Bruce:
i noticed how Jesus Christ is kept low in the totem pole of your ranks, not quite worthy of bethelite status, huh?
i feel this is no accident or mistake on your behalf. . .
im afraid to ask where you rank Jehovah?
CHUCK
i'm tired of being a newbie, i want to be a junior member, how many times do i need to post to become a "junior member"?
Bruce:
i noticed how Jesus Christ is kept low in the totem pole of your ranks, not quite worthy of bethelite status, huh?
i feel this is no accident or mistake on your behalf. . .
im afraid to ask where you rank Jehovah?
CHUCK
if a man knocked on your door and introduced himself as jesus christ son of jehovah, would you ask him in and feed him or would you slam the door in his face and call the cops?.
if your daughter came home pregnant and claimed it was an imaculate conception, would you believe her?.
why do you believe in the other virgin birth?.
SSM:
i actually did go to that cite and all i can say is:
OH CHRIST!!!!!!!!
this was the scariest/funniest/scariest thing i have ever seen. . .
on the subject of the immaculate conception:
I read a book years ago titled, The Mystical Life of Jesus
published by the Rosecrussian Order
if anyone is familiar with it, you will understand why it is one of my favorite books,
anyhow, it goes on to explain that in the time of the birth of Jesus, the word "virgin", simply refered to a woman who had not yet given birth, simply a woman with no offspring. . . . . .
HHMMMMMMMMM. . . . . . . . .interesting no?
CHUCK
after talkin in chat tonight....it has got me and a friend talkin about whether marijuana should be legalised.. my view...yes, .
i) who has the right to tell me what to do with my own body?.
ii) alcohol is a legalised drug....each year more deaths occur through alcohol abuse than marijuana usage.. iii) people smoke it anyway and the question is not bein addressed.. iv) it's great to get stoned!!!
I am definitely in favor of decriminalizing weed.
"the punishment for the crime should not be harsher than the crime itself"--Jimmy Carter
the only crime a pot smoker commits is possession of the substance, it doesn't seem quite fair to have to go through the judicial system, face fines and possible jail time, for a natural substance that is so resourceful. . .
Genesis 1:11---God said, "Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants, and fruit trees on earth, bearing fruit with their seed inside, each corresonding to its own species. And so it was."(New Jerusalem Bible)
as already mentioned by some of the other posts, the uses and benefits are many, from cleaner fuel to medicinal uses. . .
you will rarely, if ever, see stoners in a fight, cause they are too busy discussing the pointlessness of violence, yet the same can't be said about alcohol users. . . .
for those who don't want to consume smoke, teas and cakes, are some of the alternate ways to cut down on the smoke intake, water pipes are great filters where only the THC goes through and you get a "cleaner" high. . .
as a kid i was diagnosed with asthma, i began to smoke weed at the age of 23, haven't had an issue with my breathing since. . .
im NOT a doctor, but i know it worked for me, from what i understand it expands your bronchial tubes, thus allowing for easier air flow, cigarrettes on the other hand have a reverse effect, they clog up your bronchial tubes, i dont smoke cigs, so i guess that is why it has worked for me.
Weed Witness
CHUCK
jw convention programs 1969-1998: http://jwnet.org/conventions/.
jw in science fiction: http://www.adherents.com/lit/sf_jw.html
since we are on this subject of conventions, maybe some of you characters out there can relate to this. . .
i remember sitting with my friends and attempting to be the first to applaud, thus starting a chain reaction which lead to the rest of the stadium applauding.
this was especially easy to time during the sunday afternoon session, we would wait for whatever worthless annoucement spewed from the loudspeaker and then we would break into it,
a couple of times, we got ahead of ourselves, and of course the looks would come from the neighboring dubs, but most of the time we hit it dead on and it sounded cool. . .
anyways those were my later years when i needed amusement to endure the final hours
still the wise ass
CHUCK
if a man knocked on your door and introduced himself as jesus christ son of jehovah, would you ask him in and feed him or would you slam the door in his face and call the cops?.
if your daughter came home pregnant and claimed it was an imaculate conception, would you believe her?.
why do you believe in the other virgin birth?.
if someone came to my door claiming to be jesus. . .
i would explain to him that times have changed and that i need some proof in order to believe,
being that he is the understanding individual that he is im sure he would understand and be willing to oblige. . .
i would tell him to hold on a second and i would return with 4 items so that he could prove himself. . .
1. Lettuce
2. Sugar
3. Multi-Vitamins
4. Reem of Printer Paper
i would explain to him that though we still drink wine, i would need evidence of something more current, for i already am familiar with his water to wine magic trick.
i would ask him to convert my items into :
1. Weed
2. Coke
3. Amphetamines/Barbituates/ Ecstasy
4. Acid
having passed the test i would let him in for if nothing else he is quite the party animal. . .
CHUCK
as i sat back thinking of some of the discussions i've had with witnesses over the years, one always stands out.
the issue of the trinity teaching, whereby father(jehovah), son(jesus), and holy spirit when combined equal one god.
a witness friend from work once said that it was an impossability, and was beyond human understanding.. i asked him what he thought we believed about the trinity, to which he responded with a math lesson.. 1 jehovah god + 1 jesus god + 1 holy spirit god = 3 gods, he went on to state that 1 + 1 + 1 can never equal 1 god, it always equals 3. to which i added a little math lesson i learned as a child.. 1 jehovah god x 1 jesus god x 1 holy spirit god can equal 1 almighty god.
Robert:
your math makes perfect sense. . . .
All religion is created by man including man's interpretation of god. . .
Spirituality on the other hand no one needs to explain either you feel it or you don't. . .
the reason i responded though was to share the following:
there are many belief systems that push this trinity issue further as to say that god is:
five-fold,
seven-fold,
nine-fold(3 x 3)
most of these stem from earth based religions which have found patterns in creation and reflect the nature of the divine creator. . .
the Kabalah's tree of life takes up the suddivision up to 10.
where each sephiroth [light/energy/element] is an emanation of the divine one. . .
CHUCK
the may 15 2000 watchtower page 4 indicated that scholars at the jesus seminar had concluded that 82% of all the words attributed to jesus in the gospels were not authentic but 'derived from later tradition'.. it is difficult to say for yourself but i do find it remarkable that pauls letters do not contain any references to jesus' life, history or more importantly his teachings.
the sermon the mount, lords prayer or the golden rule etc.
do not get a mention in his words to fledgling congregations.
ISP:
my 3 cents worth:
1. Paul was made up by the church. There were 7 other loyal disciples that could have witten and incredibly not one of those has a gospel.
2. The book of St. Thomas has been kept a secret for too many years.
3. Jesus himself should have, could have, and probably did write something. Perhaps his writings will appear one day. . .
CHUCK
the bible story of the lost sheep is something we have heard from childhood and it is usually told in the context of the great love shown by the good shepherd, we find it in luke:.
*** rbi8 luke 15:4-6 ***.
what man of you with a hundred sheep, on losing one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine behind in the wilderness and go for the lost one until he finds it?
Logical, I really don't want to believe that you are THAT innocent.
like a lot of others here, i gave higher education a miss when i left school (1980).
under the encouragement of the society i pioneered for three years instead!.
now i clean windows for a living.
Nicolaou:
It is one of my goals in life now, to be the perpetual student. Last year I started college again and am working on a computer science degree. . .i'll be 31 in may.
CHUCK
the bible story of the lost sheep is something we have heard from childhood and it is usually told in the context of the great love shown by the good shepherd, we find it in luke:.
*** rbi8 luke 15:4-6 ***.
what man of you with a hundred sheep, on losing one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine behind in the wilderness and go for the lost one until he finds it?
It is fabled that in Greece every man keeps a Woman, Boy and Sheep. . . .
let this roll in your imagination. . . .
after all wasn't that a quote from the Greek scriptures?
another example of sect-ual decadence
CHUCK