Great observation, Amicus.
Despite what the adherent believes are his own thoughts, his thought processes must dovetail perfectly with the institution's in order to be accepted. Institutional thought processes, institutional conscience. All this while believing with all his heart that he is pleasing to God. The Oracle says so.
In truth, the LAST thing God wants is an automaton.
Milligal, this is the type of gross hypocrisy that Jesus condemned. Curiously, JWs spend there entire lives attempting to adhere to a standard that leads them AWAY from Christ - and nobody in the "brain trust" seems to get it.
Carlos
Carlos_Helms
JoinedPosts by Carlos_Helms
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Making God's Commands Arbitrary
by milligal inthere's a philosophical theology behind the premise that people who blindly obey (a.k.a.
'sheeplike') have no inner sense of morality or ethics.
take for exampe the idea of shunning, jw's shun those that they are told to shun.
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Carlos_Helms
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Women being in subjection...a sore subject
by milligal ini was raised jw and of course the whole theory that a man is the head and the woman must respect her husband and be in subjection to his authority was ingrained in me from a young age.
my mother, (oddly enough) chose the jw religion, dragged my father in kicking and screaming (he later served as an elder for 17 years) and she complained constantly about men being in control and her pains as a woman in subjection.
now, i already have a good idea about my mother's problems.
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Carlos_Helms
LOL...don't judge an arrangement by the idiots who are in it. Both dad and mom are supposed to raise the kiddies - and the kiddies become...well, you know, moms and dads. The apple don't fall far from the tree.
If you do a quick study (nothing deep, mind you) of a true "servant arrangement" (diakonos, and all that); you may come to think differently (although it's doubtful because, generally, those who SO despise 'subjection' really just want to be a boss themselves).
Carlos -
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The Hope For Our Dying Home-Earth...An Inconvenient Truth
by justhuman inyesterday it was the day of the global inviroment.
as i walked to the street going to work, the main square of the capitol was filled with small children and their teachers with huge paintings, songs, art work with recycled elements demanding a cleaner plannet.
when the old generation will pass those little ones that will take in charge with all the inviromental education they had they will go for a better world.i'm sure about it, you could see it in their small eyes.
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Carlos_Helms
Oh, I don't know, Eyes Open. I haven't seen that many smart Americans - OR Europeans...or anybody else for that matter. What I see are a lot of spun-up, emotional people doing backflips over whatever happens to be the political soup of the day. In other words, if I can convince you that catastrophe looms if you don't ACT NOW, you will act almost without thinking...AND spread the gospel. Now, if I need help convincing you, there are plenty of "professional" opinions to support whatever side of whatever cause I rally to.
Good, bad or indifferent...the world has grown accustomed to the way we do business. Rape, pillage and plunder, the population manages to grow exponentially. I would agree that humankind SHOULD have learned to rely upon renewable resources 50 years ago. But they didn't. I have no doubt that if legislation and economic sanctions are enacted to prevent "global warming," hundreds of millions if not billions will die. Before jumping the gun, we ought to, first, be sure that global warming is primarily a man-made phenomena. There is significant enough evidence to suggest that it is not. IF the primary cause is, for instance, solar activity, billions may die anyway. But I'd just as soon the sun get blamed for it - thank you very much - and not the world's growers, transporters and suppliers of food.
Certainly there is cause to raise the consumption consciousness of the entire world (particularly those countries just rising from 3rd-world status). I'm just not all that anxious to replace one breed of human predator with another - in the name of "green."
Carlos -
36
So it happened...I met with my Mom and Dad...
by Confession inbrief historical recounting.... 3rd generation of 4 generation jw family.
elder for three years.
realized "the truth" wasn't in september of 2004. tried to fade by moving from michigan to southern california in june of 2005 with my (then) 17 year old daughter (who eventually left the organization herself.
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Carlos_Helms
Nice job. It's really about love. Despite the fact that most of us are "ruint" on that count, we're still responsible to do the best we can, especially with family. Statistically, we take care of our folks longer than they took care of us. It's best to be a part of their lives in whatever way they will allow. You done good. Carlos
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35 Articles of Impeachment against George W. Bush - Introduced by Kucinich
by What-A-Coincidence inhttp://www.democrats.com/files/amomentoftruth.pdf.
kucinich website crippled under suspicious circumstances after introduction of impeachment articles.
political desk june 10, 2008cleveland, oh - ohio congressman dennis kucinich's re-election website was shut down this morning by a series of suspicious and fast-moving events several hours after kucinich introduced 35 articles of impeachment against president george w. bush.. .
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Carlos_Helms
Is this the same Dennis Kucinich who "communes" with space aliens?
Carlos -
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The Hope For Our Dying Home-Earth...An Inconvenient Truth
by justhuman inyesterday it was the day of the global inviroment.
as i walked to the street going to work, the main square of the capitol was filled with small children and their teachers with huge paintings, songs, art work with recycled elements demanding a cleaner plannet.
when the old generation will pass those little ones that will take in charge with all the inviromental education they had they will go for a better world.i'm sure about it, you could see it in their small eyes.
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Carlos_Helms
Witness 007, Carlos_Helms, BringTheLight
I have challenged each of you on your posts on this thread with no response from any of you. I'm disappointed.
Please come back :-)
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Come back where?
You say "tomato"...I say "tomahto." Your "experts" are better than mine?
Sorry, but I'm not going to call all the scientists listed on the petition. I can say this: just because a professional organization releases a "professional opinion," it doesn't make it truthful. Most, however, have a strong need to be funded...and funding comes from political elements who are lobbied by those who want their agendas recognized as "scientific fact." You take it from there.
The American Psychiatric Association, who defines THE acceptable, professional "standard of care" for psychiatric patients, wants pedophilia officially-recognized as a disability in the United States - with all rights and privileges associated with having a legally-recognized handicap. This is just one example of the absurdity of "professional organizations."
But I'm no scientist. You can blow off the data in the article as meaningless because the NAS disputes its origins rather than the data itself. Sounds par for the course.
Carlos -
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Big News or rumor!
by Burger Time ina friend just informed me that the c/o in his hall will be instructing the elders that anyone with a child in college will be stripped of privileges in the hall.
i am not sure if this is true this is just what i was told.
it could be that it is only a campaign directed at him as he has some ties to ex-jw's and some how got found out.
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Carlos_Helms
Are there actual figures which show that college-student JWs leave the organization more frequently than other college-aged JWs? It would seem to me that college, in and of itself, is not the reason for the split. It is very difficult to hold parents accountable for what an adult chooses to do, regardless of his/her living in the home. The law doesn't do it.
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How Will the Court Deal With Deceit?
by compound complex ingiven the recent information on lawrence hughes' days in court the last of may, how could "caesar" deal with the deceptive methods of the wtb&ts?
i understand that such information has been entered into the court record.
please consider an example of what jw children are coached to say and not to say: .
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Carlos_Helms
"All's fair in love and war."
The Theocratic Warfare doctrine (Theocratic Warfare Strategy) may not be an invention of the watchtower society, but its use has been maximized by it. There are so few Witness martyrs anymore because you can lie right to an opposer's face and escape his wrath.
And people say Jehovah's Witnesses don't fight in wars. The very idea!
They even get the kids involved.
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Personal Decision,
by PureAlb inhi people,,,what i mean about personal decision is that, if someone wants to believe what they really want, what will the problem be, so why do some people have to question their beliefs and their type of life.
wouldn't it be better if we try to respect everyones life, no meter how they do it.
hope that you all get my point...
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Carlos_Helms
Actually, I just confused a social need with a spiritual one - for which I bear the responsibility. One day, two guys called at my door. One was my chiropractor, the other was his friend who was a lot like me. Nice guys! We had some common experiences and chatted about everything under the sun. As I recall, he left me with some JW/Bible literature and promised to call back. Heck...I thought he was a nice guy.
I could agree with the first 25 things he showed me from the Bible. I had doubts about one. He said, "hang on...it'll become clear." Fair enough. I agreed with the next 25 things he showed me from the Bible...and the next...and the next. Wow! If he's right about 100 things, he could very well be right about that one thing where I had doubts. If he was right about 1000 things; whose to say that he wasn't right about the 10 little things that I had doubts about? It could be me, after all. In the meantime, I was asked to dinner, to congregational social functions, I even played basketball with the brothers! We all became fast friends. Within a few months, I was asked to attend a meeting where I was welcomed with open arms. Everything was going swimmingly and this social thing slowly became the center of my universe. Soon, I had no problem dismissing my concerned old friends and family who didn't want to play.
I forgot about all the little doubts I had because they didn't effect me directly. Besides, my sins were forgiven and I started with a clean slate. Good enough for me! I was baptized within a year-and-a-half. I was encouraged to "reach out" - which I did with gusto and was rewarded greatly. Over the years, many honorable positions were bestowed upon me. I became the man who taught me and then became the man who taught him and then the man who taught the teachers. I assumed the mantle of the teaching Society. The ever-accumulating little doubts were compartmentalized deep in the recesses of my company-man psyche. Some of the questionable actions I saw over the years were likewise compartmentalized "for the greater good." As I was not free to discuss them, I accepted them, "for the greater good."
Until I had a personal crisis. When that happened, my newfound (10 year) social world came crashing down. I realized after a few more years of tolerating "distance" from my friends that this thing wasn't what it was cracked up to be. It is a great social experiment masquerading as a spiritual need.
Jesus ministry is based upon mercy. Mercy relies upon unconditional love (forgiving enemies, etc). The watchtower draws lines, constantly creates and condemns new enemies, and never forgives old ones. It is antithetical to Jesus and the work he did.
Carlos -
99
The Hope For Our Dying Home-Earth...An Inconvenient Truth
by justhuman inyesterday it was the day of the global inviroment.
as i walked to the street going to work, the main square of the capitol was filled with small children and their teachers with huge paintings, songs, art work with recycled elements demanding a cleaner plannet.
when the old generation will pass those little ones that will take in charge with all the inviromental education they had they will go for a better world.i'm sure about it, you could see it in their small eyes.
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Carlos_Helms
...but it is very plausible theory.
There is evidence that the earth's climate has been far warmer than it is today...and for long periods of time. Will this be a benchmark epoch? Who knows? But the earth, circa 1000BC - 400BC, was much warmer. The same was true for the era 850CE - 1100CE. According to expert testimony, the average temperature of the earth in the late 1700s (the Little Ice Age) was the coldest it has been in last 3000 years...and has been in recovery since that time. In 2006, the earth's climate had adjusted to the average temperature for the last 3000 years.
If you use colder-than-average epochs as your temperature benchmarks, there is little doubt that following epoch will APPEAR warmer. Al Gore's presentation to the UN certainly wowed the world's leaders. His pseudo-scientific "evidence" is junk science that is agenda-driven. But don't believe me...check out the "Petition" website I quoted in my previous post.
Copy and paste into browser: http://www.petitionproject.org/gwdatabase/Article_HTML/Review_Article_HTML.html
Carlos