Posts by Pacopoolio

320

Richard Dawkins defends mild pedophilia, says it does not cause lasting harm

by chrisuk in

http://www.salon.com/2013/09/10/richard_dawkins_defends_mild_pedophilia_says_it_does_not_cause_lasting_harm/.

Pacopoolio

Creating degrees of something like pedophilia is a slippery slope, just as creating degrees of slavery and racism.

No it's not. Crimes almost ALWAYS have degrees based on a few factors. I can't even fathom how you came to this conclusion.

---------------------------

It's disconcerting to see how many people in this thread cannot parse simple information just because of an inflammatory headline. It's probably the biggest issue with humanity - the failure to see nuance and instead hedge towards quickly categorizing thing, which leads to a bunch of terrible snap decisions.

36

can Satan read your mind?

by doodle-v in

jw
friends

i talked to my brother today who is still a practicing jw (i've managed to fade) .

we were talking and suddenly he asked me if i thought satan could read my mind.

and he said "yeah i though the answer was yes and then i found out that satan cant read my mind".

Pacopoolio

Always curious about this, has anyone ever PERSONALLY experienced demonic activity?

Yes. Schizophrenics and people with similar disorders. And people on high dosages of some heavier drugs, or that are starving, etc.

Note that the Bible oddly forgets to say anything about mental illness, but has a lot of incidents of prophets and demon possession.

4

The other guy's beliefs sound crazy--but, not yours . . .WHY?

by Terry in

why is the other person's wacky religious belief so easy to laugh at--but--not our own?.

the mormon's "magic underwear" for example.

many mormon adults wear garments as a reminder of sacred promises made with god .

Pacopoolio

I always liked how JWs mocked the Trinity as being illogical and weird.

Oh and an eternal invisible being that requires blood for sin isn't? One isn't more wacky than the other!

26

Local Needs 07/08/2014

by piztjw in

i don't know whether i should laugh, or run screaming into the night.. tonights "local needs" was titled "are you following 'the slave' "?.

the theme scripture was 1 peter 2: 21. it was applied that by following jesus steps closely we would then be able to keep up with 'the slave'.

now i don't know about others, but if i were to follow one person and that meant to keep up with someone else, it would mean that the person i was following was following the other person.

Pacopoolio

I'm not a techno geek. My understanding is that it would be expensive to be able to show the website at someone's door. You are going to need a fast internet data plan on your phone or I-pad. A flip phone isn't going to cut it.

-Apple Phone $500-$600

- Dataplan about +$100/month (or more)

-Ipad $800-900 (more impressive becuase of bigger screen)

In all that's a setback of $1200/year recurring and $1500 of hardware as a one time set up. Phones don't last, batteries don't last. So, now you are going to have to save up for the next phone & pad to come out.

Eh, nah, you're overstating it a bit.

Phones are "free" with 2 year data plans, unless you get the highest end ones, in which it's around $200 max, on top of that.

So it's basically a ~60 a month phone plan for two years, when you can exercise your upgrade and get a new phone and reroll your contract.

28

Why do so many refer to Elders as "window washers"?

by adjusted knowledge in

jw
friends

i know the society is against higher education and the pursuit of careers but in my experience the elders in the various congregations i attended had good careers.

in fact most had their own businesses.

thinking back of the boe when i was a teenager this is what they had as a career: two were respected carpenters who owned a construction business, one a high school teacher(he was the po), one sold insurance and was a lawyer, one owned a landscaping business and also hired sisters to clean office buildings and other accounts he had, one was retired, and the last was a janitor for the school board.

Pacopoolio

because people here like to ridicule Jehovah's Witnesses and portray them as being dumb and uneducated.

In the meantime JW's manage to do all the things they want and many of them follow or have followed higher education.

JWs are statistically one of the lowest educated religions, by far. The reasons for this are obvious, from multiple angles.

28

Why do so many refer to Elders as "window washers"?

by adjusted knowledge in

jw
friends

i know the society is against higher education and the pursuit of careers but in my experience the elders in the various congregations i attended had good careers.

in fact most had their own businesses.

thinking back of the boe when i was a teenager this is what they had as a career: two were respected carpenters who owned a construction business, one a high school teacher(he was the po), one sold insurance and was a lawyer, one owned a landscaping business and also hired sisters to clean office buildings and other accounts he had, one was retired, and the last was a janitor for the school board.

Pacopoolio

The less education people have the most religious they are, on average.

This raises even higher among Jehovah's Witnesses, by far.

The less education that you have, the more likely you are to have a relatively low income, blue collar job. "Window washers" just became the catchphrase for that.

People who dedicate enough time and field service hours to become elders in this religion are even more likely to have a job that accomodates this.

Thus the sterotype.

Those with differing experiences normally went to congregations in igher income areas. However, JWs actually thrive more in lower income, lower educated areas, or third world countries. It's also why they so often stress things like "the salt of the earth," or "rich man, needle through the eye" in weekly meetings, it praises underachievement in career and income and gives people that do so, a sense of superiority.

14

I got my mother to say animals evolved !

by cookiemaster in

i wanted to share with you guys the argument i had today with my mother.

i've been away last week in a far away city for my college exams.

i've been staying at a friend, a jw who, just like me, is actually an atheist and doesn't believe a word the wt says and knows it's a bullshit cult but because of his family and friends he still stays in.

Pacopoolio

Jehovah's Witnesses teach that micro-evolution happens (animals gradually evolving) but not macro-evolution (they still stay in their specific "kinds").

This, as anyone that knows anything about evolution knows, is stupid. It's basically just someone ignoring the amount of time this has been happening, and drift, as animals separate, how this will cause them to be incompatable over those amounts of times (at the least).

However, sadly, this wasn't really a victory for you, as it fits inside JW theology. "God made the animals to be peaceful, then they started killing everyone when the world became imperfect" is a standard statement from them. Saying "they evolved to do so" is not a jump, as they believe that animals change over time "within their species."

46

If you had the audience of the GB, what is your #1 question you would ask them?

by Darth Fader The Sequel in

there are a million of them and mine is by no means the most important question to ask them if i only had one shot at it.

but, i have always wondered what kind of bs excuse they would give as an answer to this question: "brother goober bum, given that there are both male and female partakers here on earth who claim to be of the 'anointed' and plan on being of the 144,000 ruling with christ in heaven for eternity........ why are the female 'anointed' treated as submissive, second class citizens and why is their opinion on doctrinal matters, matters of teaching and reproving, anything at all.... why are they not recognized while here on earth even though you claim that jesus has selected them to become angels to rule with him?

".

Pacopoolio

If most of Jesus' reform was about getting rid of unecessary rules and focusing on loving God and being the best you can to others, why is it that people that self appoint themselves as God's spokespeople (you guys and Paul) so insistent on burdening people down with a bunch of rules again? How does that follow in Jesus' example?

18

A shaved Head

by HowTheBibleWasCreated in

my wife complained along time that i let my hair grow to long (i don't belive in this anyway) but to make peach i asked her to buzz my hair 4 months ago.... shorter... shorter... let me shave the rest.. it' been shaved since then and i like the yul brynner look.. i feel like pharoah...j.k. at the kh few have questioned... i mean im hardly breaking 1 corinthians lol.

as for wordly styles this style is almost what a certian governing body member has.... and they know it... they hate sanderson!.

now i have since experiance the sun on my head in summer...feels good... my wife liking it now.... .

Pacopoolio

Anyone who is balding should just take it all off.

43

Pets aren't people, says speaker at Regional Convention. Fido and Mimi better watch out! And instead of drinking wine or beer go do some gardening or play golf.

by oppostate in

a big discussion driving back from the regional convention about what exactly was meant about pets.. the warning was obvious to me.

don't get pets, they cost time and money and you would do better to spend your time and money supporting the organization and going in field service.. as to the wine and beer, because the bro during his soliloquy admitted that the first thing he would like to do is relax after a hectic day at work with a glass of wine or beer, his conscience was traumatized.

however he came up with a perfect idea, he'd go tend the garden (obviously a solution for a married bro) or hit some golfballs at the driving range (maybe he's not married).. maybe jesus should have told the wine guzzlers at cana to sober up and go till the fields.. .

Pacopoolio

JWs have historically downplayed animals to a great degree to avoid the pesky "why would God create animals to suffer if he's good," issue.

According to their theology, God is good and perfect and wouldn't think of doing cruel things, also, according to their theology, animals lived before humans and the fossil record backed that up. Well, animals obviously killed each other before humans were on the planet, so to cover that issue up, animals don't "feel" in the same way as humans and are "not like humans and shouldn't be thought of as such and don't care about living forever even though they fear death," so it's fine that a loving God would require people to slaughter them for sins and say it's ok to eat them.