thoughtful christians including scientists like francis collins and kenneth miller accept the evidence for evolution unconditionally.
the only thing that distinguishes their understanding of life from the views of dawkins is that they believe god planned and started the process intentionally.. just a word about the subtle but vital distinction between "theistic evolution" and "intelligent design".... over-simplifications alert - intelligent design is creationism in disguise.
it is a modern twist on the "paley's watch" argument.
This kind of touches on a little 'theory' I have about the Genesis account involving Adam and Eve:
Man evolves to a point where God decides that man can now be subject to 'test', and the account is allegorical.
Of course, this scenario is full of holes, and I don't even really believe it.
trading insults happens among kids all the time.. intellectual development hasn't progressed to the point where they can present contrary ideas and opinions with persuasive appeal to reasons, facts and logic.. "i know you are; but what am i?".
"your momma's so fat....".
so, they fall back on childish mocking, provocation and personal attack.. as we grow older and have more education and sophistication our minds should mature---or so you'd think!.
There is no room for personal attacks here or at any other discsussion board, or in any discussion, period. It's not only disrespectful, but it's an indication of laziness of thought and lack of evidence (or research to find evidence) for or against a point of view/argument.
happified is a real watchtower word(tm), by the way!.
if you want to give the wts credit for anything, then at least give them credit for their remarkably simple solution to every ill suffered by mankind.. it is a "one size fits all" solution and might be part of the appeal the wts has attracting people who have a hard time with reason and common sense.. they won't specifically tell you what that solution is, though.
if they did, they would even get less converts than they get now, and currently they ain't gettin' many.
Good catch Jimmy Page...I had missed this one initially, and I'm happified that you bumped it up!
this is a must-read that, hopefully, will stay an "active topic" for all seekers and lurkers, by bumping it to the top as often as possible.
alan wrote it in randys {dogpatch} thread regarding knocking.org documentary and in reply to the email mr. engardio sent to barbara anderson.
however, it is so vital a read that it indeed needs its own thread:.
Alan F 's articles were a big reason why I was able to sort things out in regard to the Watctower's teachings. They were revelatory to me. Best wishes Alan!
there was a youtube video that contained an excerpt of ciro aulicino's talk "you will be with me in paradise".
at some point it was removed by youtube.
it now shows the message, "this video has been removed as a violation of youtube's policy on shocking and disgusting content.".
I listened to the first several minutes, and the audio sounds legit to me; it's in line with Watchtower teachings. The line about 'all the gays will be gone, and no more lesbians' is appalling, but that is what their Armageddon scenario includes, so I don't see any signs of fakery with that.
to make attendance at my second district convention "mentally out" both a little more bearable and meaningful, i decided to take some notes of key points as if i were an outsider studying the thought reform methods of jehovah's witnesses.
at first, i was only going to share these notes with my therapist, but inspired by the "parsing the watchtower double-speak" thread, i figured i would share my amateur analysis with everyone.
here are some of the highlights:.
do not murmur about organizational adjustments
"-do not even secretly doubt the organization's view of disfellowshipping
-higher education is unnecessary to find 'acceptable' secular work
-spiritual food comes only from the Faithful Slave; independent study groups are not necessary
-God's sole channel of communication is the Faithful and Discreet Slave
-do not doubt the validity of theocratic appointments"
Pretty much sums up everything that is wrong with the religion.
often during wt/book studies and/or public talks i would be following along and note little discrepancies and inconsistencies.
perhaps it was a scripture that didn't really support the point being asserted in the paragraph or maybe it was an illustration that sounded good but wasn't completely parallel or maybe it was a line of reasoning that wasn't as conclusive or solid as the speaker/elder/co/wt publication made it out to be.
or maybe it was the excessive use of weasel words like, "evidently," "perhaps," "must have" and so on.
Interesting story, thanks for sharing it 00DAD.
the watchtower society never thinks things through.
the halving of the awake!
magazine has had an adverse affect on many.. http://www.jehovahswitnessblog.com/awake-bloopers/awake-magazine-cut-to-16-pages/.
In my experience, few Witnesses read the mags. Also, when conducting the book study, it was readily apparent that few had bothered to read the material (after all, it was read at the study anyway, so why bother?).
There's also hypocrisy at work, though not of the sinful kind, when someone goes to doors offering magazines that they themselves have not read. This never seemed to deter many Witnesses.
what biblical support is there for the belief that a creative day is 7000 years long?.
as most folks here are probably well aware, the wts teaches that humankind has lived for about 6,000 years and that there will be a 1,000 year reign of christ to restore humans to perfection.
they teach that the end of 'this old system' must be coming very soon since everything must fit into a 7000 year 'creative day'.
Flat Accent pretty much answered it.
Farkel's link takes us to this topic, which he started 7 years ago. 7 x 360 = 2,520 days. A day for a year and, bingo!
