Posts by villabolo

11

fMRI understanding religious choiche

by BioEngineer in

jw
friends

[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>normal</w:view> <w:zoom>0</w:zoom> <w:trackmoves /> <w:trackformatting /> <w:hyphenationzone>14</w:hyphenationzone> <w:punctuationkerning /> <w:validateagainstschemas /> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:saveifxmlinvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:ignoremixedcontent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext> <w:donotpromoteqf /> <w:lidthemeother>it</w:lidthemeother> <w:lidthemeasian>x-none</w:lidthemeasian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>x-none</w:lidthemecomplexscript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables /> <w:snaptogridincell /> <w:wraptextwithpunct /> <w:useasianbreakrules /> <w:dontgrowautofit /> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark /> <w:dontvertaligncellwithsp /> <w:dontbreakconstrainedforcedtables /> <w:dontvertalignintxbx /> <w:word11kerningpairs /> <w:cachedcolbalance /> </w:compatibility> <w:browserlevel>microsoftinternetexplorer4</w:browserlevel> <m:mathpr> <m:mathfont m:val="cambria math" /> <m:brkbin m:val="before" /> <m:brkbinsub m:val="--" /> <m:smallfrac m:val="off" /> <m:dispdef /> <m:lmargin m:val="0" /> <m:rmargin m:val="0" /> <m:defjc m:val="centergroup" /> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440" /> <m:intlim m:val="subsup" /> <m:narylim m:val="undovr" /> </m:mathpr></w:worddocument> </xml><!

[endif][if !mso]> <object classid="clsid:38481807-ca0e-42d2-bf39-b33af135cc4d" id=ieooui> </object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <!

[endif]  [if gte mso 10]> <style> /* style definitions */ table.msonormaltable {mso-style-name:"tabella normale"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"times new roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"times new roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif].

villabolo

Welcome bioengineer. I suggest you do a google on what Ramachandran has been researching concerning religious beliefs and the brain. I would also recommend Michael Persingers book Neuropsychological Bases of God Beliefs. The research,as you probably know by now, indicates that the Temporal Lobes are involved in religious and hyper-religious thought.

How different the JWs would be than the rest of the population is hard to say. Their religion is more intellectual compared to, let's say pentecostals. That is likely to involve different parts of the brain but I believe that is a secondary issue. The primary cause is still the Temporal Lobes and people with brain damage there tend to display a certain range of symptoms including hyperreligiosity, hypergraphia, altered sexuality (not all necessarily at the same time).

It's a fascinating subject as it shows that it is our material brains that determine who we are.

9

Is your former life as a JW like an itch that won't go away?

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

having been in the organization for some 30 years and only having been inactive for the best part of a year, it's hard to forget my past, as much as i hated it.. i wish i had never been a dub.

it's left a permanent stain on my life.. i'm having to start a completely new life and it's hard to know where to start.

i know i have it in me, but sometimes things hold me back.

villabolo

I was only in it for nine years. Never had any relatives or spouses in the religion. That was nearly thirty years ago. Intellectually I'm completely out of it but emotionally I'm still scratching that itch.

12

HOW MANY TYPES OF SPIDERS WERE THERE ON NOAH'S ARK?

by badboy in

jw
friends

any takers?.

villabolo

Shame on you parakeet for taking this seriously. You should have your bills clipped for such blasphemy.

1

Chronology for us Comman Folk - Bible Students

by whereami in

jw
friends

if this is simple then i'm retarted.

i think the bible student are more out there than the jw on this.. what do you think?

click on the third topic.. http://www.biblechronology.org/books_studies/books_studies.html.

villabolo

Chronologism, deep inside the mind/ego of those who believe in it, is a form of magic. These Bible Students like Jws they split off from are not only looking for omens but they think they can make their god drop from the sky simply because they have discovered some secret code.

12

HOW MANY TYPES OF SPIDERS WERE THERE ON NOAH'S ARK?

by badboy in

jw
friends

any takers?.

villabolo

The itsy bitsy spider

Climbed up the water spout

Down came the rain

And washed the spider out

70

How long were you a member of Jehovahs Witnesses?

by Quirky1 in

jw
friends

me, about 7 years...

villabolo

From age 13 to 21. About 9 years.

26

motivations for creating the "Jonadabs"

by drew sagan in

i know that shortly after rutherford dismissed the idea that the new covenant was only for the jews (as taught by russell) he eventually began to formulate his new doctrines of how he felt it did apply to people.

but i'm a little lost as to why exactly he chose to create this doctrine.. what were some of the deeper motiviations rutherford had in creating this doctrine?

i flipped through pentons book but he really doesn't get into it.

villabolo

Thank you Leolaia for your in depth post.

26

motivations for creating the "Jonadabs"

by drew sagan in

i know that shortly after rutherford dismissed the idea that the new covenant was only for the jews (as taught by russell) he eventually began to formulate his new doctrines of how he felt it did apply to people.

but i'm a little lost as to why exactly he chose to create this doctrine.. what were some of the deeper motiviations rutherford had in creating this doctrine?

i flipped through pentons book but he really doesn't get into it.

villabolo

I believe the short answer is as follows. Russell had a complicated concept of salvation which was elitist and aristocratic in nature. There were two heavenly classes (the 144,000 and the great crowd) and there were two earthly classes. What Rutherford did was to simplify them into one heavenly class-the 144,000-and demote the great crowd into the position of a singular earthly class.

If you want to see something even more ridiculous than the current JW scheme get some scans of the Finished Mystery where you will find the following:

The Great Company (crowd) is numbered at 411,840,000 (page 103). Never mind the scripture that says "no man can number".

Those on earth under the rulership of the 144,000 number 20,736,000,000(page 138). They simply multiplied 144,000 by itself.

Once you see the tangled mess their teachings were you could understand why they would want to simplify it. Of course, they could have thrown it out altogether but Rutherford himself was too elitist to do that.

Simplification, I believe, was the bottom line.

12

If JWs would stop shunning - how many do you think would disappear

by Albert Einstein in

if jws would stop shunning - how many do you think would disappear from meetings in 1 year?.

my guess: 30%.

albert.

villabolo

I believe it would vary from country to country. The ones with the greatest growth would see the smallest decline since its members would be relatively new. The USA and other western countries might see a higher drop off than the rest of the world.

20

Do you still have your key to the KH?

by Quirky1 in

jw
friends

i gave mine back a week or two after i quit going but i wish i had it back now.

i feel a little mischievous, eh, eh.

if you still have it or if you don't, is there anything special you would like to do with it?

villabolo

How about swapping all their literature with "apostate" books?