Posts by DJS

53

Spirituality

by Jonathan Drake in

if you are a current practitioner of some religious faith i would appreciate it if you abstained from this thread entirely.

im curious if anyone has had what could be discribed as a spiritual experience.

i'm currently reading sam harris book waking up and it's very good so far.

Thanks Xanthippe. I avoid use of the word due to its religious, supernatural connotation, but Harris and others appear to be making its more secular definition relevant. That's probably a good thing. Words have a way of evolving to mean whatever society wants them to mean. I try not to get too hung up on word meanings because they change. Thanks for citing what I was referencing!! You made it much clearer.

To illustrate the blissful experience. This past weekend my GF and I hiked one of the most beautiful trails in the US. The lower elevations were lush forests with streams, bridges, ferns, etc., while the higher elevations were cooler, drier, rockier, with less vegetation but amazing views. Spiritual. Plus I got to follow her up the trail and view her amazing rear end for several hours. Blissful.

However, on the way back down the mountain my GF had to use the bathroom. Very badly. If it were me I would have found the closest rhododendron thicket (that and no cellulite are probably our gender's only advantages), but being a girl she held out as long as she could until, about 1/2 mile from the trailhead, she darted to the bathrooms. I'm quite certain that she would tell you the spiritual moment ended as soon as the immediate bodily need arrived. That's my point made on p. 2 of this OP.

Again, thanks Xanthippe.

17

The real issue is long term solvency.

by joe134cd in

ok every one raves on at how miserable and tight wt is, while they are literally swimming in money and assets.

although this may be true this isn't the real issue or the problem to begin with.

the problem is having a long term survivable business plan.

DJS

d4g,

Well stated. Thank you.

9

JW Who Joined the Church of Satan, Allister Crowley, Anton Lefve's movement after leaving JW? Why, why mess with Darkness?

by PhilsWager2 in

this is going to trip you out, after talking with a jw friend who left the org and has great rage against god he's turning to satan.

he lives with his jw brother and decided host gathering for people interesting in worshiping the devil.

how will this outcome work with holy people claiming to be jws seeing some guys and girls dressed in dark robes?

DJS

Phil,

I see your concern; one of these groups worship a god who is responsible for slaughtering billions of innocents and plans to do so again and again to satisfy his insatiable desire for blood.

And the others worship Satan.

36

Looking for ideas.

by Driving Force in

i received an email from one of the elder in the local congregation.

i am not dfed so there is not a problem there, i am just an aggressive fader.. one of the last things i said to this elder before i stopped all activities was that i do not agree with the borg taking all the assets from the congregations.. here is what the elder said in the email:.

"i recently saw something while looking through the jw broadcasting for the month of may and i though about you.

DJS

Ask him about Lett's comments that the sale of "significant property" in Brooklyn only supplied the organization with "2 weeks of operating expenses".

As we have pointed out before, organizations rarely use capital gains for operating expenses. I doubt seriously that the Dark Lords used any $ from these sales for any operating expenses. He likely didn't complete the sentence, which likely would have been . "2 weeks of operating expenses if we had actually used these funds for operating expenses and considering that what I mean is the $ left over after we used the capital for new capital programs."

That, IMHO, is more likely the situation. If they made a more or less direct transfer of capital gains to capital projects, the total left MIGHT be equal to 2 weeks of operating expenses. He appears to have completely misled the rank and file by withholding important considerations. These appear to be weasel words that hide the truth without actually lying. But what else would you expect from weasels.

If they are using capital gains for operating expenses they would be in a death spiral if they were a business. I'm not buying it. Wishing, hoping maybe, but I'm not buying it. He's lying.

53

Spirituality

by Jonathan Drake in

if you are a current practitioner of some religious faith i would appreciate it if you abstained from this thread entirely.

im curious if anyone has had what could be discribed as a spiritual experience.

i'm currently reading sam harris book waking up and it's very good so far.

DJS

Brokeback W,

Your comments: "I think it is important to acknowledge man's spiritual side and not take a extreme materialistic approach to man's psychological condition."

Assuming I would agree that the spiritual side means having empathy, fellow feeling, deep emotions about family, relationships, nature, justice, etc., the problem I have with the above statement is that it isn't either/or. I don't consider myself spiritual in the least, but I consider myself a deeply caring, sensitive individual. I also don't take an extreme (or even a non-extreme) materialistic approach to anything. I am very much a minimalist and a planet sustainable person. Your comment suggests that without what you consider a belief in a deity one becomes a selfish, hedonistic monster. It isn't supported by empirical data, which suggests the opposite.

Mankind evolved to deal with the difficulties of being human; it wasn't pleasant for anyone (well maybe the kings and caesars) for 100,000 years and it isn't pleasant for billions now. Most didn't make it past childhood, and the average age of humans, for 100,000 years, is estimated to have been 34 years. Couple that with an evolved awareness of life, the world around them and a desire simply not to die, and it is easy to see why our ancestors were looking for reasons and answers and subsequently created creators, gods, near-gods, used-to-be-gods and wanna-be-gods. Something had to be better than the difficult lives they were living.

And Oubilette, all apologies regarding the spelling. Darned auto-correct.

53

Spirituality

by Jonathan Drake in

if you are a current practitioner of some religious faith i would appreciate it if you abstained from this thread entirely.

im curious if anyone has had what could be discribed as a spiritual experience.

i'm currently reading sam harris book waking up and it's very good so far.

DJS

Thanks Oublittle,

I've re-read your post and tried to understand what Mr. Harris is trying to say. His definition of spiritual is his definition of spiritual. You can also find it in various dictionaries, almost all of which use words such as non-material, supernatural, soul, having the nature of a spirit. My point, which I believe is relevant to the overall topic and OP, is that spirit/spiritual/spirituality are primarily associated with the unseen god-like forces common in religion.

If Harris or anyone else wishes to use the term(s) to relate to a lifestyle or a manner of thinking/feeling, for example, I'm ok with that. I sometimes use the word karma to describe those getting exactly what they deserve, but I don't mean that karma has any god qualities to it.

39

Doing away with Calculating How Close we are to THE END

by FusionTheism in

the watchtower study edition, august 2015, "keep in expectation!

" article:.

paragraph 3: "after looking forward to the end of this system for what may seem to be a long time, however, some may wonder, do we still have sound reasons to keep in expectation?

DJS

Magnum

It seems the Dark Lords are replacing imminence with eminence - their own.

53

Spirituality

by Jonathan Drake in

if you are a current practitioner of some religious faith i would appreciate it if you abstained from this thread entirely.

im curious if anyone has had what could be discribed as a spiritual experience.

i'm currently reading sam harris book waking up and it's very good so far.

DJS

LisaRose,

Yeah I know, I'm in the minority. Seriously, if evidence of said spirit or spirits is ever presented that can be verified I will believe. I'm not a religious atheist. Until then, my rational brain and the science I've read up to this point suggests it is nothing more than a self induced emotional state.

Stan,

As for my GF's ass, scientifically speaking she has the perfect waist to hip ratio (0.7). That is the ratio that evolutionary biologists say is the one that brings out the neanderthal in men, including me. It makes me wanna get my club and drag her into my cave or onto the hood of my BMW. It's not my fault; it's Grog's. I was just drawn that way.

Second, she has a very toned body with no extraneous body fat. And a thigh gap (gasp). Her skin is bronze, smooth and flawless (she ain't from around here). Her frequent work-outs include weight lighting - squats, etc., which keeps the toned very toned.

As for photos, Simon and my GF would kill me.

73

God's Spirit

by Hold Me-Thrill Me in

jw
friends

what is god's spirit?

.

i ask this of those who believe in god.

DJS

HoldMe,

I won't directly respond to your OP, but you can read my 2 responses on JD's Spiritual OP to see exactly what I think about your subject. But on to another issue. You have shown yourself to be a decent sort of fellow who feels deeply. However, I am already tired of your methods of operation whereby you post OPs about bible/jesus nonsense and then direct them at only those who believe in bible/jesus.

That is nothing but a control mechanism designed to allow you to preach and influence others without the mean ole rational educated intelligent atheists playing skeet with it. It is manipulative and disgusting. Be a man. Grow a pair. EIther be prepared to deal with the rationals or go someplace else to preach and influence.

53

Spirituality

by Jonathan Drake in

if you are a current practitioner of some religious faith i would appreciate it if you abstained from this thread entirely.

im curious if anyone has had what could be discribed as a spiritual experience.

i'm currently reading sam harris book waking up and it's very good so far.

DJS

JD,

I will read it. Thank you. And thank you for the OP. There are several spirit or spiritual OPs running right now. Hold Me isn't Thrilled that us mean ole atheists aren't helping the 'spirituality' of those on the site. If us mean ole atheists are helping others understand that their spirituality isn't any thing other than self induced emotions that they begin to understand and control, then that is most excellent. Only by doing so can they truly escape the Dark Lords' control and hopefully one day escape the clutches of all religion. But whether they get to this point or not, living a rational, evidence based life will provide benefits.

Nothing is required to Believe other than to Feel. Unless we break that cycle humans will never evolve. The Dark Lords know this; other religious leaders know this. Why do you think religious leaders for thousands of years have kept their followers in the dark and either discouraged or outright prohibited knowledge. Emotionally driven people are much easier to control. The Dark Lords continue to discourage education and even scholarship, making the trapping of the rank and file so much easier.

So those of you who want to give me "Dislikes" for what I am saying have at it. I take it as confirmation. Continue to feel. Don't analyze or evaluate why you feel. Continue to act on those feelings because they are strong and therefore they have to be right. By all means to continue to do so. But if you think that by attaching words like spirit or spiritual to your base human emotions makes them superior or you more godly, you are nothing but an emotion addict. The pleasant feelings that result from your self induced emotional fix is the only thing that is actually occurring. It is no different that a heroine junkie, a cocaine addict or a nicotine fiend.

The rest of us are evolving ahead of you and one day you will be considered closer to our primate cousins than humans. You will call us Lord, Master or Boss, and we will think of you as our slow (not the fast moving kind in Brad Pitt's WWZ that also appeared to have cognitive function (what's up with that)) moving, zombie pets. Now hit the Dislike button.