Just wanted to call attention to another new book out on this subject - The Dark Side of Charles Darwin written by a man whom I believe is a former member of the WTS - Jerry Bergman. Have put it on my own "wish list" to read in the future. I have enjoyed some of his other writings on Mental Health and the WTS adherents.
saltyoldlady
JoinedPosts by saltyoldlady
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172
The impossible delusion of evolution
by brotherdan inhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1icjkwzeee.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azmgkrkj5la.
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What is happiness ??
by caliber inwhat is happiness?
peace, serenity, music to calm the soul.. .
happiness can mean different things to different people.
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saltyoldlady
For myself I have a little saying - Happiness is a personal decision, not a condition dependent upon circumstances, other people or things. Happiness can be had at anytime and anyplace simply by dwelling with appreciation upon Jehovah's wondrous works and ways, His magnificent dealings with the sons of men. I admit it takes really pushing the envelope if one is encountering earthquakes and tsunamis. But it can be done.
Happiness can be found in your efforts to overcome difficulties and is not conditional upon just the results. A little on the line of Viktor Frankl's idea of finding meaning in one's current experiences. Just the choice to remain positive and cheerful in tragic circumstances is a victory, the efforts to overcome evil with the good always buoys my spirits.
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Jehovah, a Just God ?
by wobble inon what basis could a god whose main attribute is justice (coupled with love) ever bring about something like armageddon, let alone bring it soon ?.
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saltyoldlady
Well Wobble - I don't know that I can answer you to your satisfaction but the throught is worthy of contemplation - so just to get the ball rolling I'll make a small stab at this audacious project - the question is almost too big and too important to even feel like getting started - I admit to sometimes passing over those items that look like they are going to take a great deal of effort.
But let's just pretend you have a big family and some of your kids are really getting out of line and making the rest of the family miserable. This scenario fits close to home for me because I can relate it to my own daughter's current problems - her family consists of five teenagers, ages 13 thru 18. One child, - we'll just call him MJ (short for "most joy" - being used in a humorous vein) has some very difficult emotional and psychological problems - he has the propensity for turning into a psychopath. He can be very sweet and loving - one of the most empathetic of the bunch - he is now 17 - but at the drop of a hat he can become a raging maniac and make life literally hell for everyone around him plus being a danger to the environment of the community. You love the kid - but do you just let him have his "free will" indefinitely until he kills off the rest of the family including yourself or himself - that would be letting things get out of control for sure - so he is currently under lock and key at the local Mental Hospital for two weeks - maybe longer. Now do you consider the parents as having been unjust? Have you tried to live in this kind of situation?
The truth is the world seems currently to be "out of control" and those who want to enjoy peace, security, and justice have a hard time even finding it. Would it be unjust of God to take action at some point in time to bring it back into balance? I know you would like Him to wave His magic wand and make everyone whole, happy, and healthy. We would like to do that for MJ too. And at some point in time we are hoping to find the solution. God obviously knows the solution and He will do this in due time but He also has His wisdom in handling it the way He is for right now. Our job is understanding why that might be. And I think it goes right back to the issue set out in the Book of Job - it seems horrible that He let Job go through all that suffering just as it seems horrible to us today to see all the suffering caused by some of what appear to be "natural" catastrophes. The truth is we don't begin to understand the half of what the causes are but one thing I feel certain about is He can set it all aright and give those who have endured double the rewards of their past joys and delights. And I also have the firm conviction He desires to do just that. It served as an example for all the heavenly host to witness that His creation of man was in truth good and not as Satan was claiming - and it also served as a mighty growth curve in Job's comprehension of Jehovah too as you will find in the 42nd chapter. Not that any of us want to learn that way but if we have to we can trust God has a good reason.
Actually the worst evil to have ever happened was the death of Jesus Christ - a perfect man. But look what God wrought from that event. He can bring good out of every evil - we just have to be patient and endure until we get to see the end results. In small matters I have seen some of these experiences - where good came from evils experienced - hopefully it will come for my grandson, MJ. But how quickly and in what way it will be accomplished we do not always perceive.
Someone else's turn at the bat now?
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Did the Israelites lay eggs like reptiles?
by doubtful ini'm a newbie bible skeptic, but whenever i read the exodus account, i always had trouble swallowing the idea that a family of 70 people could possibly mushroom into a population of anywhere between 2-3 million in a matter of 215 years - (per the watchtower's timeline).
as i said before, math is not my strong suit, but here i will show my calculations regarding the possibility of this account, using the society's timeline.
i will ignore the fact that the bible says the nation of israel was in bondage in egypt for 400 years, and will instead use the 215 year timeframe, also because this harmonizes with the four generations from levi to moses.
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saltyoldlady
The item I think you are missing here is the 2 to 3 million people were not all Israelites - it included a vast mixed company of Egyptians that decided at the last moment to join them. I think I would have joined them too - after seeing the demarcation of the calamities befalling the natives and the Israelites being blessed. The number of 600,000 men is mentioned in verse 37 - plus women and children - so the multiplication rate doesn't have to be nearly as great as you have calculated here - and the word VAST probably included more Egyptians than Israelites is my guess.
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Dealing with JWs who want to meet you
by skeeter1 ini'm a never baptized, raised in ex-jw who is, shall we say, outspoken against the jws.
when i first left, i told my relatives that i thought the jws were full of crap.
i tried to show them everything.
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saltyoldlady
To tell it like it is - the problem is you are trying to be "nice" in your dealings with these people - and my experience has become there just isn't any "nice" way to deal with "not nice" people. I tend to think as you - that to draw some of them out of the organization would result in a complete fragmentation of their "imagined" security - a total undoing of their life coping mechanisms - and I don't wish to take on the responsibility for their emotional destruction either so I have done like you - side-stepped the matter as adroitly as I could muster many times but when they persist it does get irritating and I've found it is best to just look them in the eye and say "I know what you are trying to do but I am not buying into it. Forget the kindness, thanks, but no thanks." It seems blunt and a bit crude but it usually works. However I hate seeing them wilt before my eyes - with that wounded puppy dog expression like I had just stuck a knife in their belly but I have learned to toughen myself to it. (LOL - this time means lots of luck instead of the usual lots of laughter. It's often LOT - lots of tears. Maybe we should just say we don't want to become pillars of salt like Lot's wife for coming back to the WTS - looking back!!! This time I am giggling since I already am called Salty - in their minds because I looked back to the world.)
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Fox News Using Electronic Brain Washing? Hidden Hypnotic Signal Found
by freeman infox news is clearly identified with the republican / conservative camp.
recently i came across a thread where some of our more passionate posters were discussing the latest fox transgression.
it was being alleged that fox was overtly lying about protests occurring in wisconsin while the infamous palm tree smoking-gun video clearly showed otherwise.
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saltyoldlady
Freeman - I have been following Nick Begich's material - reading all his books and watching all his DVD's over the last year - and it appears to me that the low ELF waves do indeed have the effect on the brain you are suspecting - subliminal type messages enhanced with those low frequencies. Also mind control can be accomplished enmasse on the population just by the broadcast of such - to quote the material on the back of his DVD - Mind Control
"Manipulation of the mind, emotions and physical health through new applied technologies continues to draw attention of military planners around the world. Dr. Nick Begich presents the most startling advances in this area of technology for both military and private sector uses. The presentation provides in depth information, demonstrations, background and forecasts of development of these areas of science as they affect our society and individual freedom. Enhancing human performance or controlling human outcomes will be the challenge of the centruy raising serious questions on the ethics of the science of mind control. Control of the human mind by external means is now a reality - how to use this technology is the next challenge for this generation. Approximate running time 1.5 hours."
As with every new development in the scientific field it can be used for both good and bad purposes but the bad often seems to prevail these days and I suspect you have stumbled upon just one more instance of such. Nick, being a native of Alaska, became acutely aware of this field because of his investigations into the HAARP installation in Alaska.
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The Great Tribulation May Have Started
by headisspinning inmy ex husband who is a jw just sent me this:.
"the world is on the precipice of a major multifaceted crisis.
the great tribulation may have just started.. .
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saltyoldlady
Hi Headspinning - The current world events are actually no laughing matter. But I might ask if you knew that prior to the release of the Red Revelation Climax book Abaddon was considered to be Satan and the locusts his demons - then overnight they switched their understanding 180 degrees around to say we are the demons (whoops - no the locusts) and Abaddon is actually representative of Jesus Christ. Research what the rest of the world's Bible scholars have to say about this portion of the Revelation Prophecy. It is quite an eye-opener and makes one wonder if the WTS is actually identifying itself incognito. (Harsh words I know but gets one to thinking!)
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Perusing the free Watchtower i got yesterday
by AuntBee ini said i had no cash on me, i wasn't lying.. in the article (3-1-11) entitled what is god's kingdom, there is a paragraph about christendom's confusing explanation of what the kingdom of god is.
the last 'confusing' explanation listed says, "the kingdom of god is righteousness and peace and joy from the holy spirit" as quoted from the catholic catechism.
it sounded familiar, and i found it in romans 14:17, "for the kingdom of god is not meat and drink; but righteousness, peace and joy in the holy ghost.
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saltyoldlady
Priceless - absolutely priceless!!!!!!! Thank you Aunt Bee - This one is going into my Faovorites of All Times file to be pulled out often.
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New 'light' or flip flop on wild beast/image of the wild beast
by Anony Mous insomething that i noticed a couple of weeks ago regarding the identity of the wild beast.
the do said that the wild beast is the 'the world's failed political systems that do not acknowledge jehovah's authority.
i always understood that it was the un.
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saltyoldlady
Now your DO just wouldn't be judging and condemning would he? Maybe he tore Luke 6:37 out of his Bible. I'll work on releasing - needed something more to work on these days - since leaving the WTS I've gotten a little rusty there.
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...Change your Clocks Tonight...
by OUTLAW indaylight savings time is here!...
the perfect excuse... to miss the ever boring,public talk... at your local kingdom hall... .
........................... ...outlaw.
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saltyoldlady
I don't have to spring ahead cause I never fell back. Since leaving the WTS I no longer live by clocks. (One exception there - my current Bible Study class but I mentally adjust for that one. They think they are meeting at 9:15 AM but I know in the winter they meet at 10:15 AM - just that simple.) Everyone else is out of step but me type logic. LOL.