as you know, my husband dave (aka almostatheist) is atheist.
my son came up to me last night and declared that he "doesn't" believe in any kind of higher power.
being eclectic pagan...this bothered me because i know for me, if i didn't have any kind of "faith", i'd be crushed.
Ahhh, I love this topic! I have a 3 year old that will certainly ask questions in the next few years. Obviously, I'm "Still Angry", but I want her to find a path that fills that spiritual need within her in the most healthy way possible.
LisaOBeesa, I liked your post...it keeps it simple for children, and allows them to know it's okay to explore their own world.
I hope she finds a way other then Christianity or any other "mainstream" religion. They seem to either be meaningless or toxic.
i know we have heard about it as regards an elder who has "sinned" and keeps it quiet, he does not have to step down.
but when it comes to the lowly rank and file, what would you do, or "have " to do if you found out about some actions of a publisher that occurred a few years ago?
also does a person who leaves the truth and then wants to come back after a number of years have to confess to all the stuff they did when they were out ?
It totally depends on the politics of the kh you belong to. The same sins that some are DF for are sins that other "right" people get away with by displaying a long face during their private meeting. It's completely ridiculus to think that the elders can tell if anyone is truly sorry for their error. What, they have a direct line to God now? If you have drifted away for a while and have come back, I know that the elders will want to talk to you about any sins you may have committed while away. Just look really pathetic, and say how you just couldn't live like that anymore and you have realized the truth.
Unfortunately, this is why this organization doesn't work, the rules constantly change depending on who you are and how good of an actor you are.
i'm not sure whether there is a god or not.
so far as i can tell, there isn't much evidence to support his existence... .
but sometimes i find myself in what appears to be a prayer.
LOL @ jojochan!
Low-Key Lysmith: Hey, I do that too! Drives me crazy how I picked those little phrases up after I left the JW's out of defiance and now can't lose 'em.
Elsewhere - Loved the cartoon!
Check Your Premises- I don't think you understand the nature of being atheists. Being atheists doesn't mean that they're all knowing, it means that they do not allow that they are being controlled by a greater power. It creates a greater responsibility of ones actions for the collective of all living things. It doesn't allow for the possibilty of skating ones way into a paradise or heaven or whatever by saying you're a Christian, Muslim, etc., but that you aspire to create a better place through personal choices, not demands from a god. In other words, you hold yourself to your own higher standard, not a standard put forth by some religious organization saying that they represent god. I found that most atheists to be the most conscious of the world around them and their place in it, and some of the most kind hearted people I've ever met. I am undecided myself, but am certainly leaning toward the possibility that we are alone.
never fit in.
never cared to.
most witnesses bored me to absolute tears.
I was very popular to hang out with...all the goodie two shoes could have some real fun for a change and then blame it all on me when the elders came down! Then I'd be hauled in for questioning and explain that truly, I didn't hold a gun to anyones head, they were actually having fun!
Then the losers would all apologize to me in private for turning me in, and ask what I was doing Friday night. Ahhh, I loved being the troublemaker!
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i'm the type that rathers not answer the door, when an elder will come over, to try to bring me back on the road of eternal life.
how about you, do you rather answer the door to them, or just avoid opening the door, when you know it's them?
All you get from them is the same spoon fed asnwers you yourselves gave others at one time, so why bother? They aren't "enlightened" in any way. They don't have answers, because there just aren't any logical ones.
I found that when I confronted the elders it was because I was angry that I believed in the BS at one point and how could I have been so blind. I wanted them to give me some obvious reason why I ever accepted it in the first place, but talking to them just made me more and more frustrated and angry. The final time I spoke with an elder, I was asking numerous questions, and he was basically pooh-poohing them because I was just a child, what did I know? (I was raised as a JW and this conversation happened when I was about 15.) I remember being so ticked off that I was like, man, if you are threatened by questions from a kid, how the hell do you jam this crap down adults throats? Of course, there was no answer to that and meeting adjourned. I was a hopeless case, doomed as far as they were concerned.
Now that I am an adult and married and moved away from where I grew up, I still answer the door when the JW's come. It's a totally surreal feeling, almost like an out of body experience. I listen to the schpeel with a mind of trying to understand how people get caught up in this. The only time I didn't answer the door was when it was a witness with a small child; it was just too painful.
However, I do enjoy blowing their mind by telling them that I am not a Christian, and that their God believes in death and destruction while the true Gods hold all life sacred. I always tell them that they do not deserve to live their life in fear of an undeserving God that was set up by heretics including the apostle Paul in order to have control over fellow man, and that there is a healthier spiritual life waiting for all of them if they have the courage to embrace it.
That always sends them running! Ha! :-)
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i've just read a news article that stated that in a recent international survey, britain was voted the best country in the world, but the british people the most boring.. i do wonder what people think of us brits, they seem to have some wild idea that we all drink tea and play cricket, they seem quite unaware of the loutish behaviour that many of us are embaressed about.. what do you think?
Brits are not boring...maybe a little funny in some of the way they think, but that's just the difference between countries. I always tease a Brit firend of mine that she is a paradox. Like she has all these straight laced ideas and can be all prim and proper and then goes nuts as soon as the alcohol is brought out. Maybe that's just her, but I don't think so from the impression I get from her. I think Americans tend to be more uncouth and just don't care what people think.
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i made a myspace about warning people about the jehovah's witness belief in shunning.. will you please be my friend?.
http://www.myspace.com/shunninghurts.
I think it's funny that you used Hotel California as your site song about disfellowshipping...I remember the circuit assembly in the eighties that warned we'd all be possessed by the devil through listening to that particular track...is this your reason for using it?
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in the field service, i was going door to door with an elder, and he couldn't stop spitting on the ground every now and then..... .
once at a ball park, i saw a 75 year old ms watching a ball game, and he took napkins to wipe his bench because it rained and it was wet, so he wipped his bench and threw all the napkins on the grass instead of walking to the garbage can about 30 feet away...
"The next meeting a mother was talking about how she went home and burned her 3 year olds favorite stuffed picachu in front of her little girl because they were bad to play with. She was so proud. I felt so bad for the kid. I know she was traumatized."
What the heck is wrong with these people?! When I was a kid, my mom destroyed a stuffed, beloved unicorn I had because it was evil or something.
Being embarrassed by any fellow JW was easy as a kid in this religion, but I remember in particular this one brother that was in service with our family. He had "issues", and was very gangly and socially inept to begin with. Then as we're approaching a person in their garden, he notices a bee around his head and begins flapping his arms and swinging his book bag around and yelling at the bee. This person was just watching him, as we all were, in fascinated horror. He was shouting to Jehovah to help him, and asking why, oh why, was he being persecuted by this creation. He was jumping around like a maniac and I wanted to DIE! He was asking the bee to kindly move on to another place and other things that I couldn't make out because of all the jumping and turning. I remember geting back in the van immediately, and this brother asking to take a break because he was so traumatized. My mom had said "So am I." and service was done! It was the best day of service I ever remember.
I guess this isn't technically being ashamed, that list goes on for miles, but I still laugh when I think of it.
here's my weekly rant.
and i've concluded i'll probably never meet any of you, and those of you that i secretly know, will never realize who i am, so what is there to lose?
i've lost already.. i'm so g'damn tired.
ha, ha John Doe, I've always loved that theory...
Why is night so much worse than the morning? Although morning is never too great either. The way I look at it is this: resign yourself to the day, for at night I shall drink!
Okay, that doesn't seem to be working so hot for me either, but now that it's Monday, hopefully you feel better.
Sounds like you have a crappy job. You have the Sunday blues. Definitely get a new job. Also, I hope you watched Talk Sex last night, she usually has great suggestions for vibrators. Can I say that on here?
Hope you had a good Monday!
when i go to this one store, i usually stop into the laundromat next door to it about once a week and pull out all of the awakes and watchtowers.
there used to usually be about 3 or 4 per week.
now, it seems that they are putting more and more in there.
Definitely keep throwing them out...they'll get the point eventually. When the JW that keeps leaving them is checking back and they're always gone, they'll get the point. They can be dense but not usually totally stupid; people aren't milling around in laundromats looking for Awake.
Or jsut change the title to read Asleep!
