Posts by VoidEater

77

Do People Truly "Love" Each Other On This Forum?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i read how certain ones will profess their "love" for another poster---a poster that they probably never met in "real life".

is it me or does this strike you as almost impossible??

?

VoidEater

I'd be stoopid if I ever loved that person

That's an interesting take on things that I hadn't considered. In that context it seems that "loving" someone must lead to certain commitments and entitlements? It's a kind of love I'm not very familier with, perhaps.

I've loved smart people and stupid people, for good reasons and bad reasons. But I've always thought of this love as an expression of myself, a reflection of what I see, and not a demand for something more to happen. If someone disappoints me, I wouldn't off-hand think that it was wrong to love them.

Love for me has been more of a gift rather than a sacrifice of some sort.

42

Godless souls

by Aleman in

hello again!.

i never thought that so many are believers of a godless life.

i would like to know, because i just don't understand, how anyone can live life feeling god does not and can not exist?

VoidEater

If morals are at an all-time low (something I do not observe, BTW), then my point of view is supported. The contemporary Christian version of God would have no need to draw out the suffering, century after century, constantly getting worse.

I do believe in God because he has proven to me that every thing he has said has come true.

I would be interested in the specifics. What has God said, and when did it come true?

When God has spoken to me, He's said things like, "You need to take care of your own life", and, "Don't speak or live a lie". That seemed to be true. But the speaker may have been wearing a mask.

83

The Watchtower art department strikes again!!! LOL

by cultswatter in

please have a look at the white horse on page 91 of rev climax book(the horse that jesus is riding).

this horse is what a horse should look like.

(don't look at it too long or you may be tempted) now look at the same white horse on page 23 of the feb 15th 2008 wt.

VoidEater

Old horse is a working breed with some Clydesdale, perhaps. New horse is race stock, perhaps a Thoroughbred. Both have their ears back, which means they are angry or startled. None have tack. Jesus is tightly grasping the old horse with his legs to not fall off, but sits via divine power (apparently) on the new horse. The old horse's body language is rather mixed, but evocative of a bridal being pulled back in midstride. The new horse's body language is one of falling down (as JK says). The old horse is a girl horse, the new - can't really tell (such modesty).

The new horses are all very small animals - a generous measurement using Christ's lower leg as a standard would put his horse at about 10 hands (40") at the withers. A short horse in the real work would stand at about 13 or 14 hands (56"). So, either this Heavenly host are really tall, or they're riding ponies from the God's petting zoo.

Old horse could be as tall as 15 or 16 hands. Much more reasonable.

They used small horses on Bonanza to make the actors look bigger. Maybe Christ has a size issue?

24

Fear of conflict, confrontation, disagreement- A leftover from our JW past?

by nvrgnbk in

jw
friends

there's alot being said on here now about the need for everyone to get along.. i used to think that was a goal worth striving for.. but is it realistic?.

is it even desirable?.

i still find myself telling people what they want to hear, on here and in my personal life, in business too.. it's a bad habit.. it generally produces nothing positive in the long run.. but we all want to please others.. that comes from being jw's, but it's by no means unique to our our jw past.. another thing, definitely jw-related, is that we were taught that unity should be preserved at all costs.. comments are even made on here that our "community" is "falling apart".. all we share in common is that we were or are jw's (with a few exceptions).. and our reasons for no longer being associated are many and varied.. some left on their own.. some "drifted away".. some were kicked out.. some studied but dodged the bullet and were never baptized.. some are now atheists.. some are now "spirit-filled" christians.. some don't care about religion or politics.. some care alot.. to expect unity and "we all love each other" from such a diverse group can only lead to disappointment, imo.. i want to thank hillary-step, and few others, for pointing something like this out to me a long time ago.. many of us have made good friendships here, but it's fair to say that we're not all going to be friends.. .

VoidEater

The thing I had to relearn was to think and make decisions for myself. When everything you need to know and all your opinions come from the platform, it's easy to go with the flow and be "united". Indeed, expressing a differing opinion was quickly addressed with negative attention.

Having been raised there, I can't say that the "people pleasing" part of me would be different had I not been there. I hope that some of that part of me is also from my human herding instinct, and not just trauma from my past. I see that my life today has times where I agree with others, times when I disagree; times when I voice the agreement or disagreement; and times when I choose to not voice my opinion. Since these are motivated from different apparent reasons, I don't think I'm running on automatic as I once did.

But the "people pleasing" skill has certainly helped me work effectively in various settings.

30

WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF PAYPAL?

by badboy in

jw
friends

do you think it is good or bad?

VoidEater

They are a service - I don't find any morality attached to them (good/bad). They work effectively for most cases, I've rarely heard of problems using them, if ever. But I'm only an occasional user.

Your mileage may vary.

42

Godless souls

by Aleman in

hello again!.

i never thought that so many are believers of a godless life.

i would like to know, because i just don't understand, how anyone can live life feeling god does not and can not exist?

VoidEater

I just don't understand, how anyone can live life feeling God does not and can not exist?

I don't see a need for God to exist.

But I don't have a need to demand that he "can not" exist.

It works better for me if there is no God - I think Liberty summed it up nicely. Because to believe in an all powerful God of the contemporary Christians, I must conclude that he really had a purpose in my being raped for 12 years, or that I somehow deserved that. So far, that purpose has eluded me. i only bring this up because it puts a personal face on the impersonal "sufferings of the world" that seem so easy to justify as "mysterious", when it's happening to someone else. I've just decided to not be a masochist any more and think that God needed me to suffer.

And of course Gopher is god. I could believe in Gopher.

77

Do People Truly "Love" Each Other On This Forum?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i read how certain ones will profess their "love" for another poster---a poster that they probably never met in "real life".

is it me or does this strike you as almost impossible??

?

VoidEater

Since love requires no specific person to exist, of course love can exist for real people that you don't know very well.

Love, like experiencing beauty, takes place within ourselves.

Love, like "God", is a small word that means a myriad things.

28

The Golden Compass--What is your Daemon?

by blondie in

jw
friends

http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/?274692.

i am a bengal tiger named didimon..

VoidEater

Artemidoris, an Osprey - solitary, responsible, modest, shy, humble (ho-hum...!) - but probably true.

Loved the film, as I did the books - nicely adapted, though I'm more impressed with the concepts and characters than with the storyline.

55

Republicans Report Much Better Mental Health Than Others

by BurnTheShips in

jw
friends

interesting!

any ideas why?.

princeton, nj -- republicans are significantly more likely than democrats or independents to rate their mental health as excellent, according to data from the last four november gallup health and healthcare polls.

VoidEater

Republicans are significantly more likely than Democrats or independents to rate their mental health as excellent...

Hmm...just like members of crazy "cults"...

11

Australia Bethel Sister suicide due to health problems is this justified??

by Witness 007 in

bethel = about 4 years ago a former pioneer / bethel sisiter and husband had to leave due to bad health and move to the suburbs.

some time ago while working on some "worldly" job some shelves hit her in the back causing server injury.

she suffered with her pain till she could not stand it any more.

VoidEater

Mental problems {e.g feeling suicidal, or depression} is a sickness but not a terminal one!

Actually, the "mental condition" of suicidal ideation is the ONLY cause of suicide (regardless of the source of that ideation).

The Sufferings of Young Werther by Goethe gives an apologists view of suicide due to mental suffering. In actuality, drugs for mental suffering are not a panacea, have their own side effects that impact quality of life, and in some cases are ineffective.

It's really not possible to give a blanket denial to those who would end their lives, whatever the cause of their suffering, nor do I advocate a blanket approval. Such a decision must come from careful deliberation with a wide field of input.