Posts by Nate Merit

41

What Religion DOESN'T Use Fear Tactics and Threats?

by Nate Merit in

fear of the unknown (and certainly death is the great unknown) is the primal motivator in religion.

those who clue into this learn to manipulate others through fear of punishment and promise of reward.

yes, it is in fact that childishly simple.

Nate Merit

Hi Brenda

That was a typo arising from my fingers trying to keep up with my mind. They just can't do it. I need to proof these posts before I post them.

I was a Buddhist for twelve years, a priest for about three and a half. Technically I still am. My training as a Buddhist was mainly in Soto Zen, though I had incorporated the Shin practice of chanting Namu Amida Butsu in my daily practice. Historically there has always been a close relationship between Zen and Shin and between Ch'an and Sukhavati. Having been meditating about ninety minutes a day since I was twenty, I had already had many of the various experiences of satori, and I took to Zen very readily and quickly. My sensei was Richard Christensen, abbot of Wolf Mountain Monastery in Arizona. He and I and Venerable Koshu Dari founded the Hongaku Jodo of America sect, a Pure Land Buddhist sect that combines the best of the two major forms of Pure Land Buddhism: Japanese "Shin" and Chinese "Sukhavati" (From the Sanskrit word "Sukkha" which means succour, and is obviously the source of the English word succour) I served on the board of directors as Secretary.

As to my Christian ministy, I was ordained by the Evangelical Church Alliance headquartered in Bradley Illinois, in 1980 at Grace Baptist Church in Inkster Michigan. That was in 1980. I was a nondenominational minister (The ECA is not a denomination, but an umbrella group for independent fundamentalist ministers of many persuasions) My theology was very much Free Will Baptist with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit thrown into the mix. Ergo, I refer to myself in those days as a pentecostal Baptist.

I have not had any other positions of authority in religion.

Nate

41

What Religion DOESN'T Use Fear Tactics and Threats?

by Nate Merit in

fear of the unknown (and certainly death is the great unknown) is the primal motivator in religion.

those who clue into this learn to manipulate others through fear of punishment and promise of reward.

yes, it is in fact that childishly simple.

Nate Merit

All right, I read the case. My views of organized religion is confirmed. No one is coerced into checking out a religion, so anyone that has bad experiences has only themselves to blame. That goes for me myself also and my four year off-and-on involement with the Witnesses in my teens.

Why not try to get a Class Action Suit going against the WTBTS? I will jump on that bandwagon.

Nate

41

What Religion DOESN'T Use Fear Tactics and Threats?

by Nate Merit in

fear of the unknown (and certainly death is the great unknown) is the primal motivator in religion.

those who clue into this learn to manipulate others through fear of punishment and promise of reward.

yes, it is in fact that childishly simple.

Nate Merit

Hello Skeeter!

Welcome to the board It's always good to see another EX Witness!

I would read the transcription of the case, but there is no link.

Have a great weekend!
Nate

41

What Religion DOESN'T Use Fear Tactics and Threats?

by Nate Merit in

fear of the unknown (and certainly death is the great unknown) is the primal motivator in religion.

those who clue into this learn to manipulate others through fear of punishment and promise of reward.

yes, it is in fact that childishly simple.

Nate Merit

TOUCHE' Carmel!

Same here.

Nate

25

JUMPIN JESUS! HE'S HERE!

by Nate Merit in

.

if this graphic isn't jumping, click here: www.jcnot4me.com .

and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Nate Merit

www.jcnot4me.com
and scroll to the bottom of the page.

34

Even if the bible is not inspired, is Christianity a good thing?

by jwfacts in

i dont want to offend anyone that worships jesus, but am toying with a few ideas at the moment.. i am not sure yet about the inspiration of the bible.

however reading franz' christian freedom gives me a lot more respect for jesus teachings and christianity.

lets say that jesus was just a man.

Nate Merit

Nice thoughts. Too bad the reality has been so damnably ugly, violent and ignorant. Read some unvarnished Christian history and see the fruit mainstrean Christianity has borne. A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, it's as simple as that. Mainstream Christianity is a rotten tree that has borne rotten fruit for the most part. There are shining exceptions, but they remain the exception. The hateful, nasty, Bible-wielding christians on this board are the rule, not the exception. To be fair, such is the case with literalists/fundamentalists of all religions.

Obtain and read The Dark Side of Christian History by Helen Ellerbee for a short, concise, honest and easily readable account of...the dark side of Christian history. History cannot be ignored in an honest and accurate assessment of the worth of mainstream Christianity.

Yours not in Joe Hovah,
Nate

41

What Religion DOESN'T Use Fear Tactics and Threats?

by Nate Merit in

fear of the unknown (and certainly death is the great unknown) is the primal motivator in religion.

those who clue into this learn to manipulate others through fear of punishment and promise of reward.

yes, it is in fact that childishly simple.

Nate Merit

Hi James

Thanks for the post.

I already read more books in a year that most people do in three decades. I'm all read-out right now, and tired of furthering thecareers of other authors by buying their books. I have my own things to say based on personal experience, not based on readily available books and aricles on "How To Write Religious or Spiritual Articles and Books."

They all follow a formula.

At 52, my life experiences in all facets give me plenty to ponder already.

Have a great day!
Nate

41

What Religion DOESN'T Use Fear Tactics and Threats?

by Nate Merit in

fear of the unknown (and certainly death is the great unknown) is the primal motivator in religion.

those who clue into this learn to manipulate others through fear of punishment and promise of reward.

yes, it is in fact that childishly simple.

Nate Merit

Hi Diamond

If one ceases to be, one is not dangling in the dark going "Oh No! I've ceased to exist!" There is no suffering in cessation. How was life for you one hundred years ago? You did not exist, so there was no suffering, for you were not. When you cease, again you will not be. It will again be as it was 100 years before you were born. No you, no suffering.

In hellfire, you are conscious of an idescribable agony and sense of loss.

I opt for cessation.

Have a great day Diamond.
Nate

41

What Religion DOESN'T Use Fear Tactics and Threats?

by Nate Merit in

fear of the unknown (and certainly death is the great unknown) is the primal motivator in religion.

those who clue into this learn to manipulate others through fear of punishment and promise of reward.

yes, it is in fact that childishly simple.

Nate Merit

Hello Auld Soul

I was a Buddhist priest for 12 years. In the single largest group of Buddhists on the planet, Pure Land/Sukavati. Fear plays just as large a role in Buddhism, unless you personally AuldSoul have chosen to reject the fear-mongering parts of Buddhism. If so, good for you! I did too, when I was a Buddhist!

Fear of ending up in a hell-realm (a temporary purgitive "hell", a bardo), or fear of being reincarnated in terrible, painful, horrendously suffering circumstances, is also used in Buddhism. I wrote an essay demonstrating that originally Buddhism lacked any teaching of reincarnation or of any sort of afterlife, based on the complete absense of and rejection of the caste system on the part of early Buddhists. Gotama was of the Indian race, and emerged from that culture, not 21st century America. Reincarnation was the justification for the caste system, that's all. To reject the caste system was to reject it's justification as well. There is much more to it than this, but that's the best I can do in a sound byte.

As to Christianity, even one's own free-wheeling noninstiutional Christiianity, there is the legitimate question as to whether the Bible teaches hellfire or eternal destruction. Either one is a source of fear, and are of course fear tactics on the part of the Bible writers, whoever they were.

Whether you belong to an Org or not, the Bible dangles a carrot of reward of God's love and Heaven, and also uses threats of divine wrath and hell/destruction. These have nothing to do with any Christian religious institution, they're in the Bible.

Have a great day AuldSoul.
Nate

41

What Religion DOESN'T Use Fear Tactics and Threats?

by Nate Merit in

fear of the unknown (and certainly death is the great unknown) is the primal motivator in religion.

those who clue into this learn to manipulate others through fear of punishment and promise of reward.

yes, it is in fact that childishly simple.

Nate Merit

Fear of the Unknown (and certainly death is the great unknown) is the primal motivator in religion. Those who clue into this learn to manipulate others through fear of punishment and promise of reward. Yes, it is in fact THAT childishly simple. "Believe this nonsense and you'll go to heaven when you die, reject this flapdoodle and you will burn in hell!" (Or be destroyed in Armageddon, or wind up in a hell-bardo, or be reincarnated as a sex slave in Buggerland)

I was quite good at this as a pentecostal Baptist minister. Scare the beejesus out of them because people love being scared if the threat is not immediate. In other words, the danger is not real, like enjoying a roller coaster ride or a spooky movie. It isnt a real threat, we're safe, we aren't cut and bleeding, so we can relax and enjoy the scary show. We love being scared because we arent in danger. Then, dangle the Big Carrot in the Sky in front of them. In the JW''s this is the paradise earth. In mainstream Christianity it's Heaven. In Buddhism it's the extinction of selfish desire and the sense of a seperate self.

So many people here threw off the chains of bondage around their minds and spirits, stepped into Freedom, only to become fearful and uncertain of all that Freedom and promptly scurried into another form of bondage. Another form of Christianity, where the threat is even worse than in Jehovahland: hellfire and eternal damnation. I too did this and was a mainstream Christian for 15 years. My brain FINALLY kicked in and I bailed out.

The fact is, though, that Jehovah Madness was still in me when I left the JW's. I still believed in the Bible, that I am a sinner in need of "salvation" etc. So naturally I hooked up with more religious lunacy. I was AFRAID of DEATH, UNCERTAIN. I feared life without my Invisible Friend Mister God. I feared death without my Invisible Fiend...er, Friend.

FEAR! (Oh no! Here comes Mister Monster! )

PUNISHMENT! (OOOOO them nasty ol' bad guys are gonna GET it! Heah cum de JUDGE!)

REWARD! (All this! And heaven when I die!)

EXTRAORDINARY CLAIMS WITHOUT PROOF! (There was a Talking Snake and a Magic Tree in the middle of an Enchanted Garden, then Mister Jesus got up from his deader place and he flew off into the sky and rode a cloud to Glory, and if you believe in that with all your heart..close your eyes and repeat it after me and we can all save Tinkerbell..I belive I believe I believe...Mister God will set you up in a Mansion in the Sky with streets of Gold!)

APPEALS TO THE CHILD IN ALL OF US! (You hafta become as a gullible child sans critical thinking skills to be born again! "Unless a man be converted and become as a child he shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven")

EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS W R O N G! (Yes the world LOOKS like a closed system, but really, axeheads float and all sorts of miraculous things happen. I heard about a guy who knew this gal whose second cousins's brother was in the service with a dude whose grandmother knew a preacher whose sainted grandfather actually shook the hand of a guy who knew someone who had heard of someone raised from the dead! So see, the world ISN'T a closed system, even though you don't see any of this stuff happening! The world is really invaded EVERYDAY by Things From Beyond)

Whatever. Peeps gonna do what peeps gonna do.

Yours NOT in Joe Hovah,
Nate