Posts by robhic

32

The Bible - God's Word or Man's?

by SickofLies in

i guess my basic goal here is to express to others and hopefully get more support in my efforts to tear down the two worst and most inaccurate books the society has published.

those being: life: how did it get here?

and the bible - god's word or man's?

robhic

Your arguement is flawed because Vietnam created the politcal sitution that led to their victory.

What if United States didn't break Japanese naval codes or what if Germany was not decieved into believing the Allied landing would take place for from normandy beach? The allieds use dirty tactics to win World War 2. The viet Cong knew their military was outclassed so they resulted to a guerilla and propaganda style of warfare which led to them achieving victory.

Not quite. The Vietcong created the situation which the US and their fear of not following the rules of war allowed, to their detriment, to continue. In other words -- we played by the rules and they didn't. The VC only created what we allowed. And we learned a hard lesson...

No because your argument does not match dates of the 3 wars in which I mentioned occured. Do you believe Israel had superior military technology PRIOR to the 3 wars it had with its neighbors or afterward?. Today Israel could easily mop the floor with any middle eastern nation that comes against it but that was not the case 50 years ago. America had its hands full with trying to stop the spread communism to have help Israel survive its rocky start as a new nation.

Well, Rocky Balboa wasn't supposed to beat Drago the Russian boxer ... but he did. Israel's possession of any modern weaponry along with their zeal and ability to use what they had, even against better (only in part) technology poorly applied made the difference. The Jews were more motivated than their opponents and deployed technology they had in a more efficient way. Having the US watching their back in any way was a big factor, regardless of other events. And all of this still doesn't advance in any way that the bible is a letter written by god and not the creation of primitive, late Bronze Age goat farmers later shaped and re-shaped by a bunch of people with their own agenda and the benefit of hindsight.

32

The Bible - God's Word or Man's?

by SickofLies in

i guess my basic goal here is to express to others and hopefully get more support in my efforts to tear down the two worst and most inaccurate books the society has published.

those being: life: how did it get here?

and the bible - god's word or man's?

robhic

American with all it's great power was not able to spread democracy to vietnam, but some how that little democratic new born jewish nation manage to defend itself successively even though odds were stacked heavily against them.

First, America was hamstrung by political and other reasons which did not allow them to bring our full might to bear against the Republic of Vietnam. If the US Army had been allowed to just "go for it" and blast the Viet cong with our full capacity, political correctness and all that bunk be damned, then the outcome of the Vietnam conflict would have been substantially different. Your premise is flawed.

In the case of Israel, they have the full backing of the US and all its military power. Israel also has much more modern weapons and defense capabilities than most of the other nations allied against them. Do you see the problem with your statement?

IMO, it doesn't in the least way prove, or even show, the bible as anything other than a book of man-made fables and laws written by men.

32

The Bible - God's Word or Man's?

by SickofLies in

i guess my basic goal here is to express to others and hopefully get more support in my efforts to tear down the two worst and most inaccurate books the society has published.

those being: life: how did it get here?

and the bible - god's word or man's?

robhic

Very interesting and well-written. I agree wholeheartedly with you. You wrote many things which I have been thinking for a long time. And you made a couple more points that were interesting, too.

For me, one simple thing is just how conveniently the bible and all things in it mirror the lives and beliefs of the late Bronze Age and later periods. Why does the creator of the entire universe seem to only utilize the logic and technology of primitive goat-herders? Seems the "master builder" would be able to operate in a better way. Why all the references to a "sword" or a "chariot" etc.? Because that's all these people understood.

They would have had problems understanding the concept of armegeddon as nuclear holocaust. So how is this book written with an eye to "all times?" It was all they knew! And the they here are the ancient, primitive people who wrote this book to make themselves feel better about themselves (like a pep-talk), instill some fear in the masses for control purposes, establish some rules (not all bad) and try to elevate themselves in the eyes of the masses. IMO, of course, but the bible was written and conceived by MAN.

24

Sexual or spiritual pleasure?

by greendawn in

i always wondered in my life is it better to gratify sexual excitation or divert it away from its goals of gratification and use it to develop culture or expand awareness (knowledge) in areas of interest?

or is it too frustrating to do that?

or is there no value in the belief that denied physical pleasure takes the form of a deeper, more sustained and profitable in the long term spiritual pleasure?

robhic

What I was trying to say is that human life can be good and enjoyable with plenty of sex but denying sex can open up a new higher dimension that is even more gratifying.

Well, speaking for myself and from experience, I really didn't feel any "higher dimension" or anything gratifying about a long "dry spell" (shall we say...) after my wife left me. It was tough and distracting.

However opening up this dimension is very difficult due to the mighty pull of the instinctive forces in the soul.

I'm also pretty sure it wasn't my "soul" that the forces you refer to were coming from...

29

? for Barry. How do Seven Day Adventists compare to JW's

by jwfacts in

hi barry, .

noticed you are online, so i wanted to grab you and find out how you perceive seven day adventists compare to jws: .

1 - equally cult like .

robhic

The only thing I found strange about the SDA's was how they literally stuck to the bible verse "remember the sabbath day and keep it holy" This meant every Saturday, no work, no play, no TV, nothing. All you could pretty much do was read the bible. And she did it, every Saturday.

I have a friend who is (now) a JW, but her family are Worldwide Church of God adherents. The WWCoG seems to also mirror a lot of Jewish religious ideas. (Envy...?) Probably why she got sucked into the JWs because it seemed to follow WWCoG in ways.

They keep the sabbath from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday, not working or anything as you mention above. They also keep some archaic-sounding feast / holydays like one called the "Feast of Tabernacles" which, I believe co-incides with the JW "Memorial."

They do a "Feast of Trumpets" too, but I don't know what or when it is. They do do a lot of travelling around the country to celebrate these so-called "feasts." Maybe Herbert W. Armstrong (started the WWCoG) owned motels or restaurants?

Robert

8

"Quotes" site litigation thought

by robhic in

narkissos just put me onto the most recent thread explaining the end of this litigation.

sorry i'm late to the discussion.

first off, let me say that that site was a major beacon of light for all interested in reading past "truth.

robhic

Narkissos just put me onto the most recent thread explaining the end of this litigation. Sorry I'm late to the discussion.

First off, let me say that that site was a major beacon of light for all interested in reading past "truth." The fact that the WTS was so committed to the site's being taken down is a testament in itself. A huge THANK YOU! to Quotes for all his time and effort.

Then, the thought hit me. The WTS took legal action against a single, private citizen in a scenario akin to killing an ant with a sledgehammer. A huge multi-million (billion?) dollar organization made it their priority to silence one guy who was only making their publications available to all. Isn't that their sole intent in going door-to-door and/or leaving the mags in public places? And Quotes didn't add any comments or editorializing, just their words as quoted. Hmmm...

So, why didn't the WTS heed their own ubiquitous advice: "Wait on jehovah" or "Put it in jehovah's hands?" Why didn't the self-proclaimed organization here on earth just let jehovah handle things? He could have rained Job-ian plagues and stuff on Quotes. But he didn't, he allowed his "earthly organization" (self-proclaimed) to do his bidding for him. In an earthly court system. Is he lazy or just doesn't care?

And the terms of the settlement had more than a few time-references to finite times. Would the WTS have accepted a settlement of taking the site down "soon" or "the near future" if references to their publicized terms were posted alongside? The end is soon, right around the corner, near, near future, etc. but it's been 100 years and counting. Seems like their "soon" ain't so soon at all... And they didn't want to wait!

Yep it looks very much like "Do as we say, not do as we teach" is the hallmark of WTS. Sad indeed.

Robert

2

Whatever Happened to the "Quotes" site litigation?

by robhic in

there was a thread a while back (that i can't find...) talking about some suit that had been filed against the "quotes" website.

is there any news or an update?

robert

robhic

Thank you so much for the thread update.

Robert

2

Whatever Happened to the "Quotes" site litigation?

by robhic in

there was a thread a while back (that i can't find...) talking about some suit that had been filed against the "quotes" website.

is there any news or an update?

robert

robhic

There was a thread a while back (that I can't find...) talking about some suit that had been filed against the "Quotes" website. Is there any news or an update?

Robert

5

We Can Help To Strengthen The Brothers!

by ringo5 in

*** w78 8/1 pp.

12-13 a growing paradise in sweden *** .

efforts to hinder the work .

robhic

Generally, Swedes are indifferent toward religion and especially the established churches within the country. Most religious organizations are declining, ...

Damn! If only this logic and attitude would catch on in all the other countries! I think the world would be an immensely better place.

... and one after another now is being passed in numbers by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

And they were doing so good. Had a "who cares?" attitude towards religions and then the slip and let yet another religion take a foothold.

Oh well, maybe -- hopefully -- others will see the benefits of a non-religious society. No riots and killings over a cartoon, no social ostracizing by a group for (supposedly) sinful behavior, no more supression of scientific fact and reality because it doesn't jive with dogma and doctrine (this one is getting somewhat better) and all the other mean, violent, deadly, ugly, devisive, illegal and petty things that seem to go hand-in-hand with organized religions.

How many people would still be alive had it not existed to begin with? How many children would not have been molested? It boggles the imagination.

Robert

8

The end of faith

by poppers in

has anyone heard of sam harris and read his book, "the end of faith"?

http://samharris.org/ .

sam harris cranks out blunt, hard-hitting chapters to make his case for why faith itself is the most dangerous element of modern life.

robhic

I read the book a couple of months ago. I had started a thread regarding the book: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/103003/1.ashx

I like the book but like AlmostAtheist said, some of the parts / comments got a little tedious and uncomfortable mainly towards the end. I especially like this quote that I excerpted in the above thread. It is so true!

"Tell a devout Christian that his wife is cheating on him or that frozen yogurt can make a man invisible, and he is likely to require as much evidence as anyone else, and to be persuaded only to the extent that you give it. Tell him that the book he keeps by his bed was written by an invisible deity who will punish him with fire for eternity if he fails to accept its every incredible claim about the universe, and he seems to require no evidence whatsoever." The End of Faith, pg. 19

Robert