i am beginning to see a complete unbalanced shift from one end of the spectrum to the other.
i'll use jw's as the example but this would apply to any religion and any person.
if you just accepted the jw teachings unquestionably from the governing body because you felt they were the highest authority on the matter and 'trusted' them before waking up to ttatt you may shift to the other end of the spectrum.
If you find something that contradicts scientific findings, you have a legitimate opportunity to prove them wrong via evidence and debate, and opinion will shift towards what has the most evidence.
If you find something that contradicts religion and present it to followers or higher ups of the religion, at best, they'll just ignore you - at worst, they'll actively shun you and tell everyone you're evil.
for some reason my husband has picked this topic after months of non communication of anything related biblical at all.
( he believes he came up with the idea onhis own ( he was raised jw and left as a 18 year old...ugh...right).
so since this was his topic my own thoughts have been expressed as well.
I think that's stated only to support the "no birthday" agenda. The secondary reasoning for lack of birthday celebrations is that every one mentioned in the Bible is negative, so they have to make Jesus being given gifts when born negative as well.
i am looking for more ideas of interesting movies and gritty crime shows to watch.. .
the killings, wallander, luther, dexter, braquo (french (english subbed) german (berlin berlin), sherlock, george gently, inspector frost, inspector lewis, did i say "dexter (though the ending was a bummer :( ) "orange is the new black", "house of cards", "mad men".. .
can you add to my profile of movies and series i need to see?
The Wire is hands down the best multi-season show made to this point, as it's well told, well acted, and directly confronts sociological issues that face the world continuously and explores the source of them. Relatively slow start, but that's because it's "novel" format that pays off over the course of a season as opposed to episodic storytelling.
Also, Game of Thrones, because it's awesome.
they claim their schools, literature and teaching are far more superior than any "worldly" education.
how would you counter that belief?.
| So what are you doing with your superior education/knowledge to help improve your family, community, and/or spiritual circumstances? |
"Helping people get EVERLASTING LIFE, which is the best charity that you can be a part of!"
after learning about farkels passing, i started reading some of his threads.
i must admit, the man had a great dry sense of humor and knew how to speak his mind.. .
this thread in particular got me thinking last night.... http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/6243/1/the-tree-of-what.
To be more accurate, "agnostic" is not the midpoint between belief and disbelief; that's just how it's taught to people by other people that don't really understand the terms in their current evolution.
"--gnostic" is a descriptor of beliefs
"---theist" is the type of belief.
So, you would be an "agnostic atheist" or "gnostic theist" or vice versa.
Lack belief in a creator? That's atheist. Not sure if one would ever show up or if something else could be proven? Agnostic. Therefore, that combo is an agnostic atheist. Which is what people in this thread were actually describing.
recently, a public speaker brought up this point that i remembered being preached in the 70's.
when they bring this matter up, they always manage to give you an experience of how one person stood his ground, and got a great job offer, as a result.. what about the many experiences of ones that were not blessed?
i can memtion horror stories of ones that should have kept working their meetings..
This is the conundrum for anyone who claims god did something miraculous for a person. The next question is: if god helped one person, it shows he is willing and able to so. So why didn't he help the other? If you have another person of equal faith, who sacrificed just as much, yet they get nothing, then only two answers explain it: 1) God is selective in who he does/does not help (which makes him a liar), 2) god doesn't have anything to do with it (nor exists at all) and life just happens. |
Ah, you're forgetting the "you didn't have enough faith/enough of a relationship with Jehovah," or "Jehovah knows better for you, he has future plans you don't know" excuses.
as a little background - i was born-in to being a witness, back in '79, in detroit, in mostly black and poor congregations.
baptized when 10-ish, stayed around, was on the fast track to ms, but faded when i moved out at 24ish.. there was a combination of a few things that got me on the road to "freedom" from the cognitive dissonance that kept me "in the truth" for so long.
the main thing was, being an artist and studying marketing, my thinking was patterned to constantly question if i was doing something "correctly," as constant improvement and questioning is what facilitates artistic and mental growth.
There aren't paragraph breaks in my post above? I see them - hmmm...
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leaving quietly,
Might have been one of those "never printed" things. From what I heard from elders at a couple of congregations, that was always the reason.
Most of the burdened down rules seem to be a lot of heresay that comes from assemblies, CO visits, and elders. Hard to know at what level the "holy spirit" inspired those rules.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/draco_(antiviral).
amazing... one drug that could potentially cure any viral disease, including hiv!!.
being developed since 2011..
| My mom used to think that if/when medical science was on the verge of wiping out diseases like HIV and/or significantly prolonging the human lifespan (say, though nanotechnology), that God might start the Big A in order to prevent it. |
That would be par for the course for a guy that saw humanity was getting along pretty well and were getting to be close to God, so he knocked over their tower and scattered the board like a whiny chess loser.
as a little background - i was born-in to being a witness, back in '79, in detroit, in mostly black and poor congregations.
baptized when 10-ish, stayed around, was on the fast track to ms, but faded when i moved out at 24ish.. there was a combination of a few things that got me on the road to "freedom" from the cognitive dissonance that kept me "in the truth" for so long.
the main thing was, being an artist and studying marketing, my thinking was patterned to constantly question if i was doing something "correctly," as constant improvement and questioning is what facilitates artistic and mental growth.
leaving quietly:
The tattoo thing is defended by the "don't defile your body" scripture. Which is the loosest possible interpretation of that ever.
One of the funniest ones is the ban on weed. In places where it's legal (and now that it's proven to be safer than alcohol and a medical benefit), it's still banned by The Society because "being under the influence of weed weakens some people so that demons can come in." However, nitrous oxide and other -legal- depressants that aren't banned have practically the same effect on you - so why aren't demons flying into people at the dentist's office?
as a little background - i was born-in to being a witness, back in '79, in detroit, in mostly black and poor congregations.
baptized when 10-ish, stayed around, was on the fast track to ms, but faded when i moved out at 24ish.. there was a combination of a few things that got me on the road to "freedom" from the cognitive dissonance that kept me "in the truth" for so long.
the main thing was, being an artist and studying marketing, my thinking was patterned to constantly question if i was doing something "correctly," as constant improvement and questioning is what facilitates artistic and mental growth.
SD7,
It's shifting again now, a lot having to do with the "ironic" nature of some of the hipster movements attempting to bring moustaches back.
Which is mostly the point. Grooming shifts; so having a set rule for 60 years, while allowing all kinds of nonsense that makes people look ridiculous at times (even the idea of going to doors in full suits now is silly, since suits as professional attire are falling off greatly) is just the tip of the iceberg for the mindset of those passing down the rules. And, of course, it shows how they don't even consider how the rules can have an effect on an INDIVIDUAL in their day to day life, either. It's basically "don't bother changing it until it becomes a huge deal" (see: blood), even though the smaller deals are screwing up people's lives via the combination of them.
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Thanks for the welcomes, everyone!
