How much is lying a part of Christianity?

[Jagella]

My religion does not have any lies or deceptions - but feel free to post what specifically you are referring to.

As I said, there's tons of online material exposing the dishonesty of the Watchtower. It took me a minute or less to find the article, Watchtower AGAIN misquotes scientist to argue against evolution â€" and this time, it’s personal!

So all religion, including that of the Jehovah's Witnesses, is built on a foundation of lies. There are no gods except in the imaginations of those who wish to believe in them. That's why religions need to lie so much--they try to make those imaginary gods out to be real.

[Hydra009]

I assume you do not know how different Jehovah's Witnesses are from other religions so I will post a few examples - I could detail the reasons if you all want me to - this is just a brief outline

Do you respect the privacy of people who are sitting down for dinner?  Cause that's the bullet point I care about.  I couldn't care less about whether you worship a triune god or not.

[Newtonian]

As I said, there's tons of online material exposing the dishonesty of the Watchtower. It took me a minute or less to find the article, Watchtower AGAIN misquotes scientist to argue against evolution â€" and this time, it’s personal!

So all religion, including that of the Jehovah's Witnesses, is built on a foundation of lies. There are no gods except in the imaginations of those who wish to believe in them. That's why religions need to lie so much--they try to make those imaginary gods out to be real.

True - our enemies predominate the internet and do spread lies and deceptions about us.  I cannot respond to the accusation unless you give a link to the source of the quote, the specific scientist quoted and the actual quote contained in our literature.  The subject is also relevant, and also where in our literature the quote can be found.

Belief in God or not is a personal decision - we have free will.   I hope you realize that a person spreading inaccurate information is not necessarily lying - they may be deceived or simply making a mistake.

An example is some information on the media about Corona/Covid 19 virus - like saying young people do not have serious symptoms.   
 
For those of my religion, we do not believe our literature is infallible so a faultfinder will be able to find fault.   But that is true of all literature with human authors.  The Bible, on the other hand, only has human errors in translation, not the actual statements in the original Hebrew and Greek.

[aitm]

The Bible, on the other hand, only has human errors in translation, not the actual statements in the original Hebrew and Greek.

Because even though god “new you in the womb” was too stupid to know what language was next. Mighty impressive god. LOL.

[Newtonian]

The babble is full of “parables” when it contradicts truths. But never a parable when it I is mere conjecture and unprovable...ala Samson...et al.

I am not familiar with any parable/illustration about Samson - perhaps you could cite what you are referring to.

The Rich Man and Lazarus parable in Luke 16 is one of a number of parables in the context of Luke 16 - the other parable in Luke 16 also starts with the phrase "a rich man." (Luke 16:1)  Jesus often spoke in illustrations/parables (Matthew 13:34-36ff).  Some illustrations in the Bible are also true literally - like a flock of sheep knowing the voice of their master.   Other illustrations are not true literally - like the dragon in Revelation.  As I am into science (note my user name) this account especially interests me:

Jude 11-13
New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition)

11 Too bad for them, for they have followed the path of Cain+ and have rushed into the erroneous course of Baʹlaam+ for reward, and they have perished in the rebellious talk+ of Korʹah!+ 12 These are the rocks hidden below water at your love feasts+ while they feast with you, shepherds who feed themselves without fear;+ waterless clouds carried here and there by the wind;+ fruitless trees in late autumn, having died twice* and having been uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea that cast up the foam of their own shame;+ stars with no set course, for which the blackest darkness stands reserved forever.

Rocks hidden below water is also true literally; waterless clouds carried by winds is literal depending on interpretation of "waterless" (simply, it is not referring to rain clouds - e.g. cumulus vs. cumulonimbus), fruitless trees is literal also but dying twice is not totally literal; waves casting up causes for shame is literal (e.g. plastics and oil from current human pollution) - but what about the last case - stars with no set course in total darkness forever?

Some dismiss this as just an illustration - but in view of the other illustrations in Jude 12,13 the possibility of it being literal should be considered scientifically.   Also, another illustration of apostates about darkness could also have the same literal application:

Matthew 6:23 (NW ref)
If in reality the light that is in you is darkness, how great that darkness is!+

So, can there be stars with no set course whose light is darkness and who will be in darkness forever?   The question is a valid subject for scientific research.   For example:

Black holes are stars whose light has become darkness.   But are there black holes with no set course that will be in darkness forever?   If so, they would have to have escaped both the light of our universe and the gravity of our universe - perhaps during the FTL (=faster than light) 'inflation' after the big bang - modifying the inflation model many scientists accept.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

There was no faster than light expansion after the Big Bang. Space itself was expanding at near light speed. But that's math. 

[Baruch]

There was no faster than light expansion after the Big Bang. Space itself was expanding at near light speed. But that's math.

Allowed by Special Relativity.  And maybe happened (but please reproduce in laboratory .. in another galaxy).

[aitm]

New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures

LOL......translation....if you don’t like what the OLD book says....make up a new one. LOL.
And you wonder why nobody takes you seriously

[Hydra009]

Other illustrations are not true literally - like the dragon in Revelation.

The movie is never quite as good as the book.

Black holes are stars whose light has become darkness.

They don't actually emit darkness.  Whatever's going on in there is so warped by gravity that any visible light it emits curves back into itself, hence the black appearance.

But are there black holes with no set course that will be in darkness forever?

I've tried to parse that into something logically and scientific sensible several times to no avail.  You do realize that nothing (unless it's man-made) has a set course?  Orbits are predictable to a certain degree, but that phrase assumes intent and purpose that frankly doesn't exist.  And the rest of it is similarly insensible.

[Newtonian]

There was no faster than light expansion after the Big Bang. Space itself was expanding at near light speed. But that's math.

Do you accept one of the popular inflation theory models?   Here is a link to one popular model, which also goes into problems in the Big Bang theory which led to this theory:

https://www.physicsoftheuniverse.com/topics_bigbang_inflation.html

Excerpt:

"By some calculations, inflation increased the size of the universe by a factor of around 10^26 during that tiny fraction (far less than a trillionth) of a second,"

This is much faster than the speed of light.   However, this source has errors - here is one of the more obvious errors:

"Although the universe has been expanding since the initial Big Bang, inflation refers to the hypothesis that, for a very short time, the universe expanded at a sharply INCREASING rate, rather than at the decreasing rate it followed before inflation and has followed since."

The truth is that the universe is currently increasing in rate; i.e. Dark Energy is accelerating the expansion rate.

Jude 13 hints at a somewhat different model which posits that some black holes expanded from the singularity at FTL speed and continues at that speed so that the light of our universe will never catch up.   Likewise, these black holes would have to have escaped the gravity of the universe since they "have no set course."

But, what is the speed of gravity?   I.e. what is the speed of gravitons?   Or gravitational waves?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_gravity

"In classical theories of gravitation, the changes in a gravitational field propagate. A change in the distribution of energy and momentum of matter results in subsequent alteration, at a distance, of the gravitational field which it produces. In the relativistic sense, the "speed of gravity" refers to the speed of a gravitational wave, which, as predicted by general relativity and confirmed by observation of the GW170817 neutron star merger, is the same speed[1] as the speed of light (c)."

[Blackleaf]

Theists?   Please understand Jehovah's Witnesses are a separate and distinct religion very different from most other religions.   You need be specific for me to respond better.

You're not special in thinking that. Everyone thinks their religion is special. Christians think they're special. Muslims think they're special. You're just offering hallow words. All you've shown was how lacking in self-awareness you are.

Gandhi saw one of the glaring problems with Christendom (he was a Hindu) - their claiming to follow Jesus and their failure to love their enemies as Jesus commanded in Matthew 5:44.

That quote is often shared around, but is likely fake. Regardless, why aren't you a Hindu if you recognize that Hindus are more loving than other religious groups? It's funny how people are willing to quote Gandhi like they respect his opinions, when they don't listen to anything else he says.

Their are many rationalizations and deceptions offered by Christendom but they simply do not answer why they are willing to slaughter their enemies in war while showing love to their enemies!

Jehovah's Witnesses do not go to war.  We do actually (not just in word) follow what Jesus taught.

Religions often go violent when they achieve political power. It was easy for Christians to be the martyrs when they had no power. But once they had Rome, once they had Europe, once they had America, they used their power to bully and subjugate others. That's how it always goes. Remind me, how many countries are JW majority...? Zero? Huh. What a funny coincidence.

And love is more important than doctrine.

"It's not a religion! It's a relationship!"

[Blackleaf]

Belief in God or not is a personal decision - we have free will.   I hope you realize that a person spreading inaccurate information is not necessarily lying - they may be deceived or simply making a mistake.

No. This is one of the many problems I have with theists. They act like atheists chose to not believe, usually because we "love to sin." Which is stupid, because if I wanted to sin without consequences, I'd be a Christian and pray for forgiveness.

Belief is not voluntary. You can go through the motions, pretending to believe, but you cannot choose to believe whatever you want. Here, I'll prove it. Make yourself believe that Billie Eilish makes good music. Can't do it, can you?

[SGOS]

"It's not a lie, because I believe it," is a pretty shoddy excuse for an untruth.

[Jagella]

True - our enemies predominate the internet...

How do you explain your enemies being so numerous? As far as I can tell, few people dislike Jehovah's Witnesses--they just hate the abuses occurring in the ranks of the people controlled by the Watchtower.

...and do spread lies and deceptions about us.

Can you post an example, or are you just going by what the Watchtower has told you?

I cannot respond to the accusation unless you give a link to the source of the quote, the specific scientist quoted and the actual quote contained in our literature.  The subject is also relevant, and also where in our literature the quote can be found.

I already posted a link to all that information.

Belief in God or not is a personal decision - we have free will.

I cannot choose to believe in a god or anything else. Belief comes naturally for me. I have no "free will" to choose what I am convinced of.

I hope you realize that a person spreading inaccurate information is not necessarily lying - they may be deceived or simply making a mistake.

Yes. I think that the bulk of Jehovah's Witnesses are deceived by the Watchtower or are mistaken regarding their religious beliefs. You cannot have a lie unless people are lied to.

An example is some information on the media about Corona/Covid 19 virus - like saying young people do not have serious symptoms.   

By the way, you ignored my comments about the vital role the Theory of Evolution plays in the study of how disease spreads. To attack Darwin's theory is to attack the effort of scientists to bring deadly viruses like Covid 19 under control.

For those of my religion, we do not believe our literature is infallible so a faultfinder will be able to find fault.   But that is true of all literature with human authors.

Well, all "human authors" should be responsible for what they write. The Watchtower should retract all its "mistakes" about the scientists they misquote.

The Bible, on the other hand, only has human errors in translation, not the actual statements in the original Hebrew and Greek.

That's strange--why would Jehovah go to all the trouble of writing a perfect book in dying languages only to have people mess it all up when they translate it? Evidently Jehovah cannot author a book in languages people actually speak.

[Hydra009]

Make yourself believe that Billie Eilish makes good music.

*clenches every muscle in his body for 5 solid minutes*

...no, I guess not.