer would not only be pointless but completely disingenuous.

41

3 JWs injured whilst Cart Witnessing

by Listener in

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/25697590/three-injured-as-car-hits-park-bench/.

an elderly driver crashed into a park bench in mandurah, western australia today where 3 jws were sitting.

they had set up their jw cart and their literature was also strewn across the ground.. one of the jws was seriously injured with head injuries.. what a freak accident this is.. .

AndDontCallMeShirley

Yeah, I wonder where JWs ever got the idea that god protects them ?

"God's angels support and protect his servants" is a pretty clear message.

Here's a recent example:

JEHOVAH PROTECTS

Jehovah has repeatedly been the Rescuer of his people as a group, especially when they have been severely persecuted and relentlessly hounded by their enemies. How thankful we are for God’s help at such times and for the many spiritual provisions he constantly makes for us!

15. Illustrate how a loving father seeks to protect his child.
15 A loving father not only provides for his children but also seeks to protect them. He would naturally try to rescue them if they were in danger. One brother remembers a specific incident that occurred when he was just a young boy. He and his father were returning home from the field service when their path took them across a stream. A heavy downpour that morning had caused the brook to flood. The only way to cross the water was to jump from one large stone to another. Going ahead of his father, the boy lost his footing on one of the stones[…]"

Excerpt From: WATCHTOWER. "The Watchtower, February 15, 2014."