Is This Man A Good Pick For Secretary Of...
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What Is Your Response To This?
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God will] bring to ruin those ruining the earth.”—REVELATION 11:18.
Answers
There must be a distinction between happiness and true happiness?
19:42 Sun 28th Jun 2015
When greed,hatred, wickedness, warfare, crime, and violence will be gone. “The wicked one will be no more . . . But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth.” (Psalm 37:10, 11) Peace will exist because ‘God will make wars cease to the ends of the earth.’ (Psalm 46:9; Isaiah 2:4) Then “the righteous one will sprout, and the abundance of peace until the moon is no more”—and that means forever!—Psalm 72:7.
But no, you don't want it, you love seeing all the bad things.
Jehovah’s worshipers will live in security. As long as the Israelites in Bible times obeyed God, they lived in security. (Leviticus 25:18, 19) How wonderful it will be to enjoy similar security (Micah 4:4)
There will be peace between humans and animals. Wild and domestic animals will feed together. Even a little child will have nothing to fear from animals that are now dangerous.—Isaiah 11:6-9; 65:25.
Sickness will vanish. As Ruler of God’s heavenly Kingdom, Jesus will do healing on a far grander scale than when he was on earth. Then “no resident will say: ‘I am sick.’”—Isaiah 33:24.
Dead loved ones will be restored to life with the prospect of never dying. All those sleeping in death who are in God’s memory will be brought back to life. In fact, “there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.
But don't ask me when. You will have to wait and see. No one knows the time when this will happen. The signs Jesus gave (Matthew 24, Mark 13 & Luke 21) when he was on earth indicate when. You do your own research!
But no, you don't want it, you love seeing all the bad things.
Jehovah’s worshipers will live in security. As long as the Israelites in Bible times obeyed God, they lived in security. (Leviticus 25:18, 19) How wonderful it will be to enjoy similar security (Micah 4:4)
There will be peace between humans and animals. Wild and domestic animals will feed together. Even a little child will have nothing to fear from animals that are now dangerous.—Isaiah 11:6-9; 65:25.
Sickness will vanish. As Ruler of God’s heavenly Kingdom, Jesus will do healing on a far grander scale than when he was on earth. Then “no resident will say: ‘I am sick.’”—Isaiah 33:24.
Dead loved ones will be restored to life with the prospect of never dying. All those sleeping in death who are in God’s memory will be brought back to life. In fact, “there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.
But don't ask me when. You will have to wait and see. No one knows the time when this will happen. The signs Jesus gave (Matthew 24, Mark 13 & Luke 21) when he was on earth indicate when. You do your own research!
goodlife // But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth.” (Psalm 37:10, 11) //
This verse is included to encourage meekness so that the follower will follow what they are told to do. This is the central point of all Abrahamic religions.
"Do what we tell you and you will be rewarded after you die." What a business model!
//Peace will exist because ‘God will make wars cease to the ends of the earth.’ (Psalm 46:9; Isaiah 2:4) //
Which He will achieve by choosing one side and massacring all opposition? Hitler had the same notion of universal peace. Simply eliminate all difference in people by killing anyone who is different and there will be peace. It is not only simplistic brutality but profoundly naive.
Religious laws were early attempts by early humans to implement explicit social contracts. Basically they are fascist philosophies that say "Here are the rules we made, they are not negotiable and we will cause you trouble if you don't obey".
It was big step from "I'm big, you're small and there is nothing you can do about it".
Unfortunately, such systems must demand unchanging rules or all sorts of factional problems are inevitably created. This limitation stifles all possibility for philosophical advancement. Hence these primitive notions persist as anachronisms and restrain our moral advancement.
Like many atheists I have had more than enough of the damage done by religious ignorance so often presented so smugly by devotees.
This verse is included to encourage meekness so that the follower will follow what they are told to do. This is the central point of all Abrahamic religions.
"Do what we tell you and you will be rewarded after you die." What a business model!
//Peace will exist because ‘God will make wars cease to the ends of the earth.’ (Psalm 46:9; Isaiah 2:4) //
Which He will achieve by choosing one side and massacring all opposition? Hitler had the same notion of universal peace. Simply eliminate all difference in people by killing anyone who is different and there will be peace. It is not only simplistic brutality but profoundly naive.
Religious laws were early attempts by early humans to implement explicit social contracts. Basically they are fascist philosophies that say "Here are the rules we made, they are not negotiable and we will cause you trouble if you don't obey".
It was big step from "I'm big, you're small and there is nothing you can do about it".
Unfortunately, such systems must demand unchanging rules or all sorts of factional problems are inevitably created. This limitation stifles all possibility for philosophical advancement. Hence these primitive notions persist as anachronisms and restrain our moral advancement.
Like many atheists I have had more than enough of the damage done by religious ignorance so often presented so smugly by devotees.
BTW, I do not copy & paste everything. It is just easier when there is a lot and as it is from the Bible, it is God's Word, not what I say.
God regards humans as important as he created them in his image. But that does not mean all humans are worthy of everlasting life. Humans also have the ability to reason, animals don't.
Many people want to live in a world without wars, terrorism, crime, violence, poverty, sickness and death. Many are sighing and crying over the terrible things happening on the earth. There are the humble and meek, who are willing to learn peace. These are the ones God is looking for. Not the arrogant and those who consider themselves superior to others.
God regards humans as important as he created them in his image. But that does not mean all humans are worthy of everlasting life. Humans also have the ability to reason, animals don't.
Many people want to live in a world without wars, terrorism, crime, violence, poverty, sickness and death. Many are sighing and crying over the terrible things happening on the earth. There are the humble and meek, who are willing to learn peace. These are the ones God is looking for. Not the arrogant and those who consider themselves superior to others.
Beso@ You really don't have a clue do you? You think you know it all but you know nothing!
//This verse is included to encourage meekness so that the follower will follow what they are told to do. This is the central point of all Abrahamic religions.//
In the Bible, meekness is emphasized as one’s mental attitude first of all toward God, then toward fellow creatures. For example, it is written: “The meek ones will certainly increase their rejoicing in Jehovah himself.” (Isa 29:19) Meek persons are teachable—Jehovah “will teach the meek ones his way” (Ps 25:9)
Jesus Christ was a meek and humble person, but he was not a follower!
//Which He will achieve by choosing one side and massacring all opposition? Hitler had the same notion of universal peace. Simply eliminate all difference in people by killing anyone who is different and there will be peace. It is not only simplistic brutality but profoundly naive. //
Again wrong. Why make such wild guesses?
Wars will cease because man will have learned not to fight and kill. God will not choose one side over another. He will remove the wickedness on earth. But man has a choice, even warlike people can change and become peaceable. Hitler' idea of universal peace was simply to dominate and eradicate all those who were not Aryan. Hitler felt that the jews were responsible for damaging German economy and were an obstacle to his glorious destiny. This was the outcome of racism.
//Religious laws were early attempts by early humans to implement explicit social contracts. Basically they are fascist philosophies that say "Here are the rules we made, they are not negotiable and we will cause you trouble if you don't obey". //
Again you have the wrong end of the stick. The Mosaic law was not to implement social contracts. On the contrary it was to the benefit of the nation of Isreal. Under this law there were no murderers, thieves, poverty or homelessness. The laws were designed to help those in need. Even with regard to murder and (what we call manslaughter) accidental death, there was a provision made.
Sanitary laws were also for the benefit of the people, and even today we use these laws,
//This verse is included to encourage meekness so that the follower will follow what they are told to do. This is the central point of all Abrahamic religions.//
In the Bible, meekness is emphasized as one’s mental attitude first of all toward God, then toward fellow creatures. For example, it is written: “The meek ones will certainly increase their rejoicing in Jehovah himself.” (Isa 29:19) Meek persons are teachable—Jehovah “will teach the meek ones his way” (Ps 25:9)
Jesus Christ was a meek and humble person, but he was not a follower!
//Which He will achieve by choosing one side and massacring all opposition? Hitler had the same notion of universal peace. Simply eliminate all difference in people by killing anyone who is different and there will be peace. It is not only simplistic brutality but profoundly naive. //
Again wrong. Why make such wild guesses?
Wars will cease because man will have learned not to fight and kill. God will not choose one side over another. He will remove the wickedness on earth. But man has a choice, even warlike people can change and become peaceable. Hitler' idea of universal peace was simply to dominate and eradicate all those who were not Aryan. Hitler felt that the jews were responsible for damaging German economy and were an obstacle to his glorious destiny. This was the outcome of racism.
//Religious laws were early attempts by early humans to implement explicit social contracts. Basically they are fascist philosophies that say "Here are the rules we made, they are not negotiable and we will cause you trouble if you don't obey". //
Again you have the wrong end of the stick. The Mosaic law was not to implement social contracts. On the contrary it was to the benefit of the nation of Isreal. Under this law there were no murderers, thieves, poverty or homelessness. The laws were designed to help those in need. Even with regard to murder and (what we call manslaughter) accidental death, there was a provision made.
Sanitary laws were also for the benefit of the people, and even today we use these laws,
\\ as it is from the Bible, it is God's Word, not what I say. //
\\ these are the ones God is looking for. Not the arrogant and those who consider themselves superior to others.//
Thank you for replying goodlife, however do you not consider it arrogant for the jehovah witness to rewrite the bible as it is, as you state, the word of god?
If this is the case then surely it is perfect and doesn't require any changes.
I once queried this with a JW and was told that they didn't rewrite it, they just made it easier to understand. I suggested this implied that god didn't do a very good job as the JW considered it hard to understand. At this point they mumbled something about catching their bus, which I thought was strange because I had seen them parking their car around the corner.
\\ these are the ones God is looking for. Not the arrogant and those who consider themselves superior to others.//
Thank you for replying goodlife, however do you not consider it arrogant for the jehovah witness to rewrite the bible as it is, as you state, the word of god?
If this is the case then surely it is perfect and doesn't require any changes.
I once queried this with a JW and was told that they didn't rewrite it, they just made it easier to understand. I suggested this implied that god didn't do a very good job as the JW considered it hard to understand. At this point they mumbled something about catching their bus, which I thought was strange because I had seen them parking their car around the corner.
//God regards humans as important as he created them in his image. But that does not mean all humans are worthy of everlasting life. Humans also have the ability to reason, animals don't. //
My dear goodlife, how is this different from "if all humans are created in his image, must he also therefore not be a cruel and warring god?
btw Many animals have proven to have reasoning, some are very good at it.
My dear goodlife, how is this different from "if all humans are created in his image, must he also therefore not be a cruel and warring god?
btw Many animals have proven to have reasoning, some are very good at it.
Here's an extract about some other gods - enjoy. [i]
So now all who escaped death in battle or by shipwreck had got safely home except Ulysses, and he, though he was longing to return to his wife and country, was detained by the goddess Calypso, who had got him into a large cave and wanted to marry him. But as years went by, there came a time when the gods settled that he should go back to Ithaca; even then, however, when he was among his own people, his troubles were not yet over; nevertheless all the gods had now begun to pity him except Neptune, who still persecuted him without ceasing and would not let him get home.
Now Neptune had gone off to the Ethiopians, who are at the world's end, and lie in two halves, the one looking West and the other East. He had gone there to accept a hecatomb of sheep and oxen, and was enjoying himself at his festival; but the other gods met in the house of Olympian Jove, and the sire of gods and men spoke first. At that moment he was thinking of Aegisthus, who had been killed by Agamemnon's son Orestes; so he said to the other gods:
"See now, how men lay blame upon us gods for what is after all nothing but their own folly. Look at Aegisthus; he must needs make love to Agamemnon's wife unrighteously and then kill Agamemnon, though he knew it would be the death of him; for I sent Mercury to warn him not to do either of these things, inasmuch as Orestes would be sure to take his revenge when he grew up and wanted to return home. Mercury told him this in all good will but he would not listen, and now he has paid for everything in full."
Then Minerva said, "Father, son of Saturn, King of kings, it served Aegisthus right, and so it would any one else who does as he did; but Aegisthus is neither here nor there; it is for Ulysses that my heart bleeds, when I think of his sufferings in that lonely sea-girt island, far away, poor man, from all his friends. It is an island covered with forest, in the very middle of the sea, and a goddess lives there, daughter of the magician Atlas, who looks after the bottom of the ocean, and carries the great columns that keep heaven and earth asunder. This daughter of Atlas has got hold of poor unhappy Ulysses, and keeps trying by every kind of blandishment to make him forget his home, so that he is tired of life, and thinks of nothing but how he may once more see the smoke of his own chimneys. You, sir, take no heed of this, and yet when Ulysses was before Troy did he not propitiate you with many a burnt sacrifice? Why then should you keep on being so angry with him?"
And Jove said, "My child, what are you talking about? How can I forget Ulysses than whom there is no more capable man on earth, nor more liberal in his offerings to the immortal gods that live in heaven? Bear in mind, however, that Neptune is still furious with Ulysses for having blinded an eye of Polyphemus king of the Cyclopes. Polyphemus is son to Neptune by the nymph Thoosa, daughter to the sea-king Phorcys; therefore though he will not kill Ulysses outright, he torments him by preventing him from getting home. Still, let us lay our heads together and see how we can help him to return; Neptune will then be pacified, for if we are all of a mind he can hardly stand out against us."
And Minerva said, "Father, son of Saturn, King of kings, if, then, the gods now mean that Ulysses should get home, we should first send Mercury to the Ogygian island to tell Calypso that we have made up our minds and that he is to return. In the meantime I will go to Ithaca, to put heart into Ulysses' son Telemachus; I will embolden him to call the Achaeans in assembly, and speak out to the suitors of his mother Penelope, who persist in eating up any number of his sheep and oxen; I will also conduct him to Sparta and to Pylos, to see if he can hear anything about the return of his dear father- for this will make people speak well of him."
[i] Bye for now.
So now all who escaped death in battle or by shipwreck had got safely home except Ulysses, and he, though he was longing to return to his wife and country, was detained by the goddess Calypso, who had got him into a large cave and wanted to marry him. But as years went by, there came a time when the gods settled that he should go back to Ithaca; even then, however, when he was among his own people, his troubles were not yet over; nevertheless all the gods had now begun to pity him except Neptune, who still persecuted him without ceasing and would not let him get home.
Now Neptune had gone off to the Ethiopians, who are at the world's end, and lie in two halves, the one looking West and the other East. He had gone there to accept a hecatomb of sheep and oxen, and was enjoying himself at his festival; but the other gods met in the house of Olympian Jove, and the sire of gods and men spoke first. At that moment he was thinking of Aegisthus, who had been killed by Agamemnon's son Orestes; so he said to the other gods:
"See now, how men lay blame upon us gods for what is after all nothing but their own folly. Look at Aegisthus; he must needs make love to Agamemnon's wife unrighteously and then kill Agamemnon, though he knew it would be the death of him; for I sent Mercury to warn him not to do either of these things, inasmuch as Orestes would be sure to take his revenge when he grew up and wanted to return home. Mercury told him this in all good will but he would not listen, and now he has paid for everything in full."
Then Minerva said, "Father, son of Saturn, King of kings, it served Aegisthus right, and so it would any one else who does as he did; but Aegisthus is neither here nor there; it is for Ulysses that my heart bleeds, when I think of his sufferings in that lonely sea-girt island, far away, poor man, from all his friends. It is an island covered with forest, in the very middle of the sea, and a goddess lives there, daughter of the magician Atlas, who looks after the bottom of the ocean, and carries the great columns that keep heaven and earth asunder. This daughter of Atlas has got hold of poor unhappy Ulysses, and keeps trying by every kind of blandishment to make him forget his home, so that he is tired of life, and thinks of nothing but how he may once more see the smoke of his own chimneys. You, sir, take no heed of this, and yet when Ulysses was before Troy did he not propitiate you with many a burnt sacrifice? Why then should you keep on being so angry with him?"
And Jove said, "My child, what are you talking about? How can I forget Ulysses than whom there is no more capable man on earth, nor more liberal in his offerings to the immortal gods that live in heaven? Bear in mind, however, that Neptune is still furious with Ulysses for having blinded an eye of Polyphemus king of the Cyclopes. Polyphemus is son to Neptune by the nymph Thoosa, daughter to the sea-king Phorcys; therefore though he will not kill Ulysses outright, he torments him by preventing him from getting home. Still, let us lay our heads together and see how we can help him to return; Neptune will then be pacified, for if we are all of a mind he can hardly stand out against us."
And Minerva said, "Father, son of Saturn, King of kings, if, then, the gods now mean that Ulysses should get home, we should first send Mercury to the Ogygian island to tell Calypso that we have made up our minds and that he is to return. In the meantime I will go to Ithaca, to put heart into Ulysses' son Telemachus; I will embolden him to call the Achaeans in assembly, and speak out to the suitors of his mother Penelope, who persist in eating up any number of his sheep and oxen; I will also conduct him to Sparta and to Pylos, to see if he can hear anything about the return of his dear father- for this will make people speak well of him."
[i] Bye for now.
@wildwood
They may be 'bird brained' but crows have been shown, on TV, solving some tricky puzzles to obtain food, including operating a door latch and even one where it worked out that pouring water into a tube would cause the peanut to float high enough to be reached.
If that isn't 'reasoning', I don't know what is.
So, @goodlife, do animals get to go to heaven? Are we to be eternally separated from our beloved pets?
Also
//There are the humble and meek, who are willing to learn peace. These are the ones God is looking for. Not the arrogant and those who consider themselves superior to others.//
I don't know if you've noticed the pattern or not, but most of your R&S threads end up with others trying to point out how Jehova's Witnesses often come across as arrogant, 'superior', or both.
"We're saved, why don't you join our exclusive club?", appears to be the basic sales message.
Does that not strike you as an arrogant attitude?
They may be 'bird brained' but crows have been shown, on TV, solving some tricky puzzles to obtain food, including operating a door latch and even one where it worked out that pouring water into a tube would cause the peanut to float high enough to be reached.
If that isn't 'reasoning', I don't know what is.
So, @goodlife, do animals get to go to heaven? Are we to be eternally separated from our beloved pets?
Also
//There are the humble and meek, who are willing to learn peace. These are the ones God is looking for. Not the arrogant and those who consider themselves superior to others.//
I don't know if you've noticed the pattern or not, but most of your R&S threads end up with others trying to point out how Jehova's Witnesses often come across as arrogant, 'superior', or both.
"We're saved, why don't you join our exclusive club?", appears to be the basic sales message.
Does that not strike you as an arrogant attitude?
The Bible has not been rewritten by JWs. It has never been "rewritten". Translated into modern languages - yes. Many people cannot cope with the "thous" and "thees". So you are saying King James rewrote the Bible when he authorised the translation into the English language of his day!
It is what is called "education" and modernisation.
It is what is called "education" and modernisation.
goodlife //Wars will cease because man will have learned not to fight and kill. God will not choose one side over another. He will remove the wickedness on earth. //
So remove the "wickedness" and everyone will learn to be peaceful. This raises a few questions.
How will He remove the "wickedness" if not by killing the wicked?
Why does He still say He intends to kill most of the people on Earth?
The bottom line is that the devotees of the Abrahamic religions have always eagerly awaited Armageddon to happen in their own lifetime. Many have tried to initiate it.
Each time it fails to come despite the "clear signs", the clues are quietly reinterpreted to make it "any time soon" once again.
So remove the "wickedness" and everyone will learn to be peaceful. This raises a few questions.
How will He remove the "wickedness" if not by killing the wicked?
Why does He still say He intends to kill most of the people on Earth?
The bottom line is that the devotees of the Abrahamic religions have always eagerly awaited Armageddon to happen in their own lifetime. Many have tried to initiate it.
Each time it fails to come despite the "clear signs", the clues are quietly reinterpreted to make it "any time soon" once again.
