Posts by GLTirebiter

12

Is science a tool, or a source of philosophy?

by EdenOne in

is science simply a powerful tool, or must it also dictate adherence to strict secularism?.

science must not impose any philosophy, any more than the telephone must tell us what to say.

- gilbert keith chesterton.

GLTirebiter

Is science a tool, or a source of philosophy?

Rather than being either it its source or its tool, science is a branch of philosophy. For most of western history, what we now know as "science" was called "natural philosophy." Science is philosophy directed to knowing the natural world. In other words, science is a subset of philosophy.

The "scientific method" is a tool. It applies empirical methods to extend knowledge of the world, starting from more limited previous knowledge, observations, and axioms.

4

ET's And Religion

by metatron in

jw
friends

http://www.cryptogon.com/?p=45103.

i am unaware of any wts statement released on this topic.

metatron.

GLTirebiter

Perhaps the WTBTS does not want another case like claiming Alcyone is the center of the universe, where stands the throne of Jehovah.

Can aliens have souls? Could aliens be baptized? Yes, according to a Vatican astonomer.

Guy Consolmagno [SJ], who is one of the pope's astronomers, said he would be "delighted" if intelligent life was found among the stars. "But the odds of us finding it, of it being intelligent and us being able to communicate with it – when you add them up it's probably not a practical question."

Speaking ahead of a talk at the British Science Festival in Birmingham tomorrow, he said that the traditional definition of a soul was to have intelligence, free will, freedom to love and freedom to make decisions. "Any entity – no matter how many tentacles it has – has a soul." Would he baptise an alien? "Only if they asked."

34

IF you believe in evolution, theistic or not.....

by DATA-DOG in

jw
friends

are you more amazed by nature documentaries now, or were they better when "god did it"??.

.

dd.

GLTirebiter

The first cell organizing itself into a functioning replicating organism is even more facinating.

A very good observation! A functioning cell that reproduces itself with inheritance of the parent's/parents' traits, including a material and energy processing mechanism to support that reproduction, is the engine that powers evolution by natural selection. That first step is the most important one.

Another important step is at the other end of the journey: death! The cycle of birth, life, and death ensures a continuous renewal, so the better adapted can thrive while the poorly adapted decline. Death works hand in hand with reproduction, providing the opportunities for natural selection to occur. In this imperfect world death should be considered the alternative not to life, but rather to extinction.

[edited for wording and style]

80

" Do not ask permission, just play the video--" service meeting instructions.

by prologos in

jw
friends

this statement startled me out of the pleasant mental absence during this week's "service" meeting.. pushing the org.

explanation: "the listener has time to interrupt, if they want--" .

together with an incredible boring "study" of an hand held device, or it's stored content, i will be a totally new crop of orgies at the halls,.

GLTirebiter

Play your own video for them!

Brenda Lee, the Truth Fairy

7

Wow! Take the grandkids to a professional sport event...$!

by Gregor in

last week we attended a major league baseball game.

could not believe the costs beyond the ticket price.

hot dogs, a slice of pizza, etc are $8.

GLTirebiter

That's why I prefer minor league sports: reasonable prices, and athletes who aren't overpaid, self-indulgent prima donnas.

28

not on JW.ORG: Why did "Holy Spirit" direct Jehovah's Witnesses Governing Body member JF Rutherford to build a private luxury compound ( Beth Sarim) during the great depression?

by Balaamsass2 in

beth sarimfrom wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

coordinates: 324616.36n 1170556.70w.

historybible student movementleadership disputesplinter groupsdoctrinal developmentunfulfilled predictionsdemographicsby countrybeliefspracticessalvationeschatologythe 144,000faithful and discreet slavehymnsgod's nameblooddisciplineliteraturethe watchtowerawake!new world translationlist of publicationsbibliographyteaching programskingdom hallgilead schoolpeoplewatch tower presidentsw.

GLTirebiter

I think a lot of his decisions can be explained by the haze of alcohol.

I agree. It was during prohibition, but the booze was pouring in abundance right across the border in Tijuana.

Also, it has been noted that San Diego is about as far as you could get from Bethel/Brooklyn while staying in the US.

38

The Books That Redefined C.T. Russell's Beliefs

by Maat13 in

according to wt history, as a youth/young man, ct russell was unsatisfied with a number of explanations he was taught about the bible.

as a result he went on a quest to 'study' the bible himself.

ultimately this led to an organization that now requires its members to read bible aids to help them understand the bible.

GLTirebiter

Russell was one of many who made prophecies based on the great pyramid, following in the footsteps of Charles Piazzi Smyth ("Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid").

"In 1891, Pastor Russell published the thrid volume of his famous series Studies in the Scripture. ... A letter from Smyth is reproduced in which the Scottish astronomer praises Russell highly for his new and original contributions." [Fads and Falalcies in the Name of Science, Martin Gardner, Dover Books]

17

Radiocarbon dating totaly inaccurate before 2000 BCE

by opusdei1972 in

it seems that this portion was published in the watchtower in the year 1977 (as i have in the spanish version):.

the radiocarbon dating method has been widely accepted by many scientists as showing that humans lived back to at least 50,000 b.c.e.

that conflicts with what the bible says.. but physicist r. brown of andrews university claims that this radiocarbon dating method is highly inaccurate.

GLTirebiter

he concludes that radioactive carbon atoms did not exist in the earth's atmosphere in significant amounts before 2000 B.C.E.

The concentration in old material (determined by tree tring dating, for example) offers a strong counterexample to this claim.

Perhaps they want to link this claim with a theory that there was no atmospheric C14 until Jah nuked Sodom and Gomorrah!

24

What will the next "witness" fad illness be??

by stuckinarut2 in

as we know, it seems that many witnesses "suffer" from "illnesses" at times.. now , before anyone scolds me for being insensitive or unfeeling, i am not mocking those who really suffer from illnesses of any sort.

i am having a go at those that jump on the bandwagon of the popular illness, which actually makes real sufferers feel jaded.. i am referring to the way that many witnesses who are actually damaged as a result of the constant "fear.obsession.guilt" of jw propaganda, often seem to "contract the current illness going around", or blame it on that instead of looking at the real cause.. im sure it is a subconcious result of the burdensome pressure of jw life that brings it on.

instead of seeing the draining effect on their lives as being the result of witness life, they will latch on to the next illness going around.. so, what is the latest going to be?.

GLTirebiter

Same as the last one: hypochondria!

14

Voting and elections

by Powermetal4ever in

jw
friends

i've been thinking about the fact that jws dont vote in elections.

the main reason for this, i guess is that they shall not be a part of this world and so on.

there was no election in the times of jesus, so yes i understand that it needs an intepretetion, but why is that intepreted that they shouldnt vote?

GLTirebiter

The explanation, as I understood it, is that by voting, you share in the responsibility of what the person you elected does.

The explanation I give is that by failing to vote against a candidate or ballot measure, you share the responsibility for whatever harm they may cause. In other words, by not voting you forfeit your privilege to gripe about the government.