satanus - I prefer Terry's version
quentin and I are on the same page
Curtains
JoinedPosts by Curtains
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108
The secret of how Christianity spread across the world
by Terry inwhat i am going to say may sound nasty and mean-spirited.
i assure you it is not intended in that tone.. men are power seekers and control freaks.
without using women as drones to do the grunt work of religion.
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108
The secret of how Christianity spread across the world
by Terry inwhat i am going to say may sound nasty and mean-spirited.
i assure you it is not intended in that tone.. men are power seekers and control freaks.
without using women as drones to do the grunt work of religion.
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Curtains
Terry
I just have to share this with you because I like it very much and it seems to add something to our discussion here
Apparently there is evidence that some women could provide a counter cultural voice. The courtesans. Indeed Plato (4th centuryBCE) according to quite reliable evidence, apparently taught at least 2 courtesans in his school. I understand that ordinary women were forbidden entry to the hellenistic schools but that courtesans could join.
Another nugget, Pericles' (5th centruy BCE Athens) mistress Aspasia is thought to have contributed greatly to his intellectual development and this in a culture in which ordinary women were very very restricted. Aspasia was highly educated. (Strangely enough though Pericles himself taught that women ought to be quiet, industrious, chaste workers at home and these ideas were oft repeated in the period under discussion, by the Roman emperors particularly).
Speaking of courtesans I am reminded of Mary Magdalen - wasn't she an adultress before she became an influential follower? or am I thinking of someone different?
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19
Do you let others mamke you feel guilty?
by Snoozy ini was curious over my reaction to something my brother said to me the other day.. he asked me if i had accepted christ.... i am not overly relgious since leaving the jw's and am just now starting to think there may possibly be something greater than us out there.
but.... when he asked me that i felt like i had to make all kinds of excuses and apologize in a way because i don't even think about things like that and also think people that do are a little fanatic..(jmo).. then i got to thinking, why did i feel guilty when he asked me that?
how can some poeple do that?
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Curtains
snoozy
Just for an example, say you are eating a plate full of spagetti and someone with you says, "You aren't going to eat all of that are you?"..my first instinct would be to say .."No, of course not" and I would only eat a portion of it.. or say while shopping you pick oout a really nice dress you like..the other person says "You aren't going to buy that awful thing are you?"... I would say "No I was just looking at it"...and put it back.
this happens so much at the KH and yes I do find that this affects me and my children and my husband. And it is in small things snoozy like you mention. Last week my husband got back a little early from the ministry (12 instead of 1.30pm) and we decided to do so our weekly shopping. 2 elders were entering our building to do a return visit and one of the elders looked at his watch and sarcastically said "going somewhere nice". We both felt as if we'd committed a crime and felt we had to explain why he'd finished the ministry a little earlier than usual and that we were only going to the supermarket.
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35
Why does God permit suffering? Don't let others answer this question for you
by sabastious inwasn't the answer to this question wrapped up in a neat little package when you were young?
it was easily explainable and it made you feel so warm inside that you knew that god felt passionately bad about the suffering and that it was going to stop.. there is so much pain in this world.
people are starving, people are being torchered by others who have lost their minds, there is endless suffering on this planet.
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Curtains
onemore - I think you are right
I feel that the problem of suffering presents a bigger challenge to the nonbelievers than to the believer there is a whole lot for the unbeliever to take on - the unbeliever is especially conscious that the life he/she has now is all there is. This can be hard to deal with and can call on all one's resources.
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35
Why does God permit suffering? Don't let others answer this question for you
by sabastious inwasn't the answer to this question wrapped up in a neat little package when you were young?
it was easily explainable and it made you feel so warm inside that you knew that god felt passionately bad about the suffering and that it was going to stop.. there is so much pain in this world.
people are starving, people are being torchered by others who have lost their minds, there is endless suffering on this planet.
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Curtains
to me a world without suffering would be a world without love - If one is a believer in God then God encapsulates love and suffering. But if he occupies a narrow world of divine reason then imo this would exclude not only suffering but also love. So I would argue that for a believer God is not narrow. This works for an atheist too in that love occupies a zone beyond justice and reason and includes what seems to be unjust. However I agree that we need to try to alleviate as much suffering as we can.
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43
Mixed marriages - JW/non-JW - what makes you stay?
by Nickolas ini know a woman, became a wife .
these are the very words she uses to describe her life .
she said a good day, ain't got no rain .
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Curtains
Nickolas
thanks for pointing out the differences between self medication, problem drinking and alcoholism. But I am already aware of this, however a witness may not and I was commenting from that point of view but I was not clear.
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65
Do people generally like you?
by Terry inin person, people tend to love me.
i'm told how likeable i am.. on discussion boards i have unlikeable qualities which infuriate others.. .
are you likeable in person and likeable on boards?
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Curtains
If I have an opinion worth holding I will defend it - this does not mean I am angry. It always surprises me when anger is imputed to a person who strongly disagrees with something they have said. This to me reflects the imputer's state of mind.
Off of the board I find that people like and respect me even if I disagree with them. I don't like to be thought of as nice anymore.
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43
Mixed marriages - JW/non-JW - what makes you stay?
by Nickolas ini know a woman, became a wife .
these are the very words she uses to describe her life .
she said a good day, ain't got no rain .
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Curtains
nickolas
in thinking about the hypothetical situation you describe concerning turning to alcoholism to self medicate when one's spouse is a JW - I have a further thought and these question apply to men and women who may turn to alcohol to self medicate
Is your JW spouse aware that you are self medicating?
If they are aware then in their limited JW perspective wouldn't this indicate to them that they need to stay where they are? If this is the case it may be worth suggesting that they attend a group for families of alcoholics. This latter would perhaps help them to see that there are other solutions, other ways to gain perspective and other means of support. However the self medicating spouse may need to attend one of these groups (in addition to attending an AA group) so that they can promote the merits of it.
JWism imo in this context can be seen as paramountly a support organzation and this aspect is surely gonna kick in more strongly if the JW spouse thinks that he/she may also turn to alcoholism if they leave the confines of Jehovahs witnesses.
Additionally if the non alcoholic spouse is like me and has children then my ability to give more support to my hypothetically alcoholic husband is gonna be quite limited. All the more reason to first test and then promote the merits of other family support organisations.
Forgive me if the above feels like I am blaming the vicitim - this is not my intention. I'm simply trying to think of solutions for both parties and recommending the idea of establishing negative feedback postive feedback options for addressing the issue - This is how our biological systems work (particulary the endocrine and nervous systems) and I am a great believer in attemting to mirror nature to enhance life and to find solutions that can work unconsciously as well as consciously.
edit: just to emphasize that my husband is not alcoholic or even remotely heading that way - I am commenting on a hypothetical scenario
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42
what kind of degree do you have?
by deservingone26 inive been going thru a lot of the different posts on here and seeing that most here believe that higher education is very important.
i agree that it is important and i plan on going back to school in the fall but im just wondering who all here has a degree and in what?
just curious .
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Curtains
I'm working on a pre university foundational course with a broad focus on religion. But I think I'll probably ditch the religion side and go for something different for my degree. Maybe something in computers+sales to enhance job prospects.
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108
The secret of how Christianity spread across the world
by Terry inwhat i am going to say may sound nasty and mean-spirited.
i assure you it is not intended in that tone.. men are power seekers and control freaks.
without using women as drones to do the grunt work of religion.
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Curtains
Terry real life stand somewhere in between the polarities you draw up.
additionally here are a couple of quotes from the period under discussion which I have also posted on your other thread
here is something from plutarch
When his son was born, Cato thought that nothing but the most important business of state should prevent him from being present when his wife gave the baby its first bath and wrapped it in swaddling clothes....as soon as the boy was able to learn, his father took charge of his schooling and taught him to read, ... so he took it upon himself to teach the boy, not only his letters, but also the principles of Roman law...He tells us that he composed his history of Rome, writing it out in large characters so that his son should posses in his home the means of acquainting himself with the ancient annals and tradtions of his country.
And this from Cicero
109 What is more sacred, what is more inviolably hedged about by every kind of sanctity, than the home of every individual citizen? Within its circle are his altars, his hearths, his household gods, his religion, his observances, his ritual; it is a sanctuary so holy in the eyes of all, that it were a sacrilige to tear an owner therefrom.