at least tammy doesn't tell us she's jesus christ (peace be uppon him) reincarnated.
J. Hofer
JoinedPosts by J. Hofer
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243
Giant thread of convince-me-not-to-be-a-theist
by DS211 inif you could teach me one thing to convince me not to believe what would it be?
for instance what has the wt taught about evolution/science or mans existence that is wrong and could possibly change skmeones mind?
and the more important question, why is it a creator couldnt allow for species to evolve?
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Giant thread of convince-me-not-to-be-a-theist
by DS211 inif you could teach me one thing to convince me not to believe what would it be?
for instance what has the wt taught about evolution/science or mans existence that is wrong and could possibly change skmeones mind?
and the more important question, why is it a creator couldnt allow for species to evolve?
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J. Hofer
kate, you don't need no proof to not believe in god. you also don't need no proof to not believe in pink elephants.
there's a little difference between these two statements:
1. i believe there is no god.
2. i don't believe there is a god.
it's subtle, but different. the first statement arguably may need some proof. the second one doesn't. but the effect on your daily life is the same.
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JWS moving into the 2010s: GREATER FOCUS ON "PUBLIC' VENUE PREACHING
by steve2 inincreasingly, jw.org and its print publications show lots of pictures of witnesses preaching one-to-one to "interested" passersby in public venues in contrast with fewer pictures depicting the door-to-door work.
sure, d-t-d is still the organizatrion's mainstay activity - but clearly it pushes at every opportunity the need for the rank and file to "go" public.. this push could be a two-edge sword: there is obviously a hard core of witnesses whose dispositions draw them to this type of social outreach: they almost rush out to do this public-venue work, prefering it to d-t-d. but i'd hazard a guess that for the bulk of those in local congregations, the public-venue witnessing would be a total turn off.. to date, in new zealand, i have seen no evidence of jws doing this public venue witnessing - despite the huge push on jw.org and in the publications.
kiwis just don't seem inclined to put themselves out in public places - or if they do, it is in a kind of very muted way (i.e., almost out of sight and unobtrusive).. this site has shown that in a few places, including mexico, at least a few of the more publicly zealous witnesses are doing the public work big time.. is the public venue preaching happening elsewhere, such as asia?
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J. Hofer
street witnessing is something only few of the old timers did or still do. i've never seen some young brother or sister standing in the streets holding the mags.
i once participated in a street witness-style operation, but it wasn't with the mags, it was to announce/promote a JW focussed holocaust exhibition in town. i still hated to stand around and pass flyers to people, i just never got used to this kind of thing.
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Giant thread of convince-me-not-to-be-a-theist
by DS211 inif you could teach me one thing to convince me not to believe what would it be?
for instance what has the wt taught about evolution/science or mans existence that is wrong and could possibly change skmeones mind?
and the more important question, why is it a creator couldnt allow for species to evolve?
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J. Hofer
> I believe in God. I just don't think he is interested in human affairs.
so what's the point in believing in him (or her, or them, or it... pick your preference)?
or, asked differently: what's the practical difference between a god that exists, but hides so well nobody sees it and a nonexisting god?
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J. Hofer
> J Hofer.....x-man, cyborg, whatever.
that's a huge difference. unstoppableravens talks about natural evolving into some supernatural being, which of course can't happen. but cyborgs eventually will happen, we are already able to replace or improve parts of our body with technological applications. technology is a form of evolution too and might well influence our own natural evolution. for example, if we get used to exoskeletons, future generations probably are no longer dependent on legs and/or arms the way we are.
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Why I am upset with myself for my atheistic beliefs
by confusedandalone inyesterday me and the wife were talking about how much better life has become.
she said something that got me thinking and made me a bit sad for a while.
we were discussing where we are at individually in our quest for understanding about the "super-natural" and i expressed i have no belief in it at all and how much i have changed she says, "i don't think you have changed much.
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J. Hofer
years ago when i started to drop the virtual barrier that has always been there in my head, i noticed that i went out in field service, telling strangers to read magazines i myself couldn't be bothered to read. so i stopped offering mags in field service and not long after that i stopped taking part in this life saving work.
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J. Hofer
that wouldn't be an x-man, that would be a cyborg (= humans with technological modifications). cyborgs will eventually happen, but a natural evolution to x-men? can't see how that would be possible.
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If Satan is ruling, could he be trying to make people moral?
by EndofMysteries ina few things that don't fully add up in the bible seem to present an interesting possibility....... many comment on how in the old testament god at times seems so different from the new testament, and on a rampage all the time.
before stephen was martyed, he said for the 40 years wandering in the wilderness they were actually following moloch?
or in exodus, god told moses he was sending an angel to lead them and they better obey him fully because the angel would be unforgiving if they didn't follow his every word.
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J. Hofer
it's a nice thought experiment. of course all of this is fiction, but in that setting, sure, would be possible. it would also be possible that satan actually IS way better than god and the bible is just some twisted godly goebbels propaganda. actually almost anything is possible in fiction.
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Giant thread of convince-me-not-to-be-a-theist
by DS211 inif you could teach me one thing to convince me not to believe what would it be?
for instance what has the wt taught about evolution/science or mans existence that is wrong and could possibly change skmeones mind?
and the more important question, why is it a creator couldnt allow for species to evolve?
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J. Hofer
> If you could teach me one thing to convince me not to believe what would it be?
believe what you want. but ask yourself what evidence do you have for what you believe. a random collection of ancient books on hebrew mythology? some nutters telling you god speaks to them? in any case, if you wonder why some people think they know more about god than you do - they dont.
> For instance what has the WT taught about evolution/science or mans existence that is wrong and could possibly change skmeones mind?
pretty much anything the WT teaches about evolution is utter bullshit. evolution is everywhere, right before our eyes. some virus becomming immune to antibiotics? that's evolution, baby.
> And the more important question, why is it a creator couldnt allow for species to evolve?
evolution can coexist with a theistic belief. but why go only halfway. there's loads and loads of evidence for evolution. what's the evidence for some personal god who made bronze age barbarians copy established laws from other cultures and call it the one true thing again?
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Survey: Who Here Believe In God/The Bible? Who Are Not Sure? Who Do Not Believe?
by minimus ini think there are many that still want to believe in a god but just aren't sure.. personally, do you believe in a god?.
are you a "spiritual" person?.
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J. Hofer
plus you can be agnostic and atheist at the same time.
(same goes for agnostic and theist)