slimboyfat

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Posts by slimboyfat

• 
  210

  Morality Without Deity

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  one of the most persistent arguments for belief in god centres on the necessity of an ultimate law-giver and epitome of goodness.. a softer version is seen in the genuine concern that a loss of faith will result in a corresponding loss of a moral compass - a more strident argument links the existence of good and evil with proof of the reality of god.

  it is often asserted that without god, moral decisions degenerate to nothing more than personal preferences and the victory of "might is right".. i want to succinctly lay out my response as an atheist, and show that a supreme being is not required for objective morality.. it is helpful to distinguish between absolute morality, objective morality and subjective morality.

  christian apologists frequently conflate the first two, and secular debaters often fail to point out the difference.. theists who disagree on everything else, are unanimous that god is perfectly good.

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  slimboyfat

  A detailed study of embryology shows conclusively that a new unique person does not exist the moment a sperm penetrates an egg.

  How does that prove life isn't sacred from conception?
• 
  36

  What I miss about going out in service.

  by compound complex in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, very little, to be honest.

  the structure and commitment of the ministry provided discipline necessary to my life.

  therefore, i did it, as required, and felt some sense of fulfillment at the bible study stage.. i do like talking to people.

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  slimboyfat

  What I liked was to see the look of appreciation on the householder's face when I explained kingdom truths straight from the Bible.
• 
  210

  Morality Without Deity

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  one of the most persistent arguments for belief in god centres on the necessity of an ultimate law-giver and epitome of goodness.. a softer version is seen in the genuine concern that a loss of faith will result in a corresponding loss of a moral compass - a more strident argument links the existence of good and evil with proof of the reality of god.

  it is often asserted that without god, moral decisions degenerate to nothing more than personal preferences and the victory of "might is right".. i want to succinctly lay out my response as an atheist, and show that a supreme being is not required for objective morality.. it is helpful to distinguish between absolute morality, objective morality and subjective morality.

  christian apologists frequently conflate the first two, and secular debaters often fail to point out the difference.. theists who disagree on everything else, are unanimous that god is perfectly good.

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  slimboyfat

  As I understand it, Catholics hold that life is sacred from conception. How do you disprove that objectively? Or do you describe their opposition differently?
• 
  210

  Morality Without Deity

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  one of the most persistent arguments for belief in god centres on the necessity of an ultimate law-giver and epitome of goodness.. a softer version is seen in the genuine concern that a loss of faith will result in a corresponding loss of a moral compass - a more strident argument links the existence of good and evil with proof of the reality of god.

  it is often asserted that without god, moral decisions degenerate to nothing more than personal preferences and the victory of "might is right".. i want to succinctly lay out my response as an atheist, and show that a supreme being is not required for objective morality.. it is helpful to distinguish between absolute morality, objective morality and subjective morality.

  christian apologists frequently conflate the first two, and secular debaters often fail to point out the difference.. theists who disagree on everything else, are unanimous that god is perfectly good.

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  slimboyfat

  Can you give an example of a difficult moral question (as in a question that has significant support on either side) that can be settled objectively without ultimate reference to authority, whether that be God or prevailing public opinion?
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  18

  Is it just me ? 2 threads debating page after page with one individual ?

  by smiddy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  is it just me who doesnt see the point of this ?

  from time to time we see some individual who takes up page after page arguing his or her point of view and it usually ends up with only 2 or 3 individuals who keep the talkfest going with a particular individual and nobodys getting anything out of it .. why bother ?

  why get sucked in to such a pointless dialogue ?

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  slimboyfat

  Should people debate stupid stuff endlessly back and forward? I don't know. Clearly the only way to settle this is to start a debate on the issue.
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  48

  Dose Wt really have that much cash.

  by joe134cd in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i realize that wt has got a wind fall of cash through various means.

  so my question is in the greater scheme of things is it really that much.

  for example let's say with all their real estate and cash on hand they are worth about $20 billion dollars.

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  slimboyfat

  Are you sure translation isn't a significant cost? Remember we are talking about simultaneous translation into hundreds of obscure languages here, not just one major language into another. A reduction in text of what, 50% in the last decade or so, must be a huge reduction in labour across all the branches involved. Plus the languages they removed altogether. I got the impression it was costly when the strange story broke about the house they bought in Wales as a supposed translation centre a few years ago. At the time they seemed intent on creating many such translation centres. I suppose that has been dropped in these straightened times.

  Having said that, I suppose they will rely on computer translation at some point with minimal human input. It's becoming more and more reliable.
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  48

  Dose Wt really have that much cash.

  by joe134cd in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i realize that wt has got a wind fall of cash through various means.

  so my question is in the greater scheme of things is it really that much.

  for example let's say with all their real estate and cash on hand they are worth about $20 billion dollars.

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  slimboyfat

  Thanks there it is:

  There are plans to develop a 248-acre (100 ha) property at Warwick. “Although we are not yet certain of Jehovah’s will regarding Warwick,” said Brother Pierce, “we are proceeding to devel- op the site with the intention of relocating the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses there.”
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  38

  I spoke to 2 Jobos on a cart but I refused to discuss religion

  by punkofnice in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was in a good mood yesterday (makes a bloody change, i hear you say).

  i was meeting an old buddy for a meal.

  he was never a jobo.

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  slimboyfat

  Sounds good I like it.
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  48

  Dose Wt really have that much cash.

  by joe134cd in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i realize that wt has got a wind fall of cash through various means.

  so my question is in the greater scheme of things is it really that much.

  for example let's say with all their real estate and cash on hand they are worth about $20 billion dollars.

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  slimboyfat

  Remember too when they decided to build the new headquarters Guy Pierce made an odd remark at the time. He said something like, "we don't know if Jehovah is behind the move. We will need to wait and see if it works out." I think there may have been a suggestion they had bitten off more than they could chew financially.

  If they are selling assets to meet running costs then that is a serious situation. And that is precisely what Lett implied they were doing when he said the sale of a single property only meets running costs for a month or two.

  Does anyone have that quote from Guy Pierce?
• 
  48

  Dose Wt really have that much cash.

  by joe134cd in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i realize that wt has got a wind fall of cash through various means.

  so my question is in the greater scheme of things is it really that much.

  for example let's say with all their real estate and cash on hand they are worth about $20 billion dollars.

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  slimboyfat

  shepherdless you are right that reducing the magazines doesn't save all that much in printing costs because of the fixed costs involved. But it probably saves a lot in translation man hours. That's where the main financial incentive for cutting back the literature may be.

  Recently they abandoned some translations altogether, included simplified French and so on. What I thought was interesting was they didn't even bother to offer a fake excuse. They just said, "the GB has decided to stop them" and that's it.

  More desperate cost saving no doubt.