Polls are nothing more than a statistical analysis of surveys, and statistics are only as good as the dataset that informs them. If the dataset is biased, then the statistics produced by that dataset will be biased too. Additionally, it's really hard to generate an unbiased dataset especially when it concerns an opinion held by a group of people because the "average" and "standard deviation" of the opinions for a group of people are going to differ greatly depending on where the poll was taken.
Saethydd
JoinedPosts by Saethydd
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30
Do You Believe In Polls?
by minimus inwhen you hear that the polls say.... do you really believe it??.
i think polls can be and often are skewered.
i don’t trust them..
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Saethydd
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19
Why was Amnon (son of David) not put to death for raping his half-sister Tamar
by blondie init is amazing what comes up when i am researching.. i was thinking about the 2 witness rule.
amnon tricked his half-sister tamar to be alone with him and then raped her.
tamar's full brother absalom found out, it is implied by the wts that there had not been 2 witnesses to the rape (hah!).
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Saethydd
There are a million questions like this in the Bible. Like why did lot feel the need to procreate right after the cities were destroyed and so he just had to have sex with his daughters. Its a mind bender.
According to the account in the Bible his daughters tricked him by getting him really drunk on wine, but I was always curious as to how Lot could get so insanely drunk that he couldn't even remember that he had sex with one of his own daughters the night before and then turn around and do the EXACT same thing the very next night. I for one am a little hesitant to drink for a while after having a night that wild.
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Tony Morris Talk: "This Is It!"
by pale.emperor incan anyone direct me to the tony "tightpants" morris talk he gave in the agm where he revealed the new king of the north?
i'm told via the jw grapevine it was entitled "this is it!"..
is there a video?
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Saethydd
Oh, they found a new scapegoat for "King of the North" did they?
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23
Reflecting On Death
by Charles Gillette inreflecting on death.
i can't remember, maybe steve jobs before he died.i thought i would share it with you and see what you think about it, and i'm quoting i think from his book.. "i'm about fifty-fifty on believing in god.
for most of my life, i've felt that there must be more to our own existence than meets the eye.. i might be overestimating the odds 50/50 out of a desire to believe in an afterlife.
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Saethydd
I've found little evidence that our "essence" or our "sense of self" carries on in any form after our brains die, but that doesn't mean we're gone entirely.
Our thoughts, knowledge, and wisdom can be preserved in the written word which could impact the world long after we ourselves are gone. One never knows what will happen to our writings in the future, perhaps some great significance will be placed on it by the world as was the case with Emily Dickenson, or maybe future archeologists will examine our writings to gain insight into the lives of our generation. Every experience we have and record has the potential to help our offspring or our race go a little further, fly a little higher, and delve a little deeper.
Even if we have not written much down our words and actions could deeply impact people we care about for years to come. Perhaps our words guided someone towards a path in life for which they are well-suited, gave them have the strength to carry on when they were ready to give up, or just helped them become a better person. If you want something to good to survive you after death, then look for every opportunity to improve people's lives for the better, and take it.
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41
You might have been a JW if...
by Incognigo Montoya in... unlike the rest of humanity, you looked forward to mondays because it was a day off from a meeting..
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Saethydd
...you turned down a full tuition scholarship to a good university because you didn't want to become the family disappointment
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6
"Do not make any graven image" (oh except the one on the Ark of the covenant of course!) Huh??
by stuckinarut2 inso we all know that the first few commandments state that "there should be no graven images made" etc.... but, the very "ark of the covenant" had two angelic figures on the lid!
so the very box used to carry the 10 commandment tablets, broke those same laws!!!.
this observation, plus many other hilarious ones is highlighted in the latest episode of the how-to heretic podcast (episode 063).
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Saethydd
Yeah that realization struck me back when I was JW. I thought it was weird that God made an exception to his otherwise very strict, enforced under penalty of death, “no idols” rule.
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42
Hello Everyone, Another JW Has Left!
by SuperGirl injust want to introduce myself and let you know that this site is working and is a big help to lots of jws with doubts.
i've been lurking for about a year, the first couple of times i was frightened and literally shaking visiting an apostate site but it's the only place i can come to for sanity.
the religion has become a nut house.
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Saethydd
Congratulations on taking that step, I know how hard it can be to take charge of your life when it involves many people you care about turning their backs on you. I hope you and your son can have long happy lives away from the toxic environment created by the Watchtower.
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43
Did Ray Franz Help You To Get Out of “The Truth”?
by minimus ini sneakily read his books at work.
it was written in such a way that no one could accuse him of being another bitter old apostate.. once it registered in my brain, especially after reading the second book, i knew i had to get out!.
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Saethydd
Learning of his story sparked my interest to examine the organization more closely but unfortunately I was never able to find an affordable copy of his book
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16
Holiday Plans
by Kathy1978 inanyone doing anything interesting/fun for the holidays this year?
we got some presents for our kids and a tree.
other than that, just chillin.
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Saethydd
I'm glad my parents never made me go out in service on Christmas, we would usually go out with some friends to see a movie in theaters and eat at Waffle House. Now that I'm out, my girlfriend and I are just planning to visit her family Christmas Eve and stay home together on Christmas morning.
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5
I Got My Best Friend Back
by Saethydd inyesterday morning i woke up to an incredibly unexpected text message on my phone.
my best friend from before i was disfellowshipped had sent me a really long message.
he apologized for the way things had been and told me how much he missed me, and then he told he respected my decision, that he understood and didn't harbor any bad feelings against me for it, that all he wants is for me to be happy.. i responded to his message and told him that if he wanted me to explain my reasons i would, but that we needn't discuss them if he would rather not.
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Saethydd
Yesterday morning I woke up to an incredibly unexpected text message on my phone. My best friend from before I was disfellowshipped had sent me a really long message. He apologized for the way things had been and told me how much he missed me, and then he told he respected my decision, that he understood and didn't harbor any bad feelings against me for it, that all he wants is for me to be happy.
I responded to his message and told him that if he wanted me to explain my reasons I would, but that we needn't discuss them if he would rather not. I just told him that my door was always open to him and that I would always be there for him if he needed me. Then he asked if he could call. We spent two hours on the phone before I had to leave for my class that morning, it had been two years since we spoke so we had a lot to discuss, but in another way, it felt as if we had just spoken the day before. We talked about all the things we had been through in the last year. He told me that it was better that I didn't go back to the religion if I didn't really believe it and he respected me more for holding true to my integrity and not coming back just because I missed people. He told me how proud he was of me for going to college and trying to work to make the world a better place, and he saw the merit of my doing this an agnostic simply because I think its the right thing to do, not because I'm looking forward to some supposed reward. He realized that his friendship with someone needed to be based on more than just sharing religious beliefs with someone. He realized that withholding your friendship from someone to "motivate them to return to Jehovah" wasn't right and didn't produce good results. He wants to have a relationship with me again and keep in touch even though I'm not a Jehovah's Witness anymore and have no intention of becoming one ever again.
I found myself a true friend who has given me unconditional love and support. It took awhile for it happen because he had everything he was taught from the time he was a kid and the advice of his parents working against it, but he got there. I've basically been smiling for the past two days because I finally got my best friend back and I never thought it would happen. He's still a Jehovah's Witness, and he's not really telling anyone except his fiance, which I understand, he still has a lot to lose, but this is so much better than what I had before.