For me being a witness was like being slightly intoxicated. At the beginning the booze of the Truth worked fine. I "knew" I worked hand in hand with the angels. And the cure for all my problems was just around the corner. Great booze wasn't it? When I occasionally managed to see that the Truth is only a drug, I had to use more of it to delete such nagging doubts from my consiousness.
The question "Lord, where shall we go away to? which the WTS uses to cripple the self-dependence of the witnesses could be rephrased as: "Lord, which drug shall we use as a replacement"? For me, the question is flawed. You don't need a drug to face reality. Or at least, you have to make the drug and test it by yourself. With the WTS as the sole drug factory and dealer, you never know what you buy and how it will backfire on you.
End of metaphor.
Cheers,
Pole
Posts by Pole
-
28Would you want to go back to that 'illusion and fantasy'?
by Gill inhi all, and especially scoobysnax as i was just reading your post.. i saw a bit of the news yesterday and the archbishop of canterbury was giving a sermon.
the newscaster said that he was warning about the world's obsession with youth.
i'm not so sure that's what he was saying though.. he said, or words to this effect, that he felt pity for those who believed that they would never grow old, suffer illness and death in this life, and 'god help them' because of the illusion that they were living under.. i don't think he was talking about youth.
-
-
Pole
-
16
It's time thay they thank Jesus personally
by Samson init's interesting to me that as a jw you aren't able to say thank you to jesus personally.
that would be considered praying to him would it not?
if he were here again as a man then it would be o.k.
-
-
Pole
Thank for what?
Pole -
46
What evolution is NOT, Installment 1: "How coud it all happen by chance?"
by seattleniceguy inas a supplement to my series on simple evidences for evolution, i thought i would also write occasional articles addressing common misunderstandings regarding evolution.
in this one, we'll address that common stumbling block, "but how could something so complex have come about by chance?
the probability is just too small.".
-
-
Pole
Mac,
The poop theory as expounded by yourself seems to make perfect phonological sense. :-)
Pole -
46
What evolution is NOT, Installment 1: "How coud it all happen by chance?"
by seattleniceguy inas a supplement to my series on simple evidences for evolution, i thought i would also write occasional articles addressing common misunderstandings regarding evolution.
in this one, we'll address that common stumbling block, "but how could something so complex have come about by chance?
the probability is just too small.".
-
-
Pole
Narkissos,
And what I metaphorically called "will" may just be the indescribable "inner side" of what must be described as "random" from the outside.
Actually AlmostAtheist made a good point here:
The random aspect of it is that there was no intent on the part of the sun to send it for the purpose of causing the mutation. It was just in the right place at the right time. In that sense, it's random.
True randomness only exists in mathematics. Full randomness means maximum entropy where nothing is predictable. Usually the probability theory when applied to the real world relies heavily on the concept of "conditional probability", which is the probability of the event X happening knowing that the event Y has happened. Randomness is thus only one of the factors involved. But you're right - there are some philosophical problems with it which I think ultimately boil down to having to choose between mechanistic determinism or some mystical force of randomness.
Maybe our language is to blame again? In every (meta)physics I know we use at least two fundamental constructs: metaphors (we've already discussed them) and modality (necessity, obligation, probability). I'd say they can be equally confusing.
Back to the topic...
I understand the mechanistic evolutionary theory of small genetic steps leading to big changes. What I don't get yet is when I see a relatively simple organism which uses stunnigly elaborate survival techniques which must have required thousands of small precise changes. Of course the concept of divine creational intervention obscures more than it explains in such cases. But it seems like something very important is missing from the mechanistic approaches. An external controlling factor? Yeah, I'm talking metaphysics again...
Pole
-
19
4-1-05 WT Galileo and Catholic Church: Lessons to be learned
by blondie ini won't go through the whole account of galileo; he believed what his eyes told him, not the church, and died under house arrest.. .
the wts has these comments:.
because galileo rejected an interpretation of scripture based on greek philosophy, he stood condemned!
-
-
Pole
Wow, you've edited blank space, blondie.
:-)
Pole -
45
If JWs Are A Cult, I Believe Roman Catholicism Is Too
by minimus ini believe that jehovah's witnesses are a "cult".
to be a "good roman catholic" you have to be "cultic", that's for sure!
their beliefs and practices, rites and ceremonies are simply weird!
-
-
Pole
Stromboli,
if someone (after JWs) felt the need to join wouldn't you find it strange?
Well, I would only hope having been a JW has at least taught the person to be a liberal Catholic :-).
On a personal note, I definitely find it strange when a former witness goes devoutely Catholic. The key thing to my mental recovery was finding out "the truth" about organised religion, then refuting the Bible as an "insipred" book, and finally seeing through all those God metaphors that have been around since the beginning. That's what really crippled me for a while.
Narkissos,
Leaving sematics aside, don't you think it makes more sense to address the issue in pragmatic terms? Like: which of the two cults (if you like) has a worse effect on the totality of its members? Which one has a worse historical track? Which one does more harm than good and in which coutries/social groups? Does a general comparison really make sense?
Check out James's squirrel: (if the marxist.com domain doesn't scare you away :-))
http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/james.htm
Pole -
45
If JWs Are A Cult, I Believe Roman Catholicism Is Too
by minimus ini believe that jehovah's witnesses are a "cult".
to be a "good roman catholic" you have to be "cultic", that's for sure!
their beliefs and practices, rites and ceremonies are simply weird!
-
-
Pole
Stromboli,
Yeah I'd love to do some ring-kissing.
I have no argument to make here really other than - as you said it all depends on the person - but that's the point - the proportions. I've seen more good people destroyed by the cultish mentality among JWs than among Catholics or mainstream Protestants. I guess it's just easier to think for yourself as a Catholic. Much easier to get away with being reasonable in the crowd. Whether this is due to the size of the religion only and to the long and gory history of the RCC which taught them a lesson is another issue.
Pole -
45
If JWs Are A Cult, I Believe Roman Catholicism Is Too
by minimus ini believe that jehovah's witnesses are a "cult".
to be a "good roman catholic" you have to be "cultic", that's for sure!
their beliefs and practices, rites and ceremonies are simply weird!
-
-
Pole
Dang, looks like we have a favourite topic to debate, Stromboli :).
Cult or no cult? well you're right who cares! they just ain't good...is that pragmatic?
You mean most Catholics aren't good? Or most JW's aren't good? Or do you mean some of their doctrines?
Pole -
35
is America No. 1?
by Pleasuredome inthis is an interesting article i found.
i guess if you were to ask anyone on a street anywhere in the world what they think is the leading developed country in the world, they'd probably say the us.
so with that in mind, here's some interesting statistics.... .
-
-
Pole
Thanks adelmaal :-). Made me blush. I'll put it back again when I find it. Don't you like this bearded version of myself at the age of 98?
Pole -
35
is America No. 1?
by Pleasuredome inthis is an interesting article i found.
i guess if you were to ask anyone on a street anywhere in the world what they think is the leading developed country in the world, they'd probably say the us.
so with that in mind, here's some interesting statistics.... .
-
-
Pole
From my personal persepctive, it's definitely no#1 in terms of many new technologies/industries. 9 out of 10 job offers in language engineering I get to see are from the US. Europe is lagging behind miserably. But that's just my personal frustration.
Pole