BackseatDevil

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Posts by BackseatDevil

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  37

  USA | Man Allegedly Fires Gun at a Group of Jehovah's Witnesses

  by jwleaks in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  usa, arkansas | man fires gun at a group of jehovah's witnesses.

  centerton police arrested a man accused of firing close to 19 rounds at a group of jehovahs witnesses on saturday (sept. 28th).

  john baldwin, 35, bonded out on $50,000 sunday morning.. according to a probable cause affidavit, three jehovahs witnesses approached baldwin in his front yard at rainbow farm road and baldwin told them, get your (explicit) off my property, i moved out here to get away from people like you.. the report states the jehovahs witnesses apologized and as they were getting in their car one of them heard get me my 9.. baldwin admitted to firing a gun at three jehovahs witnesses when they drove away from his house, according to the report.. baldwin was booked into benton county jail on felony charges of aggravated assault.. several of baldwins neighbors said he moved to the neighborhood less than a month ago.. kristi tidwell who lives nearby said she was home when police arrived at her neighbors home.. my husband and i were working around the house, we had the blinds open in the back we saw probably seven or eight cop cars pulling in there, tidwell said.

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  BackseatDevil

  I tell you, these new bibles are NOT going to go over well.
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  27

  How can you update your profile picture? Thanks.

  by Poindexter Lionel Humperdique in

  1. forum
  2. tech-support

  could someone please advise how to update our profile picture?

  thank you..

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  BackseatDevil

  what happens if someone deleted the email on which this account was based (both with gravatar.com and the actual email address as well)?

  There's no option here to change profile info or email address. So my gravatar is stuck in limbo.

  like a Catholic.
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  25

  Eve made our periods painful

  by rebel8 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was just remembering this teaching--that a mythical woman ate a piece of fruit 1000s of years ago after a snake told her to, and that's the reason we have menstrual pain.. you see, the bible says eve was cursed for her sin with painful childbirth.

  hence we can make up extrapolate that this includes menstruation, which is just part of childbearing.

  then we can make up extrapolate that this applies to all females in the entire human race today, because according to a loving god we should all share in her sin as we all have vaginas too.. i remember crying in total agony while i was insulted comforted by having this scripture and explanation read aloud to me, and thinking how much this knowledge drew me closer to jehovah made me realize what a misogynistic wackadoodle cult this was.. thor causing thunder is more plausible than this.. if dubs take midol, does that mean they are scoring jehovah's lesson?.

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  BackseatDevil

  I'm a gay male. I did not need to read ANY of this. As a result... I'm about 20% MORE gay than I was before reading this.

  HOWEVER, I will say that when I was younger I didn't understand any of this. It seemed random. Adam and Eve were made to toil the fields... so why were blisters on the feet a 'curse' or callous hands used for any meaning?

  Further more, I thought that using epidural anaesthesia was pretty much saying FU to god while having a C-section was completely CHEATING. The nerve of some women. And it wasn't until much later I realized that it is all just like the story of the rainbow... a tale used to explain why something is. And as far as the bible is concerned, they were just property anyway.

  Honestly the bible is really awful to women, starting with the vagina and working its way out.

  Now, just to balance... all this out, I will leave you with this (Sassy Gay Friend meets Eve):

  http://youtu.be/gQhkzYVlLl8
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  36

  I was not only just not invited, I was sent an uninvited letter..seriously?!

  by freedom2bme in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  here is my introduction letter.

  my jw and biological sister is getting married this weekend and 3 weeks ago i received a letter actually uninviting me to this showy display.

  i was stunned to say the least.

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  BackseatDevil

  Personally, I feel there is WAY too much going on in your story for there to be any traction for movement in a positive direction. It's just not going to happen. There is just too much weight in ground that saturated with muddy justifications.

  If you have to be there, simplify... ALL THIS. just work on one issue at a time. The NPG thing is one of the most harmful psychological pressures the religion has to offer and will lead to bigger problems. My two cents would be pack your shit and get the hell out to a bigger city.
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  95

  Just this simple fact of life is proof of God....

  by EndofMysteries in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'll be curious for any alternative plausible explanations for this...... .

  every lifeform on earth, humans, plants, bacteria, cells, anything with life originated with other life.

  all trees come from living seeds from other trees, etc.

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  BackseatDevil

  @rawe I don't know. The concept of "god" was (we will say for argument's sake) intelligently designed and it has not only self-replicated, but has also subdivided and mutated with each tenticle taking on a complete life of its own.

  L. Ron Hubbard certainly created something (again "intelligent" is loosely used) that has also self-replicated, mutated, and grown into a very complex web of scheme and money.

  NYU scientists with Caltech have created self-replicating synthetic materials and scientists with J. Craig Venter Institute synthetic life... both using man-made DNA.

  Just to name three examples.
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  88

  Changing the Goalposts

  by braincleaned in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  creationists are not consistant with their otherwise apparant logic:.

  nothing comes from nothing check .

  everything has a beginning check .

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  BackseatDevil

  (opinion) the 'goal posts' move every time science comes up with a new answer and religion has to shift in their concept of "god" to accomidate what eventually becomes "common knowlege".

  We who do not believe in god, are perfectly content just waiting around, living, until more answers are found by people smarter than us. Those that do believe in god have to continually readjust their thinking to merge obvious progression of human understanding with thousands of years of beliefs.

  Example:

  The sun is not a chariot being pulled across the sky - heresy to the Greek/Roman god at the time.

  the sun does not revolve around the earth - heresy to the CHRISTIAN god at the time.

  the earth was not created in 4000 B.C. - modern heresy.

  Seriously, just because we are discussing atoms and molecular reactions, the creation of the universe (however it was created) and the evolution of life in terms and on levels completely non-existant 100 years ago doesn't mean that anything has changed in this style of debate. If you take out all the scientific research and obvious logic, we still have Galileo standing before the councel trying to defend the rotation of the earth against people who took 1 Chronicles 16:30 as science fact.

  That's all this (and the other thread) is.
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  62

  Discussion w/ Wife: I Welcome Your Suggestions

  by breakfast of champions in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  so these last few wts have definitely eroded my wife's faith in the org.

  she is definitely seeing the bs, and i even overheard her talking openly about it to a family member.

  good for her!.

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  BackseatDevil

  The JW idea of their "preaching work" concept is a complete fallacy. The bible gives the idea that one should evangelize and proselytize and 'going out two by two' is one method of this... but ONLY one mehod - and it was not one oten practced by Jesus himself (too busy hanging out with drunks and whores perhaps... lol). Televangelists are following the bible, Mormons do too (perhaps even more accurately because the 'two by two' preaching work was only for a few years while Jesus was alive... not an indefinite occurance).

  Mostly people preach the same way they teach their children or train an apprentice: LEADING BY EXAMPLE. It's the best form of teaching and preaching out there. Method of preaching is not a determining factor of whether a religion is right or wrong. That is an extremely petty argument to even bring up.

  As for war, the term "conscientious objector" wasn't founded by the witnesses. In fact the first recorded instance of it was 1575. The most famous of it would be the "Hell no, we won't go" chants of everyone burning their draft cards during the Vietnam war. MANY people are against war.

  Neither of these things are uniquly Jehovah's Witness oriented, nor are they unique to the religion even though it is presented to the "sheep" as such.

  Even today with Syria there are thousands of protests by civilians who would all stand up and say "no" to picking up arms in war... none of who are Jehovah's Witnesses.
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  95

  Just this simple fact of life is proof of God....

  by EndofMysteries in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'll be curious for any alternative plausible explanations for this...... .

  every lifeform on earth, humans, plants, bacteria, cells, anything with life originated with other life.

  all trees come from living seeds from other trees, etc.

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  BackseatDevil

  *sigh*

  Adam... you're doing the Jehovah's Witness thing were "key words" are used as a crux of a point. LOL.

  In discussion of philosophy I try to avoid definitive definitions of specific wording for two reasons (1) the concept has to be able to be translated to other languages or other dialects within our own language and should be able to be described using a variety of different words, and (2) if specific wording is needed to relay a point, then one's point is too specific and probably not adjustable to other areas of life/living.

  (This doesn't apply if there is an actual debate about language, mind you... lol)

  For example, "determining" is a conclusion based off reasoning, thought, and once processed information is taken into account. "Deciding" simply describes the act of answering a question or choice. The two are not synonumous (also, one is a verb and one is an adjective).

  I know it sounds like I'm being an asshole. I apologize. What I'm trying to demonstrate is that we can get VERY specific about wording... in which case the end result is us arguing about words... NOT the important issue of discussing concepts, philosophy, and walking on this planet with appreciation and understanding of one another (generally speaking).

  I fully understood your concept. It made sense to me. How you achieve your belief (whether it be determined after reviewing information, decided after tired frustration, presented to you randomly from nowhere, or stumbled upon while drunk) the application of such decision is in your control pivot point and you are proud of that (which you should be).

  I agree with this... it seems to work for you. I do something very similar. I do not deligate what works for me, but I do like understanding what works for other people (or sometimes the illusion of what works... LOL). I describe it differently, but the concept is very similar, and I appreciate you taking the time to clairfy it. I didn't mean any disrespect or assumption by what I wrote. I was just describing my growth process, nothing more. Apologies if it came across as a counter argument or judgemental.
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  95

  Just this simple fact of life is proof of God....

  by EndofMysteries in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'll be curious for any alternative plausible explanations for this...... .

  every lifeform on earth, humans, plants, bacteria, cells, anything with life originated with other life.

  all trees come from living seeds from other trees, etc.

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  BackseatDevil

  Just a side note as a 'non-believer'.

  I don't actually follow the "I could care less what anyone else believes when it comes to determining MY beliefs" framed mentality. There are people all over the world who have experienced far greater, grander, horrifying, and traumatic events than I have. I am very interested in the way they handle their own path on this world.

  For example, even as a complete ateist, it is historically obvious how the lessons and techniques found among buddhists work in one's mind and body, centering oneself and allowing movement in tandum with the world around us. I don't believe in ghosts or angels, but the intesity that comes with someone who means you harm can evoke and evil energy that are curved through use of natural elements found in our planet. And skepticism marks where some of this may be reality, and some of it may be simple 'power of suggestion'.

  Because of that, I personally use other people's beliefs to fine-tune my own... I don't just assume everyone is right or wrong. It is (honestly) important for me to know what other people believe as it either reaffirms my own stance, or helps me alter myself in order to have a stronger structure. That is just me personally, however.
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  95

  Just this simple fact of life is proof of God....

  by EndofMysteries in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'll be curious for any alternative plausible explanations for this...... .

  every lifeform on earth, humans, plants, bacteria, cells, anything with life originated with other life.

  all trees come from living seeds from other trees, etc.

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  BackseatDevil

  @cofty

  I would hardly consider the experiment a failure. The ammount of testing and research, experimentation and hypothosis it started has been amazing in the wake of the Urey-Miller model. It single handedly answered the question that was posed here whether it " was possible that life can just appear out of nothing."

  The answer is yes. It can. The failure only came because they were trying to be very specific in control in a very uncontrolable time in Earth's history. So it is obvious, sustainability and actual evolution is more complex but one would expect that in an environment similar to that of the Urey-Miller model (conceptually) that after a few billion years of being in constant play, it only takes one time for something to go very very right.