Posts by defender of truth

" Perry, a child's natural predisposition towards belief in the concept of intelligent design by a God, does not prove that all adults 'know God exists'. Many children leave baseless beliefs behind them, once they have matured in experience and knowledge. It's known as growing up. "

Hope that the post still made sense..

72

Coping With Atheism (Long-ish Post...sorry!)

by humblepotato in

jw
friends

long time lurker (2009-ish), first time poster.

first of all, i want to say thank you everyone who contributes to these boards and provokes stimulating conversations and thought processes.

all the opinions and different perspectives are very enlightening.

defender of truth

Perry, a child's natural predisposition towards belief in the concept of intelligient design by a God, does not prove they all 'still know God exists'. Many children leave baseless beliefs behind them, once they have matured in experience and knowledge. It's known as growing up.All children 'know' that their parents are omniscient from when they are born, but they have to face the reality that what they 'knew' to be so, was in fact wrong.
"Led by two academics at Oxford University, the £1.9 million study found that human thought processes were “rooted” to religious concepts.
But people living in cities in highly developed countries were less likely to hold religious beliefs than those living a more rural way of life, the researchers found.
The project involved 57 academics in 20 countries around the world, and spanned disciplines including anthropology, psychology, and philosophy.
It set out to establish whether belief in divine beings and an afterlife were ideas simply learned from society or integral to human nature.
One of the studies, from Oxford, concluded that children below the age of five found it easier to believe in some “superhuman” properties than to understand human limitations.
Children were asked whether their mother would know the contents of a closed box. Three-year-olds believed that their mother and God would always know the contents, but by the age of four, children start to understand that their mothers were not omniscient. "http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8510711/Belief-in-God-is-part-of-human-nature-Oxford-study.html
For anyone wanting to learn more about some evolutionary reasons why we have a 'natural belief in god', please read this article:www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/11/seven-evolutionary-reasons-people-deny-evolution

72

Coping With Atheism (Long-ish Post...sorry!)

by humblepotato in

jw
friends

long time lurker (2009-ish), first time poster.

first of all, i want to say thank you everyone who contributes to these boards and provokes stimulating conversations and thought processes.

all the opinions and different perspectives are very enlightening.

defender of truth

Perry said: "However, ALL people know God exists deep down."

What evidence do you have to support such a blanket statement, that you have made on behalf of the entire human race?

You have even defined your 'God' as Jesus in your post. Would you care to explain to over a billion Muslims how you came to the conclusion that they all know Jesus is God, but they deny it deep down inside??

Assuming that you meant everyone knows that 'a' God exists, even if that was true, how do they 'know' how many Gods there are, or which one they can believe in specifically? Allah, Zeus, Jesus, Ra? Etc.

Any person could only 'know' that Jesus is God based on the words in the Bible. And anyone knows that the Gospel records are not accepted as being trustworthy, let alone true , by many people worldwide..

So what do you base your statement on, exactly?

I would like to see some evidence, or perhaps a retraction of such a baseless claim.

28

Do You Think Humanity Will Ever Be Completely Free From Religion?

by InjusticeSystem in

i realize that many here still have a form of spirituality or faith, and i mean no disrespect to those individuals.

i suppose i am posting this question to those, like myself, who have come to the conclusion that religion in general is a major hindrance to the progress of our species and needs to be put aside so that we can advance to our full potential.

so my question is, do you think this will ever actually happen, and how do you think we can get there?

defender of truth

www.wsj.com/articles/why-the-future-of-religion-is-bleak-1430104785

754

Theists, why does God allow suffering..

by The Quiet One in

..specifically, the suffering of animals.

you can talk about free will/sin/people choosing to not listen to god etc to explain human suffering being allowed.. but how can you love a god that allows animals, that haven't sinned or chosen to not have anything to do with god, to have their short lives ended in often long, drawn out, painful ways.

i could list stories i've read that would probably make you feel ill, but i'm not looking to shock anyone or start an emotional debate.

defender of truth

So.. Has anyone watched the video I posted? It's a fascinating discussion, whether you have any belief in a God or not.

Or does anyone want to answer the above postedquestion...?

4

Apostasy Trial - Part 3

by defender of truth in

www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/04/26/heres-part-three-of-a-secretly-videotaped-jehovahs-witness-apostasy-trial/

defender of truth

m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=Se9rH6qUx0o

m.youtube.com/watch?v=373zBncUuoQ

37

£150,000,000 Jehovahs Witnesses HQ approved

by defender of truth in

the jehovahs witnesses have gained planning to build a vast uk headquarters complex in chelmsford.the international bible students association, which manages the christian groups literature, gained planning to redevelop a derelict farm near galleywood with a 1.2m sq ft scheme.the 150m complex will provide homes for 1,200 people spread across 16 five-storey blocks, a large printing plant, offices, auditorium, health and fitness centre, water treatment plant and on-site parking for 1,040 vehicles.. the ibsa is now set to begin groundwork at the 82-acre temple farm site and start construction by 2016.. .

www.constructionenquirer.com/2015/04/29/150m-jehovahs-witnesses-hq-approved-for-chelmsford/.

defender of truth

The Jehovah’s Witnesses have gained planning to build a vast UK headquarters complex in Chelmsford.
The International Bible Students Association, which manages the Christian group’s literature, gained planning to redevelop a derelict farm near Galleywood with a 1.2m sq ft scheme.
The £150m complex will provide homes for 1,200 people spread across 16 five-storey blocks, a large printing plant, offices, auditorium, health and fitness centre, water treatment plant and on-site parking for 1,040 vehicles.

The IBSA is now set to begin groundwork at the 82-acre Temple Farm site and start construction by 2016.

www.constructionenquirer.com/2015/04/29/150m-jehovahs-witnesses-hq-approved-for-chelmsford/

14

75% of Jehovahs Witnesses oppose same-sex marriage? And 12% are in favour of it??

by defender of truth in

www.allgov.com/news/controversies/which-religions-oppose-same-sex-marriage-white-evangelicals-black-and-hispanic-protestants-mormons-and-muslims-150424?news=856319.

opposition to same-sex marriage is prominent among many religious groups in the united states, according to a new survey.groups with the largest opposition to homosexuals marrying are jehovahs witnesses (75%), mormons (68%), white evangelical protestants (66%), hispanic protestants (58%), black protestants (54%), and muslims (51%), the public religion research institute found in its survey of 40,000 americans.among white evangelical protestants, white baptists are the most opposed (72%).on the acceptance side of the issue, the most supportive are buddhists (84%), jews (77%), americans who select other religion (75%), and white mainline protestants (62%).a breakdown of white mainline protestant denominations shows support is highest among presbyterians (69%) and both episcopalians and congregationalists/united church of christ members (68%).even a majority of white mainline baptists (53%) back same-sex marriages.

among catholics, 61% of whites and 60% of hispanics support gay weddings.. and the survey is here:.

defender of truth

Village idiot and Steve2:

I'm sorry that you have nothing better to do than criticize my choice of wording. I may have overhyped it a bit by using the term world-famous. I meant in the short term, in the sense of public awareness. I perhaps should have said 'these articles will likely raise public awareness of JW attitudes towards same sex marriage'.

Many people around the world are probably reading these articles, and the first line they see is 'jehovahs witnesses have the highest percentage of people opposed to same sex marriage'. To a casual reader, that may stick in the mind. I did not mean they ARE the most opposing group.

As for the 12% figure (those who approve of samesex marriage) and the question of whether there is an undecided category, why not take 5 seconds to click the link to the survey, which I provided in the OP?

You certainly took enough time out of your day to criticize my comment, so I'm sure you will have time to find the answer you seek..

14

75% of Jehovahs Witnesses oppose same-sex marriage? And 12% are in favour of it??

by defender of truth in

www.allgov.com/news/controversies/which-religions-oppose-same-sex-marriage-white-evangelicals-black-and-hispanic-protestants-mormons-and-muslims-150424?news=856319.

opposition to same-sex marriage is prominent among many religious groups in the united states, according to a new survey.groups with the largest opposition to homosexuals marrying are jehovahs witnesses (75%), mormons (68%), white evangelical protestants (66%), hispanic protestants (58%), black protestants (54%), and muslims (51%), the public religion research institute found in its survey of 40,000 americans.among white evangelical protestants, white baptists are the most opposed (72%).on the acceptance side of the issue, the most supportive are buddhists (84%), jews (77%), americans who select other religion (75%), and white mainline protestants (62%).a breakdown of white mainline protestant denominations shows support is highest among presbyterians (69%) and both episcopalians and congregationalists/united church of christ members (68%).even a majority of white mainline baptists (53%) back same-sex marriages.

among catholics, 61% of whites and 60% of hispanics support gay weddings.. and the survey is here:.

defender of truth

When it comes to opposition, the top opposing religions are 75% of Jehovah’s Witnesses..

www.worldreligionnews.com/issues/these-are-the-religious-groups-that-are-in-favor-of-same-sex-marriage

With this and many other articles covering this survey, JW's are becoming world-famous as the most opposing group of religious people towards same sex marriage.