Posts by galaxie

83

Christadelphian

by Billy1000 in

my name is stephen and i am new to the forum.

i am a christadelphian and through my discussions with fellow members of my ecclesia it has inspired me to reach out to other religions to find out exactly what others believe to enhance my own faith and further bring me closer to our heavenly father.

in no way do i mean disrespect if it has been caused.

galaxie

@billy1000..." a discussion regarding the bible "..imo to gain anything worthwhile which influences your lifes journey/decisions via the bible, the primary and crucial first investigation is the veracity of the content of these writings..the compilation of the separate documents inc' who had the authority to decide the canon...deciding using your own cognition the timeline application of these ancient texts.. the reasoning behind contemporary application...why is it that there should be so much disagreement on the purpose of the content..and finally why would you come to this site to enhance your faith and lead you closer to your heavenly father. I for one would hope it causes you to question the need for 'faith' and the existence of your 'heavenly father ' who must be guilty for the confusion through the absolute lack of clarity for his creation.

Best wishes and good luck !

58

Mind Body Dualism

by Coded Logic in

i've never found dualism - the idea that the mind and the brain are two different substances with the mind being "immaterial" or "non-material" - a valid manner in which to address consciousness or any mysteries relating to it.

to show the reasons why i think it's bad metaphysics i'll use analogous reasoning to make a case for my newly made up "mystic essence".. for hundreds of years scientists have studied plants and animals all across the world.

but they still can't explain where ecosystems come from.

galaxie

Convoluted reasoning can only exist via a physical medium as does our senses. To argue that an 'idea ' does not consist of matter is a convolution of the stance of materialism or to put it mildly a misrepresentation. An idea is most definately ' made up' from the physical mechanics of the brain therefore relying on matter.

47

Help finding a video of GB member saying that Jehovah may not really be God's name

by mamacita29 in

jw
friends

hi everyone i'm at work and need to show this video to a jw.

i saw it a few weeks ago i think it was geoffry jackson who said that jehovah may or may not be gods real name but we use it anyways.

can someone help me find that video?

galaxie

Edit...oops not the lords prayer the song was ' jesus loves me'

32

Apathy trolley chat

by punkofnice in

i was in a different city this weekend so i decided to natter to 2 bored jws on the apathy trolley.i just nattered, nothing thought provoking or anti witness.

i was waiting for someone so hard time to spare.what struck me was, that no matter how many times i said that i don't believe in god, they spoke to me as if i did.

they kept asking me how god would feel about stuff.

galaxie

Hi punk.. my last 'trolley chat' involved creative days, I like to have a specific question and on approach I asked directly " how long is a creative day ?" The younger guy poss' mid thirties said " I don't know but its not a literal day" I then asked the woman looked like she was mid fifties, she said I dont know but its not six 24 hr days. I said you know the jws once believed they were 7000 yrs and this was taught as 'truth' the young guy said maybe so but the truth can change, so I said so the literature you are offering myself and the public may contain information which you now consider to be true , yet may in the future be seen as untrue therefore why should anyone trust this information. At this point the woman who was closest to me asked the young guy if she could stand where he was therefore swapping positions !!??she definately seemed very uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going. Surprisingly the guy then said " look I do know about where your going with the creative days but I'm not here to discuss that subject" I said why are you here are you preaching the good news but avoiding home truths about your ever changing beliefs did you not say to my initial question you did not know how long a creative day was my point being by asking you that specific question highighlights the many many beliefs the jws have had which were once taught as God's spirit directed truths and that what you are expecting people to believe now through this literature will in all possibility by many precedents be seen in the future to be false. I left them with that thought.

Best wishes

51

Why facts fail to reach the faithful, (even the intelligent ones)

by done4good in

jw
friends

i posted this on another thread, and decided it deserves its own...thoughts?.

an unfortunate artifact of evolution is that belief can, and often does trump fact.

survival is at the core of what belief is about.

galaxie

Like all investments fear plays a large part ie what happens if the investment fails. As JWs we invested in a hope in which we were assured we would capitalize given we stuck to the rules of investment. Anything which threatened that outcome was seen as an attack on our judgement , that's why it is nigh on impossible to get a jw to cede on a contra point. The instinct to survive being stronger than cognitive reasoning

5

Mind Games and Con Artists

by konceptual99 in

jw
friends

i made a post on another thread but think it deserves a space of it's own.

the latest new scientist magazine has a great article on how and why people get taken in by con artists.. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2073748-mind-games-how-con-artists-get-the-better-of-you/.

there is a great section on the use of emotive stories to gain mental traction.

galaxie

Indeed!..you have to be aware of mind control in order to stand a chance of not succumbing. Unfortunately too many people are detrimentally lazy and have childlike imaginations, which may be the reason some see the reality whilst others cant see the woods for the trees .

44

Proof the earth can be flat

by slimboyfat in

"our perception of reality has more to do with what is going on in here (our brain) than what's going on out there (in the world).".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03g221y.

is it a dark square or a light square?

galaxie

It was the motion of moving the 'square' to a different light condition which gave the perspective of shade. One definate was the square did not change to a circle.... the earth may change shading as a result of position or light conditions but will never be seen as flat....although a certain condition of the brain can 'believe' its flat, its called delusion!

39

Hello, I'm new here too!

by redpilltwice in

jw
friends

hi everybody, 1st post here.

20 years jw, elder for 6 years, regular pioneer for 3 years, have always been following the 2012 candace conti abuse case with much interest, especially since the case suddenly disappeared from www.watchtower.com's news section (thanks brother j. r. brown, office of public information, because it led me to "worldly" websites for more info), leading to more and more dissatisfaction , leading to jwfacts, jwsurvey, ad1914, wtdocuments etc., leading to my awakening about 4 months ago, now fading faster and faster to zero meetings and zero field service...and you know what?

it feels good!.

galaxie

Welcome and best wishes for the future.

49

Slightly different approach - JW my tradition

by closed in

hello everybody :) i have been visiting this forum for some time.

i noticed that many can't really free from the past in the org despite many years outside of jw.

i was awaken with a bang.

galaxie

As the song says "ain't that a kick in the head ".."ain't that a hole in the boat " unfortunately the kick in the head might eventually hurt too much and the hole in the boat might sink you... I'd bale out to assure the preservation of your sanity!

6

Slim nd Cofty are both right.....

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

i haven't had anything to contribute for a while so i have been lurking, which is a pleasant pastime.. anyway i have really enjoyd slimboyfats way of thinking, and i don't think such thinking needs discharge from the mental asylum.

i guess i am out of ammunition to argue with coftys may i say more rational thinking.. so whilst i find it difficult to refute what cofty says, i also find slimboyfats thinking refreshing, and that's why i say they are both right.

maybe a better explanation would be i once worshipped an organisation which was referred to as " mother" and it wrapped me up in baby diapers.. as far as i am concerned both slim and cofty are independent thinkers, no longer controlled by the insane thinking and rhetoric of other people.

galaxie

"Challenges are good for us" ..not forgetting a challenge is an action desiring an outcome which may not always result in 'good' . Some do not see the wood for the trees!