Posts by JustAThought

95

I witnessed to the Christians last night--LOL!

by LDH in

jw
friends

thought you all would enjoy this.. i went to a b'day party for a friend who is a bible-thumper in the worst way!

(10x worse than most jw).. i'm sitting around like a zombie while everyone is talking about how "blessed" they are to "know christ" blah blah blah blah blah.. then my interest got peaked as one of the women started quoting scripture talking about how the reason her life is blessed is that her great great grandmother was a russian mennonite blah blah blah and the bible says that god will bless your offspring if you come to know him.

blah blah blah.. so i start asking a few well placed questions like "well what does that mean for the poor muslim sop whose great great grandmother was a muslim?

JustAThought

HMMM......

Let's see what replacement of just a few words will do ...

So Lisa, an old hand here in this group and the JW's before that, posts something that the Christians don't like.

Larc, TR, Mulan and many other well respected group members here actually ENJOY the post because they get the 'meaning of it' (i.e., it's an inside thing).

Then we have three outsiders. God Knows, Rex, and Just a Thought.
Among whose first posts seek to defend that die-hard Christianity we all so easily recognize as wrong.

Sound like anything familiar?

JustAThought

95

I witnessed to the Christians last night--LOL!

by LDH in

jw
friends

thought you all would enjoy this.. i went to a b'day party for a friend who is a bible-thumper in the worst way!

(10x worse than most jw).. i'm sitting around like a zombie while everyone is talking about how "blessed" they are to "know christ" blah blah blah blah blah.. then my interest got peaked as one of the women started quoting scripture talking about how the reason her life is blessed is that her great great grandmother was a russian mennonite blah blah blah and the bible says that god will bless your offspring if you come to know him.

blah blah blah.. so i start asking a few well placed questions like "well what does that mean for the poor muslim sop whose great great grandmother was a muslim?

JustAThought

Since YOU brought up the subject of proselytizing, ... I have yet to walk up to anybody's door, uninvited, and proceed to interrupt their day by preaching to them. Can you say the same?

Even in this case, I did not chime in with unrequested information. My contribution was an answer to the question that YOU put out on the table.

Jesus died to redeem all mankind. Where did HE say you had to believe in him in order to receive that gift?

And think about the title to this thread ... "I witnessed to the *Christians* last night." Isn't that exactly what you used to do as a JW? Add to that the general intolerance of anybody else's belief system. You may as well be back in the Kingdom Hall. Have you really broken free?

JustAThought

95

I witnessed to the Christians last night--LOL!

by LDH in

jw
friends

thought you all would enjoy this.. i went to a b'day party for a friend who is a bible-thumper in the worst way!

(10x worse than most jw).. i'm sitting around like a zombie while everyone is talking about how "blessed" they are to "know christ" blah blah blah blah blah.. then my interest got peaked as one of the women started quoting scripture talking about how the reason her life is blessed is that her great great grandmother was a russian mennonite blah blah blah and the bible says that god will bless your offspring if you come to know him.

blah blah blah.. so i start asking a few well placed questions like "well what does that mean for the poor muslim sop whose great great grandmother was a muslim?

JustAThought

Let's clarify. Jesus died to redeem all mankind. Where did HE say you had to believe in him in order to receive that gift? HA HA all of the scriptures you quoted were written by OTHERS and were not the words of JESUS your redeemer. Some who wrote those bible books you quoted never even MET Jesus let alone had a conversation with him.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
John 3:16-18

Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
John 6:19

And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:40

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
John 6:47

He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

I John 5:10-13

272

McVeigh vs Death Penalty

by Amazing in

jw
friends

i am a policitcal conservative, at least a fiscal conservative and sociel moderate.

i support the death penalty, but i agree that our judicial system needs to overhaul how wwe treat criminals to achieve better rehabilitation results.

and of course, withhold the death penalty in cases where there could be doubt.. in mcveigh's case, i believe that he deserves the death penalty.

JustAThought

...the fact that babies are clean slates and become what WE turn them into.

Is that a fact?

Isn't it true that a baby is really not a clean slate? Isn't a baby chock full of personality, ability, temperament, potential, etc. before he/she ever comes into the world? Aren't even babies different in these aspects of their being? If the only determinant is nurture, could all have been a Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Beethoven, Einstein, Jesus, Ghandi, or ... Hitler?

If nurture could have played a crucial role in McVeigh's becoming one who would do what he did, don't you think that his defense would have played that to the hilt? Yet, I haven't heard anything like that.

So ... is it nature or is it nurture, or is it some combination of the two? And isn't it true that, in most cases, where there is no clear-cut evidence one way or another, it's way too complicated to tell?

JustAThought

272

McVeigh vs Death Penalty

by Amazing in

jw
friends

i am a policitcal conservative, at least a fiscal conservative and sociel moderate.

i support the death penalty, but i agree that our judicial system needs to overhaul how wwe treat criminals to achieve better rehabilitation results.

and of course, withhold the death penalty in cases where there could be doubt.. in mcveigh's case, i believe that he deserves the death penalty.

JustAThought

Having the government kill those who disagree with its rules just encourages more violence.

Is this an accurate reflection of the McVeigh situation? Or was it the government killing one who had personally killed 168 of it's innocent citizens? I know we believe in freedom of expression in this country, but is this JUST an example of expressing disagreement with a government's rules?

JustAThought

272

McVeigh vs Death Penalty

by Amazing in

jw
friends

i am a policitcal conservative, at least a fiscal conservative and sociel moderate.

i support the death penalty, but i agree that our judicial system needs to overhaul how wwe treat criminals to achieve better rehabilitation results.

and of course, withhold the death penalty in cases where there could be doubt.. in mcveigh's case, i believe that he deserves the death penalty.

JustAThought

Again, I ask about the families/loved ones of the victims of the bombing. Honestly, how do you really think THEY feel about the subject? For them, is justice not served by McVeigh's death? Does our society bear any responsibility to the victims and their families/loved ones? Is there anyone else in the situation whose plight is more deserving of redress?

In this discussion of the rightness/wrongness of capital punishment, we've focused on McVeigh, his family, society, U.S. standing in the community of nations, etc. Should not our main concern be the victims and their families/loved ones? I acknowledge that victims' concerns has been addressed, but has it been addressed adequately?

Some suggested that the best way to punish McVeigh is to make him live within the context of the aftermath of his actions; to bring him face-to-face with family and friends of his victims. It might work well to punish McVeigh, but what of those family members/loved ones? Should we allow a situation where we USE, even inadvertantly, the offended to punish the offender? Can you imagine the mental/emotional anguish which would accompany such encounters? Do you agree that some of the offended might get STUCK in their grieving process by having the offender live on?

Just more of my current thought processes.

JustAThought

272

McVeigh vs Death Penalty

by Amazing in

jw
friends

i am a policitcal conservative, at least a fiscal conservative and sociel moderate.

i support the death penalty, but i agree that our judicial system needs to overhaul how wwe treat criminals to achieve better rehabilitation results.

and of course, withhold the death penalty in cases where there could be doubt.. in mcveigh's case, i believe that he deserves the death penalty.

JustAThought

Sorry if this has already been said, but I just wanted to set my thoughts on this topic on record.

I also believe that the usage of the death penalty is an issue of justice. But the question has been asked ... what is justice?

I think that it has much less to do with the general population at large, and has much more to do with the families (witness Cowboy's admitted bias on page 1) of the victims. I think that such justice (as we see today with the death of Timothy McVeigh) has to do with avoiding having these persons, not only, enduring the loss of their loved one, but further, the continued life of the one who took their loved one from them. I believe that justice does permit and encourage closure, for once the offender's existence is ended (and have no doubt that the offender's existence is offensive to victims' families, even if he/she is put away for life), attention can be turned from the 'unfair' continued life of the offender. They can, then, properly grieve and move on. Justice frees those who would be trapped by memory of the crime, rather than that of the victim.

Justice can be a complicated and controversial entity, but one which I think is necessary.

In short ... Justice ... places the psychological need of those who have been offended at highest priority. It is they who are served by it. In time, they will move on.

JustAThought

38

Adam to be Resurrected - Yes?

by Focus in

jw
friends

will adam be resurrected?.

focus.

(anti-flipfloppery class)

JustAThought

P.S. AGuest,

... also, don't we, like Adam/Eve, have the choice of the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil ever before us in this life, and, in most cases, like Adam/Eve, choose to eat from the Tree of Knowledge (OGAE) many times, before we choose to partake of the Tree of Life?

JustAThought

38

Adam to be Resurrected - Yes?

by Focus in

jw
friends

will adam be resurrected?.

focus.

(anti-flipfloppery class)

JustAThought

Hello Aguest,

Thanks for the peace.

Some further thoughts ...

Did Adam/Eve truly REJECT the Tree of Life by eating first from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?

Wouldn't eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil simply place them on a par with us (that of sinning first, ... and, having the opportunity of repenting and choosing JESUS (Life) after?

In fact, weren't they driven (and kept) from the garden, as have been all of their physical descendents, so that they might not eat from the Tree of Life? This would not infer a rejection, would it?

We know that it isn't recorded that Adam repented, but is it not true that little of what Adam did after his habitation in the garden is recorded?

Peace back at ya,

JustAThought

38

Adam to be Resurrected - Yes?

by Focus in

jw
friends

will adam be resurrected?.

focus.

(anti-flipfloppery class)

JustAThought

AGuest,

>> 4. Because the wages of sin IS death... and Adam, Eve and Judas, by means of the disobedience of the first two and rejection of all three of my Lord... have no COVERING for their sins... therefore, will be JUDGED and reap the SENTENCE of that judgment... death and destruction.

On what basis do you base the statement that Adam/Eve rejected JESUS?

JustAThought