Island Man

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Posts by Island Man

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  29

  Is this a site controlled by atheists?

  by The Rebel in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  under the exterior of being an ex- witness site, is this site simply converting atheism?.

  i pose the question, because many come here in distress and insecurity with the realization that the w.t is wrong but still retain a belief in god.

  my personal opinion is the threads on god are not challenged by an atheists personal animosity to believers, they are challenged and become confrontational because the atheist wants an elaboration and factual proof to a believers faith.. is this unreasonable?

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  Island Man

  Simon is an atheist, so yeah, this site is controlled by atheists. Atheists rule! Yeah!!
  
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  6

  The Original Sin - Emperor’s New Suit

  by learnaway in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  introduction: most religions based on the bible, have been teaching paul’s propagated doctrine for thousands of years which claims that human beings are born with the original sin, inherited from adam, thereby redemption is required.

  it is not enough to be described with a few lines of explanation that paul’s doctrine is false, because this examination goes against the faith of the redemption doctrine, which cultivated by tertullian, augustine, calvin; and gave a source of power and enormous wealth for the church for many millennia.

  however, hopefully readers could grasp the undeniable truth regarding original sin and redemption..

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  Island Man

  According to the Genesis account, Satan never lied to mankind. Their eyes opened just like he said it would. And they did not die in the very day of eating it - just like satan said they would not - contrary to God's claim that they would. Also, because of eating of the fruit, man has the opportunity to go to heaven and live like a god with God, forever! Would man have had that glorious opportunity had Adam and Eve not eaten of the fruit? So Satan's claims turn out to be spot on! It is God's claim that they will die in the very day of eating the fruit, that turned out to be a lie.

  I don't believe the writer of Genesis 3 was attempting to portray Satan as a liar. In fact I don't believe the writer of Genesis 3 was even knew about Satan! The first 3 chapters is obviously an ancient creation myth in the tradition of "Just So" fables designed to provide answers to such questions as:

  Where did the world and all humans and animals come from?

  Why are people ashamed to be naked?

  Why do women have painful childbirth?

  Why do men have one shorter rib than women?

  Why do men dominate women?
  

  Why do we have to work so hard to live?

  Why do we die?

  Why do serpents not have legs?
  

  The chapters were later coopted and reinterpreted as having deeper symbolic meaning and that's how the serpent came to regarded as being satan or satan's puppet. There is nothing in the text itself to indicate the snake is being manipulated by satan, In fact, the text itself explains the serpent's conversation with Eve by saying that serpents are by nature very wise/crafty. So not only does the writer not give any indication of the snake being manipulated by a higher power, he also give the impression that the snake is acting that way because of its own inherent nature!
  
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  15

  Which delusion will you choose?

  by JW_Rogue in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  it occurred to me while at today's wt study that over 100 people were wasting an hour of their life studiously examining the differences between two delusions, paradise earth and the heavenly hope.

  everyone made it sound so serious when in reality it means nothing at all.

  either choice is wrong and foolish nonsense.. it was mentioned that mark sanderson found his heavenly calling at very young age.

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  Island Man

  Did you notice the way paragraph 10 twisted the meaning of that text from 1 John 2:27? Their explanation of that text is a blatant lie as the words of the text and the context shows. So paragraph 10 is a lie within a delusion.
  
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  17

  "Don't make mountains out of molehills"

  by stephanie61092 in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  during the talk today, the speaker said, in reference to apostates, "don't make mountains out of molehills" and "all those who are do good to look up isaiah 43:18.

  " to save you trouble, it says: "do not remember the former things, and do not dwell on the past.".

  i'd like to see him read that scripture to the victims of the hundreds and hundreds of abuse cases the arc has unveiled from over the past 50 years.

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  Island Man

  When defending their position that theirs is the only true religion, JWs make mountains out of the molehill differences between their religion and other religions very similar to their own. But when called out on their own false teachings and wrongs, JWs turn around and make molehills out of their own mountainous wrongs. They are hypocrites.
  
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  10

  Evolution is a Fact #31 - Micky Mouse

  by GodZoo in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  yep folks.. it's established scientific fact that micky mouse is the result of natural selection and colouring pencils... .

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow79mksodjs.

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  Island Man

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFxu7NEoKC8
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  29

  Is Reading/Writing about Mythologies bad?

  by Messhy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  as the topic title says, is reading/writing about mythologies bad?

  i read alot of mythologies and enjoy it.

  should i stop?.

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  Island Man

  No. I think mythologies are actually a good way to write about sensitive social issues without offending the audience. For example, imagine you're trying to teach Palestinians and Israelis about the need to stop the attacks and reprisals.

  If you do a movie about Palestinians and Israelis then one or both sides in the real life conflict might accuse you of supporting the other side and not take your movie seriously at all or take offense at it.

  But if you do a mythological story about two alien clans fighting for control of a particular planet ...

  So mythology can serve as a means of teaching important lessons that address real-world sensitive issues, without directly referencing the those involved and offending them.
  
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  6

  Evolution is a Fact #30 - Your Third Eyelid

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  fish, reptiles, birds and some mammals have an additional eyelid that is called a nictitating membrane.

  it is more or less transparent and unlike our eyelids it moves sideways across the eye.

  as well as protecting the eye it also helps with cleaning and lubrication.. a falcon diving at 200mph has good reason to want to want a pair of goggles to protect its eyes from insects and debris.

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  Island Man

  And don't forget ring species.
  
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  19

  Never Allowed to be Myself

  by NeverAllowestobeMyself in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  so my handle has a typo, it is supposed to be never allowed to be myself but i'm okay with that because it is kind of symbolic of my situation.

  as a born-in i have always had expectations forced on me, this is what you are to think, feel and do as a jehovah's witness.

  my earliest memories involve being upset that i would die at armageddon because i was bad.

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  Island Man

  "So my handle has a typo..."

  Is it now? And here I thought it was a creative way of illustrating the point that you're not allowed to be yourself - not even to have your own name the exact way you want it. It's a nice artistic typo, if I may say so.
  
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  13

  making memorial bread parties

  by wannaexit in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i though i'd heard and seen it all.

  i guess i was mistaken.

  i saw from various social media the the witnesses are holding parties to  make memorial bread.

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  Island Man

  I think we're seeing the religion attempting to go mainstream from the rank and file level. The GB have instituted some cosmetic changes in a bid to make the religion more appealing to young people - Kaleb and Sofia cartoons for the kids; encouraging the use of electronic devices at the meetings; soft-rock and pop music videos on JW broadcast, ...

  Many JWs are as a result pushing the envelope in terms of engaging in more liberal behavior that would have been frowned upon decades ago. More and more dubs are taking the religion less religiously and more socially. Memorial bread parties are symptomatic of the phenomenon.

  One of two things is going to happen soon:

  • The GB is going to do a 180 turn and tighten the reins a bit to squelch growing trends toward watering down and liberalizing the religion.

  • The GB is going to allow the liberalizing to continue and JWism will slowly water down more and more into a social club until eventually it loses it's extremist flavor altogether and become like the Catholic church.
    
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  32

  Self-Driving vehicles and delivery robots - why?

  by FadeToBlack in

  1. social
  2. current

  i saw a 'news' article today about pizza hut (i think) delivering pizzas via a robotic vehicle in nz.

  also another article headline saying it is not a question of if, but when.

  my immediate thought was, why?

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  Island Man

  I will say this however. When it comes to artificial intelligence, I believe that such beings should not be physically enabled. They should just be a brain in a box, able only to give information but not perform any physical actions or physically control other systems. Great care needs to be exercised with AI. We already know what humans are capable of. it would be foolish to develop super-smart AIs with free will to act. Just as there is separation for church and state in America, there should be separation of brain and actuation when we're dealing with Artificial Intelligence.

  And when I speak of artificial intelligence, I'm not speaking about the illusion of artificial intelligence. I'm speaking of actual Artificial intelligence, as in self-conscious, self-willed intelligent beings.