From: corey@sdf.lonestar.org (Corey Carroll)
Subject: Re: [This is what Corey and Tim says] This is what the Jehovah's Witnesses do.
Organization: sdf Public Access UNIX, Dallas--unrestricted free shell access
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 17:44:43 GMT

In article <1992Jul24.192301.21979@dcs.warwick.ac.uk> simon@dcs.warwick.ac.uk (Simon Clippingdale) writes:
>In article <LAURAF.92Jul24082753@wolf.eecs.umich.edu> lauraf@eecs.umich.edu (Laura Falk) writes:
>>In article <1992Jul24.022711.12904@newsroom.utas.edu.au> Tim.ONeill@english.utas.edu.au (Tim O'Neill) writes:
>>
>> None of JW want to see Corey make such a stand against Jehovah. However, if
>> that is what he wants, what else can we do?
>
>Corey cannot be making a stand against Jehovah, for the simple reason that he
>no longer believes that Jehovah exists.
>
Excellent, Simon.  Having turned to atheism, I find all of this discussion
rather silly.  

>
>>>> Please do!!!!  I keep an open mind just as long as what is being said
>>>> agrees with the bible.
>
>>> Now there's a nice contradiction in terms!
>
>> ...and where is the contradiction?  I accept the bible as Jehovah's word,
>> far superior to that of mans. If man disagrees with the bible, he is wrong!
>

Ok, Laura, but how do you know the Bible is Jehovah's Word?  Because
the Watchtower told you?  Because you were raised in the "truth" (like
I was)?

>Trouble is that in accepting The Bible as "Jehovah's word", *you* had to
>make the judgement that it *is* indeed Jehovah's word. You trusted human
>reason (i.e. your own) at that point.
>
>To reject human reason thereafter ("If man disagrees with the bible, he
>is wrong!") is inconsistent, since you have based your acceptance of The
>Bible on your own human reason.
>
Well, Witnesses aren't trained to use rational logic.  They use something
they call "reasoning from the scriptures" to justify everything.  Problem
is the Bible is not always consistent.  Oh well.

>This applies equally well even if you were to claim direct experience of
>God telling you that _The Bible_ is true, such as visions or whatever it
>might be: *you* decide that these are genuine and not hallucinations.
>
>There's simply no way around it.
>
Exactly.....if there *is* a God, he has made it VERY hard for *ME* to
believe in him.  How am  I to trust an ancient book filled with myths
and legends?  How am I to believe through "faith", when everything
I do is based upon logic and reasoning?  God gave me a brain that demands
reasons for everything, and good evidence, yet he provides none with
respect to his existence.  Even if I were to have such a "vision" I
would seriously question my own sanity.  I speculate that that's what
happened to those Bible prophets of long ago.  I propose that they were
crazy.

>
>> Laura
>
>Cheers
>
>Simon
>-- 
>Simon Clippingdale                simon@dcs.warwick.ac.uk
>Department of Computer Science    Tel (+44) 203 523296
>University of Warwick             FAX (+44) 203 525714
>Coventry CV4 7AL, U.K.            or 0203 etc. if you're in the sunny UK


-- 
"All religions make me wanna throw up!"
"All religions make me sick!" - Dead Kennedys, Religious Vomit

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