not a captive

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Posts by not a captive

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  127

  DO you follow any of these quacks, charlatans, liars, mystics or self-promoters?

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  don't try to lie about it.

  you accept some of these people as an authority.

  you listen to them.

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  not a captive

  I gave them up for Lent.

  Except Mother Theresa, after she died and her crisis of faith came to light I was interested in her.
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  45

  Do other religions change doctrine?

  by serenitynow! in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  after visiting with a couple of jws over the weekend; and for the first time talking about my true feelings about the org with active jws other than immediate fam, one of them mentioned something interesting.

  when i talked about how with the constant changes to beliefs that i find it impossible to believe that the gb can be guided by the hs.

  so one of the jws said, "other religions change doctrines around too.

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  not a captive

  The Immaculate Conception, Transubstantiation, and the controversy of Filioque have made Catholics have to jump through Vatican hoops. These are some New Lights the Catholic church made their members accept, leave or burn over the years.

  Birth control was a bigger issue to some. I'm going to check that out. I know it riled my mom and dad after they sweated out eight kids and Mom's hard time with the last one... they had no quarter given as I recall.

  Like I said, I'll check it out.

  Maeve
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  64

  Twisting Scripture vs A Literal Reading

  by AllTimeJeff in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  knowing that passions run deep on this matter, i have what i believe to be a very simple premise for a discussion of how to read the bible.. terry has labored over the last couple of months to demonstrate (in my view, conclusively) that the bible is far from unaltered, and often mistranslated.

  these facts, inconvenient as they might be for believers, are nonetheless, a problem for those who claim that the bible is the word of god.. this is not what i wish to discuss... rather..... jehovah's witnesses come from a tradition of "reading in" or "adding meaning" to the scriptures.

  no one jw outside of the governing body is allowed to do this.. but why is it necesarry?.

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  not a captive

  Thanks said, it is all about a practical application, i.e. the faith leads to action rather than knowledge of the the truth as the WT would have you believe. It one's faith in Jesus that saves, not knowledge of His sacrifice.

  Stephen,

  I appreciate your Bible references. In spite of scholarly doubts of the scriptures' purity, even if they are damaged, I value them. I trust that the essence of God's spirit still can effectively reach us through them.
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  64

  Twisting Scripture vs A Literal Reading

  by AllTimeJeff in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  knowing that passions run deep on this matter, i have what i believe to be a very simple premise for a discussion of how to read the bible.. terry has labored over the last couple of months to demonstrate (in my view, conclusively) that the bible is far from unaltered, and often mistranslated.

  these facts, inconvenient as they might be for believers, are nonetheless, a problem for those who claim that the bible is the word of god.. this is not what i wish to discuss... rather..... jehovah's witnesses come from a tradition of "reading in" or "adding meaning" to the scriptures.

  no one jw outside of the governing body is allowed to do this.. but why is it necesarry?.

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  not a captive

  I am so sure of that too. Even if there is little to be sure of in scraps of writing we can touch--What can we know anyway without the spirit of God? Yes, surely in practice it will lead us to the same understandings.

  Maeve
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  9

  Being Comfortable with the Presence of Mystery

  by man in black in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i was reading an article about this subject, and the author was explaining how so many new discoveries in space right now are hard to explain.. these comments were also made:.

  livio (the author) also picks up on an intriguing theme left dangling in my lovely easter conversation with vatican astronomers guy consolmagno and george coyne the enduring question of whether mathematical truths, laws of nature, are discovered or invented.

  he unapologetically offers his conclusion that there is no either/or answer possible here that mathematics is both invented and discovered.

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  not a captive

  I don't see that Jesus attempted to answer all the unknowns. All the doctrines that have spilled out of councils and conferences since he died are rubbish. He gave his life and he taught us about his father and how to love each other.

  What I may learn is not supposed to end the search as far as my friends' search is concerned. We are invited to discover who the Father and who the Son are. No one can tell all that we to know.

  So. Not totally comfortable with mystery.Jesus said "Ask and you shall receive."

  Ask and you shall receive. I hope to learn a little while I'm here on the earth. But what I don't know, I trust will not hurt me.
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  28

  Would Jesus have told us the devine name was lost?

  by wannabe in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  some would just love to see it lost!

  satan the devil maybe he`s a god!

  {jehovah} 7 " 'i will make known my holy name among my people israel.

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  not a captive

  I know what you're thinking, VoidEater!
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  6

  Religious explanations are CARTOON thinking

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  does death come to mankind because of sin?.

  why does a cat die?

  or a petunia?.

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  not a captive

  If you say GRAVITY you will imagine you've said something intelligent. But, you haven't. You've uttered a useful word which PRETENDS to explain.

  Nobody actually KNOWS what "gravity" is. They can measure its effect and accurately predict the force of it over distance. But, nobody can really explain it without resorting to storytelling and metaphor.

  Why? Because human knowledge fuzzes out at a certain point and yet, the "explanation" continues by switching from a precise terminology into a poetic terminology.

  Exactly.
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  99

  Why FAITH is actually a form of suicide

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i once heard a psychiatrist explain suicide as the ultimate act of self-preservation.

  sound weird?.

  counter-intuitive as that sounds, he went on to explain why.. when all you value in life is threatened you do whatever desperate act that will preserve that value.. destruction of self stops the ......process.....of consciously losing.

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  not a captive

  Collective faith is surrender to a group identity that causes the loss of self

  There is no such thing as collective faith. Form a collective with a group identity and you only have a religious brand. If anyone thinks that faith in God is derived from group indoctrination they have been completely brainwashed.

  Just because different religions have what they call "Articles of Faith", that doesn't mean that their members have faith. A religion defines itself by defining its members, the religion demands the surrender of individuality. Religion tells us that God deals with us the way a farmer deals with broiler house chickens.

  Faith is not in religion.
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  99

  Why FAITH is actually a form of suicide

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i once heard a psychiatrist explain suicide as the ultimate act of self-preservation.

  sound weird?.

  counter-intuitive as that sounds, he went on to explain why.. when all you value in life is threatened you do whatever desperate act that will preserve that value.. destruction of self stops the ......process.....of consciously losing.

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  not a captive

  Francisco “Pachico” Mayoral

  Pachico, a coastal fisherman for 45 years, became the chosen one. On a winter day in 1972 Pachico was fishing in the Lagoon when a gray whale approached his small 18 foot wooden panga - a typical Baja open boat similar to a dory. Until that day there had been no known contact between gray whales and man without one or the other ending up dead. Pachico tried to get away from the whale, but with every attempt the whale would surface next to the panga. Knowing little about whales at the time, Pachico knew the large marine mammal double the size of his panga was now in charge. The whale went under the panga, not giving Pachico an option other than staying still. Pachico was surprised that the whale wasn’t showing any signs of aggression; as the old fisherman tales had described. Instead, the whale gently rubbed itself against his panga, raised its head a couple feet out of the water right where Pachico was sitting. Though fearful, he timidly reached out his hand to the gray whale and touched it with his fingers. To his amazement the whale didn’t back away, but instead moved closer to him. Pachico soon realized that petting the giant was OK. The gray whale had chosen Pachico to be the first human to experience a close and friendly relationship. On that winter day, in San Ignacio Lagoon, the gray whale and man began to trust one another. Returning to the fishing village that day, Pachico told the story of the friendly gray whale. Everyone in the Lagoon thought he was out of his mind. Pachico started taking his friends out in the Lagoon and they soon discovered that what he had told them was true. The word spread and soon visitors and those wanting to have the same encounter arrived to experience this wonderful new relationship between man and the gray whales. The gray whales, that had been hunted and abused by for so many years, had now forgiven man and had reached out for a new and better relationship. Pachico has been involved in many different projects related to the whales in San Ignacio Lagoon. He has worked with researchers, scientists, and documentary filmmakers. Pachico's mesmerizing experiences with the whales have also been documented in many different books, magazines and films. Pachico has resided in San Ignacio Lagoon, (Laguna San Ignacio) since 1960. He is married to Carmen Aguilar, who has lived in San Ignacio for her entire life. Carmen’s father was one of the founders of the Lagoon. Pachico and Carmen have 6 children who were all raised with the shores of the Lagoon as their front yard. Pachico still drives his panga with the gray whales. He is always willing to share his knowledge, experiences and great stories of over 30 years of watching the gray whales. Today, Pachico and his family organize and lead tours in the San Ignacio Lagoon.
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  31

  Did You Name Your 1st Car?

  by snowbird in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i did.. it was a 1975 nova hatchback; i named her blossom.. i traded her in on a 1985 nova which i named gumby; i didn't like him.. thanks for replying.. syl.

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  not a captive

  My first car was a Ford Falcon that cost me $125. I called it lots of names....

  Afew years later I bought an old Dodge Dart that already had a name "Maurice". It was a good old car. It went through oil so fast that after a while we would ask the gas station attendents (that was the old days!) if they had any drain oil to put in Maurice. We had to put oil in every time we stopped for gas.