Posts by Abandoned

"if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.

Abandoned

Being creative is head-pounding, nail-biting, hard work no matter what your profession. So bottom line—ya gotta find the humor in it or you'll die like a rat on the road. - Richard Krzemien

60

JW IQ's. Below average? (Includes SM anecdote.)

by Open mind in

are dub bulbs just a little dimmer than the general population?

here's a little highlight from this week's local service meeting that prompts my question.. it's the annual, 20 minute, robotic hand-pumping session conducted by the secretary trying to get everyone all hyped/guilted up for this summer's district convention.

anyway, towards the end of the q&a, there's a paragraph that talks about offering a ride to the elderly/infirm ones in your congo.

Abandoned

So are JWs in general any less intelligent than the general, Jerry Springer-watching public?

With the brain-washing, definitely. Without it, probably not.

I don't think you have to be especially stupid or slow or anything negative at all to fall for the JW ruse. Their message isn't formatted like a poorly spelled letter from a Nigerian Princes (sic). It is well packaged, presented by smiling, seemingly-happy people, and sold as the perfect solution to everything that's wrong, everywhere. But, that's just the presentation. What keeps them coming back is the mind control tactics. They affect people regardless of intellect, IQ, or reasoning ability.

Luckily, we live in a world with abundant information so high control groups have a harder time keeping someone in their grasp.

8

Maybe God is evolving, too..........

by journey-on in

jw
friends

with all the topics about god and whether he loves us or not....why he was such a meanie in the ot......his habit of flip-flopping from loving to raging to loving again....made me think:.

if the bible god is real, maybe he, too, is evolving spiritually.

maybe when he created us, he thought in "black and white" concepts: i set the rules...you obey them....if you do, i'll be nice and reward you....if you don't, i'll punish the hell out of you (including but not limited to death by stoning).

Abandoned

Are you reading Stephen Colbert's new book? He has a chart that shows the evolution of God. Funny stuff.

26

Did/Does God really love people?

by buffalosrfree in

at john 3:16 god says he loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believed in him will have everlasting life.

yet in revelation satan and the demons were kicked out of heaven and hurled to the earth.

how is that loving, what could possibly be the reason he would do that if he really loved us.

Abandoned

Thanks for the kind words.

Let me beat others to the punch: Yeah, kinda sad, huh? Just an honest expression of what my spiritual journey (such as it is) has led to.

I don't think your conclusion is sad in the least. We all do have our own journey and we are affected by things differently. I love nature. I love the wonderful things that exist in nature. I don't even care how they got here too much. But, the guy in charge, the guy watching what's going on right now, does not in any way match a definition of love that I would espouse.

26

Did/Does God really love people?

by buffalosrfree in

at john 3:16 god says he loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believed in him will have everlasting life.

yet in revelation satan and the demons were kicked out of heaven and hurled to the earth.

how is that loving, what could possibly be the reason he would do that if he really loved us.

Abandoned

Does God really love people?

Interesting question. Made even more interesting since he either chooses not to or is incapable of answering the question conclusively. Before I continue, I need to clear up my use of the male pronoun when referring to God. I realize that God as a sexual being is completely unsubstantiated. My use of the male pronoun, therefore, is based on habit and my feeling that referring to God as IT is going to annoy the theists a tad bit more than referring to God as HIM will annoy the Women's Rights groups. Perhaps I feel that as a group, women are more forgiving than those religiously inclined. At any rate, I will be sticking with HE/HIM/HIS throughout this thesis.

Before we can continue any further, terms need to be defined.

Love. What is love? Since love can be tough, all-encompassing, conditional, unconditional, and posess many other contradictory attributes, for the purpose of this thesis, I am going to stick to the number one definition found at www.dictionary.com:

love / l?v / Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation [ luhv ] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation noun, verb, loved, lov·ing. –noun
1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.

Based on this widely accepted definition of the word love, what again is the question:

Does God really have a profoundly tender, passionate affection for people?

What do the conditions found on the earth today suggest? When answering this question, is it fair for us to put ourselves in God's shoes? Since we can't prove comprehensively that he even exists, we can't prove or disapprove whether he views things as we do or not. So, again, for the purpose of this thesis I'm going to consider that God views emotional issues as does mankind as a whole. i.e. things that mankind considers criminal (stealing, murder, rape, abuse) are things that God considers criminal. And likewise, things that mankind considers righteous and virtuous (honor, loyalty, sacrifice, and charity) are things that God esteems. I would have used the ten commandments as a guide except for two reasons: Number one, the bible isn't universally accepted as having credibility and number two, it weighs disrespect for an invisible being (God) above the actual mistreatment of those visibly present. One further mark against the ten commandments is that no legitimate body of legislation in existence on the earth today mirrors the content found within.

Profoundly tender. Passionate affection. Notice how both of these phrases are pro-active. Both of them suggest not just noticing something suffering and feeling bad for it, but taking on its suffering and doing whatever is possible to alleviate it. Do we see this type of energy being exerted toward those who suffer today? Are children abused emotionally, physically, and sexually while their abusers go unpunished? Sometimes. Do evil men rise up and enslave their fellow countrymen, beating, imprisoning, and even killing those who oppose their despotic rule? Absolutely. Are earth's abundant resources shared among all people equally? Not at all.

With just these three examples, do we have any reason at all whatsoever to believe there is an all powerful and loving God watching and helping those who need it? At best, God is either too busy or unable to rise to the challenge. Or perhaps as some theists suggest, he is waiting for things to get even worse before he and his go on a rampage of destruction that pales by comparison the many atrocious acts found in mankind's storied history.

So to answer the question, does God really love people, my opinion is a resounding NO!

7

This is a Super Cool video...so Super Cool

by wanderlustguy in

jw
friends

.

Abandoned

Duh! I'm slow.

I would like to change my previous post from

That was hilarious. "Here you can have this back. I don't deserve it." I nearly bust a gut.

to

That was SUPER COOL and hilarious. "Here you can have this back. I don't deserve it." I nearly bust a SUPER COOL gut.

3

RE Minimus topic re giving parents blood

by ShirleyW in

jw
friends

not meaning to take away from minimus posting, but i have a quite interesting experience i'd like to share with my "ex borg brothers and sisters".

just want to say first off the feeling that ran through my mind when i gave the dr. the ok to give my mom blood, and she just has a minor procedure .

i tell you, those jehoobers do a number on your brain, especially if you were rasied within the fantasy.. day after her operation, needless to say sis.

Abandoned

no matter what they want or told you to do if something happens to them, you can't make a medical decision based on a man made religion that isn't even old enough as the light bulb ! ! !

Amen!

62

Having a guilty conscience and maybe I should go back to JW

by hambeak in

i have read the new wt and am thinking of going back.

i believe a lot of the teachings and i see what is going on .

i just feel a lot of confusion right now.

Abandoned

What makes you think that going back to an organization that is constantly tellilng you that you better do more or God is going to hate you will make you feel good about yourself? If you are serious, why don't you find a therapist who can help you weed out the thistles that the watchtower has planted in your brain?