looks like i am not on their "do-not-call" list anymore!! MWA HA HA HA!!! i bet they are going to have to rewrite the reasoning book now~! ha ha!
two pretty "sisters" came to my door, and i stepped outside to "converse" with them. it took a lot for me to keep my composure, because the old emotional triggers came back up, but i really really wanted to engage them without giving the fact away that i was an APOSTATE! ha ha! and i did it! i'm an RV now! i think she will come back with an elder. boy, this is gonna be a blast!!
the one lady started off with a scripture that "she was sharing with my neighbors". i said sure. she read it. i forget which one it was, but it was something to do with Jehovah easing the suffering of humans. when she was done, she asked me if i didn't think that was a nce thought?
i said that i think it is a nice thought, but the problem is that i do not believe in the god that they are saying wrote that book, and therefore would be hard pressed to believe anything that came out of that book. i said she would have to prove to me that the Jehovah god existed, before i would entertain promises from that book.
she answered my challenge with a question, of course: "why don't you believe in God?"
and i said that i do not believe in any gods, including jehovah. i said that i had no really good evidence for any gods like zeus and vishnu (while she nodded in agreement, lol) and that i rejected one more god than they did, jehovah as well (blank stares).
frowning, she asked if i believe in "evolution". i said "yes! of course i do! evolution is one of the most well supported theories in the history of science. the mountain of evidence in support of it was not made up by satan. there are fossils and genomes and validated hypothesis upon validated hypothesis. i would say that if someone does not believe in evolution, then they need to go to the library and read up on biology, with all due respect."
she said, "well, josh, there are many scientists that believe in creation. did you know that?" and i countered: "there are not "many"... and she countered "yes there are". and i said "i have seen polls conducted of american scientists in the 90's, and only 5% of them believed in creation. the other large majority believed in the fact of evolution. and of the 5% that did not believe in evolution, less than 1% were scientists from related fields like biology, anthropology and genetics. the majority of of the 5% where comuter programmers, engineers etc."
i smiled at her, and continued, "so, for you to be out in public here, saying that "many" scientists believe in creation, is to give the public the impression that a majority of scientists believe in creation. and that simply isn't true. plus, it isn't who believes what, it's whether the thing itself is worth beliving, would you agree?"
she said yes, and then changed the anglea bit: "well josh, what do you think the probability would be of blowing a house up with a nuclear bomb, and it all rearanging itself back into a perfect house?" i said that it would be most improbable. it would basically never happen.
she continued "well then, how much more so the human body?"
and i said "i'm sorry, but that is not a very good argument for a designer. first of all, human beings are not the result of blueprints the way that houses are. human beings are the result of their genomes executing code during embryonic development. and there is a big difference between a blue print, and a computer program, would you not agree?" she said "certainly". i continued, "so this is why we do not all look exactly the same. mutation during embryonic development." she said "of course". so i said, "well, if you believe in that already, then you already believe in evolution, because that's all evolution is but stretched over much longer time spans." (blank looks)
i said, "listen miss, i don't mean to be confrontatioonal, but i just think that religion has caused a lot of pain and suffering in this world." and they both nodded in agreement. i said, "and i know that you guys agree with me on that, but the difference is that i consider your religion part of that group of other religions that cause suffering."
and she said, "how do you mean?" and i said, "well, your religion's policies of excommunication, i think you guys call it disfellowshipping, and the shunning policy, in addition to the no blood policy and the cover ups of sexual abuse. it has all caused mass amounts of pain and suffering. i know this because i have studied your religion in addition to many other religions. and i don't think that taking your religion from door to door is a good idea for humanity. sorry." (no use bringing up whether the bible supports it or not since i put the kibosh on that book at the beginning of the conversation! mwa ha ha!!)
and she said: "well you know, i used to be disfellowshiped myself, but i came back to the religion." and i said "and i know that must be a source of pride for you, to have made it back in. but from my standpoint, you made a mistake. sorry. and i know you guys think all the other religions are false. but you are not looking at your own major faults when you say that!"
i said "listen. i know that you guys have good intentions (nodding in agreement). i just don't think that i have any reason to believe a single thing you say. i certainly do not believe that the world is ending soon, and that me and my neighbors who are not JWs will all die. i think this is a silly notion, sorry. i mean, i think that the world is a big grand beautiful place, full of wonderful things, (both nodding in agreement), i just do not think that with the christian paradigm you are even getting a fraction of the awe and wonder, because your religion tells you *what* to think about the world, and not *how* to think about it."
and the funniest part is that they both were nodding along until that last part, sort of stumped them. lol!
she finished: "well josh, you certainly have challenged me. i would like to do some research and come back and talk more."
and i said "absolutely, you are more than welcome. and just for the record, i totally understand if you choose not to come back too."
we smiled at each other, and said our good byes.
HA HA!! that was the second real conversation i have had with JWs since i left. it was sweet, i tell you. the first time was this summer on my bicycle tour of western canada. two sisters approached me on the street in a small town i was passing through, and we had a similar conversation.
it's interesting how the first line of defense that they bring up when i reject the notion of their god, is creation vs evolution. this is their number 1 argument for god! and that's why i am so into this topic (in case any of you were wondering). next week i want to tell them why, if evolution is true, that we do not need a saviour and are not "imperfect".
tetra
ps: sorry for gramatical errors and spelling.