Posts by Anders Andersen

23

Why "Most high"?

by Doug Mason in

if there were only one god, why do we encounter the expression, "most high god"?.

is this not indicative of polytheism, and of levels (or degrees) of god-ness?.

doug .

Anders Andersen

Would you or anyone you know willingly, knowingly worship any god they know doesn't exist?

No, right?

Neither would the Israelite on the old days.

(At times) They worshipped multiple gods, and they believed all of them to be real, or they wouldn't have worshipped them.

Which means the Bible shows us that the Israelites didn't really see a difference in the actual existence between Jhwh and other gods. They were all equally real to them. They allegedly had plenty of evidence of JHWH being real, and that evidence was apparently no better than the evidence they had for other gods being real.

In the Bible false god doesn't mean not existing god as we are now taught. It means not our preferred god Jhwh.

The Israelites were polytheistic, and then chose to worship only one of those gods.

90

So my PIMO Younger Brother Tried To Kill Himself Today

by pale.emperor in

we all know that this cult will drive those trying to leave to desperate measures, and today by brother was very nearly one of those statistics.

he slashed his thigh with a kitchen knife and was bleeding out until he called the police.. i got a call on my way home from work from a police officer, coincidentally it was one of my old friends from school who's now a cop.

he told me my brother is in hospital after an attempted suicide and has lost some blood but will be ok. but i should get to the hospital as he's asking for me.

Anders Andersen

Very sorry to hear this. I really hope your brother gets the help he needs and pulls through.

My thoughts are with you and him.

78

Work Christmas functions: Being a Bible Student (unbaptized)

by rulehayl in

jw
friends

hi all,i have been studying with the witnesses for more than 6 months and regularly attend both midweek & weekend meetings, and i am nearly at the end of the "bible teach" book.

my boss is adamant i attend team christmas functions.

she knows about my studying and potential baptism next year, and has suggested that i attend and just not participate in activities like kris kringle.

Anders Andersen

It's even worse...after the conversation mentioned above we had a private conversation that ended with her deciding to tell the study conductor she won't follow Jehovah anymore. Guess that decision was undone...

102

If mathematics teacher made a mistake, would it mean mathematics itself is wrong!

by venus in

many people point to the irrationality in the depiction of god by the religions and their scriptures, hence jump into the bottomless pit of atheism.

in either camp, god is not a factor because religion is only a means that misrepresents god, hence religionists themselves are atheists (literally, those who live without god).

it is like saying there exists no earth because you found out your friend who taught earth is flat is wrong; or it is like saying mathematics itself is wrong because you found out your mathematics teacher made a mistake.

Anders Andersen

The law of increasing entropy -- also known as the second law of thermodynamics -- stipulates that all systems in the real world tend to go "downhill," as it were, toward disorganization and decreased complexity.

Yes, in isolated systems where no energy is added.

Earth is not an isolated system. Our Sun continuously adds energy.

Cofty was right. You don't know what you're talking about.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_law_of_thermodynamics

43

Which Things Did Your Overzealous Parents Ban?

by pale.emperor in

we all know the gb like to impose rules upon the rules... but did anyone else out there have parents that implemented rules upon those rules?

mine did.

my mum tended to copy whatever the elders wives were doing and took it to the extreme.

Anders Andersen

Smurfs
Watching any TV show with any openly gay hosts or guests (not that we had a TV...that came only in 1992)
Music from Queen (teh gaiyz)
Music from Terrence Trent d'Arby (demunz)
Going on any school trip, including one day trips
Playing at non JW schoolmates' house
Having non JW schoolmates over to play (may have happened once though)

Some of it may be overzealous JW stuff, some of it simply non-conformance to society, and some of it an accidental result of circumstances.

78

Work Christmas functions: Being a Bible Student (unbaptized)

by rulehayl in

jw
friends

hi all,i have been studying with the witnesses for more than 6 months and regularly attend both midweek & weekend meetings, and i am nearly at the end of the "bible teach" book.

my boss is adamant i attend team christmas functions.

she knows about my studying and potential baptism next year, and has suggested that i attend and just not participate in activities like kris kringle.

Anders Andersen

OP's username suddenly rings a bell with me. I've had a conversation with her a year ago! She can't ever say she hasn't been warned.

If God asked you to kill all people, would you do it? Hayley's answer.

Our conversation in the comments section (including a 'don't listen to the apostate' warning from a JW)

102

If mathematics teacher made a mistake, would it mean mathematics itself is wrong!

by venus in

many people point to the irrationality in the depiction of god by the religions and their scriptures, hence jump into the bottomless pit of atheism.

in either camp, god is not a factor because religion is only a means that misrepresents god, hence religionists themselves are atheists (literally, those who live without god).

it is like saying there exists no earth because you found out your friend who taught earth is flat is wrong; or it is like saying mathematics itself is wrong because you found out your mathematics teacher made a mistake.

Anders Andersen

I see a straw man argument.

Many people point to the irrationality in the depiction of God by the religions and their scriptures, hence jump into the bottomless pit of atheism.

Most atheists became atheists first, based on the complete and utter lack of evidence that any gods actually exist. Only after that do they start pointing at the very much flawed, inconsistent and contradicting ideas about gods as a very strong indicator that no gods have revealed themselves to mankind.

It is like saying our Earth doesn't have a second Moon. Not because your friend insists that this Second Moon is green or because his ideas contradict your neighbors idea that Second Moon is red, but because there is zero evidence a Second Moon exists.

And now you try to say that since it's possible the Second Moon is purple instead of red or green, I am wrong for thinking it doesn't exist at all? Yeah, no thanks.

The fact that there (theoretically) may be gods who are not even dreamt up in any current religious beliefs makes that their (theoretical) existence has even less impact on our lives than all the man made concepts of gods. In other words: why should we care about any gods that are unable or unwilling to present themselves in a compelling way?

6

CA question....

by DATA-DOG in

so mrs. dd is going to the ca, and it's refreshing to realize that i had no idea that it was coming up!

😎 what a great mental and emotional milestone!!

yay, me!!!.

Anders Andersen

DD...CA....all I think of is the different classes of warships .

16

Scientific, Credible Discovery - Earthquakes are set to increase in 2018

by ILoveTTATT2 in

jw
friends

it has already been published and presented in a geology conference:it has been discovered that the earth´s rotation slows down a few milliseconds every so often, and when it slows down, about 5 years later there is a 5-year period where the frequency of large earthquakes around magnitude 7 or greater increases about 20-30%.so according to scientists, in 2018, around the tropical areas, we should expect around 20 major earthquakes, compared to the 15 average on a normal year.jw´s are likely to jump on this as "evidence" of the time of the end, and will probably be misquoted in a watchtower publication sometime soon.here are some news organizations covering the story:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/18/2018-set-to-be-year-of-big-earthquakeshttps://qz.com/1133304/as-earths-rotation-slows-2018-could-see-a-spike-in-large-earthquakes/.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/881536/earthquake-prediction-mexico-richter-scale-ring-of-firehttps://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4946729/earthquake-increase-earth-rotation-roger-bilham-tropical-region-2018/.

etc etc...here is the scientific paper (which i can´t read but if someone has access to the pdf, could you please share)?http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017gl074934/epdf?referrer_access_token=vbjkmgywttzofhkv3apupu4keas67k9qmdwultwmo8osvaslebfxhkk77yb6sfsjhcerrw6swpzkusqjvujli_iu4gpw3lhc8e988dzdvec-5e-nim3hd0bi_0wog1sqonpw4hesqbrwop_lp7uqignbyksopgnvatka48pyb2lonanvz5ehpaiaha2fika5y95lacwwxr1brsy2kk1m282ispv2uju5qsssy2kdzun57jytp1h56-wbice9ov6ipd93rnykjxybd3ykm7bjpa%3d%3dhere is the presentation to the geological society of america:.

Anders Andersen

The link to your PDF works just fine for me?

Anyway, every time I encounter a paywall for a scientific paper or article, I go http://sci-hub.cc
That site retrieves millions of papers without paywall.
It's may or may not be a grey area copyright-wise, but it's a valueable tool for me. I have been able to find a lot of deception and quotes out of context in WT literature by being able to read the original papers and articles (without spending a fortune).

Link to your PDF: http://sci-hub.cc/10.1002/2017GL074934

12

I'm coming back to the forum after 10 months, and new challenges...

by Mandrake in

i haven't been here for about 10 months and just looked over some topics to update myself, well i came back for a very particular reason... my family was, father, mother, sister and i... the split up (4 years ago), only my father remained jw, my sister left but lives with him, and i've been living by myselft over the last months sharing an apartment with my girlfriend (worldly) an his brother (worldly) (we are a "modern family" hahahaha).... so the relation with my father have been in many different phases the last 4 years, having in mind that he cheated my mom with her best friend (woman) within the congregation an married her just few months ago... so today it's my birthday and i called dad and told him that i had a great time anyway and that to be "even more pagan" i set up my christmas tree today.... he had never questioned me for dating and living with my current girfriend nor tried to "bring me back to the congregation", but he replied to me: "hey, talking about being a pagan, i'm not confortable with things now because i want us to como closer together again and do more things like having lunch or whathever and your are now df, can you talk to the elders and take back the letter you sent them da-ing so we can share more?".

i don't know what to do, i really mean what i wrote in my d.a.

letter, i needed to vent what i think of the borg now, i'm no way taking it back, those are like my luther's theses ... i can't believe my father divorced my mother on no biblical ground, continued dating her best jw friend, and 3 years later they got married and are a happy respectable "christian" couple... and now he suddendly is not confortable with me because i sent a letter to the elders telling them i no longer believed the same shit they do... my sister simply stopped attending meetings and dated worldly boys, celebrate xmas, birthdays and stuff, but with me is different just because i have a clearer idea of who i really am and i'm trying to live by that.. i thinks this whole thing is unfair, he is totally blackmailing me, it's been years to get to this friendly level with my father, and now he is adding this awful pressure.

Anders Andersen

Hey, talking about being a pagan, I'm not confortable with things now because I want us to como closer together again and do more things like having lunch or whathever and your are now DF, can you talk to the elders and take back the letter you sent them DA-ing so we can share more?

Dad, are you saying you need the elders' permission to share your life with your own son? Are you really looking to other men to decide for who you talk to or not?

And I still stand by what I wrote. Retracting it would make me feel like a hypocrite. I'm sure you raised me to be honest, straight forward and true to my beliefs. So I'm here, open have a proper relationship with my own father. I trust you are open to having a full and proper relationship with your son?

Anyway, afaik retracting the letter won't be enough anyway. You need 'sincere repentance', visiting the meetings for some time and all that. I take it that's a real big NOPE for you.