Posts by perfect1

I think you have arbitrary lines you are drawing when it comes to species. This is a pretty human thing to do, but it is generally accepted that an animal has speciated when it cannot reproduce outside its group.

Agh! I am hooked back with this one. The really interesting thing about this- and I will try to find a reference for you if you like-is that dogs, wolves, and even one other one are different species but are related enough to interbreed.

Canis and lupus share common enough ancestry that though different species the technically do not meet the definition of species (able to produce viable reproducing offspring for 2 generations)

So, as is plain to see looking at all of what dog can mean, and considering the common ancestry- a dog is not just a dog, but a few thousand years removed from being a wolf.

Studying dog breeding might be a fun and entertaining why to consider this assertion.

42

Secularism/Nonreligious/Agnostics/Atheist

by jam in

jw
friends

scholars lump these groups togather because they all.

purport to not be interested in religion or spirituality.. but one observed notes; "sociolgist point out that there.

are no truly "secular" societies..."nonreligious" people....are.

perfect1

Unstoppable- I would like to address the voodoo qustion, but I am basically an athiest- I dont believe in the big G. If he is there I am not afraid.

Voodoo (or vodou) is a powerful system.

In many religions one constant is the presence of posession- I am speaking from the point of view of the Anthropology of Religion. Anthropology is a great field because it is DESCRIPTIVE. Without always inferring a cause to phenomena, anthropology describes phenomena in human societies.

Now, I dont believe the widespread presece of possession necessarily has to be attributed to external beings.

It could be that there is an area of the brain that becomes activated in ritual and does have creative mental power outside of phyiscal, bodily limitations, or there could be an external voodoo Orisha (god) that is actually coming and delivering results, or some combination of the two.

What has been observed, again and again, is the power of a social group to accomplish phenomena which are not easily understood. Healing without medicine, mass mental and physical illness, even speaking in tongues Eulalia. It does happen. the consistency of the phenomena- qualities of sound, etc, mean it is not a one off nor is it faked. It is another state of consciousness whether internally or externally induced.

What fascinates me about this is that this means that reality is socially constructed. IN my opinion, the mental social constructions of a group can be sensed and may develop an nearly material reality.

For example, when you walk into a kingdom hall, there is an actual texture- before any words are spoken, an agreed reality. That to me is the creepiest thing about JWs. That feeling.

27

Death of Jesus..the best answer?

by punkofnice in

ok. i'm not trying to take a stance here (well, i don't think i am.

), just pondering things.

thinking out loud if you will.. i can no longer see why the death of jesus could be evidence of god's love or a sensible answer to humankind's suffering.

perfect1

Punk of nice, I agree. the math doesnt add up.

1 perfect man for 1 perfect man-I get it.

1 perfect man for billions of humans- huh

100

My mother passed away this morning...

by Tatiana in

jw
friends

for any old-school ex-jws here that remember my many posts about my abusive jw mother and my sister committing suicide because of it...she passed away this morning because she began to bleed out and refused a transfusion.

she had been in the hospital for a month.

it appears she suffered a stroke and wasn't found by the brothers & sisters for three days (they missed her at the meetings).

perfect1

I continued to think about you today and like some of other posters suggest, I hope you can be strategic at this emotional moment and get a lawyer involved.

Please do. There are all kinds of vultures just waiting for this moment and expecting the bereaved to be unprepared legally.

Please!

42

My son's heart is broken

by ruderedhead in

jw
friends

i'm sure someone here has experienced this before.

please help me help my son.

his wife of 15 months told him last night that she needs her space, that what she wanted 1 year ago isn't the same as what she wants now.

perfect1

Sometime in a long distance relationship you get united by trying to overcome the distance. Once that drama- will we, wont we, is gone, you are left with just the two of you.

I would respectfully suggest that you might be able to support your son better if you were not so emotionally overwrought (crying all day) or passing judgement.

100

My mother passed away this morning...

by Tatiana in

jw
friends

for any old-school ex-jws here that remember my many posts about my abusive jw mother and my sister committing suicide because of it...she passed away this morning because she began to bleed out and refused a transfusion.

she had been in the hospital for a month.

it appears she suffered a stroke and wasn't found by the brothers & sisters for three days (they missed her at the meetings).

perfect1

gosh, this is terrible. You are very brave for doing what you need to do.

38

Are You Ever Tempted To Talk To JWs When You See Them?

by minimus in

jw
friends

either in your neighborhood, in the ministry, on vacation?

?.

perfect1

recently I saw two people engaged in a study near where I was sitting.

When the study walked away I considered chasing him down and warning him, but didnt do it.

from the way he was nodding, it seemed like hes already taken the bait.

I was right on the edge though, even if it made me look like a crasy.

74

HELP! I've stepped in it now... mast head change - JW response!

by NeverKnew in

he's asking if i've read the first page of the new watchtower.. says page 8 admits and exposes the society's mistaken expectations.. says that both mags have been adjusted to reflect the understanding of generation.

asking if it is my position that witnesses have made claims to be inspired prophets.... and saying if it is, maybe *we* can consider together some examples in the bible of others who have had wrong expectations and have gone ahead of god's timetable and see how god handled that..

perfect1

Never Knew,

I dont want to discourage you, but you need to know they the only reason any contact is continuing between you and this one is that he or they have some hope of converting you. You are brave to try but I hope you know you might not be able to bring them out of this. We all would love to wake up our families if we could, but even the most familiar with WTS doctrines, incl ex elders, have very little chance of influencing others in their family, because the defense mechanisms are so strong. They must not see you as a threat to their faith or theology, otherwise they would not continue to associate with you. I dont know if you can ever read enough to anticipate their next move and come up with a rebuttal- simply because JWs are compltely unwilling to think outside of the presrcibed logic of the watchtower logic.

I wish you good luck but maybe slightly lower expectations.

Also, stay mentally strong and dont let them get to you, if they do, come back here and we will talk you down.

32

Talked to an elder today

by MrFreeze in

i guess the stars aligned for this one.

this morning i dropped my car off to get it fixed and the shop i always go to is a lot closer to my mom's house than mine so i asked her if i could stay at her house while it got fixed.

she was out in service doing returns at the time and offered to ride me to her house.

perfect1

Been there Outlaw.

OMG it must be a cult when we can all have the EXACT SAME EXPERIENCE