I think it is educational to know that this is a potential way of being for humans. It is important to have a powerful connection to reality. Without that, powerful change can never occur.
Posts by Spook
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48I made a mistake
by under74 inthe other day i was on a site....looking for a certian news clip i had seen where an older news guy get's mad at the news anchor that replaced him on air...anyway a hit came up reading old news anchor and i downloaded it.
after it was done downloading i started playing it.
this guy's handing out things to certain people he calls by name at a press conference.
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17
A JWD / Knowledge Jones ...
by Taylor S. ini've been thinking about it in my sleep ... can sleep.
it's been less than a month since i stumbled onto this site while researching the roots of jwism for a character i'm writing on.
since then, i haven't written anything, haven't done much recreationally .... i've just been digging deeper through this site and simultaneously .... digging through my memories of growing up dub.
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Spook
Nice to find a fellow writer! PM me some time!
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38
Archaeologists in Ethiopia discover 12 fossils around 4 million years old
by hawkaw inhttp://www.reuters.co.uk/newsarticle.jhtml?type=sciencenews&storyid=7815576§ion=news&src=rss/uk/sciencenews
ethiopia archaeologists make important fossil find sat mar 5, 2005 12:03 pm gmt
addis ababa (reuters) - archaeologists studying human origins in eastern ethiopia have discovered 12 fossils that appear to be older than the famous fossil "lucy," the team leader said on saturday.
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Spook
Check out the talkorigins archive for carbon dating info. Dating of fossils is based off of many independant lines of reasoning, and is as certain as anything can be.
Within the conversation of "real is real," fossils are millions of years old.
B.
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Spook
I'd give them a copy of my forthcoming essay (part of a book I'm writing) on comparative faith. This compares faith experiences among religions - something that Witnesses can relate powerfully to through experience in the ministry - and leads to a powerful conclusion that reason is the only basis on which to compare claims of truth in faith.
Until this is accepted, nothing can ever be created new, only changed to a mania belief in something else since there is always another lie to cling to. After this has been accepted, any dub or fundie belief can be tackled, even the bible itself. I'm telling you, comparative faith experience is the answer.
I'll be sure to post it here.
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97
In the last days there will be a witness to all the inhabited earth........
by holly inand then the end will come.. something like that!!.
so, for those who believe the bible, who are these people and what scripture would back that?.
holly
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Spook
And another thing...
The rate of increase of Jehovah's witnesses is less than the growth of the global population.
Therefore: As time goes on, an increasingly smaller portion of the population will have heard the message they preach.
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In the last days there will be a witness to all the inhabited earth........
by holly inand then the end will come.. something like that!!.
so, for those who believe the bible, who are these people and what scripture would back that?.
holly
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Spook
The activities of the Witnesses in no way uniquely identify them with the class mentioned in the bible.
The Assembly of God, Scientology, Islam, are just a few of the groups who enjoyed rapid global expansion - in many cases greater than that of Jehovah's Witnesses.
While traditional orthodox religions have decline over the last several decades, fundamentalism of all forms has skyrocketed.
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Links between Jesus and other ancient Man-Gods
by doogie inrecently, at the prompting of another poster, i began to look into the similarities between jesus and other man-gods of ancient cultures.
i was shocked!
not so much by the minute details shared between the gospels and the stories of krishna, osiris, zoroaster, mithras, dionysus and others, but mainly because i had never heard of this before.. things like: being born of a virgin, espousing the redeeming power of baptism, turning water into wine at a wedding, having an entourage of 12 close followers, those 12 sharing a final meal with the god, instructing his followers to eat of his body and blood to benefit from his sacrifice (the blood usually symbolized by juice or wine), sacrificing his life by crucifixion on behalf of mankind, being dead for 3 days and then resurrected, he will return at some point to cleanse the world, and much more.. now, i know this is probably nothing new to most of you, but i was amazed.
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Spook
Look into the books by Tim Callahan:
Bible Prophecy: Failure or Fulfillment
and
The Secret Origins of the Bible
He also writes for skeptic magazine, and has an interesting article on The Passion.
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and its 'goodbye from him'
by dostprefer ini've taken a leaf from holly's book to thank your for having me on the forum - thirteen interesting days but came to realise one cannot achieve much speaking from behind a screen.
people do not know who you really are, nor do you they.
i read many of holly's posts but few others.
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Spook
Interesting thoughts!
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Branch Split in the Watchtower Kingdom
by slimboyfat inbefore you read anything, you should be aware that i do not know what i am talking about.
it seems clear now that the watchtower religion has already started to decline, in the western world at least.
how will this decline play out in the future - this is one of the most interesting questions relating to the watchtower at the moment: will the witnesses enjoy a slow leisurely decline over many decades, or can we expect a major split and disintegration in the near future?
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Spook
Interesting thoughts. I have a few bits to add.
One reason for the splitting of corporations is that the financial elements are dispersed. As the pressure of lawsuits increases - particularly on the issues of blood/child abuse, the organization will have to increasingly separate economically and operationally to stay financially stable.
Another factor can be drawn from the new statistics: In highly educated western nations, growth is nonexistant, stagnant, even decling. Keeping in mind the foreign field activities account for most of the new publishers in many of these lands. Can you imagine what the US statistics would be without the growth in foreign fields? As a result of this, there is an increase of publishers in low income socio-economic situations, and a decreasing basis of financial support. This continued stratification - a decreasing base of wealthy western support and an increasing call for construction and publications in low income areas- is producing incredible economic strain on the operations of the corporations. I predict this will eventually lead to requiring increased local autonomy.
Ben
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Has anyone read the book "Secrets of Sinai"? What did you think?
by ithinkisee inlink to the book:.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0385232977/.
not sure what to make of this book.
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Spook
I haven't read it. I'll have to check it out. If you're interested, the books
Bible Prophecy - Failure of Fulfilment?
and
The Secret Origins of the Bible
Both by Tim Calahan, are excellent books written on a layman's level. They are fairly recent. There is also some new scholarship (last two years) on the academic level that is starting to filter into books. Namely, recent Jerusalem archaeology has unearthed some new contradictions regarding the historicity of the bible.
Ben