do you ever wish your family was different than what you have?
i would so love to have the type of family a friend of mine has.
they are all very very close, their children are very close, they get together every sunday for brunch, each sibling takes a turn at having it at their place.
Well put Dawg! My family was so dysfunctional it was pathetic. I have had no contact with my older brothers for decades except by accident on "Classmates". They all feel I am a lepor straight from hell. On the other hand, my wifes family are great and our five children are all very close between themselves and with us.
carm
i was when i had an affair , but this elders pioneer daughter told me she understood why i had done it , i was feeling dreadfull and so guilt ridden but he said i should through myself at my hubs feet and beg forgiveness from him and had i lived 2000 years ago i would have been stoned to death !
the strange thing is a few years later this elder told me he had feelings for me , but he was married and old enough to be my dad , although i liked him as a person by then and had forgotten what he had said to me about being stoned to death, i was a bit annoyed that he told me not to tell anyone ,and yet was telling other people to tattle tale on others , i know he felt really bad about his feelings though and i did feel sorry for him , but asked him not to visit anymore as it made me feel guilty towards his wife , maybe it was gods way of getting him to see things from a wrong doers point of view ,as he had a reputation for being very harsh on wrong doers (like myself) maybe he makes a better elder nowadays after that insight , or maybe they think i was sent by satan to seduce a pioneer and an elder !
My DFing was prior to the Elder arrangement, but, yes my official letter notifying me of my new status quoted from 2 Cor. (I believe) that dissobedience to parents was equal to fornication and murder and qualified for stoning. What a wonderful substitution for the teachings of The Christ!
carmel
something has gotten on my nerves a bit recently.
there are numerous discussions regarding the validity of the bible which usually result in the following:.
* an exjw who has doubts about the bible concludes there is no god .
As a Baha'i and a former JW I can appreciate where the progression from believing in the OT god to rejecting it along with the printing company disquised as a religion that promulgated it. I too noticed the tendency to swing from one extreme to another. I certainly began to question it all as I searched for a better paradigm than I could find in christianty, I could never come to the conclusion that some form of intelligence wasn't behind the universe from the macro to the micro. I was an honest agnostic.
I have met many former card-carrying atheists in the Baha'i Faith and have asked many of them how they went from being convinced that there was no god to becoming a "believer". Every one of them, and there have been several, rejected the OT god but were as I attracted to the practicality of the faith we now share and its "definition" of an "unknowable essense" that is uncreated.
So for most athiests I have this in common that I too don't believe in the god they don't believe in!
Carmel
are any of you nba fans?
if so who do you cheer for and how do you think your team will do as we near the end of the regular season?.
lola.
Waitn for next year for the Blazer's No 1 draft pick to be suited up. Maybe the play offs, huh, huh, huh?
c'mon people!.
puppy abuse and a pga golfer facing criminal for hitting an endangered bird?
gimme a freakin' break.. if you watch any news on television, you might as well just turn on e!
My local paper just repeats crap from the Portland Fish Wrapper and anything on the AP that fits with its philosophy! The editor is a jerk that executes personal vendettas on leaders in our city and county that he disagrees with. Journalism is the last thing on his mind. When my sub runs out I don't plan on re-upping when a local blog site is far more informative and honest....
carmel
noticed that i'm seeing all these things that i didn't see before... like when the wt or revelaton book states something, or when the bible states something... i mean, i never noticed this many things before... before, i noticed only a few major doctrine issues.
but, now, i'm noticing things all the time.... i mean, i'm trying to take a break.
i'm trying to not pay attention... but, they are saying things that really piss me off and i'm wondering to myself, what the hell was wrong with me... how did i not notice it before???
Cognac, You're commin outa the cave! That's okay, but I worry about your projecting onto your husband feelings and thoughts that may not be where he is going, .....and it may become a self-fullfilling prophecy if you continue. Tink about it!
Other than that, ye're cute!
carmel
hey !.
i haven't found any subject on it but maybe i'm wrong.
i would like to go with you at the end of the wt's logical of a earth without death.. * what would be the impact of no more carnivorous (isaiah 65) ?
Why is eating the fruits and nuts so admirable over eating the flesh of a bovine or arachnid? Seems the poor dam plants may not think too highly of a "paradise" that sees them as food!! Foodishness! carmel
but i am thinking of going to church,,,,a rather large one,,,over 1000, chwk alliance church, i think i can hide quite well in a cong.
that big.
have a spiritual need, but so hate organized religion,,so i am so confused,,yet i use to love studying the bible,,,,dont ask me why.
After leaving the borg as a youth, I spent three years going from church to church before giving up on the narrow mindedness of most of them. The Methodists were the most sincere (IMH0) and I was eventually married in one in my home town. But they all fell short for my needs which was to understand why the worlds religions all claimed to be the pathway to God exclusively. They will expouse ecumenical ideas then tell you that salvation is only through Jesus. Sorry, but the JWS permanently inocculated me against exclusivity. I can't believe in a god that creates billions of people only to reject 99.9% of them as "spawn of satan". Over a decade was spent living free from any organized religion as I had no paradigm or example of how religion can be as positive an influence that is has and can be. carmel
hello, people, this is my first post on this site, it's been nice meeting you all.
to be honest, i'm not actually a witness, but i do enjoy reading your magazines and bible studies.
on an issue of awake!
You have identified a delimna that faces many young people, especially those in families that are involved in demanding religious communities. I have a young friend who's parents are adamant that he attend church, lead the youth group and get good grades in college. He communicates his anxiety to me as an outlet as he gets no relief from his parents or his pastor. Religion can consume your life if it is of the high control type. I'd be really careful in that regard. It doesn't have to be that way. Not all religions are needing to control. Your spiritual development is not dependant upon attending meetings, leading groups or spending hours in meditation and prayer. More likely it is practicing the beatitudes (true spirituality) in your relationships with others. That is the essence of all the world's religions. It's really a quiet peaceful and energizing lifestyle simply adumbrated by the golden rule. I wish you well. carmel
i'm curious.
has anyone been taken out of their parents and/or relatives 'will' because of leaving the jw's?
outaservice
When my mother died I was told I was in the will but only granted $1 so that I couldn't contest. Little did they know how disinterested I was in sharing the booty. By that time I had been away from family and Borg for nearly twenty years so I was well ahead of my older brothers in material wealth and certainly didn't need or want to engage in any wrangelling over a few thousand bucks. Funny thing, I never got the $1! carmel
