ok, don't get too excited, that is not what i think.
but it is what my wife (brought up as a jw) informed me this morning, after i said that i think the wbts is a cult.
the thing is, she has kind of "challenged" me to prove it!
AlanF wrote: "Most people are too smart to be deceived by a cult. That's why most people are not in cults."
Please read:
Refuting Errant Beliefs (Chapter 4, excerpted, of Steven Hassan's Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves. FOM Press, 2000)...
http://www.freedomofmind.com/book/bk_4.htm
6. "HE'S TOO INTELLIGENT TO JOIN A CULT."
Quester
how many here have seen a river runs through it?.
god i love that movie.
"i am haunted by waters.....".
I loved that movie for the way words were weaved together.
Remember the father's last sermon about loving someone and
wanting to help them but the help we can give is not wanted?
Very moving and powerful.
Quester
i haven't told this to very many people, so here goes.. when i was a child, my parents became jw's (i was almost 5), so i had celebrated christmas a few times, but have few memories of it, other than the bubble lights, and a huge tree and my grandparent's house.
when we stopped celebrating it, i didn't really "get it", and i still believed in santa claus.
i just thought he didn't come to our house anymore.
I enjoyed reading all the replies to
this thread.
Seeker - I think I understand your
point. Fantasy taught as fact might
be a little different than fantasy
taught as fantasy. It's the way it is
presented to children that might make
the difference here.
JoelBear - Yeah, don't mess with my
mythology! LOL
Seeker4 - Religious mythology--now that's
an interesting topic! Of course, you know
all those flood stories aren't true--except
the Bible flood story--now that's a fact.
Quester
expressed by action?
what does it do and when given to you, how does it make you feel inside?.
peace.
Billygoat,
I like what you wrote about love.
I too was thinking about boundaries.
I don't think boundaries is the same
as conditions, do you?
Yes, I can love people I don't like.
But then, there is also the love that
includes affection, don't you think?
Good topic.
I'm going to go read Doug's article now.
Quester
matthew 24:14 and this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.
(nwt).
im new to this board game, but i have been reading the submissions and replies from .
dhook wrote:
"For that reason, then, do we not have to give credit to
the WTBTS for introducing us to the real scriptures,
not the ritualistic, idol worshipping, psalm-singing,
storytelling monolouges that led us around in circles?"
Yes, I am grateful for what I learned in the jw religion.
However, the jw religion is a fundamentalist type
religion(extreme literalists), and I eventually outgrew that.
Now I feel that I have come full circle and can appreciate
ritual, storytelling, singing as a way to invoke the
presence of God.
Quester
"And the end of all our exploring
will be to arrive where we started
and know the place for the first time."
--TS Eliot
i haven't told this to very many people, so here goes.. when i was a child, my parents became jw's (i was almost 5), so i had celebrated christmas a few times, but have few memories of it, other than the bubble lights, and a huge tree and my grandparent's house.
when we stopped celebrating it, i didn't really "get it", and i still believed in santa claus.
i just thought he didn't come to our house anymore.
I don't remember ever believing in Santa Claus as a kid
(obviously not a jw back then).
I never liked Holidays and was relieved to give them up
when I became a jw and I don't plan on celebrating
them any time soon. I don't like feeling obligated and
pressured to do things because everybody else does it.
Takes the joy out of giving for me if it's an obligation,
not a choice.
But I can think of Santa Claus as fantasy and that's
not always a bad thing. What do you think it does
for children to believe in a Santa Claus? I mean
how might it effect them in a positive way, instead
of thinking of it as a lie and a bad thing like jw's
say it is.
Quester.
you guys are probably going to think this is silly of me, but i have always wondered why the society, in the nwt and all of their literature always uses the term "undeserved kindness" and never the term "grace.
" is it because the churches of christendom use the term grace, therefore it is bad?.
i know that undeserved kindness is suppose to mean the same as grace, but is it really?
To me, grace is a much more positive word
than
undeserved kindness--undeserved--like we
are so awful we don't deserve God's love
and kindness, but he gives it to us anyway.
Like he grudgingly puts up with us.
Grace conveys God's love freely given
to all because he values and cares for us.
Quester
i feel like i am a moderately patriotic person.
i bought old navy flag tee shirts for my whole family.
i wore mine the day of the memorials shortly after sept 11. i have a flag sticker in my car window.. my husband told me of an article in usa today regarding the flags everywhere.
Hey, I wonder if they make chocolate
candy flags too--red, white, and blue frosting.
I'd eat it.
But seriously, I think the flag thing is a
little extreme and I don't like being pressured
to be like the crowd--wave, wear, post that flag.
Quester
just wondering if anyone else has read this book by james redfield and what your thoughts on it are.
i found the insights interesting.. kristen
Kristen,
No, I haven't read the book, but I have heard
of it and am interested in hearing your
thoughts on the book if you want to talk
about it.
I love book discussions.
Quester
may you all have peace!
(yes, i know i am starting a new thread when one already exists, but most of you know me by now...).
the 'true' worshippers of god are those that worship him... in spirit... and in truth.
I like SatanSpawn's reply the best!
ROTFL!!
Great pic, I saved it.
Quester
