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TerryWalstrom
JoinedPosts by TerryWalstrom
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WATCHTOWER AND BULLSHIT VIEWS ON SCIENCE (THE WATCHTOWER JUNE 2015)
by TerryWalstrom inthe watchtower june 2015 (bullshit).
the latest watchtower (online at j-dub dot argh!
) features a hilarious article.
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No no No No NO! Jehovah's Witnesses are NOT COOL NOW!
by TerryWalstrom inthey obviously know it.. in the last few years, a more modern, hip, and cool image for their brand has been foisted on the public at large.. jw.org.
(sidebar: a group of us witnesses, when i was a teen, were sternly lectured by a circuit servant about how wrong it was to refer to ourselves as jw's.want to know why?
he said, "reducing jehovah's name to mere letters of an alphabet is blasphemy!
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TerryWalstrom
I regularly meet with a young man who is still currently a JW. He is my direct contact with what the current
mindset is inside the Org. I am amazed. The GB are viewed as celebrity status. There is definite elitism connected with the entire idea of a spooky hotline between Jehovah and the gang of idiots who run the show.
Nobody dares to question anything they say.
It's very sick and definitely cultish.
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TerryWalstrom
W. E. Van Amburgh, J. F. Rutherford, A. H. Macmillan, R. J. Martin, F. H. Robinson, C. J. Woodworth, G. H. Fisher, G. De Cecca
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It was Pastor Russell's wife, Maria (Moe-rye-uh) who came up with original idea of FDS applied to her husband Charles.
When Rutherford seized power, he was the sole leader (dismissing the directors who disagreed with him) and eventually gave up the pretense that Russell was directing and editing the Watchower from heaven.
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VIEWS ON RACE (My own)
by TerryWalstrom inmy views on race.
my grandmother and mother came from new orleans without any perceivable sense of superiority toward people of color.
the infamous n-word was never uttered in my household.
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17
WATCHTOWER AND BULLSHIT VIEWS ON SCIENCE (THE WATCHTOWER JUNE 2015)
by TerryWalstrom inthe watchtower june 2015 (bullshit).
the latest watchtower (online at j-dub dot argh!
) features a hilarious article.
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TerryWalstrom
THE WATCHTOWER JUNE 2015 (BULLSHIT)
The latest Watchtower (online at J-Dub dot Argh!) features a hilarious article
SCIENCE in Everyday Life
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Why is it so funny to me? Mainly because the GB is trying very hard to avoid looking like Neanderthals in a modern era.
They've reversed previous teachings on everything else--so, why not Science as well?Back in previous administrations, the GB taught Special Creation days of 7,000 years length. In fact, so firm and entrenched was this crackpot idea, it caused them to predict Armageddon TWICE based on "the End of 6,000 years of human history." For those of you who aren't aware, both failed dates (such as 1975) left the last thousand years of a "Creative Day" for the Millennium.
Now the Watchtower article deliberately ignores those horribly embarrassing failures, pretending it never happened.
Additionally, the Writing Department is excitedly enthused about this thing called GPS! Surely no J-Dub has ever heard of that before--right?
Most interesting to me is the use of a mathematician and author named Amir D. Aczel.
Who is he and what has he written?
"How to Beat the I.R.S. at Its Own Game: Strategies to Avoid and Fight an Audit," and "Chance: A Guide to Gambling, Love, and the Stock Market," as well as, "Why Science Does Not Disprove God."
What does this impressive man of science have to say which the GB wants you to know?
I don't know! They don't really say!!
They only allude that he wrote a book mentioning how unnamed scientists try to prove the non-existence of God!TAKE A LOOK:
QUOTE FROM 1 JUNE 2015 WATCHTOWER:
“a scientific argument against the existence of God.”
– Amir D AczelFULL QUOTE in that author's book:
“The same year that Harris published Letter to a Christian Nation, Richard Dawkins, who for decades had been advocating atheism in public lectures and articles, released a book that received even wider circulation and global acclaim, titled The God Delusion (2006). In this work, Dawkins uses his prominence in the field of biology to launch a scientific argument against the existence of God. But in addition to using ideas from science—mainly evolutionary biology, but also a smattering of notions plucked from physics and cosmology—Dawkins embarks on a personal crusade against Scripture, especially the Old Testament.”
– Amir D Aczel, Why Science Does Not Disprove GodAll of this is shabby window dressing and posturing for the public.
LOOK AT THE RIPPING AWAY OF CONTEXT HERE:
QUOTE FROM 1 JUNE 2015 WATCHTOWER:
“the absence of evidence for any God who plays an important role in the universe proves beyond a reasonable doubt that such a god does not exist.”
– A world famous physicist_ (They don't want to identify him!!)FULL QUOTE:
“I believe I was the first to argue, in my 2007 book God—The Failed Hypothesis, that the absence of evidence for any God who plays an important role in the universe proves beyond a reasonable doubt that such a god does not exist.
“It is inarguable that science has not yet found evidence for a god or the supernatural. If it had, it would be in the textbooks. Still, you will often hear: “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.” Not always. When the evidence that is absent is evidence that should be there, then that can be taken as evidence of absence.
“Consider the hypothesis that elephants roam Yellowstone Park. If that were the case, then a tourist or ranger should have been spotted one by now. Or, other evidence such as droppings and crushed bushes would certainly be found. Since none of this has occurred, we can conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that elephants do not roam Yellowstone Park.
“Incidentally, note that the often-heard statement that you cannot prove a negative is simply wrong, including the negative that there is no God.
“And so it is with the hypothesis of the existence of the God worshipped by Jews, Christians, and Muslims and others among the major religions of the world. Religious apologists and even some atheistic scientists have contended that God is a “spirit” and so science can say nothing about him. However, this particular hypothesized God plays such an active part in the universe that evidence of his actions should be observable.
“Earlier I discussed several examples of phenomena that should be seen if such a God exists. The fact that they are not is proof beyond a reasonable doubt that this God does not exist. Note that this proof does not apply to all conceivable gods, such as the impersonal deist god who creates the universe but does not intervene any further. While such a god is not ruled out, we have no reason to pray to it or worship it, so it might as well not exist.
“In addition, I have provided unique counter examples to the questions often raised by believers that claim to show the need for some kind of god.”– Victor J Stenger, Emeritus Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Hawaii and Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at the University of Colorado
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Final Example:
QUOTE FROM 1 JUNE 2015 WATCHTOWER:
“We know that we will never get to the bottom of things”
– Steven Weinberg, physicist and Nobel laureate
The Governing Body is trying to get out and ahead of the Evangelical community of Luddites and knuckle-draggers by pretending to embrace modern science, obviously. Yet--they are up to their old tricks simultaneously.
FULL QUOTE:
“The important thing is that we have not observed anything that seems to require supernatural explanation.
“I can image how disturbed they will feel in the future, when at last scientists learn how to understand human behaviour in terms of the chemistry and physics of the brain and nothing is left that needs to be explained by our having an immaterial soul.
“We know that we will never get to the bottom of things, because whatever theory unites all observed particulars and forces, we will never know why it is that the theory describes the real world and not some other theory.
“Worse, the worldview of science is rather chilling. Not only do we not find any point to life laid out for us in nature, no objective basis for our moral principles, no correspondence between what we think is the moral law and the laws of nature, of the sort imagined by philosophers from Anaximander and Plato to Emerson.”
– Steven Weinberg, quoted in James W Sire’s book Echoes of a Voice: We are not alone
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Retracting the 7,000 year Creation Day would be too embarrassing.
Instead, as you've just read, they've quietly gone silent while embracing IGNORANCE!
Now that's where they've been all along, isn't it? -
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RULES FOR (APOSTATE) RADICALS---ARE YOU LISTENING, WATCHTOWER?
by TerryWalstrom in.......................are you listening, watchtower?this is a time for revolution and not revelation!you claim revelation, but we claim revolution.
it shall be a quiet, methodical, and--above all--effective revolution against your revelation.. 1. know the difference between being realistic rather than being rhetorical.. _______________________.
to be effective, you must give full respect to your audience's values or else you shut down their ability to hear and listen.
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TerryWalstrom
.......................ARE YOU LISTENING, WATCHTOWER?
This is a time for REVOLUTION and not REVELATION!
You claim revelation, but we claim revolution. It shall be a quiet, methodical, and--above all--EFFECTIVE revolution against your revelation.1. Know the difference between being REALISTIC rather than being RHETORICAL.
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To be effective, you must give full respect to your audience's values or else you shut down their ability to hear and listen. To be effective you cannot attack or disrespect any symbol of authority outright--you must divide your audience from that authority by gentle steps, reasonably listed and explained. HOW? Help your audience realistically DEFINE what they claim to believe and lay it side by side with the reality of what is MISSING in their life.This demonstrates their hopes, dreams and loyalty are not the results of REAL THINGS but RHETORIC and false promises!"Oh yeah, how's that working out for you?" Window washers, custodians, janitors, day laborers clinging to paradise can suddenly seem awfully pathetic.
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2. HUMOR is the best tool of a radical. Humor containing well-directed ridicule is more easily accepted than a list of complaints offered seriously.Humor is pithy, direct, well-targeted and disarming. Use it instead of an insult.
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3. START WITH THINGS as they ARE and contrast that with how things SHOULD BE. REAL vs. IDEAL.__Just as in main society, the "middle class" of Jehovah's Witnesses are the pillars which support the entire organization. If you can wake up the Middle Class and have them see how used and abused they are--you set fire to their natural human longings for a better--real---life here and now.Begin with the frustration, depression, and lack of joy which is an everyday reminder in a J-Dub's life. Compare and contrast the (falsely) advertised public picture of Witnesses as a happy, loving, contented people with a bright future. Focus in on the dissonance between real and ideal.
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5. BE AN EXAMPLE of the benefits of CHANGE from Watchtower authority to ex-Jehovah's Witness, not the dire consequences.___Why would any comfortably settled Witness feeling safe inside a Kingdom hall want to suddenly become a wild, undisciplined, radical with no apparent self-respect? After all, they've been taught to fear unprotected sex, drugs, anarchy and disrespect. WHY SHOULD THEY LISTEN to you if you are the embodiment of all that?
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6. REVOLUTION must be preceded by REFORMATION.__While the Watchtower religion is busy changing everything about their public image, doctrines, self-definition and branding--we might well ask aloud: "How is this not a reformation?" The truth is--it is NOT--it is a consolidation of power and authority into the very human hands of its leaders who will appear to be making improvements, yet who are making greater and greater demands for personal LOYALTY.
___This must be made clear. REFORMATION really means that people acknowledge disillusionment with a false hope to the point they're ready to do something real about it.
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7. CREATE disenchantment, discontent, and a restless longing for FREEDOM.___J-Dubs are low-income wage earners for the most part. They are deliberately under-educated and dependent. They are overworked, underpaid and exhausted by the demands made on their time by the leaders of their religion. HELP THEM SEE an alternative. Help them imagine free time for entertainment. Help them make real an ambition for a better paying job, (higher income leading to improved circumstances.) If they are young, help them realistic consider opportunities for an exciting life without the boot heel of Elders on their necks. MAGNIFY the despair at their treadmill life. Undermine false HOPE of a Paradise by reminding them how this illusory vision has persisted in Christianity since the time of the apostles--and even they were wrong!
8. TYRANNY IS BROUGHT ABOUT BY LANGUAGE. EXPOSE THE TYRANNY BY EXPOSING THE LANGUGE!__Expose what is false about the language of the Tyrant and suddenly the slave sees he is a slave. This is not easy--but it is imperative.The Governing Body uses semantics to change the debate always.The magazines are tools of propaganda. They are only effective as long as they are automatically trusted, accepted, memorized and unchallenged.The articles are edifices of deflection, dissembling and pivoting away from their constant weakness to deliver on promises of a better life.The effective radical must cause his audience to MEASURE the distance between WORDS and REALITIES--between PROMISES and ACHIEVED GOALS. Nothing wakes a person up faster than the sudden realization of having been defrauded, cheated, lied to and abused.
9. THE HAVE's MUST BE PITTED AGAINST THE HAVE-nots.
Not all Jehovah's Witnesses are equal. No way! Women are made subservient to men with lesser intelligence. Rank and File are made subservient to proud Elders who lord it over them. Disenchantment with the day to day injustice and unfairness of that arrangement MUST BE EXPLOITED.Those in authority see themselves as "approved" and authoritative. They bristle at any challenge to their divinely given status. This makes them arrogant and often sloppy and churlish. These people can be pushed into a corner easily when a demand is made for them to admit to their failings and the blowback from their poorly made decisions. Why? There is no humility among the Elders! Wives see it in their husband. R&F husbands see it in the Elders. Class warfare pits ELITES against underlings. The effective radical gives permission to the HAVE NOT to hold the HAVE's to a HIGHER STANDARD--in fact--the standard they hold for themselves but seldom reach. It isn't the 'being only human' which makes Jehovah's Witness authority vulnerable--it is the high-handed self-praise which advertises their arrogance in the face of constant failure.
10. EXPOSE the fact there are NO INDIVIDUALS among the Witnesses.
____Without a personal opinion, you cannot be an individual.
An "individual" is 'different' and J-Dubs are all the same thing.Eight million J-Dubs believe X,Y, and Z.The next day, the Watchtower changes their doctrine to A, B and C.On that same day all 8 million J-Dubs suddenly change their belief.
How?
The rank and file do no research or ask any probing, skeptical questions. There is no debate or personal variance. ALL MEMBERS think exactly alike and this is the most amazing demonstration of CULT MENTALITY.
EXPOSE THAT FACT!Simply ask: "How did you research your beliefs?" "Is there anything you disagree with?""Isn't that strange?"
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All of the above is adapted from the classic radical handbook, RULES FOR RADICALS, by Saul Alinsky. I have shaped them around a subversive program for Ex-Witnesses to make them more effective in freeing Watchtower slaves from the cult. -
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CONFUSION about what MOVIES REALLY ARE . . .
by TerryWalstrom inconfusion about what movies really are.
.. the word 'movies' is a vernacular reference which popped up pretty early in the history of filmmaking.
before movies moved they were still photographs.. but those still photographs began moving, didn't they?
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TerryWalstrom
I don't think so, Vidiot, FANBOYS won't admit to it.
I'd define a FANBOY as somebody who broke the chain on their enthusiasm to the point they confuse
their personal opinion with absolute reality :)
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No no No No NO! Jehovah's Witnesses are NOT COOL NOW!
by TerryWalstrom inthey obviously know it.. in the last few years, a more modern, hip, and cool image for their brand has been foisted on the public at large.. jw.org.
(sidebar: a group of us witnesses, when i was a teen, were sternly lectured by a circuit servant about how wrong it was to refer to ourselves as jw's.want to know why?
he said, "reducing jehovah's name to mere letters of an alphabet is blasphemy!
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TerryWalstrom
Jehovah's Witnesses have always been uncool.
You know. I know it. They obviously know it.In the last few years, a more modern, hip, and COOL image for their brand has been foisted on the public at large.
(Sidebar: a group of us Witnesses, when I was a teen, were sternly lectured by a Circuit Servant about how WRONG it was to refer to ourselves as JW's.
Want to know why? He said, "Reducing Jehovah's name to mere letters of an alphabet is blasphemy! That's what superstitious Jews did to His name. We proudly say the FULL NAME.")Yeah--well--NOT ANY MORE apparently.
JW's. . .
Wow! So-o-o-o-o cool!!
But, not really. At least not to us ex-members.
I prefer to call them J-Dubs or Jehovah's Witless. This is simply a modest, conservative, non-threatening act of defiance on my part.
I'm quite uncooperative on the matter, you see smile emoticon
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TERRY EXPLAINS JAZZ (to those who hate jazz)
by TerryWalstrom interry explains jazz (to those who hate jazz)_______________________________.
there are too many reasons to cite.
suffice to say, we all know annoying people.. we don't become a hermit because of a few annoying people.
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TerryWalstrom
konceptual99, That was hilarious! The pretentious jazz aficionado take down reminds me of a TV show in the 60's, PLAYBOY AFTER DARK.
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Christians not knowing the Bible
by Viviane inlast night a young man in a bar struck up a conversation with me.
our town is having our pride parade soon and he brought it up, the bible and how it's against the bible.
me being me, i said that i couldn't care less that it was against the bible and that it was a horrible guide for morality anyway.
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TerryWalstrom
INTELLECTUAL HONESTY is the willingness to be wrong when evidence goes against your most cherished beliefs.
The first question out of my mouth, when I'm about to debate somebody about religion is:
"Are you willing to be wrong--to change your mind--if the evidence goes against you?"
You'd think I just asked them to give up without a fight! 9 out of 10 times they say "No."
It's somehow--they can't quite articulate why--just not right to be willing to be wrong!
EVIDENCE, in their world, is beside the point!!
J-Dubs are genuinely unfamiliar with the necessity of EVIDENCE.
Why?
They accept everything on AUTHORITY.
