xero

On the other hand I read in Scott Adams' book "Loser Think" that thinking you can read the minds of people is loser think. I try not to do that. I don't hate people I don't know and hate never met. Nor do I (beyond the bloodless agape) "love" people I've never met. I feel good about the brotherhood and I've had this confirmed where ever I've traveled. I don't know the governing body personally, as individuals, but I have respect for them, but at the same time, I recognize they are ordinary humans being used in extraordinary ways, but I don't look at them as being in control because I don't believe they are. If some imagine that, it's their problem, not mine, but I also don't know if any do imagine that. The bible tells me to stare intently at the chief agent and perfecter of my faith, which is Jesus and this is what I try to do. Those who look away at people or the people Jehovah uses whether these be sacred or secular authorities, the scriptures still make clear what our individual responsibilities are and we act wisely when we focus on these things under our control rather than on the past, or what we imagine the past to be, or the future which is also not ours to foretell or control. All we have is now and whether we choose to believe and obey Jehovah when he tells us "This is my Son, listen to him." or not. I think we might all feel a bit more peace if we did these this. But...we're all going to miss the mark, including me and that's to be expected too. Just keep getting up and trying again.

https://babylonbee.com/news/american-believer-suffers-brutal-persecution-form-occasional-ribbing-coworkers

Reminds me of the chronic whiners.

I think I said previously and still believe it is that no one can do anything except accept Jehovah and by so doing choose life, or reject him and by so doing choose death.

"No weapon formed against you will have any success, And you will condemn any tongue that rises up against you in the judgment.This is the heritage of the servants of Jehovah,And their righteousness is from me,” declares Jehovah." -Is 54:17

You aren't thinking clearly or parsing my words properly if you for a moment imagined I was trying to prove anything.

I don't have sympathy or empathy for loud mouthed bellyacher's who have to keep whining on and on about stuff like somehow Jehovah screwed up because the world isn't perfect and they stubbed their toe. Michael Mahoney in his book "Self Change" nailed it when he pointed out that ALL PERSONAL PROBLEMS ARE CURRENT. Things that happened years ago only have influence if you keep these things alive. You are working hard at keeping it alive. Stop picking at your scabs.

Just adding as a techie who is often told to RTFM, I've often found the FM to be grossly in error. You don't know until you try and even then maybe you failed because you didn't follow the instructions or maybe you succeeded because you didn't follow the instructions.

You know the old saying "Joke 'em if they can't take a ..."

@equivocation I've surmised that the fuss is "Hey! We should be able to riot, loot and burn and pillage w/o worry that someone might shoot us" I'd prefer the Mayor Daley response:

I remember there was this minister who was always up in arms about gay people doing unseemly things in parks. I wondered suspiciously about his fascination with deviance. Later he got caught in some male prostitution sting thing. Turns out he was decrying that which he secretly either engaged in or wanted to engage in. Now I'm not suggesting anything here, but I do find that there's often something wrong with people who keep on about something which has been addressed.

Actually science isn't science. You can NEVER remove the biased human component. You read a study and you don't know how many shelved "this isn't what I want" results the study had. You have to know who paid for the study as well. Take the climate fear mongers. They take their measurements in such a manner that they can get the "results" that are in accord w/what they want.

I was thinking of writing a python script to mathematically measure the humor quotient of any give series of words and phrases. It would have an index of terms as part of its database with numbers associated with the humorous number index (HNI). For example the state with the highest HNI would be New Jersey, the bird with the highest HNI would be a chicken. Ethnic names would have higher HNI's, like Tony, for example, Ralph too has a high HNI. A city in New Jersey might be Teaneck, or Red Bank w/a relatively high HNI. It's all rather scientific. Then we publish our results.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0042JU7F8/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 This book has helped me tremendously.

The pudgster was making a joke. You're supposed to laugh.

All true, but what I've been getting at in all my posts is that we often don't recognize the presumptions and speculations WE ourselves make and how solid these are or are not in some cases. It's when there is ambiguity that there ought to be latitude of point of view difference. I know some who have no issue w/full vegetarianism and I'm in the same grouping and yet others say (as did one brother) when I remarked "But we'll be at peace w/all creation." he said "We're already at peace with the cattle already." His remark stopped me and I had to ask myself "Do I really KNOW what it will be like in the future under the kingdom rule?" I had to be honest and say that I didn't. So it made no sense to argue about it. Admission of areas of ones' own areas of ambiguity is not a weakness and choosing to die on these molehills isn't particularly useful long term. It could easily lead one to become soured when things change or when one feels that one thing was advertised, but another thing instead is taking place. We have to ask ourselves "Were those advertising infallible prophets of Jehovah, or just men doing the best the could w/what little information these had at the time"

@AraunaA simple google search would report evidence that although fertile hybrids are unusual, they are not unheard of. https://www.quora.com/What-kinds-of-animal-hybrids-are-fertile Again, it's speculation. As to the spilling over of DNA into later generations, we know that this can be lost over time. We share a fraction of 1 percent of our DNA with an ancestor seven generations ago. A trait COULD be eliminated from a population. If the caananites, especially the Rephaim, Zuzim, Emim, and Anakim were somehow tainted w/this DNA it could also explain the giantism and the need to annihilate these by the Israelites. (If the hybrid dna somehow ended up in one of Noah's sons wives) Again, this is speculation. This is all we're talking about here. No one has knowledge on these matters with a capital "K". We might also speculate that the descendants of the flood survivors ASSUMED some either survived through other means, were carrying the genes (though these lacked the language/scientific understanding to know about genes (unless they actually did and the knowledge had to be rediscovered)) of the nephilim OR that somehow new hybrid's were birthed by some unwholesome means post flood. We read in many cases people assuming and acting on beliefs which they acquired through speculation which were not well founded. Take burial practices. I mentioned this once before how the bible is silent as to prescriptions for any theocratic burial process, and yet these had their own practices. Jehovah never outlined how the dead were to be buried.

Jehovah, in his view of time and all the elements which make up this universe in my view has examined all the paths which free will might take, so he would know how to minimally get involved in any given situation such that his will is done. Now this is my faith, and I take it as true and consistent with what I know about Jehovah. I can and do wonder about points along the way and find myself speculating as have others as to why Jehovah would allow this or that other thing to take place, but I can never conclude that his will won't be done. Any one of us may pass off the scene ,momentarily, but the time we have now ought to be an opportunity to see how we can better fit in with what we understand Jehovah's will and purposes to be both now and in the future. Having said this one might argue variously that it suited holy spirit for men who from the beginning had ill will towards the brothers. Would Jehovahs' will be thwarted by these men? No. These could only injure themselves in the long term. Ultimately the only mark we can ever leave is one which is left by sticking to Jehovah. Jehovah is permanent, and his will is what stands. We can also choose to cease to exist by rejecting him. That's the sum of what we as individuals can do long term. The rest in between now and then of any series of events is just fuel for speculation. Of course I speculate as much as anyone else does, but I always ask myself "Does this speculation make Jehovah look better to me as the author of all morality or not?" If not, then I must have forgotten to carry the one someplace in my moral mathematics.

Also we're still assuming that all Nephils were male. We don't know that. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

Awesome reply. There is in all this the admission of free will in the process. Too, the criteria for evaluation has the stamp of holy spirit, as the qualifications are outlined in the bible, a product of holy spirit. One might also argue by way of example the case of Judas. Jesus prayed all night and selected him? Yes. Did that mean that he was picked because he had no free will and would ultimately betray Jesus? No. Not necessarily. It could have been anyone. Too, we see Peter denying Jesus, BUT repenting. No repentance from Judas, instead a flight from his own conscience (although in the end who knows and it's not my business to judge).

Of course it was never explained at all why it was ever required. We do a lot of speculating, but that's all it is - speculation. The bible is totally silent as to why other than Jehovah said so.

While I'm at it, circumcision? A lot of various people practiced it, but you can imagine a person who wasn't given some background as to why this was so critical could wonder... Joshua - "We're about to go into the promised land, but there's this one little thing that will really seal the deal."

Too, every time I read about Cain, I think of some moral retard. This loser runs into a tad of resistance and he blames other people for his problems. He would have fit in w/the SJWS today. Whine, whine, whine. "Boo hoo! Someone might kill me!" I suppose I would have said "Tough. You should have listened. I should wipe you out for whining alone. Get out of here, you disgust me."