Island Man

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Posts by Island Man

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  15

  Russia's Supreme Court shuts down Church of Scientology

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  russian church welcomes shutdown of "moscow church of scientology".

  moscow, july 1, interfax - the russian orthodox church has welcomed a ruling by the russian supreme court which yesterday upheld the legality of a shutdown of the "church of scientology of moscow".

  "the upholding by the supreme court of the legality of the shutdown of the so-called church of scientology is seen as an important precedent demonstrating the state's determination not to recognize as religious those organizations that use people's religious feeling for malign purposes, " russian orthodox church spokesman vakhtang kipshidze told interfax-religion.the ruling in the scientologists' case is not a breach of the religious freedom since "it was proved in court that the very activity of this organization is an affront to human freedom as such," kipshidze said.the russian orthodox church regularly comes into contact with people whose membership in totalitarian sects left them deeply wounded spiritually and mentally, ruined their lives and happiness, the spokesman said.

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  Island Man

  Yet here we are 2,000 years later. We have the internet. We're more literate. And yet people still believe those myths and superstitions from 2,000 years ago. And new ones like scientology are growing.

  Actually, the non-religious worldwide are growing, in large measure due to the growing availability of information on the internet. It will take some time for religion to retreat to a small minority. After all we didn't get to this stage over night, but over the course of thousands of years. I highly doubt scientology is growing in developed countries where there is ready access to information about the religion through the internet.
  
  
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  43

  At a regional convention today....

  by Nobodyspecial in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it really stands out to me just how phoney the bonds of forced brotherhood are.

  the smiles are paper thin when they see each other in hotels.

  the laughs forced.

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  Island Man

  "The smiles are paper thin when they see each other in hotels. The laughs forced."

  Many JWs exhibit a scripted, put-on kind of love and warmth that originates from a prideful need to prove to themselves and the world that they are true followers of christ. Watchtower constantly tells them that JWs are true christians and that true christians have love for one another, this causes many JWs to feel obligated to perform plastic smiles and plastic hugs to boastfully support the claim that JWs are true christians.
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  12

  unemployed bethel art dept. personell surface.

  by aintenoughwiskey in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my jadar lit up.

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  Island Man

  Yes it's brimming with Watchcraft!
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  47

  Is the Bible God's word? Help please.....

  by Freeandclear in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so real quick, i know this comes up now and then and i've looked over some of the posts from the past but here's the thing.. when i was a jw i drank all the cool aid, i was 100% and so i have all my own arguments (from the jw's) for why the bible is inspired.

  i no longer believe this but i'd really like to read something that is pretty much 100% academic on this subject.

  i want to read what scholars have to say about the authenticity of the bible and it's claim at being the inspired word of god.

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  Island Man

  "To be fair, the bible is suppose to be symbolic in parts. Problem is which parts?"

  Which parts? The parts that explicitly contradict [insert name of denomination]'s religious teachings.
  
  
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  75

  JWs anti gay video reaches over 1,000,000 views on youtube

  by alanv in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the anti gay video that watchtower recently produced has now had over 1,000,000 views.

  of those who selected to like or dislike the video, over 92% disliked it.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnk52bu92oe.

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  Island Man

  cofty, do you think freedom of speech means that a person should be able to publicly teach that tea made with Oleander leaves (deadly poison!) is a good remedy for the common cold, without facing any criminal charges?

  Don't governments have a responsibility to protect their gullible, ignorant citizens? If govts have a responsibility to protect the physically weak from being harmed by others then they also have a responsibility to protect the intellectually weak from being harmed by others.

  Freedom of speech is good as long as the speech does not hamper the freedom of life and wellbeing of others. Tell me what harm results from criminalising the public dissemination of ideas which are not provably true and which, when followed, result in the harm of others.
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  25

  Beard's Coming to the Borg!

  by DwainBowman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  wt sept study edition, page 17, paragraph 17!

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  Island Man

  I have an idea: Do a survey!

  Do a survey in your area where you go around to businesses asking the managers their view on having a modest, neatly groomed beard. Do they think it's acceptable, or do they think it sends the wrong message or is unprofessional.

  If the survey overwhelmingly shows that businessmen are accepting of modest, neatly trimmed beards, then you can use this survey as proof to your elders that modest neatly trimmed beards are not looked down on in your area and thus there is no basis for discouraging men in the congregation from having modest, neatly trimmed beards.

  Or raise a shit-storm in the local press. Write an anonymous letter to the editor exposing this issue to the public. Get the public and the media involved. Get the public microscope focused on the congregation over this pharisaic issue. The elders will soon be growing their own beards to counteract the negative publicity!
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  32

  God does not desire any to be destroyed?

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  so if the idea is promoted that god doesn't want anyone to be destroyed, why does he make it so confusing for people to learn about him?.

  why are there thousands of differing religions?.

  why has "his only true organisation" even taught so many varying doctrines?.

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  Island Man

  What exactly, are we supposed to believe Perry? Which of the 30,000+ interpretations of the Bible are we supposed to put faith in?
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  2

  Help! German Youtube into English.

  by nakanozzi in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  i want this video translated in english.

  auto-translate isn't very much help for me.. jw child abuse in germany.

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  Island Man

  Click the settings button, then click the subtitles option then click the auto-translate option and choose the appropriate language settings.
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  32

  God does not desire any to be destroyed?

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  so if the idea is promoted that god doesn't want anyone to be destroyed, why does he make it so confusing for people to learn about him?.

  why are there thousands of differing religions?.

  why has "his only true organisation" even taught so many varying doctrines?.

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  Island Man

  The God of the bible is like the wife who gets upset with her clueless/emotionally unintelligent husband for saying/doing/not doing something and starts giving him the silent treatment and does not tell him exactly what it is he did wrong but expects him to know what it is and apologize for it or else he's doomed to sleeping on the couch for all eternity.

  The God of the bible has distanced himself from imperfect humanity for something their forefathers did and expects them to find exactly the right religion out of thousands without telling them which one it is and if they don't, he condemns them to eternal torment in hell or annihilation (depending on which religion you guess he's working with)
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  75

  JWs anti gay video reaches over 1,000,000 views on youtube

  by alanv in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the anti gay video that watchtower recently produced has now had over 1,000,000 views.

  of those who selected to like or dislike the video, over 92% disliked it.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnk52bu92oe.

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  Island Man

  What about anti-vaxxers? Their stupidity can be measured in child deaths. Shall we lock them up for expressing their ignorance in public?

  YES! Given that vaccination saves lives and given that lack of vaccination results in preventable deaths, anyone who publicly advocates against vaccination should prove their case empirically or face prison time for reckless endangerment of the public.

  When people are publicly sharing ideas that can cause actual harm and even the death of others, then that should be a crime punishable with imprisonment. There's nothing wrong with criticising policies or claims. But when criticism is provable false and provably harmful, that is - should be - a crime. I see it as being just as bad as a man who falsely shouts "fire!" in a crowded theatre, igniting a stampede that results in the trampling deaths of many.