Posts by dubstepped

340

Calling Cofty and others regarding evolution

by dubstepped in

jw
friends

so i have started down the path of trying to understand evolution, and to get the linear lies that the jws planted in my head out of it.

i bought an audiobook called "evolution: what the fossils say and why it matters" by donald prothero.

i heard it recommended on an atheist podcast that i listened to.

dubstepped

Well crap, the site erased my reply and now I can't get out of this quote box on my phone, lol.

340

Calling Cofty and others regarding evolution

by dubstepped in

jw
friends

so i have started down the path of trying to understand evolution, and to get the linear lies that the jws planted in my head out of it.

i bought an audiobook called "evolution: what the fossils say and why it matters" by donald prothero.

i heard it recommended on an atheist podcast that i listened to.

@HTBWC - I get what you're saying. You're telling me a way of seeing what happened. However, it doesn't explain how any of that happened, merely that it did. I want to understand how it happened. How did Luca become birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and fish? Why only those things and not something else? To my understanding that speciation (if that's the correct term) would be macro evolution. So how did Luca form those other species? What process happened? Why? Why aren't there new species like mammals or birds or amphibians or whatever?

340

Calling Cofty and others regarding evolution

by dubstepped in

jw
friends

so i have started down the path of trying to understand evolution, and to get the linear lies that the jws planted in my head out of it.

i bought an audiobook called "evolution: what the fossils say and why it matters" by donald prothero.

i heard it recommended on an atheist podcast that i listened to.

dubstepped

So I have started down the path of trying to understand evolution, and to get the linear lies that the JWs planted in my head out of it. I bought an audiobook called "Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters" by Donald Prothero. I heard it recommended on an atheist podcast that I listened to. Unfortunately the book spent more time destroying creationists (and very thoroughly I might add), of which I'm not, than it did really explaining evolution. I was sorely disappointed. However, I do feel like I pieced together some things between his rants against creationists and want to see how close I am to understanding. I thought he was supposed to go into the primordial soup but he never even mentioned it.

What I gather is that there are two types of evolution, micro and macro. Micro involves small changes in species like a certain type of sparrow (I think) that developed the ability to crack nuts for food as the food supply changed on an island. Macro would occur when new species evolve. Such evolution occurs due to environmental pressures or maybe some part of dna changing through reproduction. It is more likely to occur somewhere like on an island that is more isolated and where a change in one progeny is less likely to breed out due to a large population.

Fossilization doesn't happen often and needs specific circumstances to do so that aren't often found. So it isn't really fair to assume that we'd have fossils of all of the different changes throughout time. I get that.

Unlike the linear way that evolution was presented to us where an amphibian turns into a mammal that turns into a monkey and eventually a human (I butchered that), there were slight changes over time in chimps over time that led to us. There is only a small difference in dna between us and a chimp.

Now I may have the above wrong. Feel free to correct me. I'm trying to grasp the concept.

From what I do understand above I feel confused in one degree. I get micro evolution. It is easy to see. What I can't quite grasp is macro evolution. I get that there are fossils or whatever of different primates and changes where they begin to look more human over time. I get that such macro evolution takes place over looooooong periods of time. I get that a bird's wings or dolphin's flippers or human's hands have similarities to one another. I just can't seem to grasp how those different species evolved in the first place. I see that birds can evolve to have different characteristics, but are birds still evolving in a macro way into something as different as a dolphin is from a bird? Or if such a small genetic change as there is between a chip and a human creates such different creatures (we are quite different than a chimp even with 99% similarity in DNA), then why don't we see other large changes like that more? I hope I'm explaining my questions well. I'm not asking the old "if humans came from monkeys, why are there still monkeys" question. I just want to understand why there aren't new species entirely being developed that we can see. Are we humans evolving into something else? Is there something else evolving that isn't a bird or fish or mammal or that has such large differences as between those three types of critters?

Feel free to set me straight. I'm open to watching a video or reading another book (if in audio form) but think that some of you that are more knowledgeable can set me straight more directly. I've tried researching some things and feel like I'm jumping in the middle of a deep pool and that I'm probably not ready for that yet.

I know that Cofty knows his stuff, and so do others on here. I respect your minds on this subject immensely. I'm finding myself more stuck in black and white linear thinking than I expected while trying to grasp this.

6

New Episode with a Special Announcement

by dubstepped in

*new episode with a special announcement*.

so episode 5 of "shunned" is now up featuring caleb, a 19 year old ex-jw that was brave enough to take a stand for truth at just 18 years of age.

he's leaving for the army on january the 23rd so i tried to get this one out as soon as possible.

dubstepped

You're welcome. The February episode, which I announce on there, is quite the story. I'm going to have to give trigger warnings on that one. It's going to help a lot of people if they listen, or at least that's the goal.

29

Anxiety, OCD, Hoarding, and the JWs

by Spiral in

i'm noticing what seems to be a higher incidence of the above among the local jws than in the "general" (read: worldly) population.

i don't say this lightly, my wanderings around the fringes of jw society locally is revealing an alarming trend here.

the poverty doesn't help (there are good jobs, but you need a degree or qualifications to get one).. anyone else see this?

dubstepped

Well sure. In their simplest forms those things are all a person seeking control. JWs lack control because they're being controlled so they seek it elsewhere. I kind of got hoard-y at one point, not like the tv show but still bad, my anxiety went wild, as did depression and I've always had little compulsions.

It all pretty much went away by leaving the cult.

6

New Episode with a Special Announcement

by dubstepped in

*new episode with a special announcement*.

so episode 5 of "shunned" is now up featuring caleb, a 19 year old ex-jw that was brave enough to take a stand for truth at just 18 years of age.

he's leaving for the army on january the 23rd so i tried to get this one out as soon as possible.

dubstepped

*New Episode with a Special Announcement*

So episode 5 of "shunned" is now up featuring Caleb, a 19 year old ex-JW that was brave enough to take a stand for truth at just 18 years of age. He's leaving for the Army on January the 23rd so I tried to get this one out as soon as possible. If you'd like to listen by streaming from my site, and more likely if you'd like to leave Caleb a message of support, you can do so at http://shunnedpodcast.com/episode-five-caleb-is-shunned-by-jehovahs-witnesses/

There is also a special announcement on this episode about what is coming up in February. It will be a different type of episode. Listen to learn more.

You can also listen on iTunes (Apple Podcasts), Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

36

Is it 16?

by Jrjw in

hi can anyone tell me if it's true the society says parents must take their child to meetings until they're 16 even if they don't want to?

my ex is being a pain about me not forcing my 12 year old to be a witness.

he doesn't know i'm becoming inactive at moment so i have to be careful how i word things to him.

dubstepped

So you were in an authoritarian abusive cult and married a man that mirrors their qualities.

What you do with your child is neither his business nor theirs. He's the ex for a reason, and someday they will be too. Why would you even care if there was such a rule or suggestion?

13

aspects of shunning

by stan livedeath in

many members on here have been shunned.

we know whats its like--and the effect it has had on our lives.

but what about those of us who practiced shunning before--when we were members of the watchtower cult ?.

dubstepped

I felt awkward around DFed people. As a kid I think I was kind of scared of them. Curious though, as to what their life was like. Now that's just with people that I actually saw.

With people that got DFed and I never saw again I did feel superior. They were so stupid but I was so smart for choosing the right path.

I never had to do much shunning in person. When my younger brother was DFed I struggled. The situation was strange, the elders were assholes, and it was my first personal glimpse into it all. I realized that it was more about crime and punishment, or in his case assumed crime, and really messed up.

I chased after my brother even after he was DFed. I wanted to help him. I left notes on his car that he apparently never got. I wanted him to know that not all congregations were as messed up as what we grew up in. I'd later find out I was wrong there too. Anyway, I did care genuinely and wanted to help.

Eventually I spent years reading books on psychology, emotional health, narcissism, etc. I realized how horrific the act of shunning was. It is psychological manipulation and torment. My first act of rebellion was finding my brother on Facebook and reaching out with an apology. The rest is history.

So I had a complicated relationship with it all. Sometimes I felt superior, sometimes awkward, other times compassionate, it was circumstantial.

Shunning brings some back if they had close ties that they missed, though they came back for the wrong reason. It pushes others away and they'll never go back to such conditional relationships. So much is variable. It depends on individual personalities, circumstances, etc.

18

Talking Janet Jackson and Religious Freedom with the Wife

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

my recent sidewalk discussion with a couple of jw's has gotten me in the mood to say more when appropriate.so the wife and i were riding in the car and cat stevens comes on.

i mentioned to her that cat stevens left music when he was still popular and converted to islam back in the 1970's- how he was told that his music would have to be morally acceptable and he found it easier to just abandon making new music for at least 20 years.

so i didn't really remember all the details and i figured the conversation would die.

dubstepped

I agree with ToesUp. You handled that very well. Waking up isn't often one big jolt but a series of questions and doubts over time. You just opened her mind a bit. You can bet she's thinking about it even if she never says a thing.

12

Disassociation and being young, experiences?

by Kohanic in

ok so im new here~ hey-yo!.

i found this site cause i've been looking around at experiences of people leaving 'the truth' as i've been wanting to leave for some time now.

it's interesting as y'know i'd never seen it from the other side as its apostate literature and all that jazz lol.

dubstepped

Disassociating is for you, not them, so who cares how they announce you. It is an atom bomb dropped on everything you knew. My wife and I did it and it was the best decision we ever made. It is immediate freedom. You no longer have to play their games like most who fade. You will lose everyone though. Don't fool yourself like some do into thinking that somehow you'll keep JW friends or family. It can happen but is the exception, not the rule.

With that said it's a very serious decision and it is a bell that you cannot un-ring. Once you do it there's no going back so you had better be sure.

You very well may get kicked out. Be patient unless something is on fire. Establish yourself apart from them. You have the rest of your life ahead of you.

Oh, and welcome to the forum!