when people willfully believe something without evidence, or contrary to evidence, are they neglecting thier moral responsibility?
so many people say faith is a virtue but i just can't comprehend why anyone would think that.
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Jgnat - The short answer is Mirrior Neurons and our large Frontal Lobes. There's been tremendouse research done on this exact question - if you're really interested in this sort of thing I would recomend that you familiarize yourself with COGNITIVE EMPATHY, EMPATHIC DISTRESS, and THEORY of MIND.
Here's a great little video that goes over some of the basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7AWnfFRc7g
there seems to be an endless number of ways to show the bible is not devinely inspired but all of it seems so complicated.
anyone know any simple arguements for this?
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objectivetruth - How?
the jws make such a big deal about not taking (eating) blood in any form.
that being the case, shouldn't they avoid eating steaks?
even a well- done steak still contains the animals blood.
AndDontCallMeShirley - Hahahahahahahahaha! Fractions of steak (wipes tear form eye) omj that's halarious!
it's no secret that the wtbts has a cash flow problem.
over the past three years they have closed 20 of their 116 branches.
they have sold off most of their properties in and around ny (including some kingdom halls), drastically reduced the # of printed pages for the watchtower and awake magazines, reduced the printing of books and other materials, increased the number of single page tract campagnes, installed cc machines at their assembly halls, and are now seizing of controll of property assets from local kingdom halls using renovation projects.
It's no secret that the WTBTS has a cash flow problem. Over the past three years they have closed 20 of their 116 Branches. They have sold off most of their properties in and around NY (including some kingdom halls), drastically reduced the # of printed pages for the Watchtower and Awake magazines, reduced the printing of books and other materials, increased the number of single page tract campagnes, installed CC machines at their assembly halls, and are now seizing of controll of property assets from local kingdom halls using renovation projects.
Its hard to believe that donations have gone down this much but the number of JWs is still increasing. Has the GB been fudging the # of active publishers? Is the WTBTS in decline?
when people willfully believe something without evidence, or contrary to evidence, are they neglecting thier moral responsibility?
so many people say faith is a virtue but i just can't comprehend why anyone would think that.
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Jnat,
There's nothing "illogical" about hope. Hope is merely desiring a specific outcome. Faith however, is illogical.
there seems to be an endless number of ways to show the bible is not devinely inspired but all of it seems so complicated.
anyone know any simple arguements for this?
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Jhine,
Being nice is a very important part of the evolution of social species. This should come as no surprise to anyone. Societes that work together survive. Societes that don't work together don't survive. Our quality of life is entirely dependant upon the tribe that we live in. We all have a vested interest in looking out for each other. Its why you'll see things like cognitive empathy and altruisim in other social species like dolphins, chimpanzees, elephants, etc.
there seems to be an endless number of ways to show the bible is not devinely inspired but all of it seems so complicated.
anyone know any simple arguements for this?
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Dis-Member . . . what do you mean?
incase you haven't heard yet, there is now a new breed of cat, the lykoi.
now this cat is the result of some mutation that occassionally happened and some breeders got 2 of these cats that got this mutation and successfully breed them, and now there are breeders and it's a type of cat now.
this cat has a preditory nature, they say it's similar to a hound dog.
Great question! The simple answer is that individuals don't evolve. Rather, it's populations that evolve.
Lykoi are still a sub-species of Felis silvestris catus(domestic house cat). Sub-species means they can still mate and produce viable offspring with other breeds. If this mutation were truly beneficial, it would take thousands of years for it to spread and become dominate in the population. And Felis silvestris catus would STILL BE Felis silvestris catus. In order for it to become its own species it would have to be so different it couldn't mate with domestic house cats anymore.
A good anology for this is language. The French language is derived from Latin. Over a long period of time Latin evolved into French. But there was no Latin speaking mother who gave birth to a French speaking son. There was no one day everyone stopped speaking Latin and started speaking French. It was a gradual evolution over several generations throughout the entire population. Language is transient. Its always changing. Just like genetics.
For more information on this sort of thing it would be helpful to do a little research on Allele Frequencies and Ring Species. Hope that answered your question. If you have anymore feel free to ask :)
when people willfully believe something without evidence, or contrary to evidence, are they neglecting thier moral responsibility?
so many people say faith is a virtue but i just can't comprehend why anyone would think that.
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Great video jgnat!
Though, I think there is a huge difference between being optimistic or hopeful vs. having faith. Hope can be based off of a probability or likely hood informed by prior events and experiance in ones life. Faith, in the context that Christians use it, cannot. And hope is NOT a belief. Its a desire for a specific outcome. Faith, however, is a belief. Its a perception of reality. It is something you actually think is true without any reason.
As for you romantic scenerio, I'm not convinced that rose colored glass' are a good thing. People experiance a lot of emotional pain and agony because they've had a poor model of how relationships really work. I think it is far more romantic to fall in love with a person for who they are - rather than for who you want them to be.
so what happens if we start posting links on porn sites and the like?
i don't usually suggest this sort of thing, but it would sure give somebody at hq pause for thought when he realizes where all their hits are originating.
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I'm sure the GB would find some sort of way to put a spin on it.
"Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We are pleased to anounce that JW.org is reaching even the most debase sinners of our society. It is clear to us that there is a great spiritual need and our new website is helping those in spiritual darkness to find the light of God's word. Like Joseph fleeing from Pottifers wife many in the world today are fleeing from mental adultery and into the open hands of brainwashed - ahem - Jehovahs orginaization. In order to help them cleanse themseleves from the sins of the flesh we are now offering a new JW pop up blocker that can be down loaded which, anytime a pornographic website is entered, will automatically redirect the lost sheep to JW.org. Like Paul did in the first century, let us not have actual conversations with people in the ministry but instead direct them to our website for answers about life, the universe, and everything.
Compasionately Depraved,
The GB
