Posts by Jonathan Drake

53

Spirituality

by Jonathan Drake in

if you are a current practitioner of some religious faith i would appreciate it if you abstained from this thread entirely.

im curious if anyone has had what could be discribed as a spiritual experience.

i'm currently reading sam harris book waking up and it's very good so far.

Jonathan Drake

@viv

im glad you're gonna check it out. I'm trying to post a pic of a certain page that I think will address what your saying but I'm having trouble getting it to upload. It's page 6.

EDIT:

i uploaded it to a site and here's the link:

http://postimg.org/image/u9pl3nf73/

76

By “evolution,” we mean “macroevolution”—apes turning into humans, for example.

by FadingTruth in

august 2015 awake .

quote in title taken from article footnote.. anyone have information on who gene hwang and yan-der hsuuw in the article are?.

why do they repeatedly state that apes turned to humans when that's not what evolutionists teach at all?.

Jonathan Drake

cappytan4 hours ago
I can't believe they f*cking quoted RICHARD EFFING DAWKINS in this article!
The “words” and “sentences” in DNA make up the various “recipes” that direct the production of proteins and other substances that form the building blocks of the various cells that make up the body. For example, the “recipe” might guide the production of bone cells, muscle cells, nerve cells, or skin cells. “The filament of DNA is information, a message written in a code of chemicals, one chemical for each letter,” wrote evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. “It is almost too good to be true, but the code turns out to be written in a way that we can understand.”
WHAT THE HELL? They're quoting him to support their lie that complexity means a creator!
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Everyone needs to light up Dawkins on Twitter NOW. If he sees that's I think they'll have made an enemy who tirelessly destroys them. I tweeted him also.

53

Spirituality

by Jonathan Drake in

if you are a current practitioner of some religious faith i would appreciate it if you abstained from this thread entirely.

im curious if anyone has had what could be discribed as a spiritual experience.

i'm currently reading sam harris book waking up and it's very good so far.

Jonathan Drake

What proof re brain changes does Harris offer cos I have read something similar regarding tests that have been done on the brains of people who have been meditating.

I'll try to remember to post his reference after work.

53

Spirituality

by Jonathan Drake in

if you are a current practitioner of some religious faith i would appreciate it if you abstained from this thread entirely.

im curious if anyone has had what could be discribed as a spiritual experience.

i'm currently reading sam harris book waking up and it's very good so far.

okay so, like I posted earlier I'm still finishing up this book. But Harris is defining spirituality as (if I understand correctly) the effort to find ones "self". Based on his own experience he makes a compelling argument that this one aspect of eastern philosophy, the notion that there is no such duality as self and object because there is no self, is acceptable and real.

He does this while denouncing religion and faith. His argument is that ego is an illusion, that self is an illusion and that by trying to find ones self you can dissemble these illusions. This supposedly leads to much happier lives. He even provides some findings that meditation like this can physically effect the brain. As well as some other evidence that this is possibly legit

It's kind of hard to summarize appropriately actually. But he makes a good argument, going so far as to suggest that the spiritual experiences of people like Buddha, Jesus, Muhammed, etc were legit but were viewed through the lens of their religious faith and thus sort of spoiled. He also says that spiritual experiences from meditation like this can be observed and proven.

its a very interesting book. I highly suggest it, and would appreciate your educated opinion on it.

7

The World Empire of False Religion, isn't this the Antitype of Babylon the Great?

by Quarterback in

do you ever think that this one will be dropped as a old view?

Jonathan Drake

Actually this is not a type anti type example (within the scope of the faith in question anyway).

the harlot literally represents all false religion. It culminates with dominating the planet for a time before falling from grace. This domination is believed to have been accomplished by the church and her fall is when the church no longer had power. This based on the book, The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop, a man with a large bias against the church who's opinion shouldn't have been respected as much of anything. Hislop did not see the harlot as an antitype at all, it was believed by him to literally be the Catholic Church and this belief was inherited by the JW faith.

53

Spirituality

by Jonathan Drake in

if you are a current practitioner of some religious faith i would appreciate it if you abstained from this thread entirely.

im curious if anyone has had what could be discribed as a spiritual experience.

i'm currently reading sam harris book waking up and it's very good so far.

Jonathan Drake

Viviane3 hours ago
Until someone explains what "spiritual" means I cannot answer the question.

The definition of spiritual I'm talking about is strictly Harris sort of spirituality in this book. I can try to summarize this eve, and id very much like your opinion on this book as well if you read it.

8

God is a killer, NOT a murderer

by Slave4_38y in

this is not from wts, but it could well have been.

it explains with numerous scriptures quoted why it is impossible for god to break one of his commandments (thou shall not kill).

it is a erroneous translation which should have been: do not put anyone to death without cause.

Jonathan Drake

The verses that exist for apologists to use in defense of God are all contingent upon an individual living up to certain expectations all while God does less than nothing.

He does less than nothing because not only does he not prevent horrible disasters and atrocities but he also tests people with trials. This latter bit is interesting since the book says God doesn't try anyone with evil despite the fact that many today seem convinced he does (James 1:13; compare 1 Samuel 16:14).

Further bible apologists like to ignore the inexcusable actions of God, such as all the innocent children he killed:

Infanticide:
1 Samuel 15:3 God commands the death of helpless "suckling" infants. This literally means that the children god killed were still nursing.
Psalms 135:8 & 136:10 Here god is praised for slaughtering little babies.
Psalms 137:9 Here god commands that infants should be “dashed upon the rocks”.
The murdering of children:
Leviticus 20:9 “For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.”
Psalms 137:8-9 Prayer/song of vengeance “0 daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.”
2 Kings 6:28-29 “And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow. So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son.”
Deuteronomy 21:18-21 “If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.”
Judges 19:24-29 “Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing. But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go. Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her lord was, till it was light. And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way: and behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold. And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place. And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel.” To put it very bluntly this poor, young lady was murdered by her mate for being raped.
Exodus 12:29 God killed, intentionally, every first-born child of every family in Egypt, simply because he was upset at the Pharaoh. And god caused the Pharaoh’s actions in the first place. Since when is it appropriate to murder children for their ruler’s forced action?
Exodus 20:9-10 God commands death for cursing out ones parents Joshua 8 God commanded the deaths of 12,000 men, women, and children of Ai. They were all slain in the ambush that was planned by god.
2 Kings 2:23-24 The prophet Elisha, was being picked on by some young boys from the city because of his bald head. The prophet turned around and cursed them in the Lords name. Then, two female bears came out of the woods and killed forty-two of them. You would think that God could understand that sometimes the youthful make childish jokes. Calling someone “bald head” is far from being worthy of death.
Leviticus 26:30 “And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.”
1 Samuel 15:11-18 God repents of having made Saul king since Saul refused to carry out God’s commandments (i.e., Saul refused to murder all the innocent women and children.) At least god realizes what an immoral, murderous pig he is on this one.
I Kings 16:34 Laying the foundation for a city using your firstborn child and using your youngest son to set up the gates.
Isaiah 13:15-18 If God can find you, he will “thrust you through,” smash your children “to pieces” before your eyes, and rape your wife.
Jeremiah 11:22-23 God will kill the young men in war and starve their children to death.
Jeremiah 19:7-9 God will make parents eat their own children, and friends eat each other.
Lamentations 2:20-22 God gets angry and mercilessly torments and kills everyone, young and old. He even causes women to eat their children.

Taken From Here

I'd like to read an apologists take on these atrocities, and then punch them in the face.

53

Spirituality

by Jonathan Drake in

if you are a current practitioner of some religious faith i would appreciate it if you abstained from this thread entirely.

im curious if anyone has had what could be discribed as a spiritual experience.

i'm currently reading sam harris book waking up and it's very good so far.

Jonathan Drake

Xanthippe

You see it's hopeless to talk about spirituality JD. If we said falling in love is not real it's just hormones and you are thinking with your gonads they would be happier.

I don't think it's necessarily pointless. If a person were to feel the way you describe isn't necessarily wrong per se. We could never disagree with them if we are honest. Further I would say personal experience is what matters most with this subject.

Everyone who has participated in this thread is engaged and has either read the book or plans to, mostly. I very excitedly look forward to their opinions because they are intelligent human beings. so if this experience can be read about and had by them on any level, or if the book makes honestly good points (and not just ones I may be biased toward) then I am going to found out.

53

Spirituality

by Jonathan Drake in

if you are a current practitioner of some religious faith i would appreciate it if you abstained from this thread entirely.

im curious if anyone has had what could be discribed as a spiritual experience.

i'm currently reading sam harris book waking up and it's very good so far.

Jonathan Drake

@DJS

I'd be seriously interested in what you might have to say about this book. Harris begins the book by stating he felt largely the same way your expressing at one time (unless I've misunderstood either you or him).

If your familiar with Harris you know he isn't particularly in the habit of making grandiose claims without some actual reason or evidence. He does provide ample amounts of compelling enough reason for benefit of the doubt on this subject.

If your willing I'd love to know what you think of this book. It's only about 200 pages.

Ive not finished it yet but already in what I've read he's addressed some of what you mention and I think you might find his response to it interesting regardless of if you agree. Which of course you may not. I'm not even sure I do, but at least that small experience I felt was of interest.

74

Is Prophecy important?

by EA916 in

hello, i am certainly new to all of this.

i have recently been studying the prophecy's, and i was wondering if they are of any importance at all?

Jonathan Drake

I would say that prophecy is not important.

its been proven that none of the prophecies in the bible were even prophecies, but instead were written after they happened. I've read there's even much the suggest that rather than Jesus ACTUALLY fulfilling the prophecies of the messiah, the New Testament writers merely wrote him as having done so (as partially evidenced by the apparent mistranslation of the Greek word for "young women" as "Virgin" by Matthew and Luke I believe, while mark and John have no knowledge of a virgin birth whatever).

prophecy is bunk