Posts by Saethydd

147

Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

by cofty in

it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

Saethydd

@slimboyfat

I would argue that there is a difference between believing something and knowing it. If you are unable to prove something you don't know it, you believe it.

Philosophy is useful in forming beliefs more so than knowledge, in my opinion anyway.

History is just belief unless the scientific method is applied to provide evidence of the supposed events.

Poetry is highly subjective, so once again not knowledge in and of itself because it can't be proven correct or incorrect.

Sociology is a actually a science, it's a branch of psychology. (Though one with an especially high margin for error in my opinion.)

And an experience without proof that it happened could easily be fictitious.

24

When can I let my guard down?

by hybridous in

quick background:.

born-in, but never baptized.

remainder of family still (by all appearances) loyal dubs.

Saethydd

My personal recommendation would be 16-18 depending on the child. At younger ages (10-13 perhaps) you could even take the initiative and use the JW beliefs to help them sharpen their critical thinking. Show them JW beliefs and explain how they are flawed. Show them the controlling techniques that are being used and explain how to spot them elsewhere.

103

What will you be doing on the evening of the 11th ?

by Phizzy in

mrs phizzy and myself will be eating out, sure in the knowledge we will not have jw's using the same restaurant.. i may have a cigar along with my brandy at the meal's end to celebrate my (our) freedom..

Saethydd

Ugh, I've got to go to their Memorial, AND it didn't even fall on the normal meeting night so I have to go to that two days later.

34

Proof they are not a cult??

by lriddle80 in

jw
friends

the following is from a facebook post and..maybe i am missing something, but none of these items disprove them being in a cult.

jehovah's witnesses are often mistaken to be something else.

some say it a secret cult while others believe something else.......i'm very proud to tell you my readers that i'm one of jehovah's witnesses.. below are 17 facts that shows jehovah's witness is not a cult..... 1. there are currently about 8 million jehovah's witnesses around the world.. 2. an average of over 800 people become jehovah's witnesses daily.. 3. we keep coming to your doors even though we have regular jobs and family like you because we are admonished to do so by jesus christ.. 4. we do not participate in wars and for this reason more than 1600 jehovah's witnesses were killed by hitler.. 5. there are currently over 300 jehovah's witnesses in prison in south korea and egypt because they refused to stop preaching or enlist in the military.. 6. we don't salute the flag or say national anthems because we pledge our allegiance only to god.. 7. yes we have fun and party too so don't get that twisted.. 8. not many of us know the name of the president of our headquarters because we do not pay any reference to him he is a fellow servant of god just like the rest of us are.. 9. you earn the privilege of becoming a jehovah's witness.

Saethydd

To those of you criticizing the OP, I just wanted to point out that the OP doesn't agree with the list, they just copied it from Facebook and even said that they didn't find anything on the list that proves the WT isn't a cult.

18

DPA Cards: Word Has Come Down To Badger People

by JW_Rogue in

i know this must be coming down from the top because the elders in my hall who didn't really care before are all concerned about it.

must be on the list of things to do before the co comes back around.

in past years i never really thought about the dpa.

Saethydd

They have back pedaled on their hard line as to blood transfusions being a disfellowshipping offense.
Perhaps this is an internal way of enforcing the seriousness of the teaching without putting so much in writing?

Last I read on the subject they just changed it be "disassociating oneself" (basically the same thing as disfellowshipping) as a ploy to avoid the legal issues of discouraging life-saving medical procedures through religious punishment.

18

DPA Cards: Word Has Come Down To Badger People

by JW_Rogue in

i know this must be coming down from the top because the elders in my hall who didn't really care before are all concerned about it.

must be on the list of things to do before the co comes back around.

in past years i never really thought about the dpa.

Saethydd

I took my DPA out of my wallet several months back and have been contemplating whether or not to craft my own notarized document for any doctors that may have to work on me in an unconscious state. The document would basically inform them that my family will object but that I give them full permission to use blood transfusions if they deem it medically necessary.

I was also thinking I might include advice on how to deal with the matter, for example, suggesting they not make it not making it known to my family that they are using blood, and instead simply saying something like "we will honor your son's wishes."

4

a jw hell

by carla in

a jw hell-.

https://www.yahoo.com/celebrity/smurfs-obsessed-woman-7000-smurf-items-worlds-largest-collection-190854430.html.

i would like to see a video of jw attempting a bible study in her place!.

Saethydd

Wel I don't think they have such a strong aversion to the Smurfs anymore. I'm not really sure why they did in the first place, all I've heard is some rumor that a Smurf got up and walked out a Kingdom Hall. (Maybe it was an "apostate" Smurf who couldn't take it anymore.)

24

I finally get why people like to shun.

by poopie in

jw
friends

it finally hit me today.

why do religions enjoy shunning.

because many people feel like being close to god makes them special however just being special is not enough for many religious people that shun they must feel extra special how?

Saethydd

@Rainbow_Troll

Well for one thing, if you don't know that they aren't planning to come back, then the DF'd person themself might turn you in to the elders.

In the case you mentioned though, perhaps they really do fear angering God.

7

What every modern civilized western society needs: "9yo girls 'physically & spiritually' ready to marry" – Malaysian MP

by kpop in

i'm at a loss for words man.

will there be a "woman's march" over this?

will radical 3rd wave feminists come out and demand his resignation?.

Saethydd

Yeah, don't try social reform to fix the culture that causes problems for a rape victim, just marry them to the monster that caused those problems in the first place. Brilliant solution!

63

Evolution is a Fact #27 - Monkeys, Typewriters, Shakespeare, 747s etc.

by cofty in

most creationist arguments can be summarised as "complexity, complexity, complexity - therefore god".

we have all heard the illustrations about the odds of (insert favourite example) evolving, being less than 10,000 monkeys typing macbeth by pure chance.

evolution is not like that.

Saethydd

You seem to attract creationists something awful cofty, they keep going back to dig up threads over a year old just to try and pick a fight using half-baked arguments.

As I said before: To have perfect selection in one generation, you had to pay the price of the elimination of the other 9,999 in that same generation (destroying your population) for the evolutionary scenario to work. Your example tried to have the benefit of perfect selection, without the price. There is a cost to selective replacement that must must be paid. In this case the cost in the real world would indeed be the lives of the other 9,999. I was simply showing that an evolutionists own "rosy example scenario" when adjusted for reality runs into trouble.

He has already said (repeatedly) that the beneficial change would disperse over several generations, not that it would be "perfect selection in one generation." I suppose you could modify the illustration to make it more closely fit the reality of natural selection by saying that some of the monkeys keep typing and some are given the first word and that word is slowly passed out to the other monkeys, but it is kind of a pointless change, because that has nothing to do with the main point, which is that evolution is a gradual process that happens in small steps with each individual member of species "working" simultaneously to produce beneficial changes and then spreading them through the population in successive generations.

In other words, while no single monkey is likely to type out a work of Shakespeare on its own, it is far more probable that a large group of monkeys might each be capable of typing out part of it and by pooling their work get the desired end result.