I am a disfellowshipped Jehovah's Witness. JW's are really strict to sticking to the shunning of a member. But I have one friend who always takes my calls and never makes me feel like I'm a bother for reaching out. He is an emotionally intelligent person, but he is book stupid. He asked me, "Does it matter what we believe" and I said yes. He was like, "Does it really matter?" And then it dawned on me, there has always been this debate between humans concerning what was more important, what you say or what you do. Naturally, most of us agree that what you do is overall more powerful of a testimony as to what kind of human you are, compared to the shit we all talk. But what you say doesn't always need to be backed up by doing anything. Take for instance a theist saying you needed to prove why God doesn't exist. An atheist makes no claim to an existing God, therefore they do not need to provide any proof. And then you have the situation where there are creationist sitting on the Texas board of education and they are demanding creationism be taught and evolution to be banned. And this matters because states outsources school books to Texas and the textbooks must pass the School Boards standards.
My friend knows that if there is a loving God, he wouldn't kill him for talking to an old friend over the phone instead of letting the paranoia that Jehovah is displeased get in his head, but he doesn't understand how people's delusional beliefs affect real world policies. He has a huge friend circle, a beautiful family, and a successful business. Add to that how he was born and raised to believe there was nothing you could do to change the world around you so he has no reason to educate himself on worldly matters. He loves his kids, but does he ever worry about what his inaction to help prevent climate change from becoming a catastrophic nightmare for our kids?
Let me give you one other example. I go to the LDS Church on sundays. There is an elderly missionary couple stationed there. The brother is a retired podiatrist, with all the accolades, and a well accomplished and well traveled wise man overall. I learn something new from him every time I see him. But the other day before the services began, he says that president biden is the most corrupt president ever. I try to stay from partisan politics because I believe they're both corrupted by big money, but come on! Trump was way more flippant with ethics than any modern day president. But this guy is with the high up social circle and they're practically fucking drones!
My friend knows that if there is a loving God, he wouldn't kill him for talking to an old friend over the phone instead of letting the paranoia that Jehovah is displeased get in his head, but he doesn't understand how people's delusional beliefs affect real world policies. He has a huge friend circle, a beautiful family, and a successful business. Add to that how he was born and raised to believe there was nothing you could do to change the world around you so he has no reason to educate himself on worldly matters. He loves his kids, but does he ever worry about what his inaction to help prevent climate change from becoming a catastrophic nightmare for our kids?
Let me give you one other example. I go to the LDS Church on sundays. There is an elderly missionary couple stationed there. The brother is a retired podiatrist, with all the accolades, and a well accomplished and well traveled wise man overall. I learn something new from him every time I see him. But the other day before the services began, he says that president biden is the most corrupt president ever. I try to stay from partisan politics because I believe they're both corrupted by big money, but come on! Trump was way more flippant with ethics than any modern day president. But this guy is with the high up social circle and they're practically fucking drones!
