I've been to a couple Secular Humanist meetings and regret to say that I was completely unimpressed. Retired weirdo's with nonmatching socks. Seems they didn't believe in deoderant or God as well.
But that's just what I experienced.
B.
logansrun
JoinedPosts by logansrun
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21
Ex-JW to speak at Atheist meeting
by joe7878 ingreetings folks, .
i wanted to post this event that will take place in mountain view, ca (just south of san francisco).
ex-jws will be interested.. former jw diane wilson, author of "awakening of a jehovah's witness: escape from the watchtower society" will address the next meeting of atheists of silicon valley (asv), wednesday, september 22, 7:30 pm.
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53
The JWs might be right....for all the wrong reasons
by logansrun inpeople have been predicting the end of the world for thousands of years.
sooner or later one of them is going to be right.
fear mongering.
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logansrun
Hey Ross.
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53
The JWs might be right....for all the wrong reasons
by logansrun inpeople have been predicting the end of the world for thousands of years.
sooner or later one of them is going to be right.
fear mongering.
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logansrun
Nah, you're cool Terry. I like 'ya.
B. *in better frame of mind after second gin-and-toinic*
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53
The JWs might be right....for all the wrong reasons
by logansrun inpeople have been predicting the end of the world for thousands of years.
sooner or later one of them is going to be right.
fear mongering.
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logansrun
You know, I'm starting to understand how Einstein felt when people thought he believed in Jehovah sitting in the clouds because he simply stated, "God does not play dice."
I'm not a JW apologist. Hell, I'm not even a member of the Communist Party.
I simply stated that the apocalyptic message the JWs preach may have some validity, but for completely non-metaphysical reasons. Just because "JWs....right" is in the title does not mean this is primarily a thread about the Witnesses. Daniel Dennet once co-authored a book with a chapter title that reads, "Is God a Taoist?" Dennet does not believe in God or the Tao. Don't be pedantic, Terry.
As for the 1950's...in hindsight it's easy to look back and say "things weren't so bad." There's a nice book entitled, "The Way We Never Were" which debunks a lot of the glistening myths of the '50's. Nevertheless, at least the fashions were classier than today's. And young people listened to Frank Sinatra.
B.
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53
The JWs might be right....for all the wrong reasons
by logansrun inpeople have been predicting the end of the world for thousands of years.
sooner or later one of them is going to be right.
fear mongering.
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logansrun
Terry,
I agree with everything you said, but the JWs were really not the point of my post.
B.
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53
The JWs might be right....for all the wrong reasons
by logansrun inpeople have been predicting the end of the world for thousands of years.
sooner or later one of them is going to be right.
fear mongering.
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logansrun
RM,
For example, I just came back from Toronto last night - 1250 miles each way for an overnight trip - possible in the 50s, but not common. After I finish working and communicating with people instantly all over the world, I will go home and see if there is a football game on the big screen - somewhere in the 62 channels, there should be something on.Digital cameras, microwaves,
Yes, but many of those things are preventing people from seeing the big picture. We have much more "stuff" and entertainment than before, but they often are just distractions from the pressing issues at hand. Sometimes they're even part of the problem. And people generally are not happier with all the gadgetry and conveniences that we have now. I'm not saying they are bad, but people usually have the wrong attitude about them. I'd take a walk in the park with a loved one over text-messaging on my cellphone any day. Yet people are doing less of the former, more of the latter.
better medical treatments,
Which are becoming increasingly unaffordable....I know, catch-22.
better understanding of the universe.
Yes, but I'd take a long, peaceful life over anything you've mentioned any day.
B.
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53
The JWs might be right....for all the wrong reasons
by logansrun inpeople have been predicting the end of the world for thousands of years.
sooner or later one of them is going to be right.
fear mongering.
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logansrun
Please, don't anybody think my "JWs might be right" too seriously. I'm using that phrase for effect, more than anything.
b
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53
The JWs might be right....for all the wrong reasons
by logansrun inpeople have been predicting the end of the world for thousands of years.
sooner or later one of them is going to be right.
fear mongering.
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logansrun
But, I can't think of any better time to be alive.
How about the 1950's?
To be fair, I think one of the reasons why it's so easy to get down on the world today -- and it's dismal prospects -- is because our lives have improved so dramatically. We expect more because we've had more. Nothing fails like success. And the problems we experience seem so damn pointless because they're so preventable. I'd feel better about a comet obliterating the earth than I would nuclear war.
B.
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53
The JWs might be right....for all the wrong reasons
by logansrun inpeople have been predicting the end of the world for thousands of years.
sooner or later one of them is going to be right.
fear mongering.
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logansrun
People have been predicting the end of the world for thousands of years. Sooner or later one of them is going to be right.
Fear mongering. As former Jehovah?s Witnesses we know all about it. I?d like to say we are experts in the methods of how to scare the crap out of someone, since most of us were fed a constant message which scared the crap out of us. Armageddon, poverty, sin, AIDS, rampant crime, the elders, earthquakes, the Great Tribulation ? I don?t need to remind you of what Watchtowerworld is all about. ?We are living in the worst of times!? is a concept that lies at the very center of the Witness Weltanschauung. But at least the ?best of times? are to follow?after Jehovah obliterates 99.9 % of all humanity in what I like to call a ?Global 9-11.? How encouraging!
Of course, the Watchtower is guilty of a lot of fallacious reasoning when it comes to it?s appraisal of our ?end times.? Some things are worse, but some things are surely better. Life-expectancy is up dramatically, infant mortality is down, prejudice ? once something that was rampant in every culture ? is diminishing in the more enlightened ones. A lot of things are better than ever. Would you rather have lived in the middle-ages? I think not.
And yet, the Watchtower is right when it comes to some things, a fact that many former Witnesses find hard to swallow. Even if the day-to-day lives of people are better, in the Western world at least, we still are living in extraordinarily uncertain times ? I dare say the riskiest times in all of human history. It's not due to Satan being thrown to the earth or any other type of millenial gobbledy-gook. It's just time and human nature.
The Cold War, with it?s principle of Mutually Assured Destruction to deter the Superpowers from certain annihilation, was comfortable compared to the menacing threat of a terrorist cell detonating a suitcase nuke in downtown Manhattan. (Even if the world wouldn?t end, can you imagine what life would be like with a giant hole on the east coast?) The threat, once clustered in a manageable way (the USSR), is now spread out among psychotic terrorists who don?t care if they live or die. Uncertainty.
And then there?s the economy, stupid?or the stupid economy. My generation is paying into a social security plan that probably won?t be there when we need it. The gap between rich and poor is rising steadily. Technology, for all its benefits, is raising the cost of health-care to unimaginable levels. The average time spent at one job is down to less than five years. Faster, faster, faster! The rate of change in the global market is practically out of control. For all it?s benefits in lower product prices and electronic gadgetry to ?Wow!? us, no one seems to really like where our market is going. Uncertainty.
Does anyone really notice? Most don?t. People, especially the younger generation, are too busy with a) finding a job; b) working overtime at their job; c) who the Next Big Star will be on T.V.; or d) quick religion which offers chimerical ?answers.? If you are really in tune with the world and it?s problems, and not into some silly cult, you probably feel a sense of alienation and powerlessness. I do.
Sometimes I just sit back and think to myself, ?Fuck it. So what if the world is going to hell and the extinction of our race is just around the corner, enjoy what you have now and find humor in the madness going on around you.?
Pessimism? Realism.
B.
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Bush Announces "Peace and Security" (non-political thread only please)
by Confucious inok, in bush's speech last night, his theme was "peace and security" or "peace and saftey" which i believe was his actual words.
well, we know the jw retoric about "peace and security.
does anyone here have insite on what the the bible is talking about with "...when they are announceing peace and security that sudden destruction will be instantly upon them..." .
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logansrun
Vote for Kerry!
*doh!*