Posts by Nathan Natas

19

The Star of Bethlehem...very interesting

by tenyearsafter in

i just saw a dvd on the possible scientific explanation for the star of bethlehem and found it quite interesting.

though it is a pro-christian viewpoint, i think the explanations use science and chronology to come to this explanation of whether the star was fact or fiction.

the website is:.

Nathan Natas

I aways thought Satan was responsible for the "star".

92

GLOBAL WARMING - "Snowfalls are a thing of the past"

by Nathan Natas in

jw
friends

cetainly in great britani they are, right?.

see: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/snowfalls-are-now-just-a-thing-of-the-past-724017.html.

.. .. .. oh, that's from ten years ago!.

Nathan Natas

Cetainly in Great Britani they are, right?

see: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/snowfalls-are-now-just-a-thing-of-the-past-724017.html

.

Oh, that's from ten years ago!

How accurate was THAT prophecy?

41

How long did it take you to get rid of your WTS library & literature?

by Think About It in

jw
friends

it took me a little over 2 years from the time i quit going.

been out 15 years now and no wts literature since.. .

think about it .

Nathan Natas

It took me a few years to decide to unburden my bookshelves of WT crapola.

Then, a few years after that, I realized that the most effective ammunitionagainst the WT was its own publications, and I began a WT library dedicated to helping overthrow the WTB&TS. Dedicated to this new humanitarian purpose, the library has been much more effective than I imagined it would be, although, I admit, not as effective as I had hoped.

Many have been helped, but many more remain victims of "the cruelest show on earth."

40

Why do people look to the Bible for answers when it is obvious much OLDER works exist?

by sinis in

just finished up reading the sumerian texts posted on a site, as well as the vedic books.

it is interesting to note that "fables" or works of antiquity, written down, that are much older than the bible, ot included, paint a different picture.

why, and i still cannot wrap my mind around this, do people let the bible be the answer for everything, when it is quite obvious that there are works pre-dating the bible?.

Nathan Natas

Your question also suggests that you believe that older civilizations were superior to our present age, an idea that history does not bear out.

Mankind was not a special creation of god that fell from grace. Mankind is the result of millions of years of evolution and man has progressed UPWARD from his primitive "edenic" condition as a tree-dweller (figuratively, at least).

The best answers to our problems are found, not in old books of primitive superstition but in accurate and improving knowledge of what we are and what we are capable of becoming.

56

What Foods & Goodies Do You Want To Eat During The Holidays?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i'm hungry!.

i'd love to eat a greek salad with plenty of feta and a blt (with the bacon crispy!

)..

Nathan Natas

Q.: What Foods & Goodies Do You Want To Eat During The Holidays?

A.: All of them! >burp!<

40

Why do people look to the Bible for answers when it is obvious much OLDER works exist?

by sinis in

just finished up reading the sumerian texts posted on a site, as well as the vedic books.

it is interesting to note that "fables" or works of antiquity, written down, that are much older than the bible, ot included, paint a different picture.

why, and i still cannot wrap my mind around this, do people let the bible be the answer for everything, when it is quite obvious that there are works pre-dating the bible?.

Nathan Natas

Maybe it's because our society has judeo-christian roots, and in the judeo-christian culture the primary book audacious enough to claim divine authorship is the bible.

Other cultures, like the Sumerian, have their own "authorities" of imaginary origin, but we are waterproofed against those ideas.

17

The Emerging Internet God

by metatron in

jw
friends

let me explain................. there is an old joke that directs us to consider what the future will be .

a bunch of scientists create the greatest computer of all time, containing all human knowledge.

they ponder what to do with it.

Nathan Natas

Truman expressed this concern "As for me, I tend to worry that the memes are about to evolve from their dependence upon biological repositories and leave us behind."

Before that could occcur, we'd have to have machines capable of not just holding facts, but of forming ideas from those facts. ...and I don't think that the results of a database search qualifies as an "idea", it is just a collection of data.

Eventually, though, I believe that your concern will become a reality.

We are simnply biological "meat machines" and do not really possess the imaginary "soul" of popular religious superstition. We have "ideas," and other terran meat machines (like dogs and crows) can form "ideas".

Eventually souless non-biological machines will develop the same capacity, if civilization endures long enough.

If we end up repeating the 14 th century rulled by "imaginocrats" like mullas and/or other priests, all bets are off, for in that case mankind will have lost the capacity to think, at least temporarily.

i·de·a , n.
1. any conception existing in the mind as a result of mental understanding, awareness, or activity.
2. a thought, conception, or notion: That is an excellent idea.
3. an impression: He gave me a general idea of how he plans to run the department.
4. an opinion, view, or belief: His ideas on raising children are certainly strange.
5. a plan of action; an intention: the idea of becoming an engineer.
6. a groundless supposition; fantasy.
7. Philos.
a. a concept developed by the mind.
b. a conception of what is desirable or ought to be; ideal.
c. (cap.) Platonism. Also called form. an archetype or pattern of which the individual objects in any natural class are imperfect copies and from which they derive their being.
d. Kantianism. See idea of pure reason.
8. Music. a theme, phrase, or figure.
9. Obs.
a. a likeness.
b. a mental image.
[1400-50; < LL < Gk idé! form, pattern, equiv. to ide- (s. of ideîn to see) + -! fem. n. ending; r. late ME idee < MF < LL, as above; akin to WIT1]
-i·deÆa·less, adj.
-Syn. 1, 2. IDEA, THOUGHT, CONCEPTION, NOTION refer to a product of mental activity. IDEA, although it may refer to thoughts of any degree of seriousness or triviality, is commonly used for mental concepts considered more important or elaborate: We pondered the idea of the fourth dimension. The idea of his arrival frightened me. THOUGHT, which reflects its primary emphasis on the mental process, may denote any concept except the more weighty and elaborate ones: I welcomed his thoughts on the subject. A thought came to him. CONCEPTION suggests a thought that seems complete, individual, recent, or somewhat intricate: The architect's conception delighted them. NOTION suggests a fleeting, vague, or imperfect thought: a bare notion of how to proceed. 4. sentiment, judgment.

49

Please reccommend older Watchtower publciations for stumbling purposes

by TheStumbler in

jw
friends

first time poster here but i've been lurking a while.. i have a question that i was hoping some of the watchtower historians might be able to answer.

if a witness was willing to read some of the organisation's older publications, what books would you get them to read and how do i get these books?.

my family are witnesses and my father is an elder.

Nathan Natas

You may want to take a look at

http://stores.lulu.com/oldlightreprints

But first, a bit of advice: sometimes JWs will claim that these "replica reprints" *might* have been forged to change what they say. (They haven't.)

Instead of arguing about what *might* have been done, ask him to compare the reprints to the original documents to show YOU where the deception lies.

If he is a real "seeker of truth," he will eagerly spend a wad of cash for a crumbling Watchtower original, only to find that the reprint is letter-for-letter true to the original.

"Millions Now Living Will Never Die" is a great place to start.

Almost all the titles are available in hard-copy and e-book format.

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