Posts by kevin221

15

Faith? Real or wishful thinking?

by kevin221 in

jw
friends

a question for the masses.. is pure faith real, or just a tool the human psyche uses to justify life patterns or actions?

i'm having a hard time understanding how someone could have a secure belief system based 100 % on faith.

let me explain.

kevin221

A question for the masses.

Is pure faith real, or just a tool the human psyche uses to justify life patterns or actions? I'm having a hard time understanding how someone could have a secure belief system based 100 % on faith. Let me explain. I have a very strong, spiritual, but non religous belief system that I believe to be valid. However, I'm not egotistic enough to think that there is absolutely no chance that I may be wrong. An example, to be simplistic, for eons humans believed the world was flat, and there were many who would have staked their lives on it. We now know that was not correct, but it doesn't change the fact that there were millions of people who had total faith that they were 100% sure they were correct in believing something that turned out to be incorrect. I know some extremely religious people who absolutley believe that they know exactly what all people need to do to be saved by God, and they can't and or won't be dissuaded from their beliefs even when presented with hard scientific facts.

Mabey my life experience has left me unable to understand absolute faith, but I can't understand how and or why someone would be able to convince themselves they are 100% correct without even acknowledging that they just might by some fluke of chance, have it all wrong.

It may be a strange question, but I would like any input anyone here would care to share.

Take care,

Kevin

75

WOULD A JW KILL IN THE NAME OF GOD???

by minimus in

jw
friends

i've heard different "apostates" say that witnesses are so brainwashed that they would kill, if ordered by the faithful slave.

do you believe this?

kevin221

Ditto.

106

Why do men have nipples???

by Celtic in

jw
friends

i always did wonder about this, i mean, what function do they have and further, if, just supposing that we are made in the image of god, does god himself have the equivalent of nipples?

any insights proffered?

celty .

kevin221

"gay bitch",

Hey LB, I thought that was my area of expertise??!! I must admit nipples are a major hot spot for me. I have both nipples pierced and do sometimes wear a chain that connects the two rings in my nipples. I was at a club once where someone grabbed the chain by accident on the dance floor and YOUCH!! So now I only wear it on special occasions!

Kevin

Yikes edited for my horrible spelling.

Edited by - kevin221 on 3 September 2002 22:12:52

10

Hello again to all/ Serious question I need input!

by kevin221 in

jw
friends

hope everyone is well.

i haven't posted much in quite a while but i have been lurking every so often and i just wanted to pop in and say hi, and give an update.

i'm doing well, not fantastic, but well and that's cool for now.

kevin221

Thanks for everyone's advice. Most of my friends have given just about the same advice as I received here, wait a year and make sure that I'm doing it for the right reasons. Jon and I had talked in depth about having a child before he got sick, and we had decided to just let things take their own course so to speak and take our time in deciding, so it probably is a good idea to wait and think it through. I've decided to put it on the back burner in my mind until my birthday next March, and not dwell on it till then. That way I can make sure that I'm thinking clearly and not letting emotions rule my decision.

Thanks again and take care,

Kevin

10

Hello again to all/ Serious question I need input!

by kevin221 in

jw
friends

hope everyone is well.

i haven't posted much in quite a while but i have been lurking every so often and i just wanted to pop in and say hi, and give an update.

i'm doing well, not fantastic, but well and that's cool for now.

kevin221

Hope everyone is well.

I haven't posted much in quite a while but I have been lurking every so often and I just wanted to pop in and say hi, and give an update. I'm doing well, not fantastic, but well and that's cool for now. All the crap with Jon's father is now taken care of so that's a load off my back. He sued me and then I counter sued, drama drama drama, but in the end I got a judgement and it really pissed him off so I feel fantastic about that. I spent a few weeks in the mental hospital and thought I was doing better, but things unraveled again after that and I developed a substance abuse problem and ended up in rehab. It was the best thing that could have happened to me, even if I didn't think so at the time. It's one day at a time and that helps me keep things in perspective.

Jon's sister who was living at Bethel in NYC with her husband decided to come see me again back in June. It was nice having someone who could help me remember the funny stuff instead of the yuck. She decided while she was here to leave the JW's and her husband, and she seems to be happier so I say more power to her. Her father is convinced that I'm the spawn of the devil because now I've taken his daughter from his as well as his son, but he's a mental case anyway so I don't care what he thinks. If there is ever a poster child needed to show people why they should never become a JW, he is it!

Anyway here is the question. I would like opinions on this as I have spoken to most of my friends and some of Jon's family and I'm still not sure what to do. Years ago Jon had some of his sperm frozen since the doctors told him the chemo would probably make him sterile. He told me he didn't know if he would ever want to have children, via a surrogate or whatever, but he wanted to know that he could in the future if he decided to. I was talking to a good friend of ours about this about a month ago and she told me that she wanted to be a surrogate for me but that she didn't want to have any legal resp. for the child as she already has 3 of her own. I told her I would think about it and let her know, but I can't seem to decide if that's the best way to go. I think it might be better to wait until I can find a surrogate that I don't have any ties to. I'm just afraid that having someone so close to me acting as the surrogate may just make things too complicated. The one thing I do know is that if I'm ever going to do this, now is the time. Or at least in the next year. I'm 40 now and I wouldn't want to have any more of an age gap than that. Poor kid's going to have enough to deal with without having a geriatric father.

Anyway, hope all is well with everyone and I appreciate your opinions.

Kevin

68

Please, I am so upset...I need some hugs...

by Sentinel in

i am having a very difficult time and i am here right now because i know in my heart, that when i explain what has just happened to me a few minutes ago, you will understand.

many of you are no doubt going through the same thing.. within several posts here, i have spoken of my mother.

my dear sweet mother, who just turned 78, and who has been a faithful jw since 1959. she abandoned me in 1981, when i decided to leave the borg, and for twelve years she did not speak to me, write to me, call me, or visit me.

kevin221

Karen,

My heart goes out to you. I know it doesn't help much, but please know that there are people out there tonight who are thinking of you and wishing you well. I know from personal experience how JW parents can treat their children that don't follow their faith. My life partner passed away last October from leukemia, and his father knew he was very ill because I was there when Jon called him and told him. His father just hung up on him, and never once called or visited while Jon was ill. After Jon died he was more than willing to try and get a share of his "son's" estate, and I put the word sons in quotations because I find it sickening that he wouldn't speak to Jon for years, even when he knew he was dying, but he didn't have a problem with trying to get his greedy hands on his belongings. That though is another story, which need not be gone into. Not ever being a JW myself I can't fathom the logic they have regarding shunning, but I can't think of anything more cruel and heartless. And this is coming from a group that claims to be Gods only true Org. Strange. If nothing else, the shunning issue alone made me certain that I would never fall into their cult trap.

Please take care and know I wish you well,

Kevin

14

Is death the end?

by kevin221 in

jw
friends

sorry it's been some time since i posted but i was busy rearranging my life.

just wondering what the general consensus is among posters on this board to this question, is death the end of existance, or a portal to a new reality?

my 2 cents, death is only the beginning of a new reality.

kevin221

Hello again to all. Sorry it's been some time since I posted but I was busy rearranging my life.

Just wondering what the general consensus is among posters on this board to this question, is death the end of existance, or a portal to a new reality?

My 2 cents, death is only the beginning of a new reality. I would give examples but some here would think I've totally gone into mental warp drive if I did, so let's just leave it be.

Thanks for your imput.

Kevin

9