Atheism As Of Now.
by Outaservice 15 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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sweetface2233
Sorry to disappoint, but the only fag I want to get w/ is BFD. You guys can get it on yourself!
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BFD
Why am I always sucked into these convos, sweetface?
To comment on the topic...
I think that the younger generation is more open to Atheism and in 100 years Theists will be in the minority. My 2 cents.
BFD
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nvrgnbk
The younger generation does seem to be harder to convince with regard to belief in an unseen deity.
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greendawn
Do people change as they grow older and the moment of death approaches? Many people including atheists will instinctively cry out "oh my God" or "please God help me" when in grave, overwhelming danger.
I am glad in that I have a fixed and stable view about God's existence as a living reality. -
JCanon
I won't really jump into this, but just wanted to say, I understand atheism and/or the need for faith if you haven't had a more direct revelation of God than say through the indirect perception of nature.
But now the JIOR ("Jehovah Is Our Righteousness" group; those who are in the secret, private banquet-wedding feast when Christ arrives) can't deny there is no god because of direct experience. Because of what is going on now, holy spirit has to interact more directly with things that we are aware of. We're the true strict Biblical believers, not the pretenders. For instance, if the Bible says that John and Paul never would die over 1900 years, we believe that. That's hard to believe, but once we do, we get to see them in person. Stuff like that. Angels who have materialized who pretend to be humans we become aware of. Point being not whether this is real or not, but the Bible requires that level of belief. And some cases for the prophets, like myself, or the "anointed" (heard of them?) now we even get to Christ or have a personal interview with God himself as I have. So as I've poined out before, for the delusional, the drugged, the insane or those who say have experienced direct contact even demons say in a haunted house situation or whatnot, we're far thinking there's no god, because we can't. Our personal experience is beyond the Bible at this point, we have direct evidence. But at the same time, we understand those "out of the loop" cannot come where we go.
It aligns with what God has said though. For those who have much (faith), more will be given. For those with have none, what they have will be taken from them. That means, if you are already a hard-core fundamental Bible-thumper, then God just might throw in a modern-day miracle or two for you. But if you're an atheist, which means you have no faith, the Bible says even that will be taken from you. What is less than nothing? Less than zero is a -5, a negative number. Meaning, God doesn't simply let the atheists sit there in the dark. He leads them to a steep cliff and then Jesus Christ comes up from behind and pushes them over the edge. It means that there is some counterintelligence on God's part going on that doesn't leave you in the middle but pushes you farther to one side or the other. So God gives the atheist even more of a reason not to believe than just his doubts that there is no god, while on the other side of the line, he provides miracles for those who really have the greatest faith.
But there's one exception, and I hate to bring it up, but per Bible prophecy there was supposed to be a "sign of the son of man" that appears so that even those who believed the Bible and their interpretation is correct, would have a direct sign from heaven that the messiah had arrived. This was much like John who while baptizing Jesus got that confirmation of that dove coming down out of heaven representing holy spirit and the Christ. Well... turns out the "sign" is not a vision, say like talking to God or seeing Christ in your mind. It was a physical manifestation in the clouds in the form of cloud imagery. That means it could be captured on film. So God arrnaged for me to have a photo of the "sign" (a different one than I had seen before and the third "cloud message" I'd seen) taken by a person who specialized in skyscape photography and sent it to me. So part of my personal experience of "god" includes this event, something I recognize from God or consider came from God, even if others wouldn't just on the basis of the cloud imagery. But it does add a dimension to the discussion since I have more than just my fantasies now as part of my belief system, I have an actual idendepent image and I can share that with the world so they can see it too. I truly think God figured that those who believe in God would always be considered "crazy" by those who don't; an easy dismissal. So he plays this little game with them by providing just a teensie weentsie glimpse of "magic" for them to see, that is not imaginary but real.
http://www.geocities.com/siaxares/facenhand.gif
http://www.geocities.com/siaxares/clouddove.jpg
When I saw the image, the face of a sleeping black child, which relates to the second coming, I of course recognized it in the subliminal art of the WTS' "Revelation" book. What this did for me subjectively, of course, is confirmed that not only had others seen it and that this was a confirmation of the "sign of the son of man," but that the WTS itself was aware of this phenomenon though doubted it. The imagery in the Revelation book came 10 years later! (the photo was taken in 1998, the Revelation book came out in 1988). Again, I'm not trying to convince the atheists or anyone to believe, but to look and understand the personal, subjective experience of someone who does believe. The above combination confirms specifics, that is, that the sign had been appearing prior to 1988, etc.
So here I am, all caught up in the details of the "sign", who it appeared to and when, etc. and then I come here I see so many smart people finding so many intellectual reasons not to believe there's a god, and all I can do is start to laugh uncontrollably because where does that leave me? Now granted, I'd have to consider I'm completely a nutcase and crazy. But what about the images? I'm not imaging that, am I? So I can't even hide out there either, since I can't explain the images away with just my overactive imagination.
On the other hand, if you know the Bible and knows how God does things, it is more than apparent he set this up. It's just like him to give the believers something to assure them their not imagining these things because at the same time he does a whole lot to make the non-believers not believe.
Acts 13:41 " 41 ‘Behold it, YOU scorners, and wonder at it, and vanish away, because I am working a work in YOUR days, a work that YOU will by no means believe even if anyone relates it to YOU in detail.’”
So I definitely believe in God, but then I have no choice because he has had a more direct and active part with me personally. But that's me. At the same time, for those without those advantages, it doesn't seem that God really cares that you don't believe in him, he might even glory in it because everyone will believe when Armageddon strikes, just as everyone was a believer when it started to rain. But there is also the potential that God might go out of his way to may the hardcore non-believers, believe even less.
So God is REAL, but he's hiding from those who are not looking for him. Those who look for him, find him..
So anyway, I'm glad I don't have to WONDER IF. I know from direct experience. And that's kind of nice to know for sure, absolutely. I feel badly for those who can't get to my place on this, but I'm delirious (oops, make that extremely rationally happy) that this is a topic, "atheism" that I can have a good laugh about. A really good laugh! All those people running around in the dark without a fkn clue.
Oh well, that's this god for you!
JCanon
