Midget-Sasquatch

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Posts by Midget-Sasquatch

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  8

  Happy Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend eh?

  by Happy Guy :) in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  to those travelling: may you have a safe journey .

  to those drinking: please do not drink and drive .

  to all: may your trukey be juicy, your stuffing be not too greasy, your mashed potatoes fluffy, your gravy not lumpy, your corn bread sweeeet, your cranberry sauce tangy, and your veges fresh and tasty .

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  Thanks to all who wish us well.
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  33

  Who thinks JW is a cult?

  by therealtruthsayer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ...

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  Not too many years back I remember reading a sociology paper that classified JWs as a high control group. The researchers heavily weighted the presence of a charismatic leader and thats one main reason why they didn't classify the dubs as a cult - despite all the other clear indicators. If only they really understood the extent of loyalty demanded of the dub to the ORG.

  I'm with SNG. Any which way you label it, it'll still batter you.

  P.S. Do you think the Faithful and Discreet Slave's teaching that how someone treats them determines whether they're a sheep or goat, so saved or destroyed, would make the researchers reconsider their classification of the JWs?
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  7

  Desperate Housewives

  by Nancy Drake in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  anyone see desperate housewives?

  i dvr'ed it and just now had a chance to watch it.

  it was different than i thought it would be, much funnier!

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  Off topic

  Mortons68, just wanted to know if I managed to properly send you a reply to your welcomimg email. If I messed up and you never heard back from me, Please excuse me and A belated thanks.
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  33

  *** NEW DVD _ YOUNG PEOPLE ASK: WHAT WILL I DO WITH MY LIFE ***

  by truthseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is an in-depth look at the new dvd released this fall.

  it is primarily designed for young jehovah?s witnesses; in fact, the whole dvd is geared towards witness youth only.. .

  on the front cover there are 8 happy youths carrying school books and bags.

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  It is abundantly clear ? maybe I should say super-abundantly clear that the Jehovah?s Witness religion is losing this current generation of young JW?s, and most likely subsequent generations.

  MUWHAHAHA!!! Looks like the mommy org is not going to go off quietly into that night.

  " And the sixth one poured out his bowl upon the great river Euphrates , and its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings from the rising of the sun." Rev. 16:12

  Quoted not as actual prophecy but noting the sort of "turning the tables on them" poetic justice in it. I always knew the little tykes were shrper than us.
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  33

  Mum passed away two weeks ago

  by acsot in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, i finally received that dreaded phone call from the hospital.

  mum died peacefully in her sleep two weeks ago.

  she'd been paralyzed on one side since her last stroke and could no longer swallow.

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  I'm sorry about your mom's passing away.

  Its nice to see how a good person can bring out the good in others and that the service wasn't an additional hurt.

  "To live in the hearts of those left behind is not to die."
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  132

  Why does God need to be worshiped?

  by Scully in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just curious about this question today and wondered if anyone else has pondered this.. is worship meant to be a reverent show of appreciation for life that god imparts to individuals?

  if that's the case, and someone - by the mere accident of their birth - has a truly crappy life, why should these people worship god or show him "appreciation" for their unfortunate circumstances?

  why should anyone who endures hardships worship god, particularly if they have been worshiping god and then all of a sudden a heap of trouble just plops into their lives, unannounced and unwelcome??.

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  Anyone remember that old Star Trek episode where Kirk and the Enterprise crew encounter an alien being who had been worshipped by humans as the god Apollo and again demanded to be worshipped, and Kirk said that humans have long outgrown that silliness, and basically told the emotionally immature god to just grow out of his need for attention.

  Ah, the original Star Trek, a masterful tapestry of sci-fi camp, social/religious commentary......

  ....and miniskirted babes in go-go boots.

  Seriously though, I love the humanist attitude that came out in that episode with Apollo. There was also that episode where Kirk ends up destroying a device (fashioned like a stone idol) that was acting as a god over some planet of white haired aliens. At the episode's end they allude to the Garden of Eden and there's a light hearted comment by Kirk to Spock something along the lines of "I hope you're not calling me Satan." I'll stop now cause I'm off topic.
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  132

  Why does God need to be worshiped?

  by Scully in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just curious about this question today and wondered if anyone else has pondered this.. is worship meant to be a reverent show of appreciation for life that god imparts to individuals?

  if that's the case, and someone - by the mere accident of their birth - has a truly crappy life, why should these people worship god or show him "appreciation" for their unfortunate circumstances?

  why should anyone who endures hardships worship god, particularly if they have been worshiping god and then all of a sudden a heap of trouble just plops into their lives, unannounced and unwelcome??.

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  IMHO, most religious explanations are based on the same principles as the Bush and Kerry exchange above. Focus on metaphors, so that you forget about reality

  Can't argue with that. Many do use religion as a crutch. In fact I'm pretty much 99% in agreement with all of your points.

  I'm just trying to be more of an optimist lately, so I'm trying to look for the good things in religion :)
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  132

  Why does God need to be worshiped?

  by Scully in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just curious about this question today and wondered if anyone else has pondered this.. is worship meant to be a reverent show of appreciation for life that god imparts to individuals?

  if that's the case, and someone - by the mere accident of their birth - has a truly crappy life, why should these people worship god or show him "appreciation" for their unfortunate circumstances?

  why should anyone who endures hardships worship god, particularly if they have been worshiping god and then all of a sudden a heap of trouble just plops into their lives, unannounced and unwelcome??.

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  It's a simple mechanism. First imagine what you'd like God to be like. Then find a good analogy from the real world to illustrate it. And then "just replace" the spiritual with the real world entity. Finally, begin to feel the power of similarity, feel compelled to follow the reasoning, and act accordingly.

  I can see your point about the deficiencies of analogies vs realities and the possible abuses of metaphors.
  

  You might find Pascal Boyer's Book Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought an interesting read. He argues that most religous thinking is a natural by-product of our minds normal cognitive workings. Agents (i.e. God) are linked by our minds to a short catalogue of fundamental categories/templates we use in our day to day lives like person, other living thing, man-made object. He also highlighted how many people then typically focus on the agent's reasons for doing this or that, and that these reasons always have to do with people's interactions with the agents in question.

  Even if its arbitrary, maybe analogies are the more natural way for people to think about religous things. Can we separate out one from the other? I don't know. I think that the parent is one of the best analogies one can use and a god like a loving parent is one worthy of loyalty. Isn't the parent our first experience of very tender interactions, and also the most conducive agent to our healthy development?
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  14

  ?The Organization? Denied Us Holy Spirit

  by jst2laws in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have found that jw?s and most former jw?s have a distorted view of how the holy spirit works.

  after years of hearing the ?mind numbing?

  phrase ?jehovah?s spirit directed organization?

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  I've always understood the application of Mark 13:11 to be to the individual dub. (Even though I've never really believed in it). I'd venture that all dubs believe that the holy spirit would help them individually in a time of need, to as they put it, "give a good witness". Mind you its the only one I know of.

  I agree with all of you here about how the Bible is always talking about the Holy Spirit interacting with individuals, but how the WT has obscured this point, and promoted the idea of the HS working on the organization. Its all just another means of control and of elevating itself. How could they justifiably claim spiritual authority, if all its members were privy to the same "anointing"?

  Thanks LT for all those scriptures. That clearly shows how the WT's self-serving attitude pre-empts an honest reading of the scriptures they claim to enlighten people on.
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  132

  Why does God need to be worshiped?

  by Scully in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just curious about this question today and wondered if anyone else has pondered this.. is worship meant to be a reverent show of appreciation for life that god imparts to individuals?

  if that's the case, and someone - by the mere accident of their birth - has a truly crappy life, why should these people worship god or show him "appreciation" for their unfortunate circumstances?

  why should anyone who endures hardships worship god, particularly if they have been worshiping god and then all of a sudden a heap of trouble just plops into their lives, unannounced and unwelcome??.

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  I forget who posited this notion, but it was a take on recent observations in neuroscience. They claimed they found a part in the brain which they nicknamed the "God spot". The researchers linked it to the need to worship, to hearing or experiencing supernatural phenomenon, and the propensity to believe in supernatural ideas like God. So thats in line with what alot of pple have already posted here about the NEED to worship.

  Again sorry for my memory lapse, but this one person claimed that this God spot evolved,...IIRC....1) as a way to work around the realization of our own mortality (and not be so paralyzed that we wouldn't survive long enough to reproduce) 2) to minimize the destructive impact a highly intelligent species as ourselves may have on each other.

  So maybe in the earlier history of our species we needed to "worship" this "god" to ensure the success of the species as a whole.

  Hey maybe the gnostics were really on to something with their idea of the demiurge?