CPiolo

Joined

• started 25 topics
• posted 276 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by CPiolo

• 
  4

  Bible Says: The Psychology of Christian Fundamentalism

  by CPiolo in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a friend who is familiar with my situation ?

  non jw married to a true-believing dub ?

  passed on an interesting article about the psychology of christian fundamentalism.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  CPiolo

  Elsewhere and under74,
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  4

  Bible Says: The Psychology of Christian Fundamentalism

  by CPiolo in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a friend who is familiar with my situation ?

  non jw married to a true-believing dub ?

  passed on an interesting article about the psychology of christian fundamentalism.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  CPiolo

  A friend who is familiar with my situation ? Non JW married to a true-believing Dub ? passed on an interesting article about the psychology of Christian fundamentalism. I?ve read it and thought some on the board might find it interesting -- JW belief following a very similar line of reasoning. The author believes fundamentalism to be a collective neurosis. He outlines four basic beliefs fundamental to Christian fundamentalism, based upon the work of Charles Strozier. To quote the article:
  
  In Apocalypse, a patient study of Christian fundamentalism based on extensive interviews over a five-year period with members of apocalyptic communities Charles Strozier identifies four basic beliefs as fundamental to Christian fundamentalism. 1) Inerrancy or biblical literalism, the belief that every word of the Bible is to be taken literally as the word of God; 2) conversion or the experience of being reborn in Christ; 3) evangelicalism or the duty of the saved to spread the gospel; and 4) Apocalypticism or Endism, the belief that The Book of Revelations describes the events that must come to pass for God?s plan to be fulfilled. [1] Revelations thus becomes an object of longing as well as the key to understanding contemporary history, to reading the news of the day and keeping a handle on an otherwise overwhelming world. Each of these categories, Strozier adds, must be understood not doctrinally but psychologically. What follows attempts to constitute such an understanding by analyzing each category as the progression of a disorder that finds the end it seeks in Apocalyptic destructiveness.
  
  It?s a long read and I find some of the author?s points not well developed, i.e. his arguments about capitalism, but well worth reading for those interested. Here?s the link.
  
  http://www.counterpunch.org/davis01082005.html
  
  Cheers,
  
  CPiolo
• 
  16

  Do you use anything with pagan origins?

  by pennycandy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm conversing with a jw about the "pagan origin" issue.

  i'm familiar with the fact that the names of the months and days of the week, wedding rings, and baptism all have pagan origins and are accepted for use by jw's.

  can you guys think of anything else that jw's partake of or accept or use that has questionable origins?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  CPiolo

  The Roman alphabet originated in Sumeria and ended up with the Romans in pre-Christian (pagan) times all-the-while evolving into the alphabet we use today. Isn't ironic that most believers in the Western world have to read the Bible in a pagan alphabet? CPiolo
• 
  3

  Wanting to talk to AlanF

  by CPiolo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  alan or anyone else who might help,.

  i see you haven't posted in a while, but i wanted to speak by phone or privately through e-mail.

  could you provide me your e-mail address and/or phone number and a convenient time to contact you?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  CPiolo

  e-mail sent.
  
  Thanks Farkel.
  
  CPiolo
• 
  3

  Wanting to talk to AlanF

  by CPiolo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  alan or anyone else who might help,.

  i see you haven't posted in a while, but i wanted to speak by phone or privately through e-mail.

  could you provide me your e-mail address and/or phone number and a convenient time to contact you?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  CPiolo

  oops, forgot my addy -- cpiolo "at" hotmail.com
• 
  3

  Wanting to talk to AlanF

  by CPiolo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  alan or anyone else who might help,.

  i see you haven't posted in a while, but i wanted to speak by phone or privately through e-mail.

  could you provide me your e-mail address and/or phone number and a convenient time to contact you?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  CPiolo

  Alan or anyone else who might help,
  
  I see you haven't posted in a while, but I wanted to speak by phone or privately through e-mail. Could you provide me your e-mail address and/or phone number and a convenient time to contact you?
  
  Thanks,
  
  CPiolo
• 
  25

  Talked w/a JW Yesterday - So glad I'm out

  by Seeker4 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it's been quite a while since i've written anything here, maybe a couple of years.

  some may remember me, seeker4, from the old h2o, or the early years of this one.

  i was a jw for about 35 years, ms, elder for about 15, pioneer, all of it.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  CPiolo

  Seeker4: I have had the same formatting problem. I don't know what system or browser you're using, but I think that may be the problem. The scripts the site uses to format text seems to be incompatible with some browser and/or operating systems. A good argument for using web standards Simon! I am on a Mac and perhaps you are too as they are prevalent in the publishing business. It was good to hear from one of the old-timers from back in the H2O days. I rarely post anymore but do stop by and read posts now and then. For those of you who don't remember me, I am a non-witness married to a die hard witness woman (reads only Witness publications, listens almost exclusively to Witness music and now thanks to the advent of technology, listens to the pubs in the car in audio format) who returned to the nest, so to speak, many years after leaving and after we had married. CPiolo P.S. This post will probably lose its paragraph formatting for the reasons above.
• 
  25

  JW friend is now JW bf, help.

  by am3thy5t in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  i have a friend whos a jw and last october we started to hang out together (just us two).

  everything was fine, we'd talk, watch movies etc.

  then i started to feel different towards him, i started to like him.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  CPiolo

  am3thy5t Let me join the chorus here and advise you against any sort of romantic relationship with a JW if you are not a member of the faith. I am a nonJW married to a JW. Just like the previous posters, this has caused an enormous amount of stress, conflict, anguish and heartbreak. Let me list some of the conflicts you can expect. The JW in your life will NOT Celebrate any holidays or birthdays with you, your friends and family. Want to spend much time with those not of the faith (in other words, all your friends and family). Agree about life-saving medical treatments for themselves and any children produced by the union. Agree to any religious education or services other than that provided by the JWs. View you as a spiritually equal person unless you convert to their faith (not recommended). These may not seem like much, but believe me, things you once took for granted and hardly gave a thought to become sources for contention, conflict and argument. You soon find yourself biting your tongue and withholding comment for the sake of maintaining peace. But each time you do, you lose a little bit of yourself, your freedom and your relationship with the JW. Things progress until there's not much left but small talk. Your initial dreams of love and happiness have evaporated and you long for a place and for people with whom you can just be yourself. You've lost your personal freedom and a healthy environment for both personal growth and growth within the relationship. I don't recommend it. But, you're young and may not heed the advice offered here. I didn't when I was your age. So, if you do end up pursuing a relationship with this boy and things begin to go as I described, please remember this place and the people here. They will offer you solace and advice when you need it. It was a refuge for me when I first confronted my situation. I wish you all the best. Peace and prosperity, CPiolo
• 
  33

  Bill Maher on Larry King last night

  by Mulan in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  because you'd think these people would notice that jesus christ never said one word about homosexuality.

  maher: i do have faith.

  i believe there is a god.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  CPiolo

  Another religion quote when discussing the movie "The Passion of the Christ": MAHER: "...I think religion is a neurological disorder. And so I think anyone who believes in this stuff is -- you know, it's like -- when you're a kid, anything they drill into your brain. The analogy I make is when I was a kid, they drilled religion into my brain. They also put mercury into my teeth. When I got to be an adult, I found out mercury was bad. I had it drilled out. I would do the same with religion." CPiolo
• 
  13

  Is Charity Utterly Incomprehensible to Them? (Dec. 1, Wt)

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  once upon a time, monty python had a sketch in which john clease portrayed.

  a businessman approached for a contribution to feed starving orphans.

  he appeared.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  CPiolo

  Some charitable acts by Christendom and non-Christian faiths (offered mostly for free or on a sliding scale according to one's ability to pay):
  
  
  Homework help for children
  
  After school care and programs for working families
  
  Counseling of various sorts -- marriage, psychological, career, education, alcohol and drug abuse, etc.
  
  Food for the poor and the hungry -- by distributing foodstuffs and through soup kitchens
  
  Medical and dental care
  
  Clothing
  
  Battered women's shelters
  
  Homeless shelters
  
  College and educational scholarships
  
  Meal delivery programs for the elderly and infirm
  
  Hospital visitation
  
  Hospice care
  
  Rehabilitation programs for the disabled
  
  Job training
  
  Orphanages
  
  Political advocacy for the disenfranchised
  
  There is more. Add to the list.
  
  All this occurs in addition to whatever proselytizing, missionary work and literature distribution they may do. Most don't require one to be a member of the particular church/faith -- all in need are cared for.