i came across this site and love it, just full of interesting things to read.
this one is particularly good about whether we are alone in the universe (as intelligent life) and what different scenarios could play out:.
http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html.
Very cool! Thanks.
The Fermi Paradox
My only concern with an article like this is that, although it is peppered with scientific facts, it is primarily speculative in nature.
Readers that are not scientifically literate will read it and not be able to keep track of what parts are speculation and what are fact based and as a result come away with a mixed-up, hodge-podge of misinformation thinking: it's science.
do you want to know why i think people don't believe in god?
well i believe people don't want to believe in god because they are scared.
they know that if they finally do gorge the confidence to believe in him, he might discipline them for their skepticism.
DD, loved your analogy about the absentee father and the shotgun indoctrination!
do you want to know why i think people don't believe in god?
well i believe people don't want to believe in god because they are scared.
they know that if they finally do gorge the confidence to believe in him, he might discipline them for their skepticism.
pressman: oubliette, sorry but sitting down and considering so called evidence is an expression of fear.
You're right. I was afraid I'd been duped by charlatans into believing lies and was in a religious cult. It took courage to face the facts, examine the evidence and see the truth, the REAL truth, not the fabrications of men.
Now I have embraced reality and am no longer in fear.
do you want to know why i think people don't believe in god?
well i believe people don't want to believe in god because they are scared.
they know that if they finally do gorge the confidence to believe in him, he might discipline them for their skepticism.
pressman: God is not something you can see or not see with just facts and evidence. you have to believe. not study, but believe.
I only believe things because of facts and evidence. Even then I am always open to new facts and evidence which may cause me to re-examine my beliefs. If I was or am wrong, I change my beliefs. This is what rational people do.
pressman: You see, studying so called evidence takes nothing from you to do.
Clearly, you don't know how to study. Really study is hard work.
pressman: You just open a book and let your eyes twirl.
Thank you for proving my point!
pressman: Eden one, god, allah, Yahweh. the lord has many names. He loves them all.
Well, now we know you're not a JW! ... lol
do you want to know why i think people don't believe in god?
well i believe people don't want to believe in god because they are scared.
they know that if they finally do gorge the confidence to believe in him, he might discipline them for their skepticism.
Pressman: Do you want to know why I think people don't believe in God? Well I believe people don't want to believe in God because they are scared.
Thank you for sharing what you think, not that I asked. Now it's your turn to allow me to share with you what I have concluded concerning the question of the existence of God:
There is no God, certainly not of the type portrayed by the Abrahamic religions. The evidence against the existence of such a God is overwhelming and the evidence for is non-existent, just like the God which his proponents claim to worship.
Fear had nothing to do with me coming to this conclusion. Rather, it was the result of a lifetime (over 5 decades) of intensive and prolonged rational examination of the data on both sides of the issue.
That being said, I do not consider myself to be an atheist because that would require absolute knowledge. This is something which no one possesses.
Here's one of my favorite quotes on the subject:
Those who raise questions about the God hypothesis and the soul hypothesis are by no means all atheists. An atheist is someone who is certain that God does not exist, someone who has compelling evidence against the existence of God. I know of no such compelling evidence. Because God can be relegated to remote times and places and to ultimate causes, we would have to know a great deal more about the universe than we do to be sure that no such God exists. To be certain of the existence of God and to be certain of the nonexistence of God seem to me to be the confident extremes in a subject so riddled with doubt and uncertainty as to inspire very little confidence indeed. - Conversations with Carl Sagan (2006), edited by Tom Head, p. 70
the entire hall was invited to a party at a brothers house after the memorial.. actually had conversations with a few people.. two guys that were recently disfellowshipped and since re-instated... would love to see what they really think about the religion.. but have no idea how to bring it up.. .
my beliefs are quite in the open (i think), i am inactive and do not comment or give talks.. i dont sing, i dont close my eyes during prayers and i dont say amen... funny though.. we were having a conversation, one of the recently re-instated asked me which service group i belong to.. my reply after some thought was... "i have no idea" .. coz seriously.. i had no idea.
wonder how that went... they all laughed it off including the pioneer drone standing next to me... i am tempted to ask them if they value freedom of speech and if so do they think we have freedom of speech in the jw religion.....
SIAR2: Surprisingly, most here who started to wake up and learnt the TTATT were on outward appearances the "perfect witnesses", many were appointed men, or pioneers!
That was me. I continued serving as an elder for 6 or 7 years as I gradually became increasingly aware that the WTBTS is a cult.
The last couple of years I tried to get my family out. When it became clear that I was never going to awaken my now-ex-wife, I tried to get my kids out with me. That didn't work either. Finally I just had to get out by myself for my own sanity.
I'm still working on reaching my kids, but it's hard as they shun me even though I am not DF'd, simply inactive.
as per the title.
and was the one you attended at an early or late time of the evening.. any partakers?.
Magnum: Also, it still affects millions. I have family members who are in and who think something's wrong with me. In addition, it's an interesting study in psychology/sociology/etc. Some people are interested in following certain sports teams. To me, following the goings-on in JWdom is far more interesting, and it's even enlightening and educational.
Exactly!
from so many posts and conversations on here, you'd think over 1/2 the posters here possess doctorates in theology, physics, biology, etc.
i'm curious aside from the books and research people have done here, what degrees they have.
to start, i just got an aa and going straight through full time to an mba.
cantleave: A degree can help open the door, but success once you have stepped through that door depends on many other factors.
True dat!
Mostly it depends on persistence and hard work.
from so many posts and conversations on here, you'd think over 1/2 the posters here possess doctorates in theology, physics, biology, etc.
i'm curious aside from the books and research people have done here, what degrees they have.
to start, i just got an aa and going straight through full time to an mba.
Magnum, no I'm talking about exactly the same things you are.
You keep talking about individual exceptions as if that means that it is true of the majority of people.
Data outliers do not disprove the trend or preponderance of evidence.
Oubliette
i have a serious problem that i cannot solve on my own.
i was born-in but am only in by a thread at this point.
i quit the tms a few weeks ago and wrote a post on it.
MNIONC: I made the mistake of telling my wife about the conversation. She is not happy. She basically told me that if I was "spiritually strong", no one would have to pick up the slack as far as headship (as seen through the eyes of the witnesses) goes.
Great job on putting the nosy brother in his place.
It was NOT a mistake to tell your wife about this. It was the right thing to do.
Do NOT let her emasculate you. This religion is designed to neuter men.
Assert yourself. You don't have to be a jerk about it. Just be real. Be calm, be firm, be clear.
We all know that "spiritually strong/weak" in JW-speak means the exact opposite of what it means in the real world.
