Posts by rem

The original premise is wrong. There is no evidence that humans only use 1% of their brains. This is a myth that has been going around for a long time. Various parts of the brain are constantly used to provide us feedback from our senses, to regulate our body temperature and chemistry, to keep us breathing, to help us balance, etc. The fact is that we use pretty much all of our brain. If we didn't use much of our brain, then minor brain damage would not affect people so much.

rem

52

Neanderthals and the Bible?

by uncle_onion in

jw
friends

i am doing some research on neanderthals.

we know that this species existed and by very recent dna test we can tell that they are definitely not human.has any one done anything on this subject or the accuracy of carbon dating?

rem

Jelly,

So as a creator how do you create a piece of writing that is concise, and will convey the message you want to both the primitive nomadic tribe that was the Jews as well as modern mankind. It seems to me a lot of people say the bible is wrong because it isn’t scientific enough in its description of creation, however if it were scientific it would make itself a dated writing. For example if it was written for mankind now all the previous generations would be unable to understand it, and what makes perfect scientific sense now will be dated in 40 years. I believe the creator choose his style of writing in order to make the genesis account timeless and applicable to all generations.

How do you argue that writing the facts would have been too complicated for man to understand? God could have explained the factual process of evolution to early man at the time (whoever that was) in very simple terms. Did God not make humans smart enough to understand such concepts? Surely if he is the almighty creator, he could formulate an explanation that is both simple enough to understand and factual. You are theorizing that god basically made up a story, a lie, so humans wouldn't be asking pesky questions about where we came from. Tell me how an accurate account of the evolution of life would have become outdated? Facts do not become outdated. The creation account has become outdated!

Everything falls into place once you realize that the writings of the bible are nothing more than myths and legends passed down by ancient, superstitious men. They are no more or less accurate or inspired than any other ancient writings - such as the Vedas, the Koran, the writings of Homer, or even the Book of Mormon (not so ancient). Otherwise, you get into the dangerous territory of calling god a liar and a deceiver. How do you think god feels when people keep falsely insisting that he wrote a silly, inaccurate book of fables in which he is made out to look like a monster? I know I'd be pretty upset if someone did that to me.

To me, you paint a picture of an incompetent, deceitful god who doesn't trust his own creation with the truth. Would the truth about evolution ever come to light without science - if we were left only with the bible? Of course not, we would still think that the earth was the center of the universe. The bible is simply an outdated, ancient book of myths. This is easily seen by reading the book yourself - without logic-bending apologetic explanations for the many difficult passages. Also, with some research, it's easy to see that the Bible is not as "prophetic" as everyone makes it out to be. I don't see why people insist on defending the indefensible.

Once the security blanket of the bible is shed, the world is easier to understand - without mind-bending explanations to keep the bible relevant. All of a sudden Neanderthals and prehistoric cave paintings and artifacts begin to make perfect sense.

rem

2

Ultimate JW Butt-Kissing Site!

by nicolaou in

jw
friends

came across this site earlier today.

after i'd picked my crying ass up off the floor i thought i'd let the rest of you in on it.. there are eleven, count them eleven, links to 'official' org sites on the front page alone.

typical quote: "as you may presume according to the above, this frame is to announce additional information on this unauthorized website.

rem

Haha! That was hilarious!

I especially like the part that says:

"Semi-monthly the magazines The Watchtower and the Awake! come out with actual information on many issue's."

Wow! You mean they contain ACTUAL information? That's amazing!

rem

18

This is what the Society does to people

by rem in

jw
friends

i found the terse, typed letter displayed above sitting on my microwave oven when i got home from work a few months ago.

it was addressed to me from my best friend and brother-in-law of many years.. a couple of days before we got into a discussion over "what was wrong with me.

" i had recently grown a goatee that he thought was extremely 'unchristian'.

rem

Thanks Dedalus,

I was hoping to receive at least SOME response from the card I sent my friend... but nothing. I have had a chance to talk with his wife a few times, though. She doesn't seem to see me as much of a threat to her spirituality - she knows her husband has a habit of overreacting. She is such an intelligent girl. I fear that she may find out the truth someday, but late in life when it might all seem like a waste.

It is sad that you can't have a relationship with your nephew - all because of irrational fear. If only our families could see that we have not chosen our path to hurt them or to live a morally debauched lifestyle, but rather to live the best life we know how - by being honest with ourselves. We can only hope that things will change someday.

Good seeing you pop up here and there on the net,

rem

18

This is what the Society does to people

by rem in

jw
friends

i found the terse, typed letter displayed above sitting on my microwave oven when i got home from work a few months ago.

it was addressed to me from my best friend and brother-in-law of many years.. a couple of days before we got into a discussion over "what was wrong with me.

" i had recently grown a goatee that he thought was extremely 'unchristian'.

rem

I don't know what is happening with the image. Darn Geocities!

Here it is in electronic form if the image still cannot be seen:

XXXXX,

After thinking about all the things that we discussed on Sunday, I've reached the sad conclusion that I can no longer associate with you. I cannot in any way condone or support you in your thinking.

I'm sorry that these things have happened to you and hope that somehow you change your mind, but until that happens I feel that I need to protect myself as well as XXXXX from following your path.

With Regrets,

XXXXX

49

Who is an atheist here, just wondering?

by spectromize in

jw
friends

i would like to know who is an atheist here and why you like to take part in discussions on this board?.

thanks for your replies.

rem

I guess I belong to the weak athiest/agnostic camp. I've done some research on science (evolution, astronomy, physics), logic, and the bible. It was a scary road, but I finally came to the conclusion that there is no more evidence for god than there is for invisible pink unicorns in my head. Of course I can't prove that either don't exist, but I've found that my life has not been negatively impacted by regarding both as nonexistant. If evidence does prove either's existance, I will gladly accept that and hopefully have some meaningful relationship with the former (though I highly doubt that at the moment).

The way I see it, if god does exist (at least the Judeao-Christian god) then he is extremely incompetent. This shows through his supposed authorship of the Bible, his haphazard design for the universe and carbon based life forms, and his deranged human redemption plan. Oh yeah, and he's morally corrupt, which is easily discernable from a cursory browse through the OT.

Anyway, I'm here because I was born and raised a JW and I finally broke myself and several family members free about a year ago. Life has been interesting lately - making the transition from fundemantalist Christian views to weak atheist/agnostic ones. It feels good to be in the company of fellow exJW's who have been there, done that. And just maybe I can provide some grand insights to others who are stuggling to get out or with the grand questions of life (maybe not). :)

rem

18

This is what the Society does to people

by rem in

jw
friends

i found the terse, typed letter displayed above sitting on my microwave oven when i got home from work a few months ago.

it was addressed to me from my best friend and brother-in-law of many years.. a couple of days before we got into a discussion over "what was wrong with me.

" i had recently grown a goatee that he thought was extremely 'unchristian'.

rem

Thanks Trevor,

I'm rem from H2O, I've lurked here since this place started, but never made the commitment to register here.

I wish the picture would show up because the interesting part is how short this letter is. The whole relationship abandoned with only a few words. I guess it wasn't even worth a thorough explanation?

rem

18

This is what the Society does to people

by rem in

jw
friends

i found the terse, typed letter displayed above sitting on my microwave oven when i got home from work a few months ago.

it was addressed to me from my best friend and brother-in-law of many years.. a couple of days before we got into a discussion over "what was wrong with me.

" i had recently grown a goatee that he thought was extremely 'unchristian'.

rem

Yeah, it seems like Geocities is not cooperating right now. Argh!! :) It will probably diplay soon.

rem

18

This is what the Society does to people

by rem in

jw
friends

i found the terse, typed letter displayed above sitting on my microwave oven when i got home from work a few months ago.

it was addressed to me from my best friend and brother-in-law of many years.. a couple of days before we got into a discussion over "what was wrong with me.

" i had recently grown a goatee that he thought was extremely 'unchristian'.

rem

I found the terse, typed letter displayed above sitting on my microwave oven when I got home from work a few months ago. It was addressed to me from my best friend and brother-in-law of many years.

A couple of days before we got into a discussion over "what was wrong with me." I had recently grown a goatee that he thought was extremely 'unchristian'. He and a couple other friends were worried that it was not a good thing for the image of our witness rock band. We were alone in the house and my friend started asking me questions about what I believed. He said the elders had talked to him about me and he wanted to get to the bottom of the issue. Unfortunately, I've never been too much good with confrontation and I cracked. I said much too much. I hinted at my agnostic leanings and he immediately shut down. I realized I had gone too far. I had said too much. No amount of backpedaling or explaining could help. I had spilled the beans. I knew our relationship would never be the same again.

Unfortunately my best friend is a very opinionated person with a strong personality. This, coupled with effective indoctrination from the Watchtower Society since his youth, led my friend to believe that I was a dangerous apostate - vile scum that would infect him and his family if I were allowed casual association with them. It was sad to me that he thought me a threat to him and his wife, since I had never even hinted at my beliefs to him before. I never even showed him anything remotely apostate. A strong friendship ended on that day. I was, of course, kicked out of my own rock band. That hurt me a lot. I felt dumped. It still hurts sometimes when I hear of them playing gigs without me now.

I guess the point of this post is that under normal circumstances, open and honest communication with your best friend would not be met with abandonment and shunning. Even today, a few months after this letter was written, my friend will not even acknowledge my existence if we happen to be in the same room. He will usually make some excuse to leave. To me this is just disgusting! I know he is under the mind control of the Watchtower, but it still hurts. If we were of any other religion, our relationship might be damaged, but surely a true friend would not go to this extreme. I guess what it comes down to is that there are very few true friends within the Organization. Love is conditional - you must agree with the teachings of the Watchtower Society to be accepted.

I posted this letter so that those who are not familiar with the Watchtower policy of shunning former members will see that it is not a myth. It does ruin some people's lives. The funny thing is that I'm not even DF'd or DA'd - so it could happen to anyone with divergent views that are not kept in the most secure confidence. This fear keeps many in the Society, hiding their true feeling for fear of the consequences. This is what the Society does to people.

I have since extended the olive branch to my friend. I wrote a nice little card trying to explain my feelings a bit better. I let him and his wife know that they were special to me and that I would always be there for them no matter what. The card has gone unanswered even until this time. My best friend and I have not spoken a word since that fateful 45 minute conversation. I can only hope that he will someday learn the truth about the 'Truth'. If that happens, I will gladly accept him back as my friend with open arms. I would do this because I know that it is my friend's indoctrination that makes him act the way he does right now. It is the powerful mind-control of the Watchtower that can make us do things that are morally repugnant. I also know that he will probably need support if he decides to leave the Organization, and I will gladly provide that if the time comes. I will not hold this against him.

rem