Mad Dawg

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Posts by Mad Dawg

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  75

  Question for believers: How does God set priorities?

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  while waiting for the bus yesterday, i overheard (wasn't trying - but due to his volume, impossible to avoid) a guy on his cell phone talking to someone about his likely imminent dismissal from his employment.. but he then went on to say that he had full confidence that god would take care of him, and he wasn't worried at all about finding new employment.. then i got home, watched the news, and found out that 4 million kenyans are in danger of starving to death because of a year-long drought there.. so i got to thinking - how exactly does god set priorities?.

  the guy at the bus stop is not the first christian i've heard express his confidence that god chooses to intervene and help in the lives of individual believers.

  he saves them from car wrecks, he helps them find jobs, he lends some sort of invisible emotional support to help them cope with the death of a child, and so on.. on the other hand, millions of people suffer excruciating pain for months or years before finally dying covered in mud with flies crawling on them - no relief from god in sight.. why does god help one middle-aged guy who's never been hungry in his life find a new job in time so that he doesn't miss his $3000 mortgage payment, but not send a little rain to help a land where millions of people are already living in misery and filth?.

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  Mad Dawg

  What we have here is another take on the problem of evil which can be summed up thus:

  1. The world is characterized by vast amounts of intensive and extensive suffering and evil.

  2. After enduring a life of hardship and pervasive suffering, many (if not most) humans will end up in hell, where they will be actively tortured forever and ever.

  3. All of this was known ahead of time by God, before He had even created ANYTHING or ANYONE.

  4. For some reason or motive, He "went ahead" with the plan anyway, but could have chosen to not implement it (or to start a different one altogether) or to interrupt it before it "went bad".

  I don’t believe in huge cut and paste jobs – usually, so, I’ll just post the link to an article that does are thorough and well thought out job of the issue. It is lengthy, but does address the question in the best fashion that I have ever seen it addressed.

  http://www.christian-thinktank.com/gr5part1.html#_Now,_with_all
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  7

  modern day adam

  by Adrianoblue in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there is something really bugging me at the moment, and i`m feeling being on the verge of a big depression.. first of all excuse me for possibible language mistakes.

  english isn`t my native speech.. during my approx.

  9 years as a jw (including the 2 years of bible study), i never had one single date with a sister!!!

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  Mad Dawg

  First, your English is fine and very readable.

  To find women with similar values, find a place where you, and they, would hang out. If you have a new faith, try different churches. Maybe a library or a cat owner's club. Try to think of social events that would attract the type of woman you are looking for. For someone more active try hiking or a sports events. Walk a dog. Women always want to pet my dog and talk to me when I walk my dog. Borrow a dog if you don't have one. Above all, be patient. A good relationship, like a rose, takes time to unfold. Rushing it will destroy it.

  I wish you the best.
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  25

  Just read one of them 'apocryphal books'

  by sd-7 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  dudes.

  dudettes.

  apostates and loyalists alike.

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  Mad Dawg

  Here is a link that contains the writings of the early church fathers: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/
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  25

  Just read one of them 'apocryphal books'

  by sd-7 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  dudes.

  dudettes.

  apostates and loyalists alike.

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  Mad Dawg

  Enoch would be canon only in those places that Jude quotes it. There are many other books throughout the Bible that are quoted, but that does not indicate a stamp of canonicity on the entire work. What makes Jude unique in this matter is that it uses extensive quotes from Enoch. Back in the fourth century, when the canon was being finalized, Jude was the one that made it on the list by the skin of its teeth.
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  183

  Hubby is Researching 607...

  by cognac in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  would you say that's the beginning of the end?

  hubby's researching if the beginning date can be proven from the bible its starting date is 607. clearly, he won't find the answer.... here's hoping he will see the light... .

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  Mad Dawg

  Still waiting for "scholar" to prove, from the Bible only, that Jerusalem fell 607 years before the common era.
• 
  183

  Hubby is Researching 607...

  by cognac in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  would you say that's the beginning of the end?

  hubby's researching if the beginning date can be proven from the bible its starting date is 607. clearly, he won't find the answer.... here's hoping he will see the light... .

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  Mad Dawg

  “scholar” said:

  2, The date 607 BCE is based on the historical record of the Bible, utilizes regnal data (the Babylonian list of rulers – Mad) from secular chronologies and other secular historians such as Josephus.

  Then “scholar” said on the same page (#2):

  Babylonian list of rulers and their reigns (regnal data – Mad) is fraught with problems so and agreement as to details is impossible but there are many reference works that have various proposals for your attention.

  So which is it? Regnal data can be trusted, or it can’t? Also, are you finally admitting that you cannot prove from the Bible alone (based on the first statement above) that Jerusalem fell 607 years from the common era? I have been waiting for MONTHS for an answer to this from you. Bet you thought I forgot, didn’t you?

  If you have learned so much from the WTS, why don’t you know that you should put at least a few pages between contradictory statements?

  I am not interested in writing up a long list of references or Bibliography or sources because… in 7 pages of posts I have only been able to name one wop, JW linguist that MUST be right because he agrees with me! *This last sentence is a blatant alteration, by Mad Dawg, of the original post. Mad Dawg believes in full disclosure even if it is only to prevent the original author from pissing and moaning about being misquoted by vile, heathen, mischievous apostates.*
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  10

  xjw father botches attempt at circumcizing his 4 year old son

  by coffee_black in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  can't believe this one.

  horrible.

  http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/10/16/bc-home-circumcision-charges.html.

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  Mad Dawg

  "the man didn't seriously hurt the boy"?
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  68

  OBAMA WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

  by WuzLovesDubs in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  he couldnt bring the olympics to chicago but he accomplished this coveted award after only a few months in office.

  somebody out there sees this man as doing what the planet needs.

  perhaps.. but i for one am not as shocked as most.

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  Mad Dawg

  The only devastation that Bush did was to your socialist, utopian fantasy.
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  68

  OBAMA WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

  by WuzLovesDubs in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  he couldnt bring the olympics to chicago but he accomplished this coveted award after only a few months in office.

  somebody out there sees this man as doing what the planet needs.

  perhaps.. but i for one am not as shocked as most.

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  Mad Dawg

  Gopher,

  From the official Nobel website the motivation for nominating Wilson was: “Wilson advocated international law and arbitration. In January 1917 he had made an unsuccessful attempt to persuade the belligerents to end the war, calling for a "peace without victory". After the USA had entered the war, Wilson outlined his view on a post-war settlement through his "Fourteen points". These became the guiding principles for the Paris Peace Conference (1919-20), and included the establishment of the League of Nations. However, Wilson failed to obtain ratification of the Treaty of Versailles, and the USA did not join the League of Nations.”

  The League was a by-product of ending WWI.

  You need to read more carefully. Nowhere does your source state that Wilson was given the Prize BECAUSE he founded the League of Nations. It only says that there were letters of support FOR the founder of the League. That is a big difference.

  By 1984, Desmond Tutu had already spent many years uniting South Africans of all races to rise up against apartheid. Pardon the pun here, but Obama pales in comparison to Tutu.

  I find it odd that Obama is hailed as a “man of peace” while he is ramping up in Afghanistan and has done nothing but follow the Bush policy in Iraq. As you pointed out, unintentionally I’m sure, Obama was awarded the prize on the basis of policy, speeches, and politics – not actual accomplishments.

  As I said before, I don’t care why they gave it to O – or to some despots for that matter. If they want to cheapen their award in this fashion, what is that to me? Regardless, I am still at liberty to point out the award for what it is.

  BTW, just what is this “positive impact” O is supposed to have had? Which war has he stopped?
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  68

  OBAMA WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

  by WuzLovesDubs in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  he couldnt bring the olympics to chicago but he accomplished this coveted award after only a few months in office.

  somebody out there sees this man as doing what the planet needs.

  perhaps.. but i for one am not as shocked as most.

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  Mad Dawg

  Ø Roosevelt was awarded the Prize for brokering a peace treaty between Japan and Russia.

  Ø Wilson was awarded the Prize for his work on the Treaty of Versailles – it had nothing to do with the League of Nations.

  Ø Lech Walesa, through Solidarity, brought the communist government to its knees. By 1983, the Communist Party had lost much of its grip on the population.

  Ø While Tutu hadn’t seen complete success in 1984, he was well on his way. 1984 was the beginning of the end for apartheid.

  Ø Although I am no fan of Carter, he should have been a third recipient in 1978. There has still been no military conflict between Israel and Egypt since then. There was no reason to give it to him in 2002.

  There was a time that the peace prize was awarded for actual accomplishments. Just as the science prizes still are.

  Alfred Nobel’s will states: “ during the preceding year [...] shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”

  I don’t know what Obama did in 2008 to earn the Prize, but I do recognize the right of those in charge to give it to whomever they wish – for any reason they wish. Even if, in so doing, they cheapen it by giving it to Obama, Al Gore, Gorbachev, and Yasser Arafat.