Sure, if they bribed me with enough money. Several million dollars. Of course, I would then abscond with the money and move to New Zealand and spend my days eating kiwi fruit and shagging sheep.
Nate
Nate Merit
JoinedPosts by Nate Merit
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24
Would you ever consider going back to the JW''s?
by fullofdoubtnow indedpoet and myself were asked this question last night.
we went round to his local to celebrate my da announcement (made on tuesday 22nd november).
it was his idea, to "drink a toast to freedom", but i was up for it as well, and we ran into a former brother and his girlfriend.
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Nate Merit
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17
When Prophecy Fails
by Nate Merit ini used to have a number of copies of this book, but through the years i divested myself of them through my largesse.
in other words, i lent 'em out but never got 'em back!.
the book centered on a flying saucer cult in 'lake city' in an unspecified state.
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Nate Merit
I used to have a number of copies of this book, but through the years I divested myself of them through my largesse. In other words, I lent 'em out but never got 'em back!
The book centered on a flying saucer cult in 'Lake City' in an unspecified state. (I use the word cult in it's actual dictionary meaning, which is a synonym for religion) For reasons of privacy the actual location in which this psycho-social study unfolded was not divulged. The players in this fascinating drama were still alive when the book was published.
The first several chapters dealt with a number of fringe religious groups in the past that had given specific dates for the end of the world, and explored how the members of these groups reacted when their apocalyptic expectations were dashed. Surprisingly (and I do mean surprisingly), most of the rank and file of these mini-movements did not lose faith when the prophecy failed. Quite the opposite. Most members became even more fervent in their millennial madness, renewing their efforts to warn the doomed, and rallying around their leader.
Most such fringe groups were able to survive a number of such disconfirmations. Most did eventually fold under the weight of disappointment and disillusionment, but a number of them did not. Some, such as the Second Advent movement, spiritualized the prophecy and became more or less a mainstream movement. Others took the same route but eventually the group dissipated in spite of the spiritualizing.
The flying saucer cult on which the book focuses centered upon a woman who engaged in 'automatic writing' through which the space brothers communicated with her telepathically. Two sociology majors were assigned to infiltrate the cult and perform an actual field study. I was engrossed by the group because of my own similar experience as a Jehovah's Witness, and saw the same psychosocial dynamics at work. The credulity of the true believers, their willingness to suspend their critical thinking faculties in the face of ludicrous claims, made an indelible impression on my mind. I was quite surprised this book was not republished after the Heavens Gate mass-suicide., another saucer cult.
If you come across a copy of this book, buy it and don't lend it out. It's a classic, and a good reminder of why you reclaimed your mind and life from the grasp of the lunatic fringe.
Believe what you will if you're religious, reality will roll over you and your beliefs and continue on its way, heedless of your beliefs, hopes, and dreams. -
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Why did Jesus have to die?
by ghostbuster ini disassociated myself from jws about 20 years ago so i'm a bit rusty on christian teaching.
the intersting thing though is i hadn't completely disassociated my mind from their teachings and it's only been recently that i've had true independent thought.
it's scary if you think about it.
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Nate Merit
Hi mdb
If this is so, my answer is that this 'God' could have done a far more convincing job of demonstrating love by eliminating disease, injury, poverty, old age, injustice, inequality, birth defects and congenital deformities...or better yet, just not have created these things at all.
Puh-LEEZE dont tell me that an Omni-potent Omni-scient in-finite Being was thwarted in its plans by some bio-specks on a mote of dust.
If your God was a mans God, she/he/it would take respnsibily for its creation (which it went ahead and made knowing full well exactly what would occur), and not dump that responsibilty upon the finite shoulders of the creatures of its own creation.
At least be a Deist. They at least face the fact that God is not love and does not care. If theists were to grasp this fact, that we only have each other, then maybe they would stop blowing each other to smithereens in honor and worsip of this god. No, I am not an atheist. Most days anyway.
It's tired and I'm getting late.
Nate -
21
My book was released yesterday
by fairchild infinally.
the publishing process started last april and seemed to have stalled over the summer.. i received the proof copy last week and was quite surprised that the book would be released that soon.
i'm so very happy!.
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Nate Merit
I went from your post to your website and then referred to you by the name of your website! DOH!
Congratulations again!
Nate -
21
My book was released yesterday
by fairchild infinally.
the publishing process started last april and seemed to have stalled over the summer.. i received the proof copy last week and was quite surprised that the book would be released that soon.
i'm so very happy!.
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Nate Merit
Hello Trafford!
Congratulations! May this be the first of many! It's a grand feeling.
Wishing you sales thru the roof,
Nate -
21
Nate Here. I Chickened Out!
by Jebediah Thunder inthe day of the surgery i cancelled.
i was convinced i was going to croak during the *procedure*.
my oldest sister thought so too.. .
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Nate Merit
Kaput! Why didn't EYE think of that!!
You know, even at my most JayDubbish I would wake up sometimes and realize it was all an elaborate fantasy. A group fantasy, but a fantasy nontheless.
Nate -
21
Nate Here. I Chickened Out!
by Jebediah Thunder inthe day of the surgery i cancelled.
i was convinced i was going to croak during the *procedure*.
my oldest sister thought so too.. .
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Nate Merit
Thanks Scully!
Much appreciated.
Nate -
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There is no God - An essay by Penn Jillette (From Penn and Teller)
by Elsewhere in(go to the website and you can hear a recording of him reading his essay).
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyid=5015557there is no god.
by penn jillette .
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Nate Merit
Hey Elsewhere
Love that Alfalfa icon. Speaking of Alfalfa, did you know that burning alfalfa smells exactly like burning marijuana?
I did the atheism tango for over a decade as a Buddhist. It was an easy position to maintain intellectually, but difficult to maintain spiritually. I do not have 'faith' in some personal God that is obviously wishful thinking on the part of some very infantile adults. I intensely dislike the word 'God' because of it's anthropomorphic associations, as well as the slathering evil that god and his worshippers commit.
That said, meditating a couple of hours a day for several decades will cause many changes in one's awareness. Like Penn, I do not believe in a loving caring personal God. Yet I accept the reality of a Source, a Ground of Being, immanent-transcendent-incarnate.
Can I prove this scientifically? Of course not. However, I can prove, from personal experience, that atheism is nilhilism and a killer of the human spirit, every bit as much as belief in a personal God is ultimately enslaving and dehumanizing. Great works of art and music were not inspired by unbelief. The human brain is hard-wired for spiritual experiences.
I do not have a good word to encapsulate my experience. They remain subjective experiences, but experiences anyone can share if they put in the time and effort. Thats the catch. Time and effort. The spiritual quest is precisely that, a quest. It isn't simple and easy, despite the claims of loud fundanentalists.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
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29
Where did you sit at the Kingdom Hall?
by truthseeker ini always preferred the back of the hall.
here, i could go to sleep, read the latest awake!
if you're at either end of the middle row of seats, you can see who has studied their watchtower and who hasn't.
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Nate Merit
FRONT AND CENTER when I was "into" the whole JW trip. As my zeal dissiapted, I gravitated further and further toward the back.
I was about to be made a 'ministerial servant' (how moronic! a 'servant servant') at precisely the time I was crashing and burning.
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I Need Some Folks To Set Me Right!
by Nate Merit ini need to know a few things in order to be accurate in the book i'm currently writing.
if you can help, muchas gracias mi amigo.. .
i was baptized thirty six years ago.
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Nate Merit
Hi Carmel
So, is your experience normative? I gleaned from your response that folks are baptized in their bathing suits on occasion, and at the Hall, but it this normal? Any additional help you could give me on my many questions would be much appreciated. Thanks.
Nate
