Posts by Aalena

69

A QUESTION FOR GUYS

by sandy in

why do some guys feel the need to have sex with their ex-girlfriends?

is this a common thing?

how many of you guys did or do this?.

Aalena

You guys only see a piece of the puzzle. Yes he is a jerk I know.
But I am no angel. I am not trying to defend him but when you are with someone for four years it is not so black and white.
I'm telling you just the bad now. He is a good guy with some asshole ways. He doesn't intentially hurt people or me.
He needs to grow up and he'll be ok

I'd be rich if I had a penny for how many times I have said this in the 8 years of my relationship or how many times I have heard friends say similar things. People don't really change when it comes to their standards and how they treat others. Even if it's true he would not have gone through with cheating on his current girlfriend(which is complete BS-- that is his ego talking b/c he was shot down) what about respect? Was it respectful and caring and loving to talk to you about such things when someone else has put their confidence and trust in him? Hell no. It wasn't respectful to his currect girlfriend and it wasn't respectful of you. He knows you still have feelings for him so he was trying to use that to his advantage.

The things I'd keep reminding myself if I were you... is how would you feel if you did have sex with him? Would you be going against something you believe strongly in or are you okay with being the "other" woman? If you are someone that doesn't believe in cheating then there is no doubt it would more than likely tear down your own self respect and you would regret it.

He is manipulative and selfish. Don't convince yourself otherwise. Cut him completely out of your life asap and you will finally see things a bit more clearly.

37

Once a cheater always a cheater?

by Aalena in

i caught my boyfriend of 8 years cheating on me about a month ago.

he claims it is the only time he has ever cheated and he never thought he would ever cheat nor would he ever do it again.

some of my friends are upset at me saying i should have left him immeditately.

Aalena

I caught my boyfriend of 8 years cheating on me about a month ago. He claims it is the only time he has ever cheated and he never thought he would ever cheat nor would he ever do it again. Some of my friends are upset at me saying I should have left him immeditately. I am confused as to whether I should have or not. I am not sure if I am allowing myself to believe a lie or if I am doing the right thing in continuing to try and work things out with him. The fact that I caught him cheating and lying to me makes me question if he is sorry he cheated or sorry he got caught cheating. There is no question as to if he cares about me- it's difficult for someone to be around you for 8 years and NOT care about you. What I question is if really loves me. Would someone truly be able to allow themselves to betray the person they claim to love most in the world? Or is simply a matter of respect? Does everoyne believe in the saying once a cheater always a cheater? Or has anyone had experiences of someone cheating on them but then going on to having a successful relationship with them?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts~

8

Belief and experience in religion

by Markfromcali in

have you ever noticed how you have belief and experience in different proportions when it comes to religion?

on the one hand you might have the fundy that just crams every experience into the interpretation of a static belief system, and on the other you have the typical new age kind of mindset where every kind of belief is conjured up to support your experience.

for those who have seen the movie office space, remember the game "jump to conclusions"?

Aalena

The relationship between belief and experience no doubt comes from the desire to interpret the experience, so you either try to interpret everything in a simple way that is fairly rigid, or you go with any number of interpretations for simple experiences, or somewhere in between. I would not say to stop interpreting your experience, but atleast recognize when you are coming up with an interpretation, and why. This is where people get lost.

This brings up the debate of whether the mind is a tabala rasa(blank slate/tablet) or if ideas/beliefs are some innate knowledge derived from birth. I'd think that people that believe in god would side with the latter and people that are confused or do not believe in god would believe that we aren't born with innate beliefs but that they are shaped through experience(our five senses).

20

Questions about Jehovahs Witness???

by JDWEEE in

charles taze russell, founded the jw in the 1860's.

which is based on his own interpretations of the bible.

he had no theology education, and did not know the greek, and hebrew language.. question: how can an average man, with "no" education, interpret the bible correctly?.

Aalena

Question: How can an Average man, with "no" education, interpret the Bible correctly?
Question: Why would God allow man, to go for so long, up until the 1860's, without the correct interpretations of the Bible?
Question: Why would God guide, lead, and empower, people to write the scripture in a way that we could not understand, and interpret?
Question: How do we know Charles Taze Russell was right in his interpretations?
Question: Why should i, base my beleif on what an average man, such as myself, interpreted the Bible to really say, and mean?

I think that there is no way to have a certain answer for any of those questions. Take out the words "Charles Taze Russell" and subsitute Mormons or Catholics or any other religion or man in it's place and how could anyone be sure of anything? The only thing one can really conclude is that there is no certain answer to any of those questions-- unless one has "faith." Faith isn't supported by any fact, just belief. So, I guess the answers to your questions are, " I don't know... that is what every individual must figure out on their own."

My personal opinion is that JWs are wrong in claiming they have the one true religion and that NO MAN can interpret the bible "correctly" because it was written by man.

13

Abraham's Sacrifice

by Aalena in

i'm taking this philosophy class(oh no worldy wisdom) and the instructer mentioned how it always bothered him how abraham's god(yaweh or jehovah to us) had put him through the ordeal of even asking him to sacrifice his son.

i identified with this because it's something that always bothered me as well.

i know it was supposedly just a "test" but to me it doesn't seem like something jehovah would ever do when taking into consideration his characteristics outlined in the bible.

Aalena

JC Cannon,

Clarify your thoughts on Jehovah asking Abraham to symbolically sacrifice his son? I think maybe you used the word symbolically in the wrong place there and I'm reading it incorrectly. I'll very simply and in NO way 100% accurately to the text go through the process of this proposed "sacrifice." It doesn't have to be word for word to understand where I am coming from-- you just need to understand the concept I'm throwing out there:

1. Jehovah God tells Abraham that he wishes him to go to the top of a mountain or side of a hill... and sacrifice his son.

2. Abraham does what is asked of him because... why? Because God knows holiness. He creates holiness. Things are holy because he says they are and no one is to questions this. (Euthyphro's(I think that is his name) ideas on the Greek gods in Athens about 500 years BC when he brought Socrates to trial for religous heracy and corrupting the youth of athens)

3. What is more-- HIS SON goes along with it?? What is happening with his son? One they get to the place Abraham is to sacrifice him and the rituals begin, I think even someone that isn't the sharpest tool in the shed would understand he was about to die. Why do I bring this up? Because humans generally FIGHT TO LIVE when they are faced with kill or be killed. We do not give up too easily. Especially in this case... with a father starting to sacrifice his son. Again, this brings up the point about interpreting this account to mean that God appoints what is Holy(moral) and his subjects blindly follow.

4. Jehovah tells Abraham he was only testing his loyalty. Is Abraham to be thankful at this point?? Would YOU be thankful at this point? I for one, would never have been on that mountain and my son would have been going about his daily business... but seriously: What credibility would a god retain if he asked his subjects to do something like this? Today... do we believe in Human Sacrifice? How many Human sacrifice do you remember or have recently read about in the bible? It seems very consistent that humankind then and now would be EXTREMELY disturbed if something like this was required of them--- or ARE extrememly disturbed if they think it's ok.

Just what was Jehovah testing if he already "knew"? Just what confidence did Abraham lack or what lesson did he need to learn by this that was learned? I fail to see any positives come out of this account for ANYONE involved.

Also, math problems you use as an example are absolute. Meaning, one starts with an equation and it produces an answer, and only one answer, every time. Whether the equation produces a whole number, a negative number, a fraction, an infinate or an undefined... it is the same number one gets every time. You can't really relate subjective philosophy and morals(according to the bible God gives us the mental capacity to chose answers for ourselves-- each related to certain consequences both good and bad) to something that is absolute and unaffected by opinion or change.

13

Abraham's Sacrifice

by Aalena in

i'm taking this philosophy class(oh no worldy wisdom) and the instructer mentioned how it always bothered him how abraham's god(yaweh or jehovah to us) had put him through the ordeal of even asking him to sacrifice his son.

i identified with this because it's something that always bothered me as well.

i know it was supposedly just a "test" but to me it doesn't seem like something jehovah would ever do when taking into consideration his characteristics outlined in the bible.

Aalena

Having a wedding to shoot last weekend and like... 3 papers to write I haven't gotten a chance to return! I see more opinions than anything that proves beyond a doubt that Abramam was real or a parable or just a fluke. I've yet to check out Shotgun's link yet, but it sounds interesting=) Once I've researched things a bit on my own I'll go there to see if anyone collaborates my findings!

Honestly, I've been leaning towards the thoughts of the bible NOT being real. However, I DO know that the WTBTS tends to take a number of things EXTREMELY literal-- well, when I was growing up they did. It is very possible that *THEY* have the tunnel vision. One thing that always turned me from them is their incapicty to evolve as human beings because of their fears of turning away from God. I wish they would realize that doesn't mean losing God, only understanding the world and everything in it better! I didn't understand that so eloquently while I was in the religion, but now it's much easier to articulate those thoughts=)

1

[disgruntled] Mormons and 7th day Adventist vs. JW's

by Undaunted Danny in

mormon opposing views top 20 web results out of about 19,300 search took 0.26 seconds.

Aalena

Yah.. you searched Yahoo=p

My very close "mormon" friend and I were talking about this just a few days ago and it's scary the similarities between mormons/JW "apostates" and their feelings. He showed me numerous sites much like these that were centered around apostate mormons. No clue about seventh day adventists, though.

13

Abraham's Sacrifice

by Aalena in

i'm taking this philosophy class(oh no worldy wisdom) and the instructer mentioned how it always bothered him how abraham's god(yaweh or jehovah to us) had put him through the ordeal of even asking him to sacrifice his son.

i identified with this because it's something that always bothered me as well.

i know it was supposedly just a "test" but to me it doesn't seem like something jehovah would ever do when taking into consideration his characteristics outlined in the bible.

Aalena

I'm taking this philosophy class(OH NO WORLDY WISDOM) and the instructer mentioned how it always bothered him how Abraham's God(Yaweh or Jehovah to us) had put him through the ordeal of even asking him to sacrifice his son. I identified with this because it's something that always bothered me as well. I know it was supposedly just a "test" but to me it doesn't seem like something Jehovah would ever do when taking into consideration his characteristics outlined in the bible. I mean, it's a bit deceiptful and manipulative-- both qualities the bible(or perhaps it was JWs) suggests he is VERY much against. If God is perfect, unfailing, etc. how could he even begin to deceive someone in this way only to test their loyalty? Job now comes to mind also. Would God REALLY make someone suffer just to win a bet with Satan?

I suppose this post is questioning Christianity more than JWs but am not certain. Perhaps someone has taken the accounts completely different than how I was taught to read them.

The thing that is scary to me is that it has me questioning the bible and christianity now. Those are only two very small thoughts that have started these questions. It's a bit overwhelming, though, since I've gone the majority of my 25 years believing there was a Supreme Being, namely the christian one mentioned in the bible. Or, perhaps those accounts were not to be taken literally? I think I'll do some research and see if there is proof that Job and Abraham lived on earth. It's been a long time since I have thought about any of this. =)

Thoughts?

5

Demonized Software...

by Agent 1 of 1 in

how does the society view software or media that seems to be from the devil?

if i'm watching a satanic ritual file downloaded from a web site, is that file demonized?

if the original file is possessed and gets duplicated, are all the other duplicated files possessed as well?

Aalena

Xegony Server=) Been playing for about 4 years but lately my time is limited due to trying to finish school before I'm 30!;)

Aalena is my toon's name=p

55

Continuum, Consciousness, Being

by onacruse in

.

matter exists.. matter does not disappear from the universe; it transforms, at times, but in some form or other (energy) it continues to exist.. so what is "consciousness"?

it also exists (and we are individually proof of that fact).. can our personal "consciousness" cease to exist?

Aalena

I remembered one last incident. We held my father's funeral at a non-denominational funeral home since he and most of his family were not JWs(I was very proud of my mother for doing that). On my mother initial visit to the funeral home to make arrangements, while she was inside the back window in her Ford Explorer --shattered. So? you may say... well, it shattered so that the glass fell OUTSIDE of the car. Not one peice of glass was inside of the back of the Explorer.

Maybe those things seemed a bit larger than they were because of the emotional times we were experiencing... but still odd, nonetheless. Definately not your typical run of events and it definately made me think about death differently than I had been taught to believe.