Posts by CyrusThePersian

5

Kurt Vonnegut dies at 84

by CaptainSchmideo in

jw
friends

and in his memory, i want to be first to say this statement:.

kurt's in heaven, now...".

if you haven't read his last book, you won't "get" that sentence.

Hubble spy telescope for US government or strictly heavenly bodies?

by frankiespeakin in

jw
friends

well what do you think?

how do we know where it is pointed all the time, is it out there or dooes it zoom in on the earth and to provide inteligents information on who ever big brother wants?

is big brother snooping?

CyrusThePersian

Isn't the Vatican in charge of the Hubble? No images can be released without Vatican consent? I'm probably wrong

I'm afraid you are wrong. NASA is in charge of the Hubble Space Telescope, along with the ESA (European Space Agency) All images made by Hubble are eventually released to the public.

Some data are proprietary—that is, available only to the Principal Investigator (PI), the person who originally requested time to use the Hubble, and astronomers designated by him—for one year after being taken. The PI can apply to the director of the Space Telescope Science Institute to extend or reduce this time period in some circumstances.

Observations made on Director's Discretionary Time are exempt from the proprietary period, and are released to the public immediately.

The website to view Hubble data is http://archive.stsci.edu/hst

Well what do you think? How do we know where it is pointed all the time, is it out there or dooes it zoom in on the earth and to provide inteligents information on who ever big brother wants? Is big brother snooping?

The Hubble Space Telescope is not designed for earth observation. It literally cannot be pointed at earth and take any meaningful images. That's not to say, however that there aren't plenty of other satellite platforms out there keeping an eye on us, as JimTX pointed out, just not Hubble.

CyrusThePersian

77

Who here are basically athiest now???

by What-A-Coincidence in

jw
friends

*raises hand.

a few interesting quotes:.

"religions are all alike - founded upon fables and mythologies.

CyrusThePersian

Exactly cyrus! Thanks for your devastatingly logical thoughts

Thanks! I appreciate that!

While we are on the subject can someone
explain to me, "What exactly is an atheist?"

"Atheist" basically means "without god". Atheism carries with it no creeds or belief systems. As such, an atheist sees no need to appease a non-existant god and can feel free to to choose his or her own goals for a satisfying life. To me, atheism means freedom of thought which, IMHO, is very positive and desirable.

CyrusThePersian

77

Who here are basically athiest now???

by What-A-Coincidence in

jw
friends

*raises hand.

a few interesting quotes:.

"religions are all alike - founded upon fables and mythologies.

CyrusThePersian

While we are doing quotes...

"I don't believe in God for the same reason I don't believe in Mother Goose." -Clarence Darrow

To me, it's a perfectly tenable position to say that the God idea is self-evidently ridiculous just like Darrow said. Christians instantly disregard the notion that Thor or Zeus or Mother Goose or Santa Claus are real and not just figments of the imagination, so why can't we regard the Christian God the same way? After all, what evidence do you have that Jehovah created the earth and not Zeus? or Zoroaster? or the tribal gods of the Choctaw Indians?

So basically, I'm an atheist because no more evidence supports the Christian god than supports any other man-made diety. There is actually no evidence that a god-as portrayed by any religion-exists.

CyrusThePersian

60

Does The Memorial Mean ANYTHING To You???

by minimus in

jw
friends

just wondering.

CyrusThePersian

Hi!

This Memorial is very special to me-

It marks the tenth anniversary of my not attending.

Cyrus The Persian

23

Getting Old, Didn't think it would happen to me.

by Undecided in

jw
friends

untill the last year i stayed 50 years old.

now it has finally hit me, i'm getting old.

i never felt my age and could do about any thing without pain or feeling like my body couldn't take it.

CyrusThePersian

Hi Ken!

Yes, we are all getting old. I'm fifty myself, not as old as you but I can still empathize. You should consider yourself lucky (oops! Bad word!) to have enjoyed good health so far. I think what compounds the problem of getting older for people who used to be JW's is that we were never supposed to grow old in the first place. We were supposed to spend eternity frolicking with the lions in perfect youth, instead we simply grow older like everyone else.It's taken a while, but I've finally gotten out of that mindset.

Life was meant to enjoy, right here and now, not in some fairy tale "New Order"! So I'm enjoying it, and so should you!

CyrusThePersian

13

Proof for the 586 date for the temple of Solomon

by Wafe in

i need to get proof that the temple of solomon did fall in 586 bce.. .

please help.. .

thanks.

CyrusThePersian

Hi

If you are trying to discuss this issue with a Witness, use Alleymom's brilliant approach in this thread:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/55372/1.ashx

It's a classic!

CyrusThePersian

5

Dating Babylon's Fall

by Doug Mason in

how does the wts calculate that babylon fell in 539 bce?

.

doug

CyrusThePersian

Hi Doug

See the Watchtower, August 15, 1968 page 490-492 ( available on the WT CD-ROM ) for an in-depth look at 539 BCE as the date of Babylon's fall. Basically, the Watchtower accepts mainstream chronology which also pins Babylon's fall at 539 BCE.Too bad they don't use the same chronological markers to date Jerusalem's fall!

CyrusThePersian

17

Christmas is Christian

by Amazing in

jw
friends

false reasoning: the wts claims that there are only two birthdays mentioned in the bible, both of which resulted in someone being killed.

thus, they conclude, that this is jehovah's way of telling us that we should not celebrate brithdays, including the birth of jesus christ.. fact: there are five birthdays mentioned in the bible.

the most important and celebrated is the birth of jesus christ himself.

CyrusThePersian

And a Merry Christmas to you, Too! (God, it feels good to say that!)

FACT: If Jesus or God didn't want their followers to celebrate birthdays, they would have said so. End of story.

Excellent point about the angels attending Jesus' birth, I actually used that scripture yesterday when talking to my Mother (a longtime witness) about birthdays, Christmas, and baby showers. Another good scripture is Romans 14:5-7.

So, like you said, God, Jesus and even the apostle Paul left the matter of celebrations open, so CELEBRATE!

CyrusThePersian

BTW What are the other two birthdays?

13

Suggestions for "The Internet" defense ... roadblock?

by gordon d in

jw
friends

wanderer reminded me of an answer that i frequently get when confronting dubs with information obtained through the internet.

even if it's a scan of a wts publication, the typical dub seems to be well schooled in refusing to give any credibilty to anything that comes from a website other than watchtower.org.

has anyone had any luck finding more "credible" sources for info?

CyrusThePersian

Thanks Fatfreek, it was a typo!

CyrusThePersian