TrueTomHarley

6 minutes ago, Pudgy said:

get the Isaac Asimov book “I, Robot”,

Almost as good:

https://www.tomsheepandgoats.com/2007/07/isaac-asimov-an.html

On 5/5/2022 at 8:49 AM, TrueTomHarley said:

Kant was stopped dead in his tracks on this dilemma when his church told him he kant ask that question.  (sorry)

On 5/5/2022 at 9:52 AM, xero said:

Kant was a pedant, who was wrong about his categorical imperative. He knew nothing about the scalability of actions or even the capability of any given actor performing a given action.

Few realize that the Beatles later built upon his platform of philosophy:

”because I told you before…oh…you kant do that.”

On 5/5/2022 at 11:38 AM, xero said:

Along these lines I decided to harass this one brother (who's really annoyed me, so fair play) ... he's an IRS Lawyer/CPA... anyway I asked him:

"Dan...Could Jehovah have created Adam and Even with faux free will such that these imagined they were free to perform a forbidden or evil action, but lacked the capacity to actually act on the imagined act?"

Dan says "Sure, Jehovah could have done that."

I continue..."So then, if he had done that, would Adam or Eve have eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and bad?"

Dan responds "Well, no, of course."

I ask..."So what do you suppose Adam and Eve have thought when presented with Satan's challenge"

Dan says "I suppose they might have considered the situation, well at least Eve might, since it says she was deceived, but she wouldn't have eaten, because of not having free will. She'd have been wired to continue doing good, even though she had the capacity to consider doing the wrong thing."

Then I say "In all this, though she would have felt free, though wouldn't she...both she and Adam?"

Dan responds "In this thought experiment, the answer would be 'Yes'."

Then I ask "So then, the fall of man, death and sin would never have taken place?"

Dan says "Correct."

And I continue "...and Adam and Eve would imagine in all this that they were still free moral agents."

Dan says "That's what faux free will looks like."

And I continue "So we'd all be in a paradise earth now, then wouldn't we, and none the wiser for lacking free will..."

Dan says "Sure...."

And I say "So why didn't Jehovah do it that way? We'd all be happy and be congratulating ourselves on how we we are so wise that we always obey Jehovah..."

Dan says "Well Jehovah would know..."

And I blurt out "So it's all about him is it?"

Dan says "What about the angels? They'd know we didn't have free will?"

I say "Would they? If Jehovah could make humans with faux free will, then couldn't he likewise do so with any sentient being giving some actual free will and some faux and not allowing the knowledge of who here or there actually possesses the same?"

Dan says "What about love? They couldn't actually love each other or Jehovah."

I say "With faux free will you could imagine you were doing so..."

Then I say "Don't worry Dan. I'm sure we have free will. Maybe."

 

What a weird congregation you have.

It’s like when the Regional brother and his wife hit town and it isn’t yet clear just what congregation they will be attending. “Are we in that stage of trying to haul in the big fish?” I ask them, making gestures of reeling in the big one. They reply yes. “Well,” I tell them, “just between us, I’m not sure they even believe in God at those other congregations.”

53 minutes ago, Arauna said:

So you [PSomH] learnt nothing from my example....... .back to the GB - OCD hate.  ... Now i know what I deal with. 

…

We cannot fathom out every situation except understanding that many lost their lives unnecessarily

I’m working up a post with more on that topic of so many going down in the census and subjects related but I’m just not going to do it in front of that moron who ignores the substance of any remark to insert some completely irrelevant insult of those taking the lead in the evangelizing work. In time it will be in the closed forum.

1 hour ago, Arauna said:

Many died because he had a sensus taken of the nation.... I believe in modern language that is called collateral damage..... 

It is a strange passage that appears to upend notions of lives in the present system being incredible important to Jehovah. We usually respond to such passages with a “Moving on, here.”

2 hours ago, Pudgy said:

What if BOTH their feet are big?

What if Gordon Lightfoot’s feet really are light?

34 minutes ago, Srecko Sostar said:

This is new to me. In Croatia, I have never seen an advertisement for lawyers on TV. Maybe they don’t need it because they have enough work to do because our people like to sue each other more than Americans?  

That could be. A very dear friend of mine lived in Serbia for a time and called them the best people on earth.

It also may be that lawyers are prohibited from media advertising in many countries, maybe there is even a professional code that considers it too crass, as the case year many years ago. Last I heard, pharmaceutical companies are only allowed direct-to-consumer advertising in the U.S. and New Zealand. Trust me, it is an excellent reason to move to Croatia or anywhere else. 

7 minutes ago, Arauna said:

and what about : this news item was brought to you by Pfizer! 

They don’t have to advertise. The state does that for them.

(did you hear on account the country’s enthusiastic embrace, some are call Israel “Pfisrael?”)

1 hour ago, Pudgy said:

Not Lawyers.

You should get over your obsession on this. Unfortunately, lawyers are a byproduct of living in the modern world. 

You and I both remember when the premier sponsors for TV news programs were manufacturers or merchants. Now they are lawyers. With no exaggeration I can count over a dozen lawyers who regularly advertise on local media, some a dozen times a day. If you have pockets, someone will find a pretext to try to empty them. It Is a societal transfer of funds for every reason under the sun, with barristers netting a third.

Don’t misunderstand. There are wrongs to be righted. We live in a society that views money as the way to right wrongs. It’s not to say that every lawsuit is just a money grab. But when lawyers replace manufacturers and merchants as the premiere advertisers, well—it’s one crazy way to run a planet.

8 minutes ago, xero said:

Speaking of hellfire. How many here wish that Jesus had never used the illustration of Lazarus and the rich man?

About as many who wish he’d never spoken of eating his flesh and drinking his blood.

3 hours ago, Arauna said:

I was catching up today!  Thanks for missing me.  I gave you guys a little respite from my "sensure" - lol.

Yes. We need you. There’s no end to the outrageous things they’ve been saying in your absense.

16 hours ago, Patiently waiting for Truth said:

Maybe it's the word 'Patiently' because you lot are the opposite and you all want to run ahead with lies and wild ideas.

Or is it the word 'Truth' because you lot hate the word, or do not understand it's meaning.

Maybe it’s that “Patiently waiting for the Truth” is exactly the opposite of the course Jesus recommended:

““Keep on asking, and it will be given you; keep on seeking, and you will find; keep on knocking, and it will be opened to you;”  (Matt 7:7)

Though most modern Bibles have removed the next verse as spurious, some versions read:

”And some of his lazy disciples said, ‘Isn’t it enough to patiently wait?”

2 hours ago, Thinking said:

im hoping I misunderstood your post…

I may not have expressed myself well. It wouldn’t be the first time.

43 minutes ago, Anna said:

I had no idea that such an idea existed.

It’s Calvin.

18 minutes ago, xero said:

It's almost like there is a false "God's organization' and a true "God's organization".

You haven’t been speaking with Mrs. Patiently Sitting on her Hands, have you?

10 minutes ago, xero said:

Of course we could ask how we pretend to know our will is free.

Kant was stopped dead in his tracks on this dilemma when his church told him he kant ask that question.  (sorry)

22 minutes ago, Anna said:

I think for these very reasons he fits the description of someone supplying food at the proper time. For these reasons I wouldn't blame anyone at that time thinking he was the slave, and I wouldn't blame Russel for thinking that about himself either. 

Inasmuch as he can be ‘the messenger preparing the way,’ preparing the ground for a great building project—well, the first thing you do in preparing the ground for any project is to cart out the trash, in this case hellfire and trinity.

That’s why I always find it puzzling when individuals go on and on about how the Bible disproves these doctrines. A little bit, yes, but—it’s trash. Why would you obsess over it?

20 hours ago, xero said:

The same thing is involved when I hear people say "I encouraged that brother". I always say, no you didn't. If you'll look and see he still appears to be discouraged. What you should have said is "I attempted to encourage that brother, but I failed." 

What about those verses that say God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and God struck Nabal dead, and in both cases we bend over backwards to say he didn’t, that he allowed the lout’s own stubbornness to kill him? Sometimes I think the Bible writer meant it exactly as he wrote, in the vein of ‘the light gets brighter as the day dawns.’

Sometimes in Twitter you will read of a given tweet removed with the note that this user limits who can read his tweets (though other tweets of his will be visible). I know of no such setting to do that. That’s why I’m inclined to believe the explanation I read that they ‘limit’ their tweets by going against something Twitter doesnt want them to say and so has removed it.

19 hours ago, Pudgy said:

… I sympathize with you, but being a cartoon dog, My dog dish somehow cleans itself.

The BEST THING about my spanking new dishwasher is that it has just a common basket for silverware. It does NOT have those pissy separators that made loading the machine an all-afternoon job, and my wife is so disappointed on that account.

16 hours ago, Anna said:

It was an interesting experiment. It made me realize that rather than the actual content, which I merely skimmed over like Tom, I was more concerned with the reputation or status of the person who wrote it.

Oh, I stopped worrying about that ages ago.  

45 minutes ago, Witness said:

I know Catholics….They treat me as if I am a “sister”.

I know Mormons. …They treat me as if I am their “sister”. 

My Baptist neighbor tells me I am her “sister in the faith”,

For someone who is the bee’s knees in so many places you sure do like spending time in a place where you aren’t.

10 minutes ago, xero said:

 

The topic itself is easy as pi. I did enjoy that movie, quirky though it was, or maybe I enjoyed it due to that reason.

2 minutes ago, Thinking said:

But Russell himself never claimed to be the one….

There you go, JWI—ye of little faith. You just need to learn patience. 

Why do you tweet so much, they asked Elon Musk.

’Because tweeting is fun!’ replied. Nothing profound. Nothing analytical. Nothing eggheaded. I tell you, I like the guy.

Describe yourself in one tweet, someone else said. ‘I put the art in fart’ he replied. 

I love it. It is better than my own description of Pearlsnswine: “He puts the dog in dogmatic.”

1 hour ago, JW Insider said:

since no one is really all that interested in the specifics of the 1914/1915 angle of the original post

No….bring it back. Really…just try…and see how long it lasts.  

All true prophets here. That’s what I’m talking about! Sometimes you feel like a nut. Sometimes you don’t.