powells.com, baby.
Phantom Stranger
JoinedPosts by Phantom Stranger
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6
NWT??
by proudassmonkey inok well here's the thing i want to be able to refute what parents have to say or will have to in response to the email i will sned them in response.. is that confusing enough?
but i can't find an online site w/ the new world translation.
i don't want a copy of their bible.
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The locking of threads.
by seven006 init seems like there is a little fire starting to burn here on the subject of locking threads.
iv been on this board a long time and on average have only seen about one out of every 200 threads locked.
those who have their threads locked take it very personal, that's understandable.
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A World Without Suffering Posted Model
by frankiespeakin ina world without suffering
let's make an imaginary model, a world without suffering.
the consequences would be far-reaching.. and for example if no one could ever injure anyone else, the would be murderers knife would turn to paper or his bullets to thin air.. or take for example the mountain climber, or steeplejack, or the playing child falling from a height, would float unharmed to the ground.. the reckless driver would never meet with disaster.
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Phantom Stranger
Careful... you may want to read Voltaire's Candide... you sound like Professor Pangloss. Voltaire hashed this out before any of us were born. It's short and cheap.
Also, you may want to look at the difference between pain and suffering, especially in Eastern systems such as Buddhism.
I've heard it said that pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.
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FOOD in DUE SEASON - The JWD Holiday Cookbook
by Lady Lee inwell i have been thinking about this and was wondering if anyone was interested in contributing some holiday recipes for a special edition of food in due season - the jwd holiday cookbook.
some of us have been out for a while and have begun to establish special holiday traditions.
for some this whole idea of celebrating holidays is rather new.
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Phantom Stranger
I have a good simple Thanksgiving turkey recipe for bachelors that involves beer
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Do you believe in free will?
by sleepy in.
do you believe in free will?and if you do can you explain how it works?.
i can't see how free will could work.our motivation for doing things good or bad seems to come from a mixture of genes and enviroment, and through a long and complicted process cause us to perform all the actions we experience in life.when we feel a prompting to do something ,eat sleep have sex etc, this is accomplished by our body using chemicals in our bodies to give us a feeling that we then act upon.the degree to which these chemicals prompt us is related to genetic makeup and environment.. so some people have a bigger desire to eat than others because they lack the chemical stimulation that tells them to stop eating.or some will eat less (often when ill) because the chemicals that prompt you to eat are lacking.in normal life lots of over factors will be involved to like say an important phonecall at lunch time .if your brain feels the information from that call is important enough it will send out different chemicals that will cause you to attend to that situation first if serious enought.. knowledge can modify how our bodies react to certain situations, for example a child may see an icecream van and run into the road because his body has yet to learn of the danger of running into a road.when taught how foolish this by a nasty experience or hopefully , taught about the dangers by its parents, then the body will send out a meesage to look at the road first.. our bodies tell us which ideas are good and bad according to the information it holds and we react accordingly.we can fight desires but the will to do so is caused by other desires which are prompted by the body.. to have true free will neither our genes or enviroment could effect what we decide to do.. we have to be able to do things irespective of what promting we recive from our bodies or what information we have learnt and has thus modified our bodies response.. maybe there are but i can not think of any situation where or actions or reactions can not be explianed by genes mixed with environment (often in a very complicated way).nor can i understand how free will could work,unless free will is just a random action which could not be free will in the true sense.. if there is no free will then if there were a god and we are judged on what we do then this is entirely unfair as we really have little say in what we do in life.
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Phantom Stranger
I know we have constraints on our language here, but that sounds really f*^#ing depressing.
If we are religious, there's no virtue in faith, and if we're not, there's no virtue in virtue - arete - excellence.
Wow... who needs a drink?
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Do you believe in free will?
by sleepy in.
do you believe in free will?and if you do can you explain how it works?.
i can't see how free will could work.our motivation for doing things good or bad seems to come from a mixture of genes and enviroment, and through a long and complicted process cause us to perform all the actions we experience in life.when we feel a prompting to do something ,eat sleep have sex etc, this is accomplished by our body using chemicals in our bodies to give us a feeling that we then act upon.the degree to which these chemicals prompt us is related to genetic makeup and environment.. so some people have a bigger desire to eat than others because they lack the chemical stimulation that tells them to stop eating.or some will eat less (often when ill) because the chemicals that prompt you to eat are lacking.in normal life lots of over factors will be involved to like say an important phonecall at lunch time .if your brain feels the information from that call is important enough it will send out different chemicals that will cause you to attend to that situation first if serious enought.. knowledge can modify how our bodies react to certain situations, for example a child may see an icecream van and run into the road because his body has yet to learn of the danger of running into a road.when taught how foolish this by a nasty experience or hopefully , taught about the dangers by its parents, then the body will send out a meesage to look at the road first.. our bodies tell us which ideas are good and bad according to the information it holds and we react accordingly.we can fight desires but the will to do so is caused by other desires which are prompted by the body.. to have true free will neither our genes or enviroment could effect what we decide to do.. we have to be able to do things irespective of what promting we recive from our bodies or what information we have learnt and has thus modified our bodies response.. maybe there are but i can not think of any situation where or actions or reactions can not be explianed by genes mixed with environment (often in a very complicated way).nor can i understand how free will could work,unless free will is just a random action which could not be free will in the true sense.. if there is no free will then if there were a god and we are judged on what we do then this is entirely unfair as we really have little say in what we do in life.
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Phantom Stranger
Sorry, LT, I was editing out the phonetic stuff and the guy's name and I guess I messed up the formatting.
I did not mean to change the content and will go back and correct it (I still have time!)
Thanks for pointing out my error.
PS
<hey, I made Senior Member!>
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Phantom Stranger
Democrats loudly advocate that everyone should love their mothers. They want the entire country to be Communist, wish the Russians had won the Cold War, and want socialized medicine, free condoms and joints in every classroom, sex ed in 6th grade, and they want the flag to be made of hemp. Their patron saints are Barbra Streisand and Jack from Will and Grace.
Republicans loudly complain that no one can tell them how to treat their mothers. Republicans want almost no taxes, a really big army, Christianity as the state religion, corporations to be self-regulating in their treatment of workers, the environment, and their investors - gun-purchasing laws repealed, lumber and oil companies to be able to go wherever they want in search of their quarry, and life sentences for possession of pot.
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Do you believe in free will?
by sleepy in.
do you believe in free will?and if you do can you explain how it works?.
i can't see how free will could work.our motivation for doing things good or bad seems to come from a mixture of genes and enviroment, and through a long and complicted process cause us to perform all the actions we experience in life.when we feel a prompting to do something ,eat sleep have sex etc, this is accomplished by our body using chemicals in our bodies to give us a feeling that we then act upon.the degree to which these chemicals prompt us is related to genetic makeup and environment.. so some people have a bigger desire to eat than others because they lack the chemical stimulation that tells them to stop eating.or some will eat less (often when ill) because the chemicals that prompt you to eat are lacking.in normal life lots of over factors will be involved to like say an important phonecall at lunch time .if your brain feels the information from that call is important enough it will send out different chemicals that will cause you to attend to that situation first if serious enought.. knowledge can modify how our bodies react to certain situations, for example a child may see an icecream van and run into the road because his body has yet to learn of the danger of running into a road.when taught how foolish this by a nasty experience or hopefully , taught about the dangers by its parents, then the body will send out a meesage to look at the road first.. our bodies tell us which ideas are good and bad according to the information it holds and we react accordingly.we can fight desires but the will to do so is caused by other desires which are prompted by the body.. to have true free will neither our genes or enviroment could effect what we decide to do.. we have to be able to do things irespective of what promting we recive from our bodies or what information we have learnt and has thus modified our bodies response.. maybe there are but i can not think of any situation where or actions or reactions can not be explianed by genes mixed with environment (often in a very complicated way).nor can i understand how free will could work,unless free will is just a random action which could not be free will in the true sense.. if there is no free will then if there were a god and we are judged on what we do then this is entirely unfair as we really have little say in what we do in life.
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Phantom Stranger
I meant to reply to LT's comment in more detail, and BB's too.
The only way we can tell that someone is choosing to do something is if they do it. There is always a choice (unless we are physically bound and dragged - and no, I will not accept any "emotional equivalents" here). One of the choices may be death. One of the choices may be the death of someone else. One of the choices may be something we feel we emotionally cannot accept. It's still a choice, and when we tell ourselves that we have no choice, we lessen ourselves. We always have a choice, even if we don't like it. If you believe that your Jesus had no choice, you are cheapening whatever you feel that his life was supposed to have bought.
Peace, out.
PS
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Do you believe in free will?
by sleepy in.
do you believe in free will?and if you do can you explain how it works?.
i can't see how free will could work.our motivation for doing things good or bad seems to come from a mixture of genes and enviroment, and through a long and complicted process cause us to perform all the actions we experience in life.when we feel a prompting to do something ,eat sleep have sex etc, this is accomplished by our body using chemicals in our bodies to give us a feeling that we then act upon.the degree to which these chemicals prompt us is related to genetic makeup and environment.. so some people have a bigger desire to eat than others because they lack the chemical stimulation that tells them to stop eating.or some will eat less (often when ill) because the chemicals that prompt you to eat are lacking.in normal life lots of over factors will be involved to like say an important phonecall at lunch time .if your brain feels the information from that call is important enough it will send out different chemicals that will cause you to attend to that situation first if serious enought.. knowledge can modify how our bodies react to certain situations, for example a child may see an icecream van and run into the road because his body has yet to learn of the danger of running into a road.when taught how foolish this by a nasty experience or hopefully , taught about the dangers by its parents, then the body will send out a meesage to look at the road first.. our bodies tell us which ideas are good and bad according to the information it holds and we react accordingly.we can fight desires but the will to do so is caused by other desires which are prompted by the body.. to have true free will neither our genes or enviroment could effect what we decide to do.. we have to be able to do things irespective of what promting we recive from our bodies or what information we have learnt and has thus modified our bodies response.. maybe there are but i can not think of any situation where or actions or reactions can not be explianed by genes mixed with environment (often in a very complicated way).nor can i understand how free will could work,unless free will is just a random action which could not be free will in the true sense.. if there is no free will then if there were a god and we are judged on what we do then this is entirely unfair as we really have little say in what we do in life.
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Phantom Stranger
LT:
con·strain
- To compel by physical, moral, or circumstantial force; oblige: felt constrained to object. See Synonyms at force.
- To keep within close bounds; confine: a life that had been constrained by habit to the same few activities and friends.
- To inhibit or restrain; hold back: “Failing to control the growth of international debt will also constrain living standards”
- To produce in a forced or inhibited manner.
I have never felt forced to do something I was choosing to do, no.
BlueBlades:
I find it interesting that you feel that in the Bible story, Jesus did not choose of his own free will to take one for the team, as it were. True, according to the story, it's wasn't his idea... but that doesn't mean it wasn't his choice.
This post originally was about if humans have enough latitude from the tyranny of their biology to have free will.
"Our motivation for doing things good or bad seems to come from a mixture of genes and enviroment, and through a long and complicted process cause us to perform all the actions we experience in life."
The arguments end up being either pragmatic or faith-based - it's not resolvable. There are several arguments as to the benefits of operating in our lives as if we have free will, even if it's not provable.
If you believe that somehow our free will is squeezed out of God's toothpaste tube and has no shape but for Him, or something like that, then there is a great dilemma: How are sins our fault, but our moments of compassion due to God? Seems as if He can't have it both ways. If he gets the credit, I'm giving him the blame too.
<edited to correct fromatting errors pointed out by LT, below>
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Have you ever been compelled to talk someone into STAYING a JW?
by amac inmy jw father in law was recently stumbled over something rather silly.
this has happened before and he seems to think when he has a personal problem with someone that he'll show em by just not going to meetings and assuming that jws can't be right if people like those he has issues with are part of it.
normally this would be great, but when this happened in the past, he was just a grumpy work-a-holic and his wife was miserable.
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Phantom Stranger
I don't know about the exit counseling... sounds like he needs just plain counseling.
Whenever you feel as if you have only two choices...change your thinking. (Me.)