after leaving the jdub world, for awhile it still seemed like the bible was still a holy book, something valuable, worthy, etc., and that the jw religion had just corrupted it and used it to their own ends.. i thought that jesus was like a bhudda, a guy going around taking about peace and love and who exposed the hypocrisy of the religious leaders.. .
but he also said some hurtful things, harmful things, things like dividing up your family, things like whoever had more affection for their family than for him was not worthy of him, to not take time to bury your father but go preaching instead... to send out his followers without any food for the day but to rely on the kindness of others and believe that that kindness and charity expressed gods blessing and favour.... bah!.
i now believe jesus was just another man, saying both good things and stupid things.
Why cant people just do good things and be good people just because it is a good thing to do? - Muddy Waters
Yes why can't they? I am with you there MW.
I now believe jesus was just another man, saying both good things and stupid things. And he didn't even write his own stuff down, but other people wrote stuff about him and made a whole new religion
Yes so do I.
Here's a question for you MW. Why do we feel the need to follow others anyway? Why can't we decide each issue in life for ourselves?
so, i'm quite excited but also slightly freaked out as i'm able to go this summer instead of next like i had counted on (my daughter graduates next year and i was planning to go then).
this means i'm doing this last minute and i wanted to see if any of you have used https://www.go-today.com or gateone travel or go ahead travel?.
i'm planning on london, paris and rome for two weeks, likely july at this point.
Paris is beautiful. Use the boats to get around, jump off and jump on again. Get on the metro and go up to Montmartre and watch the artists painting. The Sacre Coeur is up there too, with great views over the city from a high vantage point.
when i was a wee lad, there was a carnival atmosphere at assemblies as this old footage will show:.
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http://www.britishpathe.com/video/witnesses-baptised/query/jehovahs+witnesses.
Yes I do remember the assemblies being fun as a kid. Fun food like beef burgers that we didn't have at home. Dramas. Seeing your friends. Even traveling on coaches, we never went anywhere else, couldn't afford it. I remember singing on the coach, kingdom songs of course, but quite fun when everyone joined in.
When I was nineteen I went to a convention and there was something wrong. It just didn't feel right, like the heart had gone out of the religion. Looking back that was 1977, so post 1975 and everone who was still in was pretty fed up I suppose. I can remember that feeling so distinctly, standing on the terraces and thinking what is it that's changed. I was changing too I suppose, slowly waking up, pity it took me another eleven years!
witnessing yesterday, i had a few little ones in the group chattering away excitedly to me about the things they look "forward to in the paradise":.
"i'm going to have three horses, a big house and lots of pretty flowers etc".
after i left, it hit me "like a ton of bricks"!......this is no different to the way that kids "in the world" believe in a santa claus, easter bunny, tooth fairy etc.... then they wake up when old enough and realise that it was all lies...make believe....stories etc, all told to them by parents and older ones!
Yes exactly. When my daughter was small a colleague of my husband thought we were terrible for putting the presents under the Christmas tree before the day and letting her realise we bought them. But after being taught all those fairy tales as children we couldn't tell our child that there was a Santa Claus, we told her the truth.
I think people do get upset when they find they've been taught any kind of lies. We need to stop messing with children's heads and tell them about reality. How can it help a kid to be told they are going to be given a big house and three horses? Unless they have rich parents this is just setting them up for a fall and not teaching them that most people on this planet have to work very hard for everthing they own.
we all get so worked up over details,knowledge,status,possessions,conflict,gossip,jealosy... simplicity & love are the 2 things that society trys so hard to diminish and reject.. but if more of us would just live our lives focusing on simplicity & love, we would see happiness.. jesus rejected material possesions,fame,wealth - he chose to live a simple life, which allowed him to love fully.. how can we live simple lives, and love more?.
We can't live simple lives. We have very big brains and complex needs. Also apes are constantly alert to others around them so we tend to be very socially aware which has its down side in envy and one upmanship. What we need to do is work out how to make these complex brains happy. How to use knowledge, art, beauty,music, travel, fulfilling work, family and friends in an effective way to bring ourselves happiness so that we are no longer in pain. Only people in pain want to lash out and hurt others.
i need a good fat-burner.
i am getting some serious love handles, and a gross poochy belly.
yeah, yeah...i drink almost every night, and this has been going on for almost 2 years, blah, blah..hic!?
Atkins -type diet has worked for me in the past. High protein, eggs for breakfast, chicken, fish and quorn for lunch/dinner. Fruit and veg but very low carbs, cut out potatoes, pasta and sugar. Half a glass of red wine in the evening if I want a drink.
what is the(or what was your) main motivation for serving god as a jw(or any christian)?.
a) love for god and genuinely trying to learn more about him and bible truths?.
b) to escape punishment/death at armegddon?.
To be honest in the beginning it was neither batman89. I fell for the whole, there must be a purpose for this amazing universe and for complex life on earth. Mainly because I knew nothing about evolution or cosmology. To me that argument was logical, but I didn't have all the facts. I did learn to love 'Jehovah' and want to live in the new system. If that was the great plan I wanted to be part of it.
i have come to the conclusion that posting here and visiting this site is not healthy for me anymore.
i just get angry and upset when i read all the stories of injustice and corruption that go on in the jehovahs witness religion.
they are true no doubt, as i have personally experienced many injustices and abuses in my life from being a witness.
Good for you Hoser. Get out there and see the world, meet some interesting people, eat fantastic food, look at snow capped mountains. Think about something other than this daft cult. Have a great life.
i've always wondered that.
recently i asked that question on another thread and didn't really get ananswer.
cofty made an excellent point that we often hear what it isn't, but that really isn't useful.. so, what is it?
Don't know the answer to your question Viv, you've certainly sparked people's interest. Haven't read the whole thread, I've been out of the country. I've heard some people say spirits are beings of light made of photons, anyone here said that? Not my idea and I probably wont stay around and debate something which cannot be proved. Attack me if you must, I'm going back to the sunshine in my garden because the JW stuff doesn't hold a great deal of interest on here anymore for me personally.
chronic fatigue syndrome refers to severe, continued tiredness that is not relieved by rest and is not directly caused by other medical conditions.. did you have many congregation members, particularly pioneers, that said they had " chronic fatigue syndrome" ?.
that's their "get-out-of-jail-free card.
" they were free to cancel anything at anytime and it was their legitimate reason for not doing anything that didn't involve field recruiting.
Apparently my sister has ME, also known as CFS, OnTheWayOut. Or so my non-JW cousin tells me. I agree with you that her cognitive dissonance is making her ill. Oh how I just wish she would leave. My other sister has type 2 diabetes and is very overweight. My brother is also getting very large. Funny that I have to find these things out from my cousin. I'm fine, by the way , much healthier than when I was in my twenties and pioneering.
