cognisonance

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Topics Started by cognisonance

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  Ancient Confession Found: 'We Invented Jesus Christ'

  by cognisonance in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  biblical scholars will be appearing at the 'covert messiah' conference at conway hall in london on the 19th of october to present this controversial discovery to the british public.. http://uk.prweb.com/releases/2013/10/prweb11201273.htm.

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  Are we all self-deceived?

  by cognisonance in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i recently read a interesting paper in the behavioral and brain sciences journal entitled, the evolution and psychology of self-deception.

  in it (section 5 particularly) it talks about what the researchers claim to be varieties of self-deception (note that the linked paper has peer review responses as well that suggest that there might be some misclassification to what is considered to be "self-deception"*):.

  biased information searching amount of searchingselective searchingselective attentionbiased interpretationmisrememberingrationalizationconvincing the self that a lie is trueself-deception accompanied/unaccompanied by neurological damageof the categories above, i found biased information searching and biased interpretation to be the most interesting.

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  Watch Tower Fallacies - 4/2/2013

  by cognisonance in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in another thread a poster, oubliette, asked to share logic fallacies we spot in wt publication.

  that is a great idea and thread to which i've already contributed.

  i'll also the contents of this post to that thread, but thought that it's easier to discuss a particular fallacy (or fallacies) in use in wts publications if we consider one quote at a time.

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  I sometimes feel like I'm in the twilight zone

  by cognisonance in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  being out of the cult that i spent the first 3rd of my expected life span in, now on the outside i keep having this amazement that i was actually in a cult!

  what we were told was the "real life" now seems so surreal and dreamlike that i feel like i lived an episode of the twilight zone.

  i also feel like.

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  New Game: Spot Those Logic Fallacies! - "theory of evolution is 'much further from being proved than men are from flying to the moon.'"

  by cognisonance in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i read on here someone paraphrasing from evolution versus the new world the quote in this post's title where a scientist is quoted as saying the theory of evolution is "much further from being proved than men are from flying to the moon.

  for those interested in the quoted scientist actual words, you can read them at google books.

  of course the author, a chemist, is refering to the theory of evolution by natural selection, something he refers to as "percise theory," as opposed to "vague thoery," the latter he is describing the easy-to-see evidence that evolution has happened.

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  95

  What was it about Bethel that woke you up?

  by cognisonance in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  one the how many exbethelites thread it was mentioned that some think one either leaves down the path towards apostasy or as a 100% true believer.

  i'm curious what experiences did you face at bethel that woke you up (or started to at least)?.

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  51

  "We don't believe only JWs will survive Armageddon, only Jehovah can read hearts" - Logic Fallacies by JWs (or us)?

  by cognisonance in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  recently i talked to someone i care about who is in the jw group and stated i feel that believing billions of people are going to die when armegedon comes and only a jws will survive would be unloving of a god.

  the response is one that i've also noticed others have experienced.

  in short the answer is something like the following: "we don't believe that, only jehovah can read hearts.

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  15

  Demons in the house (from yardsales to even digital purchases)

  by cognisonance in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  consider the popular jw myth: be careful what you bring home from a yard sale, it might have come from someone who has ties with witchcraft, magic, satan, etc.

  said item thus would be an instrument the demons can use to get into your home and harass you.

  so be careful of that teacup, tennis racket, or shirt you just purchased!.

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  37

  Did God Invent Swords? - Logic Fallacies and Anachronisms

  by cognisonance in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  we need not conclude that our loving creator was the first one to make what we know as swords.

  adam and eve saw turning in front of the angels something that was blazing.

  by the time moses wrote the book of genesis, swords were well-known and used in warfare.

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  30

  Quoting out of context - ever justified?

  by cognisonance in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jw literature on subjects such as creation vs. evolution often quote out of context, with the most recent material (the newest brochures) acknowledging that often those quoted to support the jw viewpoint do believe in evolution nonetheless.

  sometimes indeed quotes in jw literature are just outright misquotes, leaving off preceding or succeeding words (or sentences) that would completely alter the meaning of the source sited (i.e.

  carl sagans quote, the fossil evidence could be consistent with the idea of a great designer is indeed a flat out misquote).. .

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