Flat_Accent

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Posts by Flat_Accent

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  132

  The Bible and Genetics

  by sabastious in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i recently read in discover magazine that scientists have found a way to turn on and off memory cells in our brain.

  they say that this is good news for people with post traumatic stress disorder, which i was diagnosed with a few years ago.

  this, to me, brings up the ethical question of what did the traumatic events in my life, and the lives of others, add to society as a whole?

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  Flat_Accent

  Sab, you raise an interesting point, which I think correlates nicely with WT teaching:

  What did those experiences mean and was our suffering worth it in the end? If in the future science can just remove our bad experiences with a scalpel does that mean that all our bad experiences were just what happened before bad experiences were done away with entirely?

  Good and Bad feelings are both integral parts of the 'Human Experience', just like the feelings of pleasure and pain. Congenital Analgesia is a condition where a person can, never has and never will experience pain. Though that might sound alright it has some obvious drawbacks, mainly that the person cannot properly evaluate situations, and the possible risks to themselves or others. Without the feeling of pain they are ignorant to the dangers of say, putting their hand in the fire, or stepping on broken glass. One cannot function properly without both sides; pleasure and pain, a yin and yang. The same is true with our emotions and mental state. Having both Good and Bad experiences to reflect on can help us judge other events throughout our lives. But that is exactly what the WT is promoting. A life absent from bad feelings or experiences - "the former things will not be called to mind." The essence of naïvety, if you ask me.

  That's slightly beside the point, I just had one of those 'moments'.

  I'm not sure about your thoughts on the Bible - you view it as an imperfect book, yet you're willing to let it guide you? If is has no divine authorship, then the only understanding you will gain from it is 3000 years behind. People then were no wiser or sagacious than they are now. More than that, you can use the Bible to promote any ideology you like, so if anything your subconscious is making the decisions for you, and you ascribe credit to the book. Maybe I didn't understand what you were saying, so let me know.
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  26

  They are losing them...

  by Aussie Oz in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the teenagers.. via my teens i hear of plenty of baptized teens who are waaaaaaayyyyyyy left of centre.. alcohol, sex, and parties are going to claim a lot more than 'higher education' i reckon.. up yours watchtower.

  your youth don't think you are relevant.. oz.

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  Flat_Accent

  Actually I heard a story from America a while back, about a JW party where they rented a warehouse(?) and hundreds of people from several states were invited. Even some elders went. Drinking, smoking, sex. . . quite a lot were df'ed after that.

  Sounded like fun.
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  14

  Everlasting life on a paradise earth? Unlikely!

  by yalbmert99 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the watchtower of january 1st, 2010 p. 22-23 pretends that "all who respond favorably to gods warning and bring their life into harmony with his righteous principles (meaning jehovah's witnesses) will be granted salvation and enjoy everlasting life on a paradise earth.".

  but is it true?.

  astrophysicists say that like other stars of its type, our sun will become a planet-engulfing red giant.

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  Flat_Accent

  oppostate, "the heavens will pass away with a hissing noise"?

  No noise in space, brah. ;D
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  14

  Everlasting life on a paradise earth? Unlikely!

  by yalbmert99 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the watchtower of january 1st, 2010 p. 22-23 pretends that "all who respond favorably to gods warning and bring their life into harmony with his righteous principles (meaning jehovah's witnesses) will be granted salvation and enjoy everlasting life on a paradise earth.".

  but is it true?.

  astrophysicists say that like other stars of its type, our sun will become a planet-engulfing red giant.

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  Flat_Accent

  Nice post. I hope it makes people think.

  It seems like all I've been posting recently is more questions, however I can't help myself with cases like this.

  We live in a Universe where everything has a lifespan, a birth, a death. This would include our own bodies, planet and sun. One assumes God has made all things in the Universe without interference from Satan, and thus everything outside of our own planet is perfect, as God intended. Yet suns still explode, and planets are destroyed.

  Why would God create a universe where everything he designs dies, yet suspend his own laws in favour of saving humans? Why not create a universe where suns do not heat up and die?
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  4

  Evolution in Action

  by cantleave in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euozzo8nopy&feature=player_embedded#!.

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  Flat_Accent

  BUT IT'S STILL A DIATOM!!!!! WHEN WILL YOU SEE!??
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  48

  Lions eating straw....is this possible?

  by highdose in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i recall a jw telling me that.... "they" meaning scientists, had done study's on lions in zoo's and discovered that if they gave lions straw and grass to eat that the lions became very passive and no longer showed predator behavior??

  now they never explained who "they" were, or were these "study's" had been done or why based on these study's lions are not now fed grass etc

  has anyone else heard this for real?

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  Flat_Accent

  Did anyone else get this reply from the Elders?

  "Well, carnivorous animals in the new system will still eat meat. But they will be used to clean up dead bodies, they will do no hunting of their own."

  A cop out or what?
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  48

  Lions eating straw....is this possible?

  by highdose in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i recall a jw telling me that.... "they" meaning scientists, had done study's on lions in zoo's and discovered that if they gave lions straw and grass to eat that the lions became very passive and no longer showed predator behavior??

  now they never explained who "they" were, or were these "study's" had been done or why based on these study's lions are not now fed grass etc

  has anyone else heard this for real?

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  Flat_Accent

  What I never understood about this was - why did animals change in the first place? Why was there a necessity for animals to suddenly become predatory and carnivorous? And why are they so darned good at killing things if that was not their original purpose?

  I mean, does a Peregrine Falcon really need to dive at 180mph to catch. . . the grass?

  mP was right anyway - carnivorous animals are not able to process their veggies properly, so they wouldn't last very long on a green diet.
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  6

  Is DNA proof of intelligent designed?

  by jam in

  1. social
  2. current

  here in los angeles an intelligent design trial will be.

  open to the media.. david coppedge, a former jet propulsion laboratory.

  employee, alleges he was laid off due to his advocacy.

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  Flat_Accent

  No.

  I don't know your own thoughts on Evolution, but the basic explaination of it is that complexity can arise from the simplest beginnings. Taking that into account, it shouldn't seem too far-fetched that something like DNA is so complex today, when it has had 3.5 billion years to reach this point. Here the ID advocates use an argument from incredulity to push in a designer. Need I remind you that this not Scientific in any way.

  The modern understanding is that life originated with something similar to RNA and Proteins. As Protein can be its own catalyst in forming RNA, this seems like a reasonable explanation. Nevertheless, this argument is more associated with Abiogenesis and less about Evolution - that 'in the beginning' God interjected with the DNA string and life carried on from there. Really though it's a weak argument, because if life has been doing quite well on it's own for so long, with no guiding hand, it seems silly to add one in right at the start.

  DNA itself is very strong evidence of evolution, as we can trace our ancestry through chromosones, retroviruses etc.

  And I really don't see what a 'Jet Propulsion Laboratory employee' would have to say on a matter of Biology.
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  45

  It CAN'T go on much longer

  by jean-luc picard in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so thats what my mum told me today.

  i've learned to hold my tongue but i was thinking,.

  "why can't it?

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  Flat_Accent

  My dad will be turning 70 next year. 35 years of waiting, but the song remains the same. "We're so close to the end now." I get sick of it, but it's too late to change him really. He'll go to his grave waiting for Armageddon, i'm quite sure. And perhaps that's a more moral decision to let him believe it, instead of helping him see that he just gave up half his life, all his money, and his dreams for something imaginary.
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  22

  My first experience as a Householder.

  by Flat_Accent in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  and it wasnt even on the platform!.

  i got a knock on the door this morning from a jw in another local congregation.

  it's the first time this has happened since i left in october.

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  Flat_Accent

  Well I'm glad I went in the right direction with it. I'll be sure to practice my conversation stoppers for next time. But I did think there was something disconcerting about the conversation. She asked me "So when armageddon comes, () where will you be?" I just replied honestly: "I think i'd be dead." She laughed.

  Real compassionate.