Posts by glenster

10

The Use of the Word Satan in the Bible

by kepler in

job 38:4,7.. .

job 1:6 before the lord, and satan came also among them.

job 2:1 before the lord, and satan came also among them .

glenster

The issue of God and gods comes up with the JWs leaders stance of Jesus as a god.

http://gtw6437.tripod.com/id18.html

"In Genesis chapter one, God is put in the singular context. He is unambig-
uously singular, and therefore Genesis chapter one could be said to be a Mono-
theistic. (Gen 1:1) However, if we look at God’s interaction with Abraham, the
evidence is less compelling. According to the book of Judith, the Patriarchs
(starting with Abraham), left the gods of their fathers. (Jdt 5:7) God is later
to reveal Himself not as the only God, but rather as the god whom Abraham knows.
(Gen 15:17) In such a respect, God is not God alone, but the god who was wor-
shipped by Abraham’s clan. In such a context, it is a type of tribal deity,
that although was worshipped alone, did not explicitly exclude the existence of
other gods, who were not relevant to them.

"In the early Mosaic era, the possibility of other gods is left an open ques-
tion, although by this stage Israel claims that their God is greater. (Ex 18:11)
This same subtle shift is shown in 2 Chr 2:5, and could indicate that Israel un-
derstood that the God they recognized was God alone, and other gods were there-
fore false. This would be Monotheism in the proper sense of the word. By the
time of the prophet Isaiah, Monotheism is solidly and explicitly accepted.
'Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: "I
am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.' (Is 44:6) Thus,
the development of the people of Israel to a true Monotheism, appears to be a
gradual process, with the exception of Gen 1:1. It is therefore likely that
Gen 1:1 was redacted later than the other examples supplied, and so, the devel-
opment of Monotheism comes firstly on a tribal level, and gradually advances to
recognition that the God of Israel is the only God. It is into this context
that Christianity emerges, and thus Christianity was from the outset Monotheis-
tic. (John 1:1)"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Kevinkor2/LORD
http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/monotheism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotheism#Hebrew_Bible

Satan
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13219-satan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satan

9

Paradise or Oblivion

by Fernando in

from youtube:.

this video presentation advocates a new socio-economic system, which is updated to present-day knowledge, featuring the life-long work of social engineer, futurist, inventor and industrial designer jacque fresco, which he calls a resource-based economy.

this documentary details the root causes of the systemic value disorders and detrimental symptoms caused by our current established system.

glenster

http://www.thevenusproject.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacque_Fresco
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Venus_Project

17

Does MAGIC exist or doesnt it? Sick of crap from WT

by hamsterbait in

magic as a "force" has been debunked.

no sane person believes it is real.

(except of course jehoobie - and it makes him real sad an' mean mad!).

glenster

I don't know proof God is or isn't. I know faith--a hope for a possible God.
For the basic God concept: Mortimer Adler, "How to Think About God." Beyond
that, ideas of interventions, etc., are likewise faith.

Regarding noone sane, etc.--not true. Some posts here wonder if the JWs
leaders are delusional schizophrenics, so inadvertently provide an excuse for
them as not culpable. I don't know any evidence for that and a mountain of it,
from Russell in the late 1880's onwards, that they're feigning exclusiveness/
lying to sell literature.
http://gtw6437.tripod.com/index.html

(I likewise see no reason to think Popoff was schizophrenic and thought Jesus
spoke to him, only evidence Popoff feigned exclusiveness with a radio receiver
in his ear to get more money in the collection plate.)

Regarding debunked, etc., there's a range possible in Abrahamic faith.

Orthodox/conservative (and the JWs leaders are that) believers are more prone
to defend their outdated interpretations of an old text. The biggest percentage
of orthodox/conservative in an Abrahamic religion is in Islam--most Muslims be-
lieve the one miracle for the religion is the writing of the Qur'an.

Liberal/progressive/reform (S.Colbert, Obama, etc.) believers are more prone
to keep up to speed with current knowledge (evolution, homosexuality, etc.),
which I'd characterize as better honoring the basic God concept: if He's there,
it wouldn't honor Him to misinform or harm unnecessarily in His name--I think
it would piss Him off.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/36947/the-colbert-report-mon-jun-11-2012

As knowledge grows an old text may need to be seen as allegorical, represent-
ing the culture of the time and not what God would know, etc. An easy example
even fundamentalist literalists would agree with is that Ancient Near East
cosmology (the sky a hard dome, etc.) just represents the culture of the time.

Likewise, liberal/progressive/reform is more liable to understand their faith
as such, so not want anyone hurt or killed arbitrarily, which would be sadism
and murder, so want separation of church and state. Iran could do a lot more to
catch up on that.

17

Please explain 607 B.C.E. to me as if I were a 5 year old

by God_Delusion in

glenster

Please explain 607 B.C.E. to me as if I were a 5 year old.

It's the year after 608 BC. You know what a year is, right? Well, this was
thousands of years ago, a way far away, all the many long years ago--back when
the mighty clamasaurs roamed the seas spearing anything in their paths with
their mighty tusks. (Demonstrate with a pillow and sound effect.)

And the biggest clamasaur wanted them to live in a place where they'd have to
kill people like Elmer John (who has a little baby Elmer that he would always
love) and not be able to go around Elmer Pelmer or Elmer Costelmer, and have to
eat crummy bread and meat with no flavor. And no clams. They wanted a place
like Iran. That wasn't very good.

After hundreds of years, there was a little futzabean named Clamso, and a
mutzafutza named Clamsoti, and a li'l mouse. Awww! A li'l mouse.

One day they were out in their boat and the big Clamasaur came by. The little
mouse jumped to hide in a mouse hole and it fell right into the clamasaur's
blowhole. And the clamasaur went Ulf! Ulf! Ulf! And Clamso and Clamsoti caught
it in their nets, and out came the little mouse, who made some delicious clam
sauce, and everyone was very happy.

And from that day on, some people still want things to be clammy and even
send people all over the neighborhood, door to door, to put their clam in your
face. But others always remembered the li'l mouse that fed the multitudes with
one clam, and changed their soup into delicious clam sauce. And that's why
we're going to a restaurant for supper tomorrow. And having breaded clams.
Now have a good sleep.

"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.”
? Albert Einstein
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/19421

18

Is The "American Dream" is over?

by cantleave in

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-american-dream-is-now-a-myth-2012-6.

one of the most distressing aspects of the state of the us economy is the decrease in social mobility.. it is much, much harder now than it used to be for americans to improve their circumstances.. in other words, if americans are born poor, they're overwhelmingly likely to stay poor.. similarly, if americans are born rich, they have a much better chance of staying rich than someone born poor or middle class.. no one minds inequality as long as one's station in life is a function of one's own decisions and effort.. when inequality becomes the luck of the draw, however, if becomes much more profoundly unfair.. america's social mobility is now not only one of the lowest in the country's history--it's one of the lowest in the first world.. if that doesn't change, the fundamental promise of america for the past 250 years will disappear.

the country will no longer be a place in which you can control your economic destiny.

glenster

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/science-research-sustainability-end-of-the-world-collapse,news-15482.html

The researchers believe that a planetary shift cannot be avoided anymore.
However, the impact can be delayed or minimized, if we "drastically" lower the
planet's population "very quickly"

There's the argument: vote for Aladeen. Climate change is mainly due to
overpopulation, and I think he could do something about that. He could be Mr.
Can Do. Also the economy--more money for the rest of us. Plus he looks chauncy
in his uniform walking into that big room in the trailer. Vote for Aladeen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEPSJF7BYOo

21

Anyone watching the venus transit?

by darthfader in

http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/webcasts/nasaedge/.

glenster

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2157305/Photographer-captures-Venus-Hubble-telescope-crossing-sun-lifetime-moment.html

54

God's Perfect Creation

by MrFreeze in

so, one of the main things that jw's teach is that when god first created everything, it was all perfect.

no flaws in his creation.

that is until you realize that the wt reasons that adam and even knew what death was because the animals died.

glenster

Mortimer Adler, "How to Think about God." Note: nothing in the basic defini-
tion about the state of the universe--perfect or otherwise.

It's a choice whether or not to have a faith in a possibility. You can only
milk so much prove is or isn't from it with the quality of the universe or any-
thing else. Those pushing too hard in either direction, intending to distinguish
themselves from those of the other extreme, ironically remind me of each other.

It's a choice whether or not to have a faith and nobody told them. It can be
a honey of a thing kept in perspective and done up right, but I don't want
either of them writing the song for me.

In this case, perfect or desolate universe. You either get someone who seems
like Ned Flanders who just stepped out of a Mary Poppins movie or "Life is a
swirling sucking eddy of death and despair." The Harris quote seems meant like
the latter to pad an atheist case:

"The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there
is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind,
pitiless indifference."

Does that universe include people and what good he can find in getting a
chance at life and love in it? He's got to lay off the Franz Kafka books for a
while. I like him sometimes--I hope he's feeling better....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T5_0AGdFic

3

Large soda more illegal than 25 grams of herb in NYC

by glenster in

25 grams = 0.881849047499999900 ounces.

jon stewart tries to figure out what he's allowed to put in his mouth.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-june-7-2012/jon-stewart-tries-to-figure-out-what-he-s-allowed-to-put-in-his-mouth?xrs=share_copy.

glenster

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWSaoPrUd-o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3CKVAvAEFY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csCol2Mo82I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvn-tBeLpCk

39

Paradise earth doctrine - did it strike anyone else as a bit odd?

by sseveninches in

i have neglected to read jwfacts.org since discovering jwn a few weeks ago (remnants of the "apostate" defenses in action), but recently i decided to dive head first into it, and it has been eye-opening.

of course, some of the information i already knew through reading jwn, but one of the pages that really got my attention was the paradise earth topic under "questionable doctrine".. paradise earth caught my eye because way before i started having doubts about jw doctrine, i have always been asking questions about the topic - not to raise doubts (since i didn't have any back then), but just for my personal understanding, and to see how plausible it could be.

in the past i have asked things like:.

glenster

http://larryhurtado.wordpress.com/2012/04/10/rethinking-heaven-in-time-magazine/

3

Birds ended the reign of giant Insects - either that or Noah was scared of Spiders!

by cantleave in

http://richarddawkins.net/articles/646182-birds-ended-reign-of-giant-insects.

giant insects ruled the prehistoric skies during periods when earths atmosphere was rich in oxygen.

they reached their biggest sizes about 300 million years ago during the late carboniferous and early permian periods.

glenster

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120604155703.htm