I'm okay with the "fruitage of the spirit."

by cappytan in

jw
friends

though i now consider myself a secular buddhist, i just realized today that i'm okay with trying to pursue the qualities mentioned by paul as the "fruitage of the spirit.".

the only one i take issue with is "faith" in the context of religion.

what are your thoughts on the matter?.

freemindfade

And they make you a real happy person, and someone that other people will admire.

59

New David Splane Video: No 1900 Year Faithful Slave

by FusionTheism in

governing body member david splane has a new video on tv.jw.org where he talks about all the horrible things committed by martin luther and the protestant reformers.. his conclusion is that there has been no faithful and discreet slave on the earth during the past 1900 years (before 1919 i guess.).

he also says that maybe there were a few anointed on earth, maybe not.. he did add an interesting statement that he doesn't condemn the other churches just for misunderstanding the bible because the society has done that.. another odd point, was that he actually mentioned catholic missionary work in a somewhat positive light, while totally condemning the reformation views on predestination..

freemindfade

Maybe soon they will admit 'Jehovah' is a mediocre invention of the Catholic Church

Also I believe doctrine has been replaced with a labyrinth of fantastic ideas no R&F can follow or explain.

59

New David Splane Video: No 1900 Year Faithful Slave

by FusionTheism in

governing body member david splane has a new video on tv.jw.org where he talks about all the horrible things committed by martin luther and the protestant reformers.. his conclusion is that there has been no faithful and discreet slave on the earth during the past 1900 years (before 1919 i guess.).

he also says that maybe there were a few anointed on earth, maybe not.. he did add an interesting statement that he doesn't condemn the other churches just for misunderstanding the bible because the society has done that.. another odd point, was that he actually mentioned catholic missionary work in a somewhat positive light, while totally condemning the reformation views on predestination..

freemindfade

They are opening the door to explain away the increasing amount of partakers

FMF Prophecy #152

Edit: Just saw FT prophesied the same thing first, it's now a co prophecy, JWN type antitype hybrid lol.

FT I am very happy we have some common ground to agree on :)

182

The Case for Theism

by FusionTheism in

"theism" here means "belief in a god" or "the worldview that an intelligent designer created the universe and life.

" ("god" here means a being with a mind who initiated and/or wound-up the universe, and designed life on earth)the most common claim that i see atheists making on twitter, is that "no evidence" exists in support of belief in a god.this post will remove any excuse atheists have for claiming "no evidence exists" in support of an initiator.

atheists can still reject this evidence as "weak," but they cannot truthfully say it does not exist.now, it is true that we do not have "observable, repeatable, falsifiable, empirical, scientific" evidence conclusively proving that an initiator exists, but we do have many lines of philisophical, experiential, and logical evidence.and... here... we... go:1:) many leading scientists, including stephen hawking, say that the space-time-matter universe had a beginning at the singularity/big bang.

freemindfade

Peace at last. Fay your comment was most refreshing :)

141

Schoolyard bully mentality

by FusionTheism in

i'm not naming names, but i just want to encourage people on here or on reddit or twitter, and tell you that you do not have to tolerate people who act like schoolyard bullies in the way they speak to you online.

i think anonymity is a big part of it.

they feel like there is zero accountability so they can be a bully all they want.. i recommend just ignoring or blocking anyone who is verbally abusive or treats you like schoolyard bullies treated you.. life is way too short to spend any time dealing with those kinds of people..

freemindfade

Meh...I still think we are being pretty liberal with ridicule here. I don't take telling someone to toughen up as ridicule. But I'm a mean ol gen x'er. Not a touchy feely millenial type lol

and again. Ridicule religion. The world needs more of the that.

141

Schoolyard bully mentality

by FusionTheism in

i'm not naming names, but i just want to encourage people on here or on reddit or twitter, and tell you that you do not have to tolerate people who act like schoolyard bullies in the way they speak to you online.

i think anonymity is a big part of it.

they feel like there is zero accountability so they can be a bully all they want.. i recommend just ignoring or blocking anyone who is verbally abusive or treats you like schoolyard bullies treated you.. life is way too short to spend any time dealing with those kinds of people..

freemindfade

Religion has earned 100% of its ridicule! Lets not get it twisted, Religion SHOULD be ridiculed.

People sometimes need to be shaken a bit, I don't believe anyone is ridiculing FusionT by telling him to stop being so dramatic. And when they ridicule religion, its fair criticism of bad ideas! Lets be clear.

75

What was your eye opening moment?

by WasOnceBlind in

if you had to pinpoint the time or experience that finally made you open your eyes, what would it be?.

i think for me it was the time i saw my dad shun his brother who he had not seen in decades just because he was a da'ed jw.

i thought to my self "no way jesus would do that.

freemindfade

In all honestly the Billions dying at armagedon never ever sat well with me... But I wouldn't say it was a wake, I would just tell myself god must know what he is doing. But that idea I could never accept.

75

What was your eye opening moment?

by WasOnceBlind in

if you had to pinpoint the time or experience that finally made you open your eyes, what would it be?.

i think for me it was the time i saw my dad shun his brother who he had not seen in decades just because he was a da'ed jw.

i thought to my self "no way jesus would do that.

freemindfade

When studying with spouse and I would raise legitimate, non-apostate fueled doubts, and questions about things like...oh.. all of genesis. And i was met with hostility. It really got me thinking about the effect of it all on my rationality and freedom to think. Then all the dominos fell

141

Schoolyard bully mentality

by FusionTheism in

i'm not naming names, but i just want to encourage people on here or on reddit or twitter, and tell you that you do not have to tolerate people who act like schoolyard bullies in the way they speak to you online.

i think anonymity is a big part of it.

they feel like there is zero accountability so they can be a bully all they want.. i recommend just ignoring or blocking anyone who is verbally abusive or treats you like schoolyard bullies treated you.. life is way too short to spend any time dealing with those kinds of people..

freemindfade

It figures those making the jealous, emotional, fragile, egotistical, maniacal, genocidal desert god their object of worship would feel so insulted/bullied imply by being disagreed with. hell he condemned the human race to death and suffering for thousands of years simply for being challenged. All the rest just falls into place. The ego makes you need to control not only your delusion but that of others, and when they are free from it, it becomes very frustrating and we have posts that essentially elude to "everyone is picking on me". You can't say come at me then complain when people accept the challenge. It just looks bad. I don't hear anyone saying you are picking on them for being godless.

1

Proof Some of us Have Evolved!

by freemindfade in

behold!

proof positive that cappytan and myself have evolved from chimps!.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/06/10/world/africa/ap-af-africa-drunk-chimpanzees.html?_r=0.

freemindfade

Behold! Proof positive that Cappytan and Myself have evolved from Chimps!

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/06/10/world/africa/ap-af-africa-drunk-chimpanzees.html?_r=0

Report: Chimps Enjoy Fermented Palm Sap, Get Drunk Off It

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSJUNE 10, 2015, 9:41 A.M. E.D.T.

Continue reading the main storyShare This Page

DAKAR, Senegal — Chimpanzees in West Africa get inebriated during lengthy "drinking sessions" featuring the fermented sap of palm trees — normally used to make palm wine — according to a new study published Wednesday.

The report in the journal Royal Society Open Science focused on primates living in Guinea, which use palm fronds to soak up the fermented sap of raffia palms that can contain up to 6.9 percent alcohol — stronger than most beers.

"The habitual and voluntary consumption of ethanol has been documented until now, only in humans," apart from anecdotal observations in wild apes, said Kimberley Hockings of Oxford Brookes University, one of the report's co-authors.

While baboons in South Africa are known to steal fermenting grapes from vineyards and monkeys are known to sneak the odd cocktail from unsuspecting resort tourists, the chimpanzees in Boussou are unique because their alcohol consumption is not the result of any human interaction, the report said.

Some of the chimps "consumed significant quantities of ethanol and displayed behavioral signs of inebriation," the study found. While researchers note that no detailed behavioral data was collected — "some drinkers rested directly after imbibing fermented sap."

The behavior though is still quite rare, Hockings said, requiring researchers to combine their data from observations dating back to 1995. Researchers said they observed 51 "drinking events" by individual primates over that period of time.

"One adult male in particular accounted for 14 of 15 events," they said.

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Online:

Royal Society Open Science:

freemindfade

Posts by freemindfade

Report: Chimps Enjoy Fermented Palm Sap, Get Drunk Off It