Posts by DarioKehl

125

A question for Athiests

by EndofMysteries in

i really do not understand how any can be athiests from thinking real hard about it.

how can you think everything on this earth just happened?.

from my understanding, to be athiest, this is pretty much how it goes.

"Chance" is the most misused word against evolution. Yes, random mutations occur by chance, however, the second--and more important process--is selection. Creationists love to ignore that half of it.

Anyway...

End of Mysteries!!! Take this advice only if you want to learn and expand your thinking. Do not do this if you will plug your ears, close your eyes and go "La-la-la!!!" Obviously, you're not a biology major and probably not that interested in Science, otherwise, you'd know better than to word the questions the way you did. I'm not trying to diss you, but it's always clear to me who knows about evolution and who doesn't by the way they present SO MANY logical fallacies in their questions. That's not your fault, either. ALL religions are guilty of using academic dishonesty, forgery, quote-mining and all kinds of dubious tactics to teach their followers a laughable and ridiculously flawed lesson in evolution. So, I don't blame you at all for wanting to know answers to some questions, but first, we gotta help you ask the CORRECT questions! So, follow the list below in order and try to absorb everyhing. Trust me, you will have questions going off in your mind that begin with "Well, yeah, but, what about this? This doesn't explain this..." Great! I WANT YOU to think those because if you keep watching and reading, every "well yeah, but..." question will be addressed eventually. At some point, you'll stop and think "OMG---this is it!"

EOM's TO DO LIST:

1) Go to YouTube and visit the Thunderf00t channel (use zeros for the "o's" in "foot"). Scroll all the way down and watch him from the beginning.

2) For a lay person, get Richard Dawkins book for kids/teens called "The Magic of Reality." AMAZING. Well illustrated and perfectly explained!

4) Subscribe to "The Thinking Atheist" podcast. Seth is very well-mannered, funny and an all around nice guy. He also has a YouTube channel by the same name.

5) Read "Why Evolution is True" by Jerry A. Coyne. It's great--I read the whole thing while on a boating/camping trip over labor day a few years ago.

6) If you're up to reading at a higher level, definitely get Richard Dawkin's book "The God Delusion" and take your time with it. He has a brilliant section where he includes actual examples from the JWs very own "Life--How Did It Get Here, By Evolution of Creation?" book and exposes their dishonest quoting and use of long-debunked logical fallacies.

7) In the meantime, watch as much PBS, NatGeo and Science Channel programs as you can! Melt your DVR machine with these! (Avoid History, Discovery and The Learning Channel: they sold out to the idea of satisfying the needs of viewers in our modern Idiocracy: fat, intellectually lazy morons who gobble up pseudoscience topics like ancient aliens, ghost hunting, ufo chasing, cryptozoology affirmation and staged shows about feuding auctioneers, repo men and the worst humans alive on earth with "honey boo-boo." RIDICULOUS. There needs to be a Darwinian solution to thinning our gene pool down--and quick!)

10

Do you come here seeking?

by alias in

i'm just curious at how many others might spend time on this website hoping to make sense of it all, despite being brought up or converted to jw after leaving.

i can't seem to fill the hole of my existential crisis after fading out.

the spectrum of atheism to beliving still doesn't fill the gap.

DarioKehl

No. I disagree. Athiesm does the opposite. Rather than adopting a "why bother" approach, try a "make every second count" or "squeeze every drop out of life as you can, while you can" approach. That's what I started doing and I've never been happier!

8

Homage to Terry's Top Ten List from a Humanist (who's going thru the 'anger phase' of the exit process)

by DarioKehl in

jw
friends

billions of years ago, star dust exploded from ancient supernovae and eventually coalesced to form our local solar system.

earth, against astronomical odds, found itself in the optimal location, seeded with the elements essential to form living organisms.

billons of years of natural selection, global catastrohpies, extinctions and atmospheric changes have whiddled the vast biological community down to the fortunate, best-suited survivor species we see before us.

DarioKehl

Yes, Carlin was a genius. I poke fun of the situation from time to time. We all laugh, but on the inside, many of us are hurting. I'm not as angry today, but I still stand by the first post I made in this thread 100%. You'd be nuts if you didn't get angry about it.

22

Starting to read 1984 by Orwell

by TimothyT in

jw
friends

i bought the book for a number of reasons:.

1. it sounds brill.. 2. it sounds like the kind of people who read are rather clever and well educated (and i want to be one of them).. 3. i may find it interesting how it relates to the jws.. regarding the latter, does anyone have any thoughts and feeling on this point, or is there anything i should look out for when comparing what orwell writes about with the jws?.

timmy :).

DarioKehl

it's a terrific read, tim!

8

Homage to Terry's Top Ten List from a Humanist (who's going thru the 'anger phase' of the exit process)

by DarioKehl in

jw
friends

billions of years ago, star dust exploded from ancient supernovae and eventually coalesced to form our local solar system.

earth, against astronomical odds, found itself in the optimal location, seeded with the elements essential to form living organisms.

billons of years of natural selection, global catastrohpies, extinctions and atmospheric changes have whiddled the vast biological community down to the fortunate, best-suited survivor species we see before us.

DarioKehl

Billions of years ago, star dust exploded from ancient supernovae and eventually coalesced to form our local solar system. Earth, against astronomical odds, found itself in the optimal location, seeded with the elements essential to form living organisms. Billons of years of natural selection, global catastrohpies, extinctions and atmospheric changes have whiddled the vast biological community down to the fortunate, best-suited survivor species we see before us. Of those species, you are lucky enough to be human. Out of 300,000,000 sperm you fertilized the egg. You are a thermodynamic disaster! You are made of that coalesced star dust, and for a few decades, that bag of membranes, protiens, sugars and nucleotides are the vessel by which you get to experience the universe. You were fortunate enough to be born in a time and location where the benifits of modern science and medicine have reduced infant mortality rates while the "third world," or developing countries, have infant mortality rates as high as 20%. For most of the developing world, children are fortunate to make it past the age of 5--even in 2012. You likely live in an area with stable government, reliable infrastructure, clean water and excellent sanitation while most of the world does not.

You live in a post-industrial era; a new technology age. The human understanding, discovery and acheivments we observe expanding every day yields products that would seem like pure magic to a person living only a century ago. Despite economic uncertainty, political upheaval, war, crime, natural disaster, a threatened environment and new health concerns, you have the ability to maintain a level of peace and satisfaction in your own little corner. You have the opportunity to gaze at a sunset, admire the beach, hike majestic mountains, study history, science, philosophy and marvel at the unfolding complexity of the observable universe as new discoveries emerge. You can communicate with friends overseas in real time, discover new talents, take on new hobbies and adventures, take risks and learn from failure. You laugh, you cry, you make love on rainy afternoons with your soul mate. You have the freedom to think for yourself. You have the right to body, mind, spirit and property. You have important responsibilties, like raising your children in a stable environment. You have the right to get angry, cuss, alter your body, have opinions and experiment with mind-altering substances. You are here, breathing, metabolising, reproducing--living. This is your life. And you beat unimaginable odds to get where you are now!

How disgusting and tragic is it that religion--a genetic mental/behavioral hitch-hiker--can take that all away and hold you hostage. Terry's Top Ten list should be struck on gold plates and preserved forever. We were all in that Top Ten list before and whether we're out of that prison officially or only mentally, we must never forget the plight of the people we left behind. Their one shot, that marvelous opportunity they have called "life"--that prize that beats all odds of any Mega Millions jackpot--has been stolen from them by a geriatric body of men in Brooklyn who deny them the right to experience their prize to the fullest. This "Church of 'NO'" restricts them in every facet. It blinds them with a false hope and manipulates them by way of guilt and fear with its own twisted interpretations of a plagiarized, bronze-age book full of snuff, murder, misogyny, slavery, genocide, human sacrifice, black magic and their "jealous," "angry, cosmic voyuer BULLY god. What gives them the right?

Damn right, I'm angry! I guess I'm in the anger phase of my awakening and escape. I savor every second of life, knowing this is all I'll have, and I'm unable to convey this to my JW friends or family. I cannot explain to them how epic their mistake is. I feel helpless, knowing that they'll never wake up and realize the things I realize. On days like this, I want to do something about it! When I calm down, I realize that it's not in my best interests to do anything but enjoy my prize of life in secrecy. This hurts. But keeping the pain to myself is the "cross"--oops, hold up, I mean "tourture stake"--I'm willing to bare. I could come out to them. I could tell them all. But watching their pain as a result of my actions would be greater than my current suffering. I am happier and more emotionally stable than ever before having shed that poisonous WT mindset, but I cannot share this exuberance with those I care most about. My one wish would be to see something happen--a scandal, a shakedown, a change in doctrine so unsettling that millions inside will awaken and leave. But Terry's Top Ten List is a great reminder why most would remain inside even if something devastating happened to watchtower.

21

My nephew is awake!

by redvip2000 in

jw
friends

my 17 year old nephew is visiting from florida and to my surprise, last night in conversation, he revealed that for the last 2 years, he has come to realize that the watchtower society " is a bunch of bs" and that he can see how people are brainwashed in the organization.. interestingly, he has come to realize this, without knowing any of the facts and scandals that we all know about - he simply can see things don't add up.

naturally our conversation progressed to discuss the inconsistencies in the org which he had no idea about, and the flood gates were opened.... he now wants to read the ray franz's books, and get as much information as possible.. he told me that the young people in the hall are beginning to speak to each other about " the issues", while keeping these conversations away from the parent's ears.

sadly, my sister still expects and somewhat forces the kid to attend the meetings, but i told him that he should be wise and patient in the process of stepping away from the cult, to avoid too much collateral damage.. i often feared that the kid would be pressured into being baptized in the cult, but he seems determined to make sure that will never happen.

DarioKehl

I LOVE hearing stories like this.

7

WTLIB 2011 items different from WTLIB 1999

by itsibitsybrainbutbigenoughtosmellarat in

i was asked this some time ago for anyone who might care and i just ran accross the paper where i had figured out what was dropped through the years from the public view in wtlib..... .

books.

babylon - bf 1963. bible stories - my 1978 revision-2004.

DarioKehl

academic dishonesty at its best.

33

A sure sign the End is Near....

by King Solomon in

the end of the month, that is, and someone apparently needs to get their hours in.... this resourceful jw (in the left side of the photo) set up shop for a few hours outside a local starbucks, with a wt and awake laid out on a table.

and i i don't think he talked to anyone the whole time he was out there (a few hours).. sure beats all that walking from door-to-door, which would likely result in a bunch of not-at-homes on a weekday: most people are at work.. (i approached him when entering, and asked him about the parable of faithful and "discreet" slave, and asked him what he thought the difference was between a parable and prophecy.

after getting a non-answer (that basically meant he didn't know), i wished him a good morning and went on my way.... .

DarioKehl

My washing machine is broken so I had to go to a laundrymat the other day. Sho 'nuff! I saw a WT and AWAKE! lying on a table. They weren't back issues, either! They were the newest ones! Have JWs changed their policy on that? In my old hall, only older mags were left behind as "time counters" at break. Oh well... I did my public service by removing them. And it couldn't have been at a better time because I had JW relatives come to town for a visit and no one knows about my fade. Seeing them lying on my ottoman squelched any doubts they had about me.

2

Can Someone Explain "Operation Juicy Steak" Please?

by DarioKehl in

jw
friends

for the past few years, i've seen references on youtube about "operation juicy steak" but i've been unable to locate any vidoes or blogs where this is explained in any detail.

now, the vaa t-shits have the "juicy steak" date on them.

november 5, 2017. .

DarioKehl

Greetings...

For the past few years, i've seen references on YouTube about "Operation Juicy Steak" but I've been unable to locate any vidoes or blogs where this is explained in any detail. Now, the VAA T-shits have the "Juicy Steak" date on them. November 5, 2017.

What is supposed to happen on that date? Why then? Is there some special significance to it? The Youtube user LuciousVBoogeyman used to trumpet this thing like crazy (he may have even started it). Lately, I haven't seen much focus on it other than the date on all the T-shirts. LuciousVBoogeyman (Dustin is his real name, I believe) seems kinda nuts. He's funny. And I respect his military background, but the guy's vids are pretty hard to watch. I'm mostly concerned that this "operation" is going to lead to something unfortunate. There many mental and emotional vicitms with the JW and EXJW community who may go rogue with something like this and I'd hate to see some lone nutcase with an axe to grind do something illegal, crazy or violent against someone--no matter what evil they may be responsible for.

Could we use that date to stage a mass exodus around the country or world like the Mormons did this past June? They assembled peacefully and declared their resignation from the LDS church publicly (and filled out the proper paperwork). I think that would be great to see doubting JWs do on a large scale. Who knows? Maybe by then, a lot more people will be frustrated by this system lasting 103 years since jc's invisible enthronement. And I'm certain we'll see a lot more "noo lite" come down from the top. Major doctrinal change is inevitable at this point. It must happen. My prediction: "The 144,000 selection process actually began in 1914, not Pentecost 33 CE so there's plenty of room for new partakers!" A change like that must happen if they want to keep people in. Whatever changes are made, by 2017, people are going to be fed up, IMHO.

So, please explain what Juicy Steak is and can we make that an official exit date? I think if YouTube campaigns begin now, many people will have time to plan their exit strategies. What say you?

45

Can someone recommend me a history book?

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

not on a specific subject, just in general.

history is my favourite subject and i'd like to maybe try something i wouldn't normally pick up.

has anyone read any really good history books recently they would recommend?.

DarioKehl

I highly recommend the Ancient World podcast. It's only a few episodes, but this guy does a great job!