mindmelda

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Posts by mindmelda

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  17

  "The Truth will set you Free!"

  by wannabe in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  "the truth will set you free!".

  " to everyone outside of their organization it is a "sealed book.

  " "not open to the understanding of anyone else?

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  mindmelda

  I don't think Paul or any other bible writer was talking about anything he wrote when he spoke of "inspired scripture".

  To the mind of Jews and early Christians, the only "inspired scripture" was the works of the Law and the Prophets. Also, to believing Christians, the words of Christ and his teachings would be considered of divine origin, since they believed Christ was of divine origin.

  What Paul and other first century Christians were writing only became "scripture" many centuries after their deaths. How arrogant it would have been for them to believe that their letters to one another and their other writing was "The Word of God".

  Only the WTS is that arrogant. They believe the Watchtower is inspired of God, even when it's written by a committee of men who put their pants on one leg at a time like anyone else, and is also largely ghost written by unrecognized and unappreciated researchers.

  FEH, the smears on the paper I wipe my ass with is more divinely inspired than their crapola.
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  62

  Do you feel that suicide is wrong?

  by dandingus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  minimus got me thinking with his thread about whether or not you know anyone that committed suicide.

  i think it might be interesting to see what the opinions are.. what do you think?.

  are there cases where it is understandable?

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  mindmelda

  I don't think of this in terms of "right" and "wrong".

  If you're thinking biblically, there's no particular or specific law against suicide that I know of. To my mind, not a "sin" but more of an unnecessary tragedy in many cases.

  It's one of those gray areas that truly depends on the situation. I'm not adverse to someone who is incurably or hopelessly ill, non-functional or in great pain ending their lives by choice. Everyone should have that right. Needless suffering due to illness or condition is unmerciful. We even grant that mercy to animals, why not fellow human beings?

  As someone who has been suicidally depressed, as I suffer from PTSD, (some of it induced by some pretty nasty experiences with JWs) I can tell you that depression is not a valid reason to commit suicide.
  Depression, even serious, organic, bipolar depression can be pretty successfully treated, most successfully with a combination of cognitive therapy and various mood elevating medications.

  The temporary deep misery and hopelessness one can feel when depressed WILL pass with proper treatment. It would be a terrible shame to ignore someone's cry for help and let their illness remain untreated. Never ignore someone who is threatening suicide, because if nothing else, it is a way of letting others know that the person needs help desperately.

  Suicide will NOT cure your depression. It only cures living. I can't believe that God, in any form, would punish suicide. God doesn't punish people for being sick, not the one I believe in, anyway.
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  17

  "The Truth will set you Free!"

  by wannabe in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  "the truth will set you free!".

  " to everyone outside of their organization it is a "sealed book.

  " "not open to the understanding of anyone else?

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  mindmelda

  The truth WILL set you free....From the WTS! LOL
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  28

  The JW belief "death pays for sin"

  by Chalam in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hello jwners,.

  i was just reading doublelife's thread and what struck me was this jw doctrine "she said that since my dad died, he paid for his sins, and he'll probably be resurrected.".

  so, why did jesus to die for our sins if we are just going to pay for them with our own death's?!.

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  mindmelda

  All good points. Again, the WTS teachings deny Christ. How can you call yourselves Christians if you keep denying Christ?

  It's one of the most disturbing things about JWs...they actually believe that they are honoring Christ by their beliefs, and yet, they totally deny his divinity and his saving grace.

  I'm not really a Christian, I'm a Universalist of sorts, because I believe all paths strive to the Divine, but Christ is one path, and a significant one for many people, including me. To deny his divinity and the truth of his teaching is to deny the divinity and spirit of any belief system, in my philosophy.

  If there is one thing that being an ex Witness taught me, it's to never deny any path to spirit. The Witnesses spend a lot of time and energy denying other faiths right to exist, their spirituality, and deny what good they accomplish.

  Christ was able to reach the hearts of his enemies, and encouraged love of all. That is not what Witnesses are all about. They're about fear and hate of anyone who believes differently.

  They are no different than any other high control religion, in other words.

  I've found spirit in the ritual of Catholic Mass, in Protestant gospel music, in Native American shamanism, in Buddhist meditation and martial arts, in Wiccan and Pagan blessing ritual, in Druidism and in the wonderful wisdom and counsel of a rabbi who is a friend of mine. It's everywhere and in us all.

  To deny any way to find it is to deny ourselves. Truly spiritual people know that. They don't deny others their path to the Divine.
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  4

  Addition to Who really is the Faithful Slave?

  by wannabe in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  "{john 8:27-29 niv}.

  12 i did not receive it from any man, nor was i taught it; rather, i received it by revelation from jesus christ.

  "{john 14:16,17 niv}.

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  mindmelda

  Well, the first Christians believed it was Christ, which is simple enough and makes sense. Who else would it be to them? Yes, in assuming the role of faithful and discreet slave, any man or organization including the WTS is saying that they are the only conduit to God for wisdom and holy spirit. Which, if you're not actually able to save people or give them holy spirit, would constitute a blasphemy, in my humble opinion.

  I can't read that flourescent pink post because it's eye searing. I'm sure it could induce an epileptic fit if looked at long enough. Could we get it cleaned up or removed?
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  27

  Did any of you study the WT lesson throughly without ANY underlining?

  by asilentone in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  just wondering.

  it makes me think whoever underlines the wt without going throughly is purely hypocritical.

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  mindmelda

  I never underlined. Never helped me study, so why do it? I never take notes either...because I don't look at them again. Same way in school, never underlined, took notes none of that. My grades were good, so if it ain't broke, I wasn't going to fix it.
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  29

  Faders, How Often Do You/Did you Want to Pull the Pin on that Grenade?

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  many here have stopped going to the kh and many have just reduced activity to some degree.

  while today is not that day for me, i have had the "screw it all" attitude every now and again and was ready to tell the wt off, call the p.o.

  or whoever, call my mother and tell her all about the "god-damned cult" she's in and why it's just wrong.

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  mindmelda

  I'm sure a lot of people are hiding because they don't want to alienate JW family. They use your family to hold you hostage, in a way. The only way around that is to hook up with family or friends who are outside of the organization and start making bridges to a new support system of people.
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  14

  "New Order", "New World Order" systematically removed from WTS

  by EndofMysteries in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  has anyone else caught on to this?

  i remember as a kid, 80's, it was called the "new system", then late 80's, early 90's, changed to new world order.

  it's interesting that governments, conspiracy theories, news, etc, are all calling the one world government, the new world order.

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  mindmelda

  Maybe because a lot of human dictators have used the same term to describe their political regimes? I've always noticed that they like changing terms to suit the current world climate. For a while, the word "religion" was scrupulously avoided when people became allergic to that and church attendance dropped sharply in the 80s. Then, it became okay to be religious again in the 90s, so they started using it again in the Watchtower.
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  9

  "Poor Joseph. God is a hard act to follow." Billboard

  by TheSilence in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i found this to be an odd billboard simply because it was posted by a church:.

  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyid=121585861&ft=1&f=1001.

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  mindmelda

  In most belief systems, eventually a God or Goddess has sex with a human and creates a "hero". Every ancient religion I can think of has a story like this.

  Nothing new here...move along.
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  29

  Faders, How Often Do You/Did you Want to Pull the Pin on that Grenade?

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  many here have stopped going to the kh and many have just reduced activity to some degree.

  while today is not that day for me, i have had the "screw it all" attitude every now and again and was ready to tell the wt off, call the p.o.

  or whoever, call my mother and tell her all about the "god-damned cult" she's in and why it's just wrong.

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  mindmelda

  Eh, people are entitled to believe any damn fool thing they like. I tell my children not to be deceived, but as for adult JWs, its their right to be idiots, and besides, the more you "persecute" them, the more right they think they are, and the more demonized they think you are.

  Not the right approach at all. I figure that eventually, everyone still in this stupidity will get tired of waiting for Armageddon and the thousand year reign and JWs will become another semi interesting footnote in the future study of adventist/apocalyptic religions. Something like, "This sect and the Seventh Day Adventist sect did last somewhat longer than most Adventists religions, but ultimately suffered from the same fate as smaller groups of this sort, as the promised Apocalypse and subsequent paradise did not occur, and gradually, followers became disillusioned and slowly abandoned it's more unusual teachings, and either went to more mainstream religions or abandoned religion altogether. Also, the internal corruption that inevitably overtakes groups who seclude themselves from mainstream society became a factor, leading many to leave or 'fade away' as it was called, in the latter years of the sect's duration."

  I expect to be seeing this in a book in about 10 to 20 years. LOL