Posts by MungoBaobab

That being said, JWs don't officially celebrate New Year's. I say "officially" because the end of the year is a time to look back, and the start of a new year breeds anticipation (Witness publications have even admitted as much.) So give him/her the gift "just because." You really don't need an occasion to be a generous friend, do ya?

37

Who here still finds it hard to celebrate Christmas?

by dh in

jw
friends

i was raised a jw and as i've probably said before, i left when i was around 18... i'll be 27 in a few days, and as i get older realise how i do not really know how to celebrate anything.

being raised a jw we never had xmas or birthdays (or any celebration), and since none of the friends i had when i left the jw's were christian either, i have to this day never celebrated it... i am not christian and will openly admit that i couldn't care less about the religious side of christmas, but what i see around me, everywhere in the world are people who aren't really christian either, celebrating christmas, either for kids or friends or whatever, but i've never done that or had anyone around me to do that with... people look forward to this time of year so much, they buzz and rush around like it's a real event, and to this day i've never been able to feel that way.

most of my christmas/birthdays since leaving jw's have been spent by myself, completely devoid of celebration, i want to get into that feel good spirit, but i don't know how, and if i try to fake it, i know it is fake.

MungoBaobab

I got a couple of reciprocation gifts for my friends this year, but I really have no desire at all to celebrate.

The thought strikes me that alot of us are like atheist Jews. Some Jews lose their faith, but do they run out to celebrate Christmas? Of course not. But they keep the tradition just because that's how they were raised. We've lost our JW faith, but not celebrating Christmas or any other holiday is a perfectly valid cultural expression. There are benefits to not celebrating. It's up to everyone to weigh them out, Christmas is fun, Christmas is stressful, etc. Everyone likes getting gifts, but the WTS raises some valid criticisms about the commercialism, etc. And I'm sorry, but you Christians who insist Jesus wouldn't care... What if the only way your husband would marry you was if he could celebrate your birthday on his ex-wife's birthday the way she liked to celebrate; taking you out to dinner at her favorite place, decorations she used to like, etc. That's what Christmas is to Christianity. The only way the Europeans would accept their new bride Christianity was if they could celebrate their old gods' birthdays, etc. But yes, it's fun getting presents and hanging out with family.

3

Stephen Hawking now in a rock band

by IronGland in

jw
friends

http://www.led-zeppelin.org/multimedia/mp3/als74.mp3

MungoBaobab

Didn't Pink Floyd sample him on the Division Bell?

23

Did you pray because you felt like it or because you were told to?

by JH in

jw
friends

witnesses pray many times a day.

at the field service, at the meetings, before each meal and even more.. i don't know if you're like me, but i didn't pray because i felt like it, but because i was told to.. personally, 1 long honest prayer a week would have been much better than 20 routine prayers.

did you feel that it was natural to pray 3 times a day or more?.

MungoBaobab

The first thing I ever prayed for was a Lego set. It was a fire station. I told my mother and she laughed at me, and told me that you're not supposed to pray for toys. As I grew up, I realized you're not supposed to pray for anything tangible. Pray for guidance, pray for strength, etc. Anything and everything you can't measure. That doesn't stop many Dubs fom trying, though. My brother thinks he caused my conception by praying for a little brother.

I used to ride a commuter train to the city while I was in college. 90 minutes both ways, and I prayed for most of it, begging, pleading not to feel so alone. I'd pray for the enitre hour I was on lunch at work, Please, Jehovah, end my lonliness. In the movie Conan the Barbarian Conan admits he seldom prays to his God, Crom, because he doesn't listen. "What good is he, then?" asks his friend. At the end, Conan prays for revenge, and he sums up his prayed with "If you still won't give me what I ask, then the HELL WITH YOU!" The last time I prayed I told God I'd asked him well over 1,000 times for the same thing, and he never came through. I demanded he come through for me if he was as loving as he claimed, otherwise I dared him to strike me down. Guess what, people? I'm still here.

There is no God who listens to prayers.

290

The Global Flood

by coldfish in

i've just read an intersting article on the flood to do with dates and whether is was truly global or a regional flood.. http://www.commentarypress.com/essay-flood.html.

my father used to be an elder for many years and the flood was one of the things that made him walk away not just from the jw but also belief in the bible.

he was hung up on issues like the flood taking place about 3500 bc and how that fit in with the pyramids.. i don't know much about egyptian history or the ages of the big pyramids, but his reasoning was if the flood wiped out every human on earth except noah etc then at 3500 bc there were only 8 people on earth.

MungoBaobab

Me too. I've always been interested in science and I became obsessed with proving the Flood, even though to call it a long shot was a supreme understatement. Proving the Flood meant proving the Bible. Well manybe it wasn't global, I thought. But that's not what the Bible says. Maybe all the animals weren't on the ark, I hoped. But that's not what the Bible says! It's just simply not possible. One geologist whose name I cannot recall stated that "Around the globe, there is only overwhelming evidence to the contrary."

3

buy nothing day!

by Realist in

for 24 hours, millions of people around the world did not participate -- in the doomsday economy, the marketing mind-games, and the frantic consumer-binge that's become our culture.

we paused.

we made a small choice not to shop.

MungoBaobab

...And we stocked up the day before and splurged he next!

7

Profit making..

by Gill in

does anyone have any accurate information on the profit margin the wtbts has on all its publications/cd's etc?.

even my loyal jw relatives are complaining about the constant moaning from the platform for more contributions.

i'd like to be able to give them some accurate knowlege for a change.. thanks everyone!.

MungoBaobab

It's amazing how quickly false prophets turn real profits.

8

Another Stem Cell Victory

by metatron in

jw
friends

.

it's those "puny humans" again, curing the ills that the watchtower made those 'pie-in-the-sky' promises about.. .

metatron

MungoBaobab

Great news. I keep hoping that more and more people will realize that stem cell research is already helping little mammals.. time to move on to the big ones.

It's not helping all little mammals. Little mammals are being killed in the process.

4

Maybe one of you can help?

by Lostreality in

jw
friends

.

can someone email me the link to the 'other' site?.

[email protected].

MungoBaobab

What other site?