absolutely, valkerie- none of mine were well planned and only 2 were deliberate.
Maeve
humbled
JoinedPosts by humbled
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Imagine A World Where Being "Gay" The Norm & Being "Straight" Would Be The Minority!
by Dis-Member inimagine a world where being "gay" the norm & being "straight" would be the minority!
[short film].. .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnojgdw0gpi.
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Imagine A World Where Being "Gay" The Norm & Being "Straight" Would Be The Minority!
by Dis-Member inimagine a world where being "gay" the norm & being "straight" would be the minority!
[short film].. .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnojgdw0gpi.
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humbled
Getting to the personal: Years ago, before I was a JW, I knew a kid in the community who everyone knew had an "identity" problem--as in sexual id. In early teens it was obviously not gay, but not lined up on mind/body for gender. Later, changes were made surgically and that individual disappeared from the community. Family accepted a "re-assigned" person.
Another instance. I attended an old primitive Baptist church n the back woods for a while and there was a quiet 40-ish man who was named Francis who still lived with his old mom and dad. Everyone in the tiny stone church knew that when he was born he was named "Frances"--They were not entirely sure if they had a boy child or a girl child. Puberty came to Frances in her dresses but when it was over he was wearing trousers--and they spelled his name "Francis". No surgery--just nature.
This is real stuff. We are born the way we are born. Is it a mess-up? Can't blame them, can't blame God. Life on earth won't end if they find a mate and make a family.
Go with it people.
I am a woman--I've birthed 7 children. That's the way I was born. I know gay men and gay women. They are good friends. One of these friends whom I met while I was a JW asked me this year why I became her friend and didn't cut her off because she is gay. I told her that I just knew it wasn't right.
Let them alone to find their way. Life should not be harder for them than it is for heteros. It is no harm to anyone.
Maeve
Edit: I'm glad you posted the video, Dis-member. Well done.
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Is it possible for believers to ask for something in prayer that doesn't......
by punkofnice in....involve someone else being controlledor affected by your chosen god?.
if someone else is controlled or affected, doesn't this mean that freewill is out the window?.
surely god either does or doesn't answer prayers?.
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humbled
Sure, pray to have good sense and be genuinely fair and kind in dealing with others. If that has an effect on them it's not that it undermines their free will.*
*Edited: Of course this is in line with the quote provided by ADCMS by Epicurius. We must do this ourselves.
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I know why you are here.
by compound complex ingreetings, friends:.
wishing you well today.
below is a story that came to mind as i lay awake, contemplating the new day.
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humbled
Coco,
Reading this makes me wonder if you hear from snowbird. I used to enjoy listening in on ya'll's literary threads...
take care, brother.
Maeve
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What if...
by DeWandelaar ini was having a short conversation with my neighbour.
they are very nice people and they are moslim.
because the weather is getting more extremer by the day (all over the world) and it was cold this morning i started talking about the weather.
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humbled
DeWandelaar,
In the end, the writings are 2,000 years old. If finally there are global events, what of it?
If a dinosaur bible had warned of a coming cataclysm, well--eventually it came about. and an ice age later
If a fortune teller told me I would die, should I pay them for telling me something I didn't know would happen sooner or later?
The bottom line for me is only this:am I living in a way that won't shame me no matter if I had to answer to Jesus or to myself only.
On the other hand, I think we humans are not treating the earth with the respect due it.
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Ex- Jehovers Witnesses finds Christ...
by new hope and happiness inrecentley i read ray franz book " christian freedom" and it occurd to me if he had lost his faith and become athiest the society would have delighted in that.
i think had ray turned athiest it would have been more easily " justified" in the mags what a " evil man he was" ....but maintaining his faith left the possibillity the society could be wrong.. .
i am athiest but i kept this to myself when i left... any comments?.
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humbled
You know, Jgnat, if I have heard you at all, you have had a consistent voice or perspective in outlook that your daughter may appreciate as she talks more to you.
You seemed to allow for a "god" who was reasonable and loving. When your knowledge expanded, you were still open to that god. If your posts on the epic tsunami thread are a fair measure of where you are now, then your estimate of the Christian God of the bible doesn't meet the original criteria you held. god is not found there.
At any rate, I know I have changed. The God of the bible is man's creature. But I am still exploring the Good that we all long for.
I hope she lets herself talk more about this.
take care, Maeve
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Ex- Jehovers Witnesses finds Christ...
by new hope and happiness inrecentley i read ray franz book " christian freedom" and it occurd to me if he had lost his faith and become athiest the society would have delighted in that.
i think had ray turned athiest it would have been more easily " justified" in the mags what a " evil man he was" ....but maintaining his faith left the possibillity the society could be wrong.. .
i am athiest but i kept this to myself when i left... any comments?.
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humbled
Right, New Hope.
Until now my simple explanation for leaving the JWs was"I didn't leave because I DON'T believe in God, I left because I DO."
(A not-so -simple situation when you do not believe in the-bible-god any more.)
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Humans used a hearth for fire and cooking 300,000 years ago!
by Comatose inhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140127101236.htm.
summary:.
when did humans really begin to control fire and use it for their daily needs?
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humbled
^^^^^^^^Sir 82, Perfect! Exactly! ^^^^^^^^^^^
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Alleged Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus
by JanH inmost exjws are familiar with the claims that the gospel accounts about jesus "fulfills" around 300 prophecies in the old testament.
this claim is taken verbatim from christian fundamentalists.
checking out these so-called prophecies will reveal that they do not stand up to scrutiny.
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humbled
For many of us the grave disappointment and conflict we faced in religion was how the words of Jesus were overwhelmed by the claims of the religious interpreters of the NT.
Jesus said he stood on his teachings. that is in the accepted canon of scripture and the heretical (so-called)gospels.
It is clear in the gospels, inspite of religion, that religion should never claim our conscience.
Getting thrown out of the synagoge should be a badge of honor for a christian--but no church will teach that!
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Ex- Jehovers Witnesses finds Christ...
by new hope and happiness inrecentley i read ray franz book " christian freedom" and it occurd to me if he had lost his faith and become athiest the society would have delighted in that.
i think had ray turned athiest it would have been more easily " justified" in the mags what a " evil man he was" ....but maintaining his faith left the possibillity the society could be wrong.. .
i am athiest but i kept this to myself when i left... any comments?.
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humbled
Very interesting OP and conversation.
It's hard to unravel the God thing altogether.
It is one thing to throw over a lying destructive cult. And next you question all religion. and then question the experiences you have had and attributed to God. And THEN ask why the hell you believe in any of the cock-and-bull stories that have come down these past 6000+ years of other people's stories about god.
It is a weight to have to lift. I know of too many "miracles" that I had to allow that happen by chance. Not hearsay. but wonderful personal events. But I know that these things have also happened or not happened to others in a fashion so random that my own experience cannot be attributed to god. There is no reason for me to believe a loving god is so inconsiderate and inconsistent.
Illustration that helped me think:My sister has a pet box turtle she acquired when she opened her door in central Arkansas on New Years day--at the foot of the steps a wash of leaves with crusts of frost on them she saw a new hatched turtle, complete with a bump on its beak(egg "tooth"). I saw it with my own eyes afew days later.
No lies, no miracle, a strange event neverthe less. There had to be a series of natural events that made that turtle as amazing as Moses in the bulrushes.
And he ain't even a christian.
But I have no trouble with the scant evidence that a carpenter during the roman occupation of Judea broke out with a Pete Seeger message to the poor.
Religion serves good teachings a BAD TURN. Teachings are valuable when they build love and friendship. Bad teachings only make you followers. When teachings fail to help you become self-reflectively honest and loving then they are shams.
As for Ray--I love that Ray wrote what he did. I don't know quite how my religious friends will deal with me as my own understanding of god has changed.....
I'm listening to you, New Hope, Kate, Lucid, Punky....