Posts by Jonathan Drake

60

Ten Commandments

by EA916 in

should we still be keeping the 10 commandments?

Jonathan Drake

The Ten Commandments say nothing about stoning, they have no punishments.

First of all, you're incorrect; the Ten Commandments do have punishments. It just appears you've chosen not to continue reading to the part where they are outlined.

Secondly, a commandment, law, or rule which has no consequence when broken is completely useless. This is not a commandment without punishment, it's just a suggestion. The events in ancient Israel which took place when these commandments were violated prove you completely wrong and possibly even deranged.

and finally, regardless of whether you choose to read the punishments or not they exist. If you plan out and accomplish a murder in today's society you will not be excused because you didn't know there were punishments. Therefore if your God is real, and if the Ten Commandments should be followed, then you are going to be stoned to death someday or otherwise killed by your loving God.

This is the reality of your proposition, and there is nothing you can do to change it.

60

Ten Commandments

by EA916 in

should we still be keeping the 10 commandments?

Jonathan Drake

I feel like the answer to your question rests within the fact that the Ten Commandments, supposedly written as you say, "by gods finger" say nothing at all extraordinary. There is nothing special about them.

The first four are specifically religously concerned, and none of the laws were unique because many cultures long before God wrote these oh so wise words had laws just like them, one of which was Egypt, the land from which they allegedly had just come. The one time God actually writes something himself and all he manages to do is copy off of humans? Not very impressive for an all wise and all powerful deity.

Further, if you would be willing to submit yourself to such an archaic and barbaric standard then you would have to be willing to accept the consequences of violating it. Thus I expect it wouldn't be long before you were stoned to death, unless of course you wished to ignore that unpleasant part. But then you wouldn't be truly living by the standard would you?

75

Rumor about the Imitate Jesus Convention

by FusionTheism in

i saw a rumor a few weeks ago on reddit that the new imitate jesus convention is supposed to present new light and clarified understandings on the disfellowshipping/disassociation practices.. supposedly, if this rumor has any truth to it, there will be a talk given at the convention about how we should not be strict like the pharisees in how we shun people, loosening up some of the jw rules about this practice.. has anyone here heard anything about this or have more info on it?.

Jonathan Drake

This would be the best thing to ever happen. The religion would die out fast.

17

Possibly a great question to ask JW's since this last week's WT.

by Crazyguy in

so since the type anti-type doctrine has been dropped 'does this mean peter was right when at luke 12 :41 he said the faithful and discreet slave was just a parable?

'

Jonathan Drake

Peter wasnt talking about the faithful steward as a parable. He was talking about the foregoing parable of readiness. In RESPONSE to peters inquiry, Jesus asked, "who is the faithful and wise steward?"

i dont think this will work at all.

1

Council for National Policy

by Jonathan Drake in

jw
friends

who has heard of these clowns?

i just read about them and it has made me want to move to europe asap.

Jonathan Drake

Who has heard of these clowns? I just read about them and it has made me want to move to Europe ASAP.

48

Evidence based folks: what is your stance on GMO's and why?

by cappytan in

jw
friends

so, the anti-gmo movement scored another victory today.

chipotle has opted to only use non-gmo food items.. hooray for them.

i'm pretty neutral on the subject, mostly because, other than questionable treatment of farmers, i have seen no evidence to avoid gmo's for health reasons.. basically, my neutrality boils down to the stance that i'll buy non-gmo, so long as the price is reasonable.

Jonathan Drake

I'm pretty neutral on gmo. I don't know if it's been around long enough for us to actually see how it will effect everything. But until there is actual evidence to suggest it's bad I'm not bothered.

114

Why do religious people make claims and then refuse to back them up?

by Viviane in

several times over the past few months i have had conversations, both here and in real life, with religious people making all sorts of interesting and conflicting claims.

i like to know how things work, so generally i will ask questions to net out what i am being told and see if it can be explained and make sense.. for instance, if someone said 2+2=4 and i asked how, there are a variety of ways that could be shown to me, a number line, physical objects being put together, counting on fingers and toes, etc.

indeed, in my personal life, i often have to explain how certain technologies work, sometimes planned, sometimes off the cuff, from a variety of group sizes to a varying degree of technical expertise.

Jonathan Drake

If what I'm reading is as it appears (I've not gone back enough pages to catch up), I feel the need to share this quote from Sam Harris book I'm currently reading.

Tell a devout Christian that his wife is cheating on him, or that frozen yogurt can make a man invisible, and he is likely to require as much evidence as anyone else, and to be persuaded only to the extent that you give it. Tell him that the book he keeps by his bed was written by an invisible deity who will punish him with fire for eternity if he fails to accept its every incredible claim about the universe, and he seems to require no evidence what so ever.

Im starting to firmly believe people of faith have to open themselves up on their own to be reasonable. That's what had to happen with me, I had to be willing to consider other possibilities than I otherwise had been before.

Abiogenesis is a really amazing theory, one that was tested in a way in the mid 1900s. I recently read about the experiment and it's very interesting.

For more on these experiments read here.

I really don't see why abiogenesis should be any less probable than the existence of God, I consider it more likely TBH because there is more evidence suggesting it's possible than there is of God.

31

Question for people who believe in Evolution

by ttte36 in

though school i did religious education and my teacher who was religious ruled out evolution because humans are the only creatures who do not want to die, can anyone who understands evolution explain this?.

im 99% on to the theory of evolution, this is just the last stumbling block..

Jonathan Drake

Has anyne considered the answer may be "Because Jesus?"
Also, drinks!@

Is this from something or are you having wine? Because it's making me laugh either way. I might just start answering my unreasonable relatives this way.

31

Question for people who believe in Evolution

by ttte36 in

though school i did religious education and my teacher who was religious ruled out evolution because humans are the only creatures who do not want to die, can anyone who understands evolution explain this?.

im 99% on to the theory of evolution, this is just the last stumbling block..

Jonathan Drake

" blame evolution for this unsettling conflict between me the world works in the way we wish it would work. The fear of death, combined with a novel ability to envision the future, enabled humanist outcompete other species. But that combination also makes us unable to believe that what we see around us is all there is. Our brains got too big to think about the world and the other way ... It looks like we came out with the most versatile brain, which could throw, catch, and hit balls-and invent the rules of games involving balls, better than they could. It looks like the same brains gave us the ability to wonder about our place in the scheme of things, and that let us to science, and then let us to the discovery of the ocean. We are products of illusion and as such, we can't believe it's all over, when it's all over. It is a great irony of the evolution of the human brain: our strength is also for weakness. Our asset is our liability..."

taken from bill nyes book undeniable, page 179-180.

2

Just had a thiught

by Jonathan Drake in

the catholic church skews there numbers by counting as catholics even those who no longer attend and may not even profess to be catholic.

do jehovah's witness do something similar or even the same thing?

they seem to be very much in favor of going inactive imo.

Jonathan Drake

The Catholic Church skews there numbers by counting as Catholics even those who no longer attend and may not even profess to be catholic.

do Jehovah's witness do something similar or even the same thing? They seem to be very much in favor of going inactive imo. I keep being told I should stop posting things on Facebook and just fade away. I think they want faders so they can count them as witnesses.

Thougts?