scotoma

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Posts by scotoma

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  81

  How Did You Become An Atheist?

  by NewChapter in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  since there seem to be a number of threads in this spirit, i'd like to ask how others became atheists.

  for myself, i learned some things that made me understand the bible wasn't true.

  i looked deeper, and it became even more unlikely.

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  scotoma

  Religion is like watching a really bad carnival show. Imagine a weight guesser that gets everyone's weight wrong. The crowd eventually moves along.

  I didn't become anything atheist or otherwise. All animals need orientation. We need to know where we are and where we are going.

  The search goes on.

  So, far God has been a disorienting factor in my world view.

  I don't demand answers. Answers emerge in a way that maintains coherence. You get the answers you are prepared for. Answers you aren't ready for will probably mean your death.
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  7

  Who do you think will be on the Governing Body in the future?

  by Iamallcool in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you know some possible candidates, tell me about them including their names.

  thanks!.

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  scotoma

  I wish it mattered. I am certain it will be some combination of compliant followers and authoritarian masters. Still no women.

  I am convinced that organizations that rigidly exclude women from executive roles are doomed.
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  29

  "You are so Focussed on The Past that you can't see the Blessings in front of your Eyes!"

  by BluesBrother in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  that statement has been made to me recently - i think it is a sound-bite from the new dvd about jerusalem's fall.. hmm.. i need to reflect on a reply .

  several thoughts come to mind but it has to be constructive and form a reasoned argument rather than a smart answer.. what blessings?

  are we unreasonably obsessed with the past?

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  scotoma

  Just once can I have a blessing that isn't in disguise.
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  29

  Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 07-08-2012 WT Study (GIFT MARRIAGE)

  by blondie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you plan to apply in your life?.

  the world book encyclopedia: a man and woman.

  jw parents are allowed to request a bride price for their daughters..... .

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  scotoma

  Once during a Watchtower study on marriage I wrote in the margins all the weddings I had been to in the 50 years of being a JW. These were weddings I personally attended total = 70. Number that were still together 35 - exactly 50% failed. Same as in the world. This spanned a time from the early 50's to the early 00's.

  Sit down and do that exercise yourself. Make a list of all the weddings you've attended. Cross out the ones that ended in divorce. I'll bet you get a figure near 50%
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  54

  For those of you who do not believe in corporal punishment...

  by Chemical Emotions in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  that is, for those of you who actually think that hitting children is wrong, what types of discipline do you find more effective?

  i'm not a parent but when dealing with kids, i've seen that time-outs tend to make kids feel isolated and can really hurt them.

  if they're near others and are checked up on frequently, it seems ok. but when they're completely ignored, that is just bad.

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  scotoma

  The proper answer is "it depends".

  Some kids respond to spanking. Some don't. Some respond to time out - some don't. Some respond to a disapproving look - others don't.

  A parent needs to pay attention to how the child reacts.

  I raised 4 kids (2 boys and 2 girls). I spanked. Lectured. Time out. Commended. Complimented. Rewarded. Gave and witheld privelges. Read scriptures.

  They all love me. And they insist nothing I did worked.

  Spanking is best if there is real physical danger and either the kid is too young to reason with or there just isn't time to explain at the moment.
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  23

  Ten Years From Now .......

  by Phizzy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what with the very low baptism rate, many leaving, many waking up and staying in for now, but not "zealous" any more, the wt/jw religion/scam is without doubt moribund.. i do not foresee a sudden end to the wt but what will it look llike in ten years time ??.

  the late teens/early twenty year olds of today will i think be very thin on the ground as 30 year old jw's, so my view is that in ten years time it will be mainly old hardcore ones ,50 yr old and up, and even they will be aware that the org.

  is dying..

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  scotoma

  You can't just look at what is happening with Jehovah's Witnesses. The world is not stable. Terrorism is not dead. The rivalry between the Eurasian Heartland (Russia+Former Soviet Republics) and the USA/NATO is very close to a serious conflict. Putn has the beginning of a rebellion which will make him extremely dangerous as he looks for things to distract people. Pakistan is going crazy and they have nukes. The overthrow of governments in the Middle east have brought in a new crop of radical fundamentalists. H1N1 is just a mutation away from being really deadly.

  People will be looking for some basis to keep going. JW's are organized, disciplined, and trained to draw people into their fold and drench the newcomers in love. Don't under estimate the power of organization. When things get chaotic people will hold onto anything. Think of cancer victims who grab onto worthless cures because they offer hope.

  Look at how far JW's got on World War I coinciding with the JW's prediction of somthing big happening in 1914. We know that the 1914 date is bogus but that coincidence has been fuel for everything JW's have said and done.

  For example. Insurance companies have built in the risk of a nuclear device being used on a large american city and the foremost target is NY.

  What if a nuclear bomb goes off in NYC AFTER JW's have sold their property and moved a 100 miles away? That's all the JW's would need to keep them going another 100 years.

  The really important forces that shape the future are the ones no one can predict. Who would have thought that the Charles Russell, described during divorce proceedings as an amorous jellyfish would have spawned an organization with close to 8 million members. Who would have thought that a science fiction writer (Hubbard) would inspire a religion with the power of scientology.

  The present as well as the past do not predict the future. The only thing you can say is that the future is likely to be "crazy".
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  81

  What does faith mean to you?

  by exwhyzee in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we all memorized the definition of faith... faith is the assured expectation of things hoped for...yadda yadda.. it seems like more and more as time goes by and our scientific knowledge base grows, we need less and less faith and fewer things can be attributed to god.. do you think we need faith or is faith just a word we use to feel ok about being too lazy to keep looking for the answers ?.

  what does faith mean to you now?.

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  scotoma

  Faith is just an archaic prescientific word.

  The scientific/mathematical equivalent to "faith" would be inductive reasoning.

  You have a set of facts and based on those facts you form theories about possible outcomes.

  That's why they speak of the LEAP of faith.

  The Bible's definition is very interesting from a Christians point of view. Hebrews 11 gives examples of men of faith. Most of the examples had "visitations" of angels and witnessed miracles. Their faith if based upon actual angelic visitations would be quite different from what is called "blind" faith. Their expectations were based on their experiences with supernatural beings.

  However, JW's can't point to a single event that could compare with the personal experiences those ancient men of faith allegedly had. In fact, the trend of JW predictions that haven't taken place suggests that you can have faith that JW's are going to continue to fail in their predictions.

  Remember, those patriarchs weren't relying on second hand reports. Now its been close to 2,000 years since anyone has claimed divine guidance.

  Faith is not stupid. Credulity is not the same as faith.
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  45

  So ... what happens when we die?

  by sacolton in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what do you personally believe happens after we die?

  i don't believe we really know everything about god or the afterlife.

  i do believe that we do transform to something beyond our physical comprehension.

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  scotoma

  Knowing that when I die that's the end of me makes me resent all the more that I wasted the best years of my life in the JW loop.

  Some people aren't going to do much with their life so for them religion is a comforting way to pass the time.

  If a person has the Promethean spark then Epimethean ideologies will gnaw out their liver.
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  New? Watchtower now has its publications on line 2000 to present

  by scotoma in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just heard this.

  it may be old hat.

  why don't they post all their publications from 1879 to the present.. how hard would that be.

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  scotoma

  I just heard this. It may be old hat.

  Why don't they post all their publications from 1879 to the present.

  How hard would that be.

  Maybe they feel the last decade had fewer flip-flops.
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  90

  What it takes to become an atheist.

  by dontplaceliterature in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was pondering this today during lunch, and to me it seems that it comes down to whether or not you can accept that you will one day be permanantly gone and anyone you have lost in death will never be alive again.

  once a person becomes comfortable with these two ideas, there isn't really any incentive to believe.

  maybe it's an over simplification, but it seems to me that this is the heart of the matter.

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  scotoma

  Even if there IS a reward from some super agency I don't believe "everlasting life" is it. Forever is too long. After a thousand years you'd be on autopilot. You would just be going through the same routine. Exciting and novel information would be scarce. It could even become a long torturous "been there-done that" existence.

  The longer you live the more hard wired your brain will get. How much Sudoku do you want to play? The only way "everlasting life" could be interesting is if you could erase the brain every so often. But that would be similar to death and rebirth. And that's already built into the system.

  You die to make room for some fresh ideas.

  There is a big difference between "time indefinite" and "everlasting life". We already live to some indefinite point. Make it count.