I criticise JWs for it because it is a fundamental part of their underlying ethos. Deny pleasure and replace with fearful devotion. Taking small, normally happy parties and times of celebration , pauses in the daily routine of survival if you will, and replacing them with an anti social, avoid reminding people that they are special and individual and are part of a loving circle of friends and family, attitude and calling that righteous is simply stupid and deserves all the criticism that can be heaped on it. No wonder the JWs I knew at school were loners and found it difficult to participate in group learning. Poor kids.
Posts by Qcmbr
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26Birthdays & Christmas
by Rattigan350 inwhat is the deal with people criticizing jws because they don't celebrate birthdays or christmas?.
it is as if when someone is born, from a baby, to a child, teen, adult; that one has a responsiblity to celebrate christmas (and i thought it was a free country); and others have a responsiblity to celebrate others' anniversary of one's birth.. i don't get the criticisms as if celebrating either is a great thing and the not celebrating is a bad thing.. data on star trek said that he does not understand why people celebrate their birthdays - a day one can not possibly remember.. what are you actually celebrating?
the fact that you made it another year?
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21
The Great Crowd: Why... and Why No Man Is Able to Number...
by AGuest injohn 5:9, 10. how many do these number, this "crowd"?
it is because there is no set number.
a set time for such of that group to come in.
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Qcmbr
What's fascinating to me is how individuals claim to be getting revelation from a divine source but almost invariably already have a good chunk of their doctrine and phraseology lifted from their preceding religion. Now if a xian prophet suddenly started quoting from the books of other religions as revealed truth that would at least be more novel. When people rebel against their religion thinking they can do it better they seem to still use the carcass of their former belief. Disgruntled Xians remain xian and just swop a few doctrines around, disgruntled Mormons hark back to earlier versions of doctrine , ex-JWs still talk in terms of Jah and 'Great Crowds' betraying their roots. If the JWs were genuinely as wrong as the Mormons as the Baptists as the Catholics yadda yadda you should find a wholesale rejection of their buzzwords ( especially pet names for god) and their prized topics methinks because these areas of focus were made up by a supposed false religion.
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12
Out of context rude Star Wars Quotes
by Qcmbr inon the dangers and fun that can be had with quote mining.
naughtiness ahead.
you have been warned.. star wars iv: a new hope.
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Qcmbr
"It didn't go in, just impacted on the surface."
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12
Out of context rude Star Wars Quotes
by Qcmbr inon the dangers and fun that can be had with quote mining.
naughtiness ahead.
you have been warned.. star wars iv: a new hope.
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Qcmbr
"Feeeel the force around you"
"What an amazing smell you've discoverred"
"Get behind me, get behind me!"
"Governor Tarkin, I would have expected you to be holding Vaders leash......" -
12
Out of context rude Star Wars Quotes
by Qcmbr inon the dangers and fun that can be had with quote mining.
naughtiness ahead.
you have been warned.. star wars iv: a new hope.
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Qcmbr
"Into the garbage shoot, fly boy."
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12
Out of context rude Star Wars Quotes
by Qcmbr inon the dangers and fun that can be had with quote mining.
naughtiness ahead.
you have been warned.. star wars iv: a new hope.
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Qcmbr
On the dangers and fun that can be had with quote mining. Naughtiness ahead. You have been warned.
Star Wars IV: A New Hope
1. "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid."
2. "Curse my metal body, I wasn't fast enough!"
3. "Look at the size of that thing!"
4. "Sorry about the mess..."
5. "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought."
6. "Aren't you a little short for a Storm Trooper?"
7. "You're got something jammed in here real good."
8. "Put that thing away before you get us all killed."
9. "Luke, at that speed do you think you'll be able to pull out in time?"
10. "Get in there you big furry oaf, I don't care WHAT you smell!"
Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back
1. "And I thought they smelled bad on the OUTSIDE!"
2. "Possible he came in through the south entrance."
3. "I must've hit it pretty close to the mark to get her all riled up like that, huh, kid?"
4. "Hurry up, golden-rod..."
5. "That's okay, I'd like to keep it on manual control for awhile."
6. "But now we must eat. Come, good food, come...."
7. "Control! Control! You must learn control!"
8. "There's an awful lot of moisture in here."
9. "I thought that hairy beast would be the end of me."
10. "Size matters not. Judge me by my size, do you?"
Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi
1. "Rise, my friend."
2. "Open the back door!"
3. "Hey, point that thing somewhere else!"
4. "It's just a dead animal..."
5. "Not bad for a little furball."
6. "How can they be jamming us if they don't know we're coming?"
7. "Come here, I won't hurt you. You want something to eat?"
8. "Keep on that one, I'll take these two."
9. "I want you to take her. I mean it, take her!"
10. "I don't think the Empire had wookies in mind when they designed her, Chewie." -
20
Book of Mormon the musical
by Tiktaalik ini went and saw the book of mormon when i was in nyc last week.
it was superb.
so many great songs and so, so funny.
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Qcmbr
Of course - I hope you know I'm an atheist now who no longer attends. I'm fascinated by religion and Mormonism because it had such a stranglehold on me and was able to alter how I saw the world. Also as an ex member( technically I'm still on the books) I know when the perception of Mormonism by non-Mormons misses context or goes wildly overboard and so every now and then I'll share a view from inside the Mormon curtain.AMA.
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312
The Stone the Builders Rejected
by sabastious inin the first post in this series i discussed the identity of the watchtower as per revelation 13. the second post dealt with the identity of the harlot and the scarlet beast.
this post will deal with the third element "the image of the beast", lets read revelation 13:15-17:.
the second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.
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Qcmbr
I've told my story a few times but some highlights:
I wanted it to be true so much ( not just a , see it when you're dead way) and I couldn't understand the reason why what I read in the scriptures regarding miracles, building gods kingdom, truly getting information from god ( as in proper information like, 'missing girl x is in terrible danger, is praying for help and is being held captive at y' kind of useful, do good through god type message) , healing ( this was a big one for me and was always the thing I loved most about bible Jesus) and so on was not happening. I asked god in prayer what I could do, what I could sacrifice, what I could change to make myself available for him to manifest his power. I wanted to build up the kingdom of god so bad and to blaze forth the name of Jesus everywhere to help heal this fallen world and do my part as best I could. Of course I got no answer other than ones I made up ( be patient, be humble , wait on me etc.) In addition I was struggling , on this site, to find convincing answers to very tough and unrelenting questions from atheists and skeptics, the truth shouldn't be hard to justify I thought. I couldn't understand why god wasn't giving me insight in how to lovingly but substantively respond. I decided that it had to be answered, I needed to know if I was defective in some way or if god just didn't want me to do anything on his behalf. I realised I'd never sacrificed my belief, I'd never risked it, if I was unwilling to give up my belief in god then what worth was that belief? I told god in prayer what I was going to do ( study, pray, seek out answers from all areas, examine my life, my beliefs, live righteously, await divine revelation and at the end if no answers came accept that god did not exist) and then did it. Several years, lots of reading, lots of thinking, hours of prayer, critical appraisal of myself and my core beliefs and confronting the central idea that, despite all my seeming spiritual experiences, the wonderful community I was part of, the amount of investment I had made in my faith, I could be utterly wrong.
I was wrong. My faith was vain. My beautiful dream was over. My cause and my devotion a sham. Now I'm just a naked bunch of self aware hydrogen atoms from the beginning of the universe contemplating itself, I am the universe aware and my former god is no longer valid nor needed and such retarding concepts as sin, repentance, eternal punishment, invisible beings, talking animals, armageddons, virgin births, angels are replaced by an enthralling moment of consciousness , now, me, filled with exploration and experience , a moment that is me and refuses to be cheapened by blood sacrifice or ancient myths. This moment I finally feel free to explore and be what I can be. No gods dictate my paths and I hope to help others to realise just how magnificent they are and how little they need invisible dictators.
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Did we ever fulfill Mathew 24:14?
by raymond frantz ini know ... many mistakes and a nasty leadership ,but did jehovah's witnesses fulfill even partially matthew 24:14 :"the good news will be preached in all the inhabited earth and then the end will come "are we to expect a final or a completely different fulfilment of this verse ?
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Qcmbr
Yes, the sign is in a poorly drawn picture. You are the messiah. Please could you feed the starving children this time around.
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312
The Stone the Builders Rejected
by sabastious inin the first post in this series i discussed the identity of the watchtower as per revelation 13. the second post dealt with the identity of the harlot and the scarlet beast.
this post will deal with the third element "the image of the beast", lets read revelation 13:15-17:.
the second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.
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Qcmbr
Strypes, ironically you cite the no true Scotsman fallacy and then use it beautifully in describing Cofty's experience. Well done.
There is a very devout Calvinist at work who would give our more fervent members a run for their money. He is adamant that I was never a Christian and that is why I cannot see or understand the self evident truths of Calvinist God. He includes all born agains, Catholics, liberal Christians, heretical offshoots like JWs , Mormons and SDAs in the same boat. Almost no one on this forum would qualify as a Christian to him.
As a former Christian I can affirm I was as committed and as believing as anyone here. I was less touched by the full on visionary style Christianity than some, I was much less verbally effusive in the love bombing 'Im a slave mwah' style Christianity, I was not a 'straining over a gnat' gotta quote a wall of text peppered with scriptures Christian , I was not a 'god chats to me daily at bedtime' style Christian but I was a devout, try my best, pray hard, get moved by music/human acts of kindness/ inspirational speeches/natures beauty/ vastness of space/love/ hope/dreams/ideals/virtue/endurance Christian, felt as though the spirit did give me guidance, felt surges of emotion like love and hope when discussing or contemplating the divine, felt like I'd had the spirit wash over me many times and act as a constant moral guide , well read scripturally, served my fellow people, evangelising , praying for my enemies christian.
Of course, now that I see it for what it is and share that knowledge, I was never a Christian , I could never have been. Silly thing is, when I was a Christian I used to say the same thing about people who I knew who had fallen away.