Qcmbr

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Posts by Qcmbr

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  62

  Enemies Of Reason -Richard Dawkins

  by frankiespeakin in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcs751gcp10.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52j5stxkbkq.

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  Qcmbr

  “If, on the Sabbath day, when we are assembled here to worship the Lord, one of the Elders should be prompted to give us a lecture on any branch of education with which he is acquainted, is it outside the pale of our religion?
  “Or if an Elder shall give us a lecture upon astronomy, chemistry, or geology, our religion embraces it all. It matters not what the subject be, if it tends to improve the mind, exalt the feelings, and enlarge the capacity. The truth that is in all the arts and sciences forms a part of our religion. Faith is no more a part of it than any other true principle of philosophy.”
  
  - Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 1, pp. 334-335.

  The early bravado subtely changes to a modern day less certain and guarded embrace of truth.

  "Church history can be so interesting and so inspiring as to be a powerful tool indeed for building faith. If not properly written or properly taught, it may be a faith destroyer…

  "There is a temptation for the writer or the teacher of Church history to want to tell everything, whether it is worthy or faith promoting or not. Some things that are true are not very useful… "

  - Boyd K Packer at BYU.
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  19

  Did you "Pray" for a "blessing" and get one?

  by LoisLane looking for Superman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  what about all the other 1,001 times you prayed for an intervention/blessing, and didn't get it?

  did you think you were "bad" or just figure god was too busy to bother with you?.

  just lois.

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  Qcmbr

  If Christian prayer worked then medical/financial/political/social/sporting miracles would abound and US hospitals would be empty places, nobody would be poor, everyone would eat well and you could tell the level of someone's faith simply by the health and wealth of said individual. The obvious truth is that prayer may have mild meditation benefits and better personal planning effects but it has absolutely zero material impact on the world because there is no spiritual, invisible world ,accessible by telepathy, controlling the real world and just itching to jump in and muck up physics by miracles.
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  62

  Enemies Of Reason -Richard Dawkins

  by frankiespeakin in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcs751gcp10.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52j5stxkbkq.

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  Qcmbr

  All religions, when they start, are open to the current knowledge of the time and can claim to embrace it because they build in the latest ideas available. Each year thereafter they struggle to defend their position as people discover new things. As we experiment we discover new truths and we discard old modpels for better ones.There is no shame or loss of confidence because reason drives the actual search for knowledge. Faith on the other hand, requires a fixed view despite subsequent evidence otherwise the final reward is at risk.Mormonism once claimed to embrace all truth, including scientific, because once it had nothing to fear from them, now it is running scared. We have incontrovertable dna proof that Israelites were not the "principal" ancestors of the American Indians, we have proof that the facsimiles used in the Book of Abraham are standard funery texts containing none of the supposed revelations, we have incontrovertable proof that there has been no global flood, no time of paradisical immortality for all life, we have proof that no huge undiscovered societies once lived in the Americas ( the same way we can say with certainty that Scotland was not once a bustling Ming dynasty province), we have proof that the prophets have no discernment (Hoffman forgeries) and we have proof of how stars produce light. mormonism is scrabbling to keep itself current and will unravel as its past catches up to it.

  As for offering private PM discussions on this board I suspect you have played your hand and revealed that you are in missionary mode and looking for converts. This board helped me to exit the church based upon seeing how similar core ideas were and how processes for control were shared. I invite you to, in public, in a specific thread , see if your testimony and truths can withstand honest and sustained reason and facts. Should you come out having put all 'enemies of truth' to the sword you would have done us all a favour otherwise , together, we would have shown , for all to see and benefit thereby, that Mormonism is not where seekers of a new faith post JW exit should look.
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  136

  After the cult how many reject faith in anything?

  by Seraphim23 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  [if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:relyonvml /> <o:allowpng /> </o:officedocumentsettings> </xml><![endif].

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  [endif][if gte mso 10]> <style> /* style definitions */ table.msonormaltable {mso-style-name:"table normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-language:en-us;} </style> <![endif].

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  Qcmbr

  I've got a place for religious style faith ( hope) in humanity but an abhorrence for faith as a means to find knowledge. The historical and cultural multiplicity of faith based religions is all the evidence I need that faith makes people very certain about provably false assertions, so certain that they will reject all information that disagrees with the object of their faith. Faith also allows gross immorality imo.

  so ... atheist.
• 
  62

  Enemies Of Reason -Richard Dawkins

  by frankiespeakin in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcs751gcp10.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52j5stxkbkq.

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  Qcmbr

  I want to prod ColdSteel a bit to respond (hopefully).

  The truth is that if God emblazoned incontrovertible evidence across the heavens, many would still reject Him.

  This is interesting, it's also not what Mormonism teaches:

  Mosiah 27:31 Yea, a every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess before him. Yea, even at the last day, when all men shall stand to be b judged of him, then shall they confess that he is c God ; then shall they confess, who live d without God in the world, that the judgment of an everlasting punishment is just upon them; and they shall quake, and tremble, and shrink beneath the glance of his e all-searching eye.

  The actual reason taught in LDS dogma is that Faith is the first principle of the Gospel:

  4th Article Faith - We believe that the first principles and a ordinances of the Gospel are: first, b Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, c Repentance ; third, d Baptism by e immersion for the f remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of g hands for the h gift of the Holy Ghost.

  And that the reason why faith is required is:

  Ether 12:6 And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that a faith is things which are b hoped for and c not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no d witness until after the e trial of your faith.

  Therefore this earthly life is a trial, to see who and what we are without accurate knowledge, in short we are required, according to LDS dogma, to live by faith without knowledge as a test and trial which, if we pass then gives accurate knowledge.

  Alma 42:10 Therefore, as they had become a carnal , sensual, and devilish, by b nature , this c probationary state became a state for them to prepare; it became a preparatory state.

  So returning to the quote above , it's nothing to do with those who would reject God (I suspect that there would be almost 100% acceptance of the existence of a god who gave 'incontrovertable evidence' much as there is 100% acceptance of the existence of the sun ) but more to do with invalidating this earthly test (i.e. God wandering onto the stage during the exam gives all the pupils the cheat sheet answers.)

  Therefore, LDS acceptance of faith as the first principle of the gospel is in direct and violent contradiction with the scientific method. LDS faith makes the lack of information the test condition and the human , subjective response the outcome. Science is unconcerned with such self-important and utterly delusional fluff and simply seeks to explain all observed phenomenon. The LDS god would be ruining the test if he ever gave any real answers that were useful for mankind.
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  22

  Can anyone decode this?

  by JWB in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  can anyone decode this?.

  catgacaaatttcaccaattcgaatagccgcc.

  this is not a trick question.

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  Qcmbr

  HDKFHQFE-P genome sequence?
• 
  62

  Enemies Of Reason -Richard Dawkins

  by frankiespeakin in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcs751gcp10.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52j5stxkbkq.

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  Qcmbr

  Cold Steel - let's discuss on another thread if you'd like so we don't get too far off the original topic (please , I'd like to do that!) but here is something that sums up core LDS challenges (by a member like me) http://www.roadkilldelight.com/NOM/JR.htm which I'll post rather than quote.
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  62

  Enemies Of Reason -Richard Dawkins

  by frankiespeakin in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcs751gcp10.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52j5stxkbkq.

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  Qcmbr

  Nothing 'revealed' in Mormonism has been correct in a factual way in fact , with the odd fortunate exception (e.g. No smoking), it has proven ridiculous, dangerous and a distraction from reality. Its cosmology is wrong ( there is no great star surrounded by lesser orbiting stars, stars do not get light from higher order of stars, nobody lives on the moon in Quaker style dress, planets do not convert into a crystalline non-entropic state etc.) , its history is corrupted ( current textbooks decontextualise the history and re-represent it in a whitewashed fashion, small example - I never knew Joseph Smith used a stone in a hat to 'translate' the Book of Mormon , instead I was taught and our artwork at the time showed Joseph using the Urim and thummim as a translation tool directly on the gold plates) , it's archaeology is absolutely zero - even tiny civilisations leave traces ( we find small bronze age houses on remote islands in the British Isles ) - but the million man battles and huge, concrete and city building people's of the BoM have left not one single shred of evidence, its ancient linguistic ability is laughable ( Book of Abraham facsimile used has been shown to be a standard finery text not , as mendaciously described by JS, a record written by the hand of Abraham, also the Egyptian alphabet he and the brethren concocted is utter gibberish), its social laws are as racist, sexist, homophobic and explotational as any ever written by any culture ( black men and the priesthood/marriage, polygamy, polygany, gay reclamation electro shock therapy, proposition 8, a woman's place is 'in the home' and so on) , its geology is absurd ( 6000 year old earth), its rejection of evolution and embrace of creationism unfortunate and demonstrably false and its contributions to physics, maths, astronomy, biology, geology, ancient history, genetics , medicine and all other scientific fields ranges from zero to galloping bollock twaddle.
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  38

  Has the feared and much anticipated,'Jehovah Witness Great Tribulation', now started in earnest during this year of 2013?

  by Sol Reform in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  the watchtower states that the great tribulation.... will start when the united nations attacks babylon the great.

  it appears individual states of the usa are starting to get that ball rolling right now.. .

  with the world wide child sexual abuse cover-ups across the globe getting special attention from the media.. legislators across the usa seem to have lost the fear of getting the nod of disapproval of 'clergy', especially from the younger members.. law professor marci a. hamilton writes, "across the country, the movement for justice for child-sex-abuse victims is finding that conversations that used to begin with a discussion of the catholic bishops' opposition (and then often ended abruptly) are now started by a member's saying, "they don't deserve deference on this issue.

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  Qcmbr

  When the supposed worldy attack against religion is initiated and caused by the world being outraged by the sexual immorality of religion then I say let them have their prophetic fulfillment and let the debate begin about how, we, the world, should regulate and restrict the rights and undeserved privileges of them , the religious.
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  20

  Brilliant Article On Aging

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.anti-agingfirewalls.com/2013/04/19/autophagy-the-housekeeper-in-every-cell-that-fights-aging-2/.

  the above relates to one my interests, fighting the aging process (i've seen it and decided not to participate).

  the really cool thing is that it ties together nearly every successful anti-aging intervention into one biological process.

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  Qcmbr

  All I got was fast every now and then + caffeine and green tea.