daystar

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Posts by daystar

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  19

  Are you 'following a worldly course'? Loaded WT expressions.

  by jambon1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  another example of the wts's loaded language that i actually find quite offensive.. the expression 'following a worldly course' is banded about, often in a similar context to that below, taken from the watchtower of may 1973 (convention review):.

  the next oldest, a son, told how he also at one time wanted to go to college and follow a worldly course.

  but his father sat down and reviewed the scriptures with him.. so, what is 'following a worldly course'?

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  daystar

  That's a great example jambon!
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  45

  Intellectual bullies- have you come across them?

  by dido in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i recently posted on a thread and couldn`t believe the amount of intellectual bullies on there.

  i was a jw for 25 years, left school 35 years ago and they expected me to know all the info on evolution, and because i didn`t i`m `stupid`.

  i prefer to believe in creation, but it is obviously too simple an explanation for them.

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  daystar

  My ex-wife is not what I would call a well-read person. She isn't unintelligent by any stretch. I read constantly on a small hosts of subjects that interest me. I never cared that she wasn't well-read. I didn't overly mind that when in a discussion about something, she didn't often have much to add. I never scoffed at her, I never held her in derision for it...

  And yet, near the end of the marriage, she admitted to me that I made her feel stupid, not because I was an a-hole, but because I just knew things about subjects she knew nothing about. In her mind at the time, this was my fault. I made her feel stupid. We'd go out with some of my friends and we'd discuss topics ranging from politics to religion to philosphiy, etc. and she rarely had much to say. And when she did have something to say, because she knew very little of the subjects... well, everyone was very polite to her and we'd talk about it and try to explain, but even that made her feel stupid, she'd say.

  Was I an "intellectual bully"? Were my friends?
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  50

  Older WT quote reveals attitude toward disfellowshipped family members

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hey, i discovered this older quote from reexamine.org.

  i could not believe how serious it was about what a family .

  member was not allowed to do with a disfellowshipped .

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  daystar

  \/ !!

  What filth...

  Garybuss, that is just terrible... I can't imagine saying something like that to a child...
• 
  29

  $h*T happens

  by purplesofa in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i never knew if i was getting attacked by satan because i was doing good.. or if jehovah was allowing me to be tested by satan.

  if i was reaping what i had sown.

  if it was times and unforeseen occurances.. if i was really not going to have more put on me than i could bare.

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  daystar

  sixofnine

  I think it all depends upon a person's attitude, state of mind, perspective...

  For example, I think a Paris Hilton type might consider roughing it in the woods with no indoor facilities, no makeup, no cel phone, etc. to be suffering. You or I might really enjoy it!

  Where one person might consider destitution to be suffering, another might consider it an opportunity to create themselves anew.

  Admittedly, taking that second sort of attitude would certainly be the more difficult one.

  But this is all my point. To you, it doesn't seem to be the natural state of life, to me, it rather does and suffering is the unnatural state of things. When you battle against human suffering, you battle against what you believe to be the natural state of things. You are battling nature. When I do, I am fighting to return life to its natural state. I align myself with the natural state of things, from my view.

  Do you see the difference?
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  13

  How to optimise the learning / knowing curve?

  by Fe2O3Girl in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  watching my son grow is amazing.

  he is into everything, thoroughly enjoying exploring, growing and learning every day.. i was reflecting how as each day passes, he learns more and he knows more; and thinking back to my childhood.

  the more i learned, the more i knew.

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  daystar

  Ahh... I think I understand now.

  Well, let's see. One way, I suppose, would be to make sure you have beaten into your head several times a week that some person, or your religion, for example, knows everything and is infallible. From there, one would simply follow suit.
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  29

  $h*T happens

  by purplesofa in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i never knew if i was getting attacked by satan because i was doing good.. or if jehovah was allowing me to be tested by satan.

  if i was reaping what i had sown.

  if it was times and unforeseen occurances.. if i was really not going to have more put on me than i could bare.

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  daystar

  Bodhi

  Please note that I am not making a complete comparison of buddhist thought to Christian. I understand that buddhism is more a philosophy than a religion.

  What I am comparing is the basis for the buddhist paradigm, that existence is suffering, to the basis for the Christian, that existence is in a state of sin, by default. They're not exactly the same, but are both quite negative bases for a philosophy for life.

  not every belief system demands worship- or even conformity. for example buddhist monks, male and female, create thier own vows... interesting considering they do not have to conform to a "acceptable" lifestyle but yet still can be dedicated to humanity (which in the end is thier ENTIRE point).

  I never said they did. And certainly, what you mention are noble qualities, IMO. In many ways buddhism has resulted in a religion that I find much more appealing than Christianity, though not without its faults.

  I am, however, still at odds with the basic premise that all life is suffering. I can't get around that really. I don't choose to base my life upon such negativity as, regardless what surrounds it, the core is certainly a negative.

  How about rather than we assume that all life is suffering, we assume that all life is joy?! How about we assume that that is its natural state? I wonder where we would go from there...

  But really... Namaste.
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  18

  Culinary Fads

  by Stephanus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  remember back in the 80s when olive oil was all the rage?

  you had to cook or douse everything with it.

  then the tv chefs started to notice its shortcomings - that extra virgin wasn't very good for frying (but great for dressings) or for use in mayonnaise.. remember when you could only cook with polyunsaturated or monounsaturated oils, otherwise you'd drop dead?

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  daystar

  Remember when we were all told we needed to drink 8-10 glasses of water a day?

  http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=slv8-msgr&p=8%20glasses%20of%20water%20a%20day%20myth
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  13

  Reinforcing the Fairy Tale

  by startingover in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i came upon this post on another forum i check out from time to time.. http://exchristian.net/exchristian/2006/10/reinforcing-fairy-tale.html.

  i'm posting this link because my feelings couldn't have been conveyed any better than was done in this post.

  including the ones expressed at the end.

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  daystar

  So we should be free to invent our own moral and philosophical authority based on your own viewpoints , wonder where we would be if everyone did that, some would consider it fine to kill rape and murder others wouldnt , but no legal system etc as we are all free to do as we please.

  It is so common for some theists to assume that moral fortitude can only arise from a religionistic viewpoint. This is not the case at all.

  And besides, your comment that "some would consider it fine to kill rape and murder others wouldn't [sic]" is rather silly, as if people don't do that now, and often enough it is that the religionists, theists, etc. are just as, or even moreso, guilty of such travesties as any so-called "godless" person.
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  29

  $h*T happens

  by purplesofa in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i never knew if i was getting attacked by satan because i was doing good.. or if jehovah was allowing me to be tested by satan.

  if i was reaping what i had sown.

  if it was times and unforeseen occurances.. if i was really not going to have more put on me than i could bare.

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  daystar

  mmmm... the basic ideologies are built upon a premise that all is suffering. If that's not being focused on suffering, I don't know what is.

  In practice, the buddhist reaction is not to be focused on anything but their own navels, thus ignoring pain and pleasure, detachment from all the world in order to dodge some pain.

  Similarly to how the Witnesses view "independent thinking" as a negative, buddhist teachings teach one to view detachment as a positive. I, for one, would much rather be fully engaged with existence than be detached from it.
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  33

  Your opinion: Are those raised as Witnesses more likely to end up godless?

  by under_believer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  was thinking about this the other day and wanted to get your (yes: your) opinion.

  i find myself slipping farther and farther down the agnostic scale in my thinking--it's possible that i'll end up an atheist.

  my suspicion is that because i was raised being taught that all other religions are false, that i came to the conclusion that if the witnesses don't have "the truth" then nobody does.

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  daystar

  More likely than who? Than people who drop out of other religions?