Who's to say "spirits" aren't something puny humans can't explain in their limited grasp of science and the universe? For those who state that the only people they know who have had encounters have at one time been in a mental institute should perhaps be less judgemental. I am agnostic, believe in evolution and believe in the unexplainable (realizing many things can actually be explained to be things other than "spirits"). I like that I have freedom to believe as I choose now. I don't know what some of the things are that happen...it's why I refer to them as unexplainable but not impossible. Limited knowledge leads to the perpetuation of ignorance. Humans have barely scratched the surface of science. i prefer not to limit my idea of what is possible and what is not possible based merely on what science thinks it knows now about the properties of the universe.
joyfulfader
JoinedPosts by joyfulfader
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149
Evolution and spirits
by Chris Tann inas of now iam making an unbiased examination of evolution.
however one thing keeps me hanging on to the belief of a supreme spirit being; the existence of spirits.
i have heard countless accounts of people who have experienced frightening encounters with evil forces.
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The ignorance of the "sheep"...and will door to door work phaze out due to being "challenged" too much at the door?
by integ inhello friends.. i notice alot of talk about the future and what it would take to bring the whole thing down and no one seems to think it can or will happen any time soon.
just seeing people here talk about what will happen once 2034 comes and goes is very discouraging.. i'm amazed this religion continues to move along as it does.
building, growing etc.
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joyfulfader
2 pioneers came to my door several weeks ago now. I am in a new town so I could be anonymous. It was awesome to ask the questions I knew they had no answers for. I am not df'd or anything...I just disappeared. I became the worldly family member who has the questions a baptized witness can never ask. They were handing out the JW.org tracts and did not expect me to decline and then challenge them on blood and where the fractions they use come from as well as their no donate policy. I could talk about only jw's surviving Armageddon...after all, my pretend family keeps telling me I'm going to die at the big A for not being a baptized witness (my real family gave up on that threat). The UN scandal(which of course was impossible)...all brought up. 30 min of them thinking "why us????". Not because I was rude or disrespectful in any way but because they don't get to talk to people much anymore. I kept apologizing and saying that I understand that their faith is important to them but it's not my path to take. They just had no idea how to engage with real answers. They merely dodged questions, denied or lied. Of course not only jw's will be saved...The discussion on blood was completely ridiculous. Unbelievably.
They kept saying I sounded truly sincere and I was...sad none of us could have those sincere questions as witnesses.
They are not prepared for real discussion anymore. Tracts and tablets. That's it. I hope I sparked a little something. Funny, they haven't been back. I am prepared though ;)
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JW's and Death
by William Penwell ini am sure this has been discussed before.
this is kind of a continuation on of my previous post.
we have just recently lost a close family member.
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joyfulfader
Death is a touchy subject for me. Coming to terms with my own mortality and that of my parents has been a hard pill to swallow. I only thought about death superficially. Now the permanence feels all too real. I don't know what is going to happen at death. I have no faith in an afterlife of any sort so I have begun to live life with happiness now as my goal.
i grew up around a family whose daughter had a chronic genetic illness that required a lung transplant that they decided not to have done. She was 16 and in the hospital on her deathbed surrounded by family. She said she was going to close her eyes and wake up in the paradise. Her dad told me that she opened one eye a little later and said "I'm not there yet, am I?" That made everyone laugh a bit and they had a few more hours with her and then she was gone for real. Maybe her faith was what kept her spirits up. I don't know. I can't say where she is but I feel in my heart that I had better make the best of my life now because I have found no basis to believe otherwise.
To me the God of the bible is mean and hateful. Do I even want an afterlife from a totalitarian dictator prone to tantrums and ridiculous demands of obedience? Nope.
Death is bad. Period.
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Door To Door: Meet The Father Daughter Team Of Jehovah's Witnesses
by Bangalore indoor to door: meet the father daughter team of jehovah's witnesses.. .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ismt6inuklg.
bangalore.
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joyfulfader
Little kids enjoying field service...I don't think so. I remember how grateful many were with the addition of the DVD player to the minivans always used in service to keep the kids from screaming because they had to go to a door!! The parents that deemed that strategy as inappropriate used bribery. I was extremely good at the door to door thing but hated it.
I think it's interesting that the interviewer asked if she thought she was brainwashed. At least she didn't give that speech posted on another thread about her brain being cleansed of all that is bad. I used to have the same rebuttal as she and believed I had researched...sadly it will take an eye opening personal trauma to open her eyes to reality. Even then, maybe not...
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No more SHARED Territory only PERSONAL Territory
by OwnAccord inthis person is in turkey and maybe the reason for the chage?.
we have our circuit visit next week.
it has been said that each publisher should request for a personal territory so after next week we will not be meeting in the territory anymore.. the details for the switch are getting clearer.
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joyfulfader
This is not new. I have been out completely for 3 years and inactive for almost 4. Before that I was pioneering with a personal territory. The CO encouraged it. I kept the same one for 2 years. I knew who lived where and who to avoid. My vehicle was known by everyone. I really could keep track of everything AND it enabled me to tell the elders where to go...after all...it was MY territory and I knew it and they didn't lol
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bull poop
by snare&racket inglad to see the forum is going strong, lots of new names and stories......and it has only been a couple of months!.
the wt really has no chance in such a world of free and accessible information.
keep fighting guys, the freedom once you are loose of the governing body is awesome, you will be amazed how long you ignored the stench off bullshit as your ability to smell it returns.. and on that note ;) x. .
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joyfulfader
I love that you are now a doc! I am a nurse and finally back in school to finish my BSN and then i plan to get my Masters in Forensics. It feels good to actually have a say in my own life. Congrats on making it!!!!!
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What would make them leave?
by Separation of Powers inin your experience, what would the org have to do that would cause the most people to leave?.
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joyfulfader
I don't think there is anything that would do it. Maybe a bizarre call for mass suicide. Other than something that crazy, the gb is good at making the nonthinking average jw believe all the changes are what they always believed...just "clarified". Any scandal would be disregarded as Satan attacking God's chosen people (a "fulfillment" of prophecy) and may cause some to dig in even deeper.
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I really don't understand this
by keyser soze inwhy, if you're a health care worker who's been exposed to the ebola virus, would you get on an airplane and travel right after?.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/second-texas-nurse-with-ebola-had-traveled-by-plane/ar-bb9f6bs.
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joyfulfader
Perhaps I missed it in the article since I read it quickly but it seems as though she traveled before it was known she was exposed. As a nurse let me tell you that we are the front line and the least protected and most underpaid profession in the medical field. we don't get the luxury of saying no. We can't just call in at will. We are the first to be blamed and the last ones to be thanked. No she should have not gotten on that plane if she had knowledge of possible infection but clearly the hospital did not do its part in protecting her. Our local hospital had a scare and IMMEDIATELY shut down the ED and quarantined the hospital until it was verified that it was NOT Ebola. The medical profession and nurses specifically are in a tough situation. It is time for real and effective protection for those treating infected ones.
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Does money buy happiness and a longer life? You decide...
by Brock Talon ini poured over time magazine's sep 8-15 2014 edition article "who we are" and put together this spreadsheet on the results from their poll.
i found the statistics quite fascinating.. most people would say that "money doesn't buy happiness", but this poll seems to me to indicate the exact opposite of that.
it also correlates education levels with higher earning that result in that happiness.
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joyfulfader
I would think much would depend on how one obtained their wealth to determine whether happiness was a direct correlation. Hard work? Good. Hard work and always away from home and loved ones? Not so good. Inheritance or born into old money? Possibly good but fraught with variables. Windfall such as the lottery? Often lost very quickly due to mismanagement. Insurance payout? Usually the result of a highly unwanted death of a loved one. How one ends up with that money most certainly influences the impact it has on their life I would think.
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Walking Dead, evidently a hit show
by nonjwspouse innot my cup o tea for sure, but i found out my nephew is a regular zombie on the show.. anyone here like the show?
i'm kinda afraid to even watch it ...my imagination is a bit to active.. .
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joyfulfader
I watched one and a half seasons and found the plot to be too repetitious. Survivors find safety. Survivors look for zombies. Zombies appear. Survivors fight zombies. Must find new shelter. Survivors move. Repeat (with slight variations in subplot). Maybe I'll try again one day.