Island Man

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Posts by Island Man

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  205

  Mathematically Measuring Evolution.

  by towerwatchman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  mathematically measuring evolution.. when judging relationships in terms of morphological characteristics we will always be bound by the subjective.

  morphologically one cannot exactly measure the distance between two organisms strictly in mathematical terms.

  using the standard method of taxonomy we cannot quantify the difference between a horse and a mouse, or know which is closer mouse to cat, or mouse to fish.

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  Island Man

  Ignorance + intellectual dishonesty = Creationists

  Ignorance + intellectual dishonesty + fallacious reasoning = Creationists
  
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  30

  The Pagan Origins of the Memorial Observed by Jehovah’s Witnesses

  by David_Jay in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  “we don’t celebrate holidays because god doesn’t approve of any celebration that is rooted in pagan customs and manmade traditions.” (see here for a similar jw response.).

  if you were once an ex-jw like me, you have probably said something like this out in field service to someone who asked the question: why don’t you people celebrate holidays?

  as the witnesses' official website states in an faq about not celebrating easter:.

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  Island Man

  One thing I will say is that the use of wine at the passover is a human tradition, which, does not comport with the JW self-righteous mindset. How so?

  1. The Mosaic Law stipulated that the passover bread be unleavened.
  2. Leaven is used to symbolize sin.
  3. Wine is a "leavened" drink.
  4. Therefore, according to the JW self-righteous mindset, abstaining from leavened bread on the passover would also mean, in principle, abstaining from alcohol.

  But the Jews started the tradition of drinking wine at the passover and Jesus, instead of being like a good self-righteous JW and condemning this tradition, co-opts it and uses the wine in his own memorial ritual. Thus it is shown that Jesus is very much not a JW and his willingness to use wine at his memorial celebration implicitly exposes the self-righteous nature of JW reasoning.
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  11

  Scriptures that now have such a different meaning?!

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  it struck me that so many of the scriptures that the society uses to condemn others, can actually apply to them!.

  when we read them without the application that the society enforces, they can make you have that "ah-ha!

  " moment.... for instance, how about:.

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  Island Man

  JWs gloating and boasting about their organization, saying there is none like it in the world, is tantamount to worship - idolatry - according to this verse:

  "...and they worshipped the wild beast with the words: “Who is like the wild beast, and who can do battle with it?" - Revelation 13:4

  JWs regularly point to their "powerful works" such as preaching in many lands, and having their literature translated in many languages, as proof that they have Jehovah and Jesus' approval. This isn't much different to the attitude of those that Jesus will reject according to this verse:

  "Many will say to me in that day: ‘Lord, Lord,+ did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?’+ 23 And then I will declare to them: ‘I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!’" - Matthew 7:22,23

  JWs love to make a big deal about the origins and meanings of words in their efforts to find fault with, and proudly separate themselves from, the rest of christendom. They use such things to exalt themselves as having special knowledge that others lack and to draw away disaffected members of christendom. Think of the big fuss they make over the original meaning of the word stauros while they conveniently ignore the later usages that it acquired by Jesus' day. This attitude and the ugly fruits it produces is mentioned in this scripture:

  "he is puffed up with pride and does not understand anything.+ He is obsessed* with arguments and debates about words.+ These things give rise to envy, strife, slander,* wicked suspicions, 5 constant disputes about minor matters by men who are corrupted in mind+ and deprived of the truth, thinking that godly devotion is a means of gain." - 1 Timothy 6:4,5
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  69

  What food are you grateful for?

  by punkofnice in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'll start: stilton cheese.. (it was a toss up between that and sweet pickled beetroot).. thank you folks..

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  Island Man

  punkofnice: "The bottled concentrate isn't the same as home made."

  Yes they typically aren't. But some taste better than others. Have you tried this one?

  
  
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  69

  What food are you grateful for?

  by punkofnice in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'll start: stilton cheese.. (it was a toss up between that and sweet pickled beetroot).. thank you folks..

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  Island Man

  Chocolate.

  Doubles.

  Curried chicken and potatoes wrapped in a roti.

  Breadfruit, salted beef and spinach cooked slowly in coconut milk with curry, turmeric, garlic, pepper, onion, thyme and other spices.

  Mauby. (drink)

  Peanut sugar cake - roasted peanuts held together by a hardened syrup made with brown sugar, coconut milk and ginger.

  Boneless, flaked, smoked herring seasoned with garlic, onion and olive oil and sandwiched in a hot bake.

  Ting. (drink)

  Asham - roasted corn ground to a powder together with sugar and salt to make a sweet confectionary powder.
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  46

  Do You Trust The News Media?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  obviously, trump doesn't.

  but do you?

  do you think that they are generally fair, unbiased and honest?.

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  Island Man

  I trust the news media to be about 95% correct about 95% of the time. But I don't trust any one news medium. Not everything in the news is 100% correct all of the time. Getting the same story from multiple news sources is a good way of weeding out most of the errors.

  However, the kind of doubt that JWs and other miscriant entities would want us to put in the media so as to turn a blind eye to negative news reports about them ... I trust the news media more than I trust those trying to get me to disbelieve negative stories I see in the media.
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  11

  Scriptures that now have such a different meaning?!

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  it struck me that so many of the scriptures that the society uses to condemn others, can actually apply to them!.

  when we read them without the application that the society enforces, they can make you have that "ah-ha!

  " moment.... for instance, how about:.

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  Island Man

  Why they are terrified of JWs visiting apostate sites:

  "The first to state his case [[Watchtower]] seems right, Until the other party [[the apostate]] comes and cross-examines him." - Proverbs 18:17

  Their prolific publishing and studying of Watchtower literature is not healthy according to Ecclesiastes 12:12:

  "... To the making of many books there is no end, and much devotion to them is wearisome to the flesh." - Ecclesiastes 12:12

  Their haughty attitude of comparing themselves to other religions so as to exalt themselves as the truth and condemn the others as nothing, is condemned by Jesus at Luke 18:9-14.

  They love to misuse Proverbs 4:18 to justify their prolific history of changing errors but 2 Timothy 3:7 is more pertinent:

  "always learning and yet never able to come to an accurate knowledge of truth." - 2 Timothy 3:7

  The gullible willingness of JWs to accept any and every changed teaching promulgated by Watchtower:

  "... children, tossed about as by waves and carried here and there by every wind of teaching by means of the trickery of men, by means of cunning in deceptive schemes." - Ephesians 4:14

  They love to cite Matthew 23:9 to condemn Christendom's use of the title "Father", but are hypocritically blind to how their having a group of brothers called a "Governing Body" violates the spirit of Jesus' words in the very next verse:

  "Neither be called leaders, for your Leader is one, the Christ." - Matthew 23:10

  99.9+% of JWs reject the heavenly hope and they discourage persons they study with, from having the heavenly hope:

  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut up the Kingdom of the heavens before men; for you yourselves do not go in, neither do you permit those on their way in to go in." - Matthew 23:13

  And I'm only just getting started ... don't get me started ...
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  102

  Any atheists here? Have you come to terms with your new reality?

  by kpop in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  alone, without my safety net of "god" being there to remember me when i die.

  after much consideration, examining science, history and using logic, i have come to the conclusion that there is no "god" at least certainly no loving, personal "god.

  " shortly before my final conclusion was reached, i read an excerpt from an expression attributed to marcus aurelius, .

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  Island Man

  dubstepped: "... the thought of losing my life ..."

  You need to come to grip with the fact that it's not real. It's just a figure of speech. I know you know that on a conscious level. But do you know it on a subconscious level? You'll never lose your life - no one loses their life. You only lose the life of loved ones that die. Only the living lose lives. Losing something means having the experience of being deprived of it. The dead experience nothing therefore they don't lose anything. Death doesn't harm the dead. It only harms the living - those who lose loved ones in death and those who needlessly worry about their own future death because of the psychological torture of the figurative phrase "losing your life".
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  144

  RC 2017

  by wifibandit in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  due to last years success, i will post everything related to the 2017 regional convention in this thread.. to start us off.... thanks to exjw reddit user ich3b we have advance notice of the theme (this is not a joke!).

  the theme for the 2017 regional convention is: "don’t give up!” .

  as always, if you have access to confidential materials you would like to leak but need to protect your identity, pm me or email me: wifibandit1 (at) gmail.

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  Island Man

  Based on the theme, the drama and the sunday afternoon talk, it looks like this is going to be one of those "armageddon is nigh" conventions that will stir up more hype and expectation among the JWs about the end being very, very, very near, just around the corner, like one Trump blunder away.
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  32

  Sister at Kingdom Hall visibly upset "they took jehovahs name out of song"

  by hoser in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i went to meeting today and the sister in front of me was upset song 134 now song 139 no longer contains jehovahs name.

  they took it out.

  i never even noticed .

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  Island Man

  Tom honest the previous line was appalling. It always seemed to me that the gb was giving the "living god" a pat on the head "Jehovah our God, how well you have done!"
  How can you be arrogant enough to patronise your creator?

  I was thinking along the same lines.