....and I dont have any answers as to the symbolism. baptism seems to have meant so many different thngs. it certainly doesnt seem like John was performing baptism as understood by xians. seems closer to the Jewish temple cleansing rite.
Posts by Qcmbr
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86Fallacy of Baptism "in Holy Spirit"!
by The Searcher inthe following comment taken from the march 1st 2013 watchtower, is nothing new.
to witnesses the world over it's a basic teaching which even the kids understand; "humans with heavenly prospects have been baptized in water and with holy spirit and are thus spirit-begotten disciples of jesus.
" (john 3:3, 5) (both at the same time??????).
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86
Fallacy of Baptism "in Holy Spirit"!
by The Searcher inthe following comment taken from the march 1st 2013 watchtower, is nothing new.
to witnesses the world over it's a basic teaching which even the kids understand; "humans with heavenly prospects have been baptized in water and with holy spirit and are thus spirit-begotten disciples of jesus.
" (john 3:3, 5) (both at the same time??????).
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Qcmbr
oh let it go you old fishwife
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86
Fallacy of Baptism "in Holy Spirit"!
by The Searcher inthe following comment taken from the march 1st 2013 watchtower, is nothing new.
to witnesses the world over it's a basic teaching which even the kids understand; "humans with heavenly prospects have been baptized in water and with holy spirit and are thus spirit-begotten disciples of jesus.
" (john 3:3, 5) (both at the same time??????).
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Qcmbr
Designs - nice wit :)
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86
Fallacy of Baptism "in Holy Spirit"!
by The Searcher inthe following comment taken from the march 1st 2013 watchtower, is nothing new.
to witnesses the world over it's a basic teaching which even the kids understand; "humans with heavenly prospects have been baptized in water and with holy spirit and are thus spirit-begotten disciples of jesus.
" (john 3:3, 5) (both at the same time??????).
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Qcmbr
How about looking at this symbolicaly
What did immersion in water represent?
When was it first used in Hebrew thought?
Why was John baptising at all?
If water baptism was for sin why did Jesus do it?
What rituals did the Hebrews follow to pay for sin already?
Which parts of the baptism bywater and baptism by fire were new and which parts old?
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135
I Think My Marriage Is Over...
by cognac ini know exactly what happened... he thinks i'm going to die at the big a and wants to be with someone he can live forever with.... we have two girls, ages 3 and 1... i really thought we'd make it despite the religion, now i really don't think so... not sure what to do... .
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Qcmbr
Do you want this marriage to work? Imagine the scenario with no kids. Do you still want to be with him? Are you good for each other? Do you make each other happy? Even with all the niggles or annoyances does your relationship work? Are you sacrificing who you both want to be for the sake of the marriage? After you've made up your mind on these issues and come to either a painful or happy conclusion then you could consider these two scenarios:
1 - Marriage still worth it. Start fighting. Contact the other woman and warn her off. Tell her you have access to her communications. *Find out who she is ( is she married) etc. get leverage and get ready to fight dirty if she won't sod off. Start that gym routine , cut back on eating crap, throw away your naff clothes and buy new nice ones each payday ( one at a time), stop watching tv, start cooking adventurous food, organise friends to come over, plan nights out to places you've not been ( crock pot picnics, star gazing, local college sports events and so on) , smarten up the house one item a day ( paint a door frame, put up a framed pic, dejunk a cupboard) and if you can - and haven't got one - get an interesting job either by volunteering or applying with cvs for all sorts of stuff you'd never considered*. Do this and IF your marriage is salvageable ( ie he is just fooling around for adrenaline kicks ) you will have got yourself into a good place to talk about it. In short make yourself the better you ,for your own sake ,and the side effect will be a better two.
2 - Marriage failed a while ago and is not satisfying. Plan the painful withdrawal, financial advice sessions, consult legal experts, proceed from there. Work out what you want and what you can live without before the emotions get too intense. Where to live, how to budget, what child support to get, what debts to trade / offload and so on. If the marriage is over you no longer need to sacrifice yourself for him. Go back to the starred section in 1 and get started. Being a single parent is a personal war with amazing prizes for success but high costs whether you decide to win or surrender. How will you cope mentally? Are you a fighter ? Do you avoid stressful situations and does the thought of doing this make you feel queasy and powerless? If so plan a long game and don't rush to divorce ( ie get a support structure of friends, a job, a little bit of money in place). If however, you never go down for the full count of ten then you may wish to go faster.
Whichever you choose know that the kids will survive and as long as you don't self destruct ( either within a soul sucking sham of a marriage or in some singleton emotionally spent victim state) then they will thrive. Document everything you can , be official about it, send it to a private online Dropbox account or to a private email account. Scans, copies, receipts everything. If your marriage is sound and saved burn / erase in a few years otherwise save for the financial side of splitting up. Kids just need to know its not their fault and that you aren't going to leave them. Alcoholism, drug taking, over eating, excessive tv watching are all forms of escapism that can 'leave' family members behind - if you are at risk of any of this put a plan together to handle it.
If it does break up, don't limit access , don't bad mouth, don't hide all the tears and be truthful without point scoring with the kids. Accept his right to determine his own life and ultimately live with someone else. Do this and you'll go a long way to accepting your own right to choose.
Best of luck in this shitty situation.
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Genesis 3:16 - As to ALL Women... or One Woman? A Favor, Please...
by AGuest inmay you all have peace!.
so, as some of you might know (or discern)... or not... i am not your usual submissive/in subjection kind of girl.
given what some apparently expect of women... as wives, daughters, female friends... and in general... i was curious about the greater fulfillment of genesis 3:16, because many are of the belief that it applies to all women as to all men... (including those that aren't their husbands)... and not the just one being addressed at the time (eve as to adham).. personally, other than paul's position on women teaching in public (which was borne of what was occurring in the region at the time, due to by-then jewish culture and roman occupation)... and peter's admonishment for wives to submit themselves to their own husbands... that i know of nothing that validates a woman being in subjection to anyone other than her own husband, and even then such "subjection" is not puerile or unrestrained (so as to just be a given), but borne of love and respect for her husband (in which case it should not be difficult)... who is obligated to honor her, as well.
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Qcmbr
We are of necessity a hierarchical society. There are times when people must lead according to their capabilities or the legal framework of society. The majority of history has required men to be physically stronger for combat and hunting purposes and women to be physically stronger for health and child rearing purposes. This naturally led to a situation where alpha males led and more often than not women were lower down the power scale. You can see this in nature with such simple examples as afforded by great apes. If society was forced back into some uncivilised state due to catastrophe then men who could fight would naturally be sought out and people would follow. Rarely but not insignificantly when a true women warrior emerges ( an extreme outlier) then she assumes the dominant role in the absence of a superior competitor.
Society has progressed far enough to no longer rely upon brute strength to enforce will. Where religion , amongst other historical institutions, has been a problem is in the social drag they produce which makes changing attitudes more difficult. Women's rise to a position of equality was available to society centuries earlier than it happened because of these slow evolving institutions of which the bible is a chief culprit ( but also law, education and political structure are significant players.) The largest player however, and the most effective agent of social change is simply economics. Women's long needed rise to equality is only possible insomuch as they have access to their own economic determinence. Thus wealthy women in history are much more equal to the men around them.
The bible and other religious texts were written by a different age and a time when women were disempowered. In that age power was wielded by the sword and people had so little factual information that they were impressed by fairytales and magic. That they are still used as the basis of social interaction or as handbooks about 'truth' and reality is a scourge on society and many people still enslave themselves to imaginary beings, more often than not, mythical males which is a tragedy IMO.
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95
Who did jesus look like, his mom or his dad?
by Honeybucket inif jesus was immaculate, what would his dna and alleles look like?
would he be the spitting image of mary?.
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Qcmbr
He was the spit of his father.
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100
Need Some Tough Love & Help
by Simon Morley innot sure how to approach this but here goes.....my wife discovered a porn site on the computer tonight.
yes, i was going to them, and i was foolish to think i could never get caught.
i have been visiting them for some years, not a daily problems, but occasionaly every month or so - still a problem wethere its once or a hundred times.
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Qcmbr
Simon - just to make you feel a bit better. Pretty much all men do it (I'll let ladies speak for themselves) including the other Elders in your congregation. Remember that if you ever get hauled into the back office for a chat.
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100
Need Some Tough Love & Help
by Simon Morley innot sure how to approach this but here goes.....my wife discovered a porn site on the computer tonight.
yes, i was going to them, and i was foolish to think i could never get caught.
i have been visiting them for some years, not a daily problems, but occasionaly every month or so - still a problem wethere its once or a hundred times.
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Qcmbr
As a believer I was chaste and good (no porn or masturbation or impure thoughts) for 99.99% of the time which in hindsight was astonishing and the result of no internet access till after my mission (finished when I was 21) plus an intense level of religious indoctrination, ironically it was a church lesson when I was in Young men's (age 12) which first introduced me to the concept of masturbation and led to an experiment that afternoon. That's how controlled my worldview was. After every masturbation event I went to the Bishop to confess. 5 or so visits in total. Age 36 before I finally figured my faith was a sham. After each Bishop visit I would be wracked with guilt, torn with self loathing and disgust and would resort to quite unusual extremes to try and redraw the boundary again and prove myself worthy o forgiveness (I'd throw out books , commit to additional scripture study, enter newspaper shops with my eyes glued to the ground and so on.)
As a woken up rational thinker I found something interesting. Almost everything, with common sense, can be seen to have a place. Stripped of its taboo nature porn is much less enticing, there is no secret thrill involved in looking. It makes sense that porn is made powerful by banning it. Now I can see something pornographic and I barely even notice it whereas when it was forbidden it was like a magnetic. No wonder Victorian prudes went into paroxysms of sexual climax when they caught sight of an uncovered ankle. Frankly most pornography is uninteresting and not titilating at all - whereas before it all was. There are times when pornography has played a useful part in my sex life but in reality even that is fading as I find it a bit naff.
If you can imagine a buffet laid out in front of you which if you overindulge in any one food group will make you ill over time (yes even the vegetables if eaten soley will cause problems) and which so called 'sinful' activities act as garnishes. A little salt makes food delicious, too much makes it nasty. A little lust can be wonderful and fulfilling, a little excitement can bring colour and meaning to the bland filling of life. Religious thinking spends so much time trying to 'gild the lily' that it turns that which can be beautiful and enriching (sexual behaviour including the desire to make sexual display!) into something tawdry and guilt laden.
Religion is all about power (this is one reason why your wife wants to tell your daughter - she wants to place you in a mentally submissive state where she can dictate your behaviour - which some people like ;) It doesn't matter whether you are a JW or a Mormon, they all want to control teh authentic you and make you into a Stepford wife/husband - emasculated and a slave.
Practical - you need to man up. Stop pity partying and panicking. You are a grown up. Your body is your exclusive property and you share who you are with your family but you are not owned by them. Use this crisis to decide who you want to be. If you want to revert to a closet sexual being controlled by a religion then grovel, plead, beg for forgiveness, shed tears and forever by tempted by the delights you are denied (pro tip - no amount of extreme porn avoidance techniques you add to your behaviour will work long term - you are a sexual being subject to hormones, biological rhythms and an extreme, natural drive to procreate - no religion or artificial control can ever destroy that - it requires chemical castration!) If you however, choose to own who you are, then lay down the boundaries, let your wife play out any of her control games (ultimately - grit your teeth here - your wife will either leave you or stay and either way you will have your answer about the true state of your marriage) and make sure that you never let anyone smash your spirit again. If you like a bit of porn every now and then, do it (privately of course) and just get the urge out of your system and carry on. Do this and you'll be a much better husband and a much better man becasue you are at peace with who you are rather than always running from your biological self. If you ever find yourself being addicted to porn (or anything for that matter) or you find your authentic self is into unlawful stuff or is warping your view of yourself and other people then seek professional help as addiction / law breaking / negative social behaviour is a real problem.
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100
Need Some Tough Love & Help
by Simon Morley innot sure how to approach this but here goes.....my wife discovered a porn site on the computer tonight.
yes, i was going to them, and i was foolish to think i could never get caught.
i have been visiting them for some years, not a daily problems, but occasionaly every month or so - still a problem wethere its once or a hundred times.
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Qcmbr
Oh wow, I so want to ring you up for a heart to heart. Gotta go out shopping now but I'm going to post something that I hope will be useful for you when I get back.
