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a big story in the uk right now.. from the descriptions of the childs condition on the radio, where it was said she was in constant pain, i think it would be right to allow her to die.
she has zero chance of any kind of quality of life and prolonging this suffering is just inhuman.. if scientists were doing this to an animal, there would be complaints that it was cruel.. a sad story indeed, but sometimes the kindest thing is to let go .... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3701492.stm.
I think, that it being Britain, the taxpayers are footing the bill. Which brings up the uglier side of socialized medicine... how generous ARE the taxpayers, really?
Of course, if this was the US, I guess sheer economics would have made the horrible choice already, so it's not like we are any great shakes in that department. Terrible all around, I pray for the families.
CZAR
most of us have heard the above expression, and when one thinks about it, the statement is undeniably true...without evil, there cannot be good-and vice-versa.. consider this, after the 1,000 years in paradise, once satan is set free for a short time to try to cause havoc, and is then completely done away with, what would "paradise" be like then?
since there would supposedly no longer be any evil, how would the perfect utopian society claim to be good?
you can't have one without the other.. would the people become emotionless, brain-dead, robotified zombies?
Evil is not inherent to the universe. It is inherent to human beings. Animals don't worry about evil, they worry about eating, reproducing, and avoiding death and pain. Humans are the only animals that wonder about whether their actions are somehow fundamentally good or evil. If animals are natural, then humans are super-natural. We are born "one step removed" from our own existence - constantly analyzing everything as to its moral connotations.
Which is unusual, and often self-defeating, to say the least. We worry about the rights and wrongs of wars, we worry about the rights and wrongs of premature babies being allowed to die, we worry about things that are impossible to solve and often, completely detached from our own individual lives.
Now, how can we bring the two elements of human nature together? We are certainly flesh, but what else are we? We are more than cells, that much is obvious - no possible permutation of evolution could conceivably result in, for instance, war being condemned as "immoral", since every pacifist nation has been overrun and slaughtered by their foes... and yet pacifism keep rearing its dreadlocked head! What genetic twist could produce such a self-defeating and yet enticing proposition?
"God made man in His image. Man made God in his image. You think these two statements are opposites; but meditate until you learn how they are the same." I think that was Spinoza? Anyone know how to look up a quote that you don't quite remember?
Evil is the flesh - but not JUST the flesh. It is the flesh in conflict with the spirit. Only a spirit is capable of evil; but only flesh can suffer it.
Gin, now, gin is a good spirit.
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a big story in the uk right now.. from the descriptions of the childs condition on the radio, where it was said she was in constant pain, i think it would be right to allow her to die.
she has zero chance of any kind of quality of life and prolonging this suffering is just inhuman.. if scientists were doing this to an animal, there would be complaints that it was cruel.. a sad story indeed, but sometimes the kindest thing is to let go .... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3701492.stm.
Parental call, man, just like medically necessary abortions... nobody else can make the choice for them. They will have to live with it, for good or ill, so let them make the call.
I agree it sounds like death might be the best option... but I'm not the parent. I think it owuld make me literally crazy (er) to have to go through that. Horrible, just horrible.
CZAR
i note that e-watchman has just confirmed that he is not disfellowshipped, despite running an 'apostate' website and having sent 1000's of letters around the us, canada, and bethels around the world.
this from his latest mailbag questions and answers:.
"as for any judicial action taken against me, no, there was none.
Yeah, I thought the whole point of his big "letter campaign" which I have not seen any evidence for, btw, was to reveal hiimself. What a dweeb.
CZAR
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i've heard that it's changed hands and most of the jws are bailing... did someone from here take it over?.
alias
MS - I thought he was talking about a produb website?
CZAR
i note that e-watchman has just confirmed that he is not disfellowshipped, despite running an 'apostate' website and having sent 1000's of letters around the us, canada, and bethels around the world.
this from his latest mailbag questions and answers:.
"as for any judicial action taken against me, no, there was none.
Maybe they know he's just crazy...
CZAR
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http://sports.excite.com/news/09292004/v7255.html
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I say, if you can't convict, you must not pocket-pick...
CZAR
matt.
5:9: blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of god.
"i can see that happening to us (muslims) eventually.".
Gee... that'd be nice..
But, I'm afraid, like all things, it's doomed to failure. There is so much hatred. I have never seen hatred overcome except on an individual level. hate is just too easy an option.
CZAR
for jws, there is a two-step process for committing yourself to god.
before you get baptized in public, you are supposed to privately "dedicate" yourself to god in prayer.. i was a child who knelt in the corner of my room after completing my final "interview" of questions from an elder.
i tried to be sincere, but i was aware i had no emotional currency (i was only 13, give me a break!).
I did it during the Watchtower. I felt this incredible pressure to do it, and then relief when I submitted. But the emotional connection with God himself as I have currently come to know him has only grown SINCE I've been expelled.
I was 12??? I think... it was 1990. Stupid.
CZAR
so my wife is standing at the door, waiting for me to finish my morning ablutions so that we can go out, and she asks me to go to the door.
i met a very friendly couple who wanted to talk to me about jehovah.
i informed them that i was raised as a jehovah's witness and that i had been disfellowshipped for about (and i had to think about this) five years now.. and the dude was offended by my existence.
thank you very much guys. I feel pretty good about it. I was trying to brag to people at work, but they didn't really get it like all of you do.
"free thinkers" are often as vulnerable to mind control as anybody else, Jankyn, because they often don't use their "filters" to screen out the BS and too-good-to-be-true promises... but congrats on your own freedom!
CZAR
