Posts by daystar

34

Whyamihere survives surgery!

by HadEnuf in

jw
friends

to all it may consume...i mean concern...my poor little brookiepooh had to have surgery on her leg today to remove a blockage in one of her major arteries.

it was a very long surgery but she was able to hobble home this afternoon (well...austin gave her a ride home but she had to hobble into the house).

so she isn't feeling too chipper and thought it would be nice for you all to stop by and wish her well and a speedy recovery.

Welcome inarock&ahardplace, be nice to her guys . . .

by pennycandy in

jw
friends

i've been friends with inarock&ahardplace (heretofore referred to as r&h because i'm breastfeeding and have to type with one hand) since we were small enough to bite your knees.

she's the kindest, most caring person you'll ever meet and a little twisted at times so i think she'll fit in here nicely.

she's been going through a hard time ever since she asked me, "so how are you doing in the truth?

daystar

Welcome to the group R&H! I see we're collecting a number more Texans here!

Penny's right. There was a time that I would never have imagined not being a Witness. How things have changed! And for the better.

37

Why do people feel they need religion in their life ???

by run dont walk in

jw
friends

after growing up a jw all my life, i have no clue why people would want to be part of any religion.. i don't get the mormon stuff.

i don't understand the catholic faith.

i really don't understand the muslim beliefs and all their levels and the suicide bombers.

daystar

It really annoys me when non-religious people (usually complete atheists) delight in looking down upon those with beliefs....almost saying "oh you only believe because you are a poor deluded fool!" or "you are just controlled by the religion you are in". Well heres some news: some people choose to believe and they are neither foolish nor deluded.
Why can't you all just grow up and realise the differences that exist, without putting people down?

Sure! Everyone chooses whether to believe or not to believe any particular thing. However, some people believe mainly because it makes them feel good about themselves, others, and existence and not so much because it has been proven to be true and accurate to any large extent. So much is taken on faith alone. People want to believe that there is some continuation to their existence beyond death, so they will tend to gravitate towards ideas that support that and discard those that do not. This is part of faith.

Others choose to start with doubt. These are the skeptics.

I can recall being a JW and believing that I knew the Truth, that the rest of the world was deluded, that I was right. I was wrong. I was the one deluded. How can one be sure at any given time that they do not hold all sorts of delusional and foolish beliefs? Well, no one can be logically completely certain. But I think the best way to try is to begin with doubt rather than faith.

Mankind began from a position of ignorance. How could he explain the universe he perceived without current knowledge of it? He guessed. He created gods. He created stories about how man came about. He created laws for what he thought was the best way to live and claimed the gods' authority, through him. It may have been to man's benefit, but it was still fantasy. As man's knowledge and invention increased, the realm of the gods shrank. No longer did the earth reside upon a turtle's back, but it hung in space upon nothing. Do we not now consider how silly man was to believe that the earth was flat, or was the center of the universe, or sat upon a turtle's back?

Quantum physics seems on the verge of explaining many previous unknowns, such as how miracles occur, as not the workings of any god so much as a natural function of consciousness and of the universe. The realm of the gods shrinks further.

I don't know if your response was with me in mind along with other, but if so, I meant no disrespect. My opinion is that people deep down feel like they need religion to explain away all those questions they have, to make them feel like everything's going to be okay, with the authority of God as a Father to his children. But, also in my opinion, this is just happy-making. Sort of like telling a child there are no monsters, when we all know there are plenty of them roaming our streets each day. I say tell the kid about the bad things, let him come to terms with it rather than just making stuff up to make him feel good. When he does come into contact with a real monster, he won't hopefully be frozen in fear and shock that monsters (horrible, evil people) really do exist, but will take up arms and fight it.

Anyhow, I digress horribly.

37

Why do people feel they need religion in their life ???

by run dont walk in

jw
friends

after growing up a jw all my life, i have no clue why people would want to be part of any religion.. i don't get the mormon stuff.

i don't understand the catholic faith.

i really don't understand the muslim beliefs and all their levels and the suicide bombers.

daystar

As an escape from the the realities of existence.

"What men usually ask for when they pray to God is, that two and two may not make four." - Russian proverb

71

What's Your Status? Christian, Pagan, "I Don't Know", "I Don't Care"??

by minimus in

jw
friends

just curious......

daystar

I don't know. Some pagans have suspected that I'm a Christian in wolf's clothing. And yet I've been known to make Christians quite uncomfortable. I tend to get along with atheists and we agree on many core things, but some suspect me to be a theist at heart. And yet I do not believe in God, per se.

There are some philosophical similarities with Thelemites, who have various forms of religious-looking practices, and yet believe that "there is no god but man".

The bottom line is that I am many things to many people, angelic to some, diabolical to others.

I don't know. Someone tell me, what am I? I promise not to take much offense.

8

THE STEREOTYPICAL APOSTATE ACCORDING TO JW'S.

by GetBusyLiving in

jw
friends

how about we let loose and spit up frothing at the mouth fury like the imaginary apostate's the j-dubs think we are?

"get the hell out of my universe you god fearing animal's!!!

there is no jehovah!

daystar

*blink, blink*

Yeah, apostates were always described this way. But I have to say, when we saw apostate picketers outside conventions, they rather tended to fit the description from our point of view.

153

Why do/don't you believe in God

by LouBelle in

jw
friends

now for all the scientists out there this is not a question of proof or anything along those lines.

for my part i choose to believe in a god because i honestly believe there is one (though i did start doubting for a little while) i've always felt that there was more to our existance on earth - and that doesn't stem from me wanting to live forever or as a spirit, as i don't even know if that will happen.

i also believe in him because many many times when i could not carry on, on my own strength, i managed to pulled through.

daystar

tetrapod

do we have to learn things the hard way all the time?

Most people seem to, yes. It has been said that a smart person learns from their mistakes, but a really smart person learns from others' mistakes. How many really smart people do you think there are in the world?

By your other responses, I think you may have attributed some qualities to me that I do not have. I will often speak in religious terms to religious people to make a point, or attempt to. I, however, do not believe that a being called God exists in heaven, doling out law and retribution. It seems to me that there are forces of the Universe, known and unknown, that mankind has superstitiously assigned to a god or gods, and that there are similarly aligned symbolic sets within the human mind that lend to their credence.

In any case, I can read a book about marine life and know all the names of the different species, etc., without ever having stepped onto a boat or a beach. I think that actual experience of a thing, however, makes that thing much more meaningful, and one might learn more than just what was written in that book.

153

Why do/don't you believe in God

by LouBelle in

jw
friends

now for all the scientists out there this is not a question of proof or anything along those lines.

for my part i choose to believe in a god because i honestly believe there is one (though i did start doubting for a little while) i've always felt that there was more to our existance on earth - and that doesn't stem from me wanting to live forever or as a spirit, as i don't even know if that will happen.

i also believe in him because many many times when i could not carry on, on my own strength, i managed to pulled through.

daystar

If you were the supreme being of the Universe, the creator of all things all knowing and all wise, would you allow this amount of confusion regarding your existance? Wouldn't you want people to knowwithout a doubt that you exist and that you created them with a purpose or that you care?

An opposing logic says that we are allowed to discover life's meaning on our own and only in that way can it be truly meaningful. Sort of like the fact that I can tell my kid to stop running in the house until I'm blue in the face, but he doesn't really learn the lesson until he smacks into a wall and loses a tooth.

16

Ever thought about all the ways Jw's judge?

by AK - Jeff in

it seems that it is done to elevate themselves, isn't it?

worldly people are;.

all immoral.

daystar

Matt. 7:1-5

" 1 “Stop judging that YOU may not be judged; 2 for with what judgment YOU are judging, YOU will be judged; and with the measure that YOU are measuring out, they will measure out to YOU . 3 Why, then, do you look at the straw in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the rafter in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Allow me to extract the straw from your eye’; when, look! a rafter is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First extract the rafter from your own eye, and then you will see clearly how to extract the straw from your brother’s eye."

The admonishment is not to just not judge. It is to not judge hypocritically. Thus, when one believes themselves beyond reproach, they are given full authority to judge others.

37

Do you think the Watchtower makes up experiences by people ???

by run dont walk in

jw
friends

in the may 1, 1988 watchtower, on page 22, a witness, matsue ishii, recalls her first encounter with the bible students in 1928: at the back of our house in tojo-cho, osaka, there was a house with a sign: "osaka branch of the international bible students association.

" assuming it to be a christian group, i visited the house.

"do you believe in the second advent of the lord?

daystar

If they misquote verifiable sources, why should they not misrepresent mostly unverifiable sources?

Zing!