tetrapod.sapien

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Posts by tetrapod.sapien

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  12

  Does God want us to be rich?

  by Bonnie_Clyde in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  interesting article in time magazine (sept 2006, p. 50) - jesus said, "for what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

  this article states that a growing number of christians say" the question is better restated, 'why not gain the whole world plus my soul?'......

  christians should keep an eye on heaven.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  do you think God wants us to be rich?

  yes because he loves his followers. no because it will distract them from the truth. and finally neither, because...

  tetra
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  25

  Who believes in reincarnation and enlightenment??

  by Aphrodite in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  what are your beliefs based on and how has this been affected by your time as a witness?

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  tetrapod.sapien

  i am not sure that i "believe" in reincarnation. i don't really have any evidence i am aware of to support the idea.

  from a subjective perspective, i do like the idea of it. i could believe in it if i could imagine a plausible structure or system that it was a part of. but i haven't been able to pull that off yet, though i have tried.

  regarding enlightenment. i believe that when we are using this term, we are really not refering to anything other than the evolution of human consciousness. just as we made the transistion from animal-type consciousness to a type of self consciousness, i believe that evolution does not stop there. in addition, i believe that many humans have already experienced this evolved form of consciousness, and that eventually it will be as ubiquitous in the human race as our current type of consciousness is.

  it hasn't really been affected by my time as a wit. it's been affected by the time as an ex-wit. just reading a lot, thinking a lot, meditating and enjoying my fair share of psychedelic drugs. these things have sort of made me aware that there is even such a concept. i did not understand it at all as a witness.

  tetra.
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  104

  Further incite on Dawkin's The God Delusion

  by Abandoned in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i started a thread after i finished the first chapter of this book entitled something like, i'm an atheist.

  i finished chapter three and i have to backtrack a bit, but i also feel the need to explain why since i was so vocal.. first, let me say that i think everyon should read the first two chapters of the god delusion by richard dawkins.

  he brings up some very important points about religion and about science's place in our world.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  lil,

  hey no problem. it just seemed like news to me. i know you're not trying to change my views, nor would that be something that concerns me.

  peace,

  tetra
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  44

  crazyblondeb......hey, she needs some encouragement

  by purplesofa in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  crazy can't get online, and jwd is a real support system to her right now.. i talked with her a few minutes ago on the phone......... and she is going to call me tomorrow.. her mom is driving her nuts, she is ready to make a change in her life........and i am asking you to encourage her, as she is being very couragious right now.

  i am proud of her.

  she is going to call tomorrow and i would like to be able to read some wonderful things to her from her friends at jwd!!!!!.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  dear crazy,

  i am so happy for you that you are coming to a cross roads in your journey! it's a bumby road, as i am sure you know. but you have made it this far already, so i am sure you will do well with the rest!

  look forward to seeing you back! :)

  tetra
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  22

  How many of us were janitors?

  by Fleshybirdfodder in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  lovelylils post made me think.... dubs pretty much rule that particular sector.

  my mother was more proud of me working for the p.o.

  cleaning toilets than if i had gone on to be a doctor.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  ya, i cleaned grocery stores at night for a while, and then windows by day for a while. and then i got fed up and got a job doing risk management at Enron. from the frying pan into the fire as it were. ;) lol

  tetra
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  41

  I suppose I should stop lurking,

  by SacrificialLoon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  and introduce myself.

  i was raised in "the truth", and for the longest time it was all i knew.

  i spent my childhood going through all the things that other witness children went through; not celebrating holidays, not standing up and reciting the pledge of allegiance, not going to school events, or associating with "worldly" children much.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  welcome SacrificialLoon! it's nice to have you here on jwd. it's certainly a place where you can explore some areas of reasoning without having to look over your shoulder!

  i hope you stick around!

  tetra

  ps: this site doesn't work that well with mozilla based browsers. it's the only site i still use IE for.
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  104

  Further incite on Dawkin's The God Delusion

  by Abandoned in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i started a thread after i finished the first chapter of this book entitled something like, i'm an atheist.

  i finished chapter three and i have to backtrack a bit, but i also feel the need to explain why since i was so vocal.. first, let me say that i think everyon should read the first two chapters of the god delusion by richard dawkins.

  he brings up some very important points about religion and about science's place in our world.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  hi madame,

  Einstein was definitely an atheist who spoke poetically and metaphorically of "God" in the way that most atheists - myself included - do. It seemed to me that Dawkins has belaboured that point and made it quite clear in The God Delusion.

  does dawkins really say that einstein was an atheist? i mean, i am an atheist myself, but i was always under the impression from the things that i read that einstein, when cornered on this topic that he did not think was important, said he was a pantheist.

  if dawkins really hijacked einstein for his cause, without some sources where einstein specifically labels himself an atheist, then i am disapointed in dawkins. it's one of the few dawkins books i had not planned on reading anyways.

  i mean, how shallow can we get here? of course einsten was an atheist to jesus and vishnu. that is obvious! but that is not all he was. i don't like that dawkins treats people like little children on occasion.

  peace,

  tetra
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  39

  Question, What will happen to the earth and the Animals?

  by unbaptized in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  question, if everyone who professes to be christian are going to heaven to rule as priest with jesus, who will be our subjects on earth?

  can someone pleasee shed some light on this subject..

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  tetrapod.sapien

  i am not a xian really, but i would hope that jesus would allow us to bring our pets with us.

  tetra
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  104

  Further incite on Dawkin's The God Delusion

  by Abandoned in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i started a thread after i finished the first chapter of this book entitled something like, i'm an atheist.

  i finished chapter three and i have to backtrack a bit, but i also feel the need to explain why since i was so vocal.. first, let me say that i think everyon should read the first two chapters of the god delusion by richard dawkins.

  he brings up some very important points about religion and about science's place in our world.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  lil,

  Many scientists today admit that there is an intelligence behind the universe and everything in it. hence the theory of intelligent design. This theory was brought forth by people of science, not primarily people of faith.

  do you have some data for this claim? i, for one, was unaware that "many" scientists believe this.

  i've been through this before on this board, and that is why i am skeptical. i know there are some, but from what i understand they are not in relevant fields (computer scientists instead of biologists or anthropologists), and that their numbers are very low.

  as far as ID vs evolution by natural selection is concerned, talk origins has some info on scientists:

  http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CA/CA111.html

  Of the scientists and engineers in the United States, only about 5% are creationists, according to a 1991 Gallup poll (Robinson 1995, Witham 1997). However, this number includes those working in fields not related to life origins (such as computer scientists, mechanical engineers, etc.). Taking into account only those working in the relevant fields of earth and life sciences, there are about 480,000 scientists, but only about 700 believe in "creation-science" or consider it a valid theory (Robinson 1995). This means that less than 0.15 percent of relevant scientists believe in creationism. And that is just in the United States, which has more creationists than any other industrialized country. In other countries, the number of relevant scientists who accept creationism drops to less than one tenth of 1 percent.

  and intelligent design IS creationism.

  ID does not have a testable framework like scientific theories do. it is also not falsifiable. these are two major components of scientific theories that ID does not do.

  ID is a phylosophical/metaphysical hypothesis, and should not be confused with biology. it essentially says "an intelligent designer did it", which is a lot like saying "god did it", and has no difference for the majority of people who use the term ID. the problem with saying that someone else did it, is that it is unprovable, and politically hijacks attention away from the real work that scientists are doing.

  tetra
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  17

  Pay it forward...

  by AuldSoul in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  okay, so in line with the concept of the movie pay it forward, how can jws best save the most people?.

  (1) murder is a sin.. (2) people who are repentant of sins are forgiven.. (3) people who go to hell (the common grave of mankind) are still alive in god's eyes, just sleeping.. (4) ergo, if a jw sends someone to hell the jw hasn't sinned.. now, that gets the basic doctrine stuff out of the way.. if every jw kills one thousand non-jw people there will be about 6,000,000 jws left.

  if every one of these repents over the deaths of whichever ones didn't go to hell, they will have saved way more people than they ever can by preaching.. and, if by chance they miss out on everlasting life by helpig someone else to attain it: no greater love has any.... any questions?

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  tetrapod.sapien

  sick indeed.

  and that is an interesting take on "paying it forward"! lol!

  tetra