Mephis

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Posts by Mephis

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  35

  Evolution is a Fact #11 - Tiktaalik

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  one of the biggest gulfs that life has had to cross was the transition from sea to dry land.. fish have conical shaped heads, reptiles have flat heads.

  fish have no necks; their heads are attached to their shoulders by a series of bony plates.

  land-dwelling animals all have necks; their heads can move independently of their shoulders.

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  Mephis

  "There's no transitional fossils"

  "We found some!"

  "Those don't count because you were looking for them and predicted beforehand where they'd be found."

  "We're off to play chess with pigeons"
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  133

  What are the biggest holes in evolution?

  by shadow in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  how honest are the proponents of evolution?

  idk but curious to see what type of response there is on a topic like this or does their study only seek to confirm their preconceptions and ignore uncomfortable facts?

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  Mephis

  It's curious reading that Cold Steel. For me, that uncertainty, that possibility to improve knowledge is a positive thing. So things changing, based on evidence, isn't so much 'egg on its face' but the willingness to perform evaluation and take the world as it is. A new fact can shift the foundations of a discipline. That's exciting, not a sign of failure. Science is evidence driven, as are humanities where evidence plays a role. Knowledge builds upon knowledge. There's rarely anything which doesn't require work done by others to provoke, inspire or create the foundations.

  But, saying that, there's frequently fundamentals which will never be totally shifted because they have been proven to be accurate descriptions of how things are. Evolution for biology is as gravity to astronomy. It works, and it's moved into being applied science now. We are creating medicines using our knowledge of evolution. Took 250 years and another genius to figure out the 'why' of gravity. It didn't invalidate Newton's original conclusion or stop his calculations working in the meantime. Quite like how Newton summed it up. "It is enough that gravity does really exist and acts according to the laws I have explained, and that it abundantly serves to account for all the motions of celestial bodies" - Newton.
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  133

  What are the biggest holes in evolution?

  by shadow in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  how honest are the proponents of evolution?

  idk but curious to see what type of response there is on a topic like this or does their study only seek to confirm their preconceptions and ignore uncomfortable facts?

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  Mephis

  Well, Your Honor, we have plenty of hearsay and conjecture. Those are kinds of evidence.

  
  

  
  
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  66

  New Light: Clap when it is given a Reinstatement ad

  by TheTruthBR in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a new letter was posted in jw.org to the elders who are under the brazilian branch:.

  january 25, 2016to all bodies of eldersref .

  : clap when given a readmission addear brothers:we would like to inform you about a recent adjustment.

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  Mephis

  That's even creepier :D Maybe have the reinstated person's songbook sing about how happy it is to be back at meetings? ;)
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  66

  New Light: Clap when it is given a Reinstatement ad

  by TheTruthBR in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a new letter was posted in jw.org to the elders who are under the brazilian branch:.

  january 25, 2016to all bodies of eldersref .

  : clap when given a readmission addear brothers:we would like to inform you about a recent adjustment.

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  Mephis

  "There are scriptual reasons..."

  For 15 years there weren't. And then there were, again. Farce of a cult. Lovebombing reinstatement video out soon then?
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  38

  2016-1-25-BOE on Applause or Clapping!

  by Atlantis in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  just in case someone wanted this letter for their records.

  .. http://postimg.org/image/dn44a9m9h/.

  .. petra!.

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  Mephis

  Looks like worldwide 'new light (looks a bit like the old light)' then. Thanks Atlantis. Wonder whether it's all linked with the whole farce they're doing with those who've faded currently. Elders will make sure every fader gets a brochure etc etc.
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  32

  What are the biggest holes in the ransom sacrifice?

  by Half banana in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  how honest are the proponents of jesus as the ransom sacrifice?.

  curious to see what type of response there is on a topic like this or does their study only seek to confirm their preconceptions and ignore uncomfortable facts?.

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  Mephis

  Think it was Origen who first specifically proposed it early in the 3rd century. It's made absolutely no sense in 1800 years since. Why is God forced to follow a system of blood sacrifices? Who designed the cosmic scales of justice which he has to make sure are in balance? I asked these questions as a kid and it ended up being turtles all the way down until I figured that asking questions was pointless.

  "Because the angels are watching."

  "But God made the angels, they do what they're told or they join Satan."

  "Because it's justice."

  "But it doesn't seem fair. Why couldn't he have used Job?"

  "Because he's God and you can't understand it."
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  26

  Charles Darwin was not an Atheist

  by LAWHFol in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  personally i have the same viewpoint of darwin, when he said : " the safest conclusion seems to me to be that the whole subject is beyond the scope of man's intellect".

  i'm not trying to convince anyone about the existence or non existence of god.. rather, i encourage everyone to keep seeking.

  keep searching for the truth that makes the most sense to them.. darwin is the grand father of evolution, and his findings and life work, did not make of him an atheist.

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  Mephis

  I quite like how Darwin approached it. "Here's the evidence for evolution. What you do with it theologically, that's your business."

  For me history was what meant I didn't buy into JW fantasies. You cannot do a serious study of history without it knocking over key tenets of JW doctrine. For others it seems like science has the same effect. You don't necessarily need to replace one thing with another. One of the things I really learned coming out was that black/white thinking just doesn't really help with a lot of things. It's ok to say 'I don't know', in fact the 'don't know' pushes me to want to learn more. And that's fine I think. I'm not looking to replace God with Evolution. God is faith, evolution is knowledge. I may as well argue for a historical Achilles based on nothing but my faith in it being so. It doesn't change the results of the excavations of Troy.

  Obviously evolution causes major problems if you believe that Genesis is a literal account of how humans came to be. But then any number of other disciplines and lines of evidence will present problems for you too. If you want to ban all of them from being discussed because they challenge your faith, then maybe it's the faith which is causing the problem.
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  8

  The Evolution of Humans

  by fulltimestudent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  tracing the evolutionary path of humans is complicated.

  simply because human and proto-human remains (including bones) are perishable.

  remains from the distant past are usually only preserved when some unique features exist that assist preservation.

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  Mephis

  Just away from Nature itself, a few other places which give you the ability to go to sources directly if you want to research something for yourself.

  JSTOR offers limited access to papers with a free account, for those without access to a decent library. It's only 3 articles every fortnight however. But better than a kick to the nether regions and it covers a crazy amount of academic journals.

  http://about.jstor.org/rr

  Plosone is becoming very fashionable to use. Open access, peer reviewed papers. The homo naledi papers were put up there, which caused quite a stir as usually one would expect it to take a few years from discovery to publication in a traditional journal.

  http://www.plosone.org/

  Academia.edu has a huge number of essays and articles put up by individual academics wanting to do open access. You may want to just create an account (free) to be able to browse through. Much goodness contained whether you're into science things or the humanities.

  https://www.academia.edu/
  
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  133

  What are the biggest holes in evolution?

  by shadow in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  how honest are the proponents of evolution?

  idk but curious to see what type of response there is on a topic like this or does their study only seek to confirm their preconceptions and ignore uncomfortable facts?

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  Mephis

  I'd like to know which uncomfortable facts? It doesn't explain the initial origin of life (abiogenesis) and there are plenty of areas which touch on evolution where further knowledge is needed. A lot of our medicines for the future will stem from being able to use evolutionary theory in better ways - whether that's in how diseases change over time and so tailor drugs to work or in how to treat things which arise from our own genetic code. A post-antibiotic world is perhaps the most uncomfortable one imaginable if work in evolutionary theory doesn't keep pace.