Posts by Lion Cask

29

Remember the 80's?

by cantleave in

jw
friends

a couple of photos to give you a laugh - me with a perm and on our wedding day.. .

Yes, I remember the 80's well. The 60's not so much (which meant I was there). Got married in the early 70's - I wore a purplish tux with a frilly shirt, hair cropped just above my shoulders, moustache and mutton chops, platform heels. I looked like a complete dork. In comparison, you look very normal.

206

I need a show of hands: who believes the Bible and to what extent?

by Terry in

i'll start off.. i don't believe anything is divine about bible writings.

i believe there may be some marginal history although not much.

i think alot of folk tales and regional myths are contained in the old testament.

Lion Cask

Thank you, PSacramento. I'm not making the connection, however. It sounds like, this is a constant, therefore God did it? It would make an interesting PhD thesis.

I'm with Thomas. Show me a bona fide miracle and I will believe again. Otherwise, not gonna happen. To paraphrase John 20:26-29, Naive are those who have not seen yet believe because they will believe whatever they are told to believe and they shall invariably be led astray.

206

I need a show of hands: who believes the Bible and to what extent?

by Terry in

i'll start off.. i don't believe anything is divine about bible writings.

i believe there may be some marginal history although not much.

i think alot of folk tales and regional myths are contained in the old testament.

Lion Cask

Both list some scientific evidence for the belief in God.

Just one little morsel of evidence is all I ask. However, I know you're at work at the moment (I assume you actually do some work when you're at work, right?) so won't bother you now. Maybe when you get a chance, though, you could encapsulate the evidence. I am certain there are many in here who would be delighted to entertain it.

14

DID YOU CRY WHEN YOU WATCHED "PHILADELPHIA"?

by clarity in

jw
friends

did anyone watch tom hanks and denzel washington, in the show "philadelphia"?.

i never saw it when it first came out, probably because when you're a jw anything about gays and aids is pretty much forbidden!.

but i watched this unfolding drama tonight and wept throughout the whole thing!.

Lion Cask

I waited until just two years ago to watch the movie - it came out in 1993, when I was still a homophobe. That is not a proud admission, but there it is. I also watched Brokeback Mountain around the same time. Neither movie made me weep but both contributed to my sense of compassion for my fellow human beings, even those whose values do not mesh entirely with my own. I'm currently watching the TV series "Six Feet Under" in sequence, just starting season 4. I am always alone in the room because, well, my wife is a Witness and we all know what the WTS teaches about homosexuality - another thing on which we are now at odds. Anyway, I have still found myself squirming a little and even fast-forwarding through some of the more torrid scenes between Michael C. Hall and Matthew St. Patrick, so I guess I still have traces of the phobia to work out of my system.

Philadelphia is a great movie. (Maybe best watched alone for the first time, VoidEater, depending on your circumstances).

23

Eek! A Male!

by laverite in

"eek!

a male!

treating all men as potential predators doesn't make our kids safer."http://online.wsj.com/article/sb10001424052748703779704576073752925629440.html.

Lion Cask

I have never heard of a pedophile that was gay..has anyone else?

echoing freddo, yes, many pedophiles prefer children of their own gender, but there is no scientific evidence to indicate that gays are more disposed to pedophilia than straights (although the Vatican says there's a link).

There are those who disagree with the above sentiment. http://www.theinterim.com/2002/sept/02study.html

206

I need a show of hands: who believes the Bible and to what extent?

by Terry in

i'll start off.. i don't believe anything is divine about bible writings.

i believe there may be some marginal history although not much.

i think alot of folk tales and regional myths are contained in the old testament.

Lion Cask

I can suggest a few books...

Having read the recommended texts from a number of people who have felt the need to help my bankrupt spirituality without any lights going on, I would prefer the Coles Notes version, PSacramento.

25

I need help with what to believe?

by hannahmcmanus in

i've been jehovah's witness for about a year now, and recently i've been finding problems in some teachings that my parents and congregation can't answer satisfactorily.

since i began voicing my issues my mum in particular has become increasingly overbearing and, although she says there's nothing wrong with asking questions, it's obvious she doesn't like me having doubts and not accepting her answers, even though they don't explain any of my problems.

it feels like i'm being forced down a path that i don't want to take, but i don't know what to do.

Lion Cask

Hello, Hannah. In the final analysis it doesn't matter what you believe, all that matters is that you remain true to yourself and to the personal values you espouse as you live out your life. You're young and your life is just beginning. You have the great luxury of time to figure things out and you would be well advised to take advantage of it. The Society demands uniformity of thinking among its adherents and punishes those who allow their thoughts to stray, as yours are doing now. But your thoughts belong to you and to you alone. You need not share them with anyone who would deny you the freedom of your own mind.

Keep thinking, be curious and be careful.

206

I need a show of hands: who believes the Bible and to what extent?

by Terry in

i'll start off.. i don't believe anything is divine about bible writings.

i believe there may be some marginal history although not much.

i think alot of folk tales and regional myths are contained in the old testament.

Lion Cask

And yet those are just theories with, perhaps, less evidence for existsing than God.

Interesting turn of phrase, PSacramento. It implies there is evidence for the existence of God. Can you share?

206

I need a show of hands: who believes the Bible and to what extent?

by Terry in

i'll start off.. i don't believe anything is divine about bible writings.

i believe there may be some marginal history although not much.

i think alot of folk tales and regional myths are contained in the old testament.

Lion Cask

ala Isaac Newton- you don't get much brighter.

You are quite right, designs, Newton was the genius of his age and much of what he contributed to scientific understanding endures to this day, in particular calculus. I've done considerable reading on the man, however, and I would not be one to hold him up as a shining example of a deist. He was also a superstitious spiritualist and practitioner of a form of alchemy that can only be described as silly. I am particularly reminded of the short chapter on Newton in Hawking's book "A Brief History of Time" in which the great scientist is described as a horrible, vindictive and sadistic man. All that said, it should be no surprise that a 17th century man of renowned would describe himself as a believer in God whether he was or not, because to claim otherwise in that day and age would cause a storm of criticism and resentment from the social establishment and Newton valued social status and power above practically all things.

18

Is the salutation ... "Are you in The Truth?" ... still in use?

by Lion Cask in

the title is the question.

when i was actively studying with the witnesses back in the mid 70's i was often asked that question.

i guess it was a reflection of the crowd i was hanging around with and the fact that i was a friendly at the time, but on reflection i haven't been asked the question for eons.

Lion Cask

I straight away told him of our situation, and it turns out that he is a convert, not born-in, and is really questioning it now, so I directed him to JW Facts excellent site, and to here, perhaps he is one of the newbies ?

Congratulations, wobble! It would make my day to connect with a Jehovah's Witness in that way.