Posts by Curtains

48

religion only to do with belief?

by Curtains in

jw
friends

as jehovahs witnesses we were taught that the truth (belief) unifies every aspect of our lives and is of paramount importance.

are other like religions like this also?

do they emphasize belief to the same extent?.

Curtains

you have an inquiring mind rocky-girl .

let me explain a little further. I was reading a paper by Graham Harvey entitled "Myth a Religious Studies Approach". This paper is not available online unless you have access to ebscohost. I did not want to use the work myth here in my title on this site because most here are biased against myth. (Mind you the author of the paper does sometimes equate myth with religion). At the same time Pentecostalism caught my eye and I wanted to test the author's claims by using that religion as a test case. I already think that to ordinary Jehovahs witnesses performance is just as important as belief. For example they are very aware of being a theatrical spectacle to the world and also under God's and the angels' scrutiny. Once JWs leave they experience a double whammy - loss of belief and loss of action - a deadly limbo. And it is this latter that I wish to reclaim.

48

religion only to do with belief?

by Curtains in

jw
friends

as jehovahs witnesses we were taught that the truth (belief) unifies every aspect of our lives and is of paramount importance.

are other like religions like this also?

do they emphasize belief to the same extent?.

Curtains

I'm grappling with your reply concerned JW

taking another look at 1cor:13 and finding a reply very complicated. but will reply after cooking and eating my evening meal.

thanks leavingwt - you have also raised some interesting issues that I will need time to think about.

48

religion only to do with belief?

by Curtains in

jw
friends

as jehovahs witnesses we were taught that the truth (belief) unifies every aspect of our lives and is of paramount importance.

are other like religions like this also?

do they emphasize belief to the same extent?.

Curtains

rocky-girl,

I am testing a hypothesis.

rocky-girl: If you are going to make a sweeping statement about what religion is based on, you should research more than one sect of one branch of one religion

sweeping statements? - where? I'm particularly interested in pentecostalism because I have been following godrulz' reasoning and holding it up to what i vaguely know of the religion. Initially I was actually going to test catholicism as I am more familiar with that and JWs condemn them a lot.

There is a large group of "believers" who are not well versed in what their religion teaches, yet feel attached by the way of life that is connected to that religion

my hypothesis in part addresses that this is perhaps what religion is about - lifestyle rather than beliefs. However not just lifestyle but performance as well

rocky-girl: Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't case studies supposed to provide all of the information about a certain situation and allow the person/people reading the study to come to a conclusion based on the information?

no

rocky-girl: If you are researching and writing a paper to prove a point, then you are writing an essay or thesis. So, are you writing a case study, or an essay or thesis of some sort?

neither

rocky-girl: Only high control, fundamental religions are so obsessed with their followers accepting every doctrine and belief.

Hmm - Some academic disciplines are like this too. some commercial organisations too, political ones too. I'm trying to put religion on a plane with other fields of human activity where they were before the enlightenment separated them into a tight little corner and investigate my question from a much broader perspective and hope to elucidate what holds many JWs in even when their beliefs have broken down.

98

Is it ethical to make rich pay more taxes?

by Lore in

jw
friends

i'm having trouble getting behind the idea of making rich people pay more taxes just because they have more.. aside from the obvious: "i'm not rich so lets tax them instead of me.

" the three reasons i hear most often are:.

1: they may have "earned" their wealth but they don't deserve it!.

Curtains

of course it is ethical for the rich to pay more taxes. One simple reason is that we all pay the same for the necessities upon which our lives depend.

a simple Siberian proverb comes to mind - possession is donation

48

religion only to do with belief?

by Curtains in

jw
friends

as jehovahs witnesses we were taught that the truth (belief) unifies every aspect of our lives and is of paramount importance.

are other like religions like this also?

do they emphasize belief to the same extent?.

Curtains

thanks guys for your help. I will reply to each one later this evening

48

religion only to do with belief?

by Curtains in

jw
friends

as jehovahs witnesses we were taught that the truth (belief) unifies every aspect of our lives and is of paramount importance.

are other like religions like this also?

do they emphasize belief to the same extent?.

Curtains

well i am quite capable of doing my own research but would have liked some input from you guys and gals here.

top of my list of course will have to be a visit to a pentecostal gathering. I'm familiar with youtube's over the top healings etc but I don't think this is what pentecostalism is really about. Nor is the JW depiction that Pentecostalism is demonic close to reality.

what I would particularly like to know is does pentecostalim have any relationship to what people do rather than to what people believe. JWs who remain JWs despite doubts about beliefs may see their religion as being more about what one does than about beliefs (although beliefs are hammered home at each meeting). If this is the case then it may be nice to know that other religions are similar and there is nothing to fear

48

religion only to do with belief?

by Curtains in

jw
friends

as jehovahs witnesses we were taught that the truth (belief) unifies every aspect of our lives and is of paramount importance.

are other like religions like this also?

do they emphasize belief to the same extent?.

Curtains

no takers??

my case study re is religon only to do with belief is going to be based on pentecostalism. please join my study whether you agree or disagree. atheists, believers agnostics, Jehovahs witnessses welcome

my initial reserarch into pentecomstalisms suggests that it is a very lively way of worship. Most pentecostals attend church regularly and they are mostly of afro carribean ethnicity in Britain and the US. Australia, Europe, S America - I don't know. I don't think they are very big in Asia and China or anywhere else in the East. Joy and grace are foregrounded. Denzel Washington is evangelical.

Has anyone here visted a pentecostal church and if you did how did you find it - doctrine oriented or full on involvement in lively worship.

48

religion only to do with belief?

by Curtains in

jw
friends

as jehovahs witnesses we were taught that the truth (belief) unifies every aspect of our lives and is of paramount importance.

are other like religions like this also?

do they emphasize belief to the same extent?.

Curtains

as Jehovahs witnesses we were taught that the truth (belief) unifies every aspect of our lives and is of paramount importance. Are other like religions like this also? Do they emphasize belief to the same extent?

please tell me what you think?

the thing that caught mu eye about godrulz is that he says he is pentecostal. Pentecostalism imo is about performance, theatricity and participation rather than about belief and yet here he is emphasizing belief????? but his presence/discussions have has raised the above question for me.

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