Posts by StoneWall

191

If god exists...

by dazed but not confused in

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if god exists, wouldnt it make more sense for him to show himself today - now that we are a more enlightened people?

StoneWall

Xanthippe,

You are correct in that these are assumptions. Thats why I used the word assume. I never claimed otherwise.

You asked how could they prove it was real? I was just giving you what I would take as credible under the assumption "ghost" were real.
Remember the burden of proof is always on the one making the claim. (In this case someone claiming a picture of a ghost)

Displacement has nothing to do with this situation. Why should it leave residue?

If you can see it with your eye and take a picture its going to displace something to make itself visible.

But once again you could argue no it doesn't because its a ghost. To me this is like saying God can do anything. Then when asking him to appear thats the one thing he can't do or doesn't want to do.

So it would be pure speculation and assumptions on anyones part because noones proven ghost exist.

I've been in many so-called "haunted houses" that friends dared me to go into and never once saw or felt anything unusual. So I can only go on my personal experience. Thus that is why I don't believe in them to this day. Not one bit of evidence that they are anything other than peoples imagination running rampant.

Anyways I'm headed to bed but if you ever see a ghost or goblin,angel or demon, little green men from mars etc send them my way.

191

If god exists...

by dazed but not confused in

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if god exists, wouldnt it make more sense for him to show himself today - now that we are a more enlightened people?

StoneWall

Xanthippe,

Oh I love it when someone plays Devils advocate because at times I do it too.
And that is a very valid question you ask. So lets break it down. If someone claims they have a real picture of a ghost then obviously they would not object to others trying to prove their claim. So first thing is they would be willing to let others exhaust every possible avenue available to them to prove it was a fake. That would be step one to me in giving any credibility to such photo.
If after intense scutiny by professionals in many fields, such as Photography, Special effects (specializing in mirrors and lighting etc.) could find no evidence of tampering with such image then my next question would be to ask to see the area or room where the picture was taken.

If there was indeed a "ghost" or something in that area then it should be able to reproduce itself or left residual of some form from its earlier encounter. The principle of displacement would not allow "nothing" to take the place of where something used to be.
In other words if you fill your bathtub to its limit with water, then put a small toy boat in it, it will only displace the amount of water equal to the volume of the boat. No more no less.
So if something metaphysical was there it had to displace some surrounding air or matter of some form to take its place even if for only a brief time.
Even string theory would indicate that something changed in order to accomdate this.
So logically next step would be to get readings of the surrounding air, earth, radioactivity, radiant heat tests and imaging etc. and look for any "metaphysical/paranormal fingerprints" that may have been left behind.
Physical creatures leave something behind everywhere they go even if not intended, such as footprints,fingerprints,blood,mucus, urine etc. so it would only be natural to assume that whatever this "Ghost" was that it left something behind.

And while the tests were being performed also interview the individual(s) and ask every perceivable question that could help shed light onto this claim such as how long did the ghostly form stay? Did it try to communicate either directly or indirectly with you? Did it just disappear or did it head off into a particular direction? Have you ever encountered anything like this before? (Many other questions come to mind but won't list them in interest of time but you get the general idea)

And if after exhausting every scientific test/method available (or currently known to man) and the results were the same about something being there, then I would conclude that a paranormal/metaphysical being was in existence.

191

If god exists...

by dazed but not confused in

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if god exists, wouldnt it make more sense for him to show himself today - now that we are a more enlightened people?

StoneWall

If god exists...

I always ask this in regards to anything that is hard to believe in especially if it doesn't seem to want to be seen?

Ask yourself if god,angels,demons,ghosts,spirits, little green men from Mars do exist then why doesn't any of them appear or make themselves known? Why are all the pictures of flying saucers(UFO's) always so grainy and fuzzy? Why is it so convenient that now in our modern age with worldwide internet and camera crews that can post images from any point in the world to broadcast to the whole world, is it that for some reason they all decided to be shy and not show themselves to all or at all?

Why is it that god(s) evidently can't take the time from their busy work of managing the universe to prove once and for all that they do exist to all of us at once, and yet they supposedly have time to visit certain ones either in dreams,visions, revelations etc. and tell them what THEY expect of the rest of humanity? The time it takes to tell one person could in todays world be heard by billions.

22

Why are the Jehovah's Witnesses not allowed to carry a weapon (for protection) during field service?

by I_love_Jeff in

if jesus allowed peter to carry a sword for protection, why are the jehovah's witnesses against carry a weapon during their "fun" door-to-door adventuring?

it seems jesus did not mind that peter carried a sword if we read luke 22:36-38. is it another case of picking and choosing what works for their man-made doctrine?.

is defending oneself a violent act, according to the jehovah's witnesses?

StoneWall

Matthew 26:52 [NWT] "Then Jesus said to him: “Return your sword to its place, for all those who take the sword will perish by the sword."

Rev. 13:10 [NWT] "If anyone [is meant] for captivity, he goes away into captivity. If anyone will kill with the sword, he must be killed with the sword. Here is where it means the endurance and faith of the holy ones."

The above are just two scriptures the JW's can/will use from the NWT in trying to justify their stance. In regards to Matthew you may have heard it referred to as he who lives by the sword will die by the sword or similar wording.

Also the JW's will say it shows a lack of reliance(faith) on Jehovah to protect his servants.

And when any JW's do die as a result of relying on Jah, then you get the spill about it was allowed to show/prove to Satan that others are willing to die for their faith in him knowing that HE can resurrect them.

They will usually follow this up with a partial quote of Rev. 2:10 "Do not be afraid of the things you are about to suffer. Look! The Devil will keep on throwing some of YOU into prison that YOU may be fully put to the test, and that YOU may have tribulation ten days. Prove yourself faithful even to death, and I will give you the crown of life"

So as you can see if you survive without packing protection...Jah was watching over you...if you die then you were proving that you were faithful even to death and will receive your resurrection.

As Chaserious above pointed out, it's very hard to go to someones door saying you're there with Good News about Love and Peace all the while packing heat. And to them (JW's) image is VERY important.

70

What's your favorite JW word or phrase?

by Sara Annie in

in a minimus moment, i find myself interested in knowing which buzz-words and phrases in jw publications stand out the most to you?

when i read wt literature, i constantly find myself astounded by how transparently cultish the language is.

in an earlier, unrelated thread, i said the following: .

StoneWall

The two that always got me were "provision and privilege"

Brothers aren't we happy with Jah's "provision" of ATM's at the Assemblies and conventions? We should count it a tremendous "privilege" each and everytime we swipe our credit/debit card in the furtherance of the Organization. It is indeed very happifying! Wouldn't you agree brothers and sisters?

30

So we are created in God's Image and expected to freely forgive those who trespass against us..so why doesn't HE?

by StoneWall in

we kinda all know the scriptures about freely forgiving those who trespass(sin) against us and jesus words about forgiving up to seventy-seven times etc... then we take into account how god hates two sets of scales to measure with: (quotes from nwt).

proverbs 20:23 " two sorts of weights are something detestable to jehovah, and a cheating pair of scales is not good.. proverbs 20:10 " two sorts of weights and two sorts of ephah measuresthey are both of them together something detestable to jehovah.. so my question is this.

why not lead by example?.

StoneWall

John Kesler said:

The passages which indicate that Moses suffered vicariously not only don't mention any culpability on Moses' part, they explicitly say that Moses paid the price for the sins of others:

So in other words they weren't freely forgiven?

Cold Steel said:

According to extrabiblical scriptures, Moses was not denied entry into the Promised Land because of his iniquities, but because of the iniquities of the Israelites.

And this is God's Justice?

Let me ask you Cold Steel if your neighbor burned down his house and you appeared before the local Judge and he said to you, due to the fact your neighbor did such a thing, you also must give up your right to your own house and move out (through no fault of your own) would you consider that Justice?

4

My Heroes

by ClubSandwich in

jw
friends

i just wrote a special tribute to randy, barbara, john hoyle, cedars and paul grundy at http://richardekelly.com/blog2/jehovahs-witnesses/modern-day-truth-seeking-internet-vigilantes.

would like to hear your comments about these heroes of mine or people that you would like to add to my list..

StoneWall

Club I checked out your link.

Thanks for sharing.

You asked in your post who we would add to the list. I would for sure add former GB member Ray Franz since he was so instrumental in showing so many "the truth about the truth" (TTATT), whether it was through his books or personal correspondence etc.

30

So we are created in God's Image and expected to freely forgive those who trespass against us..so why doesn't HE?

by StoneWall in

we kinda all know the scriptures about freely forgiving those who trespass(sin) against us and jesus words about forgiving up to seventy-seven times etc... then we take into account how god hates two sets of scales to measure with: (quotes from nwt).

proverbs 20:23 " two sorts of weights are something detestable to jehovah, and a cheating pair of scales is not good.. proverbs 20:10 " two sorts of weights and two sorts of ephah measuresthey are both of them together something detestable to jehovah.. so my question is this.

why not lead by example?.

StoneWall

FHN could you elaborate on your view of he does freely forgive everyone in view of the situation mankind is currently in with death,disease,poverty birth defects etc..?

Tec,

"Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.'

You have to see where I'm going next with this as you posted up above. No where in that scripture is it stated forgive them after they repent. If so then its not freely forgiven because it had a requirement attached to it.

I guess my biggest gripe is the way people word things.

I'd have no qualms with it if it stated forgive those who are repentant, beg for forgiveness etc.

It's sorta like when people talk about the gift of god, then telling you what you have to do to expect to receive that gift.

If you have to work for it or meet it a requirement. it's no longer a gift but a wage because you earned it.

It's all in how somethings worded which can change the total meaning.

30

So we are created in God's Image and expected to freely forgive those who trespass against us..so why doesn't HE?

by StoneWall in

we kinda all know the scriptures about freely forgiving those who trespass(sin) against us and jesus words about forgiving up to seventy-seven times etc... then we take into account how god hates two sets of scales to measure with: (quotes from nwt).

proverbs 20:23 " two sorts of weights are something detestable to jehovah, and a cheating pair of scales is not good.. proverbs 20:10 " two sorts of weights and two sorts of ephah measuresthey are both of them together something detestable to jehovah.. so my question is this.

why not lead by example?.

StoneWall

We kinda all know the scriptures about freely forgiving those who trespass(sin) against us and Jesus words about forgiving up to seventy-seven times etc..

Then we take into account how God hates two sets of scales to measure with: (Quotes from NWT)

Proverbs 20:23 " Two sorts of weights are something detestable to Jehovah, and a cheating pair of scales is not good.

Proverbs 20:10 " Two sorts of weights and two sorts of e′phah measures—they are both of them together something detestable to Jehovah.

So my question is this. Why not lead by example?

If I recall correctly it was only one trespass that got Adam and Eve thrown out of the garden of Eden.

It was only one trespass that got Moses in hot water and not allowed to enter the promised land. (Failure to give God credit for bringing forth water from the rocks etc.)

So in each of these instances instead of following the "freely forgiving and up to seventy-seven times" etc. it only took one trespass/sin.

Calls to my mind the question of do you practice what you preach?

18

Since Fluff is Allowed (and Often Preferable): Stupid, Asinine, Gross, Ridiculous, and other "Bad" Commercials?

by AGuest in

jw
friends

for me, it's a "liquid plum'r deep impact" commercial that just sets my teeth on edge.

in it, the (mousey looking) "housewifey" woman (who is obviously married to an impotent tyrant and has about 8 kids) is in the grocery store, holding a bottle of the product, while fantasizing about the two guys who come to "snake the drain" and "flush the pipe, baby"... to a barry white-ish voice narration.

now, i have no problem with some woman fantasizing about some hunks... and given the success of the romance novel industry i would be a fool to think bored housewives are among these.

StoneWall

Tec you said you haven't seen the commercial..

So just for you here it is in it's entirety.

Now don't you be fantasying after seeing it... :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7fz0jpuLkM

Something tells me after seeing this commercial a lot of girls going to be checking out the deli and produce sections of their local grocery stores in case they've recently hired some new employees. haha