Posts by Island Man

40

Who Picks The Governing Body?

by millie210 in

hey everyone,.

just a simple straight forward question on exactly what the process is.

if a gb member died tomorrow, do the remaining ones choose who gets to be next?.

Island Man

The Governing Body picks new members.

On a side note, I've been wondering if the creation of the Governing Body was not a measure to avoid ugly power struggles and hostile takeovers that would tend to occur when there's a power vacuum?

I mean, when there is just one figure calling all the shots and that figure dies there's a vacuum that may result in an ugly fight for power and control of the organization such as happened with Rutherford after the death of C.T. Russel. But when you have a Governing Body, power is shared by a collective so the death of an individual never leaves a power vacuum and a political struggle for control. A Governing Body serves to prevent a scenario where there is a complete power vacuum - a scenario that can only occur if all the members died at the same time.

The GB also serves to preserve the status quo and prevent, or at least deter, radical changes from happening. The collective has to agree for any changes to occur and the collective will tend to appoint only those they trust to preserve the status quo. And even if they appoint a rogue, he is only one person and his rogue ideas will be voted down by the collective.

This kind of setup means it is likely that there are lot of secret "lobbying" and behind the scenes dealing and bargaining and quid pro quos among members of the GB to establish majority consensus to get changes agreed on. "You support me on this proposed doctrinal change that I'll table at the next meeting and I'll support your idea to raise the stipends for you and all the members of your committee..."

27

For those of us creationists who don't know anything about evolution

by truth doubter in

jw
friends

cofty- perhaps you would like to teach us the "first thing about evolution".. truth doubter .

Island Man

There was a time when I believed evolution was just a theory - just conjecture - and there was no real evidence to support it but that it was all just a matter of scientists having a biased, naturalistic interpretation of the fossil record.

That was when I believed what was written in the pages of Watchtower literature on the subject. That was when I really didn't understand the subject of evolution beyond just the simplest layman's notion of the subject. That was when I had done no independent research into the subject from actual scientific sources on the subject.

When I finally did independent research and discovered how utterly erroneous and dishonest the claims and arguments in Watchtower literature are, I was floored. Watchtower publications - and other creationist sources - very often quote scientific sources on the subject so out of context as to be guilty of deception!

Right now you might not believe evolution. It might seem strange and counter-intuitive to you - even impossible. But from personal experience I can tell you that such feelings are based on ignorance of the subject coupled with incorrect notions likely picked up from creationist sources. Forget about whether or not you believe it. Just do your own independent research on the subject from scientific sources that educate on the subject (not creationist sources). Your goal in such research should be to understand the subject and see what evidence is being used to support it. After you do such research and understand it, you can decide then whether or not you believe it. If you still don't believe it, then at least you would have a better understanding of it and would avoid the false reasoning and misinformation that creationists use to argue against it.

27

For those of us creationists who don't know anything about evolution

by truth doubter in

jw
friends

cofty- perhaps you would like to teach us the "first thing about evolution".. truth doubter .

Island Man

2. Evolution has nothing to do with the origin of life. Evolution is about how the gene pool of populations of species changes over time. A lack of explanation of the origin of life in no way refutes or casts doubt on the theory evolution because the theory of evolution does not attempt to address or explain that issue.

One of the first clues that a creationist source gives of its ignorance of the subject of evolution or its dishonesty in attempting to refute it, is when it seeks to conflate and confuse the subject of evolution with the subject of the origin of life.

The Watchtower publication title: LIfe - How did it get here by evolution or by creation? is an example of monumental scientific ignorance and/or dishonesty - if not stupidity.

27

For those of us creationists who don't know anything about evolution

by truth doubter in

jw
friends

cofty- perhaps you would like to teach us the "first thing about evolution".. truth doubter .

Island Man

1. Evolution isn't "just a theory".

Evolution is a scientific theory. A scientific theory is not the same thing as just a theory or conjecture in everyday speech. A scientific theory is a detailed model or explanation of a scientific phenomenon based on supporting facts and evidence. It is not conjecture.

162

Do you still believe in God?

by FormerlySandL in

i never thought i would admit it, but i don't.

i might superstitiously have some kind of doubt but digging a bit deeper in my heart i really don't believe in god.

as a human i could never just sit and watch people be tortured, live years of abuse, suffer from illness and disabilities and all the other awful things people have to endure day after day without doing something about it.

Island Man

"I can show you why God does not - and cannot - intervene in badness. Would that make a difference to you? If so, you have my PMs - just contact me."

Why not just share your idea publicly on the forum for all to see? Is it because you don't want your idea being scrutinized and proven to be false or without merit?

There is no justifiable excuse for an all-powerful God who is supposed to be the epitome of love to sit by and allow all manner of atrocities and sufferings to be committed without intervening. Any attempt to excuse such behavior is simply the epitome of shameless, heartless, sycophantic apologetics!

34

Was Adam "born" Circumsized ?

by RubaDub in

i guess we have to assume that jesus was circumcised on the 8th day but what about adam?

he was "perfect", so did he have the weenie cut or not?.

i would like to bring this question up at a "get-together".. rub a dub .

Island Man

I think it pretty obvious that Adam was not circumcised. Why would he be? There is nothing inherently perfect or righteous about circumcision in and of itself. You have to remember that circumcision was only the mark of a special covenant that God made with Abraham and his offspring - long after the time of Adam. Why would Adam have to be circumcised since he was not a descendant of Abraham and not part of the covenant? I see no logical or scriptural basis for thinking Adam was circumcised.

34

What do you think is the source of your consciousness? Can it be copied or transferred?

by EndofMysteries in

this seems to be a question that even scientifically is still in the air.

right now your consciousness, is it the physical part of the brain?

the electrical signals in the brain?

Island Man

I believe consciousness is an emergent property of the functioning brain. There is no one center in the brain that is responsible for consciousness. It seems like consciousness is the summation of the functioning of multiple - or all - centers of the brain.

Some people with certain kinds of brain malfunctions actually have a reduced level of consciousness. They're not unconscious but the acuity of their consciousness becomes detectably reduced.

There is a school of thought that suggests everything is conscious - but not with the same degree of cognition. Maybe consciousness is just a fundamental property of existence itself. Maybe a rock experiences its own existence in some very primitive, non-cognitive way. Maybe brains only enhance the acuity of consciousness instead of actually producing the phenomenon.

I think it is theoretically possible to duplicate a mind and copy your consciousness to another body. But that raises the question of what happens when the original body dies. Do you actually die or do you keep living. I think the answer to that question is that both happens! You simultaneously die and you keep living. You experience both because you are now two. Your consciousness has been duplicated. The you that it attached to the original body experiences death. The you that is in the new body experiences continued life. So the original you will experience death so duplicating your consciousness is no way to escape death. But then again, the copied consciousness will also feel as if it is you yourself and will think that it is cheating death. But the original you wouldn't experience that glee. I suppose the original you will have to die with the consolation of knowing that a version of himself still exists and experiences the joy of cheating death. I think the key to untangling the conundrum is to not see it as either or but as both. Both happens because you become two separate but identical consciousnesses both of which experience life as if they are the original you, while being unable to experience what the other is currently experiencing (after the duplication).

9

How would you feel if this happened to you?

by Island Man in

imagine you're a mentally out, physically in, awake jw who still attend meetings and occasionally do a little door-to-door perfunctory service just to please the still-in spouse and keep the elders off your back while you slowly and subtly try to free your spouse of the cult.

you're also a vociferous online critic of the jw organization and its harmful policies and false teachings.

one day while out doing your occasional perfunctory door-to-door service with a still-in jw, you knock on a door and the householder comes out and says:.

Island Man

Just to make a clarification: The scenarios I've given are not actual occurrences that I've experienced. They're just hypothetical scenarios for the sake of discussion and to elicit any real experiences from others along those lines.

9

How would you feel if this happened to you?

by Island Man in

imagine you're a mentally out, physically in, awake jw who still attend meetings and occasionally do a little door-to-door perfunctory service just to please the still-in spouse and keep the elders off your back while you slowly and subtly try to free your spouse of the cult.

you're also a vociferous online critic of the jw organization and its harmful policies and false teachings.

one day while out doing your occasional perfunctory door-to-door service with a still-in jw, you knock on a door and the householder comes out and says:.

Island Man

Wow it would be awesome...
Maybe we need a code for JW's that are out but still in:) Something they can do discreetly.

See this thread

53

QUICK! Questions to ask MARK SANDERSON!!!!!!!

by TeenageInsider in

quickly!!.

mark sanderson at a regional assembly.. i will find him and ask him questings.. please quickly leave questions you want me to ask.. i will record and post updates!!!!.

hurry..

Island Man

Jesus told his followers to not call their fellow brothers leader because Jesus is their only leader. So is the faithful and discreet slave obeying the spirit of Jesus' direction given that they call themselves the Governing Body?