april 27th, 201110:06 am etobama releases long-form birth certificateposted by:cnn white house producer shawna shepherd.
by cnn's alan silverleib.
washington (cnn) the white house released copies of president barack obama's original long-form birth certificate wednesday, seeking to put an end to persistent rumors that he was not born in theunited states.. "we do not have time for this kind of silliness," obama told reporters at the white house.. obama's long-form birth certificate [pdf].
For people on one side, this is an "I told you so" moment. For people on the other side, Obama's the president and has been for a while now; he can get a custom-made birth certificate. People believe whatever they want, facts and truth be damned.
If he had my sense of humor, he'd have released one that said his name was McLovin. (vague movie reference)
something i've been meaning to ask for a while since coming here, is wsup with the writing department's use of exclamation points?
i'm no literature buff or anything, but to me personally, the exclamation points cheapen whatever they're trying to get across.
here's some examples from the new jeremiah book.. how thankful we can be for the teaching done by christian shepherds!.
Are you guys saying the Watchtower is the written equivalent of this?
i've compiled my list of the 10 worst comedians ever.
jay leno - just a massively tired and unfunny tool who should be burned for what he did to conan especially.. talented opposite: conan o'brien or jimmy kimmel.. carrot top - somehow figured out how to make a career out of prop comedy.
i'll give him that much.. talented opposite: this is tough because prop comedy is deader than ghenkis khan.
I don't find Conan O'Brien all that funny, but then I've never liked any of the nighttime talk show hosts, with the exception of classic Carson or Steve Allen. I loathe Letterman.
Amazing Jonathan doesn't have enough material. He's kind of a one-trick pony.
Gallagher's non-prop comedy was actually good. The concept of the Sledge-o-matic is brilliant, but so overplayed. He turned into a cliché that went where the money was and you can't blame him for that. He's the stand-up version of Rocky Horror Picture Show, which is a completely inexplicable event with a huge cult following.
Carlos Mencia's jokes are hysterical, just like when they were told by the comedians he stole them from.
You forgot to mention that in addition to Sarah Silverman being funny, she's ridiculously hot.
You forgot Gilbert Gottfried and he has to be above some on your list.
You also failed to mention Margaret Cho and she has to higher on the list than some of these people.
have you heard the good news?.
i heard from a reliable source that for the first time in watchtower history, there are more elders now than ministerial servants.
this is not just a regional issue either, it's worldwide..
I haven't understood the whole "ministerial servant" thing for a long time. Most who carry and adjust mics or run the sound mixer (usually poorly) aren't. The magazine counter is all but self-serve these days. I believe the only thing keeping the guys who are already performing the tasks from receiving the title is their hours.
That was one of my biggest irritations: When the elders don't like you, they'll restrict your "privileges" like public prayer, reading, leading the service group, etc., but you better believe they'll shove a toilet brush in your hand right-away-quick. Last time some obnoxious elder - one of those who put a target on my back - tried to get me to clean the bathroom, I told him "No, thanks" and walked away. He was noticeably upset by my lack of worshipful adoration for him and the gift of service he had offered.
And don't let them get you "reproved" or otherwise on the defense, because they'll have you licking their boots for as long as they can. That's why I never allowed them to "give" me any "privileges" in the first place. Nothing to "take away" and no satisfaction for them. No opportunity to "punish" me for not adhering to their self-important, man-made rules. I saw early on how that would play out and headed them off at the pass.
remember, if you see this in the watchtower, or hear it in a talk, you heard it here first .
evidently, since we are so close to end of this system of things, god has seen it fitting to fill the final spots held open for the 144,000.. there.
simple, elegant, and doesn't require an overhaul of the 144,000 jw belief..
Nearly everyone in the organization that's been there since before 1975 is barely multi-celled. Recently, at a meeting, an elderly woman commented the declining number of anointed indicates the end is drawing near. Huh? These people have no clue what's going on and they don't care. They didn't care about the truth when they were in their old religion, which is why they never took the time to read the Bible, study history, or research facts. While they've been transplanted into a new religion, they're still the same woefully apathetic, willfully ignorant, wastes of chromosomes they always have been.
What's the difference between ignorance and apathy?
I don't know and I don't care.
any person or situation ?.
Just like we can't physically leave the earth, but Jesus tells us we are to be no part of the world, I don't feel I have to go anywhere. If I'm following Christ and reading the Bible with the goal of understanding it instead of drowning it with man-made commentary, I am on the right path. If someone has a problem with that, they're the ones who need to adjust their course, not I. The GB love to point to the apostles asking Jesus "whom will we go away to?" and try to "by extension" themselves into the equation. But, just like then, Jesus is the one we need to follow and nobody else. The GB and their puppet elders are the ones who push the "organization" adherence and worship. If we don't allow them to, they lose all their power and suddenly become insignificant. The time is coming when God will be on one side and our friends, family, "brothers", and the organization will be on the other. Do not be weighed down with the group so that when it goes down it pulls you with it. None of those men in NY can save us. As long as we keep that in mind, we should be fine.
the big bang?
-do they leave room for it as a possibility for jehovah to have created the universe?
(i heard an elder say once that the society doesn't necessarily rule out the big bang as a possiblity).
We can know the creative "days" weren't 24 hours, even with the "evening and morning" parts, because the sun wasn't created until the third "day". Which begs the question, "evening and morning" where? Heaven maybe? How long are "days" to immortal beings? Also, since each creative "day" had its own tasks, were they even approximately the same length? Were they immediately following one another? Obviously God doesn't need daylight to see what he's doing or get a sore back or eye strain after working too long. Did he just create until he was done with certain things he wanted to do, call it a "day", then quit for a while?
Maybe the galaxies and solar systems sat idle for untold billions of years while God decided what to do with it, like a collection of parts in a guy's garage. Eventually he knows he's going to make something with them, but he's not sure what just yet. Some time later, he decided to put living creatures on one of them and watched the dinosaurs for a few million years. Like an artist honing his craft, eventually he decides to scale everything down, add some variety, then he has a eureka moment. He decides to make some of these organic life forms intelligent, which he calls the last day. Then he sits back and figures he'd see how that played out, now that these little creatures who have the ability to feel emotions and think beyond the present are here.
It's actually kind of interesting when you think about it: There was light from the first "day", but no sun or stars until the third. It appears at one time, God decided to get rid of ambient light in favor of overhead lighting.
looking through the internet i learned that everything i have ever know to be true is a lie at the beginning of time god and his celestial family created the earth and the heavens.
they are the greater force and also the fallen angels that are prophesized in the bible.
they sped up the evolution in people separating them from monkeys.
By grandfather, he meant that I had direct descent to ancient King David.
You sure? Maybe there's something your grandmother never told you.
I'm sorry. That was mean and uncalled for. So, are we to gather from your posts that you have stopped taking your meds? Of course, I'm sure many prophets were seen as totally bonkers by their contemporaries, so maybe you're the real deal. Interpretation must belong to Jehovah, because I can't make heads or tails out of most of what you're saying and I fancy myself to be well on the right side of the bell curve.
gotta love pat.. "ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions.
ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them; and no man ever had a distinct idea of the trinity.
it is the mere abracadabra of the mountebanks calling themselves the priests of jesus.
@godrulz
katabiblon.com is a great interlinear of the NT and Septuagint.
It has an interesting footnote on Col 2:9:
Gr. θε?της, God-ness; that is, in him resides (in bodily form) everything you need as regards God-related stuff, such that nothing you need is to be obtained by turning to extraneous traditions and rules.
This is right in line with John 1:18. Jesus teaches us everything we need to know about God. The Father is beyond the realm of our comprehension, so man-made dogmas are unnecessary and likely to be wrong. Keep in mind, most English Bibles are translated by people just like you; people with agendas who see their dogma everywhere they look. So, when presented with an opportunity to interpret the Scriptures - which is occasionally necessary when translating - they lean toward their pre-conceived ideas. But that is dishonest and the Bible warns against adding to or taking away from God's Word.
I actually address John 1:1 in a post I've pointed you toward, before. If you have opted not to read it, then I'll opt not to repeat it.
As far as Philippians 2, even in the awkward translations that push the Trinity agenda by twisting the meaning, this passage does more harm than good for the Trinity:
God exalted him
and gave him the name
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father
If God exalted Jesus, who is God again? If God gave Jesus the name above all others, who is God again? If Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father, who is God again?
Where this scripture is properly translated, it merely contrasts Jesus with Satan. Jesus didn't attempt a coup d'état in Heaven, even though he held a higher position than Satan. Jesus, the only-begotten and being above the angels, remained subservient to God, whereas Satan - a mere angel - rebelled and sought to usurp God's rule and upset the proverbial "apple cart".
Show me in the Bible where belief in the Trinity is required. You made this statement
The Deity of Christ is not negotiable, but essential, salvific truth.
and I want to know where you got it. I found it in a man-made creed (which you reject adherence to) but nowhere in Scripture (which is where you claim all your beliefs come from).
One cannot be a Christian and deny who He is (God).
So, when Jesus said "the Father is greater than I", " the Father who sent me", " I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me", " I will ask the Father", " no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father", etc, etc, etc... was he just screwing with us and making it impossible to understand, then later demanding we believe something he'd denied the whole time he was here? The Trinity calls Jesus a liar and that is entirely unChristian. The Hellfire doctrine maligns God and the Trinity doctrine insults Jesus. The way you're shouting them from the rooftops, I'd hate to be in your shoes.
gotta love pat.. "ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions.
ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them; and no man ever had a distinct idea of the trinity.
it is the mere abracadabra of the mountebanks calling themselves the priests of jesus.
Nowhere in the Gospel is equating Jesus with the Father required. Christ came in the flesh (no mention he was God), lived and died as a man having committed no sin (still nothing about God), was resurrected 3 days later (not seeing God here), ascended into Heaven to sit at the right hand of God (hmmm).
Trinitarians demand belief in the Trinity is required for salvation and the only place I can find that idea is in man-made dogma, e.g. the Athenasian Creed: "He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity." Churches demand their followers accept the man-made doctrine of the Trinity by threatening them with another man-made doctrine - Hellfire. Of course, these are "revealed" dogmas, which means they are not actually stated in Scripture, but had to be presented by the Church, then adopted by the members. People who insist they understand the Trinity and see it in Scripture are delusional. Anyone who's seen A Beautiful Mind will gain insight into the mental functions of a rabid Trinitarian.
The Trinity doctrine is either a pretentious "zen" belief where claiming faith in the unbelievable is considered "holy" or it's simply the rantings of a lunatic. In most cases, I believe it's the former, which is where the erroneous understanding of "faith" comes in. Many theists and atheists define faith as believing in something that can't possibly be known. They see knowledge as the opposite of faith and proof or understanding of God undermines faith, because in order to have faith - in their minds - one must believe in something they don't know about.
On the other hand, when someone says something along the lines of "I understand the Trinity because the Holy Spirit has revealed it to me", you might as well just walk away, because you're dealing with a nutter. No matter what, you can never pry a belief out of someone's head who believes God himself put it there. It would be like trying to explain to someone who has taken far too many hallucinogenics that there are no spiders on him, when he believes he's looking right at them. People who hear voices have gone beyond the point of being rational and nothing positive can come of arguing with them.
Anyone who's ever had to deal with someone on psychotropic drugs (whether taking ones they weren't supposed to or failing to take ones they were) knows how impossible it is to rationalize with someone whose mind is telling them things. Anyone willing to stand in front of a group and babble like an idiot and call it religion is beyond help. Either they've succumb to mass hysteria or they have their own individual mental problems which have found a place to manifest themselves and be accepted and praised. This is exactly why atheism is growing extremely quickly: The "mainstream" religions are ridiculous and encourage or even demand their follower be delusional and insane.
