Posts by glenster

9

How many Watchtower tactics on this list?

by Terry in

schopenhauer's 38 stratagems, or 38 ways to win an argument .

arthur schopenhauer (1788-1860), was a brilliant german philosopher.

these 38 stratagems are excerpts from "the art of controversy", first translated into english and published in 1896. .

glenster

He left out a biggie: having peers shun the opponent for doing research with
material critical of the argument.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_Being_Right
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Schopenhauer

1

Awesome religious quotes in TV and Movies

by jworld in

i always seem to come across funny and thought provoking quotes about religion in tv and movies.

i thought i would share two of my favorites.

bill compton: does 'he' ever come?

glenster

Lee Marvin has some funny lines in Paint Your Wagon but about the only clip I
ever find on YouTube is Wanderin' Star. I like it but Warner Bros. won't allow
the full movie.

Dave Allen on Religion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxo81Ok9Urk

Herod's Song to me is a funny way to put Herod across, but I like the original
LP version better than the movie version which seems kind of lame in comparison.

More seriously, Mortimer Adler (author of How to Think About God) made a good
appearance on Firing Line years ago. I'd recommend the book short of a clip of
the full interview.

S. Colbert and J. Stewart can be both bright and funny about it.
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/223957/april-06-2009/colbert-s-easter-parade
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-april-9-2012/faith-off---adapting-passover

23

Not Breaking News: Jehovah's Witnesses Watchtower Under Police Investigation

by Scott77 in

police inquiry over jehovah's witness magazine 'mentally diseased' articlehttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/8791196/police-inquiry-over-jehovahs-witness-magazine-mentally-diseased-article.html.

telegraph.co.uk</form>sunday 24 june 2012. homenewsworldsportfinancecommentblogsculturetravellifefashiontechdatingoffersjobspoliticsobitseducationearthsciencedefencehealthscotlandroyalcelebritiesweirdhomenewsreligionpolice inquiry over jehovah's witness magazine 'mentally diseased' articlean official magazine for jehovah's witnesses that described those who leave the church as "mentally diseased" is at the centre of a police inquiry, it has emerged.the watchtower is the official magazine of jehovah's witnesses photo: alamy9:58am bst 27 sep 2011. detectives are investigating whether the article, published in julys edition of the watchtower, is in breach of britains religious hatred laws.. the article, published in the magazine which is distributed by jehovah's witnesses across the globe, reportedly warned followers to avoid "false teachers" which it condemned as being "mentally diseased".. "suppose that a doctor told you to avoid contact with someone who is infected with a contagious, deadly disease," part of the article stated.. "you would know what the doctor means, and you would strictly heed his warning.

well, apostates are 'mentally diseased', and they seek to infect others with their disloyal teachings.".

glenster

Rick Fenton, the Witness spokesman quoted in the article, said,

"Any one of Jehovah's Witnesses is free to express their feelings and to ask
questions," he said. "If a person changes their mind about Bible-based teachings
they once held dear, we recognise their right to leave."

I don't think I need to explain at this site that the harmful, at times fatal,
efforts of the GB to affect exclusiveness for marketing involves discouraging JWs
from research that would lead them to realize the dubious methods the GB uses.
The GB has a dozen or so distinctive rules, or methods for teaching fairly dis-
tinctive rules, and among those rules is that JWs who show persistent disagreement
with them will be shunned as directed by GB policy.

The issue here is that the GB (ironically) characterizes their critics as people
to be avoided like disease. This is clearly to keep the paying customers away
from unsatisfied customers who may provide such research and discourage payments.

What is religious hated if not unfounded trumped-up contempt for people to the
degree you must avoid them?

Notice that the spokesman's spin on the GB puts the blame everywhere else: the
claim is that the GB shunning rules, and characterizations of those to be shunned,
represent Bible requirements that JWs can take or leave (simply leave--not be
shunned for in notable and unfounded contempt). The misdirection attempted is
that the issue is simply that you should have the religious freedom to accept the
Bible or not, and that the GB recognizes that right--a right covered by the UK
Racial and Religious Hatred Act of 2006.

All that's left out is a Rutherford-type claim that the GB is being unduly per-
secuted and an ironic request for protection by the R and RH Act.

Supporters of the Bill responded that all UK legislation has to be interpreted
in the light of the Human Rights Act 1998, which guarantees freedom of religion
and expression, and so denied that an Act of Parliament is capable of making any
religious text illegal.

The House of Lords passed amendments to the Bill on 25 October 2005 which have
the effect of limiting the legislation to "A person who uses threatening words or
behaviour, or displays any written material which is threatening... if he intends
thereby to stir up religious hatred". This removed the abusive and insulting
concept, and required the intention - and not just the possibility - of stirring
up religious hatred.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_and_Religious_Hatred_Act_2006

The act was meant to allow people their religious texts and distinguish efforts
to divide people beyond them. All that's left out is for the accusers of the GB
to provide the evidence of them as guilty of that. I can join others to do my
part to supply that:
http://glenster1.webs.com/gtjbrooklynindex.htm

11

22 Year Old JW Dies Because Jehovah Told Him Not To Accept Blood

by God_Delusion in

yep, that's right folks.

a 22-year old man in london, england refused to take a simple blood transfusion which would have saved his life.. i suppose we'll see him in the new system.... here's the article.. .

warm regards,.

glenster

This young man's death was in vain why ?????

It was in vain because he was misled to commit suicide, not to mention how the
bereaved, and whoever might have become close to this person in the future, was
deprived due to low business practices. The accusation wasn't over stances about
the next life but what goes on in this one. In it, the GB hasn't declared new
light to allow transfusions or become forthright in their methods.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah%27s_Witnesses_and_blood_transfusions

11

22 Year Old JW Dies Because Jehovah Told Him Not To Accept Blood

by God_Delusion in

yep, that's right folks.

a 22-year old man in london, england refused to take a simple blood transfusion which would have saved his life.. i suppose we'll see him in the new system.... here's the article.. .

warm regards,.

glenster

CORRECTION: He died because he ACCECPTED to believe the Craptower.

That's additionally true, of course. But the victim was likely unaware that
the GB, in the name of feigning exclusiveness for marketing, has gone to special
lengths to misrepresent research books, mischaracterize opposing views, force
points, omit pertinent evidence, etc., despite the harm and death it could cause,
and is the deliberate victimizer.

11

22 Year Old JW Dies Because Jehovah Told Him Not To Accept Blood

by God_Delusion in

yep, that's right folks.

a 22-year old man in london, england refused to take a simple blood transfusion which would have saved his life.. i suppose we'll see him in the new system.... here's the article.. .

warm regards,.

glenster

Correction: 22 year old JW dies because the GB told him.

Samuel Herd (1999)
Geoffrey Jackson (2005)
M. Stephen Lett (1999)
Gerrit Lösch (1994)
Anthony Morris (2005)
Guy H. Pierce (1999)
David H. Splane (1999)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governing_Body_of_Jehovah's_Witnesses

69

Why are religious people scared of atheists?

by jamesmahon in

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[endif]just read bublegum's post and was going to post there but realised it would be off topic.. it got me thinking - as did some of the other atheist threads - why are religious people scared or atheists?

glenster

Glenster -- curious - what do you mean by the 'urban myth of the dark ages' -
I've never heard that expression before. Thanks. :)

The myth of the Dark Ages is that belief in God must include the sort of lit-
eralist conservative interpretation of old religious accounts that works against
the advancement of science, and that this, made law of the land, held back pro-
gress in science for centuries. According to Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_ages

"Films and novels often use the term 'Dark Age' with its implied meaning of a
time of backwardness. For instance, the popular movie Monty Python and the Holy
Grail humorously portrays knights and chivalry, following in a tradition begun
with Don Quixote. The 2007 television show The Dark Ages from The History Chan-
nel called the Dark Ages '600 years of degenerate, godless, inhuman behavior.'

"The public idea of the Middle Ages as a supposed 'Dark Age' is also reflected
in misconceptions regarding the study of nature during this period. The contem-
porary historians of science David C. Lindberg and Ronald Numbers discuss the
widespread popular belief that the Middle Ages were a 'time of ignorance and
superstition,' the blame for which is to be laid on the Christian Church for al-
legedly 'placing the word of religious authorities over personal experience and
rational activity,' and emphasize that this view is essentially a caricature.

"Contrary to common belief, Lindberg say that 'the late medieval scholar rarely
experienced the coercive power of the church and would have regarded himself as
free (particularly in the natural sciences) to follow reason and observation
wherever they led.' And Edward Grant, writes: 'If revolutionary rational
thoughts were expressed in the Age of Reason [the 18th century], they were only
made possible because of the long medieval tradition that established the use of
reason as one of the most important of human activities.'

"For instance, a claim that was first propagated in the 19th century and is
still very common in popular culture is the supposition that all people in the
Middle Ages believed that the Earth was flat. This claim is mistaken. In fact,
lectures in the medieval universities commonly advanced evidence in favor of the
idea that the Earth was a sphere. Lindberg and Numbers write: 'There was
scarcely a Christian scholar of the Middle Ages who did not acknowledge
[Earth's] sphericity and even know its approximate circumference.'

"Misconceptions such as: 'the Church prohibited autopsies and dissections dur-
ing the Middle Ages,' 'the rise of Christianity killed off ancient science,' and
'the medieval Christian church suppressed the growth of natural philosophy,' are
all cited by Numbers as examples of widely popular myths that still pass as his-
torical truth, although they are not supported by current historical research."

69

Why are religious people scared of atheists?

by jamesmahon in

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[endif]just read bublegum's post and was going to post there but realised it would be off topic.. it got me thinking - as did some of the other atheist threads - why are religious people scared or atheists?

glenster

I'd compare it to

- someone not liking a song you love--OK
- someone criticizing that someone's playing the wrong notes
or off the beat (literalist fundamentalist)--OK, and the person
of faith (progressive reform) might join the critic
- someone bashing anyone who likes such songs--that could be
annoying but dismissed as 'centric like flame war

Either side might say something dumb:
- intelligent design and the good things in life prove there's a God or
- the laws of the design of things and the bad things in life prove
there's no God

Either side might reflect poor research:
- Arguments against evolution, against equal rights for women
and homosexuals
- Belief is the biggest cause of war and causes the urban myth version of the
Dark Ages

The basic concepts of God and atheism say nothing about character.
Someone of either choice could get on a list of abominations or philanthropy
so some of either kind could reasonably be considered scary.

The JWs leaders bash everyone else's songs, play wrong notes and off the beat,
teach intelligent design and bigotry, are more known for abomination (blood issue,
etc.) than philanthropy, and their followers are discouraged from researching
about them (apostate literature).

I don't know if they're scared, but if they are they probably console themselves
with their money.

27