Posts by paranoia agent

340

Fallacies about Faith

by tec in

jw
friends

peace to you!.

this thread is about false things (some) atheists think theists believe.

this is not a thread about false things that atheists think about theists.

paranoia agent

I love Hitchens quote on faith "Trust is not the same as faith. A friend is someone you trust. Putting faith in anyone is a big mistake."

92

NASA Identifies The Hand of God

by Perry in

it even has what looks like blood flowing from a palm wound.

article.

world-renowned astrophysicist robert jastrow, founding director of nasas goddard institute for space studies, explains the fear of faith many of todays scientists experience.. there is a kind of religion in science, it is the religion of a person who believes there is order and harmony in the universe, and every effect must have its cause; [but] there is no first cause.

paranoia agent

Perry, being that you refused to answer my questions I can only conclude that on top of your god of the gaps arguments you are prejudice towards others and follow a deity worse than Hitler, have a great day.

92

NASA Identifies The Hand of God

by Perry in

it even has what looks like blood flowing from a palm wound.

article.

world-renowned astrophysicist robert jastrow, founding director of nasas goddard institute for space studies, explains the fear of faith many of todays scientists experience.. there is a kind of religion in science, it is the religion of a person who believes there is order and harmony in the universe, and every effect must have its cause; [but] there is no first cause.

paranoia agent

Perry, why do you refuse to respond to my questions? Here they are again

- Perry, can you prove to me that god is not a homophobic genocidal maniac? -

92

NASA Identifies The Hand of God

by Perry in

it even has what looks like blood flowing from a palm wound.

article.

world-renowned astrophysicist robert jastrow, founding director of nasas goddard institute for space studies, explains the fear of faith many of todays scientists experience.. there is a kind of religion in science, it is the religion of a person who believes there is order and harmony in the universe, and every effect must have its cause; [but] there is no first cause.

paranoia agent

Perry, can you prove to me that god is not a homophobic genocidal maniac?

78

Can you prove Jesus existed outside of Bible (so called) evidence?

by punkofnice in

i thought i'd done a thread on this before but can't find it.. so.

did jesus actually exist?.

without using the bible i'd like to see obvious proof..

paranoia agent

How Jesus Became God by Bart Ehrman should be out in March this year, should be an interesting read.

92

NASA Identifies The Hand of God

by Perry in

it even has what looks like blood flowing from a palm wound.

article.

world-renowned astrophysicist robert jastrow, founding director of nasas goddard institute for space studies, explains the fear of faith many of todays scientists experience.. there is a kind of religion in science, it is the religion of a person who believes there is order and harmony in the universe, and every effect must have its cause; [but] there is no first cause.

paranoia agent

I would like to read Terry explain the cause and effect on quantum mechanics lol

29

Child indoctrination explained by transactional analysis

by paranoia agent in

the purpose of psychology is to explain and help others to change, if suffering from depression or anxiety or we just want to understand the other or improve ourselves there are different types of psychological therapies to help us.

we are aware that psychologists have the know-how, just has mechanics know cars and astronauts know space shuttles and psychics, but we know they know a lot but we know very little possibly because its too complicated, it doesn't make rational sense, we don't have enought time or just like my diploma in accounting if its not put to good use it will turn into a vague memory.. look at my previous thread in cognitive dissonance, it sounds alien to many, it sure sounds to those that i explained it to, that is because its not something we normally hear about so explaining it to others these words and their context also requires a connotation from the listener for cognitive dissonance to make any sense.. my very first assignment was on cognitive dissonance in a paper titled media illiteracy or cognitive dissonance which discussed statistical discrepancies between what people said regarding their preferred news media output -tv or newspapers- and the actual sales/view/quality figures of those two media outlets, in the usa during the 70's and 80's.

it turns out that people lied about tv news medium being higher quality than newspapers because the quality is lower than newspapers (local news recorded in many states), the truth is that nobody wants to admit (during the questionnaires for this empirical data) that watching news on tv is easier and lazier than reading.

paranoia agent

Ok, I made a very short 4 minute video on this and some assumed acknowledge is required. If you have picked up from the start of this thread there shouldn't be a problem with this video and it's pretty much what I explained on my last post.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVKjCdoq3bQ

19

Depression, Medication, and Other Grey Areas

by startingover13 in

one thing that i have noticed in my dealings with a lot of women in the congregation are deep, intense feelings of insecurity and worthlessness.

i use the term "worthlessness" very loosely because it can apply to many different situations, in the congregation, in the home, personally, etc.

over the years, and especially over the past 6 years, i've met sisters from all walks of life.

paranoia agent

It might be love bombing when you get in, but after a while for the rest of your life as a jw, it's more like a funeral, now imagen going to many funerals on a monthly basis, as if this would not give rise to depression.

Also, WB$T$ inculcates cognitive distortions which leads to depression.

When I stopped attending meetings mum was very down, because of the negativity delusions WB&T$ produce in their literature, and that Armageddon is just around the corner and the world is all doom and gloom, while the prejudice that she (and all jw's) have about worldly people turned out to be her son.

So mum went to an elder in which he said the usual, that she did her job as a mother and not to worry, let Jehovah worry about this. The elders say nothing helpful, that mum is helpless, which created more anxiety and depression. She started taking depressants for a short time because she did not like the reaction she got from them. I bought mum a book on CBT and asked her to see a psychologist instead of a psychiatrist, but she did not read it and did not see the psychologist.

Now that she has a long absence from the hall, surprise surprise she feels a lot better.

I now a ton of jw's who suffer from this problem, I think I can narrow it down to:

Requirements to not sin are to high so you constantly feel guilty and since there is no control this guilt turns to anxiety.

"Put all your worries with Jehovah" so that thing inside your skull for decision making won't be necessary, the WB&T$ will do it for you, meaning that you loose confidence with yourself.

If's and should’s, I should be like this and not like that, instead of being yourself and expecting others to not be themselves

"The world is a terrible place" this in CBT is known as filtering were anything positive is filtered out thus the belief in the irrational, so imagen people with this mentality, they will be very negative people and may end up suicidal.

"You are either with us or against us" this is all or nothing thinking, I am either a good or a bad guy, being a normal human being isn't good enough, or I am either against or for jw's, I apparently according to jw's I cannot be undecided or simply that I just came to the conclusion that this religion isn't for me. Look at the world in colour instead of black and white and feel that anxiety just fall off of you.

Prejudice towards others, we all know what jw's really think about apostates, homosexuals, gamblers etc.

18

A mormon pm's me

by paranoia agent in

just read your thread about oblivion to oblivion, watched the video you posted and wondered if you'd be willing to let me send you some videos on the book of mormon.

as you may know, i'm lds and i believe there's substantial evidence for the historicity of the book.

but i'm also aware there's evidence and proof.

paranoia agent

Qcmbr wrote - I sympathise but I also am a bit sad you posted a pm in public without prior agreement.

Hi Qcmbr, there is no reason for this pm to stay as one, there isn't any sensitive information, this person did not ask for this pm to be private but had he done so I would allow it but also ask that no more future emails be sent unless willing to have an open discussion. Also I did not post his email address that was included with the pm.

I have to admit his email is a bit suspicious, wanting to know more about me and all.

Thanks Simon

18

A mormon pm's me

by paranoia agent in

just read your thread about oblivion to oblivion, watched the video you posted and wondered if you'd be willing to let me send you some videos on the book of mormon.

as you may know, i'm lds and i believe there's substantial evidence for the historicity of the book.

but i'm also aware there's evidence and proof.

paranoia agent

Hi, PA.

Just read your thread about oblivion to oblivion, watched the video you posted and wondered if you'd be willing to let me send you some videos on the Book of Mormon. As you may know, I'm LDS and I believe there's substantial evidence for the historicity of the book. But I'm also aware there's evidence and proof. As someone who is searching, you'd be someone who would be objective. The Book of Mormon also teaches that many things would be taken out of the scriptures in our day, and it indicates that people would question Jesus Christ. Thus, if the historicity of the book can be proven, then Jesus is, after all, the Jewish messiah and God. In fact, that's the primary reason it came forth, to be a new witness of Jesus Christ.

I understand many ex-JWs tend to be bitter and, frankly, cynical. Some become agnostics and others atheists. Very few are in any mood to continue searching. From a psychological standpoint, the Society was the shining city on a hill, and if it wasn't what it claimed to be, then nothing else could be, either.

But you indicated that you're reading. If so, I'd like to hear about your experiences in the WTBTS and what it was that led you out of it. Were you a convert or born into it? I saw you joined the site in 2010. Were you out by that time?

The Book of Mormon is said to a volume of scripture written by the descendents of Lehi, a wealthy Jerusalem merchant of the tribe of Joseph. He also was a prophet. He and his family were led from the city shortly before its destruction in 587 B.C. (not 607) to a land of promise which would be Joseph's land of inheritance. Years before, Jacob had given his sons their patriarchal blessings. Interestingly, Judah was given the land of Jerusalem until the coming of the Christ (See Gen. 49). But Joseph received the birthright. So where were his lands of inheritance?

"Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him, but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob." (verses 22-24). Mormons believe that Lehi was the bough, the branches of which ran over the wall and settled in the New World. Instead of going into detail, however, I have two production quality DVDs that I think make a superlative case for the book.

If you would be willing to let me send you the videos, I can promise you that you will at least enjoy them and find them informative. They're not preachy, but contain substantial evidence that it is what it purports to be.

Let me know. If it's not of interest, no offense will be taken. I just know that it's been of great comfort to me and that it has a historical side that can be investigated from an intellectual standpoint. Should you want to take a stab at it, please drop me a line. And, if it's not too much trouble, I'd like to hear your story.

Cheers!

John

Hi John, thanks for the pm that you sent more than a month ago, if you don't mind I like I to leave all conversations in the open so I have started a thread regarding your pm in which you can respond to, thread name is A mormon pm's me. In the case of spamming I have left your email out.

There is an aspect to Mormonism that I can relate to Jehovah's Witnesses, you have levels in which the further up you go the more information you will be provided with, like the teachings of polygamy in the higher rankings. Another aspect would be that just like jw's it's a lot like the mafia, that is you need prerequisites to get in, you need prerequisites to stay and there are repercussions to leave.

Also why is it that your temples are a lot like freemason temples and why are there books for freemasons that calls Joseph Smith their brotheren?

You speak of an historical side? Really? that everything occurred in America?

While we are at it do you have answer to the contrary of what ex members have to say?

PA