illustrations that where false

by Grouper 12 Replies latest jw friends

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  Grouper

  Hello everyone I am a new poster but have been lurking for quite some time, I wanted to know if any of you ever heard the following illustrations at meetings.

  1) When I was a kid going to Spanish meetings here in So Cal I often heard speakers talk about Satan being like a roaring lion ready to devour all humanity, then I would here the illustration of how lions hunt by roaring towards the ground this way the roar went everywhere and the prey would be easy pickings. Problem with this is once I studied in the fourth grade how lions hunt, found out lionesses are the ones that hunt and rely solely on stealth, ambush, the element of surprise to bring down their prey. I still haven't found any info to support the various speakers? account.

  2) In my late teenage years when I came back and started attending English meetings I heard another illustration I had often heard even in Spanish meetings, that was that we only use 10% of our brains and we should imagine the possibilities when we will eventually use all of it. Recently a protégé CO mentioned at the dinner table that in the MS school they were told it is only 10% of 1%. A simple research would show this to be an urban legend.

  Anyone out ever hear these examples and to be fair do any of you have info to affirm the speaker?s accretions.

  Late.
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  Quotes

  Hey Grouper: WELCOME!!!!!
  
  Excellent first post.
  
  I had never thought to deconstruct the "roaring lion" thing, but when you think about it, you are correct, the illustration just doesn't fit. Of course, an elder would probably say "well, you are correct, the quiet stealthy way **IS** how Satan works, he is clever and cunning and not obvious"... of course this completely ignores the fact that the scripture/illustration says "ROARING lion seeking to devour..." which makes about as much sense as saying "a swimming fish, seeking to stay dry."
  
  As for the 10% of brain: yup, it's an urban myth.... probably neither the first nor the last to be passed around Watchtower-land!
  
  ~Quotes, of the "In that case, which 90% can I remove, you won't miss it will you" class
  http://quotes.watchtower.ca
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  Little Red Hen

  Welcome, Grouper!

  You are correct in your understanding of how lions hunt. Your speaker was prolly counting on no one having actually looked it up.

  On the brain thingy, I take it he was speaking bout the capacity for thought/memory/emotion? I don't think scientists have been able to really quantify the percent of resources used. Actually, we do use all of our brains, for running and regulating the rest of our body.

  Here's a slogan the society is free to use - 'Brains - not just for thinking'
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  Happy Guy :)

  Grouper is tasty
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  blondie

  The WTS has tried to back themselves out of the lion roaring:

  ***

  g99 1/22 p. 19 Lions?Africa?s Majestic Maned Cats ***

  Surprisingly, when hunting wild animals, lions do not use roaring as a hunting strategy to scare their prey. In his book The Behavior Guide to African Mammals, Richard Estes observes that there is "no indication that lions deliberately roar to drive prey into an ambush (in my experience prey species normally ignore lion roars)."

  Why, then, does the Bible refer to Satan as a ?roaring lion that seeks to devour someone?? (1 Peter 5:8) Although wild animals do not seem to be intimidated by the lion?s roar, this is not the case with man and his domestic flocks. The terrifying sound of the lion?s roar, resonating in the darkness of the night, would frighten and intimidate anyone not protected behind a closed door. Long ago it was accurately observed: "There is a lion that has roared! Who will not be afraid?"

  ***

  w80 9/1 p. 31 The Roaring Lion

  THE roar of a lion is an awe-inspiring sound. It may be heard over a distance of five miles (8 km). The reason for this mighty sound is twofold. It is a means of communicating with distant members of the pride and also serves as a proclamation of territory rights. Contrary to popular belief, the lion does not usually roar when hunting wild animals. However, when trying to prey upon domestic animals in an enclosure often a lion will roar. The terrifying sound is calculated to cause a stampede that breaks down the protective fence and exposes the prey.

  This reminds us of the words of the apostle Peter. To fellow Christians he wrote: "Your adversary, the Devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour someone." (1 Pet. 5:8) As Christian "sheep," secure in the protection provided by the "fine shepherd," Christ Jesus, we do well to pay attention to Peter?s words. (John 10:14, 15) "Keep your senses, be watchful," says the apostle, lest the threatening roars of the Devil cause any to panic and flee into an area of spiritual danger.
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  Quotes

  blondie, excellent work as always.
  
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  However, when trying to prey upon domestic animals in an enclosure often a lion will roar. The terrifying sound is calculated to cause a stampede that breaks down the protective fence and exposes the prey.
  ========================
  
  In response to this line of WT reasoning, I call "BULLS**T".
  
  (1) The claim is made w/o support or proof
  
  
  (2) Implies higher order thought process; lions thoughts generally, IMHO, are: SLEEP, REPRODUCE, SLEEP, EAT NOW, SLEEP
  
  (3) Doesn't make sense: "Hhhhmmm... here are a bunch of sheep in a pen. Maybe if I roar, I will start a stampede, they will break out of the fence, and spread around the field and be much more difficult to catch... yeah, roaring is a *GREAT* idea!!!!
  
  Nice work, Watchtower! You've done it again!
  
  ~Quotes, of the "...lounging about like a sleepy, hungry, horney Lion..." class.
  http://quotes.watchtower.ca
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  Swan

  I remember being told back an illustration back in the sixties that goes something like this:

  A NASA computer used to calculate the orbits of the celestial bodies crashed to a halt. The scientists couldn't get it working again until they remembered the accounts of Joshua and of Isaiah with Hezekiah. When the scientists accounted for the time that Joshua had God hold the sun still in the sky and that Isaiah asked God to move the sun in the sky backward ten degrees, low and behold the equation seemed to make sense. Once the program had these adjustments made the computer ran again without error.

  Proof positive that the Bible is true and that wise scientists should always consider the Bible for any sort of postulation!

  Years later I learned it was an urban legend. More information on it can be found at http://www.snopes.com/religion/lostday.htm if you are interested.

  Tammy
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  MungoBaobab

  Yeah, every now and then you'll hear a lengthy discussion about lions and their hunting habits, and how lions sometimes roar and why. Pitiful.

  In the last year or two there's been a big deal made about snakes and whether or not they can hear (they can't). Psalm 58 implies that they actually dance to music played by snake charmers, when they actually just react to how they hold their flutes. But sure enough, the scholars at Watchtower found some yahoo with credentials like "Assistant Clerk at the Reno Poison Control Center" to say that snakes can "hear" vibrations transmitted through the ground that have direct contact with their jaw. Firstly, that doesn't apply to snake charmers, and secondly an animal's ability to percieve sound doesn't mean it has the rhythm to dance to it! And yet this was even a question on one of the last written reviews.
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  avishai

  How 'bout in the paradise book where they show a baby being sacrificed to Baal? Most sacrifices to baal were vegie oriented. Child sacrifices were dedicated to Moloch.
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  avengers

  Recently a protégé CO mentioned at the dinner table that in the MS school they were told it is only 10% of 1%.

  This one is right on the button when it comes to the elders. lmfho