Posts by donny

Logic like the stuff in Hooberus link is what helped me see the error of my former thinking. Scientists will look at something and study it to find out it's origins and history whether or not it conflicts with their belief system or anyone elses. Creationists start with a belief system and try to mold data to fit their particular persuasion. Just like JW's translating the bible. The translate around their beliefs in order to make it appear the scriptures support their doctrines.

Don

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What are you going to give up on Lent?

by DoubleVision in

well i was listening to the news this morning and they were talking about lent starting ash wednesday the 25th , i believe.

they talked about how on lent you are suppose to give up something you like or crave.. .

wikipedia says there are traditionally forty days in lent which are marked by fasting, both from foods and festivities, and by other acts of penance.

donny

I wish I could give up on lent. That stuff keeps clogging my dryer filter.

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Hurry Hurry come get your ex- masturbater t shirts here

by loosie in

link deleted.

now i kinda like the ex-slave one myself.

but it's would be for a completely different meaning than what they mean.

donny

Everytime I think I have seen it all, I am corrected.

Don

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Take the Beliefnet test... and post your results!

by Awakened at Gilead in

an atheist friend (never a jw) sent me a link to this fun test:.

http://www.beliefnet.com/entertainment/quizzes/beliefomatic.aspx.

turns out i am 100% secular humanist, but unfortunately i am still 5% jw!.

donny

1. Secular Humanism (100%) 2. Unitarian Universalism (90%) 3. Nontheist (82%) 4. Liberal Quakers (73%) 5. Theravada Buddhism (67%) 6. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (61%) 7. Neo-Pagan (61%) 8. Reform Judaism (47%) 9. Taoism (47%) 10. New Age (44%) 11. Orthodox Quaker (34%) 12. Sikhism (34%) 13. Mahayana Buddhism (33%) 14. Scientology (33%) 15. New Thought (30%) 16. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (27%) 17. Seventh Day Adventist (25%) 18. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (23%) 19. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (22%) 20. Baha'i Faith (20%) 21. Hinduism (20%) 22. Jainism (18%) 23. Eastern Orthodox (17%) 24. Islam (17%) 25. Orthodox Judaism (17%) 26. Roman Catholic (17%) 27. Jehovah's Witness (13%)

129

Why I am an atheist

by Awakened at Gilead in

someone (a born-again exjw) on youtube asked me why i was an atheist... i crafted a brief response... it follows:.

1. religious reason: there is no proof for god outside of the bible.

once i dropped my belief in the bible, the judeo-christian concept of god fell apart like a house of cards.

donny

Over the years I have come to realize that folks regardless of their political or religious persuasion fall into people "types" which has a large effect on their beliefs and behavior.

One thing that I have realized over this time is that folks who are on the far left and the far right are actually the same "types" of folks; people who, for whatever reason, cannot see any viewpoint as legit other than their own narrow view. The left and rights of these are really the same kind of folks, they have just chosen to use opposite ends of the political and/ or religous spectrum to express their ideology.

The person on the left who vandalizes "gas guzzlers" and other eco-unfriendly cars at a car lot or who blows up a lab or building they believe is used for animal testing for the benefit of humans is the same "type" as the person on the right who vandalizes places of worship other than his persuasion or blows up abortion clinics.

The person on the left who opposes any mention of religion at all is the same "type" as the one on the right who thinks their religion should be incorporated into every aspect of our lives.

The person on the left who has seen extra-terrestrials or been kidnapped by them is the same "type" as the one on the right who has seen angels, Mary or Jesus or has been temporarily been "caught-up" and given a preview of heaven.

The person on the left who thinks the government is involved in various conspiracies to incorporate a theocracy or some type of religious belief system is the same type as the one on the far right who thinks the powers that be is going to declare any belief is forbidden.

And the person on the left who thinks that when one of it's own gets caught up in some kind of scandal that it has to be a right-wing conspiracy is the same "type" as the one on the right who does the same except they substitute "right-wing " with "left-wing" or "liberal."

While I am open to change my mind, I currently do not believe in any god, any visits by extra-terrestrials, or any of the many government conspiracy claims from both the left and right, because I have yet to come across any credible evidence for any of them.

Don

129

Why I am an atheist

by Awakened at Gilead in

someone (a born-again exjw) on youtube asked me why i was an atheist... i crafted a brief response... it follows:.

1. religious reason: there is no proof for god outside of the bible.

once i dropped my belief in the bible, the judeo-christian concept of god fell apart like a house of cards.

donny

I will admit that waking up to the reality of a godless world was both difficult and sad in the beginning. I wanted to prove to myself that such a being existed, but the more I opened my mind and really looked at the evidence, it wasn't there. I discovered praying to God is just as much a crapshoot as making a wish or flipping a coin. The believer has an answer for any situation. If what you pray for, or at least some of it, comes true, then it was Gods will. If it doesn't, it wasn't his will.

If you live a long life, then either God blessed you or he had a lot of work for you to do on his behalf. If an infant or child dies, then God wanted them to be with him and he could care less about the agony he left the family in.

I wanted to believe in everlasting life, but again logic interferes. Why would a supreme being put mortal creatures through such agony just to prove a point. Why would a supreme being, who appears to want worship from human beings badly, go through such great lengths to make itself unavailable and unprovable.

Like some of the earlier posts, I am open that something exists beyond our mortal senses, but I am waiting for proof. I can't believe in something just because the masses do or because I want it to be true. As Bill Maher stated on the clip earlier in this thread, a Mormon who believes in magic underwear is no more or less credible than a talking snake or the virgin birth or a talking bush.

And even if it was somehow possible to prove the existence of a creator spirit, it in no way supports that he had his thoughts and ideas recorded in 66 books that took a lot of political and religious quarrels to assemble into what most call the Bible.

Don

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