Red Dwarf and the 'Tower

by Stephanus 9 Replies latest jw friends

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  Stephanus

  I've always been fascinated by the parallel between the concept of holograms on the tv show Red Dwarf, and the JWs' view of the Resurrection. On Red Dwarf, a crew member has all their thoughts, knowledge and personality recorded by the ship's computers, so that if they die on the trip, a hologram of that crew member can be generated by the ship so that that crew member's knowledge and experience aren't lost. This reminds me an awful lot of the 'Tower's concept of resurrection. Since no part of us is immortal, God reconstructs a replica of each person from His own memory in the Resurrection. So like Rimmer in Red Dwarf, the resurrected person is not the original, just a projected memory.

  On the subject of Rimmer, why does he remind me so much of the average dub? LOL
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  Francois

  Well, maybe there IS a part of us that is immortal - or at least potentially immortal - the soul. (Yeah, I know what the dubs say about that, but I don't buy it.)

  Maybe it's our minds that are an element in a hologram: the mind of the Infinite Spirit being the reference beam, our minds providing the interference referent - voila the human mind. whatchathink?

  Francois

  Where it is a duty to worship the Sun you can be sure that a study of the laws of heat is a crime.
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  Stephanus

  A thought provoking post, Francoise. "Pantheist" is probably the word for the concept you've voiced. Interestingly, Lister on Red Dwarf is supposed to be a pantheist. Your thought is still in oppostion to the 'Tower view, however; if we're projections of the Infinite Spirit, than all that changes at death is our state, not our essence. 'Towerism says that nothing remains in any form and our resurrection depends on God's memory of us. Which creates a paradox: if God is not the "author of evil", then how can he recreate Hitler and a whole bunch of others most of us would not deem "worthy", and yet refuse to rebuild someone who left the 'Tower because he saw too much abuse of "God's people" by the hierarchy?
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  ExmormonRobertson

  I have found soul mates! I have every episode. Which is your favorite and what do you hear about the Movie?
  ExMo Smeghead
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  Stephanus

  I tend to like the first and second series, with original Hollie. I like "The End" and "Waiting for God" for the stuff about the Cat People and Lister ("Cloister") as their "God". Kryten is a great addition from later series, as well. Ace Rimmer was a great development, and is a wonderful lesson about what one can do if you stop whingeing about all life's bad breaks and just get off your arse and live it (probably another great lesson for Dubs!)

  I'm curious, was anything negative about Red Dwarf said by any Dub in authority? If they don't like Smurfs, they surely couldn't let a study of Life, the Universe and Everything like Red Dwarf past without comment!
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  Introspection

  Hey Stephanus, the resurrection thing occurred to me a while back when Mommy posted something about general doctrinal arguments.. Also wanted to chime in on Red Dwarf, great show!

  "Knowing others is wisdom. Knowing the self is insight. Mastering others requires force. Mastering the self requires true strength." -Tao Te Ching, Chapter 33
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  Mommie Dark

  I love the theme song...reminds me of real life sometimes...

  Red Dwarf just rocks. I loved the 'A to Z' show where they show the two actors crawling off the convention stage when a teen girl asks them 'what does 'smeg' mean?'

  Resolutely smegless,
  MD
  who wishes she could share the look on Little Dark's face when he heard the definition of the word...
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  Stephanus

  MD:
  When we were buying new furniture and appliances for the house, I wanted to get just one Smeg appliance, even if it was only a microwave oven! LOL (I'm surprised they didn't change their name when Red Dwarf came out!)
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  Mommie Dark

  Smeg makes a gorgeous red refrigerator, I'd LOVE to have that one so I could tell the kids to 'get the pitcher of tea out of the Red Dwarf'.
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  Moxy

  "What the smeggin' smeg you smeggin' done with me smeggin' arm?"
  Lister

  mox