Mephis

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Posts by Mephis

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  7

  bible author and dates

  by Nihilistic Journey in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i seem to recall in either the green bible or the black/red leather bible a list of bible books with the supposed writer and approximate date of writing.

  could anyone share that with me if you have that available?

  thank you.

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  Mephis

  1984 edition. p.1548/9 is the list. Not sure if that's changed from what's on website currently.

  https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6Yoi3LAtDtBcmVQclZvamd6bVE/view?usp=sharing
  
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  138

  How many of you actually KNOW the bible OR God???

  by Mark Zyche in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  since jws are sooooooo terrible and full of lies.

  what the heck do you think about fat santa, and and days later the celebration of janus?.

  since you seem to be so good at looking at the "lies of the watchtower" what do you people think of your lives now, religiously speaking?

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  Mephis

  WHAT DO ANY OF YOU APES KNOW ABOUT THE BIBLE.

  More than any JW who still believes what is peddled in the WT. Thanks for asking. As you're obviously speaking from a position of authority on the subject, a question to you if I may. As Jude liberally quotes from the Book of Enoch, why do you think it was so problematic for it to be accepted into the canon? If we all pretended it was written by one of the named 'prophets' and pretended it was older than its attested dates to fit in with that, would that problem go away as it did with Revelation?
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  47

  Did Jesus actually start a church to himself?

  by TTWSYF in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  with some 30,000 different christian denominations, how would one know which one was for real?

  some folks think jesus did start a church, others think no.

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  Mephis

  I'm personally of the view that Jesus started what would otherwise be called a Jewish apocalyptic cult apart from the fact that he decided he was divine rather than just a run of the mill Jewish messiah. Initially less a church and more a mendicant personality cult.
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  168

  Where to draw the line: how Platonism haunts our discourse and the search for exorcism

  by slimboyfat in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in the discussion about race i adopted a position i am not entirely comfortable with.

  i think there is a sense in which it is useful to distinguish categories of description that can be fruitfully defended (apples and bananas) and those that cannot (caucasian or other racial descriptions for example).

  but there is a more fundamental sense in which i believe that everything is socially constructed, every single line you can think of.

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  Mephis

  Blame the Anglo-Saxons and the parts of the country which remembered the 'wey' post conquest. ;)
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  168

  Where to draw the line: how Platonism haunts our discourse and the search for exorcism

  by slimboyfat in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in the discussion about race i adopted a position i am not entirely comfortable with.

  i think there is a sense in which it is useful to distinguish categories of description that can be fruitfully defended (apples and bananas) and those that cannot (caucasian or other racial descriptions for example).

  but there is a more fundamental sense in which i believe that everything is socially constructed, every single line you can think of.

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  Mephis

  But to the basic question: how do we know mankind is equipped to ask and answer questions about the world in a way that relates to the world in itself rather than simply our perspective? Since all sorts of creatures have variously developed senses of their surroundings, to accept that the perspective of the rational human represents objective reality, is to prioritise its perspective as being above all those other creatures. The human brain is therefore said to be the only known mind device in the universe capable of understanding the universe. But how can we be sure we are not misunderstanding the nature of the world in itself at such a basic level we can never see it?

  The human brain isn't equipped for some questions for some pretty basic reasons. Captain Caveman has a habit of stopping and pondering the meaning of black and orange stripes and their relationship to the greater cosmos, Captain is now an ex-Caveman and that genetic line is extinct.
  But... that still doesn't quite justify going all solipsistic on this for me. Because we can formulate the difficult questions. We can ask whether a rock is pulled towards the earth or whether the earth is rushing up to meet it. The finite human brain seems very ill-equipped to deal with infinity, but we play around the edges and find out interesting things. We pose questions in maths and get back answers which lead to new questions and new frames of reference. Science is beginning to hit the point where we need to take stock again of what the meaning of 'truth' is because we are outrunning our capability to measure and verify theory, yet that's not a locked in condition. There may be ways round that, just as there were ways to prove the existence of wee bugs which caused disease rather than them being the result of a grumpy divine being having a morality strop.
  And returning to my initial point, in a society/culture/environment shaped to encourage Captain Caveman's speculation those recessive genes and odd outputs of the grand genetic lottery which were once dead-ends stop being so. We're not immutably fixed as a species into how we are now, nor in how we perceive things as we do now. There's always room for progress :)
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  168

  Where to draw the line: how Platonism haunts our discourse and the search for exorcism

  by slimboyfat in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in the discussion about race i adopted a position i am not entirely comfortable with.

  i think there is a sense in which it is useful to distinguish categories of description that can be fruitfully defended (apples and bananas) and those that cannot (caucasian or other racial descriptions for example).

  but there is a more fundamental sense in which i believe that everything is socially constructed, every single line you can think of.

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  Mephis

  Reminds me of my Structuralism 101 course at university. Everything is relative, the act of reading changes meaning, etc etc. Fun stuff to play with, but real world application remains in that one is identifying inhibiting factors to information transmission rather than absolute limits.

  So yes, one can find an arbitrary line for the first human, but there will be a point on the continuum where you can say "this is distinctive to the other" based on the differences. A t-rex is not a chicken after all. There's always room for further refinement and further knowledge, and there's always a good case not to overly stress differences which are little more than cosmetic or just extend the range in variation.
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  26

  Michio Kaku: can universes form from "nothing" ?

  by Brokeback Watchtower in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlchmi0cc00

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  Mephis

  The point where physics and philosophy are starting to collide again.

  Useful article on problems with testing string theory: https://www.quantamagazine.org/20151216-physicists-and-philosophers-debate-the-boundaries-of-science/
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  32

  legal action to Baptism of minor annulled?

  by cyberjesus in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  let's imagine that a 10 year old gets baptized.

  parents split and kid never goes back to the hall again.

  15 years later kid celebrates christmas and gets df since some dub saw him celebrating.

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  Mephis

  I think it was Herd (?) who gave a fairly recent speech on how one shouldn't be able to drive but not be baptised. He also said that only toddlers and babies were covered by their parents' baptism. They may as well do infant baptism and give up on the pretense that an 8 year old can have any conception of how they may feel about being inside 10 years later.
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  17

  My Experience with Wordly Guys

  by LaurenM in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  sorry, two posts in a day..but i need to vent something: so far my experience with "worldly" guys has not been the best 1. my first guy experience was with a dude who left state and never came back 2. a coworker asked me to netflix and chill and i did 3. a guy wanted to sext me all the time but never took me out on a date and i did 4. a guy who took me on a great date but then asked me up to his apartment immediately after and then didn't call me after 5. finally, another great date, until after the guy texted me asking for nude pics..told him no!

  so basically i've concluded that i had been giving off a vibe that i had no self respect and that was confirmed by me allowing them to use me as a sex object..but i'm hoping that not all worldly guys are like this, and when i start acting like i have self respect, they will treat me like that too?

  is that a good assumption?

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  Mephis

  Sorry, two posts in a day..but I need to vent something: so far my experience with "worldly" guys has not been the best 1. My first guy experience was with a dude who left state and never came back 2. A coworker asked me to Netflix and Chill and I did 3. A guy wanted to sext me all the time but never took me out on a date and I did 4. A guy who took me on a great date but then asked me up to his apartment immediately after and then didn't call me after 5. Finally, another great date, until after the guy texted me asking for nude pics..told him no! So basically I've concluded that I had been giving off a vibe that I had no self respect and that was confirmed by me allowing them to use me as a sex object..but I'm hoping that not all worldly guys are like this, and when I start acting like I have self respect, they will treat me like that too? Is that a good assumption? I'm just so dumb when it comes to non-JW guys.

  Neverendingjourney's right really. Set the boundaries where you're comfortable with having them and with what you want from the date/relationship. Perfectly fine to say 'no'. Impossible to know what vibes you give off without knowing you at all, but self-confidence and self-respect and self-worth are good things regardless. There is a learning process we go through outside the borg. We all make hiccups along the way. I was an absolute (male) slapper when I was first out - desperate, naive, and kid in candy store. Gets easier as you go along and figure out what you want. Trust your own judgement on things. You'll find though that people generally won't say 'no' if you're saying 'yes' in the right ways. So find the point where you're comfortable - whether that's a long drawn out tease and making them work ato be close to you, or whatever really. Just don't be down on yourself or be mean to yourself. If there's changes to make you can see would make you happier - go for it :) Good luck!
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  32

  legal action to Baptism of minor annulled?

  by cyberjesus in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  let's imagine that a 10 year old gets baptized.

  parents split and kid never goes back to the hall again.

  15 years later kid celebrates christmas and gets df since some dub saw him celebrating.

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• 

  Mephis

  Not being able to talk to your parents is a form of mental abuse, there are legal issues there
  In terms of consent, it's not only the minor expressing consent but also the parental consent too.
  Parents consent is not necessary for baptism.

  There's an argument perhaps there for damages in some jurisdictions, but from memory I believe the US precedent is that First Amendment goes over any claim for damages for being shunned. But that's not getting a baptism annulled?

  Parental consent is implied. A counterexample would be where a non-believing parent petitions a court to prevent baptism whilst a minor. However, that will sometimes result in the judge making a call on whether the minor is mature enough to make the decision. eg a 10 year old was judged mature enough to decide to convert from Judaism to Christianity, whilst there's been one case here in Britain where a JW parent was allowed to continue to bring up the minor as a JW and get them baptised providing that in a medical emergency a blood transfusion was accepted.