Posts by Midget-Sasquatch

234

Intelligent Design

by Delta20 in

hey all,.

i am currently studying the topic of intelligent design (id).

basically the id theory is the revival of the teleological argument for the existance of a deity.

Midget-Sasquatch

Yep...I'd rather have pros too.

But I wouldn't mind being that ingenious.

234

Intelligent Design

by Delta20 in

hey all,.

i am currently studying the topic of intelligent design (id).

basically the id theory is the revival of the teleological argument for the existance of a deity.

Remember the TV show Macgyver? Dude could jerry rig all sorts of useful things from items used for different purposes. Natural selection also works with what's available. Its just an algorithm that can yield results that we would look upon as intelligent choices in that given situation with the given materials. A non-sentient process can mimic intelligence. There's one possibility besides the Bible god scenario that can be considered. There can be more than one as FrenchBabyFace was saying before.

21

da vinci code??

by myvalk in

anyone know what it is about?

?

Midget-Sasquatch

I've got to be able to immerse myself in a storyline for me to enjoy it. While that takes some suspension of disbelief, all the errors, and making out things that just aren't in the artwork of Davinci, made the whole story too hard to get into. I think the only thing that kept me reading it was the character Silus. First thinking that he was going to be a key "evil" figure ( come on, those characters are fun, admit it). But then I mostly felt sorry for how he was exploited. The Body with Antonio Banderas was a more believable story to me, but I'm not saying it was good.

12

You've seen me you've seen the Christ

by peacefulpete in

ok that title was bit provocative but that's not far from my theme in this thread.

who was paul?

even separated from the pseudopauline material attributed to him we seem to find a stoic philosopher, a mystery cultist, a selfless martyr and a self glorifying egomaniac among other things.

Midget-Sasquatch

Very interesting thread topic. I've enjoyed everyone's thoughts on it.

Put another way, IMHO you should be able to see "Christ" in every "Christian".

That expression in particular struck me. The divinty within is both gift and responsibility to be the vessel/channel for divine action within the material world.

That the deity, or some aspect of it, is infused into the believer upon imbibing its body was key to some of the surrounding mystery religions. Since Paul did make use of some of their elements in his evolving teachings, I'm not surprised that this concept is present in some form. Who knows if Paul actually meant to take it as those religions did or the more appealing and nobler view expressed by LittleToe. If Simon Magus was completely fictitious, maybe he was the Jewish Christians' caricature and envisioned end product of such teachings?

13

Why Let The Elders Tell You What To Do?

by minimus in

jw
friends

if any are still going to meetings or allowing the organization to control you, i'd like to know why are you allowing the elders to dictate to you what is right and wrong.

the elders are no better than you!

Midget-Sasquatch

Like Maverick mentioned, for alot of us there's the family as hook. From at least this fader's perspsective, its about working the system, and letting the system somewhat work for us. Every group has some amount of social reciprocity within it. Gotta give to be able to take, simple as that.

I try to meet the bare minimum of those and do what I damn well please behind closed doors. I'd venture that alot of elders and ministerial servants do too, because less than two years ago, I was still an active MS, and in our meeting with the CO he was spending quite a bit of time on internet porn.

32

Growing Old and Dying on the Paradise Earth

by Leolaia in

the standard watchtower teaching about the coming "paradise earth" has, as its most prominent feature, the promise of everlasting life and eternal youth.

this expectation is especially based on such texts as revelation 21:1-4 which declares: "i saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had disappeared now, and there was no longer any sea.

i saw the holy city, and the new jerusalem, coming down from god out of heaven.... here god lives among men.

Midget-Sasquatch

I've got to stop reading these threads. I'm opening up the bible, looking up WT publications...My JW family would think I'm dying of something.

Here's some goodies from Brooklyn on "family planning" in Paradise:

***
g88 4/8 p. 27 Abortion?The Answer to Overpopulation? ***
Some 6,000 years ago, Jehovah God articulated his purpose concerning the population of the planet Earth. Jehovah declared to the first human couple: "Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it." (Genesis 1:28) Note that God?s stated purpose is to fill, not overpopulate, the earth. The Creator will achieve world population equilibrium?maintain reasonable population density, ecological balance, and adequate food production.?Isaiah 65:17-25.
It is reasonable to conclude that the Creator of human reproductive power will himself justly regulate its use to attain this perfect balance. There will be no need for abortions to limit population growth. Jehovah through the Kingdom of his Son, Christ Jesus, will ensure that the earth is comfortably filled with obedient mankind living in a global paradise.?Isaiah 55:8-11;

*** g83 8/8 pg.10 ***
It is reasonable to conclude that when that point is reached the Creator of the human procreative power will regulate its use as far as the earth is concerned.
Then obedient and grateful mankind will be willing to cooperate with whatever new requirements may be expressed. (Compare Revelation 20:12.) There will be no population explosion to threaten mankind?s future existence.

40

Why Do You or Don't You Believe In The Bible?

by minimus in

jw
friends

do you believe in the bible just because you were raised to believe?

are you sure it's "believable"?

.....have you convinced yourself the bible is just another book?

Midget-Sasquatch

I don't believe in it being the Word of God for many reasons. Even before coming upon higher criticism, alot of it was just plainly mythical to me. Now taking the more enlightened road of being able to learn valuable insights from the myths (as metaphors) is fine and dandy. But what was actually included was just a selection from a diversity of ideas, and it looks the selections made were for more than just spiritual considerations. The works themselves were reworked. There are inconsistencies, contradictions and at least one third of it (being nice) has a dreadful portrayal of god that makes me not want to know, much less worship "him".

Even with all that, there are parts of the Bible that resonate deeply with the smidgen of spirituality in me. Some people are enlightened and have beautiful ideas. I enjoy reading them along with other sources.

234

Intelligent Design

by Delta20 in

hey all,.

i am currently studying the topic of intelligent design (id).

basically the id theory is the revival of the teleological argument for the existance of a deity.

Midget-Sasquatch

Why do you assume that God has to be one of the complex things inside of the box?

Whose assuming God to be one of those things in the box? You're just side-stepping the point. Is God a complex entity or not? Wouldn't many people's conception be that God is the most complex entity of all?

32

Which is worse, Islam or Christendom?

by avengers in

lmfho .

lets first start off with the islam.. supposedly, the great prophet mohammed married a 7 year ol girl, but agreed not to consumate the marriage until she was 9.. (must we conclude that the founder of the islam was a pedophile?

now christendom.. mary conceived a child while virgin.

Midget-Sasquatch

I just find the doctrine abhorent

Hey Stilla, thats sorta like the Wahabi stance on Tawhid and shirk.

From your other statements, this little heretic would rather yap his disbelief around you though. I leave others to decide if/how that has any bearing on the thread topic.

32

Which is worse, Islam or Christendom?

by avengers in

lmfho .

lets first start off with the islam.. supposedly, the great prophet mohammed married a 7 year ol girl, but agreed not to consumate the marriage until she was 9.. (must we conclude that the founder of the islam was a pedophile?

now christendom.. mary conceived a child while virgin.

Midget-Sasquatch

Abbadon

Your post added some excellent points as usual. When Christianity in its beginnings wasn't involving itself in running political/secular matters we see little outward aggression from them. Of course, we all can see how nasty they were when they were holding total political power. But with the separation of Church and State things should get better - theoretically any ways ;).

Islam didn't and still doesn't have the notion of keeping "Church and State" separate. They had the trappings of power very early on, so many people focus on that facet of its history. If Islam could change in that aspect, then people can see how the aggression/violence is mostly due to politics.