Depends on your definition of mental illness / impariment. Being socially maladjusted (as opposed to personality disorders) isn't what I call a mental illness.
xchange
JoinedPosts by xchange
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48
Do You Think Some Witnesses Are Mentally Ill Or Mentally Impaired....
by minimus inand that's why they are in the religion?.
i recall many jws over the years who were what i'll call "weird"---and looking back at it, many witnesses are "odd" and "different"..
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Ted Haggard Defends Bishop Eddie Long. OH THE IRONY!!!!
by whereami inreligion...the biggest hypocrisy mankind has ever practiced.. .
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa6mvcj_dhu.
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xchange
Based on the reasoning of the gay pastor, I can essentially go into the 'sacred texts' of the bible and choose to take out or disbelieve what I find oppressive. In his case, the texts were around prohibiting homosexuality. Ok, I find the concept / idea of god to be oppressive. Further to his reasoning is that as long as I don't say, 'god does exist', I am able to speak in 'TRUTH'. Wow, time for me to setup a megachurch.
There is no end of these religious leaders creating divisions in society today. They bicker back and forth on their interpretation of theology and yet maintain that the bible is a standard and trustworthy for all humanity. Right.....
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Do You Think It's Improper To Make Fun Of The Name "Jehovah"?
by minimus insome people say "hovah' "jehoovah", etc.
or they'll say instead of jehovah's witnesses, "hovies"....etc.. do you think that it's appropriate?.
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@caliber
A name is just a name. Absolutely nothing wrong with making fun or spoofing it
It's all in "the spirit ".. is it light hearted or more often then not to mock , belittle ? It has been said "To most people their name is the most beautiful sounding word in the language !True. It's all in the context. But I wasn't referring to names of people, rather just to deities. If I can make fun of Thor (as many do), then any other deity is open game.
@whitedove
I haven't started to evangelize just yet for Thor. Coming soon! A sample would be "If you are not pillaging your community, Thor will strike you dead with his hammer!!"
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Do You Think It's Improper To Make Fun Of The Name "Jehovah"?
by minimus insome people say "hovah' "jehoovah", etc.
or they'll say instead of jehovah's witnesses, "hovies"....etc.. do you think that it's appropriate?.
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xchange
A name is just a name. Absolutely nothing wrong with making fun or spoofing it - for any deity (except Thor).
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What silly things have you been counselled on or simply been told off for?
by 3Mozzies inso what silly things have you been counselled on or simply been told off for?.
back in my early 20's, i had a pair of comfy old jeans that started to tear in about 3 places on the leg.
it was the fashion at the time so not only did they feel great to wear, they also looked 'in', not that i cared for that, but it was a bonus .
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xchange
So what silly things have you been counselled on or simply been told off for?
Not to smoke pot in the park across the Kingdom Hall before the meeting. I was 15. At the time I thought it was silly. I might have been stoned though when they talked to me.
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The Dawkins Delusion
by brotherdan inso, i recently finished reading "the god delusion" by richard dawkins.
i read it with a certain amount of hesitation.
after all, i am still recovering from my disappointment at realizing that the wts is not god's organization.
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The way I read Dawkin's book was keeping in mind that he was attacking the privileged state that god(s) and religion/sects/cults have in society today. He was over the top, true. He comes across as arrogant, bullish and elitist, so what. What religion hasn't done that? The book reflected a growing number of peoples backlash towards religion because of the way religion (and for centuries) has maintained a dishonest stranglehold over people - IMHO. Dawkin's approach is really no different than that of any ex-JW's trying to convince JW's that their belief in the WT organization is baseless - he tells it like it is.
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Demons and the WTS
by brotherdan ini remember growing up and hearing all sorts of stories about demonic activity from people.
some would be experiences that people had going door to door and visiting a "witch" or "warlock".
some would inadvertently go to a fortune tellers door and have a demonic experience.. i was always facinated by all the stories.
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Is there a new 'rule' about disfellowshipping which can make it null and void?
by whitman infirstly, if anyone involved in this situation is reading this i hope i haven't overstepped the boundaries by raising this question here.
i'll try to keep it as anonymous as possible.. so folks this is the situation.
it has just been brought to my attention that during some type of shepherding call to a a disfellowshipped person who is experiencing serious mental illness as a result of the situation and the shunning from his family (his father is an elder), an interesting twist of events occurred.. one of the 'shepherding' elders asked the d.f-d person whether they had prayed and dedicated his/her life fully to jehovah before the baptism.
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A couple who were dating that I knew had a similar situation. They had been dating for about 6 months and then had sex. Full out sex. Hot steamy, body writhing sex. No 'heavy petting' or 'brazen' conduct. Anyways, the female was DF'd but the dude was scot-free because the elders felt that his understanding and commitment leading up to the 2 holy questions (he answered yes) was tenuous. So they wrote the Canadian branch and several weeks later gave a local needs talk on why it's important that your dedication be whole-hearted and why the dude was not DF'd while she was. Kicker was she was there at the talk. Can only imagine what she was thinking - epic fail. What a loophole *!
So they announced that his baptism was henceforth, forevermore, duly nulled and voided! So he had to go through the whole ordeal again and about a month before the baptism, he buggered off. So in the end he won. Got sex and a free ticket out. The couple never got back together either and she remained DF'd. Lopsided.
*disclaimer - Your mileage may vary depending where you live in the world, the culture, the mood of the boe, time of the month for the holy spirt and if the presiding overseer's wife is fully informed.
Cheers...
- should add that this occurred some 20 years ago. Since that time, I've only heard of this situation 3 more times.
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Do you ENJOY these endless theism/atheism - faith/reason - creation/evolution debates?
by nicolaou in.
sure i get frustrated when i have to explain for the bajillionth time just why atheism is not a belief or why it is possible to know some things with 100% certainty but despite all the exasperations i still count it as one of the rewards of freeing my mind and exiting the wt that i can argue so endlessly and freely.. even if some of you do get on my tits sometimes .
nic'.
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xchange
I enjoy reading intelligent discourse between individuals embroiled in a profound subject such as the existence / non-existence of a supernatural being. It helps hearing both sides (if they are being rational and logical) which in turn either confirms or makes me think twice about a notion I currently hold. Healthy debate is a hallmark of rational beings. When the mudslinging or logical fallacies rear their collective ugly head, then it's not enjoyable. I actually start to feel embarrassed for the guilty party who is undermining the arguments, either purposefully or ignorantly. In my reading history of forums, I always find a few individuals who consistently use sound reasoning (both sides) and like reading their back-and-forth dialog. Helps me sharpen my debating skills and keeps me intellectually honest as possible.
My guilty pleasure however is YouTube and watching videos where people have absolutely no substantive arguments and are out of their league in debating others. Some real hilarious ones out there.
That being said, when did everyone here stop beating their dog?
Cheers...
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194
Bethel Rules
by brotherdan inthis was brought up just in passing on another thread.
but i wanted to see if there are any bethelites or ex bethelites that remember some of the crazy rules we had to follow when we were there..
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* "You're wrestling with your roommate in your underwear, and the next thing you know -- YOU'RE A HOMO!" *
This is too funny! My bud growing up was at Halton Hills for a stint (90's) and he came back with this expression. My circle of friends couldn't get over how hilarious this statement was. Of course I always suspected my bud of being gay... but that's another story - heh. He would say exactly the same phrase with the exception of 'homo'. He would stress it this way: homoSEXual with a twang.
Ahh... memories.