my son asked me 40 years ago.
should we be glad adam sinned?
because if he hadn't, we would not be the person we are.. any opinions?
I know it is really hard for people that left the Witnesses to do this, but just try to not take the bible literally. There is a whole world of creation stories out there. The Adam and Eve story is just one of many, and it wasn't even the first.
My view of stories from the bible completely changed after I exposed myself to other ancient stories that were written around the time of the bible or earlier.
there are some people that do in fact want to die.
these people include the mentally unstable, emotionally imbalanced, and those suffering from ailments or diseases, just to name a few.. i've never met however, anyone, or heard of anyone, who is of sound mind, who just awoke one day and thought it would be an excellent day to die......naturally.. your thoughts?.
I don't know why so many humans long to live forever but I have always wondered if it was the price we paid for evolving into self-aware humans.
I agree that animals also fear death when they are threatened, but it is kind of hard to know if they fear natural death because they wonder if they have been "good enough" little critters to make it into Jehoho's paradise. Fear of destruction or hell or anything else fantasized as unpleasant puts a whole new twist onto the fear factor.
Lots of things in life are hard to accept, but death probably is the hardest. I have heard though, that the closer you get to your own death (by aging naturally), the more you accept it and become more at peace with it. Who knows if that is because they believe they are going off to somewhere better, like heaven or paradise, or wherever.
If you logically think about it, though, our bodies were not made to live forever. There is not one biological thing that exists that lasts forever and never dies. So, either death has always been a natural occurrence of the human species, or when "Adam and Eve sinned" in the Garden of Eden, Jehovah decided to impose death on all living creatures in the Universe instead of just humans, but really doesn't make any sense ... for any fairy tale.
so we received the obligatory "shoved under the door" memorial invitation and "return to jehovah" brochure the other week.
it also had a hand written note from two elders saying "we love and miss you" etc.... so why then when one of them saw us at the grocery store, did he pretend to not see us and then ignore and quickly walk away?.
the sincerity is wonderful..... dont get me wrong, we dont want any attention from them, but it's an interesting observation anyway.....
Yes, my mother pulled the same ... "so and so really misses you and would love to see you"! I offered to meet them for coffee as long as the topic was religion was off the table. Funny thing ... they don't miss me that much now.
in mississippi, there is a historical site called forks of the road.
before the civil war, it was one of the most active slave trading markets in the south.
it was a triangular piece of land formed by ... you guessed it ... a fork in the road.
This is located in Natchez, MS.
Perry ... you are partially correct. Those of us that were born into this religion ... especially 3rd and 4th grade generation ... it was not by our choice. And they do indeed make you feel like horrible things will happen to you if you leave. But I agree that it is not the same as the African Americans being enslaved, which was by far, a lot worse ... really not even comparable.
Nevertheless, I think it is ironic that a Kingdom Hall, a place of mental bondage, is now on the site of a place where real slave trading took place, and they have blocked it off with trees.
You've got to see the symbolism in that.
in mississippi, there is a historical site called forks of the road.
before the civil war, it was one of the most active slave trading markets in the south.
it was a triangular piece of land formed by ... you guessed it ... a fork in the road.
Shackles and chains that were used on slaves are permanently memorialized in cement just a few feet from the KH property. You can see the tiny square of cement on the map above in the lower section close the trees.
in mississippi, there is a historical site called forks of the road.
before the civil war, it was one of the most active slave trading markets in the south.
it was a triangular piece of land formed by ... you guessed it ... a fork in the road.
In Mississippi, there is a historical site called Forks of the Road. Before the Civil War, it was one of the most active slave trading markets in the South. It was a triangular piece of land formed by ... you guessed it ... a fork in the road. The historical site is nothing more than a narrow piece of land now, with several plaques and informational boards about the former history.
A Kingdom Hall takes up the majority of the land now. I am not sure if the JWs didn't like sharing their space with the historical markers or vice versa, but there is a very tall line of spruce trees separating the two sites. You can't even tell there is a Kingdom Hall on the same site when visiting the historical site.
I just think it is so ironic that a Kingdom Hall is built on a former slave market. The land is still being used to enslave people, just without the chains. They are enslaved mentally and are not allowed to leave without repercussions to them or their family.
You can see the tall row of trees separating the Kingdom Hall from the historical markers.
each of us have experienced the aftermath of being a jw.
we can all relate.
my heart hurts for this child and what she went thru.
i have posted one other time on this website.
just for the mere fact that i wasn't anger and bitter and ready to declare the gb the sociopathic criminals that so many here ascribe to, my initial question digressed to bickering over ad hominem attacks against the gb and not my beliefs that i'm questioning.
some did give me some help on my questions.
It sounds like you didn't suffer from hurtful or abusive things growing up as a witness. That is quite rare, and I am happy for you. I am also quite jealous. I would love to not have the baggage that growing up a JW created for me, and I would have loved to simply walk away because I didn't believe. But the fact is, most people leaving the witnesses did not have the positive experiences that you seem to have had. If people on here sound angry, it is with good reason, and talking about it with people online is one way to deal with it and try to get past it.
It also sounds like you suffer from black and white thinking, which is very much a JW trait that is instilled from birth, so I think growing up a JW adversely affected you more than you think. Just because you had a great experience in the org doesn't mean most people have, and it is OKAY to have different thoughts and opinions about the JWs and anything else. I don't agree with everything I read on here, either. But this place isn't like the Kingdom Hall where everybody has to believe the same thing about everything. If you think the GB are uber upstanding guys ... you are allowed to think that. And people here are allowed to try to change your mind. And the best part is ...we can have an open and frank conversation about it nobody will be pulled into the backroom.
For your sake, I hope you are able to find a like-minded group of people that had a great experience with the witnesses, but just wants to leave. All four of you can support each other.
all the different congregations around the world hold it at similar local times but they all effectively are at different times relative to each other ... so why does the time matter?.
why the almost superstitious "oh, it must be after sundown".
cause it's not sundown everywhere that second.. god knew the earth was round ... right?.
I assume your questions are rhetorical, right?
And I agree on them rethinking the bread. They need to try some sour dough bread, or maybe some nice bruschetta that we can put some cheese on.
it's the forum's 16th birthday today!.
amazing that not only have we lasted so long but we're still thriving and growing.. thanks to all the people and often colorful characters who've contributed to the site over the years.
some are still here with us, some have since moved on, but all have touched each others lives in some way along our different journeys.. .
Happy birthday to your forum, Simon! I can't tell you how much your website has helped me over the past many years. I can't believe I have been a member for 14 years and only posted a little more than 1,000 times. And before those 14 years ... believe me, I was lurking in the shadows.
Back then, there was quite a bit of drama happening between members on this forum. I am so glad to see that ended and I know you are to credit for a lot of that. Thanks for chasing away the drama. I feel a lot more comfortable posting here because of it.
