Posts by ziddina

4

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ANGIOSPERMS DURING NOAH'S FLOOD

by badboy in

jw
friends

there are 300,000 species in the world,so what happened to them during the flood?.

ziddina

Which flood?? The 35 to 100 or so when glacial Lake Missoula broke its ice dam??? The one that laid down a 20-foot-thick layer of mud in the Euphrates river valley?? The one when the Black Sea actually became a sea - http://www.pbs.org/saf/1207/features/noah.htm - about 7,500 years ago?? What I want to know is how Noah handled: African honey bees - scorpions - black adders - green adders - camel spiders - and a lot of the other nasty crawlers that must have hitched a ride... Zid

11

fMRI understanding religious choiche

by BioEngineer in

jw
friends

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ziddina

Uhm, check out (if you haven't already) the movie "Religulous" by Bill Maher. At one point during the movie he interviews a scientist who has studied that very phenomenon. Or, go to http://www.sciam.com/ (Scientific American magazine) or one of the other science magazines and try those sites. Popular Science and Popular Mechanics have some good articles; I still remember how the readership of Popular Mechanics flipped when they ran a very accurate facsimile of what Jesus probably would have looked like! Zid

5

How did Noah even begin to gather examples of microbes?

by Holey_Cheeses*King_of_the juice. in

jw
friends

noah - a man ahead of his times.. did he have a superior form of immunity?

oh, that's right, god was directing him.

still, it must have been quite a challenge.. cheeses h. kerriced..

ziddina

What I want to know is how did he manage having African honey bees on board for months??? Or scorpions?? Or Camel spiders??? Zid

27

Driving pet peeves

by keyser soze in

jw
friends

i have to confess that i sometimes suffer from a minor case of road rage, especially on the expressway, right after work.

i have quite a few pet peeves, but two that especially bother me.. first, when people apply their brakes constantly, and for no apparent reason.

it's generally people who have already cut in front of me and forced me to slow down.

ziddina

[Blast! I'm late to the party again!] Tailgaters. I especially hate the ones who tailgate me when I'm in the right-hand lane doing roughly around the speed limit (I rarely actually DO the speed limit; I usually tickle it a little...) and there are no exits upcoming and the left TWO lanes are completely open for passing! I actually had a drunk tailgating me one night; I have EXCELLENT night vision and was on a reasonably well-lit highway, so I just turned off all my lights and coasted along until he freaked and passed me.

Boy! this discussion takes me back! I remember the time I was truckin' along behind a line of cars and someone slammed on the brakes in front. I had enough time to brake and move into the shoulder - problem was, the shoulder was covered with gravel... Did you know that gravel can be as slick as wet ice?? I found that out pretty quick! The beastie did a 180 and I ended up facing the car behind me. I remember another time being in the mountains behind a line of twenty (I am NOT exaggerating!!) cars who were all following a slow-moving tractor, of all things! He was doing all of, say, 15 miles per hour in a sixty MPH zone! There was a nice, long passing lane/zone upcoming, so I revved up my little beastie and was in the process of passing ALL of those blasted mutton-heads when I looked in the opposite direction (the road was clear! I checked before I started passing!!), and lo and behold, there was a slow-moving tractor coming in the OPPOSITE direction with another 20 - 25 cars behind it!! I rammed beastie into 3rd - or maybe 4th - and zipped around the plug on my side of the highway. Really gets the ol' heart rate up!! I LUV passing!! Gives me an adrenalin rush....

But that was in my youth... Ever since gas hit $4 a gallon, I've been driving like the little old lady I'm supposed to be. But then, my mom was the original "Little Old Lady From Alameda/Pasadena". She was hell on wheels...

Which brings up another pet peeve - usually the worst driver in the group/on the road is the one with some sort of 'Christian' fish/family with cross/"my child is an honor student at Barf elementary" on it. YuK! (Why isn't the barf smiley working??)

'Nuff 'bout my bad driving habits... Actually, I've survived many a bad situation on the roads. Either dumb luck or fast reflexes... BTW, I live in Denver, so if you're ever in Denver and see a little black Acura with a spoiler - well, you've been warned... Zid

27

Vote: is it Gibbering Buddy, Gibbering Bottie, Governing Bottom.

by hamsterbait in

jw
friends

ziddina

I'm late to this party but..... How about Glowering Bottomfeeders?? Zid

51

What Were Your Consequences For Leaving The "Truth"???

by minimus in

jw
friends

was it as bad as everyone says, that if you leave the organization, you'll go back to the world, get into trouble and suffer?.

ziddina

Awww, apocryphal22, I'm awfully sorry to hear that!! Have you been able to rebuild your life yet, or has this just happened??? My immediate family are still JWs, but they were vicious to me so I was glad that they weren't allowed to talk to me after I left!! In fact, Mommie Dearest still tries to contact me by sending me a card each year around my birthday - I've considered saving up the cards and taking them to the elders in their congregation and showing them that Mumsy and Daddsy are attempting to associate with an 'apostate' - and get them disfellowshipped! But then I'd have to talk to them again....

I just decided to 'adopt' a surrogate mother, a surrogate father, and so on! I've found the 'worldly' people to be (in general) much nicer than the JWs, even - or perhaps that should be especially- nicer than my own family! Please don't give up!! Zid

Oh, strawberry cake - Right On! Shunning may be needed while in the Kingdom Hall, but doing it at a place of business is downright unprofessional!!! Not to mention that it makes them look very weird and strange...

38

Watchtower Farms Cemetery gravestone photos - sad

by BonaFide in

jw
friends

first of all, if anyone is offended by the photos, then i will ask this topic to be removed.

i am posting the photos because i get sad sometimes about people being forgotten who tried so hard, even though they were wrong.

the cemetery is pretty easy to find, if you have any interest in finding it.

ziddina

[I apologize in advance for this disrepectful post, but.....]

WHAT!!!! No Pyramids?????

http://pastorrussell.blogspot.com/2008/09/was-charles-taze-russell-mason.html

Or: http://thewebfairy.com/hardtruth/dirtywatchtowersecrets.htm

The Devil - no, wait, I don't believe in him.... Loki made me - no, not him either.... uhmmm, AukNuk made me - no, I'm not going to blame this on her either.... I guess Charles Taze Russell's insistence on the magical qualities of the Great Pyramid made me do it!! Zid

65

Kundalini "the 'original' coiled serpent"...anyone here familiar with it?

by lurk3r in

jw
friends

ziddina

Uhm, I've been having that most of my life. Usually happened when I was deeply moved by a piece of music that I loved - definitely NOT Jehovah's Witness songs! Felt good; hasn't happened for a while but I can prompt it to happen by entering a certain mental state, playing certain music, and dancing. (Took up belly dancing after leaving JWs and it happened frequently during those dances...)

Eventually I ended up living a couple of doors down from an artist who's exhibited at the Denver Art Museum a couple of times; he looked at my work and called me an artist too (I always thought of myself as a craftsperson), then he asked me about the "Divine Shiver"... It's the same thing as the energy surge of the Kundalini, basically... He's a devout Catholic, so I guess he wouldn't feel too comfortable viewing it as a manifestation of Hindu God/Goddess energy. I recently read a book titled "Daughters of the Goddess" by Linda Johnsen, which touches on this phenomenon... Here's a quote from that book:

“How long does it take to realize the Goddess? To become one with her?” I ask Swami Veda Bharati. “The blink of an eye”, he smiles. “All it requires is a glance from the Mother of the Universe.” And then, because he loves to tell stories, Swami Veda speaks of the Gods. Brahma, the creator of our particular universe (there are, of course, many others) lives for 311,040,000,000,000 of our earth years. Everything that we experience as real is merely Brahma’s dream. But Brahma himself was born from the dream of Vishnu, an infinitely vaster intelligence. A thousand times the length of Brahma’s life is just a few hours to Vishnu who himself lives some 671,846,400,000,000,000,000,000 of our years, according to the reckoning of the yogis. Brahma is born and dies, is reborn and dies again, over and over in the boundlessness of Vishnu’s dream, creating galaxies, withdrawing them, creating galaxies, withdrawing them. In every instant untold millions of other Brahmas are also taking birth and dying in Vishnu’s being.

But all of Vishnu’s existence is barely a breath in the lifespan of Mahadeva, “the Great God”; Shiva himself. Millions and billions of Vishnus are taking birth at every moment in the infinity of Shiva’s meditation. And the yoginis, who should know, say Shiva himself lives for 87,071,293,440,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 of our years. At the end of that eternity, even Shiva must pass away.

“And 1,000 of Shiva’s lifespans,” Swami Veda closes his eyes, “is one glance from the Mother of the Universe.”

She is Maha Kali, the Devourer, eternity itself. But because she is beyond time she can manifest in time. Because she is limitless, she can limit herself. “The supremely auspicious One, my Mother, is ever pure and transparent. She is wider than space itself and tinier than an atom. She is omniscient, yet she knows nothing; she does everything, yet she never acts; she holds everyone, yet no one holds her. All forms exist in her, but she is formless. Everything belongs to her, but she claims nothing. Through her everything that can be known is known, and yet she cannot be known. She is bliss, yet she herself is beyond bliss. Everything, even the gods, vanish into her; she alone never dies. She has no father or mother, yet innumerable are her daughters, like me,” the seeress Hemalekha taught her husband.

The matrix of being is without limit yet She measures the measureless. That is why the sages call her Maya, “the measurer”. She gives us the idea that the stars can be counted and that our own lives have a beginning and an end. This is so that we can grasp what she herself cannot; finitude.

Watching Sri Ma sit before her linga, reciting mantras ancient before the God of my own culture was born, and then merging into perfect stillness, I realize that the Goddess dwells beyond the outer reaches of thought, yet because she is the source of sound, those who listen to silence can hear her speak. The voice of the Goddess resounds “like thunder in the sky of the mind” according to the Tantra:

“I am the intelligence from which the universe emanates and in which it inheres, like a reflection in a mirror. The ignorant believe I am merely inert matter, but the wise experience me as the pure Self within themselves. They glimpse me when their minds become as still and clear as an ocean without waves..."

There's a brief discussion of the various types of yoga in this book, also, and what they are actually supposed to represent:

Ma Yoga Shakti was given the title Maha Mandaleshvar; she is the only woman of whom I am aware who has been granted this honorific in recent times. It literally means “Lord of the Great Mandala” but its connotations are very complex. A common practice of Indian yogis and yoginis is to worship a mandala or yantra, a geometric design whose every line, angle, circle, and petal represents a particular Goddess. Each Goddess in turn is the symbol of a specific divine power or quality such as creation or destruction, heat or cold, love or wisdom, hatred or jealousy. (Yes, negative qualities and emotions are also seen as part of the divine play in the Indian tradition.) Through intense concentration on the Goddesses of the mandala, and repetition of the mantras associated with them, the worshipper unites with and finally masters the powers they represent. Therefore to call a woman a mandaleshwar is a poetic way to acknowledge that she has mastered the mandala of her own mind and body, that she has mastered herself.

Ma Yoga Shakti is an advanced yogini. In the West we tend to think a yogini is a woman who has become particularly adept at hatha postures. This is not at all the meaning of the term in India . “Hatha yoga is only a preliminary practice to keep the body healthy. There are four steps of yoga. First is karma yoga, second is bhakti yoga, third is raja yoga, fourth is jnana yoga. They are not different paths; they are one and the same. First you solve your daily problems, karma yoga. Be efficient, expert in your daily work. Bhakti means you purify your emotions, your heart, your mind. Then you are a good person in the family and in the nation also. When you love god[dess], you love his/her creation also. Creation is a manifestation of God[dess]’s glory.”

In raja yoga, one sits for meditation. Ma typically sits for five hours. Ultimately the meditative state should persist whether one is sitting erect with eyes closed or working busily in the world. “If mind is always in control, every second, that is called sahaja samadhi.”

Jnana yoga is often translated as the yoga of knowledge. Ma quickly clarifies: “Liberation is not intellectual. Intellectually you can’t understand it. The intellect is helper and intellect is barrier also. One is bound by nothing else but his own mind...” “The first mantra and message and wisdom teaching of the Vedas is ‘Everything here is permeated by divine energy. God[dess] is everywhere in all forms. Nothing is bereft of divine energy....”

Don't be afraid of this energy. It is your life force [in conjunction with the life force of the universe!] manifesting itself - often it is a sign of surging creativity yearning to be released into the universe. Enjoy!! Zid

2

Hackers and Attorneys?

by The Berean in

jw
friends

i wonder if there are jw internet hackers working underground at the wtbts to intercept, sanitize, or delete any information which might be damaging to the image of the organization.

also, might i assume that gb attorneys are at the switch ready to threaten any whisleblowers with law-suits in order to discourage sharing of potential negative evidence?.

has anyone experienced such supression?.

ziddina

Hmmm. (keeping in mind I'm new here...) I was searching for a website that I could look up WTBTS literature - the sensitive sort - and ran into a site that tried to infect my computer. I doubt that there's an official edict out to attack so-called 'apostate' sites, but one never knows what will get into a fanatical JW's head.... Zid

51

What Were Your Consequences For Leaving The "Truth"???

by minimus in

jw
friends

was it as bad as everyone says, that if you leave the organization, you'll go back to the world, get into trouble and suffer?.

ziddina

minimus, I remember that talk! Usually given at Circuit or District Assemblies; young sister has doubts/dates non-JW/attends birthday celebration, then begins to drift out of "THE TRUTH". Ends up being shot in a drug raid in Los Angeles/Mexico/Bolivia while working as a prostitute/stripper/Catholic Social worker, which wouldn't have happened if she'd remained a JW, moved to Malawi and proven herself a loyal Witness for Jehovah by refusing to buy a party card....

"Witnesses try to scare you into believing how HORRIBLE your life will be if you ever leave..."

What a crock!! I remember thinking about that BS speech immediately as I was getting out, and recognizing it as nothing more than rabid fear-mongering to keep young people (especially!!! young people!) in the organization... In point of fact I met the nicest people out in the world (and yes, there was the occasional creepy to watch out for but hey! That's why we evolved a sixth sense, or at least street smarts, isn't it??), especially when I compared them to the scared-stiff, repressed JWs who were never fully genuine or truly happy!

Here's a little quote from a book I'm reading right now, about the WTBTS dependence (kind of sounds like a drug addiction, doesn't it?) on second- and third-generation JWs to increase their membership rolls. This is from the book, "Jehovah's Witnesses - Portrait of a contemporary religious movement" by Andrew Holden, published in 2002 by Routledge, of London and New York. In the chapter titled "Honour thy father and thy mother" under the subheading "The ones who say 'no'", starting on page #140:

"Continued membership of a totalitarian organization is never unconditional.... Communities like this are dependent on those born into them for long-term survival. The movement owes much of its success to horizontal and vertical recruitment. Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, cousins, in-laws, grandparents and grandchildren are all prime candidates for baptism - a rite of passage that boosts the Society's membership. Were it not for the significance of kinship, the Witnesses would not have had nearly the amount of success they have either in recruitment or in sustaining high levels of commitment..."

[Obviously the WTBTS is FULLY AWARE of this factor in their membership increases. Yet another reason for the Society to continue the 'shunning' aka 'disfellowshipment' practices as they are in place now. I heard some rumor about the WTBTS re-naming it?? But the practice serves to hold families as spiritual hostages in order to ensure compliance of critics, dissenters and potential deserters presently on the edges of the Society, and to bring many back into the spiritual fold who would otherwise be unwilling to continue membership in the organization - witness the number of posts about the Memorial in which people attend in order to avoid being cut off from or disrupting families.]

The author continues: "In a world in which people are allegedly free to choose from a whole range of options, children's acquiescence matters to the Society as never before... Beckford, J.A. (1975a; The Trumpet of Prophecy: a Sociological Study of Jehovah's Witnesses, Oxford: Basil Blackwell) discovered that around two-thirds of second-generation Witnesses over sixteen remained active members. This was also borne out in the General Social Survey of 1994 that showed a retention rate of around 70 percent.... At the macro level, the Governing Body has a responsibility to ensure that parents in every congregation are supported to the nth degree...because it must consider long-term survival. So long as children toe the line, all will be well; but those who break away from the movement do damage to its membership statistics. Children are the movement's bread and butter."

Well, yeah, I guess everyone here knows that?? But it felt good to post it, especially as researched by a social scientist, not just a group of ex-members reporting on anecdotal evidence.

"It`s not the outside world that makes you suffer,or trys to ruin your life when you leave the WBT$.....It`s the WTB$ and thier Brain Dead Cult,the Jehovah`s Witness`s that try to punish you for leaving.....The outside world is a paradise,compared to the Shit Hole the WBT$ provides" Right On, OutLaw!!

But I sure wish there was some way to create an "Underground Railroad" for other kids trapped in the religion. They have been stripped of their freedom of choice; enslaved while living within democracies (in many European and North American governments). I've been thinking about that a lot. I realized after I left (as Mouthy put it) "The Lie" that if I'd contacted my non-believing aunts and uncles I may have been able to negotiate some 'away' time from the family - maybe even gotten a court-mandated order that I be removed from the JW family and placed with an aunt and uncle who almost adopted me shortly after I was born - trouble was, the courts weren't aware of child battering and abuse at that time (late '50' - early '60's) - most of that info became publicly available when I was in my 30's - way too late for me. Any ideas on how to get info to kids that may want to get out?? The author of "I'm Perfect - You're Doomed" - as I read her book I kept thinking that if she'd had outside support, alternative resources, a non-believing aunt/cousin/uncle/grandparent she could have at least avoided the JW marriage, and some of the other misery she went through...

I'm babbling again. Any ideas?? Zid