Posts by snare&racket

19

JW.org says that the Bible knew that the earth was suspended in empty space

by opusdei1972 in

"the earth is suspended in empty space.

(job 26:7) many ancient peoples believed that the world was a flat disk supported by a giant or an animal, such as a buffalo or a turtle.".

http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/science-and-the-bible/.

snare&racket

I read it in a book on the history of arabic science and mathmatics, but I am looking for references now and can't find one. I remember discussing it with my math prof in uni and he had read it too, but I need to check how valid it is.

Just reading about christians holding onto the belief the earth was flat until very recent times. It struck me how familiar the arguments for a flat earth sounded, with evidence being ignored based on the argument that maybe we are misintepreting the 'evidence'... why? because the bible says differently!

"Scripture simply says that the moon, the sun, and the stars were placed in the firmament of heaven, below and above which heaven are the waters...We Christians must be different from the philosophers [astronomers] in the way we think about the causes of things. And if some are beyond our comprehension like those before us concerning the waters above the heavens, we must believe them rather than wickedly deny them or presumptuously interpret them in conformity; with our understanding."

Martin Luther: First Lecture on Genesis - 1545

I have heard the same argument in respect to evolution, the big bang, abiogenesis, the age of the earth + universe etc etc. I just wish they would be honest and at least admit that the evidence contradicting the bible MAY just be an indicator that the bible is fallible, but nope, that not being an option it is either the evidence or our intepretation of it that must be wrong, the bible can't be...it says so..... face palm!

15

Archbishop Didn't Know Sex With Children Was a Crime

by Stealth in

wtf .

the st. louis archbishop embroiled in a sexual abuse scandal testified last month that he didnt know in the 1980s whether it was illegal for priests to have sex with children, according to a court deposition released monday.

archbishop robert carlson, who was chancellor of the archdiocese of minneapolis and st. paul at the time, was deposed as part of a lawsuit against the twin cities archdiocese and the diocese of winona, minnesota.

snare&racket

Religions can't morally evolve, that's the poblem honouring bronze age documents.

23

1914 vs 2014

by ILoveTTATT in

jw
friends

it's amazing to examine the watchtower of 1914 now in 2014... 100 years later.. .

here are some of my comments on the watchtower of 1914:.

second article in january 1st.

snare&racket

It always said much to me that never once did Watchtower take advantage of the 1914 predictions and quote the literature of the time.

Of course, once you leave and feel brave enough to examine that old literature, the reaons become very clear.

As good as Watchtower is at rewriting history and twisting what was prophesied when, there is no means to square away using pyramid passage lengths to measure 1914 inches and then claim it was a date that was arrived at via holy spirit....

15

Archbishop Didn't Know Sex With Children Was a Crime

by Stealth in

wtf .

the st. louis archbishop embroiled in a sexual abuse scandal testified last month that he didnt know in the 1980s whether it was illegal for priests to have sex with children, according to a court deposition released monday.

archbishop robert carlson, who was chancellor of the archdiocese of minneapolis and st. paul at the time, was deposed as part of a lawsuit against the twin cities archdiocese and the diocese of winona, minnesota.

snare&racket

Moments in history such as this will be remembered as windows into the heart of religion, it is not only void of morality it is elbow deep in the worst depravity.

If an archbishop can know his bible and not comprehend consent and the illegality of child rape without being told it, what use is the church. This is a powerful point, made well by this man's words.

To think many religious people insist that these institutions are the SOURCE of morality and law.

7

good books on critical thinking

by tepidpoultry in

jw
friends

hi, wanting to improve my thinking.

thanks, tepid..

snare&racket

Tepid,

I developed critical appraisal skills as I was required to appraise scientific literature, that was a ramp to my critical thinking. If you google 'develop critical appraisal' it will provide many resources on how to do this.

I think you have asked a great question, but a hard one to answer. It may be that there is a gap in the market exactly for this. In an information age that arrived acutely, many of us were not are skilled to sift through the information and be usefully skeptical.

For me it is about evidence. The better the evidence the more reliable the idea is PROBABLY. The less evidence the less time or interest it has from me. Some people confuse skeptisism and critical thinking with being close minded, it is quite the opposite. Sure question EVERYTHING, but promoting mysticisim because it is close minded to reject the supernatural is not focusing on......evidence.

I wish I could give you a better answer, if I think of one I will come back to you. I must add that watching hundreds of intellectual debates will help you see how others are figuring out their way through life, it isn't the data in these debates that I found useful but approaches to the data, the thought process.

Before long you see where honesty and truth (very scientific) becomes hope and comfort (believers) as people sit on a spectrum of reliance on evidence.

The it is about deciding where you sit on the spectrum.

It is an exciting, protective and interesting journey , if not tiring, to figure everything out for yourself, enjoy it x

10

1 Year Membership on educator.com for Free!

by will-be-apostate in

jw
friends

i thought some of you might be interested in this.

you can get now 1 year membership on educator.com for free.

it is a website with lots of video courses available about all branch of science and other subjects at high school and college level.. the offer is temporary.

snare&racket

The forum mod just sent me this...

The offer is still available. The temporary link that was posted is only good for 10 or so minutes. After that you need a new promo code, but the link on the page auto generates a new code on a new refresh. To find the link visit any page in our Education forums.

For example:
http://www.physicsforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=139

You must be logged in to see the notice at the top.

Please share this opportunity with everyone. It really is amazing. Please make sure people register otherwise those temporary links will continue to be broken.

5

ARE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES A "RELIGION"? The story behind the misconception

by Terry in

judge j.f.

rutherford created many oddball ideas in his tenure as society president.

none was nuttier than his polemical rant,.

snare&racket

I remember in the UK around 1994, we had a talk where we were told that the JW's had not been accepted as a 'religion' by some government, a long boring talk explaining why it was not important as it was Satan's world etc ensued.

Does anyone else remember this talk? What was the context, I was only a young lad.

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