unshackled

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Posts by unshackled

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  53

  Theism or Atheism? If you awoke with amnesia tomorrow...

  by unshackled in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ...and therefore had to start from scratch, do you think you'd arrive at your same current stance on belief or non-belief in god?

  why or why not?.

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  unshackled

  Now, if you told me the same experience, I know I would feel skeptical because it's human nature to feel skeptical of something you didn't see or experience yourself.

  
  
  FlyingHighNow...thanks for expanding on that seance on experience. Wanted to hear about it, but Nicolau did the asking. (Didn't intend to abandon my thread...bad timing is all. Started on my Bday and went away for the weekend.)
  
  Your 3-year-old experience is easy to dismiss...way too young, IMO. But your seance experience is intriguing, actually enjoy hearing stories like that. But again, hard to believe it is true. Not suggesting you're being deceitful, but sometimes our memories, especially as children, can't be relied on. Imagination and embellishment is intrinsic to youth. As a child I had memories that I thought for sure we're unexplainable, felt that way into adulthood. But on further scrutiny realized I was selective in what I did remember, the embellishment. Not to mention ideas that I had already been predisposed to. Demons were very real and always on my mind as a child. I was sure I had experienced demons...and so did my friend. Ended up being all in our heads when examined.

  Anyways, that's why I requoted yourself above. Unless I was there, hard to believe it myself. Of course, that applies to all kinds of stories one might hear: UFO sightings, bigfoot, alien abduction, seen Elvis in a grocery store.

  But to get back on topic....I'm guessing you're saying that since the supernatural is very much real, if you had amnesia you'd stumble upon the same conclusion you are at now. And IF the supernatural is very much real, I'd have to agree with you. But there's that IF part....
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  14

  After you got reinstated from the congregation, did the love bombing start right away and how long did it last?

  by Iamallcool in

  1. jw
  2. experiences
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  unshackled

  Yes the love bombing started right after the meeting of the reinstatement announcement, but it was with a wary look. And the love didn't last long...about until I got in my truck.
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  69

  I've figured out the cause of all the recent turmoil on JWN....

  by Mr. Falcon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ever since i've started posting here regularly, there has been upheaval, threats of leaving and threats of banning by many active contributors.

  people have spoken their minds and have been chastised; people have attacked others and threads have been locked.. well, after reading my bible, i've determined the cause of all this.

  mr. falcon.

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  unshackled

  We'll remember you Hans Gruber....ah, Mr. Falcon. This is for you. *tears up*
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCAa28f4wKs

  Edit: Embedding disabled...who does that? Anyways..it's worth it.
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  75

  Atheists believe in nonsense too.

  by NomadSoul in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  yeah i'll admit that i think people who think they talk to god or believe in a superpower is freaking nuts!.

  but i'm a freaking nut too.

  i seriously believe that there must be alien life out there!

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  unshackled

  "Really, it's okay to reserve judgment until the evidence is in." - Carl Sagan
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  189

  Does God speak to you? HOW?

  by Quentin in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  an answer to this question is subjective to the individual an a posteriori experiene.

  however, can there be an a priori experence, one that is objective, outside the bounds of personel experiene, or does it remain subjective?

  god speaks to me, through many venus, except audible.

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  unshackled

  If I say God speaks to me and I to Him....no one would bat an eyelash. BUT, if I say God speaks to me and I to Him ONLY through my blow dryer....everyone would probably conclude I'm nuts. Really though, what would be the difference?
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  75

  Atheists believe in nonsense too.

  by NomadSoul in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  yeah i'll admit that i think people who think they talk to god or believe in a superpower is freaking nuts!.

  but i'm a freaking nut too.

  i seriously believe that there must be alien life out there!

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  unshackled

  Being able to say "ya know, I don't know" is pretty damn refreshing. I think I'm just gonna make that my default answer for everything.

  This is a good default. When I left the Dubs and didn't know how to define myself I'd say I was a member of the Church of I Don't Know.

  As for other life somewhere in this universe....not an illogical thought at all. Estimated 2 billion earth-like planets in the Milky Way alone. Then consider there are at least billions of other galaxies. Building blocks of life like amino acids and water have been discovered on asteroids. Billions and billions of rocks with life building blocks flying around the universe smashing into planets. Earth is covered in craters. Every now and then, odds would be that somewhere they'd smack into a planet in the sweet spot for life.
  
  But really...I don't know.
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  65

  Anyone from Canada? Thinking of emigrating there...

  by teel in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  title almost says it all.

  i'm sure there are some canadians here, so please voice your oppinion - am i out of my mind to move there, or is it the best decision of my life?

  - of course the answer is somewhere in between, but feel free to be extreme if you want to .

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  unshackled

  Another Canuck chiming in. I too live on the west coast in BC...climate isn't that bad for winters. Had a few days of snow this past winter but that's about it. Victoria is a great city...currently spending a getaway weekend there right now. Can see the harbour from the hotel room, wouldn't mind living here.
  Vancouver too is a good city...but as already said, pricey for real estate. And a lot more hustle and bustle for sure. Vancouver is actually a fairly active tech community...some have called it "silicon valley north". Tech startups and gaming production. Check out Bootup Labs for a beginning look into the Van tech scene.

  Winters can be brutal elsewhere...spent time in the far north and October to end of April was snow, snow, snow. Though the more south you go, obviously, the better. That's why most Canadians live within 100 kms for the US border.
  
  One thing to note about the rainy west coast...you trade snow shovelling for summer yard work. Everything grows so damn fast. If you have a lawn it grows like crazy..mow, mow, mow.
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  53

  Theism or Atheism? If you awoke with amnesia tomorrow...

  by unshackled in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ...and therefore had to start from scratch, do you think you'd arrive at your same current stance on belief or non-belief in god?

  why or why not?.

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  unshackled

  We try our best to eradicate ignorance but it takes time . . .

  Nicolau: Interesting quote from tetrapod.sapien...and your line kinda reminds me of the quote from SBC earlier...

  "Nine times out of ten, in the arts as in life, there is actually no truth to be discovered; there is only error to be exposed." - Mencken

  I can remember being a baby so young that I could only think in feelings. I didn't know words yet. I felt God then.

  
  
  FlyingHigh: unfortunately personal experience, especially from such a young age, doesn't go far for an argument. I respect your experience...wish I could know the feeling. But can't expect anyone to adopt it as fact. BTW, congratulations on not being a JW baby!
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  53

  Theism or Atheism? If you awoke with amnesia tomorrow...

  by unshackled in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ...and therefore had to start from scratch, do you think you'd arrive at your same current stance on belief or non-belief in god?

  why or why not?.

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  unshackled

  It's like saying what if you could go back to being a baby and starting over again, would everything happen the same again? I don't know.

  Nomad, that in itself is an interesting question. But yeah...not quite the same as waking up tomorrow being who you are, but with all god belief/non-belief wiped out. I'm sure if I went back to being a baby, indoctrinated by a JW family, I'd grow up a believer again.
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  53

  Theism or Atheism? If you awoke with amnesia tomorrow...

  by unshackled in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ...and therefore had to start from scratch, do you think you'd arrive at your same current stance on belief or non-belief in god?

  why or why not?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
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  unshackled

  I think if the entire world awoke with amnesia, we'd be on an entirely new plane of consciousness and the masses would be seeking the origin of life together. After all, the majority wouldn't "know" like they do now.

  So if the hypothetical scenario was this: world awakes with no knowledge of religion, supernatural beliefs, etc. But everything else intact - all other knowledge such as driving cars, running nuclear power plants (knock on wood), scientific method and such. Would we eventually develop religious or supernatural beliefs?

  The roots of those type of beliefs came from early times of human evolution, when we didn't know any better, such as "what is that bright thing in the sky?" We still have questions about our existence....but do we now know enough about our existence, that we wouldn't still make up supernatural answers for those questions? Starting from scratch I don't think we'd recreate supernatural beliefs...invoking a creator as an answer.