.
some witness theological beliefs are, man has free will, god can see the future.. i used to wonder how this could work.for if god could see you were going to do something then you must do it, otherwise god is wrong, so therefore you had no choice.. take judas for example.jesus is believed to have known he would be betrayed by him.in fact it is suppossed to have been prophesied in psalms that someone close to him would do so.. if god could see that judas would kill jesus then once this predicion was made judas had no choice no free will to choose not to.so either god can't really see the furture and can just make predictions or man has no free will.if when god looks into the future this causes an event to happen , its gods fault if he see something bad happening , as if he didn't look it would not have been set in stone.. if it is predictions that god makes (not acktual knowledge of what will happen)then what are these based on?.
knowledge of the human brain and how it works?if so, then man actions are purly based on mechanisms within the brain that are so rigid that you with enought knowledge can know them thousands of years before.so if mans sins it not his fault , theres nothing he can do about it , he has no free will.so god is not just in punishing him.. whichever way it does not work out as fair or logical that a god could see the future and for man to have free will..
I never could see the logic of it myself. God seeing into the future, knowing what we would do, that would coincide more with the Calvinistic belief of predestination.
Btw, what kind of free will is that anyway? Obey me and yee shall live. Disobey me and yee shall perish and suffer beyond comprehension. That's not giving men free will! That's giving them a threat.
Viv.
i am interested in ray franz.
can anybody comment on him?
i've heard rumors, but partial ones from jw's.
Yes I did, it gave me de final shove to leave the Borg.
It is a very calm written account of events. A lot of "apostate" literature is made of spite, but this one isn't like that. It also gives a wonderful history about doctrines like 1914.
Definitely read it!
Viv.
i have felt drawn back to the place i was born for the last year or two.
i would be interested if others feel a connection w the area where they were born or grew up.
is it home??
I go to visit some of the places of my childhood, every now and then. It just helps me to think. I am 24, so the age-argument doesnt apply to me (although younger cousins would disagree). And I had a wonderful childhood, with lots of love, I only came in contact with the witnesses when I was 17. But going back to those places, mostly nature, gives some calm and quiet. I never stay for very long, but it does help me to get my thoughts organised again.
SS, if it works for you, use it.
Viv.
P.S. Roots I am growing my own private crop, hehe, its legal in my country!
i just installed a fresh new hard drive and windows xp professional on my computer.
i have to say, i love it!
it boots faster, shuts down faster, and the interface is great!
Got XP a few moths ago. It was great and fantastic, sigh, those beautiful golden days. Now, my computer is as screwed up as ever before. If I try to open a new window I honestly can walk to my kitchen, put on a kettle of water, make some tea, come back, only to find that the window still hasn't opened.
Getting just a wee bit frustrated with it.
However, congrats on your XP!
Viv.
i am sending it on monday, does anybody have any advice or revisions in mind?
july 22, 2002 .
dear friends, .
Mustang,
I applaud you for your courage. However, brace yourself for the reaction of your loved ones. Shunning is a horrible thing, and you can never be totally prepared for it. But my god, the freedom you'll have!
Good luck!
Viv.
i recieved an e-mail from a "thurdson", titled review of crisis of concience.
it came into my hotmail box, showed to be 127k, and seemed to not have anything in the body.. also, something from a "jcmachisslop" titled w32.elkern virus remover, with a link to mcaffee supposedly pointing me to a tool to get rid of said virus.. i did not get an immediate virus notification, but i am curious, perhaps someone trying to "ping' me?.
thirdson, machislopp, this isn't you guys, is it?
DazedAndConfused, now you've made me feel as if I have entered a war zone! O well, I guess I did that already the minute I showed my apostasy.
The JW themselves are also being harassed by this virus. My inside source tell me of e-mails being sent to members of my former congregation with mutilated texts, using Outlook Express.
Viv.
how often does that thought cross your mind?.
it played on mine yesterday.
ive got a very expansive view across the melbourne flatlands and yesterday i looked out the back window and saw this dark grey storm wall coming in with rain so heavy that it was like a solid sheet of grey, swallowing the land.
Yeah, I agree with Peppermint, we were conditioned.
You all probably read this book, but if you haven's, it shows just how mind control works, and how normal it is to still think "what if this is Armageddon..."
Steven Hassan, "Combatting Cult Mind Control".
Viv.
Edited cause I wrote "mid" instead of "mind"
Edited by - Vivamus on 20 July 2002 21:7:36
Mmm, A lot of smurfs that are besmurfed.... Poor little smurfs.
let's post some of our 80's pic, or even further back if you want to.
it would really be fun to see some of you in your finest witness attire, bookbag and all.
baptism pics would be a blast to see.. wild turkey had this idea ,but he already started two threads.
Hey!!! Why didn't that work???
let's post some of our 80's pic, or even further back if you want to.
it would really be fun to see some of you in your finest witness attire, bookbag and all.
baptism pics would be a blast to see.. wild turkey had this idea ,but he already started two threads.
Sorry! I am too young to show an embarrising 80's pict, LOL.
But here's a 90's. Dressed to go for fieldservice. Except for the shoes...
Viv.
