Has your life gotten better as an athiest/agnostic?

by StinkyPantz 153 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • Oxnard Hamster
    Oxnard Hamster

    Sorry I blew up on ya SP, but I find ratting on other people rather childish. It's one of those things I really frown upon. Besides, that was the second time you did that, although you did delete the first post. I was starting to wonder if this really is a board for ex JWs to receive support, or just a good ol' boy system.

    But after reading Alan's post, I guess you're not so bad after all.

    About respect, it's a two way street. I'm not just fighting for my rights; I'm also fighting in behalf of at least two other Christians who were recently ridiculed for their faith. They never "demanded" anybody quietly accept their beliefs. They never said anything negative about atheists and/or agnostics. The attacks on them were unprovoked and uncalled for.

    Perhaps you do have a point though. Perhaps I do need to cool down, gather more information, assess it, and gain the ability to better elaborate on my beliefs.

    Sorry if I made anyone upset. I'll admit I have quite a temper and I've been trying to work on that.

  • Oxnard Hamster
    Oxnard Hamster
    What a sad, sad thing to admit. I hope that you never sit on my jury.

    I meant in terms of religion, origins, etc. Or if I'm mistaken, I haven't heard any of my Christian friends talk about their findings from other beliefs.

  • StinkyPantz
    StinkyPantz

    Ox-

    I didn't think I was ratting on you, afterall, no one here is my parent or yours. Do I deserve a spanking?

  • AlanF
    AlanF

    Oxnard said:

    : I meant in terms of religion, origins, etc.

    All kine sam ting, Ox. Why not apply the same intellectual standards to everything?

    AlanF

  • dedalus
    dedalus

    Oxnard won't respond to this -- I wonder why?

    He wrote:

    Oh, I understand why you don't believe in God. I just don't like the negative tone directed at those of us who do believe. It's not like Christians aren't educated about various topics. In our eyes, the Bible is the oldest book and it's never been proven wrong. Every prophecy in it has come true.

    1) The Bible isn't the oldest book.

    2) Biblical claims have been proven wrong.

    3) Prophecies in it have failed.

    I don't think people who believe in God are foolish -- see my earlier post on this thread. I just think that, when you try to argue for the factual authenticity of an historical text as a sort of empirical proof for your belief, you're coming at things from the wrong direction.

    Dedalus, ignored ...

  • Oxnard Hamster
    Oxnard Hamster
    Oxnard won't respond to this -- I wonder why?

    SP, I hope you are paying attention. This is exactly why I keep responding.

    Anyway, how do you know certain prophecies haven't been fulfilled? Many of them are not spelled out. Does anybody honestly understand Revelation? Maybe it hasn't happened yet. Or maybe its symbolic meaning is going on today, and we just don't know it yet.

    But if propheces haven't been fulfilled, the only thing I can come up with is when text is translated from one language to the next, it's impossible to achieve 100% accuracy. Besides, for a long time, the Catholics dominated the Bible, wouldn't let the common person have a copy, and twisted it to serve their own needs. For all we know, the versions today could be screwed because of what they did. Speaking of which, there are no less than about umpteen jillion versions and translations of the Bible. Which one is right? How can anyone possibly know?

    Then there are superstitions like not writing God's name. And it's not just a JW thing; I heard about this when I took Modern English Grammar. Besides, if I remember right, a reference to God's name was made in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. I don't think George Lucas is a JW.

  • rem
    rem

    Then why do you believe in any of the prophecies if the bible is so distorted from its original meaning? How can you put your trust in such a book? Why would you give the bible that much slack, but not give the book of Mormon the same benefit of the doubt?

    rem

  • Oxnard Hamster
    Oxnard Hamster

    The Bible has been around awhile. The book of Mormon was supposedly found by some guy, and appeared out of nowhere, while the Bible was being added to and cannonized over time.

    And it may not be 100% accurate, but that don't mean I can't believe in the fundamental concepts. Despite what the JWs think about accurate knowledge, I don't think God is going to send me to Hell just because I don't understand everything.

  • rem
    rem

    Hamster,

    You seem to put a lot of stock in how old something is. This is known as the "Appeal to Tradition" logical fallacy.

    http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/

    rem

  • gumby
    gumby

    Oxnards,

    For all we know, the versions today could be screwed because of what they did. Speaking of which, there are no less than about umpteen jillion versions and translations of the Bible. Which one is right? How can anyone possibly know?

    So then......god had a book written to comunicate to us by and is the only known way we can really know god.........then he allows it to get fouled up and ruined by bad handling.

    Is that the best god can do with a book that supposedly has life saving messages in it for all of mankind?

    Gumby

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