VoidEater

Joined

• started 20 topics
• posted 3,056 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by VoidEater

• 
  41

  My cousin died yesterday.

  by nicolaou in

  1. social
  2. family

  he was 43, just a few months older than me.

  his kidneys failed him when he was just 15 and he'd been on dialysis ever since.

  a couple of transplants had failed in the early years and his body deteriorated after that.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  VoidEater

  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

  Let it be a celebration of how his life made yours better.
• 
  41

  My cousin died yesterday.

  by nicolaou in

  1. social
  2. family

  he was 43, just a few months older than me.

  his kidneys failed him when he was just 15 and he'd been on dialysis ever since.

  a couple of transplants had failed in the early years and his body deteriorated after that.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  VoidEater

  Just a reminder to all to at least give a thought to organ donation.

  It's noted on my drivers license here in the States....
• 
  4

  Psycho Debate: Samson Versus Paul

  by VoidEater in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  we all know samson's superhuman powers went away when his long hair got cut (as i understand it, he followed a god-approved faction that disallowed his cutting his hair).. we all know paul told us how unnatural it is for a man to have long hair ("nature itself" tells us).. did god change his mind?

  what should a male do with his hair - cut it short, or wear it long?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  VoidEater

  We all know Samson's superhuman powers went away when his long hair got cut (as I understand it, he followed a God-approved faction that disallowed his cutting his hair).

  We all know Paul told us how unnatural it is for a man to have long hair ("nature itself" tells us).

  Did God change his mind? What should a male do with his hair - cut it short, or wear it long?
• 
  9

  Has anyone had or heard of dead love ones come to visit???

  by babygirl75 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just had a customer of mine come in to talk with me.

  she lost her mother who was also a client of mine back in the summer.

  she told me that "momma came to visit me the other night".

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  VoidEater

  As a youngster during a traumatic incident I observed the whole thing (including my own body) from a point of view near the ceiling. Does this have any bearing on "spirit" and visitations?
• 
  15

  The CULT and Mind Control...Lurkers and active JWs welcome

  by nomoreguilt in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  first off, i make no claim to being an authority on cults or mind control.

  i do however have first hand experience of it by being a victim of it.

  how does the wts begin to excercise control over one's mind?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  VoidEater

  seek2find: brilliant experiment. Indeed, having non-JW artwork in a home could start being a "secret sign" like a fish is supposed to have been.

  Part of the brilliance is that I don't think a portrait of Our Savior is specifically banned anywhere - but it is so clearly "wrong" in the culture that it would be unthinkable to have one! Hmm...I see another "what conscientious Christains would do" article coming up (maybe someone should send in a QFR).
• 
  155

  "They (WT) took me out of context", Gail Bethea-Jackson video

  by Fatfreek in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  this is too important to bury within an old thread.

  that thread hashed over several items of interest which you may want to read by way of a refresher: .

  is gail bethea-jackson truly a doctor as the watchtower site claims?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  VoidEater

  That is kinda what I thought, it is a context youare adding.

  huh? Did you not see the NBC news item?
• 
  208

  Self Deceit and Faith.

  by hillary_step in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this thread is inspired by a comment made on another thread, but i thought it would make an interesting discussion.. self deceit is described as a "misconception that is favorable to the person who holds it".

  my premise is that faith is a form of self-deceit - lying to oneself.. so, i would ask of the "faithful" the following questions and would request that they be read carefully to ensure no that there is no misunderstanding of purpose.. 1) in what way is faith not self-deception?.

  2) is a person who has faith in a god that you do not believe in, say for example siva, practicing a form of self-deception?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  VoidEater

  Seems to me like God left off part of the work so that we could share in the joy of creating.

  That says wonderful things about humanity.
• 
  155

  "They (WT) took me out of context", Gail Bethea-Jackson video

  by Fatfreek in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  this is too important to bury within an old thread.

  that thread hashed over several items of interest which you may want to read by way of a refresher: .

  is gail bethea-jackson truly a doctor as the watchtower site claims?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  VoidEater

  I guess I need help.

  The whole tenor of the edited interview is that of, "Gee, shucks, we don't know nuttin, heck, even a few years ago no one knew this was happenin".

  Poppycock. Child molestation didn't "spring up" since 1985.

  To trot out an ancient, heavily edited interview to defend such gross misconduct and imply the whole thing is "new light" - well, I hope this helps you see the situation a little more clearly.
• 
  62

  God and Evolution

  by BurnTheShips in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  during the second half of the nineteenth century, it became common to speak of a war between science and religion.

  but over the course of the twentieth century, that hostility gradually subsided.

  science should not try to become religion, nor should religion seek to take the place of science.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  VoidEater

  puede implicar mas, pero implica otra cosa para cada uno.

  Yes, if perception is reality then there are many realities.
• 
  208

  Self Deceit and Faith.

  by hillary_step in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this thread is inspired by a comment made on another thread, but i thought it would make an interesting discussion.. self deceit is described as a "misconception that is favorable to the person who holds it".

  my premise is that faith is a form of self-deceit - lying to oneself.. so, i would ask of the "faithful" the following questions and would request that they be read carefully to ensure no that there is no misunderstanding of purpose.. 1) in what way is faith not self-deception?.

  2) is a person who has faith in a god that you do not believe in, say for example siva, practicing a form of self-deception?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  VoidEater

  Hi Seratonin: Yes, dad's appreciation is "more provable" than faith in a deity (though not to certainty). I can open the box on my dad's appreciation and review some evidence, at least!

  BTW, that analogy is not meant as a support of a belief in God - it is meant as a support of the unprovable.

  Hi Hillary: Widening the inquiry does change things a bit. Assigning characteristics (or roles) to a God begins begging for evidence to support the claim. As for proving or disproving whether dad appreciates voideater, well - even if I ask him, he may lie. I cannot prove it - though I can (as seratonin alludes) come to an answer through reasoning, based on external events that are verifiable by others.

  But dad's appreciation really cannot be proved. It's a description of his internal experience. Only he knows the answer. Even if he tells me one way or the other, it's an act of faith that he's telling the truth.

  We have no evidence that God has ever given, or been able to give a direct answer to any person asking such a question.

  100% agreement. My only point is that a lack of evidence can only lead to a reasonable conclusion - but not a proof of misconception. So, for the purposes of faith equating to self-deceit, the jury is still out as far as I can see.

  This God, loves me. This God created me. This God provides me with my wants. This God answers my prayers. This God looked after a book called the Bible to make sure it spoke truth to me. This God looks after the orbit of the sun so that it brings me life.

  100% agreement. My evidence says, "God abandoned me". "God denied me basic needs". "God ignored my prayers". "God introduced massive inconsistencies into the Bible and threw a veil over the translating of His work". "God picked an orbit of the sun, out of many he could have; he chose an axis of the Earth that leaves large sections uncomfortable or uninhabitable".

  I agree that the BAs of the board have yet to bring forth evidence that sways me (complexity of the universe only proves that the universe is complex; beauty of the universe only proves our capacity to experience beauty). But I also cannot equate faith with self-deception - using the same proof. Faith may be unprovable, and unreasonable, and illogical, but lack of verifiability may not make it untrue.

  You see, the concept of a God may not require self-deception, but all appendages applied to this concept do. They require that a person go further than a provable/unprovable concept.

  Hmm...maybe I disagree. All of these things are debatable. They lack specific proofs. That just doesn't equate to self-deception to me. There's lots of things we choose to believe in, sometimes to a point of certainty, that are not provable.

  I think it was Helen Keller is attributed with saying security is an illusion; perhaps objective certainty is as well.

  I have faith in string theory.