Enlightenment is the realization that you probably don't know anything?????????????????????
not a captive
JoinedPosts by not a captive
-
4
The boldly stupid remain so while those not so inclined act with undue restraint
by gubberningbody ininteresting study..... .
the dunningkruger effect is a cognitive bias in which "people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it.
"[1] the unskilled therefore suffer from illusory superiority, rating their own ability as above average, much higher than it actually is, while the highly skilled underrate their abilities, suffering from illusory inferiority.
-
-
-
18
How I left Jehovah's Witnesses/Maeve Courteau
by not a captive inin february of 2009 i slipped a letter of conscience under the doormat of my former book study conductor who was out of town.
that letter was written because i could not support a portion of the materials that constantly was featured in wts literature.
at the time i was a sister in good standing.
-
-
not a captive
I'm bumping this as a Post Script to the thread "Reading people's hearts" as some have mentioned this post for its content pertinent to the recent discussion.
These are the scans of correspondence over the year of 2009. My references and research and the Branch's response to issues surrounding the things we were supposed to teach about God's test of Abraham at Genesis 22.
Of course, no surprise , I'm no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
-
34
Reading peoples hearts
by highdose inhi.
this is inspired by another thread, but heres something that always bugged me.... if god wanted to know if abraham really was faithful... then why didn't he use his abilty to look into his heart and find out?
instead of putting the poor man and his son through a near death/ murder situation??
-
-
not a captive
What Genesis 22 means in understanding God has always been a real head trip. We "get" Abraham as Paul said, he figured God could raise him from the dead, but what was God THINKING?!!
My personal resolution of that question started a chain of meetings and letters that ultimately took me out of the WTS. Once I formally put it in front of the local brothers there was no turning back.
It is a bit of a read but if anyone cares to, Tammy did post the link above of the correspondence to the local brothers and the Branch and their response. You bet it is an important topic--Jesus kept calling the Jews to do the works of Abraham at the same time he affirmed the surpassing goodness and compassion of his own father in heaven..I told the society that I couldn't in conscience endorse their literature about the test of Abraham.
I'm going to leave my computer up in my apartment til Tuesday when I have to hand the keys over to my landlady(I'm moving).
Elderlite, Cover your ears--my own elders told me I could not discuss this with JWs. For over a year I complied with that direction--And ultimately DA'd for the freedom to love and serve God as freely as did Ignorant Abraham and Silly Isaac. But I would be interested to know how it seemed the Society handled the matter I sent to them...
Tammy,, You've been gone? Good hearing your sweet voice around here again!
-
22
I don't know what made be buy the Universal Sovereignty argument for the permission of evil
by gubberningbody in...but it seems foundational to any intelligent investing in a religion.. i you can't provide a morally upright reason for the permission of evil without just having the deity pull rank and declare himself righteous, then i'm not really interested in hearing any more.. were i to listen, it would be out of morbid curiosity, not out of any intent to invest..
-
-
not a captive
I think we bought it because we had no alternative that would allow us to think of God as basically benevolent. Agonus said it--no issue, no debate, nothing to prove, nothing to settle.
Guber, you mention "to know 'anything' I'd have to know 'everything'".
The thing that increasingly disturbed me about the WTS was that they contined to speak authoritatively in areas that they had no right to speak at all (maybe everything). I found myself outraged --not "enraged against Jehovah", as the Branch implied in a letter to me, but against them. They cauterized all thought and prescribed our daily--our momentary--observance of God. The interior quiet to lhear that small soundthat cannot be anticipated: God: "be still and know that I am God" was never possible once the WTS got hold of you.
That became the focus, that need for solitary reflection, of my severing ties with the WTS and all Organized religion. It developed out of the realization that while we revered the "God inspired"scriptures, and believed that we protected the words of God by defining and enforcing a uniform "pure language" on others. The "we" that we made ourselves in religion violates the very most basic tenet of faith--it's solitude. When armies of believers think they are protecting the holy place by their uniformity and numbers they are not inside the temple protecting it from the infidels, they are the infidels..
If Bible stories and the impulse to share them with others are inspired by God, then alas, the words of the scriptures are themselves of our own invention. By that I mean that can only share stories that use words whose very origins are "un-godly". If His ways are indeed higher than our ways than it seems reasonable that He might have words with happier definitions than "slaughter", "rape", "torment", and purposes more elevated than these enacted by some of the Chosen people: "and drove the pin into his temples and beat it into the earth","and limb by limb cut her in twelve pieces", "... and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman through their genital parts."
If I have to "know everything" about God before I will accept that he IS then I am either bound for personal frustration or bound to create or look for a religion. If God is "real"then the first and most vital element to knowing Him is to see him present.
And doesn't God know that Himself?
Personally I left the WTS because I chose to be ignorant once again. I told them I wanted the freedom to be wrong. I even want the freedom to be laughed at --and to laugh at myself. Genesis 22 saved my life. The story is really about how much hinged on so little knowledge of God. An old man's foolish ignorance and his conversation with another fool, his son: "Where's the lamb for the burnt offering?" This account formed the framework for me to be so silly as to ultimately walk away from "God's Organization" who has all the answers and trust that God could bless my own foolishness.
-
33
The sweet sound of a critic
by Lady Lee ingot this email.
i am not a jehovah witnesses, but all my family are......i saw your video on "youtube" and what you said about them is despicable and i think your hypocrisy in your face made me sick... shut your mouth and have respect for all religions.... i can say bad things about all religions but i have the decency to respect their faith and their thoughts... guest who is next to me seeing me writing this email to you nothing but a musulman friend, and a jewish friend and by the way they say that you are a sick old lady.... -------------.
this is in reference to the video clip on you tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viswagy_emg that is a short clip from a much longer interview (85 minutes).
-
-
not a captive
And all lurkers, note:
How covert his tactics were as mentioned , a private attack on Lady Lee. But it is healthy to bring ugliness to light and not let it bind you. Do bring it to friends. We do support one another ---even if we do not always agree. It is possible.
-
101
"Jesus did not die on the cross" (Gunnar Samuelsson)
by Titus in"jesus did not die on the cross" .
a new doctoral dissertation in theology from gothenburg university claims that the bible has been misinterpreted when it comes to how jesus died.
gunnar samuelsson who wrote the dissertation has studied the original texts and sees no explicit references to crucifiction.
-
-
not a captive
Sometimes it's hard to know what were the considerations for style of executions.
The practical problem of hardware has long been a problem for early humanity.Building w/o nails was a practical, not aesthetic concern in early or frontier times. During colonial times I have read that homesteaders burned their old residence to ashes to retrieve the nails --Not that I'm saying the Romans were short of spikes--but I can see the practical benefits of tying criminals to the conveniently located fork in a pole or tree and not having to deal with reusing spikes--it messes up the wood after a while. I know when we have butchered a beef, deer or hog, it isn't as easy as all that to find a proper tree for the job. Golgotha, the place of the skull must have had some proper set up for killing.
Trees were at a premium around Jerusalem I believe. Fruit bearing trees were taxed--again correct me if this is wrong. It makes sense from a municipal stand point to have timber dedicated to the disposal of criminals.
All-in-all it is hard to project back in time to the variety of circumstances that prevailed to alter even established customs for the hanging up, the crucifying, the impaling of criminals or prisoners of war.
Humans are cruelly inventive.
-
23
How Pleasant to See Brothers ...
by snowbird inpushing baby carriages, changing nappies, and wiping drool.*.
wonderful sight!
my brothers.
-
-
not a captive
Dear Misery,
Nice to think of us having such a practical value beyond wide hips and soft hands to take care of the big bad baby boys in bed.
-
10
Of No Importance
by compound complex inrecent happenings close to home bewilder me by day, terrify me by night.
i am immersed in the profound waters of doubt and, sometimes, despair, as i struggle swimmingly to a far off shore that itself is encased in black mist.. yet, the shroud of fog does rise.
i am able to see outward, through the windows to my soul.
-
-
not a captive
Today I was thinking of the elevated importance of this: Faithful in least is faithful in much.
Our sphere of influence is usually limited to things close at hand --O, how dreadful! we think.
But really it isn't true that our actions and words necessarily have a small boundary. Or actions well considered, our thought well spoken carry on beyond our reach and our voice.
We need to do well what we can and trust that its value increases to "much".
What a relief. And what a joy to those near at hand who need, not a great personage but a true and present friend.
(And a writer.)
Keep it up, CoCo!
-
33
The sweet sound of a critic
by Lady Lee ingot this email.
i am not a jehovah witnesses, but all my family are......i saw your video on "youtube" and what you said about them is despicable and i think your hypocrisy in your face made me sick... shut your mouth and have respect for all religions.... i can say bad things about all religions but i have the decency to respect their faith and their thoughts... guest who is next to me seeing me writing this email to you nothing but a musulman friend, and a jewish friend and by the way they say that you are a sick old lady.... -------------.
this is in reference to the video clip on you tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viswagy_emg that is a short clip from a much longer interview (85 minutes).
-
-
not a captive
Lady Lee,
Thanks for putting yourself "out there" to help others.
You face a lot of emotional hazard lots of us dodge by staying undercover. You have the whole crazy world walking past you. Like everyone here said, you are impeccable in your presentation. But it hurts me that someone took the time an effort to hurt you.
It is garbage. Complete messed up human ugliness. This guy doesn't understand the difference between criticizing a monstrous religion and the personal evil of attacking someone as they have.
Thanks for helping us .
Maeve
-
22
We bought land!
by Aussie Oz inwe bought land!.
some of you might remember a delema i had a couple of months ago over buying a house... and gave lots of great advice.. well, we ended up buying a large block of land (modern developers would cram 8 houses on it) one hour outside the city in a really nice little town of only 250 people.
the block has an 1860 ruin on it that looks like an old school or church.
-
-
not a captive
I am happy for you Oz.
It's great to have a sense of "place". We are physical realities and even if we wax philisophical about "not being attached",we derive great peace in having our "own vine and our own fig tree"--God knows. So if you ex throws that at you remember that this is a fine thing for you all.
Have fun!
Maeve