Posts by PrimateDave

54

Is The WTS Getting Desperate for Males? KM Aug 2009

by Hopscotch in

just thought this article was interesting in view of what has been said in the last couple of years on the forum about the declining number of elders and servants and those reaching out.

add to that the large percentage of young teenage boys who leave 'the truth'.

i can't ever remember this much space in a km being devoted to converting men.. para 2 states: "when a family head accepts the truth, he often influences others in the family to join him in pure worship".

PrimateDave

Double post. My bad.

Dave

30

It's Amazing!

by whathehadas in

it's amazing to me how many of the exjws no longer believe in god.

i know some of you have many reasons to believe in what you do now.

but this is a big testimony to what the wts does to people's concept of god.

PrimateDave

I grew up in the so-called Bible Belt of the USA. The attitudes of many Christians in that area did nothing to recommend their belief systems to me. Even as a born-in Witness, I began to have many doubts about the Bible itself. All it took to become agnostic/atheistic was an in depth look at the real origins of the books of the Bible to see that they were the work of men. An objective look at the Organization and its Governing Body put the final nail in that coffin.

Dave

6

Armageddon: The Aftermath Chronicles (1)

by cameo-d in

ive been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard,.

.....and its a hard rains a-gonna fall.. .

----hard rain by bob dylan.

PrimateDave

Definitely an improvement. Hope to read more soon.

Dave

49

As a Child, Which Did You Think About More?

by BabaYaga in

petting baby animals in paradise, or the fiery rain of armegeddon?.

i can tell you which one i thought about every single day.

armegeddon absolutely terrified me.

PrimateDave

As a young boy I daydreamed a lot. My daydreams were imaginary worlds I made up in my mind that had nothing to do with the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses. That's pretty much how I dealt with the mind killing boredom at the meetings and sometimes at school too. So, I never really thought much about paradise or armageddon. I guess I took it for granted that I would be in paradise, but it still never seemed very real to me.

Dave

75

Pole, Please respond

by ldrnomo in

jw
friends

who is df'd.

who is da'd.

who is fading or faded.

PrimateDave

Verbally DA'd myself. Didn't bother with writing any letter.

Dave

5

Apollo Programme an "Evidence of Pagan Worship"

by BluesBrother in

this being the anniverary and all, i remembered this comment by the wts about the appollo programme.

seems that it was all evidence of pagan worship .

the ludicrousness of this paragraph stuck me when we studied it , as a young man - but being a good dub i just shrugged and read the paragraph as directed.. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 36" no, the religionists of christendom today do not actually worship the sun, for they know from their scientists something of what the sun is, so as to know that it is no god.

PrimateDave

"Worshipping" Apollo put men on the moon. What has worshipping Jehovah done for mankind?

Dave

9

I Enjoyed this book

by NvrKssdNObutt in

jw
friends

a good book to explain why we exist and that our creator does not require nor need our sacrifices to him or worship of him is ::.

the freedom of choice.

by thomas j chalko.

PrimateDave

For example, he has this eye exercise where you look at two circles with horizontal and vertical lines. You cross your eyes and then you can combine the circles and form a cross. I've often done something similar to this to view 3-D images and photographs, so it was an easy exercise for me to try. Then he makes an unfounded assertion that performing this exercise is beneficial to the mind. His proof? He knows some programmers who do it. I'm sorry, that doesn't prove anything.

He also stated that he was the object of a psychic attack by 70,000 people. He stated that tribal people in Papua New Guinea knew how to kill with their minds. Really? He instructs readers how to defend themselves against such attacks. How can he prove any of this? I have to believe that he is making it up or is self deluded.

This is apparently quite commonplace. I once read a book on ceremonial magick. It had a similar topic on defending against psychic attack but with completely different methods. In either case, there is no proof that such things actually occur, much less that they can somehow be defended against.

Dave

9

I Enjoyed this book

by NvrKssdNObutt in

jw
friends

a good book to explain why we exist and that our creator does not require nor need our sacrifices to him or worship of him is ::.

the freedom of choice.

by thomas j chalko.

PrimateDave

I started in the beginning, which wasn't too promising. Then, I skimmed a lot. I never reached the end. I decided that it isn't worth my time any more than a Watchtower Publication. I wanted to find something useful, but since leaving the Witnesses, I have become very skeptical of anyone who claims to have "special" knowledge. Seriously, don't just accept at face value what this author, or any other person for that matter, says. Demand concrete proof. As soon as I start to find logical fallacies and hidden premises in an article or book, I have to question everything the writer has to say.

Dave

9

I Enjoyed this book

by NvrKssdNObutt in

jw
friends

a good book to explain why we exist and that our creator does not require nor need our sacrifices to him or worship of him is ::.

the freedom of choice.

by thomas j chalko.

PrimateDave

This book is full of assertions and opinions of the author. Speaking about death, he says,

“Consciousness is gone” as many experts would say.
Gone WHERE? And where is it when we are alive anyway?
Surely NOT in any organ, or even not in any atom of our body
– because they all remain exactly the same at the point of
death. Organs and atoms are not “going” anywhere.
They stay the same, and only later do they decay.
From this simple example, we have to conclude that
consciousness as well as intellect (which is a certain aspect of
consciousness), exist independently of the material reality that
is composed of atoms.

The above quote is from page 17 and is pretty much representative of the fallacious reasoning in the book. "Experts" would say that when a person dies, "consciousness is gone." He then twists that around as if to prove that human consciousness is a separate entity from the body. This would appeal to people who believe that a soul or spirit leaves the body at death, but it is contrary to what scientists have discovered. Even a lay person knows that brain damage can alter a person's mind and chemicals can cause hallucinations and other altered states of consciousness. When the brain is deprived of oxygen for several minutes, brain damage occurs. When the brain dies, "consciousness is gone" because the brain that supported it no longer functions. Consciousness ceases to exist. It doesn't go anywhere.

The author recommends meditation. I can agree with that. There are some good books on meditation out there. But wait, there's more!

Science and Technology
Science and technology on Earth is almost entirely controlled
by money and the monetary system. No money - no research.
“Knowledge” is considered a “property”. Scientists seem to
focus almost entirely on material reality and eventual material
gain or expenditure remain a key measure of their “success”
and pride.
Scientists and engineers don’t even notice how much intellect
and intelligence it takes to undertake the study of even a single
atom. They have been smashing atoms for almost a century
now – and still no one really knows what is inside them and
how to make an atom. The universal need for intellect and
intelligence is right in front of their noses – and they still miss
it.
Since the mediocre establishment of today totally ignores such
a need – technology is used primarily against development of
Individual Intellects and against Nature.

WTF? Let's hope he doesn't need any of that awful science and technology!

Scientists on Earth are not even aware of some very
elementary Laws of Physics.

LOL! Glad I didn't have to buy this text!

What about the theory of evolution?

Let me quote a question from a brilliant discussion at the
prestigious Russian Academy of Sciences.
“If evolution is true – why is every girl still born a virgin?
There must be some weakness in your theory...”
So WHY do we see evidence of evolution taking place among
many species on Earth?
Simply because the evolution occurs in Intellect. Physical
and physiological changes occur only when someone
consciously LEARNS something. You have to admit, that
learning is a process of intellect rather than of the flesh.
For example, bacteria can LEARN to live while harassed by
antibiotics. They don’t develop any other skill, or evolve to
something else other than bacteria – they develop a very
particular skill that they need to survive. They aim to develop
it. There are no coincidences.

This fellow knows not of what he speaks. Antibiotics kill bacteria. Some bacteria are resistant to certain chemicals, so they survive and multiply. Dead bacteria don't learn. How does he explain this?

It is interesting to note, that this learning occurs over many
generations. Countless generations of bacteria need to die
before bacteria can develop a new skill. For many decades we
thought that we could kill bacteria successfully. So, how can
bacteria today learn from generations of bacteria that have
long been DEAD?
The fact of continuation of consciousness beyond one lifetime,
proven earlier in this book, is a very logical explanation.

No sir, you didn't prove anything about "continuation of consciousness," you simply made an unfounded assertion that you proceeded to accept as a fact. Well, that's all I can stomach from this book.

Dave

53

No, God does NOT have the right to make rules for us - and here's why . . . .

by nicolaou in

reading through reniaa's latest topic i found the following sorts of comments from believers and unbelievers alike.

i think they show how habits of thought run most easily along the well grooved and often travelled ruts in our minds.

we need to question these 'obvious truths' more often .

PrimateDave

It has been so hot and dry where I live lately. I discovered ants living in my truck, apparently using the water I put in my windshield washer container in the engine compartment. I decided to empty out the water and let it dry out completely to see if the ants will go away. What do you suppose "god" will do once he discovers humans infesting his pretty blue marble in space?

I'm intrigued at all the assumptions being made about the mind of god. Humans are territorial animals, so they assume that god is territorial. Many human cultures value private property, so they assume god owns everything. Humans are social animals that rely on complex social rules that vary from one culture to the next, so they assume that god imposes social rules on humans (which, of course, vary according to culture and religion). Humans have parents, so they assume that god is the original parent. Most humans live under a hierarchical dominator system, so they assume that god is the ultimate dominator of everything. And so on and so forth, etc., etc...

Humans make god in their own image. Tell me about your god, and I'll know what kind of person you are.

Dave