i've been here one year!!.
april 4, 2009. i re-read my first post.
wow!
Hey there! Congrats! :)
I still only post here to try to be the all time post leader, but Minimus keeps starting these threads... Damn red dot! (but I digress....)
You have really picked up the ball in life, and that is the thing that deserves the greatest congratulations. You have done what the WTBTS bet against you doing, assuming responsibility for both your own life and happiness. That is the coolest thing of all.
as i mentioned in a previous topic, the use of quantity, numbering, dates, measurements and such in the bible is impossibly wonky for several reaasons.. 1. in hebrew, greek and latin there were no separate number symbols exclusively used for math purposes.
instead, letters of their alphabet did double-duty.
2. superstitious ideas about the "meaning" of numbers was rampant and gematria (looking for hidden mysterious in the inherent "number of "words") preoccupied scriptural writing and studies.. 3. calendar changes throughout history (such as the switch from the julian calendar to the gregorian) were haphazardly begun by different countries at different times.
Damn it!
(I'm in a mood....)
Dough, perhaps you don't realize the good that this board does, or the contributions that Terry has made. His arguments are logical, dispassionate, fully explained, and he comes back to answer questions.
.....while you shamelessly plug your pro Christian website and insist that Terry isn't as smart as you?
Smart is as smart ass as smart does.
Terry, not my point to defend you per se. I for one always admire your posts, and while I am in favor of higher education, having had to deal with many college graduates, I can tell you that the possession of a degree in no way indicates real intelligence.
Keep up the good work Terry. :)
i thought about that question myself and i don't think i really hate anyone.
i guess i could hate bin laden or some nameless evil terrorist but no one comes to mind..
I don't hate people.... except....
Alex Ovechkin
Danny Carcillo
Scott Hartnell.
Thats my hockey list. It isn't football season yet.
did anyone notice?.
It did in Africa. Trust me.
was dr. kevorkian a murderer or a man of mercy?.
just curios about your thoughts on the subject.. i guess i've been thinking of this lately because of a lot of the brothers and sisters in my area.
seem to be getting far up in years and it's hard to watch them go through all the pain they're .
First of all, the right of a patient in pain from a diagnosed terminal illness when all options have been reasonably exhausted should include a humane way to end their suffering.
It is a personal choice. Watching my mom in pain and fight like hell to live is excrutiating. I have seen similar situations where such people openly asked if they could just end it all. We all have heard the news stories.
Kevorkian, regardless of whether he was the right man or not to lead the charge on the issue, is alright in my book. He wasn't ever looking for people to kill. He was usually approached by terminally ill, suffering people who wanted to end their suffering. They didn't want to suck on a tail pipe of a running car in their garage or shoot themselves in the head. They wanted some dignity to their death. But doctors are not "permitted" to assist in these endeavors.
For those in pain, a medical way to end their suffering should be there as an option. They are sort of halfway there with hospice care. After a certain point, hospice patients are so drugged up to feel no pain that they aren't in their totally right mind either. It isn't a huge leap to the next logical step for certain terminally ill people.
i'm trying to compare some statistics and figures on this to share later in the thread to see if more long-time witnesses are exiting- or are newer witnesses exiting after a shorter period of time.
and - are more people exiting in the last 10 to 15 years than before.
so your answers would be helpful in looking into this .
Baptized in 1988 as a 13 year old. Last meeting was 2006.
{revelation 12:7-17 nwt}.
revelation 12:7-17 nwt}.
" {revelation 7:13-17 nwt}.
I'm sorry, but my bullsh*t meter has redlined since Thursday. Please don't step in any brown patties as you read further.........
i have come to realize that this religion is based almost solely on performance and that is the most dangerous.. i always felt that as a person or jw (while an active witness)that i was always just as good as my last assignment, comment at the watchtower meeting, feild service report.. this left me with a huge identity crisis in the borgorg......... i really didn't know who the hell i was?.
did any of you feel similair?
.
A person can be wonderful, "Christlike", humble, loving, a genuinely good person, but be below 10 hours, and you are not "exemplary",
A person can be a borderline prick, or even a full blown prick, and if they are consistent with 10 hours or more, or worse yet, actually pioneering, then the sky is the limit for them.
Why do they almost only interview "full time" servants instead of "Christlike" servants at the Assemblies? There it is in a nutshell, its about your time, not your attitude.
Is it dangerous? Yup, esp for those who prefer to be a good person instead of a good producer.
i know that my daughters abuser was a min servant when he abused girls in the cong then got reprooved when found out , i presume he was then stopped from being a min servant but he never answered at meeting s despite every meeting standing at the back counting people present .
when i started attending meetings i wondered why he never answered but was not too shy to count people every meeting , when i asked my bible study conducter she never really gave a straight answer and looked embaressed .
i thought if you had been accused of abuse you could not have priveliges ..
The leadership creates a great dichotemy by both glorifying (for their convenience) the most menial tasks, such as taking attendence at the meetings. Because of this, any pedophile within their midst should absolutely be barred from doing things like taking attendance, not because its a menial task, but because of how it is viewed within the JW community. Does it matter? In some areas, yes, others, no.
i'm wondering how people feel about us exjws either becoming atheists or continuing on with a faith in god?.
do you get angry or frustrated at the opposing view?.
i'm new but i've seen different reactions to both on here...as for me i am happy to live and let live nowadays...its ok with me whatever people want to choose for themselves..... personally i still have enormous faith and love for god....if the jws couldnt destroy it i dont think much else could...?.
I allow for both. At first, I was solidly in the atheist corner on arguements, and you can still tell I side with them in all matters relating to logic and proof. However, I know and see the value that belief in god and higher powers brings, and I don't ignore that. Nor do I think it should be my life's work to intrude in such matters, as long as theists don't intrude in my life and my decisions, lifestyles, and beliefs. (or lack therof)
