Posts by Open mind

2

JamesThomas - I salute you

by mavie in

jw
friends

i am continually impressed with your contribution to this site.

as someone who is beginning to detach myself from 'the book', i find wisdom in the words you write.. thank you..

I know there's been plenty of "Which Posters Are Your Favorites?" threads, but I couldn't help but jump in on this with a hearty, "I salute you too." James, your calm manner and eloquence really strike a chord with me. At first some expressions you've used, like "small, tribal god" really bothered me because of a lack of understanding on my part. But no longer. Please don't take this as an insult, but you are truly ‘like a hiding place from the wind . . . , like streams of water in a waterless country, like the shadow of a heavy crag in an exhausted land.’”—Isaiah 32:2. Thank you for speaking so truthfully. Open Mind p.s. If I had to start my own "Who's Your Favorite" thread, it would be hard to keep my list under 100, so I don't think I'll do that.

26

What movie or TV show would U recommend 2 break thru cognitive dissonance?

by Open mind in

talk about "food at the proper time"!!

i was just perusing this forum and stumbled across a post by abandoned called "the joy of sect".

it's a simpson's episode where homer joins a cult.

Open mind

Thanks everyone! Keep 'em coming.

By the way, forget about my "R-rated" prohibition. If they're rated R I'll watch them and add them to my list of future "good" R-rated movies to try to get my wife to watch. I was thinking "Schindler's List" would be good to break the "R-rated" ice with her since it's gotten so many rave reviews.

Gotta go,

Thanks,

Open Mind

39

New Light on Lions Eating Straw ! ? !

by Open mind in

newbie poster here looking for advice.

i've been looking for posts on the borg moving away from a literal understanding of isaiah 65:25 and couldn't find any.

i posted in the private support members only area with a much longer post and it's been pretty much ignored.

Open mind

Ever looked at the picture of the young woman that turns into an old woman depending on where you focus?

Same with Borg "weasle words". Read them once and you get one thing. Read them again, particularly after "new light" has officially come out, and you can look back and see the glimmers of "new light" in the test baloon weasle words that were there all along.

Blondie quoted: 4/15/00 WT. This will be real. Peace will prevail among humans and will be matched by peace with the animals

When I first read that, I thought, OK, duh, they still say it's literal. Veggie burgers all around for the lions. But on a ~~second~~ fourth reading of it, the weasily "new light" started shining through. Can you see it? "Peace will prevail amonghumans and will be matched by peace withthe animals."

Sooooo, here's the new light according to my crystal ball: Humans won't be killing each other anymore since peace will prevail among humans. Wild animals won't be killing humans anymore since we will have peace with the animals. But if Mufasa gets a hankering for some tasty gazelle sashimi, the gazelle will be history. How about what TD said?

TD said: " Instead of moving away from this teaching, the pendulum actually seems to be swinging back again. For example, there was a picture in a recent (Within the last year) Watchtower showing a lion grazing alongside a bull."

The bull will be safe because Jehovah will miraculously make him stink really bad ( or something equally as wacky ) since the commentary in the Isaiah book made it clear that the lion would not harm humans or their domesticated animals. Question for TD: Have you seen a picture recently showing a wild carniverous predator buddying up with it's former, non-domesticated, pre-Armageddon prey?

Now granted, they didn't come out and directly say that Bambi's gonna have to watch his back because the "light of truth" is progressive and that much truth all at once would be beyond what us poor little feeble minded dubs could bear.

One problem with this new light is that it still requires miraculous divine intervention to keep the "wild" animals from eating us humans and our pets, but it won't require reworking the entire biosphere of the planet. So all us "syentific types with our fancy book lernin" will still be required to have enough ~~gullibility~~ faith that Jehovah will be making some sort of force field to keep the lions away from humans and their pets/domesticated animals.

Then again, the GB might be smoking a completely different brand of wacky tabacky on "new light day", and all my crystal ball prognosticatin' won't mean squat.

Open Mind

(of the, "i can see new light behind every bush conspiracy theory", class)

26

What movie or TV show would U recommend 2 break thru cognitive dissonance?

by Open mind in

talk about "food at the proper time"!!

i was just perusing this forum and stumbled across a post by abandoned called "the joy of sect".

it's a simpson's episode where homer joins a cult.

Open mind

Talk about "food at the proper time"!! I was just perusing this forum and stumbled across a post by Abandoned called "The Joy of Sect". It's a Simpson's episode where Homer joins a cult. My family does Netflix bigtime and I'd say "worldly entertainment" is our Achilles heel that, thanks to Abandoned's post, I'm planning on exploiting more consciously. I'm going to get some Simpsons DVDs and see if I can hook the family in with some really good episodes and then slip in "The Joy of Sect".

Any and all recommendations would be greatly appreciated with one caveat: We're not ready for the "R-rated" category. Although I suppose if it's really, really good, I could try recording it off broadcast TV. I did convince my wife to watch "Saving Private Ryan" when it was broadcast uncut, but so far, that's the only unedited "R" rated movie we've watched together. Isn't it amazing how grown adults can be made to feel like they're an underage kid sneaking in to a "bad" movie?

Thanks again to Abandoned!

Open Mind

12

The Joy of Sect

by Abandoned in

ok, now i know a bunch of you have to have seen this episode of the simpsons.

it's where homer gets a tract from some cultists at the airport and decides to attend their retreat.. .

the simpsons are seated around the dinner table talking.. marge: "what?".

Open mind

Abandoned:

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!

This will be a perfect subversive tool to use on my spouse and kids. I think I'll try getting them hooked on some other episodes first and slip this one in.

Open Mind

41

JW are total Bullies

by sandy in

my grandmother passed away the other night.

it was expected; she's been sick in/out of the hospital for a while now.

most of us are more relieved than anything else because she has been so miserable these last six months or longer.

Open mind

Sandy,

So sorry to hear about your loss. And you are spot on about the "Bullies" part.

I can't believe how insensitive and clueless "true believing" dubs can be.

Even when I was a pretty full-functioning robot unit, I could never bring myself to give someone a "When Someone You Love Dies" sales brochure. I mean, here's someone in a very fragile emotional state and I'm supposed to elbow my way in and say: "Uh, Excuse me, pardon me, but how about letting me stomp on some of your most cherished beliefs during your time of loss?"

Remember the good things about your Grandmother and try not to let the Bullies really get to you.

Open Mind

16

Glass Clinking Still from Satan per latest QFR

by Open mind in

my wife and i have for many years thought that glass clinking was soon going to go the way of wind chimes and pinatas.

we were both blown away by the recent "questions from readers" saying that toasting is still the work of the devil and not for christians.. i even had an elder in my hall admit the logic didn't really hold up.

anyway, i thought it was definitely "food at the proper time" .

Open mind

To Mary:

Homer Simpson here with a most heartfelt "DOH!!!!"

When I clicked on your post, I thought, "OK, so that's how a Supreme One would post this."

Very nicely done.

BTW, (If you can briefly indulge a newbie here, how much cutting and pasting can I do from WT sources without getting Simon or myself in trouble? )

Open Mind (aka Homer S.)

39

New Light on Lions Eating Straw ! ? !

by Open mind in

newbie poster here looking for advice.

i've been looking for posts on the borg moving away from a literal understanding of isaiah 65:25 and couldn't find any.

i posted in the private support members only area with a much longer post and it's been pretty much ignored.

Open mind

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Blondie -- Thanks for the 4/15/00 WT quote. I should have zeroed in on that one when going over the Bible reading with the kids. Instead I found what I thought was a slimy, quiet, "Let's slip this in and hope nobody picks up on it" approach in the Isaiah Prophecy Book, Volume 2. I'm posting from work so I can't paste a full quote, but towards the back of the book, the commentary on Isaiah 65:25 says that lions would "IN EFFECT" eat straw just like the bull, in that they would not harm humans or their domesticated animals. Sounded like a slippery slide toward "new light" to me when I read it.

Here's the link for my post over in Private Discussion & Support for those who feel like reading the long version which includes the dialogue with my kids and me trying to promote ~~apostate ideas~~ critical thinking skills in their half-washed brains:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/9/131214/1.ashx

I think I'll latch on to the 2000 WT quote and stick with it as the "present truth" which is pretty hard to swallow.

Thanks again,

Open Mind

39

New Light on Lions Eating Straw ! ? !

by Open mind in

newbie poster here looking for advice.

i've been looking for posts on the borg moving away from a literal understanding of isaiah 65:25 and couldn't find any.

i posted in the private support members only area with a much longer post and it's been pretty much ignored.

Open mind

Hello,

Newbie poster here looking for advice.

I've been looking for posts on the Borg moving away from a literal understanding of Isaiah 65:25 and couldn't find any. I posted in the Private Support Members Only area with a much longer post and it's been pretty much ignored. (Except for one response from Mystla, Thanks!!! ) The post title was "Need Help w/kids on this: No More Veggie Burgers for the Lions" Has this been hashed out before?

Did I post it in a inappropriate area? Was it just a dumb sounding title? By even asking this here am I violating the "anti-spamming" guideline? If so, I apologize in advance.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Open Mind

16

Glass Clinking Still from Satan per latest QFR

by Open mind in

my wife and i have for many years thought that glass clinking was soon going to go the way of wind chimes and pinatas.

we were both blown away by the recent "questions from readers" saying that toasting is still the work of the devil and not for christians.. i even had an elder in my hall admit the logic didn't really hold up.

anyway, i thought it was definitely "food at the proper time" .

Open mind

My wife and I have for many years thought that glass clinking was soon going to go the way of wind chimes and pinatas. We were both blown away by the recent "Questions from Readers" saying that toasting is still the work of the Devil and not for Christians.

I even had an elder in my hall admit the logic didn't really hold up. Anyway, I thought it was definitely "food at the proper time" because my wife and I both think they're way out to lunch on this one, even though she's got a VERY LONG way to go, if ever, before she sees the truth about the troof.

Has anyone else read this thing?

Open Mind