Posts by some-xjw-guy

14

1930's book on the Occult has article on Charles Russell

by lovelylil in

a friend of mine sent me a link today for a rare book on the occult printed in 1933. it has an article on pages 539-540 on russell and the russellites.

and in the index on page 737 it lists russell's name with a mason symbol next to it.

you can save this whole book to your computer.

some-xjw-guy

So it was "a-cult" from the beginning?

(I know, doesn't go as well in print)

27

You Are Going to Die at Armageddon

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

you are going to die at armageddonduring public talks, assemblies and written throughout the watchtower literature .

was the threat that anyone who was not doing gods will, would suffer the loss of their life.

during the great day of god almighty.. what affect did that have on you?the fear brought on by this doomsday message probably kept me in the organ-.

some-xjw-guy

To quote the movie Dogma: "Organized religion destroys who we are by inhibiting our actions, by inhibiting our decisions, out of - out of fear of some -- some intangible parent figure who -- who shakes a finger at us from thousands of years ago, and says -- and says: "Do it, do it and I'll f*cking spank you!"

25

Who believes in reincarnation and enlightenment??

by Aphrodite in

what are your beliefs based on and how has this been affected by your time as a witness?

some-xjw-guy

Hi Ian, I love Tibetan Buddhism. While I am no expert in that tradition or even Buddhism in general, one thing that strikes me is how people in general don't make the distinction between that karmic pattern and I guess what you'd call Buddha Nature. We know the teaching about the bodhisattva being like the moon's reflection in the water, it does not intend to shine but it simply does because that is its nature. But then theres the idea of good karma and merit, but I just figure doesn't that belong to the relative cycle of cause and effect, death and rebirth? Isn't the whole point to not be in bondage to that deterministic cycle? I suppose we have the classic idea of the good person, but then being free and being good aren't exactly the same. Of course, BEING free by its very nature will carry that energy and influence, so I guess it just follows that effect will be there regardless of the intent to do good by an idea of good, eh?

27

You Are Going to Die at Armageddon

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

you are going to die at armageddonduring public talks, assemblies and written throughout the watchtower literature .

was the threat that anyone who was not doing gods will, would suffer the loss of their life.

during the great day of god almighty.. what affect did that have on you?the fear brought on by this doomsday message probably kept me in the organ-.

some-xjw-guy

There are two levels to this. Not only may one not believe in their story and threat, one may not be afraid of death. Its quite a K-Mart/Dollar Store calibre kind of threat when you think about it.

1

Skip, Belle and the Stranger

by some-xjw-guy in

jw
friends

skip and belle spent a lot of time in church.

belle liked the stained glass windows, the colors it gives to the light coming in and how it gave you such a rich view.

skip liked the regular windows, where you can see through the transparent glass and percieve things outside clearly.

some-xjw-guy

Skip and Belle spent a lot of time in church. Belle liked the stained glass windows, the colors it gives to the light coming in and how it gave you such a rich view. Skip liked the regular windows, where you can see through the transparent glass and percieve things outside clearly. Not only did they have the different preferences, the windows were located on different sides of the church - so they were looking at different areas outside.

One day the two noticed a stranger listening to them talk about windows. They called out: "You there! Who are you? Which window do you like?" The stranger simply turned around, opened the door and walked out.

22

The earth can hold only 9 billion persons at the most

by cultswatter in

*** public address by district overseer bro.

charles sunutko in spring 1967 in sheboygan, wisconsin[recording of this talk available in realaudio format, 2,745kb, approx 22 minute recording].

"serving with everlasting life in view"............. "the watchtower 1964, page 722, paragraph 24, and listen to this: "tens of billions will be back".. how many are tens of billions?

some-xjw-guy

I have this idea that they may have already started farming people in a way, like raising crops. (mass production) To me the question is billions of WHAT - what kind of persons?

12

Does God want us to be rich?

by Bonnie_Clyde in

jw
friends

interesting article in time magazine (sept 2006, p. 50) - jesus said, "for what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

this article states that a growing number of christians say" the question is better restated, 'why not gain the whole world plus my soul?'......

christians should keep an eye on heaven.

some-xjw-guy

Why would GOD want anything? Wouldn't God already have everything, by virtue of being God? Even if its wanting something for us, it just makes no sense in the big picture. Come on, lets be honest - its just these guys that want to be rich. Nothing wrong with that, but they are just using God to make it sound good. Maybe, just maybe if it wasn't thought of as a bad thing in the first place there wouldn't have to be compensation by going to the other extreme.

20

Anti-Matter

by choosing life in

jw
friends

i am not a physics major, in fact, i avoided it like the plague in college.

so maybe someone on here can answer a question that i have.

i recently read that in switzerland there is a group of scientists that work on research, kind of like a think tank.

some-xjw-guy

It is the opposite of matter and cannot come in contact with matter or it will set off a major explosion.

Yeah, isn't that like reality and JW teachings? The explosion is what happens with the XJW.

25

Who believes in reincarnation and enlightenment??

by Aphrodite in

what are your beliefs based on and how has this been affected by your time as a witness?

some-xjw-guy

Given certain circumstances, I can agree that certain concepts are decent descriptions of what is going on. I'm not interested in belief or a flat out rejection of beliefs, that would likely be behavior affected by the time spent as a JW - either the same old believing mind applied toward other ideas or a reaction to move toward its opposite. Now having said that, I supposed one way the idea of enlightenment is used and could be related to the JW experience is that it simply isn't cool to be ignorant, so one might strive toward the other end of the spectrum.

More important than what you believe or even why you believe is seeing the whole behavioral process of believing in an idea. If thats all that is going on, then it is like you're just collecting mental objects, even if you are informed about those objects. I am not so much interested in the different shapes of these objects, but rather what they are made of. I don't mean how they are made or tend to move either, but the raw material it is made from so to speak. If you understand that, you will understand the most fundamental level of the mind. Anything short of that is like a sophisticated game of billilards where ideas bump up against one another, and that is the level where our JW past may in fact influence our current thinking.

104

Further incite on Dawkin's The God Delusion

by Abandoned in

jw
friends

i started a thread after i finished the first chapter of this book entitled something like, i'm an atheist.

i finished chapter three and i have to backtrack a bit, but i also feel the need to explain why since i was so vocal.. first, let me say that i think everyon should read the first two chapters of the god delusion by richard dawkins.

he brings up some very important points about religion and about science's place in our world.

some-xjw-guy

Closer to the person? What about being the wood that is split, and the stone that is lifted?
I am, and there is no other.
Your answer is here, you just are not seeing it.

Oh I saw it, I am not looking for an answer, it was a rhetorical question. The reason I even bring it up is simply because there is this fad over being here and now, perhaps talk of presence - which is of course centered around the individual. If it is all one and there is no other, it is only reasonable to be aware of the state of the wood and the stone as well. Therefore the focus on the person's experience of seeing and lifting struck me, because that is of course just focused on the one side of whats going on. Seeing it chopped is not the same as being chopped, and lifting the stone is not the same as being lifted. I can agree with your statement, but it would not mean there is actually that perception of no other.