Curly
Larry
Mo
;)
doesn`t this sound a little bit odd to you ?
according to christendom/jehovah`s witnesses in particular , the greatest man who ever lived,had the means at his disposal,to write down everything he had to say for the benefit of all mankind ,jew and gentile,and he never availed himself of this priveledge .rather most of what he had to say, according to the bible, was lost,no one recorded all he spoke ..he was quite content to leave it up to a few, who would put his words to pen,many of which were not eyewitness accounts to his deeds.,but received the information secon-hand.
if the almighty god jehovah and his son jesus christ were in anyway serious, wouldn`t they have made this" so important" message available to all mankind ?
Curly
Larry
Mo
;)
i have never heard of this group but i turned on the tv and right now (eastern time) there is a show on national geographic called american colony/hutterites and they are shunning members for allowing their children to have more education than they deem neccessary as well as playing school sports.
the group also appears to think they are the only ones going to heaven.. anyone know more about this or have experience with them?
struck a chord with me..
Right, the attire. Everyone wears the same thing essentially. All clothes are made themselves and are purely functional with little or no variation on style. Fashions from the outside world are verboten.
Men wear plain black pants usually with suspenders and a plaid or plain collared shirt. You can't have a beard until you're married.
Women never wear pants and dresses are no shorter than the ankle. Tops are modest blouses and a black vest is common. They always wear the little bonnet or kerchief. Not much else article wise but a wide selection and variation on colors and patterns for dresses and blouses. Nothing risque or sexy. Individualism is not encouraged.
i have never heard of this group but i turned on the tv and right now (eastern time) there is a show on national geographic called american colony/hutterites and they are shunning members for allowing their children to have more education than they deem neccessary as well as playing school sports.
the group also appears to think they are the only ones going to heaven.. anyone know more about this or have experience with them?
struck a chord with me..
Haven't seen the program but I'll share my observations
Hutterites are a religious sect less fundamental and strict than the Amish but not as liberal as the Mennonites, to which there is much similarity. They live communally and though they have separate residences, meals are served to all in a hall where women and men are segregated. They all work at various tasks on the communal farm with nobody earning a wage, as everything is shared and personal gain is limited. As they have little personal money, they typically barter though there is limited trade with the outside world for currency. They are isolationist, protestant communists, for lack of better terms.
Their founder Jacob Hutter lived in the 1500s and their beliefs are essentially protestant. Everyone goes to church. Their early forefathers left persecution in the old country, namely Germany/Austria. They are pacifist and neutral in politics. There was/is a schism in the "brethren" that happened somewhat recently, in my lifetime I believe. I think it was a liberal/conservative thing but I'm not 100% on that. Some colonies had bikes, some didn't. TV was verboten back in the day. Things are different now I'm sure.
Education is minimal and higher learning is not encouraged or even available unless one leaves. The community is very structured and roles on the farm are typically familial, with jobs and responsibilities handed down from father to son. Boss, Preacher, Chicken Boss, Hog Boss are some male titles with others who drove various vehicles, did electrical or mechanical. Women typically work in the garden and commual kitchen. Knitting and crafts are common. They keep to and breed amongst themselves, keeping extensive records and family trees.
There is a contingent of "runaways" who leave the colony as you're either in with the program and your role or out. There are those that are shunned and some that are welcome to visit. I've met a couple runaways and there are some striking similarities you might say. There is a annual bbq/get together here for the exiled but I've never been.
i was pondering this today during lunch, and to me it seems that it comes down to whether or not you can accept that you will one day be permanantly gone and anyone you have lost in death will never be alive again.
once a person becomes comfortable with these two ideas, there isn't really any incentive to believe.
maybe it's an over simplification, but it seems to me that this is the heart of the matter.
"Why should the thought of my non-existence bother me? I didn't exist for millions of years before I was born and it didn't bother me then!"
Exactly.
i was pondering this today during lunch, and to me it seems that it comes down to whether or not you can accept that you will one day be permanantly gone and anyone you have lost in death will never be alive again.
once a person becomes comfortable with these two ideas, there isn't really any incentive to believe.
maybe it's an over simplification, but it seems to me that this is the heart of the matter.
Our spelling is faster. :)
I don't mind having u around, even if it takes longer...;)
i was pondering this today during lunch, and to me it seems that it comes down to whether or not you can accept that you will one day be permanantly gone and anyone you have lost in death will never be alive again.
once a person becomes comfortable with these two ideas, there isn't really any incentive to believe.
maybe it's an over simplification, but it seems to me that this is the heart of the matter.
Our spelling adds colour, flavour and humour to stuff.
i was pondering this today during lunch, and to me it seems that it comes down to whether or not you can accept that you will one day be permanantly gone and anyone you have lost in death will never be alive again.
once a person becomes comfortable with these two ideas, there isn't really any incentive to believe.
maybe it's an over simplification, but it seems to me that this is the heart of the matter.
it seems that it comes down to whether or not you can accept that you will one day be permanantly gone and anyone you have lost in death will never be alive again. Once a person becomes comfortable with these two ideas, there isn't really any incentive to believe.
god might not have personal interest in humankind and just keeps winding the clock. maybe he is the clock
god may not be anything more than an effect of consciousness; he is invisible otherwise.
questions would be, would you believe in a god that doesn't grant immortality? could he still be considered god?
we are the by-products of dying stars. our star will eventually engulf our world. everything gets recycled. spirits are for mediums and mixed drinks ;)
with all the tools and information at the disposal of newly awakened ones, it's still no easy task coming to terms with the magnitude of it all.
it still takes a lot of gut-wrenching time and effort to get to the point where you are sure you made the right decision to leave.. .
how did you long-timers (old-timers, respectfully) manage it without crisis of conscience, christian freedom, jwn, jwfacts, freeminds, access to thousands of fellow survivors with stories just like yours?.
I left in my late teens but had questions and doubts long before that. I saw the good that existed in people and actions outside the jw sphere and the hypocrisy that existed within. Many things about beliefs/doctrine didn't make sense to me. It all seemed so limiting, routine and well, boring and I yearned for a piece of the world and to make some noise. Typical teenager I suppose.
I moved out at age 18 in 1986 and began missing more meetings. I worked full time and partied with my worldly high school buddies, dated, learned to play bass, and all sorts of stuff I always wanted to do. I was still rather secretive about it all, old habits die hard. But someone saw me smoking / associating with rabid mutant zombies and ratted me out to the pharisees. So there was a serious meeting about my "wrongdoing", to which my reply was not to reply and not to return to the hall. Some announcement was made from the podium about my status and eh, whatever. Posers, lol
I was the first to leave the core jw family unit and there really weren't any relatives of any influence to me, one side consisting of some hardcore dubs and the other a different religious organization. I didn't talk about my doubts or questions with any of my jw friends, they seemed with the program and I just couldn't relate to them. But I liked people outside the dub realm who were inclined to discuss life, death and the universe, taking opportunity to engage and learn, relate and understand as best I could. I wanted to know what made people tick. I wanted to know how i ticked. I enjoyed conversations with some buddhist buddies. I discussed Nietzche, Jung and Marx with my university friends. I talked much with a hindu co-worker who later founded a small self-realization "centre". I bought ganja from a born again christian who "subjected the earth". Interesting conversation there. I talked to people and sampled diversity, all the while formulating my own life cocktail. Many of the fears and hangups slowly dissipated and I grew a spine and personality eventually, lol. It was a bit lonely at times but I put one foot in front of the other and kept moving. It certainly wasn't the fast track, given all the info and discussion you can get now at the touch of a keyboard. It was.
It wasn't until my thirties that I took a look back and seached out other xjws online. I found an meetup group, met a couple other xjws and found this place. It's been nice to connect with those that understand what it was like coming from that world.
so, one of the main things that jw's teach is that when god first created everything, it was all perfect.
no flaws in his creation.
that is until you realize that the wt reasons that adam and even knew what death was because the animals died.
Fake but still funny
hi, .
i am an ex jw and moving to canada tomorrow, montreal exactly, anybody around to meet up?
.
Welcome to Canada, eh?
Montreal is a nice; been there once or twice, last time briefly on a road trip through the eastern provinces. Lots to see, lotsa history.
Coast to coast there much to see and do and the people are friendly overall. Enjoy.