Yes, college teaches one how to think, not what to think. And for those who fully embrace their education, it is a truly transformative experience. One of my favorite classes was an introduction to philosophy course. The professor was not the caricature of a religion-hating radical, but rather a liberal Christian. He accepted the evidence for evolution, and had a nuanced, metaphorical view of the Bible rather than a literal one. He encouraged those in the class, both the religious and atheistic/agnostic, to remain open to other ideas and ways of looking at things. That made me realize what the society really had to fear, for it is a closed system of thought rather than an open one.
mindseye
JoinedPosts by mindseye
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After one semester it's very easy to see why the society is so afraid of university education.
by JonathanH init is so antithetical to their way of doing things, and forces you into a state of mind they hate.
it gets you out of whatever bubble you live in.
you're expected to be an adult, which is the exact opposite of what the society wants from you.. in my english 101 class we have watched r rated movies, talked about religion, learned how to recognize and dissect propoganda and my professor openly states that his goal is to challenge our prejudices and ways of thinking.
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Steve Jobs Profound Thoughts on Death
by mindseye ini was going to post this in the ongoing steve jobs threads, but these words were so profound i thought they deserved their own thread.
growing up jw we were taught that we were supposed to live forever.
death was bad.
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mindseye
I was going to post this in the ongoing Steve Jobs threads, but these words were so profound I thought they deserved their own thread. Growing up JW we were taught that we were supposed to live forever. Death was bad. But here, Jobs offers a different view, that death is what motivates us to live an authentic and valuable life. Here are his words:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. -
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RIP Steve Jobs
by mindseye inhere's to someone who actually pushed the world in a positive direction.
i do currently believe that progress is an overaching aspect of world history, and it is partially due to people like steve jobs.. godspeed, steve.
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mindseye
Star Tiger, I think we can do both efficiently. In fact I world argue that much new technology, like electric cars, are innovative due to environmental concerns. Another example: due to computers, we kill less trees. I think that may have been one Jobs biggest innovations, the possibility of an almost paperless world.
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RIP Steve Jobs
by mindseye inhere's to someone who actually pushed the world in a positive direction.
i do currently believe that progress is an overaching aspect of world history, and it is partially due to people like steve jobs.. godspeed, steve.
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mindseye
Here's to someone who actually pushed the world in a positive direction. I do currently believe that progress is an overaching aspect of world history, and it is partially due to people like Steve Jobs.
Godspeed, Steve
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Here Comes "The Sun"
by MoneurMallard inwhat are everyone's thoughts on the concept of a solar deity in relation to the jesus story?.
now this is something i have entertained over the years, the stunning relationship of the solar myths and the way the gospels describe jesus' death and resurrection as compared with the roman saturnalia.
it's odd that jw's are about to recognize that christmas doesn't originate with christ (thank god for that because i still celebrate christmas and don't care if it has anything to do with a religious figure or not, i celebrate it because i like the idea of giving people gifts, i love the smell of the trees, i love the lights, snow, all of it... i could care less if a thousand year old prophet in another continent thinks it's a "custom of the nations".... well i love america and it's a nation that deserves to be thankful for it's luck of the draw, and if it wants to mix customs and holidays, so be it..... your thoughts, fellow ex-socks?.
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mindseye
Yes, I have often thought about the similarity between the Jesus story and the sun myths. I have also often thought about how the idea of God may have originated with the sun.
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AWESOME coincidence today in college!
by TimothyT inlast week was my first week in college on my new counselling course.
last year i decided i wanted to join a course which would help me to understand my own sufferings and try to help others to do the same.
we introduced ourselves to our class mates and i made it very clear to them all that i am gay and i was kicked out of the jehovahs witnesses and now im much happier.
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mindseye
Awesome story. Yes, once you leave everything opens up and you notice the beauty in people. Cool that you're taking a class that you're interested in too. I remember doing that for the first time and how great it was.
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Is higher education about worldly riches?
by under_believer inhaven't posted on here in years, but this topic really gets my goat and i just had the "priviledge" of going to a special assembly day where the bethel speaker, john williams, strongly held forth against higher education.
in particular, he stressed how higher education is all about greed and getting rich, and how knowledge puffs up, and that people who go to college are arrogant and selfish.. this is kind of a bad thing because this guy is a really strong, accomplished speaker.
several times i found myself captivated by his delivery in spite of myself.. in response to the idea that somehow education is about getting rich, i would like everyone to take a look at these numbers from the us department of labor: http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm.
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mindseye
It's absurd to say that people who go to college are arrogant and selfish. Several of my professors in college - some of the most intelligent people that I know - are among the most humble people you could meet. A sign of real intelligence is when one realizes how little they really know - as you learn you realize how limitless everything is - and it fills a person with humility. But instead of using real life examples, the WT publications have cartoon stereotypes of college professors as pipe smoking pretentious eggheads (see the evolution book for an example).
The argument that it's all about 'worldly riches' is also absurd. There are plenty of individuals who go into fields that are less lucrative simply because they have a passion for something. The Watchtower worldview is so small. It's a tragedy that many limit their experience due to this parochial thinking.
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Nov.15th WT - Quotes Dissing - Internet, Higher Education, Earning a Living
by flipper inas most of us here are aware the wt society is using the " kool-aid " , or witness only version as i call it - to indoctrinate and intimidate jw members through fear and guilt to avoid anything that takes their devotion and attention away from allegiance to the wt society's ambitions.
so the wt society is amping up it's control methods once again in various articles in this issue as well.. first off - notice this quote from page 14 , paragraph 16 , regarding how " dangerous " allegedly the internet is.
it states, " these desires ( of the world ) involve such things as promiscuity, prominence , and possessions.
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mindseye
Vigilant Christians refrain from using the world to the full with regard to higher education. Many people in this world consider higher education an indispensable stepping-stone to prestige and an affluent life.
And what scares the WTS even more is that most of us consider higher education as an indespensable tool to learn new things and broaden our horizons. I've known people who take classes after graduating just to explore some new subjects. Of course the WTS doesn't want their followers to learn for learning's sake. They might learn about EVOLUTION or PHILOSOPHY, *gasp*. Or they might become more logical thinkers, which is bad news for the WT.
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Are YOU a Believer, Atheist, Agnostic, Active JW or WHAT?
by Greybeard insorry if this has been asked before but i would love to know the current ratio on this forum.. i'm a believer/christian former jw for 45 years... born in .
what are you now and what were you?.
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mindseye
was born-in but unbaptized. now I'm an existentialist/agnostic/gnostic/zen buddhist/taoist (subject to change ).
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So why
by bushido8000 init has become very apparent to me very quickly that this forum is dominated by ex-jws.
i have many questions and topics to present but i first want to know who i am presenting these questions and topics to so i have 2 questions that i would like as many of yall to answer as possible.. .
question 1: did you leave the organization out of the blue or were you first disfellowshipped?.
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mindseye
For the people who left out of the blue, What made you leave the organization?
I was born in, thought about getting baptized in my teens but didn't take the dunk. To answer your question, it just never added up, or really resonated with me. In my early 20s I felt that the Witness mentality was preventing me from growing intellectually AND spiritually. Up until about 20, I pretty much though of myself as a witness (even though technically I wasn't, since I wasn't baptized), but by my mid-20s I totally distanced myself from it. I read a lot about the history of the religion, and that completely broke the spell.
So no nightmare scenario in my case, it was a slow realization that it wasn't the 'truth'. I'm still on good terms with my family and most JWs I know, even though there's some tension there if the religion comes up. I'm very happy to be completely out. My heart goes out to those who were baptized, and who left later in life. I can only imagine how hard it must be. peace.