tetrapod.sapien

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Posts by tetrapod.sapien

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  38

  A Dummies Discussion on God, the Universe and Everything.

  by nicolaou in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  thought i'd try a different approach to the big questions but it'll probably descend into the usual disagreements.

  still, no harm in trying .

  .. the rules:.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  LOL nic!! "God - Either He exists, or He doesn't." - ?

  come on. why presume that everyone thinks God is He, and that He is an Objective entity that exists somewhere out there?

  Jehovah? of course he doesn't exist! it's a stretch of the imagination to compare jehovah to what we have come to know of this universe. fine. but what about God as the metaphor? what does it point to? does it not point to us? and if so, do we not learn something of psychological value to ourselves? is God not the great archetype? the great myth? the one that woke us up when we stopped taking it literally?

  and for the creation/evolution ilk, what about creation as the metaphor?

  why does it always have to be about the literal? do we have nothing of psychological depth to learn from the myths of past? do they not illuminate where we come from? are they not almost like snapshots of our psyches as they split from unity with nature to alienation from nature, among other events?

  God: if God = Nature, and Nature = God, then i say that God does exist. as sure as you and i exist. we are part of it, and it part of us. this does not make me a theist. it makes me a pantheist, and yet you will note, still an atheist. and why? all because i was forced to use the label "God". i mean, i prefer "god', but if we are capitalising "Universe" and "Everything", then "God" might as well be capatalised too, no?

  Universe: ...it's one big computer program. input/output ... even black holes.

  Everything: Fractals. Clouds, mountains, trees, humans. Fractals.

  God is the Universe, the Universe is Everything, Everything is God, God is... ... ...a word! HA!

  primate dave:

  tetra
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  15

  Preachers of the night.

  by lost_light06 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a few years back a bunch of brothers in the cong.

  i was in would do all night field service.

  they would drive all over the county, through 4 or 5 different cities hitting all the bus stops, all night laundromats, convenience stores, gas stations, etc.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  lol. ya, i did it a few times when i was a kid. but we'd start at like 3 am.

  actually, my uncle, the guy who i would go out with and do this, has turned out to be a way chill dude. plus, we'd always listen to Santana.

  "preachers of the morn' "

  tetra
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  37

  Do you believe you have a particular purpose in life?

  by journey-on in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i ask this because as a jw, you are programmed to think your only purpose is to preach the good news of the kingdom....period.

  but more and more, i've noticed in my own life a strong pull toward something i won't elaborate on, but it has me thinking that maybe we really do each have a particular purpose and it's up to us to discover what it is.

  i know i'm kind of new to the forum, but please let me know if any of you have experienced this same kind of unusually strong pull toward something you can't fully explain.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  happy B-DAY journey-on!

  I ask this because as a JW, you are programmed to think your only purpose is to preach the good news of the kingdom....period. But more and more, I've noticed in my own life a strong pull toward something I won't elaborate on, but it has me thinking that maybe we really do each have a particular purpose and it's up to us to discover what it is. I know I'm kind of new to the forum, but please let me know if any of you have experienced this same kind of unusually strong pull toward something you can't fully explain.

  for me this question biols down to whether "purpose" and "meaning" in ones life is an objective thing (existing outside of ourselves) or is a subjective thing (coming from within).

  so far, i have found little reason to believe that my life has objective purpose/meaning. basically, this is because the more i learn about the universe, the less i see it as even remotely concerned with the affairs of homo sapiens. not that i see the universe as mean, just indifferent.

  the journey from being a j-dub to the person i am now has been a long one, and is far from over, hopefully. it has been a journey that involved going from a sincere belief that my life had objective meaning (jehovah) handed to me from on high, to the rebirth of sincerely giving my own life meaning (subjective).

  at this point, the meaning/purpose i have for my life is to heal from the unhealthy pathologies of my ancestors, and endeavor to help my fellow humans heal from them too. i believe that humanity is only centuries away from profound psychological/spiritual awakening/evolution, and that anything i can leave behind to help is "good". some people think we are only years away, but i prefer not to become emotionally involved in such a proposition. it would be nice, but a surprise to me. humans aren't that bright, yet.

  apart from my desire to help other carriers of my genome, another desire to help the *earth* (flora/fauna/tera) is superceding the former. and more and more, this is where i define my allegiance. servitude to earth, not just to man.

  the more i come into line with these concepts, the less i see "subjective" as inferior to "objective". but that's probably because "servitude to earth" is technically less subjective than christianity.

  i dunno. i wish i could formulate better. anyways, ya. peace.

  tetra
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  39

  Fading Music

  by choosing life in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if there was only one cd you could choose that helped you through the time you were fading from one set of choices to another, which one would it be?

  just one now.. mine would be cheryl crow-wildflower.

  of course there were others, but i limited this to just one.there are several songs on there that helped me express my feelings.. then, i also relistened to all my old music.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  totally man. music is a serious part of the emotional side of deconversion.

  i can't say that a certain cd represented the quest per se, but some songs certainly did.

  - old man, by n. young. this song hit me hard when i listened to it in terms of Jehovah being my father, and how i had taken on his pathologies, as his child.

  - imagine, j. lennon. (obvious)

  b. dylan, t. waits, b. marley

  i had some others on one of my first threads: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/27/89570/1.ashx

  peace

  tetra
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  12

  Dying woman...denied Medical Marijuana

  by Rabbit in

  1. social
  2. current

  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070314/ap_on_he_me/medical_marijuana_2;_ylt=akzzyxn31haym7.xvb7a0txa24ca.

  the above link will take you to the california woman's story.. discuss ?.

  http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/03/01/marijuana_as_wonder_drug/.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  human beings should be allowed to ingest whatever substances they like. to say that people should not be allowed to amounts to a value based moral call on other people's lives.

  humans have been partaking of the herb for millenia. some victorian purists, who happen to run the most powerful empire in the world, prefer booze over marijuana, and other mind expanding & medicinal subtances. i would be interested to know how many jerks who work for the DEA go home at night, drink too much scotch, beat their wives, and pass out?

  to outlaw a plant, or chemicals that occur naturally on earth, is the height of h.sap hubris. another example of left over ideas from a dark age. which means............................................................. that we're still living in a dark age.

  marijuana is technically a psychedelic substance. psychedelic substances expand people's consciousnesses. THAT is the real issue here. medicinal use of m.indica just happens to be the the route that the plant will gain "legality" via. but the thing is this: if one psychedelic is "legalized", then why not the others? and if large numbers of the populace begin meditating on the nature of their existence in the cosmos because of psychedelic drugs, then perhaps you see the battle that the status quo establishment is up against regarding this.

  in canada, the chunk of dirt i live on, the DEA are routinely performing ops here to bust canadian citizens, and try them in the states. seed bank owners, growers, etc etc. the canadian government allows it all laying down like the b*tch she is because of the "war on terror". people helping sick people get medicine that doesn't come from some east coast pharm are now terrorists. the situation in the states is even worse.

  some people may think that as time passes, the US gov becomes more liberal regarding marijuana. not so. there were almost 800,000 arrests in relation to marijuana in 2005, up almost 400,000 from 1980.

  from http://www.drugwarfacts.org/marijuan.txt

  Marijuana 1. In 2005, 42.6 percent of the 1,846,351 total arrests for drug abuse violations in the US were for marijuana -- a total of 786,545. Of those, 696,074 people were arrested for possession alone. By contrast in 2000, a total of 734,497 Americans were arrested for marijuana offenses, of which 646,042 were for possession alone. Marijuana Arrests and Total Drug Arrests in the US
   Year Total Drug Arrests Total MJ Arrests 2005 1,846,351 786,545 2004 1,745,712 771,605 2003 1,678,192 755,186 2002 1,538,813 697,082 2001 1,586,902 723,628 2000 1,579,566 734,497 1999 1,532,200 704,812 1998 1,559,100 682,885 1997 1,583,600 695,201 1996 1,506,200 641,642 1995 1,476,100 588,964 1990 1,089,500 326,850 1980 580,900 401,982 
  tetra
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  17

  You and your double.

  by LtCmd.Lore in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hypothetical situation: one day you wake up, and when you get up and turn around you see that you are still lying in your bed.

  tada there are now two of you.. i'm not talking like a twin, or clone... i mean an double, you and the other you both have the exact same memories, skills, likes, dislikes, goals and personality.. would you get along?

  would you hate each other?

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  tetrapod.sapien

  hmmm Lt.,

  sounds like "finding yourself".

  why don't you challenge yourself to a video game match? you could live your fantasy out tomorrow if you wanted to. the results would be the same. read: chess masters playing themselves.

  if you saw your other self in the way that you wanted to see it, and it was doing the same to you, then it would be like being dreams in each other's heads. if you hated yourself, you would hate your other self too. if you ignored yourself, you would ignore your other self too. if you loved yourself, then the two of you would be in love. some would be naively tempted to compare this to marriage. but not so. this would be true bhramic bliss love. the two of you could be perfectly comfortable in each others company. actually, waking one morning and discovering your other self, would send you on an odyssey of "self discovery" because who would want to spend all their time with someone they hated, especially if it was one's own self? naturally you would want to come to peace with yourself, so that you could be at peace with your other self. and in that journey, the two would become one... again.

  actually, in a very real way, we already all live with our doubles. i mean, when you ask yourself a question, who are "you" asking it to?

  tetra

  tetra
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  4

  God verses man (rd 1)

  by darth frosty in

  1. social
  2. humour

  it's the year 3125 and man has acheived knowledge to the highest level (and the dubs are gone)and has come to belive that he is equal to or even surerior to god himself.

  this is a time when all the people are in praise and adoration of themselves.

  they all get togather and choose one from among them to represent them in a venture never before dreamed.... they will challenge god himself!

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  tetrapod.sapien

  OWN DIRT!

  ha ha! see? even God is in on it.

  "sorry Jah, but like, you don't own the dirt. next lesson. plus dude, it's like, i could make a human by copulating with this here woman you gave to me. so like, whatcha gonna say next? 'get yo own beeatch' - ? *you* gave her to me!"

  God strikes the man down, and everyone on God's team cheers "HOORAY 4 HEYZEUS!"

  tetra
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  4

  God verses man (rd 1)

  by darth frosty in

  1. social
  2. humour

  it's the year 3125 and man has acheived knowledge to the highest level (and the dubs are gone)and has come to belive that he is equal to or even surerior to god himself.

  this is a time when all the people are in praise and adoration of themselves.

  they all get togather and choose one from among them to represent them in a venture never before dreamed.... they will challenge god himself!

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  tetrapod.sapien

  NO NO PLAYA.........YOU GOTTA GET YOUR OWN DIRT!

  LOL!!

  tetra
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  8

  Bible Reading - Jeremiah 5

  by metaspy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ok this is kinda twisted.. a brother in my old hall, used to always complain that he got the 'bad' bible readings.. for instance, he got this weeks reading - it include jer 5:8.. who really wants to say that from the stage?.

  i got thinking, how many times does the wts have us read that verse when we are in jeremiah?.

  out of the 5 times we have read jeremiah in the last 20 years, 3 of those the wts had some poor shmuck of a brother reading 5:8..

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  tetrapod.sapien

  LOL

  what a warped book.

  tetra
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  11

  The Path Not Taken

  by choosing life in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there comes a time when you realize that there are paths you can no longer go down.

  at first, it is hard to tell whether the path changes or you change.

  but the farther along the new path you travel, the more you find that it is really you, yourself that has changed.

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  tetrapod.sapien

  choosing life,

  nice write up. i agree, it's impossible to go back, in an authentic sense. but i think that the lesson of apostacy is one of the greatest lessons a person could learn, and not just in a religious/spiritual sense. there's a rebirth in the process, regardless of what our worldviews turn out to be. some of us go farther than others, but such is also the case with humans in general.

  if you feel peace now, from acceptance, then you are on a true path imo. if such is the case, then peace should get stronger and stronger. enjoy! :)

  tetra