A Ha

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Posts by A Ha

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  532

  I conclude evolution is guided

  by KateWild in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  your qualifications are way above mine so i'd love to hear more about the specifics of what you have researched and how that supports the existence of a deity.

  k99, i am not really convinced that you're interested in my conclusions.

  in nature amino acids formed to then form dna.

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  A Ha

  Like everyone else, I'm not quite sure what you're asking, but I'll post a couple of paragraphs from Life Ascending which might address your question. RNA WORLD: RNA --> DNA

  And so Martin and Koonin envisaged populations of cooperative RNAs emerging in mineral cells, each RNA encoding a handful of related genes. The drawback to this arrangement, of course, is that the RNA populations would be vulnerable to remixing into different, possibly ill-suited, combinations. A cell that managed to hold its 'genome' together, by converting a group of cooperative RNAs into a single DNA molecule, would retain all its advantages. Its replication would then be similar to a retrovirus, its DNA transcribed into a swarm of RNAs that infect adjacent cells, bestowing on them the same ability to deposit information back into a DNA bank. Each new flurry of RNAs would be freshly minted from the bank, and so less likely to be riddled with errors.
  How hard would it have been for mineral cells to 'invent' DNA in these circumstances? Not so hard, probably; much easier, in fact, than inventing a whole system for replicating DNA (rather than RNA). There are just two tiny chemical differences between RNA and DNA, but together they make an immense structural difference: the difference between coiled catalytic molecules of RNA, and the iconic double helix of DNA... Both of these tiny changes would be hard to stop taking place virtually spontaneously in vents. The first is the removal of a single oxygen atom from RNA (ribonucleic acid) to give deoxy-ribonucleic acid, or DNA. The mechanism today still involves involves the kind of reactive (technically free-radical) intermediates found in vents. The second difference is the addition of a 'methyl' group on to the letter uracil, to give thymine. Again, methyl groups are reactive free-radical splinters of methane gas, plentiful in alkaline vents.
  So making DNA could have been relatively easy: it would have formed as 'spontaneously' in the vents as RNA (I mean its formation from simple precursors would have been catalysed by minerals, nucleotides, amino acids, and so on). A slightly more difficult trick would have been to retain the coded message, which is to say, to make an exact copy of the sequence of letters in RNA in the form of DNA. Yet here too the void is not insuperable. To convert RNA to DNA requires just one enzyme: a reverse transcriptase, held in trust by retroviruses like HIV today...
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  532

  I conclude evolution is guided

  by KateWild in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  your qualifications are way above mine so i'd love to hear more about the specifics of what you have researched and how that supports the existence of a deity.

  k99, i am not really convinced that you're interested in my conclusions.

  in nature amino acids formed to then form dna.

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  A Ha

  I've asked 10 times for you to explain the catalyst, the biochemical "charge" and yes "charge" is used by plenty of professors so maybe you don't understand that word but they certainly do.
  I would ask one last time. What caused the biochemical event which made life and evolution even possible? Simple question but you've never even tried to answer it.

  I hate to pile on, but a number of people are reading this and I'm not sure anybody understands what you're saying. If I were to think about the phrase 'biochemical charge' I would probably imagine an electric charge, like an imbalance of protons and electrons, but that doesn't seem to be what you're referring to. Honestly, now you sound like you're talking about an elan vital or something, but this is the 21st Century, so that seems unlikely. Is that it? Do you mean the spark of life?

  You've been asked many times to clarify what you mean by "charge" and your only answer seems to be "you know... charge," so let's try this. Since plenty of professors use it, could you quote or paraphrase one of them using it in the way you are? I can only imagine a professor of biochemistry talking about ions and electrical charges, but that doesn't seem to fit the discussion.

  Asking for the cause of a biochemical event... um... the laws of physics? Ionic and covalent bonding? Probably not a very helpful answer.
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  54

  Complaining over post dislikes / downvotes

  by Simon in

  1. forum
  2. announcements

  let's be clear: people have the right to like or dislike what they want - that is why the option is there.

  as long as they are not doing it in a malicious way to retaliate or game the system, there is no policing the votes.

  if you get a down-vote, live with it.

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  A Ha

  Simon, I was a member here 15 years ago, under a different name, and see things haven't changed all that much. (Hi Farkel, Tina, Prisca.) When people realize they've been in a destructive cult they react in different ways, and sometimes it's not pretty.

  If I believed in Saints, I'd nominate you for canonization.

  
  

  [Edit: If anybody downvotes this, you'll be hearing from my lawyer.]
  
  
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  532

  I conclude evolution is guided

  by KateWild in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  your qualifications are way above mine so i'd love to hear more about the specifics of what you have researched and how that supports the existence of a deity.

  k99, i am not really convinced that you're interested in my conclusions.

  in nature amino acids formed to then form dna.

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  A Ha

  But I think Morris makes good points about convergence. Because if there is a plan there are still different ways of describing it. -- slimboyfat

  What points does Morris make? I don't think Morris ever gets around to saying why we should think convergence is intentional or guided by God. Newton came up with a theory of gravitation which explained (most of) planetary orbits, etc. If someone came along afterward and said, "Gravitational forces explain the orbits of Mars, Jupiter, Venus, etc., but it's possible Mercury is being pushed around the sun by Planet Pixies--and it just happens to be the same orbit as if it was caused by only gravity." That's not very compelling, or interesting to consider.

  
  
  
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  67

  Recent mistakes of the Governing Body contributing to the decline of JWs

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  they have made so many strategical mistakes it's hard to keep track.

  some changes within the last decade or so that are contributing to declining numbers of jws:.

  1. elimination of book study groups, the most informal, enjoyable and sociable of the jw meetings, contributed to loss of sense of community among jws.. 2. policy of consolidating kingdom halls.

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  A Ha

  For those of you that think the WT will be around forever... will eventually produce a situation they cannot control, and that will force their demise, or at least force them to take on a likeness that no one would recognize as JW.
  

  Hate to be a wet blanket, but I think the WT will be around for a very long time. As you say, religions evolve and adapt to changing circumstances, and the WT will be no different. They're being more stubborn than some, and I doubt they'll "thrive" in the information age, but there will always be people who want and/or need religion, and so there will always be religions to give people what they want and/or need.

  I think your last sentence is key--they won't be recognizable as what we've known as JWs, but the current WT would be barely recognizable to those who first joined in the late 1800s. What modern religion would be recognizable to those who were there in its formative years?

  I wouldn't even be shocked if they adopted the Trinity, holidays... all of it. The only thing they really need to do to survive is to quietly drop all the Millennial stuff; become just another Christian group that's waiting for the Second Coming, without the hints that it's months-not-years away, and they'll survive.
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  21

  How the Bethel family responded to the bethel layoffs (profanity warning ***)

  by Brokeback Watchtower in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i think we can say many of those laid off no longer trust the governing body because of being lied to repeatedly over so many things.

  things are getting very explosive at the governing body's home location kind of ties right in with being moved to a seriously pcp contamined chemical dump site, in fact bad karma has come to rest where ever these stupid lying clowns go.

  these gbs are a bunch of real ass holes and they treat the faithful shit and expect them to just take it like a bunch of dummy drones.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8kuldpksze.

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  A Ha

  My uncle was a Bethelite from his early 20s to mid 60s when he got "laid off" but AFAIK he presents it as a new opportunity.
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  251

  God is Real in Principle

  by looter in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  now the majority of people nowadays do no go by the hope of old times.

  now the reason for this is important and goes beyond mere words.

  our culture sees ethics especially national or civil politics as the rules and standards by which we guide ourselves.

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  A Ha

  Yes looter l have great difficulty trying to understand how ex believers can so quickly turn their backs on god and outright deny gods existence.
  

  Think about how this would sound coming from a JW. "I have great difficulty trying to understand how ex believers can so quickly turn their backs on God's One True Organization and outright deny The Truth.
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  82

  Religion VS Atheism and the decline of ethics and morals

  by EndofMysteries in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  being back in college after leaving the borg, one of the required classes for a degree at my college is ethics.

  after learning a few things, i am curious where morality and ethics is heading for the future of humanity.

  i wish i could find the source again, but several weeks ago i recalled reading a transcript of a very old document that talked about when christianity was being spread in europe, it brought civility and community.

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  A Ha

  Those who don't believe in any God/accountability, what are you teaching your kids? Especially before they can understand what is right and wrong?

  Let's take stealing for example. How would you teach a 3 or 4 year old not to steal, and in a way in which if they were not being watched and could get away with it, that their conscience would kick in?

  Before a child is old enough to understand ethics, you use the same method as when you were religious--you just exchange one phrase for another. As a religious parent you might have said, "Don't take that, God doesn't like stealing." As a non-religious parent you might say, "Don't take that, stealing isn't nice. (or I don't like stealing)"

  Before they're old enough to understand, they're just following the rules you give them. After they're old enough to understand, you still don't have to get right into Locke and Aristotle and Kierkegaard and Kant. A simple version of the Golden Rule (which predated Jesus by at least 500 years in other cultures) will suffice in most situations.

  You're making the mistake of equating God and acocuntability. Even under a religious system, we're all accountable to our family, friends, and communities.
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  19

  Religioulous

  by snare&racket in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  not sure how many here have watched this... but make a coffee and make the time to do so.... its edutainment ;) .

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  http://youtu.be/e2zhldbmfdg.

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  A Ha

  I think someone who's already an atheist would find it funny, in a preaching to the choir kind of way. I certainly wouldn't expect a believer to be swayed by it.

  As mentioned, the Horus stuff has been refuted by reputable historians and Egyptologists for ages, and a bonehead mistake like this is just going to make them write the whole thing off as further persecution.
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  122

  Atheists V Creationists ... FACE OFF

  by snare&racket in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we should set 3 topics.

  1. creation and evolution (origins of life).

  2. religion.

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  A Ha

  Is this thread dead? I'm still reading the book, but if there isn't going to be a discussion I can read faster