Posts by HintOfLime

232

Is Atheism a Form of Blind Faith?

by passwordprotected in

jw
friends

if god is outside of nature and therefore cannot be proved or disproved by science, is atheism a form of blind faith?

after all, it cannot be defended on the basis of pure reason.. steven jay gould said;.

"science simply cannot by its legitimate methods adjudicate the issue of god's possible superintendence of nature.

HintOfLime

When there is no evidence for or against something, do it require some sort of 'faith' that it doesn't exist? Do you 'put faith' in the idea that there are no fairies? There is no evidence whatsoever that an elephant was walking around in my basement last night while i slept - does that mean it requires 'faith' on my part to assume there was no elephant in the basement? Absolutely not - it only requires an ounce of critical thinking.

It doesn't take much 'faith' for atheists to 'not believe' in God either, just education on the natural forces at work on earth and an ounce of critical thinking. If there is some sort of superior intelligence, his presence was not needed to construct the earth (there is plenty of hard evidence for evolution now - watch the presentations from the Dover trial shredding creationist claims that there 'is no evidence', and theories on abiogenesis are becoming very detailed and entering a realm of real possibility now - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6QYDdgP9eg).

So from an atheist point of view - who cares if a magic invisible man was or was not in the basement thousands of years ago? He didn't leave a shred evidence, and he certainly isn't there now.

- Lime

75

Why Do people think they need A GOD to be good people?

by LucyA in

i decided after much study and soul searching that i dont believe in god.

ive noticed recently (not on the forum but others) some people seem to think that if i dont believe in a god that im obviously morally bankrupt.

i dont feel this way as i give a portion of my income to charity and i have never set out to harm anyone else.

HintOfLime

My parents and family pull that crap on me too. In their minds, the only reason I have any morality at all is because they raised me as a JW. If I hadn't been raised that way, I'd be murdering and stealing and raping!

It's a false premise that religious people use to validate their BS. It has no grounds in reality. People either want to be helpful to their peers (as evolution has generally steered us), or they don't (in which case even religion can't usually help them.)

- Lime

19

On spanking your children...

by HintOfLime in

i posted about this on my own website, but i'd like to get thoughts here as well, since jw's are big proponents of the 'violence is the answer' side of this debate.. new research is suggesting that spanking children may result in lowered iq's.

(la times article) one hypothosis i've read elsewhere as to why this may be is because when faced with an unexpected result (the glass broke) the non-spanked child wonders why the glass broke and how much abuse a glass can take before breaking (essentually, the problem-solving/scientific parts of the mind find the unexpected result interesting, and want to learn more).

the spanked child immediately enters fear mode - he's in trouble, his parents will be dealing him pain soon.

HintOfLime

palmtree: My parents admit I was a lot like your son - I never really needed to be spanked, I was smart, and simply discussing things with me was almost always enough. However, if my brother or sister were around according to them they had to 'spank me anyway', otherwise my siblings (my brother was hyperactive, and constantly challenged my parents on everything) would cry fowl - why didn't HE get spanked?

So, they admit now, I got a lot more than I needed, because they had to maintain the atmosphere of 'fairness'. :/ So, I received violence and pain because my brother and sister 'needed to see me get it'. That is pretty jacked up if you ask me.

- Lime

19

On spanking your children...

by HintOfLime in

i posted about this on my own website, but i'd like to get thoughts here as well, since jw's are big proponents of the 'violence is the answer' side of this debate.. new research is suggesting that spanking children may result in lowered iq's.

(la times article) one hypothosis i've read elsewhere as to why this may be is because when faced with an unexpected result (the glass broke) the non-spanked child wonders why the glass broke and how much abuse a glass can take before breaking (essentually, the problem-solving/scientific parts of the mind find the unexpected result interesting, and want to learn more).

the spanked child immediately enters fear mode - he's in trouble, his parents will be dealing him pain soon.

HintOfLime

I posted about this on my own website, but I'd like to get thoughts here as well, since JW's are big proponents of the 'violence is the answer' side of this debate.

New research is suggesting that spanking children may result in lowered IQ's. (LA Times Article) One hypothosis I've read elsewhere as to why this may be is because when faced with an unexpected result (the glass broke) the non-spanked child wonders why the glass broke and how much abuse a glass can take before breaking (essentually, the problem-solving/scientific parts of the mind find the unexpected result interesting, and want to learn more). The spanked child immediately enters fear mode - he's in trouble, his parents will be dealing him pain soon. For a simple $1 mistake one child becomes curious, and the other is struck with fear and anxiety.

I know for myself as a child, I feared my dad. Mom didn't have the heart to do it sometimes, but she was good at exaggerating the situation and assigning evil/destructive motives to us - and then my dad would beat us.

Sure doesn't seem very nice to me, and worse, it entitles people who don't have suffient judement as to how much is too much to go on their marry way. My dad tried to be just - but that doesn't mean that he didn't leave marks on my brother or I more than a few times.

Is violence really an acceptable answer for parents? Or is it a long-term solution (lower IQ, less expressive/creative, anxious fearful child) for a short-term problem (not wanting to sit still for boring religious lectures)? Are children that weren't spanked growing up to be killers?

- Lime

(I'm not a parent, just an idealist that gets annoyed when I see my sister attack her quiet, generally well-mannered kid out of anger becuase he did something a little ignorant. Hey, the bible says she should, right?)

10

joke

by iknowall558 in

jw
friends

how many jws does it take to change a light bulb ?

two !

one to screw in the light bulb and the other to make sure the light gets brighter..

HintOfLime

Pretty good,

How many mathematicians does it take to screw in a light bulb?

0.999...!

- Lime

(Does anyone get that?)

4

If Video Game Were Realistic

by Yizuman in

if video games were realistic by cracked staffsep 16, 2009538,553 viewsa little realism would make some games way more awesome.

we asked you to show us what would happen if video game makers started adding a little realism to their games.

the winner is below, but first the runners up.. #27.. .

HintOfLime

I can't help giggling every time I drive in Grand Theft Auto IV. Flying down roads at 90 mph, weaving through oncomming traffic, honking at police cars to get out of the way, and occationally managing to jump clear over other cars.

And all the while whatever passenger is with me just keep blabbing on about junk - as if plowing through newpaper stands and using the emergency break to make it around every corner is just a normal drive.

(Crashes into tree in front of date's house for a 'quick stop'.) "Thanks Miko, I had a great time!"

- Lime

("Noo probleeum. I like you too Meecheal.")

29

Charles Darwin film 'too controversial for religious America'

by leavingwt in

telegraph uk: charles darwin film 'too controversial for religious america'.

a british film about charles darwin has failed to find a us distributor because his theory of evolution is too controversial for american audiences, according to its producer.

creation, starring paul bettany, details darwin's "struggle between faith and reason" as he wrote on the origin of species.

HintOfLime

I think you guys are really great people, but how the f#ck did you guys ever go to the moon??? ;-) .

Over 25% of Americans don't believe man ever stepped foot on the moon either.

This country is really becoming a cesspool of the willfully ignorant. It makes me sad.

- Lime

94

Watchtower Sends Legal Notice To Website Regarding Coyright Infringement

by Bangalore in

the watchtower has sent a legal notice to the owners of the eds blog for posting copyrighted material without permission.

here is the link to the trancript.

the site owners response is also there.. .

HintOfLime

That is an great point, Ténébreux. I have to remember that. If God instructed them to spead a message, who are they to claim that message as their own and stop someone else from spreading it?

- Lime

24

A POLL! How long did your "re-evaluation" take?

by Gayle in

from beginning to end, how long did it take you, when you first started your personal questioning and re-evaluating the watchtower organization and concluding that the wts was definitely not true?

my sister is asking this.

some of us (who left a couple decades ago - pre-internet) are saying it took about 10 years on average.

HintOfLime

It took me about 3 years of 'fading' and 'sitting on the fence' (essentually not going to meetings anymore, and not really thinking about it much), followed by 1 year of actual study into the bible and evolution.

I wish I had done the research a lot sooner, becuase those 4 years 'pretending' to be loosely affiliated so as not to lose my family were hell.

- Lime

39

Elders Trash Face Book

by sammielee24 in

jw
friends

just found out that elders and spies are trolling face book and my space.

some elders in xxx congregation began trolling face book looking for wayward souls and using the links to other friends etc to get more info.

they waited until they had enough ammo on the 'friends' and then printed off some of the conversations being had....questioned the 'friends' who of course denied everything..and then they produced the printed copies to catch them in the lies.

HintOfLime

The "truth" with set you free indeed.

- Lime