Posts by Mephis

15

We are living in the 21st Century , When , Are We Going to Bury Religious Superstition ? Once and for all ?

by smiddy in

the christian bible / cannon is different , depending on what religion you profess ,around the world.. russian orthodox ,greek orthodox ,christian gnostics ,roman catholics , polish national catholics ,c.of e , etc,etc,.

the very many christian bible translations that exist today differ according to different interpretations of the translators.. the jewish translators of the hebrew scriptures add a whole new concept to the traditional interpretation by christian translators of the old testament... throw in the mix all of the fundamentalist religions that have sprung up these past couple of centuries including the j.w.`s , s.d.a.`s , mormons , t.v.

evangelists , etc, etc,.

Mephis

People just believe in a higher power.

As you say later in your post though, it's a cultural and taught belief system rather than an inherent thing where we feel a sense of spirituality and link it to 'god'. There are belief systems which don't have 'god' as part of them, and they're still trying to minister to the same feeling.

Religion is a social and cultural construct. In times and places it can be a force for the good, a binding agent, even a replacement for an educational system for a society. But at best it's always only ever been an inadequate substitute with a lot of flaws.

Some people may well always choose to find meaning in belief in a skydaddy or skymummy or whatever. But the form it takes will be individual and personal and relevant to their own needs rather than having a belief system grafted onto how one chooses to then live one's life.

15

We are living in the 21st Century , When , Are We Going to Bury Religious Superstition ? Once and for all ?

by smiddy in

the christian bible / cannon is different , depending on what religion you profess ,around the world.. russian orthodox ,greek orthodox ,christian gnostics ,roman catholics , polish national catholics ,c.of e , etc,etc,.

the very many christian bible translations that exist today differ according to different interpretations of the translators.. the jewish translators of the hebrew scriptures add a whole new concept to the traditional interpretation by christian translators of the old testament... throw in the mix all of the fundamentalist religions that have sprung up these past couple of centuries including the j.w.`s , s.d.a.`s , mormons , t.v.

evangelists , etc, etc,.

Mephis

A sense of spirituality is a human experience, and how it gets expressed is ripe for exploitation by constructed belief systems. Anyone can sit in a field away from light pollution look up and be blown away by the immensity of it all and ask the question 'why am I here?'. Love what Alive says about 'scripture is everywhere'. So true. It's a sense of wonder we experience as part of being alive.

Some people are comfortable with there being no answer, comfortable with making their own meaning. Or in channeling that wonder into asking questions about the 'why' and the 'how' of things. Others seems to prefer having an authority figure give them answers. I guess my view is that as long as people want to have someone willing to give them all the answers, someone who doesn't ever say 'I don't know - have a theory but it's not proven', then there'll always be some form of religion which will play the role for them. It's comforting I guess to have the eternal godparent who'll tidy up any mess created along the way.

39

No Sports Cars Please!

by snugglebunny in

jw
friends

i read on a jw forum that jw's came in for disapproval if they drove either sports cars or 2-door cars.

the reasoning was that a driver couldn't easily take fellow dubbies out preaching in such a vehicle.

was that ever official policy or just local nonsense from a grumpy po?.

Mephis

Thanks BluesBrother. That's likely where the idea I remember came from. Ostentatious display of wealth. Detracting from the truth. Stumbling others. Crazy stuff.

291

Evolution is a Fact #1 - Protein Functional Redundancy

by cofty in

i intend for this to be one of a series of bite-sized ops on the evidence for evolution.. introduction to dna genes are sequences of dna made up of words (codons) each of which are three letters (bases) long.

there are only four letters in the genetic alphabet (acg&t) each word or codon is the recipe for one amino acid.

there are 20 different amino acids in living organisms.

Mephis

No science please, I'm common sensing a theory which validates my current bronze age explanation for how life developed. Of course everything is a little bit similar if Atum masturbated all the other gods into being and cried happy tears which became humans. Everything carries a little part of Atum with them and that's clearly what you're trying to describe. We had this figured out 4000 years ago guys. Why the debate?

23

Why the Governing Body caught a frightful fright

by Saintbertholdt in

it has been extensively reported on the forum that there has been a marked increase in effort over the past two years by the governing body of jehovah's witnesses to encourage an increase in monetary donations.

this has also been accompanied by the stripping of financial capital from the local congregations.

as has also been reported on this forum, this has in all probability been done to facilitate the financing of the vast new hq building project as well as the financing of the shift from a publishing company to becoming an internet based charismatic multimedia company which produces lame pixar/disney animation knock offs while simultaneously parading the governing body's ever expanding waistlines, blingy accoutrements and stupid grins.. meanwhile the financials of the organization remains as murky as ever.

Mephis

Just on this point.

So how could we know that the measurement is at least consistent?

Are asset values assessed annually, or is it done on an as needed basis? If it's annually, then there will be variability as JeffT suggests, but it can be tied to the wider economic background to some degree. If it's more irregularly done then it would obviously need more info to help interpret anything radically off trend. My suspicion would be that assessment would be fairly irregular just from the costs associated in doing it.

eg 2016 could see a major bump to assets if they've not had the Brooklyn properties currently being sold assessed for several years. And then a drop down the year after as they're sold and the money spent.

39

No Sports Cars Please!

by snugglebunny in

jw
friends

i read on a jw forum that jw's came in for disapproval if they drove either sports cars or 2-door cars.

the reasoning was that a driver couldn't easily take fellow dubbies out preaching in such a vehicle.

was that ever official policy or just local nonsense from a grumpy po?.

Mephis

Was certainly something frowned upon as being too ostentatious, too worldly looking, Then they'd try to buttress the argument with the 'and if you go on field service...' thing in my old congo. Not anything official though, one of those which would get filed under 'matter of conscience' and only mentioned in talks by visiting speakers/COs or at assemblies.

23

How will the Watchtower Cult end?

by WireRider in

some announcement of sorts?.

there are all kinds of conspiracy theories.

their head count and time cards are all faked by the gb, and "congregations".

Mephis

You're right, they need to reform.
They won't, though, because if they did, they'd no longer be Jehovah's Witnesses.

The paradox they've built themselves, isn't it? They've become increasingly repressive but it's at best just leading to stagnation with a demographic time bomb building up in affluent countries. But without the repression, then it's not the same religion and the numbers will plummet just from people no longer being shut away from the outside world.

Would rather the boom. Would rather Lett stand up in a broadcast and gurn for a bit before saying, "I am the chief chumpawolla, we're really sorry but this was a bad joke we let go on too long". But not going to happen. It'll be new light and more new light and old light as new light with a slight hint of a sepia filter etc etc etc.

23

How will the Watchtower Cult end?

by WireRider in

some announcement of sorts?.

there are all kinds of conspiracy theories.

their head count and time cards are all faked by the gb, and "congregations".

Mephis

There'll be no single end date, just the slow slide into being an increasingly obscure historical artifact of the adventist movements. At some point it will fully cross that boundary into being as much a cultural thing as a religious. Sort of hovering close to that boundary already. They need to reform, which won't happen while they're still in full delusional mode, or they get ever more repressive and isolated from broader society. I'm sure they'll still be knocking about in some form or another in another hundred years. Going to be interesting to see whether they tap into fundy christianity's populist techniques and politics, or whether they head into Plymouth Brethren style isolation. Curious tension they've built up internally which will have to be resolved at some point.

21

Where does the money come from to operate the Hospital Information network?

by OrphanCrow in

the recent buzz that has hit the online communities concerning the watchtower society and their evil offspring - the jw org - revolves around their apparent financial difficulties.

many factors have been discussed - the real estate flips (and flops), the changes in meetings and field service, the need for donations to cover expenses, the push for donations.

where does the money come from to operate the hospital information network?

Mephis

In Britain, the Hospital Services is run out of IBSA House. Can't find anything charitable registered (or mentioned in hospital policy documents which deal with them) which seems linked, so assume that it's run as a department of the monolithic whole.

23

Why the Governing Body caught a frightful fright

by Saintbertholdt in

it has been extensively reported on the forum that there has been a marked increase in effort over the past two years by the governing body of jehovah's witnesses to encourage an increase in monetary donations.

this has also been accompanied by the stripping of financial capital from the local congregations.

as has also been reported on this forum, this has in all probability been done to facilitate the financing of the vast new hq building project as well as the financing of the shift from a publishing company to becoming an internet based charismatic multimedia company which produces lame pixar/disney animation knock offs while simultaneously parading the governing body's ever expanding waistlines, blingy accoutrements and stupid grins.. meanwhile the financials of the organization remains as murky as ever.

Mephis

Market rate valuation can create wild swings in the value of assets held, which are meaningful only if you have to convert the asset into cash immediately.

The curious thing to me is that the trend (of the 'known' numbers) is up coming out of a major property recession, and then start to fall what seems to be in line with the Brooklyn property sales. That seems to suggest the money's gone out as soon as it's come in, if the cash isn't there to list as an asset. What am I missing there? Got to be something I'm not seeing, it's too odd.