Introspection

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Posts by Introspection

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  37

  Do you ever think about returning to Jehovah

  by ikhandi in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  maybe i was just curious to hear what they were going to discuss.

  i went to the two day circuit assembly.

  for those who wonder, its theme was taken from psalms 37:3 it's theme trust in jehovah and do good.

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  Introspection

  The feeling you get from an assembly is simply a state of mind. Having been a witness (btw, I am neither DF'd nor DA'd) I've experienced that myself. I have also experienced many other states, however, some far more powerful and complete than that felt from an assembly or convention.

  I'm here to tell you that none of those states are where it's at, even the better ones. A state of mind is by definition transient and will go away in time, but when we talk abour spirituality it seems it implies that which is permanent and does not change. Even that which is familiar is still temporary, you have to keep going back for more. This is not spirituality, it's a habit. Even if you haven't gone in a long time, it's just an old habit resurfacing, along with the associated feelings.
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  18

  Do you read *every* thread?

  by Introspection in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, do you?

  it just seems incredible to me with the amount of traffic that's on this board - just curious how many if anybody does that.

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  Introspection

  Well, do you? It just seems incredible to me with the amount of traffic that's on this board - just curious how many if anybody does that.
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  59

  I miss being a JW

  by joelbear in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  it seems the more time goes by, the more i miss being a jw.. i miss my friends.

  i miss the feeling of safety of the group.. i miss having hope.. i miss it a lot..

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  Introspection

  One other thing Joel, I wanted to respond to your statement about missing hope. You can have hope, it's only natural for human beings to want hope, even faith. The thing is I distinguish between having just hope and faith from having hope and faith in some thing. This would be pure hope. When you throw in an object, something to hope in, that just becomes a belief. It's like love. People can have somebody close that they love, but if their attitude is that the focus is on love, they are loving toward everyone, and the same goes for their expressions of affection. This is not something you can say about the witnesses.

  By the way, if you want to talk my email is open, I'm sure there are many on this board who are there for you too.

  Mark
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  59

  I miss being a JW

  by joelbear in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  it seems the more time goes by, the more i miss being a jw.. i miss my friends.

  i miss the feeling of safety of the group.. i miss having hope.. i miss it a lot..

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  Introspection

  Joel, to me the simple direct question is this: Do you want to feel good more than you want the truth? The two are not mutually exclusive, but if you just want to feel good there are plenty of ways to go about it. Heck, you can take drugs or something completely artificial like that.

  The other part of this is that truth and love goes together. If there is no truth, then the "love" is really just a matter of feeling good, isn't it? In fact, it just becomes an addiction. So to me this is the more fundamental question beyond "what makes you happy" - will just feeling good make you happy, or do you want what's true, what's real?
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  17

  You Never Know Who Might Be on the Other End...

  by MrMoe in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  him: m'k *groan grunt groan* ya know, she ain't really my old lady.

  never ever never never drink.

  him: you sound beautiful.

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  Introspection

  So.. Was that your ex?
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  14

  Don't Let A Window-Washer Ruin Your Life

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  recently, someone posted that jehovah's witnesses are one of the most uneducated religions around.

  since college and secular training is generally discouraged, there is good reason to believe that most witnesses will be less educated than others.

  yet, teaching is one of the main points stressed to all witnesses.

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  Introspection

  We might distinguish between being taught and being trained, and what I'm getting at is whether you are actually thinking yourself or just being conditioned. Of course, even if you think a lot that can be a type of conditioning too, but the point is are you free or are you a product of your conditioning?

  Both JWs and non-JWs can be conditioned regardless of their level of education, and in that case you might just say it's a matter of luck. If you look at this from the perspective of being free, though, neither is better than the other. You might not care that you are conditioned to live a more normal life instead of the JWs, but the fact is you wouldn't be free. Most people seem to think re-conditioning themselves is the way out, but there is an alternative of going even deeper. I say it doesn't matter who or what you think is the cause, just don't let your conditioning ruin your life.
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  28

  Me, Farkel, and the Art of Friendship

  by seven006 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the short and simple explanation of what has just happened over the past few days involving farkel and i is this.

  we are good friends.

  we joke with each other all the time.

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  Introspection

  Hey, isn't that (1st pic) Sally from 3rd Rock from the Sun?
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  25

  Requires thought

  by Brummie in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  how do you difine spirituality now you are no longer a jw?

  are you still a spiritual person and if so in what way?.

  or are you totally unspiritual by your definition of what it means to be such?.

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  Introspection

  Needless to say, the KH was spiritually devoid of any kind of energy of any sort. Even demons (if there are such things) would cringe at the entrance of a KH, for fear of drifting off into a comatose state of sleeping forever.

  Classic! lol
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  25

  Requires thought

  by Brummie in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  how do you difine spirituality now you are no longer a jw?

  are you still a spiritual person and if so in what way?.

  or are you totally unspiritual by your definition of what it means to be such?.

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  Introspection

  A definition is just a definition, being spiritual does not involve a "way", no way that is distinguished from any other way that is.

  I'd have to say the same thing for views. If we are interested in the truth, and you already know you've got "a view", then why would you be concerned with that view? You just have to take a step back to that which knows it is only your personal view, that is closer to the truth.

  Actually, I don't think thought is required. You can have a person that's amicable and gets along with all people regardless of spiritual orientation or lack of it, and that is what I would call a spiritual person. (as long as they don't do it out of propriety and PC BS) In fact, learning of certain spiritual ideas will more likely mess that up. Even if we're talking about people who've never been involved in a group like the JWs, they could very well miss that which is real in their effort to become spiritual according to their beliefs, even if those beliefs are very reasonable, they're only beliefs.
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  17

  To Be or Not To Be - Like God

  by Satanus in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  that is the question, brothers and sisters.

  often the verse about having to be perfect as their god is perfect, is repeated by persons of the bible.

  does that mean to imitate only their god's perfect qualities, while avoiding imitating his imperfect qualities/actions?

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  Introspection

  Well, there's a difference between being and acting. This typical attitude seems to be 'fake it till you make it' spirituality.

  There is another way to read that passage. The word must could indicate either compulsion (as in: you must do this or I'll smack you upside the head) or must as in certainty. (this MUST be true, how can it not be?) If you read that passage in the second sense of the word, the thought becomes: "Of course you're perfect, after all, your heavenly father is perfect."

  To imitate is not being, it is pretending. All this stuff is supposed to be by God's grace even according to traditional Christianity right, but here are some clowns thinking they got a nice system whereby you can put in so much works (in the case of JWs, actually counting the hours) to rack up some brownie points, like slipping God a few bills to get a good seat in Heaven/Paradise or whatever. Well, I will just say this: If you only had a different idea (or no idea, actually) of love and what it means to be perfect, (which of course goes hand in hand) the understanding of that scripture can change completely.

  When is a good time to introduce the idea that maybe the different ideas of/about God in the bible are not the real thing? Most of the time it's "this idea contradicts that one" - but what about just all of them being ideas period? All thoughts, all the same class of things - concepts. You don't have to get upset at the thoughts, they are just thoughts. Just see it for what it is, it's not like any concepts are going to be the real thing anyways, that's why they're called concepts.