rocketman

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Posts by rocketman

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  29

  Dawkins Interview; Atheism, Agnosticism, Etc.

  by AlanF in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the following was forwarded to me, and i post it in its entirety, with a few edits for clarity, without comment.. ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ .

  many of my friends are well aware that i'm not the slightest bit religious.

  with other friends the subject has never come up - and might never have - i'm not much of a proselytizer.

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  rocketman

  A: It's an interesting thought that in some remote time in the future, people may look back on the 20th and 21st centuries as a watershed in evolution -- the time when evolution stopped being an undirected force and became a design force. Already, for the past few centuries, maybe even millennia, agriculturalists have in a sense designed the evolution of domestic animals like pigs and cows and chickens. That's increasing and we're getting more technologically clever at that by manipulating not just the selection part of evolution but also the mutation part. That will be very different; one of the great features of biological evolution up to now is that there is no foresight.

  Just a thought - could evolution have been a "design force" all along? Since humans can now "manipulate not just the selection part of evolution but also the mutation part" couldn't it be possible that God (or whatever one wishes to call him) has done the same thing?

  ...Wants to have his cake and eat it too Class...
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  20

  Counsel by school overseer...

  by in a new york bethel minute in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  what was your worst point of counsel?

  i think for most men, it was gesturing to an audience while trying to make it look natural.

  i remember writing on my notes to gesture and to speak slowly... what was your hardest point of counsel to work on?.

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  rocketman

  Confession, I know where you're coming from in regard to giving speech cousel. I assisted in the School for several years before becoming Schoolmaster Overseer (), and yes, it was very tough giving a W, especially on things like personal appearance. I'd get quite nervous, and often had no idea of what I'd actually end of giving out even as I made my way to the platform.

  I also noticed that the worst offenders in the area of Timing were elders. The Bible Highlights part almost always ended up running very long, and the Instruction Talk was a problem as well. Not being able to ding a little bell, tap a pencil, or otherwise stop the talk, I felt pretty helpless as I then had to rush the rest of the School because one or two elders couldn't shut the heck up.
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  3

  Picked Up A Field Service Report

  by Undecided in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  while i was at the kh i picked up a field service report and it looked the same as it did 30 years ago.

  i asked some elders who were visiting me a few months ago why a field service report was scriptual.

  he said something about how records were kept in the bible, or something like that.

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  rocketman

  So in a way, you could interpret Field Service reports as a total lack of faith on the part of the Society. They really don't trust in Jehovah to make sure that the witnessing work is getting done.

  Interesting perspective Tammy. And of course, they don't trust that the rank-and-file would actually do the work (many would not if there was no report to file).
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  13

  SPORTS CONSPIRACIES

  by tijkmo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is an interesting list of top 10 sports conspiracies..(albeit from a us perspective).

  as i was reading about conspiracies and whistle blowers i couldnt help but think of what is happening at wts and esp people like ray franz,barbara anderson and bill bowen and others.

  http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/3594758?gt1=6444.

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  rocketman

  Just a few weeks ago I watched Ali-Liston II on ESPN Classic, trying my best to see the near-phantom punch that took out Liston in round one.

  I can't think of any other "conspiracies" off the top of my head. I do recall a missed chip-shot figgie by (then) Saint's placekicker Morton Andersen a few years back during the final week of the regular season that affected the playoff chances of a couple of teams. That miss looked so bad that I wondered if the fix was in.
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  49

  Have you ever been to an Apostofest or met JWD posters?

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  are you planning to go to an apostofest in the near future?

  i've met posters on 3 occasions, twice in montreal, and once in toronto.. how about you?.

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  rocketman

  I've never met anyone from this board personally. Basically, I hate to travel, so 'fests are almost out of the question.

  ...Recluse Class...
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  66

  Does the Bible interpret itself, or a fiddle you can play any tune with?

  by Rod P in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  testing this thread.

  well, after three times, it finally worked.

  why are there so many religions all professing belief in the bible, yet all of them interpret the bible differently?

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  rocketman

  Certainly a valid question Rod. Perhaps the key to salvation is the stuff most Bible readers and scholars, no matter what their religion, agree on - loving God, loving one's neighbor, acceptance of Jesus, that sort of stuff.

  If the key to salvation includes, for example, precisely figuring out the fulfillment of all Bible prophecies, then we might all be doomed.
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  23

  Evidence for evolution, Installment 6: The bible requires it

  by seattleniceguy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  happy sunday, everyone!

  this week we will be breaking from our normal tack of examining scientific evidence, and instead consider the issue from a different perspective.

  now, when you consider the number of animal species in the world today, it is clear that there are literally millions more species than could ever have fit into noah's ark.

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  rocketman

  I'm a bit of a believer in (my own, I guess) theory that God is a very efficient being - He doesn't actually do, or even have to do, a lot of the work himself. To illustrate: It's common for people to refer to God as our Creator. Yet, how many humans, going by the Genesis account, did he actually create? Only two - and one was formed starting from material from the other. Today there's 6 billion-plus humans, and God created only two. Humans have multiplied and diversified all on their own by means of the ability (God-given if you will) to reproduce and adapt.

  Another example may be the formation of stars. Simplistically speaking, we know that stars often form from material brought together by natural (again, God-given if you will) forces such as gravity, and then ignited into a nuclear furnace when their mass reaches a certain point, normally refered to as Jupiter-masses. I doubt God needs to actually do much of the work. He gets the credit by believers, of course.

  So it is perhaps with the evolution. Species can diversify, at times quite rapidly, all on their own. God would only need to create a few species, perhaps in a burst of creative activity, then take a vacation and let natural selection take over. In the case of the Flood, I can see no other explanation other than rapid evolution, for the present diversification of life on earth....if one is to believe the Flood account as presented in Genesis. A big if...
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  92

  Compiling List-Trivial Items People Are Counseled Against

  by love2Bworldly in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i hope this is not a repeat of past threads and i hope to get a lot of response.

  i am compiling info of how people are treated within the wts.

  i just read the post about a person being counseled for having baby shower games.

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  rocketman

  I was counseled because I wore (faux) suede shoes to the meetings and in service. They weren't blue suede, and I wasn't trying to be Elvis. They were a shade of brown.

  I was couseled for wearing a jacket that was deemed inappropriate for field service. It wasn't the trench-coat style everyone else wore, instead it was kind of styled like a Members Only jacket.

  I was counseled for reading a Bible verse at a door on a Saturday morning. The elder pulled me aside and said that reading the Bible during presentations was reserved for Sundays.

  One brother told me he was counseled because he drove a convertable in field service.
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  13

  E Watchman letter to the elders

  by teela(2) in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you follow his website, read his latest essay, to the elders, if he keeps going at this rate, he will be posting here soon.

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  rocketman

  It's always nice to have a person with total credibility taking on the elders on such major issues as child abuse and the UN involvement. While we don't quite get that with Robert (You Know), I'm still not going to trash the guy for at least making a stand. Of course, if a guy is viewed as a wack job than his efforts may end up causing more harm than good.
  

  The main problem for me is that he still views the JW organization as one in a special relationship with God, and that God is directing judgements toward it rather than Christendom. Hence, he still gives exclusivity of righteousness to the jws, even if only individuals within the organization.

  However, of all the jw apologetics that ever posted here, I kind of liked the guy's effort in some off-beat way. He at least seemed pretty respectful around here, and if memory serves, at least he didn't engage in personal attacks. So, if he wants to have at the elders, then I think the letter he wrote, while duly considering his propensity for blathering on, still may serve a good purpose.
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  48

  586/607

  by carla in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  did finding out that the 607 date was wrong matter to any of you?

  and doesn't that in fact make all the other dates fall apart?

  or did you rationalize and say what's 20 years or so?

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  rocketman

  The Faithful Slave

  Wow, and here all this time I thought CT Russell was the Faithful Slave.