Erase the whole bible, and just have one page. Written on that page are bold letters; "Don't be a dick"
---unknown
Wil Wheaton?
I am having trouble believing in God...
by thedepressedsoul 45 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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punkofnice
Welcome. I was raised in the cult......left after 50 years of being a zealous drone.
This is my take on god......
“A fire-breathing dragon lives in my garage.”
Suppose … I seriously make such an assertion to you. Surely you’d want to check it out, see for yourself….
“Show me,” you say. I lead you to my garage. You look inside and see a ladder, empty paint cans, an old tricycle—but no dragon.
“Where’s the dragon?” you ask.
“Oh, she’s right here,” I reply, waving vaguely. “I neglected to mention that she’s an invisible dragon.”
You propose spreading flour on the floor of the garage to capture the dragon’s footprints.
“Good idea,” I say, “but this dragon floats in the air.”
Then you’ll use an infrared sensor to detect the invisible fire.
“Good idea, but the invisible fire is also heatless.”
You’ll spray-paint the dragon and make her visible.
“Good idea, except she’s an incorporeal dragon and the paint won’t stick.”
And so on. I counter every physical test you propose with a special explanation of why it won’t work.
Now, what’s the difference between an invisible, incorporeal, floating dragon who spits heatless fire and no dragon at all? If there’s no way to disprove my contention, no conceivable experiment that would count against it, what does it mean to say that my dragon exists? Your inability to invalidate my hypothesis is not at all the same thing as proving it is true. Claims that cannot be tested, assertions immune to disproof are veridically worthless, whatever value they may have in inspiring us or in exciting our sense of wonder. What I’m asking you do comes down to believing, in the absence of evidence, on my say-so.
The only thing you’ve really learned from my insistence that there’s a dragon in my garage is that something funny is going on inside my head. You’d wonder, if no physical tests apply, what convinced me. The possibility that it was a dream or a hallucination would certainly enter your mind. But then why am I taking it so seriously? Maybe I need help. At the least, maybe I’ve seriously underestimated human fallibility….
Now another scenario: Suppose it’s not just me. Suppose that several people of your acquaintance, including people who you’re pretty sure don’t know each other, all tell you they have dragons in their garages—but in every case the evidence is maddeningly elusive. All of us admit we’re disturbed at being gripped by so odd a conviction so ill-supported by the physical evidence. None of us is a lunatic. We speculate about what it would mean if invisible dragons were really hiding out in garages all over the world, with us humans just catching on. I’d rather it not be true, I tell you. But maybe all those ancient European and Chinese myths about dragons weren’t myths after all…
Gratifyingly, some dragon-size footprints in the flour are now reported. But they’re never made when a skeptic is looking. An alternative explanation presents itself: On close examination it seems clear that the footprints could have been faked. Another dragon enthusiast shows up with a burnt finger and attributes it to a rare physical manifestation of the dragon’s fiery breath. But again, other possibilities exist. We understand that there are other ways to burn fingers besides the breath of invisible dragons. Such “evidence”—no matter how important the dragon advocates consider it—is far from compelling. Once again, the only sensible approach is tentatively to reject the dragon hypothesis, to be open to future data, and to wonder what the cause might be that so many apparently sane and sober people share the same strange delusion.
—Carl Sagan
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tornapart
I've not read everyone's comments on this, so sorry if I say something someone else has said. This is how I see it. I've had lots of questions and doubts about things and trying to make sense of it all. I still believe in God and still believe in Christ but the idea that God has written a book full of laws that have no use, can be interpreted so many different ways that it's impossible for anyone to see it the same way and expect by some miracle that only a few will get it right, is absurd.
The laws God set out for mankind were to show that they couldn't, no matter how hard they tried, keep them all. When Christ came he gave us new laws, in fact only two. To love God and to love our neighbour. That's it. Salvation isn't dependent on understanding every tiny doctrine in the bible, it's not putting faith in any religion, church or organisation. It's simply putting faith in Christ. That's it.
If you still want to believe in God, I would suggest you read some books by a christian writer called Philip Yancey. He came out of a legalistic religion and became agnostic for a while before regaining his faith in God. He makes some really good arguements.
If not, there are plenty of others on here that can make a case for atheism.
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cantleave
Punky -
Carl Sagan the sage.
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KateWild
Welcome thedepressedsoul,
Your name seems to tell a story about how you are feeling. Many who once believed in God for many years felt depressed when they stopped believing and many exJWs still believe, but in a different way.
You have to do what is in your best interests and what is best for your loved ones and those around you. Sometimes what is best may hurt for a while. Sometimes what is best may not be the same as what your loved ones think is best.
Welcome to the board, please keep us informed of your progress.
Take care Kate xx
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WhoYourDaddy
I have accepted football as my religion.