i've had good and bad days since stumbing onto jwd... and i've learned more in my short time here than in the last 20 years as an "active" and true to the bone...dub.... but today (tonight) i'm really sad... the tone of almost every thread i read has gotten "ugly".... i love "spirited" discussion, but this is different.
it feels like forum anarchy.. is there no yielding anymore...?.
maybe it was just too much happened today... or solar flares or something... i don't know...don't care.... maybe my new found "love" for my country (not the blind patriotic crap) and life coupled with the obvious animosity toward this love by some...well just bums me out.
I'm with U/D.....yesterday was a bad day all around. This board has rules:
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some critics (here) of intelligent design theories claim that it is "self-refuting" to invoke design and / or complexity, as evidence for an intelligent designer explanation for things such as the origin of life, other complex biological structures, etc.
since this claim comes up somewhat frequently, i thought it should be given its own thread.
Self-refuting....I would have to say yes. It can be argued that humans and animals in general are "Intelligently Designed" because they can adapt to survive. The resiliency and adaptation can be linked to evolution. That word scares a lot of people, but animals in our surroundings evolve everyday with each passing generation. In must cases the next generation more apt to survival. For example, on a small scale, bacteria and viruses. New evolved strands are popping up everyday, mostly because of the over-use of antibiotics, but that's another thread altogether. But the point is, they actively evolve and become more and more resilient. That is the basis of evolution, and that is fact.
i have started a new thread on international aid.
on a different thread this topic come up and was off topic.
some points were brought up that have to be refuted.
melmoth, welcome to the board!! Your concerns are well placed. Here is the info, the tax info I used: http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/resourcesandtourism/components/6080a.html and a updated tax site is: http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/tax_tot_tax_wed_sin_wor
As far as the amount of aid: http://www.usaid.gov/fani/ch06/objectives02.htm
Again, I believe in giving freely for example, a story. You're walking down the street with a friend and you pass a beggar. Do you have to right to reach in your pocket and give him $10? Obviously, yes. That being said, does your friend have the right to reach in your pocket and pull out $10 and give it? Better yet, does your friend have the right to pull a gun on you and reach in your pocket and take $10? as I said, I don't believe the police power of government is entitled to take your money and give it away, it should be done of your own free will.
i have started a new thread on international aid.
on a different thread this topic come up and was off topic.
some points were brought up that have to be refuted.
I have started a new thread on international aid. On a different thread this topic come up and was off topic. Some points were brought up that have to be refuted. In reference to the international aid America gives:
" [Americans] are regularly told by politicians and the media, that America is the world's most generous nation. This is one of the most conventional pieces of 'knowledgeable ignorance'. According to the OECD, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the US gave between $6 and $15 billion in foreign aid in the period between 1995 and 1999. In absolute terms, Japan gives more than the US, between $9 and $15 billion in the same period. But the absolute figures are less significant than the proportion of gross domestic product (GDP, or national wealth) that a country devotes to foreign aid. On that league table, the US ranks twenty-second of the 22 most developed nations. As former President Jimmy Carter commented: 'We are the stingiest nation of all'. Denmark is top of the table, giving 1.01% of GDP, while the US manages just 0.1%. The United Nations has long established the target of 0.7% GDP for development assistance, although only four countries actually achieve this: Denmark, 1.01%; Norway, 0.91%; the Netherlands, 0.79%; Sweden, 0.7%. Apart from being the least generous nation, the US is highly selective in who receives its aid. Over 50% of its aid budget is spent on middle-income countries in the Middle East, with Israel being the recipient of the largest single share "
Like most propaganda pieces this is composed of some truths with half-truths. For example, America officially gives about 9 billion in aid. True. Officially. What is not mentioned is the 49 billion given by private and corporate donations. You see they use the 9 billion against the total donation by other countries. Above Japan is cited as giving more, but it is Japans TOTAL contribution, not the official government amount, You see most Americans believe it should not be up to the police power of government to take your money and force you to give it to others, it should be done willingly, and it is. Another interesting point is the list of countries that reach the UN’s expectations of aid that should be given. Denmark, Norway, Netherlands and Sweden. What’s interesting is this, taxes. Denmark-49.9% of your income is taken for taxes, Norway- 45.5%, Netherlands- 46.0%, and Sweden-56.1% of your income is taken by the government. And the US- 30.1% leaving Americans more in their pocket to give what and when we want. Which we do to the tune of 33.6 Billion dollars a year. Just had to clear that up.
i think when he finally kicks the bucket that the gb will allow the rank and file to save thier lives with a blood transfussion.
from randy's site:.
http://www.freeminds.org/bethel/gbgrowsold.htm.
Carol, the rules have been gradually changing. Now "blood fractions" are allowed as a conscience matter.
"when i warned them that britain would fight on alone, whatever they did, their generals told their prime minister and his divided cabinet that in three weeks, england would have her neck wrung like a chicken - some chicken!
some neck!
"upon this battle depends the survival of christian civilization.
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."
"All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope. "
"It's not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required."
And one of my favorites, and most appropriate today: "One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half."
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i have watched with sheer amazement all day the work of the emergency services; their sheer dedication and professionalism and skill will no doubt prevent & reduce the further prospect of fatalities....i think they deserve a huge round of applause...if ever i have had opportunity to be patriotic it is now.... what do you think?.
db74
here here !!
That goes for all of them, not just the fire and police dispatched but also the medical personnel involved, doctors, nurses, ect...
hello everyone, i have been keeping up with posts on this board for about four years now, been a member for about one year but have never had the courage to make my first post.
so now i'm going to make that first step to get rid of that fear i had of betraying myself, and vent my experiences and frustrations with this faith.
i think this board will be a good way for me to make acquaintances of people with similar feelings that i have regarding the jehovah's witnesses, as well as a good outlet for my frustrations as a jw, and get some advice as to maybe getting a reasonable exit strategy in the near future.
Scully said: "The elders' job is to comfort the victim and their family and look after their spiritual well-being"
I have to disagree, the first and for-most job is to PROTECT THE NAME. I know of many victims that have indeed been punished for coming forward. Reason being, if the act was not witnessed by 2 people, the act never happened so the victim is obviously lying. That is the sick mindset the "bro's" have. In my hall down here a case come up. And immediately, the boys and their mother were were called everything but liars right from the platform. Our PO gave a "special needs" talk that basically said, it's wrong to judge a matter such as this and to pretty much take allegations with a grain of salt. The only reason he gave a talk is because the press got a hold of the story. Many hall's have people listening on the phone that can't make it to the meeting, I remember the BoE shut down the phones before the talk "so people on the phone aren't mislead by the wrong idea." Oh ya, my manners!!...Welcome to the board. I have seen through the lies, saw the real "truth" and am embarking, although late in life, on to college. With a goal in medicine.
Is it just me or are women being getting the axe more than men?
No it's not just you. That is the same crime Clinton did, lied to a Federal Grand Jury, see what he got?
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what would happen if the governing body started another df campain at bethel??
would all hell break loose???
JW's are raised to think ANYONE is disposable/replaceable.
Remember, "even the stones would cry out!" It wouldn't cause many waves. The R & F would see it as a sign of the end, the org is being cleansed.
