gaiagirl

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Posts by gaiagirl

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  13

  Did Jesus let us down?

  by Pleasuredome in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  "what is truth?

  ", pontius pilot asked.

  after all my reading of the bible, this has to be the best question anyone ever asked.

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  gaiagirl

  There are three points to keep in mind regarding ANY quotes attributed to Jesus.

  First, none of the gospel accounts were written during his lifetime, but between 30 and 70 years later, each written for a different audience.

  Second, there are things Jesus actually may have said, and other things which the author SAID he said.

  Third, all the accounts have been edited many times in the centuries following their original appearance. The New World Translation contains two endings to Mark, because they aren't sure which is the original.

  The promise about Jesus returning soon may not have actually been uttered by the man himself, but an invention of an author writing decades after his death.
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  67

  Did Noah really build an ark?

  by frogit in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  this might be worth a watch for us uk ers.

  noah's ark will be broadcast in the uk on bbc one on sunday 21 march at 1900 gmt.. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3524676.stm.

  it's also an interesting read.

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  gaiagirl

  There is no question that the Noah account is lifted directly from earlier Sumerian and Babylonian accounts. So, if any account is truthful, it is more likely to be the original.

  If we are going to simply accept the truthfullness of literature at face value, without checking to see if the events described are even possible, perhaps other pertinent questions might be:

  Did Jason really sail in the Argo in search of the Golden Fleece?

  Did Ulysses really have all those fabulous adventures returning from the Trojan War, including having his crew turned into swine by a goddess?

  Did St. Brendan really build a boat of oxhides and sail from Ireland to various lands in the Atlantic?

  Did Prince Caspian really sail to the edge of the world in the Dawn Treader?

  All these events are published as actual events in the writings of various cultures, some ancient, others more recent.

  Unfortunately, with regard to any alleged global deluge, there is also no question that many civilizations, such as Egypt, India, and China, were already thriving during the years which the Bible claims the flood occurred. We know the names of many of the pharoahs and kings from this time, and have many artifacts from these cultures. None of these cultures recorded any period of catastrophic flooding, or even noticed anything out of the ordinary.

  Why?
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  9

  By Jove

  by Blackbeard in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  does anyone else find the term "by jove" insulting ?.

  personally i find the use of such an abreviation makes my skin crawl - especially in the context it is normally used !

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  gaiagirl

  Valis is correct, "Jove" is a contraction of "Jovian", a term used presently by astronomers to describe large, gaseous planets such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. In current useage, it means "Jupiter-like". The original reference was to the Roman god Jupiter, also known to the Greeks as Zeus.
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  43

  anyone now have an aversion to dress clothes?

  by spike2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  anyone else have an aversion to dress clothes, now that you aren't forced to wear a suit and tie (women insert their version here) to sit a stadium for 8 hours on a summer day?

  being forced to do this as a young child traumatized me pretty good!

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  gaiagirl

  I have never been much for dressing up. I wear clothes which I feel are attractive and feminine, not what the Governing Body may think is "appropriate". When I attended the K.H. I never wore the recommended "business dresses" which sisters were encouraged to wear. If I wore a dress, if was often a comfortable sun-dress, because I usually only wore dresses in warm weather, in which case shoes would be flat, sandals of some kind. In cooler weather, I had no problem with slacks and closed toed Rockports, although I was (ahem) "counseled" several times. Oddly, many single brothers still sought my association, despite my willfull refusal to dress as recommended.
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  14

  A question I can not answer

  by spiritwalker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  why is it, with all the money and education in this world.

  with all the talent that is brought to the forefront and variety among us.

  is there no greater comedy movies then those done by "the three stooges" "laurel and hardy" "abbot and costello" and "charlie chaplin?

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  gaiagirl

  I think that the reason Laurel and Hardy, the Stooges, etc are deemed funny, while newer imitators are not is that when THEY did it, it was new, original, unexpected and groundbreaking. The newer guys who did the same thing, for example Soupy Sales, come across as kind of lame, somehow.

  However, what was funny in the 1920's, 30's, 40's and 50's doesn't always translate well into modern comedy. Part of the reason is that as our society and culture changes, what that culture finds humorous also changes. I've seen 'Ma and Pa Kettle' films made in the '40s and 50's, and don't find them very funny, although they were successful enough in their day to have a long string of sequels, I forget how many they actually made. Other films from the same era hold up much better, for example 'The Egg and I', 'Bringing Up Baby', etc.

  There are lots of good modern comedians (Ok, I'm going to include people from the last 30 years or so), such as Monty Python, many of the members of Saturday Night Live, Jerry Seinfeld, Steve Martin, etc, who have contributed so significantly that they have actually changed the language. See how many of the following references you recognize:

  Are you "spongeworthy" or do you know someone who is?

  Are you or someone you know a "wild and crazy guy"?

  Did you ever experience "shrinkage"?

  Have you ever gone to an "argument clinic"?

  What is the airspeed of a swallow carrying a cocoanut?

  Have you ever worked for "Van deLay Industries"?

  Do you need "The Bro"?

  Are you employed as a lumberjack, and is it really OK?

  Have you ever owned a "Bass-o-matic 76"?

  What does a castle full of virgins do on stormy evenings?

  What was referred to by the speaker who said "They're real, and they're spectacular"?

  Are you "master of your domain"? Really?

  "I'm not dead yet!"

  There have been many good comics come up in recent years. I recently saw "School of Rock" and found it hilarious. "Lost in Translation" showcases Bill Murrays talent. There have also been many good shows on television, some of which lasted, others not. I found "It's Like, You Know...", "That 80's Show", "Andy Richter Controls the Universe", and "Coupling" to be very funny, yet all were yanked before developing much of an audience.
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  88

  Would You Return To The Organization If You Were Given Total Amnesty?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you knew that the policy was that there would be no more witchhunts, no more disfellowshippings or shunning of any kind, would you be tempted to go back?

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  gaiagirl

  Not under any circumstance. I wasn't DF'd or DA'd, I just stopped going because I realized that the entire foundation of JW belief is based on incorrect assumptions on their part.

  Why would anyone who found freedom want to return to captivity?
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  57

  What One JW Belief Could You Never Totally Accept???

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for me it was that god will destroy billions of innocent children simply because their parents weren't jehovah's witnesses.....and you??

  ?

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  gaiagirl

  I also never could accept the 'women in subjection to men' idea.

  Also, the Flood account, apparantly not noticed by other cultures at the time.

  Also, dinosaurs drowning in the Flood waters (actually shown in one book, outside the ark).

  Also, the Edenic serpent in older publications with legs prior to being cursed (illustrated to resemble a Gila Monster).

  too many others.....
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  66

  Passing the time at JW Assemblies

  by Leolaia in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  love_truth, in describing the utter dullness of jw assemblies and conventions, just gave me an interesting idea for a thread.

  what were some of the ways you tried to make the hours pass?

  some of mine: looking at the interesting refracting patterns the arena floodlights made on my eyeglasses when looking thru them at an angle.looking for people i knew from my congregation and others in the mass of people in the arena.counting the number of people leaving the section to go to the bathroompractice writing people's names in elvish scripthaving a conversation with friends a row behind me by passing notes back and forthseeing how many pages of my bible stick together when i slam a wad of gum in between its pages.. what else?

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  gaiagirl

  From an early age, I could successfully enter a state of mind in which I truly seemed to be somewhere else, doing something entirely different. I much later learned that I was inducing out-of-body experiences.

  In my teens, I began experimenting with tantric/isotonic muscle excercises, in which I could sit perfectly still, and contract/relax particular muscle groups, with pleasant results. Many hours could be passed in this manner.
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  15

  If preaching is so important, why not use the Internet and email? Why Hide?

  by WingCommander in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  dear forum:.

  just a question i've had for years now.

  i opened up the newest watchtower that my mother gave me (the one with the memorial observance on the front) and in one of the articles it mentions an internet site as a reference!!!

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  gaiagirl

  One other reason which hasn't been touched on yet is that on the Internet, WTBTS dogmas are much more easily refuted. A year or so back, on the About site for Alternative Religions, a JW who called herself Iris attempted to start several threads in which she posted material taken directly from a CD-ROM published by the borg. She claimed that they were her original compositions, but someone recognized the material (she posted them complete, with paragraph numbers). Because her posts were there for all to see, in a public forum, they were easily refuted, on a point by point basis, and after several long, long threads, in which she argued the WTBTS position like an unthinking automaton, she quietly slinked away.
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  21

  Are terrorist humans?

  by dustyb in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you have not a care for human life, and would rather try to blow up thousands of people if given the chance, would you call yourself human?

  the reason i ask is, would you have any problem putting a gun to a known terrorist head and pulling the trigger?

  iono if i could do it yet, because i haven't been in that situation.

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  gaiagirl

  Wouldn't killing Osama Bin Laden in his sleep be similar to the bible story in which a woman drove a tent peg through a mans head?

  Better to capture him, give him a trial, let his followers see him tried before the world.