yes, happy independence day!
now can the british invade again? just one more time, PLEASE!
God save the Queen
I love the fourth. Theres campfires and fireworks, hotdogs and brushfires..sheer magic.
really the only thing is my neighbor starts shooting 'em off on the third and doesn't stop for a week. Nothing like getting jarred at irregular intervals by purdy colored 'splosives.
smellsgood
*seriously though, America is a great country, God bless the stars and stripes*
the WT can stick its 'neutrality' in a sock.
smellsgood
JoinedPosts by smellsgood
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Just want to say Happy 4th to All !
by restrangled indear members of this forum:.
we all have different opinions, and can argue our points "ad nauseam" but we live free, are able to speak our minds, and worship as we wish..or not.. i am not registered red or blue, but appreciate living in this country and the freedom to think for myself.
i am wishing you all a great 4th and am glad most of you are my neighbors in one way or another!.
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smellsgood
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Overload me with Absurdities
by sammielee24 ini need some diversion today.
lets talk absurdities.
give me your list of what you found to be the most absurd rules to follow in the watchtower.
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smellsgood
ha ha
WT= channel of communication of God to men...
ha hahahahahahahahahaha
I bet Johnny Depp...
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WHAT MAKES YOU GLAD TO BE ALIVE.............?
by vitty ini live quite a mundane and often boring life..................due to circumstances beyond my control,.
but a few times a week i think "im so glad im alive "..............its usually when i take the dog out for a walk and see the lovely enviroment that im blessed to live in.. but today we fixed some lights up round the garden and now its gone dark finally ( 12pm).
they look so beautiful, i was stunned, a photo couldnt capture it.
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smellsgood
the thought of breakfast
smellsgood
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New posters introduce yourself please :D
by IP_SEC ini havent been around much the past 3 or 4 months.
i plan to be try and post more now.
the problem is that i see so many new people here that i dont know and dont think there's any way i could catch up with who's who just by reading.
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smellsgood
Hi there IP_SEC
oooh, my favorite kind of post, all about me.
I'm 22/f/US, never have been a JW, just find the religion itself very interesting, all y'all on this board make it real.
to further expand on the subject of *ME*,,, this is what pops into my head..
I like dark chocolate, oatmeal raisin cookies, and rabbit shaped cakes.
My beverage of choice is a quadruple espresso straight...
mmmmmm, vietnamese food....
I am not a marine biologist
...or a pro wrestler...
I'm fairly tall (5'8")
I haven't seen any movies in the cinema...since...I think the last one was the Zorro sequel...
I smoke...unfortunately, looking to kick that habit
I'm one of five children..
and I can't figure out where those handy little smiley face icons are!! where are you little yellow icons??
I know it seems theres more to me than most people, but if I missed something just ask.
bacon
smellsgood
* i don't shower often enough, so my name must be referring to something else..* -
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"Hell-fire/lake of fire" teachers, Is Jehovah going to "burn"unsaved babies
by booker-t ini was recently discussing this topic with my "pentacostal" fire and brimstone preaching granduncle.
he said that alot of christians try to be "politically correct" and wiggle out of this question for fear of "turning" people away.
he said that most born-again christians that believe in hell fire do believe that jehovah is going to torment babies in hell if their parents have not accepted jesus as their lord and savior.
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smellsgood
DD: Can you show me that in the bible?
smellsgood: I'm just saying what I have heard related w/ regard to children. I don't know exactly where they get it.
I think they mean something like when one is able to willfully choose right from wrong...something like that.
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OMG! Just had Mormons for 2 hours! What a great laugh!
by Mr Ben inok. so who created malaria?
mr ben oh dear.
mr ben you mean adam & eve had everlasting life?
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smellsgood
Qcmbr: Corrections in the Book Of Mormon - Joseph Smith dictated the book without punctuation as there was none on the records. The scribes inserted punctuation and made spelling mistakes. Joseph then had to go back over the written documents and correct what he could remember where he saw an incorrect transcription.
smellsgood: You are a mormon?
The changes were not ONLY simply spelling errors,,,there were deliberate alterations to the text.
Qcmbr: Of course the bible's billions of changes (made by scholars at best but often by politically motivated individuals) barely raise a comment
smellsgood: billions of changes? There is more manuscripts of the NT than any other ancient document. If nothing in the bible is true, than at least historically one can feel pretty secure that be it false/half truth/rubbish, that it is very very accurately copied rubbish, and has passed through the centuries remarkably solid.
true it is a different argument though.
How in the world did you get caught up in mormonism after escaping the WT????
They are so similar in so many ways, both started 19th century in America by men who were just so perplexed by all the different denominations...seeking the "true" one, God chose them to "restore first century Christianity" they both refer to themselves as "the truth" etc...
Did you research Mormonism, given when you were a JW you probably didn't have a chance to look at their history outside their sanitized version once a member?
Please I would be interested to know how you were converted? Did you become a Mormon right after the JWs, leave the JWs for mormonism?
smellsgood -
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"Hell-fire/lake of fire" teachers, Is Jehovah going to "burn"unsaved babies
by booker-t ini was recently discussing this topic with my "pentacostal" fire and brimstone preaching granduncle.
he said that alot of christians try to be "politically correct" and wiggle out of this question for fear of "turning" people away.
he said that most born-again christians that believe in hell fire do believe that jehovah is going to torment babies in hell if their parents have not accepted jesus as their lord and savior.
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smellsgood
LT: To a Christian the idea of a living hell is to be separated from Christ. ; Regardless of location or destination this would be the worst torment.
precisely
smellsgood -
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"Hell-fire/lake of fire" teachers, Is Jehovah going to "burn"unsaved babies
by booker-t ini was recently discussing this topic with my "pentacostal" fire and brimstone preaching granduncle.
he said that alot of christians try to be "politically correct" and wiggle out of this question for fear of "turning" people away.
he said that most born-again christians that believe in hell fire do believe that jehovah is going to torment babies in hell if their parents have not accepted jesus as their lord and savior.
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smellsgood
booker-T:I was recently discussing this topic with my "pentacostal" fire and brimstone preaching granduncle. ; He said that alot of christians try to be "politically correct" and wiggle out of this question for fear of "turning" people away. ; He said that most born-again christians that believe in hell fire do believe that Jehovah is going to torment babies in hell if their parents have not accepted jesus as their lord and savior.
smellsgood: I have never, ever, ever heard of that from any member, pastor, writer, or any other person who is of the Christian persuasion.
No, there's always been what was called the age of "accountability" or something like that. Babies? suffering for their parents sin? when they don't even have the ability to distinguish right from wrong, make their own choices, etc? I can't imagine anybody believing that. Better ask your Uncle to point out where exactly that very bizarre and as far as I know, rare belief comes from.
booker-T: I then ended the discussion with my grand-uncle and told him this is the main reason why I have a problem with christian's belief in hell fire. ; If Jehovah is going to torment babies then I don't won't to serve a God of Hate.
smellsgood: the main reason is because the christians you think believe that Jehovah will torment babies in hell?
seriously, I don't know where your uncle came up with that. I have never encountered that belief.
If that's your main problem you needn't be bothered about it, Christians do not believe that. Maybe your uncle does, but no, that is not found in any creed/church/book that I can think of.
No, God will not torment babies.
smellsgood -
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OMG! Just had Mormons for 2 hours! What a great laugh!
by Mr Ben inok. so who created malaria?
mr ben oh dear.
mr ben you mean adam & eve had everlasting life?
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smellsgood
Mr.Ben,
I see you went after some of the biblical based beliefs, but I would point out that their own books much like the watchtower publications are really their more common religious fodder. besides, any mormon will tell you the BOM, POGP, etc, are the "restored" gospels, and more trustworthy than the bible cos the bible "has been translated just so many times!"
I've heard that mormonism doesn't go over very well in europe...it is an american raised/based religion.
This may not be in any of their books, but the mormon my friend dated for four years or so told her about a belief that the devil lives underwater, and this is why a mormon would not go swimming while he/she's is on a mission...
The book of mormon itself was written in 14th century english, while Joseph lived in the 19th century (copy KJV)
Although the book of Mormon itself was WRITTEN in english, no translation necessary INTO english, it has had 3,000 changes made to it in its short scriptural existence.
the native americans jewish decent, polygamy, holy underwear, baptism of the dead, blood atonement (sometimes you need to atone for your own sins), the fact that you a man must call his wifes special name given to her in the "temple" for her to go to heaven...
the book of abraham translated from a papyrus joseph smith thought had been lost "God breathed" text...only to be discovered years later again, a picture of Isis and Osiris on the cover, (he thought it was Abraham I believe), and once translated by actual egyptologists, the fact that joseph had made the entire thing up in his fantasy land was clear as ink.
"Not only is there no archeological evidence for a language such as “reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics,” there is no archeological support for lands such as the “land of Moron” (Ether 7:6). Nor is there any archeological evidence to buttress the notion that the Jaredites, Nephites, and Lamanites migrated from Israel to the Americas. On the contrary, both archeology and anthropology demonstrate conclusively that the people and places chronicled in the Book of Mormon are little more than the product of a fertile imagination.
Finally, Joseph Smith asserted that the golden plates were translated “by the power of God” and produced “the most correct of any book on earth.” Joseph F. Smith, the sixth president of the Mormon Church, went so far as to say that the words were not only correct but “every letter was given to [Smith] by the gift and power of God.” In reality, however, the Book of Mormon has had to be corrected thousands of times to compensate for Smith’s poor grammar and spelling."
http://www.equip.org/free/JAM530.htm
mormonism is pretty interesting. I live in a town where the majority of the pop. is mormons, school is run by them, etc...
felt sorry for the schoolmates who had to get up at 5:00 every morning to go to services before school.
last mormons i saw were at a salon in wal mart, with their little nametags and bookbags, spending quite sometime I suppose looking for pomeade to style theirselves purdy.
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Truthfully..do you think you are being shunned or.......
by Snoozy inmany on here say they are being shunned by their family members.in some case this is probably true.
but seriously..could it be that they have a life and they may not have time for you anyway?
or finds you not too much fun to be around?.
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smellsgood
"If you can move on with your life and not argue with them when you are around them"
smellsgood: "evil endures when good men remain silent" whose best interest is that in???? not yours, not theirs, that viewpoint only serves one thing, the Watchtower.
snoozy: "They choose to be the religion they are."
smellsgood: they were duped and their choice is one of a persons who's information was handpicked diluted and strained through a narrow gulley, in other words, they were manipulated.
snoozy: "We can't usually change their mind. Why should we?"
smellsgood: That is a very dangerous attitude, not only w/regard to persons enslaved in a cult, but also in many areas. Ideas drive actions. Beliefs can bend character.
WE SHOULD BECAUSE THEY ARE JUST AS WORTHY AS FREEDOM AS YOU ARE
,,,think about that in terms of another avenue where people come up against conflict w/regard to beliefs,,,
don't ever make the mistake of slipping into passivity since "ahhh, others will be what they be" think of those who were enraptured by Charles Mansons helter skelter lunacy. If you had been part of that group, found out that that it was madness, wouldn't you have gone back and tried to talk some sense to those you knew, no matter what resistance or retaliation came your way?
I think it is even MORE important to people when it is their family.
You realised you were being lied to, working a corrupt organizations agenda, and why would you want anybody you gave two whits about doing the same.
I'm thinking of the phantom tollbooth, where Milo is instructed by the demon of useless tasks to move a large pile of sand, one grain at a time, from here to there using a pair of tweezers.
He does what the nicely attired, polite demon tells him to
He does eventually pull out the mathematicians pencil and after calculationg the astronomical time the eyedropper/well routine would actually take, it breaks the "spell." He realises the pointlessness of this, and that he was just persuaded to do something that is vacuous, inane, and he gets on his way, upsetting of course, the demons machinations.
Reading this, you just want to shout at Milo that there's no point to this, you've been had, put the tweezers down and get the hell out of there. That is the natural inclination, to save somebody from doing something that is no good, worthless, or even harmful.
snoozy: They have their life and we have ours. If they want to say.."We can't associate with you because you aren't a JW.".so be it. Pick up the pieces and go on with your life. If they change their minds they will know how to find you.
smellsgood: I see what you are trying to say. I just must disagree that the best method is just to shuttup. And that this may be the cause of why those are shunned, cos they can't do it. Just yesterday I was reading I forgot who, who did not say word one about the WT, and yet was being viciously shunned only as a result of their non-membership.
I just disagree with the viewpoint that passivity is a good way to go about things. From where I sit, it doesn't make a difference as to how you are treated, it's not a reaction to your "behavior" after you are no longer one of JW's, its mandated how they are to treat you in the 'event of' ,,before any wrongdoing or disagreement even occurs.
Again, the only true beneficiary of the "shuttup and let them just continue on" is the Watch Tower corporation. Silence and control is their best ally.
Besides all that, yes, people should live their lives as best they can. Unfortunately this organization takes away so much, how can it not have an impact.
smellsgood