Posts by MungoBaobab

37

Celebrites in the Borg

by what_Truth? in

i was wondering how many famous actors, musicians, and other public figures either are jw's or became jw's at some point in their life.

eveyone knows about [b] prince{b], and [b]michael jackson[/b], but i've also heard that they snagged up [b]george benson[b], a former indian prime minister and rapper [b]dres[/b] of the group the black sheep.

obviously this will be a short list since the society doesn't do much to encourge any kind of success, especially not the kind that will leave you with millions of adoring fans.

MungoBaobab

This is frickin' amazing. Dwight Eisenhower and Ginger Spice both JWs. The TRUTH really is stranger than fiction!

62

Should I teach my kids about Santa Claus? (Lie vs. Harmless Fantasy)

by AlmostAtheist in

jw
friends

my wife and i got on a discussion about something i never would've guessed we'd need to.

she wants to teach our new baby about santa claus, easter bunny, & tooth fairy, but i don't.

of course, as witnesses we never would have taught that, and i have to acknowledge that i may only be reasoning using that old set of values.. i don't want to look into my kid's eyes and tell her something that i know for a fact isn't true.

MungoBaobab

Why is it so cute when a child believes in Santa Claus?

It's the same reason Bambi is cute. Remember when Bambi goes out on the ice and keeps falling down? He's cute because he's so helpless. This helplessness stirs certain instincts within us; certain parental instincts. Parenting, among many other things, can be a condescending excercise ("Don't mother me!"). We feel superior to Bambi when we see him flail on the ice, and that moves us to want to help him; to parent him.

Children who trust their parents because they have to; they're born completely ignorant and it's a parent's job to teach them. This also makes children extremely gullible, as they do not have the experience to judge for themselves whether something is true. This gullibility, this intellectual helplessness, is no different than laughing, even warmly, as Bambi falls down on the ice.

When we think it's cute that a child believes in Santa Claus, we're really thinking, "Aww. Look how gullible and ignorant that little boy/girl is."

If you find this line of reasoning interesting, I suggest reading Cute, Quaint, Hungry, and Romantic by Daniel Harris.

27

Did You Know How To Explain The Beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses?

by minimus in

jw
friends

one of the things jws pride themselves in as that they know their bible (new world translation).

MungoBaobab

I cringed the one time as an adult I had to tell someone I believed (yeah right) in Adam & Eve.

12

"Hello Carlo"

by czarofmischief in

remember that moment in the godfather when carlo gets into the car and the guy behind him says, "hello carlo" and you know what's going to happen next?.

anyother choice moments in cinema we'd care to share tonight?.

czar

MungoBaobab

"You don't seem to want to accept the fact that you're dealing with an expert in guerilla warfare. With a man who's the best. With guns, with knives, with his bare hands. With a man who's been trained to ignore pain. To ignore weather. To live off the land! To eat things that would make a billy goat puke!
In Vietnam his job was to dispose of enemy personell. To kill. PERIOD! To win by attrition.
Well Rambo was the best."

16

Perfection

by Deputy Dog in

perfection

after a discussion with a couple of current jws, it's come to my attention that my conception of perfection in "the kingdom" is very different from theirs.

on pages 188 & 189 of the knowledge book, we see the society's (or artist's) conception.

MungoBaobab

If everyone has a perfect body then won't EVERYBODY have a big ding dong?

11

Group promotes international friendships among women

by jgnat in

jw
friends

"it's a small world after all....".

i discovered this neat association on one of my browsing expeditions today.

this is my idea to end war; make friends, one at a time, until there is nobody left to fight.

MungoBaobab

This is my idea to end war; make friends, one at a time, until there is nobody left to fight.

I agree with Granny. All of my best friends are women, and let me tell you, their fights make the streets of Najaf look like Tellytubby Land!

13

Letter from my mother........

by Redneckgurl in

jw
friends

well, it's starting.

my parents came by the house this past weekend and their memories were refreshed by the christmas lights we had up around the house that i was no longer a jw along with my husband and children.

today she left this note in my car, along with a poncho that she knitted for me ..........tell me what you think, i want to write her back, but i would love to have some suggestions to use!

MungoBaobab

Just remember that there are many moms out there shunning their daughters for making the same choice as you. Obviously, your mom loves you very, very much. These little "guilt trip" reminders are for her, not for you. They're so she can justify having the level of contact she has with you. They're an apology to God. So try not to take it personally (yeah right! but try) because it's not as personal of a statement towards you as you might think.

12

noah and da flood

by el jarocho mayor in

so i have dis question..... as a kid growing up jw..i was always told dat da big j in da sky was da one dat created all living things on earth.

dat they were perfectly created and wit specif functions and all.

so, can anybody tell me whats up with the polar bear, and for dat matter any animal dat lives in da north or south pole?

MungoBaobab

Check page 86 & 87 of the Reasoning book. There's a nice Page A Page B contradiction here.

Page A (86)

Does the Bible allow for the idea that God used evolution to produce the various kinds of living things?
...There is no allowance here for one basic kind to evolve or change into another.

But, Page B (87) says...

Did God create all the millions of varieties of organisms that exist on earth today?
...In preparation for the global Flood in Noah's day, God directed that representative members of each "kind" of land animal and flying creature be taken into the ark. (Gen. 7:2,3,14) Each "kind" has the genetic potential for great variety.

So, there you have it. Polar bears evolved by chance, not over millions or tens of thousands of years, but within a few generations after the Flood. I suppose they're saying that bears can only evolve into other forms of bears, but what about animals that no longer exist that are both bear-like and dog-like?

16

Perfection

by Deputy Dog in

perfection

after a discussion with a couple of current jws, it's come to my attention that my conception of perfection in "the kingdom" is very different from theirs.

on pages 188 & 189 of the knowledge book, we see the society's (or artist's) conception.

MungoBaobab

God will cure all of man's physical imperfections.

So, if a man was maimed, the missing limb will grow back. Makes sense. If he had dentures, his teeth would grow back. Gotcha. What about if he was circumcised? Will foreskin grow back in the New system?

What if a girl has a mole on her face that she's self conscious about? Will it go away? Well, I guess a mole is like an imperfection in the skin, so, okay, yes. But then what if said girl is Cindy Crawford, and the mole is considered sexy? Would that somehow make her less-perfect?

41

Marriage question

by starfish422 in

i have a question for those who got married in a jw ceremony, or who became jws after being married.

did the elder marrying you, or those studying with you, counsel you as to what forms of sexual intercourse are acceptable within jehovah's loving organization(tm)?

just having a "discussion" of sorts on another board and i'm being challenged by a dutiful jw wife.

MungoBaobab

If you were married by an elder, now that you're out, do you feel that somehow your marriage is less valid?