Posts by AJN

23

I don't think we should give up praying ever...

by Singing Man in

i tend to believe that god does hear prayers, he can ansure them in other planes of time that we don't understand and that we will be in latter in our life or possibly in some other dimension.

i do not think he gives us dead air space after we speak to him.

our request have far reaching implications for us beyond what can understand in our time line that we are living presently.

AJN

They are the two avataars here that give me the creeps lol - no offense meant!

23

JW's And Mental Health

by AJN in

i've been doing some research this afternoon and come up with some interesting info.

well i think it's interesting because i've not read it before but if these links have been posted before please forgive me.

here's an interesting abstract: the mental health of jehovah's witnesses.

AJN

Hey thanks Skally :) we must have posted at the same time. I'll go check that out.

23

JW's And Mental Health

by AJN in

i've been doing some research this afternoon and come up with some interesting info.

well i think it's interesting because i've not read it before but if these links have been posted before please forgive me.

here's an interesting abstract: the mental health of jehovah's witnesses.

AJN

Hi Richard :)

That was really interesting - good one :) I do have one observation:

Spencer misrepresents the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses about the availability of eternal salvation. They do not deny that some non-Witnesses will attain this state: they merely affirm that only the Witnesses will pass unscathed into the allegedly impending 1,000 year reign of peace and perfection on earth.

isn't entirely correct either? Sounds like the guy needed to do a bit more research. Unless I am mistaken - which I could be lol.

6

Mel Gibson's film about Christ and his faith

by AJN in

mel gibson movie about crucifixion of jesus christ

mel gibson brings movie to city's church leaders.

by kamon simpson- the gazette.

AJN

Mel Gibson movie about crucifixion of Jesus Christ

Mel Gibson brings movie to city's church leaders

By KAMON SIMPSON- THE GAZETTE
www.gazette.com/popupNews.php?id=408774

Actor Mel Gibson has been getting closer to God.

On Thursday, that led him to Colorado Springs, where he visited New Life Church and Focus on the Family and previewed his upcoming film, “The Passion.”

Gibson, star of such films as the “Lethal Weapon” series and “Braveheart,” said it was his Christian faith that inspired “The Passion,” which depicts the final 12 hours in the life of Christ.

“I’m not a preacher and I’m not a pastor,” Gibson said. “But I really feel my career was leading me to make this. The Holy Ghost was working through me on this film, and I was just directing traffic. I hope the film has the power to evangelize.”

Although the film won’t be released until March, Gibson brought it to Colorado Springs — a national hub of evangelical Christianity — for one day to make sure its depiction of the Gospel was acceptable to leaders at Focus on the Family and to hundreds of church leaders, including Ted Haggard, New Life’s pastor and president of the National Evangelical Association.

“It conveys, more accurately than any other film, who Jesus was,” Haggard said based on clips he viewed at New Life. “You can’t help but be upset when you realize the gravity of what Jesus went through.”

As a Hollywood superstar, Gibson carries quite a bit of gravity himself. As word spread he was at Focus on the Family screening the film, almost 300 giddy staff members and visitors gathered outside the visitor’s center, hoping to catch a glimpse and get an autograph.

Gibson financed the $25-million film, which is seeking a distributor. He co-wrote the script, directed and produced the movie, which stars James Caviezel, a lesser known actor, as Christ.

On Thursday, he received feedback on the film, which has generated a buzz because it was shot in the Aramaic language of the time. Gibson, who has said the film will “transcend language barriers with visual story telling,” wants to release it without subtitles.

But subtitles were in place during Thursday’s showing for a small audience at the Focus on the Family visitor’s center, and local religious leaders told him those subtitles should stay in place to help spread the movie’s message to those not familiar with the story.

Based on the reaction of those who saw the film, they enthusiastically endorse it.

“I was very impressed,” said Don Hodel, president of Focus on the Family. “It’s certainly the most powerful portrayal of the passion I’ve ever seen or heard about. The movie is historically and theologically accurate.”

Wearing a gray shirt and black slacks, Gibson appeared on stage at New Life Church before the screening to address an audience of more than 800 ministers gathered for the Life Giving Leadership Conference, an annual event.

He was candid in relating how events more than a decade ago led him to become a more committed Christian.

“I’ve been pastor at New Life Church for 18 years, and I don’t remember anyone displaying a fear of God on our platform the way Mel did today,” Haggard said.

A Catholic, Gibson attended Mass every morning during shooting because “we had to be squeaky clean just working on this,” he said.

“It was a strange mixture of the most difficult thing I’ve ever done, along with this incredible ease,” Gibson said. “Everyone who worked on this movie was changed. There were agnostics and Muslims on set converting to Christianity.”

When Haggard thanked Gibson for making the film, Gibson said, “I was afraid not to.”

I've gotta say - I do admire Gibson for making this film. It was obviously an important project for him.

23

JW's And Mental Health

by AJN in

i've been doing some research this afternoon and come up with some interesting info.

well i think it's interesting because i've not read it before but if these links have been posted before please forgive me.

here's an interesting abstract: the mental health of jehovah's witnesses.

AJN

Thanks for the replies everyone :)

I must say I was surprised to discover a few studies and published thesis written about JW's. I was searching an online uni library (psychinfo) and found 39 such studies regarding JW and mental health. Unfortunately the complete documents weren't online.

At first I didn't anticipate that any studies would have been done as you say running man, as the witnesses try to stay out of worldly studies like that, especially if they could bring discredit to the Organisation.

but I don't think there is any study that could truly be considered objective and statistically accurate on this subject.

I agree for sure :)

24

Bloody E-Watchman!

by czarofmischief in

e-watchman has decided to embrace the unholy watchtower whore and uphold her disgusting burdens on blood transfusions.

for the record, i now have e-watchman's email address and will be sending him copies of my commentary shortly after they are posted.

i have edited the content where necessary for sheer space (his verbiage is excessive and tiresome).

AJN

Hmm, I'm wondering if that was entirely wise because of this:

9) Invading people's privacy
Please don't post private addresses or phone numbers, including your own. You may post email addresses so long as you make it clear who they belong to.

Might be worth editing it out because it can be picked up by the search engines too.

Just my 2c. Hope it's ok to say it :)

23

JW's And Mental Health

by AJN in

i've been doing some research this afternoon and come up with some interesting info.

well i think it's interesting because i've not read it before but if these links have been posted before please forgive me.

here's an interesting abstract: the mental health of jehovah's witnesses.

AJN

The wifely subjection one rung a lot of bells for me - how bloody frustrating! Hmm when I think back, I was married when I was a JW but I don't think I took a lot of notice of the subjection thing. There is some kind of driving self-respect that stopped me being like that I think. If I'd been the ideal witness wife and repressed the uncomfortable feelings that arose when I tried it I can understand how that might cause MH problems.

23

JW's And Mental Health

by AJN in

i've been doing some research this afternoon and come up with some interesting info.

well i think it's interesting because i've not read it before but if these links have been posted before please forgive me.

here's an interesting abstract: the mental health of jehovah's witnesses.

AJN

Yes you would think so wouldn't you.

I've got a few theories. I can well imagine JW's getting depressed when they have questions they are afraid to get answers, things that need explaining, doubts etc. There's also the 'not doing enough' syndrome - you know - where you're told to do more, study more, pray more to find relief from mental health issues.

If these things went unaddressed for too long one might think depression would be the result. Maybe ppl might also get depressed about being depressed, because of the negative judgement placed on it by the society. (I hope that made sense :)

23

JW's And Mental Health

by AJN in

i've been doing some research this afternoon and come up with some interesting info.

well i think it's interesting because i've not read it before but if these links have been posted before please forgive me.

here's an interesting abstract: the mental health of jehovah's witnesses.

AJN

I've been doing some research this afternoon and come up with some interesting info. Well I think it's interesting because I've not read it before but if these links have been posted before please forgive me.

Here's an interesting abstract:

The mental health of Jehovah's Witnesses

J Spencer

The function of religion in human society is complex. The part played by religion in psychiatric disorders is even more obscure. Previous literature and theories are divided into two groups: one school believes that intense religiosity is a symptom-complex indicative of psychiatric disorder, while the opposing view is that religious belief in some way acts as a defence mechanism protecting the individual and his psyche. The present study of 50 Jehovah's Witnesses admitted to the Mental Health Service facilities of Western Australia suggests that members of this section of the community are more likely to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital than the general population. Furthermore, followers of the sect are three times more likely to be diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia and nearly four times more likely from paranoid schizophrenia than the rest of the population at risk. These findings suggest that being a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses faith may be a risk factor predisposing to a schizophrenic illness. Further studies would be interesting in investigating whether pre-psychotic people are more likely to join the sect than normal people and what part (if any) membership has in bringing about such a breakdown.

More: http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/abstract/126/6/556

Summary

It is a common observation among mental health personnel, supported by all published studies, that the mental illness rate among JW's far surpasses that of the population as a whole. Many factors are found to contribute to this - JW's tend to recruit individuals with emotional problems; there is a great deal of pressure to conform within the congregation, and there is a belief structure which clearly causes emotional turmoil. The fact that JW's are recruited from the lower socio-economic statuses of society and tend to seriously alienate and often force out of the movement the more intelligent and better educated members is also highly instruments in contribution to the mental illness rate. Once a JW develops emotional problems he is actively encouraged to avoid accepting "worldly advice" either from secular books or secular mental health personnel. The psychiatric profession as a whole is severely criticized, and Witnesses are encouraged to consult only their Elders, most of whom are poorly equipped to deal with most normal interpersonal relation frictions let alone what be termed neurotic and psychotic maladjustment. In dealing with members, Elders tend to offer poor advice and rely on punitive criticism or threats ("If you do not….you will not survive Armageddon…") to change behavior. This approach typically elicits increased guilt and/or a high level of aggression in the Witnesses. This factor is probably influential in the high rate of aggression crimes found among Witnesses.

More: http://www.rickross.com/reference/jw/jw73.html

Cultic Studies Journal Psychological Manipulation and Society Vol. 14, No. 1, 1997

Wifely Subjection: Mental Health Issues in Jehovah’s Witness Women

From: http://www.csj.org/pub_csj/csj_vol14_no1_97/abs_wifely.htm

I'll add more if I find them.

6

Can humanity live happily without God?

by JH in

jw
friends

.

if science made us eternal, and we could control everything on earth as if we were in the new system, would humanity still need a higher intelligence or god to worship?

in other words, is god only a provider?

AJN

Hi Waymores Ghost :)

Perhaps, but I think the concept of "god(s)" more likely started as a result of natural disasters such as drought, earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. Then some a$$hole figured maybe these things were a result of human behaviour, started coming up with rules and promptly discovered CONTROL . The rest is history.

You could well be right, I hadn't thought about that. Hmm human behaviour having an influence on natural disasters, it's a big jump to make I guess (well it would have been back then anyway). Interesting :)