Is God all-knowing?
Is he all powerful?
He cannot be both...otherwise he does not have the ability to change his mind....I guess that is why they refer to God as HE (only a woman has the perrogative to change her mind).
Jack
the bibles viewpoint.
does god change?.
anthropologist george dorsey described the god of the "old testament" as "a savage god.
Is God all-knowing?
Is he all powerful?
He cannot be both...otherwise he does not have the ability to change his mind....I guess that is why they refer to God as HE (only a woman has the perrogative to change her mind).
Jack
no instant messenger, no emails, nothing.
well... it is complicated.
the entire time i was married i went to a friends house one time.
Amanda,
Take care and good luck my friend. You know how to find me if you need to. Thanks for sticking up for me when others here took the greatest of joy in my deactivation/s from here - even friends that I thought I had at the time turned out to be dublike in the ultimate and were too "scared" so they went along with the majority. Funny how people here don't know the real truth about some others...but prefer to hurt those they don't really know because of some perception. That is true prejudice and ignorance in action.
You have grown so much the past 2 years - you have changed your life views and realized that life is indeed a sine wave...and at every dip we can begin to predict a rise again.
People here now think you are sweet and kind (which you are), if you ever resurface perhaps one day they will also appreciate how intelligent you are and how much drive to succeed at life you have too (it blew me away when I got to know you and it was a fresh source of inspiration for me too).
Jack
you know, in the year and a half ive been here i have certainly noticed that personal conflict flourishes among the apostate/ ex dub major players (and not so major players.
) consider the irrepairable conflict between our simon and herr steinhaug and his band of norwegian major players.
consider the relatively recent bill bowen war on this board.
Welcome to the free world where disunity is allowed and individual thought can exist and it can be freely criticized.
I have no desire to ever be part of group-think group again - even if it is a rallying call against a bad cause. I will gladly lend (and have in the past) financial or intellectual support to causes I believe in but I cannot stand idly by and be consumed into a collective. Call it selfish (I subscribe to the virtue of selfishness) but to me, my individual freedom is greater than any cause. If a cause is enhanced by me exercising my freedom and lending some support to the cause - that's fine. The relative perspective needs to be maintained though.
Jack
i read some reports (infact the majority) and they seem to imply all jws are paedophiles!
seldom do they draw the distinction between the majority (who are not peds) and the few who are.
perhaps we need to be more balanced when we comment on these things...dont cha think?.
Do you know which of the 6 million JWs worldwide are among the 23,720 child molesters on record at WTS headquarters? Brooklyn knows. The bodies of elders know
And we think the number 23,720 is accurate? Why? Or do we just take unsubstantiated numbers as doctrine - just like we believed whatever we were told.
The number could be 2,370 or 237,200....or 23.720...or some other number - how do you know what it is? Anyone ever wonderd why it is a specifc number but a round one (a low probability combination)?
I agree the proven and the accused pedophiles should be turned over to the cops...I just question unsubstantiated claims that make references to specifics.
Jack
i've been thinking about this lately.
you are aquainted with someone and you both are comfortable in the relationship.
i can't call you all the best of buddies but better then aquaintences and not best friends.. .
Cassi,
I would always tell the person.
Jack
i'm interested in finding out if anyone here who is an ex-dub has taken or still takes prescription anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medication to deal with feelings of inadequacy and inexperience with life outside of the wts, relationship problems, stress/anger, low self-esteem, etc.. i still suffer with self-esteem/image problems as well as stress with life in general after leaving the wts.
i often feel alone and inexperienced when dealing with life's problems, and often find it difficult to handle conflict/disagreements with loved ones when they arise.
i feel these occurrences are a personal attack on myself.. i just started attending counseling to deal with these problems, and it was mentioned that an anti-depressant may help.
I often feel alone and inexperienced when dealing with life's problems, and often find it difficult to handle conflict/disagreements with loved ones when they arise
I hide it pretty well but I suffer from the same problem. It's tough to make it through each day when you feel as if you have no one in the world but yourself. Those who "leave" but find themselves in a position where they are between a rock and a hard place (like being married to an active JW with kids who will not accept "worldly friends" in their house whereas the person leaving wants nothing to do with JW's) can have one of the most meaningless frustrating existences out there.
Jack
this quote got me thinking:if you pray sincerely and admit you are a sinner and accept christ as your savior you can have the holy spirit come into your life.. .
i used to do this everyday.
when i was being abused, i used to pray incessantly for god to help me.
Maybe I'm mis-reading everything, but I'm getting the impression that you atheists think we Christians are a bunch of dumb, irrational, un-educated hillbillies.
Do you think the Nazi' followers (average people) were rational? I don't.
Were they educated? Many were.
Were they dumb? Not all of them.
So let's re-construct this then. Let's look at what people have been taught about snakes. By far the majority of people (in the past close to 100%) are terrified of snakes. Why is that? In reality most snakes are not harmful. But people have perpetuated notions about their danger for generations. This is a form of education - even if it is incorrect. By studying FACTS one learns the truth and realizes that what you were educated with is/was not logical (ie. IRRATIONAL).
What is totally dumb is the refusal to examine FACT and the refusal to base one's most important decisions on life on unsubstantiated tradition. The tradition is "educated" into the students by teaching/culture and parental influence. This does not make it accurate does it?
One thing JW's claimed was they were "in the TRUTH". So why not actually seek the TRUTH - something which is provable and rational. People who believed the earth was flat were just as ardent, sincere and convinced of their beliefs...if some brave individuals had not refused to simply accept the popular belief...we would all still be at the mercy of Atlas.
As an atheist, one who does not believe (Alan is an Atheist too), I am probably one of those who might be described as "intolerant" of and/or "rude" to believers. The description is probably true - I confess. How tolerant would you be if everyone around you believed the tooth fairy was real? I know that question sounds intolerant...but then ask yourself - can you convince me that the tooth fairy is not God?
Jack
does god exist out side of our dimension of time?.
our view of time has changed over the centuries.
for the longest time,.
You need to believe so much just to ask that question.
Let's analyze why. "Does God exist outside of time?"
When we say God exists - what do we mean? Do we mean that there is a God vs there is no god? Or do we mean God is real, he just domiciles in a different place? Do humans exist outside of time? What is existence? It's an easy word definition but a harder conceptual one.
Did God invent time? What is time? Do you mean the relative motion of planetary bodies?
Like I said...the question assumes so much understanding before I can even think about possible answers.
If God created time then did hsi creation envelop himself? We know that believers claim God lives in heaven - right? Did God create heaven and then move into it? What was his prior place of abode? Wha makes heaven preferable to where he lived previously? Running water? Better school system? Less traffic? Forgive the sarcasm - but as humans we have invented this concept/thing called "God". We then endeavor to relate this "God" to human terms so that we can convinve others of how real our "friend" is. Many will turn around and say "God is beyond human comprehension". The coput answer!! If that's true then how do you even know he exists? The answer - he exists for one reason only that I can discern: he exists because YOU want him to.
Functionally decomposed,
Jack
i have a new job, and there is a young girl who has a desk located near mine.
she is muslim and wears a head covering, and today i had the chance to talk to her.
she brought up her religion when i asked her why she didn't have any photos on her desk etc... she explained it was due to the fact any pictures or other objects of living beings was against her religion as it was considered idoitry.
When will the world grow up? When will people start behaving like humans?
We have a better chance when humans quit believing in in non-human imaginary friends and using the belief in the imaginary friends to justify bullshift!!
Donkeyshift...not bullshift....YEAH!!!!
Jack
i know i probably go too far sometimes and can get a little 'determined' on some issues (my wife calls it pig headed & stubborn).
sometimes i am too blunt.
sometimes i won't let things go and want to prove my point.
Ahhh...the bliss of a "blanket" amnesty