I didn't attend any church for a number of years after fading, just wasn't interested. During that time, I studied a great deal on my own, read many books on a wide variety of topics, and decided what my own personal beliefs were. Then I decided that it wouldn't be a bad thing to hang out with people who had similar beliefs, so I visited a couple of places until I found a good match, which turned out to be the local Unitarian Universalist church.
gaiagirl
JoinedPosts by gaiagirl
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16
Do you join other religions to fill a void, or is it real to you?
by free2beme ini think this is a realistic question, as we were all so into the witness religion, in every part of our lives.
i can see where people would feel the need to replace that with something, as they would need to complete the missing pieces of their life.
i admit, when i first left the religion, i started attending local churches and even went to a bible study from other churches.
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Noah's Arc and the flood....
by Tuesday indoes anyone have any links to sites that have all the evidence that the arc and the flood couldn't have happened?
i'm debating someone who feels that neandertal man was actually the nephalim, which really i feel is quite laughable but i'll say (in typical jw fashion) whenever i'll bring up older specimens of early humans (i.e.
homo-erectus) they'll undoubtedly say "that's not a full skull in this picture" when right next to it in the picture is a nearly full skull or next to that is a full skeleton...really annoying.
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gaiagirl
There are two lines of reasoning which indicate that the biblical story is not correct. First: the details of the Hebrew account appear to have been "borrowed" from older stories in other cultures, i.e. the rainbow was originally Ishtars necklace, which she placed in the sky after the flood. Second: Geological evidence indicates that there was a large, but still local flood when rising sea levels caused the Mediterranean to flood into the Black Sea basin, greatly enlarging what was until then, a freshwater lake, and drowning coastal villages (evidence is still visible to submersible vehicles equipped with cameras, and was featured on a PBS special). Fossils in the sediments of the Black Sea clearly show how the older freshwater life forms suddenly were replaced with saltwater types. As this event took place before writing was invented, it would be expected that survivors would pass the story down by word of mouth for many generations, until it eventually was recorded. The best discussion of the geological evidence is in the book "Noahs Flood" by William Ryan and Walter Pitman.
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convention freaky memories
by joelbear insucking on lifesavers to stay awake.
watching families eat meals during the session.
the smell.
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gaiagirl
Being told by attendants that my sundress and Dr. Scholls sandals with no hose were "not appropriate" even though the temperature was 85 degrees at 10:30 am. Bringing my own food rather than eat assembly food. Experimenting with OOBE to pass the time of day.
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What would you expect Jesus to say if he gave a talk at a Kingdom Hall?
by JH in.
don't forget to give in your time sheets?
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gaiagirl
"Jesus" is scheduled to appear on "The Book of Daniel" tonight on NBC. Perhaps he will say something which will give insight as to what his kingdom hall talk might be like :) Some of the local churches started an effort to force the local NBC affiliate to not broadcast the show, calling it "an attack on Christianity". However the station manager released a statement which basically said "The show may not be for everyone. Use your own judgement. If you don't like it, don't watch it." I am impressed with his stand, and think he might be suitable as a Supreme Court Justice.
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Please, Help Me Understand,How Does Somethng come from Nothing.
by Blueblades inwhether it is god or the beginning of evolution, how did it come from nothing?
we are here, that is a fact, where did we come from?
belief systems are another thing, where is the proof of anything?.
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gaiagirl
Basically, science has shown that matter and energy are different forms of the same thing. Think of matter as "condensed" energy. The universe has always had either energy, or energy plus matter. There has never been a time when the universe contained "nothing", and probably no time when it contained only matter. The universe has "evolved" over time, as the balance of energy and matter changed, energy first becoming one type of matter, then another, then another, each step building on the previous step to form more complex types of matter. As to where it is going, science would say "toward more complex forms".
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Scriptures to make a JW think?
by AlmostAtheist ini'm looking for scriptures that you believe a doubting jw would read that would cause them to think a bit.
i have four in mind now: .
'do not go beyond the things that are written.
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gaiagirl
Jeremiah 44:16-18 "As regards the word that you have spoken to us in the name of Jehovah, we are not listening to you, but we shall positively do every word that has gone forth from OUR mouth, in order to make sacrificial smoke to the Queen of Heaven, and to pour out to her drink offerings, just as we ourselves and our forefathers, our kings, and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, when we USED to be satisfied with bread and to be well off, and we did not see ANY calamity at all. And from the time that we ceased to make sacrificial smoke to the Queen of Heaven, and pour out drink offerings to her we have lacked everything, and by the sword and by the famine we have come to our finish." So, when these people stopped worshipping the Queen of Heaven, why didn't Jehovah bless them?
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As an active Witness how would you have responded to the following question
by Triple A in.
as an active witness how would you have responded to the following question, if asked when you knock on someones door?.
how do you explain that since 1986 there has been less than 5% decrease in the annointed class?
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gaiagirl
Here is a thought: What if every person on this board who still attends meetings partook of the emblems at the next Memorial? Wouldn't it be great to see the spike in partakers when the figures were announced?
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What exactly makes a movie (or TV series) racist?
by gaiagirl ini was reading the thread about whether "kong" is a racist movie or not, and was interested that some people read racist overtones into the film.
having not seen it yet, i'm not qualified to comment about kong, but wondered what qualities readers look for to determine if a film or tv series is racist.
so what do you think of shows and movies such as: seinfeld, friends, lord of the rings, narnia, etc.
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gaiagirl
I was reading the thread about whether "Kong" is a racist movie or not, and was interested that some people read racist overtones into the film. Having not seen it yet, I'm not qualified to comment about Kong, but wondered what qualities readers look for to determine if a film or TV series is racist. So what do you think of shows and movies such as: Seinfeld, Friends, Lord of the Rings, Narnia, etc. Are white writers/directors/producers more or less racist than black writers/directors/producers?
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Anyone Seen The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe yet?
by SWALKER ini thought the photography was awesome and enjoyed the story.
i loved the books when i was younger and i'm glad they finally made it into a movie.
swalker.
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gaiagirl
I read the books years ago, and liked them very much. I thought there was a great deal of christian symbolism, and even literalization of some scriptural passages. For example, The Last Battle is clearly about Armageddon, and some events are written to happen exactly as described in the bible, for example, stars literally fall from the sky (they are conscious entities). One thing I found interesting was that after everything was over, the survivors were shown that neither Narnia, nor the "normal" world we are familiar with, were "real" worlds. All were sort of imperfect reflections of the "real" world, and everyone who survived the battle now got to actually enter the "real" world and live with Aslan forever.
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Biblical Unitarians?
by serendipity indoes anyone have any experience or knowledge of biblical unitarians?
i've looked at their website and was surprised at how many beliefs they have in common with jws.
they seem to be kind of like bible students without the wacky pyramid stuff and the dates.
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gaiagirl
I attend a Unitarian-Universalist church, which apparantly is not even close to "Biblical Unitarian". As mentioned above, members are free to find their own theology, with no imposed dogmas. The church serves to focus on common threads which unite people, not divisive things to argue about. Jesus is generally viewed as a humanitarian teacher who attained tremendous popularity during his lifetime (somewhat like Ghandi). Decades after his death, other wrote a lot about him, putting their spin on his teaching, often effectively negating them. Different weight is given to what Jesus is likely to have actually said, and what others said about him. Sermons tend to be about how to be better people or how to form a better society in this life, rather than what is neccessary to do to gain some future reward. In a sermon, the minister may quote from the bible, but is about as likely to quote from other sacred writings such as the Vedas, Upanishads, Koran, or the writings of certain philosophers. I know within my own congregation there are some who identify as christians, as well as many who identify as jewish, pagan, muslim, buddhist, etc. The congregation is also welcoming to gay, bi, lesbian and poly families. In many ways its exactly the opposite of the kingdom hall, and therefore, quite refreshing. Years ago, if someone had told me that some of my best friends would be, for example, lesbians and witches, I would have laughed. But that is exactly how things turned out.