ringo5

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Posts by ringo5

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  17

  Things you want to try now that you're not a dub...

  by ringo5 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i tried this because i'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie, but i am also a bit afraid if heights(or edges to be more precise)so i wanted to know if i could do it.

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  i did it albeit with more swearing than others there, another perk of ex-dubdom....

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  ringo5

  I tried this because I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie, but I am also a bit afraid if heights(or edges to be more precise)so I wanted to know if I could do it
  
  I did it albeit with more swearing than others there, another perk of ex-dubdom....
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  55

  for atheists/agnostics

  by BlackSwan of Memphis in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  how did you get to the point where you are at now?

  was it primarily new information that made you rethink religion and god?

  learning about the ice age, the universe, the fossils out there?

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  ringo5

  Absolutely... nature is awesome. The earth itself is a work of art... Majestic, Breathtaking, and awesome...

  
  
  Nature is awesome in many ways. Here's a Pic of a beautiful sunset..
  
  
  
  This is a sample of some spectacular sunsets that occurred for many months after the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, that killed nearly 40000 people from pryoclastic flows and huge tsunamis (some est. at 100ft high). You can read more about it here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krakatoa#The_1883_eruption
  
  Another "natural" force, bacteria , was responsible for an est. 234 million deaths in the 14th century alone ( I really can't picture in my mind that # of people) known as the "Black Death".
  
  The naturally occuring forces all around us can inspire or terrify us, and rightly so, because they are out of our control for the most part. However, it is much easier for the athiest to comprehend these forces because he doesn't need to perform any kind of mental gymnastics to counter the incongruity of an onnipotent creator with devastating natural forces and bioorganisms. For instance, who created that bacteria? Or, are the forces of plate tectonics somehow initiated or accellerated by "sinful" mankind?
  
  We are very fortunate to be able to understand these kind of forces better than any other time in history, and at least demystify them. Unfortunately for many of our predecessors, they had very little scientific knowledge to work with. In the case of Black Death, this, combined with the inability of religion to explain or cure this disease, made for a very dark period in our history.
  
  Without science, we would be able to do little but pray over the bodies our diseased loved ones, or offer sacrifices to the god of the volcanos, among many other scenarios that presented themselves in the past as hopeless.
  
  

  God used to be the best explanation we’d got, and we’ve now got vastly better ones. God is no longer an explanation of anything, but has instead become something that would itself need an insurmountable amount of explaining.
  Douglas Adams

  
  
  Ringo5
  "preferring reality over fantasy" class P.S. would like a scientific explanation why can't paste a #@$%! picture...
• 
  1380

  The Gentiles Times Reconsidered--Again but this Time By Using the Bible

  by thirdwitness in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  think about this: if seven times mean only 7 years then daniel could have simply said 7 years.

  why does daniel specifically use the word 'times' rather than years?

  as we have already shown daniel used the word for 7 times instead of 7 years.

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  ringo5

  Hoping4change made the same old tired comments about how the Bible does not give actual dates so we have to use secular history to start somewhere. Do I really need to comment on that.....again.

  
  
  Is this how you answer questions in the ministry? Hoping4change asked that on page 2 so I looked on all pages so far in this thread and have not seen that question addressed yet.
  
  Can you at least point to the specific post # that addresses that question, (considering you cannot arrive at any specific dates without using secular sources) since it is directly on topic with this thread?
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  85

  A Bad experience with JW is a permit for SIN?

  by El Mariachi in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i've been reading some sad experinces here... i dont see anyone talking about the bible... only how misserables the organization made their lives... ok ...so because of that...now i have permission to smoke marijuana and commit fornication?

  this sounds pretty much like aa... and everybody having his/her personal "superior power" who is giving them the permit to do whatever they want...

  i've been df for 4 years now and also dont agree with some jw teachings... why instead of blaming the wt for everything dont we look for the real truth in the bible and make things right.

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  ringo5

  Let's see, I should prepare myself before replying to these satan-loving heathens....First my breastthingy of righteousness,check...
  loins are girdeth with truthTruth, check....magic helmet of salvation, check... and most importantly, my CAPS LOCK OF LOUDNESS, CHECK
  Onward Christian El Mariachi soldiers!
  
  

  The angel prince of Persia...umh who can it be???? Michael one of the CHIEF ANGELS came to help Daniel... I know who Michael is...even the Demons know that..MATTHEW 8:28,29.JAMES 2:19 Daniel 10:12: "GOD HAS HEARD YOUR PRAYERS EVER SINCE THE FIRST DAY YOU DECIDED TO HUMBLE YOURSELF IN ORDER TO GAIN UNDERSTANDING" Thats what a LOT OF US NEED HERE. I thought that this site was filled with REAL EX-JW But still Christians... But GOD'S ENEMIES ARE EVERYWHERE ARENT THEY? Good luck in the LAST DAY OF EVERYONES LIFE.... I am sure you will have LEARN BY THEN MANY,MANY CONVINCING ARGUMENTS HERE TO TELL TO JESUS CHRIST IN JUDGMENT'S DAY. For me I'll pass.... I WONT BE EXCUSING MY-SELF BECAUSE THE WATCH TOWER OR THIS ELDER DID THIS TO ME BLA,BLA,BLA. This is my first and LAST DAY here. 1 TIMOTHY 4:1

  
  
  NO,NO! I confess! I confess! Not the Caps Lock, PLEASE!
  
  Oh no, now I'M DOING IT! AAAARRRGGGHHH!
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  194

  Thank you Jehovah for answered prayers

  by Annie Over in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i got off for lunch today i decided to go to the walmart deli and get something to eat.

  it is a huge store, groceries, a bakery, mc donalds, a bank , eye center, beauty shop, a great deli, and a huge garden center.

  i had taken back a 80 gig hard drive dvd recorder ( i couldn't figure out how to hook up <smile> and had received 238.00. i picked up a couple of things in the store then went to the deli.

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  ringo5

  There is no hole in my logic on this point, BizzyBee. There is a hole in the logic of anyone who would think the expressions "respect as equals" and "deserving of respect" are synonymous.

  
  I'm starting to see FunkyDerek's point about you loving a semantic argument. There can be respect for a person without respecting their outrageous ideas.
  
  This is because ideas are not sentient beings, and should only be respected on they're ability to withstand legitimate questions, not the current popularity of said view.
  
  I noticed you ignored my other point,

  It's not uncommon for believers to feel personally slighted when the power of their god is questioned (as if he can't defend himself), but not usually when it's intimated that his interests are in purses as opposed to people, as this shows him to have some pretty scewed priorities, and arguing that point of view just belittles that god, rather than elevate him.

  
  
  It has always seemed that religious ideas could not be subjected to the same logical questioning that all legitimate ideas, (say as in the scientific field) need to be to show their validity. I can only hope this changes, since this "idea" of god has got a lot of explaining to do.
  by the way, welcome wonderwoman, always loved that suit, rarrrr...
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  27

  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on 60 Minutes last night

  by Jourles in

  1. social
  2. current

  did anyone else watch the interview of mahmoud ahmadinejad(iran's president) on 60 minutes last night?

  i thought his answers were both clever and honest.

  it's funny i never heard about the letter he sent to bush three months ago.

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  ringo5

  I gotta go with bush this guy is a crazy terrorist...

  
  
  Do you really have to choose between these two mofo's?
  
  They both have their own gods whispering in their ears so they're both dangerous IMO...
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  194

  Thank you Jehovah for answered prayers

  by Annie Over in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i got off for lunch today i decided to go to the walmart deli and get something to eat.

  it is a huge store, groceries, a bakery, mc donalds, a bank , eye center, beauty shop, a great deli, and a huge garden center.

  i had taken back a 80 gig hard drive dvd recorder ( i couldn't figure out how to hook up <smile> and had received 238.00. i picked up a couple of things in the store then went to the deli.

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  ringo5

  Not to get in between two master debaters here, but I would like to say that in spite of all the chivalry displayed on behalf of Annie, she seems cheerfully undaunted by anyone's comments. Good for her - she's obviously a big girl who knows her own mind and can take what is dished out. I still don't see where anyone insulted her personally, so the oft-used word "ridicule" seems a bit over the top.
  
  As a four-month lurker here, Annie had to know that crediting Jah with answering her prayer was a provocative stance to take, and it has resulted in a very interesting exchange. And this is a discussion board, not a warm bubble bath. I'm not totally sure how to feel about being lectured to about how to treat 'newbies' - did I miss a memo? - aren't they included in the Posting Guidelines - which do not seem to have been violated in this thread?

  
  
  Ditto.
  
  However, Auldsoul seems to have been more offended than Annie and has taken the ridicule of this idea of "Jehovah's preservation of purses" personally to some degree. It's not uncommon for believers to feel personally slighted when the power of their god is questioned (as if he can't defend himself), but not usually when it's intimated that his interests are in purses as opposed to people, as this shows him to have some pretty scewed priorities, and arguing that point of view just belittles that god, rather than elevate him.
  
  That being said, I have enjoyed most of the exchanges, but would wish to see this idea explained better:
  
  

  If even 25% of the world believed in the protective nature of invisible elves persons who believe thusly should be accorded respect for their belief. But that is not the case with this poster. Her belief is not a fringe belief. It is not a silly notion, by virtue of the very commonality you admit. It is much less ridiculous simply by reason of the fact that it is a common perception.

  
  
  This is a similar view to "all opinions should be respected as equal and deserving of respect", only it's being argued here that the respect and equality of a certain view is directly proportional to the popularity of that view. (i.e. more popular = more equal)
  
  Is this actually the thought you wished to convey?
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  194

  Thank you Jehovah for answered prayers

  by Annie Over in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i got off for lunch today i decided to go to the walmart deli and get something to eat.

  it is a huge store, groceries, a bakery, mc donalds, a bank , eye center, beauty shop, a great deli, and a huge garden center.

  i had taken back a 80 gig hard drive dvd recorder ( i couldn't figure out how to hook up <smile> and had received 238.00. i picked up a couple of things in the store then went to the deli.

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  ringo5

  Hey Nina, I prayed to Jehovah that you would come back!
  Seriously, glad you came back, stay a spell...
• 
  23

  Candida Anyone?

  by looking_glass in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  since someone started a thread about "remember when there were pianos in the hall"?

  i thought i would start this thread ... remember when everyone thought they had candida?

  maybe it was just in il and wi.

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  ringo5

  Sounds like a wave of Brewer's Yeast imbibing dubs in the 70's led to a outbreak of Candida Yeast Syndrome in the 80's!
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  19

  I asked... and I have recieved.

  by saki2fifty in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, just go back from my little trip up to austin and had a really great time.

  hung out with wifey, visited the state capital, did some site seeing, and conquered the muddy buddy race!

  after 3 days away from home, we're now back in houston and i was eager to get back on the board and do some reading.

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  ringo5

  Bye Micheal, drop by anytime.
  Keep asking questions, especially when someone says they have the truth . Don't get discouraged if you don't find all the answers either, questions aren't a bad thing, they make life interesting (you'll get more comfortable with that after a while).
  
  Cheers , ringo