Posts by cosmic

8

Does this make any sense?

by elliej in

okay, this is even confusing for me, so please try to bear with me.. i am working on a "presentation" to give to a jw family member to defend myself when the fade comes up.

i want it to be something that will make them think and this is what i have come up with.. this person believes in the whole 1914 chronology bible prophecy crap and can't believe this isn't the truth when they are so right about the date.

but i see a flaw with the way it was calculated and i need input to tell me whether i'm cracked or this might really work- get him to think.. according to the wts, "in prophecy, a year averages 360 days, or 12 months of 30 days each... so the kings "seven times," or seven years, were 360 days multiplied by 7, or 2,520 days.

cosmic

IMHO the ones who want to "do the math" are the ones that keep car dealers in business.

1

soldiers

by I-CH-TH-U-S in

2nd timothy 2:3-4.

3endure hardship with us like a good soldier of christ jesus.

4no one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairshe wants to please his commanding officer.

cosmic

Its a nice thought. There's been movies (Charles Bronson?) dealing with the solitude of professional killers and so forth. Like the boxing metaphor that Paul used on the Corinthians, the idea is to present it all in ways that the greatest listeners can relate to. Any speaker will do that, if they are good. No comedian does a show in Phoenix doing jokes about Tacoma, at least, not unless they're doing a one nighter, forever. Certainly, being singleminded about anything is a "key" to success, but how many scriptures can you think of that admonishes you to be "patient", or "humble", or "meek and mild"? And how many can you think of that tell you to be fearless, trusting in the unseen, ready to give up your life for an idea?

The problem with the really cool scriptures that might fit any particular situation is that you can always find a half dozen or so to refute them. The purpose of a leader is not to shout orders or emote platitudes, it is to lead. That means to direct in a certain direction, maintain consistency, be cognizant of and uphold morale; but, most of all, to cause a unified movement for a single purpose. The problem with the Bible is not its content, it is the vaccuous nature of those for which it purports to speak.

10

Scientists Find Water on Saturn Moon

by bavman in

the cassini spacecraft has found evidence of liquid water spewing from geysers on one of saturn's icy moons, raising the tantalizing possibility that the celestial object harbors life.

the surprising discovery excited some scientists, who say the saturn moon, enceladus, should be added to the short list of places within the solar system most likely to have extraterrestrial life.. recent high-resolution images snapped by the orbiting cassini confirmed the eruption of icy jets and giant water vapor plumes from geysers resembling frozen old faithfuls at enceladus' south pole.. "we have the smoking gun" that proves the existence of water, said carolyn porco, a cassini imaging scientist from the space science institute in boulder, colo.. if enceladus does harbor life, it probably consists of microbes or other primitive organisms capable of living in extreme conditions, scientists say.. the findings were published in friday's issue of the journal science.. david morrison, a senior scientist at nasa's astrobiology institute, cautioned against rushing to judgment about whether the tiny moon could support life.

scientists generally agree habitats need several ingredients for life to emerge, including water, a stable heat source and the right chemical recipe.. "it's certainly interesting, but i don't see how much more you can say beyond that," morrison said.. scientists believe mars and jupiter's icy moons might have or once had conditions hospitable to life.. saturn is around 800 million miles from earth.

cosmic

Oh yeah, I pulled this pic off another site while I was looking around today. Most interesting. It is a pic from Iapetus showing a monolith. If I can get the thing to show up.

10

Scientists Find Water on Saturn Moon

by bavman in

the cassini spacecraft has found evidence of liquid water spewing from geysers on one of saturn's icy moons, raising the tantalizing possibility that the celestial object harbors life.

the surprising discovery excited some scientists, who say the saturn moon, enceladus, should be added to the short list of places within the solar system most likely to have extraterrestrial life.. recent high-resolution images snapped by the orbiting cassini confirmed the eruption of icy jets and giant water vapor plumes from geysers resembling frozen old faithfuls at enceladus' south pole.. "we have the smoking gun" that proves the existence of water, said carolyn porco, a cassini imaging scientist from the space science institute in boulder, colo.. if enceladus does harbor life, it probably consists of microbes or other primitive organisms capable of living in extreme conditions, scientists say.. the findings were published in friday's issue of the journal science.. david morrison, a senior scientist at nasa's astrobiology institute, cautioned against rushing to judgment about whether the tiny moon could support life.

scientists generally agree habitats need several ingredients for life to emerge, including water, a stable heat source and the right chemical recipe.. "it's certainly interesting, but i don't see how much more you can say beyond that," morrison said.. scientists believe mars and jupiter's icy moons might have or once had conditions hospitable to life.. saturn is around 800 million miles from earth.

cosmic

Saturn is such a bizarre place. I've always thought that if I were going to leave something somehwre, I'd leave it well marked. Saturn is a definitive location within our solar system

This comming January may prove really interesting as Cassini does another fly by of Iapetus. I'm not pro or con on this, but it is an interesting read:

http://www.enterprisemission.com/moon1.htm

103

"Help! my dad is watching Pornography" Cries of a JW teen.

by Dune in

jw
friends

as some of you may know, i'm still an active witness and i'm still in the planning stages of my "escape".

i met a sister at a district convention a year ago and i've been talking to her on aim for a while.

i think she is very amusing considering that she is very intelligent and often voices her views on the doctrinal falicies of the wtbs, but when its my turn to give my two cents she makes it seem as if i'm the only poztate.

cosmic

Don't be fooled. There's a LOT of really bad porn out there. You know, out of focus, no depth of field, not even a hint of composition! I mean, what was the photographer thinking? Oh. Yeah.

Isn't it curious how westerners sit in front of their TV sets for hours and hours watching human beings kill each other in ever inventive ways, but watch two people (or more if its really good) having sex? Would you rather go to war or f**k?

I look at it this way, if somebody is reading porn, I don't have to look. But some blathering retard ruining lives because of lies he is mindlessly, shamelessly, and (often) knowingly repeating, oh, that's okay. Its for God.

5

Is There a Creator Who Cares?

by SickofLies in

i noticed that there is a lot of information out there on the net about the life: how did it get here?

book and about the book the bible: gods word or mans?

but i havent seen anything talking about the newest book released by the society is there a creator who cares about you?

cosmic

No disrespect, but that's really 2 questions.

15

Why does religion fail?

by cosmic in

i'm not used to starting threads, but i ran across a web site the other day that set my mind churning.

the site was called "the atheists manifesto", and i think i heard about it from someone on this board.

but, anyway, it mentioned a couple of things that seemed compelling:.

cosmic

Thank you for your replies, I am humbled.

15

Why does religion fail?

by cosmic in

i'm not used to starting threads, but i ran across a web site the other day that set my mind churning.

the site was called "the atheists manifesto", and i think i heard about it from someone on this board.

but, anyway, it mentioned a couple of things that seemed compelling:.

cosmic

I'm not used to starting threads, but I ran across a web site the other day that set my mind churning. The site was called "The Atheists Manifesto", and I think I heard about it from someone on this board. But, anyway, it mentioned a couple of things that seemed compelling:

1. When it comes to Thor and Zeus and

Quetalcoatl, we are all atheists. This seems important, but I can't firmly grasp why.

2. Our world is a hose job, not because we are necessarily hosers; but, because of religion. We have left fixing the place up to "God". Therefore, unless we all become atheists, the world will never be improved.

The question that has came to mind about that time is whether religion is strictly for the individual, that is, was only designed to be implemented on an individual basis and, therefore, begins to break down and become worse than useless when humans attempt to apply it on a group scale. It hadn't previously occurred to me that, prior to baptism, I was treated as an individual (as I gather from this site that, many also were) and it was only after baptism, that is, when I became part of the group, that things began to be "expected". It was no longer my personal choice to attend a meeting, it suddenly became mandatory, for at the very least I was expected to "show my support" for the group.

Thinking back over the Bible accounts, all of the prophets were treated an an individual basis, each "good " example of a "righteous" person was listed by name and/or otherwise set apart as a singular person; political/national boundaries were set aside by God in his determination of individual fate(s). Now, I know there are examples of God killing national groups, like the Philistines, and so forth, but does that negate the rest?

Any how, all that blathering aside, my question is this:

As Prot, from the planet KPAX, eloquently noted, "All intelligent creatures know right from wrong.", and it seems that religion on an individual basis lends credence to each individual that, in essence, "virtue is its own reward"; but, at what point does religion begin to fall apart? Is it population dependent? (okay if less than 3, 30, 300, 3000? A waste of time for larger groups?) It doesn't appear to be diety linked (less Thor would still be the guy)? Why is it that no matter what the religion, what the god, the reward, the cost, the hope, the past, etc. religion has always failed us, or, at least, failed to deliver on its promises?

32

New Wine in Old Wineskin's - Watchtower Updates its Lies

by unclebruce in

the watchtower bible and tract society encourages all jehovahs witnesses to deceive when it suits their purpose.

this it calls "theocratic war strategy".

the watchtower 1957 may 1 p.285.

cosmic

Thanks, unclebruce, excellent job. It caused me to wonder:

Original Lie: "You positively will not die."

The New Lie: "Millions now living will never die.", uh wait a minute, uh, try this, "Millions Now Living May Never Die.", no, that's not quite it either, I know, "Millions now living have the opportunity to gain everlasting life in a righteous new system." Yeah, yeah, that's it.

25

Apostasy defined in the Elders Manuel

by gumby in

for those unfamiliar with the societys veiws on what apostasy is, this is from the elder manuel under.

..."elders ruling for justice itself".. apostasy.. apostasy is a standing away from, a falling away, defec-.

tion, rebellion, abandonment; it involves teaching false.

cosmic

If it is clearly established that the person has joined

another religion and intends to remain with it, the

elders would make a brief announcement to the congre-

gation that such- one has disassociated himself. (w86

10/15 p. 31 )

Not to be picky, but what if I started going to, say, a Mormon Church, and when/if some elder asked me about it and I were to reply: "Oh, don't worry, it's not permanent. I'm just doing research.(or, "I'm undercover") Would that be okay?