dear all,.
i desperately feel that the grand title of apostate applies no more to ex jws than it does to the whole of active jws.. therefore, i am asking for some sort of alternative title for the wonderful people who post on here.
the word apostate strikes fear in the average dub.
Personally I like the word apostate. We shoud adopt it in the same way the gay community has co-opted 'queer.'
Apostate and proud!
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"Theology is never any help; it is searching in a dark cellar at midnight for a black cat that isn't there. Theologians can persuade themselves of anything." -Robert A. Heinlein
Generic haiku:
Five in the first line,
Seven in the second line
Five again to end.
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"Theology is never any help; it is searching in a dark cellar at midnight for a black cat that isn't there. Theologians can persuade themselves of anything." -Robert A. Heinlein
who are the most reliable common sense posters in this community that can be relied upon to help out others the most?
can you describe your online friends positive qualities?
how has this person or persons helped you?.
I nominate Abaddon. Good job, Gyles!
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"Theology is never any help; it is searching in a dark cellar at midnight for a black cat that isn't there. Theologians can persuade themselves of anything." -Robert A. Heinlein
the anthropic principle .
it's true that life as it exists on earth, and the behavior of the universe as a whole, is finely tuned.
these constants, most physicists believe, were introduced at the time of the big bang, when the universe seems to have been created, or at least, to have begun again another cycle of creation.
why does the ENTIRE world subscribe to the Christian calendear?
Because in what we nor refer to as 310 AD (or CE) Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. the sixth century a monk named Dionysius incorrectly placed the birth of Christ at the end of 1 BC (although the term BC wasn't used at the time). The counting system was eventually adopted by the church, and by extension the Western world. (A common system of dating became extremely important as people travelled more.) Non-Christian countries began using it for convenience.
There's more to it than that, but that's the general gist.
We may use the date of the birth of Jesus for our year, but we use other gods and historical figures for our days and months. Is that significant as anything other than a historical accident?
Thanks for playing into my hand.Whatever. You probably foresaw this rebuttal too, let me know when you get to the point.
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"Theology is never any help; it is searching in a dark cellar at midnight for a black cat that isn't there. Theologians can persuade themselves of anything." -Robert A. Heinlein
the anthropic principle .
it's true that life as it exists on earth, and the behavior of the universe as a whole, is finely tuned.
these constants, most physicists believe, were introduced at the time of the big bang, when the universe seems to have been created, or at least, to have begun again another cycle of creation.
Pascals wager makes perfect sense, if you put your faith in the oldest known manuscript known to man--the Bible!
The world's oldest manuscript? The collection of books you refer to as the bible is nothing of the sort. Being extremely generous, the oldest parts of the bible date back no further than 1500 BC. There are many extant manuscripts from earlier times. Perhaps we should put our faith in those and worship Osiris.
Why would you just choose to remain atheistic--with nothing to look forward to, and no hope whatsoever of any chance of salvation, just simply living one day to the next, knowing that in an instant, time and unforseen occurence befall us all, and your existence could vanish forever?????????????????? Why not research the various religions, and then make a decision which one you choose to adhere to? (Obviously you wouldn't worship all of them, because that would be self defeating!!!!!!) You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain!!What if they're all wrong? Or what if there's no way to tell for certain which one is right? Perhaps those who believe in the wrong god will be punished more than those who believe in none. Perhaps the gods are testing us and will reward those who use reason, and don't believe the silly superstitions of primitive goatherds. If it's a gamble at all, the best thing to do is to assume that the universe is the way it appears to be, and act accordingly. A just god would not punish someone for doing that. An unjust god is likely to punish you anyway.
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"Theology is never any help; it is searching in a dark cellar at midnight for a black cat that isn't there. Theologians can persuade themselves of anything." -Robert A. Heinlein
ok, over my many years of being a witness, on rare.
occasions, strange, almost miraculous things would.
happen in my life - since these things were mostly.
metatron,
Go to http://www.randi.org/research/index.html
If you're right, you could be rich soon!
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"Theology is never any help; it is searching in a dark cellar at midnight for a black cat that isn't there. Theologians can persuade themselves of anything." -Robert A. Heinlein
ok, over my many years of being a witness, on rare.
occasions, strange, almost miraculous things would.
happen in my life - since these things were mostly.
there are many things we as humans don't understand. Let people scoff, but there will always be subject lacking explanation, and there will always be people trying to conjure the explanation up. For God's sakes, if you don't understand something, just let it go!
Fortunately not everyone thinks like you, or we'd still be cave-dwelling savages.
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"Theology is never any help; it is searching in a dark cellar at midnight for a black cat that isn't there. Theologians can persuade themselves of anything." -Robert A. Heinlein
i got this in an email today...it was a forward from a sister.
she doesnt talk to me, but sends 'uplifting' emails.
i guess i'm not good enough to talk to, but only to upbuild!
Guy Pierce being on the GB makes me laugh. His very claim of being annointed disproves JW logic and doctrine
And he played a drag queen in the Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert!
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"Theology is never any help; it is searching in a dark cellar at midnight for a black cat that isn't there. Theologians can persuade themselves of anything." -Robert A. Heinlein
simon, please add a 'conspiracy theories' section!
hehe!
check this out...could it be true?.
What Bush obviously saw was a newsflash moments after the first plane hit, something many people saw and few considered to be a terrorist attack. He never said he saw it live. No conspiracy, not even a gaffe.
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"Theology is never any help; it is searching in a dark cellar at midnight for a black cat that isn't there. Theologians can persuade themselves of anything." -Robert A. Heinlein
tonight is a very special occasion!.
at 8:02 p.m. the time and date will read 2002 2002 2002. that is 2 minutes past 8 (twentieth hour in the 24 hour clock), on the 20th of february, 2002.. apparently next time this happens will be 2112 2112 2112. i think last time was 1212 1212 1212. not sure of that though.. good excuse for an extra-cold vodka-martini, methinks!.
expatbrit
Here in the center of the universe it will be 20:02 02/20/2002
Which is still the same backwards and forwards! And yes, it's entirely dependent on the counting system and means of expression used. But it won't happen again for 110 years, so quit being such a spoilsport!
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"Theology is never any help; it is searching in a dark cellar at midnight for a black cat that isn't there. Theologians can persuade themselves of anything." -Robert A. Heinlein
