Pole

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Posts by Pole

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  49

  Here's to Evil Force....

  by avishai in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  one of the most ironically named posters i've ever seen.

  kind, strong, intelligent, patient with those who are intolerant.

  within the few short mo.

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  Pole

  Oh yeah, I got to like him almost right from the start.
  
  Pole
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  7

  Secret of the Living Bible revealed

  by Amazing1914 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  recently, a funeral was held for kenneth taylor of wheaton, illinois who died at age 88. he is the author of the living bible, published by tyndale.

  the living bible is often known for being a paraphrased version.

  those who have translational concerns do not like some of the liberties taken by the living bible.

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  Pole

  Good post, Amazing.
  The Living Bible is my kind of translation, too. Totally reader-oriented.
  Text-oriented translations which asume a gobbedly-gook tone and thousands of footnotes containing Hebrew transcriptions for fear of omitting some 3000 year old semantic ambiguity are totally useless for the "lowliest farmer".
  Let the scholars play with their toys. And let the people enjoy good books.
  Pole
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  22

  The EU and WTS prophecy

  by dorayakii in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the european union does not exist on the american political landscape.

  at a time when many foreign-policy experts are looking toward a multipolar world with the eu and china as two of the important poles, when foreign-policy issues are more important in the u.s. presidential election than at any time in recent memory, george w. bush has not even mentioned the eu in any speech given in 2004. not once.

  (http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/10/18/news/edslaughter.html) .

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  Pole

  dorayakii,
  
  Good clarification - though you shouldn't forget Maroni (what a name btw :) doesn't represent all political forces and their views on getting rid of the Euro in Italy. The double-currency idea you've mentioned could have only originated in Italy, I guess. LOL.
  
  
  Pole
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  22

  The EU and WTS prophecy

  by dorayakii in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the european union does not exist on the american political landscape.

  at a time when many foreign-policy experts are looking toward a multipolar world with the eu and china as two of the important poles, when foreign-policy issues are more important in the u.s. presidential election than at any time in recent memory, george w. bush has not even mentioned the eu in any speech given in 2004. not once.

  (http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/10/18/news/edslaughter.html) .

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  Pole

  If I may chip in with my favourite personal resentment :-)
  With Jacques Chirac and other key figures of the EU politics who are so miserably out of keeping with reality I can't see how the EU may play an important role in the near future.
  Let's see:
  Jacques first arranged a EU constitution referendum although it wasn't technically necessary. Fine - let the people decide.
  He then lost the referendum because he seemed not to realize the more he advocated for the constitution the less his compatriots felt like supporting it. (Poor Jacques thought actually people looked up to him).
  When the French said 'Non', he announced Europe was now in "an unexpected crisis" (what?) and that France would now strengthen its ties with Germany. He thus returned to the idea of a two-speed Europe on the excuse of his own failure. The Dutchies rejected constitution as a strawman representing their own meilny domestic issues. Fear of immigrants, currency change speculations - what do those things have to do with the constitution? Meanwhile Ukraine announced they would strengthen their ties with Russia as the prospects of joining the EU have now completely faded - even in 25 year's time.
  Now, to divert attention from his failures, Jacques started a mayhem of a fight with the Brits over the UK rebate. He risks even more EU disintegration, but blaming everybody else for his failure is still better than admitting a series of mistakes.
  This is just one (although a very prominent) example of how strong Europe seems to be at the moment.
  As for the Euro, Italy is considering having a referendum over whether they should get back to the Lire.
  In my opinion Europe is on the verge of political Balkanization. (not in terms of wars breaking out but in terms of turning into a continent of hostile countries cherishing their own petty interests, while the rest of the world are leaving them behind). As an Eastern-European I tend to agree with one journalist who wrote: "Historians may come to say that Europeans never knew they had it so good, but then they threw it away".
  So the WTS may as well start looking for another King of the North/South (I forgot which one it was).
  Pole
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  54

  Does the idea of a bodyless soul make sense? Could the 'soul' stay sane?

  by IronGland in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  as i lay in my pod yesterday i began to think of the following.

  in many religions-christianity, hinduism, and buddhism, as well as greek philosophy-attempts are made to mortify the body, to respond as little as often to it's carnal needs and what-not.

  this is possible to be prepared for a new existence as just a disembodied soul, in some heavenly spirit realm or what-not.. .

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  Pole

  but, how do you know this?

  By way of metaphor. It's the left angular gyrus speaking again. LOL :-) Pole
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  54

  Does the idea of a bodyless soul make sense? Could the 'soul' stay sane?

  by IronGland in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  as i lay in my pod yesterday i began to think of the following.

  in many religions-christianity, hinduism, and buddhism, as well as greek philosophy-attempts are made to mortify the body, to respond as little as often to it's carnal needs and what-not.

  this is possible to be prepared for a new existence as just a disembodied soul, in some heavenly spirit realm or what-not.. .

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  Pole

  the obscure reality lurking behind the drug of consciousness

  
  

  Wow. My left angular gyrus loved that one.

  
  Oh yeah - I wasn't addressing my post to stroke patients. :-) Well, at least I admit that part of "my soul" is hopelessly trapped in my gyrus. LOL.
  Rod P,

  But on the other hand, how do you explain Savants? How do you explain the gifted people who seem to produce super-human results that you and I can't seem to accomplish? Yet, at the same time, they are operating thru a severely "handicapped" body.

  Interestingly, minor brain damage doesn't have to be bad. Some stroke patients exhibit special artistic skills without suffering any observable side effects. This seems to suggest that you can "tamper with" "the soul" by stimulating the biological brain. Of course it's easier to spoil something than to gain a new talent through a random stroke, but as it has been observed the latter is also possible.
  Pole
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  54

  Does the idea of a bodyless soul make sense? Could the 'soul' stay sane?

  by IronGland in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  as i lay in my pod yesterday i began to think of the following.

  in many religions-christianity, hinduism, and buddhism, as well as greek philosophy-attempts are made to mortify the body, to respond as little as often to it's carnal needs and what-not.

  this is possible to be prepared for a new existence as just a disembodied soul, in some heavenly spirit realm or what-not.. .

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  Pole

  Does the idea of a bodyless soul make sense? Could the 'soul' stay sane?

  
  Well, at least it makes no sense trying to seriously conceptualize something that doesn't belong to the physical world that we belong to.
  

  What about those with mental disabilities, caused somewhat by how their brain is either undeveloped or damaged? Since a physical cause is partially responsible for the condition of the soul, will the soul still carry that condition without the brain?

  
  
  Right on. I gave up the concept of soul as an intellectual hoax when reading about stroke patients and the kind of disabilities they get depending on which part of their brains suffered in the stroke.
  For instance there is a part of the brain called the "left angular gyrus" which seems to be responsible for decoding metaphors. Patients who had a stroke in this area had a peculiar cognitive disability:
  

  When asked, for example, about the meaning behind 'All that glitters is not gold', one person with a deficient left angular gyrus said, "The deep meaning is that we have to be very careful when buying jewellery."

  
  So why am I mentioning this? Because I believe in a few decades we will have identified (that doesn't mean we will know how exactly they work) different parts of the brain as physically responsible for the different attributes and faculties of what we have called our soul and what we have separated from the body for so many centuries. You can already stimulate certain parts of the brain to rekindle religoius feelings in die-hard atheists.
  And if you can lose some capabilities of "the soul" in a stroke, then it means you can do harm to the immortal soul by taking a physical action.
  Let's face it: we are material. All this soul-talk is a smoke-screen that helps some cope with the obscure reality lurking behind the drug of consciousness.
  Pole
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  5

  Keep On the Watch - Week of June 13

  by ezekiel3 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  "that you may not enter into temptation".

  "keep on the watch and pray continually, that you may not enter into temptation.

  16-17), and "draw close to god" (pars.

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  Pole

  zeke,
  
  Good analysis - especially for lurkers who may still be wondering if any of this crap really makes sense. Like this argument:
  
  

  God's temporary permission of hardship has allowed time for others to embrace the truth.

  
  
  And your reply to this:
  
  

  What a bogus point. The world's population is growing expidentially, any of the few that are saved are greatly outweighed by the billions more born that will have to the executed! Ridiculous.

  
  
  That's right - the world's population has grown by billions since the days of Russell. So Jehovah's patience only means billions of deaths more not millions of deaths less as the witnesses have it. It's one of those facts that the Witnesses have so plainly wrong in numerical terms. So the question now is: if Jehovah isn't saving more people by delaying the A-day, then what's the real reason he has been delaying it? Looks like the only answer they had makes no sense.
  
  Thanks for bringing it up.
  
  Gary,
  
  Don't give them good ideas. :)
  
  
  Pole
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  33

  If you won the lottery would you still work anyways???

  by JV in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm really, really curious about everybody's opinions on this.

  say you won the lottery would you continue to work???

  or would you retire to pursure a shuffleboard career among other things??

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  Pole

  I'd quit 3 of my 4 jobs.
  
  Pole
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  56

  dropped wife off at convention this morn...

  by tetrapod.sapien in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i just got back home from dropping my wife off at the convention this morning.

  i took the day off of work so i could celebrate the occasion of freedom from mass-delusional-cult-think-programming.

  out on the porch, sun shinning, birds chirping, scotch in one hand, demon haunted world in the other.. as i was driving my wife to the convention grounds, she thanked me for all the help i had provided her in getting ready for the convention, and for driving her.

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  Pole

  i really really felt free. above the hustle and bustle of the convention, i could hear birds in near by trees singing along with the song, and i thanked nature for my conscious existence on this tiny little planet, in the history of this vast cosmos.

  
  
  
  
  
  Pole