Posts by Reasonfirst

10

Finally fixing my teeth, since "The End" never materialized.....thx WT HQ!

by WingCommander in

jw
friends

this is just one of several sore subjects for me concerning growing up in the toxic cult known as jehovah's witnesses.

health care.

specifically, dentistry.

Reasonfirst

My sad story of teeth hassles

Well, here I am - near to 90 y.o. Not too many bloody (original) teeth left in my mouth. I cant blame B.O.Yah entirely. I was born at the end of the depression, so not too much money* around to do or have anything, then came the war and even less money. Not much left over for a kid's teeth.

After the war I got involved with the jws, and for some stupid reason believed the bible shit. Some 10 years pioneering, with part-time work, miserly allowances, eating crap food and so on, believing that any day, we'd all find ourselves in a new world where the bloody super dentist, Jesus, would fix our rotten teeth and perform even more miracles than that. After some 40 years, belief in the divine powers of little Jesus began to fade, and soon I found myself kicked out of B.O,Y's ever-loving organisation.

The 9 teeth I have left, are all I have to chew over anything. So thanx to ol' B.O.Y and his side-kick jesus, I could finish up with none.

But, Satan's world came to the rescue, thnx to government funded programs I will soon have a set of shiny new dentures (for nix). Thank U Satan's world.

* To illustrate, my father after going broke a couple of time, got a government job as an inspector. His territory stretched some 50 miles. To get around that, the government supplied a bicycle, or else he caught a bus. Today, guys doing the same job are supplied with cars, trailers etc.

54

Is AI going to change the world?

by Reasonfirst in

jw
friends

had lunch with a friend, whose a lecturer in the accounting dept.

of one of australia's best universities.

he told me he expects to lose his job at some point in the next 5 years, as the accounting dept, will disappear, as all accounting will be done by ai programs, so why teach it.. if his fears are correct, that means that any profession that involves the mind, may one day face the same future.

Reasonfirst

Seems to be an improvement in processing power:

Shared from The Conversation. The authors are Zdenka Kuncic is Professor of Physics, University of Sydney and Ruomin Zhu is a PhD student, University of Sydney

https://theconversation.com/we-built-a-brain-from-tiny-silver-wires-it-learns-in-real-time-more-efficiently-than-computer-based-ai-216730

54

Is AI going to change the world?

by Reasonfirst in

jw
friends

had lunch with a friend, whose a lecturer in the accounting dept.

of one of australia's best universities.

he told me he expects to lose his job at some point in the next 5 years, as the accounting dept, will disappear, as all accounting will be done by ai programs, so why teach it.. if his fears are correct, that means that any profession that involves the mind, may one day face the same future.

Reasonfirst

An aspect of AI that I had not considered, mainly because it's the first mention I've seen of this issue.

This is an extract from an article in the HK based South China Morning Post:

"China is joining forces with Asean and the United Nations to tackle the scam networks that have dug in across Southeast Asia, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said on Tuesday, as it warned that the region’s criminal gangs were becoming more powerful, networked and were adopting AI to widen their pool of victims."

27

Pornography in the Marriage

by LostintheFog1999 in

the magazine that they are studying in the congregation this month has an article at the back about how pornography in a marriage could damage the relationship.. there's one piece of advice that sounds rather scary, the wt suggests that the couple should "consider asking an elder with whom you are both comfortable to sit in and guide your discussions for a time.".

how many of you would want an elder present in your home while you and your partner discussed your personal sexual cravings and the type of porn videos being watched?.

Reasonfirst

Rattigan350: Quote."How is pornography in the marriage any different than going to a restaurant to eat rather than having the wife's or husband's cooking? "

To continue your analogy (which I liked) pornography can also be likened to reading recipes - looking for ideas to make the matter more interesting.

Of course, through christian religious propaganda, pornography has become an ugly word, not suitable for the subject.

27

Pornography in the Marriage

by LostintheFog1999 in

the magazine that they are studying in the congregation this month has an article at the back about how pornography in a marriage could damage the relationship.. there's one piece of advice that sounds rather scary, the wt suggests that the couple should "consider asking an elder with whom you are both comfortable to sit in and guide your discussions for a time.".

how many of you would want an elder present in your home while you and your partner discussed your personal sexual cravings and the type of porn videos being watched?.

Reasonfirst

Well;! ..... They do have a lot of experience with the effect of a penis in their brains

26

Is the USA gradually moving to a majority of citizens being non-religious

by Reasonfirst in

jw
friends

this is a topic discussed in a current article in the hongkong based asia times*.

find it at: https://asiatimes.com/2023/09/nones-still-no-match-for-us-christian-nationalism/.

the claim is made in the article, that near 30% of americans are non-believers, and that this number is increasing.

Reasonfirst

no-zombie, quote:

"...Jordan Peterson, who made very logical argument to say that even the most strongly avowed atheist still operates with Judao-Christian principles."

An interesting viewpoint, except that from a global viewpoint, populations with a Judeo-Christian background number a little over one billion, which leaves some seven billion with a different ethical belief and background.

Breaking that down a little more ( but still generalising) there's near 1.5 billion in India with a belief system based in Hinduism (which doesn't seem to have come from one man's teachings) and which is likely older than Judeo-Christian teachings.

Only 13% of Indians, according to some research, have given up their religious beliefs.

And not far away, another 1.4 billion in China, have a very interesting religious background, based for many on Buddhism, a belief system older than Christianity, but still very active in China. Visit any Buddhist temple and you will likely find crowds of people. And informatively, Buddhism, of course, originated in India, but spread throughout Asia.

More interesting (to my mind) is the influence of Daoism and Confucianism in China.

Daoism, (the word 'Dao' means the way, a word also used in Confucianism) also pre-dates Christianity and has a strong ethical background, but also supported what we could call 'proto-science.'

Both Daoism and Confucianism allow freedom of ideas (unlike orthodox Christianity)

Confucianism, in my opinion, is tolerant of 'new' ideas and to some commentators is more a system of philosophy than a religion.

Which may help to understand, that according to the Pew Research Centre,

Quote: "Roughly half (49%) say they are not a religious person, while 16% say they are a religious person."30 Aug 2023

Of course, to be a CCP party member (which numbers near to 100 million) you must be an atheist.

All the above, of course, is not an argument against no-zombie's conclusion. Quote:

"So while it may be true that less people go to church or claim a particular faith, it doesn't mean that the world is going to hell in a handbasket. It just means people do not conscientiously see value in these social structures."

Conclusion:

If Christian religions vanished from the earth, nothing would change very much

The lives of near 3 billion people (discussed above) are not very different in an ethical sense, to the lives of those who live in nations with a Judeo-Christian ethical background.

26

Is the USA gradually moving to a majority of citizens being non-religious

by Reasonfirst in

jw
friends

this is a topic discussed in a current article in the hongkong based asia times*.

find it at: https://asiatimes.com/2023/09/nones-still-no-match-for-us-christian-nationalism/.

the claim is made in the article, that near 30% of americans are non-believers, and that this number is increasing.

Reasonfirst

Balaamass2, quote:

"They have added some Hippie- Hindu practices (Kundalini tantric sex), "Prosperity gospel", NAR beliefs and rock music to their religion and seem to be growing. Combined with speaking in tongues, faith healing, and far-right political bent they are very different. They believe god will protect them from illness, yet have a militia."

Sounds like theatrical entertainment !!

26

Is the USA gradually moving to a majority of citizens being non-religious

by Reasonfirst in

jw
friends

this is a topic discussed in a current article in the hongkong based asia times*.

find it at: https://asiatimes.com/2023/09/nones-still-no-match-for-us-christian-nationalism/.

the claim is made in the article, that near 30% of americans are non-believers, and that this number is increasing.

Reasonfirst

And a report in the Economist points out (for what it's worth) that many denominations are closing churches:

'' What is a shepherd without a flock? Many of America’s pastors may soon have to answer.

Quote: "In 2014, 3,700 Protestant churches closed, by 2019 that figure was 4,500, according to Lifeway Research, a non-profit organisation that provides resources for ministry. Many parishes simply do not have enough congregants to pay the bills. In 1972, 90% of Americans called themselves Christians; now just 64% do. The waning of religiosity in America is not new, of course. But newly released data shed light on where religious adherence has dropped most, and among which Christian denominations."

Are the stats reliable? Well, they come from a source, that could be described as 'friendly'

Quote: "Every ten years the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (asarb) attempts a tally of membership for every church in the country. It is a monumental feat of data-gathering, covering hundreds of religions and thousands of congregations. Figures for the 2020 census are now finally available. They issue a stark warning to the country’s “mainline” Christian denominations: membership of these old churches, such as the Methodists, Lutherans and Episcopalians, is shrinking at an alarming rate. Whereas the ranks of all religious Americans rose by 10.6m believers (7%) from 2010 to 2020 (when the overall population grew by 7.5%), the number of Episcopalians and Methodists dropped by 19% each, and the Lutherans plunged by 25%. Presbyterians, a Protestant group characterised by disdain for flashy ceremony, lost nearly 1m (40%) of their members

Source: https://www.economist.com/united-states/2023/04/20/american-religion-is-becoming-less-exceptional

55

Trinity Statements in the Dead Sea Scrolls

by Sea Breeze in

dr. ken johnson has identified several statements in the dead sea scrolls that predict that god would visit the earth as a man... as the messiah.

.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljrfvytjhve&ab_channel=kenjohnson%28biblefacts%29 .

Reasonfirst

..... And another quick search:

"Texas Christian University is the biggest religious university associated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and is open to students of any faith."

So I'm not sure about Johnson's "expertness." Maybe he's just another "quack" christian.

55

Trinity Statements in the Dead Sea Scrolls

by Sea Breeze in

dr. ken johnson has identified several statements in the dead sea scrolls that predict that god would visit the earth as a man... as the messiah.

.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljrfvytjhve&ab_channel=kenjohnson%28biblefacts%29 .

Reasonfirst

I wondered just who this Ken Johnson may be?

A quick search of the web, produced this:

Ken Johnson is an author and lecturer who speaks about a variety of issues related to Bible prophecy, ancient history, and the apostasy that will form in the church in the last days. He received a doctorate in theology from the Christian College of Texas, Texarkana, TX, in 1989. He has authored 33 books as of 2021. He attends Calvary Chapel Johnson County in Olathe, Kansas with his wife, Dr. Donita Johnson.