Cognitive Dissonace on full display at JWtalk over evolution research

by Sanchy 59 Replies latest jw friends

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  Sanchy

  A user over on the JWTalk forum recently shared a warning over his research on evolution in preparation for an assigned talk. After detailing a couple of the tidbits that he learned of during his research, he went on to say:

  This I found to be useful especially when talking ot others in the ministry.. BUT and it is a big BUT.....
  
  I found the encyclopedic amount of information on the different types of theory to be bewildering and depressing. All this effort to explain something from a wrong view point - there is no creator and you have to force an explanation of theory/theories.
  
  I have learned one thing though that looking material outside of the organisation's material can be double edged.. If you read it enough you 'could' become convinced that the impossible can be explained or so depressing that you feel for the 'victims' of it. In my case i found it depressing.. I will not bother looking into this kind of thing again, not because I have doubts about our creator:

  
  (Revelation 4:11) 11 “You are worthy, Jehovah our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because you created all things, and because of your will they came into existence and were created.”
  
  But that it really left me feeling flat. I am guessing also that any deeper research of things we know is run by Satan is going to give you similar feelings. I found it to be too dangerous for me. I won't do it again, on this or any other peripheral ideology.
  
  Following some proper prayer I feel a lot better and more settled now. I have been warned.

  So now you know. If you run across some evidence for a belief contradicting your own, make sure to follow up with some "proper prayer" and it should take care of that pesky CD.
  
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  scruffmcbuff

  Sounds to me like someone read something that planted a seed in thier mind.

  They felt the need to talk about it so much to make themselfs feel better.

  They wont be able to resist and satans google will call them again
• 

  sir82

  If you read it enough you 'could' become convinced that the impossible can be explained

  "convinced that the impossible can be explained"

  Yeah, that could be dangerous.

  Better to stick with not explaining impossible things, such as

  -- How there is somehow no evidence of 100% of the earth's surface being underwater just 4400 years ago;

  -- Talking snakes, talking donkeys, someone living for 3 days in a fish's belly without oxygen or water

  -- How an invisible king making an invisible "presence" in an invisible kingdom is the most important event in world history

  Etc. etc. etc.
  

  --
  
• 

  cofty

  'Darwin's Dangerous Idea'

  Exposing your mind to evidence and following it wherever it leads is worth more than all the empty promises of paradise and everlasting life.
• 

  LoveUniHateExams

  @Sanchy

  He'll be back. He twice said he won't do outside research anymore - almost as if he's trying to persuade himself.

  I reckon a seed of doubt has been planted and he'll do more 'outside research' ...
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  Doubter

  Sir82,

  Those points are not convincing:

  - 75 percent of the earth is still covered in water.

  -Jws don’t believe that snakes and donkeys have ever “talked”. They believe there was a supernatural force manipulating those animals. They also don’t believe Jonah survived purely by natural causes.

  -If Jesus is real and in an invisible Heaven, he is invisible, thus, making an invisible return acceptable.

  FWIW, I’m not arguing for or against any of those points. I’m just showing just how easily they can be addressed.
• 

  sir82

  I don't think the points are "addressed" at all.

  Evidence that the earth is 75% covered in water now: 100%

  Evidence that the earth is 100% covered in water now: 0%

  Evidence that the earth was 75% covered in water 4400 years ago: 100%

  Evidence that the earth was 100% covered in water 4400 years ago: 0%

  "Supernatural causes" can be used to explain anything and everything that is impossible. If you read the Bible, and read the WT's attempts to use "supernatural XYZ" as the explanation, you could become "convinced that the impossible can be explained", which is what the JWTalk poster was warning against.

  And my point on the "invisible presence" is not so much that it is invisible, it is that an invisible and undetectable [fill in the blank - king, priest, unicorn, teapot] can somehow be the cornerstone of human history and the most important thing ever.
  

  Attempting to argue these points is entirely a waste of time. Just wanted to make sure that lurkers were not thrown by your attempt at "reasonable" apologia.
  
• 

  Doubter

  Sir82,

  Now you’re just complaining.
• 

  cofty

  If Jesus is real and in an invisible Heaven, he is invisible, thus, making an invisible return acceptable

  An invisible return is an oxymoron.

  Jesus said 'I am with you always until the end of the age'. So what did it mean to return exactly?
  
  
• 

  Sanchy

  Sir82,

  Don't you know that you can sprinkle divine magic over any ordinarily impossible biblical event and it conveniently becomes possible? The story might still be incredibly silly, making out God to be irrational, primitive, foolish, inefficient, violent, cruel (ex the flood), but nevertheless, it's all possible.