When I was younger, I loved TV. Bugs Bunny cartoons, Land of the Lost (Sid and Marty Krofft), Star Trek, Flipper, Little Rascals, Three Stooges, You Can't Do That on Television, Space 1999, Lost in Space, Incredible Hulk (original TV series), and others.
Now, I don't watch TV anymore. Local TV is crap, and I don't have cable.
Dave
PrimateDave
JoinedPosts by PrimateDave
-
26
Wow! TV is stupid!
by LtCmd.Lore ini sat down to watch some tv today... our tv only pick up 3 channels.. and stuff worth watching is few and far between.
it's amazing how much mindless drivel is being broadcasted.. .
deal or no deal: where an overactive lunatic runs around the stage hyperventilating, while simultaniously showing off his/her amazing random-number-generator skills by choosing completely arbitrary numbers and winning money for it.
-
-
PrimateDave
-
34
I'm curious- why 'god'?
by rimfiredancing ini know how i got sucked into the b0rg- i was a very spiritual, very young and very emotionally damaged 19 year old (raised in a violent on all levels home, the usual stuff) who was having- and had always had- a lot of 'supernatural' experiences that had caused my mother to declare me 'evil' (and try to get me exorcised on the odd occasion).
i'd become confused and was trying to work out if these things were, in fact, a sign of my rejection from 'god'.
if i'd known then what i know now about the christian god, i'd have told the jw's to stick it.
-
-
PrimateDave
Thanks for that wonderful reply to my post, rimfiredancing! I don't have any time at the moment to post much of a reply, but I will try tomorrow. Got to go to sleep now. ;)
Timothy Campbell's "Introduction to Antiprocess"
Dave -
-
-
PrimateDave
Good condensed video. I like Penn and Teller's bu11$h!4 on circumcision, too. The book Biblical Nonsense by Jason Long goes through the same material as the P&T video, only more in depth.
Dave -
34
I'm curious- why 'god'?
by rimfiredancing ini know how i got sucked into the b0rg- i was a very spiritual, very young and very emotionally damaged 19 year old (raised in a violent on all levels home, the usual stuff) who was having- and had always had- a lot of 'supernatural' experiences that had caused my mother to declare me 'evil' (and try to get me exorcised on the odd occasion).
i'd become confused and was trying to work out if these things were, in fact, a sign of my rejection from 'god'.
if i'd known then what i know now about the christian god, i'd have told the jw's to stick it.
-
-
PrimateDave
Welcome to the board, Rimfiredancing. This is an interesting topic. With respects to the topic, I do not believe in the god(s) of the Bible, but I used to.
I was raised as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Before becoming Witnesses, my parents and grandparents belonged to churches. In fact my European-American cultural heritage is traditionally based on the presumption of the accuracy of the Bible and the existence of its god. I have seen it on this board, too; the premise goes, "Jehovah's Witnesses are wrong, but my cultural heritage is right. The Bible is true and God exists." I think that kind of conclusion is most often prevalent among those whose arguments are over doctrinal issues such as the Trinity or whether the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses is God's approved instrument. These are the ones you are primarily addressing in your post.
In my experience, however, and at the opposite end of the spectrum from yours, my complete lack of any "supernatural" experiences helped me call into question the Bible and its god(s). Once I permitted myself to objectively study the theory of Evolution and the Documentary Hypothesis of scriptural origins, I no longer accepted the Bible as anything more than a piece of literature, created over centuries and modified to suit the cultural perspectives of its writers and editors.
Looking back I ask myself: When I was a Witness and a believer in the Bible, knowing what the Bible said about its god, why did I believe in him and defend him and "his word"?
The answer is not so difficult to perceive now.
Any belief system that resorts to logical fallacies should be held suspect, but most religions are not likely to educate their followers about said fallacies, are they? As a Witness I was basically ignorant of logical fallacies.
We have a tendency to accept the first things told to us, the things we learn early on in life, as "true", and to view with skepticism anything which contradicts those first held beliefs. When I was young I was told that there was "one true God." It took decades to overcome that belief. As Timothy Campbell explains in his "Introduction to Antiprocess" website, when we encounter information that causes us mental discomfort, our subconscious filters it with a "stop thought". If a believer encounters the thought "God is not Love", then subconsciously s/he will filter it with a "stop thought" until the mental discomfort is eased. That mental discomfort is visibly evident as emotional agitation expressed towards the origin of the disagreeable thought. See why even Christians aren't very "Christian" in a religious argument.
Then, there is a tolerance for cognitive dissonance that allows one to hold contradictory thoughts at the same time. For example, righteous people don't commit incest. The Bible says that Lot was a righteous man (who got drunk and had sex with his daughters!). King David was a righteous man (who committed adultery and murdered the husband). Or, God is the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, but we have to suffer to prove his point that we can't live without him. Funny how much that sounds like the old "end justifies the means" argument.
Now, about your paranormal experiences, I am curious. Just because I have never experienced "odd" things, doesn't mean I cannot accept their occurrences. At least by now I would know enough not to attribute them to "Satan and his demons". I agree with your assessment of scientific "proof". At best we have theories about how the world around us works, though for the most part I think many theories are pretty solidly based on observable evidence. Still, as individuals we exist only in our own minds which receive the filtered content of our senses and then we filter some more. I've read about Ceremonial Magick, Tarot, and meditation. Any thoughts on these? A bit off topic, I know.
Dave -
36
My wife is attending an "Assembly"?
by Shadow1 inmy wife has gone to attend an "assembly" can anyone tell me what goes on at these meetings?.
-"un-believing mate" still very new to all of this.. .
shadow1.
-
-
PrimateDave
The program itself is generally quite boring. As a child I remember playing little mind games like seeing how high I could count in my head. As an adult I used the time during the sessions to catch up on sleep and read non-WTS books and magazines I would bring. During lunch it was alright. I would walk around and meet people I knew. After the sessions we might go out to eat. So, mostly harmless. What you need to do is read Crisis of Conscience and see if she would read it too. But don't force it.
Dave -
20
My new theory
by Tyrone van leyen insorry folks, this is just not like me.
i like to right but sometimes i get tooo carired away.
it was as funny as hell, but too controversial or grapic for others despite its merit as a theory.
-
-
PrimateDave
Ah. My bad.
Dave -
20
My new theory
by Tyrone van leyen insorry folks, this is just not like me.
i like to right but sometimes i get tooo carired away.
it was as funny as hell, but too controversial or grapic for others despite its merit as a theory.
-
-
PrimateDave
Quote: "Hitler took one in the nuts at the battle of the Somme in Oct. 1916."
I think you've got the wrong war there.
Dave -
30
CORMAC MCCARTHY may well be my favorite writer
by Terry in) never read fiction.. personal reasons.
i use to read a lot of fiction as a teenager, but, gave it up.
i had enough to do rearing 7 kids and having to indulge in life to make the trade-off of time required to keep up with fiction.. now, there has come an author who has stopped me dead in my tracks and changed all that and his name is cormac mccarthy.. he is some kind of genius with quirky style and a bottomless vocabulary and a penchant for storytelling that won't let me escape.. i first heard of mccarthy by reading the literary critic, harold bloom.
-
-
PrimateDave
I read The Road a couple of months back. Very dark and gripping fiction. It will profoundly affect your mood. Definitely recommended.
Dave -
5
Paying the Price: "Killing the Children of Iraq"-John Pilger
by frankiespeakin inthe results of un sanctions on iraq's children.. paying the price killing the children of iraq-johnpilger:.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1685105506620272241&q=john+pilger+iraq&total=66&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=4.
.
-
-
PrimateDave
John Pilger's documentary "The War on Democracy" was quite good.
Dave -
32
USA Should Declare Bankruptcy?
by sammielee24 inthe fevered efforts to save the financial system, typified by today's panicked three-quarter-point interest rate cut by the federal reserve and the bush/paulson stimulus plan not only will not work, but will backfire spectacularly, and soon, economist lyndon larouche warned today.
the financial system is dead, and any attempt to save the fictitious values of the trillions of dollars of worthless financial paper will not only fail, but will destroy any nation foolish enough to attempt to do so, larouche said.the global financial system, emphatically including the united states, is entering a period comparable to that of weimar germany in the autumn of 1923, but on a far larger scale.
whereas the damage from the runaway hyperinflation in weimar germany was largely restricted to germany itself, the current crisis is global in scale.
-
-
PrimateDave
I keep seeing references to foreign aid, like the US Gov is somehow writing welfare checks to poor individuals in Third World countries. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't "foreign aid" just a euphemism for Corporate Welfare/Subsidies? The US Gov allocates X number of million dollars to a foreign government which has to turn around and buy things from US Corporations like jet fighters and weapons, things which are usually used on insurgent groups in those countries. Some "foreign aid" is used to fund political groups in developing countries to get into power politicians that go along with the so-called Washington Consensus, another gift to US Corporations. So, isn't "foreign aid" just another way to channel public money into private wealth?
As for doom and gloom, well, don't worry too much. Life will go on. Times may get difficult, and we may once again have to learn to form local economies, but overall things should happen gradually enough. We can take steps now to get ourselves in better financial shape by eliminating revolving credit and working out some form of savings plan. But the best investment of all is in personal skills and community.
Dave