not a captive

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Posts by not a captive

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  4

  She Did It!!!

  by snowbird in

  1. social
  2. current

  http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/37333282/ns/today-today_people?gt1=43001.

  an alabamian at that!

  yay!

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  not a captive

  Yay! Good for her and everyone who cared about her too!
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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

  I think the birth control thing and the RC Church is on topic.

  I looked up the "Catechism of the Catholic Church" online version and at section 2368 it goes on about contraception. Highly theoretical but it is what I understood and you have mentioned: Basically any birth control that we use that doesn't "fail" at regular intervals leads us into an abuse of the conjugal act.

  I have often wondered if the Church views sex after menopause for women as an abuse (Am I sinning if I am too old to get pregnant--and I'M GLAD I can't?

  It was about 1964 or '65 that Vatican II was going on. By that time we had eight kids and Mom and Dad had to do something to stop kids from getting born--Mom had had a bad time with her last pregnancy and the doctors had warned them to stop having kids. That Natural Family Planning wasn't making the rounds then and Mom didn't have anything like a regular pattern for that stupid Rhythm Method. Abstinence was not a realistic solution. They anguished about it. But the babies stopped. And while we kids didn't get in on their discussions, we found out:

  Trojans.

  But they really suffered in their conscience. You might imagine how Dad was ticked off when one Sunday after the homily they passed a microphone in an open discussion on----- conscience and birth control!

  I still remember Dad's very few words--"Father, what does the Pope say?" I can't recall the priest's mumbled answer. So Dad said "SO what is there to discuss?"

  How could they do that? Make people believe it was a sin then flip it over for discussion? Why the torment? If ultimately we must take our conscience and do what is right before God--Why don't these religions stop laying down the LAW?

  P.S. They adopted a little girl when Dad got sent to Korea. That was the deal they made with God.

  Maeve
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  50

  Ladies, how do you feel about be called a "weaker vessel"?

  by sacolton in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  only after joining the jehovah's witnesses did i ever hear women referred to as "weaker vessels".

  how does that make you feel?.

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  not a captive

  In Secrets to Family Happiness (was that the name of the WTS book?) I mentioned that the part meant for women was over twice as long as the chapter for men. Think about it. Maeve
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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.