i went to the zoo with my cousin's wife and kids today.
they are in town from wisconsin to say goodbye to his mom who is dying from breast cancer.
mulan and i thought it would be nice to get the three kids out of the house for the day.
my JW friend said that all people will be resurected and then given a chance to follow Jehovah. . .we never got into everyone but none JW's get killed. Maybe she skipped that part.
You have to admit though Paradise earth, petting tigers, eating fresh fruit, it sure doesn't sound bad. It would be like an eternal vacation????
Cute story. :)
contrary to popular belief and what society and the media will portray satanism, devil worship and witchcraft are 3 very independent systems of belief, .
sure, to those who are afraid of looking into books dealing with the occult, for fear of being possessed or what have you, i write this as a vent because it makes me laugh when i hear people assume that the three are the same, they aren't, .
and the reality is that even though the three get bunched up as the same, many times it is the ignorance of the practitioners which keeps the ignorance alive.
DCs Ghost,
You said
when i finally realized that the bible had no more truth in it than the koran or any other holy books for that matter, it was an eye opener
.
What influenced you the most in that realization? I've many times questioned the authenticity of the Bible but I guess I've never with all certainity thought it false or dare say so anyhow. Just curious.
gathering that there seems to be a mix of active jw's, inactive jw's, ex-jw's, atheists etc.
here, i am wandering on your thoughts on the holidays with more focus on the more religious based holidays like christmas & easter.. i'd like to know if you celebrate them like the mainstream of society or if you still have your reservations about them based on what you learned as part of the wt.
i myself have been very turned off by the holidays in recent years - not because of the wt though- but for my own personal reasons.
Thanks to all for your comments:
Silverleaf, that song on "charlotte's web" is off of the movie, I don't know if it is in the book. You have to see it. I love that movie.
Bridgette, Stephanus: I think I said something misleading about the holidays. I Do celebrate them though without much excitement at times because of things that I personally observe, personal experience and just "thoughts" I have about things. I have weird thoughts at times. Actually I will admit I'm weird. I was hoping this was a place I could share these weird thoughts with others who maybe think about those things too. You know, not everyone delves into everything like is done here. People like my spouse could care less. I could never discuss anything I discuss here with him because it just doesn't interest him.
To all & especially Bridgette & Silverleaf who've responded numerous times to my posts thank you for your considerate replys.
And I really have to add a note to Stephanus that I didn't have time for yesterday as I was on my way to having "cheeseburgers in paradise" and here it is: though I was in no way trying to condemn anyone or support anyone and though nowhere in my post did I say I do NOT celebrate holidays and as stated above I was just asking a question and adding some of my own "thoughts", I wanted to THANK-YOU for your enlightening assumption of myself. Maybe now I won't need to pay a psychiatrist. In just reading a few words of mine you've went and summed me up to a tee in just one word. Now that IS amazing! Now . . ."scuse me while I kiss the sky". . . .
gathering that there seems to be a mix of active jw's, inactive jw's, ex-jw's, atheists etc.
here, i am wandering on your thoughts on the holidays with more focus on the more religious based holidays like christmas & easter.. i'd like to know if you celebrate them like the mainstream of society or if you still have your reservations about them based on what you learned as part of the wt.
i myself have been very turned off by the holidays in recent years - not because of the wt though- but for my own personal reasons.
URGENT MESSAGE TO STEPHANUS!
Who are "my Dubs"?
What is a Dub?
What is Dubbism?
You have me really confused.
gathering that there seems to be a mix of active jw's, inactive jw's, ex-jw's, atheists etc.
here, i am wandering on your thoughts on the holidays with more focus on the more religious based holidays like christmas & easter.. i'd like to know if you celebrate them like the mainstream of society or if you still have your reservations about them based on what you learned as part of the wt.
i myself have been very turned off by the holidays in recent years - not because of the wt though- but for my own personal reasons.
Thanks again for all your thoughts on the holidays.
To Silverleaf: your the first poster so far I've come across that wasn't a JW (but almost was) which is like myself who is not (but almost is- hey, there's no date yet though--ha, ha)
To Bridgette: thanks for responding to my posts. I enjoy hearing from you.
To Both Bridgette & Silverleaf: I've always had alot of interest in religion in general, also Greek Gods, witches, the supernatural, parapsychology, Edgar Cayce, aliens . . .Shirley McClain(ha, ha) and really what does it matter if the holidays have pagan roots? Well, I've been told by JW's it is forbidden per the bible but other than that it doesn't matter(the thing with birthdays & thanksgiving still blows my mind). My personal problem is mostly I don't like the two being mixed because even if I myself question the exsitence of God and I have been asking for 33 years for him to give me some kind of a sign or feeling or you know just something to go on which I'm still kind of hangin out waiting for, I feel that why would any religion want to share something they put all their faith in with people who do not share that faith and celebrate for entirely different reasons? I just think a "jealous God" would want all the attention. So the conclusion I made from the show I watched on the discovery channel was that the religious leaders compromised their faith and if you compromise your faith is it really faith?
. . . . ."how very special are we, for just a moment to be, part of lifes eternal rhyme. . . . . . . .how very special are we, to have on our family tree, mother earth, and father time" as sung by Charlotte the spider.
Keep em coming, I'm on the information highway now. . . .Thanks: Peacepipe :)
gathering that there seems to be a mix of active jw's, inactive jw's, ex-jw's, atheists etc.
here, i am wandering on your thoughts on the holidays with more focus on the more religious based holidays like christmas & easter.. i'd like to know if you celebrate them like the mainstream of society or if you still have your reservations about them based on what you learned as part of the wt.
i myself have been very turned off by the holidays in recent years - not because of the wt though- but for my own personal reasons.
Gathering that there seems to be a mix of active JW's, inactive JW's, ex-JW's, atheists etc. here, I am wandering on your thoughts on the Holidays with more focus on the more religious based holidays like Christmas & Easter.
I'd like to know if you celebrate them like the mainstream of society or if you still have your reservations about them based on what you learned as part of the WT. I myself have been very turned off by the holidays in recent years - not because of the WT though- but for my own personal reasons. I've also watched a really good show on the discovery channel that researched the roots of the Christmas Holiday & it verifies that there is truth to what the WT says about it having pagan roots & the exact date not being even in the month of December. That mixed with my own reservations such as: *people who ONLY seem to show up at church for Christmas and/or Easter as if you did believe in God that would be enough to go & show him publicly that you love him once or twice a year, *all the commercialism and materialism around those times of year, *and all the whiney people who complain how stressed they are and burnt out because of all they have to do to prepare(waa, waa, waa), etc (you get the picture right?). . . .and yes I know there are good things but I'm a pessimist by nature.
Anyhow, I was just curious about that subject.
Thank-you in advance for any posts that may come by on this subject.
:)
i've been reading this forum page for about a year.
at first i thought it was a meeting place for practicing jw's but after reading many posts found that most people here have been hurt or don't see things eye to eye with the wt org.
i am not a jw but i have been associating with them for about 3 yrs.
I'd really like to type up a big response to seven006's comments; but it's my bedtime. Thanks for the story it saddens me to know how families have been broken but. . . .feeling like there is a quest for truth in general on this site I'd like to add that families are lost, terrible things happen to people & sad stories unravel to those of us who were not raised in the truth but in "Christendom" & the WT ideals can seem like a ray of light(and I know they're not) BUT nevertheless, no family should be broken NOR NO LIFE should be lost at the hands of a religion.
Baha & to all thanks for the warm welcomes.
. . . .that's all there is, there is no more.
i usually for some reason wake up pondering on my life and coming up with questions about certain things... this morning i looked out my window and thought... if god made earth for humans to live on.. then why did he create billions, and billions of planets inside billions and billions of galaxies?
if earth is the one out of allll these planets that has life on it... why?
SESB,
If you haven't ever, watch the movie CONTACT with Jodie Foster. It touches base on that question & the conflict of science & faith. It's a movie I personally love to watch.
i've been reading this forum page for about a year.
at first i thought it was a meeting place for practicing jw's but after reading many posts found that most people here have been hurt or don't see things eye to eye with the wt org.
i am not a jw but i have been associating with them for about 3 yrs.
larc,
Thanks for your thought. No, they may not be shunned in that way; however, (as quoted from "A CATECHISM FOR ADULTS by REV WILLIAM J. COGAN 1988") "It is, and therefore to miss Mass through your own fault is a serious sin." Also in the same book the question WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THOSE WHO DON'T PRACTICE RELIGION? answer: "Those who are guilty of serious neglect in this matter will go to hell." You might not be "shunned" in this life but you have the happy thought that your goin to hell baby! But actually I doubt most catholics pay much attention to that but going on the assumption that the above were true (which i am only hypothetically supporting that notion) I'd personally rather be disciplined here on earth by my family for a short while than for eternity in a blazing hell & PLEASE I'm not in any way trying to belittle anyones hardships they've been through from that WT rule I can't even imagine, but I'm just trying to make my point.
This whole book is part of the reason I turned to a home bible study. It's hilarious. I, believe it or not, found the answers in the knowledge book to make alot more sense.
My point I guess being that all religions not just JW have their flaws.
Thanks again for your response.
i've been reading this forum page for about a year.
at first i thought it was a meeting place for practicing jw's but after reading many posts found that most people here have been hurt or don't see things eye to eye with the wt org.
i am not a jw but i have been associating with them for about 3 yrs.
Bridgette, I read your post after I submitted my last post & I just wanted to add that I know what you are saying is true & it makes me sad & it's something I've thought alot about. thanks. . .
