science can explain how of things, but it cannot explain why of certain things (for example, why did life arise from non-life and evolved from simpler creatures to more complex life forms only to die and disappear?
) so are the conflicted religions whose chief concern is in safeguarding each ones separate identity..
next option is to look for pearls among the stonesusing power of our own reason.
Carl Sagan WAS strictly scientific.
He was also poetic. From cosmos (1980): "The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us — there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation as if a distant memory, of falling from a height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries."
and
"We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it's forever."
who has the latest stats on watchtower growth?.
the most complete?.
(i've lost the link somewhere).
Anyone?
(It's been 13 years since Randy asked this question.)
I'm still looking into it. My modem login to AOL only went through three years ago and my pc is a bit slow.
In the meantime Marley Cole's Jehovah's Witnesses New World Society has reasonably up to date stats.
1) he views devotees with disgust; because they use god as a means to fulfillment of their materialistic ends, and they constantly pester him with request to violate his own laws (principle of action and consequence).
hence devotees are materialistic in its true sense.
they even interpolate things into scriptures to suit their convenienceas confirmed by prophet jeremiah himself (jeremiah 7:22; 8:8).
Which 'God' are you speaking of?
Google.
the royal commission published it's redress report today.
it is a 668 page document, but it is very interesting.
all the recommendations they make are in harmony with what all other institutions will accept.
Hi _Morpheus,
You know what the victims could do? Start a class action lawsuit using the $65 000 per victim as a legitimate guideline.
Yeehaaa.
the royal commission published it's redress report today.
it is a 668 page document, but it is very interesting.
all the recommendations they make are in harmony with what all other institutions will accept.
$65 000 X 1006 = $ 65 390 000
Mother of God!
science can explain how of things, but it cannot explain why of certain things (for example, why did life arise from non-life and evolved from simpler creatures to more complex life forms only to die and disappear?
) so are the conflicted religions whose chief concern is in safeguarding each ones separate identity..
next option is to look for pearls among the stonesusing power of our own reason.
rebel830 minutes agoSo nobody's going to call out the OP for the misleading quote of Sagan? Ok, I will.
Yeah but OP quotes Durant in the very next sentence after Sagan. Sagan would not disagree with the sentiment:
"In the end, nothing is lost. Every event, for good or evil, has effects forever.” (Will Durant)."
So even if the quote has omissions, OP does not use the Sagan quote to prove he believed in an afterlife, rather the Durant quote completes Sagans thought in that he is actually still living on today. His words, thoughts and actions still echo forever,
At least that's what I took from the closing paragraph.
so my uber devoted mom called me this morning....wanted to encourage to go to the hall today.
she has called my df brother also to encourage him.
our deliverance is getting near, she says....and you need to get to the meeting today.
First, if I read/studied this kind of stuff every day, I would be on a stiff dose of antidepressants.
Agreed, I can't read Watchtower articles anymore. Its repetitive, boring, mind numbing and just plain upsets me. I take my hat off to those people on the forum who take the time to point out the errors, omissions, hypocrisy and fallacies within the current Watchtower literature because its something I just cannot do.
science can explain how of things, but it cannot explain why of certain things (for example, why did life arise from non-life and evolved from simpler creatures to more complex life forms only to die and disappear?
) so are the conflicted religions whose chief concern is in safeguarding each ones separate identity..
next option is to look for pearls among the stonesusing power of our own reason.
Hi iconoclastic,
Quoting Jesus, Kahlil Gibran, Abraham Lincoln, Carl Sagan and Will Durant.
Now you're cooking.
that was the question to me tonight.
because of their beliefs they have a moral compass, a net work of friends and a support group.
they have what they believe is a loving god.
Who am I to screw up their happiness?
If it wasn't for the shunning and blood doctrine, I couldn't have cared less about what Jehovah's Witnesses believe. They could have believed in lizard aliens in human skins that rule the world. If the belief made them happy, good for them. I would only become concerned if they decided that it was imperative to eliminate those "lizard aliens in human skins". My point is that I don't care what Jehovah's Witnesses believe, but I do care about certain actions caused by their beliefs.
After reading the responses in this thread I have added one more reason. It has been pointed out that Jehovah's Witnesses don't give other people the same consideration regarding their happiness. So when Jehovah's Witnesses decided that their doctrine had to be spread worldwide, their ideas became open to debate and criticism .
i'm still reading and researching the bible.
a thought occurred to me... the universe is so huge and full yet most of it cannot be seen by the naked human eye.. while jw's could claim that god created the stars to look pretty/ for navigation... what about the rest that cannot be seen?
the huge never ending mass of universe that the bronze age writers of the bible had no idea about?.
When I was a JW I had the following line of reasoning:
After the thousand years when new books are opened, perfected humanity would probably be allowed to populate the universe. Then the good lord Jehoober would perhaps create other intelligent species, but the matter of sovereignty would have been settled seeing as human history would be the legal president.
