pirata

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Posts by pirata

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  49

  A world without God? What would it be like...

  by Snoozy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  another thread got me to thinking..something i do once in a while .

  what if no one believed in a god .

  what do you think the world would be like?.

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  pirata

  Countless civilizations have been wiped off the map due to relgious zealotism.

  But how many of those times was religion an excuse, rather than a cause?
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  33

  The Apostle John thought the end was near...

  by pirata in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i used to always justify that the apostles (and paul) thought the end was near because the "mini-end" (jerusalem's destruction in 70ce) had not yet happened.. then it dawned on me that 1st/2nd/3rd john were written in 98ce (at least according to the back of my nwt), after jerusalem's destruction.. 1 john 2:18 (new international version)warnings against denying the son 18 dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come.

  this is how we know it is the last hour.. not only was it the last day, it was the last hour..

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  pirata

  Leolaia, do you like the entire "Word Biblical Commentary" series? Or is it mainly the Revelation one in that series that you favor?
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  25

  Has FB made witnesses more nutty?

  by stuckinlimbo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  trinkets like these make me want to .

  when you carry the bible, satan gets a headache; when you open it, he collapses; when he sees you reading it he faints; when he sees you are living what you read, he flees!!

  and when you are about to re-post this message, he will try and discourage you ... i defeated him!!

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  pirata

  Facebook doesn't make witnesses more nutty.

  Cognitive-dissonance and independent-thinking-discouraged makes a witness more nutty (if you don't use your nuts, they shrink).
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  25

  Lurkers: What do you think of DJEggnog?

  by sabastious in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm curious to what the lurkers think of this guy?

  have you read a lot of his posts?

  do you think he makes good points?

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  pirata

  I like djeggnog because he is not afraid/unable to read/debate opposing points of view. Sure, he's a JW, but he is one with wide eyes open and awareness of the facts, so all the power to him.

  He's also the only one who pointed out some faulty logic I used when analyzing an article. Debate can help to strengthen logical reasoning.
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  49

  A world without God? What would it be like...

  by Snoozy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  another thread got me to thinking..something i do once in a while .

  what if no one believed in a god .

  what do you think the world would be like?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  pirata

  A world with Secular Humanism. What would it be like?

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_humanism

  Tenets

  Secular Humanism describes a world view with the following elements and principles: [ 3 ]

  • Need to test beliefs – A conviction that dogmas, ideologies and traditions, whether religious, political or social, must be weighed and tested by each individual and not simply accepted by faith.
  • Reason, evidence, scientific method – A commitment to the use of critical reason, factual evidence and scientific methods of inquiry in seeking solutions to human problems and answers to important human questions.
  • Fulfillment, growth, creativity – A primary concern with fulfillment, growth and creativity for both the individual and humankind in general.
  • Search for truth – A constant search for objective truth, with the understanding that new knowledge and experience constantly alter our imperfect perception of it.
  • This life – A concern for this life (as opposed to an afterlife) and a commitment to making it meaningful through better understanding of ourselves, our history, our intellectual and artistic achievements, and the outlooks of those who differ from us.
  • Ethics – A search for viable individual, social and political principles of ethical conduct, judging them on their ability to enhance human well-being and individual responsibility.
  • Building a better world – A conviction that with reason, an open exchange of ideas, good will, and tolerance, progress can be made in building a better world for ourselves and our children.

  A Secular Humanist Declaration was issued in 1980 by The Council for Democratic and Secular Humanism (CODESH), now the Council for Secular Humanism (CSH). It lays out ten ideals: Free inquiry as opposed to censorship and imposition of belief; separation of church and state; the ideal of freedom from religious control and from jingoistic government control; ethics based on critical intelligence rather than that deduced from religious belief; moral education; religious skepticism; reason; a belief in science and technology as the best way of understanding the world; evolution; and education as the essential method of building humane, free, and democratic societies. [ 4 ]
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  37

  Do Jehovah's Witnesses represent a less legitimate form of religious expression?

  by slimboyfat in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am at a point where i tend to think all religions are rubbish.

  the bible is not a book to lead one's life by and not deserving of much respect.

  if jesus existed then the gospels are not an accurate picture of his life and even if the non-supernatural elements resembled a real person there is much to repudiate as there is to admire.. so what about comparing jehovah's witnesses to other faiths?

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  pirata

  If a religion uses blackmail to keep you in (ie. your family will shun you), stifles discussion that could contradict with official policy, and makes people throw away the future based on the leaders theories (end is coming!), but then it doesn't, that is not healthy.

  Mind you, as I type this I find it ironic because I could say the same things of the 1st C. Christians (The apostles kept saying the end is soon, you were not supposed to listen to those who preach that Jesus was not raised from the dead). At least it doesn't seem they shunned people when they left though...
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  22

  Mother-in-law sending me dvd...need input

  by TweetieBird in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my mother-in-law called me today and said that she is sending us a dvd that came out at summer convention about the history of the organization and why it is "being used by jehovah".

  she asked if we would watch it cause she knows that we don't think wts is being used by god.

  i told her that we would watch it and send back to her.

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  pirata

  One of the misleading points in the DVD was that Russell originated the 1914 idea. In fact, the calculation of the 2520 years had originated with William Miller, and Nelson Barbour has pinpointed 1914 as "the date" in the "Herald of the Morning" magazine at least a few months before Russell read his first issue of the "Herald of the Morning".

  They do show a picture of Russell standing in front of a pyramid chart which makes a good discussion point.
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  11

  Question for Bethelites/ former Bethelites

  by factfinder in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  did any of you former or current bethelites work at the 117 adams street complex?

  were you proud of the expansive size of the facility and the huge amount of literature produced there?

  were announcements made to you regarding production statistics and what you had accomplished there each year?

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  pirata

  Ha ha, you did!
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  24

  Wish I knew where to get a new double electric breast pump...

  by Gregor in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my old one sucks.. of all the strange ads that pop up here this is the oddest.

  didn't even know there was such a gizmo..

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  pirata

  I used a manuel single pump one..man that sucked!..

  @Snoozy, Your pump was a "man that sucked"? That's unusual.... Did he drink the milk or just do the priming?
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  11

  Question for Bethelites/ former Bethelites

  by factfinder in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  did any of you former or current bethelites work at the 117 adams street complex?

  were you proud of the expansive size of the facility and the huge amount of literature produced there?

  were announcements made to you regarding production statistics and what you had accomplished there each year?

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  pirata

  wasblind, have you been drinking?