Posts by TheUbermensch

14

Stupid reasons why songs are labeled "bad"

by WTWizard in

jw
friends

one, i have heard that, since boy george was on heroin, that listening to culture club would amount to taking it yourself.

to me, that is a lame excuse to ruin a song or discography.. another example was michael jackson's thriller album.

they wanted me to get rid of that album because i would be "supporting that apostate" by listening to cuts from it.

TheUbermensch

Donovan? AHAHAHAHAH. Wow, folk music labeled as bad? Yikes. Donovan's first album was amazing.

I had to hide Nevemind the Bollocks from my grandmother. ahahahahahah Thank God she never found it.

70

hi, i'm a new member that enjoys civil debate, so i thought i'd just throw a topic out there.. if we take the standard, contemporary judeo-christian god (all-knowing, all powerful, and perfectly good in every possible way) and attempt to incorporate free will, we end up with a contradiction.

an all knowing being knows everything that has occured, is occuring and will occur, if otherwise then we can not consider this being to know all.

if god knows all that will happen, then he knows our decisions, as well as the outcomes of those decisions.

TheUbermensch

You just attempted to oversimplify philosphy into three thinking methods? Yikes.

Actually, philosophy handles everything that we do. Every action and thought that a human being does/has is affected by philosophy. Objective, Intrinsic, and Subjective are three schools of thought concerning areas of philosphy. The way you described them, I am assuming (since you didn't actually address any philosophical area of study) that you were speaking of existentialism, since reality was the mainpoint to your three "explanations".

I do believe you misunderstand philosophy. There isn't anything that is set and stone. So, as you say, "mixing philosophies" is literally impossible. Philosophy is universal. There aren't certain areas of philosophy that you can't mix with others. It's all "mixable".

Philosophy does not answer "1. What do we know and 2. How do we know it?" It also answers What can we know? Can we know at all? How can we know it? Is there anything to know in the first place? Philosophy also answers questions outside of epistemological questioning (which is basically all you talked about). It also answers How should we live? Why do we live? Should we live? Are we actually living? It also answers logical questions, What is logic? Is logic in and of itself logical? Can logic answer all? Is logic limited? Morality, Ethics, and Consciousness are also major parts (morality probably being the most discussed philosophical subject in history). Cause and effect and how Hume disproved the universal truth that IS Cause and effect (which is hardly known by anyone, and is still taught in schools). Political Philosophy Limited government? Imposing government? For the good of few or many? And then another major area of study, metaphysical traits and values, concerning deities, religious dogma, etc. And MUCH more.

I truly hope that people haven't taken your word for it (if you've said something along the same lines in the past), because you have just taken one of the most important factors that effects everything that everyone does, and shot it down as unimportant and meaningless.

And to give you examples of "mixing". Moral philosophy GREATLY affects political philosophy (Marx, Locke, Rousseau). Logic greatly affects metaphysical propositions.

P.S. Hellinistic philosophy is such a small section of the world that is philosophy. Medieval, and contemporary thought are the most discussed and constantly changing viewpoints (much like science) that there is. In fact, philosophy is a lot like science. Aristotle was a great mind, but unfortunately the time that he lived in was very limited in knowledge, and thus he was stifled. Aristotelian thought, besides his logic, isn't considered as important as more modern though, although every professor of Aristotelian thought would say otherwise. Plato, luckily, didn't discuss timely things, instead, most of his writings concerned political philosophy (The Republic), reality (his Allegory of the Cave) morality and justice (Crito) and the immortal soul (Phaedo). Epicurus discussed God (one of the first). However, philosophers throught time have critiqued other works, and have slowly started towards truth, just like science. They are very similar in their ever changing, ever molding ways.

14

Stupid reasons why songs are labeled "bad"

by WTWizard in

jw
friends

one, i have heard that, since boy george was on heroin, that listening to culture club would amount to taking it yourself.

to me, that is a lame excuse to ruin a song or discography.. another example was michael jackson's thriller album.

they wanted me to get rid of that album because i would be "supporting that apostate" by listening to cuts from it.

TheUbermensch

I listened to Black Flag and the likes during my short stint as a believer. LOL

1495

An Old Argument.... does it hold water?

by AK - Jeff in

estimates range from 4 million to 15 million children die from starvation each year on this planet.

that's between 500 and 1700 children a day, depending on what numbers you accept.

still, no matter which numbers you use, doesn't this make you arrive at one of the following conclusions?.

TheUbermensch

Well, this discussion is definitely over. Q definitely just defeated every theist on the thread. The best way to win an argument is to show how irrational/predictable the opposing side's rebuttals are, and he just did that. Whether believers accept it or not, they just lost... horribly. VICTORY!!!! LOL

37

I don't believe there is a heaven...

by Snoozy in

i don't believe there is a heaven that so many religions teach, do you?

it all sounds like a fairy tale made up to make dying easier or as a threat to make someone have a conscience... i got into a discussion about it with my jw converted to catholic daughter and she just couldn't believe anyone could feel like i do.

i am glad she threw away the jw teachings and glad she believes in something so wonderful but i for one just can't.

TheUbermensch

. Regarding God being a Murder... First your numbers of "Millions and Millions" is not accurate for representing the occasions when God commissioned His people to carry out judgment on corrupt and degenerate heathen nations through the profits of Israel in the Old testament.

Actually it is accurate. He did not say only in the Bible, he also meant (correct me if I'm wrong Farkel) things like the Crusades, Inquisition, etc. Wars outside the Bible that happened because their sky daddy was MUCH more powerful than the other sky daddy.

11

Watchtower 2008 says belief in Evolution makes you a helpless lost Orphan???

by Witness 007 in

watch feb 1st "if we really are the product of evolution and there is no creator, the human race would in a sense be an orphan.

mankind would have no source of superior wisdom to consult - no one to help us solve our problems.

we would have to resort to human wisdom to avert enviromental disaster.

TheUbermensch

Every helpless lost orphan I've met has denied Intelligent Design and supported the theory of Evolution, so I'd say it's about accurate.

1495

An Old Argument.... does it hold water?

by AK - Jeff in

estimates range from 4 million to 15 million children die from starvation each year on this planet.

that's between 500 and 1700 children a day, depending on what numbers you accept.

still, no matter which numbers you use, doesn't this make you arrive at one of the following conclusions?.

TheUbermensch

Yikes AGuest. MY post about 30 or so pages back wasn't even close to that. You took someone's personal life/story and then turned it against them and used it as an argument against them. Personally, if I were OTWO, I wouldn't even speak to you. That was absolutely unneccessary, and vile.

I love how when fingers point at non believers concerning the motive for arguing it's because we have some sort of intolerance for belief in a personal knowledge. We've offered plenty of reasons to the contrary. If that was the only reason for me to be here, still arguing after 60 pages of getting nowhere, I would have given up long ago. Please don't offer any more blanket generalizations concerning ALL non believers and their motives, something that is truly unknown to you, something that can be very personal for certain people, especially when your bias is quite obvious when you state it.

81

How did plants survive the Flood?

by dgp in

noah is not said to have carried plants in his ark.

supposedly the flood was severe enough to cover "even the tallest mountains", which would mean that mount everest was covered.

and this for forty days.

TheUbermensch

Cagefighter, I read it. I also read the post concerning the large seeds of plants that could not possibly be transported by birds. I also know that a seed kept underwater for a long period of time will no longer grow if planted. It's called botany. So the scientific answer would NOT be seeds because it is impossible that every single plant on the face of the Earth happened to have some seed, somewhere after the flood that grew into a plant.

56

Effects of the Evolution Theory

by mankkeli in

effects of the evolution theory.

in the early 19th century, religion and science enjoyed a fairly amicable relationship.

just two years before the origin of species was published, biologist and harvard professor louis agassiz wrote that the living world shows premeditation, wisdom, greatness and that a major purpose of natural history was to analyze the thoughts of the creator of the universe.. agassiz viewpoint was not uncommon.

TheUbermensch

I'm sorry, I think you missed the point. I did not say, or mean to say, that religion BEGAN racism or ethnicism, I just meant that in most holy books these things are practiced.

And honestly botchtower, as if the entire Nazi party was motivated by areligious belief, as if that was the main contribution to their ideas.

Should I provide a picture of the Inquisition? Or the World Trade Center? Or the Crusades? Or genocide? Or provide chapters, books, or verses in the Bible that show God allowing his "people" to completely massacre others? Please.

56

Effects of the Evolution Theory

by mankkeli in

effects of the evolution theory.

in the early 19th century, religion and science enjoyed a fairly amicable relationship.

just two years before the origin of species was published, biologist and harvard professor louis agassiz wrote that the living world shows premeditation, wisdom, greatness and that a major purpose of natural history was to analyze the thoughts of the creator of the universe.. agassiz viewpoint was not uncommon.

TheUbermensch

Of course, we have different viewpoints concerning the main cause of violence. I believe that a person is born, and their mind is tabula rasa, or a blank slate. Everything taught to the child, every interaction forms an effect which is exemplified by actions later on in life. I would say that, personally, isolation is the main cause of violence. Everything that you both gave as examples are all differences, for instance, you believe in something different, you live somewhere else, etc. The ideology that human beings are all different is the main causation of hate and violence. For instance I hate you because you have more (financially different), and I want it, so I will attack you to gain it. Primitive thought, and of course most don't think that way anymore. I would say that, in recent times, racial and religious differences have cause the most violence among human beings. Of course a form of ethnicism (a form of racism), is perfectly exemplifed in the Bible (Old Testament), with the exploits of the Israelites. Race is a falsity itself. I'm sure you know where the basis of skin color originates, so I won't go into that. And ethnicity is only traditional practices in a certain geographic location. The more we realize that what is essence in me is essence in you, the closer we can get to love and forgiveness. Praying for those who persecute you does nothing. Help others realize equality, and you will eliminate hate and violence. Religion is one of, if not THE most primal example of human isolation and thus is one of the largest motivating factors in hate and violence. So promoting religious acts while discussing hate and violence is sort of hypocritical.