Posts by Island Man

14

Do you have a JW hero?

by Island Man in

when i say jw hero i mean a jw who courageously did what was right despite the indoctrination and peer pressure to conform to cultishness.

i have an unknown jw hero that i've never met but only heard of from an experience relayed to me about an incident at a jw funeral.. i was told that at a jw funeral internment, a non-jw put a wreath in the shape of a cross on the grave.

shortly thereafter a jw elder came up and removed the wreath.

Island Man

When I say JW hero I mean a JW who courageously did what was right despite the indoctrination and peer pressure to conform to cultishness. I have an unknown JW hero that I've never met but only heard of from an experience relayed to me about an incident at a JW funeral.

I was told that at a JW funeral internment, a non-JW put a wreath in the shape of a cross on the grave. Shortly thereafter a JW elder came up and removed the wreath. But not long after another JW - a relative of the deceased - came up and put the wreath back on the grave! That's my JW hero. Who is your JW hero? What did (s)he do?

21

Eternal life through brain transplant into an android body only a matter of time. Religion no longer needed.

by fukitol in

jw
friends

humanity doesn't need to continue believing in hocus pocus pie in the sky religious hogwash and pipe dreams to have hope of everlasting life.

nor is it necessary to find the fountain of youth or turn off the aging process.. it's only a matter of time until science achieves it.

maybe not decades away, maybe not even centuries, but eventually..... ....mankind will achieve eternal life through a transplant of the human brain into a future highly advanced robotic body.. already the scientific fundmentals for it exist.

Island Man

But an organic brain in a cybernetic body? How long would an organic brain continue viable? Wouldn't the cells decay?

Eventually, technology would probably make it possible to create a fully digitized version of the functioning human brain. That would make it possible to upload ones sentience into a computer. Another alternative is that nanotechnology will progress to the point where a functioning brain can be fully reproduced with inorganic nanotech neurons capable of "reproducing themselves" indefinitely (once energy and raw materials are available) without deteriorating (aging).

I don't think technology will necessarily lead to guaranteed immortality, though. There will always be unforeseen accidents, murders, technical failures, etc. But the prospect of resurrecting persons would definitely be plausible and "human" lifespan - the lifespan of the human mind - will likely increase greatly - hundreds of years at least.

But before this happens - or perhaps in order for this to happen - computer scientists will likely have created the first true artificial intelligence - the first autonomous, self-conscious artificial being. Imagine the legal, social and ethical controversies that will result! We might see the return of institutionalized slavery of intelligent beings, only this time, the intelligent beings will be denied the dignity of being treated like humans simply because they technically aren't. But I think it would be the religious who would advocate not treating them fairly, arguing that they don't have a soul breathed into them by God. But secular, science-based society would argue that they essentially have the same cognitive attributes as humans, and there is no such thing as a soul and so they should be given the same dignity as humans. This could be the defining controversy of the future, dwarfing the current Evolution vs Intelligent design education; and pro-life vs pro-choice controversies, combined. (BTW, have you guys seen the new series Humans? It is just awesome!)

This may all seem rather fanciful but the progression of human technology makes it very plausible. Imagine how fanciful the notion of landing on the moon, would have seemed to people living 500 years ago. But today, humans landing on Mars doesn't seem far fetched.

26

Probable Discovery of Life on Comet Philae

by cofty in

according to leading astronomers the probe philae that landed on the comet 67p last november may have discovered microbial life..... sadly neither the probe nor the orbiter rosetta are equipped to test directly but the evidence is interesting.

these are not easily explained in terms of prebiotic chemistry.

the dark material is being constantly replenished as it is boiled off by heat from the sun.

Island Man

I'm tempted to rejoice at the prospect of the discovery of life outside of earth. But at the same time I'm a bit skeptical of the report. Why isn't this breaking news on CNN, the BBC and other reputable news sites? Just how reputable is The Independent? Something doesn't seem to add up.

14

Why isn't Jeehoober more like Jesus???

by DATA-DOG in

this just struck me as odd.

if the bible is really god's word, and it's all real, why doesn't jeehoober act more like jesus?

jesus perfectly imitated jeehobo, right?

Island Man

I think christianity is to some extent an attempt at reforming Judaism. Christianity is actually a synchretic religion fusing Judaism with popular pagan religious memes.(virgin birth, dying and rising savior, personal savior, etc) The originators of christianity had a lot of Greco Roman influence and so subtly fused certain Greco Roman ethics, philosophies and mythologies into the religion.

By the first century, people who religiously subscribed to the Hebrew scriptures were growing in moral enlightenment due to the passage of time and exposure to other cultures, to the point that they came to see the God of the OT as being somewhat harsh even while being unwilling to drop him altogether. Christianity was created or shaped by that kind of environment. The kind, rule-bending, forgiving Jesus figure is an apologetics attempt at making over the image of the OT God; an attempt at saying in effect: 'We know these OT texts make God look really bad but he isn't really as bad as he seems because look how kind his son is. Look at his son. His son reveals his true nature so please don't get the wrong impression from OT texts that seem to suggest that he is harsh'

59

A difficult yet necessary decision

by Brother Jeramy in

the past five weeks have been perhaps the most painful in my life as a witness.. some months ago a young man (i'd say in his late thirties or early forties) began attending meetings at my kingdom hall.

he had just moved to my area from another state.

he had disassociated himself from his home congregation many years back, when he was 20 years old and going through many of the typical trials and temptations most young men experience.. two of the elders met with him initially, and they later shared the details with the body of elders.

Island Man

Londo111: Please reconsider DAing...this is playing by thier rules. Fading is the best option

I disagree. I understand the point about not DAing so as not to give legitimacy to their corrupt system. Also, if one has family still in and doesn't want to lose social contact with them, fading is good. However if one is not worried about being shunned, I think that in some circumstances there is more to be gained from DAing than just fading, and I think this is one of those circumstances.

If Jeramy was to just fade, the elders won't know that their following Watchtower's callous policies is stumbling people away from the Truth. They may just put it down to Jeramy growing spiritually weak and falling away. But think of the powerful unwitness it would give and think of the seeds that would be planted in the hearts of the elders and any others that Jeramy speaks to if he writes a powerful DA letter giving this example of shocking, unscriptural callousness as opening his eyes to the fact that the organization in cold, pharisaic, slow to forgive unlike the father in the illustration of the prodigal son. Think of the strong impact it would have on the consciences of the elders and the potential to wake some up!

Fade? No, no, no. This experience is an unwitnessing gold mine! JWs love to point to their fake love as evidence that they are Jesus' true followers. This experience shatters that lie and gives a justifiable reason for DAing that is virtually unassailable! Do not waste it by fading. Do not waste such a wonderful opportunity to get the body of elders to examine themselves and the organization!

3

OMG! The July 2015 JW broadcast shows multiple clips of a JW carrying a gay pride umbrella!

by Island Man in

the closing segment of the program featuring jws in dominica, shows a jw carrying an umbrella emblazoned with the gay pride rainbow, multiple times.

roflol.

Island Man

The closing segment of the program featuring JWs in Dominica, shows a JW carrying an umbrella emblazoned with the gay pride rainbow, multiple times. ROFLOL.

3

July Abuse Rant

by freemindfade in

tm3 is back!!

july broadcast rant on child abuse.

http://rutube.ru/video/0ba7a3ee7e89dbbc730c4af32032e33b/.

Island Man

OMG! Did you see the last segment at the end featuring the JWs in Dominica? There were multiple clips showing a JW carrying an umbrella emblazoned with the gay pride rainbow!! ROFLOL.

8

BLONDIE'S COMMENTS YOU WILL NOT HEAR AT THE 07-05-2015 WT STUDY (SATAN)

by blondie in

blondies comments you will not hear at the 07-05-2015 wt study (satan)(may 15, 2015 issue).

http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/.

the 4th of july in the us is mainly a misnomer.

Island Man

Two things that stood out to me in this week's study:

1. Watchtower says Satan does not have a soft spot for children. But is Jehovah any better? When Jehovah killed millions of babies during the flood of Noah's day, was he showing a soft spot for children? When Jehovah had the first born of every Egyptian killed - which undoubtedly included many babies - was he showing a soft spot for children? When Jehovah ordered the Israelites to kill all the children and infants of the Amalekites and other Canaanite groups was he showing a soft spot for children? The biblical account shows that Jehovah has killed far more infants than Satan!

2. The powerful acts performed by faithful angels are used as gauges to suggest that fallen angels - the demons and Satan - must be very powerful beings. I'm not disputing that angels and demons are more powerful beings than humans.The bible makes this clear. What I'm disputing is the idea that we can get a true impression of the extent of their inherent power by looking at accounts like that of the angel that struck down 185,000 soldiers. To do so would be fallacious for two important reasons.

Firstly, the Watchtower is foolishly assuming that the powerful acts the bible records angels doing were done entirely with their own inherent power. But it may be the case that Jehovah infused special power into these angels to allow them to do those specific tasks. To illustrate, think of the powerful works done by Samson, Elijah, Elisha and others. Would it be wise to use their powerful works as evidence that humans are very powerful beings capable of miraculous works and that a sinner must therefore be a very powerful enemy of God? No. The faithful OT prophets and judges were infused with special power beyond their inherent human capabilities. Although not explicitly stated in the bible, the same may be true of the angels. That angel that slay 185,000 soldiers could have done it with extra power given him for the task, by Jehovah.

Secondly, since satan and the demons have been cast out of heaven, they would logically be cut off from their source of extra power - Jehovah. The kinds of power that Jehovah feeds to his faithful angels to do his will, would logically not be available to Satan and the demons. Watchtower has even in the past stated that the demons powers were limited by Jehovah when they were cast into deep darkness - Tartarus - after the flood, so that they can no longer materialize fleshly bodies. Therefore it is utterly foolish to point to the powerful feats of faithful angels to gauge the extent of power possessed by unfaithful satan and the demons who have been abased.

9

An excellent, very civil debate between an atheist and a JW.

by Island Man in

i stumbled upon this video while doing my periodic youtube search of the keyword "jehovah".

in the video a jw (actually two jws, but only one does most of the speaking) debate an atheist.

the atheist is a mild-mannered iranian who at first seems deceptively easy and clueless (i think it has to do with the fact that english is not his first language), but soon proves he's no walkover - calmly, mildly and civilly.

Island Man

I stumbled upon this video while doing my periodic YouTube search of the keyword "Jehovah". In the video a JW (actually two JWs, but only one does most of the speaking) debate an atheist.

The atheist is a mild-mannered Iranian who at first seems deceptively easy and clueless (I think it has to do with the fact that English is not his first language), but soon proves he's no walkover - calmly, mildly and civilly. He gave some excellent arguments refuting the JWs' argument from design and argument from fine tuned earth. He even exposed their special pleading for the existence of a complex god lacking a designer right back onto them by applying it to the existence of the universe!

The JWs were not able to offer any meaningful rebuttals to his points and ended up resorting to the fallacious argument from final consequences. At times you get the sense from looking at the JWs that they inwardly realize he's making good points they can't refute.

Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFHBPStlp2w

21

Who were the Sadducees and the Pharisees?? Are there similarities between them and JW's??

by confuzzlediam in

last month, i had the privilege of traveling to jamaica with a study abroad group from my community college.

while there, we went to a place called my father's house in which severely disabled children lived when they had no one else to take care of them.

as part of their day, they hold worship in a small, outdoor meeting place.

Island Man

I don't know much about the Sadducees. But boy are the Pharisees similar to the JWs!

One of the core tenets of Watchtower theology is being separate from the world. While the bible tells christians to be no part of the world, the JWs take this to extreme levels applying it even to trivial matters. They seem to think being different in and of itself is a virtue rather than being different only to the end of not following what is wrong in the world. The JWs' legalistic and obsessive need to be separate from the world and especially christendom brings me to this striking similarity with the pharisees - the name pharisee means separated ones!