Zarco wrote:
:: This is a very bad example. A growing number of physicists put little stock in string theory, . . .
: But this wasn't such a bad example 5 to 8 years ago. It was the a supported explaination of truth.
Not at all. What it was, was a mathematical theory that many physicists set forth as their best guess at "an explanation of everything", as cosmological theories are sometimes termed. I have no doubt that, if pressed, physicists who strongly argued that their string theories were really the 'correct' "explanation of everything would agree that Gould's comments about scientific theories are correct, and that if they had pressed their case too strongly, they were wrong.
What you're doing here is what I did when I was still a JW: you're not truly understanding science and the way science is viewed by its practitioners. I refer you once again to Gould's comments. It took me awhile to see this, andI saw it only after my JW blinders were fully off.
: If we are going to examine the organization by what they said and what is true, shouldn't we examine science using the same standards?
You're again confusing two completely different things. String theory, as with all such theories that attempt to generalize and make sense of a huge number of facts -- observations -- have only the force that comes from how well they do indeed make sense of the facts. New theories are put to the test, and if they stand the test of time, usually over a period measured in decades if not centuries, they become accepted as correct -- correct enough that only a fool would disagree. What was once a "theory" that the earth revolves around the sun and not vice versa is one of those. Parts of the theory of evolution have stood such a test of time, even though other parts are still quite a ways off from hitting that mark for a number of reasons. Theories of physics that attempt to describe matter and energy at a deep level, for the most part, are not yet there, because it's still a young science, historically speaking. In any case, such science is arrived at by consensus by many scientists over a long period of time. Anyone is free to question the conclusions and, if he thinks he can present a good enough case, present it to the scientific community through normal channels and let the normal process of doing science take its course.
The JW organization is rather a different kettle of fish. It has no use for consensus. It dictates everything "theocratically", from the top down. No rank & file JW is allowed to present his views to the community of JWs to arrive at a consensus. Indeed, such a presentation is automatically viewed as a challenge to the authority of the Governing Body -- as rank apostasy. Questioning JW leaders is questioning God.
So, I agree with you that all claims to "truth" should subject to critical analysis. But I think you've not really understood that such questioning is welcomed in the scientific community but rejected as apostasy in the JW community.
Now, as for your apparently stopping posting on this forum, you probably should take a break. You've been hit with a lot of stuff in a short time by a lot of people with diverse opinions. Sitting back and taking stock is a good thing, since you certainly shouldn't go off half cocked and make snap decisions.
But I'll tell you this: From your comments, it's apparent that you're basically a decent guy who is concerned with pleasing his God and doing right by his fellow man. But you know that this is not true of a good many people in the JW organization, and that this has been the case for a very long time. So you know very well that it's not terribly likely that the JW organization is "God's organization", or that it has an exclusive lock on 'religious truth'. No matter your desire that reform take place, this will continue to eat you up until something breaks and you take positive steps, or your spirit is broken and you just go about the business of life with your head down. I suspect the former will happen with you. I know certain people who've taken the latter course, and it's not a pretty sight.
Whatever happens with you, in the near future this board and its fine members will be around for support. And because the community of astute ex-JWs is growing rapidly, largely due to the Internet, there will always be supportive people you can enlist as sounding boards.
AlanF
