Onager

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Posts by Onager

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  9

  Contrast Jesus and Einstein

  by venus in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jesus did not use his (superhuman) skills to prove the existence of either god or immortality of soul.

  further, he did not answer direct, important questions put to him (mathew 21:23-27; luke 22:70 …), and most importantly never defined ego—the root cause of all problems ….

  however, einstein, whose business was not spirituality, still defined ego as “optical illusion of consciousness.” this definition helps a lot because when one internalizes the idea that ego is only an illusion, he knows how to effectively deal with it.. .

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  Onager

  Einstein said:" Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
  

  Jesus said: "When you pray, pray like this..."
  
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  9

  Contrast Jesus and Einstein

  by venus in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jesus did not use his (superhuman) skills to prove the existence of either god or immortality of soul.

  further, he did not answer direct, important questions put to him (mathew 21:23-27; luke 22:70 …), and most importantly never defined ego—the root cause of all problems ….

  however, einstein, whose business was not spirituality, still defined ego as “optical illusion of consciousness.” this definition helps a lot because when one internalizes the idea that ego is only an illusion, he knows how to effectively deal with it.. .

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  Onager

  Einstein said: "God does not play dice with the universe."

  Jesus said: "Dad does not play dice with the universe."
  
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  37

  What Happens If the JW Beard Policy Stumbles a Person

  by Cold Steel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  some of the videos on youtube really make the beard policy look ridiculous.

  i wondered what would happen if the jw beard policy caused someone to stumble?

  jesus most likely wore a beard, and charles taze russell had a beard.

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  Onager

  @Bluesbrother: I agree, things have changed. All my (male) JW relatives have beards and most of them are in good standing in the Congo as far as I know. This is a fairly recent change though, certainly when I was still in, beards were anathema.

  The articles that you quoted don't actually help a guy who wants a beard but has elders that frown on them though. They're lots of words that add up to nothing.
  
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  37

  What Happens If the JW Beard Policy Stumbles a Person

  by Cold Steel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  some of the videos on youtube really make the beard policy look ridiculous.

  i wondered what would happen if the jw beard policy caused someone to stumble?

  jesus most likely wore a beard, and charles taze russell had a beard.

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  Onager

  Drearyweather: "Similarly, when religious books are silent on certain matters, each religious group has the leeway to form their own rules on them. In fact, each congregation will have a separate unwritten law on this matter depending on their local culture."

  Leaving aside the question of why (Christian) religions would form extra rules when their leader clearly hated that kind of behaviour, as mentioned by someone else earlier the religious book does clearly state that men should grow beards. So an organisation which chooses, as is their right as you point out, to create a rule which has it's basis in nothing more than a mans opinion is not only ridiculous, it is unchristian.

  And as for your example of the guy that had a ponytail, a beard, tattoo's and stopped going to meetings... but still had JW friends? Baloney! I can give you an example though. I work for a national company that has no head office dress code. I have a beard and, until my wife cut it off Delilah-style, a ponytail.

  All that your example shows is that a company with good reason may have similar rules to a religious organisation with NO good reason. My example shows that companies without any good reason to ban beards... don't.
  

  In case you're interested my wife cut off my ponytail because I was whinging about it being uncomfortable in this heat. She got the kitchen scissors and just snipped it off while I was watching Pointless!
  
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  37

  What Happens If the JW Beard Policy Stumbles a Person

  by Cold Steel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  some of the videos on youtube really make the beard policy look ridiculous.

  i wondered what would happen if the jw beard policy caused someone to stumble?

  jesus most likely wore a beard, and charles taze russell had a beard.

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  Onager

  @Drearyweather

  Corporations with dress codes don't claim that everything they do is based on the bible though. JW's do.

  You also say that there is no such thing as a beard policy but that religious organisations have complete authority to make rules(policy). Cake and eat it much?

  The fact is that having a beard causes issues for a JW without there being any official policy or any scriptural backing. It's a cultural "law" within the JW community passed down by Rutherford, if I remember correctly. It goes against their stated aim of basing everything on scripture and it's a clear example of the man-made origins of the cult.
  
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  32

  DA myself to relieve great pressure?

  by Isambard Crater in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my lifelong mental illnesses, fuelled significantly by the borg, are very bad at the moment and result in me missing lots of midweek meetings, but i haven't missed a sunday in years except the occasional vacation.. the nature of my mental and emotional illnesses mean that i, as a physically in and mentally out pimo, take to heart very painfully admonishment from the platform to never miss meetings, preach all i can, and so on.. okay, i report 3 hours each month on average and no elder has ever said anything, but when they make comments on the platform, i feel such great guilt and shame, but also anger, as they do not understand my illnesses and when i do mention my situation to elders, they kind of minimise and joke about it.. some other sisters in my congregation started "officially" not attending midweek meetings a few year's ago because of their own health circumstances, but i know for a fact that some elders look down on them for this reason, not showing real understanding deep down even if they do on the surface.. i have reached the point where i want to hand in a da letter as a cry for help, or more like a clear indicator to them that when i say i'm not well enough to attend midweek, i really mean it and it's not just an excuse.

  sure, i'm only 42, but i can still be too fragile to go out at night with a 30 minute drive both ways..

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  Onager

  Pbrow pretty much nailed it, but I just want to add that if you think that you can send a letter of disassociation and then continue to go to the meetings and it will take the pressure off then you are very much mistaken!

  If you DA then the eyes will be on you 10 times more. The elders will only want to talk about you returning. Every time you turn up to a meeting will give everyone else a chance to show how holy they are by ignoring you. In short, it's only going to increase the pressure.

  One last point: A letter of DA is still playing by their rules. What's the only way to win at Tic-Tac-Toe? The only way to win is not to play*. If you do want to stop associating with them then... just stop! You don't owe the organisation a single thing. You're not bound by their rules and you don't have to play their games.

  *(with thanks to the film Wargames for the illustration)
  
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  22

  Do You Have Any Indoctrinated Guilt Left Over?

  by pale.emperor in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i voted this morning for the first time.

  at 32yo i wondered in a church of england parish hall with no idea what i was doing.

  everyone else knew how to do it.

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  Onager

  I still get micro-flashes of guilt now and then. The programming was deeply embedded and it's going to take a long time to iron out all the wrinkles. They're over quickly though and leave no lasting damage.
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  3

  Watchtower in Australia - Number of Corporations

  by Onager in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  can anyone link me the thread where the number of watchtower companies in australia was compared to other religions?

  my search-fu is weak this morning.

  cheers!.

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  Onager

  Hi,

  Can anyone link me the thread where the number of Watchtower companies in Australia was compared to other religions? My search-fu is weak this morning. :(

  Cheers!
  
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  51

  To those taking a stand and not attending the Memorial tonight

  by doubtfull1799 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i salute you.

  many of you, like me, are probably under enormous emotional pressure, whether from a lingering false sense of guilt from your indoctrination, whether from "invitations," and assumptions that you'll naturally be coming, or whether from outright emotional blackmail, even begging and pleading.

  i am thinking of you whoever you are, all of you, even though i don't know you in person.

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  Onager

  I'm confused. Isn't the memorial tonight? The Tue 11th? If it was last night, Monday, then why the frick did I have a JW knock on my door at about 2pm with a flyer? Did they honestly expect me to get ready and go to an event that same evening?

  I've got my wedding anniversary coming up and I've given my extended family a months advance notice to make sure they turn up!
  
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  60

  Marc & Cora on YouTube causing unnecessary divisions

  by jambon1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what is it with this pair?

  why do they have to constantly have a bitch about guys like john cedars?

  a very recent video of them shows them calling him a 'village idiot' and making other disparaging claims.

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  Onager

  Humans being humans. :(