Simon,
I like the changes but understand others' issues. I only have one, and you may have already addressed this. Is the number of views ticker still available? I miss that feature.
Posts by DJS
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35Wow, the forum is very slow
by FlyingHighNow ini know that logging in has been a problem for some.
i hardly post any more.
i figured there would be more activity than this.
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7
My life by the numbers..
by myway2007 ini have enjoyed this site long enough, that i thought it was time to start giving back.
it's been a reflective few days as i tried to quantify the passage of time.
how time flies.... i turn 55 this year- and life is amazing!it was last year i reached out to one of my siblings via email to see if i could visit my mom beforeshe passes as she is over 90 now and the response i got was that it was too painful for herto see me until "i do the right thing"it was 5 years ago that i was able to finally become whole from all the anger and pain and normalize my life.it was 33 years ago that i was df'd.
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DJS
Thank you for sharing your story. Another ex-Dub success story!! And welcome to the forum. -
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No Black or woman became Pope or WT President—reveals what?
by abiather insending a messenger nearly 2000 years in advance to preach the coming of gods kingdom, and leaving the message to be carried out by his followers who would practice just the opposite of his message [eg.
catholics cannot accept a pope if he is from a black community or if sex is female, just like jws could not tolerate a black/woman wt president, which is in sharp contrast to what jesus himself practicedhe showed no partiality with regard to sex or communityhe elevated a samaritan woman sharing with her great truth, even before he did it with his own male-disciplesjohn chapter 4].
claiming something as his own, and then allowing it to decay do not befit gods superlative style!.
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DJS
Cofty,
Not as egregious as the entire sentence you quote. It hurts to read. I've read and re-read it and haven't a clue what Abiathar is trying to say. At least he used the word 'suggests,' which suggests he is learning from us rationals. There is hope yet.
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My mother says I should just DA already.
by Julia Orwell incut the cord.
sever all ties.
start new.. and she's right.
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DJS
Julia,
I'm very sorry to hear about your continuing anguish with this cult. Most of us understand exactly what you are going through. One thing I've learned over the years is never to make a difficult or important decision when I was in emotional turmoil, very angry, hurt, etc. DAiing may be the best for you; I'm just not sure it is the best right now. Only you will eventually know that. A calm, rational, un-hurt Julia can make a better decision.
Having said that, I agree with others than counseling is a must right now. You need to talk to someone about this hate filled dangerous cult and what it has done to you.
Good luck Julia
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Truth behind the arrogance
by abiather inin our personal lives we have experienced that it is the inner elements (thoughts, feelings, emotions ...) that ultimately influence a relationships rather the outer elements (what we say or do)!
these inner elements are more powerful and faster than the outer elements!.
when i was with jws, it is their stubbornness and arrogance that i felt more than the outer elements.
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DJS
@Abiathar: "Truth by definition is that which remains forever, that which never changes, hence by its very nature is self-evident--is in no need to be endorsed by Faithful and Discreet Slave nor by anyone else (this is what I meant by external agency)"
WTF kind of dictionary are you using? From Merriam Webster online:
truth : the real facts about something : the things that are true; the quality or state of being true; a statement or idea that is true or accepted as true
a (1) : the state of being the case : fact (2) : the body of real things, events, and facts : actuality (3) often capitalized : a transcendent fundamental or spiritual reality
b : a judgment, proposition, or idea that is true or accepted as true <truths of thermodynamics>
c : the body of true statements and propositions
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70
Be nice to theists - they are victims of their genes
by cofty inidentical twin studies show there is a strong inheritable component to religiosity.
thomas bouchard studied identical and fraternal twins raised apart and tested them on religious attitudes.. the correlation for the former turned out to be 62% compared to just 2% for the latter.
his colleague.
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DJS
It's a strong correlation, not a pre-destination, cause and effect, as we have stated. Nurture continues to play a big part, including education and experience. You aren't locked in at conception. -
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Truth behind the arrogance
by abiather inin our personal lives we have experienced that it is the inner elements (thoughts, feelings, emotions ...) that ultimately influence a relationships rather the outer elements (what we say or do)!
these inner elements are more powerful and faster than the outer elements!.
when i was with jws, it is their stubbornness and arrogance that i felt more than the outer elements.
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DJS
I don’t mean to be mean, but this OP is utter BS. I will let the Nerd Herd from Big Bang explain. From the Cooper-Hofstadter Polarization episode:
Leonard: Oh, come on. The only reason you’re the lead author is because we went alphabetically.
Sheldon: I let you think we went alphabetically to spare you the humiliation of dealing with the fact it was my idea. Not to put too fine a point on it, but I was throwing you a bone. You’re welcome.
Leonard: Excuse me, I designed the experiment that proved the hypothesis.
Sheldon: It doesn’t need proving.
Leonard: So the entire scientific community is just supposed to take your word?
Sheldon: They’re not supposed to, but they should.
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Be nice to theists - they are victims of their genes
by cofty inidentical twin studies show there is a strong inheritable component to religiosity.
thomas bouchard studied identical and fraternal twins raised apart and tested them on religious attitudes.. the correlation for the former turned out to be 62% compared to just 2% for the latter.
his colleague.
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DJS
James,
A pre-disposition is not a pre-destination. Believing is ultimately a choice, even for those predisposed towards religion. The science suggests a strong correlation between intelligence, education and a rational personality and secularism/atheism, just as the tendencies for those with a less rational personality, less intelligence and less education show a strong correlation towards religiosity.
Lots of empirical data support this, but a strong correlation is not a direct, cause and effect, correlation. With more education, including a more wordily, sophisticated experience, religion can wane even amongst those more typically disposed to it.
Nature/nurture is of course alive and well; no one disputes that, and Cofty's OP doesn't suggest that.
To me, the nature/nurture issue isn't what this OP is about; it is about how we evolved as a species to have a high disposition towards religiosity. That is interesting. Examining the difficulties of the species to survive is where it all starts. Maslow's hierarchy suggests that, when all of your time is spent looking for food and fending off threats (security), there isn't much time for more highly evolved pursuits. Throw in thousands of years of superstition and irrational fear of a god killing you on the spot for something you did, killing your child for something you did, making your crops fail or the rain to go away because of something you did, that you will be punished after death with fire, purgatory, eternal destruction or being re-incarnated as a worm for something you did, and Cofty's OP makes a lot more sense.
Our DNA looks like it does for a reason. And, when you consider that religion has, for thousands of years, discouraged research, rational analysis and academic achievement, dear god there is no wonder we bred a predisposition into our DNA for religiosity. For many religions and for thousands of years, only the hierarchy (hieroglyphics) and the religious elite were educated or even allowed to be educated.
Absent these external, social and cultural forces, our species should begin to evolve away from it. And it is, predictably. Thank god (I'm an atheist so this is simply a phrase to me).
Even today, one of the first things that the high control religions do when they take over is to kill the academics and the rational/secular, or attempt to silence them.
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Really don't feel like a JW anymore
by snare&racket init has been a good 8 years away from my area, a good 10 years + since i was regularly at meetings.
a good 12 years since i was hesitantly active.. it is a slow process but it does happen.
i now feel no connection to the belief system beyond memories.
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DJS
Snare,
Great seeing you again. Damn well spoken. My feelings and thoughts eggs-actly. I used the anger I had at the Dark Lords, my family for raising me around this cult - and finally myself for not waking up sooner - as rocket fuel to go back to school and live life to the full. The only time I looked back for 2 decades was to make slight adjustments in my rear view mirror. Like you have done. Rock on my friend. Rock on.
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Be nice to theists - they are victims of their genes
by cofty inidentical twin studies show there is a strong inheritable component to religiosity.
thomas bouchard studied identical and fraternal twins raised apart and tested them on religious attitudes.. the correlation for the former turned out to be 62% compared to just 2% for the latter.
his colleague.
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DJS
Kate,
A bit extreme? I didn't invent this theory. Anyway, you are right; belief in god is not necessarily a bad path. Neither is belief in Santa, the Easter Bunny, Satan or the Tooth Fairy. Lots of things work.
However, my only objective for being here is to get people to think more rationally and objectively, requiring evidence before make a stand. Anyone doing so will almost certainly get farther away from theism and superstitions.