LisaRose : They have childhood and continue to do so regardless of this.
paranoia agent
JoinedPosts by paranoia agent
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50
Lying to children
by jwfacts inzac's first tooth just fell out, and so people are telling him that the tooth fairy will come with money.
zac asked me if the tooth fairy is real.
i am at a loss as to what to say.
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304
Musings about different types of atheist!
by Seraphim23 ina thought that occurs to me is that if one has the belief that all that is real is only explicable in terms of particles and forces, and that nothing exists that is not one of these, then good and bad doesnt exist either, the same would be true for any concept for that matter.
or perhaps it is only true when reduced to the level of matter and forces, but without the moral force, meaning and purpose that such a materialist only description would entail.
after all, if death is forever, which is materialist view, then what does it matter if a seventy or seven year old enters the grave?
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paranoia agent
Right, so you disagree with the biblical passage that god asked Abraham to kill his son as a sine for obedience?
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The distinction between cult and religion.....
by NoRegrets inanother great article from the ted talks.
opening quote really tells it all: "the distinction between cult and religion lies squarely in how those leaving or those wanting to leave are treated.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eliyahu-federman/when-organized-religion-become_b_3996139.html?ir=ted+weekends&ref=topbar.
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paranoia agent
Religion: Walk in, Walk out.
Cult: Works required to walk in and stay in, repercussions to walk out.
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50
Lying to children
by jwfacts inzac's first tooth just fell out, and so people are telling him that the tooth fairy will come with money.
zac asked me if the tooth fairy is real.
i am at a loss as to what to say.
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paranoia agent
It's commercialised propaganda just like christmas, kids mind would be a lot more expanded if spoken to in an adult manner.
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304
Musings about different types of atheist!
by Seraphim23 ina thought that occurs to me is that if one has the belief that all that is real is only explicable in terms of particles and forces, and that nothing exists that is not one of these, then good and bad doesnt exist either, the same would be true for any concept for that matter.
or perhaps it is only true when reduced to the level of matter and forces, but without the moral force, meaning and purpose that such a materialist only description would entail.
after all, if death is forever, which is materialist view, then what does it matter if a seventy or seven year old enters the grave?
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paranoia agent
Right but I never asked that if god needed a dead boy, or if god could do it himself, what I asked was if god asked you to kill your own son would you do it?
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304
Musings about different types of atheist!
by Seraphim23 ina thought that occurs to me is that if one has the belief that all that is real is only explicable in terms of particles and forces, and that nothing exists that is not one of these, then good and bad doesnt exist either, the same would be true for any concept for that matter.
or perhaps it is only true when reduced to the level of matter and forces, but without the moral force, meaning and purpose that such a materialist only description would entail.
after all, if death is forever, which is materialist view, then what does it matter if a seventy or seven year old enters the grave?
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paranoia agent
I asked: If god asked you to kill your son would you do it?
Seraphim23 replied: No I wouldn’t
Then you are not a theist
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304
Musings about different types of atheist!
by Seraphim23 ina thought that occurs to me is that if one has the belief that all that is real is only explicable in terms of particles and forces, and that nothing exists that is not one of these, then good and bad doesnt exist either, the same would be true for any concept for that matter.
or perhaps it is only true when reduced to the level of matter and forces, but without the moral force, meaning and purpose that such a materialist only description would entail.
after all, if death is forever, which is materialist view, then what does it matter if a seventy or seven year old enters the grave?
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paranoia agent
snare&racket: wrote Theory in science has a very different meaning, anyone saying differently is either lying or ignorant to the truth, a scientific theory is a body of evidence,. just think, if a hypothesis like atomic theory or evolution wasn't true you wouldn't have ANY evidence for it, or to put it another way it is impossible to have evidence for evolution if it didn't happen.
adamah: wrote: Theories explain facts (i.e. confirmed observations), but they aren't facts themselves. Even "facts"are subject to change.
‘In the most basic sense, a scientific fact is an objective and verifiable observation, in contrast with a hypothesis or theory, which is intended to explain or interpret facts.’ -^ Gower, Barry (1997). Scientific Method: A Historical and Philosophical Introduction. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-12282-1. –
Right so let me alter the question, are scrientific theories prone to changes?
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304
Musings about different types of atheist!
by Seraphim23 ina thought that occurs to me is that if one has the belief that all that is real is only explicable in terms of particles and forces, and that nothing exists that is not one of these, then good and bad doesnt exist either, the same would be true for any concept for that matter.
or perhaps it is only true when reduced to the level of matter and forces, but without the moral force, meaning and purpose that such a materialist only description would entail.
after all, if death is forever, which is materialist view, then what does it matter if a seventy or seven year old enters the grave?
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paranoia agent
Seraphim23 : If god asked you to kill your son would you do it?
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304
Musings about different types of atheist!
by Seraphim23 ina thought that occurs to me is that if one has the belief that all that is real is only explicable in terms of particles and forces, and that nothing exists that is not one of these, then good and bad doesnt exist either, the same would be true for any concept for that matter.
or perhaps it is only true when reduced to the level of matter and forces, but without the moral force, meaning and purpose that such a materialist only description would entail.
after all, if death is forever, which is materialist view, then what does it matter if a seventy or seven year old enters the grave?
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paranoia agent
I have a question, is a theory a fact or a series of tests conduted so that the hypothesis is most likely to be true but not entirely as true?
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How to influence those under psychological coercion
by paranoia agent inhi, i am completing a degree in psychology, while doing so a subject on social psychology has some interesting subjects on persuasion and change techniques.
so while not all circumstances are different doing so in this manner is the most efficient way:.
1. do not allow the argument to become heated, studies have showed that people tend to use less of the left side of the brain (left side is where all rational and logical cognitions take place, right hemisphere of the brain is all emotion).. 2. don't be a hypocrite, if they get angry and upset they subconsciently expect you to do the same to prove themselves that what they are doing is correct, speak calmly with a monotone voice and try to calm the other person down.. 3. build rapport, rapport can only come from genuine empathy so do not pretend or they will see right through you.
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paranoia agent
Frazzled UBM : I think that is important, to be sceptical and find other books that speak against the other, that's what I learned when I left the nutty cult, always study both sides. Dogpatch a while back proposed a debate between Dr Maan vs Hassan which never occurred. Also Dr Maan accuses Hassan of being a not show never responding to criticism, oh the irony! I also have been told that his consultations (according to Dr Maan) are ridiculously overpriced.
Londo111: Who cares if Steven Hassan “ripped” anybody off? If the information is useful and beneficial, I am glad he took different sources and put it together in a palatable form for public consumption. This is information that is transcendent of the source and of benefit of all.
There is nothing wrong with taking different sources and putting it into a book as long as the material is properly sourced, quoted and interpreted. But not Steve no, not only did he not quote some of his sources he claimed them to be his own by not properly sourcing the material, and he just made stuff up as he went, oh and he always won people over. Along this there were problems with publishing his material but I won't get into that. Why did he do all this? Because he is a salesman that wants to sell books and get people to hire him at very high rates and he tells himself that it's ok because he is after all helping people.
What makes Steven Hassan more relatable than others in this field is he’s been there. He was in a cult. He knows what it was like. Thus, he is “one of us”.
He was in a cult or so he says, do you believe in used car salesmen? As for me Hassan has lost all my trust but let's say he is not lying, lets say his past is true, he was in cult and he wrote about it, but he didn't. He just didn't write is life story, he became a psy praticiour and had it not been for his studies in psychology is books would not have the worth that they do.
I was also from a cult, and I can say that there is waaay better material by Psychologists and Sociologists who were never in cults than this con artist, but you don't seem to mind the nonfactual material that he presents, so you think Hassan to be “one of us” (the old true Scotsman fallacy) but he is not part of me.
ABibleStudent: My comments about what causes a JW to remain in the WTBTS can also be the reasons that JWs feel cognitive dissonance, so they do apply to psychological coercion and to helping the cult persona to control the actions of a JW, whether a JW is fully in or partially in.
You might be right and that is my fault, I was referring to the definition of psychological coercion given by Margaret Singer but it turns out there are two definitions. What I am referring to of psychological coercion is the proper term for mind control but it can also be used for blackmail. So yeah I wanted this thread just to focus of those under mind control.