Coded Logic

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Posts by Coded Logic

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  6

  Watchtower Society wins the 'PINK ELEPHANT' award for 2014

  by Esse quam videri in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the international pink elephant committee has just awarded the 'watchtower society' the 'pink elephant' award for 2014. .

  the committee's press release stated, in part;.

  '... usually our ten committee members have to research a number of organizations to determine which one will receive the yearly award.

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  Coded Logic

  I don't think this is rea.  I cannot find any information on the "International Pink Elephant Committee" or on any Pink Elephant Award given to the WTBTS or the JWs.  Can you please cite a source?  
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  10

  The spirituality of science

  by Coded Logic in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  things are often more than the sum of their parts.

  the letters typed onto this page, for example, are more than just letters.

  they've become a series of ideas and concepts.

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  Coded Logic

  TerryWalstrom, I agree that "a" thing (singular) is what it is.  But that's not what the OP is talking about..  Rather, it's drawing attention to the fact that when you put many things together new properties can emerge.  Properties can be present within the whole that do not exist within the individual parts.

  A thunderstorm is made up of suspended water molecules.  But suspended water molecules by themselves do not have the properties of a thunderstorm.  
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  10

  The spirituality of science

  by Coded Logic in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  things are often more than the sum of their parts.

  the letters typed onto this page, for example, are more than just letters.

  they've become a series of ideas and concepts.

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  Coded Logic

  Things are often more than the sum of their parts.  The letters typed onto this page, for example, are more than just letters.  They've become a series of ideas and concepts.  Or - water molecules, suspended in the air, aren't always just water molecules.  Sometimes they're a powerful thunderstorm - with emergent properties of rain, wind, lightning, and hail.  And sometimes neurons in the brain become more than just neurons.  They become consciousness.

  We are all more than the sum of our parts.  But even our parts have a high pedigree.  Take, for example, the carbon atoms of which you and I are composed.  They were forged in the heart of an ancient star that died long ago.  We are all, literally, the remnants of a stellar core.  The children of a supernova.  Because, it is not just we who are inside the universe - but it is also the universe that is inside of us.  WE ARE THE UNIVERSE . . . seeking to understand itself.

  When we look up at the night sky saturated with stars - there can be a certain sadness felt.  Because we will never be able to reach those stars within our lifetime.  But that sadness often turns to joy because those stars have reached out and touched us.  Their light has traveled untold ages and eons across an empty void so that we might be able to study them.  And learn from them.  And the more we learn about those distant stars - the more we know about our universe.  And the more we understand our universe - the more we understand ourselves.

  This is our heritage - 4.6 billion years in the making.  And it wasn't revealed to us through divine interpretation or personal revelation or by some ancient "holy" book.  But, rather, by that noble enterprise we call science.  Because it's not just empirical - it's also deeply spiritual.  
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  18

  VOW OF OBEDIENCE AND POVERTY

  by Coded Logic in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i didn't know the wtbts had an order.

  anyone ever heard of the "order of full time servants" aka "the order" within the jehovah's witnesses?.

  (below is a legal document from the wtbts).

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  Coded Logic

   I didn't know the WTBTs had an Order.  Anyone ever heard of the "Order of Full Time Servants" aka "The Order" within the Jehovah's Witnesses?

  (Below is a legal document from the WTBTS)

  
  

  VOW OF OBEDIENCE AND POVERTY to the Order of special Full-Time Servants of Jehovah's Witnesses
  
  As an ordained minister, wholly dedicated to Jehovah God, I hereby express my solemn desire to be recognized as a member of the worldwide Order of special Full-Time servants of Jehovah's Witnesses ("the Order") I Vow as follows:
  
  1.     While a member of the Order, to live the simple, nonmaterialistic life-style that has traditionally existed for members of the Order.

  2.     In the spirit of the inspired words of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 6:8) and the prophetic expression of the Psalmist (Psalm 110:3) to volunteer my services to do whatever is assigned to me in the advancement of Kingdom interests wherever I am assigned by the Order.

  3.     To be submissive to the theocratic arrangement for members of the Order (Hebrews 13:17)
  

  4.     To devote my best full-time efforts to my assignment;
  

  5.     To abstain from secular employment without permission from the Order;
  

  6.     To turn over to the local organization of the Order all income received from any work or personal efforts in excess of my necessary living expenses, unless released from this vow by the Order;
  

  7.     To accept such provisions for members of the Order (be they meals, lodging, expense reimbursements, or others) as are made in the country where I serve, regardless of the level of my responsibility or value of my services)
  

  8.     To be content and satisfied with the modest support that I receive from the Order as long as I am privileged to serve in the Order and not to expect any further remuneration should I choose to leave the Order or should the Order determine that I no longer qualify to serve in the Order ( Matthew 6:30-33; 1 Timothy 6:6-8; Hebrews 13:5)

  9.     To abide by the principles set out in God's inspired Word, the bible, in publications of the Jehovah's Witnesses, and in policies dispensed by the Order, and to follow the directions of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses; and
  

  10.     To accept readily any decision made by the Order regarding my membership status.
  

  
  

  
  

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykpUE2e-L1Q
  

  
  

  
  
  
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  7

  Conspiracy Theorist groups similar to the Watchtower

  by enigma1863 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was watching a you tube video on charlie veitch and i could not help but see the parallels with his experience with truthers and the ex jw experience with the watchtower.

  what do you think?:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_uyzitc_90.

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  Coded Logic

  Conspiracy "theories" and religious beliefs share much in common.  Anything they feel contradicts their views requires a ridiculous amount of evidence and support.  Whereas, anything they feel supports their claims they accept unchecked.  And all experts or "authorities" are either highly suspect or just plain evil.  
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  12

  (Knock Knock) Who's there?

  by Coded Logic in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  if jws knocked on your door what would you say?.

  i know jws don't really do "ministry" anymore (just leave special campaign tracts at the door and run away as fast as they can so they don't have to talk to anyone) but if they ever actually tried to have a conversation with me i wonder what i would say.

  most likely i'd ask about matthew 4:8 where it says the devil took jesus to the top of an unusually high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world.

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  Coded Logic

  "If God inspired the Bible as his perfect word - why did he not keep it as his perfect word?"
  

  -Bart Ehrman (Textual Scholar)
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  12

  (Knock Knock) Who's there?

  by Coded Logic in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  if jws knocked on your door what would you say?.

  i know jws don't really do "ministry" anymore (just leave special campaign tracts at the door and run away as fast as they can so they don't have to talk to anyone) but if they ever actually tried to have a conversation with me i wonder what i would say.

  most likely i'd ask about matthew 4:8 where it says the devil took jesus to the top of an unusually high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world.

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  Coded Logic

  If JWs knocked on your door what would you say?

  
  

  I know JWs don't really do "ministry" anymore (just leave special campaign tracts at the door and run away as fast as they can so they don't have to talk to anyone) but if they ever actually tried to have a conversation with me I wonder what I would say.   Most likely I'd ask about Matthew 4:8 where it says the Devil took Jesus to the top of an unusually high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world.  I would say something along the lines of, "Do you really believe Satan took Jesus to the top of Mt. Everest?  Surely you know you can't see the whole world from the top of a mountain."

  When they say something along the lines of, "It's a metaphor" - or - "It's not literal."  I would hit them with - "So you don't ACTUALLY believe that happened then?"

  Or I might bring up Jonah, "Do you actually believe he was inside a whale for three days?  You know someone can't live inside a whale right?"  Just to see if I could dredge up any cognitive dissonance.  I really wonder what they would say.  I have no idea what I would have said had someone hit me with that at the door.

  
  

  Anyways, just my thoughts.  Any particular scriptures or doctrinal question you would bring up?  
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  23

  Will the evolutionists save us from the coming catastrophe?

  by abiather in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the earth's magnetic field is in a weakening stage right now.

  data collected this summer by a european space agency (esa) satellite suggests the field is weakening 10 times faster than scientists originally thought.

  if the magnetic field weakens enough, then the earth could be hit with dangerous amounts of solar radiation and cosmic rays .....

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  Coded Logic

  Weapons grade stupidity.  The poles shifting aren't going to kill everyone off.  It's happened many times before in earths history.  We don't need anyone to "save" us.

  And just out of curiosity, what's an "evolutionist"?
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  7

  Building Your Own Rudder

  by Coded Logic in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  some thoughts on meaning, human nature, and the initial difficulties of learning ttatt.. .

  it's not just the fear of the wild, the untamed, or the untraversed regions of the mind that drives jws to seek shelter in the dim and dark citadels of their ignorance - seemingly protected from the insoluble mysteries of their universe.

  but it's also the fact that the winds of reality can, at times, be cold and harsh and can rain storm and thunder upon everything they thought they knew.

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  Coded Logic

  I just find it odd that people will look for meaning just about everywhere . . . except for the only place they can really find it - within themselves.  
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  7

  Building Your Own Rudder

  by Coded Logic in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  some thoughts on meaning, human nature, and the initial difficulties of learning ttatt.. .

  it's not just the fear of the wild, the untamed, or the untraversed regions of the mind that drives jws to seek shelter in the dim and dark citadels of their ignorance - seemingly protected from the insoluble mysteries of their universe.

  but it's also the fact that the winds of reality can, at times, be cold and harsh and can rain storm and thunder upon everything they thought they knew.

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  Coded Logic

  Some thoughts on meaning, human nature, and the initial difficulties of learning TTATT.

  
  

  
  

  It's not just the fear of the wild, the untamed, or the untraversed regions of the mind that drives JWs to seek shelter in the dim and dark citadels of their ignorance - seemingly protected from the insoluble mysteries of their universe.  But it's also the fact that the winds of reality can, at times, be cold and harsh and can rain storm and thunder upon everything they thought they knew.  So the JWs take refuge behind their unenlightened walls where they feel safe from the uncertain, protected from the unknown, and oblivious to that terrifying chasm that stands between existence . . . and meaning.

  It's truly unfortunate that the abyss is something most minds cannot easily comprehend. Because no two people can use the same bridge to get across.  The connection between existence and meaning can only ever be built by its wayfarer.  And, far too often, JWs surrender their identity - their life's meaning - to conformity. All the while seeking inspiration in the white noise of their ancient book, new age beliefs, or in the comfort of ceremonial rites (baptism), religious customs (service), and the long preformed sacraments of ancient communions (memorial).  But the pathway out of darkness is not in the catacombs of ignorance.  Rather, meaning is found high up in the foothills and in the mountains of knowledge.  And, while no one knows if these peaks can ever be conquered, it is none the less true that the higher up you climb - the further out you can see.  And the further out you can see, the more likely you are to lay eyes upon your prize.

  
  

  There are plenty of things worth believing in.  And there are almost an infinite amount of causes and worthwhile pursuits.  But the religious and the supernatural are not among them.  The narrative - the story telling of our lives - must be ours and ours alone.  Meaning is not something that can be prescribed, or gifted or handed out. Rather, meaning is a pursuit, a lifelong pilgrimage, into the unknown.  It's the aspiration to be more than what we are.  It's the ability to imagine and to comprehend and, sometimes, to even do dare to do what was once thought impossible.

  
  

  Just because we've collapsed the cage doesn't mean we've escaped the cage. Just because we've realized our beliefs were false doesn't mean that we're not still trapped by the same bad reasoning that got us there in the first place. No one can walk our path for us.

  
  

  We are the custodian of life's meaning. And if we crave some cosmic purpose then we had better find ourselves a worthy goal.

  -Carl Sagan