anyone watching this...in uk or usa.
it is really funny.
but it just doesnt have the ricky gervais factor.
I watch the US show but it is not very good. The second banana comes off as a creep instead of a comedic pompass ass. The main character is mean, vindictive and not funny at all.
The only characters who get their parts right, the woman playing the secretary to the boss and the salesman who is in love with her but is afraid to tell her. They are very good. Everyone and everything else on the US version is horrible.
i just happened across an article titled "the sociology of the ayn rand cult" that was written in 1972 by the libertarian economist murray rothbard.
(ayn rand was the author of the novels the fountainhead and atlas shrugged.
) as i read the article, i noted so many similarities with jws, particularly as regards practices of thought and behavior control (including disfellowshipping, shunning, dividing families, banning forbidden books, discouraging free discussion, claims to being the one source of truth, and so forth).
I read that work in 1993 when I first began reading Ayn Rand. It helped me not to fall into the trap of becoming a "Randroid." It was not enough to make me dismiss Rand as the greatest mind of the 20th century. As a person Rand was not pleasant. As a philosopher she had no equal. I follow the philosophy Rand developed. It is called Objectivism.
Today Objectivism is divided into different schools, the Ayn Rand Institute continues the intolerant strain in Rand's thinking. If Rand said it that is the end of the discussion.
The Objectivist Center looks to Rand as the begining of the discussion. !00% agreement with Rand is not expected and TOC hopes to spread Rand's thought as far and wide as possible.
Philosophy and religion are very similar. The trick is not to let philosophy repeat the mistakes of religious cults of personalities.
Atheism is the only logical position. Everything else is superstition.
from the perspective of this imperfect world, seeing something perfect would seem quite amazing.
such as the omega particle or whatever it was called in star trek.. but what if you lived in a world (or heaven for that matter) where everything was so perfect that it was extremely predictable, and there was never any point in trying to improve anything or fight for a cause and everyone always had the perfect answer for you?.
maybe that's why "god" created the universe and maybe the universe is a perfect way of experiencing randomness?
brooke:
From your picture I would say you are a "perfect babe"
i see so many people on this board who are angry over what the witnesses took from them.
i often feel the same way, so i try to do something anti-jw every year, which seems to help.
do you know what i'm going to do this year?
I celebrated Christmas until I was 14. Since I was a hardcore Witness I did not miss it at all. Both of my brothers hated not celebrating.
A few years after I left the Watchtower I practised Judaism for five years so I still did not celebrate Christmas.
Now that I am an Athiest, I celebrate the Winter Solstice and tell everyone that I celebrate the pagan holiday that Christmas is based on.
from the perspective of this imperfect world, seeing something perfect would seem quite amazing.
such as the omega particle or whatever it was called in star trek.. but what if you lived in a world (or heaven for that matter) where everything was so perfect that it was extremely predictable, and there was never any point in trying to improve anything or fight for a cause and everyone always had the perfect answer for you?.
maybe that's why "god" created the universe and maybe the universe is a perfect way of experiencing randomness?
Narkissos:
Evolving into sentient beings homo sapiens decide for themselves what is good and bad. Anything that helps a human achieve happiness is good. Anything that blocks human happiness is bad. The only caveat to this is you cannot intiate force against another human.
The majority of humans ignoring this simple axiom is the biggest reason for human misery.
from the perspective of this imperfect world, seeing something perfect would seem quite amazing.
such as the omega particle or whatever it was called in star trek.. but what if you lived in a world (or heaven for that matter) where everything was so perfect that it was extremely predictable, and there was never any point in trying to improve anything or fight for a cause and everyone always had the perfect answer for you?.
maybe that's why "god" created the universe and maybe the universe is a perfect way of experiencing randomness?
The cats in your back yard are happy chasing mice. They may not have evloved into sentient beings as homo sapiens but they are living their lives to the best of their ability. Your cats are perfect cats. Why do you think they are unhappy? Because they have not invented a Cat God to enslave themselves?
from the perspective of this imperfect world, seeing something perfect would seem quite amazing.
such as the omega particle or whatever it was called in star trek.. but what if you lived in a world (or heaven for that matter) where everything was so perfect that it was extremely predictable, and there was never any point in trying to improve anything or fight for a cause and everyone always had the perfect answer for you?.
maybe that's why "god" created the universe and maybe the universe is a perfect way of experiencing randomness?
Human perfection can be defined as "using your own mind and body to your best ability."
Doing that we do not have to pretend but have reached perfection.
from the perspective of this imperfect world, seeing something perfect would seem quite amazing.
such as the omega particle or whatever it was called in star trek.. but what if you lived in a world (or heaven for that matter) where everything was so perfect that it was extremely predictable, and there was never any point in trying to improve anything or fight for a cause and everyone always had the perfect answer for you?.
maybe that's why "god" created the universe and maybe the universe is a perfect way of experiencing randomness?
Depends on your definition of "perfection"
A hammer is the perfect tool to pound nails but it is an imperfect tool to insert screws.
The purpose of human life is to be happy. If a person lives his life recognizing that fact, that person is perfect. Curiosity, exploring, learning, and all other means of personal growth are expressions of human perfection. That is not boring.
Star Trek writers and most people today fail to understand perfection. Their definition of perfection as sustainability with no growth is anti-life, anti-human. That is not perfection.
hey everyone... i'm back!.
had a great time in mexico.
what a thrill it was to deliver books and supplies to the library in tulum.
When I was in school in the late 60's and early 70's my history books said that the Maya were a peacefull people excelling in math and astronomy.
I have read in National Geographic magazine that the Mayas were just as bloodthirsty as the Aztecs, engaging in constant warfare between the various city states and that the Maya kings had to pierce their own scrotum with a cactus needle, draw a rope through the hole spilling the royal blood on the ground to ensure the lands fertility.
i'm currently reading a book called "heaven's mirror" by graham hancock.. it theorises that the ancient egyptian pyramids, certain monuments in cambodia and mexican pyramids are built according to an ancient system which seems to have been mysteriously spread across the globe, sometime prior to 10,500 bc.. they base this theory on commonalities between the sites, most especially significant astrological correlations which are astounding.. here is a link to graham hancocks site with a description of the book http://www.grahamhancock.com/library/hm/default.htm.
what i found surprising is that he promotes many jw ideas.
firstly he comments upon how many of the cultures report a "global cateclysm" in their mythology.
The various types of pyramids around the world are monuments to the limitations of ancient human technology and were created independent of each other.
Any ancient architect would have to come up with a pyramid shape if he wanted any real height. A pyramid is a shape that would easily come to mind without need of borrowing from another civilization. There is no evidence of pyramids from one part of the world having any correlation to other pyramids. They are very different.
The latest theories that I have read have Homo Sapiens coming out of Africa in three different time periods. The original inhabitants of Australia and New Guinea being descendants of the earliest wave. I have read that geneticists trace all modern humans to an African woman from around 200,000 years ago. Our ancient African great grandmother may be called "Eve" but that is the only similarity to the Biblical fairytale.
American Indians have a dificult time accepting that they did not spring out of the American earth. They cling to religious belief in place of science as doggedly as any fundamentalist Christian.
