Posts by SM62

197

Why does God allow people to develop 'forbidden' special powers?

by SM62 in

something i have been wondering about lately.. whether you believe in god or not, are a christian or some other religion or no religion at all, i'd be interested in your opinion.. according to those who believe in the bible including most christians, god condemns the use of 'special' powers/abilities.

for example, esp, tarot, astrology, consulting a medium, spells etc.

however, if god created us, did he not give us the ability to develop and use such powers?

SM62

Gopher - that's an interesting point about God being jealous - it does say somewhere in the Bible (wish I'd paid more attention at the meetings) that God is a jealous God, but I never thought of it the way you put it, that he wants all the attention for himself like a spoilt child.

Plmkrzy - I was never given that reason as a JW. I can see their point though - what if you were dabbling with something that seemed harmless. but which wanted to harm you? I am sure that I wouldn't be that daft, though. I would check things out first.

Gumby - I have never had a supernatural experience, and I get annoyed about that sometimes. If there are special powers, why don't I have them? But having said that, the last time there was a post about people who have had strange experiences, or had seen a ghost or something, there were so many who had seen strange things. They can't all be liars can they? I know loads of people who say they have seen people who have been dead for years. I would like to go to a clairvoyant or something one day, just to see if they can tell me accurate things about my past - I wouldn't want to hear vague stuff such as 'The letter J figures predominantly in your life' or 'I have an old man here in a grey suit' or rubbish like that - I would want names, dates etc.

Thirdson - I have never believed in Uri Geller - plus he always bored the pants off me.

Nathan Natas -

There is no "spirit realm" populated with any sort of immaterial intelligent creatures.

How do you know this? How do you account for all the weird sightings around the world? Are you saying the millions of people over the centuries who have had paranormal experiences such as seeing dead people are lying? Or are they all mad? I don't really know what to believe, but I always keep an open mind.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Terri

197

Why does God allow people to develop 'forbidden' special powers?

by SM62 in

something i have been wondering about lately.. whether you believe in god or not, are a christian or some other religion or no religion at all, i'd be interested in your opinion.. according to those who believe in the bible including most christians, god condemns the use of 'special' powers/abilities.

for example, esp, tarot, astrology, consulting a medium, spells etc.

however, if god created us, did he not give us the ability to develop and use such powers?

SM62

Something I have been wondering about lately.

Whether you believe in God or not, are a Christian or some other religion or no religion at all, I'd be interested in your opinion.

According to those who believe in the Bible including most Christians, God condemns the use of 'special' powers/abilities. For example, ESP, tarot, astrology, consulting a medium, spells etc. However, If God created us, did he not give us the ability to develop and use such powers? I am convinced some people have some sort of special gift - they can see/do things that others can't. They can't all be charlatans or head-cases, can they? Why would God give us the ability to develop these special powers, and then condemn us to destruction for tapping into such things? It doesn't really make sense. If he created everything, he created these powers also. Why allow humans access to such things if we aren't allowed to go near them or even research them, for fear of the 'demons'. Also, for those who have no beliefs, would you shy away from such things out of fear, and if so, fear of what?

Also, according to the Bible, God allowed humans to use special powers in the past, such as phrophesying, healing the sick, raising the dead, speaking lots of languages. If it was ok for them to do it back then, why can't we look into the paranormal now, or am I being really dense?

Basically, what I am rambling about is this - Why give humans special abilities and then destroy them for using these abilities?

Ta

Terri

31

I did it ! I told my JW mother that I am pagan !

by Sirona in

jw
friends

yes, i did it.. after the thread in which i asked how i could possibly tell my jw mum that i'm pagan....i decided to take the bull by the horns and tell her.. her reaction made me wonder if she reads this board.. firstly, to "ease" her in, i mentioned that i'm doing a course in reiki.

reiki is a complimentary therapy - basically hands on healing.

well, she said she knew a little about reiki and thought it was a good idea.

SM62

Sirona,

This is really interesting. I have been looking at many different things lately, and Wicca is one of them. The idea of learning from nature has always appealed to me, although I don't know an awful lot about it yet. I almost bought a book about Wicca the other day, but I know if my husband saw it he wouldn't be pleased. I was thinking of maybe saying I bought it simply for research purposes. It is annoying to be in a situation where I have so many questions but I can't do anything about them without causing problmes. Everything I do outside of the 'normal' JW life has to be done secretly - it's a real pain.

Terri

28

THE WORLD HAS ENDED % Watch Tower 1930

by garybuss in

here's a blast from the past.. *******************************.

the watch tower herald of christ's presence.

sept 1 1930 p. 2. .

SM62

Their threats of shunning have no affect on me. Anybody I care about won't shun me and anybody who does shun me I don't care about.

Garybuss - this is so well put, and is exactly how I feel. I have missed many meetings and don't go on service any more, but there could be any number of reasons why. I could be ill - physically or mentally - or maybe something has happened in my personal life - who knows. Yet, the sanctimonious, pompous gits in my congregation have taken it upon themselves to shun me! (not all of them - just a few) They don't even bother to find out why I haven't been. For all they know, I am still a faithfull JW, still loyal to the WTS and still grovelling to the elders - but they take it upon themselves to decide that I am 'spiritually weak' - doesn't it make you want to puke?

I feel as you do - true friends will remain loyal no matter what. The ones that shun me are people that I don't care about anyway.

Wallflower - that was very good!

Terri

34

Comments You Won't Hear at the 01-18-04 WT Study

by blondie in

"show yourselves thankful".

(psalm 133:1)(c ).

in what practical ways can we demonstrate that we are truly thankful?.

SM62

When shown the description of the fruitage of God?s spirit and upon being invited to the local Kingdom Hall, to see evidence of this for themselves, MANY QUICKLY acknowledge: "God is really among you." (1 Corinthians 14:25)(S)

I read this piece last night (sorry - can't change the font colour!) because my husband deliberately left the magazine open on this article on my pillow. The above statement annoyed me - I really don't see this at my KH - or at any of the KHs I've visited. I hate this attitude they have, as if they have the monopoly on being good and kind. It is really silly and I think it's about time they stopped spouting such silliness. If I was still an active JW, I would find this nauseating to say the least.

Terri

21

Blair Roasted Alive On TV.

by Englishman in

jw
friends

today, at prime ministers questions, the leader of the oppostion michael howard, had tony blair squirming as he repeatedly asked him about the death of weapons expert david kelly.

this took place in front of millions of tv watchers earlier today, and is well worth watching here: .

blair roasted.. just click onto "prime ministers questions", if you don't want to watch the whole session you can select "hutton enquiry".

SM62

Yes - Howard is a slimy git, but Blair is even slimier.

I never thought I would ever say this, but I would even prefer to have Thatcher back as PM rather than Blair. He has got to be the most nauseatingly false PM we have had in a long time. His insincerity and lack of concern for the British people has got to get him kicked out at the next election. I just wish Screaming Lord Sutch was still alive - he'd have my vote.

Terri

83

"Weak People Become Jehovah's Witnesses"

by minimus in

jw
friends

somebody recently expressed that point of view to me.

do you agree with that??

?

SM62

Thank you DY - my thoughts exactly!

T

4

Britain's Real Monarch

by Pleasuredome in

britain's real monarch

startling new facts came to light in research for a channel 4 programme on richard iii.

the historian michael k jones had uncovered what appears to be strong proof that the 15th-century english monarch edward iv was, in fact, illegitimate, thus throwing the legitimacy of all the kings and queens who followed into question.

SM62

I saw the Tony Robinson programme last week (or could have been the week before) and it was very interesting. Although it doesn't really make a lot of difference which pampered parasite sits on the throne, does it?

Terri

83

"Weak People Become Jehovah's Witnesses"

by minimus in

jw
friends

somebody recently expressed that point of view to me.

do you agree with that??

?

SM62

Minimus,

"At most times" makes it even worse! I know many people who became JWs as adults and they were most certainly not weak at the time. Just because a handful of people were feeling weak, wishy-washy, feeble-minded, flimsy-wimsy, flippy-floppy or whatever when they bacme JWs, don't tar us all with the same brush.

I would say that the weak and vulnerable make up a sizeable minority of new JW converts, but no way are they the norm.

Terri

83

"Weak People Become Jehovah's Witnesses"

by minimus in

jw
friends

somebody recently expressed that point of view to me.

do you agree with that??

?

SM62

I'll say this: At times I do think the weak and vulnurable are most suseptible to becoming JWs, especially if they are not raised in the religion.

So......at other times, the independent-thinking, strong-willed, mature, educated and extremely intelligent ones are most susceptible.....is that what you mean?

Terri