Religious Forums

But it is an oversimplification to say that "because I am a JW they don't let me believe in evolution and I must fall in line with that" I am one who very much questions and tests things

If I have an overall trust in my faith and the Bible, then if I am a little weak in the science area, then yes, I go along (to a degree) with my religion's teaching! They haven't steered me wrong yet, so if I have to slightly go out on a limb, I do!

I now understand how you made claims about the contents of those scientific papers, without having read them. If you were to recognize their conclusions as valid, you'd have to stop being a JW and stop believing in the Bible. That's a pretty big price to pay, isn't it?

By the way, something you may not know is that the Watchtower society has a science department! And those scientists do not have any money agenda, or career advancement agenda!

They are volunteers, likely retired or quit their jobs, and are serving there! So it isn't like our governing body of a few men who may or may not know science well, are telling us what to believe on that!

I will turn the tables on you! If you read JW literature and recognized it was true, you would have to stop believing in evolution! That's a pretty big price to pay, huh?

Sure, I understand about TWS. But it's obvious that this isn't an issue of science for you. It's about religion. Specifically, it's about you belonging to a religion that does not allow its members to be "evolutionists", which explains all your objections to the science of evolutionary biology.

Have you ever heard of MEPS? Who do you think brought that to the world? JWs needed an efficient way of translating literature into all languages, and a lady was preaching to an IBM genius in Japan

He was impressed with what she showed him in the Bible, started studying with JWs, and he started preaching to other IBM big shots, they became JWs, retired or quit from their jobs, and began volunteering at our headquarters, solved the problem and gave us MEPS

Reader's Digest bought that technology from us! Now MEPS is outdated of course, but it shows that we are not just ordinary minds, we are made up of people from all walks of life, levels of education, etc

And even though there are very intelligent people, their intelligence is only so good as how it aligns to the thinking of God! "The wisdom of the world is foolishness with God"

Yes, I've heard of MEPS. Don't get me wrong here; I'm not saying JWs are dumb or anything. I'm just noting that your views, comments, and objections to the science behind evolutionary biology are rooted in your religious beliefs rather than an understanding of the actual science.

Nope! My objections to evolution are rooted in both my religious beliefs and an understanding of superficial science! Evolution is science fiction! So is Star Trek! I don't have to immerse myself in Star Trek to know it is false! A Trekie may be able to win arguments with me, over whether Captain Kirk was from Vulcan or somewhere else" but it is still not true!

I know ENOUGH about science to recognize it is not true!

By the way, I am reading a book Atheism for Dummies right now! It isn't about evolution, but I see his flawed logic! He is talking about how in Norway, and Scandinavian nations, they are happiest and most charitable, and there are a lot of atheists in those countries! Supposedly this shows that God isn't necessary for good behavior or happiness!

But Jenny, that can't be true. You declared that papers I linked to don't show macroevolution, even though you didn't even look at them. So there's no way you can say that was based in your understanding of the science....YOU NEVER LOOKED AT IT. That leaves only one other reason, and it's also the most obvious....your religion.

Then the next day I pick up a newspaper that says in Norway and those countries, they are happier but it is likely because the days are cold and dark, so they congregate together with friends! Nothing to do with them being atheist!

Do you realize that I had about 6 different people trying to debate me at once? If I didn't look at the paper, isn't it possible that I was overwhelmed?

By the way, I hope you don't return to that thread and advertise that I told you I was JW and laugh at me

And I already told you that, that I TRUST my religion! It is not blind trust but earned trust! A better way of saying that is that I trust God! So if God's word tells me that evolution can't be true, yeah that does have something to do with it! But I do not believe in the Bible for weak reasons