james_woods

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Posts by james_woods

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  97

  Jehovah's Witnesses dismayed by new magazine format from Watchtower Society.

  by Balaamsass in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  wow.

  i was surprised this week by calls from active jws complaining about the new magazine format, and more begging for money from the platform.. frankly i was surprized by this reaction since this is old news to jwn members.

  i guess actually shuffling to the bookroom and grabbing the new "awake tracts" minus the inside cover forward ...awakened many sleepy, catatonic, bored jws who never read the things or go on the internet anyway.. any feedback from other areas?.

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  james_woods

  It occurred to me that this might be the long-term plan. No paper at all.

  But surely the end of the world will be upon us before the demise of printed paper literature?
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  42

  Which is best? An EVOLVED or a CREATED human?

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  consider the implication of being a created human as opposed to an evolved human.. the nature a created human has is given due to intentionality.

  the creator wills that nature upon the creature.. .

  what escape from nature is there?.

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  james_woods

  Well, actually (to my thinking) "free will" does not really have any connection per se to right versus wrong.

  To me, it just means that a human could theoretically make a decision that is completely free from the influence of inherited behavior or the learning experiences gained from his prior environment.

  In that sense of the term, I highly doubt that free will is really possible for a human in ANY circumstance.
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  10

  Liberals Vs. Conservatives & Moderates In Life

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in life, we experience all types of extremes.. when we were witnesses, we might have been either a liberal, conservative or moderate witness.. some people are more tolerant than others.

  some are more exacting.

  some have very strong opinions.

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  james_woods

  Adopted Cat says we should all swish on over to Namby Pamby land...
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  42

  Which is best? An EVOLVED or a CREATED human?

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  consider the implication of being a created human as opposed to an evolved human.. the nature a created human has is given due to intentionality.

  the creator wills that nature upon the creature.. .

  what escape from nature is there?.

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  james_woods

  Psac, Terry - surely you are not saying that self-awareness equates to free will?
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  29

  What do you wanna talk about?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  go for it!

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  james_woods

  Ferraris AND Guns!

  Freeze - Miami Vice!
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  28

  I Got A Brand New Adjustable Bed, Mattress & Boxspring And I Am Sick To My Stomach!

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is an expensive bed.

  i've slept on it twice and have gotten sick!

  eyes begin to water, i have difficulty breathing.

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  james_woods

  Maybe you can get your money back...was there a satisfaction guarantee?
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  29

  What do you wanna talk about?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  go for it!

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  james_woods

  Ferrari.
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  15

  JWs Could Learn A Lot from the First Baptist Church

  by jamiebowers in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the other day i found a red plastic bag hanging on the knob of our exterior door.

  it contained a calendar with beautiful landscape scenes and scriptures for every month of the year.

  i'm not a bible believer, but i hung up the calendar because of the pretty pictures.

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  james_woods

  I remember they used to have calendars, but as I recall it was only one picture and tear-away simple printed monthly sheets.
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  42

  Which is best? An EVOLVED or a CREATED human?

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  consider the implication of being a created human as opposed to an evolved human.. the nature a created human has is given due to intentionality.

  the creator wills that nature upon the creature.. .

  what escape from nature is there?.

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  james_woods

  I just posted on the Einstein thread that this is a b4tter place to debate this issue than on it...it is about Einstein's approach to religion.

  One thing to consider about Terry's point is the notion of free will: I say evolved naturalists argue against the truest sense of free will; in the sense that all decisions are greatly influenced by evolution (instinct) and personal experience (interaction with others of the species).

  The point being this - does a bacterium have free will? Does a roundworm? A mole?

  At what point up the evolutionary scale does "free will" begin and instinctive behavior fall off?

  At what point could one say that all human instinctive behaviors have been left behind and free will has taken their place?

  As a second thought - is the imagination of a god-system truly an act of human free will, or is that itself an instinctive or learned behavior for our species?
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  50

  Einstein and Religion - with considerations of "Human Free Will"

  by james_woods in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ok, here is a small first step toward putting together a thread on this subject.

  the problem i had in getting started was how complicated the topic is - how to get it into an understandable form suitable for a discussion thread.

  first - einstein was, of course, jewish.

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  james_woods

  Why not both created AND evolved?

  Many have asked this, but it is a topic better taken up on a thread like Terry's new one - Evolved or Created Humans of this morning.

  Einstein, from my understanding, would have said man is both created (by the impersonal cosmic creation) and evolved (by natural processes over millions of years).

  None of this, however, goes to the central point of this thread: Does true human "free will" exist? (which Einstein denies)