marmot

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Posts by marmot

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  106

  There is so much evidence around us to prove an Intelligent creator.

  by nicolaou in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  that's an 'ever so slightly' adapted quote from tophat on another thread; http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/108341/2880755/post.ashx#2880755.

  i've been really dismissive of god/s, religion, faith and the abandoning of reason but when it comes to the 'argument from design', well you just have to give it a bit more .

  respect?

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  marmot

  I see the Universe as an exponentially increasing number of mathematical interactions.
  
  Is it evidence of an intelligent creator that one plus one equals two? Or that the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter is 3.14159?
  
  I'm not a physicist or a mathematician but in my eyes physics is just a series of more complicated mathematical interactions. To me, then, our physical world is just a more complicated version of 1+1=2.
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  12

  Health Canada and the Fluoride Debate

  by sammielee24 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  waterloo region to decide on plebiscite issue.

  by carole clinch .

  the town of dryden, ontario voted against fluoridation of their water on april 22nd, ending a debate that has gone on for more than one year.

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  marmot

  NEWSFLASH! Bored "concerned" busybodies feel sense of pride for combating the planet's latest grave perceived threat du-jour. Pardon my cynicism but big whoop.
  
  I've drunk tap water all my life, I chewed fluoride tablets when I was a kid, I'm still alive and well thank you very much and I've never had a single cavity (all while brushing maybe once every couple days).
  
  I mean honestly, how much tap water do kids even drink these days? Everything is bottled or filtered.
• 
  17

  Focus of New Elder's School: How To Research - WTS Literature Only!!

  by Seeker4 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i posted this idea on another thread, but thought it might get some response as a thread of it's own.

  this was the e-mail i just got about the new elder's school for pos only: .

  "my dad's po school wasn't new stuff, just a lot on studying, using the cd rom, etc.

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  marmot

  Yeah, studying the Watchtower literature is what pushed me away from the whole religion. So much of it is downright loony.
• 
  108

  Athiest what do you believe?

  by real one in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  im just wondering because it seems like you have no hope.

  please set me straight.

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  marmot

  Be honest with yourself, you don't mean that last statement. What you're REALLY saying is that you wish people would all worship the judeo-christian deity. I don't think you care a whit about other people's vision of the divine.
• 
  108

  Athiest what do you believe?

  by real one in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  im just wondering because it seems like you have no hope.

  please set me straight.

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• 

  marmot

  I'd also like to know what "hope" you speak of. I don't believe there's anything supernatural interfering in our lives and judging us based on actions in order to dole out gifts after death, so I believe it's important to enjoy life and make it enjoyable for others and our descendants. Simple, no?
  
  As for death, I don't fear it. If you think about the actual atomic make-up of your body, the raw materials for your atoms were floating around this universe for billions of years until they were forged into atomic elements in the bellies of stars and drifted into this lump we call earth, then a few more billion years of interacting with each other until we got this wonderful little glimpse of life (yes, 70 to 100 years is insignificant on a cosmic time scale), then we go back to being elements in a big recirculating system for who knows how many more billions of years.
  
  Stars burn out and die, why shouldn't we?
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  106

  So what caused you to have doubts in the first place?

  by nicolaou in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i had no doubts at all about the 'truth' untill a friend of mine in the cong' began falling away.

  in trying to help him i had to ask questions and do research and that of course cracked the doors of my mind open for the first time in over thirty years.. years ago, when jwd allowed members to have signatures, i used the following quote from voltaire as mine.

  i still love it.. doubt is uncomfortable, certainty is ridiculous..

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  marmot

  Sorry, I should have clarified that the watchtower doesn't admit to it being mentioned in the bible. None the articles I've ever read from the society have ever said that spanking the monkey is referenced in scripture.
• 
  104

  "....you people make my ass twitch..."

  by wings in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  from a movie.....any takers?.

  i love movies, and i need a distraction.

  any other movie lovers out there?

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  marmot

  You geeks should get this one:
  
  "TETSUOOOOOOO!"
  "KANEDAAAAAAA!"
• 
  106

  So what caused you to have doubts in the first place?

  by nicolaou in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i had no doubts at all about the 'truth' untill a friend of mine in the cong' began falling away.

  in trying to help him i had to ask questions and do research and that of course cracked the doors of my mind open for the first time in over thirty years.. years ago, when jwd allowed members to have signatures, i used the following quote from voltaire as mine.

  i still love it.. doubt is uncomfortable, certainty is ridiculous..

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  marmot

  The anti-masturbation policy was the bane of my life from age 9 until I woke up and left. I could never figure out why something so universal in human behavior was never mentioned, either for good or bad, in the bible yet it is such a massive sin in the eyes of the watchtower society. The cognitive dissonance and guilt trips almost drove me to suicide as a teen.
  
  The shove that finally pushed me out the door was Noah's flood, though. It never made any sense to me from either a scientific standpoint or a moral one.
• 
  5

  Objections To Evolution

  by hamilcarr in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just curious: are there any objections to evolutionary biology beside these refuted on wikipedia:.

  .

  3objections to evolution's scientific acceptance3.1evolution is just a theory, not a fact3.2evolution is controversial or contested4objections to evolution's scientific status4.1evolution is a religion4.2evolution is unfalsifiable5objections to evolution's evidence5.1evolution has never been observed5.2past evidence for evolution has been overturned5.3evolution's evidence is unreliable or inconsistent6objections to evolution's plausibility6.1life is too unlikely to arise by chance6.2evolution does not explain certain human behaviors7objections to evolution's possibility7.1evolution cannot create complex structures7.2evolution cannot create information7.3evolution violates the second law of thermodynamics8objections to evolution's morality8.1evolution says that humans are animals8.2evolution leads to immorality and social ills8.3evolution leads to atheism .

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  marmot

  Burn, if you read up on that discovery (which was made over a year ago) you'd understand that it isn't "soft tissue" per se but a form of highly detailed fossil that still shows cellular structures.
  
  I'm not entirely sold on ALL the aspects of evolutionary theory but the basic idea is sound. Just like I don't agree with all forms of quantum string theory, but I do agree that gravity exists.
  
  On the other hand the biblical creation story is just another myth in my eyes.
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  32

  Adam and Eve were NEVER perfect.

  by gaiagirl in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  jw's frequently say that the first human couple were "perfect" and would have lived forever until they gave up perfection by their disobedience.. however, closer reading of the genesis account shows that they were never perfect, instead, they were designed to grow old and die, just like the rest of the animals.

  jehovah has adam name all the animals, but finds that none of the animals is suitable as a companion (wonder how this was determined)?.

  jehovah clones a companion for adam, and tells them to not eat the fruit of a certain tree, or they will die "in that very day".

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  marmot

  Adam and Eve were never perfect because they never existed. The biblical creation story is no less fanciful than any number of other creation myths.
  
  I'm ashamed it took me so long to realize that.