The church is known for handing down harsh punishments to followers who criticise doctrines or raise questions about the faith.
Angus Robertson, a former Witness "elder" from an undisclosed town in Hampshire, who was present at the meeting with police, told The Independent: "The way scripture is being used to bully people must be challenged.
“If a religion was preaching that blacks or gays were mentally diseased there would understandable outrage."But Rick Fenton, a church spokesman, defended the passages, saying ostracisation was "a personal matter for each individual to decide for himself".
defender of truth
JoinedPosts by defender of truth
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"Mentally Diseased" comment makes news
by freemindfade inhttp://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/985479.
i know it's old but i never saw this one before.
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defender of truth
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Jehovah's Witnesses mentioned on BBC News site regarding not voting
by defender of truth injehovah's witnesses.
there are about 140,000 jehovah's witnesses in the uk who will choose not to vote on 7 may.. mark o'malley, a spokesman for the christian-based religious movement, said: "as you go through the bible we see that god's kingdom is already established in heaven with god as the king of that kingdom.. "we are politically neutral as, in a sense, we have already chosen to support that kingdom's government.
we see it as a real government.. "there are limitations to what governments can do, maybe they can improve the health system, but they can't prevent death, maybe they can help children, but they can't provide a secure future for them necessarily.
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defender of truth
Jehovah's Witnesses
There are about 140,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in the UK who will choose not to vote on 7 May.
Mark O'Malley, a spokesman for the Christian-based religious movement, said: "As you go through the bible we see that God's kingdom is already established in heaven with God as the king of that kingdom.
"We are politically neutral as, in a sense, we have already chosen to support that kingdom's government. We see it as a real government.
"There are limitations to what governments can do, maybe they can improve the health system, but they can't prevent death, maybe they can help children, but they can't provide a secure future for them necessarily. Only God's government is going to be able to resolve completely the real, deeper issues."
Despite their choice to opt out of voting, Mr O'Malley said Jehovah's Witnesses were "model citizens", living their lives by principles set out in the bible which states "authorities that exist have been established by God" and to rebel against them is to rebel "against what God has instituted".
He said: "We take the Bible principle at Romans chapter 13 which tells us to support the superior authority.
"The bible highlights respect for government, respect of authority, respect for civil laws so you will see Jehovah's Witnesses are model citizens when it comes to paying taxes and working within the laws created by government because that's something that is engendered in the pages of the bible."
Similarly, Christadelphians choose not to vote, saying: "[Leaders] will come and go. But there will be no lasting peace or happiness for the world until the reign of Jesus, the ideal leader, chosen and prepared by God."
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7 evolutionary reasons people deny evolution
by defender of truth ininteresting article:.
www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/11/seven-evolutionary-reasons-people-deny-evolution.
can you think of any other reasons why people prefer to deny evolution?.
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defender of truth
Phizzy and Vidiot, I agree completely. Thanks for the comments. -
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16 Ways to Greet Jehovah's Witnesses
by defender of truth inwww.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/05/03/16-ways-to-greet-jehovahs-witnesses/?ref_widget=trending&ref_blog=daylightatheism&ref_post=publications
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7 evolutionary reasons people deny evolution
by defender of truth ininteresting article:.
www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/11/seven-evolutionary-reasons-people-deny-evolution.
can you think of any other reasons why people prefer to deny evolution?.
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defender of truth
Interesting article:
www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/11/seven-evolutionary-reasons-people-deny-evolution
Can you think of any other reasons why people prefer to deny evolution?
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Coping With Atheism (Long-ish Post...sorry!)
by humblepotato inlong 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.
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defender of truth
Sorry, to be clearer, that 1st line should have been:
" 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..
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Coping With Atheism (Long-ish Post...sorry!)
by humblepotato inlong 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.
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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 -
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Coping With Atheism (Long-ish Post...sorry!)
by humblepotato inlong 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.
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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.
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Do You Think Humanity Will Ever Be Completely Free From Religion?
by InjusticeSystem ini 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?
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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.
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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...?