Posts by kaik

11

ancient ruins

by crazyguy1 in

they have discovered a temple complex in turkey they call gobekli tepi and another in southern iran they tentatively call arata.

both of these sites were discovered in the last decade or two and are being dated to older then 12000 years ago.

can anyone explain how they go about dating these site since carbon 14 dating doesnt work on stone and theres no patina or very little since these places were buried?

There are dozen different materials that can be used in dating, not just only carbon. On geological features, there can be K-Ar dating for minerals millions years old. Carbon dating is rather accurate to 45,000 years or approximately 8 half times. Other methods like Ionimum-thorium-232 dating is widely used in sediments with halflife of 75,000 years. Besides radiometric dating, there are other methods like pollen, sediment, electromagnetic dating.

One important feature for dating the age of the early settlements is glaciation which retracted and repeated the process for period of several hundred thousands years. There was a brief period of warm-up in 25000 years ago followed by rapid glaciation in Europe, Asia, and Northern America, which ended around 10,000 BC. This glaciation period is very easy to spot in terrain, sediments, flora, fauna, and elsewhere, and can determine population migration before the last Ice Age and interglacial period.

14

My dub aunt thinks Obama is mentioned in the bible.

by Jehovah lol in

she's not even american and doesn't live in the usa so it's not even her area of political awareness really.

she seems convinced that obama is the prophesied wolf in sheep's clothing mentioned in revelation.. it's unusual for non-us dubs to hold the weirder beliefs, so this is a new one for me.

she also said that the end is very close now and that things are a foot with north korea; it's clearly the king of the north.. she said exactly the same thing 5 years ago about china, and exactly the same thing 10 years ago about iraq.. derp derp..

kaik

I remember in the 1986 when some JWs insisted that Gorbachev was the man in the Bible, Gog, etc, because of his mark on the forehead. If you look into history, there were hundreds of politicians, kings, royals, and dictators who were through to be prophesied in the Bible. Charles IV, Robespierre, Nero, Attila, Alaric, were all considered to be mentioned in bible or were believed to be antichrist.

20

Do current JWs like to have Bible discussions?

by Magnum in

on another thread rufus t. firefly made this interesting comment:.

my wife is a "zealous" regular pioneer who never talks about the bible or "the truth" and who has no interest in conducting a bible study with anyone.

this is how one remains a jw.. i decided to start a new thread to discuss this, since i didn't want to veer completely off the topic of the original thread.. i can relate to what rufus said - not concerning my wife, but other close jw family members.

kaik

In the 1980's behind the Iron Curtain with insufficient WT publications, we used to conduct Bible studies at home in group of 5 to 10. We discussed what we read and shared one WT publication to trying to figure out what was written there. These studies were really nice as many people had different opinion, and there was not strict guidelines as they were mostly transmitted orally and not official. After 1989, these biblical discussion ended, and primary responsibility on christian ideology was derived from WT only. It was also discouraged that we should not study bible on our own that could sidetrack us to apostate thinking. I have noticed that many JWs who came into the cult at that time had very limited knowledge of the Bible and could not even locate many well known events in it. When I talk to my JWs relatives and point stuff in the Scriptures they are often surprised to see them but they are not aware at all that it was even there.

17

every meeting there's a new plea for money?!

by purrpurr in

wow!

i haven't been here for a while and everything's changed!.

anyway i've been really noticing how at every meeting it seems there's yet another new thing that needs funding or another reminder to donate.

kaik

Smiddy, I do not know when it started, but in past two years I hear complains from my JW family that WT needs more money and donations. My mom often points out that 20 years ago nobody asked her; but back then we had donated a lot of money so we can build our first KH, which was build from our local contributions. Since my mom contributes for decades and surely every week when she is on program, she felt it insulted when elderette asked her why she puts only 100 crowns (which is the smallest paper bill) when she could afford to put more. All my JW relatives who are in different congregations complained that the donations are demanded and required instead of a time, when they were voluntary as I remember. I left the cult in April of 1994, so I do know only the religion who was at that time, which surely evolved into organized group with well paid priesthood.

I think the money is the biggest reason behind awakening of both of my sibling and my mom, instead flip flopping doctrines, and all other BS with JW religion. At least both of them feel that WT is not right on this. Money is something that people relate to it more on personal level,than 7 times of 360 nonsense and parousia, and this shakes more in their beliefs than all other nonsense.

17

every meeting there's a new plea for money?!

by purrpurr in

wow!

i haven't been here for a while and everything's changed!.

anyway i've been really noticing how at every meeting it seems there's yet another new thing that needs funding or another reminder to donate.

kaik

In my KH in Czech Republic as far I remember when JWs were legalized, the box was always at the door and was visible to everyone. Since my mom donates 100 Czech crown (only green bill) which is the lowest paper denomination, everyone could see what she donates. ($1 USD is 20 or so crowns, so she put about 5 dollars every week). 20 years ago she used (and I did as well) to donate 50 crowns every week. Last year and this years she repeatedly told me that elders and elderettes whined why she does not donate more, since she does not have any significant expenses (I paid her house off, thus she does not pay mortgage nor rent)...

She does not want to donate more, because the district overseer drives expensive car, ask local congregation to take him and his b.tch wife to dinner, and ask for other field expenses. She thinks that he is lazy and takes advantage of congregation. She worked for 50 years, and does not feel to subsidize anyone living standard.

17

every meeting there's a new plea for money?!

by purrpurr in

wow!

i haven't been here for a while and everything's changed!.

anyway i've been really noticing how at every meeting it seems there's yet another new thing that needs funding or another reminder to donate.

kaik

I heard this complain from all my JWs relatives, which is one of the reason why they are dissatisfied with WT and doubt the organization, FDS, and JW society. My mom donates about $5 equivalent every week, and she was told that she is not spiritually very strong because she does not donate enough. This is in country where average pensions are $600 per month. She is very pissed and she told me several times that the demand for money is turning into extortion because she does not want to donate more. The same complains were from my sibling and my niece. My mom friend donated several thousands of her widow's inheritance and cashed her life savings to KH in distress.

18

I Let Go Of Faith Ten years Ago Today

by cofty in

after more than 30 years as a jw and 9 as a born-again christian i finally let go of faith 10 years ago today.... it was on boxing day 2004 that news of the asian tsunami put the final nail in the coffin of my relationship with god.

since that time i have listened attentively to every possible argument in defense of faith; there has never been a single moment that i have felt any discomfort with my decision.. life without god has been liberating.

no longer do i have to defend the indefensible.

kaik

In April it will be 21 years for me what I walked away from JW faith. I stopped believing in Xtian BS couple years later. Although I do still believe in the existence of Deity, I still consider liberating from religious indoctrination and nonsense of bible.

12

I have had to create a new account

by cantleavehasleft in

jw
friends

at least my user name is more accurate now.

.

kaik

It took me several attempts to log in, but I was able to do so.

45

What products have you bought that exceed your expectations?

by skeeter1 in

well?.

kaik

My PS2 and Toshiba laptop. I have still original playstation from 12 years ago that plays. I had Toshiba for years until my step dad drop it accidentally from the coffee table. All other laptops I have and had were not so good.

68

If Your JW Parent Died Would YOU Go To The Kingdom Hall For The Talk?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i would like your thoughts, please..

kaik

Nooooo! I will not have hers funeral at KH. When my father died my JWs relatives tried to disrupt funeral, and the same happened when my grandmother died, because they decided to take first two rows in the church and refused to have my cousins refused to carry the coffin because "JWs do not do that". When my JW aunt and uncle died, I did not got to their funeral. Last thing I want to do on my mom's funeral to make a donkey from myself.