Posts by Sara Annie

9

Joan of Arcadia

by metatron in

i really like this new cbs show - perhaps because it presents god talking to an ordinary ( and bewildered) teenage.

girl.

the actors are top notch and the plots - involving a zen- like god - interesting.

Sara Annie

I saw the show too, and really enjoyed it. The premise is interesting and the vehicle by which they have god "speak" is really compelling. I am anxious to see more.

On another note:

I guess I've always wondered why an Almighty Creator used a book, repeatedly recopied by persons unknown, written by people we've never met, and translated out of dead languages - when he could simply tell us personally what he wants.

He didn't. My very biggest concern/complaint about fundamentalist christian religions is that they have assigned ultimate authority to a collection of stories (and not even particularly well-written stories) and have declared their content as irrefutable truth. It's a book about faith, not history or science. To cling to it as something inherently sacred and believe it's more colorful parables in the face of huge amounts of proof to the contrary is tantamount to my reading the complete works of Dr. Seuss, using it as the blueprint for my life, and then totally ignoring the lessons inherent in the stories in favor of declaring that persons who eat in a house with a mouse, or in a box with a fox are damned eternally.

It never ceases to amaze me how fundamentalists, by their emphasis on the literal application of the bible, fail to see how such an attitude limits the very God they claim as ever-present, all-knowing, and all-powerful.

But I digress. It's a good show and the attitude about God and what he wants for each of us is very similar to my own. I'm anxious to see how it all comes out. I will even take a minute to say that that sappy, overwrought faith-vehicle "Touched by an Angel" (which I have to admit that I watched many times and always got a little weepy) did the same thing--just in a less 'hip' way.

37

Noah...that drunken boat builder?

by shotgun in

i've learned a ton on this forum and elsewhere which pretty much disproves noah's global flood to me personally?.

long before this as a dub though one thing always bothered me about the account and how unreasonable it seemed even if you discount the animals.. .

noah had three sons in 600 yrs (noah got it even less than me), his sons did not have any children before the flood.

Sara Annie

I am trying to think of the scientific stuff I've heard . I think they call it the x and y chromosome , let's say the y is for female , they said something like there is far more y than x so it increases the likely hood of female over male at the time of conception.

Ummm....No.

X chromosomes are the common link. All human ovum contain the X chromosome, and sperm are either an X or a Y. Gender is determined by the sperm.

XX=Female, XY=Male

If you're going to form wild theories, it's advisable to at least use credible information on which to base them. (for an example, see anything Hooberus posts--his ideas are laughable, no doubt about it, but they are generally formed using at least a modicum of credible scientific information as their foundation.)

16

Take this Quiz, and tell us what the computer thinks you are

by luna in

hey,.

a friend of mine sent me this link:.

http://beliefnet.com/story/76/story_7665_1.html.

Sara Annie

My 100% match is Reform Judaism.

My lowest ranked religion is Roman Catholocism.

Guess which one of the above I was raised?

63

Mind of a JW Pedophile--How Would You Answer (From Silentlambs)

by blondie in

the mind of a pedophile

the following is a recent email sent by a child molester

mr bowen, .

Sara Annie

Alan--

Your response is well written, well thought-out, and responds to an unreasonable letter in a very reasonable fashion. Its too bad that it's merits will be wasted on the sociopath it's written to.

But I hope Bill sends it anyway. And then I hope he immediately forwards all the correspondence to the authorities.

63

Mind of a JW Pedophile--How Would You Answer (From Silentlambs)

by blondie in

the mind of a pedophile

the following is a recent email sent by a child molester

mr bowen, .

Sara Annie

I would immediately forward the correspondence to the local authorities and the FBI for investigation. If they felt that it could be followed up on, they could obtain information on the person through their IP and the case could be properly pursued.

An 8 year old can't consent to sexual contact. Leave the maturity level of this particular 8 year old and any comparisons to any other child totally out of it, because such discussion is not worth any of our thoughts or time. Plain and simple, a henious crime was committed, end of story. This crime should not go unpunished.

I wouldn't respond to this person at all, you can't reason with a deviant nor should they be given ANY forum in which to spout their pedophilic nonsense. Bill should forward the email to WT headquarters, to every child-abuse watchdog group with tools at their disposal for the identification of this person, and to every law-enforcement agency that could conceivably follow up on the author's identity.

18

Is the Trinity that damn important?

by logansrun in

jw
friends

asked my dad the other day, a man who da'd himself seven years ago yet, amazingly, still believes 99% of what the dubs teach just what makes him believe the dubs have the "truth.

" what were the first words out of his mouth?

"well, they don't believe in the trinity...." .

Sara Annie

No, it isn't. It's yet another ridiculous argument among fundamentalists on either end of the spectrum used to determine which side gets to set the limits for the nature of God.

And on an unrelated note:

Thank you Makeveli. I will certainly try to "raise it to the next level." Thank you, again.
Signed,
Man

I haven't stopped laughing since reading the above.

51

Freaking savages--Muslim Women Killed in the West

by ashitaka in

horrible.

muslim women killed in the west.

in the middle east, muslim are women are killed for disobedience, becoming too ?westernized?

Sara Annie

As soon as you declare a system of 'divine' beliefs, and then structure your society around it, not much is off limits. You can hate, maim, and even kill because God has delcared you can.

Yet another of the dangers of fundamentalism. (Notice here that I did not single any religion/culture out). Fundamentalists are disadvantaged in that they've been conditioned, by their belief system, to ignore the natural 'bullshit detector' that most humans use to discern what is logical and reasonable from what is absolute wackiness. Once the ability to distinguish between looniness and reality is disabled, it's a difficult (and often impossible) skill to re-learn.

The fundamentalist Islamic community is a very good example of this phenomenon. For thousands of years they've been encouraging men to despise women and forgo education in the name of Allah and preparation for his holy war(s). The cumulative effect of such a belief system results in exactly the kind of behavior this post entails. Even in 2003, a woman can be killed because she has 'dishonored' her family. Madness. (And if anyone tries to tell you how true muslims are peace-loving and anti-hatred, flick them forcefully in the forhead in an attempt to snap them out of their idealism. Yeah, true muslims are really peace loving and kind--as long as your not an infidel--and you're either an infidel or a Muslim. Which are you?)

19

Charities

by noidea in

jw
friends

i am employed with the federal government and we are a new branch so we are in the midst of setting up donations for charity to be donated through our paychecks.

anyway, i volunteered to be a coordinator for the cfc (combined federal campaign) in which i was encouraging people to give some out of their paycheck to a charity of their choice..i have to admit i had flashbacks of being in field service while doing this..lol

i will say that i asked a few jw's that worked there and they didn't give *knows where their money goes.

Sara Annie

Tink--do you use Women for Women United to facilitate your sponsorship? I did some research on that organization after reading an article a few weeks ago and am thinking of becoming a sponsor.

56

If you can answer this, you're Einstein!

by Jennie in

jw
friends

here are some mind boggling questions.

and if you want you can make your own questions.. .

did the people in the bible go to the bathroom?

Sara Annie

On the subject of toilet paper....

Allegedly the whole biblical mandate to eat only with your right (or was it left?) hand was because the other hand was reserved for the duty of wiping, and no one wanted your wipe-hand dipping into the communal bowl.

Seriously.

15

Have you ever gave false info on a legal document?

by Happythoughts in

jw
friends

i am in a situation ..... i want to buy a new home but my debt to income ratio does not allow me to purchase the home i want.

since i have great credit i am able to go stated income...the problem is that i will have to fib a little to get the loan amount i want.

my issue here is that i don't feel great about fibbingbut i want the loan amount.

Sara Annie

They will verify that the income you stated on the application is correct, you know. Stated income combined with your exemplary credit record may get you a quick pre-approval letter, but actual due-dilligence checks will be done to verify your information as accurate before they just hand you a mortgage approval and fork over the cash. It's not as if they'll say "Well, he listed $200,000 per year here on the app, that's good enough for me!"

Don't lie about it, it will likely come back to bite you on the behind. And, on the off chance that your lender's office is silly enough to approve you based on the information you give them without proof of it's veracity, you'll be saddled with a mortgage that-by your own admission-you can't actually afford.

Perhaps you could spend a few months working to decrease your debt:income ratio to an acceptable level before you saddle yourself with a mortgage that the bank wouldn't honestly extend to you based on your current debt level.

Just friendly advice from your neighborhood accountant.