RunningMan wrote: A definition of God: Jehovah Definition: The personal name of the only true God. His own self-designation. Jehovah is the Creator and, rightfully, the Sovereign Ruler of the universe. “Jehovah” is translated from the Hebrew Tetragrammaton, יהוה, which means “He Causes to Become.” These four Hebrew letters are represented in many languages by the letters JHVH or YHWH. Let me rephrase that earlier point as I made a mistake. The lifesaving work that we do would be pointless if people were already predestined to a certain outcome. In the case of free will, If I was shown and saw advance warning of an incoming flood upon a town, or a volcano starting to erupt, and I did my utmost to warn as many people as I could, knocking on their doors, talking to them wherever I found them, giving them evidence and compelling reasons to believe me, inviting them to ponder it deeply and see it for themselves, trying to lovingly reason with them and urge them as I knew their lives were at stake, and they didn't listen and chose to stay where they were doing what they wanted to do, some of them even making fun of me, there's not much I could do about that. They would be exercising their free will, yes, but one way would be beneficial, the other way would lead to disaster. Having free will also comes with responsibility, and the choice to use it irresponsibly and unwisely, or to their ultimate benefit. |
Richard Dawkins - The God Delusion • Page 17
-
freedumb 1,122 posts
Seen 6 months ago
Registered 18 years ago -
RunningMan 3,098 posts
Seen 3 days ago
Registered 15 years agofreedumb wrote:
RunningMan wrote:
freedumb wrote:
RunningMan wrote:
The bible is not a source of evidence as it's been translated so many times and each time, errors occur. How many texts were kept out of the bible, I mean even Judas had a gospel.
Do you also not realize that if the future can be foretold, there is no freewill? and so have no basis for existence. Do you really believe that your whole existence has no meaning?
I have researched and given evidence for these points in the Bible translation and interpretation section.
A woman with a beautiful voice does not choose to use it 24 hours a day, for example at a minute's silence event. Or think of a hotel manager who has the master keys to all the rooms of the hotel. If he wants to he can choose to open the doors and invade on the privacy of his guests. But he decides not to do so out of respect for them. The keyword here is selective foreknowledge, God dignifies people by allowing them to choose their own course, while he reveals key parts of future events.
Life would be pointless if no one could choose their own path, and everyone had a predestined outcome.
That's pretty much the point, isn't it. You ignore any logical argument. You can't even define god. Life has the point you give it, don't debase it with this shit.
Let me rephrase that as I made a mistake. The lifesaving work that we do would be pointless if people were already predestined to a certain outcome.
In the case of free will, If I saw advance warning of an incoming flood upon a town, or a volcano starting to erupt, and I did my utmost to warn as many people as I can, knocking on their doors, talking to them wherever I found them, giving them evidence and compelling reasons to believe me, inviting them to ponder it deeply and see it for themselves, trying to lovingly reason with them and urge them as I knew their lives were at stake, and they didn't listen and chose to stay where they were doing what they wanted to do, there's not much I could do about that.
They would be exercising their free will, yes, but one way would be beneficial, the other way would lead to disaster. Having free will also comes with responsibility, and the choice to use it irresponsibly and unwisely, or to their ultimate benefit.
what are you basing your life around. You must have some idea surely? God is just a word, but there must be some core values and ideas that it defines, that you are happy, so define it, tell us what god is. Just us 1 or 2 sentences though, You are prone to rambling. -
freedumb wrote:
Did you say Jehovah?
Jehovah
Definition: The personal name of the only true God. His own self-designation. Jehovah is the Creator and, rightfully, the Sovereign Ruler of the universe. “Jehovah” is translated from the Hebrew Tetragrammaton, יהוה, which means “He Causes to Become.” These four Hebrew letters are represented in many languages by the letters JHVH or YHWH. -
Why does the Hebrew Tetragrammaton look like the NIN logo? -
JuanKerr 37,710 posts
Seen 10 months ago
Registered 15 years agoCadence wrote:
I haven't seen a whacko of this magnitude on here for a long time.
Haven't heard/seen the word 'whacko' for years. Lovely stuff. -
freedumb wrote:
Some famous examples may include Geri halliwell...
I AM NOW A CONVERT -
freedumb wrote:
I have given undeniable evidence, prophecies that have actually come true. .
hahahaha -
freedumb wrote:
You have?
I have given undeniable evidence, prophecies that have actually come true. As mentioned, there are many more that back up the accuracy and authenticity of the Bible.
Really?
Really, really?
Are you sure?
1975 -
Genji 19,682 posts
Seen 10 years ago
Registered 17 years agoIt's ok freedumb, at least I love you. -
Strange isn't it. The easter bunny doesn't even come visit me any more, Steve his name was, and he always had a special present for me when everyone had gone to bed.
What a world we live in. -
RunningMan wrote:
Do you really believe that your whole existence has no meaning?
Yup. Completely meaningless. As meaningless as the tiniest insect or the largest mammal. And so is yours.
We're born, we live our lives, we die and that's it. No before, no after. -
Khanivor 44,800 posts
Seen 2 days ago
Registered 20 years agoIt seems the JWs got round to making an activity pack for the Internet. -
grey_matters 5,507 posts
Seen 1 week ago
Registered 15 years agoKhanivor wrote:
It seems the JWs got round to making an activity pack for the Internet..gif)
-
warlockuk 19,519 posts
Seen 1 week ago
Registered 17 years agoHoly fuck, I'm the same age as Retroid?! Or is Retroid the same age as me?
Fuck! This really is the most deep and meaningful thing I've had to think about in this entire thread.
Or to put it another way, welcome back for round two freedumb ol' son; nice to see you still live up to your name. Also nice to see you still using inaccurate and incorrect references to back up your own backwards flavour of Tetragrammaton while keeping an eye over your shoulder for Pentagrammaton.
Or to put it yet another way, you're still a delusional ponce. xx -
Genji 19,682 posts
Seen 10 years ago
Registered 17 years agoIs it really necessary to insult him? -
warlockuk 19,519 posts
Seen 1 week ago
Registered 17 years agoAt this point? Yeah. He's not after an actual discussion, he's just recanting the same cyclic arguments that he's been told to say ad nauseum. YOU CANNOT DENY MY PROPHECIES!
...Everyone can deny 'em, mush.
That, plus it's 2am. Getting up at 2am is proof that if there is a God, he's a cocksmoker. -
Articulate-Troll 3,098 posts
Seen 11 months ago
Registered 14 years agoFreedumb, if you want to be taken seriously you have to be concise and give your own opinion. You can't honestly expect people to read the wall of text you spam? -
afghan_jones 3,040 posts
Seen 4 years ago
Registered 15 years agoI started reading it but it really is a tough old slog. Very random, full of contradictions but the saddest part of it is none of it involves himsaying 'this is what I believe, and here's why'. Its all very much 'here's what I was told to believe' with some dubious biblical references as 'evidence'.
In the absence of any actual factual evidence, the most logical reason for any religion to exist is to combat humanity's fear of death and the pointlessness of our existence. These are terrifying things to think about, but if we can convince ourselves that there is a point to existence, but God just doesnt want us to know, and that life doesnt end at death, but carries on forever, that helps people avoid facing the scary fact that our time is very limited and there is no true purpose to our lives. Its the curse of being a sentient race, the knowledge of our inevitable deaths and the torture of knowing it is pointless. -
JohnnyWashnGo 1,544 posts
Seen 5 years ago
Registered 17 years agoHas anybody asked Freedumb at what point he started to believe and for what reason?
I would like to know why he is so enamoured by religion in general and the JWs specifically. -
Orange 5,170 posts
Seen 6 years ago
Registered 19 years agoafghan_jones wrote:
No the most logicial reason for religion to exist is to control behaviour in a certain way. It is an act of authoritarianism, not logic. A way of subconsciously reinforcing the varying dictatorships humanity has had over the centuries (be it tribe elder, monarchy, papacy or whatever), that at the centre of all things should be one man whose word is law.
In the absence of any actual factual evidence, the most logical reason for any religion to exist is to combat humanity's fear of death and the pointlessness of our existence. These are terrifying things to think about, but if we can convince ourselves that there is a point to existence, but God just doesnt want us to know, and that life doesnt end at death, but carries on forever, that helps people avoid facing the scary fact that our time is very limited and there is no true purpose to our lives. Its the curse of being a sentient race, the knowledge of our inevitable deaths and the torture of knowing it is pointless.
Fear of death and pointlessness of existence does not have to involve God in the slightest. The point to existence can be tied to anything, be it natural cycle of the universe or whatever. Viewing death as some kind of terrible thing is not remotely "logical", if anything it is irrational to view it as anything other than a complete unknown and to assume such an unknown must automatically be feared or need a paternalistic figure controlling everything is ignorant. -
afghan_jones 3,040 posts
Seen 4 years ago
Registered 15 years agoIm not saying death must be feared. Just that it is.
Agree that religion has certainly been used and abused to control the masses throughout history. I was trying to say that it is effective because believing there is a God who has a plan for you and who will grant you eternal life after death is far more appealing to many than facing their own mortality.
Especially effective historically where the vast majority of the slave/serf/working classes had no hope of ever bettering themselves in this life. The notion that all you had to do was be nice to people and that would get you into paradise must have been very appealing. Hence 'opiate of the masses'. -
localnotail 23,079 posts
Seen 2 weeks ago
Registered 13 years agoI think maybe the link TT found earlier this week should be in this thread.
Here's a way of approaching the universe: You are a tiny speck of insignificant biological material in an immense universe that probably defies your brain's ability of understanding. Yet you are remarkable, in innumerable ways. Every second of every day you are a walking ecosystem of life, housing trillions of microbes that continuously interact with you to keep both you and them alive. Your body is constantly building and rebuilding itself, encoding information on simple strains of molecules at the speed of jet engines, in each and every nucleus-possessing cell in your body. You are a walking, talking, living, breathing orchestra of life, a beautiful display of the potential inherent in our particular universe.
You are the remarkable product of an unbroken, let me say that again, UNBROKEN line of descendants stretching all the way back to the very first interactions of seemingly pointless inanimate molecules. You share a common ancestry with every living thing ever, including the estimated 106 billion humans who have ever lived. You are tied to the trees and the birds and the small phytoplankton that gently ride the crests and dips of the oceans of this world. You are part of the vibrant tapestry of what we refer to as life, a piece of art that stretches back billions upon billions of years. Everything this universe has thrown at you and your ancestors has been roundly defeated - from harsh radiation, to extraterrestrial objects, to volcanic eruptions and more. You are a symbol of utter perseverance, of the sheer will to continue onwards. You are a cry in the dark, the voice of one who will not be quiet.
-
localnotail 23,079 posts
Seen 2 weeks ago
Registered 13 years agoI know you are but what am I? -
Obligatory Karl Popper post. -
localnotail 23,079 posts
Seen 2 weeks ago
Registered 13 years agoSmuggo wrote:
localnotail wrote:
I know you are but what am I?
A poo poo head.
I'm going to email that reply to your editor and let him see the excremental quality of your journalism. -
Of the whole paper? Wow. It must be a really, really shit publication, given how much time you spend on here. Is it one of those cat-tray-liner free sheets they make illegal immigrants thrust into the hands of uninterested passers-by on street corners?
.gif)
Sometimes posts may contain links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. For more information, go here.
