Posts by The Rebel

35

Money....

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

i believe all our worst nightmare are believing money will make our life's complete.

i am not talking about money providing life's comforts, but i am mortified that contentment and happiness always requires " more money"..ummm i need a window cleaner, a flashy car and a 50inch t.v screen to be happy.

money...well in my opinion we need money integrity to be happy, but it seems such a waste of life to search for the making of money more than ....well what i mean "hey" most of us have more money than most, and would the making or having more money really make you happier?.

The Rebel

Heaven " Try living in poverty and tell me how happy you are?

The Rebel ( A) There are some to whom poverty requires no introduction, but to others who think they live in poverty, they should question what they think poverty and happiness is.

Maybe I am quirky, but give me a walk along the canal, add a paint brush and pallet I am happy. And the boat friends I have met that live on " barges" on the canal. Sadly most homeowners would think the people that live on the canal, live in poverty. So the question remains " What is poverty"

I think having a lot of wealth and being an arrogant, obnoxious prick is living in poverty, but then again most that I know that have money are not arrogant, obnoxious pricks, and those that I know, in which I could include refugees that sleep in the woods are not poor in spirit and in fact are no less happy than many I know that are rich.

What do I base that on? Simply I am friends with both, and as I walked the canal with my boy, I met and played football with the refugee kids, and my kid and I have also played football with the rich kids...as long as you get away from ego and are a genuine person, I think money is not so important.

Now stand me up and shoot me down...bang, bang I loose.

The Rebel

29

Is this a site controlled by atheists?

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

under the exterior of being an ex- witness site, is this site simply converting atheism?.

i pose the question, because many come here in distress and insecurity with the realization that the w.t is wrong but still retain a belief in god.

my personal opinion is the threads on god are not challenged by an atheists personal animosity to believers, they are challenged and become confrontational because the atheist wants an elaboration and factual proof to a believers faith.. is this unreasonable?

The Rebel

This is a young J.W to me, " East of Eden" the movie expressed the timeless conflict between a fathers rigidity, and an adolescents search for love and understanding, and a young generation of people had began to identify instinctively with the pain and bewilderment of James Dean in that film.( This to me represents the athiest talking to the in-exsperienced believer)

But my point is as a young Jehovers Witness, all you are programmed to do is identify with the W.Ts interpretation of God, and as an adolescent teenager, when you realize the lie, and you look for love that your parents won't give, (IMAGINE THAT) Yet the bewilderment is the young kids still believe in God....then they come here and can barely articulate themselves ...they are just Young people, all lost like James Dean, but without the self- confidence and ability to have yet found themselves.

Ok I created a profile, but the thing is we are all imaginary profiles on the Internet, but we are not all actors, we are most often real humun beings, all over the world from different cultures and love and understanding. In my opinion this is often what people search for as opposed to truth. Anyway I am an athiest, but I hope I can debate and shake hands when I debate with a believer, otherwise I believe I failed in my purpose.

The Rebel.

29

Is this a site controlled by atheists?

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

under the exterior of being an ex- witness site, is this site simply converting atheism?.

i pose the question, because many come here in distress and insecurity with the realization that the w.t is wrong but still retain a belief in god.

my personal opinion is the threads on god are not challenged by an atheists personal animosity to believers, they are challenged and become confrontational because the atheist wants an elaboration and factual proof to a believers faith.. is this unreasonable?

The Rebel

Jookbeard " ..all are welcome though, there is a good mix here"

The Rebel:- " Agreed, but posts do offer direction which challenges a posters thinking, and because we all don't agree words can become more yelling emotional rants !! rather than " why don't you try to see it my way?

I will be honest I didn't come to any conclusion being involved in a debate on this forum, I am not interested in posts that basically say " my point of view is the greatest, you are wrong". But I did spend many hours evaluating the comments made on challenging O.P s, and I found I couldn't justify and clarify my beliefs on that debate. Therefore I concluded my beliefs were not debatable. That's not to say on this board believers and unbelievers can't mix, Perry, Compound & Complex and remember Mouthy? These are testimonies of those that are believers and can defend and be respected for their beliefs. But my point is many believers who come here are more neurotic and fragile in their beliefs, and they can leave here as lost as they arrived.

i really do appreciate my age, my circumstances that allowed my beliefs on God to be challenged, had I been in different circumstances I think I could easily have been a poster who didn't benefit from that. ....so my point is? Being right about some things whilst important, isn't really the most important thing, not unless you are always right.

The Rebel.

29

Is this a site controlled by atheists?

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

under the exterior of being an ex- witness site, is this site simply converting atheism?.

i pose the question, because many come here in distress and insecurity with the realization that the w.t is wrong but still retain a belief in god.

my personal opinion is the threads on god are not challenged by an atheists personal animosity to believers, they are challenged and become confrontational because the atheist wants an elaboration and factual proof to a believers faith.. is this unreasonable?

The Rebel

Under the exterior of being an Ex- Witness site, is this site simply converting atheism?

I pose the question, because many come here in distress and insecurity with the realization that the W.T is wrong but still retain a belief in God. My personal opinion is the threads on God are not challenged by an atheists personal animosity to believers, they are challenged and become confrontational because the atheist wants an elaboration and factual proof to a believers faith.

Is this unreasonable? Well maybe some questions can only be answered after death, so whilst I enjoy a good discussion, I believe if evidence is elusive one has every right to challenge such dialogue, and to point out concrete evidence has not been presented. Of course this does not mean a person has to be influenced by such challenging questions and accept another posters point of view.

From " The Rebels" point of view, such challenging posts did force me to scrutinize my beliefs, and I realized my thinking was once again fallable, it hurt being proven I was wrong about the Witnesses and wrong about God. Was it a difficult process? Well when you come on a discussion forum and enter a debate, it doesn't give you time to slowly come to a conclusion.

Anyway this is the exsperience of a former witness who came to this site a believer, and by being here is now an athiest, its my story and my exsperience. I didn't start the O.P to cause conflict, but only to say had I found the evidence that God existed here, then I guess this would be a site for ex-witnesses to find God. In my case the evidence simply has not been provided.

So in my opinion this site is not suitable for those leaving the W.T, still too fragile to have their faith in God challenged. The psychological realities I appreciate can be devasting, particularly if you are still trying to get the pain out, of having lost your faith in the W.T, and former friends and family.

Sorry for such a long O.P.

The Rebel

7

In regards to memorial, what I am going to do

by Truth and Justice in

jw
friends

wow!

what a list of new friends we have on this forum, i don't know if i'll ever be able to keep up, but that's ok.. i wanted to dive in to the post to talk about the memorial.

i do not have any intentions of going, even if i was invited.

The Rebel

Yesterday, I had an invite to the memorial, it was given by a man about 65 years old, who I consider without any element of kindness, sensitivity or consideration for others point of view.

Anyway this is the kind of person who gives me an invite to the memorial, not a " former" friend but an invite from someone who I know despises me for the choices I have made.I also know this man wouldn't break bread with me on any other day of the year.

Apologies for slugging the guy off, but on this occasion I hope it clarifies one of the reasons I won't attend, which is I would be viewed as an " outsider" and I have no desire to be integrated in to such a community and what I consider their fantasy life.

The Rebel.

6

The Original Sin - Emperor’s New Suit

by learnaway in

introduction: most religions based on the bible, have been teaching paul’s propagated doctrine for thousands of years which claims that human beings are born with the original sin, inherited from adam, thereby redemption is required.

it is not enough to be described with a few lines of explanation that paul’s doctrine is false, because this examination goes against the faith of the redemption doctrine, which cultivated by tertullian, augustine, calvin; and gave a source of power and enormous wealth for the church for many millennia.

however, hopefully readers could grasp the undeniable truth regarding original sin and redemption..

The Rebel

Actually I fail to see why it is said that Adam disobeyed God.

Now had God said " You must not eat from the tree that is in the middle of the garden" That is a commandment. But the passage reads " You must not eat from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, ( commer ) and you must not touch it, or you will die"

Therefore Adam was given a choice with the consequences explained. But the important point is Adam didn't disobey God, he merely exercised a choice he was given having had the consequences explained.

The Rebel

35

Money....

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

i believe all our worst nightmare are believing money will make our life's complete.

i am not talking about money providing life's comforts, but i am mortified that contentment and happiness always requires " more money"..ummm i need a window cleaner, a flashy car and a 50inch t.v screen to be happy.

money...well in my opinion we need money integrity to be happy, but it seems such a waste of life to search for the making of money more than ....well what i mean "hey" most of us have more money than most, and would the making or having more money really make you happier?.

The Rebel

Punk :-

:-)

The Rebel.

p.s your posts have great wealth.

35

Money....

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

i believe all our worst nightmare are believing money will make our life's complete.

i am not talking about money providing life's comforts, but i am mortified that contentment and happiness always requires " more money"..ummm i need a window cleaner, a flashy car and a 50inch t.v screen to be happy.

money...well in my opinion we need money integrity to be happy, but it seems such a waste of life to search for the making of money more than ....well what i mean "hey" most of us have more money than most, and would the making or having more money really make you happier?.

The Rebel

Ttdtt " ....it's the persons lack of responsibility to handle it"

The Rebel, I agree, sadly I believe many who EARN money create money problems for themselves because they don't live within their means.

So to clarify my point, I am rich whilst my family and I have health, ( health is wealth) but money is ....this is where my wife and I disagree, she loves and has earnt the right to spend it. Personally I am happier in my house, with my wife's cooking ( ok not politically correct, but she is a better cook than I ) and playing football in the garden with my boy. Anyway for Easter we are going on a cruise, we are seeing Elton John in concert in November all thanks to my wife, who likes to spend " our" money. But personally my happiness could do without the cruise and certainly with out the Elton John concert...so anyway it's how we are motivated by money, but if you have it, I think my wife's point is spend it, and mine is I'd rather stay at home anyway.

The ( boring) Rebel.

17

I like the fact that XJW's are passionate about politics

by minimus in

jw
friends

the fact is we could never talk about politics or of use toward political issues as witnesses now we can and we can disagree without being disagreeable .

The Rebel

I am sure a % of ex-jws are passionate about politics, but I am not sure it is such a blanket rule. As for being able to disagree without being disagreeable, it's a testimony to many here that threads on God and Politics are debated in an agreeable way, but I have noted the threads can become disagreeable and at times rather unpleasant.

The Rebel.

35

Money....

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

i believe all our worst nightmare are believing money will make our life's complete.

i am not talking about money providing life's comforts, but i am mortified that contentment and happiness always requires " more money"..ummm i need a window cleaner, a flashy car and a 50inch t.v screen to be happy.

money...well in my opinion we need money integrity to be happy, but it seems such a waste of life to search for the making of money more than ....well what i mean "hey" most of us have more money than most, and would the making or having more money really make you happier?.

The Rebel

What is money?

Possibly money is dots on a computer screen?

What do I mean by that?

I mean I have money, and I like to spend money, but if I want to make money I have always believed I need to have it invested in something that will make the money while I do nothing. This is an interesting concept. For myself I have always chosen property. I feel this is a safe investment, and the purchase price will double every ten years. Being fortunate to receive a rental return on the investment can be another bonus. I also think to transfer money between countries is a fairy safe way of making money. The way the English £ has fluctiorated in recent years in the region of 40% between other currencies is amazing.

Anyway that's why I define money as dots on a computer screen. The privalige of having money in the pocket to purchase materialistic possessions is great, but in my opinion it should never be a substitute for quality time with family.

i noted recently I had a day out in London with the family and we visited many local attractions and got through a considerable about of money and I do mean a considerable amount of money. But the next day we did what I wanted to do and visited the " Tate" " The National" and " Portrait" gallery, we watched the street theatre, pickneted in St Jamses Park and marveled at the wild life , we also made a lovely movie as we walked around China Town, and Trafalger Square. This cost very little, and we all preferred the day.

But I agree life is more pleasurable when we have money to spend, and although my wife thinks the I money spend with my boy supporting our football team extravagant, I think the money she spends on her beauty treatment and dining out extravegent. Neither would deny each other this extravegence, it's simply nice that we appreciate how lucky we are when so many in the world simply by being born in other lands don't have this opportunity.

I have noted my wife gets a lot of satisfaction with her voluntarily work with the poor on Sunday, and I get a lot of happiness that she is now doing this than attending meetings at the K.H.

Anyway, I hope each poster has adequate money to be a little extravegent, and if you are fortunate to have a lump sum I would always advise investing it on a deposit for a property, or paying off the mortgage. This will allow you to have more spendable money and less stress in the future.

The Rebel.