Posts by zen nudist

20

how far would you have gone?

by zen nudist in

i recall while i was just a new jw how horrified i was at the "brother" who was bringing me along.... when he told me that he was so sure about the governing body being jehovah's mouth piece, that if one day they announced--this is it, this is the end, kill any and all non-jws in your path....he would do it.

zen nudist

I recall while I was just a new JW how horrified I was at the "brother" who was bringing me along.... when he told me that he was so sure about the Governing Body being Jehovah's mouth piece, that if one day they announced--this is it, this is the end, kill any and all NON-JWs in your path....he would do it.

51

I been shunned by a Baptist,

by jst2laws in

just moments ago i was on the back deck looking at the stars and a renter next door came out to do the same.

i said hello and we talked about where we were from and where we are at, spiritually.

after a few clues the neighbor asked if i had accepted jesus as my personal savior.

zen nudist

So, Jesus said clearly that HE was the TRUTH and that the Scriptures are THE TRUTH.

Intolerance seems to have its origin in monotheism which began as follows: (http://mars.acnet.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/wc1/lectures/03akhenaton.html)

Akhenaton, tried to replace the traditional, official Egyptian religion of Amarna by a new concept of god. Although still embodied in the sun, this concept, called Aton, was understood more abstractly and monotheistically. This meant that he had to make a revolution. He had to attack and destroy the traditional patterns of religion, which were thoroughly woven into every aspect of Egyptian life. He had to change the theology, ritual and ecclesiastical structure.

Akhenaton was the world's first revolutionary, and he was fully convinc ed that he might entirely recast the world of religion, thought, and life by the invincible purpose he held. Like all true revolutionaries at all times Akhenaton was fully persuaded that his ideas were right and that all men would eventually benefit by them.

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According to Josephus, the Egyptian's claimed that Moses was a high priest of this new intolerance. And the exodus was more about being run out of town on a rail. and having a major defeat re-written as an escape and liberation. While Josephus laughed it off as a crude egyptian face saving tale,

Renowned Egyptologist Jan Assmann traces the monotheism of Moses back to that of the Egyptian king Akhenaten (1360-1340 B.C.E.). He then shows how the followers of Moses denied and condemned the Egyptians as polytheistic idolaters. Thus began the cycle in whcih every "counter religion" denounced all others as false. Assmann presents a compelling lesson in the fluidity of cultural identity and beliefs.

Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism

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this intolerant religion has spread its infectious and compelling beliefs where everit has spread causing much bloodshed along the way.

51

I been shunned by a Baptist,

by jst2laws in

just moments ago i was on the back deck looking at the stars and a renter next door came out to do the same.

i said hello and we talked about where we were from and where we are at, spiritually.

after a few clues the neighbor asked if i had accepted jesus as my personal savior.

zen nudist

if we all speak from our personal experiences no one can say we are wrong, but if we pretend our beliefs about those experiences are universal truths, that is where the trouble begin... for any expeirence it is easy to come up with at least three beliefs, sometimes one of them stands out as the most likely, yet still there is no direct way to PROVE beyond all doubts that it is the correct answer...and honest poeple can recognize this simple fact and need not pretend to KNOW they are right...no matter how strongly they feel they are right... their CONviction should not become a reason to hate or harm another who feels strongly about their CONvictions. We feel better about those we have CONviNcED about our views because we feel less threatened by them... and we feel a closer kinship, they are more our reflection then an alien that may turn on us and harm us. We admire those who we wish to be like and those who wish to be like us... we fear those we do not understand and cannot reliably predict.

everyone says they want people around them to be honest...they feel that the honest are more predictable, reliable and faithful...and can be taken advantage of easier by the unscrupulous who do not feel bound by those silly notions

20

John Hick

by logansrun in

has anyone ever had opportunity to study the writings and ideas of christian theologian john hick?

i've been reading one of his books entitled "god has many names" which is a radical and thought-provoking work advocating the idea that all of the world's great religions (christianity, judaism, islam, hinduism, buddhism) are in some way "inspired" by god and lead to him/her/it (hick refers to this entity as the "eternal one").

hick was raised in a non-religious enviornment, was initially inclined towards theosophy but later became a conservative christian in the presbyterian church.

zen nudist

GD or the Generator Of Diversity, to me is the underlying reality.... a quantum computer running its program which is made of its own nature....this running program generates many virtual comptures, us...who in turn generate our own virtual realities [the world we know within our own minds]... there is shared data and there is protected data, all within a single system which seems to have its hardware as energy and its software as relationships and patterns within the same energy.

After leaving JWs I came to see the idea of a creator god is absurd, energy is not created nor destroyed, it only changes form... but the hebrew word Bera in Genesis 1:1 does not mean created, but transformed, changed, made from something prior, etc... and Elohim can mean all of us together as one whole and the Beni-elohim, the sons of Elohim, can mean the parts of the whole, we are all the beni-elohim. or Sons of God as in HIM we live and move and have our being [acts 17:28], not one, not two.

27

My daughter is scared of crocodiles. Any advice?

by myauntfanny in

every few nights my daughter calls me in and says she's worried about the crocodile coming to get her.

i know some people on here have small children (she's three), what do you say to them?

i tell her there's not really any crocodiles, but it doesn't seem to help.

zen nudist

Zennudist that's all very well but I have no bloody idea what to do when confronted by a crocodile. I was under the impression that unless you are Crocodile Dundee there aren't a lot of options. But it's good advice, I'll go read up on it. Maybe it's in my book of worst case scenarios.

Run like hell was my first thought...but remember to stress that is when she sees a "REAL" one...not just play ones in her mind.... the more you educate them on things that they can do to save themselves from all sorts of dangers the less fearful they will be.

practice drills would be a good way to start, especially in case of fires..etc.

27

My daughter is scared of crocodiles. Any advice?

by myauntfanny in

every few nights my daughter calls me in and says she's worried about the crocodile coming to get her.

i know some people on here have small children (she's three), what do you say to them?

i tell her there's not really any crocodiles, but it doesn't seem to help.

zen nudist

teacher what to do when she sees a crocodile... teach her where they live, what they eat and how they attack and what she can do to save herself from them if they approach her....

give her some safety tips for what to do if the house catches on fire while you are at it...safety education can start early... make it a group plan...

teach them to have power over their fears by knowing what to do when they are confronted with real dangers... snakes, crocs, fires, etc.

78

Faced with loss of tax breaks, Danish WTS drops "Bible-Based" stance

by Nathan Natas in

from an awake!

correspondent in cyber-space:

with the threat of removal of tax breaks hanging over their heads, watchtower has changed from ther bible-based position.

zen nudist

Promiscuous Sexual Behavior/Infidelity
Totalist leaders frequently practice promiscuity, child sexual abuse, rape and sexual acting out of all sorts. This is usually kept hidden from all but the inner circle.

Have you notice how many cult leaders tend to be come exactly like Alpha male gorillas, seperating all the females to themselves, and forcing the males to be celibate?

48

"The World As I See It"

by onacruse in

einstein:.

i do not at all believe in human freedom in the philosophical sense.

everybody acts not only under external compulsion but also in accordance with inner necessity.

zen nudist

then it isn't about any intellectualization at all. Of course, this is it too, all this intellectualization that we're exchanging - but is in itself not it, if you catch my drift.

that captures the essence of Zen nicely sort of .

78

Faced with loss of tax breaks, Danish WTS drops "Bible-Based" stance

by Nathan Natas in

from an awake!

correspondent in cyber-space:

with the threat of removal of tax breaks hanging over their heads, watchtower has changed from ther bible-based position.

zen nudist

Zen:
I appreciate your candor.
Society has a history of either curing or making examples, of people, in an effort to dissuade certain behaviours.
Do you mind telling me how you suggest "curing" a paedophile?

it may be that like other addictions and urges, a cure may not be found, only a way to manage... there are lots of alternatives never explored because the focus has been too much on punishment rather than cure... it may be found that chemical castration will do the trick, it may be found that some other means may work like re-imprinting using things like LSD, a serious study of which has been halted by lawyers rather than doctors or scientists.

I do not pretend to know what the eventual cure may be....but that does not invalidate my point that too many are just as mentally imbalanced in their approach to their fellow man as the ones they claim we need to exterminate or other wise harm.

48

"The World As I See It"

by onacruse in

einstein:.

i do not at all believe in human freedom in the philosophical sense.

everybody acts not only under external compulsion but also in accordance with inner necessity.

zen nudist

Yes, after all if there is no such self in the first place,

IN MY VIEW this is the worst horse manure spiritual people have ever come up with... while the self you may know may not be your true self, to say that no self exists is just plain stupid.... if there were no selves,then you would not be discussing this with me.

often overlooked in buddhism, the buddha said there is no self, but he also said there is no no self either.... and my understanding is that we are like a dreamer who has never known a waking life, the only things we do know are our own minds inventions, symbols, dreams... so anything we know of our self is not our real and true self...only the symbol of it... and the accuracy of the symbol to the reality is not testable. The fact that you experience and feel and care is more than sufficient to show you have a true self.... but not one that you can know any true nature about.

any effort to erase anything is only coming from a confused idea about self, the spiritual seeker is created and then trying to get rid of self, whereas that created identity is the false self. The true teachers are not trying to get followers for themselves, they are essentially turning away confused seekers by trying to get them to see they have misunderstood all along, or turning them to their true self-nature if you will. There is nothing wrong with a sense of self, you just become confused when you believe in that sense as a solid entity.

this is the core of the con... the religious mystic has had some experience and a belief about that expeirence and is now passing it off as KNOWLEDGE...and because he is CONfident about it, others tend to admire him and accept his pronouncements even if they violate anything that has ever made sense.... The true teacher is one who can show you that you never needed him, a false teacher ensnares people like a shepherd ensnares sheep...making them feel comfortable while doing them overall violence in the end.