Posts by Rabbit

7

NOAH's FLOOD vs Science ??

by Rabbit in

ok, well this formatting looks weird...it should taste the same tho'.

web address:.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/.

Rabbit

OK, well this formatting looks weird...it should taste the same tho'

Web address:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/
071118213213.htm

'Noah's Flood' Kick-started European Farming?

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A woodcut from the Nuremberg Bible of Noah's Ark, depicting the ship built by the Hebrew patriarch to save himself, his family and a pair of each species of animal and bird from the Flood (Old Testament, Genesis 6-8), circa 1493. Victoria & Albert Museum. (Credit: iStockphoto/Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

ScienceDaily (Nov. 19, 2007) — The flood believed to be behind the Noah's Ark myth kick-started European agriculture, according to new research by the Universities of Exeter, UK and Wollongong, Australia. New research assesses the impact of the collapse of the North American (Laurentide) Ice Sheet, 8000 years ago. The results indicate a catastrophic rise in global sea level led to the flooding of the Black Sea and drove dramatic social change across Europe.

The research team argues that, in the face of rising sea levels driven by contemporary climate change, we can learn important lessons from the past.

The collapse of the Laurentide Ice Sheet released a deluge of water that increased global sea levels by up to 1.4 metres and caused the largest North Atlantic freshwater pulse of the last 100,000 years. Before this time, a ridge across the Bosporus Strait dammed the Mediterranean and kept the Black Sea as a freshwater lake. With the rise in sea level, the Bosporus Strait was breached, flooding the Black Sea.

This event is now widely believed to be behind the various folk myths that led to the biblical Noah's Ark story. Archaeological records show that around this time there was a sudden expansion of farming and pottery production across Europe, marking the end of the Mesolithic hunter-gatherer era and the start of the Neolithic. The link between rising sea levels and such massive social change has previously been unclear.

The researchers created reconstructions of the Mediterranean and Black Sea shoreline before and after the rise in sea levels. They estimated that nearly 73,000 square km of land was lost to the sea over a period of 34 years. Based on our knowledge of historical population levels, this could have led to the displacement of 145,000 people. Archaeological evidence shows that communities in southeast Europe were already practising early farming techniques and pottery production before the Flood. With the catastrophic rise in water levels it appears they moved west, taking their culture into areas inhabited by hunter-gatherer communities.

Professor Chris Turney of the University of Exeter, lead author of the paper, said: "People living in what is now southeast Europe must have felt as though the whole world had flooded. This could well have been the origin of the Noah's Ark story. Entire coastal communities must have been displaced, forcing people to migrate in their thousands. As these agricultural communities moved west, they would have taken farming with them across Europe. It was a revolutionary time."

The rise in global sea levels 8000 years ago is in-line with current estimates for the end of the 21st century. Professor Chris Turney continued: "This research shows how rising sea levels can cause massive social change. 8,000 years on, are we any better placed to deal with rising sea levels? The latest estimates suggest that by AD 2050, millions of people will be displaced each year by rising sea levels. For those people living in coastal communities, the omen isn't good."

This research was published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews.

Adapted from materials provided by

University of Exeter.

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University of Exeter (2007, November 19). 'Noah's Flood' Kick-started European Farming?. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 19, 2007, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2007/11/071118213213.htm

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10

Hypothetical Scenario... (Of a CULT, OMG!)

by saywhat29 in

jw
friends

okay, this hs been going on in my head for a while, and though i should be focusing on my finals and papers, this little scenario keeps playing out in my head and i wonder if it is just my biased that "omgz it's an effing cult!

" or if there is some truth to it.. say they actually did pass out styrofoam cups with 'true christian' kool-aid... and told them that they would be in the new system after they took a swig.... do you think that the majority would do it?

one would always do it in any religion as all have to have their die-hards, but i think the real identifier of a cult is the idea that *most* would and could not help to do so without question.. because i can't help but *know* that my mother, my grandmother, and my sister would be bodies after the end of this little scenario of mine.

Rabbit

No...not the Kool-Aid scenario.

Here's the thing about Jonestown, the people were conditioned by numerous 'possible' poison rehearsals. Of course, none resulted in death. The rehearsals brought them closer together as a closed us-against-the-world group. At the End, when people saw others dying...reality came back and the guns came out.

With Witnesses...their proverbial 'Kool-Aid' would have to something the GB have had them rehearse over and over in their minds like the blood issue. Or some kind of political or religious standoff of some sort. Maybe, the old 'sell everything, sent $$ to WT Gawd, lock-yourselves-in-the-KH-while-we-transfer-$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$-to-off-shore-accounts...sort of thing.

Rabbit

20

Why all the Testing?

by zack in

the bible is full of stories about god needing to test people, either as individuals or as a group, the most notorious being the testing.

of adam and eve.. why does an omnipotent and omniscient being need to "test" his creation?

are we like products in a factory?

Rabbit

shopaholic
I told her its a conscious matter and my conscious wants to live and her response, "No, a true christain would abstain from it all."

Sorry your relatives have the same blind-faith mindset as mine. They are so proud...of being so scared... of their Loving God.

I'm wondering...what happens after a JW signs the new Durable Power of Attorney...is there an expireation date ? I guess you could go demand the elders give you the original and destroy the copies. But, do the copies carry any weight if your unconscious and a bearer shows up at the hospital ?

Inquiring minds...anybody know ?

7

Gays deserve to be tortured says Iranian Minister !!!

by JH in

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,311025,00.html.

.

Rabbit

Thosewho don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Most Middle Eastern religions seem like they prefer it that way...

Rabbit

38

of weed

by inkling in

do you know of any current witnesses who smoke marijuana, even rarely?.

did you ever smoke weed while you were still a witness?

do you smoke it now?.

Rabbit

No

Like Hemplover...I love to laugh, too.

13

Neti Pot??

by noni1974 in

jw
friends

has anyone ever used one before?

?i just got one because i've been having alot of trouble with my nose being very dry and the back of my throat felt sore from it.i heard about them from tv.the oprah show i think.i also was had a sinus headache today.. i'll tell ya it was a strange feeling when i was doing it.i felt kinda like i was almost drowning but i could still breath through my mouth.my nose feels better it's not dry any more and my sore throat is gone and my head still hurts a little but not as bad.i think i'll try using it again later today after i wake up to go to work tonight..

Rabbit

I LOVE my Neti Pot !

Every year, my allergies cause so much congestion -- and thus a great place to grow germs, I end up with sinus, then ear, then lung infections. Ended up at the hospital a couple of times.

Not since I've gotten my Neti Pot !

I don't use it every day, only when I start feeling stuffy. The only cold I've gotten lasted 1/2 the normal time and I was a lot less miserable.

It was weird the 1st time. Using warm water helps a lot. Just follow the instructions carefully to minimize the scary part...1st time. For me it was not at all like drowning, it's more like getting water up your nose when you jump into a pool. It's better, because there's no high chlorine and it's warm.

Once you get used to it, you can actually feel the water gravity drain, by tilting your head, into each of your 4 sinuses. Gravity flow is considered much safer than pressure feed, because you don't want to push germs into the ear canals, for obvious reasons.

Love 'Em !

7

Gays deserve to be tortured says Iranian Minister !!!

by JH in

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,311025,00.html.

.

Rabbit

I think this thread should have gotten more attention, so I'm posting the article below. JH, thanks for posting this !

Gays Deserve Torture, Death Penalty, Iranian Minister Says

Tuesday , November 13, 2007

By Dominic Kennedy

FC2

Homosexuals deserve to be executed or tortured and possibly both, an Iranian leader told British MPs during a private meeting at a peace conference, The Times has learned.

Mohsen Yahyavi is the highest-ranked politician to admit that Iran believes in the death penalty for homosexuality after a spate of reports that gay youths were being hanged.

President Ahmadinejad, questioned by students in New York two months ago about the executions, dodged the issue by suggesting that there were no gays in his country.

Britain regularly challenges Iran about its gay hangings, stonings and executions of adulterers and perceived moral criminals, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) papers show.

The latest row involves a woman hanged this June in the town of Gorgan after becoming pregnant by her brother. He was absolved after expressing his remorse. Britain said that this demonstrated the unequal treatment of men and women in law and breached Iran’s pledge to restrict the death penalty to the most serious crimes.

A series of reported executions of gays, including two underage boys whose public hanging was posted on the internet, has alarmed human rights campaigners.

The Pet Shop Boys dedicated Fundamental, their Grammy-nominated album, to Mahmoud Asqari and Ayad Marhouni, who were hanged in Justice Square in Mashhad in 2005. Graphic photographs of the execution of the youths, who were under 18 when arrested, were released by the Iranian Students News Agency.

Gay rights groups in Britain, such as Outrage!, accuse Iran of cloaking executions for homosexuality with bogus charges for more serious crimes.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, the FCO released papers to The Times about the death penalty being used in Iran for homosexuality, adultery and sex outside marriage.

Minutes taken by an official describe a meeting between British and Iranian MPs at the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a peace body, in May. When the Britons raised the hangings of Asqari and Marhouni, the leader of the Iranian delegation, Mr Yahyavi, a member of his parliament’s energy committee, was unflinching. He "explained that according to Islam gays and lesbianism were not permitted," the record states. "He said that if homosexual activity is in private there is no problem, but those in overt activity should be executed [he initially said tortured but changed it to executed]. He argued that homosexuality is against human nature and that humans are here to reproduce. Homosexuals do not reproduce."

Nicole Pichet, a researcher who also took notes of the gathering, told The Times that the discussion began with British MPs discussing the underage gay hangings. Mr Yahyavi responded by saying homosexuality was to blame for a lot of diseases such as Aids.

Ann Clwyd, the Labor MP and head of Britain’s delegation, said yesterday: "It is of great concern that these attitudes persist and we made it clear what we felt."

Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Nigeria apply the death penalty for homosexuality, according to the International Lesbian and Gay Association.

Sharia’s Victims

2005

— Homosexuals Farbod Mostaar and Ahmad Chooka sentenced to death. Iran said Chooka had kidnapped, knifed and raped a student

— A woman called Soghra was sentenced to stoning for adultery and being an accomplice to her husband’s murder

— Two men executed in public after being found guilty of a homosexual relationship. A newspaper said they were convicted of sodomy, rape and kidnapping

— Zhila Izadi, 13, sentenced to stoning after becoming pregnant with her brother’s child

2006

— Malek Ghorbany sentenced to stoning for adultery

— Leila Qomi sentenced to stoning for adultery and assisting a man who killed her husband. He received 100 lashes

2007

— Jafar Kiana stoned for adultery. His female lover Mokarrameh Ebrahimi sentenced to the same fate

Source: Foreign and Commonwealth Office documents released under Freedom of Information Act

20

Why all the Testing?

by zack in

the bible is full of stories about god needing to test people, either as individuals or as a group, the most notorious being the testing.

of adam and eve.. why does an omnipotent and omniscient being need to "test" his creation?

are we like products in a factory?

Rabbit

Here's another test...a blood test.

Since I lost my JW mom to this stupidity, this is a big issue for me. I was talking to one of my grown JW children, the only one who talks to me, about the New Light the WT has shined on fractions. The New Light Durable Power of Attorney had just come out and I wanted to encourage her to check all the boxes that would allow her to take these fractions.

I said, "Now that the GB says these fractions are OK...it's the best thing to do. I don't want to attend another funeral for you...over this issue,"

She said, "No, that's not what the GB said. They didn't say "it was OK", they said it was a "conscience matter". And we're supposed to have a strict conscience. And we know there's still a separating work -- even among the brothers & sisters."

"So, we think all these changes are a TEST. We think the original understanding is the correct one. So, I marked, "No Blood products of any kind on my No Blood Form."

Congratulations to the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses ! You guys (and your lawyers) are some ~~smart~~ clever bastards ! Your fear-mongering, mind control works great. You've done a great job of keeping people on-the-edge-of-their-seats and off-balance. Even when forced by your lawyers to see impending liability, YOU STILL GET YOUR WAY.

You ~~want~~ need people to die for your beliefs and using their fear of you, representing their god -- they think the way you've worded the new Blood Card...is just another TEST.

Rabbit

11

Sect holes up in cave to await end of world

by Rabbit in

gotta love the hope scary invisible spirits gives us mere mortals.. .

sect holes up in cave to await end of world by tatyana ustinovathu nov 15, 8:57 am et.

at least 30 members of a russian doomsday cult have barricaded themselves in a remote cave to await the end of the world and are threatening to commit suicide if police intervene, officials and media said thursday.. "they have covered the entrance and refuse to come out and are threatening to blow themselves up," an official in the local prosecutor's office told reuters by telephone.

Rabbit

Media reports said the cult members believed the world would end sometime in May next year. Police expected them to emerge when their supplies ran out.

So, sometime around June, I suppose they'll all walk out into the sunshine of a world still here. Can you imagine how they would feel ? Embarrassed ? Humiliated ? Educated ? Learned a hard lesson ?

Sadly, like the Millerites (?) who sold all their stuff and went out and waited on that hill for deliverance...they could only admit they made a mathematical error. Then came the Adventists, Russellites, Int'l Bible Students, Jehovah's Witnesses...and me.

After 1975 did not result in billions of theocratic murders by my Loving God... and I wasn't living in Paradise, I accepted bad math, new light, old light, brighter light, 'spiritual food at the proper time', as excuses...yet kept believing the BIG lie for 3 more decades.

But, if those Russians don't 'blow themselves up' to ensure a trip to heaven, maybe, maybe...they will walk away a little wiser like many of us have done.

Rabbit

11

Sect holes up in cave to await end of world

by Rabbit in

gotta love the hope scary invisible spirits gives us mere mortals.. .

sect holes up in cave to await end of world by tatyana ustinovathu nov 15, 8:57 am et.

at least 30 members of a russian doomsday cult have barricaded themselves in a remote cave to await the end of the world and are threatening to commit suicide if police intervene, officials and media said thursday.. "they have covered the entrance and refuse to come out and are threatening to blow themselves up," an official in the local prosecutor's office told reuters by telephone.

Rabbit

Gotta love the hope scary invisible spirits gives us mere mortals.

Sect holes up in cave to await end of world

By Tatyana Ustinova Thu Nov 15, 8:57 AM ET

At least 30 members of a Russian doomsday cult have barricaded themselves in a remote cave to await the end of the world and are threatening to commit suicide if police intervene, officials and media said Thursday.

"They have covered the entrance and refuse to come out and are threatening to blow themselves up," an official in the local prosecutor's office told Reuters by telephone. "They threaten to detonate a gas tank and blow themselves up."

The cult members, who include 29 adults and four children, are hidden inside a snow-covered hillside in the Penza region of central Russia. A Penza police spokeswoman said they had moved into the dug-out on November 7.

"No one wants to take on the responsibility of provoking them ... because our information is that there are children among them," said the official.

They are thought to have taken food and fuel supplies in with them and Russian television pictures from the scene showed smoke or steam coming out of a hole in the snow-covered ravine where it was built.

A police patrol was guarding the area to prevent anyone provoking them.

"They are simple Christians," a local priest, Father Georgy, told NTV television station. "They say: 'The church is doing a bad job, the end of the world is coming soon and we are all saving ourselves'."

Media reports said the cult members believed the world would end sometime in May next year. Police expected them to emerge when their supplies ran out.

After decades of state-enforced atheism under Soviet rule, many Russians and other ex-Soviet nationals have come under the influence of homegrown and foreign sects.

Many Russians have refused new passports and taxpayers' personal identification numbers, saying the figures contained "satanic" combinations of numbers.

Izvestia newspaper said the leader of the cult, Pyotr Kuznetsov, had been detained by police. It said he was a 43-year-old who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and that in the last few months he had been sleeping in a coffin.

Police took Kuznetsov to the cave to persuade his followers to come out but without success, said the newspaper.

(Reporting by Tatyana Ustinova; writing by Dmitry Solovyov; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.