PrimateDave

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Posts by PrimateDave

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  49

  Atheists - how do you feel about magic / demonism?

  by EndofMysteries in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  curious, as ones not believing in any spirit creatures, would you feel completely at ease performing a summon demon ritual, or using ancient magic words, that absolutely nothing would happen?

  or deep down would you have a 'what if' restraint preventing you?

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  PrimateDave

  Considering I wrote the first post at 2am, I'm pleased at how coherent it reads.

  I suppose I consider myself more agnostic, simply because "I don't know" what kind of entity, if any, caused this Universe. I'm almost certain it wasn't the Hebrew god Yahweh, though. Not accepting any known gods of organized religion makes me an atheist, too, to most people, but that word is becoming somewhat of an epithet (in the contemporary usage of the term).

  Let me further clarify my position on magick with a quote from an archdriud John Michael Greer, whose blog I enjoy reading:

  ...One of the most distinguished 20th century theoreticians and practitioners of magic, Dion Fortune, defined magic as “the art and science of causing change in consciousness in accordance with will.” (If that doesn’t sound like a recipe for making broomsticks fly, you’re beginning to catch on.) The basic tools of the mage are will and imagination; the raw materials he or she works with are symbolism and ritual – “poetry in the realm of acts,” as Fortune’s near-contemporary Ross Nichols defined that last term. The point of magic, as Fortune’s definition suggests, is changing states and contents of consciousness; it can have effects on the material world as well, but that normally involves influencing beings that bridge the gap between mind and matter – you and me, for example.

  Exactly what can and can’t be done by way of will and imagination, working through emotionally powerful symbols and ritual psychodrama, is a question on which not all mages agree. Still, I don’t know of anyone in the field who claims to be able to levitate a broom, say, or to do any of the other things that make up the stock in trade of fantasy magicians. ...

  http://www.energybulletin.net/52987

  Even the Witnesses practice magical thinking though they are not aware of it. Nor are they aware of the negative effects that their "rituals" and "chants" have on themselves and others because they don't fully understand the sub-conscious narratives that underpin their world view. They believe in literal demons, yet they create and feed the "demons" within themselves.
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  49

  Atheists - how do you feel about magic / demonism?

  by EndofMysteries in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  curious, as ones not believing in any spirit creatures, would you feel completely at ease performing a summon demon ritual, or using ancient magic words, that absolutely nothing would happen?

  or deep down would you have a 'what if' restraint preventing you?

  .

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  PrimateDave

  I had a book on Ceremonial Magick. There are rituals that are practiced for psychic protection. Even the Tetragammaton is used in magick. Ultimately, though, it boils down to a mental routine that probably causes changes in the subconscious mind of the practitioner. One could practice various forms of structured meditation techniques and accomplish similar results. One aspect of Ceremonial Magick has to do with Astral Projection. I believe this to be a form of lucid dreaming. Just as my subconscious mind is capable of creating people with whom I can interact in my dreams, so can it also recreate environments and entities into which people claim to "astral project". I also believe that "demons" are products of the subconscious mind. There could exist as yet unexplained paranormal phenomena in the real world, but I do not attribute such things to angels or demons.
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  30

  If I never have the internet, I would probably be a dub today.

  by asilentone in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what about you?.

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  PrimateDave

  I always enjoyed going to the library long before there was an internet. I think that the cognitive dissonance would have driven me to find enough information at the library in order to break free. It just might have taken longer.
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  33

  The sweet sound of a critic

  by Lady Lee in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  got this email.

  i am not a jehovah witnesses, but all my family are......i saw your video on "youtube" and what you said about them is despicable and i think your hypocrisy in your face made me sick... shut your mouth and have respect for all religions.... i can say bad things about all religions but i have the decency to respect their faith and their thoughts... guest who is next to me seeing me writing this email to you nothing but a musulman friend, and a jewish friend and by the way they say that you are a sick old lady.... -------------.

  this is in reference to the video clip on you tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viswagy_emg that is a short clip from a much longer interview (85 minutes).

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  PrimateDave

  Isn't it ironic that the individual demands that you respect a religion, yet doesn't himself know how to respect a human being? Instead of disagreeing with a point that you made, he verbally attacked you as a person. To top it all off, the very "religion" he thinks he is defending officially teaches that he and his two friends will die very soon at Armageddon.

  Honestly, though, I don't think you can respond to such a person directly. Maybe you could just make a video that clearly shows how Witnesses are taught to view "worldly" people as bird feed by featuring quotes from the Society's publications.
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  20

  The December 31, 1924 Golden Age magazine

  by cabasilas in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  recently, i obtained some pdf copies of old golden age magazines.

  i haven't had much time to read these but i just came across the december 31, 1924 issue.

  i had heard the golden age was a bit odd...this confirms it.

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  PrimateDave

  I forgot about the "prophecy not understood until its fulfillment" thingy.

  Isn't that just doublespeak for "we're making it up as we go along"?
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  20

  The December 31, 1924 Golden Age magazine

  by cabasilas in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  recently, i obtained some pdf copies of old golden age magazines.

  i haven't had much time to read these but i just came across the december 31, 1924 issue.

  i had heard the golden age was a bit odd...this confirms it.

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  PrimateDave

  The pdf file is still downloadable, so I thought I might give this one a bump for our newbies and lurkers.
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  24

  If your AVATAR could speak then???

  by hamsterbait in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if your avatar could have a voice, (for the days when computers routinely read out posts audibly).

  whose voice would you choose?.

  a poster here thinks my avatar would speak with the mellifluous sexy "mel gibson baritone".

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  PrimateDave

  Either Patrick Stewart or Ricardo Montalban.
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  13

  The likes of Ehrman and Friedman

  by dgp in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after reading about his book on this forum, i got the book who wrote the bible, by richard elliott friedman.

  i had also bought several other books by bart ehrman, and then one by bruce metzger, the canon of the bible.

  i haven't read them all yet, but what i have read is enough for me to ask yet another question here.

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  PrimateDave

  All we have are opinions.

  Most of the stuff that different religions and denominations argue over is just that, an opinion, an opinion made by one man 1700 ( Augustin Hippo) years ago or even one made less than 100 years ago ( Rutherford), but still just an opinion.

  Are all opinions equally valid? For example, do the opposing opinions of Richard Friedman and the Watchtower Society with regards to the validity of the Documentary Hypothesis hold equal weight?
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  13

  The likes of Ehrman and Friedman

  by dgp in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after reading about his book on this forum, i got the book who wrote the bible, by richard elliott friedman.

  i had also bought several other books by bart ehrman, and then one by bruce metzger, the canon of the bible.

  i haven't read them all yet, but what i have read is enough for me to ask yet another question here.

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  PrimateDave

  After reading Who Wrote the Bible? by Friedman, I began to appreciate that true scholarship is defined by a certain respect for others who may have differing points of view. Friedman's introduction to the Documentary Hypothesis was eye-opening. After I read the book, I did a quick search for the DH or "Higher Criticism" in the Watchtower CD. The WTS won't even tell you enough about it to make an informed opinion. They don't want you to believe it, so they turn it into a "straw man" and dismiss it out of hand. I lost any remaining respect I might have had for the WTS from that time on.
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  36

  Finally got CoC!!.....Not really what I had expected.

  by JediMaster in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  ok, so i finally picked up coc from my local library last night.

  and started reading it like crazy.

  i think i read about 70 pages which brought me close to the end of the second chapter: "governing body".

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  PrimateDave

  It is great that you are reading it. However, after looking through your post, I am still not sure what you were "expecting" as the title of your post suggests. Perhaps you could elaborate a bit about your expectations?