Not sure if anyones posted on this topic, but it just hit me that if Jesus thousand year reign started in 1914 then we are already 10% way though and no "sign of the end" yet. Can the WTBTS really hold out much longer? Are we going to have to wait for 3014 for them to admitt they got it wrong?
Coded Logic
JoinedPosts by Coded Logic
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10% Way Through 1000 year reign
by Coded Logic innot sure if anyones posted on this topic, but it just hit me that if jesus thousand year reign started in 1914 then we are already 10% way though and no "sign of the end" yet.
can the wtbts really hold out much longer?
are we going to have to wait for 3014 for them to admitt they got it wrong?.
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How have you changed since finding TTATT ?
by Phizzy inon coftys thread about his former pastor trying to re-convert him, which is very long but a tremendous discussion of the problem of evil, a poster, sunny23, wrote :.
" having been 7 months since i first posted on the first page of this topic i have just read those posts and acknowledged a huge transfromation in myself for the better."..
i was only thinking the other day how, as i discovered this site and ttatt, i really changed as a person in so many ways, and i think mainly for the better.. i have been "born again" !!.
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Coded Logic
We were always told that we needed to study more and needed to go out in service more and, that in this, we would find fullfillment. But, looking back now, I can see just how much the JW Doctrine is designed to stunt our ability to think and deaden our feelings of compassion. And its no wonder I used to feel so hollow inside. Because in order to reach my full potnential as a human being I needed to be able to use my entire brain. And I needed to be able to think for myself - both of which is greatly discouraged by the WTBTS.
It is aslo in retrospect that I can now see that my deconversion - and eventual path to Athiesm - wasn't a scientfic pursuit. Rather, it was a spiritual pursuit. It was me accepting my own humanity and learning to grow as a person. To be able to see the world as it is - without the need for any mysticism or appeals to the supernatural. And my skepticism hasn't just changed my mind . . . it's also expanded it.
I now know that the atoms of which you and I are composed were first manufactured and prototyped in the heart of a dying star. It gives me goose bumps to think that the carbon in our bodies are the remnants of a super nova. Because its not just we who are inside the universe but it is also the universe that is inside of us. We are the univers seeking to understand itself. When I look up into the stary night I'm often saddened because I know I will never reach those stars within my lifetime. But that saddness always turns to joy because the star light has reached out across the ages and the eons and has touched me. And I now know that the more I learn about those stars the more I will understand our universe. And the more I understand our universe . . . the more I begin to understand myself.
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Is Faith Immoral?
by Coded Logic inwhen 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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Coded Logic
I've noticed that there are a number of people on this post playing a shell game with the word "faith". When I started this thread I was very specific in my definition: Believing something without evidence or contrary to evidence.
I will ask that any further post keep this in mind and not put forth alternate definitions of the word as it only muddies the water. I believe that hope, trust, conviction, etc. are all good things. HOWEVER, I do not believe that one should blieve things without evidence or contrary to evidence.
I believe this because our beliefs are the gate keepers of our actions. What we believe directly informs how we behave. And if we want to know whats out on the horizon we don't use a kaleidoscope but, rather, we use a telescope. Likewise, when we want to make determinations about reality we don't use faith but, rather, we use reason. Because good intentions are only as good as the information upon which they are based. If I see a man about to chop off a childs arm and I stop him from doing so - I MIGHT be committing a moral action. However, if it turns out the man was a doctor and the childs arm had gangreen - then I would, in fact, be committing an immoral action. Because what is morally true is ENTIRELY DEPENDENT upon what is actually true. And faith is the worst possible system for figuring out what is true. It can only ever be moral by accident.
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Is Faith Immoral?
by Coded Logic inwhen 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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Coded Logic
" Who determines what is right?"
We do. Human well being is the metric we use to determine what is right and what is wrong. Things that promote human well being are considered good. Things that cause human suffering and harm are bad. Life is generally preferable to death. Pleasure is generally preferable to pain. We start with these basic principles and use things like induction and, conversley, deduction to weigh our moral actions.
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Is Faith Immoral?
by Coded Logic inwhen 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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Coded Logic
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
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Debunking the Bible
by Coded Logic inthere 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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Coded Logic
objectivetruth - How?
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A QUESTION I HAVE NEVER HEARD ANSWERED BY JWs
by NAVYTOWN inthe 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.
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Coded Logic
AndDontCallMeShirley - Hahahahahahahahaha! Fractions of steak (wipes tear form eye) omj that's halarious!
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Fudging the Numbers: Is the WTBTS in decline?
by Coded Logic init'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.
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Coded Logic
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?
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Is Faith Immoral?
by Coded Logic inwhen 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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Coded Logic
Jnat,
There's nothing "illogical" about hope. Hope is merely desiring a specific outcome. Faith however, is illogical.
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Debunking the Bible
by Coded Logic inthere 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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Coded Logic
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.