Caupon

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Posts by Caupon

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  21

  Finding the value of God; Isn't it better to believe in a deity?

  by Caupon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the question as to what believing in this entity called god entails is a fairly important question that needs to be answered first.

  to me, the key difference between a universe in which god exists versus one where god doesn't lies in the idea of teleology.

  in my view, a universe with god entails some sort of process towards an end, an end which can be characterized with words such as bliss and unity and others.

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  Caupon

  The question as to what believing in this entity called God entails is a fairly important question that needs to be answered first. To me, the key difference between a universe in which God exists versus one where God doesn't lies in the idea of teleology. In my view, a universe with God entails some sort of process towards an end, an end which can be characterized with words such as Bliss and Unity and others. On the other hand a universe without God entails that there isn't any end. There isn't any inherent meaning or purpose to existence. It's all sort of arbitrary.
  
  The latter characterization of God is one more in line with Abrahamic faiths. One can also contemplate the idea of a universe in which existence doesn't have a purpose or end but God still exists. The Hindu contempt of Lila comes to mind in which the eastern traditions in so far as I have studied them are quite silent on the idea of teleology. Anyway, to me, the relevance of the concept of God ultimate lies in its utility. To what end is the belief in God a useful one?
  I can't deny the sense of calm I've felt after praying, for example. The sense of calm in the idea of having someone guiding you towards a state of blissfulness. The idea, ultimately, of some kind of inherent order underlying the chaos which I perceive.
  
  Yet, sometimes I feel that a universe with order is too unsatisfying, funnily enough. That it doesn't possess enough instability to produce anything interesting. Perhaps I ought to start contemplating the idea of God as a chaotic magician. Here I'm not limiting myself to the Jehovah's witnesses or any particular religion's interpretation of God. Sure, those can be helpful but I've always found that something which comes from within works best in the end. Also, what does it entail though? How can we stand the idea of existing in an arbitrary universe, if we are to discard the concept of God?
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  57

  Is zeal beginning to vanish?

  by Caupon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it has to be starting to fade somehow.

  the very last time i went out in field service, hardly any were out.

  maybe just about nine people were out and man if you could just see their faces.

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  Caupon

  Tor, you say really relatable and truthful things. To be honest, I never cared about most of the bible's jazz. Like I think the only part that even matters is what Jesus said on the mountain. All that prophecy crap is why religion is bad and is a reason why the organization exists in the first place. You mentioned the difference between young and old in the congregation, and I believe that will become destructively drastic for the organization throughout the next 5-10 years. Man I hope you stay on here. You make sense, man.
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  57

  Is zeal beginning to vanish?

  by Caupon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it has to be starting to fade somehow.

  the very last time i went out in field service, hardly any were out.

  maybe just about nine people were out and man if you could just see their faces.

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  Caupon

  Hello tor1500. Nice to meet you. What you said is truth. In addition to non-witnesses not having any interest, the believers seem to be starting to have a lukewarm attitude toward most of the beliefs and the organization in general. I think one reason for this is because of the twisted and changing doctrines every year, and the direction the Borg is going.

  People are starting to really get suspicious with the changes that are going on. The youngsters become uninterested by the time they are in their teens and the older individuals are frustrated with the changing beliefs. And apparently they sometimes like the older doctrine better and get up. They try to laugh it off but it's becoming noticeable.Like what you said about them not knowing what is going on is right because they don't because of all the changes. Similar to what you said, a silent controversy has taken most Jws over.
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  57

  Is zeal beginning to vanish?

  by Caupon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it has to be starting to fade somehow.

  the very last time i went out in field service, hardly any were out.

  maybe just about nine people were out and man if you could just see their faces.

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  Caupon

  Doubt it's a fluke oneyedJoe. This has happened gradually in my congregation but now it is really starting to show how people feel in their hearts. Like about two months ago, that's where the attitudes of people were starting to shift but it was not apparent until just last week when I seen their faces.

  You could be right though. But for the past year and maybe a few months a lot of people have this strange attitude unlike what they are known to have in the hall, ministry, and even during assemblies. And what I saw the past week was a bunch of people with a smug body language with nothing to say like they usually have and also so sense of unity. But then again maybe they were really tired because they force themselves to do it every single week and even if you are happy about something, if you do it too much you will get tired.

  But I really do not know except what I seen. This is the first time any of them acted in this manner. I mean even if they were tired they would still be joyful but all I saw was fake smiles.
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  57

  Is zeal beginning to vanish?

  by Caupon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it has to be starting to fade somehow.

  the very last time i went out in field service, hardly any were out.

  maybe just about nine people were out and man if you could just see their faces.

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  Caupon

  It has to be starting to fade somehow. The very last time I went out in field service, hardly any were out. Maybe just about nine people were out and man if you could just see their faces. Everyone looked exhausted and hardly said hello. Like the only person who really greeted anyone was the conductor. Everyone had the body language of someone who feels like going door to door is a serious chore.

  This amazed me because usually all the witnesses are so superficial about everything. The majority of them would basically be fanatics about anything related to the organization but last week was different. They did not seem happy to be out but just annoyed in some ways. Don't know about you guys but maybe things are starting to steer clear for a lot of witnesses with everything as a whole.

  Of course, there are a lot of JWs that still have that super brainwashed attitude. But I don't think I have ever seen witnesses like this especially when supposedly teaching people about God and everlasting life should be a happy thing. Truly an eye opener.
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  43

  Why Rational People Buy Into Conspiracy Theories?

  by adjusted knowledge in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my wife is taking a literature course at a local college.

  this was her final topic of the semester: why rational people buy into conspiracy theories?i automatically thought of this site and of jws.

  the jws i knew, were the kind of people that would believe in conspiracy theories, and i noticed a small following on this site.. the article that was referenced for this course was: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/magazine/why-rational-people-buy-into-conspiracy-theories.html?_r=0.

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  Caupon

  Honestly, I think people who believe in the more wacky conspiracy theories are or were brainwashed just like someone is when they are becoming one of Jehovah's Witnesses. They probably grew into only believing one source of the information because either they cannot understand a certain source or strongly refuse to believe another source because of some personal or deep issues. Therefore, they are closed into a one-sided circle that continues to make more and more sense the more they are engaged in it.
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  3

  No Sleep

  by Caupon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  like it is so annoying.

  as tired as i am and as painful these meetings are to listen to, i can not for the life of me fall asleep.

  might close my eyes for 30 seconds but that seems to make me even more awake.

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  Caupon

  Like it is so annoying. As tired as I am and as painful these meetings are to listen to, I can not for the life of me fall asleep. Might close my eyes for 30 seconds but that seems to make me even more awake. There is literally no interest in what the speaker is saying nor whatever comments people have nor the reading of the magazines nor whatever is on that damned screen. I just wish I could fall asleep until it's over but no. For some reason my body makes me stay awake and with my blood shot eyes, you'd think it would be easy to but it is not. For most people it seems to be the easiest thing in the world to fall asleep to something so boring but not me.
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  81

  The Old Age

  by Caupon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so now that most of us have come to a semi truthful understanding that the witnesses are wrong about evolutionist, there is a certain question that i have always had.

  now if you were to ask any jw, they'd recite a complete fallacy from scientist regarding this.

  but what is you guys input of this.

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  Caupon

  Cofty, yes. I did bother to read the article. However, once it got to that hard chemistry, had to tune out. If only that stuff was simpler, but then again, it's trying to predict how old rocks are so that is not going to be easy. Being honest, it seems the more I read about dating, the more confused I get. So I think its good for me to stop and maybe wait to get a better understanding of it.

  As for Mash, It was no understanding of the particular science involved. Was never good at understanding it in the first place anyway. I just wish it were in simpler terms.
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  81

  The Old Age

  by Caupon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so now that most of us have come to a semi truthful understanding that the witnesses are wrong about evolutionist, there is a certain question that i have always had.

  now if you were to ask any jw, they'd recite a complete fallacy from scientist regarding this.

  but what is you guys input of this.

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  Caupon

  Okay, wow. I did not expect for this post to be a battle against science. Of course we all realize that without science, there'd be no light, no extra means of travel, etc. Science is one thing that is natural for a human to be involved because we wonder so much about ourselves and everything. But what the op is saying is that despite all the absolute methods to date physical property and objects, is it not still a prediction at the end of the day?

  Like what Syd says. All those methods are assumptions when you think about it. Most of you guys here mention that these specific techniques are tested over and over to provide at least logical explanation or calculation. Well, that is very great and assuring. But when we are talking about something that they say is possibly 65 million years old, and I meant million not billion, you cannot test that. It still seems to be a great big throw around for some unknown objective. The latest poster said that many methods are used to determine the date to be as accurate as possible. And that is just what I mean. Its not to be exactly 100% correct because we will never know that but it is supposed to be as accurate as it possibly can. Now I'm not saying all these great ways to figure the time period of these things is wrong. But they can be wrong because they are just methods to determine an estimate to the facts in which we many never know. And there are also so many things we do not yet know.
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  81

  The Old Age

  by Caupon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so now that most of us have come to a semi truthful understanding that the witnesses are wrong about evolutionist, there is a certain question that i have always had.

  now if you were to ask any jw, they'd recite a complete fallacy from scientist regarding this.

  but what is you guys input of this.

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  Caupon

  Thanks you Simon, but is it really based on the truth or an assumption. Estimating things are at least 65 billion years old seems to be just them throwing numbers around.