Posts by Mephis

3

The religious mind and evolution

by Half banana in

the greatest impediment to clear thinking by people who chose faith above all else is their unsubstantiated belief that the bible is the inerrant word of god.. believers well know about the feeling of certainty when it comes to their religious vision, they love to announce it but they cannot verify it.

it is the cart before the horse.. over the centuries, since roman law mandated its own brand of worship through the religious organ of the catholic church, the idea had been established by universal reckoning... and punishment if denied... that the bible always told the truth.. we, all of us here, would not be taking sides on this issue were it not for this grotesque distortion of reality courtesy of the church of the dark ages.. instead if we had taken evidence from the natural world, all would recognize the plain, coherent and evidential logic of darwin's explanation of how life diversified from a common stock.

one hundred and fifty seven years later after intense scrutiny by hundreds of thousands of scientists, no one has spotted a damning conflict in the theorum nor can they because it is factual.

Mephis

There is evidence to support that some aspects of creationism are a result of how our thinking processes evolved.

eg. an article on this by a lecturer in developmental psychology

https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2016/mar/31/intelligent-design-popular-evolution-creationism

"Developmental psychologists have identified two cognitive biases in very young children that help to explain the popularity of intelligent design. The first is a belief that species are defined by an internal quality that cannot be changed (psychological essentialism). The second is that all things are designed for a purpose (promiscuous teleology). These biases interact with cultural beliefs such as religion but are just as prevalent in children raised in secular societies. Importantly, these beliefs become increasingly entrenched, making formal scientific instruction more and more difficult as children get older."

We're wired to try and make sense of our environment within a comfortable frame of reference and we automatically look for ways to interpret data based upon prior experience. Exceptionally useful a lot of the time, bit of a hindrance at others.

44

Evolution is a Fact #36 - Mass Extinctions

by cofty in

250 million years ago a plume of molten basalt gushed up from the earth's core.

it erupted in an area now known as the siberian traps - back then it was part of the supercontinent pangaea.

a curtain of lava a mile high and hundreds of miles long lit up the sky.

Mephis

I don't think one can reconcile it with much other than a creator who kickstarted evolution and then walked away. Although a God who likes making stuff just to destroy it is kind of biblical in its own way. As flies to wanton boys...

28

NEW PEW Research data on Jehovah's Witnesses just released

by Balaamsass2 in

i was expecting people who "identified" as jws to follow watchtower beliefs more closely than these pollsters report.. .

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/26/a-closer-look-at-jehovahs-witnesses-living-in-the-u-s/.

Mephis

Pew's sample size for JWs is small so unexpected results popping up become more likely. The way the questions are phrased seem also to cause current JWs problems. Whether it's asking one whether they're an evangelical christian or not, or, in this case, whether they believe in heaven or hell. Actually, no, it's not the way the questions are phrased which causes problems but the WT filter which gets applied to any answer given.

150

Evolution: The Deal Breaker

by Hadriel in

first off i do believe there are some evidences of evolution or i should probably say adaptation.

i do believe this exists in various forms.. however the deal breaker for me with evolution is the chick or egg problem.

there are tons of theories that get passed around as proof of evolution however these are usually examples much further down the evolutionary chain.. what i mean is let's start at the beginning!

Mephis

I am waiting for Cofty to explain how evolution produced the following :

So you're asking how human evolution resulted in things which allow for socially cohesive groups to form in a species which relies upon socially cohesive groups to flourish? I'm sure the answer may be in the question.

66

Prince is dead.

by DATA-DOG in

has anyone heard about this?

that really sucks.

lots of dubs are talking.

Mephis

Little genius of a man. I really hope that there's nothing to prevent them releasing his version of Purple Haze. Which is in the vault Kevin Smith is on about there actually.

But some of the magic stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsQtHeFe15Y

And dropping the mic on a Clapton guitar solo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7INsVaR-S-w

150

Evolution: The Deal Breaker

by Hadriel in

first off i do believe there are some evidences of evolution or i should probably say adaptation.

i do believe this exists in various forms.. however the deal breaker for me with evolution is the chick or egg problem.

there are tons of theories that get passed around as proof of evolution however these are usually examples much further down the evolutionary chain.. what i mean is let's start at the beginning!

Mephis

Just so you guys know I believe it to be rather convenient to not want to concede that because you can't explain the driver or abiogenesis that somehow it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter to evolution, the subject you started a thread on. It's a fascinating topic in its own right all the same.

Science doesn't work like a religion. Saying 'don't know' is the driver to try and find out. What's at the bottom of a black hole? We don't know. Therefore black holes don't exist? Or reason to fund research into finding out?

22

UK: Would anyone like to attend Frank Otuo's next hearing against the Watchtower? Or send him your support?

by defender of truth in

www.standard.co.uk/news/jehovahs-witness-sues-for-150000-after-church-snubbed-him-over-fraud-claims-9750062.htmlfrank otuo is suing the watchtower for disfellowshipping him and causing the loss of his family and his friends, after being disfellowshipped based on a false accusation of fraud.on friday may 13th 2016, a hearing will take place to decide whether the watchtower's defence will be thrown out.otuo is confident that it will be.

;)would anyone like to be there on the day, to see what happens and maybe even report back and tell us what you saw?.

otuo would like it if some people could be there to cheer him on, as it were.

Mephis

If he had committed fraud, then there is a very simple defence of it being true which the WBTS could use to rebut the slander allegation at least. But they don't seem to have done that.

Obviously, we cannot know the rights and wrongs of what happened with his business dealings. But can you imagine a business relationship going bad like this leading to similar sanctions outside of the JW bubble? Or having men, totally unqualified to listen to the information put in front of them, deciding on whether or not you'd committed fraud and whether or not you could have a normal family life?

22

What do Muslims Really Think - UK Documentary

by cofty in

channel 4 have commissioned a study into attitudes among british muslims.. the documentary starts in an hour from now at 10pm.

if you watch it live or on 4od please share your thoughts.. unlike many other surveys of muslim opinion, which have predominantly been done by phone or online, icm used face-to-face, in-home research to question a representative sample of 1,000 muslims across great britain.

icm also used a “control sample” to compare what british muslims thought with the rest of the british population.. at the top-line level, the survey suggests that a mainstream british muslim majority have similar values and attitudes to the wider british public on issues such as support for british institutions and a feeling of belonging to britain.. but looking deeper into the results, a chasm develops between those muslims surveyed and the wider population on attitudes to liberal values on issues such as gender equality, homosexuality and issues relating to freedom of expression.

Mephis

Er, not quite. The muted reaction from our media is because the killer himself is a Muslim, one who gave instructions through his lawyer to tell the media that the reason for the killing was because the victim had insulted Islam.

The man responsible was charged very quickly and so things are sub judice until trial begins. As happens in every criminal case - to try and allow for a fair trial whatever the circumstances.

Not sure what the Indie and Guardian, Britain's 'liberal media', reported to be honest. Don't think even the tabloids got much time to report too extensively before things moved past that initial coverage.

25

Resolutions at Kingdom Hall

by sieborg in

anyhow i got to thinking today about my days in the borg and the resolutions that would intermittently be made in the announcements for co visit expenses, sending a donation to society www fund etc.

my point is that while i was in (almost thirty two years) i never once saw anyone put up their hand to vote against a resolution that the body of elders proposed.

on a couple of occasions i heard a few hushed murmurs but i never saw one person vote against.

Mephis

In the early 80s, the congo I was in were renting out a place in one town. However, the bulk of the publishers were at the other end of the territory and wanted to relocate the rented facilities to somewhere more central. Not only votes against the resolution to move but it was quite clear the BoE resolution wasn't unanimous either.

The congregation is still named after the original town.

Would think that would be more 'guided' by CO and branch these days judging by the letters they've put out over the past few years. Would also think it much rarer for someone to feel free to express a dissenting opinion against 'the theocratic arrangement'.

18

Evolution is a Fact #35 - Nature Red in Tooth and Claw

by cofty in

genes only get copied to future generations if the bodies they help to build succeed in surviving and reproducing.

these sort of genes thrive in the gene pool and genes that build unsuccessful bodies don't.

this blindingly obvious fact is at the very core of understanding evolution by natural selection.. being born, finding food and shelter, escaping predators, fighting opponents, attracting a mate and raising the next generation - the challenges faced by living things are daunting.

Mephis

Toxoplasma gondii. Nature's way of asking whether God loves cats or just really, really hates rodents.

(For those who don't know the studies on this one, it's a parasite which effectively rewires rodent brains to not mind predators, to actively seek out the scent of predators, and all so that it can reproduce in its favoured host - felines.)