Fernando
JoinedTopics Started by Fernando
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191
Are religionists and atheists on the same team?
by Fernando indo they both lead people away from god?.
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187
What is with abusive atheists?
by Fernando insorry folks, i know the "candace conti case" is where all our time attention should be for now.
i just had this much less important issue on my heart and wanted to make a quick note of it, as i am struggling with remembering all the details as clearly afterward.. although i am a non-religious believer and simple follower of jesus, i have had some constructive interaction with atheists and agnostics on jwn.
i do enjoy learning more about their perspective.
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77
How would you define RELIGION, and why?
by Fernando in"judge" rutherford defined or classified all religion as "a snare and a racket" in his books "religion" and "enemies".. after rutherford's death in 1942, his protege, watchtower vice president, and aclu darling, hayden c. covington, in the early 1950's, for reasons of legal expedience and supremacist aspirations, suddenly converted the watchtower into a religion.. this was done alongside one of the most audacious, spurious and longstanding swindles of the us legal system.
this involved twisting philippians 1:7 and misrepresenting the watchtower's true nature, objectives and activities.. .
this meant that it became necessary for the watchtower to suddenly reclassify and redefine religion (w51 1/15 p. 43 new legal booklet well named; w51 8/15 p. 511 questions from readers; yb75 p. 161 part 2 "for gladys bolton...").. two new watchtower classifications were suddenly created: "true religion" and "false religion".. now "true religion" meant "true beliefs" whilst "belief" in ever changing watchtower doctrine was equated with the one "faith" of scripture.. all this while the watchtower increasingly and maliciously truncated, obfuscated and hid the liberating full "good news" (or unabridged gospel) of scripture, which it lyingly claimed (in court) that it was actually "defending and legally establishing".. how would you have defined religion before learning ttatt?.
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75
Evolution and Atheism - please help
by Fernando innot being familiar with either, my question is:.
what is the relationship between evolution and atheism?.
i'd love to hear from anyone and everyone, and also from any perspective.. without limiting the conversation in any way, i would of course also appreciate comments that are simple, clear, direct and correct (as i don't have the capacity to do a phd in evolution or atheism)..
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60
If you believe God exists, what are your thoughts on what pleases him most?
by Fernando inour family has come to believe that god really wants each individual to personally and independently seek, find and walk with him - quite apart from what other humans say, think, believe or do.. we believe we were created as semi-autonomous beings.
when our inner compass is recalibrated, and we then self-direct, the outcomes seem best.. when we are instead led by humans, their hierarchies, organisations and ideas, the outcomes on the whole seem unfavourable.
legalism (rules), moralism (a moral code), ethnocentrism (doctrine), and gnosticism (knowledge) may seem meritorious.. yet these do not seem to lead to the deep inner transformation needed.
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55
Watchtower Library 2012 - download.
by Fernando inplease does anyone know if it will be, or is available yet, and if a download link exists yet?.
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45
Religion vs the gospel
by Fernando inour family's journey out of the watchtower has led us to see the gospel as the antithesis or exact opposite of religion.. for us religion is men telling us what to believe and do (to control us).. for us the gospel is god telling us what he has done (to liberate us from such men).. how have you come to see the relationship between religion and the gospel?.
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41
What did your personal big AHA moments look like when you saw through a LIE or suddenly understood a TRUTH?
by Fernando in"what is an aha moment?
it's a moment of clarity, a defining moment where you gain real wisdom - wisdom you can use to change your life.".
(from a financial services company - http://www.ahamoment.com/what-is).
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40
The mathematical probability of spontaneous order (no designer/creator)
by Fernando inthere seem to be many prerequisites for life as we know it.. to name a few: order, function, compatibility, availability, sustainability, intelligence, consciousness, intuition and so on.. focusing on only one, namely order.. what are the chances of order arising spontaneously, by chance, with no creator/designer?.
i have often pondered this and recently came across a mathematical summary of the big picture:.
if every particle in the known physical universe (10^80 particles), participated in one trillion interactions (10^12 interactions) per second, for the entire 30 billion years of the universe's existence (10^18 seconds), then we would by now have covered only 10^110 permutations.. if you had only 100 components in a container, what are the chances that a blindfolded person could lay them out in order on a table?.
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38
Please can we all have a go at describing and celebrating our different NEW IDENTITIES, versus our OLD WBTS IDENTITY?
by Fernando inat one time most of us here identified as jws who follow the wbts gb/fds who claim to follow the bible etc.
some of us are journeying to a new identity, others may feel they already have a new identity.. although we likely have gone in many different directions, we share a common past which only ex-members can really understand and explain.
please could we each respectfully share and celebrate our unique perspectives of where we have come from, and where we each are now at on this journey?.