Posts by IsaacJS2

4

God's Socio-Economic Plan Upon his Return

by Aequitus in

i've heard a lot about how bad humans are at governing themselves and how we need god to do it for us, but not much about specifics on what life would be like under god's rule.

so let me concede for the moment that jesus is coming back immanently.

the wait is finally over, people are shocked (some anyway), but then they get used to life now that the planet is governed by god.

IsaacJS2

BTW, as a side note, I submit the theory that the real Governing Body is a shadowy cabal of evil Smurfs who hate us and want us to be tiny and blue like them. Yes, I sense you pulling away from me now, but it had to be said. By changing to world to conform to their lifestyle, the Smurfs shall rule the world from their ivory colored mushroom houses..

Next week in my ongoing series, you'll never believe who's in charge of the the Christadelphians. (Hint: "You never will believe where those Keebler cookies come from...")

We'll also be looking at the Mormons. (Do they really go "snap, crack, and pop?")

It's okay. I don't know what the heck I'm talking about either.

IsaacJ

4

God's Socio-Economic Plan Upon his Return

by Aequitus in

i've heard a lot about how bad humans are at governing themselves and how we need god to do it for us, but not much about specifics on what life would be like under god's rule.

so let me concede for the moment that jesus is coming back immanently.

the wait is finally over, people are shocked (some anyway), but then they get used to life now that the planet is governed by god.

IsaacJS2

Well, based on my WT thinking from "the good old days," I always thought money would be abolished...if the return actually happened, of course. I'm a heretic, so I've no plans for that one. Total unbeliever and all that, you know. So no salvation for me. Or any of us according to the WTS. Yeah, that bites.

So--according to the WTS--the anointed would be magic sky fairies in Heaven who just lay around in judgment and watch us toil all day long. (Given their obsession with sex in the literature, I'm already feeling a little awkward about that one) Especially while we're showering. But here on Earth, we'll probably all be so giddy with happiness that we'll be skipping around, giggling incessantly with big round smiles shockwelded onto our faces. You know, like the Joker from the old Batman stories. He was nice, wasn't he? Yuh huh. So it might be hard to get anything done at first.

But soon, we'd all be about the community. Without money to worry about, we'd all be overanxious for the most menial and horrible of jobs. That is, in between getting pony rides from bears and lions and whatnot. So basically, we'd all be gigantic Smurfs. And I hated those little b*st*rds! Didn't you?? Yuck! Thankfully, we'd have more ladies around than they did. If only we retained any desire to do anything with that advantage, that would be something worthy looking looking forward to, right guys? ::Sigh:: Seeing as how sex is pretty much all about procreation, I guess our newly perfected state would reduce this thankless task to a real choir. Hard to believe, eh? But then again, I never thought I'd lose my fascination with action figures and Flinstone Vitamins as a kid. So I guess it's sort of like that. Right? It'll all be over when the Earth gets filled up, so no worries.

Hey, weren't the Smurfs basically Commies? Yeah, that's it. We'll be Socialists in a brave new system founded on preschool love and purely platonic handholding. And we'll spend a lot of time wandering through forests in multi-ethnic packs (according to the covers of about a zillion WT magazines) in between the time we spend talking to Dolphins, petting crickets, and playing Hopscotch with angels.

That really does sound like paradise, doesn't it? Or maybe I could just throw myself under a stampede of (overly friendly) Elephants to escape it all!!! I mean, holy crap! The sheer horrific boredom of the WT's New System...

Say, being perfect doesn't mean we'll all be like Wolverine from the X-Men, does it? Cause after just 6 months of singing the theme to the Smurfs 24/7 and watching nothing but Leave It To Beaver reruns...well, let's just say those Elephants might start looking like a good idea. I don't want to get trampeled only to wake up with a mild headache fifteen minutes later.

Yeah, it's a wonder why I don't wanna sign up, huh? Golden opportunity and I just whizzed it right down my leg. Crap. I really do suck.

I really hope the WTS isn't the true religion. But even if it is, I know I'm still on the side I want to be on! In that case, the meek can have this old Earth all to themselves.

I think that about covers what I wanted to say. Anyone else care to add a thought or two?

IsaacJ

PS--Was this off topic? Sorry if it was. No offense intended by anything I said.

50

The arrogant skeptic thread....

by heathen in

jw
friends

this is the place for all you arrogant skeptics to post all the things you don't believe in so you can stop harassing posters on other threads involving the paranormal, after all you are smarter than the rest of us .....................

IsaacJS2

I've seen a fair amount of arrogance on both sides, though for different reasons. There have been plenty of theist threads that were blatantly intended just to rile the rest of us up or to lash out. Like this one, for instance. The truth is that both sides can sound pretty arrogant to one another much of the time. Half the time we can't even agree on simple things like terminology, science, or the state of recorded history.

Still, this forum is--in my experience--better than most where the two factions mix. I am here because I want to hear from people who don't always see things as I do, but who know something of my experiences. Perhaps both sides could cut down on the knock-the-chip-off-my-shoulder threads and we can all enjoy ourselves a little more in here. The best of us never intentionally start such threads in the first place, whether it be under the guise of reasonable discourse or other blatantly "you arrogant bunch of jerks" kinda threads. The other problem is that this isn't a very good means of communication. The voice and tone we hear in our heads as we read these posts may not be the one intended. I've got into plenty of trouble over that one myself. Some on both sides may seem condescending when we're really just being matter of fact. Believe it or not, it does happen and quite a lot.

But even if it doesn't improve in here, I'll keep hanging around. It's simply the best thing going. So long as it doesn't degenerate into a constant series of flame wars and angry debates, which I've seen elsewhere. Blowing off steam is understandable, but be happy you found this place, too.

IsaacJ

82

What is your favorite Mythical creature ?

by 5go in

mine is the japanese kitsune.

the fox spirits humbler of haughty samurai and foiler of crooked bussiness men.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/kitsune.

.

IsaacJS2

I'll go with the Draugr for the time being. I wrote a script about one. Even thought about turning it into an audio drama at the Darker Projects web site.

www.vikinganswerlady.com/ghosts.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draugr

IsaacJ

18

Cold, Snowy, Icy..Great day for Old Movies.

by El Kabong in

jw
friends

the weather kept us indoors today.

baltimore got about 6 inches of snow today, so it was a good day to stay indoors.

the turner classic movie channel showed 2 fantastic 4 star movies...gone with the wind, and casablanca.

IsaacJS2

I've spent all weekend getting my computer up and running the way I like. (I'm a nerd, so I reinstall everything every 6 months or so)

Between that and the weather here in Delaware, I spent part of the day watching Star Trek: First Contact.

IsaacJ

47

Least Favourite Thing Your Pet Does

by Stephanus in

jw
friends

we've learned to frisk our cats before they come in, esp.

at night.

they have a thing for bringing home their live catches to play with.. also, when they get all smoochy.

IsaacJS2

My pet rats recently caught the "green apple splatters" (diarhea) from some ferret food I bought for them. The stench is quite impressive.

Word of advice: don't feed fancy rats ferret food.

IsaacJ

22

Revelling in not believing

by PaulJ in

ok i've been thinking about posting this for a while.

i'd really love to see what people think, there might even be people who think the same thing.. as jw's we got every single little thing rammed down our throats right?

so, we had set beliefs or answers for everything- does god exist?, are there aliens?

IsaacJS2

When I was a teenager, I never found a religion that made much sense. I became a JW at 18, however, mostly because they had answers to my questions. Also, I seemed to be useful to them--most of the locals were unaccustomed to thinking in an original way. (SURPRISE!) Even before I was a publisher, some of them started bringing their tough cases to me for advice! Just because I knew how to think!

But the whole thing quickly went sour, then became pure poison. I was accused of everything from having an affair with my (current) wife's aunt to showing interest just to score with a Witness girl I went to school with. I learned more about suspicion, divisiveness and backstabbing in their "Truth" than I ever did in the "World." How sad is that?

When I left, I was already leaning toward a freethinking worldview. After all their harassment to draw me back in, I wanted to know I could fight back. Then I just wanted to know what went wrong. I started researching their literature, beginning with the Creation Book. When I found out that it was literally page after page of lies and misinformation, I felt ready to look at other WT publications and critics. I got sidetracked by articles on philosophy, and atheist articles. I started comparing them to the apologist reasonings, and--for me--there was just no contest. The atheists win. That's when I realized that I was one too. My worldview has been a work in progress ever since, and I hope it stays that way.

Ditto what the other heretics like me said about the assumptions many people seem to make about atheists, too.

IsaacJ

5

Do you think it's possible that Jehovah has Munchausen Syndrome?

by UnConfused in

i mean seriously, who let's people get sick only to look like a hero to "save" them?

IsaacJS2

I won't say too much as I don't want to offend our religious friends on the board, but that's one of my complaints in this general area. Many denominations of Christianity do believe this, but I'm sure some of them have a different POV. I think someone suggested that earlier. But I won't go into details on this unless someone starts an exclusively secular thread for issues like that.

IsaacJ

20

Ran into a JW and DFed, DAed, or faded?

by pierogi in

okay, i'm interested in experiences where you are dfed, daed or faded and you ran into a jw somewhere.

if you are dfed or daed, most likely they'd just ignore you.

this is unless you ran into them at work (like a restaurant, bank, grocery store) where it is there job to talk to you.

IsaacJS2

Funny you should mention that they are like insects. I wrote a short story a while back that literally made the same comparison. It was the first real writing I had done in years. I pretty much gave it up while I was in the cult. I like darker themes, which aren't PC enough for the WT. I've spent years trying to get back my old zest for writing.

I wanted to submit it for publication, but I haven't found anyplace that deals with stories like that. I hadn't realized that the short fiction market had changed so drastically over the years. The stories about a guy who's clearly insane that encounters proselytizing insect-men at his door. He doesn't know if they're real or not. I have no idea if I'd still find it any good if I read it again.

It's a tad weird and a lot on the symbolic side. Cause I'm a nerd and all ya know. Heh heh.

IsaacJ

5

Do you think it's possible that Jehovah has Munchausen Syndrome?

by UnConfused in

i mean seriously, who let's people get sick only to look like a hero to "save" them?

IsaacJS2

Are you referring to "imperfection" and "sinfulness"? God let's us get this way, only to swoop in and save us from the disorder he allowed us to get?

IsaacJ