GrreatTeacher

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Posts by GrreatTeacher

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  102

  A couple questions for atheists on Suffering

  by little_Socrates in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  who told you that the world should be free from suffering?.

  do you find any value in suffering?.

  do you think it is possible to experience all the beauty and goodness and pleasure the world offers without also experiencing the bad?

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  GrreatTeacher

  The EXISTENCE of suffering is a problem for theists because it contradicts their worldview.

  The EXISTENCE of suffering is not a problem for atheists because it is compatible with randomness of the universe.

  That is not to say, however, that suffering cannot or should not be ameliorated. But, it is not intrinsically evil. Evil is a word with religious overtones. Suffering just is. And as humans who are empathetic to others' negative feeling states, we try to be as prosocial as possible and help others. We do this because humans are a strongly social species.

  Something doesn't have to be intrinsically evil for us to want to do something about it. Sickness isn't evil, yet we want to cure it. Having a dirty house isn't evil, but we want to clean it. Getting bad grades isn't evil, but we want to improve them.
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  102

  A couple questions for atheists on Suffering

  by little_Socrates in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  who told you that the world should be free from suffering?.

  do you find any value in suffering?.

  do you think it is possible to experience all the beauty and goodness and pleasure the world offers without also experiencing the bad?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  GrreatTeacher

  Suffering isn't intrinsically evil. It just exists.

  A god who claims to be loving and all powerful, who is prayed to to relieve suffering and who is given credit when the suffering remits, yet who deliberately allows suffering to exist and doesn't allow suffering to be relieved for others, well that god is evil.

  Suffering is only a problem if you believe in an all powerful loving God.
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  5

  Another 'devoted witness' dies, without the fulfillment of the promises

  by fulltimestudent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  another xjw called me this morning to tell me that a reasonably well-known 'old timer' had just died.

  which set me thinking about death and the jws.

  we were so positive that armageddon was coming in our life time that when death arrives on the door-step its hard for some to cope.. not that this man who just died may have been in that situation.

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  GrreatTeacher

  More wasted skills and turned down scholarships. More children put in second place after the organization.

  And this man stayed in for the long haul. I wonder if he ever reflected back on his life and what his judgment about it was.

  Rest in peace, Farleigh James.
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  76

  WT loses appeal in UK!!!!!!!

  by Viva la Vida in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  the wt lost its appeals regarding the charity commission inquiry.

  here is the ruling:.

  http://www.charity.tribunals.gov.uk/documents/decisions/watch-tower-ruling-03mar15.pdf.

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  GrreatTeacher

  It really annoys me that they arrogantly feel they are above the law.

  They couldn't even follow the proper appeals procedure.
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  30

  50th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday" -- WHAT???

  by Marvin Shilmer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  take a look at the linked ap photograph and tell me what you think:.

  - miss black u.s., miss black georgia and miss black teen .

  what would the likes of al sharpton say if the hallowed event this weekend at the edmund pettus bridge in selma, alabama had been attended by a miss white u.s., miss white georgia and miss white teen?

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  GrreatTeacher

  Schools are nearly as segregated now as they were before "desegregation." Not by force of law, but de facto segregation anyhow.

  Whites just vote with their feet and move to "better" areas leaving minorities behind.
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  30

  50th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday" -- WHAT???

  by Marvin Shilmer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  take a look at the linked ap photograph and tell me what you think:.

  - miss black u.s., miss black georgia and miss black teen .

  what would the likes of al sharpton say if the hallowed event this weekend at the edmund pettus bridge in selma, alabama had been attended by a miss white u.s., miss white georgia and miss white teen?

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  GrreatTeacher

  Tenacious, you certainly are very optimistic about how far America has come regarding black disadvantage.
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  11

  old wt libraries.

  by zeb in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  my wife (in) disturbed to see i had the old libraries for years past on the computer.

  she asked me to delete them this i have done.. anything to maintain her peace.

  she spoke about not necessary they are updated etc.

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  GrreatTeacher

  It's almost as if they have something to hide...
• 
  30

  50th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday" -- WHAT???

  by Marvin Shilmer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  take a look at the linked ap photograph and tell me what you think:.

  - miss black u.s., miss black georgia and miss black teen .

  what would the likes of al sharpton say if the hallowed event this weekend at the edmund pettus bridge in selma, alabama had been attended by a miss white u.s., miss white georgia and miss white teen?

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  GrreatTeacher

  A blacks only water fountain is a little bit different than a black beauty pageant.

  There is a place for formerly (still) opressed groups to come together with their unique heritage and point of view. Like:

  historically black universities

  black labor unions

  black barber shops, etc.
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  30

  50th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday" -- WHAT???

  by Marvin Shilmer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  take a look at the linked ap photograph and tell me what you think:.

  - miss black u.s., miss black georgia and miss black teen .

  what would the likes of al sharpton say if the hallowed event this weekend at the edmund pettus bridge in selma, alabama had been attended by a miss white u.s., miss white georgia and miss white teen?

  1. 
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  GrreatTeacher

  Marvin, I think you are taking the MLK quote a little too literally.

  It's a general quote about blacks having a lesser place at the American table of opportunity.

  Why would you have a white pageant? White standards of beauty are already considered the standard.

  A black pageant celebrates the acceptance of black beauty standards as beautiful as well.
• 
  30

  50th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday" -- WHAT???

  by Marvin Shilmer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  take a look at the linked ap photograph and tell me what you think:.

  - miss black u.s., miss black georgia and miss black teen .

  what would the likes of al sharpton say if the hallowed event this weekend at the edmund pettus bridge in selma, alabama had been attended by a miss white u.s., miss white georgia and miss white teen?

  1. 
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  GrreatTeacher

  Look, I don't get the whole pageant thing, but apparently it's popular in the south. So, I understand that black Americans would see the anniversary as significant in the struggle to have themselves acknowledged as equal to everyone else and would want to celebrate black beauty at that time and place.

  I'm not really sure how the MLK quote above is relevant to a beauty pageant. I think he was talking about in American life in general where black has historically been judged as "less than." So, a black beauty pageant would represent progress. White beauty standards have always been considered beautiful. Black, not so much.