if ray franz would have kept his mouth shut and not disfellowshipped, and remained part of the governing body how many of us ex-jw would still be trapped in the cult?.
would we have come this far?.
I only heard a little about him from active JW. He was cast as an evil apostate and was told to avoid his book. I woke up in my early teens, actually on the day I was baptized. I'm thankful I only wasted my childhood in the cult. Well not really wasted as it wasn't a totally bad experience. My parents weren't uber JWs.
I learned about Ray Franz many years after I left and found his book to be more of an assurance I made the right decision. It confirmed what I deduced about the organization.
i only recently became aware of cases of people being born with tails.
having looked into it this is a evolutionary leftover and we have many other examples within each one of us like the appendix, wisdom teeth, and muscles to move the ears.
plus many more, this seems to me to prove evolution completely.
The appendix is such a weird "organ". I remember in my anatomy and physiology class the professor stated it may have a useful purpose. He stated that the appendix may store some beneficial bacteria and may inject it into the system when needed. Kind of like the liver makes the bile and the gall bladder stores it and injects as you digest fatty foods. Not sure if there has been studies done on it.
I find Embryology to be so fascinating when look at from an evolutionary viewpoint.
it's getting to the point where cnn should start announcing "breaking news" if there *hasn't* been a mass shooting !.
it's crazy.. i was watching the 70's documentary they are running and that's the point when media hype about mass serial killers seemed to begin the danger-gun-solution hype cycle.
sure, people had guns before then but nowhere near like it is now.. when will it end?
I will write again. There can be a mass shooting every single day in America and nothing will change. You can't disarm 100+ million people with 270+ million guns. It is impossible. America not only has a large gun ownership population but has a huge land mass. It isn't a small country.
It is the same reason it isn't feasible to try and deport all the illegals in America. It is a number game. It is impossible to round up 12+ million people and deport them. If we can't do that, than we surely can't round up 270+ million guns. Keep in mind there is no digital national database of registered guns. I own several and there is absolutely no way to trace those guns to me, and I bought them legally.
I'm for gun laws and more gun controls, but I don't see them having any real impact. The only solution is the complete ban of guns, and that will not happen in America. Guns are part of our culture.
it is reported that one elderly sister in british columbia expressed complete disgust at what she considered an obscene act in the bethel 'happy song'.
now everything is, of course, subject to perspective.
i would imagine her perspective is just as valuable as anyone elses.
it has been a long looong time since i posted on here, but never ceased reading all the posts and keeping up on the changes that have been going on!
but it just seems that now i have a need to get something off my chest, and this is the one place that will most definitely understand the topic at hand.
i have been disfellowshipped for about 8yrs now, and have dealt with the 'consequences' of that decision: all my so-called friends in the org left and i was also abandoned by my own family.
When my sister was DF no one in my family treated her differently. Perhaps is the reason why my family was labeled spiritually weak. I refused to treat DF one differently. Most of the DF in my congregation was for having sex, which is a normal part of life.
As Oogie stated when JW are exposed to their shunning practices it shows the world the true nature of JW.
so i believed for years that humans will one day revert to being able to live forever.
i was told the only reason we don't already is because adam and eve sinned.. if this is the case then why is nothing else in the universe capable of the same thing.
everything else has a finite lifespan.
Then when you pose these questions to Elders you get the stock answer, or answer in the form of a question.
How will crocodiles survive on plants?
"Don't you believe that Jehovah can make anything possible?"
How will I be able to control my erection with all these naked women in the paradise?
"Don't you believe that Jehovah can make anything possible?"
i am sick of this bloody nanny state here in the uk.
political correcness has become a drag.
(am i allowed to say drag without offending someone?).
In a society with free speech there will be consequences for that speech. I'm not that familiar with free speech laws in Canada, Europe, Australia, ect.., but It seems in other countries speech isn't as free in the USA. Think hate speech is more strict in some of those countries vs USA.
However, in the USA if you speak against homosexuals for example the LGBT groups will try to destroy your career, business, and personal life. The same with other groups like CAIR, La Raza, NAACP, Al Sharpton, and many others in the US will try to control speech in the public forum.
With the consequences of having a view that may offend and cause severe repercussion, I'm still surprise what people post on their social media. As a manager I was force to fire someone for comments they made on their facebook account. I've also know of people that were not hired because of comments that were made.
i don't know how so many who seem to be certain this life is it after being jw's seem to happily accept it and be fine with it.
i am living and trying to live as if this is it.
i want there to be a future life/afterlife, something, but i see how fast life comes and goes and even if i'm living it to the fullest, there is no peace for me with the thought this may be it.
There are many that I've read who stated they would be bored if they had eternal life. However the life we live is very short. Those with great fortitude may live to 100 but that quality of life is not that great. I take care of the elderly and watch them die. Those that lived a long life by human standard look at death as a relief because of pain. But too often these elderly ones comment how fast life went by. I think so many of us both Atheist and Theist would be more accepting of death if our life wasn't so short. To think that on average the earth will revolve around our sun maybe 80 times then we die.
So many never truly live. But I must agree with Dawkins how we has individuals won the biological lottery. Our chances of even existing was so remote. And to complain about dying is very selfish.
i had a former high school teacher post on facebook about the cyrus cylinder proving the narrative in the book of ezra and daniel.
the article i clicked on was by some christian organization that states the cylinder proves that god moved cyrus to allow the jews to go home and worship.. but no where on this cylinder does it mention the jews.
yet all these people are commenting as if it is fact.
I had a former high school teacher post on facebook about the Cyrus cylinder proving the narrative in the book of Ezra and Daniel. The article I clicked on was by some Christian organization that states the cylinder proves that God moved Cyrus to allow the Jews to go home and worship.
But no where on this cylinder does it mention the Jews. Yet all these people are commenting as if it is fact. Reminds me of the GB using misquote to prove their beliefs.
