Posts by Cadellin

57

Regional Convention Program Posted

by kneehighmiah in

jw
friends

http://download.jw.org/files/media_books/b8/co-pgm14_e.pdf.

i think i will want to kill myself during the friday afternoon symposium.

it should be called "how to not enjoy life or have fun.".

Cadellin

Thanks for posting this. When I saw some of the comments, I thought--this can't be right. Then I opened up the file and YUP, IT'S MORE CUCKOO THAN EVER. Wow, when you've been out for a while and then take a look at a program like this, it just leaps out at you how completely nutty this religion is. Cult, really. I've never wanted to think of it that way, but some of these titles are doozies.

I have to comment on the Sunday symposium (sidepoint--what's up with all the symposiums and dramas? I remember there might be one or two at the most and then just one drama on Sunday. Now these formats seem to appear every day of the convention) about visualizing life in the new order. One of the talks is "Complete Peace with the Animals," or something like that. Actually, I would love to listen in on that one and see how they spin it. I've always thought that the predatorial and parasitical nature of nature is almost impossible to explain from the Biblical perspective.

You can't just flip a miracle switch and make all those nasty carnivores grass-eaters. The entire web of life on this planet rests on a predatory and parasitic framework. Which means, of course, that either species evolved so as to take advantage of food sources in the form of other species, like cats with their motion-tracking vision, retractable claws, high speed and inability to synthesize taurine, in which case prey species must have co-evolved in response, like mice with their speed, caution, fast gestation and high birthrates, OR God created them that way, which makes the idea of Him changing all of that over to grass-eating rather perplexing.

I wonder how the manuscript of that symposium talk will deal with this? Probably this way: ignore or obfuscate the facts, talk about lions playing with beach balls instead.

18

A startling example of a JW ignoring evidence

by Pyramid God in

i happen to work with my father, and today we got into another debate about the origin of life.

during the debate, while rebutting a lot of creationist canards, he said that mutations are always harmful to an organism.. .

after he left i sent him a quick email with a link to talk origins on the subject of mutations.

Cadellin

"Mutation" as a term covers a host of changes that can, and do, occur regularly within a genome, including things like whole sections of dna being duplicated, letters being reversed, and so on. Every human has, on average, between one and four mutations in her/his genome that are not found in either parent, ie. are "new." The vast, vast majority of mutations are silent, that is, they occur in parts of the genome that are noncoding, or that are not actively involved in producing proteins or are otherwise neutral, neither harmful nor beneficial.

All of these mutations or genetic changes ride along in each generation's genome, getting passed down and added to, and acting like raw material for natural selection to act on. When one or more mutations, acting alone or in concert, produce a change in an organisim that gives that organism an advantage in dealing with some environmental challenge--like helping it to digest a food source that would otherwise be inedible--the organism possessing that mutation has an edge that it may pass along to its offspring. They, in turn, will have an edge that will enable them to live longer, healthier and/or (and this is most important) produce more or healthier offspring. This is how a mutation or group of mutations spreads throughout a population. This is evolution.

I should add, this is not speculation. This has been documented over and over and over. What I find most interesting, however, is that mutations can render a formerly useful section of the genome useless. When this happens (and this happens very slowly, over time), that now noncoding portion of the genome still gets reproduced from generation to generation, riding long like a piece of history--a kind of fossil gene set. One fascinating example of this is the land-mammal olofactory genes possessed by whales, a vestige of their terrestial past.

95

The Judicial Committee videos in english

by confusedandalone in

jw
friends

not sure if this has been posted but the jwsurvey site received the videos in english from someone.. this crap is pathetic to watch.

how to counsel someone who is suicidal... really.

http://jwsurvey.org/cedars-blog/doubts-over-organizational-solidarity-as-disturbing-video-on-handling-suicide-is-leaked.

Cadellin

This is totally off topic, but I always thought Cedars was in his 60's. Cedars is way cute. Ahem.

4

Human Origins- An Interesting Website

by metatron in

jw
friends

http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-general-human-origins/what-we-discovered-about-ancient-human-origins-year-and-what-still.

this is an interesting website that features new claims and discoveries about human origins.

i believe it has great value in supporting the view that human descent is not a simple 'adam and eve' situation and that our ancestors may have looked quite different from us.. neanderthals had huge jaws, more powerful arms and a bony browridge that may have made look bestial.

Cadellin

I visited the site briefly-admittedly, quite briefly-but my skepticism was put on alert (1) At the "About" page that acknowledged that ideas featured are outside of mainstream science and (2) At the oft-used sasquatch image featured prominently in one post about our ancestorage. I question the authority of any website that would entertain the idea that sasquatch might really be around (as this article appeared to do). If you're looking for a credible site on human origins, Talkorigins.org is right up there with the best.

13

Interesting article on Biblical accuracy

by Jon Preston in

appearance of camels in genesis called sign of authors' distance from history.biblical scholars have long been aware many of the stories and accounts in the sacred book were not written by eyewitnesses, and according to new research, further evidence of that historical distance has appeared in the form of a hump-backed camel.. new research using radioactive-carbon dating techniques shows the animals weren't domesticated until hundreds of years after the events documented in the book of genesis.the research was published by erez ben-yosef and lidar sapir-hen, archaeologists from tel aviv university in israel.

they believe camels were not domesticated in the eastern mediterranean until the 10th century b.c.. and yet, the hump-backed creatures are mentioned repeatedly alongside abraham, jacob and isaac, indicating the bible's writers and editors were portraying what they saw in their present as how things looked in the past, says a new york times article by john noble wilford:.

these anachronisms are telling evidence that the bible was written or edited long after the events it narrates and is not always reliable as verifiable history.

Cadellin

I recall an article in the WT or Awake refuting this point and using some kind of "recent evidence" suggesting that camels were domesticated much earlier than scholars first thought. This was some time ago (probably a few years) and I did no research on it. My suspicion, now that I know the WT's "rigorous, scholarly standards of accuracy," is that it's fallacious.

47

New here and having ah ha moments!

by Angus Beef in

jw
friends

what made you realize it was time to go?

i've been having health problems for the last few years and instead of any help, i'm listed as spiritually weak and of course associations is only my kids and husband.

all the good jw's have moved to other congregations and are doing well.

Cadellin

Welcome, Angus and hello to 4thgen:

I can relate to both of you, as I learned TTAT when I was 38, about ten years ago. My favorite quote is John Dewey: Anyone who starts thinking puts part of [his or her] world in jeopardy. For JWs, that's a very large part of their world--and it just crumbles. But you will come out the other side, immeasurabley stronger and smarter. I went back to school, got undergrad and grad degrees and am now a professor at a small public university. I love my job, I love my life, and best of all, I love my mind. Because it's mine, now. All of it.

65

Any explanation from the WT as to why Adam and Eve did not have sex before they sinned? (and other Genesis stumpers)

by BU2B in

(disclaimer- i know this is all fairy tales but i like to pick genesis apart since many millions still take it literally and is the foundtion of jw doctrine.

without genesis being real, the whole thing collpses).

i was just reading through genesis yesterday, and it really hit me.

Cadellin

I noticed the same thing about Genesis 3 some time ago--and I thought I was the only one! I'm so glad to see someone else noticed it, too. Basically, Satan told Eve that if she ate of the tree, three things would happen:

(1) She would not die;

(2) Her eyes would be opened and

(3) She would become like God, knowing good and bad.

If you read through the account and into Chapter 4, all three things that Satan said would happen actually happened, and the account even uses the same words. She did not die, but lived on for another 900+ years. Her eyes were "opened," with some kind of increased consciousness and/or guilt (whatever it actually means, it happened, according to the account). And then God says, "Here the man has become like us..." and so make sure Adam and Even DIDN'T eat of the tree of life and live forever (which means that was still a possibility, even in their supposedly sinful, fallen state), God takes proactive steps to remove them from the area.

JWs call Satan a liar--even Jesus called Satan the Father of the Lie--but my question is: What did he lie about?

22

Top evolution researchers agree: There is A Creator! The Watchtower is Right!

by mariu in

jw
friends

okay, it's just one scientist: http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/g201404/frederic-dumoulin-interview/.

but he's a very eminent one!.

for more than a decade, frederic dumoulin has worked in the field of pharmaceutical research ... studied the effects of medications and toxins on living creatures ... such design simply could not have evolved.

Cadellin

Mario--thank you so much for the highly revealing links!! A superficial skim of this article implies this guy is an eminent Ph.D. with acress of original research--NOT!! Likely doesn't even have an undergrad degree. Yet, with their usual fakery, the WT makes it seem otherwise.

It's been said but I'll say it again: The WT refuses to distinguish between abiogenesis (how life began) and evolution (how life spread and changed). The fact of the matter is, figuring out exactly how life began is a tall order, mostly because our earth is a turbulent planet and residual traces are likely gone forever. But that does not matter one bit as to whether evolution happened. The evidence for evolution DOES NOT rely upon figuring out exactly how life began. The evidence instead is diverse, from multiple avenues such as geology, paleontology, genetics, climatology and others, all of which point to exactly the same thing--common descent with modification.

55

JW.org to be banned in Russia

by redvip2000 in

my facebook was "lit up" today with all the out cries about the possibility of the organization's website being banned in russia.. as many of you recall this past august a court in russia banned the website and sought to make accessing the website in russia illegal.

well tomorrow the appeal by the org will be heard in court.

if the appeal is denied, jw.org will no longer be available in that part of the world, causing endless lamentations and cries of "persecution", only to bolster the idea that they are truly hated by the world because they are true christians.

Cadellin

Regardless of how one might feel personally about JWs, this is chilling news. This is NOT Russia coming down on the side of reason, but returning to the era of thought-control and dictatorship. This is NOT a strike for cult-control but a blow to freedom of information. I don't think JWs have the "truth," and I DO think that they have a dangerous side. But it is anybody's right to decide whether they want to be one or not. Russia will censor JW.Org. Then UN.Org, university and scientific organization sites and, of course, search engines.

There is a dramatic difference b/w JWs forbidding apostate websites and what Russia is doing. You still have free choice here. We can still speak out against oppression here and we are free to make our own stupid decisions, if we choose. Russia is one seriously f*cked-up country.

57

This photo woke me up

by krejames in

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i was already on my way to my second fade when i went to the wildlife photographer of the year 2012 exhibition, but this photo made me lose faith in the idea of a loving creator......(the gazelle has been injured by the mother cheetah so she can use it to train her cubs to hunt).

Cadellin

Smiddy: Look again--there's a mouse in that mouth! Interesting fact: While dogs can go vegetarian, cats cannot because they cannot synthesize taurine. The only place you can get taurine in nature is from blood. (This is my understanding--any biochemists out there, feel free to correct me!). So, according to Intelligent Design, God created cats with the need to eat blood...