Disillusioned JW

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Posts by Disillusioned JW

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  12

  USA House Bill calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws, passed overwhelmingly!

  by Disillusioned JW in

  1. social
  2. current

  on december 7, 2020 usa congressman jamie raskin's (md-08) bipartisan house resolution 512, calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws, passed the house of representatives by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 386-3; see https://raskin.house.gov/2020/12/house-passes-raskin-resolution-calling-global-repeal-blasphemy-heresy-apostasy .

  a description of the bill says "the resolution also calls for the immediate release of religious prisoners of conscience worldwide.

  as more than 80 countries use blasphemy laws to persecute and imprison religious minorities and dissenters, the house asserted the essential importance of freedom of religion and liberty of conscience globally.".

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  Disillusioned JW

  Anony Mous, there is also a corresponding resolution introduced and passed in the USA Senate (introduced by a Republican); see https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-resolution/458 . The senate has the power to ratify USA treaties. If the House and Senate bills are reconciled, and if USA President Biden signs it, then it becomes law. The USA executive branch has the power to pressure foreign countries to change their practices, including ceasing their human rights violations. One way the US executive branch can do such is through the UN Security Council, as well by direct negotiations with individual countries.
  

  https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-resolution/458 says the following.

  "Resolution agreed to in Senate with an amendment and an amended preamble by Unanimous Consent.

  ...
  

  Passed Senate (12/19/2020)

  This resolution calls on the President and the Department of State to (1) encourage the repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws in bilateral discussions between the United States and countries that have such laws; (2) designate countries that enforce such laws as countries of particular concern for religious freedom; and (3) oppose efforts by the United Nations to implement an international anti-blasphemy norm. The resolution also calls on the governments of countries that enforce such laws to amend or repeal them and to release anyone imprisoned pursuant to them."

  The law is also relevant to the USA because some nations (including Islamic nations) are are trying to get the United Nations (which the USA is a member of) to implement an international anti-blasphemy norm, such as through a resolution of the UN General Assembly. That effort includes trying to pass an international resolution banning people for speaking and writing against Islam and other religions and against belief in God, and thus effects atheists (including me) and others. The resolutions in both chambers of the USA Congress calls on the USA executive branch (including the USA President) to oppose such efforts.

  Though the House and Senate bill might only be symbolic (since maybe they don't have the authority to force the President and State Department to take action), if the USA executive branch supports the bills, it might later lay the groundwork for legislation in the USA (and USA court rulings) which prevent religions in the USA from putting excessive pressure against their members and former members for blasphemy, apostasy, and heresy. It might eventually lead to legislation banning the WT/JW religion from mandating (or encouraging) that faithful current JWs shun ex-JWs.
  
• 
  12

  USA House Bill calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws, passed overwhelmingly!

  by Disillusioned JW in

  1. social
  2. current

  on december 7, 2020 usa congressman jamie raskin's (md-08) bipartisan house resolution 512, calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws, passed the house of representatives by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 386-3; see https://raskin.house.gov/2020/12/house-passes-raskin-resolution-calling-global-repeal-blasphemy-heresy-apostasy .

  a description of the bill says "the resolution also calls for the immediate release of religious prisoners of conscience worldwide.

  as more than 80 countries use blasphemy laws to persecute and imprison religious minorities and dissenters, the house asserted the essential importance of freedom of religion and liberty of conscience globally.".

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  Disillusioned JW

  The National Day of Reason Resolution is mentioned at "National Day of Reason is Reintroduced and Expanding" and it says "The National Day of Reason is gaining nationwide momentum and being recognized as its own holiday, instead of a response to the National Day of Prayer." The web page also says the following.

  "Whereas irrationality, magical and conspiratorial thinking, and disbelief in science have undermined the national effort to combat the COVID–19 pandemic, contributing to the deaths of more than 555,000 people in the United States;

  Whereas reason and science are fundamental to implementing an effective coordinated response to beat the COVID–19 virus, which includes improved social confidence in the safety and efficacy of vaccinations and evidence-based solutions to the inequities exacerbated by the pandemic, and involves the Federal Government, the States, and the scientific and medical communities;"
• 
  12

  USA House Bill calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws, passed overwhelmingly!

  by Disillusioned JW in

  1. social
  2. current

  on december 7, 2020 usa congressman jamie raskin's (md-08) bipartisan house resolution 512, calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws, passed the house of representatives by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 386-3; see https://raskin.house.gov/2020/12/house-passes-raskin-resolution-calling-global-repeal-blasphemy-heresy-apostasy .

  a description of the bill says "the resolution also calls for the immediate release of religious prisoners of conscience worldwide.

  as more than 80 countries use blasphemy laws to persecute and imprison religious minorities and dissenters, the house asserted the essential importance of freedom of religion and liberty of conscience globally.".

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  Disillusioned JW

  On December 7, 2020 USA Congressman Jamie Raskin's (MD-08) bipartisan House Resolution 512, calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws, passed the House of Representatives by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 386-3; see https://raskin.house.gov/2020/12/house-passes-raskin-resolution-calling-global-repeal-blasphemy-heresy-apostasy . A description of the bill says "The Resolution also calls for the immediate release of religious prisoners of conscience worldwide. As more than 80 countries use blasphemy laws to persecute and imprison religious minorities and dissenters, the House asserted the essential importance of freedom of religion and liberty of conscience globally."

  The text of the bill is stated at https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-resolution/512/text . Some things mentioned therein are the following.

  "Whereas Article 18 of the International Declaration of Human Rights states that “[e]veryone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance”;

  Whereas many countries continue to have criminal blasphemy laws and punish people who engage in expression deemed by the government to be blasphemous, heretical, apostate, defamatory of religion, or insulting to religion or to religious symbols, figures, or feelings, and such punishment can include fines, imprisonment, and capital punishment including by beheading;

  Whereas blasphemy laws have affected Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Baha’i, secularists, and many other groups, are inconsistent with international human rights standards because they establish and promote official religious orthodoxy and dogma over individual liberty, and often result in violations of the freedoms of religion, thought, and expression that are protected under international instruments, including Articles 18 and 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR);

  ...

  Whereas restrictive laws beyond those penalizing blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy further limit religious freedom, such as extremism laws—

  (1) in Russia that have been used to ban Jehovah’s Witnesses as an extremist organization and fueled persecution of this religious group;

  ...

  (3) in North Korea, to detain an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 Christians in labor camps because they followed the tenets of Christianity;

  ...

  Whereas blasphemy laws in the United States were invalidated by the adoption of the First Amendment to the Constitution, which protects the freedoms of thought, conscience, expression, and religious exercise; and

  Whereas the United States has become a beacon of religious freedom and tolerance around the world: Now, therefore, be it

  Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

  (1) recognizes that blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws inappropriately position governments as arbiters of religious truth and empower officials to impose religious dogma on individuals or minorities through the power of the government or through violence sanctioned by the government;

  (2) calls on the President and the Secretary of State to make the repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws a priority in the bilateral relationships of the United States with all countries that have such laws, through direct interventions in bilateral and multilateral fora;

  ...." [The emphasis is mine.]

  I was informed of the legislation by a letter (asking for a donation) I received from the American Humanist Association, dated May 2021. The letter mentioned the activities and accomplishments of the Association and it says their "Policy and Social Justice Director Rachel Deitch authored new drafts of the "congressional blasphemy resolution and the National Day of Reason Resolution at the request of Rep. Jamie Raskin's (D-MD) office." The letter further says that "These resolutions work to ensure that individuals of a minority faith--or no faith at all--have the latitude to question religion and religious practices without fear of repercussions, and reason, not prayer, prevails in the halls of government." [The emphasis is mine.]
  
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  13

  Why the Watchtower has changed. They actually had no choice.

  by pistolpete in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  did anyone ever check the doctors who claimed something that backed up the wt society.. .

  jw / ex-jw tales.

  i remember the watchtower and awake magazines used to have tons of articles on every subject you could think off.. history, medical, science, masturbation, dating, homosexuality, etc.. this was before the internet.

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  Disillusioned JW

  Anony Mous, thanks for the link; it is very helpful!
  
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  13

  Why the Watchtower has changed. They actually had no choice.

  by pistolpete in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  did anyone ever check the doctors who claimed something that backed up the wt society.. .

  jw / ex-jw tales.

  i remember the watchtower and awake magazines used to have tons of articles on every subject you could think off.. history, medical, science, masturbation, dating, homosexuality, etc.. this was before the internet.

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  Disillusioned JW

  truth_b_known, what book do you have in mind as the predecessor to the Creation book? Since you mention a Book Study around the year 1999 I think that by "Creation book" you mean the Creator book of 1998. Do you mean the predecessor to the Creator book (Is There a Creator Who Cares About You?)? Prior to the 1998 Creator book there was the 1985 Creation book (Life--How did it get here? By evolution or by creation?). That book was used in the Book Study. I think you mean that book as the predecessor book.

  Prior to the 1985 Creation book there was the 1967 Evolution book (Did Man Get Here by Evolution or by Creation?). Prior to the 1967 Evolution book there was the 1950 booklet called "EVOLUTION VERSUS The NEW WORLD". For the booklet of 1950 see http://www.strictlygenteel.co.uk/booklets/evolution.html .

  On what page or at least in which chapter did the predecessor book specifically attack critical thinking? I wish to read that section again.
  
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  13

  Shunning from different perspectives

  by jonahstourguide in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hi folks,.

  this interesting article on abc australia covers views of people ex-communicated or shunned by a couple of institutions.

  it also includes paul grundy's experience.. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-25/the-australians-who-were-cast-out-of-their-religions/100306930.

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  Disillusioned JW

  That is true waton. Furthermore, I have some fascination with reading some of the tall tales of the fictional mythological accounts of the Bible. Also I get some intellectual satisfaction in reading critiques of those accounts, and of other content of the Bible, and in me writing my critiques of the Bible.
  
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  13

  Shunning from different perspectives

  by jonahstourguide in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hi folks,.

  this interesting article on abc australia covers views of people ex-communicated or shunned by a couple of institutions.

  it also includes paul grundy's experience.. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-25/the-australians-who-were-cast-out-of-their-religions/100306930.

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  Disillusioned JW

  waton, I agree with what you say about not taking all these stories seriously.
  
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  13

  Shunning from different perspectives

  by jonahstourguide in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hi folks,.

  this interesting article on abc australia covers views of people ex-communicated or shunned by a couple of institutions.

  it also includes paul grundy's experience.. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-25/the-australians-who-were-cast-out-of-their-religions/100306930.

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  Disillusioned JW

  Though the New Testament claims Jesus Christ was publicly killed, it says there were no human witnesses of Jesus Christ exiting his tomb, not even Mary Magdalene - see Matthew 28:2-7, 11-15 and Mark 16:1-8. [Mark 16:9-20 is not in the earliest extant manuscripts; see the translators' note pertaining to it in the NASB--Updated Edition which says "Later mss add vv 19-20". (The 2013 NWT is thus justified in excluding them.)] Note that Matthew 28:14 (NASB--Updated Edition) says that when guards saw the angel they became "like dead men", which can mean they fell down and became unconscious. That is in harmony with the Jewish elders telling the guards to say that they (the guards) were asleep (as stated in verse 13) when the body of Jesus left the tomb (albeit with the elders telling the guards to say that the dead body of Jesus was removed by the disciples of Jesus).
  

  The New Testament says there were no human witnesses, other than some of Jesus' disciples, of the alleged resurrected/recreated risen Christ being seen prior to his alleged ascension to heaven and likewise during his alleged ascension to heaven.

  The New Testament provides no testimony at all of the alleged risen Christ (whom many say is God) revealing himself to those not believing in his divinity, with the exception of Saul (later renamed Paul). But, the NT accounts makes it appear that the accounts claim that Paul saw a vision of Christ rather than saw Christ himself.

  There are also some contradictions of the accounts recorded in Acts of Paul's alleged encounter with the supernatural risen Christ. Some modern scholars say that Paul instead of seeing and hearing Christ and instead of having a supernaturally induced vision of Christ, was experiencing a temporal lobe seizure and that during that he hallucinated seeing and hearing Christ. They say the accounts of what Paul saw and heard, including his vision of being taking to the third heaven, and of Paul's health problems fit the medical condition of experiences of temporal lobe seizures, including having hallucinations.
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  13

  Shunning from different perspectives

  by jonahstourguide in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hi folks,.

  this interesting article on abc australia covers views of people ex-communicated or shunned by a couple of institutions.

  it also includes paul grundy's experience.. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-25/the-australians-who-were-cast-out-of-their-religions/100306930.

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  Disillusioned JW

  Sea Breeze, I notice that the ABC article quotes Grundy as saying that he is "ignostic" not "agnostic". Ignostic is an actual word and it is different (though similar) in meaning than agnostic. An online dictionary defines ignostic as the following. "One who professes ignorance on the knowledge of whether or not any gods exist, or even what the term means. It is a play on the words "ignorant" (to lack knowledge) and "gnostic," (knowledge pertaining to gods)." The word ignostic thus goes beyond the meaning of the word agnostic.
  

  Folks, the article at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-25/the-australians-who-were-cast-out-of-their-religions/100306930 is very interesting.

  Note that the dismissed Catholic priest, Peter Kennedy, has created a new church. Terry Fitzpatrick was an associate priest at the Catholic church congregation which Kennedy was formerly at. Terry Fitzpatrick says he follows "mysticism and the gnostic Christians, the non-literalist Christians that were persecuted by the literalist Christians in the early church system". That which Fitzpatrick said about gnostic Christians is very important. Some posts on jehovahs-witness.com have said that Gnostic Christianity was probably the original Christianity, or very close to it.

  On a different matter, have a look at the people attending the Kennedy's new church and notice how old they are. That age profile is the way many other congregations of Christianity are today. I see it as evidence that Christianity is dying out, at least in western civilization of developed countries (including the USA and Europe). People posting on this site have wrote that today people in the JW congregations are also primarily the elderly and that virtually no one under age 18 in the USA congregations of JWs still believes in the JW religion.
  
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  13

  Shunning from different perspectives

  by jonahstourguide in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hi folks,.

  this interesting article on abc australia covers views of people ex-communicated or shunned by a couple of institutions.

  it also includes paul grundy's experience.. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-25/the-australians-who-were-cast-out-of-their-religions/100306930.

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  Disillusioned JW

  Even if a god revealed himself or herself nearly 2000 years in one small part of the Roman empire (in Galilee, Samaria, and/or Judea), no god has revealed himself or herself to people living in our modern times, or even since the time of the Enlightenment (the Age of Reason). Certainly neither Jesus nor Jehovah nor a god that unknown to me revealed himself to me - even when I was an agnostic when I asked them to provide to me convincing evidence of their existence if they exist. That lack of complete lack evidence, despite my sincere searching for such, was one of the factors which contributed to me becoming an outright positive/strong atheist (meaning someone who is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that no god exists) and a philosophical naturalist. That which which philosophers call divine hiddenness is one of the two strongest arguments which they cite for disbelief in the existence of all loving personal gods/Gods, even the biblical god (or gods) - the other being the argument from evil.

  I agree with the idea of if (hypothetically) a god exists, then no human knows anything about that god since that god has not revealed himself/herself/itself to any human in the past 300 years. Furthermore many people living today are convinced that no god (even Christ) has ever revealed himself/herself/itself to a human.

  For information about the concept of divine hiddenness see https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/divine-hiddenness/ . It says "However, “divine hiddenness” refers to something else in recent philosophical literature, especially since the publication of J.L. Schellenberg’s landmark book, Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason (1993). In this context, it refers to alleged facts about the absence of belief of God, on the basis of which one might think there is no God. For example, Schellenberg argues that, since there are nonbelievers who are capable of a personal relationship with God and who do not resist it, there is no perfectly loving God, while Stephen Maitzen argues that naturalism better explains the “demographics” of nonbelief than theism and Jason Marsh argues that naturalism better explains “natural nonbelief” than theism. Understood in this way, divine hiddenness constitutes putative evidence for atheism."

  See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_nonbelief , it says "The argument from reasonable nonbelief (or the argument from divine hiddenness) was first elaborated in J. L. Schellenberg's 1993 book Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason. This argument says that if God existed (and was perfectly good and loving) every reasonable person would have been brought to believe in God; however, there are reasonable nonbelievers; therefore, this God does not exist."

  Schellenber promotes something he calls Skeptical Religion and Evolutionary Religion. Regarding them https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._L._Schellenberg says "Schellenberg's Evolutionary Religion (Oxford University Press, 2013) aims to be a more widely accessible account of his arguments in the trilogy.[17] It seeks to place these arguments into an evolutionary framework and maintains that skeptical religion provides a new way of responding to the science and religion debate.[18] "