Posts by King Solomon

147

Most solid evidence I've seen linking WT to Mason, somebody try to debunk this lol

by EndofMysteries in

what is in the background?????.

now read what was released and given to all convention attenders about the building of his gravesite, about what's inside it, and about who owns all the land.

from the book called souvenir report of the bible student's convention jan. 2-5, 1919 link:.

King Solomon

EP, .

FWIW, I think Sab actually meant something slightly different, when he said this:

You think, YOU, Sab, a mere goofy mortal, are going to be able to do battle with forces who are magnitudes smarter than you, and able to distort your reality? And just think: God LETS them operate!!!

Why do you think the story of David and Goliath was written down? To show that arguments such as this one are full of crap.

Recap: I asked Sab if he felt like he was a character within the plot of a fantasy story (LOTR, Star Wars, the Bible) and he responded with a story out of the Bible (David and Goliath) AND a dismissive denial; I'll that as a "yes".

His answer speaks volumes about the power of the Bible stories, where preachers DEMAND the listener personalize the story, with the faithful interjecting themselves into the plot and relating to it on an intimately personal level. Many "believers" can maintain a sense of self (i.e. maintaining personal boundaries), but some individuals have a difficult time separating reality from fiction and become lost in all of it, as it swamps their lives. Hard-core Xian cults are more potent, vs other religions (eg Unitarians) which don't demand allegiance to the death.

Many are chasing the same dragon to feed their addiction (to having special insight into the mysteries of the Universe), but are just looking for a different drug...

78

Neurosurgeon Has Near Death Experience

by metatron in

jw
friends

interesting stuff:.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/10/07/proof-of-heaven-a-doctor-s-experience-with-the-afterlife.html.

i've had long, personal conversations with two people who've had these experiences.

King Solomon

Still Thinking said:

"Maybe the real psychics don't want the $1million "

Or, maybe they're making BIG $$$ with their talents doing other stuff, and it's not worth blowing their cover for $1 mil? Yeah, that's it!!

78

Neurosurgeon Has Near Death Experience

by metatron in

jw
friends

interesting stuff:.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/10/07/proof-of-heaven-a-doctor-s-experience-with-the-afterlife.html.

i've had long, personal conversations with two people who've had these experiences.

King Solomon

Well, his 'escort' (as you put it) made it clear upfront that it was a day visit, only, and not a one-way trip or move-in for him; that kinda begs the question, why did they bother? Who screwed up? Close only counts in horse-shoes, so why is he so special to warrant a backstage pass? Maybe they're nicer on day-passes to heaven, so no judging?

But yeah, trying to align this with theology is going to be messy, ESP since heaven is a generic term and common to many religions.

Edit: Randi a fundamentalist? AFAIK, he's not religious (your definition said "usually religious") and he's not opposed to secularism. That's a stretch to claim he is (at least by the commonly-accepted definition of the word).

78

Neurosurgeon Has Near Death Experience

by metatron in

jw
friends

interesting stuff:.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/10/07/proof-of-heaven-a-doctor-s-experience-with-the-afterlife.html.

i've had long, personal conversations with two people who've had these experiences.

King Solomon

Satanus said:

However, what is there in his nde that is that much of a religious/church nature?

Uh, the title of the book IS "Proof of Heaven"? You mean like that?!?

198

Rutherford's smear campaign (a must read)

by Leolaia in

there has been some interest recently about the moyle case, and how it may have set a precident in what became the society's disfellowshipping policy.

in july 1939, the chief legal counsel of the watchtower bible & tract society, olin r. moyle, resigned from his position in a protest over conditions at bethel and rutherford's mistreatment of workers.

he did not want to continue living under those conditions and he felt he could effect positive change for his brothers by taking such a stand.

King Solomon

Frankiespeaks:

I wonder how far he able to get free this delusion latter after a few years? Did he form his own little bible study group later that had similar trappings??

It's Leo's story to tell: she's getting there, so stay tuned...

78

Neurosurgeon Has Near Death Experience

by metatron in

jw
friends

interesting stuff:.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/10/07/proof-of-heaven-a-doctor-s-experience-with-the-afterlife.html.

i've had long, personal conversations with two people who've had these experiences.

King Solomon

Here's more from the article:

One of the few places I didn’t have trouble getting my story across was a place I’d seen fairly little of before my experience: church. The first time I entered a church after my coma, I saw everything with fresh eyes. The colors of the stained-glass windows recalled the luminous beauty of the landscapes I’d seen in the world above. The deep bass notes of the organ reminded me of how thoughts and emotions in that world are like waves that move through you. And, most important, a painting of Jesus breaking bread with his disciples evoked the message that lay at the very heart of my journey: that we are loved and accepted unconditionally by a God even more grand and unfathomably glorious than the one I’d learned of as a child in Sunday school.

So he was exposed to the physical stimuli in the Church before the coma (although he claims he didn't consciously notice it before) which he used to build the hallucination? Putting cart before the horse?

Same thing happened to me under general anaesthesia: I experienced vivid imagery of hooded figures which I later realized was inspired by the film noir classic, the Seventh Seal. It was trippy, but it's kind of like detangling a dream to figure out why the elements appeared, recollectiing the prior days stimuli to see the influence.

But here's a more likely terrestrial ($) motivation:

Dr. Eben Alexander has been a neurosurgeon for the past 25 years. His book, Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife, will be published by Simon & Schuster on Oct. 23, 2012.

The dude's got a book to sell.... People want to believe in heaven, and will buy this book as scientific "proof" of the after-life.

78

Neurosurgeon Has Near Death Experience

by metatron in

jw
friends

interesting stuff:.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/10/07/proof-of-heaven-a-doctor-s-experience-with-the-afterlife.html.

i've had long, personal conversations with two people who've had these experiences.

King Solomon

Yeah, ST: we must be on the same astral plane, or engaging in distant viewing!

78

Neurosurgeon Has Near Death Experience

by metatron in

jw
friends

interesting stuff:.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/10/07/proof-of-heaven-a-doctor-s-experience-with-the-afterlife.html.

i've had long, personal conversations with two people who've had these experiences.

King Solomon

Well, the "tell" for me was this bit from the article:

Although I considered myself a faithful Christian, I was so more in name than in actual belief. I didn’t begrudge those who wanted to believe that Jesus was more than simply a good man who had suffered at the hands of the world. I sympathized deeply with those who wanted to believe that there was a God somewhere out there who loved us unconditionally. In fact, I envied such people the security that those beliefs no doubt provided. But as a scientist, I simply knew better than to believe them myself.

In the fall of 2008, however, after seven days in a coma during which the human part of my brain, the neocortex, was inactivated, I experienced something so profound that it gave me a scientific reason to believe in consciousness after death.

He had the prior exposure to the religious imagery, and more importantly, he had the DESIRE ("envy") to experience such a belief. When he had a crisis, he rose to the occasion by wanting to see what he experienced.

Which brings up another point: why do people who have these after-life experiences always see THEIR conceptions of God, and not someone elses? Why do Shintoists see their conceptions of afterlife, Muslims see Allah, etc? That strongly suggests that once again, we are dealing with God's being created in the minds of men, in THEIR images. Can they ALL be correct, with heaven being home of Allah, YHWH, Ahuru Mazda, Thor (hi EE!), etc?

20

I may have found it! (In my pursuit of a degree)

by MC RubberMallet in

i posted a while ago i was interested in psychology.

and i had many options in mind to get a degree for.

but i found my knack!.

King Solomon

Ah, thanks VM44!

78

Neurosurgeon Has Near Death Experience

by metatron in

jw
friends

interesting stuff:.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/10/07/proof-of-heaven-a-doctor-s-experience-with-the-afterlife.html.

i've had long, personal conversations with two people who've had these experiences.

King Solomon

Yeah, being that it's impossible to discern when those hallucinations actually occurred while he was in the coma (i.e. people in comas generally aren't aware of time), it's an extremely questionable claim to me. If he came out of the coma, obviously his brain "awoke" at some point; the hallucinations likely didn't occur when he was getting the brain scan, but when emerging. Impossible to know, as people will wake up from a coma 20 years later, and have no idea of the time that has passed.

I don't doubt that he had an experience, but I doubt his rationale and conclusions. ALL perceptions are subject to bias: that's the very definition of "subjective" experiences. Even physicians are prone to seeing or imagining what they wish to see. l doctors are just as prone to believing what they WANT to believe, and that's exactly WHY we use the scientific approach.