You wouldn't believe how amusing I found that coming from a JW lol The irony was almost too much.
Why is it ironic? We won't touch Christmas with a barge pole. Its not a "Christian" celebration and never was.
Atheists celebrating the birth of Christ on the other hand is a bit hypocritical in my book. It is still a religious holiday....but for the wrong god.
And who said anything about atheists celebrating xmas? I said my visitors would be having a dull xmas listening to my limited conversation. You've made a lot of assumptions.
Atheists do celebrate Christmas...and you are apparently one of them. (as you mentioned because your Mum is cooking Christmas dinner for your family...no?)
You might want to write that on a sticky and put it on your computer monitor.
Do you have one as well?
Or they refuse to talk to their children because they no longer agree with their religious superstitions....
Where did you hear that? We do not refuse to talk to our children because they no longer agree with our religious beliefs. They may want you to believe that.
No one is born a JW. We choose, of our volition to become one of Jehovah's Witnesses. It involves biblical criteria which involves commitment to a certain moral standard of living.
One who has taken vows to dedicate their lives to God have entered into a binding agreement. You don't just join a 'club' and have the option to walk out the door because you have changed your mind. Those who take that step know well in advance what is expected of them. None of it is in any way unusual or unhealthy. It is just following the moral code of the Bible.
Should they reach a point where their thoughts have strayed into the world, their attitudes and conduct will reflect that. They will begin to chafe under the rules that they once agreed to follow. If they want to leave, then they are free to go....but their lifestyle will often become something that God disapproves of.
We are taught to disapprove of those activities ourselves....to hate what God hates. It does not mean that we hate our children, any more than God hates any humans....he hates what they do....so do we. So we save ourselves the heartache of watching our kids make the biggest mistake of their lives. It is unusual to find any defectors from our spiritual family who end up happy. The net is full of disgruntled ex-JW's who can't have their cake and eat it too. We shun those who shun God and his laws...related to us or not. (Matthew 10:34-37; 1 Corinthians 5:9-13)
I notice you cut and paste the middle section of that from somewhere because you go from the Australian English "organisation" to the American "organization". What was it you were saying about thinking for yourself?
LOL....I go from an iPad to a laptop depending on where I am....it is these that toggle from American spelling to Australian. I will often start a post on my iPad and graduate later to my laptop to finish it. No cut and paste, otherwise I would provide a link...that is the rules.It always pays to wait for the explanation....ya know.
Do you understand people die from untreated cancer and they would also be unrecognisable to the person you knew. You really need to start thinking outside your superstitious box.
Of course....I have sat with the dying and know full well how cancer works on the body.....but I wouldn't blame anyone for wanting to avoid chemotherapy or radiation......both are devastating to the body.....surgery can be too.....with no guarantees that their life will be saved. Suffering is magnified by the barbaric methods used by 'modern' medicine.
Could it possibly be that they happen to agree on a particular subject.... sheez
Of course.....but you joined the club here even though you weren't invited.
The internet bandwagon has more than its fair share of atheists....and it always amuses me that atheists always gravitate to Bible or religious discussion websites....to spread their joy...is it?
Then why isn't your God fixing the rot!!!!
Oh but he is....in his own time and in a way that will leave mankind in no doubt as to their need for his direction and guidance.
He is allowing humanity to be caught in the act of being themselves.....they are carving out their own future by their own choices...setting precedents for all time to come....its brilliant actually.
Why on earth can you not read what I type? I did not say life 200 years ago was really bad. I said I would rather be living now than 200 years ago.
And I gave you the reasons why I am not happy living 200 years hence. What is so special about today? Our brains are turning to mush and we have created monsters we can't control or destroy.....how clever are we?
My mother is also in her 90's, she lives at her house, she's making xmas lunch for me, my wife, sister, daughter and son in law this Saturday, goes to the shops etc. Mind you she doesn't break any land speed records.
Well, Merry Christmas then.....
and good on your Mum for being so active. Mine is too.
I live in the world, some good, some great, some bad, some evil and all the in between.
We live in a world that, outside of our materialistic Australian lifestyle, is going to the dogs. Some nations have children who are abandoned in the streets because their parents cant feed or care for them. They are often picked up and used by sex traffickers and no one seems to be able to stem the flow. Poverty drives these situations. In Africa, AIDS is still claiming many lives because there is no money for healthy food or medicines and no morality to curb the spread of disease. In the last Ebola outbreak, religious tradition was making the proper disposal of bodies very difficult. Do you never think of life outside of your own country?
Neither have the God fearing. What's your point?
According to the Bible, this mess is created by disobedient humans and they will never solve the problems that their greed for wealth and power have generated. Only God can bring an end to this misery.....he has said he will act when the time is right, but he also said that it will be "like a thief in the night"....there will be no warning.
Sure... another massive fail on the part of your God.
The Creator does not have "fail" in his vocabulary. It is humans who fail at everything that they try with their independent spirit. God is just giving them enough rope....
Of which you have zero evidence. Your threats mean nothing to me without evidence.
Please don't confuse a threat with a warning.....God doesn't make threats.....he gives ultimatums. But there is always a warning before he acts......all are given an opportunity to change their mind. Its up to us whether we do something about it or not.