organization.
following the model of first-century christianity, jehovah's witnesses have no clergy-laity division.
all baptized members are ordained ministers and share in the preaching and teaching work.
Jehovah's Witnesses avoid making rules
Bwaaa-ha-ha! ROFLOL. Almost fell off my chair on that one. Thanks for the laugh JT, it made my day!
GopherWhy shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
have sex with a blow-up doll?.
englishman.. nostalgia isn't what it used to be....
Anglise,
I don't think that the blow-up doll violates the "one flesh" principle. After all, the dolls are built from man-made materials, not flesh!
GopherWhy shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
patriotism is a religion just like every other religion.
either you believie it and live it or you don't.. i see people waving the flag at sporting events, hear them mouthing the words, "we're all one nation, blah, blah, blah" but then they go out and flip one another off in the parking lot.
just like people at the kingdom hall who supposedly love jehovah (or jesus or allah) and after the meeting is over, they go right back to the way they were.. love of country is no more influential than love of god.
Teejay,
Thanks for the responses. They made me think some more....I'm not just continuing the thread for argumentation, just in my mind there still needs to be some clarification.
If you had said "PATRIOTISM is similar to (or is like) a religion", I couldn't dispute that. Similar intense feelings are stirred. By definition patriotism still isn't a religion, unless you force open the definition to include ideas like "Baseball is his religion", or "Making money is his religion", meaning fervor. (But not strictly by definition.)
You correctly point out that patriotism doesn't change how people treat each other in the long term. That's not its purpose. In a diverse and free society, the purpose of patriotism is to bind people together for a common cause, especially in times of national emergency. Even if it appears to be "just for show", it's important in that it serves as a morale booster for the leaders and the soldiers who will go and see that the war is executed, knowing they have the backing of the common people. Yes, flag waving doesn't halt missiles, and it doesn't necessarily make people love each other. But there can be no denying there HAS been a firm resolve on the part of the majority of Americans, to unite behind their leadership, to try and cut terrorism down to size.
I was very curious about your statement which questions American motives, and that is, are the vast mineral and oil reserves in Afghanistan? Please. That's not even close to what this military action is about. Four planes were hijacked, two towers destroyed, much of the Pentagon = gone, all this in broad daylight, an "in your face" hatred of America just because (a) it's the world's #1 power, and (b) its people disagree with radical Islam. This present war is a war about whether terrorists can have their way without interference in the 21st century.
GopherWhy shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
patriotism is a religion just like every other religion.
either you believie it and live it or you don't.. i see people waving the flag at sporting events, hear them mouthing the words, "we're all one nation, blah, blah, blah" but then they go out and flip one another off in the parking lot.
just like people at the kingdom hall who supposedly love jehovah (or jesus or allah) and after the meeting is over, they go right back to the way they were.. love of country is no more influential than love of god.
The first post in this thread is untrue, by definition.
A patriot is defined as "one who loves his country and supports its authority and interests". Nothing religious mentioned in that dictionary's definition.
To suggest it is a religion would mean a person would have TWO religions at once, if for example one were a patriot and a Presbyterian, or a patriot and a Baptist.
In what churches do these patriot/religionists assemble? Where is their holy book?
And your flippant comment about there being more flag-waving and yet people treat each other the same bad way outside the arena or event, is a gross and untrue generalization. People of all stripes have truly come together in this time of need here in America. I have been listening to call-in radio shows to sense what is the pulse out there, and it is: WE NEED EACH OTHER MORE THAN EVER!
Yes, there may be some "false" patriotism followed by people being jerks, but that is part of the human condition right now. Some people will be immature and behave like jerks.
Or is immaturity a "behavior" or attitude that you would classify as a sub-religion?
Let's not get our terms and definitions confused here.
(Trying to clear up the muddy water)
GopherWhy shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
sorry all, this is quite long.....and of course, nothing new.
but i found it interesting...i've been out 9 years and this all sounds eerily similar, like i'd heard this bs all before...... ------------------.
opening song #91, being taught by jehovah.
((( HARMONY ))),
Thanks for being our mole, and giving such a detailed report. You take way more organized notes than I ever did, and I was one who tried hard to get EVERYTHING down.
There were so many gems, including this one:
6. EntertainmentFrom what I remember, lots of JW's secretly tried to match/imitate the world. How often we were given suggestions, like don't watch football, it's too violent, but people had and still have football parties. (This is AMERICAN football with helmets, guys.)
--Don't try to match/imitate the world.
How could you endure that last song, "Contending for the True Faith"? You know it's a crock, and yet it seems to be teling their people to fight, be contentious against any who would disagree. I'm sure people out in their "territories" really appreciate a contentious JW standing at their doorstep, telling them how awful their religion is or their lack of religion, whatever the case.
Thanks for the post, and for your awesome attention to detail. It helps us know exactly what we're missing!
GopherWhy shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
ok so here is my life story:.
joined the jw at age 10 (coming to this country) i had not seen my mother in about 3 years before...i lived with grandmother who was and still is a catholic.
so of course i went from living a life full of birthday parties, christmas and new years to...not living!!!
Claudia1214,
Thanks for posting your story! Your perseverance through trouble is quite inspiring. You stayed focused on your life goals, and by God, you're making it!
And you're quite right to ignore the judgment of a few holier-than-thou JW's. Not all JW's are that way, but enough of them are to stain their reputation! Glad your mom came around, because you stuck to your guns and made something fine out of your life, with someone who sounds like a wonderful man!
I hope you may post again on our "Main" board later on any subject you like; you have an interesting, cut-through-the-bull perspective on things & that's great!
GopherWhy shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
it appears that the canadian congregations are included in this.
so it isnt just a us branch thing.
yours truly is in possession of the much bally-hooed ticket.. interesting comment too that the sports stadium we were trying to get became unavailable due to major league sports rescheduling in the wake of the attacks.
Still_not:
From what I've read, it's a special gathering only for members of congregations. No apostates allowed! Perhaps they'll be told how to avoid exposure to worldly contamination such as the upcoming Dateline NBC expose on the pedophilia plague within the organization. Since it's only 2 weeks away, we all anxiously await the report from Moxy and others on this board who have the "golden ticket".
GopherWhy shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
it appears that the canadian congregations are included in this.
so it isnt just a us branch thing.
yours truly is in possession of the much bally-hooed ticket.. interesting comment too that the sports stadium we were trying to get became unavailable due to major league sports rescheduling in the wake of the attacks.
Moxy,
Thanks for the update. Keep 'em coming! I can't wait to find out what spiritual "food" they'll be trowelling out!
GopherWhy shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
recently we have seen the devastating effects just two planes can cause within a built up area,imagine what the effects would be if a meteor struck this planet.. my question is,are we taking this threat seriously,is enough money being put into discovering and tracking these meteors?
But seriously folks,
They are tracking meteorites, asteroids, etc. This website is not exactly comforting, but here it is: http://users.kua.net/~vnn2/bigrock.htm
GopherWhy shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
no doubt you are familiar with the practice of many popular magazines to print selected extracts from their issues 25, 50 or 100 years ago.
(scientific american goes back 150 years).
what is interesting is the ideas presented then, sometimes they are fanciful and just plain wrong.
Blondie: Great post, fine research! Thanks.
GopherWhy shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
