Perry

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Posts by Perry

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  32

  No Escape from Religion - Am I wrong?

  by Perry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  since every culture ever studied has been shown to possess religious practices aka.

  spirituality, the axiom: "culture doesn't exist apart from religion" would seem to indicate that popular ideas concerning the non-religiosity of athiestic tenets are merely fictional.

  i have always been amused by the propaganda the non-deists (and sometimes deists as well) use to spin their ideology.

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  Perry

  garybuss wrote:

  Are you saying that theism and atheism are opposites?

  Gary, I think they share so much sameness so as to make provocative discussion about their provable distinctions implausible. However, the consequences, policies, and standards/customs that flow from each position can sometimes be opposite, but even then there are many similarities.

  For instance look at this quick analysis:

  Theism:
  Existence of God cannot be proven, must be an infinity to be a "First Cause", is foreign to our experience in the natural world, and is the basis of many associations, religions, governments etc.

  Atheism:
  Non-Existence of God cannot be proven, our origins must be an infinite digression of cause and effect events, either the infinite digression or spontaneous generation, (something from nothing) is foreign to our experience in the natural world, and is the basis of many associations, religions, governments like communism, secular humanism...etc.

  My indictment is on the hypocriticalness their proselytizers and not each's substance.
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  32

  No Escape from Religion - Am I wrong?

  by Perry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  since every culture ever studied has been shown to possess religious practices aka.

  spirituality, the axiom: "culture doesn't exist apart from religion" would seem to indicate that popular ideas concerning the non-religiosity of athiestic tenets are merely fictional.

  i have always been amused by the propaganda the non-deists (and sometimes deists as well) use to spin their ideology.

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  Perry

  Bodhisattva Wrote :

  You start out saying that culture and religion are inseperable, then redefine most aspects of culture as religious. The circle of your reasoning is complete.

  In the absence of you providing a culture from the historical record that was religious free, your charge of circular reasoning appears unfounded. Furthermore, ideologies can only exist in our minds, the non-physical; and we can only exist in a societal context (the physical. It seems perfectly rational to me to assume that the physical and the non-physical are inextricably linked.

  Of course the answers change in both situations, but in the former case it must be denied, in the latter case it is called progress.

  "must be denied" , "is called progress" Isn't this exactly the kind of dogmatic, absolutist thinking that you charge deists with?

  A deist can change a position without denying the former position. Likewise, an athiest can formulate a policy that is not progressive at all.... communism is a good example.

  It seems that your anger at the WBTS is still controlling your ability to be objective. Of course, you could simply be trying to promote an agenda at all costs. I hope it is simply the former.
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  32

  No Escape from Religion - Am I wrong?

  by Perry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  since every culture ever studied has been shown to possess religious practices aka.

  spirituality, the axiom: "culture doesn't exist apart from religion" would seem to indicate that popular ideas concerning the non-religiosity of athiestic tenets are merely fictional.

  i have always been amused by the propaganda the non-deists (and sometimes deists as well) use to spin their ideology.

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  Perry

  Since EVERY culture ever studied has been shown to possess religious practices aka. spirituality, the axiom: "culture doesn't exist apart from religion" would seem to indicate that popular ideas concerning the non-religiosity of athiestic tenets are merely fictional.

  I have always been amused by the propaganda the non-deists (and sometimes deists as well) use to spin their ideology. Whether a person subscribes to theism or atheism is irrelevant to the fact that those positions rarely exist in a vacuum. I would argue that once a person takes the next mental step from either position, be it the implications or consequences from such convictions, he/she has formulated the very essence and purpose of religion; and that is to make sense of and attempt to control the environment, at least for his/her self.

  I personally have no problem with either belief system formulating a context by which people of like mind can associate, achieve a sense of community, and synergistically work together for the betterment of society as well as personal stability. What I find so ethically shocking is when any construct of thought, whether based on deism or athiesm, presents itself as "fact", "truth" and ideologically "free" while at the same time pursues its own logical agenda as a consequence of such constructs.

  If the assertion that pure athiesm is not a religion is true, then it must also be true that pure theism is also not a religion. However, the product of either belief, whether it be a sense of community, policy formation, or standards of conduct, would be in my mind the very definition of religion.

  It seems to me, that to critize the deist for formulating and participating in standards, policies, and community as being "mental illness" as promoted in an earlier thread, while at the same time accepting the athiests' standards, policies, and community to be ideology/religious free, is ignorance at best and hypocritical at worst.

  Am I right? Or, where am I going wrong here?
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  255

  Going out with a bang

  by LittleToe in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after much deliberation, i decided to go "out" at the end of a public talk.

  it didn't go down too well, but at least i was able to give some of my reasons for leaving.. i've put some of the details on my homepage.

  i'll update it more when i get the time and the strength.

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  Perry

  Little Toe,

  Very interesting experience you have related. Personally, I believe your overall impact on your audience will get some to thinking. At the very least, when a house-holder of friend starts voicing dissatisfaction over certain WBTS policies, they will think back, "this is probably why Little Toe left".

  You stood up for truth and shattered the illusion the WBTS manufactures. Imagine the accrueing net effect if others are encouraged by your character? You have lost many friendsships true, but have gained many more here as well.

  Others may criticize the method as being too costly. But truly nothing is free, you get what you pay for.... you have paid for peace of mind and genuineness. My wish for you is that your strength of character be truly appreciated by your wife.

  Good Luck,

  Perry
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  8

  Tapestry

  by teejay in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've kept in touch with a man who no longer posts here.

  in a recent email, after exchanging the ways that we were both deprived of a healthy childhood/adolescence since we were both raised in the truth, he made the statement that anything done differently back then would have produced a different him now; and since he likes the person he is now, not all of what happened in his past was for no good.

  i've thought (and said) the same thing myself.

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  Perry

  TeeJay, well spoken!

  Often our hardships define our character. I'm not quite sure they are necessary but we sure as hell have the capicity to magically transform them into assets.

  Thanks for the encourging story!
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  91

  What is you occupation

  by Beans in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  im a liceinced electrician now working in wireless communication installations.i love the electrical industry,there is so much to learn and so many different things do work with and technology is always changing.never a boaring day especially when we are working in the office buildings downtown,chicks everywhere!.

  beans.

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  Perry

  Entrepaneur
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  16

  JW's Say To Love Your Children..........!!!!!!

  by ladonna in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i get this in my email.

  thought i'd share this one!!!!!.

  children need a sense of security to overcome their fears, especially in .

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  Perry

  Well, what can a person say? Can there be a law making it illegal to not show love? It is illegal to be an a$$h*%e? Nope, just a bad luck of the draw for those who grew up in this.

  No one in my family ever told one another they loved each other until I was around 28 and then my mother was the only one who clicked with the idea when I brought it up. From that time on we expressed love at least when closing a telephone conversation.

  The JW sociology demands we become Human-Doings as opposed to Human-Beings. The idea that you are human, with all its rights and accessories just by the fact that you BE, is replaced with the tenet that you are only Human if you DO.

  You cannot love a Doing, at least not in a way that is reciprocal, only the Being or intelligent force behind an action can be loved and give back.

  So, by reducing people to Doings, with the intelligent force behind it being the Society, the idea of expressions of love to individuals is really kind of silly and illogical in the JW mind, whereas expressions of passion toward the Society seem much more appropriate to the JW, because it alone has the status of "Being".

  The system is completely out of harmony with how we function and are put together as humans.

  The Society has stolen our inheritance and birth rights to love.
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  72

  Whats your cultural background ?

  by Beans in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am 50% german.

  25% italian.

  12.5% scottish.

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  Perry

  50% Sicilian (grandpa said it was much different than Italian)
  20% English
  20% Irish
  5% Cherokee Indian
  5% Insane
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  9

  Man eats woman

  by ISP in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  early closing?.

  suspected cannibal arrested for roasting and eating 40-yr-old woman .

  wednesday, 20th february, 2002 .

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  Perry

  And what did they find in the shower?

  Ans. - Head and Shoulders
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  16

  I must be getting old....

  by teejay in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i remember the andy griffith show (featuring the affable deputy fife) from the earliest times of my life.

  it will be popular when my daughter is old and gray, no doubt.

  but now... i'm beginning to wonder about me.... i find myself watching i love lucy whenever it's on, and i once hated... i say hated, the show.

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  Perry

  Calm down TeeJay!

  I suggest getting into rare scotch wiskey, you'll learn to appreciate its subtle differences and magically girls volleyball on ESPN will beat out those I Love Lucy shows every time!