Posts by DavePerez

44

California TV Personality Huell Howser Dead at Age 67

by kurtbethel in

jw
friends

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/huell-howser-death-california-gold-185922911.html.

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DavePerez

Yeah, Lisa, he would not be familiar to those who don't watch PBS, as that's the network over which his show was broadcast. I wonder if his death will broaden his audience even wider? His shows are available on DVDs, which should be easy to locate on the net.

Interesting comments, which I totally agree with: I learned more about towns and places in CA from watching his show than from visiting, or even LIVING in the towns. Of course, he'd get special access to sites not available to just any average citizen (like the trip to the top of the pyramid of the Transamerica Building in SF: it was funny, as you could feel the slightly uneasy fear of heights that he was feeling. Or the tunnel under Lake Arrowhead, that even many locals aren't aware of its existence).

MAN! Soooo many great episodes, and what a life truly well-spent.

30

WT 4/15 GB: narcissism in high functioning individuals (big ego or severe disorder)

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

there is anonther topic about the new organizational sheet of the jw organisation.. it's nice to see the gb (=fds) on top of the earthly part of it.

read some interesting information about the.

severe disorder they must have:.

DavePerez

Prologos, yeah, the Kenny Rogers dude defo looks like a base jumper, lol! Actually, if you look really closely on the top of YHWH's angel carrier, there's white fluffy clouds sitting on the surface, and the one on the right especially looks F-4ish or Starfighter..... On the other hand, it's probably like a Rohrsach test, where what we see it as says something about us?

30

WT 4/15 GB: narcissism in high functioning individuals (big ego or severe disorder)

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

there is anonther topic about the new organizational sheet of the jw organisation.. it's nice to see the gb (=fds) on top of the earthly part of it.

read some interesting information about the.

severe disorder they must have:.

DavePerez

Huh. Anyone else seeing that art like it was inspired by an aircraft carrier, with an angelic F-4 Phantom or F-104 Starfighter taxiing for take-off on either side of YHWH?

It sure seems like YHWH is able to dispatch angels (who look alot like Michael McDonald or Kenny Rogers!) configured in attack mode, headed out on sorties, while most angelic hands are waiting below deck for their mission.

44

California TV Personality Huell Howser Dead at Age 67

by kurtbethel in

jw
friends

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/huell-howser-death-california-gold-185922911.html.

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DavePerez

Kurt said:

I don't know that he was openly gay. There was no mention of this on his official site, or the wiki entry on him. I saw a few internet claims by anonymous people who said he was gay. My "gaydar" pinged a bit when I saw him, but since he chose to be private about who and how he loved, I respect his privacy and did not give that much more thought. I hope that whoever he shared his life with brought him much happiness and fulfillment, just as he enriched many people by documenting and sharing his road trip adventures.

Yeah, that's a valid good point, as "openly gay" was perhaps overstating it (in that he never made any big media announcement of it or the like, and was content to live in a "glass closet", as was his right). Huell emerged in an era and part of the country much less tolerant of homosexuality than today (a Tennessee boy, who served in the USMC and became a newscaster), and reasonably didn't want his orientation to overshadow or cloud his work: people discriminate.

That stated, personally knowing a few who work in the L.A. entertainment industry (where he was based) who ARE gay, it's long been accepted and known within the local gay community. The first video on this page shows the NBC LA news broadcast of his death announcement, featuring an interview with openly gay KPCC radio host, John Rabe (and most LA viewers who know who them already know the unstated message):

http://lgbtpov.frontiersla.com/2013/01/08/californias-ambassador-of-wonder-huell-howser-dies/

But again, to let that overshadow his life's accompishments would be undermining that which he wanted everyone to focus on: the ideas he presented, and not him (Huell was the antihesis of a "star", instead shunning fame). As a communicator, he didn't want his personal life to ecclipse his work (which actually IS the goal of those seeking acceptance of groups: a world where it isn't even an issue).

30

WT 4/15 GB: narcissism in high functioning individuals (big ego or severe disorder)

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

there is anonther topic about the new organizational sheet of the jw organisation.. it's nice to see the gb (=fds) on top of the earthly part of it.

read some interesting information about the.

severe disorder they must have:.

DavePerez

Phizzy said:

That picture really encapsulates the huge arrogance and egos of the GB, how demeaning to the others pictured to put themselves at the top

Surely a slave should be right at the bottom ?????

Remember that the parable co-opted by the GB of the worshippers of YHWH would place them in the role of the master slave, left in charge of the other domestic slaves: think of a slave who was promoted to slave-driver.

Has Jesus been thrown under the same bus as CT Russell ? Jesus is not evidently important in the scheme of things. Although I can vaguely make him out sitting at the RH of Jehoober as he has idly been doing for 99 years, lazy bugger.

You also can make out the four wheels of that hot-rod jalopy, great for layin' some patches and doin' brodies!

44

California TV Personality Huell Howser Dead at Age 67

by kurtbethel in

jw
friends

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/huell-howser-death-california-gold-185922911.html.

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DavePerez

That's a great picture of him, kneeling over a patch of wildflowers in bloom at the Antelope Valley Wildflower Preserve.

What a true sweetheart of a man, the living embodiment of the message of Elohim through exploration of a State that abounds with natural beauty that he was able to share with many in the Nation, via PBS. What a wonderful life...

Ps some may not have known that Huell was openly gay, and hence destined to die at Armageddon (per JW's YHWHist doctrines). Who is the bad guy again, exactly, such men as Huell, or those fervently praying for the destruction of such a positive force in the World?

73

New York Times Essay - The Blessings of Atheism

by Band on the Run in

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/opinion/sunday/the-blessings-of-atheism.html.

i found this essay today.

it reminds me of obama's first national speech when he pleaded for dems not to let right wing gop fundies define christianity.. how do you create a clickable link in chrome?.

DavePerez

EP said:

I'm rather enjoying the DP interaction too.

They should it on TLC right after Honey Boo-Boo, "Voice Wars"

Proving my point, are you? It's exactly those kind of ego-driven silly comments and "mine's bigger than yours" posters that don't exactly make this an environment conducive to discussions.

Tell you what, TEC: I registered on another "apostate" site (LOL! Love that title: it makes me feel like such a rebel) on the basis of a friend's recommendation (a kid from our local congregation who is now OUT! Thanks to JWN and my posts here, he was able to track me down IRL (I'm apparently not as hard to locate as I thought, LOL!). Pretty cool stuff, indeed.

Hopefully it's not violating any unwritten rule to post a link (which seems hard to imagine: why would anyone not want to share in the "good work" of speaking out against the WTBTS? Brothers in arms, and all that)? But if so, please let me know, and I can edit the link out (but let me know BEFORE the 30 minute time limit!!). If not, then perhaps a mod can kindly remove it, right?

I don't want to step on toes here (well, maybe a few opposable toes that need some opposition (cough! AGuest! cough)..... Just kidding, AGuest: you KNOW Elohim luvs you, right? You ARE the Goliath to his David, the John the Baptist to OUR Savior).

TEC, I'm pretty sure you can read (lurk) there, even if you don't register (as I just did), so I'll post later tonight responding to the questions you asked. But if you want to respond, I think you've got to register ie I don't think they allow anonymous comments, as some websites do. I will continue to post here (as it's got many interesting comments esp in the archives), but likely limit it to short replies (like this).

Regards,

David

73

New York Times Essay - The Blessings of Atheism

by Band on the Run in

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/opinion/sunday/the-blessings-of-atheism.html.

i found this essay today.

it reminds me of obama's first national speech when he pleaded for dems not to let right wing gop fundies define christianity.. how do you create a clickable link in chrome?.

DavePerez

Sab, the World awaits your answer? Are you playing a game of "I've got a secret!" again?

(claiming to possess satisfying answers to age-old questions seems to be a favorite pastime of many posters here, I see).

OK, I'll play: is it bigger than a bread-box?

Cofty said:

Being an atheist means never having to try to believe stuff.

I'd agree with that statement, if only you removed the words, "try to". Or even if you had only phrased it as, "forcing oneself to believe against evidence"

But "never having to try"? Hmmmm, I dunno.

Learning new concepts and adopting philosophies ALWAYS involves effort, the work of thinking, so as to "try them out": that implies tentatively accepting in order to challenge them. Just like you take a car for a test drive before buying, the same applies to beliefs: you need to at least approach them with as open mind, and as free of biases, as possible, to avoid "throwing out the baby with the bathwater" AKA rejecting a 'true positive' in scientific circles.

I'm sure you know that, Cofty, but just took a shortcut for the sake of brevity, and hence my comment is only for the sake of clarity.

Cofty said:

Embracing reality is so rewarding.

No disagreement there, as reality is beautiful even in it's ugliness (warts and all), not seeing the World through rose-colored glasses or only as we wish it to be.

TEC said:

I wanted to respond to your questions directed to me in that other thread, but it seems we can't post to it any longer? Was it something I said?

(It's a bit frustrating to try and carry on a conversation, across so many different threads, what with disappearing posts/threads, HTML corruption, etc. So I'm a bit reluctant to attempt to write anything more substantive than short superficial replies, in fear of seeing it suddenly go 'poof'). [sigh...]

Let me look around: I was invited to register and post my ideas elsewhere by someone who recognized my name (and the background information I shared) who I know IRL. Not sure if it would bristle feathers to say where or provide a link, but I'd love to respond to the very important issues you raised (and I hope you got some sleep in the meantime, LOL)!

Oh, BTW and I saw some older messages where you voiced a concern over "lying scribes": you are onto a very real and significant point! So I'll briefly share this:

You no doubt are familiar with the work of the Yahwist WTBTS "lying scribes", who famously introduced the name of the Hebrew God Jehovah in their New World Translation (237 times, no less!) in 1953.

From wikipedia:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World_Translation_of_the_Holy_Scriptures

Theologian and televangelist John Ankerberg accused the NWT's translators of renderings that conform "to their own preconceived and unbiblical theology." [ 65 ] Dr. John Weldon and Ankerberg cite several examples wherein they consider the NWT to support theological views overriding appropriate translation. Ankerberg and Weldon cite Dr. Julius R. Mantey, co-author of A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament and A Hellenistic Greek Reader, who also criticized the NWT, calling it "a shocking mistranslation." [ 65 ] [ 66 ]

Dr. William Barclay, Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism, concluded that "the deliberate distortion of truth by this sect is seen in the New Testament translation. ... It is abundantly clear that a sect which can translate the New Testament like that is intellectually dishonest." [ 67 ]

What isn't as well known is that a similar episode of Yawhist scribe mischief occurred during the many redactions of the Torah that occurred over hundreds of years, intermingling YHWH (and all it's various permutations and derivatives) with Elohim such that a HUGE mess was created to obscfucate and discern what is YHWH's actions and intent from that of Eolhim.

(Although it is interesting to note that the more honest scribes managed to reveal SOME of YHWH's hand, eg the famous account of Tower of Babel, wherein YHWH felt threatened by men building a mud tower (!), so he felt the need to confuse their languages, making it impossible for them to cooperate! While the account is clearly not a historical event (as linguists know), YHWH's fingerprints of such attempts at confusing mankind remain in the Torah, even to this day.)

Anyway, there's TONS more to share, and I'd love to answer the questions you directed towards me, but if some feel my concern over thread disappearance is needless, then perhaps we can start a new thread (so as not to hijack this one)?.

Regards,

David

24

Why Not To Forsake Your Christian Heritage

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

why not to forsake your christian heritage.

there is a large percentage of former jehovahs witnesses who came from evangelical or pentecostal backgrounds, before joining the witnesses.

for those who consider that a bad experience, i always suggest ending its control over your life, and take a vacation from religion.

DavePerez

As part of that "vacation", I'd strongly encourage anyone to take a course in basic logic which analyzes commonly-used claims people use to construct and support arguments. It's only when you study the flawed logical appeals commonly used by groups like WT that you're finally able to see what it was that the WT used to attract you. Fool one once, shame on them; fool you twice?

The essay above relies on an 'appeal to tradition', as if a Christian tradition (heritage) exists which has value: however, questioning the benefit of thais belief is the very question at stake, so the essay is recycling the discussion.

The article then lists the practical benefits provided to people in being a Christian (eg being a part of a sub-community, which is of variable value: wonderful if you are willing to sacrifice free though to fit into a group, but pure hell if you're not), but none of these benefits alter the reality of God's apparent non-existence: reality doesn't care about what you WANT it to be. Reality is not a vote, or based on popular opinion. It is what it is.

PS interesting claim of being allowed by the Bible to take "a vacation from God"? What's the scriptural basis for that concept, or is this relayed from those who claim to hear the voice of God? I suppose a good argument could be made that its only fair, being that God has seemingly gone on a 2,000 yr long vacation from humanity without even sending a postcard, so turnabout is fair play?

68

Being Agnostic is depressing me....

by SkyGreen in

jw
friends

for those that dont know my story, basically i "woke up the ttatt" about a year ago, started fading, then went back, now fading again because i just cant stomach it anymore.

my husband is very supportive, although he's still "in" for now, and trying to be regular with meetings and witnessing, he can see my point of view now, and often notices things in the wt or other publications that are "off".

the fading thing is hard, sometimes i want to da, but because of the upheaval it would cause my family, im waiting a little while - i guess hoping that my husband will be on the same page at some point, so that we can support eachother.

DavePerez

Cyberjesus said-

I dont think your depression comes from not knowing but of thinking you have to know

Yup.

Or, thinking you CAN know, as if there IS an answer to that question.

So many people are looking for an answer to a question for which the answer doesn't exist as an absolute truth. Simply because a question can be framed in proper English syntax and grammar doesn't mean an answer to the question MUST exist. Men made the question, but that doesn't mean an answer automatically popped into reality to accommodate the question.

It's like the old philosophical issue that many theologians argued over during the Middle Ages ("how many angels can sit on the head of a pin?"), when it wasn't even established that:

1) angels exist

2) the angels, if they existed, were interested in sitting around on heads of pins, as if engaged in a pole-sitting competition!

The answer must be found from within, solely based on your own decision of how to answer it: what do YOU wish and decide to think on the matter? But always keep in mind the decision was YOURS, based on YOUR conception and is not really "real". Ditch it all, or keep some of it, remembering that freedom of religion also includes the right to be free OF religion.

If more religious people understood that they're not dealing with absolutes and infallible truths, the World would be a much better place (eg you wouldn't have Islamic extremists blowing themselves up to get 70 virgins in Paradise, etc).