Do belief and logic have to be enemies?

by new light 44 Replies latest jw experiences

• 

  JamesThomas

  NL,
  
  My questions are directed to inner investigation, and there is no need to present any answers here in this thread.
• 

  Sunnygal41

  Brenda!!! LOL! How could I forget the Libra? I was married to one for twenty years! I don't know what it is about the Libra personality, but, my personality really doesn't do well with theirs.........in fact, there are at least three Libra guys I've known who are just soooo prissy and straight laced..........and I am quite the opposite......hehe.......
• 

  BrendaCloutier

  New Light. In reading recent past posts, to me it sounds like you are ready for some exploration into the mystical.... Buddhism, Indian (Amerindian) sweat lodge, deep meditation to the point where you can "see".

  My first recommendation is to locate a sweat lodge. Attend several times. The appropriate way to request is to ask and offer tobacco (in any form you wish, from a pack of cigarettes to a pouch to a twist). If accepted, please, go in with an open mind. Mentally "pray" the entire day up to the time you enter the lodge, asking for whatever it is you are seeking. Everything you do on the day of a lodge ceremony is sacred, from the time you wake up, to the time you go to bed. Even bodily processes. If you only experience heat, smoke, stuffy air, sweat, and discomfort your first time around... No big. If you cannot last 4 rounds or "doors", No big. Post-sweatlodge, you "should" give up something precious for 4 days in appreciation for the gifts received. Coffee, chocolate, sugar, sex, whatever.

  I remember one "newbie" who was a fireman and was well built with great stamina. "I can handle this, this is nothing!" was his statement and attitude. He lasted 1/2 of 1 round before crawling out on his belly. His nickname after that was "walks on lips".

  Again, hugs and blessings on your journey. It's awesome!

  Bren
• 

  FairMind

  IMHO belief does not contradict logic, even when it is belief in GOD. We ARE so GOD must be. I’ve thought about this a lot and I just don’t have enough faith in blind chance to believe in any alternative to God’s existence.

  FM
• 

  new light

  Zen Nudist: What you said is true. What if the ideal is a frame of mind I personally experienced in the past, when I was truly in love with everything and felt that anything was possible, and I believe this was only possible through complete sobriety and temperance in all things, part of what I would call the "holy path"? This was by far the happiest time of my life, with the exception of having no one to share it with. The "holy path" would almost certainly alienate those I love, so I hesitate to jump back on. It would be nice to have the best of both worlds.

  Brenda: Congratulations on your enlightenment and thank you.
• 

  LittleToe

  I don't really have much more to add to the thread, at this point, but I did just want to comment on Brenda's posts:
• 

  BrendaCloutier

  I can't remember if I got this here on JWD, or if I got it in an email. However, it is appropriate.

  Subject: Bread and the Fallacy of Logical Conclusion
  
  BREAD

  1. More than 98 percent of convicted felons are bread users.

  2. Fully HALF of all children who grow up in bread-consuming
  households score below average on standardized tests.

  3. In the 18th century, when virtually all bread was baked in
  the home, the average life expectancy was less than 50 years;
  infant mortality rates were unacceptably high; many women died
  in childbirth; and diseases such as typhoid, yellow fever, and
  influenza ravaged whole nations.

  4. More than 90 percent of violent crimes are committed within
  24 hours of eating bread.

  5. Bread is made from a substance called "dough." It has been
  proven that as little as one pound of dough can be used to
  suffocate a mouse. The average American eats more bread than
  that in one month!

  6. Primitive tribal societies that have no bread exhibit a low
  incidence of cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, and
  osteoporosis.

  7. Bread has been proven to be addictive. Subjects deprived of
  bread and given only water to eat begged for bread after as
  little as two days.

  8. Bread is often a "gateway" food item, leading the user to
  "harder" items such as butter, jelly, peanut butter, and even
  cold cuts.

  9. Bread has been proven to absorb water. Since the human body is
  more than 90 percent water, it follows that eating bread could
  lead to your body being taken over by this absorptive food
  product, turning you into a soggy, gooey bread-pudding person.

  10. Newborn babies can choke on bread.

  11. Bread is baked at temperatures as high as 400 degrees Fahrenheit!
  That kind of heat can kill an adult in less than one minute.
  12. Most American bread eaters are utterly unable to distinguishbetween significant scientific fact and meaningless statistical
  babbling.
  
  In light of these frightening statistics, we propose the following bread restrictions:

  1. No sale of bread to minors.

  2. A nationwide "Just Say No To Toast" campaign, complete celebrity
  TV spots and bumper stickers.

  3. A 300 percent federal tax on all bread to pay for all the societal
  ills we might associate with bread.

  4. No animal or human images, nor any primary colors (which may
  appeal to children) may be used to promote bread usage.

  5. The establishment of "Bread-free" zones around schools.

  ****************************
  The fallacy of the logical conclusion when using reason even when facts are applied can result in way wrong ideas.
• 

  BrendaCloutier

  Garsh {{{ LT }}}, thanx! Sometimes a wise ass, sometimes a smart ass. It all comes out in the end!
• 

  Carmel

  "Religion must be the cause of affection. It must be a joy-bringer. If it become the cause of difference, it were better to banish it. Should it become the source of hatred, or warfare, it were better that it should not exist. If a remedy produce added illness, it were far better to discard the remedy. A religion which does not conform with the postulates of science is merely superstition. "

  (Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 82)

  carmel
• 

  Incense_and_Peppermints

  like love, faith doesn't make any sense, and it's horribly illogical. that's why both are such compelling mysteries...