DJS

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Posts by DJS

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  9

  smiddy has changed his Avatar

  by smiddy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a new site so i decided i needed a new look also, like so many others have done.. smiddy .

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  DJS

  Smiddy,

  You have inspired me. My new avatar. Me.
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  12

  (Knock Knock) Who's there?

  by Coded Logic in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  if jws knocked on your door what would you say?.

  i know jws don't really do "ministry" anymore (just leave special campaign tracts at the door and run away as fast as they can so they don't have to talk to anyone) but if they ever actually tried to have a conversation with me i wonder what i would say.

  most likely i'd ask about matthew 4:8 where it says the devil took jesus to the top of an unusually high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world.

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  DJS

  As I've stated before, I would be extremely polite, thank them for their visit and tell them I wasn't interested. Not in a million years would I attempt to start a biblical discussion with a dub or to think that I could (or even wanted to) get them 'thinking'. This is what I have done the handful of times they have come to my house in FS.

  Once I was in my garage waxing my car and two dubs approached me. They were pleasant as was I. They pursued a bit when I kindly told them I wasn't interested. I briefly mentioned that I had been a dub, appreciated and understood what they were doing but I had moved on beyond that. They thanked me and left; a good time was had by all.

  Different strokes, but I can't imagine any universe where I would attempt to have a religious discussion with anyone, especially dubs. And I don't give a flying eft what they believe any longer. It is almost impossible to get ex-dubs on this site to truly open their minds; thinking that I could get a current dub to do so approaches the impossible.

  And I would rather wax my car.
  
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  18

  I Let Go Of Faith Ten years Ago Today

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  after more than 30 years as a jw and 9 as a born-again christian i finally let go of faith 10 years ago today.... it was on boxing day 2004 that news of the asian tsunami put the final nail in the coffin of my relationship with god.

  since that time i have listened attentively to every possible argument in defense of faith; there has never been a single moment that i have felt any discomfort with my decision.. life without god has been liberating.

  no longer do i have to defend the indefensible.

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  DJS

  Cofty,

  Thank you for sharing. Having observed (and learned so much from you) you the past 18 months, the only thing surprising to me about your sojourn is the born again part. (WTF WERE you thinking?!!! LOL).

  Losing my belief in god was such a systematic methodological process that, by the time I no longer believed, it was anti-climactic. A non-event. Otherwise, you capture so much of what so many of us on this site have experienced.

  Thank you for being you, and thank you for being on this site. Your presence has without a doubt helped many. 
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  25

  Public Speaker Training stifled by wt, it's new 'school' programme.

  by prologos in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the 2015 school setup, discussed this week eliminates the last "school talk" by brothers in favour of 'demonstartions" (a la sisters conversations) of family worship sessions and the like.. is this not a shift away from encouraging bright young ones to hone their (under-estimated) speaker skills ---to.

  now using more of the die-hard, org-bound, --even elders in indoctrination demonstrations?.

  do you see this trend?

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  DJS

  St. George of England,

  The changes to the school you describe occurred when I was the school overseer (and during the period I was becoming nauseated by the Dark Lords). No one who really wanted the 'school' to be a school and actually teach individuals to speak would craft the no. 1 talk bible reading in the manner they did, simply reading the scriptures without any time to develop an interesting introduction, conclusion or mid-point talking points.

  This 'simple' change made me see red and despise the Dark Lords even more, believe it or not. It was simply a desire for more control, which is what was driving me from the cult. I shared my disgust with an elder or two; they agreed but said the same brain dead thing as usual, that the Gov. Body must know best. 

  Another brick in the wall.

  
  

  
  

  
  
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  3

  The Atheist Ten Non-Commandments

  by AndDontCallMeShirley in

  1. social
  2. humour

  according to a number of studies though, religion is in trouble.

  a survey by the pew research center in 2012 saw record numbers indicating a huge upswing in atheism, with 20 percent of americans now identifying as agnostic, atheist or "unaffiliated" with a religion.

  this was the highest percentages ever of "nones" or those who are unaffiliated in pew research center polling.. so with more people considering themselves atheist, what do they believe when it comes to the rules to live by?

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  DJS

  ADCMS,

  Ditto to all 10. It is how I try to live. Thanks for sharing.
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  39

  OMG! The world is worse than ever! This system can't last! Violence is increasing! Wait, what's that you say?

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you read jw literature, the world has been progressively getting "worse and worse" since 1914.. is that really the case?.

  for a more rational analysis, look here:.

  a few highlights:.

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  DJS

  Dumbass,

  Parting is such sweet sorrow. But you and I had a good run, didn’t we. I will remember the good times. Like when you made me feel intellectually superior. You were always there for me. Or when I needed emotional relief and no other word would quite do. You never failed me.

  I tried chimp, but it was too cute and just didn't have the needed edge. Neanderthal failed me; the intelligence level of the posters is such that no one ‘got it’.

  But dumbass, you never failed me. You were like my best friend. An old, warm, somewhat frayed but treasured sweater on a cold winter’s night.

  LisaRose kindly tried to warn me. I listened to her for a while, but you were my siren’s song, and I was unshackled to the mast. You were there for the taking, always happy to see me, like a crazed, dopey golden retriever.

  I will never forget how hard I worked to gain exclusive rights to you for this site. That is, except for AndDontCallMeShirley. He and I spent months working on a terms of use agreement that allowed him to use you. It cost me a first round draft pick and some serious cash, but Shirley did you proud.

  But Simon has (finally) spoken.

  Au revoir my friend.
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  39

  OMG! The world is worse than ever! This system can't last! Violence is increasing! Wait, what's that you say?

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you read jw literature, the world has been progressively getting "worse and worse" since 1914.. is that really the case?.

  for a more rational analysis, look here:.

  a few highlights:.

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  DJS

  Apognophos,

  I'm not. A lot of those obviously died when very young. Either way, those were real humans and they factor into the numbers. It is the same now; those who live to 40, 50, etc. have beaten the curve and gotten past childhood diseases, etc. I think we all know that. I listed average life expectancies. You are correct with your adjustment on those who are still alive and who make it to a certain age level. Thank you for the clarification.
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  39

  OMG! The world is worse than ever! This system can't last! Violence is increasing! Wait, what's that you say?

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you read jw literature, the world has been progressively getting "worse and worse" since 1914.. is that really the case?.

  for a more rational analysis, look here:.

  a few highlights:.

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  DJS

  How about this 'temporal statistic' dumbass: Do you know what they called the typical 35 year old human for 100,000 years??? Dead. Deceased. Do you know what they called the typical 35 year old human, including the average 35 year old American, in the year 1900???

  Dead. Deceased.

  Chorination/disinfection of water and wastewater supplies followed a few decades later by antibioltics were two of the primary reasons life expectancies surged post 1900.

  So which time period would you dumbasses want to live in? If you pick anything pre-1900 you are most likely dead right now. Unless you are under the age of 35 and then you might have a few more years left.

  The air, soil and water are cleaner now than they were 20, 50 even 75 years ago in most if not all of the industrial countries. There are problems, but cleanup continues unabated. Developing countries have some issues, but China and others are showing strong commitments to ending pollution.

  In most industrial nations there are more trees now than there were 100 years ago. And the cyber world is an infant; we shall see greater improvements to the environment in the future. There is a ton of data which states the same thing.
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  39

  OMG! The world is worse than ever! This system can't last! Violence is increasing! Wait, what's that you say?

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you read jw literature, the world has been progressively getting "worse and worse" since 1914.. is that really the case?.

  for a more rational analysis, look here:.

  a few highlights:.

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  DJS

  sir82, spot on. These types of statistics/data have been presented on this site numerous times to show that we are in the best of times. The Dark Lords will spin it either way. And SingleCell, WTF? Are you serious or joking? You make broad, scary assertions absent any actual data. Typical. Sir82 provided real data. At least you are making it clear where the single cell is located. There is so much data to support sir82's assertions. Wanna see a helluva lot more? Or do scary prophecies rock your boat and you don't want to be confused by the facts.
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  74

  Why Do Atheists Struggle So Much Against God Who Supposedly Doesn't Exist?

  by Perry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  an athist made this casual statememt on another thread:.

  this would suggest to me that there are at least some atheists that do have consistant beliefs.. .

  as an atheist, how could he possibly trust the reason that suggests this to himself?

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  DJS

  Ditto, Dog and Shirley,

  Perry is a narcissist who thrives on attention. He chose the title of his OP, I'm certain, to annoy atheists and get the response he craves. I try to avoid Perry; most of the time he is harmless and similar to an annoying gnat that won't go away and get out of your face no matter how many times you swat at it.

  The premise of the OP is bullshit, as usual. No matter how many times we atheists explain to Perry or some of the other thesits that our atheism was a very long, methodical, non-emotional rational journey they post such nonsense. It seems Perry spends his spare time looking for the most reasonably sounding confirmationally biased tripe he can find. He has to know it will be nuked and fail to sway anyone, but he persists nonetheless. He gets high marks for tenacity.

  Perry and some of the hard core theists simply cannot wrap their brains around the fact that atheists do not need god to behave and do not struggle in our non-beliefs. I struggled to be a theist. Being an atheist has freed me from any struggle. Perry, there is a lot of data that suggests the more rational one's personality the more llikely they are to be atheist. That's 180 degrees opposite from your premise it would seem.