on freeminds.org, randy w wrote this about himself:.
even as a strict jehovahs witness for eight years, i never once shunned or failed to speak to a disfellowshipped person.
it is simply cruel.
Among other things, I made out with a sweet young worldly babe in the back of my hatch back Ford Pinto at a drive in theater in the summer of '76.
(Sweet Jesus, let me take a moment to reflect....hmmm...yes...I said...yes...I will..yes...)
That was the summer of Bob Seger's "Night Moves."
I was just trying to lose those awkward teenage (JW) blues.
i never felt a part of the jw communtiy...but "i love you sons of bitches!".
"i love you sons of bitches.
youre all i read any more.
I never felt a part of the JW communtiy...but "I love you sons of bitches!"
"I love you sons of bitches. You’re all I read any more. You're the only ones who’ll talk all about the really terrific changes going on, the only ones crazy enough to know that life is a space voyage, and not a short one, either, but one that’ll last for billions of years. You’re the only ones with guts enough to really care about the future, who really notice what machines do to us, what wars do to us, what cities do to us, what big, simple ideas do to us, what tremendous misunderstanding, mistakes, accidents, catastrophes do to us. You're the only ones zany enough to agonize over time and distance without limit, over mysteries that will never die, over the fact that we are right now determining whether the space voyage for the next billion years or so is going to be Heaven or Hell."
— Kurt Vonnegut (God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater)
is the governing body haunted by the thought that jehovah is telling them no and shut down?.
rutherford is reported to have sought cash and rationed coal as a test of jehovah's will.
knorr reported on getting an unexpected windfall of cash when they sought to buy the towers hotel.. but from where i sit, jehovah seems to have become very ungenerous towards these would-be theocrats, in recent years.. they dumped subscriptions.. they cut literature.. they went to paperbacks.. they cut magazines, by my count, for the third time.. they laid off bethelites.. they sold off brooklyn buildings.. they sold off printing/binding equipment.. so, now their latest 'litmus test' of jehovah's will is to simply dump the magazines in one lump and tell people to only take what they need.
The WT is a business that has finally run out of dumbass customers.
They need to redefine themselves, their product, their business model, and their customers.
Somehow, they need to find a way to make it "cool" to be a JW.
How they gonna do that?
was there one incident or epiphany that struck you hard?
or was it a slow...gradual awakening (no pun)?.
my coming out of the jw coma (as i like to call it) began at a family rendezvous in the beautiful florida gulf coast.
Great question. Thoughtful responses.
I was born in. Respected my elders, literal and figurative. But my gut feeling from early on was always, "something is not right."
I always assumed the problem (my inability to accept the Truth and be happy) was me, my own sinful nature and desires.
Crisis of Conscience showed me the problem was elsewhere.
I now know that my nature and desires are not sinful -- they are merely human.
Trust your gut.
Why not just be human?
No prerequisites; no questions asked; no programs to go through.
And here's the real beauty -- you all ready are!
i was watching cnn, an d they asked this question and this one lady called in and claimed she wasn't raised in a religious household.
but she remembered when she was in elementary school that this jw girl asked her if she was spritual she said no, then the jw told her she would go to hell.
wow.
In my case, spirituality appears to me to be a sensation that can give one a sense of wonder that fixates on things greater than everyday life.
But why would you have to label that sensation as "spirituality" ? Why not just pure "wonderment" or "awe" or "wow" ?
I don't think there is anything greater than everyday life. When I read a good book, or hear a great piece of music, or drink a fine glass of wine, or see a beautiful woman, I just think, "Wow, this has made my life today more enjoyable than it could have been."
i was watching cnn, an d they asked this question and this one lady called in and claimed she wasn't raised in a religious household.
but she remembered when she was in elementary school that this jw girl asked her if she was spritual she said no, then the jw told her she would go to hell.
wow.
religion is the buzz kill for spirituality
it separates the world into us and them...
"Spirituality" separates us into those who claim to be spiritual, and those who do not. Seems to be meaningless to me, as I said previously, there is no spirit (or soul), just flesh, bones, and blood.
"But, Mr. Streets76, I define the spirit as the 'spark of life'".
Well, yes, the spark of life does separate us into us and them. Those with the spark of life are alive. Those without it are dead.
i was watching cnn, an d they asked this question and this one lady called in and claimed she wasn't raised in a religious household.
but she remembered when she was in elementary school that this jw girl asked her if she was spritual she said no, then the jw told her she would go to hell.
wow.
Don't give me "spiritual," it's meaningless. We are physical beings, without souls or spirits. We are flesh, bones, blood.
When someone tells me they are "spiritual," I just assume they mean they see themselves are somehow better than those they define as "non-spiritual."
Eat, drink, and be merry (read: copulate), for tomorrow (or the next day) you will die.
The best replacement for religion is rational thinking.
wednesday's daily text was a masterpiece.
each sentence just added another layer of sexual guilt and repression.
i could go off for at least another 500 words but i'll stop.. .
True story: Thirty years ago I was crazy crazy in love with a prim and proper young sister. I had her interest, even though I was not exactly on the straight and narrow (being unbaptized and all). We never went further than a couple of less-than-sensual kisses.
One day she had a heart-to-heart with me, said that she didn't think she could ever get married, because she just couldn't ever see herself having sex. For some reason, the very thought of the physical act itself was repulsive to her (don't remember if she actually used the word "repulsive," but that's the message she put across).
I moved on (and out of the wackiness). She is still in the wackiness, never married, and as far as I know still a virgin approaching 50 years old.
I think of her often. What a waste.
i will be there with the lonestar tea partiers!.
-cage.
Shameless racism, pure and simple.
