Posts by Qcmbr

12

Out of context rude Star Wars Quotes

by Qcmbr in

on the dangers and fun that can be had with quote mining.

naughtiness ahead.

you have been warned.. star wars iv: a new hope.

Out of context rude Star Wars Quotes

by Qcmbr in

on the dangers and fun that can be had with quote mining.

naughtiness ahead.

you have been warned.. star wars iv: a new hope.

Qcmbr

On the dangers and fun that can be had with quote mining. Naughtiness ahead. You have been warned.

Star Wars IV: A New Hope

1. "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid."

2. "Curse my metal body, I wasn't fast enough!"

3. "Look at the size of that thing!"

4. "Sorry about the mess..."

5. "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought."

6. "Aren't you a little short for a Storm Trooper?"

7. "You're got something jammed in here real good."

8. "Put that thing away before you get us all killed."

9. "Luke, at that speed do you think you'll be able to pull out in time?"

10. "Get in there you big furry oaf, I don't care WHAT you smell!"

Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back

1. "And I thought they smelled bad on the OUTSIDE!"

2. "Possible he came in through the south entrance."

3. "I must've hit it pretty close to the mark to get her all riled up like that, huh, kid?"

4. "Hurry up, golden-rod..."

5. "That's okay, I'd like to keep it on manual control for awhile."

6. "But now we must eat. Come, good food, come...."

7. "Control! Control! You must learn control!"

8. "There's an awful lot of moisture in here."

9. "I thought that hairy beast would be the end of me."

10. "Size matters not. Judge me by my size, do you?"

Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi

1. "Rise, my friend."

2. "Open the back door!"

3. "Hey, point that thing somewhere else!"

4. "It's just a dead animal..."

5. "Not bad for a little furball."

6. "How can they be jamming us if they don't know we're coming?"

7. "Come here, I won't hurt you. You want something to eat?"

8. "Keep on that one, I'll take these two."

9. "I want you to take her. I mean it, take her!"

10. "I don't think the Empire had wookies in mind when they designed her, Chewie."

20

Book of Mormon the musical

by Tiktaalik in

jw
friends

i went and saw the book of mormon when i was in nyc last week.

it was superb.

so many great songs and so, so funny.

Qcmbr

Of course - I hope you know I'm an atheist now who no longer attends. I'm fascinated by religion and Mormonism because it had such a stranglehold on me and was able to alter how I saw the world. Also as an ex member( technically I'm still on the books) I know when the perception of Mormonism by non-Mormons misses context or goes wildly overboard and so every now and then I'll share a view from inside the Mormon curtain.AMA.

312

The Stone the Builders Rejected

by sabastious in

in the first post in this series i discussed the identity of the watchtower as per revelation 13. the second post dealt with the identity of the harlot and the scarlet beast.

this post will deal with the third element "the image of the beast", lets read revelation 13:15-17:.

the second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.

Qcmbr

I've told my story a few times but some highlights:

I wanted it to be true so much ( not just a , see it when you're dead way) and I couldn't understand the reason why what I read in the scriptures regarding miracles, building gods kingdom, truly getting information from god ( as in proper information like, 'missing girl x is in terrible danger, is praying for help and is being held captive at y' kind of useful, do good through god type message) , healing ( this was a big one for me and was always the thing I loved most about bible Jesus) and so on was not happening. I asked god in prayer what I could do, what I could sacrifice, what I could change to make myself available for him to manifest his power. I wanted to build up the kingdom of god so bad and to blaze forth the name of Jesus everywhere to help heal this fallen world and do my part as best I could. Of course I got no answer other than ones I made up ( be patient, be humble , wait on me etc.) In addition I was struggling , on this site, to find convincing answers to very tough and unrelenting questions from atheists and skeptics, the truth shouldn't be hard to justify I thought. I couldn't understand why god wasn't giving me insight in how to lovingly but substantively respond. I decided that it had to be answered, I needed to know if I was defective in some way or if god just didn't want me to do anything on his behalf. I realised I'd never sacrificed my belief, I'd never risked it, if I was unwilling to give up my belief in god then what worth was that belief? I told god in prayer what I was going to do ( study, pray, seek out answers from all areas, examine my life, my beliefs, live righteously, await divine revelation and at the end if no answers came accept that god did not exist) and then did it. Several years, lots of reading, lots of thinking, hours of prayer, critical appraisal of myself and my core beliefs and confronting the central idea that, despite all my seeming spiritual experiences, the wonderful community I was part of, the amount of investment I had made in my faith, I could be utterly wrong.

I was wrong. My faith was vain. My beautiful dream was over. My cause and my devotion a sham. Now I'm just a naked bunch of self aware hydrogen atoms from the beginning of the universe contemplating itself, I am the universe aware and my former god is no longer valid nor needed and such retarding concepts as sin, repentance, eternal punishment, invisible beings, talking animals, armageddons, virgin births, angels are replaced by an enthralling moment of consciousness , now, me, filled with exploration and experience , a moment that is me and refuses to be cheapened by blood sacrifice or ancient myths. This moment I finally feel free to explore and be what I can be. No gods dictate my paths and I hope to help others to realise just how magnificent they are and how little they need invisible dictators.

51

Did we ever fulfill Mathew 24:14?

by raymond frantz in

i know ... many mistakes and a nasty leadership ,but did jehovah's witnesses fulfill even partially matthew 24:14 :"the good news will be preached in all the inhabited earth and then the end will come "are we to expect a final or a completely different fulfilment of this verse ?

.

Qcmbr

Yes, the sign is in a poorly drawn picture. You are the messiah. Please could you feed the starving children this time around.

312

The Stone the Builders Rejected

by sabastious in

in the first post in this series i discussed the identity of the watchtower as per revelation 13. the second post dealt with the identity of the harlot and the scarlet beast.

this post will deal with the third element "the image of the beast", lets read revelation 13:15-17:.

the second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.

Qcmbr

Strypes, ironically you cite the no true Scotsman fallacy and then use it beautifully in describing Cofty's experience. Well done.

There is a very devout Calvinist at work who would give our more fervent members a run for their money. He is adamant that I was never a Christian and that is why I cannot see or understand the self evident truths of Calvinist God. He includes all born agains, Catholics, liberal Christians, heretical offshoots like JWs , Mormons and SDAs in the same boat. Almost no one on this forum would qualify as a Christian to him.

As a former Christian I can affirm I was as committed and as believing as anyone here. I was less touched by the full on visionary style Christianity than some, I was much less verbally effusive in the love bombing 'Im a slave mwah' style Christianity, I was not a 'straining over a gnat' gotta quote a wall of text peppered with scriptures Christian , I was not a 'god chats to me daily at bedtime' style Christian but I was a devout, try my best, pray hard, get moved by music/human acts of kindness/ inspirational speeches/natures beauty/ vastness of space/love/ hope/dreams/ideals/virtue/endurance Christian, felt as though the spirit did give me guidance, felt surges of emotion like love and hope when discussing or contemplating the divine, felt like I'd had the spirit wash over me many times and act as a constant moral guide , well read scripturally, served my fellow people, evangelising , praying for my enemies christian.

Of course, now that I see it for what it is and share that knowledge, I was never a Christian , I could never have been. Silly thing is, when I was a Christian I used to say the same thing about people who I knew who had fallen away.

29

Proof that Bible is a Hoax

by Monsieur in

if the bible is really a very intricate hoax, what is the objective?.

i've read some theories that it has been used to succesfully make a 'business' of religion.. is this really it?

to make money?.

Qcmbr

Bibles write themselves. One story gets shared at a campfire amongst not very skeptical people (normally children and credulous adults ) and they adopt this story as true and give it sacred place in their culture ( sacred is another way of saying 'don't question or doubt' ) Another similar story gets shared and so on. Storytellers have different motivations, some are hoaxers seeking a bit of glory, some are political manipulators seeking power, some are social manipulators seeking to unify or objectify certain groups, some are subject to perception failures and poor memory and some are mentally ill. As long as the story resonates and produces an emotional response it is given much greater weight by the person who is affected. Rousing stories of war become scripture to warlike Vikings, Hebrews and Persians, vengeful stories of floods and supernatural murder are beloved by small insecure and endangered societies like Ancient Israel, medieval Europe etc., myths about fabulous rewards and divine sexy time appeal to poor patriarchal societies like Hindus and ancient Arabs, stories about eternal families and animals acting like humans gets matriarchal societies and groups on board like the women's instutute and so on.

This is the pattern for all religious writing , this is how the Book of Mormon, Dianetics, Genesis, Bhagvad Gita, The Shepherd of Hermas, Koran, Little Red Book, Epic of Gilgamesh, Beouwulf, Book of the Dead, Vol Popli and so on get written, accepted, believed and made sacred.

43

Trend of Fewer Baptisms Continues: Latest JW Conventions in New Zealand

by steve2 in

the round of "international" conventions that started in the middle of last year in the states "wrapped" up last weekend in new zealand.

there was some media converage (from which i derived the information that follows).

(someone who knows how to copy links may be able to provide the relevant media links?).

Qcmbr

Was reading a discussion over on an ex-mo / fading mo board where reference was made to an admission made by an LDS official that the members are leaving in large numbers and it has got the higher church leaders very worried. Someone also made the astute observation that the people leaving now comprise of a higher number of committed members. A high recruiting group will attract and shed flaky people all the time but it's viability rests on its core members and it's the core that Mormonism is losing. Baptisms have reached maintenance levels in most of the West and growth of 1% is only in numbers not in attending members( I.e. there is a 1% growth but all of that is in inactive members so if we have 100 active members and 100 inactive then there are 2 baptised and 2 go inactive so now we have 100 active and 102 inactive but a membership increase of 1%). The other point they made is that resignations are up. Only active members tend to resign since inactives have moved in with their lives and are less likely to bother with paperwork.

36

What argument is there for a single God?

by Qcmbr in

mormon culture is replete with the concept of multiple gods and requires it to work.

other than a few biblical references does anyone have any compelling arguments for why any god, deist , creationist or full on personal god would - of necessity- be alone.

the argument seems somewhat weaker if the gender is applied as well.

Qcmbr

Thanks for all responses. I think its clear that tradition and scriptural reading apart there is no real reason for a god to be a sole being except we like heirarchical patterns and concepts like omniscience which suit a top dog rather than a pantheon. Love seems a much overused concept and motivation for a largely empty , barren and hostile universe with a tiny smattering of self conscious former hydrogen atoms who have barely survived on a life threatening planet. Its as if our awareness of self and the imminent end of our own life manifests in a group pretence of eternal life and the unending perfect man.

36

What argument is there for a single God?

by Qcmbr in

mormon culture is replete with the concept of multiple gods and requires it to work.

other than a few biblical references does anyone have any compelling arguments for why any god, deist , creationist or full on personal god would - of necessity- be alone.

the argument seems somewhat weaker if the gender is applied as well.

Qcmbr

Is the ability to create an intrinsic requirement of god or merely an emergant property , in other words can a being be a god without creating anything, for the god = love team, can you be a god of love if you do not create?