Posts by Coded Logic

169

Universal sovereignty on trial

by Factfulness in

i just had a thought of clarity regarding the jw explanation for this doctrine.

they explain that satan challenged god regarding his right to rule.

god failed to prove his right to rule.

Coded Logic

I never understood the concept of "universal sovereignty" either.

If one believes the accounts of the Old Testament - it's not exactly like God stepped back and allowed mankind to rule himself. Quite to the contrary, he was constantly meddling in the worst possible way. For example,

God cursed the ground so man would have a hard time growing food.
Introduced disease and suffering to mankind.
Made pregnancy and birth a dangerous and painful affair.
Drowned almost every human on the planet in a global flood.
Scattered everyone across the globe and confused our languages so we couldn't work together.
Had a "choosen people" that he ordered to commit genocide against all the nations around them.
And visited a host of plagues, famines, pests, earthquakes, and sulfur and brimstone attacks all along the way.

. . . talk about stacking the deck against humanity. Maybe if Jaweh had stopped being a total dick for a second humanity might have done okay.

131

Why Do People Oppose Jehovah's Witnesses?

by BlackSpirit in

jesus christ, the son of the most high god, jehovah has this to say: "if the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.

if you were part of the world, the world would be fond of what is its own.

now because you are no part of the world, but i have chosen you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you.

Coded Logic

I've... met very few people who fit that description.
And I've been around.

Good catch Vidiot! Didn't even think about that.

I suppose if I were at a Star Trek convention I could get away with saying something along the lines of "We all have an innate desire to better understand the mind of Gene Roddenberry." However, out in the general public, hardly anyone knows who Gene Roddenberry is - much less cares about his futurist musings.

Likewise, outside of a small percentage of people deeply interested in philosophy and anthropology, very few of us spend anytime at all pondering the deeper implications of our existence. And if a god wanted to give humans an "innate desire to understand the meaning and purpose of life" then I'd say that god did a piss poor job of it.

131

Why Do People Oppose Jehovah's Witnesses?

by BlackSpirit in

jesus christ, the son of the most high god, jehovah has this to say: "if the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.

if you were part of the world, the world would be fond of what is its own.

now because you are no part of the world, but i have chosen you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you.

Coded Logic

Similarly, the Bible correctly describes the shape of the earth as a “sphere,” or “globe.”

Actually, it doesn't. Isaiah uses the Hebrew word Chug to describe the Earth - which means circle - a flat two dimensional object. Had Isaiah wished to describe the Earth as a sphere he would have used the Hebrew word Dur (see Isaiah 22:18) which means sphere or globe.

the Bible says that God is “suspending the earth upon nothing.”

The Bible also says the Earth is supported by pillars (I Samuel 2:8, Job 9:6, and Psalm 75:3). As well as claiming that the Earth has a "chief cornerstone" and "four corners" (Job 38:6, Isaiah 11:12, and Revelation 7:1).

It doesn't go unnoticed that you've cherry picked the scriptures you think are supported by modern science while ignoring all the scriptures that blatantly contradicted science. We have a term for people who engage in this sort of rhetoric - we call them dishonest.

27

Eye-brow Wigs ... are a thing?

by Simon in

... and apparently justin trudeau wears them.

also, they can come off or slip down while you are doing a press-conference to a global audience.

what a god awful embarrassment this fool is, he should stick to his indian costume dress-up and dancing routine.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g46km4da3yw.

Coded Logic

Simon and the Watchtower have a lot in common. If they don't like a conclusion they attack the person or institution making the claim instead of addressing the claim itself. And instead of providing facts to support the claims they make - they simply resort to disparaging the motives of anyone who disagrees with them.

It's a cheap and dishonest move. And one that needs to be called out more often on theses forums.

27

Eye-brow Wigs ... are a thing?

by Simon in

... and apparently justin trudeau wears them.

also, they can come off or slip down while you are doing a press-conference to a global audience.

what a god awful embarrassment this fool is, he should stick to his indian costume dress-up and dancing routine.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g46km4da3yw.

Coded Logic

You know what's actually true and is super embarrassing? Trumps ridiculous comb over. Now THAT is embarrassing!!!!

......

21

Beard update

by Coded Logic in

so it's been over a month since i decided to grow a beard.

the mustache and chin have come in fuller than i ever imagined - while the cheeks leave me wondering if i'll ever grow enough hair to make it not look so wildly unkept and patchy (if anyone has any advice here it'd be much appreciated).

but in the mean time i'll give it another month and see how it goes.. .

Coded Logic

So it's been over a month since I decided to grow a beard. The mustache and chin have come in fuller than I ever imagined - while the cheeks leave me wondering if I'll ever grow enough hair to make it not look so wildly unkept and patchy (if anyone has any advice here it'd be much appreciated). But in the mean time I'll give it another month and see how it goes.

39

Sincere question to those who no longer believe in God

by nowwhat? in

i get it, not a fan of yahweh the desert god.

but what about jesus?

anything wrong with his teachings like the sermon on the mount and the example he set.

Coded Logic

The sermon on the mount is so full of false teachings, threats of violence, and morally reprehensible positions I'm shocked you think living by such a wicked standard would make the world a better place.

Seriously, go read the sermon on the mount and ask yourself: What would the world be like if everyone acted like this?

NO PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
CALLING SOMEONE A "FOOL" IS PUNISHED BY HELL
WOMEN HAVE TO STAY WITH THEIR ABUSIVE HUSBANDS
NO FIGHTING AGAINST TYRANNY OR EVIL MEN
etc

This is one of the worst speeches I've ever read. It's absolutely horrible. Why anyone would think this is good is beyond me. How about the following?:

WE SHOULD PLAN FOR THE FUTURE SO WE CAN HELP MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE
ANYONE CLAIMING TO KNOW THINGS THEY DON'T KNOW SHOULD BE CALLED A FOOL
WE SHOULD ENCOURAGE WOMEN IN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS TO LEAVE
AND WE SHOULD NEVER BE A SPECTATOR TO TYRANNY OR INTOLERANCE - WE SHOULD FIGHT AGAINST IT AS HARD AS WE CAN FOR AS LONG AS WE CAN

20

Did you learn how to debate in school (or elsewhere)?

by compound complex in

jw
friends

last night i was taking another look at the term "dialectics":.

the art of investigating or discussing the truth of opinions: discussion; debate; logical reasoning; etc.. the dialectical method is, at base, a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to establish the truth through reasoned arguments.. while i intend to do further research on my own, what is your own experience regarding preparation for debate, the do's and don'ts, maintaining your cool, .

i ask, in part, because i observe that some online debaters present facts and figures and use sound reasoning while maintaining their decorum; many do not.. thank you..

Coded Logic

Not really sure I can add anything you don't already know but sometimes it's nice to have them written out.

Don't make things personal - attack the ideas of your opponent and not the opponent themself
Don't take things personally - identify ad homimen attacks and defend your arguments not your ego
Get you opponent to define terms - and don't allow them to move the goal post
Whenever your opponent offers a non-sequitur - grant it to them and explain why even if it's true it doesn't impact the issue
Remember that some of the most common logical fallacies are Post Hoc Ergo Proctor Hoc, False Equivocation, False Comparison, and the Argument from Ignorance. Having a firm understanding of what they are will help you quickly identify and combat them in debate.
Most Importantly: Don't play chess with a pigeon. If your opponent isn't engaging you with intellectual honesty or basic decency - then you're not having an honest conversation. In this case you need to either walk away (usually the best choice) or assume the moral high ground (effective if you're before an audience). If you're playing chess and your opponent starts moving pawns like they're queen pieces - it's perfectly okay to walk away from the game. And it's also perfectly okay to point out the person is either cheating or altogether doesn't understand how to play chess. Likewise, in discussion, if a person is failing to be honest or is just attacking you - it's okay to point out they're being disingenuous or out right lying.

34

Growing a beard

by Coded Logic in

i've always been currious as to how i would look with a beard so i've finally committed to doing it.

over the next 30 days i'm going to grow out a full chin to ear beard.. .

ps: any suggestions or advice on how to grow a beard would be much appreciated!.

Coded Logic

I've always been currious as to how I would look with a beard so I've finally committed to doing it. Over the next 30 days I'm going to grow out a full chin to ear beard.

PS: Any suggestions or advice on how to grow a beard would be much appreciated!

3

Moravec's Paradox

by Coded Logic in

this seems to be yet another nail in the coffin for creationist arguments.

the reason humans are intelligent isn't because we need brains capable of appreciating "gods creation".

rather, it's a side effect of needing large amounts of computational power for our highly refined motor skills.

Coded Logic

you can't work on a solution if you don't understand the problem. You can't code what you can't codify.

This may well be true - but's it's not the case when it comes to mobility. The problem is well understood. It just takes an incredible amount of processing power to maintain balance and and move limbs and digits in the way you want to.

Consider a relatively simple task - like picking up a glass of water. This requires the use of our primary motor cortex, our supplementary motor cortex, our premotor cortex, our posterior parietal cortex, and our occipital lobe. This over half of our brain.

And the parts of our brain that we use for things like mathematics, philosophy and other higher reasoning endeavors are very small and non-specialized.

Right now, on this planet we're the only species capable of preforming abstractions like writing poetry. But there's no reason to think that in a million years other species like bonobos, corvids, or octopods wont also be composing haikus. All species are transitory. And just because no other species are on our level yet doesn't mean they never will be.

Though I'm sure by then creationist will have switched their arguments from "mankind is gods special creation" to "god wants all species to appreciate his creation"