Posts by DJS

30

Anyone been watchtower conductor

by Saltheart Foamfollower in

jw
friends

i think there is a good chance i'm going to be asked to be the watchtower conductor.

on the one hand, i'll find it quite difficult some weeks having to go along with what is written.

on the other hand, there'll be opportunities to ask controversial questions (within limits).

DJS

I agree with Oubilette. I occasionally conducted the WT and was the shool overseer for several years. I also gave more public talks than the other elders because people thought I was good at it. Once it became apparent to the BOE that I was becoming disillusioned with the Borg's controlling nonsense I think they watched me closely and probably began limiting my availability for public talks, etc. Which was a good thing. I'm transparent. I'm not a good actor. I couldn't contain my revulsion for the Borg's nonsense, and others saw it.

If you are a good actor, even if you can control your derision for all things Borg, sooner or later someone is going to question your loyalty. They won't likely discuss it with you, but they will discuss you behind your back. These will typically be other elders. You likely won't like the results, and neither will your family and those close to you. These are things, if you are a currently serving elder, you should already know and have experienced or seen at your congregation and others.

Move along. Quickly and quietly.

11

Seriously? 2,000 years of continuously diverging opinion about "interpretation" isn't enough time to sort it out?

by suavojr in

jw
friends

the current jw's who are inside (the conscience class) will have to endure another year of jw's pretending to please jesus with their bad imitation of the lords supper.

2000 years of people who could never be sure they had "the truth.

" what are the chances it'll come out in the next 2000?.

DJS

Snare and Xanthippe,

One of the primary reasons theism was so easy for us to accept (in addition to our family/culture) is that the bible's 'chronology' of the creation of Adam, which is a story that we thought fact, leads quite direclty and promptly to Abraham and others who have some historicity behind them. A logical leap, when we were Dubs, is that such a short span - of a few thousand years - for human existence readily explained how and why god communicated with us. We may have questioned it a bit, but the sequential linearity of it all kinda sorta made sense. When we were ignorant.

Since the Adam/Eve story is nothing but pure BS, one would think that the average ex-JW (yes I'm talking to you Kate) would put 2 and 2 together and realize that humans have been around in essentially our current form for at least 100,000 years and likely much, much longer. Where the eff was god for all those in the far distant past when they needed her? And considering how very very difficult it was to be a human on this inhospitable planet they certainly needed her, from a theist perspective.

IMHO, to continue to place unquestioning belief in such a deity, based on nothing more than the bible really, is delusional. And absent the bible, sentient beings (some of which are actually members of this site), should demand a lot more about such a god than simply 'believing.' Remove the bible and that is all that is left. Other than their mantras. Which nauseate me.

11

Seriously? 2,000 years of continuously diverging opinion about "interpretation" isn't enough time to sort it out?

by suavojr in

jw
friends

the current jw's who are inside (the conscience class) will have to endure another year of jw's pretending to please jesus with their bad imitation of the lords supper.

2000 years of people who could never be sure they had "the truth.

" what are the chances it'll come out in the next 2000?.

DJS

Snare,

IMHO this is a better support for evolution!!! To think that an all powerful, knowing god capable of creating the universe and all that is in it is only capable of speaking to his 'most' important creation through a few old men over a thousand or two years and in such a ridiculous, confusing, meaningless manner chock full of riddles as the bible???? I mean really, is this the BEST she can do? And what about all of those poor humans who lived before she had this mish mash written down? Unimportant? Or maybe god really is a guy and he has a double Y chromosome pattern which impacts his ability to communicate.

ANY theist who would give this seriousl thought for a few minutes would become an atheist (yes Kate I'm talking to you!).

23

MAS370 - Was it a Remote Hijacking?

by fulltimestudent in

professor kevin barrett is not exactly the most trusted commentator you could find, but that, of course, just maybe because, there are people who want his views on 9/11 to be ignored.. anyway he's advanced a theory that the missing malaysian airlines plane was remotely hi-jacked.

in the absence of other evidence, it just maybe what happened.

to consider whether it did happen, we need to ask why it may have been hijacked?

DJS

FullTime

You make some good posts. This isn't one of them. You are risking not being taken seriously for this and a few other recent posts. Conduct a bit more research and you will see that this isn't feasible/doable.

37

Largest Genome Ever Sequenced - and it's 82% Junk

by cofty in

by developing new techniques, a team of scientists led by david neale at the university of california have succeeded in sequencing the genome of the loblolly pine pinus taeda.. the genome is 16 billion base pairs long - 7 times larger than the human genome.

so why does it take so much dna to make a tree?

well it turns out it doesn't.. the new sequence confirmed that the loblolly genome is so large because it is crammed full of invasive dna elements that copied themselves around the genome.

DJS

Snare,

That's exactly what I was thinking. From a management standpoint, a similar "DNA" for corporations (and individuals within corporations) is "change or die." I actually did a research report on this years ago. Companies and individuals more capable (Junk DNA???) of quickly changing and adapting to workplace changes more often thrive. Others wither, leave or are replaced. Valid hypothesis. You've given me an idea for my doctoral dissertation. Thanks!

47

Im new and need help!

by Batman89 in

hello everybody, before i begin i just wanna say that i have really found alot of great posts on here that have been helpful forme , theres definitely alot of brilliant people here!.

i am a born in jw(24 years old) ive been baptized for 7 years and was a ministerial servant for 4 years(i am no longer one).

recently me and my parents have have woken up to ttatt(about 2 months ago).

DJS

Dear Vicki Vail (Batman's GF for you like-mindednereds) (or whatever her name is),

You indicated the last time we talked that I should take some time to figure things out. I have already 'figured things out' as it applies to the WT. I will never return to it. I love you and wish you well; if you figure things out about the WT, as have I and millioins of other former JWs, I would love to hear from you. Perhaps we can make things work. Good luck Vicki.

Love,

Batman

Walk away Renee

26

Atheism and Doubt are Spiritual Phenomena

by kassad84 in

interesting article.

http://kabane52.tumblr.com/post/76249867603/atheism-and-doubt-are-spiritual-phenomena.

DJS

kassad,

Ditto to what Cofty said (I say that a lot don't I?). I'm sorry you find life so bleak. I don't. I have a freaking blast. Great friends. Beautiful art. Wonderful places to travel. Amazing kids. Hot girls. Incredible work. My universe isn't black and meaningless. And I waste no time in whether a god or other fairly tale person exisits. And if she does exist, how is that going to matter with how I live my life and what I think of her or the future? It doesn't. Live.

41

Why don't Born Again Christians include themselves as "Cults"?

by booker-t in

jw
friends

when i see or hear born again christians calling mormons, jws, 7th day adventists, jews etc; cults i always have wondered is that not the pot calling the kettle black?

i just amazes me how so much in denial bacs(born again christians) are.

they love to condemn and throw stones at others but they will never, never, and i mean never label themselves as cults even though they have some of the weirdest beliefs.

DJS

Perry,

I respect you. At least you keep your proseletyzing out of non-theist topics. Your viewpoint nauseates me. But I respect you.

15

Another earthquake and possible tsunami. " the end must be close!"

by stuckinarut2 in

so we have heard of an earthquake today, and possible tsunami...and immediately i am told.

" well we must be close".

it is as if the witnesses are so happy that another tragedy has occurred!

DJS

Cofty,

I will give god a hall-pass on bad design. But she's an idiot for not fixing it after it became clear that her design kinda sorta sucked. It's similar to General Motors in the U.S. right now; they knew of bad design on ignitions for years but just recently recalled those vehicles after numerous deaths caused by the bad design. So I guess their record is better than god's.

41

Why don't Born Again Christians include themselves as "Cults"?

by booker-t in

jw
friends

when i see or hear born again christians calling mormons, jws, 7th day adventists, jews etc; cults i always have wondered is that not the pot calling the kettle black?

i just amazes me how so much in denial bacs(born again christians) are.

they love to condemn and throw stones at others but they will never, never, and i mean never label themselves as cults even though they have some of the weirdest beliefs.

DJS

Booker-T (and the MGs??),

Many BACs believe as you state, that Jesus washed their sins away and no matter what vile things they do they are 'saved.' That really has a kind of appeal, now doesn't it!! But a lot of obese people don't think they are even fat, much less obese, so it isn't surprising that no religion wants to admit its a cult. Our society has made the word cult into a very bad thing; Hollywood has certainly helped.