The main job of any religion is to convince people that they can cheat death by following the rules of their particular belief system.
Everything else is designed to control.
a long time ago, before television radio and films, before printing, before the invention of writing, people listened only to the spoken word—and the cry of birds, the wind whistling through the trees and the sea crashing on the sea shore.
before written text they knew about the gods because high up there in the night sky was where they lived; gods, goddesses and immortal heroes.
the constellations told of their exploits.
The main job of any religion is to convince people that they can cheat death by following the rules of their particular belief system.
Everything else is designed to control.
i have been sad to see so many groups and individuals say that the cause of these events are the mental status of the shooters.
i have looked over the backgrounds of these shooters, and few had medically identified mental health issues.
it is too easy to think that people shoot or kill other people because they are mentally ill.. actually, many or most people with real mental illnesses are most likely to be the victims of others.. i have been a volunteer with the organization called nami (national alliance of mental lillness) for 25 years now.
I would be interested to know how many gun owners believe that a gun equals security?
When faced with an incident, how do you think you would go?
How often do you participate in active shooter, high pressure drills? What about training that involves protecting loved ones as well as dealing with the imminent threat? Once a year? Every few years? Never?
I hear a lot of talk about how guns make you safe but unless you really know your stuff you might end up shooting yourself in the arse before you manage to deal with the problem.
i have been sad to see so many groups and individuals say that the cause of these events are the mental status of the shooters.
i have looked over the backgrounds of these shooters, and few had medically identified mental health issues.
it is too easy to think that people shoot or kill other people because they are mentally ill.. actually, many or most people with real mental illnesses are most likely to be the victims of others.. i have been a volunteer with the organization called nami (national alliance of mental lillness) for 25 years now.
Hi Blondie, love your work.
To get back to your O. P. my personal opinion is that if someone is feeling so bad about the world/ their life / hatred for others / wanting to hurt others / wanting to project their feelings etc, to the point that they carry out the plan by way of a mass shooting, then yes, I believe they are mentally ill.
Just as a person may look healthy and get sick or die suddenly because of an undiagnosed physical issue, I would say that it is the same with a mass shooter.
I'm not a qualified expert, just my 2 cents.
i was in full time service for six years including bethel.
once i got out of bethel, i figured i had already given them six of the best years of my life (ages 18-24) working as a slave/drone in their factory, so i rationalized that i had given them enough... so over the next 27 years i would say maybe $200 bucks is it.
i think their whole "voluntary contributions" idea is biting them in the ass, because over all jehovah's witnesses are a cheap group people with a few exceptions.
Over 36 years I donated about 100 bucks.
I think I always felt something wasn't quite right.
BTW Rickroll, sounds like you rickrolled your grandma.
open discussion.
the rich and powerful vs the struggling poor.. the 1% we all hear about.... is it fair that a tiny minority has more and wins more often than the rest of us?____.
(let's make a survey).
Intellectual genius is only one type of genius.
Is Donald Trump a genius? He is arguably the most powerful man in the world and also happens to be extremely wealthy.
High IQ's equalling success over the last 2 or 3 decades have benefitted a group of people in particular, that is, computer and maths geniuses because of what has occurred thanks to the internet.
Knowledge isn't enough for success, persistence and a big set of balls is also needed.
i know it sounds like something from a science fiction novel but its actually an interesting exercise to describe traits of people who live their life under an ideological framework, such as a communist regime or a cult.. there are 3 traits listed which are;.
honesty.
loyalty.
I know it sounds like something from a science fiction novel but its actually an interesting exercise to describe traits of people who live their life under an ideological framework, such as a communist regime or a cult.
There are 3 traits listed which are;
Honesty
Loyalty
Intelligence.
You can only choose 2 of these traits. The premise being that you cannot live your life subject to a controlling, dishonest, morally questionable authority and display all 3 of these qualities.
For example, your intelligence tells you that (insert belief here) cannot possibly be true. If you are honest and intelligent, can you still remain loyal to the organisation? Does your newfound belief make you automatically disloyal?
If you decide to ignore the belief and remain loyal, then you are being dishonest with yourself.
I was using this formula and thinking about myself and people I know in the organisation. It gave me a clearer understanding of why cognitive dissonance exists. The result of a person with average intelligence trying to reconcile a dishonest thought with what they are being told to believe has to cause a problem. If we assume that the average person has average intelligence, then that's a lot of cognitive dissonance in the org.
It also explains why we always hear things like, leave it to God, or, it will all be revealed eventually, and other distractive phrases, because if you can shut down the reasoning and intellectual part of your brain, it makes it easier to be loyal and somehow believe you are being honest with yourself. Any high control group values loyalty above all else, they don't care about intelligence or honesty.
just was thinking how some powerful quotes, remarks, sayings hit the mark with me and how much it enriched/ enhamced/influences my life.
love beyond color.
reality is that which when you no longer believe in it , does not go away.. “the truth is a battle of perceptions.
Everything you want is waiting for you on the other side of your fears.
thought experimenttake the classic definitions of "god" and deconstruct it layer by layer by asking achingly simple questions.ready?
set?
go!_____god is (fill in the blank with the usual definitions).
There are a few different ways to define love. Another definition of love is 'willing servitude'.
By loving us, does that mean that God serves us?
for an organisation that has made a lot of predictions, the wts does not exactly have an impressive record of getting it right.
its probably impossible to count the number of trees that have been killed and turned into paper pulp for the sake of millions of pages of false prophecies that have been printed.
on the other hand, the cartoon show, the simpson's has accurately predicted some interesting events, years in advance without the death of one tree.
For an organisation that has made a lot of predictions, the WTS does not exactly have an impressive record of getting it right.
Its probably impossible to count the number of trees that have been killed and turned into paper pulp for the sake of millions of pages of false prophecies that have been printed.
On the other hand, the cartoon show, The Simpson's has accurately predicted some interesting events, years in advance without the death of one tree.
To name a few,
Donald Trump becoming president in the exact year it happened. This episode aired in 2000, 16 yrs before he became president.
Siegfried and Roy being mauled by a white tiger, 10 years before it happened.
The discovery of a 3 eyed fish close to a nuclear reactor.
Smart watches.
Auto correction for iPhones.
The shard building in London.
Maybe the Simpson's writers are the real Faithful and Discreet Slave? 🤔
first of all, there's a new imaginary picture of jws during the great tribulation:.
then there's a picture of a jw family refusing to listen to "apostate lies" via pre-programed, self imposed information control:.
the description says:.
I would like to present another angle that makes all of this seem even more messed up.
Ever since I was a kid in the seventies we were taught to expect persecution and a general expectation that as gods chosen ones that life would be tough.
With that said, why the hell do JW's continue to get married and have children knowing that there is a 100 % chance that those children will suffer because of their faith?
I mean, the end is sooooo close isn't it? Can't everyone just keep their pants on for a little while - really, the new system isn't around the corner, we're at the corner, there's only moments left!!!
JW's are the ones telling the whole world how bad it is, how sick this system is and warning about all the dangers lurking in every dark corner. Don't get educated, there's no time - it's too dangerous spiritually!!
Instead, make sure you have several children that Satan can attack and that he can use as leverage to attack you, because that makes total sense.
Sit in that bunker with your kids watching caleb and Sophia videos until the bad men come along and rip your frightened children out of your arms.