Abaddon

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Posts by Abaddon

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  18

  Why all the Athiest/Christian bashing?

  by AK - Jeff in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know i am different than many, and though i accept christianity, i just don't understand the constant debate and haggle over the matter.

  not a week goes by without one side starting a fight with the other, then the other retorts with it's position.

  lots of wordsmiths appear and try to reason above the other persons head, and make naked accusations about an entire class of persons unknown.

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  Abaddon

  I don't think that anyone doesn't think we are free to believe what we want.

  We are also free to believe what another believes is offensive, or nonsense.

  I would first differentiate between Christians. I think there is an important distinction between what I would call literal fundamentalists; those who take the Bible literally and have very 'traditional' interpretations of what the Bible means and what god is, and more liberal Christian thinkers.

  That later group and the athiestic lobby rarely argue in the way the first group and athiests argue. A liberal christian and an atheist can agree on many things - apart on the existence of god, which they'd probably agree is undeterminable (although both would still feel their opinion on the existence of god was more valid than the other's).

  I suggest that the difference in paradigms between atheists and literal fundamentalists is the main cause for conflict.

  Literal fundamentalists to an atheist believe in utter nonsense; to literal fundamentalists atheists are the enemy and have been decieved, probably due to their own wanton desires.

  A second reason is the (and I stress this is opinion) misconception some people have; this is not a soap box, for all that some use it as one. Some people object to the very fact others disagree with them in a forum for discussion.

  People can disagree with me about evolution until the cows come home; I am not insulted or bothered by it, in fact I enjoy the debate. The criticism that certain literal fundamentalists might pour on those beliefs means nothing. If someone has a belief in ghosts and someone criticises those beliefs, then they seem far more likely to be offended. This is in part due to the fact that the paradigm they use is one relying on personal experience rather than one more relaint upon evidence, and as such doubters doubt THEM. If an atheist is doubted it is the facts of their argument that are doubted; it's less personal.

  As such I believe that a certain amount of oppostional discourse between the above two paradigms or lobbies is inevitable as it is implicit in the characteristics of those paradigm.
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  44

  Dawkins on Jehovah's Witnesses' "Creation" book

  by slimboyfat in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  has anyone read dawkins new book the god delusion yet?

  he discusses the creation book on pages 119-121. he says that he discusses this particular tract only because it has had such a wide circulation - no fewer than 6 of which have been sent to him personally.

  well i think he has at least 7 copies by now because i personally know one witness who sent him one following his recent the roof of all evil?

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  Abaddon

  TopHat

  No silly, you are comparing a parody of the idea of god (the existence of which has no evidence) with something that has evidence.

  Or are you gonna tell us god put the dinosaur bones there to fool us?

  Looking forward to your reply, as always...
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  14

  What Is Wrong With the Religion "Wicca"?

  by Dark_Princess in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am currently an agnostic, i am suffering from depression because i cant seem to know or realize if this "jehovah's witness religion" is really true..i mean what is so true about it.

  im only 17 years old and i feel that i need to find my religion.

  right now im currently dating a wiccan.

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  Abaddon

  Hi Princess...

  I am currently an agnostic, I am suffering from depression because i cant seem to know or realize if this "Jehovah's Witness religion" is really true..I mean what is so true about it. Im only 17 years old and i feel that i need to find my religion. Right now im currently dating a Wiccan. Hes not bad at all. hes like one of the nicest ppl u can ever meet in ur life, but Why do JW's decieve him, along with other christians. I myself have thought about Joining in this religion for I see nothing wrong with it..I dont even know if i believe in The Devil Satan. I need help You Guys, and Im In desperate need of it. Tell me What is your view on Wiccan Witchraft. I LOVE IT!

  Well, first of all my daughtér (16) is into Wicca as well; I can link you guys up. Send me a pm and I'll give you her E-mail.

  Secondly, Jehovah's Witnesses are a 'high control group' or cult. They differ from an ordinary religion in setting thigs up to restrict your knowledge, your friends, and threaten you with taking away the friends you have if you do something wrong; and the 'somethings'are often NOT even in the Bible, they've just been made up by men.

  Thirdly the words 'made up by men' are VERY relevent in talking about religion. Whilst the 'big question' of whether there is a god is arguably open, most religions if you look at them are made up be men. Wicca is no exception (I do mean 'mankind'when I type' men'by the way).

  We dont really have much of an idea how wicca WAS practised - just like we don't really know how the Druids practised their faith, just how we don't know the steps to many traditional dances from centuries ago. Wicca, Druidism, and Morris Dancing are all attempt to bring an essentially dead religion (or dances) back to life and have been largely reinvented in the past two hundred years.

  I say this so you're not taken in by other's beleif in it's 'genuineness'.

  I also don;t think it matters. Just as religion once explained why lightning flashed (before we had meteorologists), so to this day religion provides answers. It used to provide answers for the outside world but now using religion to answer stuff about the outside world like 'where did we come from' just makes MORE questions than you started with. But for some people religion has a place in providing them answers for their internal world.

  Don't make the mistake of assuming you NEED a religion. Religion is as of much use to some people as a bicycle is of use to a fish. Maybe you've grown up having religion chuicked at you and think it's needed. Maybe it is for YOU - but one can have a perfectly decent life without picking a religion.

  All the best

  Gyles
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  38

  Question for the EX-JW:

  by rezrez in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when you left the religion or cult, which religion did you convert to.

  remember, i dont need to know why you left, i just want to which religion did you convert to.

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  Abaddon

  mouthy

  My friend is gay!! He flys your flag>>>>>Do you have a flag like that too. But he LOVES God/

  I'm very happy thank you very much, but not quite gay.

  As far as loving god does, thou art god, I am god, my cat is god... and maybe even god is god...
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  38

  Question for the EX-JW:

  by rezrez in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when you left the religion or cult, which religion did you convert to.

  remember, i dont need to know why you left, i just want to which religion did you convert to.

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  Abaddon

  I'm a born-again-atheist.

  Once never saved, always never saved, in the name of the figment, the superstition and the highly gullable, forever and ever, Darwin.

  Occasionally I cheat and imagine I have a cosmic relationship with rainbows...
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  55

  My wife I love her but?

  by skyking in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just posted this on another thread and decided to post my own thread about it.. a few posters here that know me personally know about my amazing wife.

  i had a very hard time accepting what i have learned about her.

  she has a gift she has kept from the world until she was in her 30's.

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  Abaddon

  skyking, jimbo... if you want privacy or confidentiality I think the smart thing to do is for you to continue your discussion in PM.

  Pity paranormal powers don't protect your spouse from being spoken about in public behind her back when (as you seemingly know) she wouldn't want to be.

  You amaze me...
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  51

  Is there a bird watcher in the house?

  by unclebruce in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this evening i went for a walk near the mouth of the bega river, several kilometres from my place.

  i enjoyed the peace and took a few photos.. for several years the pelicans here were my concern (keeping an eye on them and occationally capturing them to remove fish hooks and the like.

  while there a duck billed mud stinky arrived.

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  Abaddon

  Are 'king parrots the same as 'king wombats or 'king 'roos? I find lots of Australians use the prefix 'KING' all the time, presumably it's something to show allegiance to the Royal Family...
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  87

  What if she never leaves JWs? (The interminable waiting period...)

  by AuldSoul in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this has nothing to do with whether i love my wife.

  i always will.. pragmatically, i have come to the devastating conclusion that i don't want to be married to a jw.

  any jw.. she asked me last night, "so, do you believe in santa clause, now?

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  Abaddon

  You have my symapthy AuldSoul. For me this was a no brainer as when I got to the point of leaving the Borg my then wife had destoyed the love I had for her by repeated cruelty. Part of that cruelty was due to me disappointing her expectations.

  She was reinstated after df'ing for f'ing around and getting pregnant from it. I was the MS son of big-time Elder. Easy access all areas, approval and status all in one hit.

  However, I didn't turn out to be the theocratic force she wanted; we moved to the country, I didn't get made-up to MS again, and free of my parents was able to step off the treadmill and actually realise how much of my life was lived for other people.

  Thus I got "her disapproval, her disappointment, her regret over my choices". She was also incapable of having anything any other way than her way, and if she didn't get it was as vicious as a rat with a flick-knife. She loved me for what she got from me, not for me, and even admitted she'd never been IN love with me.

  I think anyone living indefinately in an environment where they can never do enough, where they are always at fault, where they are always wrong, are consigning themselves to a life of misery... and you don't deserve that. I couldn't do it, as I had no emotional compensation. Maybe you can if the love is still alive, but it is a bitter dish.

  All the best

  Gyles
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  26

  lil ol' me

  by gay pride in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi my name is crystal...i am 20 and was disfellowshipped two years ago.

  that was the hardest thing i have ever been thru in my life yet.. i was disfellowshipped for falling in love with and having relations with another female.

  tried to fight it for a long time... but shit happens.

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  Abaddon

  Hi crystal...

  I deal with the [edit] of my parents being JW's by viewing them as four people; two lovely parent I love, and two mad cultists whose beliefs I despise.

  They are the cultists, I am the adult. I can avoid their hot buttons with increasing success. I can put their occasional $hitfests into a seperate drawer and put it down to the cult, not them being evil.

  Don't know if that helps you but it works well for me.
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  33

  Harry Potter

  by puppylove in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  so, has anyone read these books, and if so, what do you think?

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  Abaddon

  One of the most wonderfully hilarious things in the world is that fundy Christians in the USA mistook a satirical article about Harry Potter triggering a rise in Satanism for a real news report, and actually used the text of the article in chain E-mails warning of the danger;

  http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/potter.htm

  As for the books themselves, they're great, and I'm looking forward to OotP out on film summer '07.

  The last book seems liely to be the last Harry book, from what JK has said; no 'Harry at University'. This is and always has been a seven book sequence.

  Harry dying is not impossible. Also in the firing line are Ginny, Hermie, Ron, and (prehaps more so as already commented on) Hagrid and Neville. I also agree that Severus might play a pivotal role at the last monute; maybe something like Vader chucking the Emperor over the railing in SWVI:RotJ? I predict that RAB is Sirrius's brother whose middle name is Arcturus... and maybe Sirrius will stage a come-back? I mean, him being dead isn't TOO much of a barrier in a fantasy. And Id be suprised if Dumbledore doesn't make an appearance as a portrait.

  Given the linkage between Voldermort and Harry, maybe Harry absorbs Voldemort and extinguishes the evil, becoming the most powerful wizard of all time? Maybe Harry's destruction of Voldemort will come at the cost of his own magic powers? Those two options make far better endings than Ginny and Ron sobbing over Harry's body.