Xanthippe

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Posts by Xanthippe

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  210

  Morality Without Deity

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  one of the most persistent arguments for belief in god centres on the necessity of an ultimate law-giver and epitome of goodness.. a softer version is seen in the genuine concern that a loss of faith will result in a corresponding loss of a moral compass - a more strident argument links the existence of good and evil with proof of the reality of god.

  it is often asserted that without god, moral decisions degenerate to nothing more than personal preferences and the victory of "might is right".. i want to succinctly lay out my response as an atheist, and show that a supreme being is not required for objective morality.. it is helpful to distinguish between absolute morality, objective morality and subjective morality.

  christian apologists frequently conflate the first two, and secular debaters often fail to point out the difference.. theists who disagree on everything else, are unanimous that god is perfectly good.

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  Xanthippe

  The problem - sometimes referred to as the Euthyphro dilemma - was identified by Plato when he posed the question of "whether the gods love the pious because it is the pious, or whether the pious is pious only because it is loved by the gods". If god commands good things because they are intrinsically good then goodness exists independent of god and we can discover moral truth without him. If on the other hand things are good because god commands them then morality is not based on anything other than god's unpredictable whims.

  I'm glad to see you've been reading Plato, Cofty. I've been banging on about his excellent philosophy for years on this forum. Euthyphro is one of his best dialogues about the ethical dilemma of a man taking his father to court for letting his slave die tied up in a ditch. There is so much discussion in that dialogue on what it means to be a good person. This from a man, Socrates, who is famously executed because he doesn't believe in the gods.

  What we actually see is theists sanctifying ethical positions they arrived at by other means, claiming that their opinions reflect the goodness of god.

  Yes exactly, five hundred years before Jesus the Greek philosophers were discussing what it means to be a moral person. Confucius and others introduced the Golden Rule (treat others as you would be treated) at around the same time. Theists have hijacked their ideas and ascribed them to a deity
  
  
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  6

  Fancy becoming emotionally attached to a pair of Jeans...

  by The Rebel in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  and it was with great sadness that today my favorite pair of dirty denim, armani jeans were thrown in the bin.

  they cost me £260 to purchase, and were value for money, as they were worn for many years and together we shared some wonderful occasions.they were stitched on numerous occasions, and loving repaired.

  but today, and to my wife's relief i finally binned my amani jeans.

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  Xanthippe

  Fancy becoming emotionally attached to a pair of Jeans

  Depends who's wearing them.
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  58

  Women's March on Washington

  by azor in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my support is with the marchers in washington and around the country today.

  i was raised through my formative years by my mother and sister while my father was out of the picture.

  they gave me the compassion i have today.

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  Xanthippe

  The WH press conference. You really must see it, it is one of the most surreal things I have seen in my life.

  Wow thanks Bohm. Such a lot of whining from the president's press secretary, you aren't being nice to us. Was that a threat about curtailing the powers of the press? First step of a dictator.

  'The transition of power from Washington to the citizens of the United States' - Trump

  Do people really believe this?
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  24

  Beware of Emojis! A worksheet from jw.org to help you!

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  we all know just hoe dangerous emojis are right??

  well, thankfully, "jehovah's organization" have lovingly provided a step by step worksheet to help!.

  https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/family/teenagers/worksheets/friendly-or-flirtatious/.

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  Xanthippe

  I'm just gobsmacked, emojis are dangerous! What! This cult is insane. Flirting is dangerous is it? OMG don't even think about the opposite sex, your head, computer, Bible might explode.x😒😀😉☺️😘😝🤗😟🙁 Take cover
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  15

  Can you live with your self?

  by The Rebel in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i think if we are to fully delight in life we must live without detachment.

  because when we become attached to a beliief we feel a desire that we are right.

  the problem with being right, even if we are right is that our beliefs then try to attach themselfs to virgin snow, and change people to our thinking.

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  Xanthippe

  Being set in our beliefs is a luxury we cannot afford. The survival of the planet depends on the humans populating it getting along. It's not having beliefs that divides and endangers peaceful human relations but as you point out Rebel leaving our mucky footprints on others. Good analogy.
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  29

  A Mathematic Perspective on Evolution

  by Saethydd in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i would like to apologize in advance if any of my information on the biology side of this discussion is incorrect, because unfortunately it is not my strongest scientific subject on account of my being subtly encouraged to view it with distrust.. i've recently debated the of subject of evolution with my father, i made the argument that when viewed over several million years random mutation provides a more than adequate explanation for humans having evolved from a common ancestor with chimpanzees.

  then he got this derisive look on his face a waved his hand saying "evolution's explanation for everything is the amount of time involved.".

  so i decided i would examine this mathematically.

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  Xanthippe

  Such unappreciative acts made Him evolve into a God who decided that He would perform no more miracles

  ..... and this, boys and girls, is why we don't see any miracles today.

  Now which story would you like to hear now, but only if you're very good and sit quietly, fingers on lips.
  
  
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  144

  2.16.2017 NJ Star-Ledger Ad: "Were you sexually abused by the Jehovahs Witnesses?"

  by breakfast of champions in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  my wife found this 1/4 page ad on page 2 of yesterday's nj star-ledger, probably the biggest newspaper in nj.

  pretty telling.. .

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  Xanthippe

  BoC thanks for that picture, this is great news.
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  40

  Wife is Awake

  by freemindfade in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  following the news of stuckinarut2, over the past few months my wife has completely mentally woken up.

  i've been meaning to post but haven't had the time.

  i saw stuckins post and i figured i'd add my news too.

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  Xanthippe

  This is brilliant news freemindfade! Thanks also for your list of your strategy to help wake your wife up. I'm sure it'll help others. Also I'm pleased that when our loved ones hear all the hate-apostates speech from the Borg it helps wake them up. We can't lose in the end can we? Still hopeful for my relatives.
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  5

  Mindset JW

  by ScottyRex in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i don't think for one moment i will ever be other than the person i am.

  by that i mean i will be me, a kind person who has chosen a vocation as a nurse to help others, to comfort relatives, hold dying ones and just, well carry on as me.. now i'm 46. i love my mum, and even my dad.

  he isn't all that bad nowadays.

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  Xanthippe

  It must be hard for you, your mother doesn't recognise your exJW views and for your dad gay doesn't exist. Neither of them see you as you are yet you carry on loving them and working in your vocation as a caring nurse. I hope the lurkers who read this thread will see they are wrong about exJWs being monsters.
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  42

  Cooking With Cast Iron

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. family

  i can't even remember what got me interested in pans, probably wanting to try cooking more and watching some cooking videos on youtube, but i kind of started wanting to get a cast-iron skillet specifically so started reading up on them.

  hey, if you're going to spend $50 on something you need to study them and create a comparison spreadsheet ... right?.

  not only did cast-iron look great for cooking but there are some studies that show risks to aluminium / teflon cookware ... not that the wts was "right" about aluminium, but teflon can give off carcinogenic chemicals if overheated (so what if it chips off into your food?).

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  Xanthippe

  I use a small cast iron pan for pancakes. I pour a tiny drops of olive oil in before the batter and just wipe it around the pan. The first pancake is never any good, always breaks up but I've come to accept it as the rest are fine. Of course my daughter can make the first one a beautiful thin lacy crepe and each one after that!