Posts by done4good

18

Endure! Life is hard! Lost? We are Miserable ? Don't think so

by ducatijoe in

its a rainy day and have been reading posts.. i would like to respond to the comments of those still in, post to those who have decided to leave.. what ever you have been told or may think about what will happen without "the truth" , is not true.

my life without the wbts is fantastic.

no stress, live in a beautiful place, great new friends and total peace of mind.

done4good

I know people who have left the Witnesses and they're lives are in shambles. They needed structure and without it they are lost. I know people who have left and they are fine. Strictly speaking from my own extended family: all the ones that have left are all screwed up.

It's called self-fulfilling prophesy. Of course, if someone is browbeat their whole life, told they are sinful, imperfect scum deserving of death, (especially if they leave), in addition to being unprepared for real life, with no education, no prospects for improvement, and also believe it is wrong to want to improve their life... Isn't it kind of obvious someone in this situation would be set up to fail? Duh...

d4g

48

Evidence based folks: what is your stance on GMO's and why?

by cappytan in

jw
friends

so, the anti-gmo movement scored another victory today.

chipotle has opted to only use non-gmo food items.. hooray for them.

i'm pretty neutral on the subject, mostly because, other than questionable treatment of farmers, i have seen no evidence to avoid gmo's for health reasons.. basically, my neutrality boils down to the stance that i'll buy non-gmo, so long as the price is reasonable.

done4good

What Viviane said, at least from a health perspective.

However, also because of evolution, any direct modification to the genetic makeup of an organism, could change evolutionary patterns that have long term effects on the ecosystem overall. Not that this is by necessity an issue, just part of what happens with evolution. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes no known immediate effect.

Think Africanized bees. When African honeybees were introduced to Europe and North America in the 1950s to improve honey production, it was not expected these bees would take over European bee populations, and produce so-called "killer" bees. By the 1970s, these relatively aggressive bees were overpowering European bee populations, and replacing them, earning the name "killer". At that time it was thought these would potentially become a serious threat to humans. That threat was unsubstantiated.

Longer term, beekeepers have adapted, and found ways to keep these bees in their farms, and use them for productive honey producing purposes. Likely, any evolutionary change forced by GMO will force some adaptation in the future, at the worst.

d4g

16

Do you think you should have the right to decline business on Personal or Religious grounds?

by PokerPlayerPhil in

should individual businesses have the right to pick and chose who they serve?

if a muslim decides he won't bake the cake of a radical zionist that says "reclaim the temple in jerusalem" should the government be allowed to punish the muslim baker?

maybe you can help me understand the issues more clearly because were becoming hyper-sensitive and soon your going to need a handbook what's the proper thing to say.

done4good

The law aside, (which is quite clear, btw...), I even knew many JWs that owned businesses and performed work for churches, performed wedding services, such as photography in churches, etc., years ago. Even hardcore JWs understood the law, and complied.

This should be a non-issue at the state legislation level. The1993 Freedom of Religion Act, has been highjacked and twisted for a use that it was never intended for, by right wing nutjobs, who know nothing of history or the Constitution.

d4g

11

The Custom of having Congregation Meetings

by Quarterback in

the wt study (feb study edition) for today stated "the jews had established a pattern.

of worship.

they regularly met together.

done4good

I am not sure if the pre-Christian era Jews met regularly or not, and equally sure the WT does not know either. However, that has never stopped them from cherry picking bible verses to make their point.

The WT at best tries to present itself outwardly as "Christian", but would much rather use the OT to enforce their rhetoric. Too many conflicting messages in the NT for them. The "friendlier" parts of the NT just do not sit well with the JW leadership.

It's all crap anyway.

d4g

11

Why the Future of Religion Is Bleak

by defender of truth in

religious institutions have survived by controlling what their adherents know, argues tufts prof. daniel c. dennett, but today that is next to impossible.

illustration: brian stauffer for the wall street journal.

by daniel c. dennett.

done4good

TheOldHippie: But is it the future of religion, religious feelings, or the future of organized religion, of organizations?

Social evolution, (what this article is really about), would have it that all of these memes will eventually fade out. Likely in this order: Organizations, then religion, (as a general meme).

Ultimately, "religious" feelings would evolve to a less strictly defined "spiritual", set of personal belief, since no enforcing agency to control personal belief would exist.

d4g

52

Questions for those that believe in Electricity

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

you can't see electricity or hear it or feel it.

well, there are sparks and lightning bolts and heating elements and the light and heat of filaments.

and somehow, it lights up neon in a tube.

done4good

Can I copy your answers for the next exam?😇

Gladly, in exchange for your wit...

52

Questions for those that believe in Electricity

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

you can't see electricity or hear it or feel it.

well, there are sparks and lightning bolts and heating elements and the light and heat of filaments.

and somehow, it lights up neon in a tube.

done4good

I haven't even figured out radio waves and now I gotta figure out electricity as well😦.

Actually Sparrow, radio waves are electricity...

d4g

52

Questions for those that believe in Electricity

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

you can't see electricity or hear it or feel it.

well, there are sparks and lightning bolts and heating elements and the light and heat of filaments.

and somehow, it lights up neon in a tube.

done4good

Are some of you suggesting that just because I don't understand all the science, it doesn't mean that it isn't true?

It is about understanding scientific method, (or at least what it is). If that can be understood, it will provide a basis for understanding the reasoning of why something is considered fact. And yes, in science a theory is also factual. (Not absolute truth...It is a big no-no to even say the word "truth" in scientific circles).

d4g

52

Questions for those that believe in Electricity

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

you can't see electricity or hear it or feel it.

well, there are sparks and lightning bolts and heating elements and the light and heat of filaments.

and somehow, it lights up neon in a tube.

done4good

To believe is to accept something as true, with the inference that it is not empirically or even anecdotally provable.

Accepting the theory of electricity requires no belief because it can be tested for and observed. It can be accepted as factual with empirical evidence of its existence.

Evolution can be tested for, and observed, albeit not as obviously to the average person. This also with empirical evidence of its reality.

So, neither requires belief.

Precisely why no one would ever ask the question concerning electricity, right?

Why refer to such lines of questioning such as "for those that believe in evolution" then?

d4g

114

Why do religious people make claims and then refuse to back them up?

by Viviane in

several times over the past few months i have had conversations, both here and in real life, with religious people making all sorts of interesting and conflicting claims.

i like to know how things work, so generally i will ask questions to net out what i am being told and see if it can be explained and make sense.. for instance, if someone said 2+2=4 and i asked how, there are a variety of ways that could be shown to me, a number line, physical objects being put together, counting on fingers and toes, etc.

indeed, in my personal life, i often have to explain how certain technologies work, sometimes planned, sometimes off the cuff, from a variety of group sizes to a varying degree of technical expertise.

done4good

Why ?

Both are unanswerable questions silly.

But of course science not today but tomorrow will figure it all for us. Progress is being made. Blah blah blah. We have big thick books with really complex answers.

So simple answers are always correct?

It find it funny how the pro-science crowd often seems to be bigger deists than religious people.

This proves you do not understand science at all. Science is not about having all of the answers not about even potentially finding them all. It is about open questioning and exploration without biased presuppositions, mostly. Theists cannot do this, because all lines of argumentation must affirm their belief. As I stated earlier, if we just started with the proper definition of the term belief, there would be no debate to begin with.

d4g