Posts by DJS

144

Escaping Indoctrination - Faith Isn't a Virtue.

by cofty in

the unknown writer of the gospel of john put the following words in jesus' mouth, "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.".

persuading countless generations that it is a virtue to believe incredible things on insufficient evidence, is one of religion's cleverest tricks.. the more incredible the claim; the more flimsy the evidence; the stronger the belief; the greater the virtue.. this is the exact opposite of how we operate in every other aspect of our lives.. rational people must demand objective evidence for everything they are asked to believe.

"extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence".. leaving the dogmatic claims of the watchtower is only a first step.

DJS

Cofty,

Ditto about exposing one's self to the very best arguments for and against personal beliefs. Anyone who has obtained a master's degree has likely completed a thesis or major research paper that requires something called a review of the literature. A PhD typically requires it. And by a review of the literature it isn't talking about Harry Potter or Wikipedia; it is a requirement that the student closely evaluate all of the academic 'evidence' that exists on the question or hyothesis they are trying to answer or address. This should include all of the data, not just that which supports the student's premise. I've referred to it previously as a 360 degree analysis of a subject.

That is the only way someone will truly learn a subject, and it certainly is the only way someone can learn it well enough to teach it to others at the college level (you may get away with it in high school or grade school). But it requires an open mind and a true desire to find the truth, or as much as possible, about a topic. Dubs and ex-Dubs, from what I can see from being on this site for about a year, don't seem to understand that. The same mind-set that trapped them in the Borg seems to follow them along in life. Or leads them rather. Snare and Oubilette, who I understand is a science teacher, know this well. It also takes humility, as you often find that cherished 'beliefs' fall by the wayside when the stark cold facts of a matter are revealed.

All of us should have been humbled by our Borg experience. What we thought with all of our minds and hearts turned out to be pure rubbish. It's a shame we don't see more humility and desire to truly learn something on this site.

32

The Rants of a Dumbass Elder Still Serving

by TTATTelder in

ok in the effort of full disclosure, i have had a couple of drinks and recently experienced a circuit assembly and a bad experience with a co.. i don't know where to effing begin.

first of all the circuit assembly was a joke.

half the assembly was about pioneering and selling your soul to be a no-pay salesman for the borg.

DJS

TTATT,

You describe what I was going through my last year or so in the Borg when I was sick of it, serving as an elder but did not realize it was a cult and was anything but the truth. I couldn't hide my disgust for it, and I don't see how you can either. My hat is off to you. Good luck keeping it all inside without exploding or harming your health.

78

I was "totally" stopped in my tracks by an "atheist" comment.

by booker-t in

i must admit i can at times be a little "egotistical" when it comes to knowledge and the bible.

i have studied the bible for so long and have always had a passion for the bible as a jw and as an ex-jw.

i guess that is all i have left when it comes to religion and as humans we do tend to stroke our egos.

DJS

Ag,

Gotcha. My bad for not following along more closely. All apologies.

15

Wine Appreciation

by FL_Panthers in

for the love wine.. .

what are you drinking at the moment?.

DJS

FP,

Again, nice OP. You are on a roll, dude. I'm having a wine/cheese party tonight to show off my house, art and hot girl. Any suggestions for wines?

78

I was "totally" stopped in my tracks by an "atheist" comment.

by booker-t in

i must admit i can at times be a little "egotistical" when it comes to knowledge and the bible.

i have studied the bible for so long and have always had a passion for the bible as a jw and as an ex-jw.

i guess that is all i have left when it comes to religion and as humans we do tend to stroke our egos.

DJS

Ag,

An average difference of 6 IQ points per individual is statistically significant, as the researchers pointed out.

78

I was "totally" stopped in my tracks by an "atheist" comment.

by booker-t in

i must admit i can at times be a little "egotistical" when it comes to knowledge and the bible.

i have studied the bible for so long and have always had a passion for the bible as a jw and as an ex-jw.

i guess that is all i have left when it comes to religion and as humans we do tend to stroke our egos.

DJS

Phiz,

Great question. Goggle it. There are a lot of good studies on intelligence. Once thought to be static, researchers now know that IQ is malleable and can change with age, better nutrition, improved education, etc. The answer to your question seems to be both.

78

I was "totally" stopped in my tracks by an "atheist" comment.

by booker-t in

i must admit i can at times be a little "egotistical" when it comes to knowledge and the bible.

i have studied the bible for so long and have always had a passion for the bible as a jw and as an ex-jw.

i guess that is all i have left when it comes to religion and as humans we do tend to stroke our egos.

DJS

To Booker T's credit, he did make it to step 3.5, as he has intense bible learnin'. But for cripes sake, didn't all of us have intense bible learnin' when we were in the Borg? To act like that means something upon our exit from the cult slays me. Booker T: Expand your intense bible learnin' knowledge of which you are so proud to include a complete 360 degree study and analysis of all things religious.

Then, after you have completed your studies, come back on here and tell me what type of frame you want for your official atheist certificate.

51

What is the key to free yourself from the Organization?

by suavojr in

they key to free yourself from the organization is having mental clarity of what is happening in relation to the watchtower, inside and out.

their basic concept is that they are god's sole organization on earth.

there really is no basis for anyone to make that statement.

DJS

To quote the great 20th Century Philosopher Paul Simon:

“The problem is all inside your head”

She said to me
“The answer is easy if you
Take it logically
I’d like to help you in your struggle
To be free
There must be fifty ways
To leave your lover”

She said, “It’s really not my habit to intrude
Furthermore, I hope my meaning
Won’t be lost or misconstrued
But I’ll repeat myself
At the risk of being crude

You just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don’t need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free

78

I was "totally" stopped in my tracks by an "atheist" comment.

by booker-t in

i must admit i can at times be a little "egotistical" when it comes to knowledge and the bible.

i have studied the bible for so long and have always had a passion for the bible as a jw and as an ex-jw.

i guess that is all i have left when it comes to religion and as humans we do tend to stroke our egos.

DJS

Jam

Nice post. It only makes sense that agnostics and atheists would know more about relgion than the religious. I have noted on several occasions that believing is one step up in the evolutionary chain for sentient creatures. It's just above feeling. Many religious people simply stop right there and never take the time to think, research from a 360 degree perspesctrive, analyze and prove. It appears, based on the data, that the same lazy mindedness associated with their religion carries over to most everything else.

Atheists tend to require as much very good evidence as possible before making decisions. And several studies point out that atheists are simpy more intelligent than religious people. I posted a refernce to one such study last week. Here it is again:

In a 2013 meta-analysis, led by Professor Miron Zuckerman, of 63 scientific studies about IQ and religiosity, a negative relation between intelligence and religiosity was found in 53 out of 63.

In 2008, intelligence researcher Helmuth Nyborg examined whether IQ relates to denomination and income, using representative data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth, which includes intelligence tests on a representative selection of white American youth, where they have also replied to questions about religious belief. His results, published in the scientific journal Intelligence, demonstrated that atheists scored an average of 1.95 IQ points higher than agnostics, 3.82 points higher than liberal persuasions, and 5.89 IQ points higher than other dogmatic persuasions.

Secondly, the authors investigated the link between religiosity and intelligence on a country level. Among the sample of 137 countries, only 23 (17%) had more than 20% of atheists, which constituted “virtually all... higher IQ countries.” The authors reported a correlation of 0.60 between atheism rates and level of intelligence, which was determined to be “highly statistically significant”.

12

I love the fact that the GB is becoming more visible. Why? Think micro expressions.

by Island Man in

micro expressions are involuntary facial expressions lasting for half a second or less.

these facial expressions mirror a person's true emotions and so provide a window into a person's feelings in response to a statement or question.

particular facial expressions correspond to particular emotions and the mappings are universal across cultures.

DJS

The GB, and the WT President before that, have always had a man crush on the pope. They tend to mirror the pope's actions and ways. The current pope is a people person and interacts with common folk a lot. He is not afraid to show his human-ness. Expect the GB to try to emulate this to some degree - and do so pathetically - as they always do.