Posts by xchange

15

Yoga

by letsslatejws in

jw
friends

why was there such a fuss about not doing yoga?.

i did my first yoga class today and whilst you are encouraged to not think about your days worries, you can hardly consider this vacating your mind, so as to let satan in!

it was more about holding stretching limbs and simply holding poses (such as holding your leg out straight etc).

I've been doing yoga for about 2 years now and is a great non-impact way to tone your body. The place I belong to also has Pilates, Core, Hatha, Hot Yoga and even a Spin class that I go to all the time. While many instructors vary, there are some with a strong spiritual bent in the way they instruct but you can disregard that and just focus on the physicality that yoga encourages. I am not a spiritual person but do enjoy the calming effect yoga has on me. I also find that people you meet there are so much more grounded than those you would meet at a gym, especially in the weight room ;)

I had to stop playing hockey (breaks my heart) due to knee injuries and between cycling and yoga I have found a way to keep me active with out any impact on the slowly aging body.

Cheers.

30

Making the final break - stopping attending the Memorial

by Eiben Scrood in

jw
friends

i started my fade in 2004 and completely quit regular attendance in 2005. i have, however, gone to all the memorials since.

i still consider myself christian and felt it was a somewhat decent way of respecting the sacrifice.. i am thinking of not going this year.. i am generally disgusted at what the memorial observation actually entails.

there is almost no talk about what jesus went through on that day or even the tremendous sacrifice involved and the love that motivated it.

xchange

Hey cantleave, I did my last memorial talk in 2004 and haven't been to a single memorial (or meeting of any kind) ever since. It was a somber talk, as per outline, and took the wine home afterwards and drank it.

64

Do you feel sorry for the family members who shun you?

by SweetBabyCheezits in

jw
friends

as each instance of shunning happens to me, it seems even more ridiculous than the last.. this weekend i took our kids to the park - wife opted out, understandably - and we let our daughter call my parents to inform them we'd be there.

this was my first time in the presence of my parents since our df announcement two weeks ago.. my mom and dad were 10-20 feet away much of the time and yet they never said a greeting or.. well anything.

at one point my daughter, who is aware of the shunning, mistakenly thought my mom called my name and shouted excitedly, "mawmaw, were you talking to daddy??

xchange

Yup. That's what it is. Self preservation. It's why none of my siblings will have anything to do with me. I'm as good as dead in their eyes. No. Let me correct that. I am dead already. "Don't talk to dead people!"

Hell, I was always evil to them even when I was an active dubber.

64

Do you feel sorry for the family members who shun you?

by SweetBabyCheezits in

jw
friends

as each instance of shunning happens to me, it seems even more ridiculous than the last.. this weekend i took our kids to the park - wife opted out, understandably - and we let our daughter call my parents to inform them we'd be there.

this was my first time in the presence of my parents since our df announcement two weeks ago.. my mom and dad were 10-20 feet away much of the time and yet they never said a greeting or.. well anything.

at one point my daughter, who is aware of the shunning, mistakenly thought my mom called my name and shouted excitedly, "mawmaw, were you talking to daddy??

xchange

I don't know if I would say I feel sorry for them. I certainly understand the mentality that it takes for them to actively support the shunning. Plus their own fears of getting the big DF'ing by talking to you.

102

did jesus really succeed where adam failed?

by booby in

why did jesus christ come to the earth?

the rebellion in the garden of eden brought a death sentence upon adam and eve and all their offspring, but god lovingly supplied hope.

he sent his son to the earth to provide what the bible calls a ransom.

xchange

Anyone who reads the account in Genesis and comes to any conclusion IS speculating. Like trying to speculate on the markets. Good luck. Unless you hear Warren Buffet's 'voice' guiding you.

45

Did born-in's have the capacity to "test their faith"?

by sabastious in

2 corinthians 13: 5a - 5 examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.. this verse just comes at me like a locomotive.. to examine something is to truly use my mental capacities and to look at something objectively.. how do i accomplish this, even now?.

i was raised in an organization that controlled my information and used fear of rejection as well as my need for approval to "inculcate" the "truth" into me.. by that right, i (and all born-ins) do not have the ability to examine our faith (as a jw).. there will always be an artificial pull either for or against the society (whether we are aware of it or not).. free will has been comprimised; therefore our "faith to our creator" has been tainted and cannot be judged as worthy or unworthy.. of course many of us have regained our ability to discern and look at things objectively.. but i believe that we will never be able to truly look at the watchtower organization without a slant.. not to say the conclusions we come to regards to the organization are not valid (because they are and have been validated).

my point is that the organization has no right to judge and ostracize any born-in for leaving and even for speaking out.. they broke us, and now they are demonizing us for the things we did in that broken state.

xchange

Good question. I have to say no. The deck was stacked against us. Parents, siblings, friends, congregation, elders, assemblies, meetings, book studies etc etc constantly telling us that we were the true religion and that you shouldn't check independent sources (apostate) to find out. Just trust the boys in NYC because why would they lie to us. Even had an elder tell me as a youngster that the information put out by the WT org was equivalent to a university education!! WTF!?!?

That being said, I did have a friend one time say to me at age 15 at a congregation get together, "Do you really believe all this stuff?". Damn. He was so ahead of his time. He stuck around till he was 18.

44

Bart Ehrman

by Joey Jo-Jo in

hi everybody,.

bought gods problem by bart ehrman's, firs book i have read from this author, he makes some interesting points about suffering(biblical vs the real world), jews view on jesus etc, and that he does not believe in the ot or nt but he does not consider himself to be an atheist.

joey jo jo junior shabadoo.

xchange

I think what Erhman stressed in his books is to read the bible through a historical lens versus a devotional lens and you will come up with a different idea of the bible. Bottom line is that men, mere men, wrote the the books that make up the bible and it shows.

26

From Richard Dawkins' Preface to "The God Delusion"

by AK - Jeff in

jw
friends

http://www.infoamerica.org/documentos_pdf/dawkins10.pdf.

the word delusion in my title has disquieted some psychiatrists who regard it as a technical term, not to be bandied about.

three of them wrote to me to propose a special technical term for religious delusion: relusion.. .

xchange

@OTWO.....happens all the time.....

I agree that many have. I guess I wonder why many more don't. After debunking the JW doctrine to my satisfaction, I turned my attention to the concept of god and like you found insufficient evidence to his/her/it's existence. I don't dogmatically state so, but feel intellectually balanced to lean towards the non-existence of any supreme being. What I still don't get are people who will say that god exists but they just 'know' it and they state it dogmatically. Weird. But, let live.*

*except when beliefs of the god concept interfere with my life ;)

26

From Richard Dawkins' Preface to "The God Delusion"

by AK - Jeff in

jw
friends

http://www.infoamerica.org/documentos_pdf/dawkins10.pdf.

the word delusion in my title has disquieted some psychiatrists who regard it as a technical term, not to be bandied about.

three of them wrote to me to propose a special technical term for religious delusion: relusion.. .

xchange

I'm curious about PSacramento's comment: "though his knowledge about religion needs some work...". What areas did you think he was lacking in and did this have any bearing on his conclusions?

Thanks!

26

From Richard Dawkins' Preface to "The God Delusion"

by AK - Jeff in

jw
friends

http://www.infoamerica.org/documentos_pdf/dawkins10.pdf.

the word delusion in my title has disquieted some psychiatrists who regard it as a technical term, not to be bandied about.

three of them wrote to me to propose a special technical term for religious delusion: relusion.. .

xchange

I often wonder if those who have left the JW's - after realizing they had a delusion about the organization, have thought about applying that experience to the belief of god?