Witnessing to athiests

by zound 22 Replies latest jw friends

  • zound
    zound

    Can't seem to find anything about this in the Reasoning book. What do Jehovah's Witnesses usually say / instructed to say to try and get Athiests interesteds in joining?

  • Comatose
    Comatose

    Just run like hell with your fingers in your ears while yelling "la la la la I can't hear you!" as loud as you can.

  • zound
    zound

    Actually I now found a section on evolution in the reasoning book (though nothing simply about not believing in God) the Watchtower quote Carl Sagan from his famous book Cosmos.

    Carl Sagan, in his book Cosmos, candidly acknowledged: "The fossil evidence could be consistent with the idea of a Great Designer."-(New York, 1980), p. 29.

    If anyone has the book can you put the context around this quote?

  • Scully
    Scully

    There are several articles in the bound volumes about atheists/agnostics becoming JWs.

    *** w88 3/1 p. 32 “I’m No Longer an Atheist!” ***

    “I’m No Longer an Atheist!”

    “I met a woman from Poland who is a professor,” reports a missionary in Senegal, Africa. “We had a long discussion, and I endeavored to answer her many questions.” The professor refused a publication designed for Bible study, explaining: “I am an atheist. That book does not interest me at all.” However, she did accept the book Life—How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation?

    “When I returned the following week,” the missionary reports, “she excitedly told me that she had read the book from cover to cover. When I proposed examining the Creation book with her, she replied: ‘But I have no need to study that book now! I have read it entirely, and it has completely changed my mind—I’m no longer an atheist! Now I would like for you to study that red book you first showed me, along with the Bible!’”

    Do you know someone who is an atheist or perhaps questions the truthfulness of the Bible? Why not send that person a gift copy of Life—How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation? You can do so by simply filling in and mailing the coupon below, enclosing just $2.50 with the coupon.

    Please send, postpaid, a gift copy of the 256-page book Life—How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation? as well as a letter explaining that it is a gift from _______________ (your name). I enclose $2.50 (U.S.).

    *** w82 10/15 p. 12 From Atheism to a Purposeful Life ***

    *** g99 12/8 p. 32 An Atheist Finds Answers ***

    An Atheist Finds Answers

    “THE articles published in your Watchtower and Awake! magazines are incredible! Your latest issues are irresistible! They answer very many questions and also give peace of mind.”

    So stated a reader from south India. He was born a Hindu, but his father raised him as an atheist. He says: “I found no purpose in life. Darwin’s theory of evolution sounded absurd. For years questions have taunted me, such as Who is God? Why is this world corrupt? Where do we go after death? Are wicked spirits real?”

    Having found the answers to his questions in The Watchtower and Awake! this reader subscribed to both magazines, sent gift subscriptions to his sister, and now passes on the magazines to people he meets. Being a photographer and an artist, he expressed appreciation for the magazines’ artwork, which “speaks for itself.” By reading these fine magazines, you can join the millions worldwide who have had their questions answered and have gained peace of mind.

    If you would like more information about God and his purpose for us, we would be happy to send you free of charge the widely distributed brochure Does God Really Care About Us? Just fill in the accompanying coupon and mail it to the address shown there or to an appropriate address listed on page 5 of this magazine.

    *** w81 3/15 p. 32 A Sincere Atheist ***

    A Sincere Atheist

    The following letter was received at the Toronto, Canada, branch office of the Watch Tower Society: “For all my adult life I have been a ‘sincere’ atheist, believing firmly in an evolution supported by all my private studies of chemistry, physics, . . . etc.

    “Lately I was . . . offered a subscription to your ‘Watchtower’ and ‘Awake!’ Reading these and a number of your books, I began to realize that I was wrong, that there had to be a Creator.”

    Have you thoroughly investigated whether the theory of evolution has a real foundation in fact? Are you willing to check it out? You can do so in the 192-page book “Did Man Get Here by Evolution or by Creation?”

    Please send, postpaid, the hardbound book “Did Man Get Here by Evolution or by Creation?” I enclose 60 cents (U.S.).

    ------------

    ugh. I just threw up in my mouth a little.

  • snare&racket
    snare&racket

    Athesit is a religious perspective term. We dont have a term for people that dont believe in santa claus or unicorns for example.

    We are labeled atheists, the rejection of a godly creator who holds this role despite no evidence or reason to believe, simply faith and in the case of modern human worshipped gods, the rejection of said evidence.

    Despite this, we are the a-theist. Truth isn't dictated by numbers or democracy, but for now we live on s planet saturated in mythology, so for now we have their label....

    Most JW' do not even understand a shred of what I just said, they only hesrd "no evidence or resson to believe" and smirked in their sll knowing assurance that I am the ignorsnt one.

    It will never end well with two such opposed views.... So atheists are simply wrong. Anyone that puts up a good fight (has good evidence and questions) on the ministry, usually evangelicals or evolutionary atheists in my experience , were simply considered time wasters, goats, closed to the truth in their heart....

    Where is the easy householder? The single mother/mentally unwell/ foreign and alone/ black sheep of the family/ex jw child ....questioning the purpose of life and needing a shoulder to lean on, they never ask difficult questions.... Forget waisting time with this atheist guy and his "laws of thermo dynamics" nonsense!

    I know how awful that last part sounds, but I think that is how they work, how I once subconsciouly worked They target the vulnerable not the skeptical or informed.

  • Nathan Natas
    Nathan Natas

    Use the suggested presentation for Scientologists and simply omit all references to Xenu.

  • Julia Orwell
    Julia Orwell

    I was an atheist before I became a Jw so I knew the process. Never got far with an atheist, even my own family though because an atheist is an atheist and usually has a very good reason for being so and can always back up their arguments with evidence.

  • adamah
    adamah

    When confronted with an atheist, most JWs typically do what this guy goes: just barrel on as if the householder didn't say they don't believe in God:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_pQu0BlN74?t=5m39s

    Of course, not all atheists are created equal, i.e. as much as it pains me to admit it, Ray Comfort is right in that there actually ARE some ignorant atheists who don't WANT God to exist for no good reasons to back up their feeling, just as there's believers who simply WANT God TO exist but cannot explain WHY; they similarly cannot explain WHY they believe what they believe, and are equally useless, IMO. If you believe something, you should be able to EXPLAIN WHY to others.

    Some atheists HAVE studied religion, including the history of Judaism and Christianity, PLUS they studied science: biology, embryology, chordate/invertebrate anatomy, inorganic/physical chemistry, organic chemistry, biochem, physiology, psychology, botany, etc, etc, and they HAVE directly examined the evidence of the material World, and have concluded that if God DIDN'T create life, HE sure as HELL went out of His way to hide His tracks of having been the "Intelligent Designer", but even worse, God seemingly inserted "false flags" into the Bible to make Himself look to be a puppet of uneducated Middle Eastern superstitious nomads who eg believed in a flat Earth covered by a dome (firmament) just like ALL THE OTHER ancient men, JUST to throw the scientists off some 2,500 yrs later!

    If that was the plan, then KUDOS!

    I find that hard to swallow: a God who created the Universe would have to be the Master Scientist/Physicist, and such a God should be honored by clever men who studied His creation (like Isaac Newton, a theist). God should not be THREATENED by scientific exploration of "His" work. Like I say, though, there's no reason to think WANTING God to exist is going to accomplish anything: you cannot will God INTO existence, any more than He can be willed OUT of existence. His existence doesn't hinge on what humans WANT, and that's ALL I see a bunch of evidence for: uneducated people who WANT to wallow in ignorance, and demand that everyone else get in the same mud bath with them, since ignorance loves company.

    Adam

  • HowTheBibleWasInvented
    HowTheBibleWasInvented

    I can disprove Jehovah in 5 minute.

    Athiesm is a religion

    I'm an agnostic for a reason. I'm logical and see both sides. I cannot disprove God. (I can disprove the Shashu god Jehovah!)

    BTW Richard Dawkins is an agnostic!

  • MrFreeze
    MrFreeze

    Atheism is as much of a religion as off is a tv channel.

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