I had spotted them down the block earlier so I wasn't at all surprised when my dogs barked to alert us that someone was at the door.
"Mormons or JWs?" I asked.
"We're two Jehovah's Witnesses..."
I should have figured since they were older men and not 20 something "elders".
"I'm an atheist" I explained between mouthfuls of cereal.
He - only one of the two actually spoke - tried to get me to briefly explain what had prompted my deconversion (so he would know where to begin his sales pitch). When I wouldn't bite except to say time and thinking, he decided to start by trying to claim that the bible actually agreed with science on creation and didn't really say the earth was created in 6 days. He pointed to some of the "information" in a professionally designed glossy booklet called "Was life created?".
"And why, out of all the various creation accounts and religious scriptures that exist should I consider the bible to be important?" I asked. This may have been the first time that question has come up since he was quite flustered at first. But then dragged out the standard "because I've examined the bible" type response. Again he tried to claim that the accounts in the bible agreed with science.
"Like insects having 4 legs, bats being birds and a talking donkey?" I asked. I glanced back at my 14 year old daughter who was watching behind me and we shared a knowing smile.
Unwilling to address my specific examples directly, Mr. JW reached into his bag of tricks for a smaller pamphlet "Why you can trust the bible." "
"Can I leave this with you?"
"Sure, but just so you know, I'm going to ridicule it on-line," I said.
"Fair enough," he replied and thanked me for my time.
I wished him a pleasant day and then closed the door so my daughter and I could burst out laughing.
So can we trust the bible?
"Does it contradict itself? While some may claim the Bible contradicts itself, has anyone ever shown you an actual example?"
Yes... would you like a list?
"We have never seen one that could withstand scrutiny"
Scrutiny by credulous and indoctrinated believers is not scrutiny. Try harder.
"True there may *appear* to be discrepancies in certain bible accounts. But the problem usually is lack of knowledge regarding details and circumstances of the times."
No, the problem is that it's full of contradictions and lies. Next!
Cherry picked lame examples, yadda, yadda... "As more details are known" (in other words: as indoctrination progresses) "apparent discrepancies in the bible disappear."
History and Science:
... blah blah, "the details differ, but the essential elements in the astronomical and biblical accounts of Genesis are the same."
*cough* bullshit! *cough*
Everyone thought the world was flat, but in Isaiah it says the world is round... amazing!
The last section claims all the prophecies in the bible were fulfilled in exact detail so future prophecies in it can be trusted.
""That's just too good to be true," some may say""
Count me out of that group.
And it concludes: "By examining the evidence (that we present you, ignore what anyone else says) further, you will become ever more convinced of this."
No. I won't.
"Mormons or JWs?" I asked.
"We're two Jehovah's Witnesses..."
I should have figured since they were older men and not 20 something "elders".
"I'm an atheist" I explained between mouthfuls of cereal.
He - only one of the two actually spoke - tried to get me to briefly explain what had prompted my deconversion (so he would know where to begin his sales pitch). When I wouldn't bite except to say time and thinking, he decided to start by trying to claim that the bible actually agreed with science on creation and didn't really say the earth was created in 6 days. He pointed to some of the "information" in a professionally designed glossy booklet called "Was life created?".
"And why, out of all the various creation accounts and religious scriptures that exist should I consider the bible to be important?" I asked. This may have been the first time that question has come up since he was quite flustered at first. But then dragged out the standard "because I've examined the bible" type response. Again he tried to claim that the accounts in the bible agreed with science.
"Like insects having 4 legs, bats being birds and a talking donkey?" I asked. I glanced back at my 14 year old daughter who was watching behind me and we shared a knowing smile.
Unwilling to address my specific examples directly, Mr. JW reached into his bag of tricks for a smaller pamphlet "Why you can trust the bible." "
"Can I leave this with you?"
"Sure, but just so you know, I'm going to ridicule it on-line," I said.
"Fair enough," he replied and thanked me for my time.
I wished him a pleasant day and then closed the door so my daughter and I could burst out laughing.
So can we trust the bible?
"Does it contradict itself? While some may claim the Bible contradicts itself, has anyone ever shown you an actual example?"
Yes... would you like a list?
"We have never seen one that could withstand scrutiny"
Scrutiny by credulous and indoctrinated believers is not scrutiny. Try harder.
"True there may *appear* to be discrepancies in certain bible accounts. But the problem usually is lack of knowledge regarding details and circumstances of the times."
No, the problem is that it's full of contradictions and lies. Next!
Cherry picked lame examples, yadda, yadda... "As more details are known" (in other words: as indoctrination progresses) "apparent discrepancies in the bible disappear."
History and Science:
... blah blah, "the details differ, but the essential elements in the astronomical and biblical accounts of Genesis are the same."
*cough* bullshit! *cough*
Everyone thought the world was flat, but in Isaiah it says the world is round... amazing!
The last section claims all the prophecies in the bible were fulfilled in exact detail so future prophecies in it can be trusted.
""That's just too good to be true," some may say""
Count me out of that group.
And it concludes: "By examining the evidence (that we present you, ignore what anyone else says) further, you will become ever more convinced of this."
No. I won't.
No comments:
Post a Comment