Posts by Cadellin

76

By “evolution,” we mean “macroevolution”—apes turning into humans, for example.

by FadingTruth in

august 2015 awake .

quote in title taken from article footnote.. anyone have information on who gene hwang and yan-der hsuuw in the article are?.

why do they repeatedly state that apes turned to humans when that's not what evolutionists teach at all?.

Cadellin

I want to add something else about this horrendous article. The WT quotes two Asian scientists, both of whom are JWs apparently. One of them says that he believed in evolution until he learned about how complex DNA is and then he decided it had to be created by God. This kind of reductive thinking is hard to be believe from a working scientist who, presumably, has a Ph.D. in his field. I would love to ask him how he now understands the profusion of "clear, unambiguous and compelling" evidence (I'm quoting from the excellent Scientific American webpage posted by StrongHaiku) for evolution, both micro and macro.

In other words, the veracity of evolution does not rest solely on the nature of DNA or the complexity of the cell or any one line of evidence. It's supported by a tsunami of highly diverse, independent and yet convergent paradigms that fit very nicely into Darwin's theory of natural selection (as modified by later refinements). If you dismiss evolution in toto, as these Asian scientists seem to do, then you are left with a hella lot to explain about the natural world. As Theodore Dobzhansky noted, "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution."

76

By “evolution,” we mean “macroevolution”—apes turning into humans, for example.

by FadingTruth in

august 2015 awake .

quote in title taken from article footnote.. anyone have information on who gene hwang and yan-der hsuuw in the article are?.

why do they repeatedly state that apes turned to humans when that's not what evolutionists teach at all?.

Cadellin

This is another incredibly embarrassing article for any JW with even a little scientific knowledge. I can't believe they included that box on how evolution is not a scientific theory. Thank you, StrongHaiku for the link to the Scientific American webpage on 15 answers to creationists. It's an excellent article, indeed. In particular, for any lurking JWs who still buy into this notion that evolution is not scientific because it can't be observed, reproduced or it does not make predictions, please note that:

(1) These are simple negative assertions made by the WT, without a shred of evidence to support them.

(2) Evolution has been observed, has been reproduced and does make predictions. In fact, the article that StrongHaiku posted includes this observation:

Yet in the historical sciences (which include astronomy, geology and archaeology, as well as evolutionary biology), hypotheses can still be tested by checking whether they accord with physical evidence and whether they lead to verifiable predictions about future discoveries. For instance, evolution implies that between the earliest-known ancestors of humans (roughly five million years old) and the appearance of anatomically modern humans (about 100,000 years ago), one should find a succession of hominid creatures with features progressively less apelike and more modern, which is indeed what the fossil record shows. But one should not--and does not--find modern human fossils embedded in strata from the Jurassic period (144 million years ago). Evolutionary biology routinely makes predictions far more refined and precise than this, and researchers test them constantly.

One recent excellent example is the discovery of the transitional fossil Tiktaalik roseae, which was only able to be discovered based on paleontologists making predictions about where such a fossil might be found, based on evolutionary theory

21

Interesting Pew Stats on JWs--Alarming Trends for the Borg

by Cadellin in

someone may have linked to this already, but the this interactive page in the pew religion study is pretty interesting, especially when you look at the trends for jw between 2007 and 2014. here's what it shows:.

jws are increasingly non-white.

in fact, the percentage of white jws has decreased from 2007 to 2014 by 12%, while hispanic jws have increased by 8%.

Cadellin

Syme, I agree--in no way was I inferring that it is somehow "bad" or embarrassing or otherwise detrimental to be non-white, lower income, female or older. In fact, I'm two of those four things! My point in highlighting these trends is that, if they continue, they could portend significant problems for the WT. I think it's easy to see why/how, especially given the startlingly blatant plea for money in the June JW TV broadcast. Moreover, an aging population means that at some point, the organization will likely start shrinking, if it hasn't already. It makes it less attractive to young people who visit a KH for the first time. A largely female population means increasing strain on the few capable "appointable" brothers still around--witness the spate of WT articles in recent years imploring young brothers to reach out. The number of unmarried sisters goes up, the number of kids being born-in goes down, further fueling the decline.

There's probably other implications, too, all of which, I hope, will run counter to the more mainstream and kid-friendly public face that the Borg is adopting via their website and "lite" magazines.

21

Interesting Pew Stats on JWs--Alarming Trends for the Borg

by Cadellin in

someone may have linked to this already, but the this interactive page in the pew religion study is pretty interesting, especially when you look at the trends for jw between 2007 and 2014. here's what it shows:.

jws are increasingly non-white.

in fact, the percentage of white jws has decreased from 2007 to 2014 by 12%, while hispanic jws have increased by 8%.

Cadellin

Cognisonance: I'm not trained in even basic statistics, so I can't comment on your work, although it may be that larger samples would be more meaningful. Nevertheless, I think the real import is that these trends seem to corroborate what many of us have suspected or observed in recent years.

Congs. seem to be filled with women and/or elderly people. And we can look at the increase of Spanish-lang. district conventions as an indicator of the growth in that demographic. Women, elderly and minorities tend to make less money than other groups. Moreover, trends in employment point to fewer and lower-paying jobs available for people with only high school educations. IOW, these Pew statistics fit with the overall picture.

I think the GB has reason to be very alarmed--we will likely see even more fervent and frequent pleas for money but as these stats suggest, they are going after the ones who have least to give (and are often the most willing and vulnerable).

21

Interesting Pew Stats on JWs--Alarming Trends for the Borg

by Cadellin in

someone may have linked to this already, but the this interactive page in the pew religion study is pretty interesting, especially when you look at the trends for jw between 2007 and 2014. here's what it shows:.

jws are increasingly non-white.

in fact, the percentage of white jws has decreased from 2007 to 2014 by 12%, while hispanic jws have increased by 8%.

Cadellin

Someone may have linked to this already, but the this interactive page in the Pew Religion Study is pretty interesting, especially when you look at the trends for JW between 2007 and 2014. Here's what it shows:

JWs are increasingly non-white. In fact, the percentage of white JWs has decreased from 2007 to 2014 by 12%, while Hispanic JWs have increased by 8%. and black JWs by 5%, Asians by 1%. IOW, almost half of all JWs were white in 2007 but by 2014, only a little more than a third were. This supports what many have observed--much of the increase is in foreign language, esp. Spanish.

JWs are increasingly poor. When you look at the trend from 2007-2014, the reason for the June JW broadcast money pitch becomes clear. While never well-off, even at the best of times, the number of JWs who make less than $30,000 has increased, while the number who make $50,000 and over has shrunk dramatically (from 35% to 26%). That means only about a quarter of JWs earn enough to be categorized as middle-class.

JWs are increasingly old. In 2007, 60% of JWs were under 50. In 2014, that percentage dropped to 49%.

JWs are increasingly female. In 2007, 60% of JWs were women; by 2014, 65% were women, meaning men make up a little more than a third!

These are dramatic changes in a space of only seven years, I think. If you extrapolate another seven years, you can see how the Borg might be in real trouble, especially if the GB are relying on "wealthy" American JWs to bankroll the worldwide work.

31

German Branch visit talk Mark Sanderson (Parents; don't hinder young children to get baptized)

by Daniel1555 in

jw
friends

the video streaming of the german branch visit program was excrutiating 3.5 hours long.. i just went to see the last 45 min (part of mark sandersons talk).. i think sanderson is quite a sympathetic speaker and he kind of made a loving impression.. he didn't mention controversial stuff (except for one thing i will come to soon).

he mostly talked about how to find joy, even when life is not easy, and how much the gb loves the rank and file.. one point seemed soooo important to him.

parents and children.

Cadellin

Yup, desperation at the hemorrhage of youth. Idiots. (The GB, not the youth who are leaving. The youth who are leaving are NOT idiots!!! In fact, they are proving their non-idiocy by leaving...)

21

Mother's day according to Joseph Rutherford

by opusdei1972 in

this is what the second president of the watchtower society, the channel of god appointed in 1919, wrote about the mother's day:.

satan would turn the people away from this beautiful symbol, and therefore from god, and cause them to disregard the word of the lord.

this he does in a very subtle way by organizing what in england and in america, the chief countries of christendom, is called "mother's day".

Cadellin

Rutherford was a cement-headed literalist and a blithering misogynistic idiot. And that's on his good days.

32

Would you call JW HQ???

by DATA-DOG in

i have a friend who is still in.

this friend is a partaker, but has serious doubts about the org.

this friend wants to stand up as a man, and wants to call wtbts hq.

Cadellin

First, I'm a little confused because you mention your friend (singular) but then refer to "they" (plural). I'm assuming your post is about one friend. At any rate, I highly doubt your friend will get much past the first level of security. He will likely get past the receptionist, and then maybe one more level, but to actually speak to a GB member? No way. GB members are not available to speak to ordinary rank-and-file and the fact that your friend is anointed will mean nothing.

Of course, if I'm wrong, I will be very interested in hearing the convo!

54

It's time to say goodbye to JWD - I sold it !

by Simon in

a week or so ago i posted that the forum was 15 years old (15 years of jehovahs-witness.com) and hinted that there may be some news to announce about the site:.

i also may have some other news to share soon about the future of the site so stay posted.

well, now i can announce it - i sold it !.

Cadellin

Okay, you totally got me. My heart stopped when I saw your line about selling it to the WT. It makes sense--I can imagine they would be willing to pay $$ to shut down any sites like this. And then your line about putting your family's future first...OMG.

GOOD ONE!!!

20

The Tetragram (YHWH)

by RevFranklin in

jw
friends

this is the watchtower's equivalent to the theory of evolution - there is no evidence but it must be so.

in fact all the evidence points to the contrary.

there is not one new testament manuscript known today in which the tetragram appears and there is no evidence of a conspiracy to get rid of the tetragram.

Cadellin

Interesting post, but I need to clarify something:

This is the Watchtower's equivalent to the theory of evolution - there is no evidence but it must be so

Please don't compare these two things. The evidence for evolution is abundant, diverse and convergent. The evidence for the WT's NT usage of the divine name is etymological wishful thinking.