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this question has probably been asked before, but since i am a newbie, i wouldn't know.. anyway, i would like to ask if you believe in god or a higher power since becoming an ex-jw?.
ron
Amazing thing about that. I never did believe in Jehovah while I was a JW. Couldn't believe in the contradictions in his nature or character from one end of the bible to the other.
NOW however, I do believe in God. But it's certainly not that Bronze Age bloodthirsty war monger Jehoober. The God that lives within me and vitiates all I am has never revealed himself by name.
"The God that you can name is not the eternal God." The Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu.
it's getting on to almost two years since the events of september 11, and it is striking how little we know about what happened: .
we don't know the real names of any of the hijackers.. we don't know what countries they came from.. we don't know who planned and organized the terrorism.. we don't know who financed it.. we have no idea what actually happened at the pentagon (but i know a boeing 757 didn't go through this hole).
normal video tapes of and from the pentagon building, which should have shown what happened, have never been released (except for one, which poses more questions than it answers).
There is something to keep in mind about those two buildings being built to withstand a direct hit from an airliner, and I hear this during an interview with the architect.
Yes, the buildings were so designed, however they did not take into consideration the buildings being struck by an airliner full of fuel. Thus no calculations were ever made about melting the main structure of the building. Temperatures in the attack were well above the melting point of steel and of course of aluminum. Thus, the disappearance of the aircraft that struck the pentagon is quite easy to understand.
These conspiracy theories are worthless unless ALL FACTORS are taken into consideration. Missing the point about a fully fueled aircraft hitting the WTC is a very big hole in your argument.
this is in reference to the comments that kgb made on the thread i started yesterday about the molester who was crushed underneath a car.. http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/54218/1.ashx.
he talked of forgiveness of murderers, molesters, rapists, etc.
i know that many churchgoes feel the same way about this.. my question is, if god can forgive murderers, rapists, etc., then what about those who don't believe in god, who don't have 'faith'?
Stinky - There is at least one more way to heal, or at least to begin the healing process consequent upon being abused. And that way is confronting the abuser.
The confronting can take many forms. You can get the abuser in a situation from which he can't escape you. Like in a fully fueled automobile traveling cross-country at 70 mph.
Some abusers can be locked in a room with you. Or be in a room with you and another person big and strong enough to prevent their leaving.
You can write a letter.
There are even ways to confront an abuser who is now dead.
All these ways work.
The technique I used was to write a letter. I tend to do lots better if I have time and repose to think carefully and thus not be carried away by the emotions of the moment. My letter was 17 legal pages, typed, single spaced. And I wrote it and let it age on the shelf for weeks while I pondered it. And sure enough, I thought of other stuff to add. So I added the other stuff and let it age again. And I added again. I did this several times until I knew I had covered all the bases.
Consider this. If you forgive someone absent getting the truth out, absent confrontation, I don't believe you receive the most benefit from it, and it's for your benefit that you're writing the confrontation letter to begin with.
My technique worked, I can tell you that. The abuser reacted like a hot poker had been shoved up his ass.
There is a book entitled Toxic Parents that covers this letter writing technique and it covers the possible reactions to a confrontation letter. The first thing you can expect is denial. Prepare yourself for it. You might even mention it in your confrontation letter. Let them, him, her, whatever, know you are expecting denial. Blunts their effort when you can name it before they do it.
Frankly, I don't see how any forgiveness can take place absent confrontation. And besides, this confrontation letter is not about the abuser and forgiveness. Has nothing to do with forgiveness. It has to do with you making yourself a well person. It is not for the purpose of helping the abuser in any way. You don't have to be polite, gentle, withold punches, or any such thing. This is your way of handling and resolving being abused as a helpless child, and now you're going to come crashing down like a ton of bricks.
Go for it.
i have read alot of threads recently and it seems to me that each country of jw's has a set of different rules.
maybe most of the doctrines are the same, but there seems to be a big difference in ............... beards ........ clothing ........ tatoos ......... piercing body ......... grooming in general ......... cars ........... jobs you do ........ schooling .............. university ........... dating .......... what do you think ????????.
i read one comment (can't remeber who it was) who said that the usa jw's seem to be alot more concerned about stupid little things then most other countries.. hopefully we will get comments from all over the world on this topic, and compare some differences.. also brings up the question why ???????.
This beard issue was indeed the straw that broke the camel's back for me. When the elder's told me that the ban on them was up to the conscience of the local body of elders, I rather angrily wanted to know what right they had to substitute my bible trained conscience with their bible trained conscience. No answer. And with that I was gone.
my mother told me that she got a video from a sister that already went to the convention.
the entire program was recorded except for the prayers.
the sister said the society says we have to shut off the recording if the prayer is being given.
"Straining out gnats while gulping down camels."
this is in reference to the comments that kgb made on the thread i started yesterday about the molester who was crushed underneath a car.. http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/54218/1.ashx.
he talked of forgiveness of murderers, molesters, rapists, etc.
i know that many churchgoes feel the same way about this.. my question is, if god can forgive murderers, rapists, etc., then what about those who don't believe in god, who don't have 'faith'?
Yeah, Realist, sin requires a free will. Without free will the person committing the sin would rightly be the person manipulating the person who seems to be committing it.
Yes, it is a damn shame that Stinky's not single. But then, how would she ever choose among the milling throng right here who are more than a little interested in her overwhelming pulchritude?
how do we explain the trillion sets of instruction that make up our dna???????.
how the dickens did all that information get there??.
its things like this that goes around in my head very often!!........
Or, asked another way, is there something that a human can indict that God cannot comprehend? Um, NOOOooooo. And I really don't know what science has to do with it.
God hears prayers because of the fact of His indwelling of the human heart/mind, because "the kindgom of God is within you." Thus, he's closer to you than your own blood vessels.
this is in reference to the comments that kgb made on the thread i started yesterday about the molester who was crushed underneath a car.. http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/54218/1.ashx.
he talked of forgiveness of murderers, molesters, rapists, etc.
i know that many churchgoes feel the same way about this.. my question is, if god can forgive murderers, rapists, etc., then what about those who don't believe in god, who don't have 'faith'?
Let's cut to the basics. The Love, Mercy, & Forgiveness of the Infinite God is, well, infinite. I'm wondering what kind of sin in all its egregiousness is SO BIG that the infinite forgiveness of the Infinite God can't cover it and make it as if it had never been? Said another way, how can a sub-infinite mortal create a super-infinite sin of such size that it's BIGGER than the infinite mercy and forgiveness of God?
I frankly don't think it can be done. We are just not used to thinking in those terms because we've been mislead by the JWs and other religions into thinking that our sins are so huge that the infinite God just can't handle them and that He is going to get around to wooly-buggaring our ass - no exceptions. That WOULD be the way Jehooober would handle it, yes. But we aren't here speaking of Jehooober, we're speaking of the real God who inhabits the Universe of Universes.
Think about it.
REALIST - No Stinky is not single. More's the pity.
does god exist out side of our dimension of time?.
our view of time has changed over the centuries.
for the longest time,.
Time, for its existence, requires movement. Earth time measures moon orbits around the earth and earth orbits around the sun. This is another way of saying that time requires space.
God requires neither. IF he required either, God would be limited by this need for space/time, and a limited God is not God at all.
Therefore God exists outside of time and in no location in space.
Simple.
a regular at the local diner was sitting in his usual spot, all long in the face and sad, when his friend the waitress came over to take his order.
"why so mopey?
", she inquired.
Come on, Pete's Pal, but what are you gonna do with Pete?
