Spook

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Posts by Spook

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  118

  do JWs believe in dinosaurs?

  by tsunami_rid3r in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the bible doesnt mention them at all.

  so what the hell?

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  Spook

  Complete flapdoodle, Hib. Both the salinity and magnetic argument. If I thought you'd actually be open to discussing science I'd be happy to reply. Neither of your claims are even remotely based in reality.

  ******

  As to your question of why I'm an atheist (by the way, you are ignoring the most pressing aspect of that post which had some small chance of making our discussion productive), I could follow your logic and say that I'm an atheist because there are no gods. They were all made up. But, being more generous than that, many people want me to believe that their god is real, and let them use that belief to make the world the way they want without actually basing decisions on what works in reality for everyone. However, none of them are much more convincing than any others. I say that after 14 years in an Evangelical Lutheran education, 8 years as a JW, where I spent thousands of hours in ministry work in 2 languages and 3 continents meeting people of all different belief systems, and traveling to some very poor developing nations. So, I don't believe in any gods because the claims made by religious people either can not be known or are in conflict with what we can know about history and science.

  If you are willing to take on looking into your beliefs, then I would direct you to the words of Stalin, in that it is not enough to hear your opponent's view presented by one who doesn't agree with it. To truly understand an issue you must hear the contrary arguments as stated by their most capable proponents. I know this is true, because it is the way I left Jehovah's Witnesses.
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  3

  Non U.S. graduate school recommendations

  by Spook in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  i have a request of the forum for help in recommending some good universities for graduate school abroad.

  i will be applying for anthropology, journalism, science writing, and creative writing.

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  Spook

  btt
• 
  118

  do JWs believe in dinosaurs?

  by tsunami_rid3r in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the bible doesnt mention them at all.

  so what the hell?

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  Spook

  Surely it takes more faith to believe that animals came from rocks than it does to believe in a loving Creator Who designed them.

  Hib, It's hard for me to believe that you are actually serious about what you say. I want to detatch from my normal resistance to your posts to really put out a plea. How can folks like yourself and I get along and make something beautiful out of this life? It makes me deeply sad to constantly be confronted with these issues and get nowhere, not even getting answers to fair questions and challenges that are put to you. I don't want to cut you off or judge your intellectual capacity, yet I find such a muddle. So, my plea is to look at the impact of religious fundamentalism on the world, and let that motivate you to be open to considering disagreement. Really, I mean that this sort of stuff makes me want to cry, because I have no hope that peaceful, yet spirited debate will ever be able to resolve mankinds basic disagreements. I have no hope that democracy will do. I have no hope that anything but war is in the future, more pain and suffering. And nobody is coming to save us. Returning to my opposition. I am an atheist, and I don't believe animals came from rocks, or that humans flew out of monkey's asses. Look, YEC creationists believe humans were sculpted out of clay. You are the ones who believe we come from soil. I recommend you retract that statement. And while you're at it, look into the comparative mythology of the Lulla, and the appropriation of those eastern myths into the Hebrew tradition.
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  3

  Non U.S. graduate school recommendations

  by Spook in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  i have a request of the forum for help in recommending some good universities for graduate school abroad.

  i will be applying for anthropology, journalism, science writing, and creative writing.

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  Spook

  I have a request of the forum for help in recommending some good universities for graduate school abroad. I will be applying for anthropology, journalism, science writing, and creative writing. Do you have any suggestions.

  Thank you!
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  30

  what the hell is up with witness girls???

  by tsunami_rid3r in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  haha, are they desperate for sex or a relationship?

  because if it is like that, hell i see something here.

  today, when i was out in field service, this chick kept playing with my hair all day, then at the restaurant she was feeling up all over me.

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  Spook

  If you are a little "bad," you'll find that witness girls will be very flirty and physical with you. But most of the really gorgeous ones are already screwing "worldly" guys.

  Seriously.
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  20

  This is what the love of God means

  by defd in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the other half of that scripture says that it means to observe his commandments.

  what are his commandments?

  are we observing them?

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  Spook

  This shows a few fundamental problem with x-tianity:

  (1) Definitions and concepts are obscured and used differently.

  (2) The statements are tautalogical, necessitating human authority to interpret and enforce.

  Substantiating point one, love is equated with obedience. Yet the authors of books in the bible also refer to god as love. God certainly does not obey god's commandments. That is absurd. God ostensibly loves humans, but their is no obedience involved. This statement empowers manipulative authority figures to say "If you aren't obeying what I say about doctrine XXX, then you aren't showing love for god. You do love god, don't you? Well then, do what I say even if you don't agree." This has created suffering for as long as it has been applied.

  For point two, the scripture continues to say "...and his commandments are not burdensome." Well, many people disagree with that. For example, the command to not associate with people who don't believe the same is a burden. The tautology exists in that "burden" is left open, with the follow up of abuse in that "If you feel a command is burdensome, YOU have a problem, and it is YOUR fault." (See "No true Scotsman.")

  No. It is not my fault that it is burdensome to obey semitic mystery cults. No. Obeying moral guides for desert dwelling savages does not show love. No, obedience is not in and of itself a virtue. Virtue lies in action, not authority.
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  20

  Why can you not question/double standard

  by Ticker in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been recently reading isocf and am now on the indoctrination chapter.

  what always gripes me with the witnesses has been this one simple double standard of theirs.

  when you look at a watchtower or any publication of theirs, it has two messages.

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  Spook

  I definitely agree it is a double standard. However, it is a double standard that is, unfortunately, backed by many themes in the bible. Now, that doesn't occur without contradiction, however.

  It is a convenient tag-along belief that one will find to an increasing degree in high-control groups. The very idea and tradition of heresy and blasphemy runs closely along the same lines.
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  17

  Creationists respond to Dawkins

  by hooberus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  climbing mount improbable .

  http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v12/i1/improbable.asp .

  unweaving the rainbow

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  Spook

  How about they respond to some of the primary literature instead of nitpicking analogies and popular presentations? The rejoinders to their replies are available as well, for those interested. I'll leave the finding to you.
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  22

  The WTS destructive image of God.

  by greendawn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after leaving the jws did you alter that severe, unsmiling, exacting, unforgiving ie destructive image of god that the wts was projecting very much in the spirit of the old testament?

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  or perhaps did you altogether get rid of a god image?

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  Spook

  I feel the understate the OT god.
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  27

  Monotheism - the beginnings of one world govt?

  by Satanus in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  but consider when there were many gods, male and female.

  you could choose the one that suited your nature.

  or, if one god wasn't doing it for you, or you thought that it was harassing you, you call in another god to help you.

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  Spook

  How did communism make it on his list?